Single-Mooning: Falling back in love with oneself one day at a time

In my daughter's elementary class, the students are required to submit a job application each month for various classroom responsibilities. There's the classroom manager (line leader), Payroll (the one who passes out the pretend money each week for jobs well done), Banker (who breaks your big bills into smaller ones), Distributor (who passes out papers) and so on. The students later get the opportunity to take the "money" they have earned and exchange it for prizes. I thought the whole concept was cute at first, teaching the kids responsibility, asking them to get letters of recommendation, reminding them of the value of a dollar, etc. As an accountant, I was on board with this whole little economics lesson.....until today.... Today was the day that my little bundle of joy applied for the Classroom Manager position for the 4th time. THREE TIMES she has turned in her application, carefully listing the traits that make her the best pick for the position. 3 times...

YOUR JOURNEY IS A MASTERPIECE A few of my friends and I took our first trip to Sips-N-Strokes, which is just what its name indicates. It's a local venue that allows even the most novice of painters to have a fun atmosphere to create art while, of course, sipping on your beverage of choice (wink, wink).... Sips-n-Strokes, get it? One blank canvas, 3 outcomes! The instructor presented us with white canvases which boasted just a few simple lines that we would later turn into works of art as long as we followed her directions. But before she began she gave some words of guidance, that I'm sure she thought were just about art . Boy was she wrong! As we began applying our brush strokes to the canvas, she said, "Now, it's going to look messy at first. If you look at your painting after the first coat, it's not going to be anything worth hanging, nothing magnificent, nothing pretty. Just trust me and keep going." How often do we do that in life?  Take a look...

Have you ever played that game as a child? You know, the one where you stand in front of a person with your back to them and fall backward into their arms with the hopes that they will catch you? I think even as an adult I’ve seen organizations use this as a tool for team-building exercises. The little girl in my life has recently discovered this game at summer camp. She delights in jumping in front of me and screaming, “Trust fall,” and then recklessly leaning backwards, because she unwaveringly trusts that my two arms will be there to catch her. The thing is….she likes to randomly decide when we will play this game, whether I’m ready to play or not. I could be in the middle of cooking, in the heart of a phone conversation, carrying groceries out of the car, putting away laundry, and with absolutely no warning, she will run into the room, scream, “Trust fall,” and I anxiously drop whatever I am holding to catch this precious baby before she hits the ground. Sometimes, I...

Restore to Factory Settings I write songs.  Well, let me clarify that. I write snippets.  Whatever I am feeling, whether it is dealing with a break-up, frustration with work or parenthood, or overwhelming joy from one of life's sweet moments, you will constantly see me grabbing my phone to record a 30 second melody that accurately and musically captures the moment. Music, just like writing, is my free therapy, my outlet. The Samsung I used from May 2015 to July 2016, the one I just recently transferred to my daughter, had over 114 snippets saved, These were melodies hastily sung into my phone at a stop light, between students at work, during my early morning quiet time, during sleepless nights---any time an emotion roared from within that needed somewhere to go---all of these were on that phone. Over 114 snippets of joy, angst, happiness, sorrow, all capsuled on her phone so that someday "when time permitted" I could go back and turn these snippets into completed ...

Missed Exits          Since I started my blog, I have intentionally tried not to make my posts too spiritual.  Most of the time, I’ve just wanted to be encouraging to anyone in the season of singlehood like me and remind her that she’s not alone and also maybe offer some ideas for some super great “me-dates.” But there are some times when you have to put all that political etiquette to the side and simply call a spade a spade, be totally transparent and realize that a Power greater than you is trying to get your attention by any means necessary . THIS is what happened during my trip to Atlanta. I went to visit my best friend before she headed overseas to teach for 2 years. While there we had a ball, eating foods that had no nutritional value whatsoever, staying up til who knows when, having girl talk about life and dreams and men and cooking and babies and love and reality tv, and photo-bombing random strangers just because we felt like it! The trip ...

The (Impossible) Standard of Perfection              A great minister friend of mine asked me to be careful not to make my site or speaking engagements “hen parties focused on male-bashing.” I try to ensure that this is a positive place for me to share my growth with others and a place for those who are enduring/have survived these trials to relate.  While at times I may share intimate details regarding my dating disasters, railroaded relationships and crashed coupledom, it is only to illustrate that I am not my scars—I am the woman who rose above them!            That being said, I felt the need to share a moment of clarity. I’d just worked my 1 st 11 hour work day of the year, serviced more than 50 students via phone and office visits and somehow dragged myself home to cook dinner for the little one. In short, I was exhausted. The suitor stopped by, saw me in sweatpants sans makeup and looked me up and do...

You are a game-changer! That’s right, I said it!  While it is so cliché we almost ignore it, the statement still holds true: “If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always got.” Those who know me, never believe me when I say this, but I’m shy. I have never been the type to enjoy walking into a room of people I don’t know to introduce myself. I can remember being in college and being so fearful of going to the cafeteria alone that there were some times I wouldn't even eat. If someone wasn’t arriving with me at a meeting or an event, I was not going. Period. Even in adulthood, I’ve struggled with my not-so-little fear. I didn't want to join my massive church choir until I had a friend to tryout with me. My shyness (and fear of rejection) have gripped me to the point that I realize I have suffocated my potential. Yes, I finally see I’ve put so many of my dreams in a chokehold because if my sister or...