I’m very lucky to have parents that LOVE to spend time with their granddaughter.  If I ever ask them to watch her, undoubtedly the answer is yes.  And, being a single working mom, I really appreciate the chance to just unwind, even if just for a day.  Last weekend, my mom asked me if Abigail could come visit her the following weekend…and of course, I said yes. 

I think this might have been the first time I didn’t want her to go.  Let me explain….

Elkana had been here since Tuesday.  With  a weeklong break between his summer classes, he, of course, came to visit his 2 favorite girls. 

Just the three of us.  It was perfect.   It was a family. 

I’ve never been good at giving up control.  I’ve been told that I keep Abigail with me like a handbag (um whatever, if you know me, you know that I’d probably lose that handbag and I’ve never lost Abigail…yet!).  I like to do things my way.  But, with El, things are different.  He understands her.  And he understands me. 

On Tuesday night, El did the unthinkable.  He attempted to put Abigail to sleep.    Putting Abby to sleep is like pulling teeth.  I blame the 3 hour naps at daycare (I’m going to talk to them about that, I promise!).  But, she requires someone to lay with her and someone to “pat her back”.  Which actually means just put their arm around her (it’s actually kinda cute…but really a pain in the butt).  After an hour, I went to check on them.  Abigail and El were sitting up in bed, Ab was wearing Elkana’s watch and OVC XC medal, and they were playing catch with Schnoopy (who is a stuffed dog…Ab and El named him).  Elkana GLADLY relinquished bedtime duties back to me, but he definitely got an A for effort.

Each night, around 2:30am, Abigail would sneak into our bed, and wiggle her way between El and I.  And each morning, he would dress her while I got ready for work. 

It was so hard to let her go to Biz-Elle on Friday.  Well, at least, at first.  We enjoyed our weekend together, but many times, you could catch us quoting Abigail.

Reason #134759238 Elkana is perfect: He bought Abigail a Dora shirt as a gift.  And a Dora waterbottle and a Dora plate.  It’s so easy to buy this kid stuff…she’s so freaking greatful!  She immediately put the shirt on and told us that “My friends at daycare will love to see this shirt”.  And she slept with the water bottle! How can you not buy her everything!?!

Update 3: The Boo

I could say a lot.  But, when I was visiting Kentucky last weekend, this quote was in the book I was reading.

Doubt thou the stars are fire;
Doubt that the sun doth move;
Doubt truth to be a liar;
But never doubt I love.
~Shakespeare

True dat, Shakespeare.

And that’s THAT.

Wordless Wednesday

He feeds spitting goats with my little girl.  How can I not be in head-over-heels love?

Those goats are vicious!

From all the girls with band-aids on their knees….

My true princess wears bandaids on her knees.

I’ve heard that this movie is great.  And I briefly thought about taking Abigail to see it (but then I thought how miserable it could be for me and everyone in the theatre). 

In Abigail’s 2.5 year old pictures (yeah, shut up, they had a good deal.  Plus she’s super cute!) she was wearing a flowery, flowing pink shirt, white shorts, and sparkly pink slip ons.  And she had huge scabs on both her knees.  (I would upload it, but I don’t have it saved on a computer anywhere).  At first, my though was, “Ugh, those scabs are disgusting.”  But the more I thought about it, the more I realized “That’s her!”  she’s girly and tough.  A perfect combination.

I have nothing against princesses…heck, my favorite movie is Aladdin.  And, Abigail is a true princess (she’ll tell you the difference between a princess and a true princess).  Not everyone is a TRUE princess…Jasmine is, Snow White isn’t.  And Ariel is as well.   Koko, my sister’s dog, is a true princess puppy.  Elkana is not a true princess (thank goodness!).

Sometimes I get nostalgic thinking about what my little girl will be when she grows up.  Simple things such as movies will effect her thoughts, dreams and goals.  I know she has unlimited potential, and I hope she lives up to that, eventually (yeah, it takes some of us longer than others…).  It doesn’t matter that she’s a girl.  It doesn’t matter that she’s biracial.  What matters is that she CAN do it.  And she will have the support system behind her.

I sat in on an Employer Q and A yesterday.  The audience was a combination of the unemployed and employment specialists.  A young lady in the audience asked “Why do employers look at me different because I’m black?”  The panel wasn’t sure how to respond.  What do you say in that situation?  My first thought was, “She’s doing it to herself.  That mentality is a self-fulfilling prophecy.”  And I think that’s partly correct.  But.  But, there are people out there who are racist, still.  Some don’t even realize it. 

I kept thinking about her question last night.  And my two, OH SO DEEP conclusions are: Why would you want to work there if they are like that at first glance…it’s only going to get worse!?  and You have to be confident, NO MATTER WHAT.  If you are getting that feeling from ANYONE, smile bigger, talk sweeter and walk taller. 

And that’s what I’m going to have to teach Abigail.  Everyone has critics.  You’ve got to disregard their feelings/opinions and PROVE THEM WRONG.

Update 2: Abigail

By the way, theses are in random order.  Because you know Abigail is number 1….and she knows it!

What can I say about this kid?  She continues to amaze, baffle, suprise and frustrate me!  All in a good way, of course. 

She’s smarter than I can handle.  And bossier too!   She has learned so much since being at the YMCA (maybe she would have learned it anyway, but I’m giving them their due props!).  She’s potty trained (it took them a week!) even at home.  She knows her ABCs, can count to 20, pretends to read and can identify her letters and some numbers.  She picks out her clothes in the morning (probably better than I could!).  She just AMAZES me.

Oh gosh…am I one of THOSE moms?  You know the type….my kid is better, faster, stronger and smarter than yours. 

Her favorite songs are: Stanky Leg, Get Silly, and God Bless America.  Her favorite things to say are: Whatever (yeah, oops!) and I love you.  And her favorite things to do are to go to the park and read (at home, not at the park).  

Her first school picture…

 

Update 1.5: School/Work

On Friday I have a transcript review with an academic advisor in the MA of Counseling program! Go me!

Update 1: Work/Going Back to School

Update 1: Work

I love it.  What more can I say?  Ohhhh and I got my first 3 bonuses and that made it THAT much more enjoyable.

I’m still learning.  There’s lots I don’t know yet, but I enjoy the learning, which is even more important (except for the billing issues!).   Right now, I have 5 active clients.  And ELEVEN people working! 

I think I’ve finally found the right field.  And I want to learn more.  I have starting looking into Master’s programs.  I have been throwing this idea around FOREVER and I’ve started to put the wheels in motion. 

After college it was impossible for me to get my Master’s.  Plus I didn’t know what I wanted to study.  Remember, at this point I thought I wanted to work in sports.  Well, I have narrowed it down to one-ish programs.  I’d like to get my Master’s in the field I am currently working in…Social Work, Education, or Counseling. That’s a far cry from Sport Management!

After researching while Elkana was studying, I think I have found the program for me.  I emailed Webster University to make an appointment with an Academic Advisor in the Masters of Arts in Counseling program.  While El was trying to read about Glucose and Glycern and all that yucky science-y stuff, he was also encouraging me to go for it. 

So I did it.  After lots of website research, I found that each class is 8 weeks long, and they have 2 sessions each semester.  It’s about $1300 per class.  Which makes me gasp, but also hopeful that I might be able to get a grant! 

The courses required for an MA in Counseling with an emphasis in Community Counseling are:

• Foundations of Counseling
• Human Growth and Development
• Social and Cultural Foundations of Counseling
• Theories of Counseling
• Assessment
• Techniques of Group Counseling
• Lifestyle and Career Development (I already do that at work!)
• Professional Orientation and Ethics
• Research and Evaluation
• Practicum and Internship
• 4 Electives

My only setback.  They require classes in Psychology or Sociology or something along those lines for admission to the program.  I took nothing of the sort in college.  But I am crossing my fingers and toes that they will count my work experience.  I’ve learned things at work that I would never learn in a classroom, and I hope they realize that. 

Sometimes I think that I haven’t lived up to my full academic potential.  I was a great student (not to brag), but graduate school didn’t come at the right time.  But now, it JUST MIGHT WORK.  Keep your fingers crossed.

Thanks, JiL and El, for the motivation to GO FOR IT.  Seriously.

 

 

 

 

MIA

I’ve been MIA for awhile. I’m not even sure anyone even noticed. Lots of nothing has been going on, so I’m going to spread it out on many posts. 

Ab and I both know our ABCs

A – Age: 24

B – Bed size: Queen

C – Chore you hate: Taking out the trash

D – Dog’s name: No pets in our household!

E – Essential start your day item: A shower with my Tahitian Sunrise (smells sooo good!)

F – Favorite color: Red

 G – Gold or Silver: Silver

 H – Height: 5′2″

 I – Instruments you play(ed): My mom made me play the trumpet

J – Job title: Employment Consultant

K – Kid(s): 1

L – Living arrangements: A 2 bedroom apartment

M – Mom’s name: Mary

N – Nicknames: None

O – Overnight hospital stay other than birth: Never!

P – Pet Peeves: whining

Q – Quote from a movie: I suck at quoting movies. But I can quote BSC

R – Right or left handed: Right

S – Sibling: 1 sister

T – Time you wake up: 6:11am

U – Underwear: yep

V – Vegetable you dislike: Carrots

W – Ways you run late: Sleeping in

X – X-rays you’ve had: teeth and ankle

Y – Yummy food you make: mashed potatoes

Z – Zoo favorite: monkeys!

I want this to be my ringtone…

…when El calls.

I wanna love like Johnny and June,
Rings of fire burnin’ with you,
I wanna walk the line,
Walk the line,
‘Till the end of time,
I wanna love,
Love ya that much,
Cash it all in,
Give it all up,
When you’re gone,
I wanna go too,
Like Johnny and June,

I wanna hold you baby right or wrong,
Build a world around a country song,
Pray a sweet prayer,
Follow you there,
Down in history.