A Flair for the Dramatic

I try not to read the horrible things people write about us, but at times I find myself sucked in. I’ve read enough of the tabloid blog to know its all the same story on repeat.

Language control is key to a persuasive argument. “He was a strong, rugged man who had an empowering voice” you might envision a tall handsome lumberjack type. “He was large and unkept and spoke to loudly” you don’t see the same person. But, it’s the same person. Perspective.

Vagueness is also key to spinning a story. “Nicole has run several business into the ground”. I don’t even know what that means. Did I take a successful business and tear it down? “They’ve been kicked out of several churches” “They’ve been evicted from every place they’ve lived” “they’ve pissed off neighbors all over”  and on and on and on…

What actually happened? Are these questions ever explored?

Lets do that.

My first salon was opened in April 2003. I had it for 3 years and was doing great. I was actually looking to expand and add a few self wash stations when we decided to relocate. I closed the salon June 2006. The  money I owe on this business is the estimated sales taxes for 2006/2007. (The state of TX has added lots of late fees.) and note, the estimated sales taxes are based on the years previous sales, so it was a very busy salon. When we moved to Maine I attempted to open a salon.it didn’t even take off. It happens. Shortly after we moved to KY I opened a salon in September I think, 2010. It was open just over a year when we had to move. ( the area had a housing shortage and our rent house was sold). I closed January 2012. It sucked. I won’t deny that. In fact I was so upset I quit grooming for a year.

We’ve only been members of one church. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. LDS. Mormons. We are actually still members, although we don’t attend. My choice really. It’s probably not fair. I refuse to go (that’s another blog for later) and my husband won’t go without me. But we have not been kicked out. We did have a personality conflict at a few wards, so I don’t get along with people. Maybe it’s more they don’t get along with me. Big deal. I didn’t harm anyone. Didn’t hurt anyone. Just people don’t like how opinionated I am. This isn’t new. As far as my temple recommend, yes, that was taken from me. Again, this needs to be another blog, but in short, it’s one reason I don’t attend is I find the requirements hypocritical. But the stake president took away my temple recommend for not paying tithing. I was however paying tithing, I have the tithing settlement to prove it. But it wasn’t enough apparently. I was not accused of misconduct with others. I simply didn’t pay enough for my temple privileges. ( temple is not the same as meetinghouse where members meet each Sunday).

We’ve lived in so many places. And we’ve moved for so many reasons. Yes, some of them were simply because we couldn’t afford rent. We’ve struggled financially. It’s not a secret. I’m not ashamed. But our rental history is one of the main reasons we built this homestead. We couldn’t leave the very core of our security up to a landlord. Some cases a slumlord.  And we’ve been here 3 years. Despite people trying to make things hard, we have secured a consistent living space for our family. Not that a nomadic life isn’t good. I could easily do that. But my family, my children specifically, wants this. So this is what we do.

Im not sure who all I’ve (we’ve) pissed off. I’m not keeping track. Maybe someone is. I do recall a story last May about another homeschool family who said we were the only people they’ve kicked out of their home. I’ve never seen them explain. I will. We had visited these people 3-4 times. We got along well. One day, the last visit, we talked politics. I know right. Don’t talk politics or religion. We do both. Probably why people don’t get along with me. Anyhow, we discussed socialized medicine, universal healthcare, Obama care, whatever. It didn’t end badly, just very very uncomfortable. We received a FB message a few days later. A break up letter so to speak. We were too competitive and we just didn’t fit as friends. And that was it. We didn’t have a fight. We still like the family. I think my son was still FB friends with them till his acct was taken down. We never had any criminal incidents with neighbors. We never caused trouble. We lived next door to Ron Sneed for over 2 years without any trouble. And his only complaint was our goats got in his yard. My son even had a job lined up working for him until Al Wilson paid a visit. That’s when a simple animal report turned into a criminal complaint even tho the goats had been contained.

It’s great if you have a knack for writing and can embellish stories to make them more interesting. But when you look there really isn’t any substance. The stories don’t go anywhere. Just sitting there spinning wheels and flinging mud.