Back...

So, I pretty much haven't blogged all summer. It's been a crazy few months, and I really just didn't have time to update anything. I've been missing my blog though, and the release I get from it, so I'm making it a point to dedicate more time to it like I used to. So much happened in the past few months, I don't know how I would have even had time to blog about it all...

I celebrated my birthday, I had a crazy girl's trip to Miami, I got a promotion at work...then I get into a car accident, and spent 2 months doing rehab. I'm still not finished! I thank God that it wasn't worse, but it still put a dent in my summer (pun intended).

This summer has been one of challenges. After working so hard to obtain the promotion, I received absolutely no training in my new role, and have basically been teaching myself. I'm still learning things every day, and I feel almost like a little boat drifiting in a big sea, trying to find the way to shore...but from what I've been told so far, I'm doing well - so this little boat ain't too shabby!

The accident also taught me a LOT. How to handle things in the heat of the moment (when the guy that hit you is about to drive off, what would you do?), how to deal with insurance companies (yuck), how to relax (did I really think I could take one day off and go right back to work?), and just how resilient I am and can be...

I've received a lot of other lessons peppered in here and there...the usual. Lessons on friendship, relationships, money, family, health, the world, and myself. As 2009 winds down, I think I'm going to be more prepared for 2010. I feel like I'm moving forward with a clearer mind, and I think this is where the greatest possibilities are available to me.

While the weather SUCKED this summer (I think we got 2 good weekends of summer weather), this was a summer of some huge learning lessons that I feel are going to make me a better person in the days, weeks, and years to come, and for that (among other things), I am thankful.

Help Me Find My Way...

Literally and figuratively...soooooo much has been going on the past month or so...my bday came and went, I'm trying to make some moves up the corporate ladder, and I have a Miami trip coming up in a matter of days...needless to say, I barely have time to sleep, let alone blog. Ah well. I'm livin' life, so I'll get back to being a good scribe soon.

In the meantime...

This is one of my FAVOURITE tracks eva...eva eva, eva eva! No Andre 3 Stacks.
I had the biggest crush on Q-Tip around this time. I swore if I ever saw the blonde chick in the streets, she was catching a beat down for doin' him so dirty when I loved him so much from afar...sigh.

In celebration of unrequited love, deezed up Q-Tips, and truly finding one's way, I present ATCQ...

...and we sip champagne when we thirst-ay

I read lots of different blogs, and I always laugh when bloggers take a photo with a celeb, then caption it by saying "Me and my good friend so-and-so", and I pretty much figure they're just trying to name-drop on the photo-op. But now I have my very own celebrity friend! Meet Vaughn Martin.

Vaughn and I go back to high school days...he's been good friends with my younger brother, and we've all been tight like briefs in batty creases. Years later, after South Secondary, parties at Jim Bob's, and chillin' at the twins' house (lol), Vaughn decides he's going to make history by becoming the first Canadian underclassman to enter the NFL draft. Was he crazy? As of today, not only did he accomplish that, but he was also the second-highest selection ever for a player from a Canadian school! As Vaughn is now the newest addition to the San Diego Chargers, I know which home game I'll be traveling for when the next NFL season opens! Whether he plays in the first game or not, I gotta be there to support. That's what friends do.

With all the hype surrounding Vaughn, none of it has gone to his head - he's still the same Vaughn he's always been, and I love him for that! All too often, people are quick to switch it up and start feeling themselves a bit too much, but not Vaughn. Not only am I ecstatic for him and his new venture, but he's kind of given me a kick in the pants and reminded me that I don't need to be complacent in my own life. I need to go out there and get what I want out of life, create my own opportunities, and not wait for someone to hand something to me - especially in the face of people telling me that I can't do it. First Obama, now Vaughn...on so many different levels, people are constantly proving the status quo wrong, and I'm loving it!

Go Vaughn - it's ya draft day - we gon' party like it's ya draft day! Corny? Yes, I know...lol!

Click here for an insider's look at Vaughn's story, courtesy of TSN.

P.S. - most bolded items are a link to an additional site...not sure why they don't all come out blue :(

She's A Bad Chick...

Potent Quotables

"...And he said: you pretty full of yourself ain't chu.

So she replied: show me someone not full of Herself

and I'll show you a hungry person."

- Nikki Giovanni

Message!

I'm Being Tested.

So, for the past few days, I've been babysitting a friend's little girl. I'm just in the middle of my tour of duty, and I've learned so much more than I thought I would have...let's just say, I'm exhausted.

First of all, she's a GREAT child. A very well-mannered, smart, and happy child, which I love. However, going from my "bachelorette" lifestyle to one of a temporary mommy has had its eye-opening challenges. As a teen, back when I wanted to be a paediatrician, I surrounded myself with kids every chance I could get. Working at summer camps, volunteering at children's hospitals, you name it, if it involved kids, I was down. Since moving on from those days and those dreams, I've been a pretend adult faking it amongst real adults, and seem to have lost my kiddie vibe. I for sure thought this favour was going to be a disaster.

Let's just say I never knew how hard it was to put a child to sleep. My mom had the bomb "hushing" skills, but I'm fairly rusty. Kid-friendly food portions? What are those? It's a big guesstimate of how much will be enough to fill her, but not stuff her. And it seems like every day and every meal, that amount changes. Grr.

Add to that, the picky eater. I almost cried from hurt feelings when I slaved to cook dinner the way she likes it...not too spicy, not to hot, just right. Then, after 2 bites, she whispers to the BF that "I don't want anymore". Thoughts of my mother explaining "how much food costs" and "don't think about wasting that food!" zoomed through my head. NOW I know what she was talking about all those years ago when I just pushed food around in my plate, or purposely chewed up a huge bolus until she made me spit it out for fear that I'd choke.

Why do kids always want to chat when you're in the bathroom? That seems like prime discussion time. And kids always want to ask you to do something that you can't possibly do while on the toilet or in the shower. Then when you come out, they don't need you anymore. What's up with that??

Now I've had a taste of how my mommy friends are livin'. I have to throw my hat down to all of them and bow, because I don't know how they do it! I can't just pick up and go to the movies. I'd like to go out on Saturday night, but who's going to watch her? Shit - can't watch Family Guy this evening because some little eyes are too curious for their own good! Plus, I'm the "getaway" temporary replacement while Real Mommy is away. That means kids have higher expectations of you - you have to be just as fun, just as cool, and just as awesome as all those times you were in their presence for a short period. It's hard being consistently cool to a 6 year old! I'm pooped. I'll try to post again and document some more, but we'll see if I can find the time :S

Big-ups to all the Mommies out there, and a special holla to the single moms...phew. Y'all are good. Everyone tells me when I have my own, my personal momma instincts will kick in, and it won't seem so foreign and hard. Right now, the BF has more mommy skills than me, and I'm kind of doubting myself. Ah well...when the time is right, hopefully I can still be a cool, bathroom-chattin', perfect meal cookin', bomb-ass putter-to-bedder mommy, and still be a fabulous, sexy chica in every other dimension as well :)