Kiddo Uncompromised

“When the moisture on my face is a mixture of sweat, raindrops from the literal storm that I am running through, tears of pain and doubt that I refuse to hold back and tears of pure joy at the beauty of my life that’s when I know that I have lived. I am in this moment truly ALIVE!”
~ Kiddo (6-10-15)

I have been a runner my entire life. I have been running since before running was “cool”. In the 70’s I didn’t need a cool head band, sneakers and jogging shorts. All I needed was my barefeet and ground to cover. I didn’t wear hairbands and ponytail holders because I had a sensitive scalp and was prone to headaches so I tended to run against the wind when I could. The wind not only kept my straggly hair out of my face allowing me to see where I was going but it also made me earn every inch of ground that I crossed. Sometimes I would run against wind so STRONG that it seemed like I was running in place. To me this was a good time. I never looked for the path of least resistance and I felt like the more challenging something was to do the more it was worth doing. I didn’t run for financial gain or for health or for the recognition of others. I RAN FOR THE PURE JOY OF IT.

In the 80’s I was encouraged to join the track team at school and since I loved running and jumping I did. I was one of the best on the team and my biggest problem (as well as my coach’s ) was that I could only participate in three events per track meet. I ran the mile run every single meet but I also ran the mile relay (as the anchor or catch up runner) and did the long jump and the high jump depending on where I was needed most for a particular event. One thing that allowed me to really shine was when the runners would have to run against the wind. Most of the runners in Jr high and high school hated running against the wind and were very discouraged by it. Not me. I would tuck my chin, fold my lips in to keep them from drying out and slow my breath to avoid flaring my nostrils. My hair would fly out behind me and I would be a kid again running for the pure joy of it like my Creek ancestors did generations ago.

Even as someone that truly loves running there would be times as a teenager that I would want to quit. Training to run sometimes took some of the fun out it. Occasionally, I would rather be doing something other than running and I would MAKE myself run at least 5 miles. When my dad got in on my training and would have me drink 5 raw eggs before running 5 miles every morning no matter what the weather I started to lose my joy. I truly hated running in the cold. When I found myself focusing on how far I would still have to go I would make myself stop thinking like that. I trained myself to look back on how far I had gone. The truth is that just running ONE mile was an accomplishment. There was no failure. At first I would have to make myself flip my perspective from one of dreading the distance yet to go to appreciating how far I had gone. The higher the number of laps or miles I had ran grew the more I would feel like I could quit at anytime and still have won. Even giving myself permission to quit I wouldn’t quit because the pressure was off and it was basically a game to see how far I could push myself.

Once again I have found myself in the position of being a single unemployed mother and I can’t help but feel the importance of the decisions I make in the near future. There’s WEIGHT to my choices simply because I am not the only one effected by them. Weight isn’t necessarily a bad thing though. It makes us see what we consider important. It makes us stop and truly think about our decisions. In fact, I have a few weights that I have been carrying around for the majority of my life that I hope to never lose. When I was seven years old running barefooted through a field near my home I was stopped short by something that looked like an egg. It was a blur beneath my feet as I zoomed past it but I came to a screeching halt and walked back about 10 yards to see this bird egg. When I got back to it I discovered that it wasn’t an egg at all. I had found a perfectly smooth, cool to the touch even in the mid-day sun, stone! I started calling it my pet rock because pet rocks had been really cool about 5 years before and this was the coolest natural rock I had ever seen. I had seen plenty of perfectly smooth rocks in rivers in the Carolinas and Tennessee but this was in the middle of a dry field in central Florida and nearly perfectly round. I thought it was amazing and I have carried that rock with me for about 35 years. In 1992 when I was 19yrs old I discovered another weight that I loved so much I had to have it. This discovery was a paper weight I unpacked at Cracker Barrel while I was stocking the gift shop with new items. It was just a glob of glass, with different coloured glass inside to look like two dolphins swimming in the ocean. I loved it and bought it with my employee discount. That was 23 years ago. I have kept both of my weights with me through thick and thin. Even when I didn’t have a place of my own and I was backpacking through the southeastern states I kept these two weights. I never even used them to hold down papers. I kept these items with me because they were beautiful to look at and felt great in my hands. One seemed to be shaped and smoothed by nature and the other was intentionally crafted my a human. Both of these weights were shaped by outside forces exerted on them but both of them were beautiful as a result and their form was even more impressive to me than their function. Everytime I had to sort through my belongings and choose necessities I kept both of these weights. I kept them through spring cleanings and chaff clearings and they have been with me for the good and the not so good. I’ve kept these weights through my ups and downs because I value what we’ve been through together and they’re lovely to behold.

This afternoon I went for my run and I have so much energy since I haven’t worked in four days. I’m like a cross between Sarah Connor and those treadmill dancers and I just enjoy myself as I cruise on down the road. I had a great playlist of songs that I totally enjoyed running to. The songs gave me an opportunity to change my pace and move to different rhythms. The wind was in my face and it started to rain and I was completely ALIVE.

I am NOT scared of the future. I know that even if I don’t find a job in time to keep our apartment that my heart will keep on beating and I will still live, laugh and love beneath the sun and the clouds and the beauty of the night sky. Life is about ups and downs and round and rounds. I truly love roller coasters and I will make the best of the ride.

When I think about the uncertainty of the future I remind myself that no one’s future is certain. Even people who think that their path is set and that they know where they’re going they are not CERTAIN of how things will turn out. If you’re under the illusion that your future is set I hope that you’re not proven wrong. I hope that you’re not caught off guard. If your life goes exactly according to plan then I am HAPPY for you. I also will feel a little bit sorry for you because you won’t know how you can roll with the changes. You won’t find out about your ability to go with the flow and learn to compromise without compromising your true self. I lost my job four days ago for being true to myself and I wouldn’t change that for the world. Life is beautiful even as it’s uncertain and I am happy with that. I look back on my life and see that I might’ve made different choices in retrospect but we don’t have the ability to go back and make changes. Even though there are a few things I would do differently if given the option to go back I am glad that I can’t. Every choice and every consequence that I lived through has shaped me and strengthened me to be what I am today. Every worry I have ever had has been pointless unless I see it as a learning experience. I worried about things that weren’t necessary because things work out one way or another and often times things that I worried about never came true. These things still teach me about the things that are important to me and give me an appreciation for how things turn out. When I had just given birth to my first child I was genuinely concerned that his tiny mouth couldn’t possibly latch onto my giant nipple but the nurse assured me that this wouldn’t be a problem. She had experience and she turned out to be right. Now that little baby is making his way through the world and driving himself around in his own car going about his business never knowing that at one time I was worried that he might not be able to nurse.

Life works out and life is beautiful. It’s all about the journey because the destination is the end of life and we will all get there eventually. If it were possible to stand before my ancestors and my posterity I would proudly say that I lived my life true to me. I’m a hedonist and enjoy life fully but I have made a positive difference in the lives that I have touched. I have made the world a better place and I have cooperated along the way but I never compromised. I have run with the wind at my back but I was truly alive when I ran against the wind with my straggly hair flying out behind me earning every inch of ground that I covered.

Hopefully I will find a good job soon that both pays the bills and allows me to be a service to others without being a disservice to myself. Until that time I will do my best to make it happen but I will not worry about the future. The future is uncertain but it will happen no matter what.

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The 2 weights that I choose to carryThe 2 weights that I choose to carry

imageMy playlist for my run tonight My playlist for my run tonight

My playlist for my run tonight

LOL Unis

Lol Unis! I was in the shower and Pandora was playing and then the song changed and I sang along changing the “he’s” to “she’s” of course…

“Have you heard about the lonesome loser
Beaten by the queen of hearts every time
Have you heard about the lonesome loser
she’s a loser, but she still keeps on tryin’

Unlucky in love, least that’s what they say
She lost her head and she gambled her heart away
She still keeps searching though there’s nothing left
Staked her heart and lost, now she has to pay the cost”

..and then I said “yeah Beeyotch! Let me introduce myself” and laughed my carefree ‘I don’t give a damn’ laugh then shaved my legs even though no one will ever notice.
  
   I half expected Alone Again, Naturally to come on next but Unis dropped that ball

I wish you could read this but I have already sent enough post -breakup emails to qualify as pathetic

I would like to remember our first kiss:
As we watch tv and talk about the slow movie our legs barely touch as if by accident , hands cautiously beginning to casually explore , until finally without permission we kiss. There wasn’t a moment of hesitation. The whole night had been leading to this.

It is our first kiss, and we make it last…

We kiss as if we’ve done this before but it is so new and I just want more of you. I gently kiss your mouth, and breathe along your neck. My hand in your heavenly scented delicious hair as I kiss your chin and your belly and your thighs . And we talk as we do this. We get to know each other as we slowly discover each other with our bodies. We communicate with and without words. It is intoxicating to change the way your mouth is moving by moving mine against it. And I lay you down and I lay beside you and over you and we look at each other with bright excited eyes. I hold your eyes with mine as I run my finger tips up your legs because I want you to watch me touch you and I want to feel it from your point of view. I want to touch you more and deeply. I slowly start to peel away your clothing to learn more of you , and I touch your breast, which is close to your heart. And you touch and kiss me, but I do not pay attention to me, I pay attention to you. I drown in the scent and taste and feel of you.

Time happens. We happen. It is amazing and indescribable so I won’t even try. You felt it too so you know what I mean.

You decide that I will leave so we won’t get caught. I want to stay but I look forward to the drive home. It is dark out and no one can see me doing my happy dance. Your scent is all over me and the car smells like heaven. I am effervescent with joy from the best first date ever. I know how the excitement of a night like this tries to hide the fact that connecting in such an intense way from the beginning will make the pain more intense if I return for more. I decide to never see you again so this will remain perfect yet I am greedy for that bonding that always seems to be temporary. So I decide to risk it. The thought of seeing you again is intoxicating

I may seem strong—but I wanted to ask you to be careful with my heart. My heart loves too deeply when at all. Instead I said this means nothing. It’s just fun. So fun. And you agree that night and the next day.

You did not see me as a fortress even though I put up my walls to protect myself. Walls to keep me safe from getting lost in you but you didn’t see them and eventually my walls became invisible even to me and I did not protect myself and I did get lost in you. I was kinder with your heart than you were with mine. But that was okay, it was worth it just to be around your excitement for life even if you weren’t excited to be with me anymore. So I stayed long after I knew you had forgotten that first kiss.

I stayed because I remembered those first three months when we spent so many nights dripping with joy. I tried to give you time to find us again. You’d be back to me soon you kept saying and I knew it would be totally worth the wait. I knew that if I waited until your passion for life included me again everything would be happiness. Until I realized that you wouldn’t be coming back to me and in fact I saw that you knew this too and the guilt you felt over that made me call it quits. Throwing in the towel rather than contending for your heart. I didn’t want you to feel bad for not being into us anymore.

And I thank you for this delicious privilege, which was to be part of your excitement for awhile. Your passion is amazing to witness and almost unbearable when your passion was for me. I ALMOST wish we had never kissed except for the fact that I know I will get over this stupid broken heart. Even though the brokenness makes my heart feel bigger than it is – it’s actually just the size of my little fist and not very big at all. In the beginning your love was just as big as my hurt is now but you got over it in a matter of months so I know that big things fade away into nothingness and I think that maybe we’re both better off for having the experience of the ups and downs of the roller coaster of our love. Thanks for the ride.
Now I am finding myself again.

Unis put me in timeout

     When my sons were young I never put them in timeout as punishment. I put them in timeout so that they could gather their composure and reclaim their self control. Timeout is a perfect opportunity to assess your situation and realize that it feels better to behave and stay composed and react appropriately to whatever got you upset or in trouble in the 1st place. When I used timeout with my children I never gave them a time limit. I would instruct them to go into their room and come out again whenever they could compose themselves and interact with others without being disruptive. They could rejoin the household whenever they could enjoy it but until then they could stay in their room and cry or shout or vent in whatever way they needed to. If we were at a park or a zoo I would send them to sit at a picnic table or a bench until they could realize that being unpleasant and unhappy was really a waste of a beautiful day. Sometimes my boys would be in timeout for less than a minute and sometimes half an hour but they almost always were happier when they rejoined us. Occasionally, they would come out too soon and have to go back into timeout but for the most part they used the time well and it was a useful tool. A few times over the years I had to put myself in timeout and the boys understood that I just needed some time in my room to compose myself and prepare to react to things appropriately.

     I just realized today while soaking in my hot sudsy bath that no one ever interrupts my bath anymore. I don’t get knocks on the door, or texts or phone calls. I could sit in the tub for hours and no one would try to find me. No one would even notice that my skin was all pruney afterward. I started to think about how disconnected my life is from everyone else these days and thought that maybe Unis has put me in timeout.  It’s been over two years since anyone has asked me how my day went or inquired about what I had for lunch. We all know that even when people ask these questions they’re usually just making conversation and don’t honestly care about how your day was.  They do, however, care enough about you to seem interested and enough to make conversation with you. I used to complain when people invited themselves over and also when they invited me over. I just didn’t have time to do everything I needed to do and then do things that other people wanted me to do. I’m a ‘yes’ person so I almost always did whatever people asked me to do wether it was coming over for dinner or helping them paint their house. To me they were about the same and really only inconvenient because they had to be squeezed into my schedule. I always had phone calls to try to return and text messages to answer and dozens of voice mails I needed to at least erase if I wasn’t going to listen to them.  

     Now I have no interruptions. Not only does no one ask about my day but no one really interacts with me at all. The people I see the most are people at work that aren’t in my life except at work. The people that used to send me funny texts or call to make plans or update me on their daily lives aren’t part of my life at all since I started working full time. Not one single person cares about my weight, not one single person notices if I get enough sleep or enough to eat. Not one single person listens to me talk or tells me about anything that is happening with them. I am on my own. Every decision is mine and every burden is mine. I’m like a social hermit. I don’t even have small talk to pass the time. Not only does no one care how my life is going but not one single person notices.
    
     Unis has put me in timeout and I suppose it’s up to me to come out and interact with people when I can do so happily and without disrupting others. I do see that it was a nice ‘problem’ to have to try and fit all of the people in my life into my schedule but I am also trying to enjoy this time to check in and get in touch with the real me.
    
     Where am I going from here and how long will I take to figure out when to interact again? I don’t know. I feel lonely and uncared for a lot but there’s really nothing wrong with that. It’s a natural human response. I’ve always been happy on my own reading or watching clouds or simply observing the world and that’s still true. It’s just that before it was my choice and now it’s that my life isn’t connected with anyone else’s life except peripherally. I’m staying in timeout until I know what I want to do. That may take awhile but I’m willing to use this time away as long as it takes.
    
      Right now I am like the 5 year old that goes off and pouts and pouts and realizes no one is going to come and talk them out of their self-imposed pouting corner and then realizes that no one has even noticed that they’re gone.

True stories…

Through the steam I found myself flirting with my seductive shower head and it’s not even detachable

My left knee sports a big blue tender sex bruise while the bunion on my right foot pulses with a hot throbbing ache.

Random Wednesday Night in the Life of a Random Middle-aged Nympho involves a home hair dye kit and a bottle of wine from Publix.

Self-diagnosed & self-medicating DIY addict

    Hello my name is Kiddo and I am addicted to doing it myself. No matter what it is. So I have diagnosed myself and I do self medicate for being a DIY addict. With my busy schedule I rarely do crafts and I never get a chance to build anything with my hands anymore or even rearrange my furniture so I am not referring to those types of DIY projects. I live my life by doing ALMOST everything myself. It’s not necessarily a good thing or a bad thing it’s just the way I am. There are advantages and disadvantages to being self-reliant.

     As a self-reliant person I save time by not waiting for other people to do simple chores like mowing the lawn, straightening up the house, unclogging drains, repairing leaky pipes, emptying the trash bins, cooking, laundry etc. Whenever I do ask someone else do these minor tasks for me I end up doing them anyway because I don’t like waiting. Maybe in this case I am just impatient. I don’t complain that the other person didn’t move fast enough I just decide to go ahead and do it myself. Sometimes the other person says “Hey! I was going to do that” and I say “I know, it’s okay I got it”. Usually I just don’t ask because I know that I won’t wait.

     As a person that believes that each able bodied person should be capable if necessary of making changes in their lives for the sake of their own happiness I’ve never felt the need to use props, programs,medications or substitutes to quit smoking or drinking. I stopped each several times and know that I can again if I want to. I just have to want to enough to struggle through it on my own. I am also good at justifying my bad habits…as long as I’m practicing my Everything in Moderation theme then I should be okay. If I end up not okay it’s still okay because eventually we’ll all be equally okay.

      I don’t ask many questions. If I need to know something my first response isn’t asking someone else it’s seeking the knowledge myself. There’s so much information out there that I can find it usually quite easily and sometimes even multiple contradicting answers to the same question. Then I just have to figure out what I believe to be most likely. If I need to get somewhere and Google Maps is wrong I will figure it out on my own. Rather than asking others to tell me from their experience what will happen if I do this or that I like to learn as I go. The same holds true for my faith in the universe and what happens after we die. I like to hear other people’s opinion but it doesn’t really change what I think and feel about the biggest questions we have as humans. I almost never ask for forgiveness from people. I will admit to it when I do something wrong whether intentionally or by accident. If they forgive me then fine but if they don’t that’s fine too. Forgiveness I only require from myself. Each person should forgive others if they’re holding something against them because it’s just a better way to live but I don’t require others to forgive me. There are things that I’ve done that I will never forgive myself for but I do move on and continue my go with the flow lifestyle

      In the kitchen I also just do it however I feel like doing it. I don’t use recipes and I never even measure so each of my dishes is always a once in a lifetime event. I just figure I know the basics and the principals of how cooking works so I’ve never felt the need for recipes. I do enjoy reading recipe books sometimes but it’s like window shopping.

     When it comes to inspiration and motivation I don’t look to others to do it for me. I inspire and motivate myself. Of course I have only myself to blame for not meeting my goals. When I exercise I know that not one other person on the planet gives a shit if I run or not. Nobody cares or even notices if I gain five pounds or if I lose the triceps and abs that I worked so hard for. I exercise only for myself. When my alarm goes off in the morning I just get up and go to work. No one has to keep waking me up or remind me that if I don’t hurry  I will be late. It’s amazing that there are so many adults that can’t get themselves up everyday. Basic life skills shouldn’t be as hard as some people seem to make them. I am inspired by the world around me and the amazing people I know personally and by those I hear about or read about but if I found no other person’s life or struggle or their empowerment inspirational I would still be inspired.

     A few of the things that inspire me that have nothing to do with other people: Rain, storms, lightning,  warm breezes, cool breezes, STRONG WINDS, the moon, the stars, beaches, the oceans, rivers, puddles, teensy tiny droplets of dew, sunrises, sunsets, the way the light changes mood and the way shadows play a huge role in our lives even though we don’t even realize it. My human body, how amazing it is and how fragile it is and how it changes over time.

    I have diagnosed myself as being a DIY addict and now I will even psychoanalyze myself. It’s definitely NOT because I am a control freak. – I’m so easy going that I don’t complain when the day goes according to someone else’s whims EVEN WHEN I VERY MUCH WANT TO DO SOMETHING ELSE INSTEAD. I may get aggravated but I wouldn’t want to inconvenience anyone else with my aggravation. I’m pretty sure the REAL reason I do everything myself is because I don’t want to be helpless or vulnerable. I want to be able to take care of myself. I need to be capable of doing whatever it takes for whatever situation I find myself in. If my tire goes flat on a desolate stretch of highway at midnight, or if the thatched roof of my hut is crashed in by a heavy coconut palm while I am out on my raft during a thunderstorm I want to know that I will be able to push or pull and repair or rebuild. When technology doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do and my paycheck doesn’t get deposited on time or the light fixtures inexplicably fall from the kitchen ceiling I want to know that I won’t fall apart. I will be able to improvise if necessary and think on my feet. I want to know that I can rely on myself because I know it’s a gamble to rely on anyone else. 

  As an example of my extremes for those that don’t follow me: I recently needed to get 2 cars 7 miles by myself so I decided rather than wait until the next day when someone would be available to help me that I would do it myself. I drove one car half a mile and ran back to the other car and drove it a mile and ran back the half mile to the other car. It was a beautiful evening to see the world close up rather than zipping by in my car and also I was thankful that the reason I was hoofing it across town was because I had TOO MANY cars rather than no car. I have walked, skated, biked and jogged down those same streets because I didn’t have transportation so this was a better “problem” to have. I won’t say that my leap frog method was speedier or more efficient than having someone else drive one of the cars for me but the job was finished sooner and I didn’t have to inconvenience anyone other than myself. I don’t mind inconvenience. Life isn’t about convenience it’s about…well it’s about a lot.

     On the flip side of doing everything myself I do understand that people occasionally need help. I think that most people’s first response is to ask someone else to help them rather than trying to figure out how to do something on their own.  I almost never tell someone that I won’t or can’t help them even if it inconveniences me a great deal to do so. Since I have to REALLY want or need help to ask for it I always feel like the person asking me for help must really need me to help them. It seems very hard for me to ask anyone to inconvenience themselves for my sake so it makes sense that if they’re asking me then they must be out of options. I always say yes. I am a ‘yes’ person. Sometimes I wish I could become a ‘NO’ person but I can’t. Doing everything myself AND helping everyone that asks can be very exhausting but it let’s me live guilt free.

I won’t even get into how my need to give and receive intimate personal pleasure falls into my DIY addiction. That’s another post entirely

 To help the young people reading this:

Worksheet: WHEN DO YOU ASK FOR HELP?

The following questions will help you think about why people ask for help or don’t ask for help.

1. Check the answer that most applies to you.

________ I always ask for help when I need it.

_________ I sometimes ask for help when I need it.

________ I rarely ask for help even when Ineed it.

2. We all have times when we do ask for help. When are you most likely to ask someone else for help? (Examples: at home, from a friend, when the task is new)

3. We all also have times when we just won’t ask for help. When are you most likely to avoid asking for help?

4. Rate the following questions as True or False.

_____ Asking for help in class makes you look needy or nerdy.

_____ Asking for help shows that you are thinking about what you are learning.

_____ Asking for help puts other students in an awkward position.

_____ Asking for help means that you trust the teacher to help you.

_____ Asking for help means you are the teacher’s favorite or a teacher’s “pet”.

5. What did you learn about yourself and how you ask for help? Is there anything you think you may want to change in how you ask or do not ask for help?

Things they don’t tell you…

    Greetings from my hot but no longer scalding (like my body tepid but no longer warm) soak in the tub. My unscented bubbles are fizzling out. I’m sitting here with a ladies disposable razor gently floating from my hand while letting a realization sink in: I shave my armpits by braille.  
  
   Over the last couple of years my vision of close up objects has started to blur. I’ve started the stereotypical upward stretching of the brows, the widening of the eyes and the pulling of objects away from my face to focus on things at hand. I’ve naturally begun compensating for the gradual decline in focus but hadn’t realized until just now that it’s progressed as far as it has.
     
      This very bath while shaving my arpmits I thought “why am I even looking when I can’t tell anything at all?” That’s when I was struck by a realization: I was running my index finger along my flesh along with the razor to tell if there was stubble. I couldn’t see with my eyes if I had shaved every spot. The only way I know if my pits are shaved is by feel.

    There are certainly things that our elders neglect to mention. Maybe I will start a new series: “Things They Failed to Mention.”

Brain Tea, sirs…

I got this book as a gift from my girlfriend. Everytime I pick it up to do a puzzle I think that the picture on the front is a happy bowl of ramen noodles. Didn’t really think anything about that odd fact until today. I wondered why a bowl of ramen was on the cover of a brain teaser book because that’s not even brain food. Then I had my “ah ha DOH!” moment. I feel like I failed the puzzle book on something that’s not even meant to be a puzzle!

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Gorgeous morning on either side of me

Life really is beautiful even if it’s just squeezing 20 precious minutes in before work.  Between the waters I saluted the rising sun, the westering moon and the steadfast lighthouse. Guiding lights gratefully acknowledged before I wipe the sand off of my feet and lace up my Dr. Scholls work shoes.

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Life is beautiful…

My eldest child made it home despite the storm. My youngest helped me get my new elliptical into the apartment. We all ate dinner together as we watched Saint Vincent. I used my elliptical for half an hour (“thinking I’m BACK baby!” but we’ll see)…I don’t have to get up early to take my oldest to church for the 1st time in YEARS and tomorrow we’re all going to the fair with friends and my boy’s girlfriend. The fairgrounds are soggy due to the flash flood today but I’m still excited. I’m going to the fair as part of my birthday celebration and I couldn’t be happier right now. I love spending time with my sons more than anything else I get to do. We’re staying up late tonight and hopefully sleeping in tomorrow. Life is beautiful right now and right now is all any of us have. (Except tomorrow we have the fair 🙂 )

My heart is driving a used Dodge Neon…

I just gave my oldest son his first car. It goes against every protective motherly instinct I have to protect my babies. I know my babies are both taller than me now but that doesn’t make them impervious to danger. Anyone that has known me knows that I didn’t even buy my kids a bicycle. They got bikes for their birthdays from their aunt & uncle but I had to stay in the house while they learned to ride them. They were six and eight years old so they didn’t need training wheels but I was too terrified to watch them riding and crashing in the street. I even turned up the radio so that I couldn’t hear as they crashed over and over again. They were both learning and crashed head on right into each other. They thought it was funny.

My son didn’t ask for a car. He knows the budget is tight and that I am paying all of the bills and taking care of them with just my paycheck. He did mention getting a job but I want him to start his college education and then work his job around his class schedule and not the other way around. I told him that I was getting him a car so that he could schedule an appointment with the local campus and restart his journey to a higher education that was detoured when I became single. I also told him that with a car he could help out by taking care of some errands for him and his brother since I am gone at least 12 hours most days. He still has his learner’s permit but has been driving with me in the car in the evenings and to church on Sundays for awhile. He has an appointment to take his driving test on the next weekday I have off. I want him to be prepared and comfortable so he passes the test on the first try. I’ve pointed out that people have been getting rear-ended since cars were invented even before cell phones quadrupled the number of avoidable accidents. I tell him over and over “watch where you’re going, keep an eye on your mirrors, keep space between you and other vehicles at all times even when stopped. Expect cars to pull out in front of you, be ready for people to plow through red lights…don’t be scared but BE READY for anything. I see accidents every single day that didn’t have to happen if people were paying attention”

I bought his car, got it insured, (DEAR LORD INSURANCE FOR A TEENAGED BOY IS TRIPLE WHAT MINE IS!) and paid over $600 for tax title and tag and that was not the end of the challenge.

My ex couldn’t help pay for any of this but it was all my idea anyway and I didn’t expect him to be able to help financially. I mean being a single man with a motorcycle to support has it’s own challenges as we all know. He did tell me if I needed help getting the car home to just let him know so I text him that I was picking up the car the next day and he said he’d help get it home. I had my own car to drive and he was going to ride with our son to get the new car home. So I got dropped off yesterday morning at work and had the new car delivered there and got the oil changed. Then my ex text me that he had to work until eight so he wouldn’t be able to help me get the car home. I text him back “that’s okay, just meet me at 8:10 because my car is literally 2 minutes from your job and then drive the new car 9 miles to my place and I will drop you back off at your motorcycle” but he text back “I’m sorry I know I said I would help but now I’m already going to be late for something else” anytime he texts “something else” he means one of the ladies he’s currently pleasing to keep using so I just text back “don’t concern yourself. I will handle it” then I drove the new car 40 miles to where my car was parked and parked it a mile and a half past my car, jogged to my car and put on my workout clothes but had forgotten my sneakers so I had to wear my work shoes. I drove my car a mile past my son’s new car then jogged to his car in my Dr. Scholls work shoes (I stopped at the bank to use the atm while jogging). It was a beautiful sunset evening and the fresh air felt terrific. I was near his car when he text me to say play practice was over and I could pick him up anytime so I text I would be there soon but he needed to be ready to hoof it. I drove his car to the rehearsal and beeped the horn and he walked out. I hopped out of the car and called “you have your license on you?!” he said yes so I said “get in and drive your car for the first time” His smile made all of my sweat worth it and we high-fived as we passed in front of his car. He drove us to about a mile from where my car was parked and grinned the whole time. Then we got out and jogged to my car and drove it a mile past his car and jogged to his car. I said it was like we were on one of those televised challenge shows and we were racing and running around town but that we didn’t have any chance of a big cash prize. We were laughing and sweating and enjoying the beautiful evening. He drove his car and I asked if he was ready to drive it the last 2 miles home because it was getting close to time to pick up his brother and we didn’t have time to leapfrog the cars and he answered with “It’s illegal to drive alone since I don’t have my operators” and I said “yes, I know and I don’t want you to ever break the law with your car BUT we can put both of our phones on speaker and you can stay right behind me and I’ll be able to watch your every move and communicate but don’t pick up the phone just leave it in the console” I was surprised he let me persuade him so easily but he had run enough and we were both starving. So he drove his car alone the last little bit and neither one of us got pulled over. By the time we picked up his brother, got 3 spare car keys made and got fast food garbage to eat for dinner it was past my bedtime but well worth it. My son said it was definitely a night to remember and a good story to tell about the night he got his first car. I said that was true and as a bonus I got to run 6.8 miles to make up for being too busy to get my evening runs in for a week.

When my son was first born it felt like my heart was suddenly outside of my body unprotected and I had to guard it and keep it from being hurt in any way. Then a couple of years later his brother was born and they started to really run around and swing on playground equipment and climb and skate and swim and RIDE BIKES! I was a stay at home mom and got to be there to run around with them and to protect them and teach them to be safe and finally started to become a LITTLE less over-protective. When I became a single mom I had to trust them to take care of themselves and to turn off the oven when they were done cooking and to not burn the place down.They were teenagers and capable of cooking but more than once my oldest child has forgotten to turn off the oven. I still call at random times to ask “is the oven off?” I am finally starting to get used to not being there to protect my big boys.

I do listen to my instinct to give my boys their wings even though I resist it a little. Now my heart is out driving a used Dodge Neon. >

Rub a dub dub…

RUB A DUB DUB
—————
Alone in my tub
Hands too busy to scrub

‘Cause every pass puff puff
Is from my right to my luft

But the right hand doesn’t know
What the left one’s doin’ yo

That’s the trick
When the suds are thick

I got lotsa bubbles
That cover my troubles

And suds that totally hide
My slippery slide

I drink this beer for them…

     Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I’ve had I feel ashamed. Then I look into my half empty glass and think about the workers in the brewery. All of their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. Then I say to myself, “It is better that I drink this beer and let their dreams live than be selfish and worry about my liver.”

Kiddo’s Konfusion Korner…

   Kiddo’s Konfusion Korner:

   Change isn’t always good. Sometimes it’s just confusing and frustrating because one doesn’t even know why the change happened or if they’re able to do anything to fix it or if its normal and there’s actually nothing to fix. Maybe one doesn’t recognize what’s normal because they’ve always been abnormal 

    I will probably never figure it out because I am probably the most abnormal person. I have no idea what is considered normal so I am going to go to sleep now where nothing is supposed to make sense and I can write songs on the starry sky with my firework fingers and make love to a cloud or a sunset if I want to ~ Kiddo

Oh oh Os…

   That awkward moment when you’ve gotten yours and the other person keeps texting and you go along with it because it wouldn’t be right to have your fortune cookie then just leave them hanging…

   but they go on and on and you occasionally reply “yes…that’s it” or “ooh I like it” but outloud your asking “OMG how long will they take!?” So you read a book then shave your legs then check fb and go online and download this pretty pink and orange O even though you had yours so long ago that you’re no longer even having aftershocks…

   then after 3 HOURS you text “sorry my phone is dying – hope everything works out okay and BTW I would NEVER bark for you – maybe growl or purr but WHO THE FUCK FUCKIN BARKS!? Goodnight!”

Oh

You never have a reason to lie to me

     I love unconditionally. I don’t have very many rules or expectations for other people. Mostly, I don’t take other people’s actions personally. I do have a problem with deceitfulness. Honesty is one of the most important elements of any relationship because trust is so important. Honesty and trust are needed to have a good relationship with family members, friends and lovers. I am sure a lot of people have been conditioned to lie to avoid drama but there’s never a reason to lie to me. It’s hard to be in a relationship without respect. Lying to someone (even little white lies) undermines a relationship because when you tell someone a lie you start to respect them a little less each time and they become a fool to you. Sometimes people get away with lying. Sometimes they don’t. Sometimes people let someone get away with it rather than make it into a big deal because it’s easier but it causes a lessening in respect on both sides. Little lies can be just as destructive as big lies. I want to be able to trust everything someone that I know says to me because if not then I can’t 100% believe anything they say to me. I know that sometimes the truth hurts but the truth is reality and we have to learn to deal with it appropriately even when it hurts. I’d rather be hurt by honesty than believe in a lie.

    If you love someone and think that they told you a “white lie”  do you just let it go or do you say something to them?  I believe any lie is destructive in a relationship and I want the people in my life to know they can always be 100% honest with me. I like to clear things up right away when I think someone is being dishonest but sometimes people get defensive when I tell them I understand the urge to lie but want them to tell me the truth no matter what. I don’t want to make them feel like I am accusing them or judging them and starting some drama over nothing but I don’t want them to think they are deceiving me and I don’t want to think that they’re lying if they’re not. I never want to start drama. Would you want to know if someone doubted something you said so you could clear it up or would you rather they not say anything and keep believing you fibbed for no reason?

   I want to be able to say ” I love you so much and I am not trying to start anything but I hate thinking you lied to me and maybe you didn’t but I’d want you let me know if you had the slightest doubt about something I said to you. Maybe I am being too honest but I have to tell you that I don’t believe some of the details about something you told me last night. I don’t know why you would even throw those details into your story though. It didn’t bother me that much to start with but it’s bothering me more now because I can’t understand what I’ve done to make you think you should lie to me. If you didn’t make up some of the details as you were talking then I apologize. If you didn’t lie to me I would still rather you know what I’m thinking so we can clear the air. Even if it’s just my stupidity that needs to be cleared. I never ever want to hurt you or upset you or EVER make you mad at me. We haven’t been in this relationship long and I want you to know that if I never stressed it before: honesty and trust are probably the most important things to me in all relationships. I want you to know that you can be truthful with me. I won’t ask you to promise not to lie to me but I promise you that I won’t lie to you” but usually I don’t get passed the first sentence before it goes to shit.