A relationship worth mending...........

"If someone shows you who they are believe them" Maya Angelo

We are blessed with all different types of relationships. All of them necessary at some point in
our life and not one of them easy. Relationships take work.
We have work relationships, family relationships, marital relationships,parental relationships and so many others.
 Lets talk about work relationships. They are necessary but  may only be temporary. If I work at Walmart I may have work relationships while I am employed there. I say hello talk about
what I did on the weekend and every now and then share a little about my personal life. These relationships are necessary, they allow me to feel a part of this environment.
When I move on I may not stay connected with these relationships. I will gain new ones at my new place of employment. It is possible to take some of these relationships with me but for the most part I will leave most of them behind.
Remember our friends in high school, college, first job, and old neighborhoods. Take a minute and think about how many of these we are still connected to. It is not that we didn't work at staying connected it is just that those relationships were for that season in our life. We learn and grow with everyone we meet. We are better people for having met all of these people.

Tyler Perry aka Madea explains it something like this.
Relationships are like trees. Some of the people in our lives are the leaves, they sway when the wind blows and during certain seasons fall away. We can all recall of people in our lives that fell away when we
were faced with a storm, well they were our leaves. We have all made the mistake of trying to hold on to people that we should of  let go. It is necessary to let go of the leaves so we can grow new ones. We damage not only ourselves but we damage others by holding on to something we should let go of.
 It is hurtful and not necessary.
Some are like branches and appear sturdy and strong until you walk out on the limb. Most of the branches are not strong enough to hold us up. Remember a new friendship when you are beginning to trust. Maybe a new boyfriend or a teammate. If we walk out on that limb to soon it is not capable of holding us. Trust is something that is earned with time. A branch has taken time to grow and when it is broken it can not be repaired.
Now the roots of a tree are what keep the tree standing. Through it all the roots remain. 
At the beginning they are not obviously apparent but when the storm comes and the wind begins to blow you will see them. I like redwood trees. If you have ever studied redwoods you know that they can not stand without joining with the roots of  the trees standing near by.  Redwoods are  typically 350 feet in height and the roots reach no deeper than 6-12 feet and are only 1 inch in diameter. Small but mighty.
You ask how does a redwood remain upright. They grow close together intermingling root systems.
This is what I call connecting. You help your neighbor when you connect them to other roots. This helps all of us to remain standing.
My friend Anette is a root, she is small but mighty. I take great pride in standing near her. She teaches and is not shy to learn from others. She has taught me that it all starts with one tree...... the right tree. Then sooner or later you have a forrest. A forrest that provides shelter and aid to all that live in it.
Redwoods are also resistant to fires and rot. I want to be like a redwood I want to survive the fires in life and
endure all the rotten stuff this world has to offer. So that I may help others do the same.

Todays blog inspired by my friend Angi Lange

Walmart

A few days ago my husband and I went to walmart to purchase juice. We were strolling through the store
and noticed a clearance table with new computers. The sign stated that the computers were 50% off.
We considered purchasing one but decided it would be best to go home and sleep on it.
Here we are the next day and we return to our local Walmart. On this day the sign states that the
computers are 75% off. We proceed to purchase the Compaq computer with a flat screen monitor
for $107.00 and this is including tax. Yeah me.
Great deals are out there you just have to know where to look.
Every store has a designated area where they have clearance items.
There is a difference between a sale item and a clearance item. A sale item is when a store sends out a circular with certain items on sale. Some of the items in the circular are what we call "loss leaders". Loss leaders are items that the store puts on sale either at cost or below cost. This is to entice the consumer to visit their store. They do this knowing that when a consumer visits their store, the customer will not only purchase  sale  items, but chances are that the consumer will  purchase other things as well.
A clearance item is an item that a store may have an excess of, seasonal items or older model items. For instance the clearance computers at Walmart were last years model. Walmart needed to make room for this years model so they had no choice but to drop the price on the older models. With the bulk of sales that Walmart has made in this one store alone, placing these computers on clearance did not damage their bottom line.  I am a happy walmart consumer proud of my clearance purchase and I will return knowing I may  encounter another great deal. I will continue to help build their bottom line.
I am shopping today .............................

In the Pit of Poverty

I am reading a book called "Get out of the Pit" by Beth Moore.
Beth talks about the different ways we can get into a pit, as well as, how we can get out of a pit.
She is clear on the fact that no one makes it out alone.
It made me think of poverty. There are certainly different types of poverty
generational, situational, working class, immigrant and many others. There is also only one way out(education) of poverty and be assured that no one makes it out alone.
A young mother living the American dream wakes up one morning and realizes her husband is no
longer there. No longer a man to care and support her and their two children. First to go is her
self confidence, then her home, her car,  and simply life as she knows it.
This is the pit of  Situational Poverty.  In this pit there is a villain that takes away her dignity, hope and dreams. In return he gives her shame, hopelessness, and discouragement. As she sits in this pit, her vision is no longer clear and hope seems foolish. Imagine sitting in a pit and visualize what you would see.
The only way out is for someone to give her a hand  up or for someone to throw her a rope.
She may be afraid to climb out alone. Perhaps because she has two children she is unwilling to put them down to hold on to the hand or the rope. If we are truly wanting to help her and her children. We may have to go down into the pit and get her. Some times it is not enough to throw her a rope (money). She needs a mentor to walk at her side. To tell her she can.
Are we willing to climb into a pit to help her and her children out? Are we willing to get dirty to help her? Our neighbors (people in poverty)are counting on us for a glimpse of hope, for a glimpse of a future and maybe just a glimpse of what its like outside of the pit.

My First Post

I was urged to start a blog on how to shop. So here we go. My hope is to help you navigate through this wonderful retail world of ours. I shop locally and try never to spend more than $5.00 for any article of clothing. I never shop online and seldom shop at thrift stores. I do however love Children's Exchange on Georgia. I take my clothes and do a little consignment there. I make enough money there to buy a few outfits at my favorite stores.
Years ago as a young mother I learned to shop on a tight budget. There was barely enough money to shop for clothes let alone to buy the jewelry to go with my clothes. I knew then that I had to navigate a way to shop, for beautiful clothes and accessories, on a budget.
I started to visit local retail shops a couple of times a week. At that time I was merely window shopping.  After a few weeks of doing this, I noticed when delivery trucks would come. Each store had a day when their trucks would arrive. Exciting because it meant a different aray of clothes in the stores. As the clothes was brought in on racks by one attendant. I noticed the other attendant would be marking down the clothes already in the store. Every week the same thing.
Let me give you an example. I saw a sweater a lovely sweater a sweater that would be mine. I was not willing to pay $50 for it. I returned weekly. Every week as new clothes was brought in my sweater was marked down.  Finally my sweater was marked down enough to fit my budget $2.00.
Jewelry is like the icing on the cake. It is necessary. I was in Grapevine for  a weekend getaway with
my two beautiful sisters. We shopped the markets and the mall. Had a thought while I was there. Why not buy $50 worth of  jewelry and sell it for $100. That would allow me to buy $50 worth of jewelry with out it coming out of my budget. It worked and I still do that today. I do the same thing with make up so I don't have to pay for it.
I have so many tips on shopping for someone on a budget. Amercian Eagle, Hollister, Children's Place,Victoria's Secret,Aeropostale, TJ-Max, Ross for less,Walmart, Target, United, Black Friday Shopping and much more. I shop all over town and will keep you posted on unbelieveable sales.
A few weeks back I went in to Old Navy to buy flip flops and they had a $1.97 clearance. I bought 10 pieces for about $20.