Rapier's Wit

Hey there! You didn't lose me. We simply changed addresses. For more exciting adventures of Marissa, please go to the new home of MARISSOLOGY!!! We've packed up our gear and taken the goods toWordpress!

This morning came knocking early.  It was exactly 4:17 AM when my body told me to wake up.  After doing what necessitated my way-before-sunrise wakening, sleep was attempted once more. Silly me.  I should know me better than that. At precisely 4:59 AM, reluctantly throwing in the towel for more slumber, I felt around for my cozy sweater and fuzzy slipper socks.  It's astounding what super powers one possesses in the dark. Rather than sit with my coffee perusing the countless paid programming/infomercials available, I decided it was time to put fingers to keyboard and write something.  I'd thought about just slapping up the video I made and posted on youtube yesterday.  This post is really an expansion of what is touched on in the nearly 5 minute video. It's available for viewing after the text. It won't be long and the new year will have been rung in.  For some of you it'll be a fond farewell to a year that didn't deliver what you'd hoped it would....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu1lBlR1858

As the years have gone by as a single mother, my friends and family have assured me that my son will one day recognize that it is I who've provided for him.  You see, in the past Mancub, when given a writing project at school, would wax poetic about his father ... his absentee father.  Deep down it always hurt me.  I'd do my best to disguise my envy and encouraged him to be open about his feelings. On December 15, 2010 I came home after working a grueling 12 hour day.  The 15th also happened to be the day of my first safety and quality inspection with my BIG boss and her boss. Stress so intense you could slice it with a Ginsu.  In the end, that visit turned out to be amazing, but the day still seemed forever long and never ending.  All I wanted to do after that roller coaster was chillax with my son and put my feet up. It wasn't long after arriving home and shortly after hanging up my coat that Mancub handed me a folded piece of paper.  I asked, " ...

I've expressed more than a couple of times how much eggnog anything just sets my tastebuds aflutter. However, the delightful, typically Christmastime beverage is ridiculously high in calories and fat. *whimper and whine* To the rescue! Chocolate Shakeology.  As if there needed to be more reasons why I'd marry Shakeology if it was a man, thirty days of holiday recipes for both flavors, chocolate and greenberry, was developed.  Included on the chocolate calendar (day 10 if you want me to be specific), is the recipe for Holiday Eggnog. Hellooooo noggy! Yum. Hokey shmokes, Bullwinkle. Naturally, I had to try it. Here's the recipe: 1 scoop Chocolate Shakeology 1 egg white 1/2 tsp of allspice 1 tsp rum extract  1/2 cup skim milk (I used rice milk -- it gives a richer texture and flavor) Wowsers! I admit that when I first began my love affair with Shakeology there was a fear that it would quickly become boring. But here we are 10 months later and still finding new...

When you're a single gal it's not unusual to make purchases around Christmas and declare that since you have no one to buy you gifts, you do it for yourself. Apparently I'm not alone in that frame of thinking because, statistically speaking, 1 in 4 women admit to shopping for themselves when out spending moolah on others. What did I buy? Well, I made my quarterly pilgrimage to Bath and Body Works. Buy 3 get 3 free is a great lure. Of those six items, 3 were for Mancub. So, technically, the other 3 for myself were free. Don't you feel better already about my spending?  Prior to that I'd pre-ordered a book on Amazon.  Any guesses what it might be? ::hint: look to your right:: 2011 I have sworn to myself that I will BRING IT! Tony Horton style and I'm taking my 16 year old son with me.  He and I are starting that amazing muscle confusion, 90 day program known as P90X .  To further my accountability, our journey will be chronicled right here! Every day there w...

I'm simply going to be honest with you. Until around April of 2010, I had issues. Digestive problems. Now, I know that's not very exciting to talk about, but it's the truth. I chalked it up to getting older. Little by little a list, a long one at that, was made of the foods that agreed with me and didn't bode well once consumed. Quite frankly it became a bit unnerving as I love to enjoy food. While my outlook about eating are healthier and less about feeding my emotions, I still love the flavors, textures and aroma of food. Then along comes Shakeology. All I knew at the time of first purchase, March 2010, was that I held on to the hope it would help me lose weight. It didn't phase me to inquire about ingredients. My Team Beachbody Coach John Hays informed me that it wasn't a bunch of fillers, artificial sweeteners, artificial flavors or colors. Nor does it contain its weight in sugar (like Slim-fast and a host of others on the over-the-counter market)....

I always considered myself a generally happy person. In spite of life's ups and downs, it wasn't unusual to just keep smiling knowing that a new day would dawn where new opportunities would be presented.  How I viewed myself and presumed others viewed me was slightly skewed from what was deeply felt ... by myself. Not until the last couple of months did it come to my attention that I'd been wearing a mask.  Yours truly was not happy.  Miserable might be pushing it, but needless to say, if I was me I wouldn't want my own company.  That's pretty damned sad. Little by little the layers of yuck have peeled away as the inches of flubber have also been shed.  Without a doubt my weight was allowing me to hide; to be buried.  That's not to say every person who is overweight is congruently unhappy.  My weight was an excuse for not pursuing romance or even attention from the opposite sex. Zoinks! A revelation, it is. Last week something extraordinary occ...

"Things will go wrong at times. You can't always control your attitude, approach, and response. Your options are to complain or to look ahead and figure out how to make the situation better" — Tony Dungy

When I first started recording video to post on this blog I used a webcam.  A cheap one at that. The resolution was awful. In a moment my rosy complexion would turn Yoda green.  Then, I bought a digital camera that also had video capabilities. Unfortunately, natural lighting is required as the flash isn't steady when filming.  Recently, I adopted a Droid.  Sure, I could read the manual from cover to cover and watch the handy dvd that came with it, but why do that when I can sit for hours tinkering with it and getting utterly frustrated. Only at that moment do I consult the manual... or the 22 year old who works for me.  The Droid has a cam-corder app.  Seeing that thrilled me to pieces! Plus, there's lighting! The quality isn't too bad once I figured out how to adjust brightness. Prior to that my face was so illuminated that my nose literally vanished off my face.  Trust me, with my honker that is no small feat.  The problem arose when I tried pos...

Lady Jane -- You will be missed This is dedicated to Maureen, Michael, Justin, Kris, Alisa, Kailey, Andrew and Ryan: Rainbow Bridge Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable. All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind. They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begi...

All credit given to the above website. Thank you! 2010 is quickly coming to an end.  While holiday parties are still in full swing and gorging yourself is likely part of the festivities, I want you to be a forward thinker. Think ahead to your waistband sinking deeper into your middle.  Consider the buttons on your shirts crying out for mercy.  No one is shrinking your clothes, buttercup. It's time to Decide. Commit. Succeed. Who is going to get you there? YOU! Invite me to be part of your journey whether it is to get leaner or lose 100+ pounds.  I recently did the Shakeology 3-day Cleanse and lost EIGHT POUNDS!. It's gentle (no, you won't be pooping your pants when you sneeze or laugh really hard.) What this cleanse will do is prepare your body for healthier eating and exercise through detoxing yourself of all the buttery cookies, bacon wrapped everything and alcohol consumption it has been subjected to between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve.

Mom at a Barbershop Choir convention My mother is no longer walking amongst in the land of the living.  At age 51, June, 1981 she left us after a battle with cancer. I miss her just as much today as I did then. Probably even more since the anger has departed and now all I have are precious memories of the woman who birthed 8 children and longed for more. However, my birth wasn't the easiest and she made me her caboose.  It's best described as ending with perfection. Smile. Today I wanted to share with you a story of eggnog.  Many people don't care for its texture or flavor. As for me, gimme, gimme, gimme! Let's not trouble ourselves the high fat and calorie content as you walk with me on the path of joyful memories. Please to enjoy, Mama's Christmas Eggnog Ever since I can remember I have loved eggnog. While passing Fannie May Candies I eyed a sign in the window advertising their new item: Cheesecake. Like Homer Simpson spying a donut I muttered, "mmmm...

This card inspired an idea that has always been stumbling around in the back of my mind each year holiday gift giving season rolls around.  I'm a grown up with a big girl job.  If there is something I want, I buy it.  For several years I have not participated in the gift exchange at work. This act has led people to call me a Grinch.  My actions, or lack there of, have nothing to do with my lack of Christmas spirit.  My heart is full of giving and light all year long but especially during this time of  year.  Rather than buying friends and family items that will likely end up on a shelf collecting dust or re-gifted at their work white elephant exchange, my money goes toward donations to less fortunate people.  In years past, I have been a recipient of such gifts that made giving my son a Christmas possible.  Out of the blue I was showered with generosity.  Pay it forward. When this card was posted on my Facebook wall along with the ...

As part of a promise to myself and coaching through Beachbody, I partake in daily personal development.  It might be viewing a Joel Osteen clip on youtube, reading The Slight Edge by Jeff Olsen or, more recently, listening to a Dr. Wayne Dyer audio book to and from work in my car. Now, this may not be something any one of you reading this finds interesting.  Some of you may think my choice of authors/orators is bumpkiss and foolishness.  But guess what? I take away with it what is useful to me toward improving myself inside -- the outside will follow suit as I continue on the path of having a love affair with moi. There is one particular passage that has stuck with me as I listened to Wayne Dyer discuss what it is that makes him do what he does in his lectures and seminars.  What persuades him unknowingly to take on projects.  Motivation is an external force while inspiration is an internal force. Motivation is focusing on the external – a goal, an outcome...