So, it's been a little while since I posted. I've got several entries in the works that I will be sharing over the next few weeks and months. Life's been a little busy over here what with settling into a new home, a new town, a new job, etc. But it's been a fun time figuring everything out!
Tonight is the first Presidential debate of this campaign season and I'm sure that as a good voter, I should be watching it. I mean, it's only taking over almost every channel on television. Several media outlets and social networking sites will be offering play-by-play commentary and fact checking because neither candidate would stretch or misrepresent the truth...right?
But....I just can't. I just can't sit and listen and watch two people belittle, screech, squawk, interrupt, talk over, and degrade one another, their parties, their positions, and their pasts for a solid two hours. There has already been so much negativity and grand standing leading up to tonight that I just don't think I can take it. Tomorrow, I'll be the good little voter again. I'll read the re-caps and see what points each candidate got in, where they stand on the issues, and all of the other things I feel like I need to know to make an educated decision in a little over 40 days. To be able to confidently cast my ballot, which is a right that I respect and treasure. But for tonight, I'm just not. Instead, I'm going to read my Bible study. I'm gonna watch a little Pioneer Woman. I might even grade a few papers. I'm going to enjoy the rest of my evening. I just won't be tuned in to a certain live televised event. If you are, I'm glad for you. I'll even welcome your input in catching me up on what I missed! I just can't take the negative tonight.
Monday, September 26, 2016
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
Re-Branding - Birthday Memories
Tomorrow is my 30th birthday. I am actually very excited about turning 30 and there will be a whole post on that tomorrow, on my actual birthday. But today has me thinking about why the day before my birthday is special and the lady who made it that way.
In my family, July is a huge month for birthdays. Between both sides, we have over 8 special days to celebrate! One of my cousins who I grew up with and have always been close to has a birthday on July 19th, just 2 days before mine. It was her grandmother, Mamaw Prather, who was our babysitter. I may not have been her grandchild by blood, but Truman Grace Prather could not have loved me anymore if I were. From the time I was two months old until I started school, I was at her house every weekday. After I started school, I got off the bus at her house until I was 9 years old. I have so many wonderful memories of her and her husband, their house, and their farm. My mom loves to tell the story about the time that I got an Easy Bake Oven and promptly asked to return it to WalMart because it took 30 minutes to make one lousy brownie and I pronounced that "Mamaw Prather lets me really cook!" But who wouldn't be unimpressed with a plastic "oven" and light bulb when they got to pull a ladder back chair up to a stove and cook and bake and see a meal through from start to delicious finish? That was my experience with Mamaw Prather and I'm forever thankful for it.
Mamaw Prather and me at her son's wedding
But, back to why July 20th is a special day for me. When my cousin and I were growing up, Mamaw Prather always celebrated our birthdays at her house. Since they were only a day apart, to be fair, she had us celebrate on the 20th. Mamaw made us a special lunch that we got to choose. There was a homemade cake with both of our names spelled out in crunch candy letters from the grocery store baking aisle. Always chocolate frosting because it was both of our favorites. For weeks in the summer, we looked forward to our shared day and our yummy cake and ice cream! Looking back, I can still remember the glow of the candles on the cake at the kitchen table with the lights dimmed. The smooth taste of homemade chocolate frosting with the sugary "crunch" of the letters. And the feeling of knowing how special we both were to her. How I wish I could go back and have one more birthday with Mamaw!
Today, on the day that she made special, I think about all of the memories I have at Mamaw Prather's house and all of the things she taught me. I can't drink a grape Powerade without tasting the homemade Kool-Aid popsicles we made. I remember the excitement of getting to bottle feed calves beside her. I see her sitting in her rocking chair and reading her Bible in quiet moments throughout the day. I hope that she would be proud of me and I hope that I can live up to the things that I know she expected from me and the things that she taught me. And as I get ready to start a new life in a new home with my husband, I plan to hang one of her recipes in my kitchen and bring a little part of Mamaw with me, always.
Brandi
The Almost Birthday Girl
In my family, July is a huge month for birthdays. Between both sides, we have over 8 special days to celebrate! One of my cousins who I grew up with and have always been close to has a birthday on July 19th, just 2 days before mine. It was her grandmother, Mamaw Prather, who was our babysitter. I may not have been her grandchild by blood, but Truman Grace Prather could not have loved me anymore if I were. From the time I was two months old until I started school, I was at her house every weekday. After I started school, I got off the bus at her house until I was 9 years old. I have so many wonderful memories of her and her husband, their house, and their farm. My mom loves to tell the story about the time that I got an Easy Bake Oven and promptly asked to return it to WalMart because it took 30 minutes to make one lousy brownie and I pronounced that "Mamaw Prather lets me really cook!" But who wouldn't be unimpressed with a plastic "oven" and light bulb when they got to pull a ladder back chair up to a stove and cook and bake and see a meal through from start to delicious finish? That was my experience with Mamaw Prather and I'm forever thankful for it.
But, back to why July 20th is a special day for me. When my cousin and I were growing up, Mamaw Prather always celebrated our birthdays at her house. Since they were only a day apart, to be fair, she had us celebrate on the 20th. Mamaw made us a special lunch that we got to choose. There was a homemade cake with both of our names spelled out in crunch candy letters from the grocery store baking aisle. Always chocolate frosting because it was both of our favorites. For weeks in the summer, we looked forward to our shared day and our yummy cake and ice cream! Looking back, I can still remember the glow of the candles on the cake at the kitchen table with the lights dimmed. The smooth taste of homemade chocolate frosting with the sugary "crunch" of the letters. And the feeling of knowing how special we both were to her. How I wish I could go back and have one more birthday with Mamaw!
Today, on the day that she made special, I think about all of the memories I have at Mamaw Prather's house and all of the things she taught me. I can't drink a grape Powerade without tasting the homemade Kool-Aid popsicles we made. I remember the excitement of getting to bottle feed calves beside her. I see her sitting in her rocking chair and reading her Bible in quiet moments throughout the day. I hope that she would be proud of me and I hope that I can live up to the things that I know she expected from me and the things that she taught me. And as I get ready to start a new life in a new home with my husband, I plan to hang one of her recipes in my kitchen and bring a little part of Mamaw with me, always.
Brandi
The Almost Birthday Girl
Re-Branding Brandi - An Introduction
Hello! I've had the idea for this blog for about four years now. The title comes from a conversation I had with a mentor and former English teacher while I was substitute teaching and working on my teaching license. It is from a period in my life where I was transitioning and "re-branding" myself. I had recently moved from Tuscaloosa back home to Blue Springs, I was changing careers and shifting from PR/Marketing to teaching, and was in the process of attempting to work on my health and my weight yet again.
Well, here I am four years later and guess what? I'm still transitioning and "re-branding" myself! I'm now a full time English teacher about to start teaching at my third school in four years, I'm recently married and moving to the Mississippi Delta with my husband, and I'm traveling the journey of weight loss surgery and finally taking control of my health. If there is one thing that I have learned over the past four years it is that life is always in a state of transition and we have to have faith and trust in the journey. This blog will hopefully be a mix of things - love, faith, food, family, humor, all of things that make life interesting. Here's to hoping you'll enjoy my ramblings and random moments as much as I'll enjoy sharing them!
Love,
Brandi
Well, here I am four years later and guess what? I'm still transitioning and "re-branding" myself! I'm now a full time English teacher about to start teaching at my third school in four years, I'm recently married and moving to the Mississippi Delta with my husband, and I'm traveling the journey of weight loss surgery and finally taking control of my health. If there is one thing that I have learned over the past four years it is that life is always in a state of transition and we have to have faith and trust in the journey. This blog will hopefully be a mix of things - love, faith, food, family, humor, all of things that make life interesting. Here's to hoping you'll enjoy my ramblings and random moments as much as I'll enjoy sharing them!
Love,
Brandi
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)