My Mother Raised Me To Know Better.....

My Mama raised me to live by certain rules, and she gave me plenty of good advice. The rules were all good ones, which were put in place in hopes of keeping me out of trouble with her and the good Lord. The advise ..well it was to save me from doing "great things" that she knew would cause me regret. It was given as sort of a personal protection plan.

The advise included things such as; "Don't believe a boy who ever says "If you love me you will.", it's just a ploy to get you to comply.", and "Always be a lady, even when people put you in situations that make it difficult." I have found that any time I have tested my mother's advise, with some hard headed behavior of my own, she is proven to be correct..

You would think, at my age, I would have learned just to trust her, and not do things that I have been "advised" against doing. Well, unfortunately, I continue to learn the hard way...

Another piece of advise that I was given is "Never leave the house without your makeup on, and dressing decently, because you WILL run into people you know. It's not just a possibility Arlene, it is going to happen..every time!"

Now even Coco Chanel was quoted as saying: "I don't understand how a woman can leave the house without fixing herself up a little, if only out of politeness, and then you never know maybe that's the day she has a date with destiny, and it's best to be as pretty as possible for destiny."

Well you guessed it..I didn't listen to my Mama or Coco Chanel ..

last Saturday afternoon...

I had been cleaning the house, and we were expecting Company for dinner and to watch a Georgia Football Game. My husband promised to cook, but at the last minute informed me that I needed to go to the store and cook because he had changed his mind and wasn't going to do it.

I realized in that moment that he needed killing, but I didn't have time to take care of that, I had to get to the store.

Now let me give you a visual on my personal presentation..T-shirt, Sweatpants, flip flops, and absolutely no makeup whatsoever...not even clear lip gloss.

When I grabbed my car keys, I glanced in the mirror and for one fleeting moment I could hear my Mama saying "Arlene, Don't do it." I told myself at that point that I would hurry and that there was always the possibility that my mother was wrong and I wouldn't see a soul that I knew. I ran out of the house and got in the car..and it gets better..

The top was down on my convertible Volkswagen and did I take the time to put it up...No I did not. The result?? To add to the fashion statement that I was already making, I now had crazy hair. Perfect.

I got to the store and ran through it like something wild, grabbing what I needed and glancing around like I needed to be in the witness protection program. I went to the register and checked out...I was feeling pretty good about making it out the door unseen, and then...

As I was pushing the cart toward the exit I ran right into one of my new co-workers and I wanted the floor to swallow me up!! I died a thousand deaths in that moment.

I apologized for looking such a mess, and he was very sweet about it and said that I looked fine, but seriously?? Oh yeah, I knew better. I got in my car and went home berating myself the entire way...

Later that evening I called my Mama and I confessed what I had done,and told her that she had never been more right.

All I know is I don't care how old I am..The next time I hear my Mama in my ear, I'm going to stop and listen...And then more importantly I'm going to amend the situation into rule/advisement compliance before I carry on...I love you Mama...