Summer Breeze

People Suck!

Why do I even bother having expectations?

Oh yeah, I do have a blog....

This semester has been kicking my ass. Teaching while working full-time and being a mommy is no joke. I have to admit, my mom tried to tell me. But I really wasn't trying to hear that. She'd probably calls herself a realist, but to me, sometimes she's a party-pooper, God love her. I prefer to look on the bright side of things. So I dived in, and I've been barely treading water every since. However, I've discovered my passion, and that makes it all worth it.

I've had some changes in my relationship status. I also ran into a boy whose conversation makes me hyper (See previous August post. Hmm, I'm wondering what else I should put out in the universe, lol.)That's fun. Whatever comes of it, at least it's a nice reminder that it's possible to vibe like that with someone. I need space to be my full self, with my full brain and my full personality and my full other stuff.

I'm planning on having some fun this weekend with friends. I'm in the mood to dance. I got my freakum dress ready. So Imma reach in the back of my clawset and get that out. (Shoutout to Bey's Houstonian accent.*)

*Note: The other week I went home, and I rented a cheap ass rinky-dink putt putt from Enter.Prise. However, the little automated cart did have XM radio, so it was all to the good. Anywhoo, I listened to the Foxx.hole quite a bit, and I love how they shout out the most random ass isht.*

The Randomness

• I'm whitening my teeth right now, as I type. Why did I not read that I had to keep it on for an hour before I started this process at 11:40pm?? Le sigh... I just like to be tired obviously.
• I'm behind on watching the T.O. Show. I really want to blog it, but I haven't been able to get that desire to materialize just yet.
• Have you ever had a conversation with someone of the opposite sex that is just so good -- just deep enough, just funny enough, just smart enough -- that you actually feel hyper and sweaty afterward. Is that just me??? Well, I'm feening for that feeling right about now.
• I broke my favorite pair of shoes today. Actually, I probably broke them while traipsing through Chicago last weekend trying to be cute. I think today is just the day that they gave up. I loved those shoes. My son, sweet baby boy, felt bad for me. He offered to buy me some more -- but fancier, and in red, since that's my favorite color.
• Wendy Williams' show is not the business. I have tried repeatedly, no less than three times to get into it, but it is just not happening. I don't know if it's because she sits sideways when doing her gossip 411, or that she's just being too nice to the guests and that's not the Wendy I'm used to, or that all of her guests are people that you could care less about what they have to say, or what, but I'm so over it. I'll continue to time my lunches to coincide with Judge Mathis instead.

"I like what I see when I'm lookin at me...."

I am so excited. I'm two pounds from my goal weight. I am currently the smallest I've been since I got married and put on 25 pounds 11 years ago! I got close to this after I had my baby (go figure!) but then I put 8+ pounds back on a few years ago and haven't been able to shake it.

That is, until my arteries had, uh ahem, called me out my name. "Heifuh!" they said. "So you just gon' do the fool?" (My circulatory system can be so rude.) Then, they musta called my doctor 'cause he called me tomboutsome "Your cholesterol, blah, blah, 220, blah, blah, too young for that, yadda yadda yadda." And he recommended a "Healthy Heart Diet." Hearing the word "healthy" in conjunction with "heart" really was a wake up call that this isht was real. So, at that point I had to reconsider some things; namely, the worth of a Chick-Fil-A Chicken Biscuit each morning and no exercise vs. a stroke, heart disease, and early death.

So I made some changes -- changes I could sustain. I still get the occasional chicken biscuit -- but they're few and far between. If I'm really craving something, I let myself have it. But I have to balance it with a Subway, or baked fish, or salad. I've acquired a taste for Chick-Fil-A's Chargrilled Chicken Salad. I workout regularly -- cardio at least twice a week, three times in a good week. And I weight train twice a week when possible. One of the best investments I made in my health is this 15 week program with 4 coworkers where we worked out with a trainer. I learned that I wasn't pushing myself near far enough.

I feel good. I'm proud of myself. And because giving up on my heart and health is not an option, I feel more confident in sustaining this.

PSA: If you haven't gotten your cholesterol checked recently (or EVER), please do it post-haste. Too many women that I know having strokes in their 40s or 50s. The body does not play. It will shut down on you.

Singers Whose Voices I Can't Stand for No Apparent Reason

In order from most to least annoying

1. Phil Collins

2. Jaheim

3. That boy who sings "Birthday Sex" -- if he refrained from saying "Ri-i-i-i-i-de" in the opening line, he might get a pass.

When I hear them, I will stop whatever I'm doing to turn the station.

Gym Etiquette 101

So I've been hitting the gym pretty regularly since January, and during that course of time, I've seen some things that have given me pause. Things that should be common sense, but obviously they are not.

So as a public service, I am going to share them here, in the hopes that via some internet search engine, someone will stumble upon my words and be awakened from their ignorance.

1. Most people sweat at the gym. That's to be expected. However, if you sweat so much that your shirt is now drenched, see-through, and clinging to your body, and you still keep walking around, sitting on machines and laying your sweaty back and front against surfaces that others must use, then that's nasty. You have crossed the sweaty line, and Imma need you to bring a shirt two or three alternate shirts with you in the future.

2. Okay, so full disclosure: I admit to being a wee bit prudish when it comes to public nudity. I find the farthest corner in the dressing room and turn my back to everyone while dressing/undressing. So I thought that maybe it was just me when I walked into the dressing area and a woman was in the very first room that you have to pass, facing out to everyone, putting lotion on her arms while her jugs o' milk swung freely. 'Summer,' I said, 'lighten up.' However, I realized, after I had gotten completely undressed and re-dressed in my gym clothes and was leaving the dressing room and she still ain't have no shirt or bra on, that it was her and not me. Really? Seriously? Still? There is a normal amount of time to be nude while getting dressed and there is a not normal time. Just be normal, okay?

3. If, for whatever reason, you decide to wear both long sleeves and long pants while working out -- and Lord knows it better be a good reason -- please take some precautionary measures. Donning this much attire while performing aerobics or weight-lifting means that you are going to likely sweat more than your average Jane; therefore, your hygiene game has got to be on point. Shower and deodorize heavily just prior to the workout. Do not take on back-to-back workouts without cleansing in-between. Funk that takes people's breath away while they are trying to do Body Pump is just wrong.

Damn, Halle's Man is FOINE!

Check out those pics of him over at theybf.com. He done made me sit up here and break some commandments. And here I had made it almost all day.