So, in my last post, I told you all about this crazy business I just launched, and today, I’m going to tell you how you can get something(s) FREE without hosting a party. Because we all love free, right, and even if you can’t use the freebie, you probably know someone who can and it will save you from buying them a gift later.

One of the friends I feel so blessed to have met through blogging is Cher. Cher is just awesome, and my favorite thing about her is that you NEVER have to wonder where you stand with her-she’s not that backstabby kind of friend that we all get suckered into caring about at some point in our lives. She’s the REAL DEAL. You need her, she’s there. She’s smart and funny and bluntly honest. <3

Cher talked to me about how complimentary so many of the products in the line I am selling work perfectly with the swimsuit line, SwimsuitsForAll, that she is repping over on THE BOOK. And she is SO right! Imagine, you are poolside soaking up the rays in a swimsuit you feel amazing in, and instead of spending a perfectly oiled up arm and leg for a drink from the cabana boy or just shlepping in the kitchen to grab one from the fridge, you just reach into the Thermal Tote at your side and pull out a chilled beverage or fruit. Imagine you are on the beach showing off that new suit, getting hungry, and instead of having to go spend your life savings feeding your crew from a vendor or eating warm sandwiches from your beach bag, you pull out your Market Tote and everyone is refreshed!

So, we are collaborating in a fun giveaway! SwimsuitsForAll runs a fun Friday Night Trivia contest every week on Facebook where they give away gift certificates and other items from collaborations like ours. This week you can win a super cute URU Thermal Tote in the limited pattern Pink Parisian Pop!  But while you are trying to win that adorable lunch tote, please check out SwimsuitsForAll, and see for yourself that they really do have something to flatter REAL size 8+ bodies…not just larger cuts for slim bodies. They realize that your body shape changes as your accumulate more of it, or else all us plus size girls would just be exaggerated hourglasses rather than the wide variety of shapes we actually are. If you have chub around the middle that you want to camouflage, check out THIS SUIT. If your bottom end has seen better days like mine, THIS SUIT is my fave! And? Did you notice that you can pick different sizes for the top and bottom? Angels are singing! With a FOURTEEN inch difference between my waist and my hips, that is so important to me! So, Friday night, please enjoy some trivia with SwimsuitsForAll on Facebook and try your hand at winning some goodies! I’ll be checking in from my niece’s graduation in Tennessee to see who wins!

PS This Thermal Tote is a little bit special because Thirty-One donates 31 cents from each URU item sold to programs that empower women and girls to reach their full potential. You can learn more about Thirty-One Gives HERE.

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I did something kind of crazy.

I purchased my first Thirty-One product two years or so ago at a party I attended. It was a Thermal Tote personalized with “Cheeky Sweetie” and it served me well through both my road warrior job and later, my office job. It saved me money and helped me lose weight. It still looks brand new today, so I knew the quality was really good. I also saw my mom adding to her collection of Thirty-One products and I never heard her say a bad word about any of it.

So, in February, I hosted a party. Only a handful of guests showed up, and my girl Laci ordered from afar, but I still wound up with $90 in free credit, 2 items at half-price, and 2 hostess exclusive items. My consultant, Katie, made over $125 at that party. I just lost $435 a month in income, and my eligibility for Pell Grants has ended, so making over a hundred bucks for talking about cute products for 30 minutes seemed pretty interesting, even considering the time in admin activities for the party and the mileage to and from my house.

When I got my order, I was ridiculously happy. It’s really so simple, and I could have recreated what worked for me with a mismatch of products from other places, but the coordination factor is already figured out for you with Thirty-One so you look so well put together with so little effort! I have tried purse organizers to facilitate my frequent purse changing habit, but nothing really felt like the best solution for me so I just kept looking. I ordered a tote, a wallet, a zipper pouch, and a soft glasses case in a cute yellow and neutral print and a coordinating scarf for a little kick. My idea was to use this set as a school bag, which worked so well that sometimes I just used it as an oversized purse, too. The tote was easily big enough for my 13″ MacBookPro, a couple of textbooks, a 5 subject notebook, and the zipper pouch. My wallet went into the outside pocket and my phone and sunglass case went in the other. My zipper pouch was key-I use it to corral all of my loose items like earbuds and lip gloss and hair clips. Some bags are great, except for the way they FEEL to carry. I do not like rounded straps because the outer one won’t stay on my shoulder, and the drop has to work with the length of my torso and the exaggerated hips I’m sportin’. This one worked SO well, but the best part was that it looked adorable.

Yes, I am totally admitting that fashion is a factor in functionality. For me and for many of you, I imagine, or Vera Bradley and Coach wouldn’t be in business because we would all just carry our things around in plastic grocery bags.

After considering it at length and encouragement from my friends and family, I decided to try Thirty-One for myself.

Everyone I know that is familiar with Thirty-One loves their products and they have great monthly customer specials. The hostesses are spoiled, as I experience for myself. Consultants earn 25% commission to start, and the promotion process is very reasonable, especially in an undersaturated local market.

The kit to begin was $99, and I figured at worst, I’d do badly and get to keep a kit worth three times that. But hey, whaddaya know, I earned my kit investment back and and then some in my first month. I’ve had time to check out the incentives and career path that Thirty-One offers and I’m excited. I have set some goals and I’ve already achieved one of them. I earned the first Start Swell level that will give me about $90 in products and business supplies for free. If I have three more parties in the next 30 days,(two of which are already underway thanks to the internet reach of a catalog party in 2012 lol), I will earn level two, another $80 in products and supplies. There are two more levels I can work toward in the next 30 days, too. Incentives are offered throughout the year, and there are two BIGGIES I will be working toward next year: a conference pass/$750-1500 in gift cards and an all expenses trip to Cancun.

I think I can do this, for two reasons.

First, the products are functional and they make functional look great. They provide solutions for this busy, whirlwind lifestyle that most of us in 2012 live. Whether you are single or have a houseful of kids, you are probably trying to simplify your life by getting organized. When you have a system, you can save time and spend more time doing what you love. Thirty-One provides ways to tame the clutter in your life, and with variety of prints and personalization, it’s FUN to do so. Products like that are EASY to sell, because they sell themselves. I believe in them, and I believe they can save you time and frustration, so I can be confident in presenting them as an option.

Which brings me to the second reason; I think this can change my life if I let it, and not just financially. Yes, earning just $500 a month will ensure I can finish school. But more importantly, if I can overcome my social anxiety by working Thirty-One parties, can you imagine the impact that would have on my future or on my relationships? Interviews wouldn’t be paralyzing. Outings wouldn’t be shadowed by my inevitable meltdown. Family functions would be something to look forward to. I could act silly without that gripping fear of judgement. I could dance without feeling like I was naked in front of my classroom. I could be more involved with organizations at my college. I could take on more leadership roles…I know I have the brains and the heart for leadership. But this crippling anxiety keeps me from breaking rank to step ahead. I’ve had enough, and I want control back.

I think Thirty-One is going to help me get it.

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I swear this was the longest semester ever. Once Aidan was born, all I wanted to do was snuggle that sweet baby. The term dragged on for about five more weeks, and I only missed one assignment in five classes, but I did get a couple of half credit scores on some half assed work. My heart just wasn’t in it, in part due to the looming issue of the USF Polytechnic split.

You can ask Dr. Google, as I tell my kids, if you want all the gory details, but the short version is this: a bully Senator ran right over the plan already in place to gradually separate my school, USF Polytechnic, from USF and into an independent Florida Polytechnic University IMMEDIATELY even though it would have no staff, faculty, students, or ACCREDITATION, and basically, everyone let him. So, over the summer, the school I enrolled at, USF Poly, will cease to exist and I will become a regular USF student. Except my major isn’t even offered at regular USF and because I screwed up when I was younger, my completion ratio is too low to even take courses at the Tampa campus. Supposedly there will be a “teach out” period so current students can finish their programs, but we are really just discarded orphans and I’m sure we will be afterthoughts. But, hey, at least I know now. Having it all up in the air was awful. It could have been stopped at so many points if we have more representatives who had common sense instead of cronyism, and we really did fight it every step of the way with protests, students speaking to the Florida Congress, petitions, and calls/emails/letters to representatives. But, it is reality now, so I’m just looking ahead.

Another big WTF issue is that I won’t get any more Pell Grants, again, because I was a moron when I was young (who isn’t, really? I just chose a way to be an idiot that would haunt the rest of my life. Go me!). I will still be taking out loans, which will cover my tuition, but I use what’s left after that to pay other expenses so I can just be a mom and a FT student, without working. Now those loans will go about $5500 a year less than they did, so about $550/month over a ten month school year. Working seems to be in my future and I’m very worried how that will affect my performance, so I did something kind of out there that I will tell you all about next time. Hopefully that will take the $550/month edge off. (Plus, Christian turned 18, so we don’t get the survivor’s benefits we’ve gotten since his dad’s death any more. Hopefully he will find a job…but come on, it took Brian a year to find a decent one and Christian has a lack of work experience, a felony record, no license, and some tattoos working against him.)

In any case, I am pretty sure I completed my second semester at USF with honors again:

• Advanced Technical Writing: A- (HATED this class and disliked the prof, but he was a fair grader. Just an arrogant ass.)
• IT Concepts: A (I have a class next term with this guy, and I liked him.)
• Intermediate Web Design: B (I got 100% on my first three projects, but my last two wouldn’t work right. Oops!)
• Object-Oriented Programming: B (I’m fairly sure of this grade. HATED the way he taught. Will be teaching myself over the summer, because even though my grades were excellent other than one forgotten assignment, I don’t feel like I learned enough.)
• Discrete Math: B (Fairly sure of this one, too. Bombed the middle test in this class but got a 100% on the final. That’s what I get for skipping lectures before the middle test. Weird thing is that the lectures were REALLY helpful…and this was the same prof as my OOP class. Maybe a graduate student actually did the video lectures.)

My grades weren’t as good as last term but they were all online courses which I do think are harder, if only for time management reasons, and like I said, BABY! I’m so. damn. happy. to have the semester over with. I don’t go back until August, and I intend to spend the summer working on my business, playing with my family, and drinking a lot of wine.

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I have a most excellent excuse for neglecting the three people who still read my blog.

Meet my first grandchild.

Aidan James.

Born on March 28, 2012, at 2:31 am.

7 lbs 9.9 oz, 21 inches.

Completely perfect, even with his little conehead.

He turned a month old yesterday. It’s been one of the most stressful and most beautiful times of my life. I never thought I could love anyone like I love the four kids I’ve raised, but my grandson proves that thought wrong. Not that it’s been all rainbows and butterflies, but I am so very proud of his parents. Aidan always has his needs met. They love him and cuddle him and talk to him and keep him clean and fed and warm. I’m just…completely blissful with this new little love in my life. He’s brought such joy and hope to my heart.

Welcome to the world, Aidan.

Love, MiMi

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My mom retired a couple of years ago, after decades of busting her ass cleaning houses, driving a Leggs truck, waiting tables, etc. followed by nursing school and 25 years at a Tampa hospital. She’s *earned* those golden years, and that really doesn’t even take into consideration the hell my brothers, my dad (actually, both my father AND my dad), my brother’s dad, and I put her through.

But, my mom is a generous soul. To a fault, really.

See, my cousin is in a bad place. I love her dearly, but her down and out status isn’t due to bad luck, it’s due to bad decisions. I tried helping her last year and I felt very taken advantage of, so I drew the line. I know I’m not the only one who tried to help, and others were burned far worse than I. She’s addicted to painkillers, and it’s just gotten so bad that I don’t even know her anymore. She’s with a guy now, and from my perspective, she’s only gone downhill since he came into the picture. She had a problem before, but she hated that she had that problem. She talked to me about what she could do to campaign to take Oxycontin off the market because of how destructive it can be. Now, it seems like she’s completely unaware that she needs help. She has this expectation for people and agencies to help her, without doing much of anything to help herself. She seems depressed, but unable to see how her actions repeatedly get her in the situations she needs help to get out of.

To make matters worse, she has four kids. The youngest is not even a year old, the eldest will be 15 in May.

The Department of Children and Families (DCF) is involved. They sheltered the kids last fall, but a judge returned the kids with the stipulation that my cousin and her boyfriend complete tasks such as getting substance abuse evaluations and treatment if indicated, maintaining stable housing, complying with probation, getting the kids into counseling, etc. Well, in five months, their progress had been less than satisfactory, and DCF pulled the kids again. The younger kids had grandparents they could be placed with, but the oldest didn’t have anybody who could and would take her.

And here is where DCF goes into the WTF realm.

They wouldn’t let me take her because of Christian’s record. Okay, I mean I guess I sort of understand the reasoning behind that. Kinda. So, my mom stepped up. She turned her life upside down to keep this girl we love out of a foster home. She was told she could get food stamps and relative caregiver funding to help support the girl, who gets no support from either biological parent.

And then, her bitch of a DCF worker who came to do the home study decided that since my mom is not a blood relative, she doesn’t qualify for  relative caregiver funds. See, my uncle married the girl’s paternal grandmother when her father was just twelve. There was never a formal adoption, although my uncle finished raising him. My uncle and his wife raised the girl for years, and I have always been in her life; her mother and I were roommates multiple times over the years before I married. But the connection is through marriage, not biology. And so they denied my mom the financial assistance. They denied her food stamps for the girl, too, because my mom’s social security and her pension are “too high.”

The reason I’m so pissed off about it is that if she *did* go to a foster home, the foster family would receive almost TWICE the $230 that my mom would have received in relative caregiver funds. In ADDITION to food stamps. The state is willing to spend THREE TIMES AS MUCH to strangers to care for her than they are willing to spend to help her own family care for her. And as far as I know, that is *without regard* for the foster family’s OWN income.

What. The. Fuck.

My sweet Momma is literally going to food banks to keep afloat, and that pisses me off. Her parents are supposed to be responsible for the girl’s welfare. They didn’t do such a hot job, so the state decided THEY were taking responsibility. But now they are shirking financial responsibility. “Oh, we’re gonna take your kids because we can do a better job of taking care of them. Oh wait, we aren’t going to take care of them at all when they are with people who love them…only if they go to strangers!”

**I just got an email from my mom. She was saving to have her dentures fixed; they are so bad she can’t wear them unless she has to in order to eat because the break keeps pinching her. She has gone through everything she’s saved. I’m going to figure out a way to pay for her damn dentures to be fixed, but, hey Florida? Fuck you for putting her in that situation by choosing to do the right thing. And a DOUBLE fuck you to my cousin for choosing drugs over her kids.**

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