Anouchka Talks

Guys, it has been awhile.  What can I say?  I just haven't been feeling inspired.  I know, I know...  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to discover that I am almost never  inspired; you can find evidence of this conclusion by reading any one of my past posts.  Seriously, just pick one.  But really, it has been busy around here.  Since March, we have been homeschooling both kids.  Part of this was mandated, of course, when everything shut down earlier this year.  However, since we were having growing success with taking charge of our kids' education this spring, we decided to run with it and continued with certain elements of school through the summer.  We will be full on homeschooling for the coming year because our public education system has turned into an absolute cluster.  This is going to be such a throwaway year anyway, so yeah.  We're "those people" now.   Who knows?  Maybe this year, my daughter has...

As the month of March - Women's History Month - comes to a close, I find myself wondering in what ways I have been  womanly  recently.  Of course, in order to answer that question, we would first need to define what it means to be "womanly", and that is much easier said than done.  Most women would probably not agree on the definition of this term.  I think, however, that we can all agree that having a uterus ain't for pussies.  (Get the double entendre?  You should.  It was not subtle.)  As women, w e have far more freedoms and opportunities than ever before, but there is a lot more pressure on us to "have it all".  I know I have commented on this before and I don't anticipate stopping any time soon...so contend with that or quit reading.  As I try to navigate womanhood myself, I also have a daughter to teach.  I know that she is watching me as I struggle to keep it tight (literally and metaphorically), and I want her to see...

Well, there's no denying it: I've been slacking.  But, to quote myself, " This blog is basically a diary that you are allowed to read; I make entries whenever I feel like it".  So I'm not apologizing. That being said, I'll simply address the giant elephant in the room and answer your burning question.  Where have you been for the past five months?   Slow down, please.  One at a time.  I'll get to it, young Padawan.  Here, in a kind of particular order, is what I have been doing since August... August Habibi and I celebrated our tenth anniversary (early - we were actually married in October) with a trip to Destin, Florida.  We wanted to travel before school started to avoid having to arrange drop-off/pick-up with the grandparents.  Anyway, it was a baller trip.  All we did was sit on the beach and I made Habibi a sand gator as an anniversary gift because I am awesome.  Jammy started kindergarten and I started loathing the Ameri...

Sometimes I like to watch the news.  In a realm of toddler things and kindergarten life, it somehow has provided me with a connection to the world outside.  Despite the tragedies that occur on a daily basis in our country and around the world, there is something about the news that pulls me in.  Most of the stories are either mind-numbingly boring or positively frightful, but at least they are someone else's, and there is intrigue in that. On the other hand, as I mentioned, many of the stories reported on the news are downright tragic:  shootings here, destruction there, devastation in that hemisphere, loss in this one...  I have -at times- had to turn the news off because either the story is not appropriate for the ears of my young coloring partners or because the story is just too damn sad for me to cope with at that given moment.  It is times like these when I fear for the future, when I wonder why, among all of His beautiful creation, did God choos...

Recently, someone very dear to me made some racist remarks. Because of my affection for this person and the value that I place in our relationship, these comments were particularly stinging. This is certainly not the first time this person has said such things, knowing full well that I am of mixed heritage, but most of the time, I choose to ignore these words in an effort to maintain the peace. Some arguments don’t deserve my attention. I know that this is not the first time I have written about my frustrations with race and ethnicity here, but there are a few things that have continued to resurface in recent weeks that have got me feeling all the feelings again. I wish I could clearly articulate these feelings to you, but unless you have experienced bigotry or under-representation yourself, it’s hard to describe. When I was in my mid-twenties, the US Census came around and was getting some mild coverage in the news. On a particular NPR show that I was listening to at the tim...

I'm bored.  I've been scouring the internet lately, hoping to find a fun, inspiring, and humorous blog to follow...to no avail.  This endless search got me thinking, however, about what kind of blog  I want to follow.  I'm so over cooking blogs that I could barf, fitness blogs are for people who love to post photos of themselves in bikinis on social media, and parenting blogs just piss me off because I (insecurely) feel that the authors are just women with a superiority/inferiority (take your pick) complex who are trying to validate themselves by making the rest of us who are openly drowning under the misnomer of "parenting" feel like worthless failures.  Lifestyle and minimalist blogs annoy me because  No, I don't  need your advice on how to de-clutter or simplify or re-purpose shitty ass wood or improve my hair or whatever.  I am perfectly capable of fucking up on my own without you bringing attention to it, thank you very much.   At the e...

I've been in desperate need of a vacation, y'all.  I could give you a list of uninteresting things that I've been up to since Christmas, but I won't bore you with the monotony of my commitments and adult responsibilities because that would be boring as hell.  And as I always tell my children... There have been a great deal of post beginnings on my mind of late, but I have been short on motivation these days.  Maybe this is why I have been publishing those "inspiring"  Mindfulness Bitches  posts.  (Relax, I have plenty more of those coming.)  But not being able to form a coherent thought has never stopped me from writing before, so I thought I'd throw some ideas at you in a sort of disassociative manner.  Think of it as a conglomeration of my half-formed thoughts or as a type of word vomit...a  Brain Barf,  if you will.  I can promise you they will be as lacking in direction and organization as the rest of this blog. As ...

Happy Holla-days, y'all! I hope you had a meaningful Thanksgiving last month, and are on your way to an even better Christmas and a  próspero año .  I don't know what you celebrate, but I hope you enjoy it. Last month brought a few new experiences to the Anouchka household.  To start, back in October, I was summoned for jury duty .  What an interesting -and mind-numbing- experience!  I was to report to the city's courthouse on the Monday morning following the Thanksgiving weekend, convinced that I was going to be asked to determine whether an eccentric old man was Santa Claus, as he claimed to be .  As it turned out, there were two cases being tried at that time: one civil, one criminal.  I was among the pool of thirty jurors for the criminal case. About two years ago, Habibi served on a jury for a criminal case.  Prior to my report date, I had questioned him about the process and what to expect.  I had some kind of idea as to how the ...

I recently hung out with my Mama Role Model.  This is a woman who embodies everything I want to be as a wife and mother.  I have never seen her lose her temper, even when her kids "misbehave" (mild episodes to most of us mortals).  Her kids are darling, always so well put together, watch very little TV, and they have been brilliant sleepers since birth.  She has an immaculate home that is not only functional, but beautiful.  Plus it smells nice because she bakes delicious things in her modern kitchen.  She is so effing hospitable.  I have never once heard this woman swear, seen her get food stuck in her teeth, pick her nose, scratch her butt, or smell her armpits in public.  (I regularly do most  all of these things.)  On top of it all, she always looks so beautiful.  Her hair is like Pocahontas's.  She is never late for stuff.  She eats fruit for dessert.  I don't think she even sweats. My friend, waking up in t...

OMGoodness, y'all!  I have been slacking these past weeks and am overdue for a post.  Couple of reasons for that:  May is one of the busiest months of the year for my family.  We have birthdays galore (mine included), Mother's Day (for lots of moms/grandmas/godmothers), Jammy's last day of school, a big, weekend-long Memorial Day celebration with extended family, etc.  PLUS, this year, we kicked off the month of May with a week-long, three generation family trip to DISNEY WORLD!!!  I know, right?  It was cray cray and exhausting and magical.  These be my excuses.  (You can read that like a thug or a pirate.  Your choice.) All of this being said, I did not get to a New in 2018 post for April  or  May, and shall be combining them into a single post here.  Honestly, the huge trip with the kiddos and my family to Orlando sort of blew everything out of the water, and I still haven't gotten back into the mindset of monthly w...