Thanksgiving Holiday Overview

It's Monday morning. The Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday. A.K..A. lots of eating and lots of shopping. Thus, the pedometer attached to my hip this morning and my workout DVD in my tote bag. Unfortunately, I wont be able to get to the DVD because I left the key to my work locker at home--on the floor under the computer desk, no less--so I can't change into my workout clothes over lunch :(( However, I can do lots of walking and get my hula hoop on! Yes, friends and fam, I have incorporated an old childhood pasttime of hula hooping into my everyday fitness regimen and it's so much fun! For the last two weeks, I've been relieving stress at work, burning calories, and having fun with the hula hoops someone was kind enough to put in our fitness center here at work. If I hadn't been so distracted by cooking, eating, shopping, and family over the last four days, I would've missed my daily hula hoop sessions. But now that I'm back at work, I'm glad to be able to get back to it! I just wish I could bring the darn hula hoops up to my desks so I won't have to go all the way down to the fitness center whenever I need to get my fix!

Nevertheless, after a few lessons at church of thankfulness I have a spirit of thankfulness this morning. Unlike how I was feeling during my last post, today I'm thankful for my job. Glad to be here, in fact. Over the weekend, I was even moved to gift my coworkers with a small token for the holidays. I'm done being in a sour puss at work.

That's enough for now. I've got a book that I need to finish writing...

#MyDayJobSucks

I'm in great admiration of Nathaniel this morning. It's Tuesday and he's got a day off! Oh, what I'd give to be in his shoes. Instead, I'm the mom, the head of household, the breadwinner, the bill payer. Can you guess where I am? Yep. Work! And it's really sad that it's the last place I want to be.

As a believer in God, I try not to express negative sentiments about my job because I know that I could easily be a part of the large population of the unemployed in Michigan and across the nation. That's not a place that I want to be and I thank God that I've never been there before. Believe me, I don't want to have any personal dealings with M.A.R.V.I.N.

BUT...I'm really tired of my job! Can I say that one more time? I'm really tired of my job! The people. The work. The managers. Especially the managers! Basically, everything besides my paycheck.

So being the writer that I am, I go to the Web and google workplace blogs because I've been considering creating a workplace ranting blog for sometime. In my search, I came across a website promoting this guy named, Alexander Kjerulf, who wrote a book entitled, Happy Hour is 9 to 5: How to be Happy at Work.

Just what I needed, right? On this guy's blog he had a video where he advised of the two most important factors that contribute to employee happiness at work: Results & Relationships. Mr. Kjerulf said that when employees see, understand, and are properly rewarded for their results they feel happy about work AND when they like and feel liked by the poeple they work with, they feel happy.

In that case, my unhappiness at work is warranted. My department produces a product that no one really cares about anymore--the white pages. It's a product in it's last life stages and that's exactly how our department operates. Quite depressing.

Thank God for my writing. It's the only thing that keeps me sane for 8 hrs that I have to spend at my job that's paying the bills.

Follow me on Twitter @lajefferson for my workplace grumblings @ hashtag #mydayjobsucks

Homecoming, Halloween, & Birthdays

Hey Fam & Friends!

It's been awhile since my last post but trust and believe me, that's not because there's been nothing to share! October was quite a busy month! For starters, LaTya started her first job! Yay!!! On the road to independence. A parent's dream! She's working at Panera Bread and she's quite enjoying it, especially when she gets those checks. LOL!

Also, LaTya joined the Mime ministry at church!  It's quite a blessing when children desire and choose ministries on their own. Sure, that puts something else on my plate--weekly practice--but I'm glad to do it for her.  Below is a clip of one of her first performances. I apologize in advance for the messed up part of the video. Cell phones video recording--what can you do? But I guarantee you'll enjoy what you are able to see!

Then there was my birthday--October 15th! I dun' crossed over to the other side of 35! It's really tripping me out, too, but I'm blessed, nonetheless. I got the best birthday gift ever. My honey, Kevin, gifted me with a weekend at the Holiday Inn Express downtown, which was perfectly planned because my writer's group, Motown Writers Network was hosting it's 3rd Annual Book Club Mix & Mingle where authors and book club members come together for a fun-filled gathering! At the event (on my actual birthday), I wore my birthday present from LaTya, a t-shirt that reads, "Future Best Selling Author". Isn't she just a doll of a daughter?





Myself, L.A. Jefferson & National Best Selling Author Vincent Alexandria book swapping!

  October 21st: Cass Tech High School Homecoming!

Check out this Cass Tech Cutie!

Any guess what she's thinking about?

He'd never admit how pretty he thought his sister looked. LOL!

Halloween 2011: Harvest Celebration at Kadesh Baptist Church

Pretty girl Tya a.k.a Bunny Rabbit & Princess Alaura 

Nate the Great a.k.a. Ice Wolf Ninja

Nate a.k. Ice Wolf Ninja beating his Larry ak.a. General Grievous (Clone Wars) in the musical chairs game

My Jalen poo a.k.a. Woody

My Raymond poo a.k.a Wolverine

My Kenny poo a.k.a. Iron Man

I was dressed up, but who takes pictures of me :(( Nevertheless, kids had a ball! And with the end of the night, as with most holidays, I was just glad when it was over!

It's a New Day

Yes! It's official. We're moving!!! In fact, how'd I spend Labor Day weekend? Packing up and cleaning my house. Needless to say, it was exhausting.

For those who didn't know--which is mostly everyone--please don't take it personal. If you haven't learned it by now, this is just how I do things. Not so much "keeping secrets", but I've learned in my adult life that I do much better when I deal with changes in my life on my own before I share with family and friends, who will undoubtedly be compelled to offer their opinion, positive or negative. I hope that's understandable.

Anyway, I'm pretty excited! Some of you may know this has been on my list "to-do" since I divorced Mr.Jefferson and moved back to my house --geez--four years ago! The new place is in Southfield and my Detroit home is on the market awaiting short sale approval. If you come across any investors looking for property in Detroit, please send them my way. I'd much appreciate it.


Wish us luck! Better yet, send multiple prayers to the Heavens. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

A Not so Regular Saturday

Days like this are alright with me! Days when I don't have anything that I have to do. Days when the kids don't have anything that they have to do. Of course, a teenager can always come up with something to do rather than stay at home and clean up. Me too, for that matter. LOL! Seriously, while I'd love to stay home doodling around on the Internet (Blogger, Twitter, & Facebook), I won't do that to the kids.

My daughter wants to get to the mall to shop for her infamous Sweet 16 birthday outfit. My son wants nothing more than to pick up a toy along the way. And me, I'd prefer to do none of that because I know when I leave the house I'll be compelled to take care of some necessary things for the house but I will at least ensure that I treat myself to a pedicure and eye brow arch while we're out.

Olive Garden for dinner on a Friday night. Not the usual choice for the kids and I, but much better than the usual McDonalds, Burger King. I know it's pasta but it's healthier than burgers and fries. Right.

How Do You Choose?

On any given day, there's literally a billion things to do! Everywhere I look--and for some reason I'm always looking--there's always something going on. Between hustle & ballroom lessons, organization meetings, church activities, exercise classes, kids' school activities (LSCO mtgs, P/T conferences, programs), my writer's group activities, and a host of other functions and activities that I'd love to support. But you know what, even if I didn't have two children to devote my time and energy to, I still wouldn't be able to do all that I want to do. Sometimes the decisions are hard to make. For example, last Saturday was my monthly writer's meeting. For various reasons I haven't made the last couple of meetings so I put it in on my mind the whole week before that I was not going to miss this one. BUT when I woke up that morning, I just wasn't feeling it. Then I heard the groups founder, Sylvia Hubbard, word's, "If your writing is important to you, you should be able to sacrifice one Saturday morning per month for a couple of hours." She's absolutley right! I should be able to, but I don't always want  to.  On that particular morning I was much more inclined to enjoy one of my favorite movies Julie & Julia, while drinking a delicious cup of coffee and a glazed donut with my kids. Not to mention, that movie creates a surge of writing inspiration! So I'm no less dedicated to my craft of writing because I missed yet another meeting.

As for the other activities that I pass on, I just don't see any other around it. I'd love to dance 2 or 3 nights a week or take a Zumba class once a week. Unfortunately, after working all week, helping with homework all week, writing & blogging all week, I have to be extremely selective what I do in my free time. Right now my priorities are my kids and my writing. So dancing stays on the back burner until I get an invite or hear about party I want to attend. Exercise is limited to an occasional Zumba class and Exercise T.V. programs. Most school activities are mandatory. Church is on Sunday and once or twice a month for additional services or meetings (church is kind of important). The rest of the time is for as much R & R as I can get!

"What have you been up to?"

How do you really answer that question? Usually I respond with something along the lines of same 'ole same 'ole. Any other response would surely illicit the respond, "TMI" from the requestor. Or at least I think so.

If someone really wants to know what I've been up they would learn that I'm trying to finish a book I've been reading since the beginning of January. I'm trying to pay my bills ON TIME every month to increase my credit score so that I can be approved for a mortgage loan. I'm passively planning my daughter's upcoming 16th birthday celebration. I'm blogging and promoting my book, Unfinished Business. On top of all of that I'm consciencely making efforts to keep my house clean and in order. Oh and need I mention that I have two children in school--one a six year old who I have to help with homework and read to or have reading every evening.

See how much stuff I have going on? And there's so much I didn't even bother to mention. Who really wants to hear all of that? Nobody. Therefore, "Same 'ole, same 'ole" will continue to be my response.

How do you answer that question?

Bring Back the Days--Painted Fingers & Toes

On this treacherous snow day in Michigan, I spent much of the day pondering how I was going to attain the riches that I so rightly deserve. Will they come from my writing endeavors? Will they come from climbing the corporate ladder? Or will they come from the growth of my home-based Avon business? You can imagine how stressful this day was. Then,suddenly I was hit with a flashback of one of the simpler times of my adult life. A time when I gave little thought to money, little thought to weight loss, little thought to the complexities of life.

I was a young mom, just 21 years old, married, living free (literally) on the Air Force base on the beautiful island of Oahu, Hawaii. Yes, HAWAII!

My daughter was not quite one years old. I wasn't working outside of the home. I hadn't re-enrolled in college yet. With my days, all that was required of me was caring for my daughter, a little light housekeeping, and making sure my husband had a hot meal ready when he came home. While I was acutely aware that I wasn't as happily married as I would have liked, life was still good. It was easy. Painting my nails, reading, and taking long brisk walks around the base with my daughter securely strapped in her stroller were daily pleasures. Ooooh, those were the good 'ole days!

Slow it Down Please

After sitting on the sidelines watching my daughter get her exercise on via our Exercise TV programming, which I'm always recommending and encouraging others to take advantage of, today I decided to get my butt in gear.

Actually, I dabbled in it a couple of days ago doing the 6min Zumba Fitness video. Since it was only 6mins, I did the video back-to-back. I just couldn't see it any other way. Anyway, today I added Yoga Sculpt to the mix and that damn instructor was going waaayyyy too fast for me. Considering I'm a novice at Yoga I couldn't keep up with the video and do the moves correctly! You know, Yoga positions are about focus and concentration. Imagine my struggle trying to focus on the pose and see what the instructor was doing next. Long story short, I made it through a solid 15mins of the 25min video, but I think that's pretty good for someone who prefers to spend her evenings watching t.v., blogging, or writing--oh yeah--and parenting.

No promises, now. Not even to myself.  But I'd like to do some Yoga or some form of body sculpting in the morning. Check in tomorrow for an update.

From the Fitness Guru Himself

Talk about nerve! My dad had the audacity to laugh at me when he learned of a recent purchase that I'd made of an inflatable punching bag. Yes, I'll admit that I got caught up in overzealous holiday shopping and bought the damn thing primarily because the popping yellow from the box was eye-catching in the conveniently placed bin containing tons of the "perfect" gifts for family and friends. Still, to be ridiculed by the fitness equipment guru of ALL TIME is inconceivable. I'm not kidding, either, about the guru status. Over my lifetime, my dad has bought just every health & fitness product available to man--juicers, vegetable steamers, fat burning products, ab lounger, ab roller, Tower 200, Total Gym, treadmill, elipticals. Need I say more. In fact, it's because of his addition to buy EVERYTHING advertised on television that I've made extra efforts not to do the same. And so far I've done pretty good for myself. To date, I've bought a stepper (back when step aerobics was IN), the bender ball, a treadmill, and a select few exercise videos. Not bad at all, considering the things I've been tempted to buy.

Out with the Old

I've been told often that I'm just like my dad in many respects. Most times I don't mind the comparisons especially when it has to do with his dedication to health & fitness. Well, at the close of 2010 I reminded myself of him with his coined phrase of, "_______ isn't making it into 2011." The blank line would be filled with whichever of his associates or friends he was cutting off in the new year. Usually a person made this list of my dads because they let him down one too many times of the current year and beyond and he was tired of it. Sometimes I admonished my father for cutting off friendships, in particular with those he'd been friends with for most of his adult life. In those situations, unless a person has done something monstrously out of line, I'd tell him he should cherish those friendships and be a little more forgiving.

On the other hand there does come a time in certain friendships or associations where it is completely justifiable to cut people off. Sometimes people show you that they are just not deserving of any form of close relations with you. I have two such people in my life--both in the workplace. One of them I was warned about when I first hired into the department. Still I called myself befriending the woman. Over the course of 4 years, the woman has caught unexplained attitudes with me, usually getting loud, calling attention to whatever the issue was, at least 4 times. With the last one, sometime in October, I was DONE. Mainly because that last time, she had gotten under my skin to the point where I was about ready to pretend that we weren't in the workplace and I don't have time jeopardizing my job for anyone. Needless to say, she and I haven't spoken sense and I have no plans of saying anything more to her than "Good Morning."

The other person has been a pretty cool person to laugh and joke around with at work. It helped the day to go by faster. Unfortunately, this person--a man--has clearly been severely affected by working in the company of so many women for some many years. He acts just like them, if not worse. First let me say that two years ago, he got mad at our little group of friends and stopped talking to all of us for months. Eventually, he came to his senses and began to talk again. Most recently, he interjected his opinion into a conversation that I was having with another coworker THEN had the nerve to catch an attitude with me when everybody involved in the conversation pounced on his opinion. The conversation occurred 3 weeks ago and he hasn't had much to say to me. Well, you know what, the last thing I have time to deal with at work, of all places, is a BI&*HY man. So as far as I'm concerned I won't be saying anything to him outside of anything related to work.

With both of these individuals, it's their loss, not mine.

Clean Sweep

Envy is a sin, I know. Still, it's the very emotion that I was guilty of often this New Year's weekend. While house hopping, each person's house I visited was absolutely beautiful, clean, and spotless.

Yes, I know that folks clean up immaculately when their expecting company, but these folks I know keep very clean homes on the regular. I know because I've been to each of their homes on more than one unplanned visit. I'm filled with envy because all to often I feel ashamed of the condition that I allow my house to be in. Dishes doen't always get washed and put away, my dresser stays in shambles with toiletries, spray bottles, mail, and a host of other things I lay atop it during the week. To my credit, I do keep the floor pretty cleared from stuff, but I can do MUCH better than what I do and I feel convicted to do so when I encounter those who do.

My fiance likes to say, "Face it, honey, you're just very domestic." WTF??? Just because organizing my house has not been my #1 priority doesn't mean I should be referred to as "not" domestic! I do clean. I just don't possess any cleaning rituals on a weekly or daily basis BUT I'll be doing so in the new year. I've got to prepare for the bigger house that I'll be blessed with this year. I've got cement regular cleaning habits into the current house before I can expect to keep my newer, bigger house clean.

As 2011 quickly approached in the last few days I was already inspired not to enter the new year with a messy house, specifically my bedroom--my biggest challenge. I'm proud to say at the conclusion of 1/1/11, my room was organized in a way that it hadn't been the entirety of 2010. All in all it probably took the entire week, but I got it done. And the plan is to keep it organized from this day forth.