Hard Fortune

Please, can I have for Christmas?

Advancement will come with hard work.

Promise? Really, can you promise me that? Cause, I have been working 60, 70 hours…sometimes more…and I seem to be spinning my wheels. 

It seems like the harder I work, the more I do, the further behind I fall. How is that possible?

I have two jobs right now – one I really enjoy and the other, I have been doing so long…I don’t know what else to do. The stress of both jobs together seem to be part of the fiber of my being, as does the constant clutter on the flat surfaces of my home. I really am an organized person trapped inside a hamster wheel of never ending tasks. 

The loves of my life…my family, my friends, my home, my writing – that is where I fall behind. The time that I spend with my family is precious. The time I spend with my friends I cherish. The hours I spend in my home – I crave! The moments I get to write, I long for. (Let’s not even mention crocheting, reading and taking some classes.)

I have friends that I consider family, God has blessed me with them. I have no blood sisters, but I have women in my life that I am honored to call my sisters. (We need a GIRL’S NIGHT!) When their hearts hurt, I hurt; when they have joy, I am happy. All of us are so busy with “hard work” and we struggle to find the time to dedicate to this amazing gift we have been given! 

I miss my family with a passion so great it hurts. I want to be there for my grandpa, or at least be able to call him on a regular basis! This amazing man that has survived so much – I look up to him and I am so proud of him! My aunts, uncles, cousins – too much time has passed since I have been able to be with you. My parents, my brother and his family – we used to have dinner almost every weekend. Recently we had a family game night with my brother and his family and I was struck by how much I MISS them! My Mom and Dad, they are a source of strength and inspiration to me. I appreciate their support and love and I hope they know how much I treasure them. (Lord knows, I have been remiss in telling and showing them!)

My husband – I consider us still newlyweds. We’ve been married 5 years and heaven only knows why this precious man puts up with me! He has a wonderful sense of humor, loyal heart and incredible mind, I am so blessed that he loves me! He is my rock and without him, without his love and support I would be lost. 

My own kiddos, I am sorry I cannot even begin to describe how much I miss spending time with them. My oldest, in college – I miss him, he is not terribly far, but it feels like a lifetime away. His caring heart, warm personality and infectious smile…I would prefer to have on a daily basis. My middle son, in high school – what a strong, funny and incredible young man. He is intuitive, random and makes me laugh and think all at the same time. His future is so bright! My little guy – what a trip every day. I have been raising these two older boys, ran a home daycare for 10 years and I have never run across a little boy like him. I can’t wait (oh, wait – YES I can) to see the man he will become. Each of my kiddos, each of their beating hearts and working minds are such a blessing to me and I would/will move heaven and earth to experience each moment I can with them. 

I have truly digressed – 

Advancement will come with hard work. 

I am not afraid of hard work. What I am afraid of is losing precious moments with the people I love. 

Advancement is something I need to be able to support my family, to be able to help them realize their dreams. I will work hard to make sure that I am able to lift them up in any way I can.

To all my online friends that read and follow me…thank you for your patience with me. I know that I am not very consistent with my posts. I do follow back and I do read as much as I can. Thank you! 

Plugging Away here ~

Vanilla Mama

BTW – Seriously, I NEED to start playing some of these numbers…maybe my hard work would be a thing of the past. 24, 33, 37, 41, 42, 44.

A to Z Challenge - Z

A to Z Challenge – Z

Z is for Zoo.

I know that Zoo is a rather obvious choice for this, but I really love the Zoo! In fact for Mother’s Day next Sunday, I really want to go to the Zoo. We live in an area that has two Zoos within reasonable distance, for the past two years we have been members at the closer Zoo…this year I think that we will be members to the other Zoo. (Okay, I know rather vague here…Closer Zoo is the Dallas Zoo, the further Zoo is the Fort Worth Zoo.)

There is quite a bit of debate about which Zoo is better…the consensus is the Fort Worth Zoo, it is a little bigger and the exhibits are more updated. The Dallas Zoo really stepped up their game this past year with a new Giants of the Savannah area. Gotta tell you, VERY, VERY nice and well done. Feeding the giraffes was awesome, watching the elephants chase the geese was hilarious and the Gorilla exhibit was amazing. We are still having the debate about which Zoo to be members of, or if we should do it at all this year. Money is always an issue and this year with a graduation and me working 2 jobs, I am not sure when we would ever make it. Mother’s Day maybe the deciding factor.

The best part of going to the Zoo, any Zoo is enjoying being with my family without a lot of electronic disturbance. Getting to watch the animals and my kiddos, taking photos in picturesque places, finding a cool new hat to wear, because no trip is complete without a trip to the souvenir shack, and feeding the birds in the bird house – I actually had one try to come home with me in my purse –

Our last trip to the Zoo involved two of my favorite cousins, their husbands, all of our kiddos and my favorite Aunt R! It was an awesome trip – I hope that we get to do it again. Perhaps one of the best arguments for getting a Zoo membership, because I got ALL 8 kiddos in for free!! Also got to ride the carousal SO many times we lost count and everyone got a trip on the monorail. We made up for it in food and souvenirs  purchased, to be sure! Another perk to a Zoo membership is if in the wild-blue chance we get to travel any this year (wistful sigh!), there are a lot of Zoos that have reciprocal memberships. Example, last year my husband had to go out of town for his job and Frosting and I got to tag along, one of our days there was a visit to the Zoo in the town – what a blast, got a hat and everything!

The worst part about going to the Zoo is that in this area of the country, most of the year it is TOO HOT to walk outside and enjoy being around the animals. Why? Because both animals and humans tend to be a little (more than!) stinky in 110 degree heat while baking out in the sun – EWWW!

I had quite a bit of debate for my letter Z – this being my last post in the A to Z challenge – Zip, Zap, Zoom was a forerunner as was Zizzer-Zazzer-Zuzz (Another Dr. Suess reference, love the A, B, C Book!). I finally settled on Zoo because it was in my head for next weekend.

This challenge has been a lot of fun and has really made the creative juices flow. It has gotten me into the habit of sitting down at my computer and spending some time just working on me. I have some catching up to do reading everyone and sorry to say it will be Monday before I can get caught up, but I am looking forward to seeing everybody’s Z posts.  I’ll also be pulling a Fortune Cookie out of my collection – I can’t promise one everyday, but I promise to be more regular in my posting and for that alone I am grateful for this challenge!

Probably the most incredible part of this 26 day challenge is how many people I have gotten to know virtually and I am looking forward to following their blogs and I am certainly looking forward to the next challenge!

Live, Laugh, Love –

Vanilla Mama

LATE BREAKING NEWS – A lovely lady has added me to her “Selections for Best of the A-Z Challenge” and she selected my “M” post for “Making it Up!”

Be sure to check out her blog, it looks like it will be fun! Thank you Lisa

A to Z Challenge - N

A to Z Challenge - N

N is for Next.....okay really pushing this one, but it is time to pass on the Next award :)

Here are the rules for the acceptance of the award: - the Stylish Blogger award - THANKS DANNI!

Thank and link back to the person who awarded you the award.

1. Share 7 things about yourself. - See previous post for M
2. Award 15 other bloggers.
3. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award.

 - here we go...this is tough, because I am REALLY picky about which blogs I read on a daily. basis, that whole TIME thing!

1 - Parenting by Dummies - Awesome lady, funny writing and lovely photos!
2 - A Storybook World - Great interviews that will inspire you, plus check out her writing.
3 - Random Thoughts by Danni - Funny and super cute!
4 - Focus - Insightful and sweet.
5 - Dolce Vita - Sweet Life, Sweet lady, cool pics and ideas.
6 - Oh hello friend you are loved - great ideas and lovely things.
7 - Holly's House - Not a Perfect Mom Blog - Frank, honest and funny
8 - Jabbolg - interesting facts and cool pictures.
9 - Sleep Talking Man - SUPER inappropriate and funny (Yes, I have a t-shirt.)
10 - The Life that I Live - Check out the Nancy Pelosi dream!
11 - An Authentic Life - Living the life in Montana, makes me want to visit! (Considering I am from the SOUTH, that is quite a feat!
12 - Cake Wrecks - If you can visit this blog without laughing, SOMETHING is wrong with you!
13 - Amanda Hocking - Make sure to visit BN.COM and read her books, very unique take on the supernatural and coming of age!
14 - other things amanzi - surgeon in Africa, very interesting.
15 - The Life of a Wanderer - Amazing young man (yes, we are related!) and his blog about travels to as a medical missionary.

So, there you have it. I will be letting everyone know - but I don't want this to end up like some crazy chain letter.

But....who is Next on your list to read?

Live, Laugh, Love ~
Vanilla Mama

A to Z Challenge - M

A to Z Challenge – M

M is for Making it Up!

Making it up as I go – I used to have a plan, but I quickly learned that whatever plans that I make, they usually go awry. Especially if I am very specific with God about what my plan does not include…example, “I am never going to get remarried!” – God said, “Really now? How about this wonderful man?”….example, “I am not going to have any more children.” – God said, “BTW, did I mention natural family planning means that you are open to life? Congratulations, you’re pregnant!”

Do I regret either one of these things? Absolutely not! God had his plan for me, and I was just ‘Making it up’ as I went, flying by the seat of my pants. God still has a plan for me and I will keep making it up as I go – because in all honesty, God has my back no matter what. If he brings me to it, he will bring me through it.

I was talking to a friend at work not long ago, he did not realize that I had been married before and remarried (fact #1 – for anyone that is counting). I don’t bring it up much in general conversation, it doesn’t define who I am…again, wasn’t part of my plan, but I made it up as I went. Life can throw you a lot of curve balls – are you ready? Can you make it up as you go?

Here is a little curve ball…do you make it up as you go so much, that you don’t remember who you are? Women in general are used to covering up, making up to hide things…we all do it. We make it up, we make up who we are…but at what point do we never take the makeup off?

I have seen shows about women who at night do not take their makeup off, they sleep in it, in the morning they jump out of bed and shower so quickly that their partner never sees them without their makeup on. What are they hiding? How self conscious are they? How self conscious am I, are you? Does anyone see you or I without the makeup on? 

How many people can I honestly say know me without my makeup on? Not many, less than you could count on one hand – Everyone, you, me, the neighbor across the street – have places that they are making up as they go and are making up to hide the others.

Personally there are sides of me that I do not share with everyone, I can’t. In some cases it is not appropriate and not comfortable, in others I am willing to open that part of my heart up to them. Personally everyday there is an element of my life that no matter what my plan for that day is, I will have to wing it – Make it up – very seldom does everything go to the little check-list that I have in my head.

Now for another M word…hmmm, can’t think of one for this. I was awarded the Stylish Blog award, and wow, how cool! So, MMMMMMTHANKS! –hehe- In honor of the letter “M” and to fulfill the requirements of the award, here are seven facts about Vanilla Mama that you will have to figure out….which are Made up and which are true…#1 is a gimme!

2 – I live with a host of dust bunnies that continually multiply.

3 – I love to feed horses apples, carrots and any kind of produce that in my healthy dreams I am actually preparing and eating, but in reality start to rot in the crisper section of my fridge.

4 – I can leap tall buildings, read minds and tell your future!

5 – was a manicurist and daycare provider at some point I my life, at the same time!

6 – I love, love, love the scent of Vanilla…in fact so much that my loved ones know I am around simply by the aroma, and they know I will haunt them through it from the grave!

7 – I read, read, read and listen, listen, listen to books.

Now….which one am I making up?

Live, Laugh, Love~

Vanilla Mama

PS - Watch out, I have a few badges to hand out as well!