Monday, December 12, 2011




How does one recover from an aching spirit?
When so much is given.
So little is achknowledged.
You give from the spirit.
Selflessly.
Unconditionally.




All that you ask is not to have that piece of your spirit trampled upon.
How much of ourselves can we give away and still remain intact?
I fear the day I become cold and calloused.
It is not who I am.

How long before I have no more left to give?
Is the spirit infinate?
Does it ever cease to exist?
Can it all be chiselled away slowly, piece by piece?
Does it grow back?
How does one recover from an aching spirit?
Do we ever?

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

My Windows














My windows are clouded,
My windows are stained,
My windows are shrouded,
My windows are chained.
I peer out my windows, but can not see.
My windows are withholding that view from me.

I wipe and I swipe and try to clear my view,
My windows keep me from peering at you.
I sit and I ponder the dilemma at hand,
Why won't my windows let me see on demand.
I hear a small voice that says, "Back up a pace".
There was the answer staring me in the face.
Eyes are the windows to the soul, they be.
You must step away to truly see.

My eyes are not clouded,
My eyes are not stained,
My eyes are not shrouded,
My eyes are not chained.

I took a step back and could clearly see The only thing blocking my sight was me.

My Windows- Tess © June 2005

In Memory of Nolen G. Bragg- Some days I miss you so very much

You will always be my hero. You were always there for me. You were ready to praise me when I had done well and always there to let me know I had screwed up. You never threw my past mistakes in my face or ever held them against me, and trust me I know I made many.

I miss your Papa-chip cookies,

I miss sitting at the table with you and listening to your stories. (Sending the preacher to the whore-house will always be my favorite, you sly ol'dog)

I miss having coffee with you in the mornings and just sitting quietly listening to the chickens wake up.

I miss hearing you call me "boy", lol that used to confuse my friends so much, but it was a term of endearment that I will always remember and treasure.

I miss walking over to your house before I go the store and asking if you need anything while I am out. It took a long time to stop feeling the need to do that.

I miss your chicken and dumplings. Even though you gave me the recipe before you left this world I have not had the heart to try and make them. They will never be yours.

I miss  being able to call you and tell you when something good happens in my life.

I miss you being there when I neeed advice.

I miss how smart you were and the fact I could call you or walk over and get an answer to just about anything I needed concerning math or history.

Most of all I miss you Granddaddy and looking out my window in the morning to see if your kitchen light is on yet.

I love you!
Nolen Griffith Bragg March 17, 1922 - March 19, 2003

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Grains of Emotional Sand

There are days like today when the primary emotion I have would cause a river of tears to flow in my house. There isn't any major thing that I am sad about, it is just to many little things like grains of sand that finally amount to an entire sand dune.

I love it out here where we moved for several reasons. It is quiet, peaceful, pretty and there is so much potential. I hate it for many more reasons. I took my children away from some semblance of a social life. Shye-Ann had so many friends back in Rio Rancho, if she got lonely or bored she could take a 10 minute walk and be at a park where nearly everyone liked her and accepted her for who she is. Out here in Moriarty there is no where for her to go close and when we do take her somewhere that she can try and meet people she is treated with rudeness, and is not accepted. She sleeps so much and is now having headaches. She is cranky and that smile that lights up a room is so rare now. My heart breaks for her.

 Sarah has suffered as well. When she got bored she could also go to the park, although she never quite felt as accepted there, it was something she could do to get out of the house and not have to depend on anyone to take her. She would walk to town and browse and window shop or walk over to her friend Kayla or Angel's. Here she is stranded. She too is struggling with making friends and being accepted when she meets people at the local park. Both girls are getting to the point they don't even want to go there anymore because it always turns out disastrous.

Both girls are putting a lot of hope into returning to school. I also am hoping that school will be a way for them to feel less isolated and an opportunity to meet some people who are not as cruel as the children they have met at the local park. I pray that the children at the park are not indicative of what the majority of kids here are like.

Kids aside, there is also me and my own feelings of inadequacy. The recent issues with my health (albeit minor) is proving to be a hindrance to me. I like being active and with my back and leg issue, just standing at the kitchen sink washing dishes causes me discomfort in a short period of time.  I am hoping that the recent tests I had done will prove fruitful and that it is something that can be remedied easily. I do not like the idea of surgery but I am to the point if that is what it takes then freaking cut me open!

The weeds around the house are getting out of control, and I actually want to do something about it, but here again I am limited. We really don't have the tools needed to maintain the property. We really need a riding lawnmower but hell even a push mower or a powerful weed eater would be better than just the rake, and shovel that are our only tools now. So here I am unable to really do anything to clean up outside and make things "pretty".

I love my pets, but they are really starting to bother me too. Damn listen to me, I sound like I am just not happy at all. I really am! I love my family with everything I am, but like I said all these things are nothing major all at once just tiny grains of sand. Anyway. The cat I have had for about 15 years (since he was weaned) is starting to get on my last nerve. He refuses to use a litter box if it has even a grain of kitty litter than has been used. He then decided that anything laying in the floor is a viable place to potty, ( pile of clothes, a blanket that is on the floor, a towel laying on the floor as a bath mat, etc). I Love this cat dearly but he is starting to make my house reek, we had to throw out a great comforter because no matter how many times I washed it, the smell of cat urine will not come out. Then there is Ruby, she has started acting out ever since we got Morigan. She never used to potty in the house or be aggressive. She has turned into a neurotic, stark raving lunatic. She dropped a deuce on the back of the couch for god only knows why, and has gone to the potty on the carpet several times. Morigan cant even walk by without Ruby turning into a rabid bitch. Morigan is not completely house trained yet, this is kind of bearable because she came to us this way and it is something I can work with, a dog going from house trained to NOT is just infuriating. Granted when Morigan has been outside for an hour and come in and craps on the carpet I get pissed. Alley is just hyper and her and Morigan cant seem to NOT play when they are in the house together, which includes high pitched barking, growling bumping into me, tripping me etc. We don't have a fenced yard so I cant just throw the dogs outside to play and hang out all day. I have to put them on the back porch or go out there with them. This gets frustrating as well. More work. Keep the back porch clean of pet dropping or have a houseful of flies.

Lets get onto me feeling completely inadequate in other areas. I love Chris with every fiber of my being and I want to be there for him for everything that I should be. Well I am not there for him 100%.  All the aches and pain I get make me less than amorous when he is feeling the need. I deny him more than I want and possibly more than I should. He is young and in his prime and here lately I feel like a decrepit old woman who is just holding him back. I don't know how to feel better about this. Yes i have talked to him a little but not in depth. I know he will say.. "DAMMIT, you're not old, stop saying that, I Love you and I think you are sexy and beautiful." All I can say is, I sure wish I FELT sexy and beautiful.

Well there in a nutshell, you have my tiny grains of emotional sand. Do with them what you will.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

So who is this Momma Tess person anyway?

I sat today looking at my life. I am not displeased with my life nor do I waste time wishing I had done things differently. Everything I have experienced in my life has made me the person I am today. I am not ashamed of who I am. While there are a few minor physical things I would like to change about myself, for the most part I am quite pleased with how I have turned out. Sure I would like more money to buy and do the things I dream of, but the lack of money does not change who I am on the inside, and isn't that what is really important? There are even things in my past that made me angry and to some extent still do today. If I could turn back time and change those events; would I? Absolutely not! If I changed those events I would not be where I am today and in the wonderful relationship I am in today. I am with the most wonderful man I have ever known. He makes me so completely happy that I can not even begin to put words to it. I have wonderful caring children that everyday manage to bring a smile to my face and about burst at the seams with pride and love for them. I have been told that I have done a wonderful job raising them and I like to think that I have as well.

So who am I?

In my opinion I am probably one of the most understanding and compassionate people you would ever meet. I feel deeply, I care deeply and yes, I probably carry my emotions on my sleeve. I care what people think of me, even though many times I try to claim that I do not. I don't try and change in order to make people like me. I just want them to like me and care for me for who I am. I won't lie, when someone is hateful to me, it does hurt. I struggle to understand what I have done to be treated so unjustly. Is it merely because I don't wear the correct label on my jeans or shoes? I just don't care about those things. Is it because I didn't notice the label you were sporting today? Again I just don't care about those things and hence would not even know a "popular label" if it poked my eye out.

I have allowed people to come live in my home and partake of my food and hospitality only to have them attack, slander and belittle me later. I would still do it today. If you were kicked out on the street and had no where to go, I would bring you into my home and treat you as family. If you lost your shirt in the freezing cold I would give you the shirt off my back to keep you warm, because I have another at home and what's one shirt? I have had many people tell me this is a fault of mine. I care too much. Really? Is there such a thing as caring too much? Can caring really be considered a fault? I am a forgiving person. If you wrong me I will forgive you but I will not forget. I will not hold it against you and constantly toss it in your face, but again. I will not forget.

Some might consider me boring. I am content to sit at home and be with my family. When I have friends I am content just visiting. I don't need nor desire to go out with my friends and "raise a little hell". I do enjoy artsy things. I enjoy just walking and browsing arts and craft fairs. I don't have to buy what I see (although I will admit many times I wish I had more money to buy some of the things I see.) A long walk down a country or mountain road in the evening is divinity! I enjoy playing computer games and chatting on the web and do it probably too much, but offer to come take me away to an art fair or a picnic at the lake and I will shut this computer down in a heart-beat.

I hate shoes. I rarely wear them. I have sandals for when I have to go to the store or other appointments. I do not own "proper work attire" I have two sun-dresses. 3 pairs of jeans, numerous tank tops and several pairs of men's pj bottoms. I own one bra that I only wear when I go to town. Am I a hippy? Probably in a sense. I love the earth. I want to stay connected to her without man  made materials between she and I. I am prone to be emotionally flighty, so keeping my feet firmly against the earth is a good way for me to stay grounded!

I love to learn, but not by reading books or watching programs. I like to learn through life. Through experiences. Through my friends.

I am simply me and I like that!

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Parental Responsibility

Sometimes those two words can be the most difficult words to adhere to. As an adult we need to understand that not all children are raised the same and sometimes even if they are raised in a loving and caring home, some kids will still rebel and become less than caring individuals. I think perhaps more times than not however, "bad kids" come from homes that do not teach diversity, compassion and most of all do not show how to love on a daily basis.

My fiance and I both are struggling with the "bad kid" issue. Our children love going to the local park and hanging out but the kids in this town have been anything but welcoming. As a matter of fact the have been downright mean, verbally abusive and sexually explicit. My children's self esteem has taken a nose dive due to the treatment they have received from many of the local teens they have encountered. As much as I hate to admit it I kind of share the same feeling my fiance expressed in his blog (beware those of you that take offense to potty mouths.)

In total frustration,
Momma Tess

Children on Leashes.

    Today is my daughter Sarah's 16th birthday party. Her birthday was actually on Thursday, but who wants to have a party in the middle of the week. This was supposed to be a sleepover weekend with her friends and sadly only one friend was able to come Friday. We even offered to pick children up Friday evening and take them back Sunday afternoon. I don't understand some parents. They would choose to keep a tight leash on their teenagers rather than to offer up trust or understanding. 


   Most parents had no valid reasoning as to why they would not allow their kids to spend the weekend with us, or if they did they were not sharing it. It leaves me wondering if it is something about us as a family and they are too coward to state it and possibly get clarification of some perhaps false image they  have of us. One parent did offer up a reason but in my opinion was rather weak. We live too far out. How is that valid if we are providing the transportation? Another parent drove her daughter out today and will drive all the way back to pick her up this evening. It is a two hour trip to our house from hers and two hours back again. Seems to me to be a wasted day and wasted gas.
  
   We are taking the other child home tomorrow afternoon and could easily give this other child a ride home tomorrow as well, saving her parents time and gas money. We offered this but were told no that they would pick her up. Not wanting to upset my daughter or her friend by possibly causing a rift I let it go (for now). Perhaps I will prod further when they come to pick her up. I just didn't want to cause an issue to where the other parent might decide to take her daughter back home then and there. We all know parents like this, that will punish the child for their own anger towards another parent.

  Well on the bright side Sarah is having a good time with the friends she has here now. I am grateful for this and hope the remainder of the day goes well for her.



Peace and Light~
Momma Tess

Making the swtich.

    I had an older blog that I don't really update or write in anymore, so decided that with my switch from Hotmail/live I would also create a new blog page and promised myself I will write to it at least once a week. I can tell you that my blogs will be very random and sometimes they will be about the challenges I face as a mother, soon to be wife, pet owner and just downright everyday average individual. Who knows what will go  here, hell I don't even really know, so it will be just as interesting for me to see how this blog transforms as it will be for my followers.

    I welcome all comments and followers, I just ask that you be respectful in the way that you comment. I don't mind  "potty mouths," as long as it isn't directed towards an individual. In other words no flaming and bashing me, my followers, or anyone who comments.

Peace,
Momma Tess