Happy Easter 2012

Easter was a good and fun day.  I hungout with my sister and her kids.  We cooked Easter dinner, tried to put a pool up, played with the new puppies and watched movies.

New puppies are fun until they start to relieved themselves.  

They have to go!!   LOL

Hanging at Emory University

Hanging out with Khamren at Emory University.  While Edward and his mom are doing paperwork and all that, I am walking around the campus keeping Khamren busy. We have been here on campus in the spring before, I am enjoy the feel and even allow myself to imagine that I am a student here. 

Can a math challenged person have a fantasy about attending Emory?   I text my cousin Kandi, who graduated top of her class from Spellman, and then went on to get a MBA and JD from Havard. She said to try it and to stop selling myself short. She also said to stop doing just enough to get by. Which is something that I know I do. 

I talked to my friend Hollie, who attended Emory graduate school.  She said the only difference in Emory and another school is the price and location.   I think about these conversations as Khamren and I go to meet his mom in the food court, we are both hungry. I think I will have a chicken wrap and a v8.

Women's History Month

On Monday, 03-26-2012, Ms. Lindberg told us about an event in the library on Wednesday at noon. She also said that we would get some extra points if we blogged about it and if we could not attend, we could interview someone who went and still get some points. I started to think about how I could make this happen. Could I bring Khamren and actually attend the mysterious event?  How would three year old Khamren behave.  Normally he is pretty good in public settings and he likes going to the library. In the end I decided that it might be better if we stayed home. Who could I interview?  I thought Dr. Hershey goes to things like this, let me email him and see.  I was in luck, he was going and agree to answer my questions for my blog.

The event was a type of flash mob celebration for Women's History Month. I never knew there was such a thing.  Several speakers read speeches about past, present and future hopes and goals of/for women. The event was put on by the theater department of GHC, and was a first time event. Dr, Hershey said that he enjoyed the fact that it was happening and thought it was a clever idea the way it was put together and he would attend another one if it happens. 

I hate I did not attend. I think Khamren and I would have really enjoyed it.

being active

This is the year that I finally learn to swim,  I know I have said that before and this year is the year.  It has been awhile since I have been in a swimming pool, I am trying to remember the last time. I will remember eventually.  I am trying different things to lose weight and get in shape, not really going for the six pack or eight pack abs look.  I know I have to get healthy and get this weight off.

In a former life, I played basketball, tennis and some football. I went to the YMCA in Decatur, about three years ago to ask about their swimming lesson program. I was shock to learn that it is not cheap!! I asked why so much to join the YMCA?  The employee told me a portion of the members fee goes to pay for the after school program for the kids in the afternoon. That sounds like a worthy program, but I could not get over the cost and chose not to join at that time.

Now that the weather is getting warmer, maybe I can find someone to play tennis with or go walking with, I have been walking and really need to and want to join a gym. Sitting and watching The Biggest Loser is some motivation but that is unreal. The contestants leave their lives and workout all day if they want to.

I already have my prize for losing the weight and eating healthy picked out. I am getting a new tattoo. I have not decided what that will be, but I have started looking and saving for it.  I think I will continue to walk, by walking to the gym and back home.  I am not in a rush and expecting overnight results, that would be foolish on my part, but with hard work and sticking to it, I should see results soon.  I hope.

Where do people find the time to workout?  I have friends that are in the gym four and five times a week. How?  I guess I will just have to find the time.  Do what I have to do!!

The Good Wife

The Good Wife.........GREAT television!!!


I Love Kalina!!!

OMG!!

Kim Kardashian gets tossed with flour on the red carpet and the culprit is instantly held and taken in to custody.

Travon Martin is shot and killed and his MURDERER is walking around free.

WTF!!!

WWB still in 2012???

Makes you think of Emmit Till.

IS THAT ME???

Had a GREAT Saturday!!  I woke up and went downstairs and saw my sister with her laptop so I went and got my laptop.  She was doing some laundry and I got there just as some clothes were coming out of the dryer.  The kids were still sleeping and we talked about doing something fun, it was going to be a nice day and we needed to do something.  While we folded laundry and watched NCIS Los Angeles on the laptop, we planned to go to the mall and maybe get a bite to eat.  She said that she might get a new cellphone and wanted to go to Best Buys to look for a laptop bag.

We finish the laundry and the got the kids up and picked out clothes to wear for the day.  She took Edward in the upstairs bathroom and I took Khamren in the downstairs bathroom, while Vyneshai fixed her some pop tarts in the kitchen.  I jumped in the shower and Cissy and Vyneshai went next.  My niece La Tria called and said she was coming up, we told her we were going to be down in her neck of the woods.  She said she would meet us there.

We get the new cellphone and then go to Towne Center and meet up with Tria, as I was walking by some of the store windows I looked and was shocked!!  Is that me??  WOW am I that out of shape?  I decided that I had to get in the gym quick.  Not just pay for the membership and not use it but to actually go and break a sweat. There is a CROSSFIT gym about three blocks from my house, so on Monday I walked down there to get some info.  A month membership there is $136.00.  I like what they were doing, mixing up the workouts without machines.  I was interested until the trainer told me the price.  I do not want to spend that much, especially if I repeat my joining and then not going.  We all know you still have to pay if you go or not.

On Tuesday, I walked to Bodyplex and talked to a trainer about joining.  The price seems right. To join there it is $125.00 down and $15 dollars a month.   About a block from Bodyplex is Anytime Fitness, I did not check them out, but I plan on it.  They supposedly give you a key and a access code and you can workout whenever you want.  Works for me, if the price is right!!!

The Gamble

This roll of the dice seems to be backfiring on me.  I am going to tough it out and go with the flow.  A friend posted my new motto on his facebook page:

THE ONLY THING STANDING BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR GOAL IS THE BULLSHIT STORY YOU KEEP TELLING YOURSELF AS TO WHY YOU CAN'T ACHIEVE IT.

I think I will make this my screensaver on my laptop.

March Madness 2012

Are you ready for some March Madness? I love college basketball especially in March when it is tournament time.  The league championships and the Road to the Final Four are a blast to watch with friends at Fox Sports Bar and Grill in Atlantic Station.

When I was in high school my sister and I would watch the selection show and write the brackets for my father, for whatever reason he never seem to be home to watch that.  We would give him a typed version and we would sit and pick our favorites and the eventual winner.  We did not bet money or anything it was just a fun thing to do with my dad and siblings.

In those days the games would start on a Thursday and continue all day, when  the prime time east coast games were over, they would switch to a west coast game. You could be in front of a basketball game all day Thursday and Friday.  I do not think they switch to a west coast game these days, once the east coast games are over, the local Atlanta news comes on.

I am a big ACC fan, that maybe because Georgia Tech is 30 minutes away. My favorite team is University of North Carolina, they just happen to be an ACC team.  I will even admit I like Duke, just a little.  I like other teams from different leagues, like USC, Georgetown, Boston College, just to name a few.

I need to go to TARGET and buy a new basketball, I have not played in years. During halftime of whatever March Madness game we would be watching, we would go in the backyard and play a game.  My dad and brother against my sister and I.  My mom would sit on the deck and watch. She would be the time clock, to let us know when the game was coming back on. 

I have to find someone who plays or someone who wants to go to Atlantic Station to watch the games.

WOW!!! Really?

Wednesday, 2-22-2012, the plumber and his team were supposed to come and yank out the old pipes and put in new pipes.  I waited and waited and they never showed.  I had somehow gotten it in my mind that it would be an all day job, maybe even taking two days.  On Thursday, I waited til 10 am and I gave them a call asking were they coming today or what? I was told that they were finishing up some other jobs and that they would be out to my house as soon as they possibly could.  I went about my day and did some homework and hung out with Khamren, until I could not take anymore of Dora and Thomas the train. 

Friday, we had to go to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and we had planned to be there awhile.  On the way to Atlanta, I made another call to the plumber and asked when are you coming out? I was told they were working on a city emergency and as soon as they could would be at my house to get the job started.

To my surprise when I returned home it was evident that they had not been there. So I called another plumber and he came out, said that he would have to write up an estimate and would get back to me. I thought cool. I went to Moe's with my sister and when I got back there was the plumber I had hired unloading a bobcat to dig with.  While he dug a trench, another guy pulled out pipe from the water meter, another guy came out of the truck with this coil of blue plastic. I asked what was the blue stuff and was surprised to hear that it was piping.  WOW!!!  Really?  He said that they leave the iron old pipe in the ground and use the blue piping. 

Just over three hours and my house had new blue piping and was good as gold.  Plus it did not cost an arm and leg to get the job done.  

Not Ready For A Homecoming

The re-building of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, continues at a slow but steady pace. There are still some buildings an houses that were destroyed that are waiting to be torn down. Some residents are still waiting to return home.  Life goes on in the Big Easy.  I think it is Madi Gras time now. Flocks of people are there partying and having fun, celebrating the season. Are they thinking about what happen when the hurricane came through? Are they exploring outside the city to see the destruction?  Would you? I think I would.  Take my new camera and document the sights. Take pics of the levee and the new construction that has gone up in the previous years.  I wonder if there is a way to tour the dome, where all the victims were housed.  How it looks after the Saints won the Super Bowl a few years ago.  I wonder if I can convince someone to go with me. 

Old Houses

Monday, 02-20-2012, my neighbor knocked on my door,  to tell me that I had water I had water in the middle of my drive-way.  I, of course, went out to take a look and there it was. Lake Woodard.  There was this hole where the water was bubbling up out of the ground. Just like the opening on The Beverly Hillbillies television show, when Jed was hunting and somehow all he hit was the ground and up came bubbling crude.  I called two plumbers, one out of the phone book and the other my neighbor suggested. The first plumber was an ass, thought he was the only plumber in town and I told him that I would have to call him back. The second plumber offered suggestions based on my budget as to what we could do to fix the leak.  I like the fact that he said we, as if we were a team. He said that he could repair the leak at the spot or take out the entire line and replace it. Being that my house is an older house, he thinks the pipes may be original.  I told him that my dad had done some work on the pipes, but I do not remember when that was.  I told him the job was his, let's replace it all.

After he left, I went in the house and got my new camera and took some pics.  I finally got to use it.  Owning an older house is like the movie The Money Pit with Tom Hanks and Shelley Long.  Which is a movie that I like. I need to see if I can find that movie.  I would like to see it again.

whitney

All of my close friends know I am a huge Whitney Houston fan.  We just happen to share a birthday. I was at TARGET when I got a text that CNN was saying she had died in a Beverly Hills hotel. I responded "What!?!"  As I was leaving the store my niece, sent me a text saying the same thing. Adding that it was not a joke. I called her and she gave me the details and we talked about her first concert.  For a birthday present to myself, I got tickets to see Whitney live in concert, I also got tickets for my sister and my niece. My older sister won tickets off the radio a few days later. The concert and company were GREAT!! My niece asked if i was okay? If i was going to cry? I told her that I was okay and I was not going to cry, Whitney is in a better place and I have my own issues to deal with.  In the background I heard Whitney singing "I Look To You", I told LaTria that I had listened to it that morning while reading something for English.  I am shocked and saddened by Whitney death, I was just praying that there weren't any illegal drugs involved.  My love for Whitney Houston  had started to wain, its just natural progression. I feel. I was in high school when I first began hearing about her and I will admit I saw The Bodyguard four times at the show.   I still have the items from the I Will Always Love You concert. I bought a poster and hung it up as soon as I got home. Its still there, after all these years.  A friend sent me a link on FACEBOOK, written by Max Gordon, it was about Whitney and it was wonderful.  I will miss Whitney, especially when our birthday rolls around, I remember the year my older sister got a birthday cake made with HAPPY BIRTHDAY ED and WHITNEY!!  My parents taught us that death can be hard, but life goes on and the earth continues to rotate. I will always listen to her music and watch her movies, but she is in a better place.

black history month 2012 reading list

When Black History Month rolls along each February, I select one or two books by black authors to add to my reading list. I enjoy reading and I put all other book down and concentrate on these. For the longest, I have been trying to get through Toni Morrison books.  Some of my friends and I agree that Toni is a hard read.  I cannot for the life of me tell you why, her books are.  So this year I and Toni are trying it again. I could not convince any friends to join me on this one, but we are reading Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.  We are going to read it, discuss it, and then watch the movie.  That's the plan anyway.  Then I am on my own for Beloved, by Toni Morrison. That gives me some time to find the movie and I can watch it and order pizza from Mellow Mushroom.  Although, I am suppose to be watching what I am eating.

copy and paste

Can someone show me how to copy and paste? I am doing something wrong.  I am thinking about dropping English 1101 because of this copy and paste issue.  I am done!!

late night study session

Last night I had a ton of homework to do. All of it seemed to have a time stamp on it. Math was first, it had to be in by midnight. So I grabbed a power drink and a couple of reese;s cups and went at it. After the math I had to type an essay for english and post it to a website.  the posting was freaking me out so i made sure I was ready and put it off until the morning. I also had homework for my computer class to type and email.  Finally at 3:49 am I called it a night. I then started watching 24 on dvd, at 4:30 i turned off the tv and snuggled down in my bed and went to sleep.  i would do the power drink and reese's again, it seemed to work.

today was a good day

Tuesday, January 17, 2012 was a good day. I woke up somewhere between 5 am and 5:30 am to get Edward ready for school and the bus.  After washing his face, tying his shoes and getting him to brush his teeth, we put in a DVD  to watch.   It was a Frosty the Snowman, his choice.  While he watched the movie, I brought the laundry into the living room to fold.  I did not start the folding, because I heard the bus braking outside. Edward climbed aboard and I waved and went back to start the folding.  I finished folding and putting the clothes away and a grabbed my psychology book to read chapter two. I was waiting on the UPS man to bring a package. He came and I decided to go watch Harry Potter with Khamren, who was now up and doing what three year olds do.  Play. Before I knew it was time for school. School was good.   Psychology and Algebra on tuesdays and thursdays. Watched a movie in Psychology and Algebra (the subject that shall not be named) was a review and  the start a new chapter.  Now I am home and ready to crawl in the bed. I am going to watch The Good Wife online first. Then start over again on Wednesday morning.

Tough getting started.

Here I sit, trying to come up with something to blog about. It's my first one.  My  problem is that I am tired and sleepy.  I was up late reading an assignment for English and Psychology.  Do I take a quick nap or push on through?  I think I will take a nap and refresh my mind and come back.