Camping Diva!

Three days and three nights of woods, campfires, tents, sleeping bags, and NATURE!

I actually enjoyed camping and I think it is something I had to remove from my bucket list because I think we might be regulars on the annual camping trip. We left late Friday afternoon, mostly because we just did. Anyway, right before leaving I received some very shocking news and had to wait the entire trip before I could talk bout the news. I did maintain cell phone service but it wasn't a conversation to have while camping. Driving to Goldhead took longer than expected because of frequent bathroom trips, we had a five year old with what do expect, but was painless although I was a little anxious.

I've never been camping before and I was really at a lost. I didn't know what to expect and I did not want to spend the next three days being miserable. I must admit I did end up a little miserable, not because of camping in itself but because I ate foods that I knew would set off my IBS. The first night I made a lovely salad: baby spinach with chicken breast. After that it was stores, s'mores, s'mores, s'mores, and hot sauce on everything. Why? IDK but I paid dearly. I spent every morning, afternoon, and evening drinking either ginger tea, sans any additives, or the Dr. Oz flax seed and lemon juice cocktail ( no, there isn't any alcohol in it).

I didn't realize how calming sitting around a fire could be. I sat around for hours sometimes in the company of others and sometimes just with the fire and my innermost thoughts. I have always wanted a fire pit, note to self: scope out a fire pit to purchase.

Enjoy the camping photo parade!

Life Happens.

It is well after 11 p.m. I am on Twitter shooting the breeze so, I decided to check out my own profile. I want to upload a new pic but I haven't taken any that I LOVE so I ditch that idea and that's when I see it. What? The web address to this blog. OMG! When was the last time I posted? I am embarrassed. My apologies to everyone, especially Q. We started this blog to document our many adventures and mishaps as we navigate though our thirties and I let life get in the way. Well, I left myself be consumed with anger and hate which more than obvious from the last couple of post I did complete. So, let's catch up quickly!

1 . My divorce is not final. In the words of Forest Gump "and that's all I have to say about that".

2. We have missed many opportunities to share great moments with you and because of that I again apologize.

3. I read many, many, many blogs (mostly hair and fashion) and love to shop so, I would like to combine those two hobbies. I am starting a new feature: 30 or LESS!! What is it! Well, I do love shopping but I must do so on a budget so, this is a feature where I will showcase an entire outfit for $30 or less! I know, right! I can do it! I really can just wait and see.

4. John Legend recently made a trip to visit me? Not really, he sung at a benefit concert for education and although it was a little more formal than a regular concert Q and I screamed through the entire thing. The outfit I wore was HAUTE!!! Hey, it was under $30 so, I might that my first $30 or LESS feature. IDK we shall see.

5. For our last 30 by Thirty feature we grilled. I retread that post and I made a sarcastic remark about camping. Well, guess whose going camping? Me! The things we do for our kids. I will make sure I blog about the experience, considering the fact that I am taking my IPad with me I just might blogs during the trip.

Lastly, thank you for reading our blog and checking back for new post. I will not let you down again.

This Feeling...Is One That I Do Not Like!

I feel like  my life is no longer mine.  I feel like I have lost all control, like I am riding on a rollercoaster.  A rollercoaster that advertised itself as being like the Dumbo ride at Disney.  A little exciting but never out of control but instead I have ended up on something like...Cheeta at Busch Garden.  How do I get off?

30 thing: How to start a fire (in a grill)

"Skills That Save Time or Money"

2.  How to Start a Succssful Fire in a Fireplace, at a Campsite, and in a Barbecue

Why You Should Learn this:

There are many modern reasons to learn this most primitive of skills:  The person who cheerfully offers on a chilly afternoon to start a roaring fire, to be enjoyed with a nice bottle of red wine by all, is irresistible.  (SN:  We live in Florida, enough said).  The person who correctly ans swiftly builds a campfire for the convenience an/or survival of others is a hero. (Camping???  No comment) The person who bravely fires up the barbecue for the imminent consuption of ribs and/or tofu dogs is noble. 

The author's directions read like the directions on the bag of charcoal and the lighter fluid or may I thought that I had seen it done enough time to do it myself.  (That was also mentioned in the book)

I am texting Q because I was very anxious to get started.

The grill , which we have had for almost a year, required assembly. Yes, I helped assemble and grilled in wedges.

Q arrived as I was taking all the parts of the grill out of the box.  Great photo opt!

After a quick change Q dived right in.  (The third set of hands in the pic belong to my mom)

So how many naturals does it take to assemble a grill?

 

Yep, we're still screwing it in...

No, we're still not done...

Yes! We put it on backwards! *sigh* There's a first time for everything.

So two naturals and a child try...

And so we started screwing the pan into the legs again...

Don't you love Q's ring? Gotta be girly even when doing a man's work.

Almost there!

Look at her go! In wedges and a sundress no less!

Allllllmmmmooooooosssssssttttttt there.

And finally! We're ready to cook folks!

We placed our grill in an open area, away from the house and trees.

Now it's time to add the chacoal and get to grillin'.

A women who isn't afraid to get her hands dirty. Go V!

Ok, ready, set...

FIYAAAAAA!

Q was tired of waiting, so she went and picked up a snack for the crew.

Hmmm, guess V was hungry too?

The grill is now ready after a loooong wait..had to let the manufacturer's chemicals burn off.

Hope we don't burn it.

Q seasoning the meat to put on the grill.

Looks so yummy!

If he were willing to put his chicken down, he'd tell you that V and Q should go into BBQ business because it was finger lickin' gooooooood!

Cry Me a River

...I would if I could! I mean I really want too, I want to cry inconsolably but the tears won't come.

Why? Well, the degree of disrespect and absurdness of the separation (leading to divorce) has been turned WAAYYYY UP. I think for nothing more than a reaction from me and since I won't react, he just keeps kicking it up a notch.

I want to cry to release the pinned up emotion but I can't. I don't know why the tears won't come but they won't. I want to cry like...this guy (For all of you that have viewed this clip before you know that it is a long clip so here is the abbreviated version):



Or like this:



So, instead of sitting home trying to cry I went to the library and checked out Drunk, Divorced, & Covered in Cat Hair: The True-life Misadventures of a 30-something Who Learned to Knit After He Split By Laurie Perry. I am hoping to find the humor in this situation instead of wallowing in the sadness.

I am on Chapter 22 of the book and I love it. I can relate to only some of it but it...is comforting my soul somehow. Maybe in my head I'm thinking "I'm glad I didn't do that" or "Dang, I should have done that" either way I can't put it down.

In reading this book I have found out a few thing about myself:

1. I have been trying to put my feelings into words and I can't seem too but she did

Page 77:
It is peculiar to be in your (mid-)thirties,becoming more divorced by the minute, and trying to figure out who you are as a person. Thinking back on your life and trying to pinpoint exactly where you turned left, detoured, went too fast or not fast enough...Remembering why it was so important for you to be married, always married.

2. I think I am on the "Divorce Diet".

Page79
When most folks go through a divorce they join gyms and go on diets and lose weight; I guess that's what they refer to as The Divorce Diet. it's all about looking your best in the face of adversity because getting thin is the best revenge.

I have always has the inept ability to look great on the outside and be a complete mess on the inside. It's what I do or did, I don't know yet. I'm not saying that I always have it together 'cause I don't but I have been a complete mess more than people may have realized. I think that is why I had the problem Saturday night.

I will NOT bow my head!

I will actually hold it a little higher; especially considering some of my creativity is coming back. I am loving my hair right now and the fact that I am doing things to it (other than my sorry puff and twist-out)makes me wanna hold it high. Peep the pics below:

What's Up, Chicken Butt?!

What's going on? I could go into my seperation, uncontested divorce vs. contested divorce, laywers, mucho bucks, nonesense thats going on in my life but I won't. Why? Say it with me...because "such it life" or because "it is what it is". That's the spirit.

So very close to thirty-one and how does it feel? Why did I just have a pic of D' Angelo's beautiful body flash before my very eyes? It feels...weird. I mean to some extent I have made peace with it or maybe it has been crowded out by the more important things? IDk but I do want Q and I to finish what we started. What did we start? The "30 Thing by 30" adventures we embarked on. I still have a grill (in the box may I remind you) that we purchase because neither one of us knows how to grill. It is Summer and we still eat (even with the Weight Watchers program) so, why not now. Well, not right now maybe next weekend (IDK gotta check Q's schedule)because this weekend we are off to a Tampa Bay...Lightening? No, that's hockey. What the heck are they?...Off to Google.

The Tampa Bay Storm!!! Go Storm!! (I am a huge fan! LOL!) We are going to see the Sabercats vs. the Storm (ask me where the Sabercats are from if you want but if I struggled with the Storm...) In my mind we are going to have a great time. We? Q, me, and the kids all of them (three) oh, and maybe my mom too. I am not overly into sport but I'm not against it either.

On another note, Q and I went to the beach. She burned and I got darker but I am loving my Summer glow. On a recent FaceBook comment my older brother noticed my "enriched color" but his comment wasn't polite. Boys drool! Anyway being outdoors in the warmth (some days here in FL down right HEAT) feels good. So I leave you with a pic of me enjoying the sun at the park this past weekend.






LuvYa!

Responsible? Since when?

I am up to my neck in life! I was lying in my bed last night thinking about all the things on my plate and it hit me. I am so busy putting the needs of other before my own and I am okay with that. Such is life right?.

I am in the process of moving (again!) and I needed to find the right house, not the perfect house, just one where I can maintain, live and relax. I realized that I am working practically the entire summer. I had one Friday off after school ended and summer school ends two weeks before school starts (but the week before school I have to report to work) so, that only leaves me one week. WOW! It could be worst. I thought I was going to spend my summer at the beach and maybe go visit my brother in California but...Such is life. I could be unemployed and homeless so, with that in mind I would rather be responsible and tired.

I have three children.
I have a mother.
I have a 7 year old Pom.
I have 4 Beta fish.
I have friends.
I have love (not romantic, no juicy post upcoming).
I have life.