Do You Watch Mad Men

Two wrongs don't make a right, right? Can it depend on the circumstances??? Okay, I know that doesn't matter. But, as I sat watching one of my favorite Sunday night dramas, Mad Men, I found myself rooting for the wife of one of the main characters to cheat on her husband. Sounds terrible, right? Let me explain. This show takes place in the 1960's and is all about the lives of these ad executives. One of the main characters, Don Draper, is a habitual cheater. It doesn't matter that his wife is a former model, great mom, attentive wife, etc. He just can't seem to keep IT in his pants! Matter of fact his last affair occurred shortly AFTER his wife found out about the one before that.

Since last season, the writers have had this wife having attractions towards other guys. Last night, she even kissed someone! I was like, "Yes!" Maybe after she gets a little something on the side she'll regain the confidence often lost when your spouse cheats. She just can't let her husband find out or else she may cease to exist--you know men can't take what they dish out.

I can't wait to see what's going to happen.

Kids...What are you gonna do with them?

There comes a point in every mom's "mommy" experience where enough is ENOUGH! I have two lovely children: 14yr old daughter & 5yr old son. I love to them to LIFE, but they know they can work my nerves!!! Let's start with the teenager. She is very lucky that my overprotective mother deprived me of a lot of socializing opportunities during my teen years. It wasn't very often that I was hanging with my friends outside of school, and I won't even touch on the school activities I didn't participate in--that's an entirely different blog altogther! Anyway, since it's important to me that she enjoys the fullness of her youth, I'm extra lenient allowing her to invite friends over, meet friends at the mall or movies, etc. Not only do I allow her the activities, many times I'm shuttling her and her friends to where they are trying to go. So, please tell me why do I get these crazy facial expressions and loud sighs when I ask her to clean out my car or clean up the kitchen (the kitchen is her regular responsibility, which she half cleans most of the time). Believe me, this is rhetorical question. She's a teenager and they don't appreciate ANYTHING!!! I came to the conclusion a few weeks ago that I need to change up how I was dealing with little missy. After the 1st wknd of September I set a repeating reminder in my iPhone that there would be NO ACTIVITIES for the teen for the rest of the month. It was funny, too. She'd asked to do something and when I said no, she was like, "Why?" My reply??? Old faitful, "Because I said so." LOL!

Next for the 5yr old. My little boy is just the cutest thing! Really!!! With those bigh brown eyes of his, he has been getting away with some STUFF! He has broken things and not been seriously reprimanded. I've noticed him becoming a little sneakier and manipulative. Yes, I know these things are all apart of him growing up and learning what he can and can't do, but mommy has had to start getting with little man! This year, with my daughter on an early schedule for school, he has to wake up earlier than he did last school year. Therefore, I've established a set schedule for him that I'm still working on adhering to. I've been hitting the mark more often than not, which is a good thing. Bath time is at 7pm, last call for t.v. is 7:30 to 8:00, then lights out.

Back to the behavior. A few weeks ago, I noticed a necklace I bought at Christmas was broken. He admitted that he did it "by mistake". Not long before that, he broke a curtain rod "by mistake". Then, last week he damaged a special umbrella that I had just bought. That same week, he put a tear in my car interior. The final straw was when he cut a hole in his school pants the other day. I was so ticked off! No way was I accepting that he did it "by mistake". Yes, he got the spanking for that one and the curtain rod, as a matter of fact. I warned him that there would be more spankings to come if anything else came up broken or damaged. The real downer of this issue with my son was that I was looking forward to showing him a good time this coming weekend. We were going to go to an arcade on Friday, bowling or skating on Saturday. Boy, he was going to have a ball! He messed that all up. Now it looks I'll just be shopping for my daughter's homecoming dance dress and some winter clothes for all of us :( Quiet is as kept, I would've preferred the arcade and bowling :)

Til next time...

L.A.

Weekend Recap

I know everything happens for a reason and because I'm a child of God, I also know that everything that happens is meant for my good. Well, none of that made me feel immediately better about how out of control my weekend became! It's not that it was soooo bad, but it just didn't go my way. First, my body finally surrendered to my 5yr old son coughing in my face throughout the week. I woke up with the scratchy throat syndrome. Then, since my son had had the cough for over a week, I decided to take him to the doctor. Plus, he needed a haircut AND I had plans to drop my daughter off at the mall with her friend. Then some family stuff surfaced on Sunday, which is REALLY the day I like to chill! Therefore, the weekend that I had planned to relax and recover from the tiresome previous weekend was everything but.

HOWEVER, in the end everything was in divine order. The things that interrupted MY plans of the upmost importance: my nephew's 1st b-day party and a family dinner in celebration of my visiting great-aunt from Memphis, TN. As much as I complained about the infrigement of my intended R&R weekend, I was glad to have had the time with my family.

God-willing, there will be other weekends to sit back and relax or maybe do some major house cleaning that my house is in serious need of.

Til next time...

L.A.

Making the Best Of It

Anyone besides me have one or two people (grown-ups) in your family who have this retarded mindset that they don't have to have a job like every other adult??? Well, depending on how grown they are, you almost can't get mad at them because SOMEBODY has allowed them to think they can get away with living off of others, but that subject is another blog entry altogether. My purpose is to suggest how to make use of these family members so they do something purposeful with their lives.

PUT THEM TO WORK!!!

If you can't make them get a REAL job, make them useful for the family members who do work. For example, my loved one (and I do love him dearly) is really good with being available for the children. NO, HE'S NOT A PEDAFILE. He's extrememly helpful getting my son to school in the mornings while I get my oldest to school and myself to work. He even came through for me when my son was going to a school farther away from his house when his car was working.

During the summer months, I don't have to spend my weekends or time after work cleaning my yard because he can do it while I'm at work. When I need painting done in my house or minor repairs, if he can, he'll take care of it. Not only does that save me time, but it saves me money.

In our case, I've long given up on trying to figure out why this person has chosen this life. It's really not my place to do so. If they're happy, why shouldn't I be? Everyone has a place in this life. Right now, mine is working my current day job, writing in my free time, and raising my children. This other person, because of their chosen lifestyle, is in a position to help me as well as others in the family, so it's a win-win situation for our family.

Precious Moments

Yay! The kids are back to school and we all couldn't be happier. Like the wonderful mom that I am, I took some personal time off work just so I could see both of my children off to their first day. This entailed driving my daughter downtown to the nationally acclaimed Cass Technical High School, then back to the nortwest side of the city to where my son is attending the elementary school named after Detroit's longest term holding mayor, the late Coleman A. Young. Then, I was back downtown to start my workday. But who's complaining? Definitely not me. It's moments like these, for some reason, when I really get a adrenaline rush about being mom. God has BLESSED me so much to be able to be there for my children in ways many mom's can't. I'm very thankful for having a job where I have the flexibility to be present for important occasions like the first day of school, award ceremonies, field trips, etc. Kids feel special when their parents are there for them. Even though they may sometimes act like the material provisions their parents provide are supreme, but they value our presence just as much. A parents prescence is priceless for all interested parties.

Doing It Myself

Today is a perfect example of why I became a do-it-yourself girl a few years ago. My daughter went to the hairdresser this morning. She knew exactly how she wanted her hair to be styled. I told the hairdresser part of what she wanted and my daughter explained in greater detail after I left. Well, something went awry because when I picked my daughter up she was very dissatisfied. She liked the layers that her hairdresser cut, but the bangs and the back of her hair were cut too short. I didn't think it looked too bad. Trying to console her, I explained that she could simply pull the bangs back with a clip and just rock the layers until the bangs grew out to where she wanted them. I also used the moment to reiterate to her why I resigned to becoming my own hairstylists, amongst other things.

I would lose count trying to remember how many times I went to a hairdresser with a desired look in mind and leaving with something completely different. Honestly, I don't believe it's because these hairdressers didn't know what their doing, but rather they could create their version of what I wanted. The point is I was disappointed and I got tired of paying money not to get what I wanted.

Last year when I began locking my hair, I continued to be a do-it-yourself girl. I couldn't be happier. Not only do I get the satisfaction of accomplishing something on my own, I also save more money than I used to be able to getting my hair done bi-weekly at $35-$55 a pop. If you ask me, it can't get any better than that.

Shopping Follow-Up

I've had an epiphany! Yesterday, I realized I am the reason that I can't handle long shopping sessions with my daughter. You see, I begin with her needs in mind. However, the longer we stay in a particular store my eyes start wandering to my interests. And, once that starts, it's a done deal. It's like the sky becomes the limit and I start picking up pieces to add to my wardrobe. Before it's all said and done, in many cases, I've doubled what I would've spent had I just shopped for her!

The good thing is that I don't regret a thing. I can afford to treat myself that way because I don't embark on that many shopping trips. Even when I do, I am disciplined enough to not go overboard. For example, we were at Marshals yesterday. While my daughter was looking for school attire, I was browsing the assortment of cute tops and career separates. I found a sharp, brown Anne Klein pants suit and about 3 tops to match up with things I already have. The suit was soooo cute. But I'm trying to come away from buying so much beige, brown, and black in my wardrobe, so I was on the fence about buying it. Then I came across a nice, brown blazer. It appeared to be the same shade of brown as a pair of pants I already have and it was half the cost of the brown suit.

I put the suit back on the rack and walked away with the jacket and the three cute tops, one of which I just had to wear today. Oh yeah, my daughter got a few things, too.

We both left happy! Now that's what I call a successful shopping trip!