Life

Rebranding and Other Missives

The golden retriever is Cece and the border collie puppy is Pepper 💜

Do you know how many times I’ve started typing and then immediately deleted what I wrote? I’m not really sure where this post is going, and I can’t believe it’s been almost two years since my last post 😳 A lot has happened in that time, so I suppose some updates are in order 😂

We got a puppy! Her name is Pepper and she is a border collie mix. Prepare to see a bunch of pictures of her, especially if you follow me on any of my social media (linked above, and all updated as of today 🤦🏻‍♀️) and just because I can:

First we eat, then we zooooooom!

I am, once again, a stay at home mama. I won’t talk about the specifics, but there was an ongoing bullying situation between Joey and one of my students (where my student was the bully, not Joey) and I strongly disagreed with the way their teacher and administration was handling it.

While I initially gave them the benefit of the doubt, it became clear that Joey was just expected to ignore the bullying despite it clearly escalating (mind you, Joey is in first grade, and the bullying included physical violence BEFORE I was let go), which I was absolutely not okay with. Once it became clear that I was not willing to just ignore the behavior from my student I was “no longer a good fit for the department,” and was let go the Friday before last Thanksgiving.

I have to say, I was absolutely gutted for a while. I did everything I was supposed to, including voicing my concerns multiple times to everyone I was supposed to about working with the student due to the optics of the situation, making sure that my behavior towards the student was fair and above board to avoid any accusations of mistreatment, and allowing Joe to handle the situation on Joey’s end to maintain a positive working relationship with everyone involved.

I took the last couple of months to focus on my mental health and being present with my family, and I have decided to put a pause on going back to school for the time being. I need time to decide if working in education is for me, and to be honest, I don’t think it is. I know that I only worked in one school and I shouldn’t let one bad experience impact me, but I was getting burnt out even before everything went down, and I didn’t like who I was becoming during the limited time I had with my family. Joe’s career is finally taking off, so I don’t NEED to work, which brings me to…

After a lot of thought (and tears, because I did put in a decent amount of work on it), I scrapped the book I’ve been trying to write for the better part of two decades and have started fresh. I’m simultaneously in the planning/outlining/brainstorming stage and the build my social media presence stage, so I would be absolutely honored if you’d take a look at my public social media links (they’re towards the top of this page, just under the header image) and give ‘em the old like & follow 💜 Once I have the basic story nailed down I’ll drop some hints, but it’s definitely going to be geared towards an adult audience, if you catch my drift 😉

As for the state of the world we live in, I feel my thoughts can be summed up in this:

Thirty Days of Gratitude

Gratitude Day 14

This is one of my favorite photos of just the two of us 😍

Day # 14: I know I said I was going to do “non traditional” things to be grateful for this year, but I want to shout out Joe, who works tirelessly to make sure I can stay home with Joey and who has been my fiercest supporter in pursuing the mental health help I need.

When I asked him if I could go on the retreat I’m on this weekend (praise Jesus for WordPress’s scheduling feature 😅) he didn’t even let me finish asking before saying I could go.

The Liz from 30 extra pounds ago has been screaming that I can’t pull a certain bathing suit off and I’m an idiot for even thinking I could. Hell, even current Liz is terrified she’s going to get made fun of for wearing it.

But not Joe. He’s seen the work I’ve put in, he’s seen the pounds fall off , and he more than willingly gives me the confidence I need while my brain catches up. Even though I can’t quite see the changes to my body yet, I trust him more than my brain because that bitch has proven time and time again that she’s unreliable at best.

And aaaaaalllll that, plus so much more, is why I am grateful for my best friend, my partner in life, my sun moon and stars.

Thirty Days of Gratitude

Gratitude Day 13

“Better living through chemistry.” My Grandpa 💙

Day # 13: Today, I am grateful to have the access and the means to take care of my mental health. Not everyone does, even in one of the wealthiest country’s in the world, and that’s truly heartbreaking to me.

The reality is:

I wouldn’t be here.

Joe would be a widow and a single parent all at once.

Joey would be without his mama.

And the rest of my family and friends would feel the ripple effects of my choice to end my life for decades.

All that would be my reality (and everyone I love’s reality) if I didn’t have access to therapy AND medication.

And the sad reality is that I’m one of the lucky ones. So many people don’t have the time or money to get therapy, and because of the stigma surrounding mental health, even if they do have the time and money, many suffer in silence because we still view having mental health issues as weakness.

It’s not, and it breaks my heart to know people still feel this way in 2021. One of the best ways to start the process of getting the help you need is to call the National Suicide Hotline HERE, so if this post resonates with you, I encourage you to click on that link.

If you, or someone you know has ever attempted suicide, or hell even if you just felt moved by my post but have never personally dealt with mental health issues, and you have the means to support the National Suicide Hotline, go ahead and click THIS LINK to support an organization that’s on the front lines of the mental health crisis. Even just a little bit helps.

Until Tomorrow,

Liz 💜