My Addiction...One More Hit

My habit...
is a full blown addiction.

My name is KayC and I have an addiction. He is my addiction.

It was my first Salsa instructor's birthday. His SO announced to the group that she was secretly celebrating his birthday at my somewhat regular midweek spot. We call him Sinsei (thought we would get away from the Latin names) and birthdays are big in the Cuban community. The birthday person stands in the middle of the rueda and everyone (typically the opposite sex) dances around them until everyone gets a turn to dance with the birthday person.

That week was rough for me. I decided to take a nap and slept right through Sinsei's birthday gathering. I was disappointed that I missed it but the group decided to celebrate his birthday with another Salsera that weekend.

Of course it was at the spot owned by my addiction.

I was doing well. A simple hug hello and I tried my best to stay occupied with Salsa. But when he passed by me and played in my hair...I was done. Later, it was reiterated with the flirtation of stroking my arm or touching me as he walked by. Staring at me while I danced. Yeah, I tried not to notice but the spirit knows when it is being watched.

Strange, the attraction is growing. The woman I mentioned in my earlier posts showed up as well. She did not take the Salsa lesson but I was amused at my friend's stories about her later that night. They picked her out the crowd without knowing who she was. They stated her stalkerish behavior and faces she flashed my way as her giveaway. Apparently I would be dead if looks could kill as she constantly kept tabs on both of us.

Her misguided anger did not bother me. I love to dance and my fellow Salseros heated that place up (literally) until everyone was sweating. I had a blast! He called me groovy wonderful - as usual and I must admit those four words fed my high.

My addiction...gave me one more hit.


Until Next Time,
Peace & Blessings...

Retreat, Reflect and Recharge

I did it again.

I ran away.

I was overloaded and about to explode. Furloughs, pay freezes, layoffs, miscalculated escrows, leaky faucets...all of it had me on the edge. Sink or swim and I was up to my eyeballs. One of the few perks of my job is the time off. Everyone was looking forward to spring break and I was no exception.

It started with a great Easter. An old-fashioned Easter egg hunt with money and candy stuffed eggs. One of my younger cousins found the golden $20 egg and the silver $10 egg. He was a hunting machine! Of course only money can get a teenager to do this for plastic eggs:

Notice he missed the obvious one on the trunk of the car, LOL!

I had a full week. Hanging with a few new friends at a pizza lounge for a few slices and drinks, dancing (of course) at a Salsa social and a few social events. I attended Salsa class, tried to dance up a storm at my mid-week venue but was disappointed at the number of people who go to a Latin night for the first time and treat it like an R&B club!

(Etiquette Tip: Do NOT stand in the middle of the dance floor during Latin night. You will get hit and/or stepped on and no it's not their fault. It's a DANCE floor!)

Needless to say I only got in a few dances but was happy to see a few dance partners I had not seen in months.

I was kidnapped by Frat at a social event and had to eat and drink my ransom before I was allowed to leave ;-) Love my Blue & White! They would surround me and make sure my glass was full and food was in front of me. My job was to sit there and be cute. Ummm...OK:




Laughed and ate with them for hours until I was asked to join a friend at another lounge. All of that before I hopped a plane to see my family in Florida. My niece's word of the day was "no" but she stole my heart anyway (yet again).



In a total act of randomness I can cross off another item on my 50 Things To Do list. I had dinner with all of my siblings, my brother-in-law and my niece at my father's dinner table. There is not enough words to explain why this was a major event. It was totally impromptu and went extremely well. Top that with great conversation and laughs and it was the perfect getaway. My sister and I picked up little sis earlier that day and had a sister's lunch only to find out baby brother felt left out. Who knew a 13-year-old would want to hang with his sisters?



He's adorable. Such a teenage boy but I think it had to do more with the food and getting out of working with Dad. Told him next time we would get him as well and he seemed happy with it.

I had a great visit and I am already missing them terribly. My father asked would I move back and I immediately told him no. My time there has passed. If I had the money I would quickly buy a condo there on the beach. Although I do not go often, my home town has the ability to allow me to retreat, reflect and recharge.




Always...




Until Next Time,
Peace & Blessings...

My Drug, My High, My Habit

Listening to my sister-friend Lovebabz's blog talk radio show, I came across this song and was immediately taken in by the beat and first two lines:

She say that I'm a habit
And every time she sees me she's gotta have it

I was caught. Hook, line and sinker.

I can identify so much that I have consciously tried to put space between me and my habit. There is a definite 'it' factor to some men. Yes, he is handsome but he has issues and drama and still there is something about him that draws you in. It's the 'it' factor. If I could put my descriptive words to paper and write a book to fully explain the why and hows about it....baby, I could retire on the sales alone!

That 'it' factor keeps you going back for more when there is only less. It keeps you thinking about him when you may have not crossed his mind at all. It keeps you enchanted with someone and possibly wasting your time.

Our attraction is like a smoldering flame.

It is impossible to hide and everyone sees it, picks up on it and make comments about it. We can be on opposite sides of the room and someone will ask me if that is my dude or are they getting me in trouble 'cause dude been staring all night. Around him I feel this indescribable attraction, almost a magnetic pull that feels natural, comfortable and stagnant. I can physically feel him in the room without looking at him, feel him walk by me without looking up. Two Scorpios feed a physical desire that is unmatched by many.

Even with the positive it does not seem to grow.

I am typically not like this with people. When I decide it is time for a person to leave my life I can write you off like nothing. I am legendary for it. With him an apology holds weight. With him a miss you is golden. With him...it is so different. For the life of me I can not explain why.

He is my drug, my habit, my high and it keeps me yearning for more. I am still learning to let him go and trying to move on.

Throwing in the towel..I surrender. I am declaring here on The Storm that I will no longer feed my habit.

He is a drug and I will try my best to stop getting high...





You can download this song or the complete album here. Enjoy!



Until Next Time,
Peace & Blessings...

Beautiful Blogger Award

Fell blogger Don at Minus the Bars bestowed this wonderful honor on The Storm. Actually his daughter picked the 25 blogs to give the honor to and I am highly honored and pleasantly surprised to be among them.

I started this blog after reading a friend's blog a few years ago. My life was at its lowest level. My marriage was spiraling into a point of no return, my manager was riding my case like a bad husband and my finances were in the toilet.

I started Thoughts from The Quiet Storm as my online journal. A place to vent, rant, rave and get it off my chest. A tiny bit of hope that everything would get better and I would one day read my old blog entries and think "I have grown so much" or "Whew! Glad that's over!"

I did not start this to become a writer or get a following to be published. Most times I think my writing is mediocre at best but this has become my safe haven, my vessel to put it out and let it go. To know there are other people who are going through it with me and they made it out just fine.

My place to also laugh and rejoice. My small space to chronicle my mediocre life in a mediocre society that values things, money and titles. My place...received a Beautiful Blogger Award.

Every blog award has rules. This one is no different:

1) Thank the person who nominated you and link to their blog.
2) Copy the award and paste it to your blog.
3) Pass this award on to 15 fantastic bloggers you have discovered.
4) Contact your nominations and let them know they've won.


I don't do chain letters (even if they are awards) but I read a lot of blogs. My favorites are all listed in my small bog roll on the right and each of them can gladly accept their award. Each of these blogs (some have already received this award) are open, honest and blatant with their lives.

Check them out. I promise you will be pleasantly surprised.



Until Next Time,
Peace & Blessings...

The World is Mine...

I recently received my very first passport.

Lame...I know. I am on the other side of 30 and this is my first passport.

I made a promise to myself (and my cousin) since God did not bless us with children or a life partner that we would see the world together. Our parents never traveled and never had the drive to see the world.

Neither of us are middle-class but we made a pact to go on at least one sister-girl trip a year. We are mapping out our savings plan, looking into where we want to start our travels and getting serious about our destinations.

My 50 things to do list included going on a cruise and my first trip with my cousin is a cruise! It's with a portion of my Salsa group and we plan to dance and have a great time. It was the perfect first trip for us and I have a few girlfriends who are also going with us. I can't wait!

The only downside to this cruise is that I will miss my Salsa instructor's annual trip to Cuba. Another big thing for me is to Salsa in a club in Havana. Next year that will be crossed off as well!

This passport is my ticket to the world.

One more step on my trailblazing life.

One more thing the generation before me did not experience...