Happy New Year!!

"As we end this year, there is a wonderful gift that awaits us: deep peace. Bring into your conscious awareness the ways that you have been guided, supported, loved and propelled forward.

Anchor in oneness. Inhale the unconditional love of pure Spirit and exhale the quietude of the eternal God. Relax into the arms of your beloved God and listen...listen to the stillness. There is nothing to do. There is nothing to get. There is only God. In this place, deep peace will bring you rest."

Science of Mind

41 vs. 21

This post was also inspired by Nora of Walking in the Rain. If I could have talked with my 21 year old self, I'm sure I wouldn't have listened, but I think I would have at least appreciated the effort.


21: I don't want to be married. I don't want kids. I just want a nice condo and a dog.

41: Having kids was the best gift I didn't ask for. Being a mother has made me a better person. But it's hard work. So is having a dog. Marriage can be a beautiful thing, if you're with the right person for the right reasons. Don't marry someone you wouldn't want your child to marry.

21: I want to make alot of money.

41: I want to make alot of money.

21: I graduate from college in 1990. I move home to live with my mother, while I attempt to find a job outside of the field of education. I never wanted to teach, so I decided to forgo the student teaching component and graduate early.

41: Do the student teaching. Spend another semester in school and finish the program in its entirety. You're going to go back and finish it later. Get it out of the way. Moving home was smart.

21: I have a full-time job, my own place and a college degree. I am the sh*t!

41: I have a full-time job, my own place and 2 college degrees. Big damn deal.

21: My idea of a great date was going to breakfast after the the club. Wanna use this coupon? What's your name again?

41: A good date? Going someplace like a gallery or for a walk at a park. Experiential, cheap, active. I can watch a movie at home.

21: Hair: Major issue. I spend on average $60 to $80 bucks a month getting my hair done. It takes anywhere from 3.5 to 6 hours in the salon. My hair color changes with the seasons.

41: Hair: Non-issue. I have locks. I twist them myself...no more salon. I spend $5 to $25 bucks every 3 months. Takes about 2 hours from start to finish if I use a dryer. Less time if I let my hair air dry. Hair color? Too much commitment. I'm grey and I'm proud! Except for down...umm, not.gonna.happen.

21: In the immortal words of Wilma & Betty...CHARGE IT!!

41: Cash and carry...the only way to fly!

21: Drink all night, go to work the next day...what hangover??

41: Drink for 20 minutes...ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. Did I get hit with a brick?

21: Shopping with my girls for "hoe" gear, high heels and lingerie.

41: Amazon.com, stretchy jeans, and high heels! (Oh, I'm not going down without a fight)

21: Hi, random stranger. You're cute, here's my phone number, pager and address.

41: Please submit a vial of blood, your resume, 3 references and your fingerprints. May I see your driver's license? Your mother's maiden name? Let me google you first, then I'll call. Maybe.

December Haiku

December is here.
My craving is quiet now.
My needs are fulfilled.

Recap My Life 2009

Nora writes an engaging and witty blog, called Walking in the Rain. Being the list lover I am, I really liked her monthly recaps. I think it's a great way to cross off accomplishments, failures, to-dos, so-ons, and stuff-like-that-there.

Here's the way December has shaped up for me:
Books:
Turning the Mind Into An Ally
The Complete Book of Sewing
8 Ways to Avoid Probate
What the Buddha Taught
Good to Great for Nonprofit Sectors
Music:
Nikki Minaj
Kings of Leon
Robin Thicke
Random Christmas music
Shame-Inducing Guilty Pleasure:
For the Love of Ray J (don't judge)
Colors:
Orange & olive
Obsessions:
Fit Challenge
Facebook (friend me!)

Drink:
Water, water, water...glub, glub, glub
Rooibos Tea
Foods:
Leek
Kale
Movie:
The Killing Room (someone please explain the end...I was with it until the very last scene!)
TV Show:
Right now, I'm in TV purgatory. Waiting for the new season to start.
Wish-List:
Movado Ono ring...drool
Triumphs:
Not drinking.
Getting up at 4:30 AM to workout 3 days a week.
Drastically improving my diet.
Extending my meditation practice to 20 minutes daily.

Irritants:
The mess in my daughter's room.
Selling my dad's house.

Goals:
End the month in the black.
Pay rent on time.
Stick with Fit Challenge.
Rejoin Akron Meditation Group.

Craft: Sewing
A hat to fit my locks
Boys' pajamas
Indulgences:
Peppermint Patties (just kidding FC spies)
Being a grown@ss woman!
Buying bras that fit really well
Excitement:
The kids are spending a few days with their dad this Christmas. I'm looking forward to the down time!
Mood:
Very happy
Satisfied

Beckie is on the air.

Hi, I'm Beckie Samuel, here with today's InnerBlog News. This morning we find the Electronic Village has a new post in which yours truly makes a brief appearance in a clip promoting the Blogging While Brown Conference. I'm am proud to say I was a recipient of a New Blogger scholarship for last year's conference in Chicago. I must admit, I was completely starstruck (and thoroughly exhausted) during the whole conference.

After deciding to attend at the very last minute(shout out to Sweeta for encouraging me), I rode the Megabus from Cleveland to Chicago. I got there early Chicago Saturday morning, so you can understand why I look so whupped. Like a dummy, I didn't bring a camera, so I have no pics of my own to share. I'm still trying to digest everything I learned there. I'm definitely planning to attend the 2010 conference in DC.

Here's a link to the clip (I'm at 4:35 for you uber-fans). If you're a blogger, you'll want to try to make it to the conference. You'll be amazed at the welcome and information you'll receive. If you're thinking about starting a blog, this is a great way to gather ideas about what you want to feature. I'm going to use this holiday break to further refine my focus here on this blog, and maybe set up another one. We'll see how that goes.

What a great birthday present!!

Crazy really, REALLY is the new sane.

Ok, so it's now Week 2, Day 4 of the 6th grade gym class for this overweight, die-hard GenXr. And guess what? I.am.hooked. These nutty broads are definitely onto something. I really can't believe I doubted their Shaolin technique!

I've lost 6 pounds after 3 days of a cardio routine Jillian Michaels would be proud of! Not to mention, I've mostly followed their diet plan to a T. So, technically, I dropped six ell bees in less than 7 days!!

Now, I'm drinking water like a fish, I'm up and at 'em (who ever they are) at 4:30 AM, 3 days a week. Remember my quest to quit sugar? Almost there...I'd say about 80%, which is good enough for me. I've never been much of a meat eater, so that's not a problem for me. But I have been re-introduced to seafood. Last week, I had Orange Roughy and that was the yummers!

There is a lockdown on how much I can say about who they are and what they do, and I really, really don't want them mad at me, so I ain't spilling the green beans! But I will say I am glad I am able to appreciate the "crazy" they have for whupping folks in shape! I am ret' to go!!


Coming up next: 2010...what the plan is..huh?

...but that's what I was thinking.

I know I'm not the only one who has mental arguments with people. Everybody does. But one thing that may be a bit troubling about me is that my arguments usually involve people I don't know. Random strangers. In fact, I could be having an argument with you right now. But you would never know, cuz I'd never let you in on it. So take that! I win so'more!

Today's cerebral bruhaha happened this morning in the new gym I recently joined. I won't mention it here because they have a sucky website, and I don't link to sucky sites. They also have a, umm...shall we say, different approach to exercise and motivation. Think back to the crazy militant gym physical education teacher you had in grade school. Ok, then, remember how teams where chosen? All the fast and popular kids first? Now, you're getting the idea...


So, we're working out in our groups; I'll call the top group, Superfast, the middle group, Average Janes, and the bottom group, the YouCanDoIts. So, the drill instructor/trainer calls Superfast and Average Janes to line up at their stations. This being my second day, I'm waiting with the rest of the newbies for Ms. Balbriker to tell the YouCanDoIts to go to their station. Someone from Superfast (I hope you're saying this the way Mary Katherine Gallagher would say it) pipes up, "What are you guys waiting for?"

Sideye, beyotch, I got this!

So as I'm going to the loser section, Ms. B tells me to join the Average Janes. Clearly, she noticed my ninja-like moves on my first day. And so begins the gruesome torture exercise.


We step-lift our way around and around in three groups; you can smell fat-burning going on. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a Superfast walking around idly like she's the equivalent of Allen Iverson (practice? I don't need no stinking practice!). Ms. B gently admonishes yells for her to get moving and stop wasting time. Eventually Iverson rejoins the group, but she isn't quite working at the regular Superfast pace. This butt-dragging, I-can't-be-so-bothered *ish goes on for a while...and when I say a while, I mean all of about 2 minutes and then...

Balbriker benches Iverson! In my mind, that is. Actually Ms. B sent Iverson to the Average Janes. I think there was some trash talk, or eye rolling, cuz it took a minute for Iverson to get herself together. I couldn't tell because my heart was trying to escape from my body. Now I gotta deal with a pissed off AI and keep my ribs from exploding all over my step. Not to mention I have COUNT. OUT LOUD. IN ORDER.

As I've mentioned, this is my second day. I'm still a bit overwhelmed that I paid money for this shit as I attempt to follow the choreography. One misstep could cause a sweaty musty chain reaction, which could leave you screaming out the door for a Purell shower. But what's this? Is AI trying to punk me? Is she trying to look like this is so easy she can barely break a sweat? I feel like my swagger is in jeopardy...what to do?

She starts moving closer behind me like I'm moving too slow for her...

Aww sooky, we past the sideye now! It's on!!!!!

And suddenly, as if Jesus stuck his foot out, AI trips as we go around to the left! Our eyes meet; she knows I know she almost busted 'dat ass! Now she gotta save face, so I know she's coming for me when we switch to the right...

bah-ring. it. bitch!

Calling on my latent ninja training, I am able to recharge immediately by remembering all the times I was called on last for dodge ball and Red Rover (stupid fuckin' games! Who invented that shit?)

My reflexes kick in and I make my steps wider and higher and faster like Jamie Sommers.
Besides, I hate when people stand directly behind me..it creeps me out.

New set...LEFT!

Uh oh, my turn! I heard ya calling me AI, now I'm coming! I got the rhythm down (I think) and I'm hauling ass across the steps. Come creeping up on me? Yeah? I don't think so...how's that? I'm right behind you AND I'm simultaneously counting! HA!

New set...RIGHT!

AI is trying to play like she doesn't know what's going on between us, but I know that she knows. Just because she looks completely ambivalent to the mental battle between us; it's really just a ploy to make me simmer down. But I won't have it! I will triumph!

New set...LEFT!

Ninja skills are weakening...apparently there is a lift under the floor that makes the steps higher as you go (very clever you heartless bastards), but I'm not done yet...

The mental warfare quickens as I imagine her saying to her Superfast buddies after class...

AI: "Yeah, I couldn't really get a good workout on over there in the MomJeans group."

Me: "Bullshit!"

AI: "Wha the..who said.."

Me: "Yeah, I said it."

AI: (Gives me the WTF look), then says, "f*ck you!"

Me: "Well, you can f*ck my fat ass if you want to, but if I were you, I'd wait a few more weeks!"

Superfast, AverageJanes, YouCanDoIts all fall on the floor laughing.

Me: Winks at AI and walks out the door.

Now, that didn't really happen, but that's what I was thinking!

This is what I do

Inside my brain, I have my very own comedy club. The audience is filled with me, I'm the host and the star performer. I serve drinks, collect tips, and Sarah Palin takes out the trash. Or is the trash. That part is fuzzy.

My Amazon Reading Wish List for 2010:

• I Should Have Listened Mama by Usher & Whitney Houston

• You CAN Have It All: Father Other Women's Children While Maintaining Your Marriage by Bill Cosby, John Edwards. Forward written by Rev. Jesse Jackson. Book tour coming to a hotel near you. So keep it warm baby.

• Fall Back In Love With Your Wife: After The F*ck Up (an anthology) contributors include Mark Sanford, John Ensign, Dave Letterman and Tiger Woods. Kobe Bryant, editor

Speaking of trash, I read somewhere (my notebook), that Sarah considered other titles for her (cough) book:

• Caribou For The Soul

• 15 Minutes: How Make It Last

• My Campaign: If You Can Call It That

• The Art of Denial In 10 Easy Steps
  

• Dreams of My Father: He Wanted A Boy