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.