1980/5*5...I'm back!!

 1980...

        5 years....5 months ago...

Finally the day has come!  I purposefully chose to wait until this day. It's been 1,980 days since I last published my last piece. Wow!!!  So much has happened in that timeframe😊 but most importantly, I found me!  Well, I wouldn't say that I was lost, but I would say that a whole hell of a lot has happened.  The last piece that I published I wrote "Am I Enough," well, I still think that I struggle with that piece still, however, I can manage it a little more closely. But what I've found out and how I moved in the past 5 years has been the best growth of my life!  In those years, I've learned the following:

• Being away made me make my own interest a priority. It gave me time to focus on what is/was important to me.  Ya see, when you're surrounded by others, sometimes you might push your own passions, ideas, goals aside in order to help/support friends and family. I realized that I did that far too often. But by taking the opportunity to make better choices and focus my attention without worrying other people and their problems definitely gave me a better sense of balance.
• How to better manage my "Ships." My familyships (yeah, this isn't a word, but for today it absolutely is!), relationships, and friendships.  With help, I realized that a little absence does make the heart grow fonder.  By me taking the time to focus on myself it made me stronger and in turn made my "ships" indestructible. I recognized that having those friendships and social support systems are important to your mental health (and sometimes not so great) but taking a break and going solo-dolo helped me appreciate them that much more.
• How to be a better Mother/ Step-Mother(still Mother) to my children.  Whew chile, this one has been rough!! 5 years ago, I had daughters in high-school, middle-school, and elementary school😐. In numbers that is a 16, 12, and 6 years old😩. In emotions that was "I hate you mom!" x2 and "will you play dolls with me." They all had their own personal struggles that I had to seek to understand their point of view. We went through ups and downs and near death experiences and all were learning curves for us all. Back then there was no light visible, it began to pave the way to brighter days where all began to grow individually and know their own self-worth.  Now they are 21, 17, and 11 and honestly I couldn't ask for better girls. The oldest (#1, "first born") is just starting her Master's program at The University of Cincinnati, the Middle (#2), now a junior in high school, is navigating her way through life and understanding accountability and responsibility. And lastly, the youngest (#3 aka- Happy Feet) is growing in her own person. Honestly, she has had the most growth of all of them.  She has learned what is important to her and what makes her the happiest. Her biggest ah-hah moment was when she was just struggling to please everyone yet letting what she wanted go by the wayside. My conversation with her yielded simply "no-one should be mad at you for making you better. No one should make you feel guilty for a decision that you make concerning yourself and your personal growth and well-being."  From that day forward, she's been happy about every decision that she's made thus far. 
• How to improve my health.  I've had to have yet another much needed surgery that actually left me feeling a ton better. Then it was time to take control of this weight. Now this was the biggest hurdle😒. 2020 was the best time to do this! So, with the new gym equipment in the basement it has been the absolute best. From November to current I've lost almost 40 lbs👏👏👏 Now to keep it up is going to be the thing. I'm pretty confident.
• Most recently, I've learned to trade stock👀😏 and I must say that shit is pretty fun. I'm not sure if it's the risk that is involved but I love it!  I got my handle on conventional stocks and then was told by several folks not to go the cryptocurrency route, but, ummm.... over 1000 shares later, I'm hooked!  Nothing like waking up to money based on a good decision.  We'll discuss if that falls through at some time but until then, I'm gucci!😜

Let's talk about 2020.  Man that year was a 'Mutha-F!  I mean the other years we typically get to the point where we are over it but we all just never knew what 2020 would bring. Emotionally speaking 2020 lasted approxiamtely 12 months and 487 years! Here's my recap of that awful year:

• Everyone was training for WWIII! Not really, but really.  President X (Trump) ordered that airstrike to take out that Iranian General. We were scared!! I even remember watching the news and saying "this muthafucka is gonna get us killed!" Then the memes started. And it seems that when crazy gets going in the world we can always rely on a good 'ole meme to bring us back to calm. 
• On January 30th, the WHO declared the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak a global health emergency. This virus was first identified in China, Wuhan, to be exact. By March 2020 it was a full blown pandemic!  Things we knew: This virus was airborne! wtf! So by way of an infected person breathing, coughing, sneezing or speaking it would enter another person via their nose, mouth or eyes.  It also could be spread by coming in contact with a contaminated surface. Again wtf!  Soooo this is when the Clorox wipes started to be scarce. Quick things to adopt daily...Wash your hands often, and wear a face mask! At this point it was buckle up buttercup, this is our life as we know it for a undetermined time😒
• We thought stockpiling on toilet paper would save us all from the virus. To be clear, nowhere did it EVER say that coronavirus made you urinate or have diarrhea. So, I use "we" loosely.
• The Monkeys!  Do you remember the monkeys?😂  In Thailand, thousand of monkeys stormed the center in Lopburi because the tourist that usually fed them fled due to COVID-19.  Because there were no people the monkeys literally took over and authorities deemed their actions "hopeless" as there was just too many of them to contain.
• The Pentagon released videos supporting that "off-world vehicles not made of this earth" were sited.  You got it! A fucking UFO! But we were in a pandemic already, so....no big deal! Unless you are a fan of the X-files and this shit is fascinating to you. Yep... Guilty🙋
• Everyone became obsessed with Tiger King😑 Thanks Netflix!  But NO thanks!  We heard more at the end of 2020 as Joe thought me was going to get pardoned at the last hour by Trump😒
•  The Crown season 4 started!  OMG!  I was obsessed!  We got to see Gillian Anderson play Margaret Thatcher and WOW!  I learned so much. And then the season took a dramatic turn introducing Diana's character.  It was an emotional rollercoaster. Was it just me? My heart ached for that poor girl. My took away from that season was quite frankly "fuck you Prince Charles and Camilla!"  Maybe there is hope for season 5. <fingers crossed>
• Megxit happened:  Harry and Meghan left the Royal Family. Did we really care about this?
• As if the year wasn't already bad...Murder hornets!  
• The next pandemic...Racism!  I'll just update this one as "ongoing!"
• Trump praised the coronavirus opinions of a doctor who believe that there are demons in sperm😑😒. As if this was one of his more defining moments (shout out to bleach)!
• Kanye West not only ran for president, but was endorsed by Chance the Rapper and Elon Musk.  Again...😒
• Wayfair, were you really sex trafficking children through cabinets? No, just another conspiracy theory for the books... mkay!
• Trump threatened to ban TikTok.
• Trump bragged about passing a basic cognitive test.
• Lori Loughlin went to prison over the college-admission scandal.
• Ivanka Trump put the blame for the 11.5 unemployment rate (at the time) on folks who just weren't being creative enough  in her #TrySomethingNew campaign ad.  Girl bye!
• Scientist sited that there was water found on the moon, but nobody cared!
• Mary Trump released 'Too Much and Never Enough.'  I actually enjoyed it. I can't wait for her next book 'The Reckoning: Our Nation's Trauma and Finding a Way to Heal'. C'mon July 2021!
• Trump accused Democrats of "stealing the election" and claimed "voter fraud." This was due to his losing the electoral college votes 306/252. Several lawsuits were filed immediately leading up to the inauguration. 
• Covid-19 Stats: More than 25 million people had confirmed coronavirus infections and more than 450,000 have died of COVID-19.  Tens of thousands of new cases are reported daily nationwide!

We lost some greats in 2020 as well. Not necessarily to COVID-19:

• Kobe Bryant (NBA) and his daughter Gianna 
• Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther)
• Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Supreme Court Justice)
• Alex Trebek
• John Lewis (Congressman and Civil Rights icon)
• Natalie Desselle Reid (B.A. P.S)
• Dawn Wells (Gilligans Island)
• Naya Rivera (Glee)
• David Prowse (Darth Vader)
• Sean Connery (James Bond)
• Eddie Van Halen (Musician)
• Little Richard (Musical Artist)
• Kelly Preston (Actress)
• Jerry Stiller (Actor)
• Nikita Pearl Waligwa (Actress)
• Pop Smoke (Rapper)
• Kirk Douglas (Actor)
• Kenny Rogers (Musical Artist)

Now, we are in the first week of February 2021 and although we thought this year was going to be the year...nope! Well, at least not yet anyways.  Six (6) that's right, six days into the new year, as Congress voted to finalize then President-elect, Joseph Biden as being our 46th President, pro-Trump rioters breached and stormed our nation's Capital. Per Wikipedia, the rioters target House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and several members of Congress. The assault on the capital was widely condemned by political leaders and organizations in the United States and internationally. Nonetheless, President-elect Biden was confirmed and would be sworn in on inauguration day on January 20 with Vice President-elect Harris.

January 20, 2021: A day to remember.  Marking the commencement of Joe Biden being sworn in as our 46th President, this day meant so much more as history was being made by Vice President Kamala Harris. She made history by being United States' first female Vice President, the highest ranking female official in United States' history, and the first African American, and first Asian American Vice President.  

Moving right along and COVID-19 has gravely wounded the economy leaving 10+ million Americans without work. While some districts are more comfortable with children returning to school, several parents and officials are just not confident that this is a good idea.  My children go to Loveland Intermediate and High School presently.  One is completely doing remote learning while the other goes full-time and is able to adhere to a hybrid schedule when necessary and deemed by the schools.

So, it's been a doozy of a time most recently.  I hope everyone has been hanging in there and brushing up on their TikTok dances and pranks😂.  Vaccines for the coronavirus are out and being administered in phases. Are you getting vaccinated? Do you trust it? I really want to know (comment and tell me what your thoughts are).  Just when we thought that normal life would be near... BAM! New variants of coronavirus has been detected and of course those vaccines that were just approved are less effective on them😒.  So FML 'Merica!  Now the CDC is saying to double down on precautions and now wear 2 masks!  wtf! 

Oh, and did you hear Dr. Dre (not an actual doctor), I mean the dope rapper that gave us The Chronic back in '92 had a damn brain aneurysm.  C'mon 2021, get your shit together! 

Any who, that's what's been going on. What have you all (ya'll- in my head and I just cracked up at the country that came out) been up to?  Are you good? Is your family safe? I need answers because I haven't seen or heard from you guys in quite a while, but I sure do miss you!

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