And So It Begins…2015!

Published January 1, 2015 by Angela

I do not do resolutions, as for myself personally, it is almost like I am intentionally setting myself up to fail. At this point in my life, I see no need to put any more pressure upon myself than I already do 🙂

I of course have some goals I hope to achieve, mostly getting healthy (healthier), appreciating each day for the gift that it truly is, being a better Mom, a better Witness to Jesus, and a better friend.

I will continue to work on keeping my 3 blogs polished, current, and fun to read, reach for some personal goals in my career, and reach for new goals in my personal life.

May your 2015 bring you health, happiness, blessings, and answers to your prayers!

photo courtesy of Pastor Rick Warren

photo courtesy of Pastor Rick Warren

Parenthood and Other Horror Stories 2014 in review !

Published December 30, 2014 by Angela

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,500 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 25 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Silence is Golden…

Published December 27, 2014 by Angela

…and I am still enjoying it. Waking up in the morning, drinking coffee in bed, reading books, and watching mindless Netflix. Napping in the afternoon, not having to cook food, take someone somewhere, go anywhere unless if I choose to, and making being lazy an art form.

I am missing my girls, and truly hoping, and praying several times a day, that they are enjoying themselves, and are okay. I am not going to pretend it is easy having them away for so long, but I am making sure I use up every moment to do the little things I do not ordinarily get to enjoy. Meaning, doing a whole bunch of nothing.

I have to do the Scripture readings at my church’s early service tomorrow, I have a dinner date with my boyfriend and oldest daughter tomorrow or Monday, and a visit to a friend’s house on Monday afternoon. Other than that, I have absolutely nothing I have to do, and no where I need to be, before I return to work on Monday, January 5th.

I am most definitely going to use this time to get myself in a great place feeling rested, relaxed, and recharged. I hope you are able to get some type of personal break as well, and get recharged and ready for the new year. I have BIG things planned for myself and my girls for 2015, and I cannot wait to share that with all of you!

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Why Don’t I Feel Guilty About This?

Published December 26, 2014 by Angela

Spending my Christmas evening alone. No girls fighting. No asking for dinner. No arguing over who gets to choose what is watched on television.

Nope. I do not feel guilty. I love my girls to the end of the world, but when you are a single parent, and they only see the other parent one time a year; on Christmas: Yeah, you kind of work up to it.

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Wait for it. Plan for it. Expect it. And cheer your behind off when it actually happens! (Which is not always the case).

So I am taking my nekkid kitty to bed, putting on some Hobbit movie that I have seen 76 times, but still not enough, and enjoying the “Silent Night” that I truly know and believe my Gracious Lord Jesus knew I needed.

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No, I am not joking or mocking religion. Do you pray? Pray enough for something, and He will truly deliver it to you!

Merry Christmas to each and every one of you! What a beautiful day!

What In The World Is Wrong With Us?

Published December 24, 2014 by Angela

All of us…I have heard nothing for the past several weeks except death, violence, protests, shootings, killings, vengeance, and hate.

How can anyone be in the Christmas spirit when they cannot even turn on the news or radio without having to hear about another person shot, another person killing the innocent, another person fighting the system? What system exactly has caused all of this violence? Possibly the system of we as Americans, and as a Country, that can no longer stand together and support those we voted into office. Instead of supporting those in charge, we now feel it is our right, duty, and obligation to tear down, embarrass, harass, and humiliate anyone and everyone who does not agree with our own personal thoughts and beliefs.

As my most favorite President said, “A House divided against itself cannot stand.” No other President may have ever spoken wiser words. I am sure Mr. Abraham Lincoln is hanging his head in sorrow today.

Casting Crowns Lyrics

And that, my Friends, is the end of my ranting. My girls and myself are going to have a wonderful Christmas, and focus on everything we have been blessed with. If that means listening to Christmas Music on CD’s and watching movies on DVD’s, so be it. I for one am tuning out the rest of the world until December 26th. If something happens before then that I should be aware of, I am sure I will be made aware of it.

May each and every one of you have a wonderful, Blessed Christmas full of Peace and Joy!

The First Day Of Winter In West Michigan!

Published December 21, 2014 by Angela

I was certainly expecting some snow by the first day of Winter in West Michigan, considering right after Halloween we had a week of horrible storms, several inches of snow, and enough Blizzards that schools and businesses were closed.

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So I was up early, as usual, and since I have not been out lately to get any pictures, I figured it would be a good day to go see what I could find.

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It was freezing cold out, literally at 32 degrees F, and I am pretty sure I destroyed one of my favorite pairs of shoes when I was looking through the lens, and not at the water, and the waves nearly knocked me off my feet when they came roaring in well above my ankles.

Pier Marquette Park, Muskegon, Michigan

Pier Marquette Park, Muskegon, Michigan

I will definitely be wearing the rain boots the next time I venture out this Winter. Once the snow is significant enough, the roads down at the lake are all closed and I will not be able to get anywhere near it. There are definitely both ups, and downs, about living less than 10 minutes from Lake Michigan.

The water is colder than you could even imagine!

The water is colder than you could even imagine!

Hoping your Sunday is warm, and full of Blessings and Happiness! I plan on doing not a whole lot more than reading 🙂

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As 2014 Comes to a close…

Published December 20, 2014 by Angela

…I thought now would be a great time to take a final look at my 2014 to-do list as I get ready for 2015! I first posted my to-do list for 2014 here: https://parenthoodandotherhorrorstories.com/2014/01/02/my-2014-to-do-list/

I felt it was better to not make any ‘resolutions’ per-se, as they tend to be harder to keep. So I have updated on how I was doing a couple times this year, and now I will just do a quick run-down of my successes, and not-quite-successes as I think about my 2015 goals.

1 & 2 – I both went to church and increased my tithes; yes, I know, it kind of goes hand-in-hand 🙂

3 & 4 – stop swearing and yelling. Definite improvements here, and yes, these too tend to go hand-in-hand. I am happy to say I can no longer claim I cuss like a sailor. The truth is I did, and thank goodness I do not anymore!

5 – make and take some me time – Yeah; not so much. The opportunity never really presented itself, even when I had planned for it. This is one of my top priorities for 2015.

6 – be more patient – I would have to say yes I am more patient, or I highly doubt the yelling and swearing would have decreased as much as it has 🙂

7 – Exercise – Not so much. Okay; not at all. Although I did by running shoes and used them…once. This is another top priority for me in 2015, since I have managed in the last few months to stress-eat back the 30 lbs I had lost in the past year 😦

8 – I did read the entire Bible. I did not understand it all, but I read it; cover-to-cover. 2015’s goal here is to spend time reading it every single day!

9 – I have improved my photography skills. I have taken some classes, learned most of the functions on my camera, and have taken some spectacular pictures this year!

10 – I have definitely allowed myself to be happy, for the most part. I will honestly say these last couple months of this year have put me in a real funk. Tired, depressed, and just not feeling good.

So, for 2015, besides making time for myself, exercising on a regular basis, and reading my Bible daily, I also will be continuing to work on getting my MBA, as well as polishing up my blogs. I want to get all of my social media accounts in order and up-to-date so they are easier for me to manage, while eliminating the ones I do not need.

It is my goal to get my Editing work off the ground, as well as finding a marketing medium for my books and opinions blog. I recently became a member of the Editorial Freelancers Association, and this is a great platform for me to use as well as other methods I have been using.

I will continue to help and volunteer at my church, and hopefully I can increase those commitments. I will continue to love, nurture, and discipline my girls to raise them into the beautiful, polite, respectable girls they have proven to be every single day of my life.

I have been truly Blessed this year with my health, my family, new job opportunities at work, and much great success on beginning this new path of editing 🙂 I am excited to see what 2015 has in store for me!

When You Are Not Ready For Christmas…

Published December 17, 2014 by Angela

…I certainly hope it is not just me. But I am not ready for Christmas. I am still waiting for the trees to change, and show me their orange, purple, and red coats. But the snow came. Early. On Halloween in West Michigan.

So I did not get to enjoy the crisp air; the smell of leaves falling to the ground; the apple cider being made fresh at the Orchards all around me. The places I would take my girls to pick apples, and go home and make apple crisp.

They are demanding the Christmas treats. The ones I will only make after Thanksgiving, but never after Christmas. But I just don’t want to make them. I do not want to make my homemade peanut butter cups; the same ones my Mom would let me eat early out of the fridge before Christmas. The Magic bars that my girls insist I make for every holiday, but will never get put in the oven until after Thanksgiving.

The things that make Christmas; well, Christmas.

Christmas to me is the candlelight service on Christmas Eve where a candle is passed among the congregation as Silent Night is sung. It is looking down the pew to see my girls, and the significant others that are with them, as we sing and praise Jesus for giving us this opportunity to worship.

It is also a time when I reflect. On how I did not do what I promised I would do. I did not deny envy in my heart. I did not volunteer at every opportunity I could. And I did not witness to my Savior, I did not acknowledge that he was, and is truly, in charge of me.

I did not change the world.

But I still can tomorrow.

What can you do tomorrow?

Who Exactly Do You Think That Attitude Is Punishing?

Published December 4, 2014 by Angela

I surely hope you aren’t doing it for my benefit. You can have an attitude for as long as you like; it is certainly not going to encourage me to let you play a game on the laptop or my phone. Not when you cannot stay on task with your homeschooling assessments.

I am physically exhausted from working 9 hours a day, and then spending 5-6 hours every night helping her sort through her assignments. Especially when she does not want to focus, or pay attention, or even make an effort to pretend she is listening.

So once again, she will not have access to the laptop until I get home from work. She obviously can’t get her work done on the laptop while I am away at work, so I will just eliminate that distraction all together. If I have to spend 6 hours every night teaching algebra and science, I will make sure I have her full attention.

Nothing gets a 13 year old girl’s attention faster than taking away all of her abilities to contact any friends, play any games, or shop for clothes on Amazon.

All I know is 1) my parents would have dragged my ass to school and made sure I stayed there, and 2) if I ever tried to pull any of the crap that she tries to pull, I would not be here today to type this blog post!

So here’s to being the bad-mean-horrible-bitch-mom for at least 4 to 5 days, until she realizes she cannot break me 🙂 It sucks that I have to go through this, but unfortunately, this is exactly what it takes to get her to see I am not kidding, and then she gets back on task.

Do you Elf on a Shelf?

Published December 3, 2014 by Angela

Or maybe Reindeer on the Roof? Do you have a Snowman in a Snowglobe? (Okay, I don’t think such a thing exists, yet). But I think you get my point.

Elf on a Shelf

Now just to avoid myself getting a bunch of negative comments about my Bah-Humbug Christmas attitude, I really do like the idea and premise of the Elf on the Shelf. If I had more energy, I probably would have done this with my own girls when it first came out. But I knew that the Elf would have stayed in the same exact spot, because I would forget to move it, and then how do I explain that?

And I really do not need to stress about where in the world I am going to put it each night. I do not have the patience to pose him in my cupboards, playing in the sugar bowl, or hiding in the cat food dish. Why in the world would I just create another mess that I am going to have to clean up?

So for those of you who do this with your children, I hope you have great fun and come up with new ideas on where your Elf is going to be each night.

As for me, I will get to see all of my friends and family’s Elf pictures as it makes its way to a new destination each night 🙂 Whether this is a good thing, or a bad thing, I will leave that up to you to decide 🙂

On a side note, why in the world couldn’t I think of something this clever? I would be set for life 🙂