Author: GenXBrat

  • Running a Business On the Road – Introduction

    ByGenXBrat

    That’s right. I’m (once again) taking my blog (and my business) on the road. This time with a lot more knowledge and a road map (for the business, not the job… well ok, yes, I’ll have a road map for the job too but that’s a given… I’ll be on the road… stop confusing me!) 🙂

    Yes, I have a Class A license and can drive a big rig. I got it back in 2007 when I suddenly decided I wanted to go “play trucker”. Don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t something that just popped into my head out of the blue and no, I wasn’t having a mid-life crisis…

  • My Happy Valentine’s Day Gift to Me…

    ByGenXBrat

    Yes, it’s Valentine’s Day, my sweetheart’s not here (nor has he stopped by or sent a text) and I don’t expect him to be because we’re going through a weird time right now that has us apart.

    I got up this morning (ok, so MY morning starts around 2pm so it would technically be afternoon), took a shower, prettied myself up with the usual cocoa butter body oil, my favorite face lotions and makeup (hell, I even took a curling iron to my hair!), just so I could spend the day working on taxes and business stuff!

    But this day had a very surprise ending …

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    It’s a Parents Job to Prevent Childhood Obesity!

    ByGenXBrat

    We’re supposed to protect our kids… from as much as humanly possible.

    And obesity is something that we CAN protect our children from… no excuses!

    There’s a TON of information out there (no pun intended), and yet everyone tip toes around (or completely IGNORES) the fact that parents are to blame for the majority of obese children in America!

  • Using Pure Coconut Oil & Brown Hair Dye to Color Gray Hair

    ByGenXBrat

    One thing I’ve learned recently is that as I get older (I promise I’ll deny that statement was every made by me if I’m asked), my gray hair isn’t the only issue to contend with. It’s also getting drier in general so it’s time to start watching how I condition my hair as well.

    So in addition to looking to get rid of the grays, I’ve also gotta find a way to deep condition in the process and minimize the damage….

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    Aging – Can We Get a Pass on SOMEthing?!

    ByGenXBrat

    As I’m adding hair color to my list of things to get at the store, it crosses my mind (yet again) that somewhere along the way, we should get a break.

    After all, we’ve spent an entire lifetime dealing with age-appropriate issues.

    Acne, menstruation, cramps, pregnancy, childbirth, insomnia and more. All this before the age of 40.

    And then, when you finally get to that age and are ready to eliminate some of those things, life has the nerve to hand you a few more!…

  • Whoever Said There’s Such a Thing as a Good Break Up, Has Never Had a Broken Heart

    ByGenXBrat

    Yep. My heart is broken… and I don’t know if it can be fixed.

    I’ve been with the same man for five and a half years… and he walked out of my life last night. Without going into a lot of detail about the things that led up to this, I’ll just say that it’s tough integrating families from different backgrounds and different cultures.

    Can things be made better? Well, that depends on a lot of factors. Some that I can control, but most that I can’t….

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    Coconut Oil as a Hair Care Product?

    ByGenXBrat

    My hair’s been really dry this year. Age is playing a factor I’m sure. But the newest drying agent, besides the dry winter air, is the chlorine from the pool.

    I live in Arizona and the complex we live in has a pool right outside my door. Literally, I’m about 25 steps from the gate. And in the winter, it’s heated, so I’ve been going out to swim and relax.

    Last night, I decided to test whether using coconut oil as a conditioner would work as great as all the stories I keep reading online. …

  • Healthy Choices for 2014

    ByGenXBrat

    I’ve never been one to set New Year’s Resolutions. I mean really, when you’re out enjoying the holiday parties, who wants to spend time thinking about how you’re going to make the next year of your life better (and typically by restricting what you do)?!

    But… having said that, I am one of those people who prefers to be proactive about my health rather than wait till something bad happens… that whole “preventive medicine” thing! …

  • Change a Domain Name? What Was I Thinking?!

    ByGenXBrat

    No, I haven’t been avoiding posting or slacking already on my goals for 2014. I’ve spent the past 2 days making sure that my blog is redirecting right from the original domain name to here. I’d like to make sure it gets done without losing my page rankings and such.

    I hate technical stuff!

    I’m fairly sure at this point that it’s redirecting ok, but I won’t know for a couple of days as I see what Google is actually indexing and whether it’s getting indexed with the existing rankings and such. …

  • Fear, Anger, Confusion – Take Away Their Guns!… Really?!

    ByGenXBrat

    Today, there are WAY too many families in Connecticut grieving over losing their children and their family members. The press is saying that fear, anger, and confusion are the only way to describe how the people in Newtown, Connecticut feel right now.

    Those feelings are completely understandable. I cried, and I don’t know anyone directly who died. The fact that someone walked into an elementary school and killed 27 people, most of whom are children… That upsets me.

    Having so many people immediately start yelling about how we should control guns and take them away from law-abiding citizens… That pisses me off! …

  • Cheddar Bay Biscuits – Look Out Red Lobster!

    ByGenXBrat

    My son and I used to go to Red Lobster almost weekly when he was younger. And while we ordered different entrees (he preferred the popcorn shrimp while I’m a huge fan of their crab legs), we both agreed that the Cheddar Bay Biscuits they served were the best we’d ever tasted and even if that’s ALL we ate, we’d both go home happy!

    Nowadays we don’t go as often (college, work and girlfriend time has taken over), but we do miss those biscuits! So, I went on a search to find out if there might be a comparable recipe out there… preferably one that even I, the master NON-chef, could pull off.

  • Lasagna! Yep, Made by Me!

    ByGenXBrat

    No, I’m not a chef. In fact, if you ask those who know me best they will flat out tell you… I don’t even like to cook. There are, however, a few recipes I don’t mind making here and there, as long as I can find someone willing to do the dishes and help with clean up.

    Lasagna is one of those recipes I finally figured out (and it turned out great if I do say so myself!).

    So, for those of you “non-cooks” like me, here’s a fairly simple one that turns out really well and actually impresses people. …

  • Kid Corner – Wiffle Ball Bat Incident Leaves Permanent Scar

    ByGenXBrat

    I have a small scar underneath my eyebrow on my right toward the my nose. I got it when I was around six or seven years old.

    My neighbors on one side has two daughters and two sons. My neighbor on the other side had two boys, Kenny and Billy.

    Joy and I spent a lot of time hanging out and playing with Kenny and Billy and occasionally we would get in a fight with them too. One day, I got really mad at Kenny (I don’t remember why) but I remember chasing him over to his house and, when I got there, I picked up one of those big fat wiffleball bats, backed him up against the wall of his house, and hit him across his chest with it.
    Of course Kenny was around the same age, so it probably did hurt him. Even if it didn’t, I do know it made him mad. …

  • I’m Listening to Casey Kasem’s American Top 40!

    ByGenXBrat

    Believe it I just finished listening to Casey Kasem’s Top 40 from the week ending September 10, 1983!

    So cool! I remember what a big part of our life Casey Kasem was every week when I was a teenager. He had such a unique voice. Even if you didn’t know what radio station he was going to be on, all you had to do was flip through the stations until you heard that voice coming across the airwaves and you knew you were there.

    40 of our favorite songs that we have listened to all week long… Patiently waiting to see which one was going to be number one! And always such a letdown when it was over because you felt like it was time for a friend to leave. …

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    I Admit It… I’m An Enabler!

    ByGenXBrat

    Good gosh! Yes, I’m having one of those days. I’m mad. I’m frustrated. I’m in a non-people mood!

    And yes, I feel I have the right to be. 🙂

    Don’t get me wrong. The only one I have to blame is me. I’ve made choices over the years to be an enabler.

    Hi, I’m Debi. And I’m an enabler. (Imagines all the “Hi Debi”s coming from the group). …

  • Cracking Open Raw Nuts Should be Easy

    ByGenXBrat

    I know it’s not Christmas yet but this crossed my mind last night when I reached for the raw pecans I have on the counter. You know the ones. The kind you buy at Christmas that come inside their shells. They’re usually mixed together in a great big bin that your mom keeps telling you to stop playing in.

    Whenever mom brought these home, she’d put ’em in a big bowl and throw the nut cracker and picks into the bowl with the nuts so that we could actually get the shells off and eat them. As far as I knew, that was the only way to get to the good parts of the nuts.

    Well I just got re-edu-macated last year by a short little Mexican lady that my sweetheart calls mom. …

  • Rudeness Abounds!

    ByGenXBrat

    That’s right. I said “Abounds”. And if you don’t know what that means then Google it!

    Sorry. Was that rude? Yes, it was. And I was being intentionally rude to make a point… it’s NOTICEABLE!

    I don’t know whether it’s the baby boomer side of me or the midwestern in me, but people are just ticking me off more and more by their rudeness! …

  • Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

    ByGenXBrat

    My wish is that it’s completely green and pure gold for you (and that you don’t get pinched)! 🙂

    You know, I remember getting dressed in green and going to the St. Patrick’s Day parade as a kid, but we just don’t do that anymore.

    So, for those of you who celebrate by going out to have a few green beers… Cheers! (to you AND your designated driver… hint, hint) 😉 …

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    Loving all My Personalities…Group Hug!!

    ByGenXBrat

    My son thinks I have several people living inside me… and not all of them are sane. He’s probably right…but as I’ve explained to him, as long as they all keep communicating with each other we’ll be fine… =)

    I’ve always had people telling me I’m crazy. Not in a “call the men in the white coats” kinda way. It’s more of the “I can’t believe she just did/said that!” kinda way.

    I think I’m just not willing to give up my inner child. And as an adult, you can’t make me! 🙂 …

  • I Trust My Intuition… Doesn’t Everyone?

    ByGenXBrat

    I’m not an expert on intuition…I just know I’m intuitive…to the point of being scary sometimes.

    This topic came up this morning when my boyfriend laughed at me for walking away from someone after barely acknowledging them. I’m not a rude person… far from it actually… at least from my own personal perspective. But I do know there are people in this world who perceive that I’m VERY rude… and I’m ok with that. …

  • Christmas 2011

    ByGenXBrat

    This year was much better than last. We got the Christmas lights put up on the patio…gorgeous if I do say so myself!

    My son was healthy for the most part (coughing up a storm but we believe he’ll live… he’s gonna let me know if he feels that’s changing!).

    Z got to relax and seemed very content with the fact that I made chicken and real mashed potatoes on top of putting together a huge pot of Posole.

    And even though the day was quiet and none of us had bought any Christmas presents, it was a great day. …

  • Gone But Not Forgotten – I Love You Mom…

    ByGenXBrat

    Fifteen years ago today I watched my mom take her last breath. I woke up this morning thinking about that day. It’s amazing how vivid the last 3 weeks of her life are to me, even after 15 years. I miss my mom…

    There are so many things that I’ve wanted to say to her over the years, so many things I wanted her to see.

    When I was a kid I thought she’d live forever. I’m not sure many people ever think about the mortality of their parents when they’re young. …