Heavy Heart

I have been following the Trayvon Martin case very closely. A 17 year old kid was visiting a friend, dropped off by his parent. He left his friend’s house to go to the store. On his way back from the store he was being tracked by George Zimmerman who targeted him, followed him and subsequently shot and killed him. Mr. Zimmerman shot an unarmed teen who was holding a pack of skittles and an iced tea because he was wearing a Hoodie and “looked suspicious”. He fancied himself the “neighborhood watch”.

I held off from commenting until I heard the 911 calls. You can clearly hear this unarmed child crying for help.

The police have failed to arrest Mr. Zimmerman. Michael Vick did time for hurting dogs (rightly so) but this man who shot and killed an unarmed child  is still free. No arrests were made by the officers on the scene despite the 911 dispatcher telling Mr. Zimmerman to stand down until the police arrived. They also failed to contact Trayvon’s parents as his body laid in the morgue despite the fact that they had his cell phone in their possession. The whole case is disappointing and sad.

As the mother of two sons, this is horrifying. This could happen to my child for wearing his hoodie and walking in the wrong neighborhood. This could happen to YOUR child.

Please do whatever you can to help bring attention to this case. I have signed the petition on change.org .My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and loved ones.  I hope the investigation is thorough and that justice is served.

An Open Letter To Kim K.

Dear Ms. Ka.rda.shi.an:

May I call you Kim? I have watched your show. I even watched pieces of your fake wedding. From my perspective, your family started out with a somewhat normal life.

Your dad was a high powered attorney. Your childhood was one of privilege. Your mother left your dad for Br.uce Je.nner and you continued to enjoy the limelight and a good life. Your friends were famous. You grew up hanging out with the likes of Ms. Hilton and such. Young Hollywood. You saw how P.ar.is became famous for nothing and you and your mom saw a business model that you could all follow.

The tape with Brandy’s brother ensued and you became a household name. Your mom (and Rya.n Sea.crest) seized on the opportunity to make money for the whole family and your show was born. Every second of your life has been filmed for the past few years. Public scandals, breakups, intimate details of all of your relationships. Your mom has seen to it that none of you will ever have to work a real day for the remainder of your lives. I can’t knock the hustle.

However, you just went through yet another very public relationship, over the top million dollar wedding and 72 days later, filed for divorce. I can’t believe that you are truly happy living like this. Always having to be in full make up. Always getting followed by a camera and photographed. Always on display and needing to be that way for the sake of your family’s income.

Think about it….What marriage would survive a 24 hour camera crew and daily meetings to discuss what moments of your life will make it on the show this week?

All of the “real” men you dated all left because they didn’t want to deal with you and your family and the constant scrutiny. Any man that would want to be with you at this point probably has a touch of fame whore running through his veins. Every guy you meet on the show often has a snippet of you “warning them” what your life is like. *sigh*

Now you’re saying you are leaving your husband because he wanted to move you to Minnesota (to have a real marriage) and you couldn’t leave LA, your family and the spotlight? WOW. When is enough money enough? That 17 million added to the rest of the empire wasn’t enough?

If you want to ever have any semblence of a real life, you need to man up, put your big booty girl panties on and kick your family to the curb STAT. Seriously. Put your foot down and take some time off to stop self promoting uh….whatever it is you do. Scrape that make up off. Travel. Breathe. That life you are living is not real.

Now if you were a part of all these shenanigans and the entire wedding was dreamed up for ratings and money….then you win the double side-eye award. BYTCH.

 

Losing the battle……

Yesterday, since we were snow/iced inside, we spent the afternoon watching lots of football. During the game, the commercial for Ed.die M.ur.phy’s new movie came on. The promo showed a scene where he was talking about lesbians. The line was pretty funny and Mr. 1969 and I laughed out loud.This led to Tali 1 asking me,

“Mommy, what’s a lesbian?”

I, of course, had been waiting for one of these moments all of my life. I was prepared and answered with the quickness: “ASK DADDY!”

Mr. 1969 replied without a beat “Well, Tali 1, you were born in April so your zodiac sign is ARIES, Tali 2 was born in May, his zodiac sign is TAURUS. Mommy was born in July and her zodiac sign is CANCER. A lesbian is one of those signs.”

All I could do was stare at him with my mouth hanging open. Tali 1 said “OK” and promptly went back to whatever he was doing as Mr. 1969 looked all smug and pleased with himself.

I need reinforcements people. Send reinforcements.

 

Hot Topic

Today I have a topic. (Remember back when I used to actually blog about topics?)

What happens when someone you love is sabotaging you? Or, when friends won’t let friends be great!

Let’s pause and think about that for a minute.

Have you ever had a goal and the minute you announced it to your family and friends, they seemed to try and thwart that goal at every single turn? Case in point, a dear friend recently moved to my neighborhood and she has expressed interest in getting her workout regime back on track.

She has since joined my gym and we have been working out together. Lately, whenever it is time for us to go to the gym, her spouse finds something pressing that he has to do at the exact same time (uh dude, do you really have to mow your lawn right when we are leaving at 7am on a Sunday), leaving her unable to go because she has a toddler. Sabotage.

You let your friend know you are on a diet and you go out to dinner and they order that big plate of lasagna, extra fries and the triple chocolate mud pie while saying “I’m not on a diet! You know you want some of this!” Sabotage.

You get a promotion and you start getting the cold shoulder and no support from your former work friends who used to make your cube their daily hang out spot. Sabotage.

And my favorite….you announce a new endeavor or goal and the instant reaction? “Why do you want to do that?” Sabotage.

Why do we do this? I know I have done this to someone in my own life. Our initial reaction with some people is to doubt them, throw salt on their game and be negative. Trust me, as I get older, I really notice it. I am trying to make a conscious effort to be more positive in my dealings with people.

Now I know, we all have family and friends that are total screw ups. They always have a new scheme that never gets off the ground. However, do we react like this to people we love? Are we stomping on someone’s dream?

When you become a parent, it’s even more important to uplift your children and show them that you believe in them, that you support their hopes and ideas.  I notice myself doing this for my kids like it’s second nature. Why do I struggle with doing this with adults?

Maybe if we support some of our friends and family and offer to help them with their goals or just encourage them with a simple “That’s great! I can definitely see you doing that!” we could push them in the right direction?

I love when people believe in me and support my goals. It makes me feel invincible and like I can really accomplish anything. I’m sure someone else would love it just as much.

Post Memorial Weekend Randoms

Those short, strapless rompers are only cute on women with bodies that have no jiggle. Seriously. If your azz moves when you walk, that is not the look for you.  If the back of your thighs have cellulite, again, that’s not the best look for you. If your thighs rub together, again, that’s not a good look for you. You can rock other things. Longer shorts, capris, a skirt, etc…. a romper is just not your look. (I don’t wear them because I think I am way too old for a romper and it does  not work for me AT ALL.)

If you call me repeatedly and remind me that your cookout starts at 2pm. Please at least have something I can eat when I get there at 4pm. Not even one hot dog is ready? No drinks are cold because your cousin is bringing the ice and he is not here yet? *sigh*

I wish every mosquito in the world would self combust. Poor Tali 2′s legs look like “who did it and ran”. Note to self….buy some Skin So Soft.

There are tights and then there are leggings. Leggings are not see through. Leggings are also NOT PANTS.

I can’t even bring myself to publish any pictures of women wearing light or white colored leggings with rainbow underwear.  You get the picture. VIOLATION.

Is anyone else hooked on Starbucks perfect oatmeal? When I am running around visiting clients, it’s the best grab and go breakfast. I highly recommend.

I purchased my triathalon suit. It was marked down from $100 to $75 and I snatched it up from the store. When I got home, I was browsing the store  website and it was $50 online. I hightailed it back to the store and got my $25 back. Always check the website!

I won’t eat anyone’s potato salad. My mom has spoiled me. It’s either hers or mine at this point. No one makes potato salad as good as my mommy.

Beach flip flops are not shoes. Nasty. You can get some sandals or a cute sturdy thong sandal.

I have these and love them! They are by Aerosoles and I scored them at TJ Maxx for $15 bucks.

The Tuesday’s after Holiday Monday’s are always slow moving and non productive.  Ask me how I know?

My future’s not so bright…

A few weeks ago, I shared with you how Mr. 1969 took down the Wu Tang Christmas lights right? A week ago, he couldn’t sleep so knowing I had to drive to Princeton the following morning, he decided to go out and fill up my gas tank (yes, he can be sweet when he wants to be) and since he was out, he decided to hit up the Mac machine and get some cash, then swing by the library and drop Tali 2′s book in the bin.

When I woke up in the morning, I got in the car and started driving to New Jersey for an early morning sales call. I glanced in the back seat and noticed a Razor scooter. Tali 2 has a scooter but I knew it was in the garage. I called Mr. 1969 and he told me that when he went to drop off the library book, there was a scooter in the parking lot. Since it was midnight and it seemed unclaimed, he brought it home for Tali 1.

Flash forward to yesterday, I found out that he found an unclaimed case of water at the tennis courts when the boys went to play tennis and brought it home.

Why do I have a vision of him being 65 and my entire garage is filled with stuff he found? I told him he has hoarding tendencies and he denied it.

I swear he is going to be one of those old men….

“Babe, look what I found, someone threw away a perfectly good suit and I brought it home. I can wear it to church on Sunday”

“I found a nice velvet chair, only missing one leg, it will look great in the living room!”

“Honey, did you say you needed some new shoes? What size do you wear?”

Pray for me people. Pray for me.

St. Patrick’s Day-Wu Tang Style

The Wu Tang house still has their Christmas lights up. They aren’t on, but they’re still up. The ones on their hedges look crazy since they have been out there over two blizzards and more than a few rainstorms.  Mr. 1969 and I shake our heads everytime we look over there.

This morning, I returned from the gym only to notice all of the lights on the hedges were gone. (The ones on the house are still up).

Me: Babe, the Wu Tangs finally took the Christmas lights down just in time for St. Patrick’s Day.

Mr. 1969: No they didn’t.

Me: They did. Look out the window! See, the one’s on the bushes are gone.

Mr. 1969: I know. I took them down.

Me: What?

Mr. 1969: I took them down. I got tired of looking at that sh*t and I went out there last night, took them down and put them in a trash bag and left them on their steps.

Me: *crickets*

Mr. 1969: Top O the morning to you. Now take your sh*t and put it away.

From our house to yours……………….enjoy the St. Patty’s Day festivities and toast a green beer in honor of my hubby and his ongoing battle with the Wu’s.

What the Fudge?

I ran into the dollar store yesterday and passed this in one of the aisles. I need somebody to explain this to me.

No more “bending to clean your feet”? What in the foot car wash hell is this?

**Use of the word lazy has been edited as many folks have now explained the value of this product. Thank you all for enlightening me. Happy Friday. -The Management

Happy ValentiNe’s Day Contest

Sending you all lots of love today! We were writing out Valentine’s Day notes for the boys’ classmates last night. We came across a special name.

I will send a Starbucks gift card to the person that can correctly pronounce this name. (Write it out phonetically for how you would pronounce it).

Ready?

                                                          Juwayriya

Open Letter to Kim Kardashian

Dearest Kimmy:

I want you to know that despite my husband’s undying love for you, I bear you no ill will. Having not been blessed with anything near the posterior that you possess, I allow him to dream.

I can even overlook your over saturation in the media. Magazines, tv shows, red carpets. Although I know not what it is you do exactly, I do respect your hustle and ability to have come out of Paris Hilton’s shadow, only to overtake her celebrity status.

I can even forgive you for dating Reggie Bush. Reggie Bush…*sigh*

Okay, maybe I was hating on you for your good fortune. Lucky beyotch.

I can even overlook your insipid reality show. I actually watched a recent episode one Sunday afternoon. You had a nude photoshoot with a major magazine. Then when they aired your nude photo, you cried your eyes out saying they “promised” to cover you up when it was published. *crickets*

I was willing to overlook these things. You are a beautiful girl with a killer body. Your fashion sense has improved dramatically. You have managed to exhibit some business savvy and built an empire for yourself afterall.

However, I have since had to part ways with you altogether. Even Mr. 1969 says he is done with lusting after your ample assets. Why?

Because when his purple royal highness pulls you up on stage in MY hometown and asks you to dance……you dance dammit.

Ain’t nobody too cute to dance with Prince. Heffa. Should have known you had no rhythm after that boring video with Ray J.