Welcome Wednesdays

Today, I'm hopping along with some great blogs and would like to invite you all to check them out as well.  Come join the hop, starting out over at http://takeitfrom-me.blogspot.com/.  Hope to see you hopping around.  Until then..."Live your life by loving yourself."

Triple Threat

Wow, it's hard to believe, but not really, that I am now the author of three books, yes, three books.  It's funny cause Twelve Year Old (Eleven Year Old had a birthday in my absencee) was like, when did you write this book?  He was talking about my second book of poetry, Fed Up Woman.  Actually that book was written a long time ago and it just took me a while to sit down and organize it to the point that it was ready for publication.  Most of the poems are over fifteen or more years old, but it's funny how some of them could have been written just yesterday. 

It's amazing what you can accomplish if you just commit to doing it.  I don't know how many other books I have inside of me waiting to get out, but I do know that I've started several other ones that just need for me to commit to finishing and then my collection of finished products will have grown and before I know it, I'll be looking at more books than I ever imagined I'd be writing.  So now that I have three books in publication, I guess the next thing to do is start marketing, so here goes.  If anyone is interested in purchasing a copy of any one of my books, please feel free to notify me and I'll give you the details on how to purchase them.  I know I really need a team of experts who know how to market properly, but for the time being, hopefully that will do.  Until next time..."Live your life by loving yourself."

So Sorry

First I must apologize for not posting in a while.  I have been so busy trying to get my life situated to the point that it is flowing a little smoother than it has been in a while.  Along with spring cleaning and doing a little decorating, I've also been trying to clean out the emotional clutter in my life as well.  Everyone who knows me, knows that I am a busy spirit, always trying to fix things and people.  Well that "gift" has opened up a doorway for me to find financial gain while doing what comes naturally for me.  I have awaited this moment for an eternity, it seems, and it is finally here.  For the past week, I've been counseling people online as an advisor of sorts.  I'm still fairly new to this, so I won't give too many details just yet, except to say that it is truly a Godsend.  There will be a major change taking place in my life soon and this couldn't have come at a better moment.  I can say that everything does have its own season and if you believe in a Higher Power, you already know what I'm talking about. 

As the days leading up to the major change in my life pass, I will try to stay as connected to this blog as possible.  Along with working online now, and going to school, I'll do my best to keep providing my fans with material on a semi-daily basis.  I almost feel like a stranger on my own blog since it's been a little while since I've posted.  The days that I have not posted, were truly eventful and would have supplied you with much to read, but I guess since I didn't find my way here to write about it, it just wasn't meant to be.  Sometimes, some things do need to kept under wraps, but most things I will openly share, because that's just who I am. 

Well since I've updated you on some of the haps going on, I guess I better get back to the rest of my to-do list.  It really does help when you write things down and are able to cross them out as you finish them; it's such an easy system once you implement it.  By the time spring has completely sprung, I will be able to enjoy my days and nights in a more organized, smoother running environment and will be all the more happier in my new space.  Until next time..."Live your life by loving yourself."

Finding Balance

If you're a daily visitor, you'll see that I'm not posting on a daily basis anymore.  It's not that I have lost my zest for blogging, that is truly not the case.  It's just that other areas of my life, mainly my scholastic life, has suffered considerably in the past few months.  I'm really trying hard not to beat myself up and keep reminding myself that things like this happen to other people as well and that, even though I'm not doing so great at this moment, once upon a time, not long ago, I was doing a grand job in my studies.

So now, I'm trying to find that balance that I'm sure is out there, where I can be great at everything that I'm involved in.  I'm a great mom and that goes without saying;  and I'm a great writer, when I'm writing.  I have to get back to being a great student.  My degree is very important to me and even though I don't know what line of work I'm going to eventually go into, I'll have my degree to speak to the fact that I was a great enough student to obtain it. 

Finding balance in our daily lives can be as simple as committing to the time it takes to get things accomplished.  Once we make a conscious decision to put things in time frames and get them done, the next thing to do is, do them.  Parenting is a twenty-four seven job and so I stay on point for that.  Taking time to write is something that I am finding easier to do with my blogging platform.  Since my school life has been compromised, I will have to seriously get down to business in that department.  I have four weeks, including this one to get my act together.  I'm not sure if I can recover this semester, but next semester will be a fresh slate and I'm determined to get back to my A-B grade status.  I was thinking about taking some time off from school, but decided against it.  I only have eleven more months to go before I will have my Associate's Degree in Criminal Justice.  I'm pretty sure that I won't try to further my education as it's really not a priority at this point to get a higher degree. 

Speaking of school, I think I better go on and head over to my online classes.  It's Monday and usually not to many people have posted to the discussion area and I certainly don't want to wait until later and be left out of the conversation, as with the past weeks.  If I get a jump start on this week's assignments, I'm sure to be doing a lot better than last week and the previous weeks since I've started blogging.  Until next time..."Live your life by loving yourself."

To Have Loved and Lost

LOVE GONE WRONG

Pain so intense, I wish I could stop this insanity

heart pumping blood; so full of life,

yet I’m walking around like a zombie

Twisted, wrung tight, gasping for breath

life being choked out, massive cardiac arrest

Mind, soul and body, weak from despair

drowning in sorrow, trying to come up for air

Love gone wrong; sick, twisted, hurts and emotion

take me out with some lethal potion.

Trisha Martin Copyright (c) 2011

This post is being written for THE POETRY CONTEST at Blogjunta.com as a part of WOMAN & BLOGGING month.  Check it out over at http://www.blogjunta.com/

Trisha's Treasures: Gems of Inspiration

Greetings sistas!  Just wanted to share the fact that I've just self-published my book of one-liners.  I've been working on this book for quite some time and can now say that it's done.  I'm very excited because it gives the world, yet another glimpse into my complex mind.  Some of the one-liners you might recognize, but most of them you won't.  The reason I put this book together is because it will remind people to think past themselves and start focusing on sharing themselves in a more positive way.  I'm not sure how well this book will be received, but it will certainly inspire those who have a genuine will to do better and give all something to ponder upon as they flip through the pages.  Thanks in advance for your support.  I'm hoping to have lots of reader comments in the future, but until then..."Live your life by loving yourself." 

Truly Blessed

I'm sitting here watching the steam rise up to my bathroom ceiling as I lay back on my, now deflated spa pillow that I purchased from my local dollar store.  I know you get what you pay for, but I think that the deflation came as a result of my fiance' inadvertently squished it with his dead weight as he took a nap on the couch.  Needless to say, it is still serving it's purpose by keeping my hair from laying up against the "naked" bathtub.  Since it only cost a buck, I'm gonna replace it and while I'm at it, I'm going to purchase my mom one too, because when I showed her this one, she said she always wanted something like that.  It's such a small price to pay for comfort and with it only costing a buck, I might as well get two. 

The steam is steady rising and on occasion, I'm raising a wine glass full of frozen pina colada drink to my lips.  I know it's not yet noon, but sometimes I want to go into chill mode early in my day.  There's a candle in the far left corner of my tub adding a glowing ambiance to my mid-day soak.  The scent is Glade's Relaxing Moments, Cool Serenity.  I just finished a rush job for a client who needed an article on the top three European cruise destinations.  I woke up this morning about 7:00 a.m. to get started.  I had less than four hours to research and write the article, plus proof it.  I had fourteen minutes to spare as I clicked on the submit button.  After finishing the article, I felt like I needed my own little get-a-way and decided to take a mid-day soak amid Vaseline Intensive Care's moisturizing bath beads.  The blue water reminded me of an oceanic scene. 

As I drifted in and out of sleep, I reflected on the previous day's events.  My day started off with me going to the jeweler's to see about them exchanging my peeling ring.  At first it seemed as if I was going to have to get irate, but perhaps the clerk had seen something in my eyes and in her foreign language, explained to the supervisor on the other end of the phone what the problem was.  The first suggestion the supervisor gave was for them to take the ring back to be repaired.  I looked at the clerk incredulously and asked her what was the point of their exchange policy, if I had to go through all of this.  After hanging up with the supervisor, before the clerk could get a word out, the phone rang again.  God must have been looking out for me, or perhaps the clerk, because she informed me that the supervisor said that I could choose another ring.  While waiting for her to write up the paper work, something told me to look at my phone which had a missed call and a voice mail.  Before I could check the voice mail, the phone was ringing again.  It was the school.  Drats, what now?  The person on the other end of the phone wasn't a male, so that put me at ease.  It was the school nurse informing me that Fourteen Year Old had sprang his ankle and couldn't walk on his own.  She said that he had requested that she call me so that I could come pick him up.  Well, at least he wasn't in trouble this time, so I was looking forward to going to collect him.

Laying here soaking, my mind is totally at ease.  Fourteen Year Old is tucked securely in his bed and I must say that his immobility is a breath of fresh air.  Just knowing that he is mere feet away from me, not able to get into mischief at school, takes a gigantic weight off of me, but there's a more serious reason why my mind is at ease at this moment.  Yesterday was a day of events that could have made today a total nightmare, instead of one where I am able to relax while the rest of the world may be upside down.  After leaving Walmart's yesterday, with my mom in tow, I was involved in a four vehicle collision, with me being in the front vehicle.  Me and my mom were on our way to Taco Bell, and I guess Devine Intervention wouldn't allow us to purchase any of the mystery meat.  My family had already had my home-made, world famous tacos days earlier, so I wasn't particularly trying to eat tacos again, but Mommy Dearest wanted to grab something quick to take home to her hubby.

Back to the four vehicle collision.  We were waiting for a red light to turn green and there was pick-up truck in front of us.  After the light turned green, the pick-up didn't move and neither did I.  I consider myself an excellent driver and the fact that I didn't move just because the light turned green proves it.  The truck in front of me must have stalled because it was several minutes before it took off, and just as it took off and I was about to follow, the SUV behind me hit me.  I put my vehicle into park and got out and went to talk to the driver.  There were two more SUVs behind her and they were all touching each other.  I suggested we all pull over to the bank parking lot and so the last vehicle's driver went first and everyone else followed suit with me arriving last.  We all got out and surveyed the damage.  I was the only vehicle that did not acquire any damage.  The vehicle that hit mines had a crunched license plate in the front, but not too much damage in the back.  I saw a glimpse of the other vehicles, but was not too concerned because they had their own issues and mine was clearly with the person immediately behind me. 

After seeing that I had no damage, and knowing that the police were on the way, I excused myself from the premises because, and I'm not too proud of this, but, I did not have any insurance.  The vehicle's driver was relieved that I didn't have any damage and agreed that there wasn't a reason for me to hang around.  I made my great escape down some unfamiliar side streets and back into my own neighborhood within a matter of fifteen minutes.  I know this sounds like something out of a movie and believe me, I've never done anything like this in my life, but it was quite an adventure.  My mom, who is my riding buddy kept saying that she didn't see where I did anything wrong, but aren't moms supposed to defend their children?  I knew that I should have stayed, but given the fact that I didn't have any insurance and that I didn't cause the accident, I thought everything would be alright. 

We arrived in front of my house and discussed what had just happened.  Oddly enough, I wasn't nervous or anything.  We kept saying that I didn't do anything wrong, except leave.  As we sat there, a vehicle turned the corner and guess who it was?  You guessed right, it was the police.  They had found me.  Before they parked, I was out of my vehicle and on my way into my house to retrieve my lottery tickets.  Is that crazy or what?  I came back out and an officer was shining his flashlight on my vehicle.  He greeted me with a hello and I responded back with a, heeeyyy.  It was the most surreal thing I had ever experienced; it felt like a dream.  He asked me was I the driver of the vehicle and I said yes, then he asked for my identification and while I was trying to find it in my purse, he asked me what happened tonight?  I was like, "You mean, what just happened about thirty minutes ago?" and he said, yes.  I calmly told him exactly what happened, from start to finish.  He went over to my mom's side of the vehicle and asked who she was and if anybody was hurt.  We told him we were fine and that the vehicle did not obtain any damage from the collision.  He then explained that since the accident happened somewhere else, the police from that district were on their way over.  He then told me to get back into my truck so that I could stay warm. 

The other district's officers arrived and they were just as friendly as the first two.  They asked me what happened and how many vehicles were involved and wanted to confirm what the other drivers had said.  The last vehicle's driver had lied and said that someone hit him, but the other drivers said that that was not the case.  They went to write down all of my information for future references and then alerted me that although I didn't cause the accident or have any damage, next time I should stay at the scene.  The initial report had come in that there were a certain number of vehicles involved and so they had to come find me.  I know exactly who gave them my information.  It was the passenger of the vehicle who hit me from behind.  I saw him eyeballing my license plates as I was leaving.  Instead of being grateful that their insurance didn't have to pay for any damages, he ratted me out.  Needless to say, this morning after taking my soak, I will be ordering insurance from my former insurance company.  Knowing that the situation could have been far worse, I'm not about to chance not having insurance for another day.  I don't know how long I'll be able to afford it, seeing as that's the reason I didn't have it in the first place, but for the next thirty days I'm covered.  Well until next time..."Live your life by loving yourself."

Woman (in Honor of International Women's Day)

God created Woman from one bone of a man
then He custom built her with His creative hands

From the crown of her head to the soles of her feet
everything about her, He made unique

Her complex mind, her strong, yet fragile heart
He took His time and hand crafted every part

Her real beauty and strength He put on the inside
so she could go within herself if she needed to hide

God created Woman after He created everything
saving His masterpiece for last, a true reason to sing

Today we celebrate Woman and all she stands for
to God be the glory; forevermore.

Trisha Martin Copyright (c) 2005

You Get What You Pay For Part II

So me and Fiance' have rings, purchased just last week.  We were doing a little bling, bling shopping for the boys and decided we'd get ourselves something nice too.  I'm not really into bling but figured since we were spending money on the boys, we might as well treat ourselves too.  What caught our attention was the 45-70% off sign.  Should have known better.  Anyways, that night, everyone was especially feeling good about their new blinging status.  The boys had acquired a pair of nice looking earrings that they shared.  Having one hole guaranteed a discount when it came to purchasing earring ware.  Fiance' felt special with his new ring seeing that a friend and his wife had purchased rings recently.  Even though we're not officially married yet, our rings give the impression that we are, and we've been wearing them proudly.

Today as I was surfing the net, I happened to be admiring my ring.  You can imagine my horror when I saw what looked like copper on one side of my ring.  I investigated it further and saw that the silver was peeling.  What in the world?  I thought this ring was real.  The original price of the ring was $500 plus and the jeweler had sold it to me for $120.00.  Even at $120.00, I don't believe that the ring was worth it, now that it was peeling.  I found the receipt and it said that I had 7 days to return for an exchange, but NO refund.  I called my mother, my riding buddy, and hit the road. 

We arrived at the mall where we had purchased the jewelry and found the same salesman.  I'm wondering if he remembered me or thought he had himself another sucker.  "How may I help you ma'am?" he asked.  "Ummm, I was just in here seven days ago and purchased this ring and now it's peeling," I said.  He then asked me a series of questions starting with had I put any detergent on it, had I tried to wash it, had I applied lotion on while wearing it, do I have allergic reactions to silver?"  "No, no, no, no," I shook my head to each question.  "Well, I've never seen this happen before," he said, acting like I was the first unsatisfied customer he had had in his life.  He told me to come back on Wednesday, which would be nine days after the purchase and therefore, I'm pretty sure, there'll be an issue with the guarantee.  He said his supervisor would be there on Wednesday and that she would take care of me.  I looked at him like he was crazy because I've watched enough court case shows to know that verbal communication is not the business.  Sorry Charlie, I didn't fall off the cabbage truck just last night, I thought to myself.  How dare he think that I was that naive. 

I demanded that he write what he was telling me on the back of the receipt that CLEARLY said that I had seven days, not nine to get an exchange.  By the time his supervisor is on the scene, I probably won't stand nearly as much a chance as I stand talking to this initial salesman, today.  After he wrote on the back of the receipt and scribbled his name, I stood there and texted on my notepad on my phone that on 3/7/2011, I was told by a clerk at Armanii Jewelers to come back on Wednesday to talk to his supervisor about the peeling ring.  I sure hope he knows that I will be back up there on Wednesday.  It's one thing to buy something and know that it is not genuine, but to buy something under the assumption that it is the real deal Holyfield, is something else.  I could have taken the money that I spent on the silver plated ring and spent it on a real ring at a pawn shop.

I don't know if I'll get an exchange for this faulty ring, but one thing is for sure, I will announce to the world, through this blog as well as through Twitter and Facebook, that Armanii Jewelers sell silver plated jewelry and buyer beware.  Until next time..."Live your life by loving yourself."

Advice Anyone???

Hello, hello, hello!!!  It's Sunday and  my day of rest.  Well, you know a woman's work is never done, so I can't say that I am officially resting today, but I'm certainly not fretting over going to my online classes, which have become such a chore for me ever since I've started blogging.  My assignments are due by Saturday at 11:59 p.m. and so usually on Sunday, I take the day off from even thinking about school; so basically that's where my resting comes in.

I'm finishing up my laundry today.  I started yesterday and because I've been without a dryer for over a month, I pretty much am washing up everything in sight and drying it.  Some things are probably already clean, but because of my past un-organizational skills, I'm taking a precaution and washing everything.  I'm nearly done, and once I've finished, I'll go back to doing my laundry on Saturdays.  With everything washed up, all I have to do is maintain a routine to ensure that things don't pile up again.

Getting on topic, I wanted to alert everyone that I am now an advisor for www.msmirpsychics.com.  Although I'm not a practicing psychic, I am very intuitive and full of wisdom.  If you're already calling the infamous, Ms. Cleo, or any of her other "co-workers," you might as well call me for some sound advice; I promise not to steer you wrong.  I've been giving advice to others for years and seeing as I originally started going to school to obtain a degree to have credentials in order to counsel wayward youth, I might as well get my "groove" on by counseling the world at large.  Hope to see you around at Ms. Mir's, and if you're looking for me, I'm Mi3cents.  Until next time..."Live your life by loving yourself."

M.I.A. But Now I'm Back

Greetings everyone, I've been away for awhile.  I truly apologize for skipping a few days, but had some out of town guest in and couldn't fit blogging into my schedule.  I will say that despite my visitors, I was still able to get a lot of other things accomplished around my house.  Most of my projects have now been completed, and my house is now almost functioning with Grade A status.  I was able to find the two appliances I needed at a resale appliance store.  My "new" stove and dryer were much needed and now I can get back on track with my chore of laundering, which I really missed.  Going to the laundry mat used to be fun and relaxing, but when you've become a home-body such as myself, having to pack up wet clothes is not fun or relaxing.  Now I can wash and dry and fold in less time than it would take me to pack up and drive across town and dry and drive back home.  I haven't tried out my new dryer yet, but Fourteen Year Old says that it dries stuff really fast.  He found out because a couple of his buddies got caught in the down pour that hit our city yesterday evening after they were returning home from the mall.  Of course Fourteen Year Old wanted to go with them, but I don't like last minute plans and so he couldn't tag along.

Anyway, I've been really busy trying to get my house spring-cleaned before spring actually springs.  Once it gets here, I want to be able to get outside into my yard and do some tidying up and planting.  I've been at this location for six years now and have always desired to have vibrant plants growing in my front yard.  Let me tell you that I have attempted to have this in years gone by, but unfortunately that miracle flower rug thing did not work.  I planted it along my front porch and added a few patches in a flower well in my front yard and guess what, this miracle did not happen.  So this year, I'm going with some bulbs as opposed to the packets of flowers I've purchased in the past.  I bought six packs of vibrant flowers and planted them in the well thingy.  To this day, there is only the weed things that I dig up every year in order to make room for the colorful plant life that I've been dreaming of having ever since I first started purchasing my "old" house.  Hopefully this year, I get some beautification going on.

My next projects will be adding some color to my house's walls and getting my basement cleaned out so that Fiance' can chill in his own surroundings.  Step by step I'm getting more organized, which is a part of my whole New Year's resolution.  I'm learning that it doesn't take much to make things happen, but the first step is taking the initiative and getting started.  In one week's time, I've made some small changes and the difference can truly be felt when you walk through the front door.  After getting the basement cleaned out, I plan on doing something different with my bathroom.  This past week we did fix the bathtub faucet issue, which was the handle that determines if the shower is on or the water is running for a bath, was broken.  My poor fiance' who is king in the kitchen, was a court jester when it came to handyman detail, but with a little, okay, a lot, of coaxing, he has now mastered installing a kitchen faucet and remedying the bathtub faucet situation.  I now have three handles that match on my bathtub faucet.  I still have yet to take one of my relaxing, bubble filled baths but that's only because he fixed them just this morning.

Well, it's time for me to take my stepfather to work.  I am a chauffeur for various members of my family which is cool because some of them actually give me gas money to take them where they need to go.  I don't mind because most of the destinations are not that far away from the house and I'm back in within a matter of minutes.  I don't know about you, but I love my own four walls.  If I never left them, it wouldn't bother me one bit.  With my blogging world intact and my school life hanging on by a thread, I just want to be here.  Until next time..."Live your life by loving yourself."

The Patience of Job

OMG, I am just now getting to my activity of choice.  I spent the better half of the day trying to download and install the new AVG Internet Security 2011 software on my computer.  I've been downloading and installing stuff for years, but I guess today was software's day to aggravate me.  I've had minimal virus protection on my computer and probably could have done without this purchase, seeing as it's been since November since my trial subscription expired.  I bought the full version of AVG Internet Security 2011 to ease my mind.  I live on my computer and would probably emotionally/mentally die if something suddenly happened where I could not function on it.  I did three months at the county library and trust me, it's just not the same.  Each day I would actually have to get up, find something to wear, get in my vehicle and drive up to the library.  It's not that far from where I live at, but it sure was inconvenient and just plain irritating, to say the least.  So now that I'm able to walk out of my bedroom, clothed or unclothed and hop in front of "my" world, I never want to give up.  I feel like my extra Internet protection is my security blanket.

After forking over more than half a C-note, I downloaded the software and thought I was installing it properly.  Once the installation was complete, I had to restart my computer.  Restarting my computer, I felt a sense of relief and accomplishment because I knew that I had done something to ensure the life of my Internet world.  The computer loaded up all the start-up applications, but then to my horror, my Internet service would not start up.  What in the world?!  I've been dealing with computers for quite some time, so I didn't panic, TOO much.  I tried un-installing and reinstalling.  On my final attempt to remedy the problem, I disabled the firewall and my Internet popped on.  Not satisfied simply because I had gotten the Internet to work, I called customer service.  I swear I must have the patience of Job, or simply was hell-bent on getting my money's worth out of this program and wanted to make sure that everything that I paid for was working properly because it was nearly a half hour before someone finally got on the line.  He explained that they were short on staff or something or another.

He walked me through the installation process but unfortunately, I had to restart the computer before we were finished with our business and once the computer started back up, the problem was not fixed.  Me being pretty computer savvy, I un-installed, yet again and even restored the computer to an earlier date.  After this, I started from scratch.  I must have done something right this time because all components of the software are working, my Internet is running and I'm blogging again, listening to Itunes.  I'd say everything in my computer world is a-okay.  Sorry to have kept you waiting for my latest blog entry but now I'm going to have to leave you so that I can get a jump start on my class work.  I am determined to squeeze my school life back into my life's equation and do it successfully.  Until next time..."Live your life by loving yourself."