A United Front

Someone messed with this momma's baby cub this week.

Ignorantly, this Pharisee undermined the power of a momma bear, messed in an area none of his business and made the statement, "I think I opened a can of worms."

Worms are harmless.

He knocked over a hornets nest and certainly did not think I was ready for confrontation.

Not only am I ready for confrontation at zero notice, I have a mightier force behind me, David.

What momma bear can not handle, poppa bear will finish.

I love him for so many reasons.

We are a united front.

2 + 2

Winter was far too long and far too cold.

My body longed for intense, physical activity in the sunshine that brings balance.

Sunshine and spring is the perfect segue for all things transitioning and welcoming summer.

I have lost 2 lbs in 2 days playing tennis and bike riding.

My muscles are tight and feel amazing.

It is everything I missed.

    Playing outdoors in the sunshine and fresh air.

       Moving.

           Increasing my heart rate.
         
               Feeling my muscles burn.

                   Sunshine warm on my skin.

Today is Sunday, sunny and 66 degrees.

Day #3 of sunshine and exercise.

Eat healthy and get moving, summer is coming!

A Day of Compliments

I was asked to speak on behalf of our rescue mission in front of what was approximately 100 business professionals through the Chamber of Commerce. In my mind, I was thinking around 20-some people and was quite surprised when I entered the large conference room.

Let me back up ...

Not knowing my audience, I play it safe and slip into my favorite black dress that is business, professional, classy and figure-flattering.

Black-strap heels and pearls, a classic look.

Suddenly, I realize my favorite dress which I once looked like a stuffed marshmallow in, then fit perfectly, is now way too loose. A wonderful surprise!

I have noticed a difference since beginning my 30 Days to Healthy Living with Arbonne and I have been exercising at least 5 days per week, but it was the dress that really made me see the difference.

It made me crave another Arbonne protein shake, my new favorite breakfast.

So, I get to the Chamber's breakfast meeting with a grand buffet of food in silver platters and pass on the delicious looking cinnamon rolls, the plump sausage, hash browns and eggs and go with fresh pineapple, clementines and a hot green tea.

As I sit down in this large conference room of tables, linens and strangers, a woman loudly states, "No wonder you are so skinny, you don't eat!"

World stop!

Thank you sweet woman for noticing, shouting and bringing attention as I feign blushing [for the record, I don't blush].

In an "Oh my!" moment of acting because everyone is now staring at me and my plate I am so proud they were looking at I share, "I confess, I had a protein shake this morning."

My eyes are checking out the heavy-laden plates of food the others are consuming. I know my black dress is fitting pretty loose and I appreciate this woman's notice more than she will ever know.

With a microphone in hand, at the front of the room, I started off with a powerful statement before I introduced myself and shared our rescue mission.

A lot of compliments followed.

Presenting at 7:30 a.m., driving to the mission to cover lunch to the pubic, I was happy to walk out the door at 11:00 a.m. and have the rest of the day open.

In comes compliment #2 that stunned me.

I get threaded. I go to an older Indian woman who finds it her job to educate, criticize and let me know everything I do wrong. I go to her because she is a perfectionist, which means I am subject to her professional eye and entitled opinions.

My first day with her, I swore I would never go back. Then, I started noticing everyone eyebrows and I decided she was truly the best. If she would only keep her opinions to herself.

Anyway, I am in the chair. On her turf. In her field of specialty when she asks in her thick accent, "What are you coloring in your eyebrows with?"

Her opinions should not matter in my life, but I find I tense up waiting for criticism. I told her an eye shadow [instead of an eyebrow pencil]. She says, "It is very good."

"What kind of eye shadow are you using?" I named the brand.

"Is it loose powder or compact?" It is loose.

"Where do you get it?"  Finally, I have let my eyebrows go untouched where she has reshaped them into evenness in height and width, I am filling them in for youthful color and I have successfully chosen a product that intrigues her.

There has been a shift.

Her personality rubs me wrong, but she is a perfectionist and that is what I pay for.

I laugh when I think of my eyebrows months ago. Over-tweezed, uneven in different directions and naturally thinning in my 40's.

Let go, threaded to correct height, width, length and especially colored in has transformed my look.

Every time I step out of her chair I am amazed with her and my eyebrows.

There is a significant difference under the care of a specialist/perfectionist than those who tweeze and worse yet wax.

I cringe when others say they wax. I immediately look at their eyebrows and can clearly see that they do. It is wrong on a million levels. You cannot come close to perfectionism with slathering on waxy-goop and yanking it off with a hard pull. It absolutely does not shape the eyebrow well and every cosmetology student thinks they know what they are doing.

They. Do. Not.

It was a day of compliments that rang success in my mind.

My skin looks so much better and feels better kudos to Arbonne. My eyebrows are now what they should have always been and my body continues to slim and shape.

I am ready for summer and I still have 1-1/2 months to perfect.

He is So Perfect!

We are both glad we took the road trip to meet our new little guy. His coloring is beautiful and we didn't expect his fur coat to be a richer color (we both loved) and his eyes are a deep blue. 

Photos do not capture his brilliant coloring. 

 

He cried, what a little baby! When I pulled him up to my neck to snuggle him, it felt so good to feel his warm, little body and he began to purr. 

He is so perfect! Driving 11 hours round-trip to hold him for 15 minutes was totally worth it.  

The names we were considering prior the trip are gone. He is none of these names:  Finn, Rascal, Oscar, Toby, Jasper, or Maxwell.

He is going to have a much more significant and grand name. 

I know what it is, but it won't announced until he comes home in seven weeks.

He is the sweetest, little guy and has no idea what love and attention will be his in less than two months.

It was a long day on the road. We stopped at Ikea in Pittsburgh, grabbed lunch and had near anxiety attacks trying to drive out of Pittsburgh (Yuck!). 

Traffic was awful, the entire way there! We were racing the clock to make our 3:00 p.m. appointment and I swear from Pittsburgh through West Virginia to Virginia traffic was so heavy we couldn't pass anyone. Neither David or I have seen anything like it. 

We were 45 minutes late which is an absolute no-no for us both being prompt & punctual. 

Just as we were getting off the exit and breathed a sigh of relief thinking we could gain 1-2 minutes time [We are now obsessing over each minute] only a couple miles from our destination, a farm tractor held up traffic for nearly a mile.

Adrenaline was running and at this point it was pure principal David made the executive decision he was passing the tractor even though we were a 1/4 mile from our turn. 

It was quite the day trip to meet our little boy, but it is unanimous it was worth it.  

We both fell in love on Good Friday and we cannot wait until he comes home.

A Road Trip Visit

Our new little family member was born on February 27th and today David and I are taking a road trip to go meet him in Virginia.

I cannot wait to pick this little guy up and feel his warm little furry body in my arms and smell his sweet kitty scent.

This little guy is a Seal Mitted Lynx Ragdoll completely different coloring than my Sammy Blue who was a Seal Mitted traditional. It was a unanimous family decision to choose different coloring.

We get to meet him today (5 weeks old) and bring him home when he is 12 weeks.

I am excited for our road trip today.

For our adventure with stops along the way.

Happy Good Friday.

Superhero Tiffany

It's the end of the month and the number of dinner guests are high in the rescue mission.

Everybody needed something last night and I felt dizzy two and three people asking for things at once. I found myself putting my finger up saying, "Give me a minute ..." a lot.

One of my girls came up with a panicked look on her face and said, "A fight is about to happen in the parking lot."

A lot happens in less than 30 seconds.

A girl jumps up to run outside, knocks a chair down in front of me. I am trying to get through a dining room of people carrying their plates to the bins to leave, to now step over a chair, get into my office to grab my cell phone because I have no pockets on my dress [to call 911 if I can't get the situation to calm], guests in the dining room hear something is going on outside and everyone jumps up to run outside.

Detail:  I am the only staff person present at the mission.

Phone in hand trying to get through a now excited crowd, they part for me to get out the door.

I see the direction of the fight due the crowd is facing and I see a group of seven guys clearly aggravated and yelling.

I know all the guys and find myself in the middle facing the hot-head, a 20-something boy often in my office. His face is already busted up from a previous fight and he is yelling about something.

Another behind me jumps in mouthing off and begins to challenge an already aggravated situation, challenging for a fight, ripping his coat off [which is the most ridiculous thing ever. It's a time-buyer. If I am going to hit you, I am not going to dance around, take my coat off, build the moment. It's just going to happen.]

I have Andrew, yelling and cussing in my left hand held behind my back as I am facing this older street guy who is ripping his coat off and I am warning him he needs to stop, right now!

It really is an odd dynamic because I have no fear what so ever. All I was thinking was, does he really think he is going to come through me to get Andrew? Andrew won't shut up behind me being a smart mouth, hot head I am dead in the middle of this guy testosterone moment.

The parking lot is full of people waiting to see what is going to happen and out of no where, Tiffany, a beautiful, black, street girl who I have helped a couple of times a year ago steps in front of me. Between me and the guy challenging Andrew.

In front of everyone, she raises her voice and says, "Hey! This is Miss Dawn! You are not going through her. You will have to go through me!"

She stood steadfast and wasn't messing around. As serious as a heart attack.

One of the guys grabbed him by the shirt and hauled him off the parking lot and Tiffany turned to me and said, "Miss Dawn, I wouldn't have let him touch you, he would have had to go through me. You have been so good to me and I love you!"

I hugged her and said, "Wow, Tiffany, you are a SUPERHERO!" I thanked her and told her I was not afraid at all and the she did not need to put herself at risk, but that I appreciated her on behalf of all the women who do a man's job!  We laughed and hugged.

Once a scene happens, it is very much a part of this culture for everyone to get excited and another fight almost breaks out with a different group on the other side of the parking lot. The guys half haul and chase them off the property and I called 911 for a police presence. They where there within 1 minute.

It happens.

Later, some of my shelter residents find out what happened and the position I was put in and they were furious. These are my no-nonsense guys who will take out the street riff-raff. I'm glad they were not present or they would have ended the situation, risking their bed at the shelter.

It always amazes and impresses me those who step up out of no where. The quiet ones you don't expect that defend and protect.

In appreciation to Tiffany, I filled a "Thank you superhero appreciation bag" with a beautiful cake, cookies, and everyone's favorite bags of pepperoni rolls.

The guys are now on high alert and will be watching me like hawks in protective mode. They really are an awesome bunch!

Now, I wait for both my hot-heads to walk back in for a meal.

Nobody walks back in without a conversation in my office first and a re-establishment of respectful dinner guest rules.

Down On One Knee

Her teacher quieted the classroom, when Alex stood up and walked over to Brooke.

She shared the nice words he said to her, she remembered them exactly, then he got down on one knee.

In front of the classroom ...

... looking up at my daughter.

[There is so much going on here in this tradition of a moment.]

We get down on one knee in church and in front of royalty, but why does a man do it in do it before the woman he loves? And why should we hold on tight to this well known tradition?

The origin of this religious tradition is unknown, but like I said, the action itself has been around for centuries. Catholics bend on one knee as a sign of respect toward the tabernacle before taking their seats for the Mass. Knights bend down on one before the king when being knighted and when presenting themselves in a show of honor to royalty. In war, the losing party would kneel in front of the army who won the battle in surrender.

Respect. Honor. Surrender. Those are the reasons behind the bended knee in a marriage. As a sign of respect, the man lowers himself as an act of humility before the woman he desires to spend the rest of his life with. - Chastity Project 

Brooke had a spotlight shined on her as this boy, a Senior, her 1st googly-eyed crush in life, bravely singles her out in front of others.

He asks, "Will you do me the honor of going to Prom with me?"

Well done, sweet boy. Thank you for making my daughter feel beautiful and so special.

Brooke shared the rest of the room loved the scene as well.

A moment she will remember I am certain as much as Prom.

All girls want to feel beautiful. I'm excited for her Cinderella moment of slipping into a gown, flowers presented to her, and heading out for an evening of dancing with the boy who has her heart.

Thank you Alex for making a special moment for my little girl.

She said, "Of course!"