What every woman should have

It seems Wearsmanyhats and I are writing off of eachother. She wrote a post that gave her an idea from a comment I made on another post she had written. I commented  on the second post and then have come up with an idea...What every woman should have.

1. A bottle of bubbles for blowing...when you get sad, take the kids outside, or just by yourself, and blow bubbles. No one can be sad blowing bubbles.

2. A box of crayons and a coloring book. The good kind. For when creativity is failing you. Sometimes it helps just to go back to basics and remember the simplicity in life.

3. A really sad movie that makes you cry. Sometimes when life comes down upon us, we need a good cry. Sit down and watch a movie you KNOW will make you bawl. My favorites for this are Steel Magnolias, Beaches, The Notebook, Urban Cowboy, Casablanca, and Gone With the Wind.

4. Sexy Underwear. When you are feeling down on yourself, wear your sexy underwear underneath your clothes. This is an awesome confidence builder and no one will know why you're really smiling.

5. Bubble bath, facial mask, or really pretty nail polish. Sometimes, you just need to be a girl. My daughters and I have girl night and we will do facials (home made are fun too) and our toenails. Sometimes you need to pamper yourself.

6. Fresh flowers. Even if it's just wildflowers from the yard. This reminds us to appreciate the beauty in everything.

7. A smutty romance novel. (or other good book) This helps keep the romantic in us alive. We women need roamnce in our lives. It also is a good escape from the mundane.

8. A bottle of your favorite perfume. Sometimes, you just have to splurge and wear your favorite scent. Even if you're wearing sweats.

9. A page of at least 10 things you like about yourself. Post it somewhere you will see it everyday. That way, you are reminded why you are so wonderful and what makes you YOU,

10. A picture of yourself that YOU really like. You are beautiful and sometimes, you just need a reminder.

Ok, ladies, make sure your Women's Wellness Package is complete. Then tell me, what do you have on hand that you keep to help you when you need it?

Rejection, a grain of salt, and margaritas

I hate rejection. Well, maybe not hate exactly, but it doesn't feel too very good. I got my first rejection in the infancy of my writing career.

I feel ok, though. One rejection was because I didn't have the article in proper .doc format, so it wasn't neccesarily my writing just the format.

The other was the same company and it was because of the .doc thing plus it was not written like a high school essay. You know...intro, paragraph, paragraph, paragraph, conclusion. Which is fine, I just feel sometime it takes away from the creativity aspect.

However, in light of my recent rejection, I am okay. I took it in stride and kept writing. Now, I just have to submit something else to them.

The other two places I have been writing for I have had every article I have submitted approved. Which makes me feel a lot better.

The thing about rejection though, is that you have to take it with a grain of salt. Salt is a funny thing. You can have too little or too much, but in the right amount, it seasons you. So you take your salt, your seasoning, and you learn from it. If you use too much...you become jaded. Too little and you cannot heal.

And when life hands you lemons, you take that salt, add it with tequila and lime and make a margarita!!!

So my glass I raise in honor of all of you, may you all be rejected just enough to keep you humble and may you take it, and life, with a grain of salt.

LEAP OF FAITH

I am taking a leap of faith.

In the past, I have been a stay at home mom and a working mom. I have done both. I have loved both. But I really think I love staying at home the best.

Aside from listening to the same cartoon five billion times in a day and your toddler destroying your neatly folded clothes because he wants to be like Godzilla knocking down the buildings and the fact that no matter what you clean, it is instantly. Dirty. Again. because the little trolls...er, I mean angels....like it better dirty, I think. It is very rewarding and the lowest paid job in the world, if you are counting in monetary value. If you count kisses, hugs, smiles, and "I love you"s, then you are the richest person in the world.

But I digress. Back to my leap of faith. I have been praying and pleading for a way to be able to stay at home with my girls. I am emotionally exhausted from working 60 hours a week and having nothing to show for it, sometimes not even a paycheck, since I work on commission. But I have to work, right? I have to pay the bills, right? Can you get a paycheck just being a mom? Somehow, I don't think so.*sigh*Now what do I do?

Are you in the same boat? Dying to stay at home and not knowing exactly how to do it? Go with what you know. Do what you love and figure out a way to do it from home.

I've always been a writer. Poems as a child. Songs for when I really can't figure out what I want to say, and just writing in general. Sometimes when I talk, I get flustered. Or think of what I should have said 30 minutes after the fact. But writing, that's never happened. Writing is my passion.

So I will be a freelance writer and do what I do best. Be a mom. And take care of the rest on faith.

Stop and smell the Bluebonnets...

My yard is in mourning.

I rent the house my grandfather had built and lived in for almost 40 years until he and my Grandma bought a new one. It's a great house. I really love it here. It's the only place I've ever really been able to come "home" to.

My grandpa loved flowers. He was a simple man. Not simple minded, he just enoyed the simpler things in life. Flowers was one of them. He always saw the beauty in them. Every year he'd plant bluebonnets and Indian paintbrushes all along the street for everyone to enjoy. He got more compliments that way.

I've always had bluebonnets out here, even though they weren't planted. Bluebonnets are wild flowers and once they grow in one place they always come back.

My grandpa died last fall. It was probably the hardest thing I've had to get through. He was like a father to me. I miss him so much and think of him daily. There are so many things that remind me of him... a hard days work, giving your last dollar to someone just because you know they need it worse than you, anything that says "Made in the USA" (grandpa ALWAYS bought American, even if he didn't need it), and of course, bluebonnets.

It's springtime and the bluebonnets are out in full force. Except in my yard. I have one. One lonely bluebonnet that braved the massive storms and flooding we had last week. And it's still there. Proud and true in all it's glory saying an unwavering Semper Fi to the hard core Marine and family man who took the time to appreciate the beauty in the world.

Where's your Focus?

I lack all athletic ability. I love to play sports, I'm just not good at them. Any of them. Sometimes I am amazed that I can walk upright. My husband used to make so much fun of me because I'd just walk right into a wall when trying to go through a door. And no, I'm not blind. My daughter is the same way. She does the same things. Always running into things. And she has perfect vision. So I started anylizing myself to try to figure out whay I was this way...this is what I discovered.

FOCUS. When a track star is running hurdles, he's not focusing on the hurdles he is jumping, he's focusing on the next one. If he's looking at the one he's on, he'll stumble and fall. A balance beam is the same way. If you are not looking ahead, but down at your feet, you will fall. And if yoiu watch your feet while you are dancing, you will mis-step.

Life is the same way. I figured out that I don't look at what's in front of me, I'll run into the wall. I was confused and unfocused about the turmoil in my life and so I couldn't focus on what was in front of me. When I got put in the position that I had to focus, I quit walking into walls and falling over things. When I got to the point that I had to stop being selfish and think about someone else, my focus was ahead of me. Not on me.

So now, when I am faced with a problem and start running into walls, I stop and quit focusing on me. I re-evaluate and pick my head up and look forward. It is then, and only then, that I can focus on what's ahead.

So let me ask you...Are you running into walls? Falling over things? Having a bad day? Where is your focus? Look up. Look away from yourself and look forward. Find your focus and walk forward, my friends.