Why Go To Church?

Going to church has made a huge difference in my life.  I have gone to several different kinds of churches since moving back to Kentucky.  I find myself most at home in United Methodist churches.  I feel much more at peace than I probably ever have.  I am comfortable exploring my faith at my church in Prestonsburg.  I feel like it is going to be very good for Holly, too.  This church really goes out of the way for members and children, which I find impressive.  The Upward basketball program is amaaaaazing.  Holly is improving.  Today was her first game, but she enjoyed herself.  The coaches work hard to intertwine sports and Christian teaching while building your child's self-esteem.


There are several things that I like about the church service.  There is organization, no one is yelling, and you get a bulletin that tells you what is about to happen.  It is like an intelligent exchange and the people in the church are very well-mannered, polite, and attentive.  The music is beautiful and they have an amazing bell choir!  I have felt very happy there, and going there is probably one of the best decisions I have ever made!  

Facebook has Cover Photos

I LOVE THIS part of the latest incarnation of Facebook!  This is mine.  My Macbook flash is super bright in the dark! The one on top is my cover photo right now :)

Me before I took Holly to basketball practice!

Two Most Important Phrases to Remember at Work

I'm in LOVE with this Song. It's Kind of a Big Deal!

I am a Traveler of Both Time and Space

Boston, Fine Men, Being Yourself, and How People are Helping me be a Better Mom

Two videos for the price of one today!  You ARE welcome! :)

The Phone Book

Lol at Jennifer: "Really? We're still doing this?" about my disbelief at the paper phone book's existence! — with Jennifer Stacey.

5 Ways to Get Rid of the Annoying Cat Man

Those of you who have read Short and Bored for awhile now probably know how the circus inside my brain works.  I see pictures in my head and it makes things 10x funnier than they actually are.


There is a man who has been in and out of my life for a number of years.  I mean, a loooong time (over a decade).  It seems that there is always one who keeps resurfacing.  I am a very efficient person, even in matters of the heart.  I need a place to put people, a compartment for them.  I am much happier when everyone is where they go.  It is a relief for me, and I know that's probably weird, but that's just how I work.  Once they've been removed from consideration, I move it right along.  (Not the same guy the last article was about).  


It seems that every day, I'm evaluating/turning down one or two.  I'm not saying that they are anyone of quality, but it happens.  I keep up hope that a man of quality is out there.  I have a long master plan, a lot of goals, and I'm speeding right toward completion of that plan.  None of those plans involve living where people probably expect me to live, doing anything that they expect me to do, and I'm okay with that.  


2012 is the year of Sagittarius, Rooster me!  It's going to be fun if nothing else.  So onto my list!  Here is how to get rid of the Annoying Cat Man.


Annoying Cat Man is OBSESSED with how he looks.  He is constantly preening, scrutinizing your every flaw, and is like a sleeping cat in your favorite chair- not worth disturbing for all the whining and hassle that will ensue.


5.  Stop feeding him.  As with stray cats, you cannot give Annoying Cat Man any attention and expect him to disappear.  As long as he is fed, he will be there, to the tune of well over a decade.


4.  Keep your water bottle at the ready.  If you've been around Annoying Cat Man long enough,  you will know the little things that he finds off-putting, and you can use these to your advantage, without saying a word!  


3.  Make it clear to him that you have made a visit to the Humane Society, and that you are shopping for another cat that wants a loving home.


2.  Encourage him to choose another family to bother. For instance, extoll the virtues of another female, explain that she's had her claws removed, whatever it takes, just get him focused on her like she is the highest grade of cat food.


1.  When he pays very little attention to you, yet still wants you in his presence, make sure that you distance yourself and pay even less attention to him.  Wean Annoying Cat Man off of you and whatever it is that keeps him coming back, and he will soon move on to the next house.  There are always willing owners.

How Not to Get a Date With a Single Mom: 5 Handy Tips and Tricks

5.  Do not brag about the women you've been "seeing" since you split up with your ex-wife.


4.  Don't explain the craftiness with which you plan to reduce the child support you pay.


3.  Do not say that you only gave up a drug habit so they couldn't "use it against you."


2.  Don't say that you assume your ex-wife now has Cancer because she used to be, and I quote, "a healthy 175 pounds" when you two were together.


1.  Do not volunteer specific names of your conquests and ask me to look them up on Facebook.  


***Ugh, not the brightest crayons I've encountered, that's for sure.***

Tori Amos and Maynard James Keenan. I'd Pay SO MUCH money to see them together!

Returning to Massachusetts

So, many of you who really know me and keep up with me know that I had been planning for months now to go to Massachusetts over Christmas Break via plane, train, or automobile.

When I left there, on August 5th, 2010, to be exact, I pulled out of our driveway on Bruen (not Bruin) Road in Hudson (military housing).  I left my cat that I loved because I couldn't have her at the place I had rented in Kentucky.  There was a huge flood down here between when I found a place and when I was to move.  I was grateful to have found a place to live since they were in high demand when I came back down here.  

It was sad because I remember feeling like everything had been sucked out of me, like I'd just given life everything I had after nearly 10 years of a crummy relationship, and that I was going to now be basically both Mom and Dad to my daughter and have to make it on very little.  I was finishing my Master's Degree to teach and had to live on less than I ever had before.  I had wasted nearly all of my twenties on a terrible marriage and the only blessing I got from it was my daughter (who is FABULOUS... I mean, who else would I rock out to Gaga with in the car?).  

I worried about returning, since the image I had was following a moving truck nearly 900 miles and leaving in the rainy dark, not knowing what my life would be like in a year.  It is much better for me now.  The ex's life, though, is a different story.  Despite it all, I wish him no harm.  I think he does the best he can.  I do encourage him to be better because I know he can be.  Especially with another baby on the way with his new wife, he needs a plan.  

I am so glad that I am not having another child right now, that I can still come and go as I please, that I still have my independence and see whom I want when I want.  I would certainly like to meet the right man, but I'm not rushing things and I'm sure he will appear in due time.  I love people in general, so I meet new people every day. 

I was very surprised at how I felt the minute I hit the Boston sign in Sturbridge, Massachusetts.  I called my best friend and told her that I felt like I was the sunshine and happiness just radiated out of me.  This was probably because I never got to enjoy it much up there when I was married and working my tail off.  I got to meet up with so many of my friends and it was like we just left off the other day.  I feel very connected to my friends up there even if we don't all talk all the time.

You know why the Boston area is amazing?  People are sooo smart!  I enjoyed the conversations I had this week so much.  The people I know up there think so quickly and are so quick-witted.  They read people quickly like I do.  I will be surprised if I never end up back up there.  It was like I'd left myself up there.  I could be myself all the time.  No one wants or expects anything else.  

It is cold, it snows a lot, and I'm aware that it's not paradise, but the people there are without equal.  They value reading and their schools are amazing.  I love my students and my job here, but I would spend my every waking free second up there if I could.  I have no doubt that if I meet a man my age (give or take only a year- I'm 30) who is worth it that he'll probably be from up there unless the very few potentials in my life make a real effort anytime soon.  

My daughter was thrilled because she got to see her Dad. He lives up there with his new wife and she is expecting a baby.  I get along with them both, but a little rain did fall on my trip with him just "forgetting" to tell me he got kicked out of the Army and has known since August...  No one felt like they needed to inform me?    

Needless to say, I stuck up for Holly and all is peaceful now.  I made it very clear that she will not be put on the back burner since we also just "forgot" that what he owes me disappeared into thin air.  I will never have issues with her father as long as he sticks to our agreement, so we will see what happens. 

I do things most divorced single Mom's won't do to keep the peace and so that she has a relationship with her father.  So far, we've gotten along well and I hope that continues.  I just outgrew the silliness and I'm not a needy woman- I handle my business.  I'm proud of that.  Needy women make me ill and I'm not sure why.  I just don't understand being like that.  But cheers for Massachusetts.  Some of the best people in the world live up there!

10 Ways I Keep My Life Interesting

10.  Read.  A lot.  Reading can mean classic novels or just articles online.  Reading, either on your phone, e-reader, iPad, or old fashioned paper is the way to go.  It will always keep you up on things.


9.  Be open to new experiences.  Alone.  I never let the fear of a place or traffic or the unknown keep me from new experiences.  I'd rather have millions of new experiences than junk in my apartment any day.  I have become accustomed to doing nearly everything alone.  I enjoy people, but I am capable of having a dang good time by myself! :)


8.  Love your work.  I love my job.  It is a job that I can do almost anywhere.  True, it doesn't make me rich, but I do love it.  I get a real sense of purpose from helping my students understand English and, sometimes, life.


7.  Don't allow yourself to be held back.  For any reason.  I have a 7 year-old daughter who is fabulous.  She makes a great sidekick on long trips.  I have taught her to be a good travel companion.  She whines SO much less than normal kids on long car rides or plane rides because she knows how to act during these things.  


6.  Keep your friends.  I have so many friends whom I deeply love and care about in different cities and states.  I keep in touch with them and stay up on their lives the best I can.  


5.  Hang on to who you are.  Ignore people who tease or ridicule you for whatever reason.  If you like your hair or makeup a certain way, pour it to it.  Your look, after all, is about you- not them, and it is the image you choose to convey to anyone passing by. 


4.  Always be planning your next adventure.  I am a planner by nature.  It makes me happy on a whole other level when my plans come to fruition.  I don't freak out if they get slightly derailed; I allow for that a bit.  But, since, in my experience, I haven't had too many encounters with someone else who is a planner, I kind of have to create my own! :)


3.  NEVERRR accept being treated as less-than by pretentious snobs.  Snootiness does not equal intelligence.  These people don't need to wear labels because they can be spotted a mile away.  They leap at the chance to prove they've been "out of the holler" before and it makes them look like bad wannabes.  And PS, ladies, if his phone is more important to him than you, use yours a little less to contact him.  Just sayin'.   


2.  Surprise yourself daily!  Never fear!  I surprise myself with things I do sometimes, not always in a bad way, and I think experiences that will make me smile when I am an old woman are the only ones worth having! :)  I could explain more, but I'll pass! lol


1.  LAUGH!  Nothing in this world is better than laughter.  Nothing at all, not even things that you'd think are better.  You can laugh almost anywhere, inside your head or out loud.  I have a select few close friends who understand, or "get" me.  They can always make me laugh.    

I Think I'll Go to Boston

I'll be in Boston tomorrow night if all goes well.  I can't wait to see some of my friends.  I appreciated those people so much because I was so out of place up there!  

This song was new when the ex first got orders for us to move to the Boston area.  The last night I lived up there, I saw Augustana sing it live.  It was wonderful.  I love that place dearly and miss it so.  I'd have to win the lottery to live up there, though!  :)  Great people there.  

"She said,'I think I'll go to Boston.  I think I'll start a new life.  I think I'll start it over, where no one knows my name.'"  

Out and About

Tonight, I saw Mike Armstrong (a retired police officer turned comedian) perform at Comedy Off Broadway in Lexington, KY.  I laughed so hard that my face really hurt- it was so much fun.  He is hilarious, and, oh, yeah... he was married for a minute! :)

A Billie Holiday Kind of Morning!

My Hair, Just the Way it Is! In the Mood for Big Hair Today :)

Today's Quote- She Speaks the Truth!

"Boys, boys, all type of boys

Black, white, Puerto Rican, Chinese boys

Girl, girl, get that cash

If it's 9 to 5 or...

Ain't no shame, ladies do your thang

Just make sure you ahead of the game" ♥ Missy Elliott

Another One Bites the Dust!

Akers vs. Elliptical: Like a BOSS!

Gotta be the Crunkest, Gotta be the Loudest!!!

"Gotta be the Crunkest, Gotta be the Loudest!!!  It's gotta be the best love song she ever heard... in her liiife!"  I don't do mushy, but I'm LOVING this song!