Back from the Lone Star State

So I made it back ya'lllllll. Yes I said ya'llllll...lol. I had a grand time. I loved every single moment of my trip.

Just a few of my favorite things:

I was pleasantly surprised on Monday evening to have my mommy, daddy and sister all pick me up at the airport. My mother, being the kind hearted mom she is felt the need to get out of the car and try to welcome me in baggage claim. I think she forgot first, what a fast walker I am and that I was the first one off the plane and before she could get there I had my bag and was out by the curb. Second she forgot her cellphone when she hopped out of the car so that we spent another 30 minutes looking for her in the airport. (smile) Gotta love her. I also had to love the fact that as soon as we walked in the door she immediately started cooking for me.

Tuesday - what a beautiful glorious day. Starting from the time I woke up and listened....'SILENCE'. No "mommy, I'm hungry", "mommy, I need lunch money", "mom what time are we leaving"...'have you seen my wallet", "where is my cell phone", "did you move the keys?" simple SILENCE! The rest of the day...no words...just the best day ever. It set the tone for the rest of the entire week. I even got to go to the community gym although I don't thing the "good old gals" are used to seeing women lift weight. It was cute to pretend I didn't see them watching me and wondering who the new chick was. On Saturday my parents gave me a tore of the area. I had the BEST SOUL FOOD EVER at Lisa's Soul Food. They thought I came to taste in my cute little Ed Hardy shirt and too tight jeans. I came to get down!!!! I helped myself to two sides of chitterlings, yams, greens, macaroni and cheese, banana pudding and oxtails! Let me not forgot the BEST Sweet Tea I have EVER HAD! I think I heard 5 times "you not gonna eat all that Miss California"...I ate it all!!!!
Following that I was quite impressed with the mini community of Bishop TD Jakes church...beautiful but a little overwelming. I think there are more churches in Texas than california has liquor stores in the ghetto. They got bigger and bigger! Nothing was bigger than the size of the schools. High Schools in Texas are the size of colleges in California. Middle Schools even left me amazed. I'm curious though...what's up with Texas and the water towers? Everyone shows town pride through their water tower I guess. It was cute.

My biggest disappointment of the week though....PAUL QUINN COLLEGE! I can't believe they even have a sign from the freeway pointing to this school. What an embarrassing addition to the HBCU family. What parent who be excited to drop their child off at this college. Sorry if my opinion is appreciated but the appearance of this school is SHAMEFUL. I kept hoping we entered on the OLD side of the school but it was the ENTIRE school in RUINS! Broken windows in dormitories, cardboard covers on windows, dead grass, missing doors, dirt roads leading to classrooms. One whole dormitory had caught on fire and it looked as if kids were inside! There were a few kids around here and there. On the way out we asked the security guard if the students were on spring break because the school seemed so abandoned. He said "nope they are all here, only about 300 kids go here"...hhmmmm. As we were leaving I looked over to the left of the campus and it appeared to be right next door to some projects. It was just sad and everything surrounding it looked sad.


Sunday I had a beautiful day as well and enjoyed my parents and their church home and my mommy cooked a nice dinner. Again it was a very relaxing weekend, full of good thoughts, positive thinking and finally coming to some conclusions on just life in general.

On the otherside of the world my boys all had a great time with dad. My little guys went fishing while I was gone and the big boys had mom off their back. I came back to a beautiful welcome home from them and I couldn't get enough love and hugs from them.


It's time to get back on my blog. I feel like I've been neglecting it lately. I had some good quotes shared with me or I overheard on my journey as well so in no particular order:

"Happiness I can help you with, the peace you have to find within yourself"

"You are alot stronger than you think you are"

"My answer is an emphatic YES"

"One half of knowing what you want is knowing what you must give up before you can get it"

Friday Bumper Stickers

Turn My Swag On

I woke up this morning to hear "hopped up out of bed...turned my swag" by soldja boy. Why did I know all the lyrics to this song..."took a look in tha mirror said wassup yeeeaaa I'm getting money". this was so funny to me. I thought it was so cute that I knew it but also that it made me feel good.

In a short period of time I'm learning that I've given for a long time. Somewhere along the way, I stopped giving to Nesha. While I've been away resting my head I realize that Nesha has somehow gotten lost in the shuffle. I heard someone say "I got to see Nesha today"...how funny. I didn't realize it until somethings were pointed out to me. So often as women everything is pushed "up" except us. Yes, I occasionally get a pedicure, buy an outfit or get to get away for a few hours. Funny thing is, each time I do this I feel as if I should be somewhere else. Someone should be getting picked up, I should have started dinner, someone must be looking for me. There can't be extra time for this stuff so I must have forgotten something.

You'll have to pardon me while I ramble on here for a bit. Some days I just have to "get it out".

I know that I'm not the Superhero I once wanted to portray myself to be but I'm far from Ms. Wimpy either. I believe in someways I've been playing the latter. All women wear many hats and I have closet full. Problem is that over the years I've not spoken up when I should have. It's still a process. I'm learning.

What do you think of this quote that I found? "The one who loves least controls the relationship". hhhhmmmmm. It made me stop and think. Do you think this is true?

Let The Kids Play!

There were some interesting end of game strategies on Friday and Saturday in the first and second rounds. Siena coach Fran McCaffrey -in the first round against Ohio State- and Gonzaga coach Mark Few - in the second round against Western Kentucky- chose not to call timeouts in the last seconds of the game. It paid off both times.

Actually, it paid off twice for Siena. Ronald Moore hit a 3 pointer to and the game into a second overtime, then hit the winning 3 at the end of the second overtime.

On the other hand, Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan called a timeout at the end of regulation against Florida State - about a second before his guard, Jason Bohannon hit what would have been the game winning 3 pointer. Coach Ryan also called timeout at the end of the first overtime to set up a play. Wisconsin went on to win but only after Trevon Hughes saved them after the play that was called broke down.

Too often coaches don't trust their players to make a play. If you have confidence in your guards, why call a timeout? Heck, you're going to call your favorite end of the game play anyway right? Shouldn't your players already know what that is? Calling a timeout to set up your offense also allows the opposing coach to set up his defense. In a game I watched with my sons' AAU just before heading out last Sunday, we were up by 5 with 59 seconds to go and the ball in our hand. No shot clock in this league. Jay-Whiz brought the ball up and Coach Dad called "you know what to do" from the sideline. The opposing coach looked confused. Twin A then called spread and the ball was passed 5 times to the perimeters before the opposing coach started screaming 'FOUL' to his players at the top of his lungs.

This isn't a plug for Delta Fastbreak or indictment of Coach Ryan, he's one of the best coaches in the country. Rather, it's an an indictment of coaches being way too controlling. It's an extension of what happens throughout the a game: A coach standin and yelling what seems like every second, directing like an orchestra conductor. Why aren't coaches like John Wooden, who actually sat on the bench almost all of his games. He was content that he had taught his players enough in practice. He didn't have to stand and yell the entire 40 minutes. In some cases you'll notice it's almost as if the coach is saying "look at me! I'm on my feet the whole game! I'm really coaching them up!" Sit down already guys.

Mi Dia Perfecto

only smiles. I'm happy ya'll. So very happy. Things are going well. I can't begin to explain how I feel. My mom said tonight that I seemed to be levitating. I came in the room as she was speaking to her friend on the phone. She said, "I think this girl is actually floating". I smiled and crawled into bed between her and my daddy to watch the Cosby Show.

News In My State

A mix of good and bad on this day as I get ready to leave Cali for a few days...

My Saint Mary's Rams Girls are the Beast of Cali! Yesterday they sealed a State Championship...the 5th this decade! Yes, yes...SM Rams do it with not one senior on the squad. Repeat next year girls? I would love to see the boys take one to Arco in the next few year as well. Congrats to our State Champions!


On a much sadder note - Oakland continues to make national news in crime. Following the devasting effect that the BART killing has has had on Oakland, in which Oscar Grant, age 22 was killed by a Bart Police officer who has now been charged with murder, this weekend 3 Oakland SWAT team members were killed following a stand off with a parolee. A fourth officer remains in critical condition. This has been called the worst day in Oakland's police history. Never before have so many officers been killed in one day. The officers were killed following a search for a parolee with an extensive record following a traffic stop. Prayers go out to their families as well as the City of Oakland.

Finally, my March Madness dreams of victory in EVER winning a bracket challenge continue to decrease. The year of the Ox is suppose to be my year! I have 28 of 40 in correct picks and my Cali teams have all been knocked out! I can only hope to make up points in my final four! MARCH MADNESS CONTINUES!!!!

I Love...

Not the whole, God, my family, My life type post...just a list of some things that make me smile


(in no particular order)

Alone time with myself sometimes

Great Sheets that feel good on my skin

Confidence (it's sexy as hell)

Swag (Not over the top but again, it's a confidence thing)

Compliments (I'm a girl)

People who allow me to be me without questioning me

Myself (person I'm becoming, the final phase will be a masterpiece, guaranteed)

Bossip.com

Jeans that make my butt look good

great bras

A rush

appreciation

New Music that moves me

Old Music that moves me

Lyrics that I can relate too

Long car rides with great music :-)

Feeling as if I can be honest with people without hurt feelings

Food

Sneakers that feel good

Lipgloss

fresh braids

track jackets

March Madness

Superbowl pools

NBA All Star Weekend

High school playoffs

Track Meets

Summer Festivals

Strawberry yogurt

Carnival Food

Nachos with tons of Jalpenos and spicy cheese

Just catching up

Sooo, I'm ABSOLUTELY a crazy woman this week. I made a list of all the things I did yesterday. It was the full length of an envelope. I started at 7am and NEVER stopped until 8pm last night. It felt great to get so many things done before my trip but my list continues today. I still haven't made my to-do list of things that need to be done while I'm gone. My mom says if I do everything before I leave no one will appreciate what I do while I'm gone. It doesn't matter though. I need to be able to sleep at night while I'm gone and know that everything and everyone is fine. Cayden woke up at 12am with some kind of barking seal cough and kept going with it until 4am. I'm tired but I think I'm on some type of high today. I can't sleep. I'm hoping he won't sleep too long so I can squeeze the gym into my list of things for today. Today is beautiful...I feel so good. What are your plans today? By 1:00pm I think I'll be on pins and needles about my trip. I'm just so excited. What will you be doing at 1:00pm my time? If nothing, then send Nesha warm thoughts :-)


So since I haven't written about the boys in a minute let me catch up. The third quarter has begun and everyone has started with a 4.0 gpa yippppeeee! Twin A dropped last quarter for the first time and couldn't get that Alegebra back up. He finished with a 2.8 for the first time this year. I guess I should be upset but I know he worked his butt off and since I am the last person to ask even one alegebraic (is that a word?) problem I can't get too upset about it. Twin B managed a 3.2. I'll take it because he go received a B+ in Spanish and is beginning to walk around the house and speak spanish to us all. I love it! CJ had his parent teacher conference yesterday and he seems to be doing well. He loves school but because his teacher said he has been caught a few times with his head down in class. I moved his bed time back to 8:30pm. He almost has Green Eggs and Ham memorized, but it's really helping with his fluency. Cayden is Cayden...whoa! That kid has taken a licken and keeps on ticken. OFF THE CHAIN THAT ONE! I've noticed though, when I have more patience with him he seems to have more with me. You have to know Cayden to know what this means.

I haven't ever flown alone, I've never slept in a bed alone. I can count on my hand how many nights I've been away from my kids. Cayden, two nights when I went to a tournament in San Diego last year with the other boys. Can you tell how much I'm looking forward to getting away for a few days. The thought has actually calmed me the last few days. I feel good. Really good.