Beauty Queens....A confession

I'm not your typical Beauty Queen or a least not what society wants everyone to perceive as the typical beauty queen. Most days you will find me bumming around in sweats or jeans, hair pulled back in some fashion and make-up free. I don't have time to be high maintenance and I don't have the energy. Like most women I have too much to do and not enough time to do it and so I often cut out the extras... If I'm not going out in public make-up, hairspray and real clothes are extras.

In addition to not meeting the glamazon criteria for being a beauty queen; I don't enjoy beating others down with hateful comments on discussion boards. I don't have thousands upon thousands of dollars to spend on a wardrobe, I actually only own 4 gowns. I have a brain and a voice and I use both. I don't compete because I NEED another crown. My crowns & sashes are not on display and rarely come up in conversation. I'm honestly happy for whomever wins the crown as I stand clapping in the background. I believe the title of Miss Congeniality is an honor and not a pity prize. I don't have a talent or a ready prepared song, dance or instrumental piece to use on a moments notice. I've never put Vaseline on my teeth. I HATE a french pedi-cure, on my toes. I don' t have a trainer on speed dial or retainer. I enjoy food, love me some french fries, and I only exercise because I have to for my health, I can't afford to gain the 85 pounds I threw away back again (I don't use the word loss b/c they aren't lost I know right where they are). I frequently loose competition because I am too candid with the judges in interview and I've yet to perfect the glide.

All of that said I do really want world peace and will NEVER understand why we can't just get along. I do believe that one voice can bring about change. I have taped and sprayed body parts to keep them in place on stage. I've smiled so long my face hurt at the end of an evening. I've met some of my best friends while competing for the same title. I seriously LOVE shoes, I'd explain why but I think my good friend DeAnna Linz says it better in her blog and I'm like a month to a flame when it comes to anything sparkly and shiny... come to think of it maybe I am a typical beauty queen.... and I'm OK with that. I now return you to your regularly scheduled programing.. let's hope it's about jewelry.

\^^^/ Ang

Dandelions.... A confession

I adore Dandelions. I admit it. I look at them and I don't see weeds. I see flowers in every sense of the word. I love the way they brighten up a lawn and it makes me sad to see lawns, hillsides any green area without them. They are beautiful, happy, wonderful little bursts of sunshine and childhood scattered across lawns and fields. Poking up in side walk cracks and anywhere else that they can take root.

My husband is forbidden to kill them and at any given time between the months of May and October you can walk into my house and find jars, glasses, vases, anything that holds water filled with them.

To me they represent spring and summer at it's very best but more than that they represent childhood and all the innocence and love that comes with it. My favorite thing about spring is that first fist full of dandelions that any one or all of my kids brings in to give me. They walk in beaming at the beautiful gift they were able to pick with their own little hands and offer me.

I have the first dandelion my oldest son ever gave me pressed in my journal. I still remember the day. It was late April in 1997 and he wasn't quite two years old yet. We were out for a walk and he stopped as most toddlers do and bent down to look at the ground. When he came up he offered me the most beautiful flower I had ever seen clutched tightly in his little chubby fingers.

It was a bright yellow dandelion. It perfectly reflected the sunshine in his big brown eyes and to me it was more valuable than a vase full of the most exotic, fragrant flowers the world had to offer.

I guess that was the day I learn what most moms know... Dandelions roar, giggle, smile and sing!
That tiny burst of yellow is a roaring reminder of the sunshine that radiates from your child's smile and the music that is their laugh as they run across a field of dandelion puffs blowing and kicking them up into the air. They roar with the heartfelt enthusiasm and love that is offered from a tiny little hand as they reach up and hand you a bouquet full of them.

That is why my husband is forbidden to kill them and why I correct anyone who calls them a weed. Because to me they are flowers in every sense of the word and I am as proud of my windowsill full of jars, glasses, bowls or whatever else my children can find to put them in, as I am of my best vase overflowing with roses from my hubby.

So whether they are a weed or a flower in your world.
I hope the next time you see one you'll stop, think, remember and smile.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled programing.

\^^^/ Ang

Blogs... A Confession.....Yes another one

I decided I needed another blog. I have one just for family stuffs, which is in desperate need of updating, and one dedicated to Domestic Violence information and helps but neither really are a place for the various ideas, thoughts and let's face it everyday random-ness that is inside my head.

So in an effort to get it outside of my head before it takes over every nook and cranny of my mind I have decided to give it its own space here on the internet. I'm sure the thoughts and post will be as electic as my crown collection... I hope you enjoy!

\^^^/ Ang