-sometimes-

Sometimes you just can’t win for losing!

Just really frustrated with some things…life circumstances, 

relationships, changes…some things I can control and others I can’t. 

Feel like when I take 1 step forward I then wind up taking 2 steps back. 

Wondering if it’s me or if things really are off balance.   

Just praying for guidance, peace, and patience.

That’s all.

Pandora, My Love....

So I was listing to Brandon Heath on Pandora a bit earlier while I was making cupcakes….I mean what’s better than incredible music and cupcakes?!?....and this song came on. It starts out with just piano and if you know me at all, then you know that songs that start with piano have a way of grabbing me. My ears perked up a little because I didn’t think I had heard it before. As the song began, I found myself listening to it closer and closer. By the time the chorus came around, I put the spatula down and found myself leaning on the counter just taking the song in.

It’s beautiful…a bit sad, but definitely heartfelt and full of pure emotion. I then of course found it on You Tube so I could hear the entire thing again and I began to wonder about the story behind the song. So....being the dork that I am, I “googled” it and found this blog (Story Behind the Song: London)…written by Chad Cates who co-wrote the song with Brandon Heath. Very cool story! Anyways, without further ado…here is yet another current favorite of M. Joy! And yes, if you know me or have read any of this blog before, you know that I immediately bought it on iTunes and have it playing on repeat! 

London

Written by Brandon Heath & Chad Cates

Current Fave

New favorite song...

Your Love

Brandon Heath

Preview

What do timing, Lazarus (you know Jesus' friend who died), and being late all have in common?

My next blog post will talk about all three....just have to find the time to sit down and write it!

Pet Peeve....

If you are an educator, I have one piece of advice for you...

Learn. how. to. spell!!!

And....learn which homophone to use...

there is a different between to, too, and two and between there, their, and they're...

LEARN THE DIFFERENCE!!!

There is absolutely no freaking excuse for you to misspell words or use the wrong word.

I'm about to delete some of my teacher friends on Facebook because I am tired of reading their posts that are full of misspellings!

Okay...I feel better...vent over.

Single Girl To Do List Parts 7 and 8

Part 7: To Make Yourself a Better Partner in the Future

29. Make a list of all your faults.

     Oh wow...I've got plenty of faults...where's the paper to start writing them down?

30. Learn to cook well.

      I can cook and it's usually pretty good...I just don't do it that often.

31. Get some hobbies. 

     Got 'em! Playing piano, reading, baking/decorating cakes, walking/running...

32. Let your married friends edit your online dating profile. 

      I am on Match.com so I really should let some of my close friends look at my profile.

33. Get your finances in order.

      I'm debt free (except for the house and car)...just working on saving more.

Part 8: To Appreciate Being Single

34. Babysit someone's baby for an hour.

      My best friend is having a baby in October...hope to be doing this a lot. 

35. Help a friend through her divorce or a bad break-up.

     Yuck!

36. Host a girls-only night. 

     I love Girls' Night Out! Hoping to plan one at my house in the next few weeks!

My mom sent this to me and I thought it was too funny not to pass along! Hope all my bathing suit buying friends enjoy!

Buying a Bathing Suit 

When I was a child in the 1950s, the bathing suit for the mature figure was-boned, trussed and reinforced, not so much sewn as engineered. They were built to hold back and uplift, and they did a good job. 

Today's stretch fabrics are designed for the prepubescent girl with a figure carved from a potato chip.

The mature woman has a choice, she can either go up front to the maternity department and try on a floral suit with a skirt, coming away looking like a hippopotamus that escaped from Disney's Fantasia, or she can wander around every run-of-the-mill department store trying to make a sensible choice from what amounts to a designer range of fluorescent
rubber bands.

What choice did I have? I wandered around, made my sensible choice and entered the chamber of horrors known as the fitting room. The first thing I noticed was the extraordinary tensile strength of the stretch material. The Lycra used in bathing costumes was developed, I believe, by NASA to launch small rockets from a slingshot, which gives the added bonus that if you manage to actually lever yourself into one, you would
be protected from shark attacks. Any shark taking a swipe at your passing midriff would immediately suffer whiplash.

I fought my way into the bathing suit, but as I twanged the shoulder strap in place I gasped in horror, my boobs had disappeared! Eventually, I found one boob cowering under my left armpit. It took a while to find the other. At last I located it flattened beside my
seventh rib.

The problem is that modern bathing suits have no bra cups. The mature woman is meant to wear her boobs spread across her chest like a speed bump. I realigned my speed bump and lurched toward the mirror to take a full view assessment.

The bathing suit fit all right, but unfortunately it only fit those bits of me willing to stay inside it. The rest of me oozed out rebelliously from top, bottom and sides. I looked like a lump of Playdoh wearing undersized cling wrap.

As I tried to work out where all those extra bits had come from, the prepubescent sales girl popped her head through the curtain, "Oh, there you are," she said, admiring the bathing suit.

I replied that I wasn't so sure and asked what else she had to show me. I tried on a cream crinkled one that made me look like a lump of masking tape, and a floral two-piece that gave the appearance of an oversized napkin in a serving ring.

I struggled into a pair of leopard-skin bathers with ragged frills and came out looking like Tarzan's Jane, pregnant with triplets and having a rough day.

I tried on a black number with a midriff and looked like a jellyfish in mourning.

I tried on a bright pink pair with such a high cut leg I thought I would have to wax my eyebrows to wear them.

Finally, I found a suit that fit, it was a two-piece affair with a shorts-style bottom and a loose blouse-type top. It was cheap, comfortable, and bulge-friendly, so I bought it. My ridiculous search had a successful outcome, I figured.

When I got it home, I found a label that read, "Material might become transparent in water."

So, if you happen to be on the beach or near any other body of water this year and I'm there too, I'll be the one in cut-off jeans and a T-shirt! 

Single Girl To Do List Parts 4, 5, and 6....

Part 4: To Make You Appreciate the Next Guy…

20. Do at least one Valentine's Day alone.

      Been there. Done that...for 32 Valentine's Days. Ready to not have to do it. Ever. Again!

21. Attend a wedding (or 15) alone.

      Again...been there. Done that. Have done 2 alone in the last month. 

22. Date the creeps. You'll really value the nice guys afterward. Do I really have to?                      

Part 5: To Make You Feel Sexy and Attractive…

23. Buy yourself some flowers.

     Have daisies on my counter as we speak...or type...or read.

24. Invest in a LBD (little black dress) and some sexy stilettos.

     I love my LBD and wish I had the occasion to wear it more often!

25. Sit at a bar by yourself and drink a martini. Cool. 

      Oh...that would take some confidence and guts...have to work on this one.

     

26. Buy something frivolous and expensive that you LOVE wearing.

       Do my 3 Coach purses count? I think they do!

Part 6: To Make the Most of Your Free Time…

27. Finish all your schooling if you can. 

      Think I can absolutely say this one is done! 

28. Throw yourself into something time-consuming, like learning a foreign language. 

      Ideas anyone? Love to throw myself into something...like planning a wedding! Ha!

Parts 7 and 8 still to come!

Single Girl To Do List Parts 2 & 3: Having Fun and Getting Perspective

Part 2: To Be Able to Look Back and Say "I Had Fun"…

11. Witness something once-in-a-lifetime.
      Need to do this one.

12. Revel in being able to watch all the reality TV you want. 
      Since it's summer....I can knock this off the list pretty easily and quickly!

13. Get drunk during the day, just because you can. 
      Sounds like a great way to spend an afternoon!

14. Go on a date with someone who actually makes you nervous.
       Been on plenty of dates where I was nervous...does that count?

15. Go out with an older man who takes you somewhere nice and makes you feel like a million bucks. Hmmm....don't want to go out with someone just to mark it off a list..but it could be fun!

16. Go out with a guy who makes you laugh ‘til it hurts.
      Don't think I've been out with anyone who made me laugh that much. 

Part 3: To Get Perspective

17. Be a good wingwoman. It's not always about you.

     Haven't done this...any single friends need a wingwoman?

18. Chill with your widowed and single grandma. She knows "alone"!

      Sadly, both of my grandmas have passed away. 

19. Volunteer.
      Check!!!

More to come!!

PS- I hate the spacing on blogger....I can't ever figure it out!!

Single Girl To Do List Part 1: To Build Your Confidence

36 Things Every Single Girl Must Do 
Before She Settles Down

I found this article on MSN last summer and recently ran across it again. I have surprisingly done a lot of the things on the list and my goal is to scratch a few more off the list this summer. Here is Part 1...Building Your Confidence! 

To Build Your Confidence

1. Go to a movie alone. 

    Done. I'm not a huge movie fan so I don't think this will become a regular thing for me.

2. Lift weights. When I bench-press 45 lbs., I feel like the bomb.

    Done this too and since I rejoined the gym yesterday, I will be doing this all summer long!

3. Try surfing, water-skiing, or some activity you don't already know how to do. 
    I'll have to think about this one. Ideas anyone?

4. Take out the trash, set a mousetrap, do your taxes, build a bookcase.
    Check to all of it except the bookcase...that's what my dad is for!                                

5. Live alone, or at least move apartments in NYC without the help of family.
    Lived alone for over 4 years. Just me, George, and Tucker...they don't count as roommates!

6. Train for (and finish) a huge physical test like a half-marathon.
    Woo-hoo! Checked this off on March 20...Publix Half-Marathon...and I've signed up for 2 more!

7. Go to a scary doctor's appointment by yourself. 
   Think this past year of wrist surgeries and appointments completes this one!  

8. Quit your job. It feels so good to take a job and shove it.
    Oh I don't think so on this one...at least not until I have another job in hand.

9. Fly to a foreign country by yourself.

    Haven't done this one technically..but I have flown to Alaska by myself.  

10. Learn to stand up for yourself. 

     Think this is something I have to learn to do more for myself more often.

Next...

Part 2: To Be Able to Look Back and Say "I Had Fun" &
Part 3: To Get Perspective…