Sassy Pants!!

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Yeah, we all know Paula is a sassy pants type of person. Which makes it fun when she is around other sassy pants people. The back and forth just gets SO entertaining!! I still work with Adelana, but we are now in different departments, this is a different sassy co worker. And oh, was Paula on one today!!

Ashley was looking for something and exclaimed, "I can't find it!" To which Paula instantly imitated every part with the exception of actual words. She is still working on those. Ashley was not impressed.

She turned to me with a sharp gasp and said, "Oh she did not!"

Ashley went all "mom" on Paula. I was too busy laughing to give Paula a change to give a response. It actually had me laughing most of the day! This is one of my new favorites I think! Then again, most of Paula's stories are...

Jealous Much?

Monday, August 29, 2016

This is an important post. Especially for those that have Tourette Syndrome. I had a friend of mine tell me she is sometimes jealous of my TS. And she was serious. She is also not the first person to tell me this. My friend Carlos also told me the same thing once. Jenna told me how much she loved sitting by new people in church, especially when Paula came around. She, like me, gets a kick out of watching them twist around, trying to figure out where the noise came from and why no one is reacting.

Here's the thing, when people are on the outside looking in, they only see the good things. Especially when this comes from people that love us. Sure, they don't always see the struggles that come with having TS. However, the funny thing is, we often don't see the good in ourselves either. Not only do we want to be skinner, more muscular, more graceful and so on... but we also think we need to get rid of anything not "normal" and any "bad" traits we have. It frustrates me. I love being around people and getting the positive affirmation of kind, supportive, caring and intelligent people. It's hard not to feel proud of Paula when people like Jenna can admire it!

Speechless

Saturday, August 27, 2016

No, not Paula. She always has something to say. But she did leave a friend of mine speechless the other day. He was talking about how early he had to be at some event or another. He was going to be exhausted trying to get there by 8 AM. I don't think Paula was amused as I normally have to be at work by 6 AM.

Granted, Brenden stays up later than I do. He is still in college after all. Paula, however, did not seem to think this as an excuse. She went off on him! She even got my head shaking with attitude. Brenden just stood there while she was on her little soap box. By the time she finished, he really had nothing left to say. So, since actions speak louder than words... he stuck his tongue out at me!!

I guess sometimes, that is really the only response you can give to Paula.

Poor Newbie...

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Paula can be a brat sometimes. Apparently, so can I!

On occasion, I help train at work, so I get to be one of the first ones to meet new hires. And no one thinks to warn them ever. Today I trained a sweet and smart girl, who picked up on everything really quickly. Paula must have been proud of her, because she kept cheering her on from time to time... I stepped away from my desk for a minute, and when I came back had a message from her cousin, who also works here.

She asked if I was training her cousin, to which I replied I was. After the new girl went to lunch, I told my friend that her cousin is awesome and it must run in the family. She then proceeded to tell me about a few text messages that were exchanged while I had stepped away from a minute.

Apparently this poor new girl thought I was yelling at her and asking what she was doing wrong. She felt better after my friend was able to interpret for her what was going on and explain a little about the fact that I have Tourette Syndrome.

I didn't even think about it that way until my friend told me what was going on. We had a good giggle and I asked her to apologize for me. I didn't mean to make her feel bad on her first day. Guess I better start warning people!

Paula is Famous

Friday, August 19, 2016

So now that Paula has officially published a book, I feel like I have become a bit of a celebrity. It is truly humbling to see all of the support I have received. The cool thing about social media is being able to watch your reach. I have created so many different ways to try to connect with people to be able to share my message. It's amazing to see how publishing a book has multiplied that reach.

Not only that, but there have been such marvelous experiences. I was chosen to have my book featured on a website publication on medium.com. Check out the article I wrote HERE. I'm kind of proud of how it is doing there and the fact that I was selected at all! My Facebook and emails have been absolutely blowing up and anytime I go out with a group of friends, it tends to come up. I'm so blessed to be surrounded by such support.

I'm still blown away by the fact that I have published a book. I'm brought to tears at the sweet reviews I read and perfect strangers reaching out to me to see more of my work. I am so excited to watch this grow. I can't help but be overcome with the sense of this is why I was born. This is why I'm here and what I'm meant to do. There will be more books to come and this time, it won't take me so long!

It Is Finished!!!

Sunday, August 14, 2016

It's done! It's finally done and I have finally published Awkwardly Strong: From Insecure to Inspirational!! Here's the catch... Once you hit "Save and Publish," it goes for review, which can take a day or two... then they put you in this "stealth mode" which I'm not really sure what is going on with that... All I know is they will send me an email when my book is live and officially published. Until then, I don't think I can really do anything with it. Maybe I can and just can't figure it out (which is highly possible).

The good news is, it's still pretty much done that I have commenced the happy dance.

Woot!!!

Run Away

Sunday, August 7, 2016

So this is not a Paula post. Sure, Paula tends to just run off, and she does it often. This time, however, it's my turn! I'm taking a week long vacation to finalize things with my book and just relax with my family. I love going home and love my family. I'm super excited to play with nephews and do some swimming. However, I still have lots of work to do!

How does one determine how much work to do on a vacation? hahaha It's a good thing I like writing so much and am so excited for my book to come out, I don't think I really consider it work. I'm so grateful to have something I love so much that I can make a career out of. Being able to write just makes me so happy, I've done it most of my life anyways. I've kept journals since I was about eight years old.

Being home makes me realize just how long the written word has been a part of me. Speaking with my old friends and neighbors and discussing how I was always reading and the many, many hours of "practice" I have put into this. I feel like I have come around full circle. I have come home, I'm writing as I used to when I was a kid (and really pretty much since) and my childhood in a way becoming my future. Sometimes, it's good to run away.

Time Marches On

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

So the past few days while I am waiting on some finalization for my book, I have had a few dear friends drop into town and I was able to spend a few hours with some of the special people in my life. I love that no matter how long I am away from these people, the comfort level never changes and conversation flows so easily about every concern and detail of my life. I love having people to confide in.. Even a few tics that I'm not ready to publicly share. Maybe one day I can get to those.

Both of these visits with both of these friends, Paula was sure to make her appearance. She got almost as chatty as I did! Not only that, but one friend even got to see my new flirty tic and saw me wink a few times. I love having people understand me on such a level, having known me for many years, and am amazed at how often even they had to ask questions as things have evolved and changed. Even a span of a couple months, Paula can change and evolve so much, much less years.

While they spend time getting reacquainted with Paula, I'm glad they still know and understand me. I know I run the two together a lot, but they are quite different and distinct. It's good to know people still know me, even when Paula catches them off guard.
 
site design by boots by the backdoor