A Family Weekend

My Aunt and My Mom (sisters)

My brother (why does he look like Bob Marley, you ask? He was dropped on his head many many times)

Hubs and Miss Missy


Sir Talks-A-Lot, Miss Missy, Cousin KeKe and Runnin' Man

I got the chance to spend the weekend with my family. Not just ones that I always see and spend my best times with. Well, they were there too, but I'm talkin' about my parents, brother, sister and niece.

My family is quite complicated these days now that my parents are divorced, so we really don't get to spend time together anymore because, well, my mom now lives in Connecticut with her new husband, my dad has a girlfriend and, they don't talk much.

Matter of fact, the whole situation is WAY uncomfortable and so dysfunctional that I ALMOST withdrew myself from the whole darn thing after the divorce 2 years ago.

And then my dad got sick.

One year ago this month, I got the call.

I had already had a missed call on my phone from my dad and hadn't had the chance to call him back.

My grandmother's number popped up on my on the caller ID and I knew there was something wrong. I just felt it. Grandma doesn't just call all willy nilly and that along with the missed call from my dad put a knot in my stomach as I answered the call.

"Have you talked to your dad," she asked.

"No, I missed his call. I was about to call him back. You know he never answers his phone."

"You might wanna go ahead and call him. He's in the hospital."

My heart dropped. My dad wasn't one for getting sick. He NEVER went to the doctor for anything, I don't care what it was. So for him to be "in the hospital" meant that it had to be a big deal.

She said he had called her and told her that he was having severe headaches and that he could barely see. She told him go to the doctor immediately.

My call waiting clicked in. It was him, she told me to call her back and let her know what was going on.

His voice sounded so frail on the other line as he told me that the doctor had found a mass in his brain. I lost the stability in my legs as I slowly sat on my bed. He was so afraid because I said he knew what that meant. A tumor. I was afraid thinking, not my father.

As the tears fell, I told him that I would be there in the morning.

The test showed that there were TWO masses on his brain. Stage 4 Glioblastoma multiforme brain cancer.

Two days later, he was under the knife. Family had flown and driven in from Michigan and the waiting room was filled with his brothers, sisters, cousins and friends.

Amazing how a tragic and scary time can bring together the folks that you love.

My mother was on a plane the day of the surgery.

That morning, I was in the waiting room, feelin' pretty much alone, but with a friend of his from his church. I didn't know her, but she comforted me as I fidgeted and waited for word from the doctor. I was thanking God for this doctor, because according to his credentials, he was one of the best in the country at what he does. He's retired now.

My Grandmother walked off the elevator when they took him into recovery and I couldn't have been happier to have a familiar face there whose shoulder I could cry on.

As family and friends began to arrive and await his recovery, the waiting room quickly filled and we prayed together, cried together and laughed together. And you know what, there is nothing like a praying family!

So fast forward to this weekend.

I felt blessed to having my family under one roof in a situation where there wasn't a tragedy. I feel blessed that after undergoing brain surgery, my dad was able to walk out of that hospital, surrounded by a LOAD of family and friends who had prayed their hearts out for him. I feel blessed that there had been no return of this deadly beast and I feel, no, I KNOW that it has been because of the power of prayer. If I never believed before, I believe today.

I feel blessed that we were able to spend this time together.

My dad and the kids

My Mom and my sister. Yes, I'm sure that's my mom!

My sister and Runnin' Man

Miss Missy and her cousin KeKe

Writer's Workshop: Mean things done to my siblings

Mama Kat is giving out writing assignments as she does every week. These prompts are sure to help with those that sometimes experience writer's block. So get on over there and join for the fun of it because I would LOVE to hear what you guys have to say on either of her prompts.

Well, this week I can't resist doing prompt #5. Here it is:


5.) Write about something mean you did to a sibling growing up.


OMG! I can go on and on and ON on this subject as I think I was probably EXTREMELY mean to my little brother, simply because I could be and boy did he make it easy!

So, because I have so much to say about him, I'm gonna start with my little sister. Mind you, she was 12 years younger than me and it was kinda hard for me to be mean to her as much, but as she got older, and I was probably grown, I had a few opportunities.

The one BIG this I remember with B:

B use to get on my last nerve because every time she got out of the shower, she would prance around the house with just her towel on for about thirty minutes. I would always tell her to GO GET SOME CLOTHES ON! It didn't seem to matter whether we had company or not. There was ALWAYS something that alluded this teenager from the bathroom and throughout the house BEFORE getting dresses.

I warned her one day that the next time she paraded her naked tail around the house, I was gonna throw her outside BUTT NAKED! Well, low and behold, she chose to try me on this one and I'd bet she wished she never had. After getting out of the shower, she walk in front of me (and I think Hubs might have been present) with her bath towel hugged around her with a smirk on her face and as soon as she was in reach I snatched her towel. She wrestled me for that towel as I pushed her towards the front door and right out on the porch, finally snatching the towel away and locking the door. She screamed at the top of her lungs and I cracked up laughing on the inside for all of 60seconds, that felt like about 10 minutes, until my mom told me to open the door.

Needless to say, she never tried me like that again.


Now moving rith along to my baby brother. I use to TORTURE my brother and I think it started from when he was born. I was four and I can remember pinching him in his sleep to make him cry. Hee hee! Yeah I was cruel. I had come along and stolen my spot and he had to pay! Okay, I sound a little evil, but really I was a good little girl.

He just made it so EASY to torture him. He cried about EVERYTHING! And my mom would get so mad because I would do anything to make him holler.


There was the time I locked him out on our balcony while he and I were home alone. That one back fired because he kicked the glass door, shattered it and we BOTH got in trouble.

There was a song I use to sing to him that instantly sent him into tears. Okay, you know the Patti LaBelle song, "Somebody Loves You, Baby" right? Well I changed the words around and would sing, "Nobody Loves you baby! No No No! Nobody loves you, Baby! You know that it's TRUE!"

Hmmm, there was the time I put him in the head lock until his nose bled.

I can't forget the time I pulled him off the top bunk of his bunkbed. Okay, that one I did feel bad about, but he was messing with me first. That was around the time he started to fire back and in my horrid teen years, he started calling me Pimple Face Patti. Okay, it's not that funny guys.

Remember the Hefty commercial back in the 80's? HEFTY HEFTY HEFTY! WIMPY WIMPY WIMPY! I use that one against hime as well. I was hefty! He was wimpy! And I'd go on and on and on with it all day because it made him mad.


So that's just a small little bit of how mean I was to my siblings, simply because I could. Can't really give out too much more. It might tarnish your image of me ;-).

And Hey! I was the oldest. It was my job!


I'm literally ROFL right now remembering me and my cruel ways.

A little something to share with some GOOD bloggers!

Okay, I have been a bad bloggy friend. I haven't acknowledged the wonderful awards I have received from two very exciting bloggers. If you want a dose of reality "on being" and have a few questions on what it's like to be black, divorced, asian, married... whatever, Chocolate Covered Dreams has an answer for it. And if she hasn't already answered it, submit your question and she's sure to find someone who has an answer. I love her blog's uniqueness!

She gave me this award about a month ago, (yes, a WHOLE month ago) and I, didn't foret, nor am I ungrateful. Just a little busy this month.

The rules are:

1. Put the award up on your blog.

2. Add a link to the person who awarded it to you.

3. Nominate at least seven other blogs.

4. Add links to these blogs on your blog.

5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog

Now, Clare Z @ Another Day, Another Bottle....... (of Milk) gave me this cute little award, saying this about me:

"Talk about a strong, REAL person. Straight to the point and sooo funny."

Her words, not mine. Why she thinks this wonderful things about me, I dunno, but I thank her graciously for her thoughts and linky love.

So in order for me to accept this award........... that I SOOOOO deserve LOL................ I have to follow these rules:

1)Post the award in a post or on the blog itself.

2) Nominate 10 other blogger with great attitudes or how you'd like to share your gratitude with.

3) Show a link to their post.

4) Let the winner know, duh!

5) Share your reason as to why you gave them their award in the first place.

Well, I'm just gonna combine the two and give out BOTH these awards to folks that I read and I feel deserve these ALMOST as much as I do (I'm being humble, I know.)

Here's my list of deserving folks and people I feel you just have to take some time out and read!

Melissa @ Life with 3 Boys and a Little Lady - She is really funny and enjoys to have a good time. She "Tells It Like It T-I-Z better than I do!

Jenni @ Jiggety Jigg - A burst of laughter all the friggin' time!

Ms. Bar B @ A place of comfort - Real, Sassy and a True Diva in those Polka Dot shoes!

The Meanest Mom - Her and her kids are so funny. Her daily tails of the things her kids say are great for a comedy sitcom!

Kristin @ These Little Girls of Mine - I love her blog because it is so cute and she is really inspiring. A mom of a buncha girls and many many girlie stories to tell!

Okay, that's all I got right now. Congrats! I love these ladies. May you blog your hearts out!

Tell It Like It T-I-Z Tuesday: Chris and Rihanna

Okay, so Chris Brown flipped the freak out and beat a trick's tail, huh? Okay, I'm gonna sit here and bad talk him for a minute because I do believe that, yes, he was beyond wrong for putting his hands on a woman. SORRY sum-ma-ma!

He use to sit back and watch his mama get her butt kicked by an abusive butt hole and he turned around and became the same thing. He should have had the restraint to walk away. Now look how stupid he looks. He has lost endorsements and had shows cancelled all because he could control his temper. SAD sun-ma-ma!

So now he's "sorry and deeply saddened"? I bet. Dude, your career is in the crapper and NOBODY is going to look at you the same anymore. You two have officially been branded. The new Ike and Tina. The next Bobby and Whitney.

There are so many rumors floating in the tabloids as to why this all occurred. Did she really give him Herpes? If so, I woulda beat a chick's tail too! Busted her cold sore infested lips! That stuff doesn't go away with an antibiotic. If I was a brotha, THAT might just be grounds for jumpin' on a chick!

I can't judge them because I don't have all the facts. I do hate that this has happened because I really like Chris Brown and I think he had potential to go far and a musician and an actor, but these young kids have to learn that as celebrities, you have to have restraint and remember that EVERYTHING that you do will most likely come into the like and that you can't do the stupid stuff that other people might get away with. (Those TMZ folks are everywhere and ALWAYS get the shot!)

You can't hit girls and expect with to go away with I'm sorry. I hope that the two of them get the help that they need to get through this. Instead of passing judgement, I'm just gonna shake my head and pray for them.

Our school and Black History Month

I've been M.I.A in the blog world as I have been EXTREMELY busy in my own lately. Who'da guessed?

Okay, so as you all know, I was bamboozled into being a PTO VP at the end of last year. Well, when they said that you are expected to spend 30 hours a week at the school, I simply laughed. Me? 30 hours? UNPAID? FREE? VOLUNTEER TIME? HA!

Okay, well they weren't kidding because there are seriously times when I have to be at the school or working from home JUST AS MUCH AS THE FREAKIN' TEACHERS!

So we are in the middle of Black History Month and I, along with a few other wonderful volunteers, have been responsible for the activities. We have planned a performance by some African dancers called the Abatsu Dancers that I am very excited about. This will give kids bit of understanding of the culture from which African American come from.

We have put together a series of black history facts to be read over the intercom for the students to listen to, learn from and possible earn prizes at the end other the week.

We have also worked out behinds off on putting together a "Taste of Soul" luncheon for our wonderful teachers. We have asked for parents to donation and we have solicited (that sounds DIRTY) business for some southern style soul food and I THINK we finally have enough! I'm so excited and nervous about this whole thing that I can hardly sleep. I had a nightmare that the dancers showed up an hour late and our principal kept giving me the evil eye while the kids waited in the auditorium for the show to start.

I've had a heck of a month, but you know what? I feel it is rewarding. I feel that had we not taken the initiative to put this all together, our students would not gotten much out of the month itself.

I'm proud to say that I was on a committee committed to educating the students on something that was overlooked last year, our school's very first year.

And now, I'm tired as heck! And I can't believe that I'm gonna say this, but I can't wait for this month, the shortest month of the year, to be over! LOL!

Being Fabulous means Loving yourself.... without the kids!

To be a fabulous mom, you have to know that it's okay to pamper yourself. I know it's hard. It's been more than difficult for me to except the fact that there are times when you go shopping that you don't have to come home with something for the kids or groceries. Imagine that! I still haven't gotten the concept of that, hence, the purse issue. But this weekend I realized how wonderful it is to just time time out and have a Ladies Day.



My children are 9, 6, and 4. And I have never left them, except to go to my sister's graduation last year. As many know, I celebrated my 31st birthday about 2 weeks ago and my best friend has been trying to coordinate a day for us and a few girlfriends to get together and do girlie things. Finally, we did it.



Ms. Thang took me to the spa to get a massage. This is something that I've never done before. I've never taken the time and never wanted to spend the money to do it. We went out to have a nice dinner, went to one of those "girlie parties", and spent the night talking and laughing over a few drinks.



Well, I'm glad that I got the experience. The massage was nice and relaxing, but the wonderful part was spending a weekend without the family, without hearing Mommy, Mommy, Mommy! Without worrying about laundry, cleaning or anything... FOR TWO DAYS!



The best part of the experience was having a willing participant to help make it all possible. My husband, I have to, was wonderful about the whole thing. Just getting home from 5 days in the field, he willingly took on the responsibility of being the sole parent for the weekend. He did a great job because when I came home, of course everything was clean, dinner was done and he was doing laundry. The kids said they had a good time and I felt extremely at ease the entire weekend knowing that everything would be fine when I got home.





I learned that it should be okay to do something for yourself every now and then. It's okay to pamper yourself, do something that feels good to you, hang out with friends, be something other than just a mom, every now and then. I also learned that in order to remain a fabulous mommy, Mommy has to appreciate and love herself as much as she does her family.



And that's what being MOMMY FABULOUS is all about!

Why I should NEVER use super glue

Let me tell you about my morning!



How DUMB do you have to be to Super Glue not one, but TWO ink pens to your hands???



Okay so I was twittering. Shoulda been working out but I was procrastinating. The boys had gotten on the bus and I was trying to get in a few tweets before I got on my treadmill. Y'all know how it is.

Tweet: Good Morning fellow tweets!
Tweet: About to get on my treadmill.
Tweet @ fellow tweeter: Oh, I didn't hear about that! What happened?
Tweet @ other fellow tweeter: Amazing post on how grass grows!

You get my drift.

Of course my phone rings. I answer it already knowing that it's my mom, who calls me almost everyday on her way to work.


As usual, because I can't be still while I'm on the phone, I get up and start walking around. When I come back, the Super Glue that I'd used to repair Cameron's broken art project was overturned. I grabbed the ink pen that was laying in the sticky mess and somehow bumped another in the puddle and grabbed that one with the other hand. THAT STUFF DRIES QUICK!

You should have seen me. It was like an old "I Love Lucy" episode. I shook my first hand and the pen was STUCK. I want to put the pen in the other hand down and IT was stuck!

So I go to the bathroom with my fingers hard and wrapped around my writing utensil, and I grab the finger nail polish remover, pour it over my hands and PULL. Okay that hurt. Like ripping off a bandaid, but with SKIN! I was certain I coulda robbed a bank because there was NO way I had finger prints after that!

Did I mention that I almost started a fire?

Okay, so I take a couple of cotton balls with nail polish remover back into the computer room to
try to clean up the super glue from the desk.

So, I'm rubbing, rubbing, rubbing in a circle, stop to admire the white spot I created but taking off the faux wood finish and her here something sizzling. I look at the desk, bend down to listen, it wasn't coming from the desk. Then I realize it was coming from my hand and I think "Oh Snap! My hand is on fire!" and I dropped the cotton ball. Immediately I realized that it was the cotton ball and that I I didn't pick it up it might actually catch the carpet on fire. I took that cotton ball into the bathroom, still sizzling, a little louder now, and threw it in the toilet before it BLEW UP!

I had to go to my PTO meeting with my middle finger partially bent like I had arthritis!

Tell it like it T-I-Z Tuesday

Let's talk about this psycho chick that just gave birth to 8 babies. Okay aside from the rest of the story, having 8 babies at a time makes her crazy in my book.

Moving right along........

So apparently this nut case is 33 years old and had some eggs that she had previously frozen put in, EIGHT OF THEM, and they ALL TAKE!

Okay, I'll get back to her, but whoever the doctor is that did this procedure should have his lisense taken away and burned. I mean, what the heck was he thinking? It's not safe for the mom to be pregnant with that many babies. What the heck? She ain't a golden retriever!

A normal doctor usually sticks one or two eggs in a woman over 30. That's what's safe for the mom and the babies. I just wonder what this chick had to tell that doctor to do that?

It couldn't have been money!

Did I mention that she lives with her parents. Did I mention that they live in a very small house? Did I mention that she has 6 other kids???

SIX! If my math is right, that makes 14 kids in one friggin' house! I'm crazy with the 3! She could use some psychological therapy!

I bet she was thinking that she was gonna get that "Awwww" welcome that all these other moms get that have been giving birth to these extreme number of multiples. Perhaps she was thinking that the community was gonna come together and have a butt load of pampers, 8 carseats and a school bus waiting outside the hospital to meet the new parents.

Wait! Did I mention that there's no father in the picture!?!?! Sigh. So who is gonna be responsible for paying for these babies? Grandma and Grandpa! And of course the good ol' U.S. of A!
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Michael Phelps

Wow! How the heck can you get caught with a huge bong to your mouth and let somebody get a picture? A GOOD picture! Okay, you know that had to be one of his boys taking that picture. It was too darn close. Wasn't the darn paparazzi. He got GOT by one of his boys that dared him to hit that shyznit and while he was hitting it real hard, his boy took out his camera phone and BAM!! $25G's for the highest bidder!

Athlete's are smaaaaarrrrt!

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For some reason I couldn't get Mr. Linky to work but if you wanna do your own Tell It Like It T-I-Z, get bold and let the blog world know how you REALLY feel! Just be sure to give me some linky love and I'll keep working on Mr. Linky...

**Update** Linky's Working! So Go ahead and Tell It Like It T-I-Z!!!!

My secret to well behaved kids is.......

Okay, I know that it seems that I have it all together over here. I mean I have the world's most perfect children!

(Gasp, gasp! Choke! OMGosh, I swallowed my gum!)

Okay so they aren't perfect. Matter of fact, my house can be pretty chaotic. My kids argue so much that my neighbors are sure to hear me yelling at the top of my lungs, "Would you just SHUT UP!!!"

Often times, my yelling is followed by giggling (not mine, theirs) because there are times when they just take me for a joke. Often times I am joking when I'm yelling like a maniac. Most times I'm not.

When I'm not, the kids tend to take a step back to examine my face and my mood and realize that mom means business today. And if they don't want to befriend the belt that night then they know to calm down and steer clear.

I take my children out a lot. Running errands, groceries, whatever. I have friends that don't, or feel they can't because of behavior. These mothers will stay home for fear that the kids are gonna act up and embarrass them.

HA!

Are you kidding me? If I have to go out, there is no way some pint-sized-mini-me's are gonna keep me from handling my business.

People always stop me and say how "well-behaved" my kids are. I mean really. I get this all the time.

"If you only see them at home," is what I usually say. (As we speak they are wrestling in my living room with all of the pillows from my couch thrown every which and where).

"Well they know when to be good when it counts."

"What's your secret?" is a questions I am often asked by friends and other moms.

That makes me stop and think, because honestly I don't have a secret. Well, FEAR!

I put the fear of GOD in my kids that if they even show an inkling of embarrassing actions while we are in public I will surely turn the actions around. I think they know that mom is a little crazy and not afraid to wear their tails out on a whim! Because of this, most of the time, they don't take the chance of acting up because I may very well not wait until we get home to embarrass them in the middle of the store.

The great thing is, MOM is in charge. I let them know that from the day they are born. LOL!

All in all, I raise my babies with a lot of love and a lot of discipline. Most of the time they don't like it, but that's just the way that it is. If I don't teach them now there will be consequence later. And that is something I want to avoid at all costs.