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Never say never

mssinglemama — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 23:21:06 +0000

If you would have asked me one year ago if I’d a) fall in love with a man or b) actually be caught dead on a golf course, or in this case a driving range; I would have clocked you silly on both counts.

But you would have been right.

Exhibit a)

The man, the myth, the John Bear – sporting his new long locks, dashing aviator glasses and, as always, his easy, contagious laugh.

Lead weights, baby. Absolutely astounding.

Exhibit b)

Me, thanks to Exhibit a, golfing and yes – enjoying it.

Looks like I’m holding a baseball bat, although I wouldn’t know how to hold one of those either.

And then my attempt at a perfect golfer follow through.

Conclusion

[Although, if you must know the truth, John and I totally ditched Georgia by Day 3 and fled back up North to Asheville, North Carolina. Pictures in my Spring Gallery.]

P.S.

Thanks to all of you who snapped up the first New Leaf charm bracelets and necklaces, the first batch will be mailed out this week. There are about a dozen of each remaining in this limited edition pure sterling batch. Shop here. Or, stay tuned for the more affordable bronze new leaf necklaces coming back in a few weeks now! Exciting.

Work

mssinglemama — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 13:02:44 +0000

“This isn’t working is it?”

“No, it’s not,” John answers.

Working together, in the same office, just two feet away from each other had been talking it’s toll on John and I’s relationship. My boyfriend had been replaced with a co-worker and we couldn’t break the two, draw the lines, separate work from play. Starting your own business is one thing but dragging your relationship into it is another thing entirely.

“Where’s John?” Brad asked during week two.

“I’m not sure. I think he’s at home today. This working together thing is killing us.”

“Really, why?”

“I don’t know. It’s just killing our mojo.”

“Your mojo?”

“Yeah, you know – our mojo – everything is off. Everything.” And I didn’t know how to fix it. John wanted to stop working together immediately, to my protest.

“If we can’t make it work at work can we work together while raising a family? That’s work, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” John told me, “it is. But that’s different.”

I wasn’t sure whether or not I could buy into that school of thought. Newborns, diapers, sleep-deprivation, cleaning, coordinating schedules – work. Or not. I couldn’t be sure and then, after a few more weeks of working in separate spaces, things fell back into place. Our relationship felt more like our relationship again and I realized that he was right.

Choosing not to work together was a pre-emptive move to prevent an all out assault on our relationship. But, it did not mean we were incompatible. So, with me as his ultimate cheer leader, John started looking for another job and within two weeks he had two offers. He chose an absolutely awesome SEO company where he’ll have his hands in all kinds of fun strategy stuff – the perfect fit.

This first year, our first year, has been intense. Our careers have both been shifting on a micro level along with the entire marketing and advertising industry at this dawn of new media. Now we’ve both landed and can finally just sit back and have a toast to riding the wave and surviving.

To celebrate and because we’re long overdue for a little trip, John and I are taking off for a beach on Tybee Island near Savannah. We weighed the pros and cons of bringing Benjamin along but I vetoed and insisted we go alone. This will be our second full week alone in the year we’ve been together. We need this time. For ourselves, yes, but largely for Benjamin. Adult alone time is essential, I believe, to feeding a relationship and therefore to creating a happy family.

And we’re starving.

Stay tuned for random vacation pics and posts over this week.

——

And some notes on work…

All is going incredibly well with Cement Marketing. Remember Lifeline of Ohio? My first client? Check out their new website – designed, developed and created by Cement Marketing. Sweet. And if you can make it – meet me on Sunday when I get back from vacation at the State House for their candle light vigil.

Trippin’, Part 1

mssinglemama — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 01:09:06 +0000

There was a time, not too long ago actually, that I couldn’t imagine having mind-blowing good adult fun without alcohol, a night out and/or loud music involved. Long road trips, especially with new boyfriends, sent me into a packing frenzy which included over planning and filling my purse with all of the CDs and books I could find. Used in case of emergency to cure the often inevitable and uncomfortable bouts of silence, the music could dull the edge of a silent tension brought on by something either imagined or otherwise and the books could prevent me from fits of boredom.

It wasn’t until two hours in to my vacation with John Bear that it occurred to me that I had not only neglected to bring any music but that I’d also left behind my new copy of The Time Traveler’s Wife. Outside of our first Fiesta Mission, John and I had never spent more than three or four hours completely alone. Certain we’d have a great time I was still nervous about the nine hour car ride and our three night stay in a secluded cabin. Would we get sick of each other? Would we fight? Would we be bored? Would he start to smell funny after that much prolonged exposure?

The simple twist of fate that brought us together showed up again to throw the most challenging traveling scenarios a new couple can possibly face. But you’ll have to wait to hear the stories because we’re still technically on the road (more on why later). But I can tell you it’s been one crazy trip…

Until I can write more, you’ll have to settle with some clues of what we’ve been up to in my photo gallery (round one is going up tonight, hoping to get round two up tomorrow).

Lebron took off with my head

mssinglemama — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 04:03:07 +0000

And he told him to do it…

While this one cheered him on.

Last night Benjamin woke up screaming clutching his little blue Transformer car, “Mommy, Mommmmmyyyyy!”

I ran up the stairs in a hazy fog and said, “What, Baby? What?”

“I’m sorry,” he whimpered.

“For what?”

“I ripped your head off.”

“Huh?” I was beginning to think I was in a dream myself when he kept going.

“I was a robot and I ripped your head off, Mommy. I’m sorry.” He was now heaving sobs and tears were bursting out of his sweet little eyes.

I wrapped my hands around my neck and started shaking my head around so he could see it was securely fastened. “It was just a dream, Baby, just a dream. Back to bed.”

I kissed him on the forehead, checked the lights in the room, turned down the fan a notch and went back to bed and to my sleeping John Bear.

He only lives a few blocks away so it makes it easy for him to slip off to his place long before Benjamin even wakes up, which he does diligently and without complaint. When Benjamin does wake up, I usually hear him within seconds. If for some reason I don’t, John is shaking me and screaming bloody murder while simultaneously jumping out of my bed and looking for a hiding spot.

Satisfied that Benjamin was back down for good I nestled up into John’s chest and fell back asleep. One hour later, I was finally entering something that resembled REM, when John lurched forward with a shout. I sounded as if he’d been pushed off of a cliff by surprise.

“What? What? Are you okay?” I was now wide awake and totally freaked out.

“Yeah, I’m fine. It was just a dream.”

After our blood pressures had returned to normal I forced a thought out of my exhausted brain, “Well, what was it about? Did you die or something?”

“No, I was at a Cavs game.”

“And?”

“And they had just won the Championship.”

We spent about 15 minutes laughing our asses off and then I finally fell asleep again. I’m so glad the men in my life are having such simple, albeit sometimes frightening dreams, but I have been tossing and turning lately. If I don’t get a solid night of sleep soon I’ll be ripping my own head off and passing it to Lebron James for a dunk.

Tomorrow I’m taking off in the Fiesta with John Bear for a long overdue a vacation sleep-fest. Our destination? A cabin in the middle of the Poconos mountains with no internet, no cell phone service and absolutely nothing to focus on aside from the cool mountain air and the hot tub. After that we’re heading to New York City to visit and crash with his twenty-something little brother.

I’ll be back in six days, or maybe seven. If you’re going through Ms. Single Mama withdrawal please buy your copy of Ms. Single Mama Uncensored.

Loose Ends

When I get back I’ll be shipping out the silver new leaf necklaces. Have you seen them? If not, check them out here and try not to jump up and down. There are only 35 left and I’m not sure if there will be another round or not, so best to snatch one up now.

And, last but not least, the winners of the Lion Share contest are:

Grand Prize:

Restless Mama!!! Congratulations.

Runners-up (winners of a copy of MSM Uncensored courtesy of the sweet Lion):

Aruscore
Jen C from Cali
Demetria
Christy

[P.S. I picked the winners with my scrolling finger down the page. That's my Random Generator and they've all be e-mailed. More contests coming soon... if you have any bachelors please send me their info - I'd love to feature them.]

No place like home.

mssinglemama — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 21:55:08 +0000

Okay. I know. I can’t click these heels and be delivered from evil, but…

they make me feel like I could.

They’re amazing. My dream flats. And they were only $17.99 at Target. This picture doesn’t do them justice, just wanted you to know they’re on sale this week — because they won’t last. And no, Target didn’t pay me to say that…

There is no place like home, but I need to get out of here – for longer than 48 hours.

This time I’m taking Benjamin with me. We’re going out to California at the end of the month to hide away from the world in Joshua Tree National Park (no offense world, but you can be annoying and those Joshua Trees look pretty cool).

This will be our first vacation together and Benjamin’s first flight.

I am still in awe that we are even able to do this – to take a vacation. Financially speaking such a thing would have been absolutely impossible a few years ago. I found some incredibly cheap tickets though and we’re renting a place outside of the park. Rather than shopping or paying for a hotel, we’ll be hiking and eating packed lunches.

Aside from persuading the coyotes to adopt Benjamin into their pack, I’ll be trying to find a pet lizard for him and maybe even a cactus or two. Oh, and I’ll be completely unhooked from the internet – a very good thing.

On my last day, we’ll be heading back to Los Angeles to meet up with that Matt guy for a picnic and you’re all invited! I’m super excited about it but can’t tell you where yet — but I can tell you it will be in the afternoon on March 1st. So save the date. More details soon.

Speaking of Matt Logelin, he needs your help.

And because the economy sucks and wallets are tight – the Liz Logelin Foundation, a charity for widows and widowers with young children- has set up an easy way for you to donate. Get over there and check it out. At the very least, join his Facebook Group and spread the word to your friends.

In other news…

Morgan Siler, aka Modern Single Momma, a very dear blogging friend of mine has arrived in Kentucky with her man and her son. Visit her blog to see pictures of their road trip all the way from Portland.

Not sure who is coming to see who yet but I can’t even believe she’s living so close to me now. And we were both mentioned in this article in the Chicago Tribune today. It’s actually an excellent piece on being a dating single parent. You should definitely check that out.

And I’m about to attempt to make a tuna casserole for my little Benjamin. Wish me luck. Phew.

What a messy post. Hope you got something out of that.

Just had a lot to share.

My prince sent me a castle.

mssinglemama — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 22:05:27 +0000

Thomas has been sending me little clues on the places we’ll be visiting during my trip to Denmark… like this one:

A castle. Couldn’t resist passing it on. I’m so excited!