Black Belt Living

Hot-Lanta

Sorry for the lack of update! It's been back to back trips to Chicago CHA and now Atlanta CKU-A.

Back on Monday morning!

Comings and Goings

This month, it's musical suitcases here at our house.

Shannon and Andy got back from their week on Duck Island on Sunday evening. Shannon's got a cold, so she's a bit under the weather (and the weather is HOT!). Tonight she goes to my parent's place while I leave for CHA in Chicago with my pal Laura in the wee hours of the morning. Shannon will be home this weekend with Andy, then back to my parents' on Monday. I'll be home Monday night then leave for CKU in Atlanta next Thursday through the following Sunday.

Wake me up when it's August! I'll probably sleep for a week.

On a related note, one can't hit the road for a seven hour drive without some good tunes. I've recently discovered (after a long hiatus away from popular music) that the music of today is pretty darned HOT! I like it all these days...rock, hip hop, pop, latin, crooners, you name it. And of course I can't abandon my 80's lovin' roots. I hope I don't make Laura's head spin when I jam it out to Thomas Dolby's "She Blinded Me with Science"! Has anybody else noticed that The Killers sure sound a lot like Duran Duran? Well, to me they do. Gotta love that!

A Very Odd Week

My family went to Duck Island, North Carolina last Sunday for vacation. When my father in law turned 70 four years ago, we all went to Isle of Palm near Kiawah South Carolina for a week of togetherness. Now my mother has turned 70 and we're all doing it again. Well, everybody but me. I'm here at home.

They got a huge vacation home right over the dunes on the ocean. When Andy calls me in the morning, normally he's drinking coffee on the veranda overlooking the ocean and I can usually hear the waves crashing on the beach. Shannon says that the surf if "rockin!". They're having a great time and the weather has been great. I'm glad.

I've had an interesting week myself. Lots of work - getting finalized for both CHA and CKU-A. Away from work I've been taking advantage of having a house that actually stays clean if I clean it (well at least until Sunday). That's pretty cool. I think I've done more laundry than I've ever done in one week in my life. I've been washing things like blankets, dust ruffles, and curtains. I've totally caught up on my laundry and Shannon's laundry (that's amazing for me!). I borrowed my parents' carpet shampooer and have managed to clean the carpet (well, CLEAN is a relative term...it'll never be CLEAN, but it's clean-ER) in the bedrooms, the upstairs hall and the stairway. I've cleaned out both linen closets and sent old towels and linens to Goodwill. I had beach towels from sorority formals ~ talk about OLD!

The funny thing is that I've been doing all of this really late at night. I'll work, then scrap until 10, then clean until after midnight, then crash. It's odd and good all at the same time. We had tornadoes in the area the other night....one went over our house and I was too busy shampooing my bedroom carpet to even notice! And today is the ultimate splurge. I've hired a cleaning service to come in and scrub this pig sty down from top to bottom. I said that I wasn't going to rehire a housekeeper until fall when I'm not paying for summer childcare, but I jumped the gun. I cannot WAIT!

I figure if I'm not going on vacation, then instead of spending money on shopping or dinner out, I'm going to spend my summer vacation making my house sparkle! Now, if only I could keep the dog from shedding.....

Not a great photo here today, but a fun one from a Florida vacation past.......

Blur

Yes, life is indeed a blur this month...between CKU San Jose at the end of June, through CHA and CKU Atlanta this month, and all sorts of family things going on, time is flying by!

Just yesterday did I get a chance to peek at some of my photos from San Francisco. Love that place! I don't know that I'd ever want to live there, and mainly it's because I have such a love affair of visiting. I don't want to think about any negatives to living on Nob Hill or Russian Hill....

How I love San Francisco!

Heartbreak Revisited

Not too long ago, I posted about losing Flippy.

Well, not too long after the trauma and the drama of Flippy's death had passed, Shannon snuck over to the pet store that's next to our TKD school while I was in the middle of a class. Yes, I gave her permission to go over and look around! Anyhow, later that day she confessed that the pet store dude gave her a "dwarf hamster". Normally I would have raised my eyebrows at a pet store employee giving away a critter, but I know them over there and I know that they do this on occasion. They do it figuring that if they give the kid a pet, he'll get attached, then drag Mom over to buy the cage and all of the accessories (which is where they make their money!). That's how Jerry came to live with us.

Upon closer inspection, it appeared that either Jerry was Jerri and expecting, or Jerry had a big something-or-other taking up a big part of his bottom region and it couldn't be good. A few days ago, Jerry started looking bad...I mean really bad. Jerry/Jerri was either giving birth (and thus eating her young because I never did see a baby) or falling ill due to the malady that had invaded his/her body. I still have no clue. I mean, what do I know about rodents? Of course my daughter thinks I know everything, but all I really know about rodents is that I don't want them in my house.

Sadly, today was one of THOSE days again. When I left for work this morning, Jerry looked like it could be his last day. When I got home, Jerry had passed away. May he/she rest in peace. I then had the pleasure AGAIN (for about the tenth time this year) to inform Shannon that she had indeed lost yet ANOTHER pet. God help us all.

She's so determined to have a pet of her own. After the lunacy of what is my July, we'll probably look into getting a small dog. You know, something that might actually live for more than a couple of weeks. I'm thinking a bison frise or a toy poodle, she wants a wiener dog!

Sigh.

Heartbreak is so HARD! She'll never make it as a vet. She's too tender hearted.

Zen Sarcasm

My talented and gorgeous friend Patricia Anderson posted this on our Hummers board the other day. Some of them are hilarious. Enjoy!

ZEN SARCASM

1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do
not walk beside me either. Just pretty much leave me the hell alone.

2. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and leaky tire.

3. It's always darkest before dawn. So if you're going to steal your neighbor's newspaper, that's
the time to do it.

4. Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.

5. Always remember that you're unique. Just like everyone else.

6. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.

7. If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments.

8. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you
criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

9. If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.

10. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat
and drink beer all day.

11. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.

12. If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.

13. Some days you're the bug; some days you're the windshield.

14. Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.

15. The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket.

16. A closed mouth gathers no foot.

17. Duct tape is like 'The Force'. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together.

18. There are two theories to arguing with women. Neither one works.

19. Generally speaking, you aren't learning much when your lips are moving.

20. Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

21. Never miss a good chance to shut up.

22. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

Goodnight Nobody

Well, yesterday was literally a wash. I worked all morning while it rained. We did manage to get to the pool in the afternoon for a few hours before getting "whistled out" from lightning. The party we were supposed to go to was cancelled because of rain, no electricity, and a large tree falling through our friends' garage. I did manage to sneak over to our friends Traci and Bill's house in the early evening for an impromptu "lets have a BBQ inside" get together, but instead of watching fireworks, I ended up watching season 1 reruns of Nip/Tuck that I have been saving on the DVR all summer. I managed to get Andy hooked on that show pretty quick. The new season starts in September this year ~ yay!

I started a new book yesterday, another Jennifer Weiner called Goodnight Nobody. It's a fun read. I can relate to the main character, which I think is why I love her books. Here is the first chapter where she describes meeting some of her neighbors in the park. The women there remind me of many of the women in my area. It's a great summer beach book.

Fourth of July!

I like the Fourth of July....it's laid back (well, at least it's supposed to be!).

It's nice to have everybody home and hanging out. I'm working from home this morning, then it's off to TKD class at noon, then meeting my family at the pool for the afternoon. I've already made the dip for tonight's party at our friends' house but there are a lot of thunderstorms in the area that are threatening our holiday party plans. I really hope that it doesn't rain....I hardly ever get to just hang at the pool and I'm looking forward to trying to take photos of the fireworks tonight.

I'd sure like to capture something like this!

Have fun everybody and be safe!

Perseverance - The Toughest Tenent

In taekwondo, we have to recite our seven tenants before every class.

Honor

Courtesy

Integrity

Perseverance

Self-Control

Courage

Community

This past week has been one of those that has tested me like never before. I thought I had courage, but I'm not as courageous as I had thought. I thought I had the ability to persevere when the going got tough, but I found myself wanting to give up. In taekwondo, we're taught that the only people who truly fail in life are those who don't ever try and this week I found myself wishing that I hadn't tried in the first place. But I was wrong.

I'm starting to crawl out of that black hole that I was living in all last week. Thank goodness. I didn't write last week because I just had nothing to say. But hey, if Shannon can shake off her awful Girl Scout camp experience of last summer and give camp another try this year, then I can shake off my problems too (she LOVED camp this year, by the way, and wants to go back for two weeks next year, so I would call that a huge victory! I'm proud of her!).

Anyhow, I'm back with plenty to say again ~ in other words, back to my old self again.

The photo is one that I took right after a recent rain. Lovin' that 20D...yes I am!

On an unrelated note, Ginger has started posting sneak peeks of our new collections that will debut at CHA in a few weeks. Here are two pics...one of my fave ~ Scientifically Weird ~ and the layout that I created with these papers. It's in the August CK!