This blog has been interrupted by my life

So here's what I've been up to:

Selling, selling, selling and selling advertising
Supervising an eager and extrememly helpful intern
Planning for a new direction for my company
Researching and cranking out stories for my paper
Researching submission guidelines for a couple magazines I think I have a shot at being published in
Getting my menu right because I was gaining weight again
Homeschooling
Reading books in preparation for a speech I'm giving (see?)

Then...
Planning for my spring/summer sewing
Doing LOTS of hair (more on THAT later)
*Channeling Wendy* How YOU doooin'?

Social Networking

I cannot say enough good things about Facebook and those Ning groups.

I have reconnected in a meaningful way with some of the people I didn't even realize I missed.

The MGT in Chicago are the truth! With have withstood and stood for and stood against some incredible things and we are all better for it.  Being in touch with them again has made me dream bigger, strive harder and just be a better person. We could have been in touch before, but these sites make it so much easier to connect in places that feel like we are in each others living room or at our favorite Jamaican spot on the Southside.

I've been good, real good! And 15 pounds lighter...

Wake up call!

This week I had two wake up calls.

I have been working to lose weight and improve my health. When I weighed in on Tuesday, I had gained four pounds.

I always want to know "the reason" anything happens. So I went back through my food journal and couldn't find anything wrong. But then I thought about my week. The week before, I had to deal with a troublesome employee ( to say the least). It caused me to put in extra hours at my desk and lose some sleep time. Consequently, my feet and ankles and hands were swollen from lack of rest and circulation. I fired that person and resolved to not let any drama linger to the point that it is interfering with my family or my well being!

Then on Friday, Tim Russert died. Everyone commented on his commitment to his job and his family and how he loved his job so much that he spent countless hours on research and promotion of his show. That sound too familiar.

I have been working hard at not working so hard since April. It's tough to walk away sometimes, but my life depends on it!

Fast food psychosis

psychosis (si-ko-sis) n. severe mental disorder...marked by degeneration of normal intellectual and social functioning and by complete or partial withdrawal from reality.

I was not purposely trying see how long I could go on fast food like the guy in Super Size Me, but I was on a road trip and no one cooked along the way. I had to eat out daily. I had a variety of chicken, some salad, roast turkey. I felt fine and didn't notice anything wrong...until today. The day before yesterday I went shopping and all day yesterday, I cooked for myself and WOW!!! I woke up and it honestly felt like my college drinking days. I had these bad memories of what I had been doing while I was "drunk" on fast food. I had been cranky, paranoid and delusional. My family has been gone for 3 weeks now and all of a sudden I was feeling all lonely and abandoned and talking rudely to my husband over the phone. I was afraid to go out at night. I had insomnia. I am cracking up laughing as I type this, but I caught myself thinking/talking out loud in Wal.M.art. Not a conversation, which would have been better, but just a random sentence. I was thinking of a conversation I had earlier with someone and just blurted out a random sentence, LMAO!!!!!!!!

And just like that, I'm fine. (I think) I guess if I'm blogging about this I'm in a clear state of mind.

I usually eat out about one meal in a two week period, so 6 days straight of this mess was too much for me. I will start packing a lunch and bringing a cooler no matter how short the trip or no matter where I'm going. I think I ate a home cooked meal 2-3 times in 6 days.

As I reflect on how I was acting, I wonder how many other people have fast-food psychosis and don't know it. Everybody should take a fast food break and see how they feel.

What do you think?

Tired of talking about......

There are some subjects that I am just tired of discussing.
#1 WEIGHT and DIETS- If someone see's me and says, "You're losing weight. What are you doing?" I say, "Eating less, moving more." But noooooo that's not enough. What are you eating? What are you doing for exercise? How many times do you work out each week? and, and, and, and, There are many ways to lose it, like there are many ways to gain it. Quit talking about it, just be about it. I especially get tired of OVERweight people telling you about how they lost 10 pounds. I don't care. I REALLY don't.

#2 MONEY (or should I say lack of) - Everyone I talk to is grown. So as an adult you can do something about your finances. Again, just be about it and quit talking about it.

#3 HAIR-This was given to me by a friend. Black women and their hair rituals/obsessions are driving me crazy. Which relaxer gets your hair straighter...which colors are "natural"....are braids professional....should I grow locks.....

Typical conversation:
Sister P: Did anyone watch the "Black" democratic presidential candidate debates on PBS?
Black Woman #1: Girl naw, I was online reading about this new prune and banana diet.
BW#2: I was at the beauty shop until 10:30 getting some highlights.

Most of us don't talk about showering, shaving under our arms, brushing our teeth. It's a given and it's personal. I'd like money, dieting and hair to be the same.

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

What's good?
I did a "Biggest Loser" competition and went to the finale. The sister who won lost over 40 pounds in 12 weeks!!! Impressive. It was a great night of sharing success stories and eating tasty, properly proportioned food. It's always a tense situation when I go to a church. Somehow there's always a negative Muhammad or Allah speech. But we were right at home and they praised
God without tearing down His other names. Shout out to LeDatta, an excellent writer, who was the first runner up and lost BIG poundage. You look GOOD girl! The other good news is, I'm still going with the weight loss and I'm still feeling motivated.

I'll combine the bad and the ugly for this...it's THAT bad and THAT ugly!
Last year I reported a story that was so sad because some teenagers made a bad judgement call and found themselves in trouble with the law. The mothers of the children were clueless as to how to get help and no one around them had sound advice. After we put thier story in the paper a pastor offered to help. It came with a few requirements for the boys but the mom's took the help, because it was the only help offered. As I was covering the case it seemed like a lot of "weird" things were going on so I called 3 "soldiers" and asked them to attend a meeting that the pastor was having with the mothers to make sure he wasn't leading them in the wrong direction. The soldiers suggested picketing in front of the court house to draw attention to the case. The pastor said no, "We're doing this God's way". Did this dude just presume that the soldiers were not with God??? Then all sorts of drama erupted when the pastors wife got up and talked about how she didn't want anything to happen to her husband if they started calling out judges, etc. "The Lord just sent me this man and I'm not going to let anyone take him away from me!" Pu-leeze! Then a scared member of the church started talking about how she saw the police put dogs on people for picketing. Yes, she did!!! Dog's...sicked on people....in Big City Wanna Be,KY .....in 2006!!! Then the pastor talked about having hundreds pack the court room as a show of strength. He couldn't get 15 "protestors" there on any day. So that was a busted idea! Well, needless to say there was not a protest, no public awareness of the case, and the boys were mistreated by the system and were sentenced on Friday to 15, 16 and 17 years in prison. NOW the pastor wants to hold press conferences and have a justice panel with local judges, etc. NOW the pastor is callling in to radio shows that are giving out misinformation and calling for the boys to get the maximum sentence. TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE.

This is both BAD and UGLY and SHAMEFUL. I feel so bad for those boys, that sometimes I want to put down my pen and take to the streets, but someone has to document this crap and I'm glad to do it with as much "slant" as I can. But really, I'd much rather report something PROACTIVE instead of always getting the REACTION.

Why are people afraid to defend the defenseless? Why don't people become involved based on principle instead of based on relationship to the victim?

Why a blog?

I know, I know, I hear you talking to your screen.

Yes, I write and talk for a living. What else could I possibly have to say? LOTS! Mostly, I get tired of being neutral and need to let some things out.

And I want to give perspective on being a working Black woman. I think we give too many excuses for what we don't accomplish. The truth is; if it is important to us, we get to it. If we really don't give a damn, but it's important to someone else, we make excuses. If we don't give a damn and no one else gives a damn, we just skip it.

Now before you judge me and say that I'm trying to be superwoman, just calm down and keep reading.

I'm saying that I am 3 days before my 38th birthday and I'm being reflective and honest. Honestly, I need to lose some weight. I've lost 16 pounds but I haven't really tried hard. I could do much more. I have a company that is not where it could be but I'm doing other stuff with my time like doing this blog and programming my new XM radio. It's almost 1 a.m. and I still haven't finished cleaning my kitchen. But I know this and I'm about to do something. I guess what I'm trying to say is, let's keep it real people.

Most of us can do way more than we are doing and I'm looking to be inspired by those who are living their best life or at least striving.

I'm looking forward to this...join me!