Saving the word, one turtle at a time!

*Cue the superhero music*   (Reptile Rescue 101)

We <3 turtles.  We are more in love with sea turtles, but all God's children are created equal, and so the same applies to turtles.  

Yesterday, I was driving Vinnie and I back home from his job (hence the Moe's shirt) when I saw something in the road.  When I got closer I saw it was a turtle and of course I switched lanes to go around it.  For those of you who live here or did live here, we were driving down the Trenholm Road extension, hence us naming the turtle "Trenhy."  For those of you who don't know the area, the extension in a 4 lane road with a large safety island.  It's quite a wide stretch of road and this turtle was crossing at a part of the road that is just over a hill, so anyone coming over it may or may not see a small reptile, such as this one, trying to to follow in the chicken's footsteps.  Stupid chicken.... :P

So after I drove around the turtle and headed a few more blocks toward home I said, "awwww man, I'm going to be so sad if we come back later and find that little guy squished!" And Vinnie said, "well what are you waiting for!? Turn us around and I'll go get him!"  :) I love my husband.  

One U-turn and a left turn later, I am parked in the safety island with our flashers on, handing Vinnie two grocery bags as gloves to go get the turtle, reminding him to please NOT get hit by a car in the process of saving our little be-shelled friend.  Vinnie successfully got the turtle and placed him off the road, back in the direction he was coming from...(silly men)...and so I hollered out, "um, wasn't his head going the other way?"  To which my dear, sweet and somewhat unobservant husband replies, "yeah....he was walking that way" and points in the opposite direction of where he placed the turtle. *mentally smacking myself in the head with my hand*  I now yell back over the roar of traffic, "don't you think we should take him the way  he was going so he doesn't try this whole 'crossing the road thing' again?"  *Vinnie gets that 'lightbulb over the head' look on his face and goes "oh yeah! good idea!" smiles at me and goes and gets the turtle, which he then brings over and I take this picture below right after we named him.  Of course at this point, this turtle is so far in his shell, all you can see are the very tips of his front feet....but I assure you he was very much alive and in there.  If I were a turtle, I would hide from me too. :) 

Vinnie and "Trenhy" the turtle

After the naming and the picture taking, Vinnie ran across the other 2 lanes of traffic and walked a few yards into the wooded area where we presumed Trenhy was heading.  It was a wonderful experience for us to share....a good teamwork exercise for us.  If I do say so myself, Vinnie and I make a wonderful team in everything we do......and now I guess we can add "saving turtles" to that list. 

Good luck Trenhy.....you are one fine reptile...

***On a quick and final sidenote, GO GAMECOCKS!  I'm glad we are 4-0 in the season, but I would be more glad if Garcia would stop making stupid choices, and I would be even MORE glad if we could clone Lattimore and let him play every position on the team.....just saying ;) ***

Mac & Cheese please!

I  have the world's BEST macaroni and cheese recipe EVER!  I'm not bragging I swear.  If you have eaten it, and many of you who are reading this blog post have, you will know I speak the truth.

Several dear friends of mine, who have recently moved to NC and TX, have been asking me for weeks (okay maybe months) to please send them this recipe.  So Caitlin, Nancy and George....this post's for you!  

But I figured I may as well share the love with everyone else while I'm at it. 

A little history behind this deelish dish:  

My dear friend and "other mother" as I call her, Karen, gave me this recipe about 2 years ago when I started down the road of "homemaker/wife/chef/etc).  It is her great grandmother's recipe, which makes it at least 50 years old.  It certainly has stood the test of time.  This is my favorite mac and cheese in the WORLD and I am picky about my mac.  Guess you could say I'm a connoisseur of sorts when it comes to comfort food.  Don't even get me started on mashed potatoes and gravy.....we could be here ALL day! 

On to the dish!  This following is the exact original recipe but I put a little bit of my own spins on it, as any good chef does.  My spins on the various parts of this dish will be in parentheses.  I hope you enjoy it.  

Fall is the perfect time to make mac & cheese for someone you love, or yourself. <3

World's Best Macaroni and Cheese:

Cook 1.5 cups of elbow macaroni (I use straight cut macaroni, but you can also use penne) in lightly salted boiling water til tender. Drain and set aside.  

In a large saucepan, melt 3 TBS of butter, then using a wooden spoon, blend in 2 TBS of all purpose flour, 1/2 tsp salt and a few dashes of pepper (to your taste).  If you use salted butter, leave out the 1/2 tsp of salt.

Add 2 cups of milk (you can use any milk you like, I always use 1 cup skim milk and 1 cup heavy cream, if I have it on hand....yes, this dish is fat free! haha) cook and stir constantly until THICK and BUBBLY.  

DO NOT WALK AWAY AT THIS STEP!  Yes, it's going to take a while for that cold milk to get hot and do it's magic in the pot to make this sauce, but I am telling you, the minute you turn your back it will scorch and you will be sad....and so will I.  Yes, I will know when  you are making this dish and I will know if you walk away.  I have a 6th sense about this dish.  Don't disappoint me! :) The mixture should coat the back of the wooden spoon and when you run your finger along the back, it should leave a distinct line.  

Now add 12 slices (8 oz) of processed American cheese singles (stacked and cubed).  Yes, good old Kraft (or generic) cheese singles.  You could use more expensive cheese or sharp cheddar if you wanted, but trust me, it tastes best with the Kraft singles.  That's the way Karen's grandmother intended it to be.....and once you taste this dish, you will see why.  Stir all the cheese in until melted and fully incorporated, then mix the sauce with the pasta and pour it into a 1.5 quart glass baking dish (then I like to top it with Italian seasoned breadcrumbs or panko breadcrumbs) and bake at 350 F degrees for 35-40 min or until browned at the edges and bubbly.  Serve!  

NOTE:  This recipe "serves 6" but I almost always make a double batch.  It reheats well, but I doubt there will be any left unless you are only making this for yourself.  I used to make this often to take to my neighbors for dinner and there were 5 of us.  I always made the double batch which is supposed to "serve 12".....and there was maybe a small corner left each time after we ate it.  For quick reference, I have written just the ingredient list below.  Cut and paste the instruction for this post into a word document and you will be all set! Happy Cooking and Happy Fall! 

Ingredients: 

1.5 cups macaroni (or similar pasta)

3 TBS butter

2 TBS AP flour

1/2 tsp salt

pepper to taste

2 cups of milk (or similar combination of milk and cream)

12 slices (8 oz) processed American cheese slices

1-1.5 cups breadcrumbs for topping (if desired) 

1.5 quart baking dish (or a 3 quart dish if you double the recipe)

xoxo

J Lo

What's shakin' bacon?

Hello everyone!
I am kicking myself in the butt for not writing a post for almost a MONTH! Jeeeeze!  Oh well....I shall forgive myself for being lame and move on.

So things have been shaking pretty okay as of late. Vinnie just started working at Moe's Southwest Grill (WELCOME TO MOE'S!) this week and he is enjoying it so far and doing well.  We are so grateful to finally have extra income so we don't have to panic every month about which bills get paid and which don't.
Thank you God!  :D

You know that old adage?...."When it rain's it pours?"....well that usually is used in reference to hard times, BUT today I am using it in the good sense.  For those of you who don't know, my husband's profession is electrical test engineering.  He used to work for NASA.  Guess you could actually call him a "rocket man." Haha!  At any rate, a golf cart company in Augusta,  GA called him this week and he wound up getting a phone interview with the company on Thursday.  It went EXTREMELY well and they said they would call him back within a week to set up an in person interview in GA.  They got back to him in a week alright.....they called him the NEXT day!  :))))  He has an in person interview with the company on Monday afternoon and they are SUPER excited about (hopefully) hiring him!

My husband is a very smart man and while I am just as proud of him working at Moe's as I was when he worked for NASA.......I want him to have a job that makes use of his amazing skills and talents and challenges his mind.  He needs that to be happy.  Me, I'm perfectly happy sitting home reading a book all day.....please don't challenge my mind anymore than that!  I'm good! lol

Back to Vinnie......please say some prayers, send some good vibes or just clink your morning coffee in a toast of good luck to my sweet husband for his interview Monday.  It would be such a wonderful and amazing blessing if he gets this job in GA.  Plus....we wouldn't have to move from SC!  It's about an 1.5 hour drive one way to where he would work, but he said he used to drive that far for a job he had when he worked in TX, so if he is willing to drive each day, that's fine by me!

Things are looking up for us.....and I hope, whoever you are reading my wandering thoughts on this day, that things in your life are looking up for you too.

xo
Jessica

A preschool teacher's mantra...

So, lately I have been finding myself saying certain things over and over to my class of 3 year olds.  Things that are obvious facts, but yet seem to elude them for some reason.  If you work with kids, you know very well that nagging them to death by saying "don't do this" or "don't do that" doesn't get you very far and they begin to tune you out after they hear you say "stop hitting your friends" for the umpteenth time. 


Therefore, I have started speaking to them about certain things by making simple statements such as "shoes are not toys" when they put their shoes on and off and on and off and ON AND OFF AND OOOOON AND OOOOFF for the millionth time that day.  If you are teacher, the following list of things I say EVERYDAY (at least twice a day) will probably not surprise you......but if you don't work with kids, your jaw might just hit the keyboard.  At the very least, everyone should get a laugh out of reading the following...gotta laugh to make it through the day after all...


1) Things that are not FOOD:  Clothes are not food....you are not a goat.  Scissors are not food.....are you TRYING to hurt yourself!  Plastic hammers are not food....your teeth are not nails, therefore, there is no reason to put that in your mouth.  Shoelaces are not food...put them in your mouth again and I will take your laces...and your shoes.  Your blanket is not food....we just had lunch, you shouldn't be hungry and AGAIN, you are not a goat.  


2) Things that are not TOYS:  The edge you tore off the bag of your goldfish crackers is not a toy....please don't blow it across the table onto your friends- throw it in the trash where it won't get you in trouble.  Nap cots are not toys....don't you remember last week when you jumped on it like that and you got a bruise the size of an orange when you fell? Hmmmm??? Don't cha?!  The water cooler is not a toy....if you push the button on it just to watch the water flow like a waterfall, you are still going to have to clean it up and you are not going to get any water to drink.  Woodchips (on the playground) are not toys.....getting splinters isn't very much fun for you, or for me when I have to remove them and you won't hold still and just keep wiggling around like a worm.


3) Things that are not HATS:  Library books are not hats....your hair does not have eyes.  Your lunch plate is not a hat.....last time I checked, macaroni and cheese sauce wasn't shampoo.  Cups are not hats...no, I'm not really sorry your hair is wet...it was about 5 drops of milk, it will dry...you made the choice to put in on your head...there are consequences for your actions.


What can I say....I tell it like it is, and in return, I get a whole bunch of silly turkeys that make me crazy and make me happy all at the same time.  And sometimes, I even get something really special in return for all my zaniness, like today's "Profound Preschool" quote of the day.. From "Alvin" age 3....after I got through explaining that our smile was the shape of a crescent, and I told everyone to show me a "smiley face"..."Alvin" said..."Mrs. Jessica....smiley faces, well, they just don't have hands...(pregnant and thoughtful pause).....or knees..."  ***Mrs. Jessica laughing out loud and almost ROFL - FOR REAL*** 


Moments like that make it all worth while.  


Peace out from the preschool teacher who is TRYING to be like Mary Poppins....practically perfect in every way.  <3

What's the word?

Well the word is I haven't been on in a while to write and here's why.....


Some jobs I had recently applied for fell through, and that was hard for me to come to terms with.  Every time I get turned down for or from a job interview, I always get discouraged and feel like things will never change for me.  But I know that is not true, and my friends and family helped me refocus on that fact and move forward.  


The next thing that happened was that my father lost his job about 3 weeks ago.  That was scary, but it appears he will be okay (thanks to savings and social security) but he wants to work for a few more years anyway.  He has so many skills and such a great work record, that I'm sure he find something soon.


As if that wasn't enough, it came to pass about 2 weeks ago that my mother thought she might be losing her job. I thought that couldn't possibly happen since she had been working for nearly 4 years at the child development center she worked at.  Her parents loved her. NAEYC and ECERS were ALWAYS taken to her room when they came for visits and her work record was implacable.  She came in early, stayed late and often didn't get lunch, nor did she complain.  Well wouldn't you know it. All that hard work, time, dedication and care didn't account for anything apparently.  She lost her job this past Friday.


My husband, as many of you know, is still unemployed.  NASA all but "shutting down" didn't exactly help all the already unemployed people in his field.


At this moment.....I am the only one in my family who has a job.  And yet the student loan people who call me at 6am.....all the way until 10pm tell me they are "so sorry for my situation, but they have no more deferment or forbearance options"....despite the fact that my income places my husband and myself BELOW the poverty level.  


So.....needless to say my blog, which I love writing on, has not been the first thing on my mind as of late.  Yet, I promise you I am not here to complain or get a "pity party."  I just need to get all these worries and troubles off my chest and out of my hands and into this post.  


I can't help but feel, despite this scary place we are at right now, that God has something wonderful in store for us.  He knows all. He is great!  God has blessed me with a job when I could have none.  He has blessed me with my health.  He has blessed me with my wonderful, loving husband.  He has blessed me with dear true life-long friends and "soul sisters" who make bearing these burdens possible.  He has blessed me with my faith.  I will keep that faith and trust in Him to take care of what I cannot and to trust that I can handle what He gives me.  


Someone I work with is celebrating 15 years of being in remission from breast cancer.  I need to stop and remember that when everything seems hopeless, it could be a LOT worse.


This economy has made things hard for many people.  I have been lucky that my family has been overall, unaffected, until this month.  Things will get better again.  Things will be BETTER than before...  :D

It's the climb...

Trust30 post for the day...

"Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles." – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Write down a major life goal you have yet to achieve or even begin to take action on. For each goal, write down three uncertainties (fears) you have relating to each goal. Break it down further, and write down three reasons for each uncertainty. When you have three reasons for your fear, you’ll be able to start processing the change because you know where the fear stems from. Now you’ll be able to make a smaller changes that push you towards your larger goal. So begins the process of “trusting yourself.”

Life goal: Become a world class chef and end up on the Food Network

Uncertainties: 

1) That I won't follow through with the basic training I need to be a high caliber chef 

Reasons for this "uncertainty" : a) because I often start projects I am passionate about but I either loose interest, get distracted or do not have the time to devote to it and so I move on to the next "thing."  b) because I may have to go outside of South Carolina to get the necessary training and experience needed to become a master chef. c) because I won't have the support I need from those around me to commit to the grueling task of culinary school or another form of similar training.  Not that they wouldn't "support" me per say, just that, we usually just try to keep our heads above water these days and get by during these very hard economic times....so if right now, today, this veeeeeeery second I said, "Hey! I wanna go to culinary school and take over the world one crème brulee at a time...," I'm not certain how much approval/support it would receive. 

2) That I won't have the financial means to being pursuing this dream

Reasons for this "uncertainty" : a) because while we have always had enough to make it by, and truly I am grateful for this and I know I am extremely blessed, we have never had any extra money to throw around for "dreams."  It doesn't help that the economy and my husband's high education and experience level are keeping him unemployed.  It also doesn't help that the one industry, teaching, which was supposed to ALWAYS need people, hasn't been hiring in this state for over 3 years thus leaving me working in a day care where I make about one-third the pay I should be making.  I know one day things will get better.  That I will get a job that pays me the salary I deserve.  That my dear, sweet, hard working husband will become employed again and our lives and finances will become much more stable.  b) Even then though, I'm afraid we are going to have so much credit card debt and ever looming student loan debt, that we will still be in pretty much the same rut.  I need to think positively and I am honestly not a pessimist....just a realist.  If you don't expect too much out of life, you can't get too disappointed.  c) because when and if we ever have the money for me to purse the beginnings of this dream, I might be so happy to be financially secure that I wind up spending the extra money I could use on this dream, on other things that we want and need and will now finally be able to afford.   

3) That I won't have the necessary time to put in to educate myself further on "food"

Reasons for this "uncertainty" : a) because I already feel like I never seem to have "enough time to do the things I wanna do once I find them" (to quote Jim Croce, "Time in a bottle") and there are SO many things that I love to do already and still want to do, that I don't know how I could ever make myself focus on just this one thing, even it is what I love the most.  b) if I decide to pursue this dream, what else is going to suffer by the wayside?  Will it be something far more important like friends and family and my teaching career, which will probably be still supporting us mainly.  I can't see myself ever pushing away people in my life in order to purse this "food star," or any dream...but sometimes it's a necessary evil if you are going to reach your goal 

c) I already have a lot on my plate these days with friends and family and all kinds of other things that fall on my shoulders, I just feel that at the end of the day after taking care of all that, I won't want to or care to go practice my julienne cuts and other knife skills or successful creations of gastriques.....I will mostly likely want to sit and do nothing and simply clear my head.  However, no one can reach their goals without getting off their butts and doing something.  Dreams are not handed to us on a nice silver platter....just watch any Disney film to see how true THAT is! Haha!

So what I have learned from all this is?  That I have nothing to fear but fear itself.  Thank you FDR.  I guess there is always something you can tell yourself as an excuse to avoid doing something you love.  In my case my fears of lack of money, time and support in pursuing a culinary path.  

Much love...

Too distracted to make sense...

So, it appears I  haven't posted since the 17th, but I thought it was longer than that so I don't feel too "guilty"....for lack of a better word.

At any rate, I was sitting down with some of my saved Trust30 challenge prompts, but I just couldn't really wrap my mind around ANY of them tonight!  This day was pretty unproductive and I'm mad at myself for not getting more accomplished.  I didn't really have any set projects or chores that HAD to be completed, but I got up late, ran an errand to the grocery store, came back home and feel asleep until 5pm.  Guess I needed the rest, but it just feels like a waste of a Sunday to me. Oh well.

On a positive note, I had a job interview last week and I have another one coming up tomorrow after work.  The job I interviewed for last week was a fantastic fit for me.  It's an early interventionist position (E/I for all your Special Ed. folks out there) with a children's home.  Part of what they do is provide services to low income families and their children in the Columbia area for children ages birth to 5.  The director was AMAZING and the work I would be doing would allow me to really utilize my education, skills and talents.  The interview went well and some follow up that occurred after it gave me a positive indication that I could very well get this position.  I'm hoping to know something tomorrow.  I was very blessed to have one of my best friends Caitlin Merck, my second mother, Karen Zimmerman, and my co-worker, Aleta McKinney to write references for me which they all emailed in the same day I had the interview.  I'm very blessed indeed! <3

The job interview tomorrow I think is going to be a little more intense, and the position itself does not pay much compared to the job I applied for last week.  However, either job would be a blessing as the pay would be increased and my stress level, decreased.  

I am ready to move on from my current job, primarily because I do not feel appreciated at all where I am.  I'm not saying I need a pat on the back every 5 minutes but it is nice to be at least validated on occasion and not just berated for some tiny thing that your boss simply didn't like because she was in a mood that day.  

I recently received a compliment from boss about how well I was monitoring my class of 3 year olds on the playground.  I really didn't know how to respond to her and it occurred to me that this was the first compliment/validation I had received from her the ENTIRE time I have worked there, which has been 1.5 years!  Ridiculous.  So while I have been extremely grateful to have this job during such a hard time in our economy, and while I have loved working with some wonderful children and fellow teachers.....all the other factors weigh more and I am truly hoping this new job that I am waiting to hear back from is it......my ticket out of this current job that beats me down and makes me question my self worth on a regular basis.  I'm ready to work somewhere that I feel a sense of accomplishment each day and where at least sometimes, I am told "well done." 

Wish me luck! I will certainly be letting you know if I get the job.  

Hopefully tomorrow I will have some more words to share.

Thanks for reading!

The "man" in the mirror

Trying to catch up on some blogging from the past few weeks.  Probably will put up more than one post today.  For those of you who read these wanderings in thought.....enjoy. 

Trust30 challenge prompt:
I do not wish to expiate, but to live. My life is for itself and not for a spectacle. I much prefer that it should be of a lower strain, so it be genuine and equal, than that it should be glittering and unsteady. I wish it to be sound and sweet, and not to need diet and bleeding. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Think about the type of person you’d NEVER want to be 5 years from now. Write out your own personal recipe to prevent this from happening and commit to following it. “Thought is the seed of action.”

5 years from now I would not still want to be working at a daycare center, biding my time, and getting so caught up in the routine of working there that I NEVER bothered to doggedly purse a position befitting my experience and credentials.  There are some wonderful women who have been working at this daycare for 5 or more years now and they have become bitter and mixed up in all kinds of crazy drama.  I don't want to end up being one of them.  Frankly, it scares the heck out of me to think that I've been there for OVER a year now.


So here's my recipe for not ending up bitter and caught up in the hamster wheel, if you will, of that place:


5 cups of determination
3 cups of belief (in myself, God, and those who love me and who will help me on my path)
2 cups stick-to-it-ive-ness (hehe)
a large pinch of will power
1 cup of minding my own business (and not being sucked into other's) 
3/4 cup "go with the flow"
1 tbs of laughter (at myself and other....not in a mean way of course)
a dash of humility
a few sprinklings of confidence (but not cockiness)


Mix together gently until well combined.  Place in a sunny window to proof and to PROVE to myself that I can get out of the situation I'm in.  Then bake in a warm oven of support from those around me.  Finish by topping of with a sprinkle of excitement, to get me up and running on my path to success and to being happy and fulfilled with where I am, 5 years from now.


On a small side note......
Oh my GOD! I will be 31 in five years! YIKES!  Let's not get thinking about that just yet....


one thing at a time....

Ordinary is Extraordinary

Finally back to the #trust30 challenge!  Feels good to get back to the blog! :)  Here goes...

"Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my constitution, the only wrong what is against it." – Ralph Waldo Emerson

We are our most potent at our most ordinary. And yet most of us discount our “ordinary” because it is, well, ordinary. Or so we believe. But my ordinary is not yours. Three things block us from putting down our clever and picking up our ordinary: false comparisons with others (I’m not as good a writer as _____), false expectations of ourselves (I should be on the NYTimes best seller list or not write at all), and false investments (it’s all been written before, I shouldn’t bother). What are your false comparisons? What are your false expectations? What are your false investments? List them. Each keep you from that internal knowing about which Emerson writes. Each keeps you from making your strong offer to the world. Put down your clever, and pick up your ordinary.

My False Comparisons: I still find myself comparing my looks to others.  I've honestly never really thought of myself as beautiful, even though now I have a husband who tells me how beautiful I am each day.  I guess it's a woman thing, or maybe some lingering immaturity from my teenage years, but I still can't help when I see a friends  pic on facebook and they are looking really pretty to not hear that little voice inside say to me, "you don't look that good, you never have."  It's really strange to me, because I'm old enough and mature enough to know better- to know that looks don't matter- it's the inside that does, but that's still how I feel nonetheless.  Even when I look at some of my wedding pictures, I'm extremely critical of myself and don't think I look stunning in many of them (and I feel I should look "stunning" since it was my wedding day.)  To be honest, my photographer was AMAZING and I love each and everyone of my over 600 wedding pictures and my conscious mind knows I look KILLER in all of them,  but it's still that damn little voice in my head telling me "nope, still not good enough."  It's something I really need to get over and gain some confidence in.  I used to be really shy when I was younger, and I've gotten over most of that, but I still will find myself hanging back in a crowd and I have to MAKE myself "get in there".....part of that probably came/comes from the insecurity of my looks.  Guess I need to get a little egotistical and start telling myself how "hot" I look each day as a mantra or something.  Hahaha!

My False Expectations: These come in for me in terms of various ideas or "businesses" I've wanted to start at various points in my life.  I wanted to start a "biz" making hand-drawn pins when I was about 13-14.  I made some really awesome ones for a family reunion and got paid for it, but that's kinda where that ended.  When I was about 18 I really got interested in jewelry making and became quite skilled at the craft.  I bought all the tools and supplies and sold my creations at several luncheons for women lawyers (particularly at the holidays) and made a very good profit each time.  I have started writing several books over there years, but never really made any headway with any of them.  See a pattern?  I do! Something in my head always doubts that I can make any of these things succeed and flourish enough to be a "career"...which was my goal (deep down) behind all of these.  This is part of the reason I am being so hard on myself about blogging EVERYDAY!  I want to finally stick with something and see it through for a looooooong time.  

My False Investments:  I'm not really sure what these are for me, but I think they link fairly closely with my "false expectations."  But writing this post I am seeing I need to keep pursing things I want and love to do, even at the risk of these idea every getting big, or making me uber successful.  What matters is that I do what I love and that I love what I do.  If I stay true to that motto, I will go far.

Randomness Extreme

So as I was trying to collect myself and catch up with my blogging and email and yadda yadda yadda....

I stumbled upon this video on the yahoo home page for the CUTEST and easiest nail "art".....even I could do it and I think I might just got try it out riiiiiiiight now!

Hope everyone is having a great SATURDAY! I just saw Harry Potter 7 pt. 2, so I know i am! 

Smoke gets in your eyes...life gets in the way

As you might know, my husband, Vinnie, and I have a pet-sitting business...and a pretty successful one at that.  So suffice it to say that when I just logged into my blog and saw I hadn't posted since June 25th, I wasn't entirely surprised.  Between the 4th of July holiday weekend festivities and all the pet-sitting we had during that time, I haven't had a chance to do much of anything for myself, including writing.

But now that the smoke has cleared the air from all the fireworks, and most of our pet-sitting clients are back home, I'm getting things back in order around our house, and in my life.

So tonight's plan?  Quick library run, two pet-sitting stops, and home to get something to drink and then my fingers back around the keyboard.   

I have a habit of starting projects like my blog, and then letting things get in the way of my continuation of them.  I vowed not to let that happen this time with my aimless-in-wander blog.  So I have renewing my promise to myself right now.  Tonight I will go home and before I do ANYTHING (eat dinner, turn the tv on, change into my pajama's) I WILL write on my blog!!!

CHEERS!

Intuiton

So now that I have done all my good deeds for the day....it's time to get back to what I am really enjoying most these days....honing my verbosity...if that is actually a word.  I like it, so I'm going to officially deem it a word anyway!

Here's the next writing prompt in the #trust30 challenge.

"The secret of fortune is joy in our hands." – Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you could picture your intuition as a person, what would he or she look like? If you sat down together for dinner, what is the first thing he or she would tell you?

Ok so first, all I can really think of right now is the song "Intuition" by Jewel of her "0304" album.  Awesome song in my opinion.  I remember listening to that album when I was in high school and majorly rockin' out to this song, imagining that my bedroom was a nightclub. Haha! Yes I'm wonderfully lame and proud of it. ;)   If you don't know the song....click the play button below....go on...just do it....you know you want to....that's why God made YouTube.  No, it's not just there for you to view cute videos of piano playing cats, believe it or not.   

So now while I'm listening to this play, I'm trying to figure out what my intuition would look like.  Hmmm....it's no wonder writers drink a LOT of wine (sorry for the stereotype...blame Hollywood).
Webster's dictionary defines intuitions as "quick and ready insight." 


Going on that (and who I am as a person), I'm gonna say my intuition would be a jeans and t-shirt kinda girl.  But we aren't talking your basic "vacation souvenir tee."  We are talking a t-shirt with a bit of panache....pizazz...or something of the like, because of course she wouldn't own anything but the coolest in cheap-chiche from Goodwill or another similar treasure trove. But nonetheless, my intuition could open her closet doors, grab the closest "t-shirt" that struck her fancy, throw on her fav pair of dark denim, skinny jeans and be ready to hit the road.  We would of course be meeting up for dinner at a sushi joint, because whenever I'm hungry, my dear friend intuition never fails to answer me with "GO GET SOME FREAKIN SUSHI!!!!!"  To which I usually oblige.  I am nothing if not a good listener. :D


Upon seeing me, she would probably say, "I knew you would be here!" Well, duh, of course you did.....you are my intuition after all!!!!


Ok so that is just a little lame....but I really have no idea what he/she/it would say to me.  It would be a spur of the moment decision, going with your gut feeling and all.  So how would I/she/it/whatever have a clue what would be said til we were there.  


Isn't that the beauty of life that is lived in the moment anyway.  Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't...and that's okay and a beautiful thing. 

Helping Hands

So, my friend, Stephanie, just informed me where I can find all the writing prompts for the "30 day writing challenge."  The bad news, the actual 30 days are over and they won't resend me the prompts from the beginning.  But the good news is....she told me that they are all on the website.  So I guess I will just go back and get them one day at a time and still accomplish my goal, albeit, a little out of order.

Oh well....I never was one to color inside the lines anyway ;)

Night all....and thanks Steph!

Day 1...sort of...

So today I received day 1 and day 2 of the prompts from the "Ralph Waldo Emerson Self Reliance" writing challenge. Nice name, eh?  I feel all important and stuff.  *smiling*  

I actually had day 1 yesterday, it was just in my junk email and I don't usually look in that scary folder, so now I am going to attempt to write day 1 AND day 2 today....we shall see.

Now onward to the prompt at hand...

"Men imagine that they communicate their virtue or vice only by overt actions, and do not see that virtue or vice emit a breath every moment". - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Who is one person that you’ve been dying to connect with, but just haven’t had the courage to reach out to? First, reflect on why you want to get in touch with them. Then, reach out and set up a meeting.

The one person would have to be my childhood friend, Jennifer (Jenny) Roy.  Last I knew, she was living in New Iberia, Louisiana.  We were inseparable friends in Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade.  Summer before 3rd grade her family  moved to Louisiana, but Jenny and I stayed in very close contact, in large part thanks to our parents.  How many 3rd graders do you know that could maintain contact via snail mail (as we refer to it now) or telephone without some parental assitance, not to mention that little handy-dandy thing called money. Cha ching!


Jenny's parents always footed the phone bill for the long-distance calls we had on a regular basis.  My mom always really appreciated her mother's kindness whenever I would call Jenny and her mom would answer and say "Oh, Jenny will call you right back!" just so they would get the phone charges and not us.  Karen, Jenny's mom, knew my mom was a single parent and that money was always tight for us.  Those phone calls with Jenny and our friendship, even though only by phone and letter and Christmas package, meant the world to me.  We both wound up going through the same phases of liking various TV shows and toys and games.  Power Rangers (I was the pink ranger and she the yellow), Beanie Babies, Sailor Moon and so on. We were always kindred spirits even though we were miles apart.  (On a more reflective note, I met my husband, Vinnie, online playing Scrabble and we had a long distance relationship for the first 5 (and establishment) months of our relationship, before we even met in person.  Maybe my long distance friendship with Jenny helped me to be able to endure the ups and downs and hardships of a long distance relationship.  If that's the case, I have even more to be thankful for to Jenny than I thought to begin with.)


Jenny and I stayed in close contact through the rest of elementary school and all of middle school.  Like most good things though, there somehow seems to always have to be an end.  Our end was high school.  Turning into "mini-adults" and having lives and real things to do all of a sudden, of course we lost touch.  I have thought about trying to find Jenny several times and made several attempts in college to find her on Facebook and Myspace, but to no avail.  Even before I sat down to actually create this post, I searched Facebook again for any sign of her, but nada.  I still know her address and I'm sure I could contact her parents at that same phone number even, but I haven't gotten up the nerve to ever go that far.  


As to why I want to reconnect with Jenny? There are many reasons.  I miss her and want to know how she's doing of course, but it seems to go along with this feeling of where my life is going right now.


I mentioned in my first post that I feel I am at a crossroads and I'm hoping writing will help me figure things (whatever they are) out.  Jenny was such an important and meaningful part of my life, I feel like having her back in it would be another anchor for my life.  I don't make friends fast or often.  Not true, lasting, deep friendships anyway.  I mean, I'm a very likable person and all, but I've never been one to care for superficial, superfluous types of relationships, be it friends or otherwise.  That's why I never dated anyone who I didn't at least see some small possibility of marrying someday.  If I couldn't picture myself walking down the aisle with the guy, what was the point?  Some would say, "oh you know, you've got to put yourself out there! Have fun....live a little!"  Umm, ok, you do that.  Not for me. Never was, never will be.  Besides, that part's over with anyway. Married now and happy to be! 


Anyway, it's the same thing with friendships for me, minus the aisle part.  If I can't picture myself in 10 years sitting on a porch swing, drinking iced tea and cutting up about some random crazy thing with you, then I don't see the point.  I can count my true, TRUE friends on one hand...barely.  Unfortunately, from time to time, certain fingers, erm, friends I mean, fall off my hand.  It's disappointing but what can you do.  Live and let live? Pretty much.  I'm learning not to get too attached to anyone until they really prove themselves.  That way, when they let me down, I won't really care.  Que sera sera, and all that jazz. Jenny was a friend who never let me down, a soul sister if you will (not to steal Train's thunder there).  I don't find people very often who really get the REAL me. Jenny got me...


So in closing, I guess the thing to do now is, find Jenny's parents, send them a letter asking them to pass my contact info on to Jenny, and hopefully since I am reaching out, she will reach back.


See you soon Jenny....maybe our "good thing" was just to a pause and didn't come to an end after all.

30 day challenge

Hi everyone! Thanks for stopping by my blog.  I actually "made" this blog about 2 years ago as a tool to write each day, but never got around to using it....so here goes nothing!

I find writing therapeutic, stimulating and challenging (in a good way) and lots of people will tell you that it's something important to do everyday....if you can find the time.  I decided today to MAKE the time from now on.  My life is at a point where I feel like I am at another crossroads, so to speak, and I feel that writing just might help me figure out which way I am supposed to go- both metaphorically and physically.

So, to start off on the path, I am doing 30 day writing challenge that I found out about through a graduate school friend's Facebook page.  She has a blog, and a really good one I might add, and is doing this same challenge as well.  I read about it and signed up to get the daily prompts. It started a few weeks ago, so I don't know if they will still send me the prompts, but I guess I'll find out soon.

Wish me luck!

(That's one of my bridal portraits...for those of you who don't know me personally. Been married one year this past May!)