I'm Back

I realize it's been forever since I posted. I would like to say I've been really, really busy. Actually, I've just been uninspired. Sad but true. My apologies. Where to begin?

Last Friday night I went out with a group of "old" high school buds. We went to Memphis to eat at the Blue Fin, a sushi joint. FIVE Vodka tonics and TWO beers later......I'm in da club on Beale. WTHeck?!?!?!? I'm sooooooo not clubbing age. And for the record, nobody I was with is EITHER! LOL It's pretty sobering (not literally dangit) to realize that I am no longer a cool hoochie momma. I might could shake my groove thing for a couple of minutes on the dance floor, but anything past that could require a wheelchair. I mean I out aged everybody in there (except my buds) by at LEAST 20 YEARS. Needless to say, we didn't last long in there. Thank the Lord! Next time we are going to a hip coffee house with some indie music and maybe a shot of espresso. That's it. And I'm OK with that! ;)

Fast forward to Monday morning. Things progressively deteriorated from semi-okay to all out smackdown before 8 a.m. between my little one and me. The pre-teen years are not fun, not fun at ALL. I'm sooooo not gonna make it. I grounded her for one week and have stuck to it. Don't mess with the Momma. For the record, I am not her friend. I am her mother. I know some people are best buds with their kids, but I'm not wired that way. I love her and will always be here for her, but I'm not on this Earth to be her "friend". Please don't send me hate mail if you disagree. This is my blog. If you don't agree, don't read it. I know this sounds harsh, but honestly, I don't care. I'm just practical. It's a harsh world out there and I want my child to be prepared. She's not always going to win, get her way, have everything handed to her; everybody's not always going to like her, agree with her, etc. The point is I'm raising an individual to BE an individual. I want her to be comfortable in her own skin, find her own path, and be happy. I do have a method to my madness, I promise. ;)

Wow, I didn't really intend to go off on that tangent. I'm probably going to look back on this post and cringe. Heck, I'm not even into the vino yet! Let's lighten things up. How about American Idol? So far, I'm extremely disappointed. I like a few but not many. What will I do once the Olympics are over???? I guess I'll read my British Lit. Yippee.

Speaking of, I had mid-terms today. I did okay. Glad they're over and am ready for this entire semester to end. Wishing my life away.

Well, hope all have a wonderful week. I'll try to update before the weekend. Later blog readers.....

*****For the record, I thought Tiger's apology was stupid and unnecessary. :)

My Body's in Arkansas but My Mind is in Hawaii (or the Sahara desert)

I am beyond tired of this cold, frigid, arctic weather. I miss the warmth of the Delta sun. I miss short sleeves, air conditioning, and flip-flops. Can we please move on into summer? Seriously. I'm not "made" for winter weather. Heavy clothes bind me. It's never too hot for me. I think I'm actually part reptilian..okay, maybe just cold-blooded. LOL I want to lay out by the pool and read a great book and maybe take a dip in the pool. I want to smell like coconut oil. I want to feel the warm breeze and yes, even swat our state bird...the mosquito. I WANT my Arkansas weather pattern back to NORMAL. This is NOT normal.

Normal is an Indian Summer that heads into a long Fall. An "if you blink your eyes you'll miss it" Winter. A short, but beautiful, Spring. Then about SIX months of SUMMER!!! This is probably some El Niño crap we're experiencing, so I hope it's just a fluke. I don't want a repeat of it next year. I'm just saying. ;)

It is absolutely no fun walking to class in below freezing temps. I look like the Michelin Man. On the upside, the extra weight from the clothes is giving me quite the workout. LOL

Okay, enough about the weather.

I'm almost halfway through this semester. It's been relatively easy to this point but it's fixing to get pretty dicey. I have four papers (that I know of) to write and one book review. Yippy! But I really LOVE my classes. Well, except for one which I won't dignify with a shout out on my blog.

Blakely has to get braces. Random thought here but I think I pretty much can forget getting a MacBook. Oh well, parenting is a "give up" job. LOL

American Idol is getting on my nerves. I like Ellen but I really don't like her as a judge. Honestly, there are so many great singers this competition I can't tell them apart. My early faves are the chick with the lip ring, Big Mike, and that guy with long blonde hair. He kind of reminds me of the Naked Cowboy in NYC.

The Olympics keep me pretty much glued to the tube. I LOVE the Winter Olympics! Great back stories. My favorite Olympian this year is Canadian. I think Alexander Billedot (sp) is absolutely the best thing since sliced bread. I'm so glad he won the gold! I can tell he's just a very nice young man with a gentle soul. LOVE him! No disrespect to Team USA.

Well, hope all have a wonderful week. I'm paying bills and doing Spanish homework today. Joy unsurpassed. LOL Later.....

Love is Patient, Love is Kind

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

I googled the history of this holiday because I was curious. I remembered, fuzzily, something about a priest who became a saint. Miracle of miracles....I was right! LOL Anyhoo, Valentine the Priest, defied Claudius (scary Roman emperor) by marrying couples in love. He was found out and executed. Became a saint. End of story.

Flash forward to 2010. Valentine's Day is about sending the one, or ones, you love a card, flowers, candy, jewelry, stuffed animal, etc. It's also the holiday a lot of people choose to become engaged or even get married. It's romantic, sweet, and wonderful IF you have an admirer, lover, significant other, or spouse. Not so much if you are unattached. Not so much if you are "down on love" or just plain depressed. It's a pretty crappy holiday for those.

Me and AD don't really celebrate Vday. It's the day after his birthday and well, I don't want him spending money on flowers. LOL We just kind of try to not have a repeat of the Valentine's Day Massacre (google it!) at our house and he picks up after himself without me telling him to. LOL But for our baby, we still do the whole stuffed animal/present route. That's where our true love will always be bonded. THAT's our valentine EVERY day of the week. Awwwwww. ;)

OK, off of Valentine's and onto reality.

The snow is finally melting!!! Yay!! I am soooooo ready for warmer days. And can I just say how fast this year is flying by? What the heck? I'm not complaining because the faster it goes, the faster I get done with school.  Speaking of school, I have it all mapped out. Basically, I won't have a summer. But that's OK. It's a small price to pay. I will be only 6 hours short of my Master's. But I also have to pass THREE tests to get the dang thing. At this point, I'm not ready. By end of summer, I better be.

Speaking of summer, I'll just have to take a late summer vacay. I'm going to make it a really, really good one. I'm planning on taking Blakely to Boston, DC, and NYC. Cross fingers PLEASE.

Blakely's school raised tuition. I really don't have a problem with it, but I would like to know exactly where the money goes. I know what the teachers make....and it definitely doesn't go to them (well, maybe a few) but NOT the ones in the trenches. I'll shut up on that. This is in print and I don't feel like defending my words....yet.

Well, hope all have a wonderful President's Day holiday. If you don't know why we have that one, well google or bing it! lol

To my butterfly sister in Memphis: A VERY special and HAPPY HEART day to you! This is YOUR day! ;)

Later blog readers.....

OK, ENOUGH Already

Let me begin this post by declaring the following:

I live in Arkansas NOT Alaska.

That being said, I have enjoyed the snowfall but now it's time for Spring. The snow is beautiful and all, but ENOUGH already. Cabin fever is kind of an understated emotion right now. LOL

I'm just not used to this kind of weather. I don't think ANY of us here in the Delta of Arkansas are used to it. Schools are closed all over and even ASU closed these past two days. Honestly, I could never live in a "snow" state. All I've done for the past FIVE days is eat, sleep, eat, sleep, eat some more, eat some more, eat some more, sleep, etc. I think you get the picture. I would weigh 500 lbs easily if this were the norm. I haven't even been able to get to the gym. Tragic! LOL

On the upside, it is fun to play in the white stuff. Below is a pic of Blakely driving the Rhino "fancy" 4-wheeler with me riding shotgun.

Hopefully, things will get back to normal pretty soon here in the Natural State. However, apparently we are in for a little more precipitation this weekend. Gosh, I really  hope the weathermen are wrong AGAIN. I'm ready for flip-flop weather!

Not much else going on. I'll try to come up with something a little more entertaining for the next entry. Later blog readers.......

Tuna Salad, Momma, Precious & Wordsworth

Tuesday evening AD made some tuna fish salad. I had not eaten yet, and really wasn't very hungry, so I told him I'd finish whatever he didn't eat. I took one bite of the tuna salad and said, and I quote, "this is the worst tuna fish I've ever eaten AD." Of course, I continued eating it. He never made that good of tuna salad anyway, so I just figured it was something weird he added. My stomach starting hurting a little bit in the middle of the night.

Wednesday morning it was hurting a lot. I'll spare you the details, but it called for vast quantities of Imodium & Pepto. Seriously, ILL.  I called AD and told him of my difficulties. Turns out he'd had a few "difficulties" as well, but not near as bad as me. Of course, I'm 1 foot shorter and 100 lbs lighter. Go figure. Just for kicks, I go check the expiration date on the mayo. I won't tell you the results, but let's just say, I found the culprit. Blech and double blech!!! I probably will not be eating tuna salad EVER again.

I only survived this episode because of my momma. I called her. She came over armed with Diet Sprite & Pepto (I already had the Imodium!). I love my momma. Period.

I've kind of been trying to act cooler than I actually am lately. I think it's because my birthday is coming up. I looked in the mirror yesterday and I knew I was older. Not that I didn't realize that I AM older, I just now noticed that I'm LOOKING older. Not happy about that. Pestering AD about some "procedures" that I think I would enjoy. I know some people are totally against that sort of thing, I just don't happen to be one of those people. When did this aging thing take me over?!?!?!? For pete's sake, I'm doing every thing I can to stay "mentally" young, and I even work out regularly. But the face IS what the face IS. And the neck. Don't even get me started on my neck! I'll keep you posted on this when, not if, I get a "procedure." ;)

I bought a couple of books on Thursday. "Slaughterhouse Five" which I'm ashamed to say I've never read and "Push," the novel the movie Precious is based on. "Push" has got me gripped. I barely took time out to blog today because of it. It is a difficult read because of the subject matter. However, I LOVE this book. I know this girl. Social work introduced me to several Precious's. Here's what  I would like to share with my blog readers and I hope I don't offend:

1. Each person living in this world is a human being. Divinely created in the image of God. I know this last statement some may disagree with, but it is how I choose to believe. I have no doubts. That being said #
2. It is hard enough living in this world just being "you." YOU are supposed to be different. WE are supposed to embrace differences because, through those differences, we learn and become better human beings.
3. Do not judge others...period. That doesn't mean you like everybody or agree with everybody but you don't really know a person unless you know their personal history. Experiences shape a person. Some experiences are so devasting and/or negative, that a person may not be able to see past the experience. A lot of times what you THINK you KNOW/understand is wayyyyy off base.
4. I think it boils down to respect, compassion, and tolerance. The last two, to me, are the best teachings Jesus brought to the table. Pray for the right path and the right way and it will be shown.
5. Nobody's perfect. I fail miserably at 2-4 just like everybody else. Why? Because I'm human. But that doesn't mean I don't know the difference or stop trying to get it right.

I will leave you with the words of Williams Wordsworth that begin the book "Push":

If thou be one whose heart the holy forms
Of young imagination have kept pure,
Stranger! henceforth be warned; and know, that pride,
Howe'er disguised in its own majesty,
Is littleness; that he who feels contempt
For any living thing, hath faculties
Which he has never used; that thought with him
Is in its infancy. The man, whose eye
is ever on himself, doth look on one,
The least of nature's works, one who might move
The wise man to that scorn which wisdom holds
Unlawful, ever. O, be wiser thou!
Instructed that true knowledge leads to love...

Let Me Just Begin by Saying

I am going to write a book. I don't know how and I don't know when, but I know I will need to do it before I lose all my mental faculties. Of course, I probably should hurry up! LOL
Now for some randomness. Every good blog needs a little useless banter. ;)

1. Snow days are not for me. I totally turn into a slug. I wake up (barely), I eat anything carb-y, I nap (often after eating), I wake to eat again, I watch television (a rare treat), and I eat AGAIN. Then I go to bed and start all over again the next day. It's very counterproductive to my delicate zen balance. But on the upside:
2. I watch really great movies. I watched Doctor Zhivago (TWICE). It was the new one with Kiera Knightley as Lara. I never thought I would find a replacement for my Omar Sharif, but this new Yuri is the BOMB! And I don't even know his name. I could google but I kind of like the not knowing. I then watched Twilight. I've read the book (not a fan), actually I've read all of them, but I really like the movie. Finally, I watched Madame Bovary. Man, that's a piece of literature that will stay with you for quite some time. She was one sad and twisted chick. But I always feel the most sorry for poor Dr. Charles Bovary. Pitiful. Which leads me to:
3. 16th century literature. I LOVE it. This kind of freaks me out. I think it's because I have such an awesome professor. She really makes the stories come alive. I love all of the behind the scene nuances that I would've never "got" without taking this class.

OK, enough random thoughts. I have two more items of interest I would like to share with you:

1. My friend "A" took a turn for the worse a couple of days ago. We're talking critical. But with the power of prayer, the hands of the medical staff, and A's sheer will to live, she made it through. She has a long road of recovery ahead but I have NO doubt she will recover. Positive thinking and prayer. You just can't beat that combo.
2.  Today is my momma's birthday! I'm so thankful I still have my mom. I talk to her every single day. She's the coolest mom I know and I love her. I won't tell you her age because frankly, she would kill me. But I will say she doesn't look near as old as she actually is. Gah, I hope she's not reading this! LOL

Have a great week blog readers! Later.....