Day 29, Wednesday: Five songs or pieces of music that speak to you or bring back memories.

Use Grooveshark or YouTube to include them in the post
I'm going to post about new to me music I've found recently.  Real music is not always on the radio! Hope you all enjoy!

Unaware by Allen Stone
I never expected all of that soul to come out of his voice!  I was raising holy music hands y'all! I love everything about this song! He did that!

Hell Yeah by Stacy Barthe
I'd never heard of her or her music now I need to find all of her music!  Her voice, the lyrics, the freaking beat! I love everything about this song too. And did yall peep her super dope style!?  All the flyness!!

What Profit by Dwele featuring Phife Diggy.  I've never been a big Dwele fan but  I've always been a huge Phife Dog fan!

Make it Bun Dem by Skrillex and Damian Marley.  B introduced me to this song and I loved it instantly!

Metropolis by Janelle Monae. I think her voice  is amazing and that she is very underrated!

Day 28, Tuesday: Only pictures

Day 27, Monday: A letter to your readers

Dear Readers:
I like comments.  Please and thank you. 
I know some of y'all hate that captcha thing but it is necessary to keep the spammers away!  I truly appreciate you all coming over here to my little nook on these here internets. 

Day 26, Sunday: Something You Read Online



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     Leave a link and discuss, if you'd like.        I actually found this article via a blogger I follow, Erica B's D.I.Y. Style.  The article, The Lost Art of Dress, is about master dressmaker and professor Linda Przybyszewski.  She basically discusses how many people don't dress with care any longer. It sparked a memory of when I was young and how my grandmother always stayed fresh when she stepped out of the house.  Her clothes were always freshly ironed and she NEVER EVER EVER stepped out of the house without foundation garments: slips, girdles, GOOD bras.   The women in my family made most of their clothes so the clothes were always tailored to their bodies.  They taught me how to dress for my body and how to do it tastefully. There were never booty shorts, shown midriffs, walking out the house with a scarf on your head, in pajamas or house slippers.  NONE of that mess flew.  They always told me to "care about how you look." I often repeat this same statement to my own daughters.  I firmly believe that when you look good you feel good, you hold your head higher, your stride is longer and more purposeful.    I don't mean you have to be dressed to The Nines all of the time but are you and your clothes clean and wrinkle- free? Do they fit properly? Are you showing any of your unmentionables, places or undergarments? Is your hair nicely coiffed? Are you dressed appropriately for the occasion?   Care about how you look.      

 

Day 25, Saturday: Something Someone Told You About Yourself...

 

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    ...that you'll never forget (good or bad)       That I was "definitely my mother's child."  The person that told me meant it as an insult because my mother's history preceded her. She was a sho nuff badass in her younger days and was often judged based on her past.  However, I took that supposed insult as a compliment.    My mother often worked two jobs to take care of me, my sisters and my daughter.  She sacrificed a lot to, at the time, get her B.S. degree (she went on to get her PhD).  I took this person's intended insult to mean that I was resilient, intelligent,  compassionate, hard-working and took no crap. So yes I am, proudly, my mother's child.      

   

Day 24, Friday: Your Top 3 Worst Traits

   

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I'm not sure I agree with ALL of the words in this picture but that's neither here nor there! LOL   1.  I can hold a grudge. I don't grudge over silly stuff.  My grudges are legitimate TO ME.  I don't think about how to get back at people who wrong me, I don't dwell on it or anything like that. I'm just aware that I no longer like you and won't even acknowledge your existence again until I am good and ready.    2.  I over think stuff.  Like I will have a really good idea or plan and instead of just putting it into action, I think it to shreds.  I am actively working on this though.   3.  I am indecisive. Don't give me 25 options because I will change my mind 20 times!  This is probably why I usually don't care about other people making plans.  If all I have to do is give a little input and show up, I'm winning!  Nonetheless, I am actively working on this because I hear it drives people mad.    

 

Day 23, Thursday: Things you've learned that school won't teach you

 

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  Real world budgeting.    You can take all of the accounting/finance courses you want but nothing compares to actually budgeting.  Once you are thrust into real world situations when there's more bills than money, you figure stuff out.  When you are young and don't have an emergency fund and your tire blows out right after you paid all of your bills and don't know what to do.  Real world budgeting situations are lessons I learned mostly outside of school.     How to follow my dreams.   School often teaches you how to find a "good paying job with benefits." I didnt learn that I could actually do what I love and get paid for it until far later in life.  People who've been in the workforce for good lengths of time often tell me that if they could do it over they would have done something they loved. Better late than never though.    

       

Day 22, Wednesday: Rant about something....

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Get up on your soapbox and tell us how you really feel. (a pet peeve, a current event, a controversial topic, something your husband or roommate or neighbor or boss does that really ticks you off)

I will keep this short: Can we PLEASE let the stay at home mom vs working mom vs women who choose NOT to have children debate die? I mean seriously!!

Women have enough for real issues to deal with (folks trying to vote and take away our reproductive rights for starters) rather than fighting with one another about who is the better/worst woman?  Can we all agree that being a mother is hard as hell? That what might work for your family may not work for mine and that's OK? That we all sacrifice something whether is adult interaction, money, time, etc. for our families? That we all second guess our decisions? That we could all use support from one another instead of hateration in this dancery?

It is a whole hell of a lot easier to genuinely support one another than it is not to!

     

 

Day 21, Tuesday: A list of links to your favorite posts in your archives

 

Honey Mustard Shrimp

Orange Glazed Salmon

Oatmeal Cream Sandwiches

B in Blue

On Living Your Life: Live Life 

   

Day 20, Monday: Get real. Share something you're struggling with right now

 

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That picture cracks me up!  One because, really, OMG as your weight? And two, the picture has white feet and I am clearly not white! LMBO!

My weight is the most pressing thing I am struggling with right now.  I often find it difficult to push forward. My days are early and long, B is busy with extra-curricular activities, my drive to and from work is long, there's ALWAYS something that needs to be wiped down, washed, put away, organized or repaired in the house and sometimes I am just tired.  Too tired to do anything more than prepare a meal for B and lounge on the couch or in the bed until I fall asleep. Finding dedicated time to exercise is truly a struggle for me.

Even while typing all of that I see the words for what they are...excuses.

I hate hate hate excuses. To me, excuses are obstacles you can control.  I know my lack of energy is directly related to my weight gain and sedentary lifestyle.  I also know how energized I feel after exercising and how proud I am of myself when I exercise consistently. I control how important exercise and my health is to me and I have not made it a priority in a long time. 

I recently begin doing a Wednesday Weigh In in an attempt to keep myself accountable towards my goals.  My first goal is five pounds.  This Wednesday will make three weeks since the first WW-I post.  I've lost and gained that five pounds within that three week period.  I have not been consistent.  Exercising consistency is key for me.  If you are doing it right, weight loss is a slow process that really takes dedication and patience.  This is a struggle I DO NOT plan on having for long because I have a goal that I WILL achieve.

 

 

Day 19, Sunday: Five of your favorite blogs and what you love about them

     

  My sweet baby sister @TheNinahBee. She is so creative and funny and just full of all around awesomeness! Please go check her out...she even makes super dope jewelry.      

Paige over @TheLastDoughnut.  She is one of my newest favorites.  She's funny, has the cutest dogs, she's a runner and super cute.  She slays my spirit with her abs y'all!      

Dr. Manning over @ReflectionsOfAGradyDoctor. She's an Atlanta based doctor with a BHE (you'll have to read her blog to figure out what that references).  She loves her family, her job and writing. And her writing is so beautiful y'all.  When I first found her blog a couple of years ago I literally spent a weekend reading her archives. Not even kidding. I love her spirit and totally have a girl crush on her! LOL       Luvvie over @AwesomelyLuvvie. She is UBER hilarious.I mean she needs to write for her own sitcom seriously or take her show on the road.  She owns a non-profit that she stomps hard for! I think she is a total rock star       Ashley over @NotWithoutSalt I seriously swoon every time I see her photos. They are beautiful! Stunning even. I've yet to try one of her recipes because I always get lost in the photograph!      

   

Day 18, Saturday: Tell a story from your childhood....

 

 Dig deep and try to be descriptive about what you remember and how you felt     Going to my maternal grandmother's house. I used to LOVE her home.  To me it was fancy because it was so modern compared to the four room house we lived in at the time.  I mean it had TWO bathrooms! LOL   Visiting Mudear meant I could play piggy and kickball with my friends. It meant riding a for real ten speed bike all over the neighborhood with those same friends.  It meant stopping by the candy lady's house for freeze cups that only cost 25 cents.  It meant not having to come in the house when the street lights came on as long as I stayed in front of the house.  It meant being outside so long and being so fOnky and being so bitten the hell up by mosquitoes that we had to take bathes with a cap full of bleach.  It meant staying up all night to watch secular music videos because Mudear had this magical thing called cable!  It meant seeing the boy who lived across the street who I secretly had a crush on but who was a bit older than me. He would always walk by me and sing an old Hall and Oates song, One on One! HA...we were so UN-grown! LOLOL   Going to my grandmother's also meant I would be able to bake something in her kitchen!  She always always always had something for me to bake or even a new technique to teach me.  She was so patient with me and I tried to soak up every thing she taught me.   I have so many fond memories of being at my grandmother's house, it was home, it was safe, it was fun, it was love!    

       

Day 17, Friday: A favorite photo of yourself and why

   

  This is the day I did my big chop.  I cut off the remainder of my relaxed hair and rocked a teeny weeny afro (TWA).  That day in general was just really good. After the haircut, Babe, Big E and I went to Kemah and had the most lovliest of days.   I love this picture because I looked so dope my baby girl told me I was "brave."    

Day 16, Thursday: Something difficult about your "lot in life" and how you're working to overcome it

    So I'm a black woman (surprise!) and all my life I had to fight I've had to manage other people's generalized stereotypes of being black and being a black girl/woman.    When I was in grade school in MS, I was constantly told that "I spoke well" or that I "looked so clean" by my white teachers.  I was often made to sit by myself to take, and retake, tests because the teacher didn't believe I could score "this high" on a test while her white students didn't do nearly as well.   Even as an adult working in corporate American in a professional capacity I can't even tell you how many times I've been mistaken for the administrative assistant and asked to fetch coffee.  Of course there is nothing wrong with being an assistant but to automatically assume I'm one because I am the ONLY brown lady in the room used to be off putting. I couldn't possibly be one of your colleagues right?   I'm not a welfare queen, a baby momma, a drug addict or uneducated. Nor do I use the N-word, speak slang that much or speak ugly to my children or whatever stereotype YOU have about black women. I'm just a regular woman, with dreams and hopes who's full of life, has a great family and mostly a great life.   I'm not necessarily trying to overcome this "lot in life" because one I don't feel like my color or gender burdens me so much as it seems to burden simple people. Secondly, I can't control what other people assume about me based on their narrow view about black people and/or women.  All black people are not the same just like all white/Asian/Mexican/other are not the same.  If you don't take the opportunity to get to know me for ME, sadly that is your loss!