Quickie

Just wanted to say hello to all my peeps. I hope you all had a wonderful Xmas. Mine was wonderful, busy and exhausting. My parents, little brother, nephew, father in law and brother in law were here with us for the holidays and we definitely had a great time. Trey enjoyed more than ever having both his grandpa's here and his nanna. Nonetheless, happy holidays and more pictures to come!

FYI....I had a lot of comments (and also bootleg friends who don't leave a comment but text me their comments about the blog) inquiring about the Starship Enterprise and what color it is etc. Well the picture in the previous post is actually my car. So its white as you can tell by the picture. I haven't figured out how to email comments from the blog post so that's why I added this tid bit. And of course I don't mind the text messages I love talking to my peoples!

Starship Enterprise!

At the tender age of 32 I purchased my first car this weekend. And how wonderful it is that my first car is a Benz. I know that sounds strange that I never purchased a car before but thank God for my parents (I was a daddy's girl). What's funny is my new car is a station wagon! I know Angela is the only one saying yah but the car is awesome, roomy and safe. I knew I didn't want a SUV (I already hate driving Paul's big red school bus) and I didn't want a standard sedan because its too small for me. I need lots of room for strollers and other crap. This car is considered to be a Mercedes crossover vehicle although I call it a wagon and has 3 rows with 6 seating capability. I absolutely love this car and it drives like a charm. We named the car "Starship Enterprise" because of its spacious and pretty cabin.

Oh and what's really funny is that Paul told me right after we got married that the first car he would buy me would be a station wagon. Of course back then I cursed him out and told him I was too fly to drive a station wagon and 7 years later I chose a station wagon to purchase. Boy how life comes full circle!

Here we go again

Well as I expected Preston has an ear infection correction Preston has bilateral ear infections (both ears). I feel sad for him but he has actually been in a great mood today. On top of Preston being sick I was so exhausted today that once we left the doctors appointment Preston and I went home and took a nap. Unfortunately when I woke up it was pitch dark and 6:35pm! The telephone ringing actually woke me up and guess who it was, the director at Trey's school. I had overslept and Trey was still at school. I jumped up so fast that I was dizzy and bumped into the wall. I got there as soon as I could (its only 5 minutes away) and my poor baby was sitting with the teacher eating goldfish and drinking milk. I feel like such a bad parent right now...............

Oh and I owe them 15 dollars for being late....sucks!

First fever

My dear sweet angel Preston has his first fever. I feel so bad for him because he is not quite as bubbly as he usually is. I am not sure if its because he is teething or if he has an ear infection. We will just have to wait until the doctor checks him out tomorrow. I pray that we don't go through the same crap with chronic ear infections like his brother Trey. We ended up getting ear tubes in his ears at 8 months old. Afterwards, it proved to be the best decision ever but it was hard getting to the hospital the morning of his surgery. I still remember tearing up when Paul walked with him and the nurse to the operating room. We both kinda laughed at each other in the end because the surgery only took about 8 minutes...ha!

College kids

This weekend I realized how ridiculous I was in college. My adopted niece (who is over my shoulder screaming in my ear at this moment) is a piece of work! She is truly convinced that her issues are real issues. First of all, she has no job, no money, no car, and no hustle. She is a full time student and makes wonderful grades, yet she still has complaints about everything. "My thighs are not thick enough, my butt isn't ghetto enough, my hair isn't long enough, I don't have any money, I don't have a car" and yadda yadda yadda....... I remember when I too was a freshman at a HBCU I wanted so desperately to look like the upper classmen but that's not the deck of cards God dealt me. I had to use what I had to my best advantage. I too was a skinny, underdeveloped young lady in a sea of fine girls at 18 years old.

I do understand that the issues and pressures of society are REAL issues for her; its just funny to hear about it now that I am an adult and mother. I remember driving my parents crazy about needing more money, clothes, food and trust. They knew me well enough to know that it would all pass sooner or later but I wanted immediate acceptance and approval right then.

Nonetheless, she has talked my ear off for the last 72 hours about the SAME stuff! But I love her and I listened somewhat patiently and encouraged her to continue to make the right decisions. I guess this is a good lesson for me because my kids will be going through the same stuff in many years to come. Lord, I pray I can get through it!

Getting old

Paul and I hit the club Saturday night. We joined my friend Windel for his 30th birthday. I realized once the one o'clock hour struck that I am getting old. We packed it up before everyone else and headed home. Since my adopted niece was home with the kids who were asleep we decided to play hookie a little while longer so we went to the IHOP. We both fell asleep before the food arrived! So pitiful! But it was great to be out and about on a Saturday night without the kids.

Oh and I forgot to mention.....

that my car died 2 weeks ago! I need a new car.

Decorating the Xmas Tree

Trey and I decorated the Christmas tree tonight. He did a really good job helping. He passed me all the ornaments and told me where I should put them (ha). He was so excited to see the lights and the finished product. This is my favorite holiday and I am looking forward to setting traditions with my own little family! Oh and Preston just chilled in his exersaucer with poop in his diaper and spit up on his bib. If he aint fussing about it, I aint either!

SEC Champions!

Just a little shout out to the Florida Gators! As you can see my husband has brainwashed the entire family!

And as you can see I found time to chop all my hair off! I love it!

Recap

I have been so busy that I am going to the doctor and ask for some Ritalin in a couple of weeks (no I am not kidding)! Anyway, life has been great as usual just challenging with little ones, a busy husband and a full time job but somebody has to do it. Let's just try to catch up since Thanksgiving:
Nov. 27th: Thanksgiving. Paul was on call for the entire week of Thanksgiving so he wasn't able to participate in any fun activities. He was entertained by other foolishness like some crazy man cutting off his penis (seriously) and having to reattach it. So my mom drove up from Jesup alone, since my father also had to work and we headed to Greenville, SC to join her little brother and sister for a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. The kids were with of course and they both slept there and back so it was quite pleasant just chatting with my mom and driving.
Nov. 28th: No shopping for me! I got up and got dressed quickly so that I could go to the spa and have a mani/pedi while Paul was still home. He and my mom made breakfast and played with the kids. After that my bootleg mother ditched me and the kids to go shopping. Paul left for work and the kids and I just chilled. Oh I also made a Thanksgiving meal for Paul because he had Thanksgiving cafeteria food on Thursday.
Nov. 29th: My mom left me and headed back to Jesup. I was so sad day. Oh and when she got home my dad failed to mention to us that he broke his foot and tore a ligament! He is laid up in a boot for 6 weeks taking pain pills and sipping on gin and juice. I also went to the liquor store and bought some Bailey's because my nights are getting tougher and tougher!
Nov. 30th: Paul was still working like crazy which left me at the home having a nervous breakdown with both of the kids...literally!
Dec. 1st: Back to the hustle of work!
Dec. 2nd: Paul's B-Day! I picked up a gift after work (bad I know) and Trey and I bought him cupcakes and balloons from Publix. I think he enjoyed it........
Dec. 3rd: I had a complete breakdown on this day. I was exhausted at work because I am averaging 4 hours of sleep at night because Preston refuses to sleep more than 4-6 hours straight. I left work around 1:30pm made it home and slept for 3 hours before picking up the kids. I had a massive headache from the extreme fatigue and took Motrin, Tylenol and drank a couple of Cokes to keep me going. Paul had to work late and didn't come home until around 10pm. On this particular night Preston cried everytime I sat him down, Trey is into this whining crap that drives me crazy and I forgot to feed the dog. I finally got Preston to take a quick nap about 8pm so I could bathe Trey and put him to bed but he unfortunately woke up time I sat Trey in the bathtub. I ran downstairs to get him out of the swing and run back up to Trey who was taking a bath. As soon as I reached the stair case with Preston in my arms Trey starting to scream and cry. He had pooped in the tub! I almost passed out. I got the huge green and brown dill pickle out of the tub while gagging and as soon as I turn to look at Preston he started vomiting. So now I had to get Trey out of the tub, clean it out, put him back in and bathe him then clean Preston up again. Needless to say I ended the night with some Benadryl.
Dec. 4th: My day off! Unfortunately it rained all day. I had to shop, run errands and get my hair done all in the rain......not good!
Dec. 5th: My brothers-in-laws (2) came to spend the weekend with Paul for his birthday and the SEC Championship game here in Atlanta. They decided to bring 2 more friends with them (all 20 something year old hungry college students) but I really enjoyed having them for the weekend.

The weekend

So my weekend started really bad but ended up being very refreshing. My parents came up and we really enjoyed hanging out with them. We went to the movies Saturday night and watched Madagascar 2 which was really good. Then we went to Bruester's for ice cream (not my idea) it was 30 degrees outside! My mom cooked breakfast Sunday morning and my dad took Trey to get a haircut. He let Trey's main barber cut his hair but said he doesn't like him as much he likes another guy at a different barber shop. When I had Preston my parents were here for a couple of weeks and daddy took Trey to get a haircut every week so he was taking him to a different barber shop.

Anyway, as of right now Sunday night I am calm but I am going to be heated when I get to their school in the morning because I have to write them a check for tuition.

Breakdown!

After rushing through crazy Atlanta traffic at 5pm on a Friday afternoon I finally arrived to the school to pick up the boys. I was in a great mood and had had a really good day though exhausted as usual especially since its the end of the week. So I walk in to get Preston and there is a note attached to his clip board. The note which begins with 'unfortunately' states that the tuition prices are increasing again. I almost had a stroke! I marched right up to the directors office and had a complete breakdown. I really think it is ridiculous to overcharge for any services whether it be getting your car fixed, hair done, just anything at all. But what I wanted to know is why is the cost going up to almost $300 dollars a week to change my infants diaper and give him 3 bottles. Hell he sleeps half the day when he is there anyway. As you can see I am still pissed off! They were attempting to calm me down as I lectured them on the nonimportance of this price increase and of course there was no justification. "Well Mrs. Alphonse the economy is changing and things are hard." Heifer things are hard for everyone but why take advantage of everyone else because of your struggle to retain teachers. I asked repeatedly what added benefit is there for justifying this price increase in the infant room........NO GOOD ANSWER was given. I asked for a open forum/discusssion for all parents to be apart of so that we can be given the opportunity to ask questions and receive worthwhile information to help us decide if this is the right place for our children. There is no doubt that maybe the older pre-k children and toddlers may cost a little more just based on the fact that they do field trips, activities, utilize papers etc and eat meals there. I bring in all Preston's diapers, wipes, bottles and clothes. So what in the hell are you really doing for him.

I am now searching for a nanny or I will keep him myself!

It still feels like dating

I must say after 10 years with my husband I still enjoy going out on dates especially with him. Tonight we went to the Woodruff Arts Center to visit the High Museum featuring artifacts from
The Chinese Terracotta Army. It may not sound too exciting to many but believe it or not I really like museums. Anyway, I enjoyed just being with him and snuggling. It is a blessing to still be IN love with my honey bunny and not just love him because he's my husband and baby daddy. God is definitely good!

The kids were with my neighbor who is crazy and awesome all at the same time. Auntie Jamie is not the typical babysitter. No one is going to have a bath, be in bed or eat any vegetables during her watch. Trey and Preston were wide awake when we got home. Trey had whatever he wanted which included Sprite, chips, cookies and milk for dinner. He was not interested in the dinner I left for him. As a result he will probably be a little sick tomorrow but its okay because he LOVES to spend time with Jamie and although she is a mess she does take good care of them.

The Press Sentinel

It is amazing to me that we have not moved further in this push to eradicate racism for good. Everyday on the news there is a story about some sort of hate crime against the opposition of President Elect Obama. It is ridiculous that even school age kids are apart of this mess as well. There have been countless stories on the news here in Atlanta about some kid being threatened or chastised about our new president to be. They actually increased security at many schools after the election because they anticipated that there may be some issues.....WHAT?

My mother actually had a close co-worker come to work the day after the election in ALL black. She avoided everyone African American and said she was in mourning because we have a "black muslim president" and that she no longer feels safe. Jesup is so ridiculously "pro white" that they covered the entire election with only positive topics about McCain and Palin. It was very obvious that the writers were republican and supported the republican party. They even had the nerve to refuse to post a header the day after the election to acknowledge Obama's victory. It took the NAACP going to the newspaper to file a complaint for them to print a story about our new president. The story was printed one week after the election on Nov. 11. If you don't believe me check out the link!
http://www.thepress-sentinel.com/articles/2008/11/11/news/doc4914ac55c5147287816054.txt

A Second Life

What do you guys think about creating a new you online? Paul brought it to my attention in a conversation this weekend that there is an online reality type of game that you can create a person in your own likeness. The way he stumbled across this new game is through the news (so he says). There is a woman who is divorcing her husband because he ended up cheating with another woman. The way I understand it is that both of them had an online character and actually ended up hooking up with each other not knowing who the other person truly was behind the computer screen. So both of them basically were cheating on each other secretly but online. Well the husband apparently had a untold desire to be with many woman and starting having affairs with many online female characters. Once the wife found out that her online character was her husband and that he was having affairs with other females (online) she asked for a divorce. I know confusing as he!!.

Her thought is that if he had such a desire to do these types of things and was obviously happy doing them then he deep down inside he wasn't happy in the marriage and would eventually act out and have a real affair.

Paul (of course being a man) says that the game isn't just for people to do foolish disrespectful things but for people to maybe live out a fantasy of being a race car driver or a pilot. Basically whatever you wanted to be as a child but knew you would probably never be able to do it. This game allows you to do whatever you want even be a heavy weight boxing champion.

I personally think it is a recipe for disaster because I will probably always associate it the bad stuff like cheating. What do you think or have you ever heard of this? Of course I told that fool he better not get a character online!

2 year olds

So I am currently trying to teach Trey all of his basic colors. He can name them all but still gets them confused sometimes. He often memorizes what color a piece of fruit or vegetable is (really any object) and without looking just yells out "bananas are yellow" while not even looking at what I am pointing to. He has memorized all his flash cards too. It seems really weird that he finds it difficult to learn all the colors especially since every object has a color but knows his shapes very well even ovals and other non basic shapes he identifies correctly always. Don't get me wrong I am not complaining because he is a very quick learner and does exceptional for his age but of course every parent wants their kid to be the smartest even at 2 years old.

So I have a freezer full of cheap popsicles. The ones that cost a nickel and are all the colors of the rainbow. Trey and I play a little game of name the popsicle color and if you get them correct you receive a popsicle. He named most of the colors correctly so I asked him which popsicle he would like. He told me "a yellow popsicle mommy" so I gave him a yellow popsicle. Well he handed it back to me and said "no I want a blue popsicle mommy" so as I was handing him a blue popsicle he said "wait mommy, what color is the popsicle" I said "its blue" he said "gooood job mommy!" and proceeded to clap for me. It was hillarious. Does he not know that I know all my colors!

He keeps us laughing with funny stuff every single day! He also likes to say "oh okay mommy or daddy" as if we need his approval on any matter. It is amazing how much a 2 year olds vocabulary grows day by day. Thought I would attach a couple of pictures of my crumb snatchers.

A slow come back

Okay, so the cold virus is gone but I am still tired as can be. I hope this fatigue fades as the baby starts to sleep a little more. He really isn't doing that bad at night he typically only wakes up once after about 8 hours but that's still a lot when its 4am and the clock goes off at 530, but anyway.

Let's talk about this gasoline situation. Yes, I am excited to see that gas prices are declining drastically. Here in Atlanta regular gas is about $1.95 a gallon (the lowest I have seen). But how in the world could it have been $4.55 a gallon just under 6 months ago. How is it that big oil companies can come in by storm and increase prices like this with no consequences? 10 years ago in 1998 gas was $11.00 a barrel now 10 years later during the summer months it was $142.00 a barrel now back down to $56.00 a barrel and dropping. The suppliers haven't changed at all and of course we all know that there are fluctuations in the market but this was highway robbery. These companies made many billions of dollars in a matter of weeks; that it is ridiculous!

And let's not even talk about this traffic in Atlanta. It is just insane during rush hour. I live 13 miles away from my job and it takes me 45 minutes to an hour to get to work. If I leave really really early I can get there in 35 minutes but who in the world wants to come to work at 7:30 when you don't need to be there until 8:30? This is a mess and annoying!

That darn cold virus!

I don't have too much to say today as I am at home sick with a cold. My wonderful 2 year old keeps us supplied with countless "bugs" and today mommy feels bad. I also think the fatigue of sleepless nights with a newborn and working full time is catching up with me. So I am going to take advantage of getting some much needed rest while the kids are at school.

Also Trey is going to his first sleepover tonight. His cousin Jalen is turning 2 on Sunday and Trey is staying with him to celebrate. They are both huge Disney Pyxar Car's fans and Jalen's new rooms is maxed out with Cars apparel.

Thanks cousin Kim for keeping Trey and making my weekend easier! I am sure I will have pictures posted of them celebrating later.

Last barber post

Okay this is my last and final post about this whole barber shop mess. Trey got a haircut on Tuesday afternoon. When I walked in all three of the barbers were there and it was more than uncomfortable. The newest barber Tory (from last Sunday) jumped up immediately and brushed off his seat while putting the little kid block in it while his old barber just stared at me with a confused look. I was trying so hard to not give the new barber any eye contact but he was already walking towards Trey to pick him up. I asked his old barber if he would mind Tory cutting his hair since he had a client in his chair already and he just shrugged with a confused "naw that cool." I felt like such a cheater at that moment that once Trey was in Tory's chair I walked out of the building and started texting my friends to tell them that this is a mess. Trey of course did great with the haircut because Tory was in there talking to him and giving him candy. So when I walked back in my lil dude was all faded up smiling "candy mommy candy!"

I asked his real barber if I could talk to him for a moment outside because I felt so bad. I punked out once we got outside and told him that I visited that guy only once last Sunday and that would be back to see him (the first barber next week). God I hope I get some points in heaven for loyalty!

Barack Obama

Today is the start of a new future down a road never tread before. But not just for black people but for all people of all colors, ethnicities, religions or anything else that makes us different. This is the start to a much needed healing for a race of people who have not been able to grow and excel because of uneccessarily shed blood, sweat, tears and struggles. I believe that Barack Obama is that God sent disciple that will help lead us to freedom. Not the type of freedom that our four fathers like Martin Luther King Jr., Joseph Lowery, Andrew Young, Jesse Jackson and countless others fought so hard to get for us but true freedom that exist in our thoughts and dreams.

I can now truly say that my children can dream bigger than I ever did. And when they are sitting in class and the teacher ask what they want to be when they grow up they can say "President of the United States of America" and no one will laugh or giggle. Maybe now even I as a 30 something year old black woman can let go of the racism I experienced growing up in the deep south. Although we will bare these scars for life they will soon fade and give us a new found peace.

This election was not about color it was truly about change, change for us all. Barack Obama embodies the compassion and charisma that bonds us all together. His heartfelt compassion for his country and his family gives me comfort to try harder. He loves his family and his wife as God teaches us to. He is the man, he is our next 44th president.

History

My mind is full of so many thoughts, hopes, dreams and realities today. History is in the making. If you haven't already done so get out and VOTE!

La - a

The majority of my girlfriends that I hung out with this weekend were educators. It is always wonderful to talk to them and understand just what parents need to know about the world of education. And they make sure I know what we as parents need to be doing at home to educate them. Children can not get all the education they need at school alone, we need to do our job to educate them as well.

So one of them told me the name of one of their students. The little girls name is La - a.
How did you just pronounce her name.....Laiyah maybe? Well try again?

Her name is La - a pronounced correctly as La(dash)a.

Black folks please stop this foolishness!

Go Gators!

While I played with old college friends in Atlanta for the weekend Paul and Trey did a father son road trip to Jacksonville for the FL/GA football game. They were joined by my parents and nephew which is a yearly tradition for us. Although I had a great time with my college friends I missed my boys! But this is the most quiet the house has ever been. I think I just realized how busy my 2 year old is and just how easy it is to have a newborn. Preston is definitely a piece of cake and Trey is quite a bit of work.

Anyway this is how daddy rolls in the big red school bus on gameday. I know pretty crazy huh?

PC Alumni Mixer

This weekend I felt like I was 20 years old again at least for a couple of hours. Myself, ShaDrach, Rock and Phillip planned and hosted a Paine College Alumni Mixer here in Atlanta. We had a wonderful time with a great turnout of more than 60 or so alumni. Some of these folks I hadn't seen in 10 years. My sorority sisters stayed with me and it was just like old times. We were all in my bathroom showering and curling each others hair just like we did in the dorms. We laughed and talked about old times and spent too much time trying on different outfits before the event. I was elated to see that I hadn't aged too bad especially for a chic that just had her second child.

Once the event ended we headed back to my house because Preston was at home with the babysitter so I had to be back at midnight. When we got home we all realized we were in our 30's again and skipped out on the after party. We crashed on the couch in our pj's and watched dirty movies on HBO....ha! People please don't let your kids watch HBO after 9pm its more than you would expect. Anyway, we got up Sunday morning and made breakfast together. We had salmon patties, grits, biscuits with syrup, coffee and juice just like old times! We are some fly a$$ country girls!

The last picture is myself, ShaDrach and Phillip (Rock had a family emergency at the last minute but he did manage to make it before the event ended). The other pictures are my sorority sisters and other folks.

Also.....

Also when I was at the salon the barber who cuts hair in the same shop told me that I was indeed cheating on my other barbers. He also said that it is a business move and I have to go with the guy who does the best job. Then he assured me by saying "they are definitely going to talk about yo a$$ as soon as you walk out!"

Trey is getting a hair cut on Monday and I will fill you in on who got dibbs!

Interesting.........

Today was my usual day off. I spent too much of my day in the beauty salon sitting under a hot (beep beep beep) dryer. Man what women to do stay fly! Anyway I had time to read a couple of magazines while I waited to get beautified. One article that caught my attention was "Vibrating Condom Rings." What the heck! Now maybe you guys know about this already but I have been in the dark on this one. Supposedly this ring is designed to entice both you and your partner. It has a vibration device around the collar of the condom and you are suppose to line it up with your clitoris. Now this thing is battery operated and goes for $10 a pop. And no you can not use it multiple times only once. My question is; what is the possibility that this thing could malfunction and cause something (body parts) to burn or electricute one of us?

I remember a time when no one could even say the word "sex" now we throw it around like its nothing. They even make sexually exotic commercials to sell food on television now. And let's not even talk about music videos. What is this world really coming to.

Anyway, somebody let me know how well it works before I try it out........HA!

Barber Crisis

This an update from the barber shop etiquette post. I guess I cheated on both of Trey's barbers this Sunday. As Trey and I were coming home from a lunch date/meeting with some friends I saw a barber shop that was open. This shop is in the next shopping plaza over from his current barber shop. I was so happy to see that they opened on Sunday and thought I would just bring Trey on Sundays and not have to deal with any explanations.

Well as I was leaving Publix grocery store yesterday I ran into the new barber Tory. He remembered my face and we started to chat. He then proceeds to give me his new business card because he is relocating. Where is he relocating? To the same barber shop that I just abandoned! I fell out laughing and he just looked at me like "what's wrong?" So I asked him what is truly barber shop etiquette. Can I really switch barbers within the same establishment? Well of course he said "yes" probably because I would be changing to him. He also said its really about business and you have to choose who you want. All of this is true but it still leaves me feeling unfaithful.

I have no idea what I am going to do at this point. Trey has to have a haircut for pictures next week and all three of the barbers will be in the same shop. All of them will be looking at me like 'hey good to see you come on in' because they don't know I am cheating on all of them!

Double Standard

I am my parents only daughter and I have two brothers. In my mothers eyes girls should be raised differently than boys which is what she attempted to do with me. She feels that girls should not do or go to the same places that boys go to and that girls should not be allowed all the same activities that boys are allowed (i.e. parties as teenagers, dating etc). My dad was the complete opposite. He believed that there was not much difference in gender except your body parts. I had to cut grass, wash cars, wash windows and anything else that most people would call a "man's job." It was interesting that within our house there were two different philosophies and how they both resulted in the three kids doing exactly the opposite of what my mother thought would happen. Both my brothers had children in high school; the oldest became a father at 17 and the youngest became a father at 16, I know terrible huh. I on the other hand had my first child as a married woman at the age of 30. Although I did not have any children at a young age like my brothers it wasn't because of my mother's thinking that I should wash all the dishes and clean the house it was because I was smarter than them.

So I was sitting around this Saturday night talking with my girlfriends about the differences in men and women. Fortunately or unfortunately we were joined by one of their husbands on this conversation. We were talking about why a married man feels the need to be in a club, bar, social gathering or anything else that does not include his wife on a Friday or Saturday night. They call it "boys night out" but its really their weekend thang. Is it really okay for a married man to come home at 4 or 5am? My answer is no. But of course some men feel it is their right after working all week long that they should be able to shower the world with their overwhelming testerone driven egoes. What is so exciting about hanging out with a bunch of dudes looking at a$$ all night long? You can't touch or taste it so why waste so much time looking at it? Then when your done hanging out you want to come home and wake a sister up for some nookie? But you don't understand why she is not even trying to hear it especially since while you were gone the baby woke up twice and the kids are early risers at 7am ready for breakfast. Are you going to get up and make breakfast? No because you just got home from breakfast at the Waffle House.

I guess this is why someone wrote a book call Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus. This is so very true. Most women I know don't have any interest in being in any of these places and are definitely not trying to hang out all night until the crack of dawn. I would fall asleep in the club if I had to stay until 4am. My thoughts are always on the next day, sleep and my family. Don't get me wrong women love to look at a$$ too they just don't need it to justify that they are still an individual and not just a wife and mother. Contrary to what my mother attempted to believe; men and women are the same. We both have sexual urges and desires no matter what. We are sexual beings and that wont change, its the way you use your sexuality that makes you who you are. When you use your sexuality to enhance, pleasure and deliver to your spouse you are not disgracing God. When you use your sexuality to entice the world you are disgracing God.

Oh and Paul didn't hang out in the club all weekend long he was at home watching the kids while I was fussing with somebody elses husband. I just thought I would get some feedback on the conversation, well debate we had with this husband. Believe me he truly felt he was justified in having frequent boys night out. Don't get me wrong I am not that kind of wife who is like "you can't go" but I do feel it is a time and place for everything. What I try to do in life is ask myself "if God shows up right now would he be happy with who I am and where I am at this moment."

So why the double standards?

Oncology

So yesterday was my first day back at work. I was up at 5:30am after not sleeping probably the entire night. My wonderful baby Preston woke up at 1:30am and again at 4:30am. He is NOT a good sleeper! To make things worse Trey had a nightmare around 11:30pm so I was in his room comforting him when I could have been asleep. Welcome to the wonderful world of motherhood. Anyway, Paul is being an amazing helper by getting Trey up and dressed in the morning so while I am showering Trey is on the couch watching Dora and drinking milk. Believe me this makes my morning much easier.

Anyway none of that stuff has anything to do with the title "oncology." As many of my friends and family know I have been a cancer nurse for many years. I have adapted to dealing with death and dying very well. Many of the nurses I work with have 20+ years in oncology and have also come to realize more than others that death is a part of life. Nonetheless I would say that even when a death is expected for a family, when it happens it always feels unexpected (hopefully that made sense to you). So I was in an exam room with an older woman and her two daughters yesterday. The mother was just given the diagnosis of breast cancer which had spread to many of her bones. This was her second battle with breast cancer and I know she prayed this would never haunt her again. Her daughters were a little older than myself and very attentive to their mother and her care. When the doctor told her that the goal of treatment is to keep the disease stable (stop more growth) and maintain good quality of care for the rest of her life because there wasnt a cure, the oldest daughter begun to cry.

As a cancer nurse I have seen and heard many people be given their options, diagnosis, and prognosis. I have been able to keep a dry eye and go home to my family while leaving all those emotions at the office but things are now changing. My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer 2 years ago. She had a wonderful recovery and is cancer free praise God! But at that moment yesterday for one of the first times I saw myself in their shoes. My mothers diagnosis has changed the way I view cancer and especially breast cancer. I don't think I have ever lived with the idea that nothing could happen to me especially something bad but once sadness effects you personally your views on life change. I know that this could happen to me and I know that it could happen to my mother again. I pray and ask God to protect us from this cruel disease and give us a rich long life with our families but all I can do is pray.

Oncology isn't what it use to be for me because of what happened to my mother and because it took my mother's mother away from me. It also makes me to sad to know that my children could lose me. There are many times when you shed happy tears because that person beat the odds and were given a second chance; but then those sad tears just come right back.

Last day of freedom

Well today was my last day of maternity leave. I am not sad about leaving the kids too much but I am not excited about the alarm clock going off at 5:30am and getting three people ready and out of the house. I won't be getting home until 6pm everyday and that really sucks too but that's just the way life is or at least my life. Paul leaves the house by 6am and doesn't come home until around 7 or 8pm so he is not much help in the morning, its just mommy.

So I tried to spend the day like all of my other days on maternity leave; doing whatever the heck I want to. I did some shopping, had lunch alone and attempted to tidy the house a bit. I am wondering how often I am going to need to pump my boobs too. I haven't been too diligent about doing it these last couple of weeks so Preston drinks formula at school when I don't have enough breast milk pumped. Oh well that was just extra information because my mind is just jumping all over the place....please pray for me.

But anyway, I am sure I will have lots to blog about once I return to work and join all the crazy folks that are on the highways and byways of Atlanta. So wish me luck tomorrow hopefully I won't show up and quit!

Pink

Oh yeah is the pink to bright? I have no idea why I chose this color. I guess I was looking for some sort of fresh air.........

Barber shop etiquette

So I have a dilemma. I take Trey to the barber shop every other week. On the off week I cut his hair and the next week he goes to the barber. I do not do a good job lining his edges and he isn't quite as still for me so that's why I have to take him to the barber shop. Also I take him because it gives me a break from fighting with him over just sitting in the chair. We have been going to the same barber (E. Money) for many months and everytime he cuts his hair I am never completely satisfied. It's not that the haircut itself doesn't look good but I don't think he is the best at entertaining Trey while he is cutting his hair, which sometimes means he doesn't get the best cut possible because he is acting like a basket case.

So a couple of weeks ago I took him to the barber as soon as they opened at 9am and his barber E Money wasn't there yet. So I let another barber cut his hair, clearly I wasn't going to wait for him especially since I roll deep with little Preston in tow as well. The other barber let's just call him E Dub offered to cut his hair. Oh my goodness, you can tell this guy has sons because he was so attentive to Trey. He let him hold the clippers, brush his hair and even played with him a little. When it was time to line his edges, the part Trey hates the most; he stopped and explained to him that the hair clippers are going to "tickle" your head like mommy and daddy tickles you. He tickled him a little and put the clippers on his forearm and laughed out tickle tickle. Trey ate it up and he did not move a muscle. Everytime he started cutting Trey would ball up a little and say "tickle tickle mommy." He has never done this well with his barber.

So is it unethical to switch barbers within the same shop? I won't be able to take him at 9 in the morning anymore because I have to start work on Thursday. With that being said he will have to get a haircut in the afternoons when I get out of work. Also the barber shop is directly in front of Trey's school so I see his barber unintentionally almost everyday. We wave and he says "see you later this week" and of course I say "yeah."

The Air Show

On Sunday we attended a F-14 Air Show. This was probably one of the most exhilarating moments of my life. Many of you may not know this about me but I have a true passion for aeronautics. I have secretly wanted to be a fighter pilot since I was a little girl. I guess I kept it secret because it was way too uncommon for a girl be a pilot let alone a fighter pilot; especially 25 years ago. I have jokingly told Paul a few times that I want to take pilot lessons. Maybe one day I will get the courage to actually do it. There is just something about being in an aircraft and defying gravity that intrigues me.

But anyway we packed up the family and headed out to Marietta to join the loud crowd of onlookers. We watched the pilots due amazing stunts and formations. There were 6 fighter jets and they all did tricks individually and in groups. Trey loved it and kept yelling out "there's the airplane mommy" "airplane make heart mommy" "airplane make circle mommy" over and over again while the planes vanished into thin air in just seconds. The engines are so loud that you sometimes needed earplugs when they were close to ground. All the kids loved watching the aircrafts but probably not as much as a lot of the adults. The day was absolutely gorgeous with beautiful blue skies and 70 degree weather...God is so awesome! Days like this are truly wonderful.

Oh and Preston slept the whole time except when the jets got close and the engines startled him.

Baby Dedication

This weekend was such a wonderful and peaceful one because my baby Preston had his christening ceremony. He looked like an angel in his white and he was so well behaved in front of the church congregation. Both his paternal grandparents and maternal grandparents were there as well as two of his uncles.

Here are a couple of pictures.

Gas

I just wanted to say that I am so thankful that gas prices are going down. I filled up at $2.91 a gallon today and it only cost me $65.00 as opposed to the $100.00 a week I was paying to fill up my big red school bus.

BARACK the vote!

Today I cast my vote for the next president of the United States of America. It felt so wonderful to be able to have the opportunity to make my opinion count (even though I stood in line for 2 whole hours). Of course as you can see from the title I am a Barack supporter. I have been watching the campaign trail over the last few months and it really saddens me to see how racist this battle has become. I do not care what color, gender or ethnicity the candidates are; what is most important is who is going to make a POSITIVE change for us, the Americans.

It is so important to look at the values and beliefs of the candidate that you are supporting. I grew up in a middle class democratic household with all democratic friends. With this being said I do not think this particular election is about which party you grew up belonging to. We have to make good logical decisions based on the information we are given. The ideals, views, policies and integrity Barack encompasses speak to my heart and I feel they are the best solutions for all Americans. For this reason I voted for him not because he is a democrat or a black man. His tax cuts actually hurt me more than they do the average american so this was truly a decision I had to think hard about (well not really I was pumped up about voting for him since day 1 but you understand).

So when you go to cast your vote don't vote based on political party, color or gender. Base your vote on who will be the next BEST president of this wonderful country!

Truly we aren't going to put a senior citizen in the white house?
Just kidding...................

DRAMA!

I have so much unnecessary drama in my life at this moment that I am too upset to entertain you all. Girl drama is overated. Let me just tell you this. If you can't trust someone you can't be in a relationship with them. That means girlfriend, boyfriend, spouse or whatever else. It just won't work!

That's all I can say out of respect to the other parties involved.

Class Reunion

This past weekend we attended Paul's 20 year high school class reunion in Orlando, FL. It was really nice to go to his old school and see his old classmates. I know he enjoyed reflecting back on the past. Its wonderful to see how awesome our lifes have turned out in the end. We danced a little and ate a lot.

So what was the bad part about the trip.....kids! Unfortunately, a trip that should have taken 7 hours of drive time turned into an almost 10 hour drive back to Atlanta. Believe it or not Preston did great. He ate and slept the entire trip. His big brother unfortunately drove us insane. We were taking 30 to 45 minute breaks that's how exhausting Trey was. He just could not sit still in that car seat for more than 2 hours and he has always refused to sleep in his car seat that hasn't changed at all. And to make matters worse we are potty training him which called for more stops. He screamed he had to "poo poo potty" for maybe 2 hours. Everytime we stopped he dropped no poo in the potty. Finally on the last stop 1 hour from home he dropped a log cabin in the potty. He was so happy and proud of himself but daddy and I were ready to put a straight jacket on him but we clapped for him as we should.

Sorry there aren't any pictures but we forgot the camera. But I am sure you all know we looked fabulous! Paul has definitely aged like fine wine (just better and better) especially if you look at that old 1988 year book picture.

Kudos baby!

Preston's first week!

Preston managed to have a wonderful first week of school. He even learned how to drink out of a bottle which he did not enjoy but did much better than his big brother Trey. Trey took 2 weeks to convince himself that it was safe to suck from anything except my breast. Fortunately, Preston only took 2 days. I think he may be a little smarter than his brother.

Anyway, it felt so different dropping my second child off to start daycare than it did my first. I think I kinda feel like I have closed the last chapter of newborn baby life forever. We will never have another little newborn coming home to be welcomed by his brother and no more up ever 2 hours for feeding nights. While some of its good a lot of it is sad.

However it does feel good to go inside of a store by myself with no strollers, car seats, diaper bags etc. but I still miss my baby. Now I gotta go back to work next week. Not happy people!

Happy Anniversary!

Today Paul and I celebrated our 7 year wedding anniversary. It still feels like we're dating except for the kids part. I am just as in love with Paul as I was 10 years ago when we met. It feels really good to not only love my husband but to be in love with him as well. Believe me folks there is a difference.

The day started with a delivery from the florist of two dozen beautiful white roses and several I love you's throughout the day. Followed up by a wonderful sexy and romantic dinner for two at Maxim Prime Restaurant.

As you can tell a couple of the pictures are from our special day seven years ago. I often sit on the floor and look at my wedding albums so that I never forget or lose sight of how young and in love we were then. I think that's what keeps our marriage fresh and crisp. I only pray for many many many more years just like this.

Today I married my soulmate....

Black Hollywood

Okay this one goes out to one of my dearest friends in the world, Dione. My longtime bestfriend has moved to Atlanta and become a groupie (just kidding she just happens to party in hot spots). Am I jealous, well just a little bit. Why you ask? Doesn't Boris just look delicious!

By the way that's Dione on the right.

Daddy

They say that girls often marry their fathers. Well this statement definitely applies to me. My husband reminds me of my father in so many ways. He is an excellent father, an awesome provider and a gift from God. Although he works 12-14 hours a day, five days a week he gives us a 110% when he walks into the house. He may not vaccum or dust(which is why we have a housekeeper) but he's the kids best friend and mine too. There is nothing that he won't do if I ask him and he sacrifices daily for all of our needs and wants.

I just wanted to give him a shot out to say thanks! The picture is a typical day of daddy and his boys hanging out!

Peace

Peace is when there are no worries in the world that could even think about entering into your mind. Peace is when your soul is free and your spirit is cleansed. Peace is when you forgive and have been forgiven.

Peace is what I felt when I sat down to worship in church today.

Comforting peace.........

I just thought I would share that bit of positive energy with you.

Cindy

My life has taken so many correct turns that I just can't imagine what it would be like if I took too many wrong turns. I am thankful to God for guiding me thus far but not all of us have been that fortunate. To the right is my homeless friend Cindy, at least that's what she told me her name is. She sits on the side of Interstate 285 every afternoon. She is extremely dirty, has one leg amputated, harsh leathery skin and reaps of alcohol. I feel so sad for Cindy because she truly seems like a great and kind person who has just lost her way. She is on drugs, drinks alcohol and on top of that she is homeless.

I often stop and ask Cindy if I can take her to get cleaned up and put on some fresh clothes but she always says no she just wants some money. I give her a couple of dollars, talk to her until the light turns red and continue on with my perfect life. But I can never really get her out of my head.

I know you can't save the world but we can start with one person at a time. I have promised myself that I am at least going to take her some fresh clothes for the winter along with a little toiletry bag so she can clean herself up whenever she gets sober enough but I know she will probably sell it for drugs or alcohol. I wonder what her real story is. She is someone's daughter, sister, friend, niece just like I am; so what went terribly wrong with her?

I know the picture is a little blurry but you can probably imagine what she looks like just based on her description. Count your blessings people and stay on the straight and narrow path. Personal accomplishments are also achieved when we help others, that's making a difference!

"Pretty Black Girl"

When I was pregnant with Preston I use to take Trey out to dinner every Friday afternoon after work for a nice mommy son dinner. We started out at simple joints like McDonald's, Zaxby's, Chic fil-A and then moved up to nicer places like Outback, Applebee's and Longhorns. I know none of them are fancy but remember I was pregnant and carrying around a then busy 1 year old so I needed somewhere that was kid friendly and loud. But anyway this was our weekly ritual and it was really nice just spending quality time with him outside of the house. He gradually started to do much better with sitting quietly at dinner and not acting like a menace.

So a couple of days ago Preston and I got all dressed up and went out on a lunch date (which we do every week) and on this particular day an african american waitress walked over to our table and said "You are such a pretty black girl." To many of you reading this that would just seem like a nice compliment but to me it screams racism.

Most of my life I have been given the supposed compliment of "your a pretty black girl or your a pretty dark girl." People have even said you have pretty black skin and it makes your teeth look white.....what the he$$! My brothers and sisters, we have been exposed to so much racism, discrimination and labeling that we don't even realize that we are racist against our own people. This comment, to me at least, means that it is unusual to see a darker skinned black woman who is pretty. As if only light skin black woman are attractive and everyone else is just existing. I have even had a few relatives say crap like this and it really offends me. I think ALL black women are beautiful no matter what shade of black they are.

Have we gotten so caught up with the outside world of celebrity and superficial nonsense that we are teaching our children to believe that they are not born beautiful and perfect? My girlfriend Bee and I were talking the other day and she has clowns to tell her that her baby's hair is "negro hair" and another girlfriend told me her little girl who has long wavy hair literally down her back came home from school and said she wanted straight blonde hair like her white friend at school because her hair wasn't pretty.

What needs to happen to remove the negative sterotypes within our own community and our own people. Should we continue to live this life thinking that yakki hair is better than our own. Don't get me wrong people I will rock some extensions in a minute especially for a special occasion but I am comfortable in my shoes and I have no doubt that God made me beautiful.

Oh and don't worry I asked that waitress to have a seat and I schooled her on that dark skin and light skin bull crap. And she really did mean it like she said it that I was a "pretty BLACK girl."

When the rest of the world looks at us there is no light skin or dark skin, it's just BLACK! So why do we care about the degree of our own pigmentation?

Mistake!

If you continue to live people then you will continue to learn. I made a huge mistake this past Thursday by taking both of my sons to the pediatrician for shots at the same time. I really did not have much of a choice because I didn't have anyone else to assist me with a 2 year old and a 2 month old so I went in like a stallion and came out like a pony!

Trey started the visit off being Mr. Personality. He said hello to everyone and talked to all the nurses and his pediatrician Dr. Moore with a big smile. Preston just laid in my arms and enjoyed the comfort of his mother's warm bosom. Trey got his one shot first and of course cried but stopped pretty quickly after it was done. He received his stickers for being such a big boy and was happy after about a minute. Well then it was time for little Preston. Preston received 4 shots (2 in each leg) and he did not enjoy that one bit as you can imagine. Unfortunately or fortunately maybe, his big brother Trey was watching him get the shots and started crying all over again for Preston. I almost started crying because it was so sweet, he cried out "Preston don't cry, no bad shots mommy, hurt Preston." It was so sweet to see him sad for his brother. He really really loves Preston and has bonded with him so well since his birth. Of course after a couple of minutes they both stopped crying and we got dressed to leave.

So you ask where is the mistake in all this. Well the drama really started at the end of the visit. Dr. Moore has a beautiful big aquarium in the front lobby of the office and all the kids love to look at the colorful fish. My son Trey did not want to leave the colorful fish on this particular day. So I have Preston in my arms crying again from his 4 painful shots and Trey standing in front of the aquarium crying loudly "I want fish mommy, fish mommy, fish mommy PEASSSSE (translation please)!" Well of course I tried to calm him down and explain that we could not take the 10,000 galloon aquarium and fish with us but we would come back to see the fish another day but this did not work with a 2 year old. Meanwhile, the front desk staff is staring at him act a fool and show his butt; so they politely ask could they assist me with the kids and I say no I got it. Well Trey fell out on the ground crying, screaming and telling me "NO MOMMY!" I grabbed him firmly and said once again "lets go Trey" and he told me "no mommy want fish" well I told him "you want a fish and mommy wants a tranquilizer gun so let's go!"

He was dragged out on his knees kicking and screaming. So embarrassing people. I need some Xanax in my life or a full time nanny!

Wild Animal Safari Park

We had such a wonderful family filled weekend. We visited this zoo that is basically like Jurassic Park. You rent vans or buses, depending on the number of people in your party; that are painted like zebras with no windows just bars across them and you ride through the zoo feeding the animals oats and barley. The animals are very friendly and run right up to your car for a treat. A lot of the larger animals like the bulls and bison would stand directly in the middle of the road and you had to slightly tap on the gas to convince them to move. Of course the man eating carnivorous animals are locked away in a cage but all the others are roaming free on tons of acres of grass. There were lots of cows, bison, bulls, pigs, deer, zebras, gifaffe, ducks and anything else friendly. And of course, locked away were lions and tigers and bears oh my!

Trey had a blast and did much better than I thought he would. He loved feeding the animals but made sure he tossed the food away from the van so the animals didn't touch his precious hands or take a bite at them. Good old Preston did what he does best...sleep.

After the zoo we took the family out to the drive in to see a couple of movies. This was the first time I had been to a drive in movie since I was a little girl. It brought back so many memories.

Here are a couple of pictures from the zoo.

Preston

So I have been talking so much about Trey that I felt bad that I hadn't mentioned anything about Preston. Well, Preston Lajuan is just a delight! He is now 8 weeks old and a little over 12 pounds. He loves to eat as you can see from his weight and he is really discovering that he can make sounds and it is the cutest thing ever. I feel like my family is complete with both of our sons but would still love to adopt a little girl many years down the road. Of course my husband has already vetoed the idea of adoption especially a little girl, but we'll just have to keep working on him.

Preston looks just like Trey as a baby almost identical, one is just a little lighter than the other. Both with my eyes and daddy's nose. Everything else is wonderful equal mesh of daddy and mommy. My head, daddy's feet, my toes, daddy's fingers........ you get the picture.

Here are a few pictures of my baby. One is Rated R so make sure the kids are not watching.

Racism

So if you think racism does not still exist check this out:

http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=132553%20

Trey's 2nd Birthday!

Wow!

Trey had such a wonderful 2nd birthday. His party was a huge success with a great turn out. The kids had a blast and many cried because they did not want to leave. There were lots of fun activities for them to do and plenty of food. They enjoyed the 4-in-1 combo moonwalk, 5 minute monster truck rides, the basketball goal, tee-ball set, golf set, activity and color time and then of course singing happy birthday and ravishing the cupcakes.

I am so pleased with having the party at our home but with the amount of people, time and effort it took to prepare I will probably never do it again. The boys will both have big parties for years to come I will just have to hire someone else do all the work. I am beyond exhausted but so happy and blessed to have my 2 year old.

Here are a couple of pictures of Trey on his birthday Friday, his party on Saturday and his birthday lunch on Sunday. At the lunch was his Godmother Auntie Kia, Nanna, Grandpa, Mommy, Daddy and Preston. Yes, he celebrated all weekend long!

Nothing

I am so tired today from running around trying to prepare for Trey's birthday party this weekend. It is so exhausting wrestling with a 2 year old and keeping up with the demands of a newborn. Therefore, I have nothing to give today. Stay tuned for fun filled drama, excitement and comedy after the birthday party.

Poo Poo

Just on a quick little side note Trey is doing a great job of going to the potty to poo poo. He does not care one bit at all about the pee pee part but he does not want to poo poo in his diaper anymore and if he does have an accident he needs it removed immediately.

I am sure some of you parents of toddlers can understand my excitement in this post.

That's it!

Don't Mess With My Milk!

So Trey has been attending a wonderful private daycare since he was 5 months old. I have never had a problem with his school and I am very impressed with their curriculum especially since its essentially a daycare (but they don't like for you to call it daycare). They have lesson plans for the entire month and each parent is given a copy of it with little homework assignments from time to time. They really do and great job at tailoring learning for each age group, not to mention he has been learning sign language since he was about 10 months old. Now, he only knows maybe 10 simple signs or commands but that is still wonderful for a 2 year old to be learning sign language who doesn't have the need to really learn it. Anyway, I bragged about the school because I am about to talk about them.

I know I am his mother which makes me a little biased but I must say that Trey is a very friendly little boy with very little drama. He is a little shy with strangers upfront and pretends to be quiet until he gets to know you or feels more comfortable with you. All of his friends at school know and love to play with him. And everyone knows his name at school. Everyone from the cook in the kitchen to the security guard outside.

Well, Trey was sitting at the table with his classmates eating lunch. His friend proceeded to take his milk and drink it. Why did this little boy do that. Trey stood up, started shaking (like Florida from Good Times when she said "damn damn damn" and bit the crap out of his friend. He told him "no my milk!" Trey was obviously very upset because he has never bit anyone and is pretty mild mannered for a 2 year old. So when I walk into school to pick him up the principal (director) tells me she needs to talk to me. Um why am I being called in for a parent teacher meeting for my 2 year old people. She discusses what happened at school and would like for me to talk to Trey about problem solving and biting. What the h@#$? Then she asked me to sign a write up (incident report) for his file. I read the incident report and begun to write a note on it. I began writing that I felt the child that "stole" my son's milk should also be counseled on the importance of not taking things and that as a result bad things could happen to him. This behavior could turn into something worse in the future if nothing is done about it.

Of course the director is mad at me.............

The Chinese Restaurant Lady

Okay, so as many of you may or may not know my son Trey's 2 year birthday is Friday. We are planning a party for him this weekend and I am attempting to prepare for it. So the party idea started out very small with thinking we would invite a few folks over for cake and dinner after church on Saturday along with my folks but now we're up to maybe 40-50 people. I am not sure how it happened but it is definitely my doing because my husband hasn't invited anyone.

But anyway, I am preparing a menu for the party and of course with 40 some folks I am not going to do just hot dogs and hamburgers. I am going to grill chicken, steam veggies etc. So I stopped at the Chinese restaurant today to inquire about a pan of fried rice. My thought is that buying some simple rice would save me a little time and work in the kitchen and the rice would serve as somewhat of a major dish.

Well this chick precedes to whip out a calculator to discuss prices with me. To give you a visual of how this situation went imagine the movie Diary of a Mad Black Woman by Tyler Perry. The scene in particular is the one where Madea is adding up all the money she feels Mr. Bad A$$ owes Kimberly Elise after all the years of marriage. So I was very clear in saying I wanted a pan (large pan) of fried rice with no meat, no eggs and no onions. She said "no problem, no problem." Well then how much is it going to be? She says 'well you know a pint of rice cost ~$2.00 and it only feeds about one person and a dinner serving of rice is ~$4.85(the aluminum rice they serve for dinner items) and only serves 2 people.' Yes sweetie I understand all of that but how much is a large pan of fried rice that will feed close to 30-40 people. This chick got real quiet and put on her reading glasses and went crazy on the calculator. She hit about 20 buttons in 10 seconds then hit the addition key 30 times and said "It's going to be $84.65." What the hell! All I want is rice lady not a box of chicken wings with egg rolls. I looked at this woman started laughing and said "are you serious?" She of course said yes and proceeded to explain to me that rice cost $80. I politely said no thank you I can buy a rice village for that price and walked toward the door. She yellled out for me to wait and asked if I would like to talk to the manager maybe he would give me a discount.

Later chinese lady!

After Children

The most amazing gift God could ever give to a woman is the ability to be a mother or at least in my eyes. I have been blessed twice with this opportunity but the aftermath of your body image is something else. I gained a substantial amount of weight with both of my pregnancies. The first 47 pounds and the second pregnancy 45 pounds. Well as many woman know it is not that easy to get that much weight off! I have worked more diligently this time and I must say in 6 weeks I have lost an astonishing 40 pounds! How did I do this? A simple high protein, low carbohydrate diet. This diet is very hard for those of you love breads, pastas, rice and anything else that has lots of carbs. None of those items are my favorites so its not that hard for me. I only eat (most of the time) lean meats, fresh fruits and fresh veggies. Absolutely nothing out of a can and no cake people!

But I didn't talk about my weight lose for that reason. People let me tell you, when I look in the mirror I keep searching for myself 12 years ago. When I was 21 years old I was fine as heck! My abs were tight, my thighs and hips were perfectly proportioned and my butt was nice and firm. Okay I know too much information but things have completely changed now. Don't get me wrong I look amazing in my clothes and you would never be able to tell that I had children.

So what am I doing to change this? Well I tried good old Taebo. It works your butt off and gets you super toned. Let's do a recap of my first session of Taebo. I took Trey to daycare, nursed Preston and put him down for a nap then proceeded to put on my workout clothes. I stretched like anyone would who is about to workout and started the DVD. I felt so wonderful about excercising and getting fit again. The DVD started and I was amped up, counting with the crew and clapping along. Fifteen minutes later I was sweating like a pig and Billy Banks said "okay good warm up now lets get started!" What the ...... I proceeded to sit on the sofa and watched the next 30 minutes of video with a Powerade. I was done! Maybe I will try step aerobics...LOL!

Re-creation

So already my wonderful friend B.G. has blasted me for not giving she and many of my friends from Houston the opportunity to call me Tera. The reason is re-creation. I started going by my real name at age 23 when I started nursing school. I had always gone by Tera even when I started undergraduate at Paine College. Tera seemed more black (yes ethnic) to me so it was the name that I felt most comfortable being called but as I got older I felt like I needed to grow up and let the "fight the power" attitude go or at least calm it down a little. I am not sure why I allowed myself to have two different idenitities but I really did. With school, white america, teachers, classmates etc I felt like I was Latanya but with my family and black friends I felt like Tera. But my parents have always called me Tera and it felt more personal which is why I then only allowed my friends to call me that and not anyone else.

Hopefully this won't cause a big debate on whether I am racist or not because I am not. I grew up in a predominantly white small town in South GA and went to school with mostly white kids. However, I do understand that racism existed and still does exist. I remember there were days when we couldn't go outside because there was a Klu Klux Klan parade in downtown Ludowici (the town my mom was raised in). Yes people this was in the late 70's. Although these acts do not occur anymore the mental act of racism still exist and I see it all the time.

So in closing I wanted to grow up, evolve and get in touch with my professional side which is why I started introducing myself as Latanya to ALL people regardless of color or sex. But truly I am the same person whether you call me Tera or Latanya.

I guess the adjective to describe me would be "spicy." I am both nice and nicety all at the same time if you know what I mean! Basically Tera or Latanya will get with yo A$$ if she has too!

I guess we'll start here

Hi Everyone!

Well all my friends are blogging so I thought I would join them. I have so much to talk about and it seems no one to listen to me (no one meaning my husband Paul). I have probably talked him to death and he claims he doesn't hear as well anymore....whatever dude! Maybe its due to all that booty shaking music he listened to while growing up in Florida. Has anyone ever noticed how loud Uncle Luke talks. I am sure its from all that loud club music; shake whatcha mama gave ya........!

But for anyone who doesn't know me that well I guess I will give you a little details about me and my life. I am 32 years old, married to the man of my dreams for almost 7 years. We have 2 beautiful little boys Paul III (2 years old) and Preston (7 weeks). I am the only daughter of the best parents in the world and my 2 brothers are pretty fabulous too. Well one of them is crazy and the other is stable, but we'll talk about that later on. My nickname is Tera and it is the name my family and friends call me most. So for everyone who calls me Latanya don't start calling me Tera because I probably wouldn't respond. I have programmed my brain to respond to certain names by certain folk (I know it sounds crazy but its true). Most people associate voices with faces and names so things would get confusing.

Anyway, I will try to post a blog at least every other day until I return to work from maternity leave which will be around late October.

Peace and blessings from the most high!