My Kids Keep Asking When Am I Going To Get a Job

My five year old twins wonder why we are not up at 5AM in the morning anymore while I serve coffee in the cat’s bowl and pour turtle food for cereal.

About six months ago, I quit my job in retail management of which I had dedicated over 15 years of my life and decided to double check my savings account, pack up myself, three kids, and our cat and you guessed it, move out of the state. The comments from friends and family ranged from “wow, that’s great!” to “why leave? You have a stable career here.” That word stable pretty much meant “dead end” to me. I think most of us recognize that all too well.

I had reached that point in my life where the demand for a big change was in order. Like many of us, I had accidentally turned that job into a career. It provided the stability factor that keeps you going to work everyday not really enjoying what you do, but tolerating it. You learned the ropes, the ins and outs. Mastering over the years just how far you can push your boss and get away with it. You are pretty much in the safe zone. You have earned your stripes, but who really cared? The fact that my entire day was filled with my misery and that of all the others who were caught in the same dead end job mess was more exhausting at the end of the day than my actual job was. Wow, 15 years to come to my senses and decide that I needed to be free and my own boss.

As a single mom, with three children, my need to work from home had become much more bottom line. It was no longer an idea that I could continue to put on the back burner. Working excessive hours only left us enough time to shower and get to bed every night. There was no extra time for anything that truly made us happy. A demanding schedule of sports, dance, movies, parties, and of course, school functions filled schedules more every day as my kids began to get older and able to be a part of various activities. One thing that had become clear is that I did not need another employer.

An unswayable commitment to my desire has opened the door to an abundance of unexpected small treasures. I rejoice freedom from those heavy chains of an employer that have been unlocked forever. Working from home has made my valuable time available. I attend every event my children have on their schedule, smiling from ear to ear with my camcorder in hand; because I have more time than just a quick 15 minutes. The fact that I can always be there to feed their energy, be their support system and give guidance offers me the greatest satisfaction. My mind is clear and my soul is at ease. I don’t snap at the kids anymore because the rush is not there, I am my own boss. I can actually take five minutes and enjoy when they playfully knock each other around on the way to the car instead of shouting that they should hurry up. Did I mention? Our cat is also getting a lot more attention.

Today I am among the few, but steadily increasing moms who are enjoying the luxury of watching our children blossom because we can actually be involved with them more. I dedicate a few hours a day doing something I love and the best part is I do it all from home. Who would have known that a hobby could take me this far?

Conquer thy Diet

I don’t know about you but I have tried just about every diet out there. My all time favorite was the Atkins diet where I banished carbs, was left with absolutely no energy, went through withdrawal, had a major meltdown and gained back double of what I had lost. Geez.

That’s the thing; these so called dieting plans had me cutting out key ingredients necessary for my system to function properly in order to lose the weight and let’s not mention, maintain my sanity. My weight had been a rollercoaster without an emergency stop button. I can remember that time when the liquid diet was the newest hot thing and Oprah Winfrey had shed down to a sickly size 0. Remember that? Well, that is just proof of another diet fad gone wrong. She soon after ballooned beyond her original weight. She looks great today though!

Ask yourself why she finally got it? Simply because food is not the enemy. What you eat and when you eat, it leads the road to weight loss success. (Pssst… I don’t have to limit myself to three meals a day). Calorie shifting is the key. Your metabolism is not aware of what your food intake is going to be daily, so it’s designed to naturally burn calories based on your eating habits. I guess I sort of tricked my metabolism. You do what it’s not expecting you to do by eating fat burning compatible foods and then in turn it will burn all calories daily and voila, it then works on the fat tissues.

Sounds like too much to track? Well if I had to schedule one more thing into my day; I would lose it!! I would hire a personal assistant and she would be stuck with the diet. Luckily, for that personal assistant (I probably could not afford anyway) I stumbled across a site that has an online generator and puts the whole thing together for me. I don’t have to count calories and drive myself to insanity with reading labels and stuff.

In addition, please remember whatever your next diet venture will be, don’t forget to exercise. If you cannot hit the gym on a regular basis, throw in some type of activity. I like to dance, so I go dancing and try to make it a new thing each time like salsa, or disco (great for the waist and hips).

 

Speed Racer forty-one years later

Speed Racer who? Apparently I missed something but I’ll give you a little run down if you are just as oblivious as myself. Speed Racer started as a Japanese “Manga” (means comic) and later 52 episodes of the series were dubbed into English where it aired nationally in the afternoons five days a week for about twenty years. Then ran again in the 90’s on MTV and for about 5 years on the Cartoon Network. So, 41 years later and I am just now becoming aware of Speed Racer. Did I miss anything?

Here’s how I got in the mix.

 

I was in line at the thrift store Saturday and behind me stood a rather verbal gentleman who up until we got to the register had not stopped about how much he disliked this Macy Gray song, ( can’t remember which one right now), but it was playing through out the store pretty loudly I must say . Now, why he approached the counter along with me as the clerk called next is still a mystery to me because there was only one cashier there at the time and when she said next, I was next. Even my children don’t move that closely behind me when I begin motion. As we get up to the register he notices a “Speed Racer” mach 5, die-cast brand new car in the box sitting on the shelf behind the counter and begins to express his disbelief that someone would bring it to the thrift store right now considering the movie is coming out in May and all. Labeled this person as stupid for doing so and donating it to the thrift store and continued to ramble on about how this item was going to be worth a decent amount of cash in a few months when the movie comes out.

 

Now get this; after all that he concluded that he was not buying it. The cashier confirmed that it was a closed, never opened box and as I looked closer, I noticed that it’s also a 35th anniversary collector’s edition. Well he said he didn’t want it so, I bought it…..(ha… ha…) paid $11.34 for it… I should probably wait until the movie drops before I put it on E-bay, huh? I quietly continued to check out not paying him any mind or offering any casual conversation.

 

He walks over to a rack close to the cashier station that had numerous VHS tapes on display and picks up a copy of the “Batman Returns” movie…remind you on VHS now; and starts to make a huge to-do about how he couldn’t believe that it was there and wow, he was buying it and…yada… yada… yada……so do you think he thought that I just buy up insignificant stuff because someone says so? Do you think he was testing me? Honestly, I don’t remember the last time a VHS tape was that desirable. Well if he was, it was much to his disappointment. I finished checking out, without comment on his next discovery of a VHS copy of Batman Returns, smiled at the clerk, and giggled to myself. I hope he enjoys his movie.

Ipod Rocks or Not?

 

 

So you want a new MP3 player?  And the search begins….  My daughter was ready to buy her first mp3 player and of course I tag along because I am the walking and talking family ATM machine.  There was a very knowledgeable sales representative who was pretty eager to help and I had a little more time on my hands than usual, so I decided to pick his brain. After a few questions on the different models of MP3 players and their pros and cons my daughter had made her decision. Although she heard exactly the same information from the sales representative as I did her decision and mine; of course were still very different.

She decided she wanted the “Ipod Nano”. Apple has rocked in making the Ipod the favorable MP3 top choice it seems. I reminded her that the birthday money this purchase was coming from was pretty much going to go in one shot with this one item.  The sales representative backed that up by stating that the “Creative” MP3 player, which was fifty bucks cheaper was very similar and again fifty bucks cheaper. Her heart was set on the Ipod. Did she even listen to anything the sales rep said? Probably not, I believe she knew her selection was the Ipod from the beginning of this blog.

So here I am now…stuck with figuring out where all this music needs to come from. I did a quick search and it appears as though there are thousands of download sources and then there is also “I Tunes”. From what I understand “I Tunes” costs a buck per song and I guess you have the option of buying full albums also. Neat! Do people actually pay a buck per song though? Think about it if you put 1,000 songs on your Ipod, it cost you $1,000 bucks and 5,000 songs cost you $5,000 bucks. That sounds like it gets pretty expensive over time. I personally think that memberships to sites that offer unlimited downloading is a lot less expensive. I found a few sites where you can become a member on a monthly, yearly, or even lifetime basis and get unlimited download access to songs video, music, TV shows and games. Sweet!

On a final note, as if I already didn’t spend countless hours in front of this computer screen, the downloading torture my daughter is about to subject me to has begun. Life is Grand!

 

 

 

 

Strawberry!

 

I was fully prepared with the rubber gloves, the goggles and the suction; however much too my disappointment the whole birthing process took place without me. I was working late sitting in front of this computer screen with thoughts occasionally spared to the whereabouts of Strawberry, as she usually is right under my chair while I am clicking away. As my eyeballs are screaming for a moment to create some moisture, and my neck just doesn’t seem like it’s capable of performing its task of holding my head up, I decide to search for Strawberry. I take a minute to stretch my back out; it’s been at least three hours since I moved from my chair. Out of habit, I peek out the window. Nice! A full moon, although my calendar indicated otherwise. She is not in any of her usual spots so now I am even more anxious to find her and make sure she is ok. Minnie on the other hand has been in absolute crazy mode. Hopping all around, bouncing off the wall to the bed and oh gosh…she is all over the place. The young ones, always so full of energy.

I find Strawberry, my feline Queen. I always thought she had a very goddess like appeal. I open the closet door slowly, I didn’t want to startle her. The surprise was surely all my own. There was Strawberry, a little exhaustion in her eyes and maybe a hint of what I thought looked like annoyance. Was she annoyed with me for not being there to help her through it or at the little ones that were all in her area that she once recognized as her own? I probably will never know, I am just glad they are all meowing. She was surrounded by six little additions to the world that seemed to be battling each other for the next spot it line at auditions for American Idol…Lol ..How cute are they? Too cute; and boy can they sing that ‘meow’ song with exactly the right pitch.

Enjoy this pic of “the sixtuplets “

So you wanna blog, ey!

I was watching the ‘L Word’ one night when it finally hit me. Although I had watched numerous times as Alice blogs and podcasts away I have been much more distracted by the minutes reaching the completion of the episode than associating her hobby as a reality. This sensational world of blogging existed somewhere and peoples thoughts really do matter. Random people sharing their knowledge or their hard earned critical life experiences and it’s funny how sometimes it is almost identical to the next persons.

Relief and excitement have overwhelmed me with my newfound hobby to share my experiences, thoughts, desires, good stuff, bad stu…. Yada, yada, yada, you know what I mean. Relieved of course, because I will make friends that can relate. I mean who doesn’t like those casual conversations about nothing that end in a chuckling “OMG!, I thought I was the only one who thought like that” Excited, because I, without a doubt am ready to share.

Can’t really say where I will begin with my new venture into blogging. My brain is currently a slot machine but no jackpot yet. So yea, it’s spinning and spinning and spinning… I can remember some things about my childhood yet not all. I envy my friends who can recall details from when they were like five years old. I mean I feel like a weirdo because I only remember that my kindergarten teachers name was Mr.s Goldberg, I think or was it Mrs. Goldgarten.

Let’s just say for now that we will keep the happiness of my new venture a continued joy and keep it random. Chronological order has never been my forte.

A Tattoo Brand That Fits

 

 

I was 21 when I got my first tattoo. I had just left my husband after only a year of marriage and needed a branding that would celebrate my release from the bulls*it. The fact that I had no other place but my parents house to dwell at while I got back on my feet, provided absolutely no comfort either. As I sat on the couch and was forced to listen to the speech for about the 50^th time that sounded like it was being broadcast through a mega phone, I had an intense meltdown. I got up and walked out. I didn’t have a destination when I left; all I knew is that I needed to get as far away as possible from the mega phone. As I passed the entrance of the shop, I stopped, stepped back and went in.

I had no idea what I wanted this work of art to be. I knew that I wanted it inked into my skin and I wanted it to be noticeable. The rush I felt walking into the tattoo spot, registered immediately with the fact that I would want to be back in the artists chair again and again. So I decided to browse through some pictures of work they had put out and after looking through about four 3” binders full of photos, I decided I wanted some vine work done. Something that I could continue later if I wanted to. Something that could grow with me as I went through my heartfelt life lessons. For me that’s what tattooing is all about; the art of expression.

That was 13 years ago, oops does this tell you about my age…(ahem, ahem) all I can say is that it’s prime time now, lol. Anyhow, I have discovered that I may have a little less trouble picking out the next tattoo. I came across a site that has thousands of tattoo designs where you can select from smallest to largest and a variety of themes. They have Tribal, Lower Back, Gothic, Fish, Egyptian, Armbands and more. Once you have selected your perfect tattoo you can also do a search for a tattoo parlor near you. Neat!