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

Dear readers: In case you haven't noticed, the temperature is dropping, the leaves are falling, the holidays are approaching and we all know that means one thing: cuffing season has officially begun !   Photo courtesy of Getty, Huffington Post This is the time of year that you notice folks' single status dramatically changing as we approach the four consecutive, " Are you bringing your boyfriend with you " holidays. Guys and girls start looking for that special person to snuggle and get cozy with during the cold weather, that someone to kiss at midnight on New Year's Eve and to be snowed in together as we round out the cold year's end toward what we can only hope will be a warm and spicy Valentine's Day (yes please)!! If you find yourself not in that category, however, FRET NOT! We are gonna get through this cuffing season together. Here are a few tips I myself am following, in random order, to go from Cuffing Season Catastrophe Case to Holida

Just wanted to pause and drop a quick line to encourage someone today: KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE FINISH LINE!! Do not be distracted by anything that comes to kick you off course. Whether that is an external person or boundary making your goal feel impossible or whether that is a force in your head listing all the reasons why it can't come to pass. When you're driving your car, you look FORWARD toward the direction you're going, right? IF you do have to look left or right, it's simply to momentarily glance at your surroundings, not to keep your eyes turned there. Why? Because failure to watch where you're going, leads to you crashing, leads to a delay in you reaching your destination. Being distracted is costly and your future you can't afford that expense. I don't care if that goal is a new relationship, but you're up against countless situationships that have ended and gone nowhere. I don't care if that goal is a new house or car and your lend

Good morning, readers! There is a currently 3 minute long voicemail in my phone from a suitor. It's been in my inbox for awhile  now, partially because I'm curious what you could possibly say on a voicemail for 3 minutes. The other part, if I'm honest, is because listening could be the last little confirmation that this is it--- the last phone call, the final signal that our little situationship is really, for real, finally over. I keep staring at the phone sporadically throughout the day wondering what exactly this 3 minutes entails. Is this the apology that he would never say to my face and would only have the courage to say on a voicemail? Is this him serenading me, like he used to in the beginning, before the "honeymoon" phase ended and life got real? Is this him berating me and listing line for line all the reasons why we both know this thing we were building was doomed from the beginning and cannot, WILL NOT work? Anyone else ever been there? Where

There has been a lot of talk in my circle lately about trees. This is partially because many of my friends and I took a 12 week course at church that focused a lot on the Genesis references to the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The life-changing course pivoted most of us from a place of hurt and brokenness to a place of victory and peace that I was so grateful for..... Then I purchased a home. I stepped out on faith and bought a house for my daughter and me, equipped with beautiful yard, quiet, peaceful neighborhood, pool, and custom kitchen appliances I had only ever dreamed of. I walked through the halls and touched every wall and smiled the first few days; I was in total awe that I was finally a homeowner after waiting so long for this chance to provide a life for my child. Day 1-Bliss. Day 2-Joy. Day 5 -  a quiet voice buzzes in my ear, "All that's missing now is the man." I let that thought take root and by Day 6 I was lamentin

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