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History in the Making

I stay away from airing my political views on any form of social media. It’s a volatile subject and I know there are some whose views don’t align with my own.  Still, when it comes to significant events in history, it doesn’t matter on which side of the aisle you find yourself.  It’s important archive that experience for your own personal history.  

This morning, I turned on the TV to have a bit of a distraction while I folded umpteen piles of laundry.  I guess I had left the station on CNN, because that was broadcasting as I sorted and folded.  I called the girls into the room as Wolf Blitzer announced the swearing in that was to take place in the blue room.  I heard the President being announced and begin his recitation of the oath.  When I looked up, this is what I saw. 

We will all remember when President Obama was elected for his first term.  Now my girls can remember where they were when he was sworn in for his second.  

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IN: ON: January 21, 2013 TAGS: , BY: Hilary
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Cheat Sheet

I’m not Wonder Woman. I’m not Super-Mom. 
I’m not.  
Really.  
I’m just a highly organized, type A personality having Virgo, who gets extreme satisfaction from making to-do lists and crossing off items efficiently and quickly.  
It’s all about systems, about doing what works for you to get the most amount of things done in the shortest period of time so that you have just enough energy at the end of the day to read “Pinkalicious” or “Alexander and the No Good, Horrible, Very Bad Day” one more time before you wine gets warm.  Or do whatever it is you do at the end of the day, that one last task that feels almost Herculean to overcome, but if you push through it. . .ohhhh, the overwhelming feeling of achievement.
When people praise me up and scratch their heads as to how I (seemingly) do it all, while I appreciate the compliments, I want to grab them by the shoulders and say, “I’m a fraud! I don’t know what I’m doing!”  Look, I don’t pretend to have all of the answers. I know I don’t have all of the answers.  I make up a crap-ton of stuff as I go along, but I strongly believe in “Fake it ’til you make it”.  So, I’m inviting you in, pulling back the curtain and hanging out my tips and tricks like after dinner mints.  There’s no secret here — these are things have worked for me.  Use them all, use a few, don’t use any — whatever works for you. Just know that I believe you’re doing the best you can, the best way you know how, because that’s exactly what I’m doing. 
1. Proper Prior Planning — I don’t go anywhere without my planner. I’m talking about an old-school, paper based, spiral bound planner.  I was making plans with a girlfriend the other day and I whipped out the planner; her eyebrows shot up to her hairline like, “Are you for real?” Yes. Yes I am for real.  The planner is my ride or die chick.  I tried the PDA once; put all my contacts and to-do’s in there.  That thing crashed like the Hindenburg. Never again.  Strictly pencil and paper so I know where to go and what to do.  Write it down, plan in advance, consult it often. You’ll be amazed at how on task-you will be(come).
2. Prep Work — I learned the value of prep work from my dad.  My dad was a cook in the army and could make beef wellington out of a pound of ground chuck and two potatoes. I kid, but that should give you an idea of the type of person I’m talking about.  In any event, my dad always prepped what he was about to make before he got down to business.  Ingredients out and pre-measured. Pans and oven pre-heated. Everything within arms reach, and of course, clean as you go.  
(and that’s exactly how my kitchen looks, too. complete with two assistants.)
These tips have saved me time and again as I move throughout the course of the day with three hungry mouths to feed.  I do lots of things the night before so that when I get up in the morning, those are less things that need to be done. The dishwasher is loaded and ready.  I pull out jackets and backpacks, lined up so the lunch boxes can just be popped right in.  I replenish the diaper bag and set it on the counter.   During the day, I prep for dinner while I’m making breakfast. I prep the next day’s lunches while I’m making dinner.  The way I see it, if I’ve got to be in the kitchen anyway, then I’m going to maximize my output.  
3.  Crafts and Holidays — I’m a photographer, and when I’m not working for a client, I like to take pictures of my girls.  These are the most photographed kids on the planet.  The number of photo albums, scrapbooks, framed prints and the like that are floating around the house is downright ridiculous.  Usually, we find ourselves on the cusp of a holiday (Christmas, Valentine’s, Easter, Arbor Day), and that holiday usually has gift giving component to it.  When I see a cute craft idea for a holiday, I get to work on it sooner rather than later.  Case in point: With the holiday card I sent out this year, I took the pictures on November 17th.  
Vivi, Co, & Mo: Holiday 2012
I wanted to get it all taken care of and wrapped up before the swell of holiday craziness got out of control. Plus, I planned to be taking lots of other folks holiday pictures as well, so a little practice shoot never hurt.  Valentine’s Day is the next major holiday coming up and I know that the girls want to give out Valentine’s to all of their friends.  Best believe I started putting that together this week from a Pinterest board pin I found back – – -34 weeks ago (there was no date on the pin, you do the math).  See, I’ve found that sometimes, you gotta just do things in the present, even if you don’t have to have it ready for a while.  To quote Ferris Bueller, “Life comes at you fast”.  Get a jump on things.  One last holiday related tip for those of you who send out holiday cards: make a Word doc list of who you received cards from and their address. Print it out and stick in with wherever you keep your holiday ornaments.  Guess what happens next Christmas? You pull out the decorations, there’s your list. No worries about who or where to send the cards.
4. Daily Grind — There are some things that have to get done, day in and day out.  Laundry. Washing dishes. Feeding the children.  I’m trying to be more consistent about assigning certain tasks to certain days.  I don’t have some Martha Stewart-y chart hung up somewhere. I keep it all in my head. For instance, Sunday afternoons are when I wash and twist out the girls’ hair.  Saturday mornings, I strip the bed and change the towels.  Wednesday is public library day and we exchange last week’s books for new ones.  I thought about making a week-end day a laundry day, but that just didn’t happen. I don’t want to ruin a perfectly good week-end with load upon load of laundry.  When I figure out the best way to manage the clothes (aside from investing in disposable ones), I”ll let you know. 
5.  Thank You Notes — I love correspondence.  I love stationery. I actually enjoy writing notes to people, even thank you notes.  The trick to not only remembering to write them, but to do it in a timely fashion is to make it part of the event to-do list.  Here’s an example: Co had her 5th birthday last September. I got the thank you notes with the invites and as the RSVPs came in, I addressed the thank you notes.  I look at writing the thank you notes as part of the post party clean up.  After the last cupcake was eaten, the last of the balloons deflated and the kids are lying prostrate on the ground in sugar comas, I sat down at the kitchen table, brushed aside a pile of crumbs and got to work.  While the dishwasher hummed along, scrubbing pizza cheese and mashed goldfish off of the plates, I thanked the guests for coming and their generous gifts. I stuffed the note in the envelope, licked it and stamped it.  My mother looked at me with incredulity and said, “When I grow up, I want to be just like you.” Of course, at the time, I was riding high on a Percocet wave courtesy of ankle-gate 2012.  I mean, what else what I going to do?  Still, if you write the note while everything is fresh in your mind, you’re ahead of the game.  And as for the fill-in-the-blank ones? Go for it! 
6. Ask for help — This is tough for me because I am fiercely independent and proud of what I can do for myself, by myself.  Asking for help is truly a challenge, but I know now that it is not a sign of weakness. It’s a sign of strength.  You have to know yourself to know when situations are going to take more than your capabilities.  I’m not just talking about “Help me move this sofa from here to here”. I’m talking about asking for help with picky eaters, tattlers, bed-wetters, won’t-wear-anything-but-a-dress types, and runs-screaming-when-she-sees-me-with-a-hair-brush.  I’m happy to share what I’ve learned.  These aren’t state secrets and I’m secure enough to know that sharing with you isn’t going to instantly catapult your child ahead of mine for the big chair in the Oval Office.  Besides, my girls don’t want to be President anyway.  
7.  Go to Bed — Have you ever heard that story about how women differ from men when they say they’re going to bed? Basically, women say they’re going to bed, then they make the lunches, empty the dishwasher, fill the coffee pot, lay out tomorrow’s clothes, take off their make up, brush their teeth, use the toilet, put on a pore minimizing mask, check their email one last time and turn out the light.  Men say they’re going to bed, then they pull back the covers and go to bed.  It’s the truth.  Even when I say I’m going to bed, it’s 30 minutes at least before my butt hits the mattress and even then, I still have about 10 minutes of PT to do before I can turn off the light.  The hubs could have done his entire evening toilette, read a few chapters of his book and have the light off before I’ve made it to my side.  Here’s the challenge: one night a week, try to get to bed an hour earlier than usual.  Whatever you would normally do, just don’t.  If you can stop what you’re doing and turn in, do it.  Last night, I said that I was going to go to bed at 9 — which meant, I was going to shut things down at 9; I didn’t actually turn off the light until 10, but that’s still an hour earlier than the night before.  That extra hour of sleep makes a difference, especially if you’re up early putting your daily grind schedule to work. 
So, there it is. Seven little pearls of wisdom to help make things go smoother for you. Or maybe they’re seven tidbits that you already knew, but just confirmed that you were on track.  

Please don’t think that I’m directing all of this wisdom to just parents. By all means, whoever you are and whatever you do, find ways to pare things down so that you’ve got more time to do the things you love.  That right there, is probably the most fortune cookie-esque thing I have ever said.

You’re welcome.

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IN: ON: January 17, 2013 TAGS: , , BY: Hilary
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If You Give a Mom a Moment. . .

Originally, I wrote this post in May of 2010.  My day thus far has mirrored these words more than a little bit.
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If you give a mom a moment, she’ll probably take a deep breath before picking up her “to-do” list.

Taking that deep breath will make her wrinkle her nose at the stink wafting out of the diaper pail.

Once she’s taken out the bag of dirty diapers, she’ll probably collect all of the trashes from the rest of the bathrooms.

In the master bathroom, she’ll notice this morning’s towels laying in a pile on the floor.  She’ll replace the old towels with clean ones and decided to run the dirties through the laundry.

Not wanting to run half a load, she’ll strip the beds and empty the hampers.

Once in the laundry room, she’ll see that she is low on detergent, so she’ll head to the kitchen to grab the magnetic pad off of the fridge to make a grocery list.

She’ll write down detergent, open the fridge an check to see what else she needs to pick up.

With her head in the fridge, she’ll spy the chicken breasts she took out the night before to defrost for dinner.

Thinking of dinner makes her hungry and she’ll realize that the breakfast table hasn’t been cleared.

She’ll clear the table, crumb the table, and wipe down the table.

All of that cleaning has given her an appetite and she realizes that she hasn’t had breakfast.

She’ll brew a pot of coffee and reach for her favorite mug, but the mug isn’t there.

She’ll open the dishwasher to find it wedged between a milky sippy cup and peanut-butter smeared Hello Kitty plate.

Once she has the dishwasher off and running, she’ll de-crumb the kitchen counters and sweep the kitchen floor.

Sweeping the kitchen floor will remind her of Cinderella, which will make her think of the Princess themed birthday party the kids will be attending this week-end.

Thinking of the birthday party, she’ll head to the hall closet where she keeps emergency party gifts.

On her way to the closet, she’ll wind her way through two coats, four pairs of mis-matched shoes, a doll-carriage, a doll missing its head, several books overdue at the library, and a Netflix DVD.

She’ll reseal the DVD in the envelope, slide the library books onto the mail table by the door, strap the headless baby into the carriage, place the shoes at the foot of the stairs to be taken up on her next pass,

Looking at the stairs reminds her of the stair climber at the gym, and the fact that she still has on her workout clothes from earlier in the day (the fact that she has yet to go to the gym today is not lost on her).

After hanging the coats in the closet, she feels around for the party gift and gives herself a pat on the back for her proper prior planning.

A pat on the back makes her think how nice a massage would be, so she decides to add that to her “to-do” list.

And chances are, before she reaches for that “to-do” list, she’s going to take a deep breath, if only for just a moment.

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IN: ON: January 16, 2013 TAGS: , , , BY: Hilary
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(The Return of) Monday’s Message

I’m a real cynic when I hear people talking about the Universe and “When you put stuff out into the Universe, things happen!” or “Such-and-such happened to you because the Universe was sending you a message (see ankle-gate 2012).” To which I reply,  **koff,koff*bull-isht*koff,koff*.

Sometimes, though, things literally appear right before my eyes.  Then I’m forced to admit, maybe I need to pick up what’s being put down (see ankle-gate 2012).

The other day, I was sitting in the carpool pick up line and clicked onto Tumblr. The first thing in my newsfeed was this quote.  
(image)


Those are some powerful words.  Immediately, I reblogged it on tumblr. Then I emailed it to myself and put it up on insta.gram (curly_girlie78).

See, when it comes to me and friendships, I feel like this is the story of my life.  I suck at making friends.  Contrary to popular belief, I’m pretty shy.  Shyness can be misconstrued as snottiness or uppityness.  When that is the case, making friends is pretty difficult.  Once people get to know me, they inevitably say, “You know, when we first met, I thought you were SO stuck-up!” I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been told that.  I’m neither of those; I just don’t like putting myself out there.  I  still feel like the braces wearing, coke-bottle glasses sporting, Superman “S” curl hair-do having tween-ager who’s the first one to fall asleep at the sleepover.  You know, I’ve got that I’m a kid at the grown-ups table thing going on.  

Whatever the case is, as I’ve matured, I’ve tried to approach things differently.  I was talking with a friend shortly after we moved back to RIC.  She had said that it must be nice coming back to a place where I already had a network of friends.  In truth, coming back really crystallized the old adage, “You can’t go home again.”

After a five year absence from the RVA scene, things had changed.  We don’t live in a vacuum and you can’t preserve relationships in amber.  The group of W&M grads that made RVA our home in the early 2000s had morphed from young, newlyweds into no/one/two or three+ child families.  Some couples had divorced. Some had moved away.  The dynamic that made me pine for relationships lost while we made a life in Norfolk was no more.  A new dynamic was in place, and it was like starting over.

Case in point (and I’m leaving off names here for a reason): There was a woman with whom I was really looking forward to reconnect with once we got back to town.  She and I had been new moms together, which is pretty significant.  We went through early childhood milestones — me with Mo and her with her little biscuit — together.   I leapfrogged over her by having not one, but two more kids.  My triumphant return to RVA lead me to believe we would just pick up where we left off;  my kids and her kid would be fast friends.  

It didn’t happen.  

Suffice it to say,  we got together once or twice and found that we just didn’t have anything in common any more.  That’s not unusual, seeing as how people grow and change as just a normal part of life.  I realized that I was extremely reluctant to tell her that I was expecting Vivi because I knew that it was going to be the last nail in the coffin.  Sadly, I was right.  I haven’t heard from her aside from the obligatory Christmas card. 

In hindsight, I wonder if maybe I dropped the ball by not inquiring as to what happened.  Maybe she was having fertility issues and felt that I was flaunting my overachieving ovaries or something. Maybe she was having some kind of life situation that just made it difficult for us to be friends.  I’ll never know for sure, but I’d like to think I would have taken that type of admission from her with some grace instead of just being dropped off on the side of the road.

Believe me, that smarts.  

Here’s another doozy of a story.  There’s a woman I met shortly after we moved back, about two summers ago.  She was a friend of a friend.  She’s the type of woman you see and think, “Wow, she is SO cool.”  She’s the Carrie Bradshaw, the Leslie Knope, the Liz Lemon or the Olivia Pope type that would so perfectly compliment you.  Not hanging out with her would be like asking Kim Kardashian for parenting advice. 

Anyway, she and I caught up at few other places where we knew people in common.  I suggested we grab coffee sometime, which we did.  We had our kids have playdates together.  We’d text and make plans to hang out, but then the plans were never executed.  I didn’t notice it at first, I mean who doesn’t have a crap ton of things to do all the time?  I’m bad about returning texts.  I break plans sometimes.  It happens.  If she and I couldn’t get together, then we’d plan for another time.  

Then we were planning for another time.  Which brings us to the last time. We planned to get together for coffee after doing our respective carpool runs one morning.  Just as I am pulling up to our coffee spot (oh, who am I kidding, you know it’s Starbucks), I get a text from her saying that she can’t make it because Verizon was coming to her house that afternoon. 

Afternoon.  It’s 8:20 on a Thursday morning, but then I got it.  I was being dismissed.  So, being at Starbucks, I got myself a latte.  Then I sat and stewed. 

Was it my breath? Was I a hanger-on? I kept thinking about what it was that I had done or not done.  But in the end, I stopped trying to lay blame and decided that it was her loss. Maybe, the universe was trying to tell me that she wasn’t the type of person I needed in my circle of trust. 

(image)

After I’d had that epiphany, I fired off a “too bad, so sad” kind of text, purposefully omitting any “Oh, let’s reschedule” type of talk. I sipped my latte and decided:

I’m not going to chase you. 

That afternoon in carpool, the above quote pretty much leapt out at me, and I knew I’d done the right thing.   Oh, and as a post-script to that story?  This broad had the nerve to call me up later on the in the week to ask me if I could take a few pictures of her child for some look-book she wanted to submit photos for. . .as a favor!  

Deep cleansing breath. . .deep cleansing breath . . . 

Anyway, I have decided that this above quote is going to be my touchstone going forward.  I can’t change people. I can only work on myself and I need to remember that. I will be me. I will do my own thing. I will work hard.  I will cultivate the relationships with the people who belong in my life, for they truly are the right people.  Our friendships will endure. 

Oh, and one last thing. . . I am going to make sure my girls read, repeat, and remember this, not just for their little girl-friends, but when the young men start to enter the picture.  I’m just sayin’!



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IN: ON: January 14, 2013 TAGS: , , , BY: Hilary
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#fashionfail

I’ve been trying to improve my wardrobe from sweatpants chic to a more young, urban mother flair.  It’s been a journey considering the number of sizes I’ve cycled through with each pregnancy.  No counting the work-out wardrobe I needed to get back into shape.  My closet is overflowing and yet, I constantly maintain that I have nothing to wear.

I have steadily torn out pages from Glamour, Real Simple, People and the like whenever headlines like How to dress 10 Lbs. Slimmer! Your 10 Essential Wardrobe Must-Haves! Winter Chic for Under $50! Rachel Zoe Decodes Your Closet!


You can imagine the pile of papers I’ve got to work with.  I’ll admit it, I’m a follower of trends. I’ve got a Pinterest board called “Dress Me Up” and one called “Saw it. Bought it.”, which overlap quite a bit.  Clothes, shoes, outfits that I’d like to wear (or maybe it’s the body shape I’d rather have) make it to these boards.  On a recent review, there’s quite a bit of stripes going on, but as the old adage goes. . .
(true story)
I see stuff that I like either in magazines or on other people.  Rather than thinking about whether or not a) I need it, b) really and truly like it or c) whether or not it’s a good match for me, I end up with stuff that I don’t really wear.   Trying to put an end to that, I’ve decided to dress or rather,  make outfits selections more purposefully rather than with a “This is clean” mentality.  And while I’m not a fan of shopping (contrary to what my back account says), I’m a sucker for things that I see in my price range and that I think will disappear if I don’t grab them.  Case in point, this Peter Pan Collar from J.Crew.  
(image)
I looked at it online after viewing it in one of my mags back in August.  The word on the street was that Peter Pan collars were making a comeback for the fall.  This particular shirt was already back ordered until November.  In my pea brain that meant Panic at the Disco! Everyone is buying this shirt! I must have it, too! 
I must have been a lemming in my past life. 
Now, I know that I am shaped like a 34 year old Black woman, not like the model pictured above.  BUT, I figured that the shirt would be flattering.  I mean, I’ve got a cute shape every now and again.  I’ve got jeans like the model has on.  I could make this work.  So, I forked over my debit card and waited for November.  The shirt came as promised I planned to wear it for Thanksgiving dinner.  I gave myself a blow out, put on a little stick-lip (that’s lipstick to the rest of y’all) and away I went.
(you can’t really see it that well, but I’m in it)
Anyway, I liked how it looked. It was comfy and every time I caught a glimpse of myself in the bathroom mirror, I found myself smiling.  Of course, the vanity in the bathroom was high enough to cover the lower half of the shirt and my body, so I never got a really good look at what was going on. Ignorance is bliss, right? 
Fast forward to a few Sundays ago.  Trying to get ready for church, trying to wear something I haven’t worn in a while (remind me to tell you about the clothing rotation project), and my hand stopped on the shirt.  I figured I could wear it with a black pencil skirt, black tights and black pumps.  Yeah, it wasn’t doing me any favors.  So, I tried the shirt with a herringbone print skirt, black tights, and pumps.  Nope. Negative.  Then I held up a pair of oxblood pants to my waist, turned to the hubs and asked, “Does this go?” and he gave me a a very confident thumbs up. 
I slipped on the pants with a pair of nude heels, turned to the hubs, who then said, “Actually. . .that really doesn’t work.”
I knew it!  And here I am with this shirt that only looks good from the waist up.  What am I supposed to  do with that? Walk around with a redact bar across my waist? Back to the drawing board.  SN: as for church that day, I settled on the oxblood pants, a cream colored long sleeve shirt with a boatneck, and a grey cocoon shrug.  Nice. 
So, I’m determined not to give in to this shirt.  I’m going to do one of three things. 
1. Take the shirt to J.Crew and say, “Help me with this.”
2. Fold it up and save it for one of the girls to grow into (hello, grow with me project for Vivi!).
3. Keep trying clothes in the closet to see if I can figure something out. 
Today, I went with option three.  I flipped through my other pages of fashion inspiration and wouldn’t you know it? I had another page featuring a Peter Pan collared shirt, this time worn by a well known actress.  
(image)
I have all of those pieces she’s wearing.  I put on the skinny jeans, some tall brown boots with a brown belt. I grabbed my black cardigan per  Victoria Beckham’s Wardobe Essentials as reported by Glamour magazine.  She must have gotten that from my good friend and constant cardi wearer, Karen Sue.  As for the scarf, I skipped it.
Clearly by the look on my face in the first picture, I’m not feeling this.  So, I add the cardigan.  Better, but still not making me happy.  Maybe I need the scarf after all.
(grrr! this shirt!)

What’s a girl to do?  Take it to social media of course. I fired up my insta.gram, pic-stitched the pics and turned it over to the masses.

Here’s a sample of the feedback I received from my pals (in no particular order):
from lifeofkeesh: Wear this shirt with a bright colored blazer (maybe a jewel tone) and add a skater skirt. You’ll be new old school.
from sjfaraway: I’m sorry, were you saying something? I was distracted by those awesome boots.
from annteighm: If the shirt were red, I’d liken you to Aileen Quinn. . . “The-e-e-e-e sun’ll come out, TOmorrow! Betcha bottom dollar that too-more-owww. . .they’ll be sun- n- n-n ! For real, though, I think it looks good.
from refeoxyfemme: The cardigan helps.  I’m wondering if some pops of color would too.  Is the collar connected?
from besswa: I love it!
from franklinfitzgerald: Drop the cardigan. You can go with a nice skirt and run some dressier boots to set it off.  Possibly a wide high waisted belt to set off the dressy boots.
from kmcam34: I like the shirt. I was going to ask you where you got it.  I think some different shoes with the cardigan or without. 
from jessgarbi: I love it! Try with round flat shoes.
from itsonlyanatural: I like it.
from kisforkatrina: I love Peter Pan collars.
Love, love, love it!  I think it can be saved.  Stay tuned. . .

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IN: ON: January 9, 2013 TAGS: , , , , BY: Hilary
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Status Update

*this is a transcription of a blog post idea that I had while driving. i decided to use my voice memo feature on my phone and just spew it out. side note: i canNOT believe that’s what my voice sounds like!*

I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before. I should have just stared dictating a long time ago. So for the blog, I was thinking about doing a post called status update.  I plan to get back to writing my usual, thought provoking/self deprecating/recipe laden/craft-tastic/day-in-the-life type of posts for sure, but in the interim, I thought it would be funny to just write out what my status updates have been and would be.

See the thing is, I Don’t really do status updates on Facebook.  Have you see that funny e-card online about Facebook status updates?

(image)

Yeah, that’s pretty much how I feel about it. The blog I did before about am i taking a picture to put it on Facebook or am i taking a picture to really enjoy the moment, Facebook status updates kind of remind me of that.  And I’m only talking about me, Hilary with One L, putting up status updates.  I mean, by all means, keep yours coming.  That’s why I get on Facebook in the first place; to see what’s going on with you!

I personally think I put things up that are relevant or funny or you know, nothing that’s too personal that I wouldn’t want to follow up about.  I wouldn’t post things about my parents health or the death of a family member or solicit prayers for something.  I don’t like that kind of thing.  It’s not in my personality to do that face-to-face, so it’s definitely not going to happen in social media. 
I think status updates, at least for me, should be funny. I’m not a comedian — I leave that to the professionals like Na’im Lynn and Kevin Hart, but I think I’m kind of witty.   So that status update about being at the gym the other day, I wrote, “@ the gym for my first workout in 4 months. 1st song on shuffle– “Time got the Percolator/ Eurythmics mash-up. Oh snap! It’s about to get real up in here! Let’s go!”  There’s something to be said about the endorphins released during a work out and your mood.  I was feeling like I could have party marched all around that gym, taken Zumba, done a few laps in the pool and picked up a game of three on three.  I’m leaving the gym now, coming off of the same feeling and I feel really good. 
I’m thinking about that status update. . .I keep thinking about fracking, for some reason. That word is in my head. And because I can’t get it out of my head, it’s the kind of thing worthy of a status update. And Homeland. I’m so obsessed with Homeland right now. What I would have done is put “Abu Nazir!” as my status update, or Homeland S2 Ep6. ABU NAZIR! Mind is blown!” as my status update.
So maybe instead of doing a post about or actually breathing into, not breathing into. . .what am I talking about? 
Here it is. Instead of taking the route of a former FB friend who cataloged every inhalation, exhalation, eye blink and nose wipe, I’d rather do a blog post of non-sequitors, like a stream of consciousness, which would have been status updates if I took the time to put them on Facebook.
Does that even make any sense whatsoever?
Yeah.
I really need to get back to writing, but as usually, I’ve got a crap ton of things to do. I really want to write. I’ve got a bunch of ideas floating in the pipeline and not enough time to sit down and just get it on paper. I’m doing a mental headslap right now for not thinking to use this voice memo app to record my ideas before now.  This way, I can just transcribe it later.
Don’t you hate that? Like when you think of something and don’t have a chance to get it down.  The next thing you know, you’re grasping at that memory as is dissipates before your eyes like Marty McFly at the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance.  Awww, Marty. . .I love that movie. 
But, back to the status updates. I’m going to give it a whirl and see what I can come up with.  I read in Real Simple magazine a while back about how this author used to set these really high goals for herself and would get so frustrated when she got nothing done.  After a while, she decided that she would just carve out 15 minutes to write. 15 minutes, that was it.  Over time, this method worked for her and as result, she has since written and published 10 novels.  And it all started with 15 minutes.  The journey of 1000 steps, right?  
I can carve out fifteen minutes.  I can come up with 15 status updates that might be the opening line to the next American classic.  
01/07/13 Woulda Been Status Updates 
—  Ooh! Listening to Mariah Carey’s Vision of Love on the radio and instantly transported back to 1991.
—  Just got an emil from Mo’s Brownie leader requesting a parental consent form to sell cookies.  Isn’t that kind of implied by the fact that I signed her up.  Brownies/Girl Scouts = Cookies.   
—  Having buyer’s remorse about this shirt I bought from J.Crew.   I wish I had really looked at myself in it before I took the tags off.  I look like a square with a peter pan collar. #fashionfail
—  Homeland is off the chain! 
—  Just met the sweetest girl at Loft. We talked natural hair care for 30 minutes and she gave me some new tips and tricks to try out.  I know I’m not pioneer of the natural movement,  but things have surely changed  since I did my first big chop.
—  Mmmm. . .Starbucks. . . must. . .resist. . .temptation . . .
—  I really need a better camera on my phone. Or maybe I just need a better phone.  Or maybe the camera phone and the mirror need to come to an agreement about how I really look.
—  Meatless Monday means I have to put on my thinking cap for dinner.  I’m so hungry and all I want is a nice, big prime rib.
—  Oooh, gift card I didn’t know was in my wallet.
*author’s note:
I’ll admit it. This is not my best work, but I felt like if I didn’t get something down, my holiday hiatus was going to extend indefinitely!
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IN: ON: January 8, 2013 TAGS: , BY: Hilary
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