You know what really grinds my gears????

I realize I'm not due for another one of these for a couple of weeks, but I was made aware of a situation that got my little brain bubbling with anger. I've decided to not tell you flat out before my little example story, but those of you that are clever might get it early on anyways...

I am, DEATHLY allergic to all nuts and all seafood products. We've experimented with Worcester Sauce (accidentally) and determined that it's quantities of anchovies are so low that it makes me queesy without me knocking on death's door. (Obvs I'm not going to start drinking it like water, but it's good to know).

Once I was walking in the mall with my mom and some Fabio wanna-be accosted me with his "all natural" lotion rubbing it on my hand without my permission. Since almond oil is in fact natural he was right, but I seriously enjoyed showing him my immediately swelled up hand and informing him that you don't just slap random products on random people.

Another time I went for a massage and specifically asked for their hypo-allergenic lotion since the lotion they used had (you guessed it!!) almond oil in it. My therapist knew better than me and ignored my request and by the end of the massage I was a giant hive. Driving home was one of the scariest moments I have ever had since I had never before been exposed to my allergen at such a high dose, and from the outside instead of being digested. My brain was all cloudy and I remember getting home and drinking an entire bottle of Benadryl, passing out and sleeping the next 24 hours of my life away.

And to illustrate an example of my seafood allergy, I once had a sleepover at a friends where they made eggs and fish for breakfast. I didn't know that was a thing and ended up eating one of the most delicious plates of death EVER. Apparently I missed it when she announced what she was making so I had to deal with the consequences of devouring a plate of death. (Swelling tongue, loss of oxygen, throat closing up... all sorts of fun stuff) (I don't know what I'd do without Benadryl, seriously.)

So, seriously allergic, bad things happen when I interact with either of them. Guess what my son's favorite food is. Peanut butter. Same with the hubs. Whenever I want to get a small treat I get them some peanut butter candy to share. Sure I can't be around for a while, but it gives them joy and who am I to deprive them of their joy because I can't share in it? That would make me a shietty person.

Same thing when I go to a restaurant, I don't hassle people at other tables because they ordered food I can't touch. Hell, I'm even responsible for picking menu options for people on a regular basis and the crowd favorite is the Salmon. I just make sure there's a non-deadly option for me each week.


So I lied. I decided in the middle of typing this that you don't get to know what particular instance of closed minded bigotry made me angry. There's too many of them out there, and I would hate to pinhole this and it miss it's aim.

Bottom line: If I can be perfectly fine being in situations surrounded by things that could quite literally KILL ME, you can put on your big girl (or boy) pants and deal with situations that you don't like, but have absolutely ZERO effect on your life other than making you squirm.

Grow up. Intolerance is SO last season.. ;)

Just Another Manic Monday...... (Or you know.. Tuesday... Whatever.)

So I had every intention of writing this yesterday and I was SOOOO proud of myself for yet another clever title to tie into my latest dose of word vomit, and it didn't happen. Less clever today, but I spent too much time trying to name this to come up with another one. Deal with it. ;)

In the last handful of weeks I have had way to many conversations with people chastising me for being a workaholic, and it's really starting to piss me off, for a multitude of reasons. First off, what people are so quick to toss aside as "working too hard/too much" wouldn't even be an issue if I was a man. If I was a guy striving for the things I'm striving for no one would bat an eye, some might even ask if I was putting enough of myself into this venture, but because I'm a woman, it's too much. Can you guess my response to those people? Let me give you a hint, I don't even need to use my sign language knowledge to convey my feelings.. ;)

Now that we got the gender bias out of the way, lets get to the meat. I am a mother of the most amazing 3 year old little boy that has ever walked the earth. He is the most important thing to me and I want to make sure he grows up without thinking his needs are actually wants.
 I grew up on the super poor side of things, wearing shoes that didn't fit because I only got 2 "new" pairs a year, always afraid to show my mom things I thought were cool because I didn't want her to feel guilty she couldn't buy them, and basically teaching myself not to want anything, even those things that I needed.
That is not happening for my son. Now, I am not going to go to the opposite extreme and drop money for any and everything he wants, but as a parent, if he wants a soda or milk at the store, assuming he's been good I should be able to say yes, not try to figure out if that puts me over my budget. And we're already teaching him the value of a dollar, I recently got him a piggy bank that he fills with behavior and potty use coins. He's already emptied it once and bought a Hiro and James trains for his wooden train set. He's saving up for the Steamworks right now.

I'm in business for myself. I know that one day I will not be able to do the work I do, and I do NOT want to have to start over at 40 so I am working hard now. My son is 3, and I get precious time with him in the mornings and evenings of everyday, and we even have a designated "mommie day" where all we do is spend time together, me and him. Yes, I'm not home for lunch, nap time and sometimes dinner, but I spend time with him everyday and he knows just how much I love him. When he's 5,6, 7 and older, my business will be bigger and need less of me and when that time comes I will have the freedom to be there for all the games, recitals, plays and whatever else he comes up with to do. But for now, I will give up nap time so he can have the life he deserves.


Folks may mean it as an insult when they call me a workaholic, but all I hear is "Wow, you sure are working hard for something, do you know what it is?" The answer is an emphatic YES.




Also, total side note, I started a second blog to help me write out some of my crazy. It's linked to my profile if you care. It won't be as frequent as this one, but it'll be much more important when I gather the courage to write there..