The random misadventures of a (formerly)Single Super Mom

Truer words have never been spoken.  Most people who never grew up around tornadoes equated them to what they saw in the Wizard of Oz.  Dorothy on the bed, knocked on her noggin, seeing visions of scary things outside the window.  She landed in a fantasy land inhabited with little people, a talking lion, a scarecrow, and a tin man.  Then came Twister.  Then people got a more realistic look at the devastation a tornado can cause.  Special effects were able to bring people inside the funnel clouds; showing them what the Fujita scale actually was, and the difference between an F-2 and an F-5.   But even then, "That's a Cow", doesn't quite portray what it's really like to be in the path of the hammer. Growing up in the Midwest, we knew what tornadoes were.  We practiced drills all the time.  Everyone that didn't live in a mobile home or an apartment pretty much had a basement.   It was just a way of life.  When the sirens came on, you hit the basement.  You op

Cruise travel.  For some people it conjures up images of a huge party boat, for others, a floating ship of senior citizens, and still others, Captain Steubing, Isaac, Gopher, and Julie.  I recently took my very first cruise and I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised.  I got the cruise as a Christmas present, and it honestly blew me away.  Who gets a cruise disguised as a toaster?  This girl.  Then came the planning and researching cruise lines, ships, destinations, and prices.  After looking at a bunch of options, we chose Carnival Cruise Lines as our ship.  We booked and planned it before all of the recent newsworthy events that the company has endured, and decided that even though bad things had happened, we were comfortable going anyway.  We looked at ports close to home and farther away, and decided it was worth it to go to Miami to depart.  Charleston, SC is undoubtedly much closer, but after reading reviews on the port and the fact that in order to get to your destination

Jury duty is over.  Done.  I know I have a reprieve for a while.  It was long.  I complained a lot, but I gained a new knowledge of the justice system and of myself.  The case I was on involved alleged racial discrimination and a violation of civil rights.  Being Black, that struck a chord with me.  I have been blessed enough not to have OVERT discrimination, but I have had subtle bias.  I've had people judge me and tell me that I'm too "eloquent" and "well read" for a Black person.  I've had people call me the "N" word to my face, and behind my back.  My best friend in high school wasn't allowed to be around me because her father didn't want her having a Black friend.  My ex husband's grandparents disowned him completely when they found out he was marrying a Black girl.  Never mind that they had never met me.  Never mind that I hadn't had the chance to make a good impression.  It was enough that the color of my skin dictated