Monthly Archives: January 2015

So, I am watching Empire. I feel like it is quality programming. Will it last?

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I am so excited about this Taraji Henson and Terrence Howard program on Fox. I love music of all types and think that these are two very talented actors that are typically in “black” movies, which many people do not see a lot of. This is a great way for mainstream America to see how awesome they are. I get so into shows like this and Smash and other shows that start off so fab and the programming cannot or do not continue to be stellar. So far, the comedy side of it is super-duper on point and I love the retro looks. It’s like Olivia Pope who? That awesome Mahoganysesque hat and coat are killer.

I am also excited for the new Marvel show, the return of Once Upon a Time and House of Cards. Scandal is a show that I used to love and have high hopes that I will feel that way once again, if the writers can turn the tide. I am bummed that Mad Men is ending and I am also a bit let down that Downton Abbey turned into a soap opera. But I still have a love for the beautiful costumes and aristocracy.

Anyway, those are my thoughts on current tv. I have not been into shows like this since the Sopranos, Sex and the City, Seinfeld and Friends. I am glad that I have interesting things to watch now that I am out of school!! And because I have no dating life:) Check out Empire. It is frigging awesome!

Night for now.

Simply~

Dee

Cooking our fave squash and onions and olive oil and thought about…

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I started thinking about how important it is to eat organic or Kosher meat. If you care anything about your family or yourself, or animals for that fact, eat better meat. I am kind of pissed because I went to my local Wegman’s which is my fave store in the world next to Target and Nordstrom-I digress, there is less Kosher meat there as of late. I am not Jewish, but I love Kosher because of the extra inspection that is done on the health of the animal and the humane treatment of the animal during growth stages and including when their life ends for consumption. I also love Kosher because the price is less than the word Organic. There used to be Organic Kosher at Wegman’s, but that mad no sense to me. So, there are like 2 tiny rows of kosher now. But I think that 5 dollars for 4 chicken thighs is not bad. I am not wealthy or rich, or upper middle class. I am barely middle class. What my barely middle class behind had to do was stop drinking lattes for 5.23 7 days a week. First off, the caffeine was hurting my body. Secondly, the 35 plus a weak was killing my barely there bank account. So, long long story short-give up things that are not necessary like cigs or beer or too much Starbucks to put better food into your body. I kind of feel like a big fat hypocrite saying this because I had an Asiago pretzel at Barnes and Noble for lunch and a 50 percent off Godiva dark chocolate peppermint candy bar. But…I don’t eat meat with hormones. So there!! Enjoy what you eat, but try to avoid hormones and steroids in your meat, aspartame in your foods and drinks, and basically artificial ingredients whenever you can. Those little changes can improve your help, help you live longer and help prevent disease. I may write more later, but I am cooking dinner late because we woke up late today so all of the meals are off schedule.

Bon appe’tit!

Simply~

Dee

P.S. Besides the weak moment with the candy bar and pretzel, I am doing my clean eating. I was cold and hungry, so I slipped:( It is 15 degrees here.

Okay, so I got busy again…

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I am still up! But, I am trying to be more “clean” so I did cleaning of the kitchen floor and other annoying duties. Then I got roped into “The Goblet of Fire”. It is silly that we have the whole HP series on DVD and when it comes on tv, I have to watch it anyway. About Harry Potter. How many of you Christians think that it is demonic? That drives me freaking crazy!! When my child was in private school for kindergarten (she was bored out of her mind), we would drive one hour in traffic to get to her school. She was about a 3rd grade reading comprehension at that point and though she was smart, I knew she could not read a 600 page book. So, we listened to the CD on the way to her half-day school adventure and on the way back. We would both jump in the car with anticipation of what was coming next. I knew the whole story because I had seen the 5 or 6 movies that were out at that point and had read all of the books. But the audio was amazing. They guy who was the narrator did over 100 voices and was phenomenal.

I digress. My little girl who was not ready for the movies, and probably did not “get” all of the audio, learned so many lessons from Harry Potter and friends. She learned about bullies, and friendship, and good and evil. Much like what she was learning at the Christian school at the time. You know, the teachings on Jesus and the fall of Satan and all of that good stuff. It is very much akin to HP lessons and trials. Not saying that Jesus is similar to an 11 year old wizard with glasses. But I am saying that in HP magical world, HP is the savior of their world. Obviously, in my opinion anyway, Jesus is the savior of the real world. You get the point.

Anyway, we cheered Gryffindor on and tsked when Malfoy came on and my kid asked questions, and it was an awesome way to “geek out” and bond together. We even went to Harry Potter World a couple of years later (which disappointed me), but the point is, we got a lot out of it. One of our friends said that his daughters can’t watch or read about HP because of the spells and incantations. They are just Latin derivatives. They aren’t real, they are just a part of the story. My daughter isn’t doing seances, nor does she dress as a demon for Halloween.

I think sometimes we as Christians and people and parents in general just need to chill the heck out about a lot of things. Stop being so PC and reading something into everything and just live and enjoy life. Of course, I can’t make someone believe in the way that I do. Nor can someone control the way that I live my life or raise my kid. But I think saying things about Harry Potter being anti-Christian, just gives Christians a bad name. I think that having less judgment as Christians would go a long, long way. Like the whole gay issue. But that is another topic all together.

Okay, okay. I am going to try very hard to go to sleep soon. Eight hours in two nights is just not good for anyone. But to be honest, I got a bit re-energized when I found out that I don’t have to work in the morning and I was already off tomorrow night. So, here I go, getting off schedule again. To be honest, I just have a lot of excitement about this new year. More excitement than I have had in a long time and I just can’t hide it. Yes, that was a Pointer Sisters Reference for those of you born before 1990.:)

Nighty night.

Simply~

Dee

What is the saying? God laughs while we make plans? So…

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Okay, last night I was so self-righteous about meeting my daily goals and resolutions. I was all like-“I am doing my devotional early and my blog post is finished”, yadda yadda yadda. I so went to bed at 230 and woke up at 630. AND to make matters worse, I heard my little songbird aka my kid singing in her bed at 130. When I say that our internal clocks are screwed up right now, I mean it. She legit woke up with dark circles under her eyes. This is the kid that sleeps 11 hours 5 nights a week and probably 10 the other 2 nights a week.

So, God did me a HUGE favor by allowing snowfall to the DC area today!!! We love snow so much and I marvel at it every time it happens as if it is the first time that I have ever seen it. Where I live, we got about 4 inches, which isn’t tons but it has entertained her for around 3 hours or so. She is playing with friends right now. So, when she comes in and eats dinner and gets ready for bed, I do not anticipate having her get up in the middle of the night. But me on the other hand! I think that I slept more in the last week than I have in a month and now I am all caught up. But as soon as I get off of WordPress I am going to jog with my arm band thing for my Galaxy and put on the calorie counter while watching RHOBH. Bravo is my guilty pleasure-don’t judge:)

I haven’t accomplished a lot today except 2 1/2 hours on my morning job, hanging in the snow with my kid and picking up the kid for my evening gig. Besides that, I have done a few organizational things, written thank you notes and picked up some items to cook this awesome healthy chicken wrap for dinner. To some people this may seem like a lot, but I am an extreme multi-tasker so this was a slow day. Tomorrow, after the snow has died down, we will leave the morning gig and then do school work for 5 hours. Did I mention that I am STOKED that we are not in any plays right now? No acting classes, no workshops, nothing. I love to hibernate in January and February. I have gained 8 pounds, so I may be inside, but I am going to have to run or do yoga while hibernating. Once end of March or beginning of April hits I will emerge from this chrysalis and run like crazy until the end of the year. So I really do enjoy more relaxation that winter offers.

As soon as I log off here, I will start the yummy dinner I have planned and call the girls in and wind the day down. This time, I pray I can go to sleep by 1130. I do not think I can function another day with 4 hours of sleep. I actually gave in and had caffeine today-I had to cut down to a few times a week maximum (long story). But I knew if I did not get that caffeine this morning I could not have made it through.

If you live in midwest or northeast, I pray that you guys are safe and warm. For the rest of you all, I pray that all is well. Have a good evening and tomorrow is humpday-already!!

Simply~

Dee

PS Even Bao Bao loves the snow!!

Bao Bao snow

Courtesy of WUSA Channel 9 Washington, D.C.

Okay, so my sleep mode last night never kicked in…So I am loopy

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I could not sleep for sh– last night. I literally went to bed at 1 and woke up at 130 frantic that I overslept for my morning job that starts at 645. My daughter went through the same thing. She was in my bed, her bed, the chair, everywhere. Needless to say after leaving my job at 830 and running to the store and an hour and a half of school work for her, we crashed. We did not eat lunch, did not pass GO, we fell asleep face down at 11 a.m. and did not stir until 2 pm. We ate a bacon gouda at Starbucks at 2 pm and she did her online class for an hour on the laptop while I ran errands.

I am so thankful for my T-Mobile hotspot on days like this. It was also awesome because I did some business calls and online stuff for the therapy job I do for 30 minutes while in grocery store parking lot. My laptop and my car look like we are on the go, literally. They both need thorough cleaning, and even though I am a neat freak and love for things to be in their place, I am not a clean freak by any means. My toilet is not spotless. My dishes are in the dishwasher and recyclables and trash are always on point. But I do not get out the Windex and Clorox on a regular basis-sue me.

So basically I am all over the place with this post today and I guess it is partly because I am still super groggy and want nothing more than to climb into the bed and stay there. But, if I do that, guess what will happen again? A repeat of today. I cannot have that happen because we are at 98 percent for the year for all of the Language Arts courses and Art, but we are behind on Math because my kid does not like it. We are also behind on Science and History because we love it!  We wanted to save those for last because we love the books and the topics. So, we have to catch up on everything because when you take an online public school curriculum, you have to do it at their pace. They want all of the subjects covered 5 days a week. I get it, but we are almost completely finished in some of them, but not at a high enough percent at the other end. Then we have to study for the big standardized tests. I like structure, but part of the reason I home school is to have control over learning. I think that this is the last year for online public school and on to another type of curriculum…

Anyway, I have to put on my big girl undies and get back to non-holiday scheduling. I will have to set my brain to be a morning person and actually love it. We will have to realize that my daughter will have to go to bed at 8 p.m. again and we can’t drag family activities on as we did for a lot of December. I am doing a good thing by doing social media earlier today and this blog post. The next thing that I will do is do my devotional earlier than 1145 at night. I am super proud of myself for sticking to everything I wanted to do except for the exercise part. Every single time I do Just Dance with my daughter and start to get hot, I start coughing and have to stop. So, I will be glad when that cough drama is over because I got a arm phone sleeve so that I could exercise and keep up with it since my Fitbit is defunct.

I hope that all of you are accomplishing would you would like too. My hopes for all of you is that you continue the momentum and do not falter after a few weeks. After repeating a pattern for a couple of weeks, actions become habits. So keep up the awesome work!! You can do it. And, I can do it! We got this!  Yayyyy us!!!

Simply~

Dee

I have put the “Lazy” in La-Z-Boy recliners

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It is kind of crazy because I am a hyper person that is all about go, go, go. But since I have been sick for 2 months on and off with bronchitis/asthma/annoying cough, I have not rested. So ever since December 29th, I have attempted to make up for the lack of rest and weakened immune system. This new leather recliner, though it is not the aforementioned La-Z-Boy brand, it has turned me into a sleeper. I have always been a person that cannot sleep a lot or has insomnia. But now, I feel sleepy constantly. Part of it could be the weather, or I am still trying to get over being sick. But no matter what, I have to start getting up at 630 a.m. Monday-Friday starting again tomorrow and I am so not happy about it.

Do not get me wrong, I am happy I have the little 10 hours per week morning job to supplement my other sources of income, but the money isn’t major. It is going to be 11 degrees in a few days, and it will be a real difficult task getting out of bed, but this year is the year to pay off my bills so I guess I have to do what I have to do. Are you guys excited about returning to your schedule, or are you dreading it? I like schedules, I really do function well with structure. But I am not so sure that 630 am is ever a time that I want in my schedule unless I am on a movie set or I am running my own publishing company, i.e., something I am passionate about, then I want to just stay in bed.

I haven’t told you guys what I do, but I do social media for a non-profit on a part-time basis, and I care for children around 25 hours per week. The children are older, so my child has had friendships with many of the kids that I have taken care of over the last 10 years. There are some families that I do not keep in touch with anymore because they were not good people or we just had nothing in common. But most of them are like family to us and I treat their kids like they are my own. Even though I like what I do, with 2 Master’s, I really want to do more. Oh, I also am a virtual assistant to a family member who is a therapist in NYC. I do fun stuff like insurance:)

So, I am a “Jill” of all trades, doing what I have to do to stay at home with my daughter and home educate her. Yes, I home school, but I am not one of those “weird” home school people. I dress modern, I know about modern culture, but I just choose to allow my gifted child to learn at her own pace (which is fast), and I care about what she is taught. Public schools are not the places of learning that they once were. I don’t judge those who send their kids to public schools because many people do not have a choice. There are also people who think that the learning in public schools is stellar, particularly in places like Northern VA or parts of MD outside of D.C. where the public schools appear to be like private schools.

Anyhow, I am not asking for anyone’s approval, nor do I care to hear anyone’s disapproval, at least today. One day I will blog about it and then we can open up that can of worms. My goal today is just to tell you all a little bit more about my life. I hope to actually write on this blog everyday, all year long. I also wish to get to know some of you all and read your blogs and learn and grow from what I read and write. Have a great Monday, you will need it, especially if you like us are having to get back on schedule. Have a blessed night and morning.

Simply-

Dee

Today was a good day-not quoting Ice Cube :)

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Today was decent. We drove to Maryland to hang out with a family that we met through my daughter’s acting. It was a decent time with a yummy lunch. Then we came back to our neck of the woods and stopped at Starbucks for the 2nd time of the day. Ugh-I have to cut down in 2015. Then we came home and I watched cable from my tablet while my kid played with a neighbor. Then I cooked dinner, we went to a Christmas lights display at a local botanical garden and it was gorgeous. Then we came inside and sat by the fire and had smores. It was nice to come in from the cold and rain and sit by the picturesque fire, but after a couple of mini-smores, I was done. I don’t know how people eat a lot of that stuff-yuck. Then we came home and looked at pictures and my kid went to bed late. It was her last late night for awhile.

IMG_3306

(photo courtesy of trekaroo. Couldn’t upload my pics)

 

I am totally being a bad person, but I am skipping choir and church tomorrow. I want to sleep and chill and clean up and enjoy our last day not having to get up early and not being on a schedule. I really enjoyed today, actually this whole week. It is the first time in years that I have had days that I have slept until 11:30 or 12:00. I love simple things like writing in my journal and sleeping in and watching movies and playing games. This is been a good day and tomorrow will be even better because event though I have obligations at church, we are going nowhere at all.

I think that sometimes taking time to just enjoy chilling out with loved ones is just as spiritually nourishing and healthy as going for a run or attending church. I have decided from this point on to not overbook and to enjoy every day as much as I can with my child because before I know it, she will be grown and living her own life. I hope that you all take time to smell the roses in 2015 and realize that simple things can equal up to a good day, month or year.

Simply~

Dee