Have you seen Red Tails?  It was a great movie, but my experience was even better because I was in the presence of some of the original Tuskegee Airmen.   I heard them speak after the movie and it was an honor to listen to these living legends.  They are in their 80s and 90s and gave very sage advice.

my daughter’s autographed movie poster

So what did I wear to the Red Tails movie event? I scoured the mall, wading through the “date night” Valentine’s Day clothes, until I found a red skirt.   You can’t tell in the photo, but it’s made of a stretchy pointelle fabric and it has fake pockets near the waist.   I really like it because I can dress it up as I did in this event, but I can also dress it down.  It’s very comfortable.  I see myself wearing it this spring with sandals and a blue and white boat-necked striped tee.  Or maybe a white tee and my blue and white nautical TOMS wedges – that would look really cute.  This is what I wore to the movie.  I had to dress up a bit because I would be taking press photos.  I think the skinny black patent leather belt is a nice touch.

Red Tails movie event

shirt – Uniqlo

necklace – Bloomingdale’s

 skinny belt – Nordstrom

skirt – Anthropologie

tights – Nordstorm

ankle boots – Boutique 9, Bloomingdale’s

I have shown those ankle boots in many photos lately!  I would say that I have gotten my money’s worth out of those shoes for sure; they have been my go-to dressy shoes this winter.

I’m linking up with What I Wore Wednesday , Real Momma, Real Style and Monday Mingle.

© 2012, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

My friend Darcie of Such The Spot challenged me to do this, so here it goes:

1. I found an exercise that I loved, causing me to exercise several times a week.  Finding kettlebells and working out consistently allowed me to get into the best shape of my life.  I’m finally getting my husband on board too!

2. I had fun blogging.  Towards the end of the year, I started participating in several link-ups, Wore I Wore Wednesday and Monday Mingle, that I really enjoyed.  I love writing about fashion and beauty so this was fun and natural for me.

3. I took my daughter to Disneyland, just the two of us.   Since my son was the first born, we have had many outings together, but I think this was the first time my daughter and I did an activity so grand together.  My family goes to Disney often, but as a group the activities skew towards big kid/adult and my daughter keeps up.  At Disneyland I let her set the pace and did whatever she wanted to do.  That meant no roller coasters, but standing in line to meet the fairies in Pixie Hollow.   I loved seeing Disney through her 9 year girly eyes.  We had a fantastic day together and her “thank you Mommy” and big hug at the end of the day was priceless.

4. We took my son to a broadway show.  We went to NYC in October to celebrate my daughter’s 10th birthday and my son’s 16 1/2th (his birthday was back in April).  Our gift to him in April was a broadway show in NYC, since he loves musical theatre. We go to musicals and plays all the time in Atlanta, but there’s something about seeing a production in NYC on broadway–it’s magical.  We used to take him to broadway all the time when he was younger, when we used to live in New Jersey, but they were family musicals like The Wizard of Oz and Peter Pan.  This was his first big production, adult broadway musical.  We saw Follies and the look on his face during the musical was pure joy.   That experience was better than any tangible gift we could have given him.

5.  I recorded less and stayed in the moment more.   While I do enjoy sharing my experiences on my blog, sometimes it best to enjoy the moment and be fully present–not thinking about how this would make a good blog post or even how a photo of this moment would look great in the family scrapbook.  During our holiday trip to NYC a few weeks ago, I was trying to take photos of the beautiful holiday window displays on 5th Avenue, but it was difficult because of the reflection.  My daughter said, “Mommy, you can’t get a good photo, so just enjoy the window now.”  She was so right.  I put down my camera and fully enjoyed the windows while I was looking at them.  I may not remember them exactly years from now, but I will never forget that “Christmas in NYC” day with my children.

6.  I traveled often with my family.  We went to Disney World, Club Med Sandpiper, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, London, Paris (twice!), and New York City (twice).   It was the first time that we have traveled to Europe as a family and I was thrilled to show my kids the adventure of traveling internationally.  I think they are hooked and are already talking about our next international trip.

7.  I fell in love with Paris.  I’ve always wanted to go to Paris, but somehow during my European travels as a college student I made it to (southern) France, but missed Paris.   We spent a week in Paris as a family in July and I went again with my husband in December.  Both times I was in heaven.  Isn’t it great when you finally get to experience a place that you’ve been longing to visit and it exceeds your expectations?   I know that some people don’t care for Paris, but for me it was love at first sight (and frankly I just don’t get those people).

8.  I surrendered to motherhood.  This seems silly right?  I’ve been a mother now for over 16 years, so I should have done this long ago.  Well, I did the moment my son was born….and I must continue to surrender all the time.  It’s an on-going process.  Somehow I thought this motherhood thing would get easy with time, when it fact it doesn’t; it just changes.   But as challenging as it is (and it really is right now), I wouldn’t change a thing.   Raising my kids is absolutely without doubt the greatest thing that I have ever had the privilege of doing.

9.  I started taking French lessons.  See, Paris had a huge effect on me!  I plan to go back often, so I figure I should know how to speak the language.

10.  My husband and I celebrated 18 years of marriage.  It’s not a milestone number like 25 years, but 18 seemed like a big deal to us.  It’s a long time!  We woke up that morning and felt the bigness of the number and took the family to an impromptu big, fancy celebration brunch.  It was a really good day.  My husband was even inspired to write a blog post about marriage.

Why was 2011 a good year for you?

© 2012, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

Instead it’s 2:00 p.m. and I still haven’t exercised.  I have on gym clothes–it’s a trick that I use to motivate myself, get up and put on gym clothes right away–but it doesn’t always work.  Obviously, because here I am.  I spent the last 2 hours creating a new exercise schedule, so that’s something, if not actually something to break a sweat.

I located and read my contract on my current gym and saw that yes, I can leave without penalty and join the YMCA.  That task was not on my To Do list, but now I can make that awesome new exercise schedule come to life.

And although I only meant to read for 20 minutes while eating lunch, I read a few extra chapters of This Must Be The Place, which is a really good book and hard to put down.

In other words, I have done nothing productive.  Except write this blog post and I only did that because I didn’t want y’all to be worried about me, to think that I had finally gone over the edge after last week and send help.  The fact is that I needed a “me day,” but won’t give myself permission to take one (there’s so much to do!), so instead I silently rebelled against myself and did stuff, but not what I needed to do.

Oh well.

I think that’s going to be one of my 2011 sayings: oh well.   I really need to cut myself some slack sometimes, you know?  I can really be quite crazy with all my stuff to do, lists and excel spread sheets of all my projects and need to yell, “Back off lady!” to myself sometimes.  ”Oh well” works too.

Like this morning.

This morning I woke thinking, “Ugh; I hate getting up.”  But then I remembered one of my New Year’s Resolutions is to “be happier in the mornings,” so I prayed for strength and a better attitude.  It worked and I sang and danced while getting the kids up and ready for school.   Then I went downstairs and my daughter said, “I stepped in something grainy on the floor.”   That would be dog poop, honey.  You stepped in dog poop.  See, it’s on the bottom of this shoe right here.

Someone had stepped in dog poop last night and tracked it in the house…through the house to be exact.  Someone had ignored my suggestion of removing outside shoes in the hall entryway.   Someone had instead walked into the living room and kitchen with poop on their shoes.   Someone was not me, but now me had to clean it up.   Me, who up until that moment was singing and dancing her way to a better morning attitude, was now scowling, ranting and vigorously mopping.  Me, who does not mop.  Me, who was now very unhappy and showing it.

The first day of “be happier in the mornings” was not successful.  The first day of “exercise everyday” didn’t happen.  The first day of “be super productive while the kids are in school and write 3 blog posts a week and be get through that To Do list by the end of March and publish this book and do that thing that I’ve been talking about and….” didn’t happen.

Oh well.

Back off lady!

© 2011 – 2012, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

SNOWMAGEDDON 2011!

Yes, I know that it may not look like much snow to you Northern-living folks, but under that 6 inches of snow is a chunk of pure ice.  It snowed on the evening of January 9th and immediately turned to ice; we’ve been snowed–or rather iced–in ever since.   Metro Atlanta has come to a screeching halt; the streets are undrivable and since Atlanta doesn’t have snowplows or ice trucks, they will remain that way until it warms up and the sun melts the ice.    The schools have been closed all week and the stores–if they are open–are running out of food because trucks can’t make deliveries.   We got the last gallon of milk today at our local grocery store.  I’m afraid that if the ice doesn’t melt soon, it will turn into a state of emergency.

Really, Funkidivagirl?  Is it that serious?  A state of emergency?  Let me put it into perspective for you: my kids have been in school a total of 4 days since December 17th.  4 DAYS! This was supposed to be my week, the start of my new year to get myself together–exercise, tackle my to do lists, make resolutions, research new projects, write award-winning blog posts, and basically get my brain back in gear after the long Christmas break–but instead the entire family is at home unexpectedly.  Which means that I haven’t been able to any of those things.   My husband has locked himself in our bedroom each day, using it as a makeshift office, and the rest of our house is an open floor plan; there is nowhere for me to go think.   My daughter has taken to watching Strawberry Shortcake where everything they say is “berry, berry fantastic!” I like Strawberry Shortcake, I really do; she’s resourceful, smart and sweet.   But you can only hear “berry” used as an adjective so many times.   I am slowly.  losing. my. mind.

Doesn’t that sound like a state of emergency to you?

Today, Thursday, I have finally conceded that this week is a wash.  I have given up all hope that this week is mine.  Oddly, that has freed my brain enough to at least write this blog post.  That is all I expect to get done today; everything will have to be shifted to next week.

Now, as I begin planning for next week, I have a question for you: when do you exercise?  I know that you have “exercise” as one of your New Year’s Resolutions, we all do.    I have gotten pretty good about exercising regularly and I like the results, but I still have trouble about fitting it into my day.   Usually I exercise after I get the kids off to school and eat breakfast myself, which means that I start around 9am.   By the time I shower and dress, it’s 10:30am.   If I factor in lunch, that only gives me a solid 4 hours of work time–and that’s without making any phone calls, running errands or school meetings, which happens at least twice a week.    My inclination is to use school hours solely for work time, because I can get at least 2 more hours out of the day, but then I’m afraid that after school I will be too tired or distracted by the kids’ needs to exercise.

Work at home parents: when do you exercise?  How do you effectively use your kid-free hours?   My children are my priority when they are at home, but I still want to use my quiet hours to write, research and even tackle household projects without distraction.   And I don’t want exercise to fall by the wayside.   As I am structuring my 2011 schedule (whenever my life returns to normal), I would love to hear how you do it all.  Please share.

Oh, and if you haven’t heard from me by next week this time, assume that everyone is still at home and I am sitting in the corner slowly beating my head against the wall.  Send help.

© 2011, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

Not one word, but words.  The words of this passage.  This passage that I found years ago, in a card for my husband, that lifted him up when he most needed it.  This passage that I copied for myself and carried in my purse until I put it in a drawer and forgot about it.  Discovering it again yesterday was not an accident, but a reminder of what I need to do in 2011.

Be mindful.  Be gracious.  And CHOOSE how to live my life.  It’s a choice that I get to make, prayerfully, blessedly, each day.

EACH DAY
by Max Lucado

It’s quiet. It’s early. My coffee is hot. The sky is still black. The world is still asleep. The day is coming.

In a few moments, the day will arrive. It will roar down the track with the rising of the sun. The stillness of the dawn will be exchanged for the noise of the day. The calm of solitude will be replaced by the pounding of the human race. The refuge of the early morning will be invaded by decisions to be made and deadlines to be met. For the next twelve hours I will be exposed to the day’s demands. It is now I must make a choice. Because of Calvary, I’m free to choose. And so I choose….

I CHOOSE LOVE…
No occasion justifies hatred; no injustice warrants bitterness. I choose love. Today I will love God and what God loves.

I CHOOSE JOY…
I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance. I will refuse the temptation to be cynical…the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God.

I CHOOSE PEACE…
I will live forgiven. I will forgive so that I may live.

I CHOOSE PATIENCE…
I will overlook the inconveniences of the world. Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I’ll invite him to do so. Rather than complain that the wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment to pray. Instead of clenching my fist at new assignments, I will face them with joy and courage.

I CHOOSE KINDNESS…
I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone. I will be kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to the unkind, for such is how God has treated me.

I CHOOSE GOODNESS…
I will go without a dollar before I take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked before I will boast. I will confess before I will accuse. I choose goodness.

I CHOOSE FAITHFULNESS…
Today I will keep my promises.
My debtors will not regret their trust. My associates will not question my word. My spouse will not question my love.

I CHOOSE GENTLENESS…
Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If I raise my voice, may it be only in praise. If I clench my fist, may it only be in prayer. If I make a demand, may it only be of myself.

I CHOOSE SELF CONTROL…
I am a spiritual being… After this body is dead, my spirit will soar. I refuse to let what will rot rule the eternal. I choose self-control. I will be drunk only by joy. I will be impassioned only by my faith. I will be influenced only by God. I will be taught only by Christ. I choose self-control.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. To these I commit my day. If I succeed, I will give thanks. If I fail, I will seek His grace. And then, when this day is done, I will place my head on my pillow and rest.

Visit Mama Kat’s Losin It to write a prompt of your own.

© 2011, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

Now I can say it:  HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We had a good Christmas break. We were at home most of the break and just spent time in Atlanta going out to eat and to the movies and theater.  We saw Tron, Tangled and Naria: Voyage of the Dawn Treader at the movies and live theater productions of Madeline’s Christmas and A Christmas Story.

We did take our annual weekend trip to Ritz-Carlton Lodge Reynold’s Plantation and had a wonderful time as usual.  It’s just so chill there that 2 days really seems like a long time.  We don’t have an agenda when we go except to get the spot in the lobby by the fireplace and stay there as long as possible, often late into the night.  I love Ritz-Carlton because even though we were rolling deep–16 adults and 16 children ages 3-15–they were most gracious and accommodating with our last minute requests.  Gingerbread houses, hot chocolate, s’mores, board games and friends–what a wonderful way to kick off our winter break.

We went to church on Christmas Eve.  The church performed an awesome concert–using only iPads as instruments!  Very impressive; check it out:

On Christmas Day we didn’t even leave the house, but instead spent the entire day in our pajamas opening gifts, playing, eating and just chilling.   I don’t think we have done that in about 10 years, but it was wonderful.  The kids got so many gifts, but this pillow is one of my favorites.  My daughter had seen these dog-face pillows at a street festival and loved them.  I took the artist’s card, held on to it and when I was brain storming gifts for her, I remembered the pillows.  I contacted the artist through her Etsy shop to have a custom pillow made of our puppy, Chili Dawg.  I think she did a fantastic job; she even managed to capture his mischievous personality.

My husband wanted us to get out of town for New Year’s weekend, but the kids didn’t want to leave home; they enjoyed lounging around and doing nothing.  Me?  I don’t do nothing too well and was getting antsy.  So after spending a festive New Year’s Eve with the kids eating Korean BBQ at The Honey Pig,

and a fun New Year’s Day morning eating breakfast out in our pajamas (don’t worry; the whole restaurant was pajama clad–even the waiters),

my husband and I dropped them at the grandparent’s house and went to the St. Regis Hotel.   Now that was a good move!   The kids were happy spending time with their grandparents while my husband and I enjoyed the beautiful hotel.  The room was very luxurious with a plush bed, a chaise lounge, a deep bathtub and a TV in the bathroom mirror.  Very cool.

We had spa treatments, went out to dinner, sat by the fire and drank champagne.  It was the first time we saw champagne opened by saber.  That was special!

More than anything, we enjoyed precious time together.   I hope that we get to do more of that in 2011.

I’m using this week to organize and plan the first quarter of the year.   I don’t have resolutions per se, but I’m planing to do some new things, finish some old projects, maintain the good stuff that I have going and all the while try to keep my life in balance.  I have some more thinking to do this week about how to make that all happen.

What about you?  Are you enjoying the new year so far?  Have you set goals or aspirations for 2011 yet?

© 2011, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

He does NOT wear a moustache.  Usually.

Usually he looks like this.

That is the face I prefer.

I find the moustache creepy; he looks smarmy and dishonest.   Like Hitler, but not.

Anyway, it’s not a good look.

But the moustache was for a good cause.  He was challenged by Scoutmob to grow a moustache for Movember, a moustache movement to bring awareness to cancers that affect men.  My husband loves a good challenge as much as he loves to bring public awareness to cancer.

Tomorrow he will shave the moustache and believe me, I’m counting the days.

Moustache kisses are scratchy.

***************

Moustache can be spelled 2 ways: moustache or mustache.  I just wanted y’all to know that I can spell and I wanted to go with the jauntier version.  Cause I’m cool like that.

© 2010 – 2011, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

Out of all the cards available in the store, we both picked this one:

Isn’t that hilarious?

I was feeling a bit under the weather, so all romantic dinner plans were dashed and instead we spent the evening at home with friends.  Our kids played together while us grown folks danced in the kitchen to our favorite music.   The night was full of laughter, popsicles and cupcakes–all of my favorite things.

17 years is a loooong time, but if we can still laugh and have fun together, I say that we are doing alright.

2 great minds on a recent trip to Jamaica

***************

Another post about our anniversary that you may enjoy:

15 Years Ago We Said “I Do”

© 2010, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

Before we lived in Atlanta and near extended family, we used to visit during Thanksgiving.  Sometimes we came to Atlanta to see my parents, sometimes we went to The Bay to see my husband’s family.  And sometimes we went to see Grandpa John.

Grandpa John was my husband’s grandfather, on his mother’s side.  He lived in Santa Maria, California.  If you don’t know about Santa Maria, then you’re in good company; I knew nothing about Santa Maria until I met Grandpa John.  I still don’t know much except that it’s a quintessential small town full of real-live cowboys.   My mother-in-law had a horse while growing up (that she bought with baby-stting money) and she used to barrel race in rodeos.  Oh, and it’s the home of Tri-Tip Barbecue.  That part is important because my husband loves Tri-Tip.

Grandpa John’s personal history is rich.  How he left Germany, found an Italian bride, made his way to California and built a successful business is best told by my mother-in-law, but I can tell you that he was a kind man who delighted in his grandchildren (including me, the in-law) and great grandchild.  He still had a German accent and like most grandparents of a certain age, he seemed a bit be-fuddled by the younger generation.  Visiting his sprawling ranch-style house for the weekend was relaxing, and a bit amusing too.   His second wife (a Santa Maria native and as I’ve been told, a far cry from his beloved deceased Italian bride) always looked a little shell-shocked at seeing her house suddenly fill with black people, who are, let’s face it, pretty scarce in Santa Maria.

Grandpa John was grandfatherly.  Dependable.    He sent my husband a birthday check for $75 every year, until he had a great-grandson and then the birthday check became his.   He helped my husband (then boyfriend) buy a car.  He bailed him out of jail (now that is a story.)

Grandpa John was in remarkable shape for a man his age, but when he finally got sick, he deteriorated  quickly.  On a Wednesday in November we got the call that it wouldn’t be long now.  I remember that we were shopping at the Beverly Center.

What a difference a few months make.  The man we last saw, vibrant and healthy, wasn’t there when we arrived in Santa Maria.   I had never seen a person close to death before, but it was obvious that Grandpa John didn’t have much longer to live.

I put my son, then age 2, down for a nap while one by one the family said good-bye.

And just as Grandpa John took his last breath, which was not quiet like in the movies, but very laborious and loud, my son awoke from his nap and wandered into the room.

I do not think this was a coincidence, the newest family member up and walking while the oldest passed away.    It was if my son was an angel alter boy, ushering Grandpa John into heaven.

Arrangements had already been made and there wasn’t going to be a funeral.   As much as I hate funerals, I do see the purpose; it gives people something to do.   Because now we had nothing to do.

It was Thanksgiving Day.

It did not seem on the surface that we had much to be thankful for.

But.

Marie Callender’s was open for dinner.   They also have good pie.  We were thankful for food (and pie).

We went to the beach.   I am always thankful for the ocean; it is an awesome beauty.

It was also our anniversary.   We were thankful for our marriage.

I was thankful for being able to comfort my husband.  My husband was thankful for being able to comfort his mother.

And most importantly, we were all thankful for Grandpa John.  It was an honor to know him while alive, and it was a great privilege to see him die.

Visit Mama Kat’s Losin It to write a prompt of your own.

© 2010, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

Girly is an apple this Halloween.  No, she’s not a piece of fruit, she’s an Apple brand product.

Get it?

An iPhone 4, to be exact.

See the earbuds dangling from her head and the apps on her chest?  Those are actually the apps on my phone.

She thought of this costume all by herself; I just executed her design.  I swear.

Really, I dunno where she gets this stuff.  ;-)

Visit Mama Kat’s Losin It to write a prompt of your own.

******************

Other posts about Halloween that you may like:

Halloween = Candy

© 2010, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

My kids travel well in the car.  My husband will drive several hours without a complaint.  Me?–I hate long drives and start to lose it quickly if anything goes wrong.  And something always goes wrong.  Here are two videos from long family drives.  I like to record the craziness, to legitimize my fall-outs.

April, 2009: We’re on another road trip to Florida; this time to Orlando to see our favorite mouse.  The problem is, everyone has the same idea and traffic is ridiculous.  If you follow me on Twitter, you would see that I’m not handling it too well either.  The kids, they’re fine; it’s me who’s going crazy.  So in an effort to get my mind off the fact that we have traveled five miles in one hour, I made a video.

But that wasn’t the first or only time that we acted a fool on a long ride.  This happened right after Christmas 2008: This was supposed to be a simple road trip to Savannah; a mere 4 hours away from Atlanta.  Our goal was to leave about 8:00 a.m, but since I was wiped out from Christmas, I didn’t even finish packing until about 10:00 a.m.  We started loading the car about 11:00 a.m. and that was when our road trip comedy of errors began–our rental car was too small for our luggage.  What do we do?  Watch and see:

Yeah, I would think twice about taking any long drives with us!

Visit Mama Kat’s Losin It to write a prompt of your own.

© 2010, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

*Today I am participating in Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop by answering the prompt: 5.) A snappy comeback! I actually wrote this post awhile back as a nostalgic memory for Kickin’ It Old School, but hey, it never gets old.  It’s a classic; Yo mama is a snappy comeback appropriate for just about any situation.  Wouldn’t you agree?

This actually happened almost a year ago, but it still cracks me up whenever I think about it.

We were at the W Hotel in Buckhead having a fancy dinner with our kids to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary.  In the course of normal dinner conversation my husband picked up his wine glass, smelled it, and decided that it smelled too dusty for him and asked for another glass.   Now, I had been married to this man for 15 years at that point and had never seen him smell a glass before, but apparently he says that he does it all the time because dusty glasses are a pet peeve of his.  I started making fun of him because I really think my husband is going to be a crazy old man; I mean some of his current behaviors point in that direction.  I had the kids cracking up by painting a verbal picture of their dad sitting in a corner rocking chair smelling glasses, rocking madly and mumbling to himself.

My husband was not amused and just said, “Yo momma.”

Actually he frequently using this comeback to me when he can’t think of anything else to say and even says it to my son.  My son responds with, “You know, you’re talking about your wife and she’s standing right there.”

Well, that night I had a comeback of my own.   Out of the depths of my memory bank I pulled out a little ditty that I hadn’t said since I was about 9 years old living on the South Side of Chicago and recited it to my husband with requisite finger wagging and facial attitude.

Yo Momma,

Yo Daddy,

Yo greasy Granny,

Got a hole in her panties,

Got a big behind like Frankenstein,

Going beep-beep-beep down Sesame Street!

And then I started laughing uncontrollably.

My kids stared at me in shock and my husband tried to quiet me down, concerned about the other diners, but it took a long time for me to settle back into a Buckhead-like decorum.   It was fun to throw my playground swagger around….I still got it!

Visit Mama Kat’s Losin It to write a prompt of your own.

© 2010 – 2011, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

Have you ever…jumped out of bed and put on your exercise clothes only to get so distracted by the demands of the household that you realize 2 hours later that exercise is not going to happen today?

Have you ever…decided instead to go to the grocery store because there’s no milk and bread and Lord knows that even if you have a pantry full of food no one can exist without milk and bread?

Have you ever…grumbled that if your husband would have just picked up some milk and bread 2 days ago like you asked then you could be exercising instead of going to the grocery store?

Have you ever….noticed that your dog did get bit after all when the neighbor dog attacked him yesterday and that you can’t go to the grocery store, but instead now you must google “dog bites dog” to determine if the bite is worth a trip to the ER or can it wait until tomorrow when the vet is not closed for Memorial Day?

Have you ever….googled “dog bites dog” and got concerned and then called the ER for confirmation and they said, yes, bring him in right away?

Have you ever….arrived home from the pet ER shaken, but relieved that the bite wasn’t too serious and that you had a credit from another emergency and it didn’t cost the arm and leg that you were prepared to pay, so now you are leaving for the grocery store again, but check your email and see that your iPad is waiting for pick-up at the Apple Store?

Have you ever…rushed to the Apple Store with baby girl in tow to pick up your iPad, only to walk in with 10 other people who got the same email and must live the same distance from the mall as you because now you must wait for a very long time?

Have you ever…stood in line at Panera Bread downstairs from the Apple Store–iPad finally in hand–ordering lunch for you and Girly, planning to head straight to the grocery store as soon as you eat, when your cell phone rings and your son is ready to be picked up from orchestra rehearsal now, an hour early?

Have you ever…ordered your lunch to go instead, rushed to retrieve The Boy from rehearsal, drive past the grocery store, drop the kids off and finally, FINALLY make it to the grocery store?

Have you ever had a Memorial Day like that?  I hope that I never do again.

© 2010, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

My husband knows that he can’t go wrong with the little blue box!  There was a peace sign necklace inside.  I wonder where he got the idea that I like peace signs…..

After a long walk with the dog, we went to a Mother’s Day Brunch at the brand new Loews Hotel in Midtown Atlanta.   The lobby was very nice, decorated in a modern, but comfortable way.  There were backgammon sets on the coffee tables, inviting guests to stay a while and have a drink from the lobby bar.

Restaurant eleven, where we had brunch, is located off the lobby and decorated in the same modern style as the lobby. We chose to sit outside on the balcony, which was pleasant, albeit with a pedestrian view.  Literally–we were practically on the sidewalk.

As with any buffet, my kids and I checked out the dessert station first and we were not disappointed.

In addition to the cakes and pies, there were small pots of creme brulee, custards and pudding.   The build-your-own-crepe station was divine.

The desserts were impressive indeed.   My husband also enjoyed the omelet station and my daughter loved the bread (as usual…she has never met a carb that she didn’t like).

The rest of the food was just okay.  The menu was a strange hybrid of traditional buffet offerings such as a bread station, salads and made-to-order omelets and also “small plates” ordered from a menu.  The small plates were included in the brunch price and could be ordered as much and often as we liked.  We ordered one of everything on the menu and except for the scallops, we didn’t order a second round.  The scallops were moist and tasty, but everything else was bland and uninteresting.

Here’s a gripe about some of Atlanta’s “upscale” restaurants: they don’t serve sweet tea.  If you have ever traveled to the south, you know that it is a staple item in the southern diet.   And with the exception of a few who manage to pull it off by serving tea so good that it doesn’t need sweetening (Watershed, Cafe Bistro at Nordstrom), there ought to be a law.   Our experience at Loews was made even more bitter–pun intended–by the fact that our waiter didn’t tell us the tea was unsweet.   There was no amount of sugar that could cut that bitter taste.  So we ordered lemonade.   It was even worse than the tea and clearly made from a powder.

Listen up Atlanta:  If your chef is an international food rock star, if your food has been listed on the most-try-before-you-die list of culinary delights, if your restaurant decor is photographed in every magazine in every major city in the world–get over yourself and cater to the regional tastes of your patrons.  Serve sweet tea, damn it!

Rant over.  Carry on…..

Despite the mediocre menu, I enjoyed the Loews Mother’s Day brunch.  The waiter was attentive and the desserts were delicious.   And any place with a candy station is alright by me.  We got a to-go box and filled it with Jelly Bellys and gummy candy to munch on the rest of the day.

Too bad we forgot to bring our box of candy into the movie theater.  After brunch we saw the movie Babies, a documentary that follows four different babies during their first year of life.  The babies are from California, Japan, Namibia and Mongolia.  Two babies live in a city and two babies live in rural areas.  Two babies have older siblings and two babies are only children.  And there are many other differences as well.

It was very interesting to watch how the dynamics of family structure, environment, economics, parental education, community, culture and parental involvement factored into how the babies were raised and when they reached their developmental milestones.    The audience’s observations and consequent conclusions are going to obviously be made from our own cultural biases, but as least for my family, our thoughts were not predictable.   There was no judgement about this baby who lived in a hut, versus that baby who lived in a fancy high-rise.   Or that baby who had medical care or this baby who didn’t.  That could be the documentary format, because our emotions weren’t skewed, but I think it more because of the subjects–the babies.   In as many ways as they were different, the babies were also so very much the same.  No matter where they lived or how they were cared for, they were all clearly loved.   They were all curious, full of wonder and happy.  And cute–OH MY GOSH WERE THEY CUTE!

(*All of the mothers nurse their babies in the movie and are topless quite often, so if your kids think that babies only drink milk from a bottle, you might want to have that discussion before you see the movie.)

It was the perfect movie for Mother’s Day, but it is great movie to see anytime as a family.  My 15 year old son loved it as much as his 8 year sister.   We all laughed and “aaaaw-ed” though out the whole movie.  Who doesn’t love babies?  I know I love mine!

© 2010, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

So let’s play: Tripping or Not Tripping?

Picture this: I am at a school function chatting with my husband and two male parents/friends–let’s call them Tweedle Dee  and Tweedle Dum.

I say to my husband, “Can you give me a ride?  It’s too hot to walk back home.”

And Tweedle Dum says, “Oh don’t be a _____.”

(Think: a vulgar word that juvenile guys use for “wimp” that is also a name for a cat.)

Get it?

Now, I didn’t hear this.  But my husband (foolishly, in my opinion) said, “Did you hear what he called you?”  And repeated it.

Say what?

Tweedle Dum must have been loopy from the heat or something because

I. Don’t. Play. That.

But I was very close to other parents and children.  I couldn’t do what I wanted to do…..which was to read him up and down, inside and out.

And when I get going, there is no off button.  It would have been UGLY, right there in front of the whole school.

So, against my nature, I did nothing.

And I’m still mad.

My verdict: HE WAS TRIPPING.

So tell me what you think: Tripping or Not Tripping?  What would have you done in that situation?  Cuss him out or let it ride?

© 2010, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

But nothing–NOTHING–compared to a recent experience that I had with my dog.

I was just getting out of the shower when I heard my husband yelling, “Sherrelle, come quick!”   Thinking something was wrong with one of the kids, I ran downstairs in a towel where I was further summoned outside.  Throwing on a coat and my slippers I go out into the winter morning to see my son standing on the sidewalk holding our puppy, Chili Dawg.  And in his mouth is a dead squirrel.

Let’s stop for a minute and rewind.  Did you notice that my husband called me outside?  To take a dead squirrel out of my dog’s mouth while he watched from the porch?   And this is not the first time that I was asked to handle a dead squirrel.  When my dad removed a dead squirrel from our attic he handed it down to me in a trash bag, because he knows that my husband (who was standing right there) wasn’t going anywhere near it.

I’m not squeamish, but even I have my limits.  A dead squirrel in a trash bag is not the same as one hanging out of my dog’s mouth.  Oh, let me clarify: this wasn’t a dead squirrel (like from the attic); my dog had picked up squirrel road kill on his walk.   It was about 3/4 of a squirrel–minus the head–with blood and guts spilling out.  Yeah.

I actually tried to find photo online to accompany this story and there were many to choose from.  For some disturbing reason people take photos of squirrel road kill.   But I couldn’t bring myself to use a photo…my stomach turned just looking at the Google images.  I don’t believe that I will ever look at a squirrel the same again.

As disgusting as it was–AND IT WAS DISGUSTING–what choice did I have?  My kids couldn’t do it and my husband wasn’t going to do it.  My dog’s health depended upon me removing the squirrel from his mouth.  Which was not going to be easy, I could tell.  He had a death-grip on that squirrel and no amount of cajoling or bribing him with treats was working, so I put on rubber gloves and pried his mouth open.  To do this I was very close to the dead squirrel and the smell and site of squirrel guts was over-whelming.  I dry-heaved several times in the process, but finally pried the squirrel out of Chili Dawg’s mouth and threw it on the ground.   I disposed of most of the squirrel pieces before one final heave told me that I had reached my limit.  My husband (watching from the porch) saw that I could go no further and finished picking up the last bit of squirrel guts from the sidewalk.    I spent the next half hour sitting on the porch washing Chili Dawg’s face and brushing his teeth.

Still naked under my coat.

And that was the most disgusting thing that I’ve ever done.

© 2010, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

That sucks.

At least it’s not H1N1.

That’s a good thing.

Between winter break, my kids sick and now my flu, I’ve been in the house for 4 weeks.

That sucks.

But I don’t have to be anywhere else.

That’s a good thing.

I did have big plans to start a new exercise program and now I can’t.

That sucks.

Well, at least I really don’t feel like eating bad food.

That’s a good thing.

My husband has been out of town all week while I’m sick.

That sucks.

But he is working.

That’s a good thing.

Because my car is leaking coolant and needs to go in the shop.

That sucks.

So I am driving my husband’s car, since he’s out of town.

That’s a good thing.

Except his car is messy and I don’t know how to turn on the windshield wipers.

That sucks.

At least it hasn’t rained.

That’s a good thing.

But it did snow and got really icy and cold here in Atlanta.

That sucks.

However it looks like it’s warming up and the ice is melting.

That’s a good thing.

But I have the flu and I’m inside all day anyway.

That sucks. Being sick sucks.

Hey, I’m alive.

That’s a good thing.

© 2010, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

FUNKIDIVAGIRL HIGHLIGHTS FROM 2009:

I would say one of the biggest things that our family did in 2009 was get Chili Dawg in May, back when he was a tiny puppy. Since then he has brought so much joy (and chaos, to be truthful) into our lives. We love him to pieces.

As a family we took a couple of memorable vacations in 2009 to Disney World and Jane Fonda’s Forked Lightning Ranch in New Mexico.  Both trips were crazy fun.  I also managed a weekend get-away alone to Key Biscayne, something that I hope to do more of.

My family became food critics, by our own entitlement, and had tons of fun picking the best cupcakes in Atlanta (although, I don’t think I have eaten a cupcake since; I ate enough then for a lifetime).   My son even got local recognition as a real food critic when he ended up on the cover of Atlanta INtown.

My husband started his own social media marketing company, Everywhere.  It’s doing very well, but as everyone knows who has their own company, the hours are brutal.   2009 was a struggle in work/life balance in my house and I blogged about it; I hope that 2010 will be much better and we can find more quality time as a couple and family.

In October I attended my first blogger conference, Blogalicious, and I enjoyed it very much.  You have to understand that this is totally out of my comfort zone–networking is not my thing–so I am very proud of myself.

Not only did I get personal satisfaction out of attending Blogalicious, but contacts made there led to an invitation for me to go to Disney World for a media event.  This was probably the most exciting thing to happen to me professionally in 2009 as I felt that it validated my role as a blogger and social media influence.  And I had a ball and made new friends.  I hope that 2010 brings more opportunities like that.

Most of all in 2009 I have enjoyed connecting with you, dear readers.  From sharing Things I Like to exploring Deep Stuff, I love writing.  Thanks for reading Funkidivagirl.com and helping me to build an online community.  I hope that you stick around in 2010 and beyond; I promise that it will be a funki good time.

© 2010, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

I know everyone is doing “happy new year” posts, but before I get to the new year I have to make sure Christmas is over and it’s still lingering in my house.  I am still finding bits and pieces of Christmas lying around the house that I’ve forgotten to put away.  The Christmas tree is still on the curb.  A few toys are still out because they haven’t found a home yet.  And the pine needle, oh the pine needles!  I’m sure that I’ll be finding pine needles until at least Easter.

Everyone in my house had a good Christmas because my kids mostly care about spending time together and we did plenty of that.  Christmas Eve was our big celebration because we traveled to my aunt’s house on Christmas Day; I cooked a big dinner and we decorated cookies and a gingerbread house like we do every year.

My favorite memory from Christmas morning was that my daughter wanted the family to open the gifts that she had made for us in sewing class–before she opened the gifts that Santa had left her.  She was more excited to give than receive!  That was really sweet and special.  My son too was excited for us to open his gifts as he went shopping all alone with his own money and was very proud of what he picked out.   He did a great job getting just the right present for everyone.  The kids got everything that they wanted for Christmas and even though we don’t normally exchange gifts, my husband surprised me with a new pair of my favorite jeans (he said since I worked my butt off making Christmas special for the family, he bought something for my butt ).

He also did something funny:  he bought me this card along with my gift.  The inside says “that would be nuts.”  When I got it I thought, um, okay, weird/inappropriate card to give your wife, but I didn’t want to seem ungrateful so I didn’t say anything and displayed it on our dresser.  A few days later my husband came to me to apologize because he finally noticed how crass the card really was.   When he picked it out, he thought it was funny because we always have squirrels in our attic wrecking havoc…he didn’t notice the, uh, enhanced anatomy on the squirrel.   My son and I had a good laugh at his mistake and my daughter kept asking, “what’s so funny?”

Something else my husband did was not so funny, but really annoying.  We had decided as a family to treat ourselves to an after-Christmas gift, a panini press.  We had seen the one we wanted in Williams-Sonoma and went to the mall specifically for that purpose, to buy the Breville Ikon Panini Press; isn’t it lovely?

However, while in the store my husband tweeted out a question about what brand of panini press to buy and he got a response from a few people to get a George Forman Grill instead.   Somehow he talked me into it.  I know; what was I thinking?  I won’t go into the arguing that ensued, but it turned out to be a big mistake and you know I let him know it!    I ended up going back to Williams-Sonoma the next day and getting the panini press that we were originally supposed to buy.  Peace was once again restored in our household and we have been making gloriously yummy paninis ever since.

Oh, but that peace was disrupted by a simple family game of Monopoly.   I knew better, I really did, than to play Monopoly with my husband.  We’re all competitive in this family, but something comes over my husband particularly when he is playing Monopoly that only can be described as manic.  He loses all sense of decorum and tries to win at all costs.  No life is spared.   I know this because no game of Monopoly that I have ever played with him has gone well or can even be described as being fun; torture is more like it.   This is how bad it gets: before we got married we played Monopoly and he was as tyrannical as he usually is, but I won that game.  Slaughtered him, is more like it.  I never wanted him to forget that defeat, so I wrote it on the top of the Monopoly box.  We have bought many new games over the years, but I cut out the box top and always transfer it to the newest game.  My son read the box top aloud before our latest game:

On May 7, 1993 Sherrelle and James played.  In the beginning James talked much “yang” and bought up all the properties except the yellow and green (he even owned Boardwalk).  However, Sherrelle had all the $ and all the railroads and utilities.  That was James’ downfall because he never passed “Go” and always land on railroads ($200 each time)!  Slowly he had to sell all of his many properties.  By this time Sherrelle had bought 3 hotels on her yellow property and the climax (and end) of the game came when James landed on a hotel property–he then owed Sherrelle $1150!  He was broke and Sherrelle won (he still owes her $680)!  Sherrelle also left the game with $5,700 in cash, property and hotels.  What a victory!  James called himself the “Monopoly King”, but who’s ruling now??  The rightful ruler, now and always, is SHERRELLE.  No matter what happens in future games, this will always go down in history as the night that Sherrelle let James know who was BOSS!!!

I don’t think my husband as ever forgotten that defeat and won’t rest until he reclaims his “Monopoly King” crown.  Needless to say, “family game night” didn’t end well….blood was shed, tears were spilled, voices were raised (okay, not blood, but the rest is true).  The game is retired to the top shelf of our laundry room and if we are smart, it will never be taken down again.  I think we will be safer playing Candyland or Hi Ho Cheerio…..maybe.

So there you have the highlights of my holiday season.  And we look so normal, don’t we?

© 2010 – 2011, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

This is the secret weapon; Chili Dawg is sure to guarantee 2 fistfuls of candy at each stop.

My daughter has been sick this week, so she might no be able to go trick-or-treating if it’s raining or really cold.  If that is the case, then I have to keep the candy that I bought for myself (Starbusts and Skittles) and turn out the porch light like I’m not home.  I’m sure there’s plenty more candy out there for those neighborhood kids.

One of my favorite children’s books is Jerry Seinfeld’s Halloween–now that’s a man who understands the beauty of Halloween candy.  The book is hilarious; when I read it my daughter I can barely get the words out because I’m laughing so hard.   We just listened to the audio cd and even though Jerry’s delivery is much better than mine, still my daughter doesn’t laugh much.  She likes the book, but doesn’t think it is hysterical like I do.  I think that’s because although Halloween is a children’s book, the humor is so nostalgic of the trick-or-treating days of yore, back when I was a kid, that she just can’t relate.  I remember those flimsy costumes and plastic masks!  And well, it’s Jerry Seinfeld and you’ve got to like his brand of humor to think it’s funny; I’m a big fan.  My daughter thinks Captain Underpants is funny; do you see a disconnect here?

If you get a chance, pick up a copy of Jerry’s Seinfeld’s Halloween and have a good laugh–preferably while holding a Snickers bar in one hand and Gummy Bears in the other.   Mmmm…..candy.

© 2009, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.