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.

Are You A Blogger?

YES!...well, no. Sometimes. I have a blog but I haven't posted in months. Part-time blogger? If that.

So the purpose of this blog was for Q and I to have an outlet while dealing with the ups and downs of being 30 (dun dun dun DUN!). While our posting has been irregular...nonexistent the ups and downs of thirty have not. I don't know where to begin.

Weight
In January of this year I joined Weight Watchers and to date I have lost a little over one pound. Yes, you read correctly one pound. I stay within, if not under, my point allowance, I exercise and yet I cannot drop this weight. It's starting to weigh on me too (no pun intended). I have been successful at most of the thing I take on but this weight loss or lack there of makes me want to say UNCLE!

Q and I have signed up to run, what will be my first and her second, 5k! On May 22 we will off (or maybe I will just be down because I am a little unsure of myself when it comes to my endurance or lack there of).

So, you ask what about the car, your job, your love life? All in due time grasshopper.

Dueces!

Home Skillet!

Why? IDK but, I love "Juno"! I have watched that movie so many times I have lost count. I was sitting at home the other night with nothing to do so I pop the dvd in. I guess I can relate to the drama of being a teen mom although, I graduated high school before I had my son.

I have not been the best I can be regarding my new fitness and diet plan. I have found out the hard way that I am a serious emotionally eater. So much so that I think I have replaced emotional shopping with emotional eating. I know, right?! Well, I haven't purchased any new clothing but there is always room for shoes but, not really that is why the floor in my room is a mess.

I have some major purchases coming up and I don't know where to start. I am in the market for a new car. Well, a new pre-owned car. Anyway, I think I want a Honda Accord, a Nissan Altima (but Q has one of those and I don't think we are that type of BFF), or a Toyota Corolla.

In order to afford this new car I have committed to taking the General Knowledge Exam for educators in the state of Florida. The first step to becoming a teacher using my Criminal Justice Degree. How? What? Yeah, I know. I am currently a Interim Substitute teaching 2nd and 3rd grade Reading, Writing, and Social Studies. In a world called perfect I would love to teach 2nd grade Writing. It is a challenge and some days like today, my cup overflows. I have learned one very important tidbit thus far, tomorrow is another day. A new day.

Growing up I always thought I knew "what kind of girl" I was but, everyday I learn more about myself.

I am a woman.
I am a mother.
I am a daughter.
I am a sister.
I am an aunt.

I am a teacher.



I am determined!


BTW: My daughter turned 7 yeasterday. My baby, the youngest is seven so, what does that make me? I also had a student ask me if I was around during the Civil Right Movement? WHAT? I need to find a good face cream.

Hi it's me!

Howdy Folks! Yes, it is I and yes I am still alive (partially, anyway). I have started several post but never finished them or posted them due to several thing mostly just my circumstances. In those posts I opened up even more about my family life and even featured some family moments. I chose not to publish those posts due to some recent events that will undoubtedly be revealed as the year continues.

I don’t believe in making “New Year’s” resolutions but I have decided that I need to make some changes and to also take better care of myself, spiritually, emotionally, physically, and financially.

I am also currently pursuing a teaching certification, what? Yes, you read it correctly. I have been a substitute teacher for a while now and I think I have found my niche, my place, maybe even my calling. A little dramatic? Yeah, I know but, my original major in college was Elementary Education and now I am preparing for the Elementary Education General Knowledge Exam.

I have not made any “Splurge Purchases” lately but I am in need of a new car so, most likely that will be my next “splurge”. I’m not really into cars except for Volkswagens and that is solely due to the “punch Buggy” game I play with the kids. I can spot those babies a mile away, RED ONE!

I am still dabbling with hair; I recently colored, straightened, and cut my hair and Q’s. We took a few pictures and maybe we will get it together and post them. I am actually very anxious to get my hands on a friend’s hair. She wanted me to color her hair a month or so ago and our schedules have not been compatible but I am itching to do some creative color so, I might have to make it happen.

Thanks to Q! for helping my maintain some of my sanity during this rough time and I promise to try my best to be more regular. Hot water, crushed flax seed and lemon anyone?

Special Occasion: 8th Wedding Anniversary

Can you believe that I have been married for 8 years? I can't either! Marriage is...hard! So many peaks and valleys and them more peaks and valleys followed by more peaks and valleys. There is so much that no one ever tells you about being married, I would say that someone should write a book about all the untold stories. That wouldn't work because of how each marriage varies that would be the world's largest book.

Year after year we have said that we wanted to go on a cruise because neither of us have ever been on one and THIS YEAR...we went on our first cruise! We took a three day Norwegian Freestyle Cruise to the Bahamas.

Three days of eating, sleeping, and drinking! I am so afraid of stepping this big butt of mine on a scale. :0 The first day we arrived in the Bahamas at 7am. We rented a scooter and rode around seeing the sights. After returning the scooter we decided that we would walk the island until we didn't want to walk anymore. The people were so nice and they kept yelling: "Stay on the left!" when we were on the scooter even though we were indeed on the left side of the road. I AM SO IN LOVE WITH SKY JUICE!! I wish I was a baby and all my bottles were filled with it. LOL! After drinking Sky Juice at a local restaurant the drink on the boat just couldn't compete.


This post was never published until today June 7, 2011. I found it and struggled with posting it or deleting it. Why? Right after we returned from the cruise I was blindsided and my husband and I separated. I see no reconciliation in the future and I am navigating the world of divorce.

Tampa Bay Police Memorial Fund Gala:Celebration of Courage

I recently has the pleasure of being apart of the entertainment for the Tampa Bay Police Memorial Gala. The event, The Celebration of Courage, was an unforgettable evening of entertainment and professional networking, bridging together Tampa Bay Professionals in recognition of law enforcement professionals who are the Fallen Heroes of our community. This wonderful event was held on Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at The DoubleTree Hotel Tampa Westshore. The Tampa Police Memorial Fund was founded in 1996 and continues to help assist the families of our local heroes whom have dedicated their lives in service.

All of the salsa performers

Striking a pose for the camera

My dance partner, Dan

The entire crew eating dinner after the performance

Good time, good food!

Two of the dancers being "cheesy"

Like You Did When You Were A Kid

I had a great weekend, why? It was a three day weekend and I had an opportunity to go and see my family in Orlando. It was in Orlando, that I had this "like you did when you were a kid" moment. I was visiting with my in-laws and the kids were outside playing on their trampoline, having a what seems to be the best time. I so wanted to go and jump but "should a thirty year old be outside jumping on a trampoline? What if I fell out and broke something? I have to work on Monday. So, I didn't go and jump on the trampoline instead I stayed in the house and participated in the adult conversation.

I thought about the episode of F.R.I.E.N.D.S: The One Where Phoebe Runs.



Later in the show Phoebe explains to Rachel why she runs like that:

Phoebe: That's okay Rachel. I'm not judging you; that's just who you are. Me. I'm more free y'know? I run like I did when I was a kid, cause that's the only way it's fun. Y'know, I mean didn’t you ever run so fast you thought your legs were gonna fall off? Y'know, like when you were like running towards the swings or running away from Satan? (Rachel looks confused) The neighbor's dog.

After spending the rest of my visit wanting to go and jump and having this episodein the back of my mind, I...

JUMPED!!  And I had a great time!  I know that when we return to my sister-in-laws home I will, without a doubt go and jump on their trampoline.

Doomsday & Weekend Recap

0 days left...

I woke up this morning at about two due to the never ending Facebook message alerts I began receiving at midnight. I was completely stressed from the events of the weekend and sleep was illusive to me.

I was called in Friday to substitute and the day was going very well. I ran into my husband in the lunchroom and he said he needed to speak with me. He took me outside to talk so, I knew it was serious. He was on an employer mandated sabbatical until further notice. WHAT?! Great, I still had another two hours until I was off. I did my best and maintained my composure throughout the rest of the day. His background results were back and well, there were some technical difficulties. I know of all his past difficulties because he has explained them to me, they took place before we met and were married. Periodically he will go through this with an employer so, we just roll with the punches, it is what it is. However, this is a little different because I have been employed with this employer in one capacity or another for two and a half years and my husband for one and a half. Possibly having the sole income of my family began to weigh on me.

Saturday brought with it serious parenting challenges and I wasn't ready for them. I received a call from my mother Saturday night asking if I knew that my older son had an email address. Of course I did but he has been instructed not to use it and he is obedient child, or so I thought. Turns out that not only has he been using it on a regular basis but it is also the channel through which he communicates with his girlfriend. Yes, you read that right! G-I-R-L-F-R-I-E-N-D. What the hay?! I think my head is about to explode. I felt like one of those cartoon characters with the steam coming out of their ears. I also found out that there was another girl who was heavily pursuing my son, the ex-best friend of the current girlfriend. Yes, a love triangle at 10. I think it was by the grace of God that my son wasn't at home when I received the news. He went out in service with another family and was spending the day playing with their sons. As soon as he got home we sat his little but down and let him know that the proverbial cat was out of the bag. He was caught red handed and he couldn't deny it. After talking with him I wrote two letters, one for each girl’s parents, asking them to contact me regarding an incident with our children. Upon arrival at their school on Monday morning I sent the kids to breakfast and headed for their classrooms. I poked my head inside of girl number one's classroom and who is in there? Girl number one and both of her parents, I forgot that this week is Parent Conference Week! I waited outside the classroom for them to finish. While I was waiting I went to girl number two's classroom and talked with her teacher and asked if she would send my note home with the girl. She agreed after hearing the circumstances that inspired the notes. When the parents of girl number exited the conference I asked if I could talk to them for a moment and they agreed. I almost completely spazzed out while conversing with these parents. Can you believe that she knew that about their dating? "It is innocent, you're taking it out of context” the mother said. Lady you daughter said the she "loves" my son and "would do anything for him" and she "wanted to hug him because he didn't hug her". The conversation ended with her saying she would block my son's email address which is also her solution to the feud her daughter was involved in. Really I know my son is a liar, his action has proven this but why is your ten year old daughter so desperate? I couldn't stay and talk to the dumbest set of parents I have ever met because I needed to go to work. I received a call from girl number two's mother but I wasn't off yet so I told her I would have to call her back. As soon as I clocked out. It turns out that she also was well aware of the dating and the feud. SERIOUSLY?! I mean if you feel that at ten you daughter is mature enough to date than fine but, wouldn't you at least check out her boyfriend's family? I guess not because neither one of these women thought to do that. And neither one seemed concerned about the fact that both of their daughter suggested that cheating would solve this dilemma of theirs. Livid has been my state of mind surrounding these events. I also found out that my other son also knew of the shenanigans that were going on and my baby girl knew they had email addresses but they told her that she better not tell us. My heart is so hurt right now but since they all took a united front in deceiving us (their parents) then we are taking a united front in administering punishment.


On top of this I turned 30.

You can't ignore me!

I have been rather busy the last few days and it is something I have welcomed because it has kept my mind off of October 11, 2010. I have been working regularly and I have been active socially with little downtime. Today, actually a few minutes ago, I was reminded. It hit my in the face! Right in the kisser! OCTOBER 11th. I was working on homework with the kids when E gave me a permission slip for Spanish class. I began reading it and then it happened: If you are interested in this program, please return the registration form to the school office by Monday, October 11th. October 11th. Hey old lady, did you hear that October 11th? Did you think that I was not going to come because you have been ignoring Me?!

October 11th is less than a week away and well, I still have not prepared myself. My stomach hurts. I don't look like I'm thirty. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? What if I look older than thirty? I still have not lost the weight I wanted to lose and after I turn thirty it will be that much harder. Will my body drastically change in a few days? Will I wake up a totally different person than I do on every other day? Has anyone out there made a potion that will take me back to twenty-five?


...six days and counting

My apologies...Let's catch up

Funny how time flies...I am so very sorry for being MIA this last week but so much has been going on. Not, with me specifically but with my family and the people around me so in turn it involves me and I must adjust my schedule, change my plans.

I think the last time I posted was on Monday (dang a whole week, SMH) which is funny because at the end of Q's last post she talked about how I post regularly. I promise to do better.

On Monday of last week I was subbing(Thursday ans Friday also)but I managed to post. Tuesday I was off and used it as a day to run errands, to get as much done around the house as I could because Lord knows I needed to clean my house. So,
I am cleaning my kitchen when my phone started to sing (why, sing? Well, my ringtone for unidentified contacts is B.O.B's Beautiful Girls, weird, right?) I answer the phone and it is the casting representative for Dolphin Tales asking for my oldest son Z to report tomorrow.

Dolphin Tale is inspired by the true story of Winter, a dolphin that was rescued and nursed back to health at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. In the film Winter will star as herself, a dolphin who loses her tail in a crab trap. She strikes up a relationship with a little boy and eventually he rounds up a bunch of his buddies and together they convince a doctor to make Winter a prosthetic fin replacement so she can swim again. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dolphin-Tale/144172578935123

In September I heard about the casting and thought that I would take the kids and let them tryout for the movie just as something to do, an experience. Well, not only did the kids tryout but I did as well as my mom. I know. So, here I a on the phone with the company and they are only asking for one of the three, great. This cause us to call a family meeting because we need to explain to our other two kids that although they were not chosen they needed to be happy for their sibling. We also explained the need for Z to be sensitive to the feelings of his siblings. All in all, they handle themselves very well, they made us proud.

May you will get a good glimpse of Z in his extra, background, non-speaking starring role. LOL!

Weekend Recap

14 days and counting...

On Saturday I danced at MOSI in Simone Salsa School's Salsa Rueda. It was quite an experience for me. I was so nervous that I didn't get a decent night's sleep and I had no appetite. We performed twice and I can with full confidence say that the second performance was much better than the first. I didn't video the performance but I think some of the other students did so if they upload it to facebook or Youtube I will share it with you all.


SHOES! SHOES! SHOES!
I love shoes. Shoes make the world go 'round! I cleaned out my closet this weekend and I threw out seven pairs of shoes. I wonder how many pairs of shoes does the average woman own? IDK, ten, twenty-five,...Google!

According to Quora.com:

Glamour.com wrote recently about this here: http://www.glamour.com/fashion/b.... Original study was conducted by gocompare.com, who surveyed 3,000 women.

Scary (but unsurprising) summary?

•The average woman will buy 469 pairs of shoes in her lifetime
•She'll spend ~$25,000 overall
•This is ~$53 per pair
•The average woman has about 19 pairs of shoes at any given time
•These 19 pairs include three pairs with heels, six pairs of either flip-flops, sandals, ballet pumps or wedges, three pairs of boots and four pairs of 'foxy-style' shoes for nights out. (Note: "Foxy-style" not to be confused with "foxy-grandpa style," see urbandictionary.com)
•Women also have two pairs of work shoes and another two or so 'random' purchases
•Girls buy their first pair without mom at 14, then seven pairs a year for the rest of their lives
http://www.quora.com/How-many-pairs-of-shoes-does-the-average-woman-own


Well, I beg to differ. I have: 65 pairs of stilettos, 6 pairs of boots, 1 pair of sneakers, 2 pairs of golf shoes, 2 pairs of dance shoes, 4 pairs of wedges, and 3 pairs of sling backs, and 5 pairs of flip flops. A grand total of 88! And just think I threw out seven pairs before this census.

What did you do this weekend?   Did you have a great experience or a few regrets?   Do you have more shoes than the average woman?

When I grow up I want to be...

...a mother, a teacher, a social worker, a lawyer, a hair dresser, a doctor, and a ballerina.

I remember the answers to that question like it was yesterday. I was so innocent and filled with dreams of being the epitome of the "Professional Woman". I must say that I have accomplished some of those goals. I am the mother of three beautiful children, I currently work as a substitute teacher, I was a certified social worker for a while, I currently hold a valid cosmetology license in the state of Florida, as well as, a license as a certified nursing assistant and I work part-time as a night janitor( I know not on the list but I do that too). I don't have plans to pursue becoming a doctor, a lawyer, or a ballerina although, I have taken salsa lessons (I actually graduated in July) and I would like to start Tango lessons. (Sidebar: I love pictures and videos so, I know I will post more than my share of them.) Here is a great spot for me to share the graduation dance video:




Okay, back to the topic at hand, I don't know why I have found my place or why I seem to be stuck in the role of professional student ( I have been in school off and one since 1999) and I start nursing in January. At least I think I am starting I am not sure if I really want to. I would like to find a career that I enjoy doing, that I can retire from while I am still young enough to enjoy being retired. I know one thing for sure: time is running out.

Have you found your dream job? Are you currently working in your choice career? Have you changed careers like I change shoes?