rant - cafe mocha reflections

What’s Brewing at The Cafe

October 12, 2012 by Whitney 2 Comments

Well we made it through the week. I just want to update everyone, I have a clean bill of health. I’ve had a battery of tests, been poked in areas I didn’t think were necessary. I had the colonoscopy done on Tuesday. I had to fast all day Monday, then drink a gallon of Colyete that tasted like drinking salt water. It was to say the least not a fun day, but I got through it and was at the outpatient surgery center bring and early Tuesday morning. My mammogram was benign, and my pap was good. I’m done for a while other than working on this weight. I will probably have this issue for the rest of my life, but I do try to eat right and get some for of exercise.

It’s been a rough week for my youngest daughter with the bullying issue, you can read about it here. We’ll get through this bully thing even if it has to get ugly. One thing I did try to explain to my daughter is when people are bullies, there is something not right in their home life. I truly believe that, but it’s still no excuse.

I’ll be doing a little shopping for the girls this weekend, one growing like a weed and the other has lost 50 pounds. Both need clothing that fits them.

Did you all see Iyanla’s Fix My Life last Saturday? It was an eye opening experience, watching Six Brown Chicks and the issues they face. Hopefully their will be successful with the relauch of their blog, I’ll be looking for it. Blogging is a wonderful hobby for me that I enjoy, so I truly hope they work everything out.

I want to give a great shout out to Kita, she comments on every blog post that I put out, I truly appreciate it. Go check out Kita’s magazine Kokoa Magazine, it’s a refreshing change, let’s support her.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! Thank you all for your support.

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Filed Under: The Mocha Cafe, Uncategorized Tagged With: random, rant, the mocha cafe

What’s Brewing At The Mocha Cafe

September 14, 2012 by Whitney 2 Comments

It’s Friday, fall is coming in strong now and it’s time to get ready for fall activities and crafting. Yep, I have a few crafts I love, just don’t have the time. Here are a few things I want to stir up in my coffee today….

Grandma in Keene, TX that refused to give her drivers license and insurance card to the police officer. I admit that maybe he should have requested backup when she refused to get out of the SUV, pulling her out of the vehicle didn’t look good. BUT…if you are pulled over by a police officer for any reason and they ask for your identification, you better give it to them whether you are 16 or 77. I have a pet peeve about people that believe they are above the law. We were raised to respect the law and do what they request of you. My daddy made sure my brothers and nephews really understood that. We didn’t let my daddy drive after one scary evening on the highway when he almost killed himself and many people during rush hour traffic. We just took the keys, he was mad but we had to explain that it just wasn’t safe anymore.

There was a mom in Utah that had her twin daughters on potty seats at the deli while people were eating. You know, what happened to people and using common sense? This is not acceptable, nope…sorry. I remember potty training and I was one that didn’t potty train until after they were both two. I just didn’t rush them, but I would have never thought it would have been ok to bring the potty seats in a restaurant while people were eating. The picture the woman in the restaurant took, the baby was sitting there with nothing on. The restaurant claims they didn’t notice. Right.

I bought a new microwave oven on August 7th. On Monday, September 10th, the Sharp microwave decided it wanted to do it’s own thing. My daughter was warming up breakfast and she closed the door and it started working on it’s own and hasn’t stopped. We had to unplug the darn thing. I called Sharp and they are sending us another one. I didn’t realize how much we depend on our microwave. Any leftovers had to be put in the oven or warmed up in pots, like back in the day. We had this microwave one month, can’t wait for the new one.

I finally have cable TV in my office now….try watching TV with an antenna that half the time the signal was weak. I only wanted basic so I can watch HGTV, MSNBC and have a decent signal, although Time Warner doesn’t offer DIY. Funny, we were trying to cut cost, so we got basic cable on all the TV’s except the big TV in the family room/man cave but that didn’t work because all of our TV’s are HD so the pictures were fuzzy on them. Had to go and get cable boxes for all the TV’s except for the one in my office, didn’t really need it. Much better, although each box is an extra $9.95 per month. They getcha coming and going, don’t they?

It really doesn’t take much to make me happy. Hope you all have a great weekend.

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Filed Under: Currently, Lifestyle, The Mocha Cafe Tagged With: life, random, rant

Cloudy….Then Clear

September 4, 2012 by Whitney 4 Comments

Ever feel like you are at your wits end? If one more thing in your life goes wrong, and you will completely lose it? That is where I was today, about to go over the end. Seems like I haven’t gotten anything but bad news or situations for the last month. It has made me question if this move was the best thing for us. I’m not really feeling sorry for myself, just have a lot going on and wanted to complain about it. I don’t mean to rant, I just get frustrated about what’s going on in my life at this time. My husband even said today that maybe we should have stayed in St Louis. I gave the phone a serious “side eye” when he said that.

Then you read about someone losing a loved one, their home, having no food to eat, dealing with all kind of illness, physical and mental. It really bothers me when I see or read about children that are homeless or hungry. I have a nephew who is paranoid schizophrenic, who isn’t doing very well. I then become ashamed of myself and realize how blessed I am. I don’t ever want to come across as a spoiled, ungrateful woman who can’t see past her own little issues. I’m far from that, just got caught up with “me”. Seems like right now everyone has a little something going on in their lives, everyone I’ve talked to since I’ve been back is going through one thing or another. I have to step out of my pitifulness and realize things could be worse. This is just a test, I don’t want to fail it.

All these minor things can be fixed, repaired or will just have to simply wait until the money is available. I wanted everything fixed yesterday, I’m so impatient….then I wonder why my girls are like that??? I found someone who will be able to do the repairs to our home, one room/project at a time. He was a sweetheart and fixed my water lines so I could have hot water in the house and we could bathe and do laundry. The hubs was pleased with him too, which is hard because he can be hard on people.

The clouds do clear and make way for the sun….and life goes on. Sometimes you just have to encourage yourself, and remind yourself how blessed you really are. One of my favorite songs, enjoy.

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Filed Under: Health & Wellness, Inspirational, Lifestyle Tagged With: encouragement, home repairs, move, rant

What’s Brewing at The Mocha Cafe

August 31, 2012 by Whitney 2 Comments

It’s finally Friday, been a crazy week. I was in battle with the school district this week about residency and proof. It got pretty ugly, I had to call the state about the situation. Loooonnnggg story but in the end, I got it taken care of without the drama they were trying to take me through. It just made me wonder what else are state, government agencies and private companies telling us that we just believe. What they were trying to tell me didn’t make any sense and I was tired of running up there to adhere to their policy on residency. It made me realize that we’ll go for anything if we don’t investigate and speak up for ourselves.

I’m joining Michelle over at Divas With A Purpose on a no spend challenge for the month of September, I need it. I’m up for the challenge, go here for details. I really don’t have the money to buy anything new and I would like to see if I can do it. I’m setting it for me, not the girls since I haven’t really done any school shopping for them yet. I don’t really need anything anyway, and I can shop my closet if I must. Be interesting to see if I can do it.

This is the last day of the photo challenge I did with Beatrice Clay, it was a lot of fun. She has a beautiful blog, check it out. I had some quirky pictures, always genuine and showing my personality. Here are a few of the pictures I’ve taken this month.

I took my SUV to the car wash yesterday and guess what? You got it, it’s raining today, but we need the rain here, so it’s ok….just hate wasting that money and the rain guarantee is two days and it’s suppose to rain tomorrow. It was a good week, can’t complain blessed to live to see another day. Wishing you all a great and safe Labor Day weekend, the official last weekend of the summer! Enjoy!

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Filed Under: Currently, Lifestyle, The Mocha Cafe Tagged With: finances, photo challenge, random, rant, school

Be True To Yourself

July 23, 2012 by Whitney 4 Comments

The weekend was crazy, amazing and I’m tired. So much happened this weekend, it will take me all week to blog about it. But I won’t, it’s time to let it go. Today, I want to focus on being true to yourself. I have to make some changes, and that is being true to myself and really listening to that inner voice and allowing God to order my steps. I need to speak up when something isn’t right instead of just letting it go. I will speak up, when it comes to my family, if I’m out shopping, but I want to practice this ALL the time. You know the feeling, you are being walked over like a doormat? Nope, after this weekend no more of that.

If I don’t make these changes, I’ll end up closing myself off from the world, and that’s not gonna happen. So I need to make adjustments to how I handle people and situations. I have a voice and I want to use it positively, that will not stop. This is why blogging was necessary, for me.

I love people, I observe everything about people, I can sit for hours and watch people. I like to imagine what their personality is, what makes them who they are. I don’t want to lose that connection I have, but I just need to be true to myself, my husband and children. What happened yesterday is done, and it’s time to move on. We have two weeks before our big move, so it’s getting down to the wire now. Have a wonderful day everyone, enjoy the song from my girls, Mary Mary…love them.

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Filed Under: Currently, Health & Wellness Tagged With: blog challenge, inner voice, moving, rant, self reflection

Trying to Control The Stress

July 16, 2012 by Whitney 8 Comments

I’ve gotta admit something to you all today. I. Am. Stressed. Out. I’m sitting in my office/living room right now looking at all of our belongings, making calls and trying to organize everything while working and blogging. I have a headache that won’t go away, and money is tight this week. I pray on a regular, throughout my day, nothing formal. I just talk to God, about being blessed, my transgressions and successes, and to take this stress. I’m letting it go as of today, been holding this too long and I’m tired of the headaches.

My office, I just love my chaise lounge. You can seriously sleep on it!

Here’s the biggest part of my stress…I let my girlfriend’s brother stay in my house while it was on the market. He let his cousin stay in my house and stored his son’s vehicle in my garage, which wasn’t part of the deal. I had to turn off the utilities to get him out, but he left the car in my garage as a free place to store the unregistered, busted window car. I know it’s my fault, I needed someone to stay in the house to keep an eye out on it while we were here and it was on the market. My friend suggested her brother, said he would be perfect. He’s two years older than us, so I though it would be ok. It was a disaster. He’s changed his phone number and I’ve asked my friend several times to have her brother call me. I’m finished stressing over it, I will have it towed to a lot where they can charge him by the day until he decides to pick it up.

We are going there this weekend to clean the house, and prepare for our move. I’m having a free for all, first come~first serve, take it all house cleaning! There is furniture and dishes in there and it’s free for anyone that can bring a truck and haul it out. After that, I’m donating anything left to the Salvation Army, they are the only ones that will come and pick it up free of charge. If you are in the Kansas City area this weekend or know someone that would love to come by for some free stuff, let me know.

Have you ever been used or taken advantage of and feel helpless like I was?

Here’s a video that my real estate agent made of my home when it was on the market.

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Filed Under: Currently, Relationships Tagged With: blog challenge, move, rant, stress

My Third Child….My Husband

June 25, 2012 by Whitney 4 Comments

Disclaimer….I love my husband very much.

My husband is a hard working man, give you the shirt off his back, his last dime, and will help anyone in need. He isn’t feeling good right now, he has a horrible skin rash/allergies. He gets it every year, but for some reason this year it is bad. Of course, he is uncomfortable and scratching, complaining and whining. I can usually handle it, but he really needs to go to the doctor. He will not let me put the ointment on him, but he did say if he doesn’t feel better he was going to the doctor. I can tell it’s internal and he needs a prescription.

Have you noticed this is the only time you get to see your husband/significant other vulnerable? I guess when they get sick, they can’t be the tough man that the world see. Who else can they be vulnerable with if not with us? Who else to drive you completely crazy? I don’t think the kids get like this when they are sick, you diagnose the problem, take them to see the pediatrician if needed, get their medicine and they get better. Your husband?? Rearrange your schedule, a sick husband will change all plans. I don’t know about your husband but he will not let me help him. The whining is so bad, that I have to get out the cheese because that whine needs something to go with it. I only had sliced cheese, but you get it….

Wine & cheese…… Retired tough military guy……

I know he’s uncomfortable, he’s not sleeping well and his skin looks horrible. I’m gonna make an appointment for him this morning, and have to probably just tell him we are going to breakfast on his day off and just show up at the doctor’s office. Just another day in my life and keeping my sanity. Pray for me please! Please tell me I’m not alone with this, he would DIE if he knew I was telling this…oh well. Have a great week!

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Filed Under: Health & Wellness, Marriage Tagged With: husband, illness, marriage, rant, sanity

Lingerie Football League

June 1, 2012 by Whitney 6 Comments

I really enjoy blogging. I’m getting better with researching and finding things to blog about that has some interest to women of a certain age. Which means I look at everything that comes on the news, Internet, social media including but not limited to everything pop culture. The Lingerie Football League has announced it’s expansion team for Omaha, NE and St Charles, MO which is a suburb of St Louis. It’s been all over the news here, not all of it good either. I love football, I’m a Kansas City Chiefs fan. I’ve never seen the ladies of the Lingerie Football League play but I included a video for your viewing pleasure. This is what has me shaking my head at the league….

Theses women are no longer paid to play football. The founder of the league, Mitch Mortaza doesn’t pay the players. He changed it from a professional league with the players getting a cut of the revenue to an amateur organization and they have to pay for their own health insurance. He admits that his target is mostly beer drinking college students. They are not allowed to comment on personal matters, which caused most of the Toronto Triumph to quit in October 2011 in protest. I also don’t understand other than the women enjoying the game and wanting the opportunity to bring attention to football for women, but because their bodies take some serious abuse playing in lingerie. This is what I mean about us supporting one another and not buying into gimmicks and concepts that make us look like we’ll go for anything. They aren’t getting paid, why ladies? Football is a full contact sport, you may not hit as hard as men, but our bodies aren’t built like theirs either. You have shoulder, elbow and knee pads but nothing to protect your breast but a bra? No pads for the rest of your body? This wouldn’t be an issue if women would just say, NO to things that are made to exploit us! I’m not gonna let you capitalize and make millions of dollars from me running up and down a football field in lingerie. I could almost understand if they were getting a salary. This is not about hate, it’s about how this man is getting paid to promote the sport using beautiful women in lingerie and not paying them at all.

I understand once our children are adults, they do what they want….I get that. I just don’t want to see corporations and people take advantage of women and people less fortunate than them. It’s our job as mature women to encourage and lift our young sistahs, whether they are our daughters, friends, church members or co-workers. Our bodies aren’t made to take that kind of abuse without protection. I would just like to see the same protection, concern and some kind of salary that the NFL gives their players. Sometimes you have to rant, and I just couldn’t let this one go without giving my opinion on the subject. Tell me what you think…and encourage a young woman today please.

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Filed Under: Currently, Health & Wellness, Inspirational, Work & Career Tagged With: career, rant, sports, women

Are You Worth The Price?

May 17, 2012 by Whitney 9 Comments

I participated in the Northwestern Habilitation Employee Health Fair yesterday in the St Louis area. It’s a facility for mentally disabled adults, and a couple of the nurses there organized the health fair for all the employees. It was well organized and put together. There were fourteen vendors including myself. There was PNC Bank, AFLAC, Sam’s Club, Medical West, a representative from the company with EAP, Usborne Books & More, Mary Kay, Avon, Organo Gold, Scentsy, a massage therapist, a woman who does exercises with weighted hula hoops and my Soul Purpose booth. We were all networking and talking with the employees, I was feeling very comfortable if I may say so myself. I was talking about the Soul Purpose products, getting people registered for my giveaway and really networking with the other vendors.

Disclaimer….I am not a hater, really. I will tell any woman, do your “thang” to make a living for yourself. I’m sure trying, see my display?

Here comes the lady selling the knockoff designer purses, sunglasses and jewelry! Have you seen a swarm of ants when they discover a new crumb of bread or something on the sidewalk? They scurry over to get to it and work that crumb like it was gold! I have never seen something like that until yesterday. They dropped us all like yesterday’s news and went over to the lady selling the purses! She could barely get her tables set up before they were swarming her table grabbing those purses, trying on glasses and jewelry. She couldn’t keep up with them! One woman spent $150 on four purses. I was astonished (I really was) looking at the women hunt for the purse of their liking. Needless to say, she had a very successful day. The ladies were all walking around with their new purchases, proud of them, talking about what they were gonna wear with them, etc. This is my question….

How long will knockoff purses last? They aren’t as durable as the “real” thing, so why keep buying them? I will admit I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to this. I shop at the discount stores, I love a bargain. I’ll shop just about anywhere if they have something I like. I learned long time ago when my girls were small that you can’t buy all their summer clothes from Walmart or Kmart because the quality wasn’t that good. One good wash & dry and they shrunk, or the original shape was gone. I shop there and buy things from both stores occasionally, but I don’t put clothing I buy from either store or stores like these in the dryer and I wash in cold water only. Also, check out my girl Donna on her new blog, discount thief , she tells us where the discounts are so we can save money. Ok back to the purses….I own several designer bags, but every last one I’ve purchased has been at a discount. The Coach outlet in Las Vegas, Dooney & Burke online with their 50% off sale every month, and my new favorite is the Army Exchange because the Mr is retired military. In this picture of me, I got my Michael Kors for $100 less than retail! The point I’m trying to make is if you are going to spend your money on a designer purse, then by all means do it, but get the real thing. You are worth it, don’t cheat yourself, please ladies.

I know some are gonna say, we can’t afford the real thing. Then don’t buy it, that simple. Get yourself a good quality purse that you can afford until you are able to buy a real designer bag. That’s how I did it, and most of them I’ve had for years. I don’t own that many because it’s not a priority. Most of mine are vintage ones from my mother, those are all over 25 years old. She was a true diva. Let me know what you think on this subject, maybe I’m way off.

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