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.