Browngirl Speaks

 I am giving away two goodie bags from my skincare line–InScents Naturals.  The prize will include an 8 oz. brown sugar scrub, a milk & tea bath and a 6 oz. body oil all scented with lavender and chamomile essential oils and flowers.   To enter the giveaway simply post a comment to this post and I will draw two winners Saturday, Feb. 2.  Good luck!

yes, a stay-at-home-mom.  it is really strange.  it’s strange not "working for the man every day".  but instead, enjoying my wild child and getting my house in order.  why am i this person?  i am home educating and tired of the rat race to find a job.  when you do not have that sheepskin (i know college can be overrated, but it helps far more than it hurts), most employers do not even give the resume a thorough glance.  the ones who have and for peon duties would often find themselves saying "so do you like temping?  i mean you’re so smart and you’re really good with__________."  and i would proceed to scream bloody murder on the inside as it would not be the first or last i would hear this.  yes, i know i’m smart and no, i do not want to do this for.ev.er so that my brain will further reduce to nothingness from this meaningless activity you’ve assigned me you deem work.  if i had sent you my resume for a job i am qualified for and could excel in would you have called me? but i digress, i do not scream this at the top of my lungs and become the stereotypical angry black woman.  more importantly, as i’ve mentioned before, homeschooling has been tugging at my mind and heart for over a year now and the mr. gave his blessing for us to take the plunge.  so here i am, sahm i am…

I wasn’t aware that more than the simple desire of my heart was a requirement to educate the child I bore from my very own womb. Questions. Questions. Questions I’ve researched the answers to and “the others” haven’t. Questions asked in a rhetorical tone, as if to say “aha!”. No, I haven’t got “got”. Because I GOT the answers I need.

So what about the “S” word? Homeschooling isnt what it was portrayed as twenty years ago. It’s not just those wanting to educate their children under religious confines or a last resort for the “problem child”. If anything, it’s about the deplorable public school systems nationwide. It’s also a calling for many. A calling to make parenthood that much more challenging…and rewarding. As for socialization, homeschoolers have access to much of the same activities as those attending a traditional school. My local homeschool association offers opportunities to participate in about a half dozen sports through varsity level, debate, mathletes, yearbook and so on. What homeschooling does is allow more time for these activities. There’s a wealth of opportunities for comraderie in the homeschool stratum.

So, I suppose I’ve given a reason for making this grand leap. Did I need one? No. No explanations are ever required when it comes to our children.

the reason i was at wild oats market yesterday was a new one.  i always go to this store for a little something here and there, but never in this magnitude.  i’m going organic.  seriously.  it’s expensive, so i have to phase into it.  and then i have some foods already in the fridge that only i eat that i have to consume first, like eggs.  yeah, i know, crazy!  neither my son nor the mr. will touch them.  i think their pod people or something.  an-t-way!  a friend’s mom inspired me to do this.  she was having some health problems that improved dramatically once a doctor suggested she go totally organic.  and that, she did.  from meats and eggs to sour cream and mustard, she switched everything in her fridge and pantry to organic.  my friend even lost 13 lbs., inadvertently, in a month from this change in diet and said that her hormones became more regulated because of it.  a few things i got were some organic chicken thighs and turkey cutlets, organic chicken broth, natural cane sugar, and my new fave– Steaz green tea soda.  i’ll eventually have the whole gang consuming only all natural, hormone free foods.  the mr. seems down with it and z will eat whatever as long as it isn’t meat.  of course, for me, this is in effort to lose weight and to embrace a healthier eating lifestyle.  i felt so good this morning eating my yogurt with organic walnuts and granola.  i can’t wait until everything is converted and to see the other health benefits reaped aside from weight loss. 

yo! dude outside wild oats market yesterday:

it might not be such a bright idea to try to sell reese’s peanut butter cups outside a health food store.  i’m just sayin’…

i got one of those semi-dreadful calls no mommy wants to get about two hours ago.  semi-dreadful because it wasn’t the worst news, but still scary.  i was reading, as usual, and had dozed off when the phone rang.  i was so out of it that i first thought i had overslept and forgot to take zion to preschool.  then after two hellos, his teacher finally responded amidst background noise and voices that "the kids are all okay, the kitchen caught on fire, so we need you to come get zion".  no alarm in her voice, but that’s how professional and well-trained she is.  however, my "mom alarm" went off, all four sirens.  i was disoriented and almost puked, but i never stopped moving and was out the door in a whirl.  i was so glad there was no traffic and that i was not working, our home isn’t far from preschool.  the closer i got, the more nervous i became even though she said everything was fine.  when i pulled up and saw the firetruck and emt and lights flashing, i was dizzy all over again.  one of the workers was standing outside crying while loading her daughters into her mom’s minivan.  i patted her on the back and asked if she was okay.  she said she was just shaken up and, i think she said, freaked by not finding the fire extinguisher fast enough.  fortunately, the house next door that had once housed the daycare was vacant and the owner, i presume, let them in with the children.  the kids weren’t phased, naturally.  they were eating goldfish and graham crackers and drinking juice.  i signed zion out and they said miss ernestine would call everyone to let them know about tomorrow.  as we walked out, the tears i had been fighting were welling up.  i didn’t want to cry in front of z.  i did cry in the car, but once we were home i was fine.  it’s already funny to me that while i was about to faint in the parking lot, all zion could say was "mommy, i had fun with the firetruck"…

C has given me an assignment.  Here’s the rule: Remove 1 question from below, and add in your personal question, make it a total of 20 questions, then tag 8-10 people in your list, list them out at the end of this post. Notify them in their chat box that he/she has been tagged.

1. At what age do you wish to marry? been there, done that, going on 2 years

2. What color do you like most? chocolate brown, then red

3. Where is the place that you want to go the most? England and France

4. Which part of you do you hate the most? my tum-tum

5. When you encounter a sad moment, what would you do? cry.  i’m a crier. 

6. What are you afraid to lose the most? My life.

7. If you win $1 million, what would you do? debt, house, school, save, share

8. How did you celebrate the New Year? playing gin on yahoo on my laptop and loved it

9. Till now, what is the moment that you regret the most? what happens in regretville stays there 

10. Which type of person do you hate the most? narrow-minded and ignorant 

11. What is your ambition? write and teach

12. If you had one wish what would you wish for?  universal healthcare–for real, for real

13. Name one of your body part your hubby or boyfriend tells you he adores: lips and hips

14. What is the best gift you can give someone this year? the truth.  no sugarcoating and pussy-footin’ around anything

15. List two of your Top Ten New Year’s Resolutions. Read more. Write more.

16. What do you need to do this year in order for you to be happier in life? be able to continue school. i am accepting donations

17. What are the Top 2 things that you are most thankful for the year 2007 that made you even more happier for 2008? my bff conceiving her first born and falling more in love with the mr. 

18. What was the best lesson you learned in 2007 (be specific)? forgiveness will set you free 

19. In this very moment, are you doing what you thought you’d be doing at this stage in your life? hell no, i most certainly am not.  but i’ll get there, i’ll get there…

20. if you knew tomorrow was the final day of existence, what would you do today?

now can i get a little participation? thaaaanx!

homegirl, summer, truessence, mesdeauxcents, lisa, paulasoul

Some People Have Real Problems is another awesome body of work from one of my fave singers.  She has such a soulful voice that’s reminiscent of mary j blige, another fave.  it’s not the actual vocals that are similar but the sincerity and conviction in the singing that are akin.  for those unfamiliar with sia, she’s an australian chic most notable for her collaborations with zero7, think "destiny" and "distractions" from simple things.  the mr. and i had our first dance at our wedding to "somersault".  so, i absolutely love "lentil" and "day too soon" on the new album.

i normally don’t do new year’s resolutions because, well, maybe because i don’t want anything else to have to hold myself accountable for come december 31st.  i am going to try it this year because, maybe, that’s what i need.  if i publicly acknowledge some of these hidden resolutions, my blog buddies can keep a foot in my back about it and my heart and mind will be convicted.

so in 2008 i resolve to:

* lose weight… i know, this is such a generic resolution these days, but mine isn’t vanity weight.  it’s serious for the sake of my health weight…okay, and a teeny bit of vanity

* read more… i only read 20 books in ‘07.  i can do better, which leads to my next resolution

* watch less tv… that one-eyed devil has its hooks in me a bit too tough sometimes.  it’s like i go on tv binges and neglect more productive things on my to do list

* learn to play the guitar i got for christmas… i’ve always written poetry and enjoy penning a song here and there, so i really wanted to learn an instrument for accompaniment to maybe do some demos to sell my songs and just for fun

* write more… the poetry writing has slacked off substantially over the last three years.  that has to change b/c that’s always been such an outlet for me

* take more photographs…i’m so awful about capturing special and insignificant moments in my life. i really want to get a decent camera, or any camera, and have more visual memories

* sew…i have a basic sewing machine i never use and even a couple patterns i bought last summer.  i think the dilemma of finding great fabric has really been holding me back from this one

so, y’all check on your girl periodically.  put me on the spot, put me on blast and keep a foot in my back…

i guess everyone thought i went awol or something.  i did not plan to be m.i.a. but i was more tired than i thought.  anyway, i hope all of my blog buddies had an christmas and new year’s.  both were good for me.  christmas was simple and lovely.  z got animals and go diego go! stuff.  I got some cool schwag [sp].  i got a cute sony mp3 player and an acoustic guitar ( i can play an e minor chord!). 

new year’s was a moot subject, but that was cool b/c i had some bigger plans for the upcoming weekend.  the mr. had to bartend so z and i were at the homestead.

what were my "big plans"?  my freakin’ 30th birthday!! talk to me now…

sunday, january 6 was the day, but we partied saturday night into sunday morn.

there was good food– sawaadi thai– and of course, good drink @ alfred’s on beale.

we started with a couple of drinks @ chris and dorian’s apartment.  i had some sake, then some wine.

then we met a few friends at the thai restaurant where i had more wine.  then we finished the night @ alfred’s where my faves malibu bay breeze and tequila shots were plentiful.  note the evolution from cute and sober   to lewd and inebriated …

thanx to all who came to dinner to celebrate my birthday and an extra special thanx to dorian and chris.  you two are amazing and i love you to pieces…