Snow Days

As a Floridian for the better part of my life, I experienced my first real “snow day” last week.  Being a Henry County school board employee, these sorts of days are very important for us because we get to stay home for however long the inclement weather lasts.  To me, its the same as the “Hurricane” days that we in Miami used to experience during Hurricane season.  The meteorologists suggested to  go the stores and get stocked up for at least a couple of days inside.

That sounded exactly like our hurricane preparedness when I was in Florida, but just with snow.  Honestly, I had no idea just how serious  snow could be until I experienced it for myself.  Of course I had seen the news, movies and heard many stories of horror being snowed in and all, but honestly how bad can this fluffy stuff be?

I prepared the house with water, milk, snacks and all non-perishables just like before and waited to see what was to come.  Of course the school board officials canceled school for the next day but they wouldn’t cancel for days in advance or anything.  The morning of the snowfall, my son was due to go to work by 5 am.  After going outside and standing in the actual falling of the snow, I quickly realized that I had no clue as to what to do while driving in this.  I felt like an idiot, I even took the time to go on Facebook Live to ask questions regarding whether or not I should even attempt to take him to work.  Questions swirled in my head like, Do I need snow tires?  Chains? What do I do if I can’t see the lines?  There were way too many questions than answers, so he decided to call out.

I am so glad that he did because the way the ice and snow covered the roads in my neighborhood, it would have been devastating to have experienced sliding all over McDonough.  Later on I saw on the news of many cars that landed in ditches and the many accidents that were reported on the news.

After each hurricane, there would be dangers of downed powers lines and tree limbs in the roads but there was never the threat of sliding over black ice.  Now this was a really scary thought for me, having an accident just all by itself it a scary enough event, but to be sliding uncontrollably over the roads and not having any kind of control over your car is a lot to handle.

Unfortunately, my son’s employer wasn’t very happy with him not being able to come to work for 3 days after the snowfall.  He received word saying that the work had been suspended, or so they say.  He was never called back to this assignment again.  This wasn’t fair to him because he had no control over the weather or the lack of work on the roads to de ice them. Despite that negative part, everything worked out for the best.

I have to say that I enjoyed my three snow days and the time to watch Nature at its finest.

“Snow falling soundlessly in the middle of the night will always fill my heart with sweet clarity” 
Novala Takemoto

 

 

A Day for a King!

As I sit on the couch today, not having to go to work, I think about the reasoning behind having this day off.  This day was designed to honor the life and the legacy of a peaceful man, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  This day commemorates the man who stood against violence with non-violence, who went against hate with love.  This day, January 15, 2018 is a day that is filled with parades and speeches in his honor.

I recently visited the Martin Luther King Jr. Center in Atlanta Georgia, and as I sat in Ebenezer Baptist Church , the church that Dr. King attended when he was a young lad, I felt such a sense of history and pride.  I sat in the very pews that his family sat in as they funeralized this great husband, father, mentor, man of God, and leader of the people.  I wanted to cry as I sat there listening to the history of him and what he did and how thousands of people gathered to pay their last respects to this great man.

Unfortunately, the age group of the students with whom I went with, wasn’t able to grasp the enormity of this opportunity.   I sat there and listened to the gentleman who was speaking to the tour group, he told us to look at the clock that was located in the back of the church.  The time on the clock read 10:30am,  the exact time  that the funeral took place.  That tidbit of information gave me chills, to know that I was sitting in the very church where this inspirational man was eulogized.

Not only did this man fight for the rights and civil liberties of his fellow black Americans, but he also fought for justices for all people, no matter where they were from, or the color of their skin.  No matter what happened to him, he stood for peace regardless of the battles and injustices that he faced. Being threatened, jailed, stabbed; he pressed forward and did what was necessary for the cause.

As an African American woman, I can’t imagine not being allowed to drink from a water fountain because it was for whites only.  Or not being able to walk into a store and be able to freely browse around and purchase whatever I wanted.   I have no clue as to what that felt like.  Having obtained my Bachelor’s degree, I also can’t imagine not being allowed to freely have the best education possible or like the slaves, not be able to learn to read and it be against the law to do so.

That time must have been so difficult , but it didn’t seem to stop many African Americans from standing up for their rights  and the rights of all.   Some  may never fully understand what it must have been like to  experience hatred of that magnitude, but I pray that one day understanding, tolerance, patience and love be the first thing that is taught to our children throughout the coming years.  Teach the generations to come that no matter what differences we may have, we’re all here on this earth together and we need one another and can learn many things from each other.

“And when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

 

Do what’s in YOUR Heart

I realized several years ago that I had this “thing” with writing and always knew that I wanted to write, but just never felt that my writing was good enough for others to actually read and enjoy.  Keeping a journal was very important to me in my teen years and was very cathartic for me.

Journaling to me seemed sort of dangerous, simply because if I put all of my true and real feelings down on paper, what if someone actually reads them and finds out all about me?  That was a real fear for me, truly being seen and vulnerable.

I later realized that it’s ok for people to see who you are, open about your thoughts and feelings, share your inner most thoughts and desires.  Let people get to know the real you.

I got the blogging idea late in 2017, but a fellow friend actually gave me the push that I needed to get started doing this.  I normally don’t share my every move with people, but for some reason I decided to share my blogging desire with a couple of close, (I thought) friends.

The negative responses that I got was astounding.  “Girl, that’s for white people”, “So how are you going to make money doing that again?”, or my favorite one, “Get real sis, focus on making money to get those bills paid”.

Thankfully, those words went over my head and rolled down my back like water off of a ducks back.  This is something that I want to do, simply because I don’t know what may be said, or written, that may encourage someone who may read my writing one day.

My Father was a Baptist minister in Hollywood, Florida and he told me once that there was something special in me.  I  wasn’t quite sure what he meant by special, but many people have told me that they enjoy sharing their feelings with me and that I was or am a great listener and an excellent giver of advice.

Am I trying to make myself grand? Not at all, but slowly realizing that whatever is inside of me that is special, I certainly would love to share it with whomever may come my way. And if this is the “way”, then I gladly accept.

Do what makes you happy, do what you’re passionate about and lastly always try to bring joy to others if at all possible. My final piece of advice is to never listen to what goes against your true desire, especially if your desire will help others and bring joy to you and those around you.

We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.

E.M. Forster

With this ring!

When I was a little girl I used to dream about getting married one day.  Where he would get down on one knee in front of family and friends and ask me to marry him.  Later in life I did get married, but not once did the price of the ring ever come into play.

Lately, there has been a picture circulating on Facebook regarding a ring that Kay Jewelers has on sale for $24.99. Most women have been voicing their disdain for such a ring, saying how they would not accept a ring that costs so little. Not accept the ring because it’s on sale? Really Ladies?

My feelings on this is that I find these women very appaling.   Even though the ring is only a symbol of the love and commitment that he has for you, it still should be respected.  The love that he feels on the inside is what’s most important.  The fact that he realized that the woman he chose is the ONE that he wants to spend the rest of his life with truly is amazing.

The symbol of his degree of love should not come with a price tag.  It shouldn’t matter if he paid $1 or $1,000 for the ring.

There are hundreds of women who have received a ring worth more than our homes and cars put together,  and have eventually found themselves either in divorce court or found themselves being mistreated and disrespected and some often abused, sadly.  The price tag that is now being attached to a man’s display of love is not fair in my opinion.

If this gentleman has taken the time to go out and search for something that will allow him to express his level of   dedication towards building a life with someone, and then it’s being devalued because of the pricetag; I happen to find it disgusting.

I remember my mother (Mildred) telling me how my father {Ralph} couldn’t afford a ring at the time {1953}. Being born in 1934, there wasn’t any place that a black man could buy an engagement ring from in Georgia in those days unless it was out of a gumball machine.

She said that he took a small piece of wire, twirled it into a circle and placed it on her finger and asked her to be his wife.  Of course, she happily said yes. Thankfully my parents were married for 47.5 years until my mother passed in 2000.  My mother never wore a ring, but she was just as happy being his wife and our mother as if she sported a 20 carat diamond ring.

My point is this, we tend to put more value on material things rather than putting more value into love and commitment and building a life together as these two people create something that is priceless.

A woman can have a rock on her finger that she would need help lifting, and be miserable and the woman who may have the ring worth $24.99 can end up being happier than she ever dreamed. That amount could have been all that he could afford at that time, and later on throughout the years he could very easily be doing much better and present her with the biggest rock she’s ever seen.

Let’s keep all things in their proper place, value what’s most important….LOVE.

“Despise not the humble beginnings.”

New Year, same stuff!

Let me first start off by saying “Happy New Year”,  now that I’ve got that out of the way, let’s  be real; the first couple of days we keep saying that to people and  it feels good.  We have these grand ideas about how we’re going to be different, we’re going to eat differently exercise more, be nicer or calmer…

Do we ever truly fulfill those goals?   I myself have stated those very same goals to family members, friends, lovers, etc and by February  I’m tired.

So what is the real reason why  we drop the ball on our goals?  Is it because we’ve talked about them too much? Now that it’s time to act on those plans, we’ve become too tired to act them out due to all of the bragging and discussions that we’ve had.

My thoughts……less talking, more action.  No one really wants to know every detail of our lives because they’re much too busy trying to get their own lives in some semblance of order.

In my opinion just do it, like Nike says.  Don’t call anyone and tell them anything.  If your friends pass you while you’re out running, just say…won’t you join me in my health quest?

If you’re out to dinner and you feel like a salad, go ahead and order it.  No discussions just be about it.

Later, time to go walking….hey I have to start slow.

 

Welcome to my first installation to Krissy’s Korner.  A blog that discusses whatever’s on my mind at the time.  There’s so many things going on in the world, and in my head, I figured that this would be a great way to get it all out.  Don’t you think?

Welcome to the thoughts in my head!

Who Are You?

If your reading this, you may be wondering who am I and what is my purpose for being here?

I am Christina, or better known as “Krissypooh”, a single mother from Florida who now works as an IRR (interrelated) Paraprofessional in an elementary school here in Henry County Georgia.  I am in the process of becoming a certified teacher (prayerfully). I work with the ESE department and I love what I do, but in the evenings I have so many thoughts running and swirling through my mind where I feel blogging will help me channel those thoughts, feelings, and some pent up frustration.

So I ask that you follow me through my journey of discovery, who knows where it will take us.👣👣