Life Update - August 2019
Life Update 2019
Well - What can I say I know I have been missing for a while. Which is the same line that everyone says- but the reason why I have been absent is not like any other. It’s long - so hope you read fast!
I will start with this - my heart and desires are back in sync.
See, I left a campus I was teaching at on my own terms two years ago - Thanks to my supporting husband - I had the opportunity to re-wind the clock of time and treat my youngest one like a little one again. He wasn’t driving yet so I decided that his sophomore year was the perfect time to coddle him.
I got to drive him to school everyday - every single day.
We had breakfast together everyday - every single day.
I went to every wrestling match - including the ones that were during the day and required travel. I was actually the team Mom. Yep - team Mom!
I also took that time to decide what I wanted to do with The Bronzed Beauty and find the right person who would love my clients with all they have - just like I did - and still do. There have been times when I wanted to bust out of retirement a time or two….
I found Laura who turned it to The Golden Pineapple and I could not be more proud of her. She has taken the business as her own and has grown remarkably!
I found a job with JPaul Roofing and was able to apply my marketing skills and I excelled in areas that I never thought possible. Being a social butterfly was perfect for me - I adore my Erin and Jason. They helped me fulfill a dream and need that was in my soul. Yet there was still something nagging at me that felt I needed to teach. To this day - I miss them dearly.
I also spent some time before teaching to do some business development for a company that reps ultra high purity filtration. I was able to help get a highly successful business of 10 years become more streamlined and integrate technology. Which also meant a lot of time behind a desk, typing, excel documents and weight gain - so for 3.5 weeks, no content. I mean I was in my pj’s everyday - so why bother to look cute.
I also tried to be someone I am not. While I learned all about myself and did a LOT of self discovery - I learned I am not a Instagram “Influencer” - that is not my goal or dream in life.
I wanted to use Instagram to help others with my old lady wisdom.
I wanted to use Instagram to be a source of comfort for those who need it
The thought of being invited to new places and events free of charge was enticing - but after so deep reflection I realized that -it’s just not me. But I learned - here’s a small list
I learned that I do care what others think of me
I learned that I have a good and bad side and angles are your friend
I learned that social media has made me clean my house more
I learned that I am too lazy to do my hair and make up everyday
I learned that I have to step out of the same shadow style that I have had for 10 years
I learned that there IS value in documenting your life - my grand children will one day be able to imagine more of what it was like to for their dads to live with me and see how their family was. They will see our traditions from the “day in history” and know what I was all about.
I also learned that it made me more vain that what I originally was to begin with!
I learned to pay more attention to details
I learned that I do not want to be a “content creator” that cranks out pictures that aren’t really me or promote products I don’t actually use
I learned that there is a whole new world outside of Texas and made me want to explore
I learned to take better pictures that tell a story
I learned that I have made better friends on-line that turned into real friends IRL
I learned that I am not alone in some of my feelings in this world
I learned I don’t want to be in sales - having to depend on others to buy stuff from me so I can eat is just not me….I find comfort in consistency.
I love being a teacher. I don’t want to find a way out of teaching. Would I like to make more money - sure. Could I make more - I have. But it’s the OUTCOME of what I do that makes me whole.
So - I stopped posting.
I stopped looking for things to post and talk about. I just enjoyed my life - living it everyday.
I went to NYC with only a recap of my day and shared some crazy amazing experiences on my stories and just lived it. I loved watching my boys experience a whole new city and way of life and recording it for myself to obsess with later. Which I am still doing….
When I came back - first meeting out of the gate was about social media and expectations as teachers with our social media accounts. Key lesson to take away from that - which I say ALL the time:
Perception is not always reality.
You may post a picture that someone may take a certain way that you did not intend.
It wasn’t your intention - you didn’t mean it like that.
Teachers are held to a higher standard and we have to be more careful about what we post and how the public can perceive us.
So, now I am pretty much back to looking like a materialistic, un-opinionated mindless twit because I am not going to lose my job and college education because someone’s perception or opinion doesn’t gel with mine. Nope - Not happening.
Fast forward to Friday - and family comes into town.
Sunday my back starts to hurt and I am thinking - maybe that massage therapist was a bit rougher than I thought.
Monday morning - I am in a training with every math teacher in the district and I get struck with a pain in my back/side that brings me to my knees. Literally.
I got up to go to the bathroom - and had a stabbing pain in my side and back. So I ventured into a dark classroom next door and laid on the floor to do some stretches thinking - crud, I am really getting old and some how pulled my back.
It got worse - quick. I felt like I was being stabbed in the lower back with an ice pick. I crawled back to my table - where EVERY math teacher from my team at my new school is sitting and ask where the closest emergency room is…. At that point - I felt like I was going to pass out.
People were starting to get blurry - I asked if someone could take me to the emergency room
I guess no one wanted to take me or understood the severity of my pain. Or maybe they didn’t hear cause I got up, grabbed my stuff and headed to my car.
While I was headed to my car, a lady who said she worked on that campus found me in the grass between the cafeteria and my car. By that time, a team mate came outside and was headed to her car to take me to the ER.
Next thing you know - I am screaming my name, social and date of birth to the nurse behind the glass who tells another person to prep room 6 ….. I didn’t care what that meant and only hoped that was for me.
It was. Before the CT scan even happened - they all told me it was a Kidney Stone - they had seen the anguish many times before.
In less than 10 minutes, I was with an IV and had a nice dose of Morphine. OMG the relief was immediate. Like a light switch. I was like “ok, great! Thanks! Time to go back to work! Can you just give me three more bags of fluid and I will be on my way!”
Needless to say, it didn’t happen. I got one more bag of fluids and a extra morphine shot for the road!
I did go back to work on Tuesday, despite my Doctor note and my “redirection” from my friend who just happens to be the Head Honcho of Urology at The Mayo Clinic.
Yes Kelly - I am drinking my 3L of water and I have ½ a canned soda a day.
Since then, I have been living that back to school life. Meeting after meeting, to set up meetings. Yesterday, I finally got into my classroom. Why so late? Well, the reconstruction on my campus is still going on and some rooms don’t even have tile on the floor!
I am not going to complain that I have no technology in my room and my final wall was painted today. I got locked out of the most crucial app I needed to do paperwork - but I will not complain. I won’t complain that I didn’t get posters up and I still need more.
I look forward to continuing my adventure as a teacher. I even get an advisory class where I get to be a momma hen!!! It’s AMAZING!!! I get to momma hen again!
I will get back on track shortly and really refocus my blog on fashion in your 40’s, teacher style, navigating life in this stage of my life and share my love of all things skin care - all while being my true authentic self.
Once I get the first 30 days of school in the books!
Muah!!!
