A Taste of Something to Come

You may have noticed this button pop up on the side of my site within the last few weeks.

As many of you already know, through blogging, I have developed a tightly knit group of friends I call the BB Bishes.  I think that a lot of us bloggers stick with it because of relationships we have developed on the internet.  I know that there are many groups out there like my group of friends.  Recently, the BB Bishes decided to join forces with another group of friends that call themselves the Wolfpack.  Together, we are the BishPack.

Coming in September, the lot of us will bring an epic celebration to Blognia!

As a heads up, I'm going to tell you to start dusting off your photo albums.  Dig through your archives and find your very favorite photo of you and your bestest friend in the whole wide world!  I promise, you won't be sorry!

And stay tuned, coming Septemer 1, via all of the BishPack blogs, you are in for an event so HUGE, Blognia will have no idea what hit it!

Get ready to

CELEBRATE!!!

Where Oh Where Has My Sanity Gone?

Today I had an anxiety attack.  At least I think it was an anxiety attack.  I've never before had one but I was freaking the eff out and I wrote to my BB Bishes, "I think I'm losing my mind.  What's an anxiety attack feel like?  I think I'm having one."  To which my dear friend Adrienzgirl replies, "Your heart races and you feel like you can't breathe and it feels like the walls are closing in."

Based on that description, plus lots and lots of tears, I decided it was definitely an anxiety attack.

Everywhere I turn in my home, I feel like the walls are closing in on me.  While my home is nothing like something you'd see on Hoarders, there are piles everywhere.  Literally.

This is my bedroom.   There are piles of folded laundry, piles of unfolded laundry, piles of magazines, piles of pillows, piles of DVDs, piles of books, piles of piles! Piles, piles, piles!  I am so overwhelmed and don't even know where to begin!  I can't find anything, I don't know where to put anything, and this is only my bedroom!

While the other rooms in my home aren't anywhere near this bad, the prospect of going through it all is just so draining!

Sadly, my pile problem is only the tip of the anxiety ice berg.  I feel like I have been doing so much for so many on my own for so long, I just need to stop. I need to stop taking care of everyone's stuff and start dealing with my own.  I need to set up well-defined boundaries and only say, "Yes!" to the things that are important to me - my kids, my boyfriend, my family, my close friends, and of course my dog.

It's time for me to stop making excuses for my life careening out of my control.  I need to get my house back in order, my money back in order, my health back in order, and most importantly my sanity back in order. 

Ain't Goin' Nowhere

Recently I have had a nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach.  I look around me and I see so many loose ends I have left unfinished.  As I evaluate my life, I am realizing that this seems to be a consistent trend throughout my life.  There are so many things I have started I haven't seen through to the end.

Some may call me a quitter, unmotivated, lazy, or undriven.  I don't see myself as any of those things.  I see myself as distracted.

At the young age of 23, I was left alone to care for 2 small children.  While I adamantly claim to not let my role as the only parent of two define my life, as I reflect, I see that I have been lying to myself.  So many of my hopes and dreams for my life have been pushed to the wayside to accomodate the hopes and dreams of the young idealists living in my home.  My time, after all, has passed.  This is their time to rise and shine and to chase their dreams across the landscapes of their lives.  Or is it?  Does it really have to be that way?  Do I really have to forego my dreams to facilitate theirs?

When I started this blog in September of 2009, I was hoping to create a place to share my life and interact with people who may relate to me.  At some point I feel I lost my funny and began to feel like the things I wanted to share really weren't so interesting. 

I met people who had lost children or were unable to conceive children and stopped feeling comfortable sharing my exasperation with mine.  Yes, my ADHD/ODD daughter is a handful and very frequently exhausting, but she is mine, and she is a gift.

I stopped dating  around and developed a relationship with a man that wants to be a part of my and my children's lives.  As the relationship grew and boundaries were tested, I chose to not share details of "us" as to not betray his trust.

So what then was left for me to blog about?  After all, Only Parent Chronicles was to be about parenting alone and dating!

It's no secret that through blogging, I have developed a tightly knit group of friends I call the Bishes.  Just last night I mentioned to them that I was going to step away from blogging for awhile.  Honestly, I felt as though I really didn't have anything left to share.

Today, I received a text message from a person very dear to my heart.  It said, "ur a great person and deal with so much stuff u need to at least make urself happy. can u promise me that u will think hard about what that will take and not be scared to make the changes needed?" That's when it hit me.  There are so many things I love to do.  For so long, I have put those things on a shelf and put myself second to my children.  Yes, my children are my priority and yes, providing for them and nuturing their dreams is my job. But does it really have to be in lieu of mine?  There are things I want in this life that I do not currently have, but I do have the means to get there.  I am a smart, fun, and creative woman.  Just like I tell my kids, if there is something I want in life, I can have it.  I just have to be willing to put in the work.  No more loose ends, no more unfinished business.  This blog included.  I will not be stepping away from blogging.  I love my blog and I love my home in Blognia.  Blogging makes me happy.

That said, my 1st blogoversary is September 15.  I'm crazy excited!  To celebrate, I am hoping to host a celebratory Twitter Party.  In addition, I am hoping to have giveaways and other fun, celebratory stuff going on.  If you would like to participate by sponsoring my party or offering a giveaway of some sort, please contact me.  In the meantime, I am going to be putting together details and working on other stuff that makes me happy.  Happy mama = happy kiddos, after all!

World Premiere Wednesday ~ Blackberry Bitches vs. the Drama Llama (featuring Stickman!)

You may or may not remember a little fundraiser we did at the beginning of June called DuckFest.  It was a little fundrasier we did in support of Daffy's nephew when her Big Sis passed away suddenly in May.  Well, not only did we raise almost $1200 for a scholarship fund, lots of people won some really cool prizes. 

One of the really cool prizes I won was a CUSTOM STICKMAN CARTOON made by Ed at Ed's Funny Pages!  When Ed asked me what I wanted, I was soooo excited.  You see, I have a small group of friends I call my BB Bishes.  Not too long before DuckFest, we were experiencing a whole lotta drama in Blognia.  At that time, I told the girls I wish I had mad animation skillz.  If I did, I would create my own comic where we were super heroes. (Brandee is a HUGE comic geek and was feeling me on this one.)  One of our adversaries would be the Drama Llama....  Fast forward to me winning Ed's giveaway and my dreams were realized.

So, here it is folks, the world premiere of Blackberry Bitches vs. the Drama Llama featuring Stickman!!!!

Holla at My Peeps

I spent yesterday in the car.  All day.  With the exception of the part where I got to meet June from 3! A Charm.  I foolishly didn't pack my cords to load my pics, so head on over to Juney's place if you'd like to check them out!

Anysoreneckfromdrivingtoolong....

Last night I was talking about blogging with my parents.  They had a lot of questions as they weren't entirely clear on what a blog is or the purpose behind it.  As I was talking about my greatest love hobby, I started to think about how much having this blog has contributed to my life.  Not only has this place become an amazing form of therapy for me, I have received something I never expected in a million years!  Friends!  I have made some of THE BEST FRIENDS since I began my blog. 

Through the amazing technology of Blackberry Messenging, I keep in touch with a core group daily.  I call them my BB Bishes.  Soooooo, without further adieu, I introduce you to my bishes...  The people that keep me sane daily by letting me talk about everything and make me laugh HYSTERICALLY!

There is Adrienzgirl, a.k.a. Think Tank Momma, a.k.a. TNT (cuz she's dy-no-mite!).  She's my favorite snarky redhead. She also hosts Grattiude with Attitude every Tuesday!  Get your butts over there and check her out! 

If you don't already, you MUST get over to Batcrap Crazy and visit that sassy little duck, Daffy.  Not only does her sass crack me sideways, but I am amazed daily by the stupid she encounters at the inner city school she works in...  Check out her Convos from the Hood.

As mentioned earlier, there is also my darling June at 3! A Charm.  Hopefully you already went by and checked out the pics from our hawt date yesterday.  She says she doesn't play nice in the sandbox, but I strongly disagree!  She is awesome!

We also are joined daily by the lovely Tamara at Mad Boastings of a Cheapskate Mom.  This friend also has mad button making skillz, not to mention, can save money on just about ANYTHING!!!

There is the cheesy Queso Bonita, Alicia at It Ain't Easy Being Cheesy.  Check her out, love her up, and if you come across a cheesehead hat, send it her way!

My friend Steph at The Blue Zoo.  She is currently out due to a family emergency, so put her daddy on your prayer list and head over and check out her archives.

We have Homesick Cajun at the blog of the same name!  She calls everyone Boo, and is a self-proclaimed typical blonde. 

And finally there is Shell at Things I Can't Say.  She host Pour Your Heart Out and has all kinds of other fun stuff!

Check them out! I love them all!  They are definitely the most unexpected benefit to my choice to become a blogger!  I can't imagine my daily life without them!