Today is Valentine’s Day. Depending on who you talk to, it is one of the sweetest or most depressing days of the year. When I think back on past Valentine’s Days, I remember the ones I worked at my sister-in-law’s flower shop, I remember the one when I waited patiently for someone I loved to come home, just to get a FAX saying it would be 2 more weeks, I remember the one when I got fired, I remember the one when my Aunt Geary passed away, I remember the one that of one my best friends got married, and I remember the one  that 3 of my guy friends WATCHED me change 2 flat tires. I could go on and on…..

Needless to say, I don’t have a great history with Valentine’s Day. However, I can honestly say, to me, it’s just another day.

I say all of that to say, life is what you make it, and whether or not you have someone special to share this Valentine’s day with, it should be another day to celebrate life. Because, at the end of day, you should love yourself before even attempting to love someone else.

Love is a force more formidable than any other. It is invisible – it cannot be seen or measured, yet it is powerful enough to transform you in a moment, and offer you more joy than any material possession could.

~ Barbara de Angelis

Toodles

In the scheme of life, compared to the world around me, I have it pretty easy. I have people that love me and people I love. I’m able to pay the bills, I’m able to dream outside the box, and I have not given up hope that I will, one day, reach the moon (figuratively speaking, of course).

That being said, I should wake up each morning with a huge smile on my face, ready to face the world. Buuuuut….it’s not that simple.

I was recently asked what motivates me to get out of bed each morning. Some mornings, the answer would be “nothing”. Some mornings, the answer would be “the expectations of others”.

Are these the right answers? No! I believe that all of us deserve a day where we just lie around doing nothing. However, our need to be better that we were the day before, our ability to change the world for the better, and our love for our lives (either as they currently are or where we want them to go) should be the driving force behind us facing each new day head on.

Life is short. All that is left when we are gone is the legacy we leave behind. If we don’t stretch our imaginations and make a difference, we will be forgotten when before the turn of the next century. We don’t know how long our legacy will survive, but I would rather think it’s everlasting than know it leaves with me.

Do you want that? Well, I don’t. I want something bigger, better! So, from this day forward, that will be my motivation each morning.

I’ll leave you with the words of Mother Teresa,

“Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat.”

TOODLES!!!

Can you believe we are already 6 weeks into 2013? 6 weeks have flown by leaving those New Year’s resolutions in the dust.

Do you know why resolutions fail? Why diets don’t work? Well, I do. The reason we don’t see these things through is because when we have one set back, we feel as if we failed and we give up.

The key to life is to NEVER give up. When we stop trying, we are asking for failure!

So, let’s get back on track!!!!

Happy Friday, y’all!

Kristi and I have probably talked about the books that we have published. Last year, we put out 5 children’s books under a pen name (Renae Rae). We both worked on them but Kristi took the lead on the writing and I took the lead on the graphics/layout because that’s where our strengths lie. All 5 of our books were electronically published through Amazon.

This year we hope to write more books. Actually we already have 1 written. It’s just waiting on me to work my magic with the layout. Also, we want to branch out beyond our comfort zone of Amazon to other marketplaces such as Barnes and Noble and Kobo.

If you’ve ever wanted to write, I strongly encourage you to consider self-publishing. I’ll leave you with a couple of awesome resources to get you started on your self-pubbing journey.

http://www.kindleboards.com/index.php/board,60.0.html
http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/
http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/  (he doesn’t post too much now but his older posts are golden!)

I find so much humor in the opposing views of the world. Sunday night was “Super Bowl Sunday”. My Facebook feed was filled with comments about football, food, commercials and Downton Abbey…oh, and Beyonce.

Some people are all about the football, some all about another reason to party, some about the half time show. Americans have a million reasons to watch the Super Bowl.

Apparently (I say apparently because I didn’t watch any of it), Beyonce put on a good show but was rather indecent about it.  As I scrolled through my Facebook feed, there were 3 camps of responses.

1. Oh, Beyonce! You’re my role model.  I just love you! Let me buy all your albums. Oh, wait! I already have them, even the Destiny’s Child ones! Loooooooooove You!

2. Pretty good show, but come on, “put some clothes on!” — ghetto — I didn’t know we were at a strip club….”Did I miss the, parents cover your children’s eyes” warning?

3. “Good job Beyonce, but why you gotta overshadow Kelly and Michelle?”

My response to all of this is: First of all, I like Beyonce, but she shouldn’t be anyone’s role model.

Second, it’s the Super Bowl halftime show! It’s meant to be bold, it’s meant to shock! Everyone forget Janet Jackson?

Third, it’s show business. We regular people say that we would be loyal and true to our roots, but come on! We don’t know what we would do until we are in that situation. Plus, we don’t know, maybe the rest of Destiny’s Child wanted to take a step back. If America had stayed true to there love of the group, she wouldn’t have been able to step out by herself. And, the others have released solo records, but don’t have the following that B has. That’s not her fault!

I’m so tired of people bending over backwards to sing those, “somebody done somebody wrong” songs! I guess that is the point of this post. We don’t know the details of what happened and don’t have a right to judge, yet we do. In every situation, we can find injustice. In every situation, we can find a victim. We may even be in a situation where we feel like we are the victim. But, guess what? We made the choices to get into the situation. No matter wager happens, we made choices that led us to that point

At some point in our lives, we have to take responsibility for our own actions. We have to have the strength to move past injustice and live our lives to the best of our ability.

I want you all to remember, no matter your sex, race, or religion, that the world is not out to get you. By bringing attention to our differences, we encourage injustice and discrimination. The only person who owes us anything is ourselves. Remember that and you will get where you want to be.

Up until about 3 weeks ago, I have a nice, happy home with my two 1-year old cats. Enter 2 stray kittens and my harmonious home has been upset. My two older boys do NOT like change.

It made me think about how people are usually so resistant to change even if the changes are good. Maybe we should embrace change sometimes? I’ll leave you with my favorite quote and it’s all about change:

“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”  ― Mahatma Gandhi

Okay, so neither Kelli nor I have posted all week. It has been one of those weeks. We have both been really busy with work.

I am taking a few minutes to catch you up tonight. So far, I am doing great on some resolutions….and not so great on others.

I haven’t been late for work any this week. FOUR whole days of being on time. That may not sound like much to you, but it is a feat for me. I am going to try for lucky day number 5.

I am going grocery shopping this weekend, so I am getting a late start on the “No fast food” resolution. But, hey, better late than never, huh?

I haven’t been down and out this year, so far. Just a little stressed. I’ve only been really fired up and pissed off  days so far (20%), and it wasn’t for the entire 24 hour period. Yay for me!

I still feel like this year has tons of potential! I can’t wait!!! Night, y’all!

Tomorrow, I will go back to my regular routine of living. Go to work, go home, go to bed, get up, go to work…..and so on.

So tomorrow, when my alarm goes off at 6:30 am, I will get up, get dressed and drive the 1 mile to work. I will be there on time. That is my goal for tomorrow. That is what I am going to do to improve my life. See, I’m always late. I could be driving into the parking lot 30 minutes early and something keep me from being on time. I hate this about myself. It’s a problem that causes a ripple effect of other problems.

When I walk into work late, I am rushing. I already have 10 messages and the phone is ringing off the hook. I don’t have that moment of calm to get prepared for the day. It’s open the door and hit the ground running. And when I start off that way, I feel like I am playing catch up all day. I can’t keep living this way. I never get anything accomplished and it inconveniences others around me.

So, one day at a time —- tomorrow — BE ON TIME!!!!

Have a wonderful week. See you back here TOMORROW!

One of my goals this year is to focus. Sometimes at the end of the day, I really wonder what I did all day. I’ve been in my office working but I don’t seem to have accomplished much. How can I correct this problem? I already have lists. That’s probably part of the problem. I have lists. Multiple lists on many pieces of paper floating around on my desk. I need to record everything on 1 list, look at it often (to keep on task) and mark things off as I COMPLETE the task. If it can’t be completed in 1 sitting, I should probably break the task into multiple tasks. I already work a lot. Every single day. I really can’t work more than I do (and be sane). I have more to do than ever and since I can’t really work more, I have to be more efficient with the work that I do. STEP 1 to solving my problem is a detailed, single list. I’ll let you know how it goes. Fingers-crossed.

On a side note, I was thinking about a title for my post and “Houston, we have a problem” popped into my head. Often I’ll say something that I’ve said practically my whole life and I’ll wonder what it really means. I did know that this phrase had something to do with space shuttles, but still I looked up the origins. It’s an interesting read that I am sharing with you. http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/houston-we-have-a-problem.html (Yeah, I know side-tracked again. SMH.)

At the beginning of each new year, it’s hard not to join everyone else in make a list of resolutions. We all want a fresh start at some time or another and I hope we all want to make some positive changes in our lives. I know I do.

Kristi and I are both try to focus on the improving quality of our lives while making/saving money. Let’s face it. We only have one life and in order to be a productive citizen in this life, we have to make some money. So let’s make the best of both worlds! Below is a short list of some of the improvements I plan to make this year.

• Consciously drink more water and less of everything else.
• Focus. Really focus on the things that are important. Don’t get caught up in the ones that aren’t. [[THIS IS A BIGGIE FOR ME! I am not at all into drama, but I do get easily distracted.]]
• Work on relationships. Call more. Send more handwritten notes and cards.
• Organized plan for my business. I have a lot of projects going on and I want to have a more organized and efficient way to get it all done (so I can spend some time enjoying life!)
• Roth IRA or some other appropriate savings plan for self-employed person.
• Overcome procrastination. This is a staple on every list. I have a severe case that I suspect is part of my DNA. Maybe this is the year that it will mutate into something more beneficial.

I do want to emphasize that these are broad goals. According to experts in some of the many self-help books I’ve read, goals need to be specific. You need to list out the steps to get there in as much detail as possible. Give yourself reasonable time to get them done and chart your progress. I will be doing this but won’t bore you with the minute details here (you’re welcome, lol).