Are You Kitten Me?

Today I AM going to vent!  When my daughter was young she used to say “are you kitten me?”, so I thought it appropriate to bring it over into today’s discussion and also show you some cute little heels!

I am thoroughly discouraged by my familia.  The jokers living under my roof! The moochers! The money grabbers! The loafers! The crumb-snatchers! Shall I go on…..? 

It kills me to no end that life isn’t getting any easier with young adults living at home.  I would so trade places with MI MidLife Maven, it isn’t funny.  Now I don’t know her complete living situation but having a kid out the door sounds like a little bit of heaven!

Shall we begin...?

My two older children are of the college and full employment ages.  My son, the oldest, “the leader of the slack”, decided to take several years off from school and is now interested in pursuing his college career.  I applaud this effort but I am of the mindset that you definitely can do more than one thing at a time buddy.  Look at me; I’m juggling, sewing, driving, cooking, studying, working, sleeping, and showering all at the same time. 



J Renee ~ Adena at Zappos.com

He seems to think that he should just ease into school and out of working because working and going to school is going to be a lot.  No joke pumpkin.  My moochers know I don’t tolerate any laziness...so he better not be surprised when his new living quarters are in the garage. Yes dear, You CAN work and go to school, AND to top it off you don’t have the added pressure of mortgage, bills, and people to feed.  ARE you kitten me?

My middle girl, “the responsible one”, has recently gone b-a-n-a-n-a-s (not the good bananas, Rachel Zoe says, but the crazy koo-koo bananas that makes you fear for the future of the world).  Last year she got a nice used car with less than 40,000 miles on it.  The deal was to drive it back and forth to work and school.  Well you know how well that went over, school became driving to friends house, driving people to Africa, going to the Moon, etc., all with no maintenance or oil changes, the engine went bye-bye. UGH! So now here we are with a car note, insurance payment, and no vehicle to drive.  Now she says that when she gets her next car, cuz she just knows she’s getting one, she’ll know to get regular oil changes….Are YOU kitten me?  That was basically the only conversation we were having the whole time you had your car…Get your oil changed.  Instead of good morning, I asked how the car was.  Now she’ll remember after one perfectly good vehicle has been immobilized.  Again, I say!….ARE YOU kitten me?

Haven’t had enough yet?     Shall I continue…?

Then we get to the youngest, “the chocolate, cheerleading mouse”(CCM),” the current taker of the largest share of the wallet”, this one had lost ALL her hurkies!  For 4 score and twenty years, we haven’t had living room furniture, mainly because I was waiting on people to start moving out of the house.  I figured I would start working on the living room as the house grew empty…but no, they keep going and coming, like ants at a picnic.  So I waited and I waited until I just couldn’t take it anymore and I brought some furniture for the living room.  So one day recently as the story goes, the CCM used the couch as part of her cheer stunts!  She has run up and down the couch and has leaped off of it!  What….Wait….ARE YOU KITTEN ME?!!!!  Her explanation was it was quick and she was just so excited and…“the couch was right there.” So an edict has gone forth, no one but my company on  the couch for the next 10 years.

Last but not least, we move on to our sweet little Chanel…the fur ball of our lives.  I was adamantly against getting a pet, since I knew that it would be my new responsibility.  But the CCM talked her dad into getting her one and I fell in love!  Chanel was doing so well then kaplowie….off the wagon.  I come in one day and find that Ms. Chanel has been tinkling on my new rug. A light bulb goes off….that’s where she’s been peeing.  ARE YOU KITTEN ME little doggie?!!!!

What in the world has my house come to? 

So this week, the slacker, Chiquita gone bananas, the Choc-cheerleading mouse, and the cute little dog better get it together.  I am putting on my heels and I am getting the house in order! And I’m not KITTEN!

I'm Walking in Faith, I encourage you to do the same!

MiVida

 

Mi Vida is my message

My Life is my message.  Mahatma Ghandi

 

As I slip back into this world of blogging, I realized that I am a little boring.  I would love to have some great exciting things happening to me daily, so I could “Wow” readers with my exploits.  However, I realized that being exciting is costly.  I looked into a trip to skydive…I figured that would be very exciting and it is.  It also cost a whole lot too.  So does hot air ballooning and horseback riding lessons, etc.

So I guess until I hit the Mega-jackpot of something, then I will remain “boring” and excite you with my wordsmith-ing or better yet my life.  Although I am not jumping out of planes or flying across the world to taste exotic foods, I am doing what all of us do well.  I am living my life.

Life is not easy and in everything we do there should be a lesson.  All of us learn something daily.  From our experiences, we associate things with encounter with lessons we have learned.  Some lessons are good, some not so.  I just love this quote, “Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they’re supposed to help you discover who you are.” Bernice Reagan Johnson  Many of my challenges...lessons have helped me to be a better me.

Some challenges, I like to call them lessons, make you pause for the cause…but I am a survivor!  What hasn’t killed me has made me stronger! (Thanks Bey and Kelly Clarkston, oh yeah…& Gloria Gaynor, she survived first.) 

I do believe life should be lived to the fullest but it is the small things that make us who we are.  We have people we love and who love us; we have jobs, whether we love them or not, we get up and go there daily to live; and we have an opportunity to improve our current situations by becoming a better us.  Our lives are the messages we send.

If we don’t like the message, we have the power to change it.  We set the tone and can overcome any obstacle because we believe we can.  I am in school because I want to change the course of my career.  I attend church because I believe in a power greater than me. I am a great mother. And so on and so on….

I have so many facets to who I am. I realize something new about me every day.  So this week, think about your life message…What does it say and does it represent the true you.  Start creating your message and sending it out.  It’s your life and you can say whatever you want.  Slip on your favorite shoes and Keep Walking...you have just started your journey.

 

MiVida! (My Life)

Slippers by CitySlips.com

http://www.cityslips.com/collections/frontpage

 

BARE.....

Hi Friends…..I have returned.


This morning is the start of a very new chapter in my life. Returning to writing. For the longest time, I haven’t felt the urge to share my feelings. I felt like it was…is futile. I wasn’t looking for any great revelations or any notoriety, just some open dialogue with other women, moms, friends, ladies who could relate. But so many times, I felt that my words fell on deaf ears/blind eyes. While I received comments occasionally, I desired constant feedback.

• Lesson one…don’t desire feedback.

I didn’t create my blog to vent, rant, or complain, I did it for me. Sometimes just to bare my soul and other times, hopefully just brighten your day. I wanted to be a voice, your voice, your friend, your buddy and myself. Often, that’s just not enough…..or is it.

I recently heard Jay-Z’s song, “ Open Letter”,(yes….I heard it) and I understand why he did it but unlike Mr. Z, I’m not bashing or re-hashing, I’m shifting, gifting, and baring it all…..I’m telling my truth.

In 2011, as my life changed and so did my writing…It mirrored my soul and nothing emerged. I just felt like this piece of paper (pre-typing) BARE. I had/have some great things that were budding in my life during this time but a cloud lingered over me and I just couldn’t shake it. It was like those commercials where the cloud follows the lady and makes her fall into a hole, then with the help of this miracle drug, she emerges and takes back her life….but anybody notice that the cloud is still there. (That commercial cracks me up every time….I always yell” But the cloud is still there”). I am not sure if the people around me noticed or cared that I was under a cloud and to me, that’s the scary part. I started packing on pounds not just physically but mentally and spiritually too. I was carrying too much weight.

The thought of baring it all (naturally or mentally)….UH NEVER. You’ll never get a glimpse of me naked….

• Lesson Two: In order to heal, we have to reveal; bare it all and sometimes be ashamed…Trust me it is very cathartic.

Personally, I hadn’t visited my own blog since December of 2011. As I went out and spoke at conferences around the nation, I cringed every time someone mentioned FaithWithHeels, mostly out of embarrassment and conviction because I had left something I loved; abandoned and alone. I had friends who nudged and encouraged me to get back in stride but I just felt like laying down my keyboard and letting go.

FaithWithHeels has a presence and I HAD to be present to make it work. If I checked out, no one will really notice…right? So as time passed, my guilt about FaithWithHeels waned and I would only discuss FWHs if I was confronted with it. The sad part is, that was one of the most enjoyable times of my life, but other personal issues just clouded the joy in it.

• Lesson Three: Do what you love, even if you are the only one doing it. It doesn’t matter if you love it.

This semester I landed in a social media class and guess what?! First assignment is creating a blog….I guess the Lord isn’t finished with me yet.

• Lesson Four: Don’t run from your calling or destiny…The Lord always has a way of getting you exactly where He wants/needs you to be.

So I return “once again”….and hopefully you are still here. You are waiting to hear from me and boy do I have a lot to share. Some of it is very funny and some will make you stop and stare. Join me on this journey even if it is only for a while but I promise it will be entertaining, exhilarating and engaging….or just plain hilarious.

I’m starting over and baring it all….I’m taking my shoes off and starting fresh….FAITH…with NO Heels.