Confessions of a Tough Girl

When I was a senior in high school my PE teacher was the Clovis West varsity football coach. He loved to tease, but he took our PE classes pretty seriously. I was new to my high school, moving in just 2 weeks before school started. It wasn't long before my classmates learned that I was a tough competitor. I was always one of the last girls standing in a game of dodge ball and one of the first to finish our laps around the track. I held the record all year long in all of coach Blankenships girls PE classes for pull ups. I won a mud wrestling match at a night rally during homecoming week. And while my 5'4, 118 lb frame might have suggested otherwise, I was dubbed "The Burley Woman" or just "Burley" by Coach B.

I have no problem with hard work. In fact I relish in it a bit. I like to stand back and look at a project and be able to see the diference I have made. I have singlehandedly removed almost all of the trees and plants in our landscaping and replaced them, I have learned how to do basic electrical wiring enough that I can change out light fixtures or even add a few where none are exsisting. I can pull a trailer, lay tile, change a tire, lift heavy things, use a drill and other tools generally considered mens toys. I like to think that I'm pretty tough.

Just because I can do it all, doesn't mean I want to do all of it. Not all the time. The truth of the matter is, I'm still just a girl. I want to be taken care of and coddled a bit now and then. I like to be pampered and I want to feel pretty. I am sensitive and get my feelings hurt sometimes. When I am home alone overnight, I sleep with the lights on and my cell phone next to my pillow, because I'm scared. If by chance there was something to legitimately be afraid of and I did need to call the police, I don't want a woman in uniform showing up. I want a man with a gun.

So just like Dorothy's friend the Cowardly Lion, I may be a tough girl on the outside, but I must confess, my insides are mush!