Depression Protection: Small Vintage Writing Desk Paired With Mirror

I found this small writing desk and thought how nice it would be in a guest bedroom where you don't have a lot of space for a real desk but would like to have something in there for your guests to do some work if they have to.  As I was working on it, I remembered a mirror I bought but didn't use in my mirror gallery.  The mirror was just hanging out in the garage behind some stuff so I pulled it out and coordinated the paint with the desk.  I chose Annie Sloan Duck Egg just to have a pop of color in the space it lands.

I have to say...it is super dooper cute now!

The desk has a small drawer for note cards and pens/pencils and a little pullout shelf in case you need a bit more space.  It's pretty perfect and now I'm wondering, as always, do I take it to my shop or do I put it in one of the guest bedrooms?  Hmmmmmmm...

LOL!

I used Howard Golden Oak Restor-A-Finish followed with Howard Feed-N-Wax on the top, drawer and shelf.  It makes it really pretty.  

I know you're saying to yourself...Monnie is always doing something and to that I say...I have to.  I absolutely, 100%, always have to be doing something and if I can't do what I truly WANT to do (make my own movies), then I guess it's cool having a hobby that can consume major blocks of time so you don't sink too far into yourself and get lost swimming around searching for shit you don't even know how to recognize.  I mean...I know that happens to some people and that it is just the way life goes but I'm pretty happy knowing that all I have to do is DO SOMETHING and I don't get too low in my the spirits.

And I do get low.  Very low.  Shit...how could I not sometimes?  

But only sometimes.  You can't let that mess become a habit.

Go do something okay?  DO.SOMETHING.  And it's perfectly okay if it's something you've never done before.  In fact...that's even better.  Having your brain consumed with a project and moving is a good thing.  When the noise gets to be too loud...go do something.  It is a for real solution.

From My Inbox: Screw Them Voices, Yo!

I received this message on Facebook the other day:

“Hi Monica! We have never met but I’ve followed your blog for a few years now. I use to live for your blogs/videos about natural beauty/hair care, cooking, housekeeping, fitness and confidence. I know there are a lot of similar blogs out there but yours really connected to me in so many ways. You are awesomely fabulous!

I sometimes wish I can ask you how you do it all. I’m turning 40 this week and although I’m so grateful and happy for so much in my life there are few things I really need to conquer. I feel my biggest set back is the noise in my head, the mental clutter, the self dialogue. Can you please preach to me about how you overcome that to be more productive and active in your daily life? What kind of affirmation motivate and keep you on track?

I completely understand if this is too personal to answer.

Best Regards,

D”

So I tipped over to D's page and clicked around a bit before responding...

“Why in the world would it be too personal to answer???????????
Imma fight you.
First things first...gimme them babies.
THEM CHEEKS!!!!!!! I WILL EAT THEIR LIL DELICIOUS FACES AWWWWWWWWWWF! LOLOLOLOLOL!
You will always have the power to be your own worst enemy so it’s something you need to seriously work on if that voice inside your head is negative.
And...why should it ever be negative?
You’re smart, beautiful, fun and funny.
Looks like you have a lovely family.
Focus on all the good things, all the time.
I was abused as a child. Big time.
I heard some really ugly things.
As a child.
I look at who I am despite all of that and I know deep down in my heart that I’m a good person in all the areas where it counts.
And THAT is what I use to silence the negative shit that can rattle around in my head sometimes.
I get up sometimes and I think some ugly shit.
And then I shoot that shit down.
I am a good person. I live my life to be of service when I can. I do no harm. I take no shit. Why? BECAUSE I AM A SURVIVOR. I AM THE SHIT.
If you want to compare yourself to crazy stuff think of all the people stuck in their negative circumstances and that’s not you.
Why?
BECAUSE YOU ARE THE SHIT!
Shit.”

The conversation went back and forth for a bit with my reminding her to not be a martyr and how martyrs have wrinkles and shit and she's too cute for all that and telling her that she should hire a housekeeper if she can afford it because nobody with kids should have to clean their own home if they can afford to outsource that job.

See...I struggle with why people talk so much crazy shit to themselves.  You'd never say the stuff you say to yourself to someone else so why, knowing the power of loving yourself...would  you ever say it to you?  If someone walked up on you and said some of that ugly ish to your face that you have rattling around in your head, I have no doubt you'd launch at them trying to take them out so turn that same energy into beating that negative voice out, back and down.  You don't have to deal with that shit.  Nobody has to.

You need to be who you need.  It's always been YOU.

Show Us The Middle...Why I love the Show "Atlanta"

I like to know what happens in the middle. Started from the bottom and now we're here? What happened in the middle? I bet that middle is interesting as hell. I bet I will learn a LOT from that middle. I bet that middle looks a lot like MY middle.

That's my major problem with movies and shows about slavery in 2016. We don't have enough of the middle out there. We don't have enough of the building blocks to where many Blacks are now. So you skip over that entire middle and take people either BACK to slavery or straight to Louboutins, expensive weaves and big houses on the hill? Where is the middle? People need to see the middle.

Show people the struggles in the middle so they know they aren't out there dealing with this stuff on their own. Let people see how other folks dealt with the same ISSUES in the middle of all their other everyday issues and balanced them out. The middle can be a rocky azz road. That "pretty" part is hard to come by. More people need to see THE MIDDLE.

Folks walking around looking at the Louboutin life feeling bad about their life because nobody showed them that the meal of Spring Vegetable Ramon with a fried egg on the side used to be a staple IN THE MIDDLE for far more than just them.

Music, television, and film these days, catering to people who look like me, leaves the middle out completely so these kids get disappointed with their life because they never see THE MIDDLE. They think they are supposed to just jump up and have the Louboutin life and when they find out that a pair of Louboutins cost more than they are bringing home in a month from their hourly job...that disappointment sinks deep. It changes the fabric of their get up and go. They start thinking that it's s imply too hard to get there because THEY NEVER GET TO SEE THE MIDDLE.

And poor White people just don't get a break at all. They see Whites on television living the good life but nobody tells them how they get out of poverty. They start wondering WTF? Why "ain't" I upper middle class successful? All these other people I see on television are. I'M SUPPOSED TO BE TOO RIGHT? Poor Whites in entertainment are always stuck out spitting tobacco posting private property signs in their yards which don't have grass in a sea of abandoned pickup trucks. Nobody shows them THE MIDDLE either.  So they stay mad all the damn time.

Yeah...THE MIDDLE is important. Don't forget that. A lot of shit goes on in THE MIDDLE which looks JUST.LIKE.YOUR.SHIT. 

You got what it takes. Don't let the entertainment interests of a few greenlighters make you think you don't need to know THE MIDDLE.

SHIT.

Spicy Boiled Peanuts

My husband loves boiled peanuts and I love my husband so I make him boiled peanuts.

Even though I'm from the Deep South, I've never had boiled peanuts.  Robby used to talk about them all the time when we were up North saying how much he used to really enjoy them.  I could never find raw peanuts so I couldn't make any for him.

I ran into some raw peanuts recently and decided to make him some.  I chose the slow cooker method because it seemed fool proof.

I don't remember how many peanuts I had but it was at least 2 - 3 pounds.  He likes them spicy, so I doctored up some serious spicy stuff.

Raw peanuts

1/3 cup cayenne pepper 

1 boil-in-bag crab boil

1/4 cup salt

Seasoning

Rinse peanuts.  Add crab boil-in-bag to crockpot.  Add peanuts.  Add seasoning.  (Garlic salt, black pepper, Creole seasoning, etc.) Cover with water.  Stir.  Cook on low for 24 hours.  Stir a few more times.  Taste one after 18 hours.  Adjust seasoning accordingly.

I cooked them outside on the deck.  Why?  It smells like vinegar and feet while cooking.  24 hours of that is NOT my ideal nose tickle.  

Oh...and I store them in half gallon mason jars in the fridge using the "juice" to keep them wet. He puts some in a bowl and microwaves them. 

Racist Uncle Was Right

First off, Racist Uncle isn't really racist he's just inappropriate as shit.  He doesn't have a problem with people based on their skin color, his problem is strictly based on the stupid ish people do, say and fall for.  We call him Racist Uncle because he has absolutely no qualms about referring to said stupid person by the worst slurs our world has created.  And I'm talking IT DOES NOT MATTER WHAT COLOR YOUR SKIN IS...if you do something jacked up...he hates you.

Period.

I spend the majority of the time talking to Racist Uncle on edge when talking about current events.  We all know only the worst of the worst crap makes the news so he has a whole lotta people to talk smack about.  And I am constantly telling him..."Dude...you can't say that about people!"  And he's all like..."I don't know why in the hell not.  That gotdamn _______ shot up _____.  He shoulda just killed his ownself if he was so damn disturbed hell!"  

If you took away the racial slur...he'd be right.

This post isn't about Racist Uncle being right about people though.  It's about him being right about something important he told me.

"Niece, when you're going through some stuff, only drink the good shit.  Drink too much of that bad shit and it will jack you up."

And I've always taken that advice.  When going through a tough time, I only drink the good stuff.  LOL!  My latest good stuff?  Don Julio Blanco stored in the freezer and served in a highball straight with a twist of lime.  Maaaaaaaaaan...I sip it slow with the music flowing and my foot tapping to the mellow beat.  

The good stuff cuz this election...lawd...