Glass slippers - half full or half empty...

2012...a brand-new year!

Well..new by 15 days...Side note..I have bills due today. Ugh!

What does a new year mean to you? Does it mean a chance for new adventures, an opportunity to say goodbye to old habits and a chance for a new start? Does it mean it is just another day that has no significance or value? Does it mean it is time to be with your special someone to share a kiss at the stroke of midnight? Does it mean you get a pass if you party a little too hard because all will be forgiven when the clock chimes 12 times? Does it mean you turn back into a pumpkin?

A new year for me means a chance for new beginnings. It brings me hope of  new beginnings with loved ones as you move forward in life together. 

I enjoy spending New Year's Eve with loved ones and special people in my life as we say goodbye to one year and hello to another year. The new year brings a feeling of new opportunities and new adventures...a fresh start!

In a way, I view the chime of the clock at midnight the chance to go from a pumpkin to a princess instead of back into a pumpkin.

Sometimes, we all are guilty of feeling a bit deflated and beaten down by the ugly step sisters of the world so I like to go into the new year with a new attitude saying this new year is going to rock!! Rock, I say!!

The end of 2011 was no different! This time I had a choice just like we have every day! I had a choice to let the ugly step sisters of life keep me down or put a smile on my face and wear those glass slippers with pride.

It was a choice to be happy or a choice to be sad.

This New Year's Eve, I put on glass slippers in the form of bowling shoes. Yep, bowling shoes! I had the pleasure of spending time with my son and his buddies bowling while enjoying music, laughter and a great time. I would not have missed it! Watching a bunch of 6 and 7 year olds and one 2 year old show off what life is all about was the best way to put a smile on my face. We danced and laughed and bowled and ate pizza and made great memories.

I could have said no when I was invited to attend the festivities but I said yes. I would have regretted
not going because my "special someone" was spending the night with others. I made the decision...the choice to make myself happy!

After bowling, I traded my bowling slippers for a pair of running shoes. I joined my best friend and his girlfriend to get back on the workout track. We did a 5K at Tanglewood at midnight! What a great way to start out the new year.

As the clock chimed midnight the gun fired and all the runners took off even if some of us were walking rather than running.

We were doing it together. We all had a common goal...start out the new year with a healthy activity and a goal of staying up and moving during 2012.


Jim, Tina & I kicked that 5K's butt...well it sorta kicked ours when it came to the hills but we did it and did it together!
  
Afterwards, we had a 2am breakfast at Waffle house. It was the best greasy spoon meal ever!

The night may not have ended with the happy ending of my prince riding in on a white horse but it did end and with friendship and family and a renewed motivation to live life to the fullest regardless of what life throws at me.

So in 2012, I may be minus my prince (or penguin which I will explain in another blog) but I am not minus my son, my dear friends, or my new attitude that 2012 will rock and I will reach my goals...one bucket list item at time.

One goal is to run a marathon in 2012. I think a 5K at the very beginning of 2012 was a great way to get to that 26.2 miles.

I pray you all have some goals in mind for this year as well. I want you to tackle them one at time and share them with me. I want to be here to support you and cheer you along and if you want to run I want to run with you. Get up off that couch and get moving with me and my bff! We are going to run that marathon this year and sport that 26.2 sticker on our cars!

When the clock chimes midnight this year...God willing....we will be together smiling and making memories and starting fresh again with new goals in mind. Come join me! us!

Until next time......Rhonda

Breast Cancer Awareness Month and what it means to me

Breast Cancer Awareness Month always makes me think of my grandmother who battled cancer for many years.

Nanny, the name I called my grandmother, was 40 when she was first diagnosed with cancer.

It is difficult for me to recall a time when I was growing up that Nanny wasn’t sick. I desperately try to remember moments when she was not in pain or sick but the moments are few and far between.

However, I did manage to salvage a couple of good memories. One of my favorite memories with Nanny when she wasn’t sick or in pain is about the time we would spend together after school each day when I was in second or third grade. Nanny was determined to teach me how to tell time with a funny teapot shaped clock on her kitchen wall. The clock frustrated me because the numbers were roman numerals but Nanny would tell me to visualize the regular numbers but more importantly focus on the hands on the clock and their positions.

Even though the clock frustrated me, I enjoyed the time we spent together learning to tell time. I think it is ironic that I remember a moment about time when time is what Nanny had in short supply.

Another lesson I realized later is that we see one thing like the roman numerals but should look beyond what we see on the surface and visualize the bigger picture.

Over time,  Nanny continued to decline as her cancer would spread from one organ to another always resulting in another hospital stay and the removal of another cancer riddled body part which brings another memory back to life.  The memory will forever be etched in my mind. It was the time I spent the night with Nanny a couple of years after both of her breasts were removed. I remember she changed into her nightgown and I saw that her breasts were gone. In their place were two sunken in areas.  I stared at her chest and as a child will do I questioned what happened to her chest. Nanny allowed me to touch the area that used to be her breasts and explained to me that cancer had taken her breasts away from her but she was alive and able to spend time with me which was more important to her than her breasts.

I can see clearly now how strong willed and determined by grandmother was and realize it more and more in my own self especially considering I am now 1 year older than Nanny was when she was first diagnosed with cancer.

I do fear that I will develop breast cancer one day but I pray if that comes to pass I will be able to be as strong willed and determined as Nanny was and that I can show my child that strength and perseverance.

Nanny died at the age of 60 after another long hospital stay and the removal of more cancer riddled body parts. My son never had the opportunity to meet his great grandmother but I know she would be proud of him for his actions last week when he, a boy age 7 who has always thought pink and purple were for girls since he was 2 years old, decided on his own that he would wear a pink shirt to school. The pink shirt had the pink ribbon on it and stated it was for breast cancer awareness.

Spencer, my son, stated he didn’t care if the shirt was pink or not because he was going to wear it to show his support for cancer awareness.

I, of course, agreed to let him wear the shirt because he too is strong willed and determined and who could resist such a stance and say no to his overall awareness and compassion?

At the end of the school day, Spencer informed me that one of his classmates, a girl I am sad to say, told Spencer he was  embarrassing wearing a pink shirt. Spencer stood up and told the girl that he didn’t care what she thought because he was wearing the pink shirt to show his support for cancer awareness and that his great grandmother died from cancer.

My heart beamed with pride for my son who at age 7 is so much wiser than I was at age 7 sitting in Nanny’s kitchen learning to tell time. I know Nanny smiled proudly that day in heaven as she heard her great grandson say he was wearing pink in her honor.

Thank you for allowing me to share a tidbit of my story about the importance of breast cancer awareness.

Rhonda

Duh....it is a crawmom!!

Good afternoon folks-


I thought about what I should post to my new blog that would be interesting and fun and entice you to continue reading and coming back for more stories and of course, a funny story from my precocious kid, Spencer, came to mind. I shared a tidbit of the story with my facebook friends but can go into a little more detail on the blog.


I hope you enjoy this story as much as I do.


On August 16, 2011, Spencer was discussing the adventures of his day as a young camper at Camp Hanes. He and the other group of young men had been playing in the lake most of the day and stumbled across several crawdads. 


Spencer carefully described the excitement he and his fellow campers had with their new discovery especially when they realized they had found a crawmom. 


Yes, a crawmom...Chances are you have never heard about a crawmom till now. 


I listened to Spencer as he described their find and how some of the boys were afraid to touch the crawdads because they may get pinched. He even discussed how one kid fell in the water and how the other campers laughed inappropriately. 


Side note - I will blog about the day I discussed inappropriate laughter with Spencer at a later date.


Spencer proceeded to detail their find and finally the little jewel that will be the purpose of my blog and hopefully remain in my memory bank for years to come.


Spencer said he and the other campers had found a crawmom. I stopped his story and asked him what he meant by a crawmom. 


Spencer stopped his story with a slight huff and looked at me with his wise old eyes of age 7 and said; "a crawmom, mom." I repeated; "a crawmom?" I added; "there is no such thing as a crawmom only a crawdad." 


Again, total disgust was written on the face of my wise old 7 year old son and the disgust was aimed at me for being so dumb at 40 years of age. I don't know how I have gotten this far in life without Spencer explaining life to me. :)


Spencer sighed a big sigh and proceeded to say "Mom, it was not a crawdad because it was giving birth which means it was a crawmom." "Duh!" 


The "Duh" was followed by the lovely eye roll but I couldn't help but laugh and think it was the cutest thing I remember hearing in a while so I overlooked the whole Duh and eye roll and couldn't wait to share the crawmom story with my friends. 


Without skipping a beat, Spencer finished his story of the campers finding crawdad's and a crawmom that was giving birth to a new crawdad or maybe I should say crawbaby since apparently none of us know the sex of the new crawdad/mom/ baby. 


After the story, Spencer smiled a genuine smile and gave me a hug and said he was glad he was able to witness such a cool event and thanked me for sending him to Camp Hanes.


I have to thank Spencer for that moment which was worth the money I had to pay to send Spencer to camp for the week because it is the "duh, it was giving birth so it is a crawmom" moment that is what life is all about and I am very thankful.


So...get out there and find some crawmoms!
Rhonda 

Here goes nothing.....

Well, here goes nothing.... 

My name is Rhonda.

I have been toying around with the idea of writing a blog for quite some time. As a child, I often thought about writing and considered writing a book about my pet bunny. Since I chose a totally different path for my career and ended up as a social worker for the elderly and disabled, I thought why not blog so I can write as a hobby.


At first, I really could not decide what I should include in my blog. Several of my ideas were as follows: a blog about my weight loss journey, a blog about stress or how to avoid it by being a positive person, a blog about being a single mom to a fantastic son who has so many adventures that make me and my friends laugh that I feel the need to share with others, a blog about who to avoid when dating which includes my future book title of "Dating Around the Dinner Table" and my new hobby, a blog about coupons and how to save money since my kid is going to be a giant and I will not be able to afford to feed him or buy his shoes without learning the grocery game but I just couldn't decide which storyline deserved to be in my blog so I am just going to write about all of it. 

You are about to enter the blog which will consist of the Life and Times of One Groovy Chick and her bomb diggity kid! I hope you enjoy it!