Tag: love

My girl (Cardi B), Saying NO to being a Cougar, and Minnesota chat.

If you could switch lives with a famous person for a week, who would it be and why?

Ohhhh. Ohhhhh. I know the answer to this one. 😁

If I could switch lives with a famous person for a week, it would definitely be my girl, Cardi B.

Y’all know I Iove Cardi!

I’d love to see how it feels to live as her for a week.

Wearing her cute, fun and fashionable clothes / outfits.

Living in and walking around her big mansion, and the other homes she owns.

Changing my wigs daily, and all the cute colors and styles that come with it.

Blasting music and dancing on my kitchen island like she has done before.

Getting on the Internet and making people laugh with my playful, sarcastic, silly self like she does.

     I’d love to live Cardi’s life for a week.

I’d love to switch lives with her.

Travel the world and see how it feels to not really have to worry about money, and let my security and assistants handle everything. 😄

I think it would be wild, fun, and interesting.

I’d love to hear my own songs played on the radio and I’d turn them up and sing them loudly every time.

I can definitely get down with being Cardi for a week or switching lives with her. 💜

     I heard she’s going on tour next year, and let me tell you something……

I never got to celebrate my graduations.

Not in 2023 when I graduate with my associates degree, and not in 2025 when I graduated with my BA degree, so best believe if it’s true and Cardi goes on tour next year, I’m going to save up and treat myself to her concert in 2027 – as my late graduation celebration / gift to myself.

                 🤗👀

       (Photo taken from Vogue)

So, this year ….she had her (Little Miss Drama) tour and I missed it because my daughter was graduating and wanted to go see Romeo Santos and Prince Royce, so I used the money to take her and celebrate her graduation.

I’m celebrating me if the rumors are true about next year. 🤍

       And with that being said…….

Let’s chat my loves.

I’ve decided to try to get back into dating.

So, if you want to laugh with me….. Let me share how I’ve been talking to a guy I really like for about two weeks now, and for some reason – age never came up. He looks like he’s in his late 30s maybe. A good looking guy. Works out, and eats right.

I joked that I can’t remember the last time I went to the gym and ate right, and we laughed about it, but he swore I still looked good. (Damn liar!). 🤣

I’m old.

I don’t get much sleep, so it’s easy to see it under my eyes.

I haven’t dyed my hair in forever, so my hair is a pretty cool three-toned color of brown, black and grays.

I could afford to lose a few pounds.

So, him telling me I looked good – I think our first date should have been going to get his eyes checked. Maybe some new glasses. 😁 I’m just being funny, but I really – really do like this guy.

Neither of us knew what we wanted, so we decided to just talk, get to know each other and see what happens, or where it goes. We weren’t expecting anything, but if it went well – we’d figure it out.

I haven’t dated in so long, I’m not used to it anymore and I’m not expecting anything, but I’m going into it enjoying life, and having fun if I meet someone worth… because life is way too short and I’m over 40, so enjoy life to the fullest, right? 👀

So, we were talking last night and having a damn good conversation and for some wild reason, I thought about age – as I finally asked him, “How old are you by the way?”. He thought it was the funniest thing in the world that I was just now asking him after two weeks of talking, but when he replied, “Age is stupid!”. Of course, I wanted to know even more.

He asked how old I think he is, and I replied with his late 30s. When he said, “25“…. I dropped my phone. No. I tossed my phone onto the bed, laid down and looked up at the ceiling because what – the – hell?

If my oldest was still here, she’d be 26! He’s a year younger than my oldest would have been.

That means…….I’m old enough to be his mother!!!!! 🫩

I’m not okay with that, and listen – I have a friend who sent me this damn meme when I told her:

Now – while this made me giggle… I’d feel better if he was 28 at least..

I sat up and went to reply to him, but I couldn’t even do it. I didn’t know what to say and I put my phone back down. I picked it up to reply again, and sat there looking at the screen, and put it right back down.

I still haven’t replied.

He sent me a message this morning asking if it bothers me that he’s 25, and said he doesn’t act like it. He promised he doesn’t act like it, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s a year younger than my oldest would have been, or two years older than my younger son.

It’s weird. 🫤

Maybe I’m making a big deal out of it, but I almost feel like I’d be dating one of my older kids friends, and to me – that’s just not okay.

I haven’t been able to get over the age gap. I’m 44!!

You ever see the movie (How Stella got her groove back?). If not, it’s one of my favorite movies, but I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t date someone that young, and be okay with it. She went on vacation and met a much younger man and she was in her 40s.

When she found out his age, she was bothered by it at first.

The youngest I’d ever felt comfortable  dating is 34-35. So, I don’t know how to tell this man, but eventually I know I have to let him down and tell him I just don’t feel right going that young, which really sucks – because I did mention I really like him!

Ah well.

So, that’s where I am in life right now.

Besides trying to date again, finally meeting someone I like and vibe with and finding out he’s too young for me (in my opinion), I don’t have tons going on right now.

Life is life. Work. Bills. Parenting. The usual.

I feel like I’m on repeat and I really should try something new soon, but until then – I like being able to crawl into bed by 8 or 9, read a little, catch the news and mind my business.

I’m laughing as I write this because during Cardi B’s tour …. She showed one of the tour buses where her dancers were partying after a show, and having the best time – music turned up and all.

She then went to her tour bus and I’m not sure if it was her best friend or assistant but there was a woman making popcorn I believe it was, and Cardi joked that she wanted to go back to the dancers bus because her tour bus was boring.

Her best friend / assistant joked with her and told her to take her ass back to the dancers bus because that was the 40+ bus and “it’s boring over here”. She had Cardi laughing so much. ☺️

I’d be on that 40+ boring bus.

My good friend Ashley and I always joke and say, “Remember when we used to be getting the house or backyard parties started at 8 PM and they’d be ending at 4 AM? Now, we are in bed at 8 PM and still sleeping at 4 AM”. 😂😂😂

It’s sad. I know.

I used to make fun of my aunt for going to bed so early and now – I’ve turned into my aunt.

I get it now. It’s relaxing. It’s peaceful. lol

We can’t party like it’s 1999 anymore. Ha.

In all seriousness, there’s nothing on the streets for us once it gets dark, except trouble, drama and nonsense.

That being said, I’m sorry I’m on the boring tour bus 🤪 or I’d have more to write.

Am I responding to the 25 year old? Yes. I’m going to let him down gently because it just doesn’t feel right. Am I going to keep trying to jump back into the dating pool? Also yes – because my life is boring and I need some excitement, and you know what?

Part of me was thinking about Minnesota today.

I kind of miss it. (Random subject change..I know!).

I remember when I used to be so sad being out there for the holidays and wishing that we were back here in Illinois.

I used to say that one day, we will be back here in Illinois, and now that we are – I was thinking about how excited I used to get when I’d be driving around this time of year – by the lake we lived near in Minnesota and I’d see the guys putting up the Christmas lights – and their metal or plastic Christmas tree – getting ready to light up the lake area right after Halloween.

I used to love this time of year in Minnesota, and today – I realized I’m missing it, and maybe after all this time of wishing we were back home in Illinois…….maybe Minnesota was our home now.

Maybe we should go back.

I thought I’d be happy to be back in Illinois and part of me is for certain reasons, but part of me misses the boring, quiet, cold state I left.

Anyway, that’s all the excitement I have for you today.

I’ll figure out what else to rant about tomorrow.

      Love y’all!

      😴 Shel😴

Family fun not (but not for me),  today’s WP writing prompt, and home hunting.

Tell us about your morning routine.

   Sure.

I wake up before 7 AM, wash my face and shower.

Get ready for the day.

Take my older son to work.

Take my little dude to school, and many times – my daughter will make me a cup of coffee. 😊

I don’t have to be at work until later in the day, so the mornings are usually spent watching movies with my daughter, or trying to figure out what we’re doing the rest of the morning. ❤️

Plain and simple.

I don’t have a busy routine in the mornings and I’m grateful for that.

    In other news ….my kiddo had his first school event since being at the new school he’s going to here in Illinois.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t go because I didn’t want to he sneezing and coughing all over the place and I was still pretty sick yesterday. I’ve been fighting this thing for almost a week now, and I lost my dang voice as I think I mentioned before.

I’ve been looking forward to it all week. My little dude has been looking forward to it all week.

It was a family fun night, and I didn’t want him to miss it. I really wanted to go to meet new parents and maybe get to know them and their kids, but I couldn’t even talk, so there was no point.

My daughter jumped in and saved the day when she said she’ll go with Elijah, and I was able to drop them off. She was a life saver yesterday and I’m so grateful for her.

I waited in the car and let them enjoy their time, as they played games, had popcorn, and ran around doing other things. It was packed and I really do wish I could have gone and enjoyed everything, but he totally understood why I didn’t.

Kailani messaged me a while into it and said my friend Stephanie was there. That was pretty awesome and I got a bit excited to learn that her stepson goes to the same school. I had no idea, but it’s good to know that I won’t be alone at future events, and she’ll be there. ☺️

So, I didn’t get to enjoy this family fun night I’ve been looking forward to, but I’ll be at all the future events. 💜

I was actually in the ER because I was so miserable the night before last, and I haven’t been able to sleep. Y’all know I hate hospitals and doctors, so for me to go get checked – you know I had to be feeling really bad.

I walked in, and they quickly did an X-ray.

One of the male nurses stuck a whole swab up my nose – way back – which is so uncomfortable and painful – to test for covid and the flu.

Then he sticks another down my throat to test for Strep – and on top of telling me he was going to start an IV – he tells me, “This is just going to be a little poke”. That little poke – hurt like hell, and the female entering my information into the computer tells me, “His name is Alex if you want to go after him”. I laughed and told Alex I’d be waiting for him in the parking lot after his shift was over – which made him laugh.

The wait at the hospital was going to be hours, and I just wanted to lay down, so I decided not to wait, and I went home to sleep it off. Or try to – because for days – as I said – I haven’t been able to sleep.

All of my tests came back negative or normal, so I’m just really sick, and I think I’m finally at the end of it.

I had some hot lemon tea today and my older son was laughing when I talked with my regular voice for a good 2 seconds and it left again. 🤣

I tried.

So, that’s what’s going on in my world right now.

Trying to fight this damn thing and living life.

I will also share that for the last month or so, we’ve been staying with my aunt and uncle until we find a place out here in Illinois.

My aunt and uncle’s house has always been our home away from home and we love it here. They’ve been amazing and we’re so grateful for them, but of course – we need our own place again and the one I thought I wanted – fell through.

We went to go look at a cute little – cozy apartment in one of the suburbs near us a few weeks ago, and I really liked this place, but when we saw it, there were still people living there and I like to do a full search of a place before I move in.

I always look for signs of mold, bugs, and other issues before I say, “We’ll take it!”, and I couldn’t really look around the way I wanted to – with the people’s things in there. So, we just kind of looked in the rooms, the bathroom, the kitchen, living room, etc. and I liked when the landlord told me that there’s a patio right outside the kitchen door, and she loves seeing patio furniture, so if I have some – put it out and use the patio. ❤️

However – what am I using it for? To get a view of the parking lot? lol.

Still, the living room had a nice view when the blinds were open, so I really did want to take that place.

I asked her if we could come back and look at it a 2nd time when the current tenants moved out, and she did call me a week later and told us to come back.

We went back to look and she told me she loves my family, and would love to have us move in.

However – the way landlords run background checks on future tenants, always be sure to do the same on your future landlords because I dealt with a slumlord for 6 years, and I never want to deal with one again.

When I did my research on this landlord, her name came up with all kinds of lawsuits, and complaints against her from other tenants. 👀 So, I really had to decide if I wanted to take that gamble and take the place, not knowing how she’d be with us.

She tried to hire my daughter to work in her office, and she seemed really happy about renting to us, but at the end of the day – her prices kept changing and going up, and this was one of the complaints against her.

The washer didn’t work and she wanted us to use the basement washer. Why? If I’m paying rent and I have a washer and dryer in my unit – I expect them to work and me to be able to use the ones right in my apartment. She didn’t have any plans to get the washer fixed, either.

She did plan to change the blinds and have the apartment painted, but then I noticed a crack in the ceiling and what looked like part of the living room ceiling could fall at any moment. It almost looked like a water stain and water damage from the apartment above, maybe?

She said she thinks it came from their AC leaking, and could have that fixed. You could or you will? I told her I didn’t need it falling on our heads, and she said she guarantees it won’t, and that it’s drywall.

She told us she learned her lesson, because in one of her other apartments – part of a ceiling fell and almost hit a child in the head while he was in bed. 🫩 Seriously?

As much as we wanted and needed that place, I decided to dodge a bullet, save myself money and headaches and keep looking.

The final straw was when she wanted $75 for the application fee, but then switched it to $150.

So then – we found another place out in another suburb not too far, and the guy seemed so cool.

He told me all the great reasons I should rent from him and then threw in, “Plus, I’m tall, dark and handsome!”. 😆 Sir! I’m looking for an apartment, not a man!

He told me about a sweet elderly woman who lived in the apartment for years, and that he used to bring her Amazon packages up to her whenever she got them, and said, “Isn’t that sweet?”. He wanted brownie points – I’m guessing? I told him how sweet that was, and my daughter laughed and told me, “He’s about to bring your Amazon packages up to you all the time”.

What kind of made us giggle more – was that he asked if we had pets, and when we said we had a cat and bunny, he said he loves bunnies, but he’s allergic. He then says, “I just don’t want to be sneezing all over the place daily, but I guess I can take something for it!”.

My daughter whispered, “What the hell? You’re not going to be living with us. What do you mean daily?”. 🤣 She also whispered something about me opening my eyes one day, and he’s going to be standing over me with breakfast in bed, telling me not to worry about why he’s in the apartment. lol.

Kailani is hilarious, but this landlord really was acting weird and the things he was saying – made me wonder. Then again – maybe he’s just lonely? I don’t know.

He asked where I work and how much I make. Rent was $1,600 and he told me, “Oh yeah! You’ll be fine”. I guess we could have taken that one, but I’ve also dealt with a creepy landlord previously and I don’t want that again either.

So, we’ve kept looking and we’ve found a few we plan to hopefully go see this week.

I also know I want a house next year, so I’ve been looking for a new real estate agent and to see what’s on the market right now. Maybe by next fall.

I never wanted to own a house. I didn’t want the headaches that came with it, but I know it’s probably the best thing to do for my kids and myself. 💜

Until then, the apartment hunt continues and I’m excited to find something, and continue settling into life in Illinois again.

My aunt and uncle have been amazing and my uncle gets upset when I talk about leaving or going to see an apartment, but my aunt retires in a few weeks, and I’m going to feel bad if we’re still there when she should have a quiet house and my uncle all to herself. 😊

So, we’re trying to find something asap.

That’s another thing that’s been on my mind and a big stressor lately. Still, faith over fear and trust that God already has the perfect place waiting for us.

       I’m out of here.

       Love ya.

                  🤍Shel🤍

Learning to take chaos as a blessing.

Is a little chaos actually good for us?

    Today’s WP writing prompt – made me laugh as I thought about the exhausting, crazy and chaotic, endless-cycle of Amy’s daily routine in the great and hilarious movie (Bad Moms).

If you’ve never seen it, you should! (Don’t forget to watch A BAD MOMS Christmas) after Bad moms.

Both of them are not movies for kids, so wait until your kids are in bed, and pour youurself a glass of wine. Enjoy!

You definitely have to have a sense of humor and not easily be offended to watch both movies, but I love them. 😁

The amazing actress (Mila Kunis) plays a married mom (Amy). She eventually finds out her husband is enjoying his alone time with an online cam model, and (Amy) kicks him out of their home, as she then has to navigate life as a semi-single mother doing everything on her own, while she’s about to go through a divorce as well.

In the scene where she’s describing her never-ending chaos, she says:

That’s me.

That is totally me, and I’m non-stop on the go – all the time.

Even when I think I can sleep-in or relax, one of my kids tells me there’s something to do, or they have to go somewhere, or something needs to be done.

Chaos should have been my middle name.

Between work, rushing around picking up dinner, getting home to make dinner, getting my little dude ready for Baseball practice or Baseball games, cleaning the house, getting laundry done, paying bills, feeding the animals and making sure they have clean liter, and water, trying to get my daughter into a good EMS/Medic program, filling out applications for her, picking up extra shifts at work, keeping up with family and friends, calls I have to make to people who left me messages, grocery shopping, vet visits, and so many other things…………………………………………………………..

Chaos is totally a thing here.

Did that whole list I wrote out non-stop – make your head spin? It makes mine do loops.

Let’s add on unexpected bills I sometimes get and forget about, jury duty that I’m all of a sudden summoned to, car repairs that need to be done, bed-time routines, waking up early to have at least 30 minutes to myself in silence with a hot cup of coffee I’m probably going to forget about and have to heat up 3 times before I actually get to drink it anyway, and other things I have going on and I’m dealing with – it’s a lot.

It’s a whole lot!

Still, I love being a mom. I love working. I love making money. I love the running around. I love the crazy, wild, chaos.

I can’t say I love unexpected curve balls life throws at me, or the 20 million other things I have to do daily, errands I have to run, or new things that keep popping up that keep me on my toes, but as much as I feel like I’m going to lose my mind – I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Life is crazy chaotic right now, but it keeps me busy, doesn’t let me slack off much, and doesn’t give me time to be down and depressed.

Sometimes, the chaos is so crazy and good – that while I have problems sleeping – there’s some nights my eyes close before my head even hits the pillow because I’m so tired from running around all day and being so busy. There are times I’m so tired, that my sleep problems aren’t an issue and I knock out right on the couch when I sit down to relax for a moment.

So, to answer this question – a little (or, even a lot for some of us) of chaos – IS good for us.

It keeps us busy and keeps our minds off of the things we don’t want to think about.

It helps us sleep at night if we’re so busy, we’re exhausted at the end of the day.

It can actually help keep us focused on the things we really need to get done and prioritize.

Sometimes, chaos can keep us motivated and make us want to do other things we’ve been slacking on.

So, yes – chaos is good for us, and if you have chaos in your life right now, take it as a blessing.

Who wants to be bored all the time, and have NOTHING going on?

So, cheers to Chaos. 🍻I think we all have a little bit inside of us and around us, and it’s a beautiful thing.

🍷Shel🍷

Happy 4th of July, darlings!

Daily writing prompt
What’s a lesson you’ve learned recently that shifted your perspective?
View all responses

To answer today’s WP writing prompt – it would absolutely be the lesson of cherishing every great moment and every person you love while they’re still here.

Today is the 4th of July, and I used to take that for granted many years ago.

My oldest daughter was still alive.

My mom and dad were still alive.

My brother and his ex-wife were still together.

I was an auntie to two.

I still lived in Illinois.

4th of Julys used to look a lot different.

For the last few 4ths – everything was different.

My oldest was killed in a car crash with her girlfriend in 2021. She was the passenger.

My dad passed in 2023 from Cancer. My mom passed in 2024 from – what we can only assume was a heart attack, because no autopsy was done. She passed in an assisted living facility. We knew it was probably coming, but we didn’t know it would be that soon. She had just celebrated her 70th birthday. With my dad, he was in hospice for a while, so we knew for sure that death was coming.

My brother and his now ex-wife have since divorced, obviously.

My nephews live with their mother, and I’m now an auntie to three – however, I don’t get to see my niece. My brother’s now ex-fiancé – (a different woman) – wants nothing to do with my brother, so she has decided that includes his family. My niece’s family that she should know. I even sent her a huge box full of adorable baby stuff I picked out when my niece was first born, and a special gift for her, but I got nothing.

I’d love to spend the 4th with her.

My kids and I also now live in Minnesota.

So many things have absolutely changed from the 4th of July traditions I was used to.

We always went to my brother’s place for the 4th, and his wife (now ex) would always make sure I had a drink in my hand when I arrived. lol. My brother and I would joke around. She’d yell at him and tell him to leave me alone, and I’d threaten to kick his ass after I finished my drink. He’d make more jokes, and life was good back then.

My kids would be sitting around the table eating every snack in sight. Chips and dip. My mom’s famous Vegetable pizza, and whatever else was laid out for everyone.

My brother would be grilling, and my older son would be next to him helping or watching over the grill.

My mom and dad would argue about something every 4th of July, and we’d always giggle because it would be something so stupid, but I miss even that. 🤣 They’d both be aggravated with each other, and my dad would say, “Okay, okay!”, and end the fight – letting my mother have the last word, and my mother would look at me and say, “He loves to aggravate me!”. By the end of the night, they’d be sitting next to each other acting like nothing ever happened. ALMOST EVERY 4TH OF JULY!

My nephews would be in the kiddie pool or running around getting into mischief with my little dude, and my youngest daughter chased them around here and there.

We’d take selfies and photos with each other, and of the food.

We poured more drinks.

We joked around and shared so much laughter.

We recalled so many funny “Remember when’s”………..(memories), and we enjoyed each other’s company.

My brother would run in and get the fireworks as soon as dusk arrived, and we’d watch him blow them off in the alley, joking that the fire trucks needed to be on standby.

Once we watched him blow off his fireworks and then watched the fireworks that were lighting up the sky around us, we’d play music (usually country or oldies), sit and talk, laugh, and enjoy the night as it got later and later, and nobody wanted to say goodbye.

We had dessert, more drinks, and more fun.

I miss those days, and that’s how we spent many 4th of Julys.

That’s not something that will ever happen again with all of us there, and it sucks – but life has to go on right?

One lesson I have learned recently that shifted my perspective – is to love everyone so much while they are alive, take so many photos, tell them you love them, cherish them, take the time to look around and cherish each and every moment – because one day – they will be just memories that you wish you could relive one last time at least.

I smiled today as I thought of the past 4th of July’s and how much love, fun, laughter and good times we had.

I thought of the time my brother sat on the tailgate of his pickup truck one 4th, and I told him the burgers were going to burn – as he was jamming out to country music and drinking, and he told me he was going to make my burger extra dark and crispy to shut me up.

I thought of the time my brother sent me a photo of a big piece of wood he super glued wires and different fireworks to and asked what I thought would happen if he set the fireworks off like that. I laughed so much and told him I was going to take bets amongst our friends to see who would arrive first – the fire department, the ambulance or the police.

I thought about the 4th that my oldest kiddo and I got into this huge argument over something goofy, and at the end of the night, I asked if she wanted to go for a ride and have cake, and she laughed and said, “Hell yeah I do!”. She was 18 or 19 at that time I believe. Even those memories are funny now and I miss them.

I thought about many different things from past 4th of Julys that I could never get back, and memories of times that are long gone now, so please – take all the photos you need to with loved ones, cherish good moments before they become memories, and never take them or the people you love for granted because one day, you’re going to wish they were still here and those moments weren’t just memories.

I also love the memories of the 4th of July’s I’d stop by my best friend’s house.

Her mom would make Jello shots. They’d have the music on, and her dad grilled.

Thankfully, if I did go back to Illinois, I could still make more memories on the 4th will all of them.

Her family is like a 2nd family to me, and I know I’m always welcomed there. ❤️

My aunt and Uncle’s house – has become a new tradition on the 4th as well out in Illinois.

We’ve been there the last few 4ths, and I’ve been so grateful they’ve welcomed us into their home because the 4th is always a lot more fun ln a pool watching the fireworks above or hanging out with family.

So, even if we can’t do the old traditions anymore because some people that we love are gone now, and others moved on with their lives – we’ve created new ones and kept other old traditions alive as well on the 4th.

Unfortunately, we’re stuck in Minnesota this year, and nothing really happens in our little town.

The last few years, we’ve had a “no burn ban”, which also included fireworks, so we couldn’t shoot any off out here, but we haven’t heard of anything like that this year. Plus, we’ve had plenty of rain, so I got some Sparklers for the kids, some little pop-it’s for Elijah, and Frankie got a few of the spinning, colorful fireworks.

Nothing crazy because we still want to play it safe.

I made burgers for dinner and got some freeze pops I know my little dude loves, and cupcakes my youngest daughter enjoys.

You know the 4th wouldn’t be the 4th without S’mores! So, I had to get some stuff to make those as well.

My daughter LOVES S’mores!

One thing I truly am missing this 4th – is how the fireworks in Illinois always start weeks before the 4th, and on the 4th – they can start as early as 4 AM – and we’ll hear huge M-80’s being blown off. They can go all the way until 4 AM the next morning, and sometimes – for days after.

Out here in our little town, we hear none of that, and it’s dead. It’s so boring out here, so I’m a little sad tonight that I’m not back home in Illinois, but – it is what it is.

The night is almost over and I wish I was at my best friend’s house or my aunt and uncle’s waiting for the fireworks to begin as we chat, enjoy dinner together, and a few drinks with my aunt (me and her anyway), I have to make the best of being stuck out here and so far from everything and everyone I love out there.

Please – no drinking and driving tonight.

In many bigger cities and states – buses and trains are free tonight from what I’m hearing. Check your local transit center / site.

In many bigger cities and states, Uber and Lyft are offering discouts and vouchers tonight.

Or – if you can’t do any of those and you’re in a smaller area, many police officers who aren’t busy – will sometimes pick you up and safely get you home.

NO EXCUSES!

I love you all, and as the dusk approaches and the fireworks begin – keep having fun, keep enjoying the night, and stay safe. ❤️

I saw a post earlier from one of my good friends – who posted:

“Make sure you put a boot in someone’s ass today in honor of Toby Keith”.

I loved that and it made me smile, so in honor of one of my favorite country singers – T.K. ……………………(Rest in peace and this one is for you and America tonight). 😁

All my love:

❤️Shel❤️

Baseball, an 18th, a trip to Puerto-Rico, and a new Boyfriend. :) (Or – na?)

Good morning!

     My home is clean.

I’m showered and ready to start the day.

It’s beautiful outside, and I hear we’re supposed to get thunderstorms later. (I love those!)

Listen. If you’re getting sick of hearing Baseball talk, you can click the X above and skip all of this, but if not – then let’s talk about it.

My little dude (Elijah) had a game the night before last and last night.

The game the night before last, he did amazing.

It was an away game at another school.

The other team was winning.

So, when Elijah was up to bat, and he cracked the ball half way across the field, and ran – parents and his team on our side all cheered, and we were all so excited! 😊

He smiled when he got to 1st base, and I smiled because I knew he was happy and proud. He always says he sucks, but I always remind him this is his first year playing on a team and not just for fun, so he’s not going to be perfect.

I don’t expect him to be perfect.

This isn’t the major leagues!

I’m not one of those moms who take it seriously.

I want my kid to go out there, give it his best and still have fun / enjoy it.

Nobody is coming to recruit your kid to their team for college or professional ball right now. If you’re one of the moms or dads who lose her mind over your kid not making a good play, or decision on the field, calm down! If you’re one of those moms or dads, have a beer or something after – but don’t take it out on your kid!

I understand that some parents feel like they’re preparing their kids for continuing this sport well on into high school and beyond but worry about all that when they’re teenagers in high school – or beyond.

My son said yesterday – that one of the coaches yelled at his kid in the dugout – in front of the team – because he was goofing off on the field.

My son said the kid cried – in front of the team. He was hurt. He was embarrassed. I don’t blame the kid.

And let me tell you…..

The game the night before last – when my son ran to 2nd base, some mom from the other team started screaming at one of the kids on the field, “You could have caught that! What are you doing? Pay attention!”. She was angry that my son hit 2nd base and the player chasing the ball – didn’t catch it before my son hit 2nd.

Calm down, homegirl! You’ll survive! 👀

Your team might lose, but you’ll survive. (I say that with humor), but damn. I can’t understand for the life of me – why parents take this so seriously when these kids are young and should just be enjoying themselves out there.

I don’t believe in putting all that stress and pressure on kids to be perfect in a sport, as long as they’re trying and giving it their all. 🩵

I’m NOT okay when I hear a parent, coach or someone who should be encouraging a kid – going off on them, making nasty comments, making them cry over a sport, or putting them down.

If I would have heard the coach yelling at his kid over the game and saw the kid crying, I would have said something – because that’s unnecessary!!!

I don’t want to hear all of that “It’s not your business” mess – because when it comes to protecting another child’s feelings – I’ll make it my business!

I asked my son if that same coach had ever yelled at him, and he said no.

I’ve seen coaches from other teams screaming at the kids they’re supposed to be coaching / encouraging, etc. and I’m so grateful that our main coach is quiet, calm, encouraging.

Anyway – the first game the night before last was beautiful.

My son made it back to the home plate, and the cheers for him were wild and so awesome. 💕

When he entered the dugout – his team wrapped him in a group hug, jumped up and down, patted his back and they all tapped the top of his helmet……more like banging on it – he says, but it was the cutest thing.

Everyone was so happy.

Another boy after him scored and we ended up winning.

Take that – Ms. Serious mom from the other team!

I wanted to look at her and be like:

VICTORY DANCE!

Again, I’m just being funny, but stop taking your kids games seriously if they’re 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. Give them a break and you should just be having fun as well, and be happy that they’re not in the streets causing trouble and getting arrested.

So, we won the night before, and last night – we lost.

And – that’s okay!

It drives me crazy when someone talks down to or talks about a child and what they could have done better in a sport, rather than just encouraging them and helping them get better.

I absolutely love the coaches and parents who yell, “That’s okay! You’re doing great. Better luck next time. You got this! Shake it off, it’s okay! Nice try!”.

My son ran up to me after the game yesterday and said they lost. I told him it’s okay, and reminded him of the win the night before.

He said he didn’t do good because he didn’t hit any of the balls. I told him not many of our kids did yesterday. They played an older team I believe and that older team was really good.

I told my son not every day is going to be a win. Not every day is going to be cracking the balls across the field like he did the night before, and that’s normal. I told him he tried his best, and he played a good game. 🩵

That’s how it should be!

When we encourage these kids in sports, they’ll know they can make mistakes, have bad days, bad games, and still know that we love them and we’re proud and that there’s no negativity if they don’t do their best on certain days.

It’s a game! These kids are young. Colleges and the big leagues aren’t coming to their games to scout them right now, so chill out!

        ****

    In other news, I was planning a cute 18th birthday for my youngest daughter (who turns 18 next month), and I mentioned to a few of her friends that I’d be having something for her.

I said I’d let them know.

I mean – 18 is a huge milestone that has to be celebrated, right?

My daughter messaged me while I was out this week, and she asked why I told some of her friends that she was having an 18th birthday.

She was NOT happy about it and said she doesn’t want a party. She made it so clear, and she said there’s a few places she wants to go on her birthday but absolutely does not want a party.

Last year for her 17th, we went wherever she wanted to go, and I got her a Sash and crown to wear, but this year – upon not wanting a party, she also told me she doesn’t want a sash and crown.

I told her it’s her 18th, and that’s huge.

Still, I guess I have to respect her wishes, right?

It sucks when kids get older and start clearly stating what they want and don’t want, and no matter what you want to do for them, give them or how you think things should go – you have to honor their wishes sometimes and go with the flow.

I want her to be happy on her 18th, and the places she wants to go – are simple, so that’s what we’re doing for her birthday.

I guess it’s easier on me as well because it’s less money than a big party, and it’s less stressful from not having to plan a big party, so I should be thrilled that she doesn’t want one.

I can’t believe I’ll have another adult child next month, and then – there’s only 8 more years until my little dude turns 18, as he’ll be 10 in November.

Time needs to slow the hell down.

My daughter is turning into her own person now, and she’s finding who she is and figuring out what she wants to do with her life. She’s becoming more independent, and she’s so ready to get a job and have her own money.

I am so proud of her!

She has also learned how to play around with ChatGPT, so apparently, we went to Puerto-Rico, and I have a boyfriend. 🤣

The trip we never took.

Plus – the boyfriend that doesn’t exist. He’s cute though, isn’t he? ha.

She makes me giggle when she creates and sends me these fun photos, and I joked with her yesterday that now I kind of want to find a boyfriend and travel to Puerto-Rico. ❤️🤔❤️

My darlings.

I hope you have a beautiful day.

If you’re coming across this – don’t forget to subscribe to get updates by email or hit that follow button and I’ll follow back.

🍵Shel🍵

My parents once told me…………

What’s something you used to believe as a kid that seems ridiculous now?

   My parents used to tell me if I turned on the lights in the car while they were driving, the police would pull them over. 👀😁

Of course, that sounds ridiculous now and I’ve turned the lights on in my car while driving. Cops don’t care. My own kids have turned the lights on in the car while I’m driving, and the cops don’t care. That is in fact – a MYTH.

I’ve never been pulled over for it, and I don’t even think that’s a thing, but my parents really had me believing that when I was younger. (lol)

…………..

Let’s talk about my youngest daughter, though!

That little spoiled girl.

When she graduated high school a few weeks ago, she had the option to either have a graduation party, or go see two Latin singers she absolutely loves (Romeo Santos and Prince Royce) in concert – out in Chicago.

She picked the concert in Chicago.

When we came back to Minnesota, she saw that all her friends were having graduation parties, so she made a comment about it and I felt like she really did want one. We talked about it, and while I refused to spend hundreds on a big party because she already made her choice, I was more than willing to have a graduation (get-together) for her with just a few of her close friends.

She was more than happy with that idea, so I’ve been running around like a chicken with my head cut off – planning that and getting everything together for it.

                           That was today.

I got off work, went and grabbed a few pizzas for her and her friends, went to pick up one of her friends because she’s on the route I take home, and the rest of my daughter’s friends had their parents drop them off. One of them drove herself.

We got the cake, the decorations, plates, chips, dip, pop, napkins, etc. yesterday, so that was all ready for today because I refused to rush around after work.

My daughter was excited about it, and even though she had a choice and picked the concert, I didn’t want her to feel left out of a graduation party, or at least something fun with her friends, so I caved!

I told them they could have the entire living room, dining room and kitchen to themselves and do whatever. (Watch movies, play games, play PS5, and so on) – and I wouldn’t bother them.

I promised my little dude we’d take our pizza into his room and watch movies, just him and I. He loved that idea, and that’s what we did. 😊 I invited my older son to join us, but he was on his PS5 in his own room.

Here’s one thing I learned a long time ago. (Years ago actually)…….

When teenage girls get together – they are crazy, wild and loud. They laugh a little too loud. They have no filters and say the craziest things. They scream and joke around a little too loudly. They make a hell of a lot of noise, and they are all hyper and goofy, so I didn’t expect anything other than that today, and that’s exactly what I got. 😂

They blasted the music, and I smiled and giggled a bit as I listened to them all singing different songs together.

Yes, they were really loud, but I didn’t mind.

I know my daughter had the best time and I’m so happy I was able to do this for her.

I wanted to take so many cute photos, but I also just wanted to leave her and her friends alone, so my little dude and I – stayed in his room watching movies and we let the girls have their fun.

My kitchen is a mess from cake and pizza.

The girls are now just relaxing in the living room – as I write this.

I hope and think that they are finally calming down from the hyper day they’ve had, and all the fun.

I’m so grateful she has some great friends in her life.

One of her friends was dropped off by the parents, and they came inside for a bit to chat.

I was more than grateful when the mom suggested I let her husband fix my car because it needs some work, the brakes and rotors need to be done – along with a few other things.

I haven’t been able to find a mechanic who I actually trust and who actually knows what they’re doing. So, I’ll take my car over there one day and allow him to fix it all if he can.

The little get-together for my daughter was a success.

The girls are still enjoying this.

The night is coming to an end, and I will be driving two of the girls home, probably coming back and enjoying a glass of wine in silence, and getting to bed early – as I work in the morning.

I have nothing else going on tonight, and I hope all of you have a beautiful one.

Love you.

😊Shel😊

Voicemails for Isabelle and an old-school (forever will be cherished) radio.

Good morning my darlings.

I’m just sitting here with a bagel and my coffee, and I may go back to bed for an hour, but we’ll see.

Let’s chat.

The day before yesterday, the woman who lives right above me and I – were chatting and she asked if I’ve seen the new Netflix movie (Voicemails for Isabelle).

I told her I have not seen it, but I’d watch it soon and let her know if I liked it or not.

She said she cried within the first 10-15 minutes.

I cried within the first 10-15 minutes.

I watched it last night, and I absolutely loved it!

It was sad. It was funny. It was cute.

It was a movie that shows that even the best things can come out of grief, sadness, anger, etc.

That beautiful things can happen after pain.

The movie focuses on Jill losing her little sister that she’s always been so close to, so she continues to call her sister (Isabelle’s) phone number thinking it’s still connected, and Jill finds comfort in leaving Izzy many voicemails on different days, venting – chatting – and sharing things like she used to when Izzy was alive.

She always feels better after leaving Izzy a message.

She has no idea that the number was disconnected and recycled.

That the number now belongs to some guy’s work phone, (Wes) – and he is listening to all of the messages Jill is leaving Izzy, and hears all of her crazy stories, things that are going on in her life, and things she vents and jokes about. She has no idea that it makes him smile. It makes him laugh.

He plans to tell her she has the wrong number – not knowing the situation and why she’s leaving these messages or who Izzy is, but he’s intrigued by her and her funny, wild, crazy voicemails, so he doesn’t tell her that number is no longer Izzy’s (whoever Izzy is – because again – he has no idea!).

He lets her keep calling and he keeps listening.

Eventually, he finds a way to get just enough information to look her up on social media, and when he sees her photos and who she is, he finds her attractive, and he’s even more interested in listening to new voicemails from her – for Izzy.

My daughter and I laughed and called him a stalker, but I corrected my daughter and joked that there’s a big difference between creepy stalking and cute stalking. He did some cute stalking. lol. (I’m just being funny, but it was cute that he looked her up and checked her out).

I don’t want to give the whole movie away, but it’s something you should totally watch if you have the time, and I laughed a lot in this movie, but I also cried a lot, especially at the end – when this guy (Wes) asks for a sign, and he gets it. ❤️

It’s definitely a MUST WATCH, and one of my new favorite movies!

My daughter was also laughing when one of Wes’s friends asked, “What is it about her, Wes?”, and he starts listing everything he loves, and says her cheeks are always filled with food – like this “Sexy Chipmunk”. I told my daughter, “See? I’m a Sexy Chipmunk, too!”. I made her laugh even more.

If you want to giggle a bit, I went outside in the middle of the movie last night to move my car to the garage because the weather was calling for tornados in our area (or close by) possibly, and the sky looked awful, so if we had hail, I didn’t need my car damaged.

I had cried right before going outside – because of this movie, so when another woman who lives upstairs but diagonal from my place – was out there and started talking to me about a kitten we always see in the garages, I apologized for the way I looked and told her I was “ugly crying to a movie I was watching”. She laughed and said she’s the same way.

The movie was fantastic, and it helped a lot that the guy who played (Wes) – Nick Robinson – is a hottie. 😊

Listen.

If there was a poster with him (from this scene on it) – it would be framed and hanging above my bed.

I’m just saying! 🤣

I loved the movie.

10/10 – I recommend!

……………………………………………

Other than the movie – check this out:

One of the tenants in the facility I work for – came downstairs last week and asked if I wanted this radio.

It’s totally Vintage.

He said he’s had it since he got married many – many – many years ago.

He’s an older guy that I adore so much, and he’s always joking around, making me laugh and he’s goofy.

He’ll tell you he has a history with crazy women – including his now ex-wife, and he did just that – and that’s why he said he doesn’t want it anymore, but it still works.

I wasn’t going to take it. I didn’t think I had any use for it, but ……………after some thinking, I realized I’d love to have this radio, and I’d cherish it because it came from him.

It’s now a sentimental radio for me because I’ve grown close to this old guy, and he’s hilarious.

Even when he’s pissed off and running his mouth on certain days – he still looks at me when he’s going off on people, and we both laugh because that’s just who he is, and he knows I’m not going to stop him.

I tell him to be nice, and sometimes – when I already know he’s going to say something he shouldn’t – I’ll look at him and tell him, “DON’T DO IT!”, and he laughs because he knows I already know what he’s thinking, and what he’s going to say or do.

He’s got a lot of health issues, so my son and I both agreed (because my older son works with me on the weekends) – that if this man ever passes, we’re going to miss the heck out of him. We’re going to be so sad when we lose this guy, and hopefully it won’t happen for many more years, but we know he’s old and brittle.

So, after thinking about what an honor it would be for me to have this man’s old radio that he’s had forever now and no longer wants, I did take it. It does work, and it sounds so clear – but the only issue – is that we don’t have many good radio stations in Minnesota, so I won’t use it now.

Still, I know that if and when we move back to IL. or closer to it, I’ll have many more radio stations and choices, and this radio will look so cute on my kitchen counter, and it will give me something to listen to when I’m cooking or baking. 😊I do need to give it a good scrub down, but I love it!

I remember almost losing this guy at the beginning of this year.

He was really sick, and some of the employees at the facility wanted to go say “Goodbye” to him – so, some went to go see him.

My older son and I – went as well. He wasn’t expected to make it.

When my son and I walked into the hospital room that day, this man couldn’t even keep his eyes open, and he struggled to talk. His breathing was shallow and we thought for sure he wouldn’t make it past that weekend. We were talking to him, and I was holding his hand the entire time – while we just watched him doze in and out, and we sat there quietly some moments – just watching T.V. and watching this man rest.

The facility we work in houses the previously homeless, some Criminals, some addicts, recovering addicts, and alcoholics / recovering alcoholics. He’s one of the alcoholics, and we give what they call “Portions” (little bits of alcohol) followed on a plan – to certain alcoholics, so they avoid their withdrawal symptoms and them getting sick from it.

When we were in the hospital that day, this man (that I’ll call Denny) – suddenly woke up, looked over at my older son and I – and tried saying something. We couldn’t understand him, and he finally yelled, “PORTION!”. We laughed because of course Denny is going to ask for his portion, or for us to sneak him one in, and it just made our night seeing him joke around – even if we didn’t expect him to make it that time.

I laughed and told him, “I can’t believe you just said that!”. He smiled and went back to sleep, only to wake up and ask for a cigarette. I playfully – softly hit his arm and told him, “You’re on Oxygen my dude!”.

Eventually, he fell back asleep and woke up – no longer smiling, trying to talk, or anything.

He was coughing. Struggling to breathe. Nodding in and out of sleep.

I decided to let him rest that night, and told my older son we should go, so he could sleep, but every time I thought he was fully asleep and I tried to pull my hand out of his, he squeezed my hand tighter – at one point – shaking his head no and refusing to let us leave.

When we told him we had to go, he looked so sad, and when we got out of that hospital that day, the tears started to fall.

I couldn’t help it.

He’s become one of the main people at this facility that we have grown so close to and grown to love dearly, and I didn’t know if I’d ever see him again after we walked out of there, but thankfully – by the Grace of God – he was back in our facility a few weeks later – looking healthier, so much better, and so full of life.

He still comes down to try to get his portion an hour earlier, and we still have to distract him and talk about other things, so he forgets about it until it’s time. We still have to try to get him to eat because if he could live off alcohol, milk and Sardines – he totally would, but I’m so grateful he’s still with us, and that he’s still his hilarious, crazy, wild, no filter – self.

I’m glad I have a piece of his history with me, even though it’s just a radio, but to me – it’s not.

It’s HIS radio, and he decided he wanted to give it to me. 😊

I’ll forever love this thing, and I hope that in the long future – far from now hopefully – when God wants me back – my older son will keep this radio and cherish it forever – maybe put it in his kitchen one day – to remember Denny and to remember me and the way I loved it because it was from one of our favorite tenants.

Ah well.

I guess I should go get my day started, huh?

🌸Shel🌸

Money misconception, Birthday and books, Bunnie XO and Podcast truths.

Daily writing prompt
What’s a common misconception people have about happiness?
View all responses

“Money can’t buy happiness”.

I hate when people say that, and it’s usually the people who have a lot of it – that say that.

I’ve seen a quote online that says:

“Those who say Money can’t buy happiness – are shopping at the wrong malls”.

I’ve heard people with money say that money doesn’t buy happiness, and they were happier when they didn’t have so much money, but …………………………………………………………………………

I feel like telling them all ………………

“Send it to my account. Problem solved!”. 😁

There are so many things I’d be able to do with a lot more money, and any time I’ve had more – I’ve always been happy, so maybe for some – that saying is true, but for me and many others dealing with this economy right now and the inflation of everything, money can absolutely solve a lot of things and buy happiness!

I can also say that money and mental health definitely play a big part with each other. So, yes, I think if more people had access to more resources or money – mental health struggles would not go away, but the number of people that struggle with mental health may be lowered.

**********

With that being said – let’s talk about my birthday.

It was yesterday.

I woke up emotional.

I’m living in the middle of nowhere in a small town where I don’t know many people, and all of my friends and family are back home in IL.

My parents are gone, so they’re not going to call and wish me a happy birthday, and there’s absolutely nothing to do in this small town or even in the closest bigger city. I would have to drive hours and hours to go find something to do and I didn’t want to do that.

My morning started with tears. With me crying and being this emotional little baby and feeling sorry for myself. I decided I was probably going to go take a ride and get out of the house for a while, maybe grab a free birthday drink from Starbucks, run to a couple of stores, grab my birthday cake I had custom ordered and come right back home to go back to bed.

I planned to watch movies in bed all day. Sounds awful, right?

Do I have people out here that I do know – who I could have called and know they would have celebrated with me? Yes. Still, I just felt like not doing anything yesterday.

I will say that when I picked up my birthday cake – it was better than I expected.

How cute is this?!

I love trolls, so I added a few of those as well.

I also stopped and picked up a bottle of wine.

I planned to watch one of my favorite movies (Second Act) with Jennifer Lopez and Leah Remini.

Great movie, and in it – it was also Maya’s birthday (played by Lopez).

She was feeling sorry for herself because of the things she wanted to do, the things she was doing that she didn’t want to do, and the way she felt unaccomplished. At 40, she was feeling like she should have done more, or be doing more, and that’s kind of how I felt yesterday – aside from not having my IL. family and friends here with me.

So, I was going to watch that movie when the kids went to bed, and I was going to enjoy a glass of wine – or two.

It’s a great movie if you ever need something cute to watch. ❤️

Anyway, I came home yesterday afternoon and sat on the couch for a bit just watching my little dude play his video games and thinking about life itself.

I decided I was NOT going to keep up with this damn pity party that I was having.

I got up, told my daughter to get ready to take a ride with me, and we went to the library.

I love a good book! I love reading and my daughter calls me a “book nerd” / “book worm”, and I must agree with her.

She laughs about how fast I can get through a good book.

I decided I was going to do something I love to do.

Go pick out a few books!

I ended up getting two.

My daughter told me I should try more fictions, because there’s some really good ones out there. Anyone who knows me – knows that I’m mostly about non-fiction books, but I’ll dip my nose into a good fiction love story or mystery / crime book from time to time.

One of my favorite authors from the fiction category of books is Raenne Thayne.

So, I always look for something new from her when we go to the library.

I just read her awesome book

Abby is a widowed nurse trying to move out of state to start a new life somewhere else with her young son, but before she moves to the new state she’s going to, her good friend Lucy asks her to spend a few weeks at Holiday House to watch over her elderly grandma who took a bad fall and was injured.

Lucy is out of town and won’t be back for another few weeks to watch over her own grandma, but when she does come back – she loves the idea of Abby and her son spending Christmas at Holiday House. So does the grandma (Winnie), who both Abby and her son have grown to love.

The problem?

Lucy’s brother (Ethan) stops by every so often, and Abby finds him so attractive.

Ethan (who had a fiancé in the past, but realized he didn’t love her and was perfectly fine when she left him), finds himself attracted to Abby as well, and as Abby knows she’s moving and leaving the state, and Ethan finds himself falling harder for Abby and loving her son like his own the more he sees her and spends time with her – now what?

She’s not staying in the small town she’s currently in to help with Holiday House and the grandma, so Ethan is fighting against his feelings and time. Abby is fighting against her feelings and ignoring time.

Meanwhile, Lucy is dealing with her own love emotions as she has a guy who is so in love with her and wants more than a “friends with benefits” thing that they’ve been having, but she saw her parents fighting a lot, and she never wants to go through that, so she tries her hardest not to get into a relationship with the man who is in love with her, and he refuses to continue to be just her “friend with benefits” .

It’s a really good book, and I totally 10/10 recommend it!

I’ve ready many of her books and love them all!

The one I got at the library yesterday is:

So, I’ve read this one before, but it’s one of my favorites, and yes – I’m going to read it again!

Serenity Harbor is about a wealthy businessman (Bowie) who is raising his little brother (Milo) who has autism and is a lot of work. He can be hard to handle, and uncontrollable sometimes. Bowie didn’t even know he existed until he had to become his guardian.

He and Katrina meet at a local grocery store one day, and she walks over to help him with a meltdown his brother is having, and once he sees how good she is with him, he hires her temporarily to help him with his brother – until the specialist arrives in a few weeks.

She ends up moving in with Bowie (short-term) to make things easier on him while he’s working on his business stuff, and whatever he needs to do, while Katrina is also trying to find out about adopting a special-needs girl she met while doing work in another country a while back.

The longer Katrina is living with Bowie, and he sees how she is with his brother, and the more Katrina gets to know Bowie – they have to struggle to keep it professional and they both need to fight the fact that there are strong feelings there, but neither one of them want to say anything.

10/10 – I recommend this one as well.

This book made me laugh a bit, and she’s just such a great writer – that many of her stories keep me interested, so when it comes to fiction – she’s my first “go-to” for a good book, but I’ve opened my mind up to checking out other fiction as well.

We’ll see.

I’m more into non-fiction as I said. Mostly autobiographies.

I also picked up the book

If you’ve seen the movie (The Blind side) – this is the real guy who went through everything that movie is based on. It’s a real story, and I wanted to read things from his point of view.

In the movie (The Blind side) – they show Michael wearing a T-shirt and shorts in the cold weather when he was picked up by the family, but in the book – the real Michael shares he was not wearing that. In the movie – it shows them picking him up and automatically taking him to their house, but in the book – the real Michael shares that they took him to a bus stop.

It’s an interesting book, and while there’s not many differences between the book and movie – there are a few and it’s always nice to learn what really happened.

The library is one of my happy places. 😁

My daughter knows we can be there for a long time, so she minds her business, lets me pick out books, suggests books to me, and lets me just do my thing.

I love her for her patience! lol.

I had to laugh when we were checking out and she made a comment about how I can get through books in two days, and the librarian smiled and told me, “Well then – you need more than just two books!”.

My daughter was hungry, so as much as I wanted to tell the librarian she was probably right, turn around and go to look for more books, we just checked out and I went to grab Pizza for dinner. It was my birthday and I wasn’t planning to cook for it.

We had Pizza. We had my cake. The kids sang to me and I danced to it. I took some cute photos because again – I wasn’t going to be emotional all day and let it ruin my day, and I relaxed for a bit with the kids.

I was waiting for them to go to bed, so I could pour a glass of wine and watch (Second Act), but I ended up getting so tired – I went to be bed as well.

Of course – I had to grab a few selfies.

Sharing just one❤️

I also had to treat myself to this hilarious shirt.

If you’ve never heard the country song (Beer never broke my heart) by Luke Combs – go check it out.

I had a decent birthday.

It wasn’t fantastic, but it was okay, and I’m okay with that.

If you want to laugh – there’s a trend on TikTok where women change the numbers of their candles around.

If someone is 42, she’ll change the 2 to the other side to make it look like she’s 24. If she’s 32, she’ll make it look like she’s 23, and whoever is with her, changes the numbers back around to her real age. The woman who is doing this trend – will say “no”, playfully slap the hand of whoever is changing it back, as she changes it to the way she wants it to be, and giggles.

So many women are doing this trend right now.

I was going to do a video with this trend – until I made myself laugh because I’m 44 now.

No matter how I switch the number candles, they’re going to come out the same way. 🤔

I didn’t think about that when I planned to do this trend.

Ah well. It was a fun thought.

****************

Babies!

I also mentioned a few days ago that I heard Bunnie XO and Jelly were getting divorced, and it broke my heart.

They are one of my favorite couples, and I thought they were so happy – forever and ever, Amen.

No.

The internet went crazy trying to figure out why they were suddenly getting divorced once the news broke, and people wondered who cheated on who.

The internet went crazy trying to dog out Jelly and sticking up for Bunnie. The internet went crazy gossiping, spreading rumors and lies, and sharing nonsense. The internet went crazy bringing up old videos of Bunnie and Jelly with other people or trying to decode the meanings of everything in their videos or on their socials.

I did none of that.

I waited because I knew that eventually – the truth was going to come out, and one of them was going to speak on it.

I knew one of them was going to come out with exactly what was going on, and why the divorce was happening, and yesterday – as I drove home from the library and grabbing Pizza, I noticed that Bunnie XO had put out a Podcast called, “The divorce”.

My daughter and I listened to it on the way home and it broke my heart.

I stand with Bunnie XO, and so does the entire world of women.

She spoke on how her and Jelly stopped communicating a long time ago, and she has always felt like she loved him – more than he loved her. She said they had a bad argument on Mother’s Day, and she screamed for him to file the divorce papers, and – he did.

She said she screamed it out of anger, but when he really went and filed, that was a rude awakening for her. She didn’t want the divorce. She doesn’t want the divorce. She wanted to try to work it out in marriage counseling, but Jelly doesn’t want to. He’s ready for the divorce and he’s ready to see other people now.

He’s not happy in this marriage and she still stuck up for him and said he’s doing what he has to do, and she respects that.

She said everything beautifully in her Podcast and talked about being happy for him wanting to be happy, and finding his way now, and she even went as far as to tell women listening – that his DM’s are open and that if he finds a woman who is sweet, genuine and isn’t on some sneaky shit – she’ll welcome that woman with open arms.

She spoke highly of Jelly and talked about the years they’ve spent together. She spoke of building their empire together, and their struggles trying to have a baby, and even mentioned that they plan to keep trying to have a baby together / co-parent together if it happens – despite the divorce. (Which confused the hell out of me, but everyone does things differently).

She killed any rumors or gossip going around the internet and said she is NOT and never will be dating Chad Kroeger despite videos or rumors out there. She said Jelly is dating already, and she’s happy for him. She said he was kind enough to give her the compound they were building together and talked about how they will always be friends.

She shared her true feelings on everything, and despite her not wanting the divorce, she is okay being there for him during this time and being happy for his next chapter in life – whatever that may be and whoever he may end up with.

Bunnie XO is a beautiful person with a beautiful soul, and she’s not going to cause him problems or make his life hell just because he wants this divorce, and he’s ready to move on, and I respect her so much for that. ❤️

If you’ve seen his video from his concert (I believe last night) – now that the news of the divorce is out because TMZ got ahold of it and broke the news, and because now Bunnie XO spoke about it on her Podcast, he went on to say at his concert – that Bunnie Xo is his best friend and always will be – and I thought that was beautiful.

So, if you’ve been waiting on one of them to break their silence, or if you’re wondering what’s really going on – there ya have it.

UPDATE: The podcast has since been deleted, but I was able to listen to it when it first came out, so for those wondering – that’s what was said on it!

My heart broke every time she wanted to cry, and I’m sure this is killing her, but still – she stays peaceful, respectful, and honors his wishes.

THE WORLD LOVES BUNNIE XO, and she’s going to be alright.

She’s already landing on her feet and working on herself.

I giggle every time I hear someone say Jelly is an idiot, or that he fumbled Bunnie, and I have to agree, but we’re not going to disrespect, or talk down on him. We’re not going to make him feel bad, right?

People fall out of love all the time. He did the right thing by filing the divorce, not cheating on her, and not leading her on to believe that all was still good when it wasn’t / isn’t.

I think if a married couple can work things out and love each other, by all means – I cheer that on, but if one falls out of love, or one knows that it’s not working and he or she chooses to file divorce before cheating, so they can go see other people or see who else is out there that may be more for them – I’m all for that as well.

He never talks down on her or bad about her, and I know that despite all of this – them being one of my favorite couples – and now – no longer together – they will always love and be there for one another and that’s all we need to know.

Bunnie said she’s “Getting her sparkle back”…. but baby never lost it!

She’s always had that sparkle!

Loves.

Have a beautiful day my loves.

I’m going to go enjoy my Coffee and the Michael Oher book, and tonight – best believe me and that wine have a date. ha. I plan to watch that movie I planned to watch last night.

📚Shel📚

Growth and God go hand in hand.

Daily writing prompt
What is one way you have grown this year?
View all responses

I no longer try to control things that are out of my control.

I have learned that life is going to test us sometimes. Life is going to challenge us sometimes. Life is going to throw curveballs and kick our asses sometimes, and sometimes – some of that stuff is going to be out of our control.

I used to stress over many things. I used to worry. I used to stay awake at night if there was an issue.

I used to try to figure out what I can do to change outcomes, or people’s minds, or to try to make a situation better.

I don’t do that anymore.

These days, I have grown by just allowing whatever is going to be – to be, and trusting if things don’t work out, or go the way I plan them – God has a different plan

I have to trust him!

If I know I have the power to change something – be it a situation or someone’s mind, or whatever life is throwing at me, I will do everything in my power to do so, but if I know there is probably nothing that I can do to change something – I’m not even going to try to do it anymore, and I’m just going to go with the flow.

I no longer allow myself to stress over things I can’t control.

I no longer try to change things I can’t control.

I no longer allow myself lose sleep over things I can’t control, or to let those things upset me.

I trust God and sometimes – we just have to grow with him and let him handle the things that are out of our control and power.

Sometimes, we just have to trust him to know who and what we need, who and what we don’t need, and to do what only God can do.

I was watching a movie one time (The War Room) and in this movie – a woman was trying to change her husband and his ways to keep her family together, and she finally broke down and cried over the husband not changing. Not wanting to make it work. Not thinking about his family.

She met an elderly woman who told her the reason things are not working out the way she wants to – is because she’s trying to control the situation without God. She’s not praying about it. This elderly woman tells her she has to pray, give all these problems to God, and then “Get out of the way and let him do what only he can do!”.

I took that advice to allow myself to grow in that, and that’s what I follow these days.

With situations at my job. With relationships and friendships. With life itself. With anything that life throws my way.

I don’t get upset. I don’t get angry. I don’t get stressed or bothered anymore.

I simply “Let go and Let God”.

I pray about whatever it is on my mind or in my heart, or anything that comes my way that I can’t control or handle, and then – I get out of the way and let God do what only he can do. Only he can control the situation, the curveball, the stress, the worry, the problems – whatever they may be.

That’s one way I’ve grown this year.

I’ve had to walk by faith and in faith many times, and I’ve grown to allow myself to trust God to make things happen, or make things right, or even to make things better. To let a situation or problem work itself out, or for me to be okay at the end of a problem or situation. To trust God to walk me through it and be there with me as I do, and I always just pray for him to let things work out the way they’re supposed to.

Someone also once said that worrying is like a rocking chair – it gives you something to do, but it doesn’t get you anywhere.

I follow that now.

It took a lot for me to grow not only emotionally, but spiritually and to trust God to take control of the things I can’t and to work them out for good.

I fully believe in the Serenity prayer, and I learned it when I was a little girl going to church often, and still follow that today.

So, this is my “way I’ve grown in the last year”.

And now – time for Coffee and Good morning!

🍵Shel🍵

If I could tell my 20-year-old self – something, The “D” word hits one of my favorite couples, and a rained-out baseball game.

Daily writing prompt
What is something you wish you could tell your 20-year-old self?
View all responses

“Baby, go to college and start a career now. If you wait, life is going to kick your ass!”.

Today’s WP writing prompt asked. I’m answering.

I know they say that no matter how old you are, it’s never too late to go back to school, but I will also add to that – that it’s a lot harder if you’re older.

If you’re in your 20’s – Do it while you’re young! Go to college NOW!

I was raising a kid when I was 20, and I was still partying and living my best life, so I wasn’t thinking about college.

I wanted to go.

I knew I should go to college right then and there.

Well, I did go for a little bit, but not the way I should have been.

I enrolled for Psychology because at the time – that’s what I thought I wanted to do, but I dropped those classes because then I thought I wanted to be a nurse.

I took up CNA classes at first and planned to get my LPN license. Eventually, I wanted to go for my RN license because I wanted to be a Labor and Delivery nurse, but sometimes – not all pregnancies and births go the way they’re supposed to, and I knew I didn’t want to see the awful side of it. The pregnancies and births that didn’t go smoothly, or the babies that ended up in the NICU for whatever reasons.

So……………

I left those classes because Massage therapy sounded nice, but I wasn’t interested in the fact that we had to get completely naked in class, and work on each other (because that’s part of Massage therapy) in real life. Of course, we were all covered by thin sheets, but still.

I left those classes, and when I finally figured out what I really wanted to do – I should have just gone to college, stuck with it, finished and got into my career young.

I always knew what I wanted to be or do from the time I was 15, (Probation officer) so it wasn’t like I was still “trying to figure it out”. Or was I? Maybe I was just trying to make sure before I enrolled in classes again.

When I finally knew for sure……………….

I just didn’t feel like I had time for that because when was I going to spend time with my kid, or have time to party? I was making the wrong choices and felt like I had all the time in the world for college, and “I’ll go one day”. That was my mind-set and I wish it wasn’t back then, but the reality is – even though I am now 43, and graduated college with two Criminal Justice degrees, it was so much harder to balance work, kids, bills, and life in general when I did finally go to college at the age of 39.

I graduated with my associate degree in 2023, and my BA degree in 2025, and I am so proud of that.

It is proof that no matter how old you are, you can still go back to school and do something with yourself, but – it is so much harder as you get older and have to balance different things, meet school paper deadlines and do projects, and so on.

If I had a chance to tell my 20-year-old self – something – it would be not to wait. To go to college while you’re 20 and only have one kid. While you’re not working crazy hours and overtime and paying all these bills, and losing your damn mind trying to survive in your 40’s.

I am still so proud of all the men and women who do go to college at a later age and finish, but it’s a lot harder, and I’m sure many would agree with me.

It’s not easy to raise kids, pay bills, work their asses off and are my age – just now going to college to better their lives.

I will also say that as we get older – even if we graduate college and have the best GPA’s and degrees, it’s not enough to get the career you want because now you’re a lot older, and people our ages are looking forward to only working the next 20-something years and living the rest of our lives having fun, retired and happy – not just trying to start the career you wanted to start many years ago while you were younger, and didn’t get your ass into college right away.

It’s not only harder going to college when you’re older, but also to start a career you want when you’re older.

I do suggest if you’re in your teens or 20’s and you’re reading this – you plan to go to college right after high school and get the career you want while you’re still young enough to do so.

As for me, I sadly live in an area / small town – where there isn’t many or any opportunities to be in the career I want, so, I will be moving somewhere bigger and better in the next few months to a year and making sure I make this happen for myself, but………….

………………… don’t wait to go to college and think you can be what you want to be later, because sometimes – that doesn’t happen, it may be too late, and you just need to motivate yourself to do it now.

Hell, even if you’re in your 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and still thinking about college and wish you could – you SHOULD!

It’s never too late. It just becomes a little harder, but if I did it, why not you?

SO, I’d just tell my 20-year-old self to enroll, finish now, and become what you’ve always wanted to become.

Don’t wait.

Besides that……………..

I think by now – we all went to bed last night or woke up this morning to the shocking and sad news that:

(Image taken from TMZ)

I was scrolling Facebook last night, and I scrolled past a TMZ post reporting it, and we all know that TMZ doesn’t report it – if it’s not facts, right? They are my “go-to” when I want to check sources and make sure the news I hear is real.

I was so heartbroken to hear this because what the hell?

Jelly and Bunnie seemed like they were so happy.

They seemed like the perfect couple.

I just read Bunnie’s new book about how they were healing together after everything that happened in their past with each other and as individuals.

I heard a few months ago, Bunnie was doing treatments to try to get pregnant and have their baby.

So, this came out of nowhere for everyone, and I think the entire world is feeling this.

I’m not a huge Jelly roll fan, but him as a person and all the good things that he has done for others – makes him an amazing person, and we all know I absolutely adore and love Bunnie XO. She’s real, raw and doesn’t care what people think.

She inspires others to not care what people think, and she has done so much good for others as well.

So, to hear that he filed for this divorce, it’s sad.

It just proves that when others see another couple looking all cuddled up and happy, all cute and think that they are “the perfect couple”, we never know what goes on behind closed doors, or what struggles their marriage is having.

A married couple could look so happy and perfect outdoors around people, go home together, and be miserable.

The wife is unhappy and truly wants a divorce, but they have kids, assets, a business, or whatever else they own together, so it will be tough and expensive to get out of the marriage, or the husband feels that way. Maybe both – but not all “happy and perfect” marriages are the way they seem and Jelly and Bunnie proved that.

Someone in our family – or our friend groups can seem like they have the healthiest, best marriage and in reality, when the couple is home alone – they’re doing nothing but fighting, or not speaking to each other and not sleeping in the same bed anymore.

We never know the reality of what couples DON’T want us to see, so – we think and see what they portray, and that’s how it is now with Bunnie and Jelly. He filed in May, and nobody knew anything until they just announced it and news channels reported it.

Bunnie was with Jelly when he had nothing. She helped him financially, emotionally and mentally when he was going through some of his darkest times, and she helped raise his daughter, and he did a lot of things for her as well, so I’m hoping they remain good friends, continue to be there for each other, and get to live their individual happy lives now – apart. 💔

NOBODY SAW THIS ONE COMING, but that’s life.

******

Baseball:

We drove an hour 1/2 away to another part of Minnesota last night for the double-header our team was supposed to play, but while GPS showed at first it was 2-hours, it was about an hour and some minutes or so.

We got their and my kids were speechless at how beautiful and huge this other school was.

They have their own ICE arena, and my kids joked that if those kids ever came to our little town, they’d want to turn around go back to their little town.

Anyway, it was cold.

The weather called for storms, and it was lightening with rumbles of thunder way off in the distance, but we all knew it was going to eventually get to us.

The coaches kept an eye on the weather, and there were talks about either waiting it out for the 2nd game, or rescheduling. As we sat on the bleachers, the clouds got lower, darker, and weather apps were saying, “Take shelter now”. That part of Minnesota has seen a few tornados, and I just told my kids to be ready to run to the car, open it and start it up, and I’d grab Elijah (my little dude), and I’d run to the car as well.

I wanted to make sure they were safe, while I made sure my little dude was safe – if anything major happened, but – thankfully, it just started pouring right after we won our first game against this school, and the boys all ran into the dugout to eat hotdogs, and whatever else the moms and dads brought.

We brought the chips, and I felt like I should have gotten something healthy, but I was so happy to hear that almost every kid on the team dug into the chips, and they were good with it. 😁

My little dude came running over to me and told me the coach said he could leave because they probably weren’t playing the 2nd game. I walked over to the coach to make sure – because sometimes, my little dude likes to play around too much, but he was right.

Our Coach and the coach from the other team were talking about how it wasn’t supposed to stop raining until later, and they were talking about rescheduling. The other coach mentioned how if the boys went back onto the field, they’d be cold, wet and miserable and I was glad he made that call to end it for the night.

So, we were able to leave and get home earlier than we expected, and it was nice to not have to drive late on dark, country roads. We drove while it was still light outside and got home safely by the grace of God!

The boys have an hour-long practice today.

I had to laugh when we were leaving the field yesterday, walking to the car and my daughter ran past me.

She yelled, “Go! Go! Run! I stole a box of the chips we brought!”.

She was running, so I thought she was serious. I yelled her name and told her to get back by me, but she stopped running, laughed and said she was just joking.

She smiled and said, “If I were to steal anything – it wouldn’t be a box of chips!”. She was raised right, and she knows better, so I’m not worried about her stealing anything, but I did think she took the box of chips – maybe thinking they were done with it.

I had brought two boxes, and she said she grabbed a bag, and one of the coaches told her all the boys already had chips, and they were done, so she was able to take that box home.

All-in-all, the boys had fun yesterday before the wind picked up and it started raining.

There were no tornados.

We got home safe.

I was up early this morning, and this mama hasn’t had coffee yet, so I love you all and hope you have a blessed day if you run across this!

❤️Shel❤️