Is it Bronchitis or Heartburn?

A few weeks ago, the love of my life was dealing with what would be diagnosed as Acute Bronchitis. He had been dealing with the symptoms of coughing and a slight difficulty in breathing for a while. He was managing it with his inhalers, assuming it was asthma due to the change of weather. After going to the doctor he was diagnosed and given prescriptions. That night, he had to pick up a prescription that had mistakenly not been given to him earlier during his trip to the pharmacy.

On this same night for dinner, we had smoked chicken, sausage, potatoes, and steamed vegetables. Alas, it twas not I that cooked this delicious meal.

Skipping ahead, the huz-band left around 8:30 that evening to pick up the missing medicine. On his return, he comes in the house with what sounds like a forced calmness in his voice. He says, “My lungs feel like they are burning and I can’t breathe. I need to go to the hospital!” I thought to myself, “If you can’t breathe, how are you able to talk?” Now I can’t lie. My first thought wasn’t “Oh my goodness! What’s wrong with my baby?” It was, “Are you kidding me? I just powdered down and put my pajamas on.” I literally had one leg in the bed while my second leg was in mid swing.

However, I knew that it was time for me to be the supportive and understanding wife. Not the wife that is looking at the time. I needed to ignore the fact that it was after my bedtime, although I was beginning to feel the heaviness of good sleep weighing down upon my eyelids. Because unlike him I still had to go to work in the morning. But I became a big girl and after my miniature mental tantrum I redressed and drove the huz-band to the hospital.

While in the waiting room, he kept telling me to not panic and that he was okay. Even though I wasn’t panicking. He had just went to the doctor that morning and I knew these doctors weren’t going to give him any new information or a new diagnosis. I felt as if he hadn’t given the medicine time to work. I told him all of this before we left the house, but according to him “his lungs were on fire.”

Back in the waiting room, I asked him, “Are you sure it’s not heartburn causing you to feel like your lungs are burning or the side effect from the pills you’ve taken and then a panic attack which caused you to feel like you couldn’t breathe”? He had told me earlier that he had an antibiotic that would give him heartburn. He has also dealt with panic attacks when he was younger. “No, it’s not that. I am really struggling breathing right now. I felt this way last night.” Again, I notice that he’s saying this, and NOT having problems breathing while saying it. If he was struggling with his breathing, he would be struggling with speaking. I had asthma as a child, so I know what it is to struggle with breathing.

At the hospital, he’s given a breathing treatment and he tells the doctors why we’re here. He answers the doctors’ questions about what he has taken, medically, and also what he’s eaten that night. Their conclusion, “He does have acute bronchitis but his lungs are clear.” Thank God! They also add, “It seems like you probably just have heartburn from the food you ate and the antibiotic. Your anxiety caused you to feel as if you couldn’t breathe.”

We look at each other and I give him my Grinch smile. When the doctor leaves, I kindly and with all the love I can give my wondrous huz-band, I respond with, “Told ya! But I’m glad we know for sure and that it isn’t anything worse…I love ya now let’s go home because I’m is sleepy!”

Merry Christmas

Everyone!

Thank you for reading! Please comment, like, and/or subscribe!

*In Case you received the unfinished post earlier via email, please read this explanation.* https://katseyeview.org/2018/12/25/error-exterminate

Time to be Selfish

Not wanting to make others uncomfortable is why I have kept my mouth closed. I hate it, but I continue to put other people’s feelings before mine. I continue to think of their comfort, so I always swallow what I want to say. Always waiting for the right time. There’s never going to be a right time.

Christmas is around the corner 🎄✝️🎄✝️! This is the time of year, when people are supposed to look forward to spending time with loved ones right? Doing all you can to add more memories to your mental scrapbook. I’m doing my best to add memories, but I also plan on being a little selfish by expressing my truth.

It’s time to be truthful about how some family have treated me and made me feel. How their actions have left me feeling insignificant, unimportant, less than. This behavior hasn’t just been aimed at me, but also towards other family members and some friends. I will, however, be speaking for myself.

It is past the time of getting this off my chest. To finally have this burden, this weight from the brightest elephant in the room, removed. The discomfort of obvious tension is not something I am looking forward to continuing, especially since we are family. If there are any misunderstandings, then let’s talk about them. Let’s come to an understanding. We can even agree to disagree; but I refuse to go into the new year with this unspoken frustration still floating in my mind.

The vibe in the room will never fit; but I continue to give chance after chance. Always thinking, it’s not them it’s me. Maybe I’m the problem and just need to get over it. Maybe the issue is me. Maybe they continue to offend because they truly don’t know.

No!!!!

That’s the fear of confrontation talking. That’s the fear of uncomfortable discussion. The fear of that awkward silence and uncertainty of what happens next. When finally the confrontation is over and the dammed up streams of emotions are free to be released.

Regardless of the discomfort, this needs to happen. I’m not the problem!

I. am. not. the. problem!

It is not me! Other people have seen and understand my frustration. The timing will never be right, but this conversation has to happen. It’s time to be selfish.

Thank you for reading! Please comment, like, and/or subscribe!

A Type of Different Pt. 1 “acting like a white girl”

So yeah, I was different because I had been exposed and not exposed to many different things. The lives of my classmates were different from mine, so we were all different from each other. But why were my differences being called out?

I have been called many things growing up. It was often due to the fact that I never quite fit in. I always knew people in the “in-crowds”, but I was never fully, completely a part of said “in-crowd”. After a while I realized it was because I was a type of different. I was first informed of this in elementary school.

Being an Army Brat, an Only Child, and living in a home with parents that were serious about including God in our home and individual lives, I didn’t always experience the same things that many people I knew seemed to have had. Unfortunately, I didn’t live around cousins, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. I wasn’t blessed with a sibling that continuously got on my nerves. My parents didn’t allow me to listen to certain types of music, wear whatever I wanted, or go everywhere my friends may have been allowed to go. As I mentioned before, my parents were serious about living a Christ-like life. They didn’t drink, gossip, or cuss. BET was only on, on Sunday mornings while getting ready for church because The Bobby Jones show would be on. The Bobby Jones show featured many well known gospel acts, African American Christian Music artist, that appeared on the show to sing and minister. If that wasn’t on, we’d be listening to the great Walter Hawkins or Commissioned or the Mississippi Mass Choir while getting ready for some good ole chuch (with the letter r purposely left out). The only non-gospel songs I knew were the ones I heard classmates sing “at the playground, ya know”….

By now, my family and I were living in the state of Oklahoma. Having lived around so many different types of accents at a young age, I did notice that these Oklahomans had that Sooner/Cowboy sounding twang in the way they spoke. I, on the other hand, didn’t have that twang. I didn’t speak with any particular accent where one could locate the region of the U.S. I was from. I just spoke the way that I did, which was often times called “proper”. At this time in my life, I knew more French than Spanish, and was still awaiting the day that I could return to my home in Belgium.

It was in the 6^thgrade where I learned this way of speaking wasn’t always acceptable. At least not for someone that looked like me. “Valeria” felt the need to let me know that I didn’t sound like her or her friends. “Girl, you talk like a white girl”. This must have been extremely important to her, since she shared this information with me on three different occasions. I responded by laughing it off because I didn’t know what she meant. She was laughing while she told me, so ha ha right? One particular day, she added more by saying, “Girl, you talk and act like a white girl”.

How was I supposed to respond now?

I was confused. How could I act like a race that I wasn’t? We had white students in our class and we were all the same age. Wouldn’t this mean that we all acted alike? After some time of thinking this statement over, I soon began to realize that “Valeria” meant this to be an insult. Being only 12, it took me awhile to realize this. I was however, caught off guard. I was obviously a little black girl, but now there was something else that made me different besides not being able to sing the radio songs at recess. There was something else that hindered me from fitting all the way in. People were noticing it and it had nothing to do with me being an only child.

The skin I was in wasn’t even enough for me to be me.

Unlike my classmates, I had already lived in Europe and had walked Parisian streets that many of their parents had only read about or saw in movies. I already knew what it was like to see the Windmills of The Netherlands and to say a prayer and light a candle in the Cathedral of Notre Dame. I knew what it was to play in the heavy snowfall of Germany’s winters, while awaiting St. Nicholas. Because of these differences, I tried to blend in. I never asked a question about something I thought Americans were supposed to already know about; like hair weave, certain television shows, or anything that made me look stupid. I knew that there were some things I was just supposed to know.

So yeah, I was different because of what I had been exposed to. The lives of my classmates were different from mine as well, so we were all different from each other. But why was my type of different being called out?

Thank you for reading. Part II will be coming soon.

I hope that you enjoyed this post. Please feel free to Comment, Subscribe, and Like.

College: Was it Worth It?

During this time, we NEVER expected anything more. I remember telling him and another male friend, that when it was time for me to get married, they would be my male bridesmaids…what is that… groomsmaids? Is that an oxymoron?

College…. I graduated from a wonderful University, in the geographical area of The U.S. called the Plains. There I earned a degree in education, (little e on that); but I truly earned my degree in Education, Big E, when I actually became a teacher. Nothing prepared me for teaching, except for being in the classroom.

While at University, I met a guy. We didn’t date in college, we were just close acquaintances. We developed more of a friendship after he graduated. A few years later, after I graduated, we lost contact. Thanks to Hotmail, my uncharacteristic curiosity of wondering how he was doing, and actually following through with that curiosity to make contact, we soon became the best of friends.

Through email and daily speaking on the phone whenever we had free time, we developed a strong friendship. During this time, we NEVER expected anything more. I remember telling him and another male friend, that when it was time for me to get married, they would be my male bridesmaids. What would that be… groomsmaids? Is that an oxymoron?

Long story short, I met my huz-band in college, and he was the best thing I received from that place.

He cost me ALL OF THAT MONEY, but if it weren’t for college we would have never met. So for me, college was worth it…expensive, but worth it.

*Sidenote: Please DO NOT go to college in hopes of meeting your spouse. Use this time to get to know yourself and other people. Nothing too serious. Stay focused on why you are there and have SAFE fun!*

Thank you for reading my post! I hope you enjoyed it. Please feel free to Like, Comment, Share, and even Subscribe to be notified about all my posts!

blog-oru-chooses-banner9-student-information-system

Hello SUMMER my Old Friend…

I wonder if the school year is 9 months to parallel the stages of pregnancy. In the first few months, teachers are excited about the new school year, like a mother after discovering she is with child. Closer to the end of the pregnancy mothers become tired of being pregnant and begin to look forward to school being over, I mean having the baby.

Summer officially begins June 21, but for me it has already begun. I am a teacher, so part of my job is to have a summer break. Like I tell my students, we teachers, are more excited about summer break than students. They, like the rest of non-educators, do not realize all that goes into the 9 months of the school year.

Side note: I wonder if the school year is 9 months to parallel the stages of pregnancy. In the first few months, teachers are excited about the new school year, like a mother after discovering she is with child. Closer to the end of the pregnancy mothers become tired of being pregnant and begin to look forward to school being over, I mean having the baby.

For many educators, the school year may last longer than 9 months, because there are often Professional Developments (P.D.) that we are often encouraged to attend, and no they do not come with any extra pay. Overtime??? Fuh-get-a-bout-it; unless you decide to teach summer school. ☹️…😭

Many teachers love their jobs and quietly deal with ALL that comes with the responsibility of dealing with a stranger’s child. Some are here for the check (survival needs you know), and a few are still in search of why they stumbled into this career in the first place. They are still searching for that “thing” that made them proudly want to proclaim, “Yes! I want to be an educator!,” but that is another post, for another day….

So as I said, MY SUMMER HAS FINALLY BEGUN!!!!! My plans you ask??? Uhhhh, to do absolutely nothing! Can’t you see my big Grinch smile slyly sliding across my face? Usually my huz-band and I travel, by Cruise, Plane, Train, or Automobile during our summer break, but I am over traveling this year. I would prefer to enjoy my home. Last summer we had just moved into our new home in a new area. Within a month we had visited family in Mississippi, Florida, and the Washington/D.C.-Baltimore area. Now, I know that many of you thought, “Florida??? That’s a vacation right there.” Normally that may be the case, but this time, it wasn’t. There was just too much happening down there for it to be a relaxing vacay.

Soon after our return home, we had to prepare for school. School began with a lunar eclipse and Hurricane Harvey in the same week. Harvey’s visit instantly led to me, my husband, and my 2 puppy boys sharing our brand-new home with my mother-in-law and lil’ sissy-in-law. We were all together from September until about mid-January while the damages brought on to their home from the hurricane’s flooding had been repaired. It was a very close time…for ALL of us.😇

So this summer, I would like to enjoy my home and get to know this new area I live in. I can’t wait to have the time to read, write, sleep, workout, blog, and to Netflix. I look forward to spending time with my huz-band and pups. Most importantly, this summer I am excited to do whatever I want! (Grinch smile back in progress)

Thank you for reading my post! I hope you enjoyed it. Please feel free to Like, Comment, Share, and even Subscribe to be notified of new posts!

Gone, but not forgotten on Christmas

The song ‘s declaration is indeed true because Christmas isn’t the same without your family around to share it with you. I can no longer run to them and see their happy faces during the holiday season. I can always think back to our last Christmas together, but it’s nothing like actually touching their warm skin and hearing their gentle voice as we talk over dinner and tell jokes.

This time of year truly is the most wonderful time of year. The “feeling of Christmas” is all around…just breathe it in AND avoid the news. Christmas seems better when you can spend it with the ones you love and care for. This creates more great memories. This year also brings with it memories spent with those no longer living close by, or that have passed away.

The other day I was listening to a song by a popular Rhythm and Blues group from the 70s, called the O’Jays. The song says, “Christmas just ain’t Christmas, Without the One You Love”. As I was singing along, I couldn’t help but to think about family and friends that are no longer here. I attempted to turn my thoughts elsewhere because I didn’t want to think about all of the loved ones I lost in the last two years and on. I’m still not able to think about them without my eyes “sweating”.

I will do my best to never forget those times. They may be gone, but they are definitely not forgotten. We can’t allow those memories to take away the joy this time of year brings with it.

Make the most out of this time with family that are still around. Let them know that you are grateful for them and that you appreciate all they do. Some of this may be an exaggeration of the truth, but let’s just say that we are “calling those things that be not, as though they were”. Sometimes when the time gets rough, they are the only ones you can rely on to be there for you.

Enjoy those walks down memory lane with them. Enjoy that uncle that makes you shake your head at what he wears, because he doesn’t care what anyone thinks of him. Enjoy that mother or father that continues to embarrass you with all that they say, because they are right and everyone else is wrong. Be grateful for the horrible food that your aunt, who doesn’t realize she’s lost her anointing to cook years ago, makes for the family. One day you are going to miss all of these people because one day they will not be there with you.

Family is the same no matter who or where you are. You didn’t pick your family, but you do the best you can to love and tolerate them, even if you don’t understand them. Especially if you feel they don’t understand you. Love on them while you still can. Smile as you remember those gone and those here. You may cry, but don’t forget to smile. Cherish the memories of yesteryear and continue to make new ones for the years to come.

Thank you for reading & I hope you enjoyed it! Please Like, Comment, Share, & Subscribe.

Featured Image from Rainforest Islands Ferry

Santa Isn’t the Only One Coming to Town

As the days of December seem to swiftly drift by, we are getting closer to the Big Day! Are you ready for it all that the day brings? Not only is Santa Claus coming to town, but for many, so is family! This means mental preparedness at the ready.

As the days of December seem to swiftly drift by, we’re getting closer to the Big Day! Are you ready for all the day brings? Not only is Santa Claus coming to town, but for many, so is family! This means mental preparedness at the ready.

These are people we love, but didn’t choose. They can bring joy and pain, sunshine and rain. They know how to push your buttons because they know you. Mom is still fussing over you and reminding you that “she knows more than you so listen to her”. Dad continues to encourage you with, “You know how your momma is”. Siblings don’t want to help out with anything because they are your siblings…. Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, and Grandparents talk about memories of past Christmases. The same stories you have heard all your life, but they are still enjoyable and you do look forward to them. This is the Christmas you have grown up having. This is how Christmas and the Holiday Season have always been for you; but now you are a married couple.

You now have family that comes with “for better or for worse”. You chose your spouse, but this means you also chose them…the in-laws! You have grown to love them, but they are not what you’re used to. They do things…differently. You have grown to love them, but there are things about them you are continuing to get used to. Hopefully they are making an attempt to get used to you and how you do things.

Now, for the Holidays, we have two moms trying to advise you on what you need to do to make that meal just right for the family, which means cooking or preparing food the way they do! They are battling over their turf (their child in the coupledom). They both know what’s best regarding everything, while the dads are just trying to stay out of it. Everyone wants and believes their way is best, while you, the married couple or single adult, are doing your hardest to show that you are an adult and you have it. Whatever “it” may be in this case.

The goal for this time of year is to survive. It may feel like “Survival of the Fittest”, because it’s really the Long Night. Unfortunately Winter has Come. You just have to be ready and remember to breathe….

Merry Christmas to You & Yours!!!

Thank you for reading! Please feel free to Like, Comment, Share, & Subscribe!

Featured Image from the movie Home Alone and Twentieth Century Fox

Photo from Facebook page Winter-is-coming.net

The Christmas List

The Christmas List. Pretty much everyone has had experience with creating one. From the time you could write and read, you created a Christmas List to give Santa or to give your parents. You wanted the powers that be to know what you wanted for Christmas.

Years ago, as a child, all I wanted for Christmas was my 2 front teeth and a Cabbage Patch Kid Doll. I moved on to wanting a bike, the latest Nintendo game, or a Baby Alive. I also wanted the newest microscope set for my many experiments and scientific analyzing of any and almost everything. As a teenager, I grew into only wanting money for shopping, or shoes and clothes. Now as an adult, I am at the point that creating a Christmas List is a dreaded ordeal. It has become a challenge. I can’t always think of anything to want.

For some people in my family, I’m not allowed to not want them to buy me anything. This is exhausting, because now I have to create something to want, just to appease them. I feel that a Christmas List should be for things that you want or things you feel that you just have to have. Those things that, for the moment, you can’t seem to live without. You don’t realize that you can actually live without it, but it’s a current desire that you are excited about. I am now at the point in my life where I don’t desire anything that I can’t live without. If I want it, I can go and get it. Why wait till Christmas if I can get it when I want to? *Kanye Shrug*

giphy — Kanye West Shrugging GIF found on Google

Thinking about Christmas Lists is so bad, that I don’t even think about Christmas Lists from others until a week or two before Christmas. I don’t desire gifts anymore and I don’t think about actual presents. It’s not about presents for me anymore.

The present that I want to give is to make the Christmas Holiday memorable. I want the Christmasy-ness of this time of year to spread to all those I am sharing the season with. I want all to feel excited! I want to make this time enjoyable for the friends and family I am with, especially if I am hosting it. That’s the gift that’s on my mind, (but I do give actual gifts).

I want to sing my favorite Christmas Songs, play games, have snack attack, watch Charlie Brown’s Christmas, The Christmas Story, Home Alone (only the first one), The Grinch…, watch Hallmark, look at Christmas Lights, and drink hot cocoa! It all seems more fun if everyone participates in this. That’s it! I’ve got it! On my Christmas List, that’s what I want…For all those spending Christmas with me this year, to experience a Katherine kind of Christmas!!

Don’t allow the pressures of Holiday Shopping leave a damper on your spirit this Christmas Season.

Before

After

Thank you for reading! Please feel free to Like, Comment, & Share!

It WAS beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Waking up this morning, I immediately looked out the window. “Wow, I thought. It really did snow”! I can’t lie, I was excited! The little girl in me began to emerge so I quickly got out of bed to go out into the snow.

My 2 pups had never seen snow, and were baffled at this “stuff” covering the grass. By now you could see the grass underneath, but there was still snow. I was hoping they would play in it, but they were confused.

There wasn’t much snow left to create a snowman, but I could make a few snowballs. I chose not to because I wanted the snow to last. Roofs all around were covered in snow. By now there is little evidence, but it came, we saw, and we screamed in delight, “Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!!!!!!!”

Thank you for reading! Please feel free to share, like, comment, and subscribe!

Photos courtesy of Me and the Huz-Band!!

Pizza+Chocolate Shake=A Bad Night for Wife

So many thoughts will come to my mind, I know that he loves me, but I am beginning to have my doubts because his actions are smelling louder than his words!

We all have things we need to stay clear of. You know, the temptations of life that we all must work hard to resist, by whatever healthy means we must take to achieve this. Resisting temptation is the goal. I for one, try my best to resist the outdoors even though I love nature! This is an impossible case, so in order for me to survive through the torment of seasonal allergies I strive to take Zyrtec every day. By doing so, this medicine is in my system so that allergy attacks can be stopped or not as serious…right mom? She would be so proud!

As I sit typing this, I see the one that I love dearly is now giving in to his temptation without a second thought. I have learned in these last 10 years of my life, that being Lactose Intolerant is very real and can seriously affect all those in close proximity. If someone has this allergy, they either deal with it by taking Lactose pills, or staying away from all things that have Lactose in it. In other words, leave the dairy alone. I don’t have this allergy, thank God, but many that are close to me suffer with this “debilatating disease”. For me, Cheese is a favorite food of mine and drinking a glass of milk or a bowl of ice cream is a treat! If I have ranch or bleu cheese with my salad or hot wings, it’s no big deal. For the one I love, this is not the case. Depending on the form of dairy depends on the magnitude of, let’s just say, the “reaction”.

As he enjoys his meal of a cheese pizza with a chocolate shake, I am now preparing to endure the shock and awe of what is to come. So many thoughts will come to my mind, I know that he loves me, but I am beginning to have my doubts because his actions are smelling louder than his words!

“Dear God, please protect me from what is to come. I speak a hedge of protection over my huz-band because soon I will want to bring him harm in retaliation of future events, but I am asking you to hold my mule. I proclaim that no weapon formed against my nose shall prosper. Amen”.

Thank you for reading. Feel free to Like, Comment, Share, and Subscribe.

Photo from nature.com

Featured Image by Katherine of deardiary.biz

Moving for Love

Moving to an new city, can be a daunting experience. The presence of Alone, is all around You. Trying to learn this new place…trying to learn a new culture is, scary. Even if you have moved because of Love. As Deborah Cox said, “Love can make you do some crazy things”, but You thought it was just a song. You didn’t realize how much you would be missing.

You are leaving what is familiar to you, to begin a new journey with the one you Love. You are starting over, but still expected to blend in. Families don’t often times try to understand how You, the new member, feels. They continue on as if nothing is new and You are expected to just go with the flow. To adapt to how things have always been, without a second thought of how You feel about it. Yes, it is unfair. It is unfair to not be considered in plans. It is unfair to be remembered in plannings as an afterthought. It is unfair when the times You attempt to bring the family into things you’re interested in, there is no submission.

You must always give, but there is no give and take. You are the one giving and the one missing. You miss your home, your city. You miss your family and friends. You miss out on watching your younger siblings and/or cousins grow up. You continue to miss out on the life of your blood. Not being able to be there with your parents as they grow older. Not being able to assist them with their aches and pains of growing older, but being able to be there for your Love’s.

Time goes on, and You keep the bitterness of it all inside. To keep the peace, your anger and screams remain bottled up. Your true frustrations continue to boil within as you quietly cry over not feeling appreciated. Silently crying over feeling like your sacrifice of moving for Love, has never been acknowledged by your new family. You begin to desire to leave and never return. To go somewhere neutral so that Love’s side can understand what it is like to be missing. Besides, You never gave your heart to this new place, now matter how much time has passed. Without a second look back, You just moved for Love.

Thank you for reading. Please Like, Comment, Share, and Subscribe.

Featured Image from GR0WING.COM, post Moving Made Easy by Jane Brown.

Now that my Belly is Full…

Welp, now that my belly is full and my feet are no longer tired…Thanksgiving 2017 was pretty awesome. We had a few friends come over, watched a horrible game of American Football, watched kids play videogames, and talked about memories of parents calling us from downstairs to come upstairs to pass them remote controllers that would have been faster to get than the time it took us to actually come all the way up the stairs to give it to them.

Welp, now that my belly is full and my feet are no longer tired…Thanksgiving 2017 was pretty awesome! I am super proud of myself. I was finished preparing everything by 12:39 p.m. See, I come from a family that doesn’t eat Thanksgiving Lunch, we have Thanksgiving Dinner, so eating around 6:30-7:00 is no big deal. I don’t know what I did differently to bring about this early dining time, but I can say it was refreshing. I actually was able to chill out after cooking and wasn’t too tired to clean the kitchen after we had finished eating. Thank the Lord I have a great husband that doesn’t mind assisting me with the cleanup.

We dined on Smoked Turkey, Ham, Baked Chicken, Dressing, Homemade Macaroni and Cheese, Greens, 6-Layer Salad, Yams, Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli & Cheese Casserole, & Yeast Rolls. Dessert consisted of a Yellow Bundt Cake with Melted Chocolate icing drizzled a top with Festive Harvest Sprinkles of Yellow Orange and Red. German Chocolate Cake, Pound Cake, 2 Sweet Potato Pies, & Peach Cobbler. Everything was made from Scratch, nothing was store bought!!

We had a few friends come over, watched a horrible game of American Football, watched kids play videogames, and talked about memories of parents calling us from downstairs to come upstairs to pass them remote controllers that would have been faster to get than the time it took us to actually come all the way up the stairs to give it to them. We didn’t say what we were grateful for, but internally we all knew.

In that moment, we were thankful for each other. For being able to come together and be an inspiration to one another. We were thankful for having loads of food to eat, and a warm and comfortable place to lounge about. We were thankful for each other’s company, and being able to relate to one another. We all came from different states in America, and all had different upbringings, but we all had experienced the task of fetching a remote for a parent.

I don’t get into everything concerning the pilgrims and all that happened on their tumultuous journey from England, because I think of how this began the downfall of many great Native Americans tribes and the appointment of Manifest Destiny…, but I do take the time to think about all that God has done for me.

*“Life for me ain’t be no crystal stair” these last 35 years, but I am so thankful that God has protected me from a lot worse. He has shown me that he is faithful even in times of doubt. He has shown me that I can handle a lot more than I think, but all because of his Grace and Mercy. I am thankful for life and what God has allowed to happen and opportunities that he kept me from. I am thankful for the parents I have because I wouldn’t be who I am if it were not for God allowing a West Side Chicago Girl and a small-town Mississippi Boy to enter the military and meet in South Korea.

I am grateful for this blog and the many people that read and are encouraged by my words. It is an outlet for me to be able to be my true self. I am even grateful for my job, because it surely has taught and teaches me a lot about myself. I am grateful for my puppies because they keep me on my toes, bring a smile to my face, laughter in my home, & make me excited about becoming a mommy. I am so thankful for my Huz-Band because he continues to look beyond my faults and see the beauty in me that I may not always see in myself, within or without. My huz-band is beyond what words can say…. Also, because of him I finally have siblings which I am grateful for, even Beefy J! I am grateful for my family, the Leggette-Youngs & the Martin-Moneyhams, and my married family the Bradley-Caldwells. I am thankful for Danielle!

I am thankful & I am grateful! Thank you God for giving us this day our Daily Bread for it is because of you, that we have it, Amen!

Thank you for reading! Please feel free to like, share, comment, & subscribe.

*Line from the poem Mother to Son by Langston Hughes

BE YOUR DREAMS

If there was anything in the world that you could do, what would it be? What dream or dreams are you not attempting to accomplish because of fear? What is it that’s stopping you and why? Is it something that you think your parents wouldn’t support you in doing? Is it a fear of failure?

“If you don’t build your dream someone will hire you to help build theirs”. —Tony Gaskins

If you have a dream for your life, you’ve got to do what ever it takes to just do it! Make sure that whatever the dream is, you start working towards it as soon as possible. Stop allowing each day to go by without you doing something that brings you closer to that goal, that dream, that wish. If you feel like no one else in your circle believes in you, YOU continue to believe in you. If it’s not going to cause deadly harm to you or anyone else, go for it!

“The only thing that will stop you from fulfilling your dreams is you.” — Tom Bradley

God doesn’t need to tell people what you know he has told you about your life. He gave you those dreams and visions for yourself. If others don’t believe in you, okay. It’s sad, but don’t allow it to get you down. It’s a disappointment when those you trust and whose opinions matter to you don’t believe in you, but you gone hafta let that go and do what you know has been placed inside you!

Be You, Do You, Express what is in You to SHARE WITH THE WORLD! Who knows, it could bless someone besides just you. You’ve got to Just Do It!!!

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” — C. S. Lewis

What is a Dream Deferred?– Langston Hughes

Images Curtesy of Google Images

Read the Signs

Recently while in Dallas, my husband and I had lunch at a Cajun restaurant. Having pretty much grown up in the DFW Metroplex, I was surprised to see that Dallas had a restaurant of this type. Now that I live in the Houston area, I have Cajun food often. Many of the people living in southeast Texas has some connection to Louisiana. Due to having had great Cajun food, I was hesitant and nervous as to what I would be allowing to enter my mouth. Would the roux (pronounced roo) of the gumbo taste burnt? Would the Cajun chicken really be blackened or just plain burned? Would there be boudin (pronounced boo-dan)? I was too hungry for any taste bud regrets. I can’t remember what I ordered, but I do remember that the staff was genuinely nice and the décor was appropriate. This along with the atmosphere made this time a comfortable and enjoyable experience.

There were many wall hangings that showcased this restaurant’s roots to “The Boot”. Many advertised Mardi Gras, The New Orleans’ Saint’s Football Team, and my husband’s favorite college team to go against, LSU. However, one of the signs moved me, so much so, that I had to take a picture of it. This sign gave a great warning, that can still be considered wisdom even today. It said:

Beware Pickpockets and Loose Women

-New Orleans Police Dept.

As Dr. Seuss might say, I smiled a great smile, and I laughed a great laugh. I had never seen a sign that was so right to the point. Pickpockets can’t be trusted because they want anything that is worth your money and Loose Women are after your money too, so they can’t be trusted either. Wherever this sign was originally placed, I can infer that it was somewhere where no one should have been. So, if you were in this location, you were getting exactly what you wanted. You were being taken advantage of.

Although today a lot of the missteps taken by men seem to be blamed on the women in their lives (that they have chosen to be with), but there are a lot of proud loose men around too. Where are the signs for them? By now you shouldn’t need a physical sign, just read the signs and learn by observing people and listening to the wisdom of those experienced in these matters.

We all know the signs of a loose woman/man, even though their actions are glorified (depending on race and status). We all know the signs of a pick-pocketer even though many of them are CEOs or employed by major companies. It might be family members and/or friends. We have to be on our guard! We cannot blame anyone for falling into the traps of these types of people. We must accept our choices and actions, make do with what those actions have caused, forgive ourselves, and live a new life striving to not make the same mistakes again.

So, beware of pickpockets and loose women. They come in every race, gender, home, and work place. I know you have someone in your life telling you these same things. Be on your guard! Listen to wisdom & read the signs!

Are you someone that this sign is warning about?

After Hurricane Harvey: Back to School

School begins tomorrow, September 11. We already had our first day of school on August 21 (The day of the Lunar Eclipse), but that week was cut short by Hurricane Harvey. Thursday, August 24, was the last day of school for that week. My family escaped to Dallas that night, but many people in our community and families of the students that I teach decided to stay and “hunker down”. We left Thursday night. We didn’t know if the hurricane would be truly devastating as they were mentioning on The Weather Channel, not the local news, but we didn’t want to be around if things were catastrophic. Thank God for using my Husband and pressing in him the urge to leave, because things did get bad….

In the area where I teach, it is near a subdivision titled Hidden Lakes. Every time there is a hard rainfall, these “hidden” lakes come out and with this hurricane many people are now thinking about moving. There is another neighborhood that many of my students live in, that was flooded as well. This section of housing already had people living there that didn’t have much, so these students probably won’t return to this particular school anytime soon. They may have gone to live with people or are in shelters that are in a completely different area with higher elevation. Tomorrow I may be walking into a class, with a completely different group of students. Many of which will probably not return.

I thank God that even though there is a lake not too far from my backyard, that water didn’t get into my home. On our back porch, there is a water line that shows how far the water reached. Praise God! My mother-in-law’s home was flooded, but thankfully she has Flood Insurance and assistance from FEMA which is going to help take care of a lot of things she lost and repair damage to the house. She and my sister-in-law have been staying with us, until things are situated. Unfortunately, hotels in the area are packed, and from what I understand, FEMA is only allowing people to stay in the hotels for about a week. I don’t understand how helpful that is, but I also don’t know the complete story to that.

My brother-in-law and his wife were trying to evacuate from Hurricane Irma. They live around Ft. Lauderdale. Due to lack of gas and the amount of people leaving at the same time, they ended up being stuck in Orlando. They do have a hotel and hopefully what they say about the lack of traffic movement is true. He hasn’t been the guy we know that is always ready and on the move concerning hurricanes, since he has moved down there. He’s been very lackadaisical about Irma…. Last night/Early this morning Irma came ashore….

I feel so bad for all of the people that have lost their things. Yes, it’s just things, but people cared about those things. They meant something to them. Many of those things cannot be replaced. Pictures, family heirlooms, favorite shirts, computers, homes…these are things that cannot be recovered. They can be replaced, but not recovered. These people will only have the memory of having these things…. I hurt for those that lost loved ones. May God be with you. I hope that all the money that is being donated to various charities for all of the devastation these hurricanes have brought, will truly be given to the people that are needing help to reconstruct their lives. People’s livelihoods have been washed away, literally. I hope that peace and stability is restored to these people as quickly as possible.

Merry Christmas

Everyone!

Share this:

Like this:

No!!!!

I. am. not. the. problem!

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Featured Image from GR0WING.COM, post Moving Made Easy by Jane Brown.

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: