Just Call Me Shrek

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Okay, I’ll admit it.  When my girls were little, I used movies as a babysitter.  I can recite almost every line from almost every Disney/Pixar/DreamWorks movie.  I can’t tell you what any of the scenes look like because I was busy cleaning toilet bowls, cooking, or doing the laundry while my girls sat motionless in their enchantment.  I can, however, tell you that out of all the movies they watched, my all-time favorite is Shrek. The banter between Shrek and Donkey is just too hysterical for words.  It takes a lot to make me laugh, so by admitting that I crack up just thinking about some of the lines from the movie is a testament to the movie’s ingenious humor. Let’s take a look at my favorite scene:
   
 
Shrek: Ogres are like
onions.
Donkey: They stink?
Shrek: Yes. No.
Donkey: Oh, they make you cry.
Shrek: No.
Donkey: Oh, you leave em out in the sun, they get all brown, start sproutin’
little white hairs.
Shrek: NO. Layers. Onions have layers. Ogres have layers. Onions have layers.
You get it? We both have layers.
Donkey: Oh, you both have layers. Oh. You know, not everybody like onions.
 
Shrek and Donkey refer to onions two other times in the movie, and the meaning of the onion metaphor becomes obvious:
Donkey:
Shrek, remember when you said that ogres have layers?
Shrek:Oh,aye? 
Donkey: Well, I have a bit of a confession to make: donkeys don’t have layers. We wear our fear right there on our sleeves.                                                                               
 

Donkey: You’re so wrapped up in layers onion boy, you’re afraid of your own feelings!

 
…and that’s it right there in a nutshell.  That is why you can just call me Shrek.  I am so wrapped up in layers that I am afraid to be honest in my little corner of the worldwide web.  I want to be.  I think I have accidentally stumbled on to something with these puny little entries I write. I think it’s pretty good odds that out of the five or so posts that I have also posted on BlogHer, their publishers saw fit to feature those posts on their website. I wonder what could happen if I allowed myself to peel back the layers and really write about the things I want to write about without worrying about what others might think.  For several years I have been waiting for the right time.  When will it be?  I am just a few months away from turning 50 years old, for heaven’s sake!  What am I waiting for?  I can’t let fear hold me back any longer.  NOW is the time. 
If you are interested in following along, subscribe to an app called “Feedly.”  You can go HERE, and also download the app on your phone.  Just enter this in the search bar, and then hit “follow”:  http://sussexcirclemusings.blogspot.com.  (Make sure you start with the http part.)  You can just click on the app and all new posts will be there. I have some doozies that I am planning to write that you don’t want to miss.  They might include the following topics/events/experiences:
*a friend’s suicide
*the termination of a pregnancy
*the lifelong ramifications of interacting with a dirty old man
*enduring the wrath of a jealous “friend”
…and so many more.
(Wow…I feel great!  Just by writing down the subject matters, I have already begun to peel off the layers.)

The Most Important Lesson I Taught My Daughters I Learned from Halle Berry

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When I hear the name Halle Berry, I immediately think of three things:  her gorgeous face, her adorable pixie cut, and her messy break-ups.  She is often in the press for her impeccable red-carpet looks, her cosmetic company endorsements, and her roller coaster of a love life.  However, when it comes to giving parenting advice, her name doesn’t appear on any lists that I know of. Nevertheless, one of the most important lessons I ever taught my daughters is a lesson I learned from Miss Halle Berry herself.  Funny thing is, I doubt that she even knows what a perfect example she is.
 
halle berry parental advice
Halle Berry with her Academy Award
I’ll teach you the lesson, too. 
 
1)  Let’s say my daughter comes to me heartbroken because she didn’t score well on a test or perhaps she didn’t win the school election.  I immediately ask her to tell me the name of the girl who was crowned Miss USA 1986.  She tells me she has absolutely no idea and wonders why I am not as devastated as she is because her life is clearly over.  The point is that no one knows who won the 1986 Miss USA Pageant.  The winner floated on air for about ten seconds and then floated off into oblivion when she passed on her crown to the next winner in 1987.
 
2)  I then ask my daughter if she was aware of the fact that Halle Berry LOST the 1986 Miss USA Pageant.  She pauses for a moment and after she realizes that no, Halle Berry wasn’t born famous,  she becomes bewildered by the fact that the goddess aka Halle Berry actually LOST a beauty pageant. 
 
Yes, my friends.  In the 1986 Miss USA Pageant, Halle Berry represented the state of Ohio as Miss Ohio USA.  She made it to the top ten, and then down to the final two.  She was named first runner-up. (They always make the first runner-up position sound so important.  You know, the whole, “If for any reason, the winner cannot complete her reign, the first runner-up will take over the responsibility.”  I can tell you first-hand that being the first runner-up is the worst.  I was the first runner-up in a pageant, and every single time the phone rang I prayed that it was someone from pageant headquarters calling to tell me that some terrible fate had befallen the winner of the 1982 Miss NJ National Teenager Pageant and that I could assume the throne and the $5 crown.  Never happened.) 
 
Anyway, back to Halle Berry’s being named the first runner-up and what it means.  It means she LOST, but today everyone knows her name.  In the end, she was the real winner.
 
3)  That brings me to the third and final part of one of the most important lessons that I taught my daughters thanks to Halle Berry,  I don’t share this story with them because I want them to seek fame and celebrity status or so that one day everyone will know their name.  I don’t want them to endure several messy break-ups, either.  The lesson I want them to learn, and the lesson we can all learn, is that even if you lose the battle, no matter what it may be, don’t surrender.  You can still win the war.

My girls celebrating Erica’s winning the war of getting accepted to Barnard (2013)

(The blog post “The Most Important Lesson I Taught My Daughters I Learned from Halle Berry” first appeared on Sussex Circle Musings.)
 
 


Free Printable Scholarship Organizer

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free printable college scholarship organizer
*Scroll Down for the Link*

Now that school has ended, college plans are all wrapped up, and all of the scholarship money for this year has been doled out, I finally found a minute to share something with you that came in handy during my daughter’s search for extra help to pay for her educational expenses.  There are so many different scholarships and each one has its own requirements.  As a result, it is almost impossible to keep up with the paper trail to make the search less of a burden.  I have heard that so many scholarships go unclaimed, and I can see why.  The process can be overwhelming.  That is why I found it necessary to make a way for her to keep everything organized. 

I came up with a simple Word document that pretty much covers all of the different requirements.  I printed out a few dozen for her which she kept in a notebook and it made it so much easier for her to keep track of the following information:

1)  The scholarship’s name, website or organization, and a place to write her username and password if a login was required

2)  The deadline, the date submitted, and the date when she would receive notification

3)  The amount of the scholarship, whether or not it was renewable, and if the money would be awarded to her or to the college

4)  The required items, like transcripts, letters of recommendation, writing samples, etc.

5)  A place for additional notes

6)  A place to write the outcome

It was important for her to keep track of when everything was due because if a deadline was near and she was running out of time, she could weigh whether or not it was worth burning the midnight oil to apply or to spend her time on one that would be more beneficial to her needs. 

{The outcome:  she was awarded two scholarships (one from our local Chamber of Commerce and one from our local Kiwanis club.  She is still waiting to hear from one more organization.)  I really think it helped to keep everything organized and in one place.}

But wait!  Make sure your son or daughter doesn’t forget one of the most important things.  Remind your student to mail a handwritten thank you note to all of the teachers and community leaders who write letters of recommendations and to the organizations that award money if he or she wins.  Need thank you cards?  I can help you with that, too.  😉  See sidebar.

You can access the doc HERE.  Feel free to use it and share the info with your friends by sharing this post on Facebook by clicking on the little grey Facebook “F” below.

First Apartment: Breakfast Bar Before & After

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Living Room Before & After:  click HERE
Kitchen Before & After:  click HERE
potter barn bar stools
The apartment has an open floor plan.  When you walk in the front door, you see  the living room/breakfast bar/kitchen.  It was difficult to find the perfect bar stools.  They needed to be very nice since they are one of the first things people see when they walk in, but of course they also needed to be affordable.  I found a great thrift store in Durham called Trosa Thrift & Frame Store.  It is huge.  I was so excited when I found these two wooden Pottery Barn stools for $15 each.  SOLD!
pottery barn bar stools
The extra storage cabinet was on clearance at Target for $25.  (Look at the cute towel bar on the side of it!)  It is a great place to store glasses and mugs and it fills up the empty wall space in a functional way.
Since Adrienne has a roommate, I thought it would be important to have a designated area for their mail.  I scored the adorable grey and white basket at Marshall’s for $7.  (I also have to mention that the Marshall’s I went to was the nicest one I have ever seen.)
apartment decorating ideas thrift store finds gunmetal grey
The cute grey, yellow, and white plastic placemats keep the counter clean and serve to blend the living room into the kitchen so the open floor plan flows into one large cohesive space.
apartment decorating ideas thrift store finds
*****
Here is a quick shot of the bathroom.  Yes, I painted the handle of the plunger grey so it would blend.
******
Now that I am home, I keep looking for cute things to add to her apartment.  I need to keep reminding myself that the project is done!  However, I found a new love.  I am addicted.  Next decorating project, please!

 

Always the Last one to the Party

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So Blogger has an Android app?  Who knew?  I can write and post entries and even add photos right from my phone?  Oh boy…get ready.  This is going to be a game-changer for me.  I have so many photos on my phone and I thought the only way to get them from my phone to a blog post was to 1)  email them to myself. 2)  save them to my photos folder 3)  hunt and peck for them 4)  upload them to the blog post.
For example, if I had known about this app, I could have told you the story about this lovely turkey and how it came to be: