Rapier's Wit

It is FINALS week at my son's university, much like the majority of colleges around the country. He has always put forth a lot of effort to achieve good grades. There are times, despite his studying and perfect attendance, the good grades do not materialize.  As a parent, I try to encourage him without nagging. He resides with me. I see him studying. He stays up late working on essays, homework, etc... I pray a lot for his success.  Today happens to be my mother's birthday. She died from ovarian cancer in June of 1981. It doesn't matter how many years pass, I miss her. There are times it is even more painful. She loved to sing. Her passion for music has always been evident in my family. On Facebook early this morning I posted that it was my mom's birthday. At the moment I hit send, I began to cry. It has been quite some time that I wept over missing her - not that it lessens what her absence means. I put out a wish for her to assure me she was with me. Ba...

As Mother's Day 2014 quickly approaches, it occurred to me that I haven't blogged in a very long time. My son aka Mancub, is nearly 20 years old. Just the fact that I still refer to him on the blog as Mancub tells you that I'm still quite protective. When I stop quickly in the car I still fling my right arm in front of his chest. You know, the original safety restraint. Every year he gives me the same thing on Mother's Day. Nothing. If I remind him what day it is, he'll wish me a happy Mother's Day and go on about his business of playing video games or sorting through his YuGiOH! cards. Wait. Before your eyes get lodged in your skull from rolling them, let me clarify that I'm not complaining. Every single day of the year my kid celebrates me. As I said earlier, he's nearly 20 years old. One of the first things he does when he sees me after waking is gives me a hug. He wants to. Whenever I leave for work, or he gets out of the car to go to classes...

Wow! That's one hell of a post title, eh? It is the morning of New Year's Eve. Snow is on the ground. Temperature is in the teens. Winter is on a hormonal roller coaster. But enough about the weather. 2013. It is almost history. What have I done with the last 364 days? There are the typical things that comes with being a single mom. My son graduated from high school and started college. Work became more demanding and with that came the revelation that I do not seem to fit corporate jargon filled mentality. With that I must either adapt or seek employment elsewhere. My employment woes is not what this post is about. " What is it about, Marissa? I'm already bored? " This is about what 2013 brought for Marissa the female. The single woman. The mom stuff aside. None of the manager crud. I am talking about the chick... the wo-man that has been stifled. This is about putting it out there and getting my swerve on. Do you catch the drift now? No! It does...

Conversation started August 1 8/1, 12:55pm Davis Clark Ben Hi Beauty Angel, Sweet, lovely, honest, trust, caring, kind and enduring is you and I hope you are in good health. Am Engineer Davis Clark and am from the United Kingdom. I work as an Engineer with Mobil Exxon. I am a single Dad and my wife died after 2yrs i was divorced and I have being praying for a new love to come by. I don't know why am telling you all these but just want to be open minded with you. Precisely, am not getting any younger and my dream is to have a wife i can called my own which i will spend all my life with, my wealth and the rest of my life. Your profile struck my eyes and went straight to my heart. You really look like someone who is easy going with and just like in my dreams and what I desire although its weird am telling you this for my first letter to you but like I said I want to be open minded and not hiding in shadows. I love Vacation, Outing with family, Beach Walk as ...

Ah, the beginning of a new era. Please permit me to inject sound effects of screeching tires, needle scratching across a record. When my little bundle of love was born I had huge hopes for him. It's natural for any parent to imagine what great things their newborn will be capable of accomplishing. It's easy because that version of the future is so far off ... Now, insert the sound effect of a rocket blasting off or race cars speeding around the track. Time flies, yo'! Being the only parent consistently in my son's life, I admit to over protection. It is a fact. Mancub has heard my admission time and time again along with apologies for having done so. I am that mom who would have wrapped her child in bubble wrap in order for him to play football. You laugh. I am serious. When I dropped him off for his first day of Kindergarten I had to pull off the road to sob. Then, repeat until arriving at home to completely break down. He survived, but not without co...

The approach of Father's Day always gets me thinking. For one, it makes me miss my own father very much (he died in '99). That was the same year I went through my divorce. We were 800 miles away from the nearest family and I had to go through it without my rock, my father. You can tell me he was and always has been with me in spirit but those are just empty words when all one truly needs is to have the presence in human form of the embodiment of unconditional love. He wasn't a man of many words despite his articles in The Kankakee Journal's Voice of the People and other various publications. When it came to his kids, his thoughts were many, but his words profound and few. Our relationship hadn't always been ideal. As a little girl, I was undoubtedly his baby. The last born of the brood he had with my mother, he seemed determined to do right by me. We had a special bond. Then, when my mother passed away in '81, it was quickly severed and we hit years of rough...

It's on my head. The gray matter. Not surprising to some of you who know me. No, not my brain or manner of thinking. Although, there are days I wonder how I manage to get my underpants on without falling over. Anywho ... In July of 2012 I decided that coloring my hair every four weeks to hide the silver roots sprouting forth was far too much. Hated it! Loathed the cost even more and that was with box color. L'Oreal 'cos I'm worth it and all that jazz. My dearest friend had taken me to a Chicago salon for color correction because box color and my lack of knowledge really botched up the roots. Those bright red roots were not intentional During the voodoo this adorable young man had to perform to bring me to a more natural state, he insisted that I never do box color again! I promised. The salon maintenance does not agree with my meager pay. What's a poor single mama to do? Go natural. After months of explaining that I wasn't failing in touching up my roo...

Well ... he did it. My son graduated from high school. Through every trial and tribulation that the journey threw at him he managed to blaze his trail. No obstacle was too great for him. He persevered with tenacity that would make a lesser man crumble. Unlike his mother, my boy managed to graduate with a 3.5 grade point average. Dear old mom, me, graduated by the skin of her teeth and probably a little bit of pleading for passing grades. What I'm saying to you is that he is a far better student and person than the person who raised him. The experience is all so surreal to me. As the end of the school year approached and I started rifling through photos, certificates of accomplishment and honor, his life passed before my eyes ... my tear filled eyes. I can't recall the last time I shed so many tears. While the awards were laid out before me, I didn't fail to remember how hard he worked to achieve them. Not forgotten were the multiple IEP meetings (Individualized Educ...

There are many things in my life I have done wrong...totally screwed up and lived and learned from the mistake. However, the best thing I have ever done and continue to do is being a mom to Mancub. This month he graduates from high school. Fourteen years ago it seemed it would be the longest road. The most tumultuous, rigorous, painstaking journey has paid off. His tenacity has brought him to a major milestone. Ask me about my perfect boy and I'll go on for days telling you how amazing he is

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...

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...

My appearance is pretty rough in this one.  Part of my development and pursuit to happiness is being comfortable with myself.  Vanity is an element that I must face.  So, here I am post Turbo Fire Sculpt 30 workout.  My hair is thinning on the front and sides. I'm aware of it and typically do my hair in a manner which hides the tell-tale signs.  A few days ago the split ends pestered me each time I looked down at the hair laying across my shoulders.  Like an 11 year old the day before picture day, I took matters into my own hands. Armed with cheap barber scissors ... snip. snip. snipsnipsnip.  The following day all the crooked sins were evident.  Snippity snip again.  It's just hair, after all. Mine grows back at an alarming rate. It may be thin, but it grows like weeds.  While I'm on the subject of my hair, I have stopped coloring it.  Well, I've discontinued using a permanent hair color.  Instead, I use an ammonia free wash...

Blogging about one's life can be a sticky wicket.  Obviously, I don't lead a completely solitary life.  So, for that, writing about my daily adventures often brings other people into the picture.  I can change their names to protect the innocent (or not so much depending on the situation). However, it's not that hard to figure out who it is I'm making reference.  This is why my blog posts have been inconsistent.  You come here hoping for something new.  Your Google Reader doesn't show anything for Marissology. You swing by just in case it is a network glitch and .......... nada. A week passes by and there is nothing posted. What the hell? Something that hasn't changed is my quest to be fit and healthy.  Slowly but surely my weight is dropping.  Jeans that are three sizes smaller than those in March, 2010 were purchased.  Yet, I don't find the need to report daily on my workouts or food intake.  There's more to my life than losing w...

Blah blah -- watch the vlog.

One of the things I've experienced when talking to people who are curious about my weight loss is a laundry list of reasons, 'buts' for why they can't do it themselves.  That used to be me. Fear of change. Mortified that it would become just one more thing to add to the Marissa Failure list. And believe me, it's a long list. However, it was a conscious decision to look at those things I considered failures as trials for success.  Scientists know well that it takes several experiments before they get the results they desire. Often, those results never come. They scrap the idea and take a completely different route. Do they throw in the towel? No. They keep on plugging away until the desired results occur. The groovy thing about getting healthy and fit is that it's not rocket science.  It's simple but we make it complicated by being human. Oh no! Beachbody ⌐ helps simplify that which we humans choose not make murky. How? With its proven successful workouts a...

Yep. That's exactly how I'm feeling right now.  It's just like how you click shuffle on your iPod. Only, each time I blink a new thought comes to mind -- thoughts that cause me to appear scatterbrained.  For instance, my work schedule is prominently posted on the refrigerator. Yet, twice this week I showed up at the wrong time.  The first time I was 1.5 hours early.  The next day I was 1/2 hour late.  Argh! I'll admit that I often push the envelope when arriving to work on time, but to completely be unaware is not common. Fortunately, all has been forgiven by the powers that be. What's the cause of this mental flightiness? I've been working out regularly with Power 90.  My diet is better than it has been in ... my entire lifetime!! Shakeology has helped me kick the nasty habit of consuming fast-food/processed foods and diet soda.  You'd think with all of that I'd be alert and on top of my game.  **head scratch** I believe this requires s...

This will come as a shock (though already revealed in the Twenty Five Startling Facts about Me blog post), I didn't watch GLEE when the season premiere was on April 13, 2010.  As surprising as it may seem with consideration to how much I absolutely adore the Fox program, something better came knocking on my door.  The invitation to dinner didn't come as a surprise, mind you.  The time and place was simply up in the air due to other obligations of the party who would arrive at my door with a present in tow.  Quite frankly, the object this most beautiful man carted from his rental car is a mere representation of the truest gifts one person can give another willfully and unconditionally. Go on. Take a moment to make the finger in the throat gagging motion.  I can wait. What's the literal item he bought for me, you ask? It's an oversized relaxer with canopy.  In essence, a fancy chaise lounge.  It reclines.  I can relax in the sunshine. Yes, it s...

I was on youtube looking for another Mary Chapin Carpenter song when this one jumped out at me.  It spoke to me at a volume of 11. and the link in case the video doesn't work for you :) "Shut Up and Kiss Me"

grody fat. 2 lbs gone, baby! February 22nd was the start of getting healthy for not so little me.  With the assistance of EA Sports Active, I manage to burn calories without the embarrassment of people seeing me look like a complete oaf while attempting the moves.  The fortunate thing is that I live in a house rather than an apartment. If that was the case, my downstairs neighbors would most certainly think Illinois was experiencing another 3.8 on the Richter Scale earthquake.  I am not light on my feet. Thus far it's not difficult.  The most challenging part (other than getting up and doing it) is holding the controllers properly so the movements register.  One of the activities is a run/walk/high step interval. If you know my body type, you're fully aware that running isn't an easily executed task. Yes, I need a solid sports bra to help me overcome the current pain I feel in my chesticular zone while running.  Anyway, the inspirational coach (a female ...