They Call it Puppy Love

They are so sweet...




when they are sleeping.

For my husband

You are my muse, my rock, my best friend.
You fulfill my dreams, you sate my soul.
I need nothing more but share my life with you.

Happy Six Year Anniversary, my Cuddlemonkey. I love you!

It breathes

It's amazing the powering effect of music. It vibrates throughout my whole body. My soul hums along. I can even feel it on every single nerve. Reminds me of the rain dripping down your back or a lover's breath sleeping next to you. This is how I felt last night.

We saw Amos Lee perform. He was amazing. He sang about politics, life, children, and love. He closed with this song last night and I was left fluttering on air. A nice calming effect, but with a slight buzz of desire.

Check him out!

I don't know

Silence. It's never quiet. "Mina, what are you doing?" She replies back with, "I don't know." I don't know my ass. I'm too scared to look to see what she has destroyed.

An article

I usually don't mention politics on my blog. But this article is so right on. I am so tired of hearing remarks made about Obama formulated from fear, hate and racism. Don't like his policies is one thing. Like the other guy better? I respect that. But to fear/hate him because of his race, his name, who he was raised by, or his church just screams of bigotry. W want to add not Voting for Obama/Biden doesn't make you a racist. Just as if I don't vote for McCain/Palin doesn't make me a sexist.

Sep 13, 2008 By Tim Wise

Tim Wise's ZSpace Page / ZSpace

For those who still can't grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help.

* White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because "every family has challenges," even as black and Latino families with similar "challenges" are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.
* White privilege is when you can call yourself a "fuckin' redneck," like Bristol Palin's boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll "kick their fuckin' ass," and talk about how you like to "shoot shit" for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.
* White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years like Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action.
* White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don't all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you're "untested."
* White privilege is being able to say that you support the words "under God" in the pledge of allegiance because "if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it's good enough for me," and not be immediately disqualified from holding office--since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the "under God" part wasn't added until the 1950s--while believing that reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because, ya know, the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school requires it), is a dangerous and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals.
* White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you. White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto was "Alaska first," and no one questions your patriotism or that of your family, while if you're black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids on the first day of school, people immediately think she's being disrespectful.
* White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do--like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour workday, or an end to child labor--and people think you're being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a small town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college--you're somehow being mean, or even sexist.
* White privilege is being able to convince white women who don't even agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your running mate anyway, because all of a sudden your presence on the ticket has inspired confidence in these same white women, and made them give your party a "second look."
* White privilege is being able to fire people who didn't support your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being a typical politician who engages in favoritism, while being black and merely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt.
* White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God's punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you're just a good church-going Christian, but if you're black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you're an extremist who probably hates America.
* White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a "trick question," while being black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill O'Reilly means you're dodging the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced.
* White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW has anything at all to do with your fitness for president, while being black and experiencing racism is, as Sarah Palin has referred to it a "light" burden.
* And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because white voters aren't sure about that whole "change" thing. Ya know, it's just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain.

White privilege is, in short, the problem.

Tim Wise is the author of White Like Me (Soft Skull, 2005, revised 2008), and of Speaking Treason Fluently, publishing this month, also by Soft Skull. For review copies or interview requests, please reply to publicity@softskull.com

So tell me how long should I take advantage?

Reverse child psychology. It works.
M: I don't want to go potty!
Me: Please go potty.
M: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
walking to potty because I have to go
Me: Don't you dare go potty at the store! No. I won't let you go.
M: I have to go potty.

Works for putting on pajamas too. Is it manipulative? Yes! But I am going to run with this tactic for as long as I can. Sooo tell it to me straight. How long do I have to play this strategy?

September 11th Remembered

Classes were canceled. No reason was given. I heard people buzzing something about a bomb, a plane? An attack? I called Fred for a ride. It was hard to get through. At the time I assumed it was because everyone on the UNT campus was calling for a ride. How small my world was then. When Fred came he was listening to the radio. It was confirmed. Two planes had hit the Twin Towers.

Recalling the story, I still get shivers. Tears still come to my eyes. Feelings of guilt still come because at the time I didn't know how massive this attack was. How much it would change the US. In days to come we would be bombarded by the media with the planes hitting the towers over and over again. We would be led to believe that people were dancing on the streets, although the children dancing was old footage of a celebration. A classmate would be pulled to the side on her honeymoon, her bags searched. All because she had an accent and was dark skinned. She would be grilled on the contents of her makeup bag. Lots of lives were lost. Many feared for their loved ones.

The attack on the US killed over 2000 people. Let's keep these people and their families in our hearts, thoughts and prayers.

Take this quiz!

The Quiz

The following are your scores. They are based on a gradual range of 0 to 12. For instance, a Conservative/Progressive score of 3 and 0 will both yield a result of social conservative, yet 0 would be an extreme conservative and 3 a moderate conservative

Conservative/Progressive score: 12
You are a social progressive. You generally consider yourself a humanist first. You probably think that religion and patriotism go too far in society. You probably consider yourself to be a citizen of Earth first rather than a citizen of your country.

Capitalist Purist/Social Capitalist score: 12
You're a Social Capitalist, you think that, left to its own, Capitalism leaves a lot of people behind. You think that Health Care should be free to all, that the minimum wage should be raised, and that the government should provide jobs to all that are capable of having them. You likely hated the Bush tax cuts, and believe that the middle class has gotten poorer, and the rich have gotten richer over the past several years. The far extreme of social capitalism is socialism.

Libertarian/Authoritarian score: 1
You are libertarian. You think that the government is making way too many unnecessary laws that are taking away our innate rights. You believe that the government's job is primarily to protect people from harming other people, but after that they should mind their own business, and if we give the government too much power in controlling our lives, it can lead to fascism.

Pacifist/Militarist score: 0
You're a Pacifist. You are angered that the United States thinks it should dominate the world through its military force. You think that the only time war is necessary is when we are in direct danger of being attacked. You also believe the US spends way too much of its money on defense, as we can practically cut it in half and still easily defend ourselves, and use that money to fix all our economic problems.

Overall, you are a hardcore democrat.

Anyone surprised? LOL

Sooo everyone take the test and let me know what you scored! I bet I'm the polar opposite of my SILs, and my sister. Well we might score the same on the libertarian aspect.

It figures

Why must they poop in their diaper after you changed them? And right before naptime.

Birthday girl

Four years ago at 1:02 PM, Desmina Suzette entered into the world (not so gracefully). After over 30 hours of labour Desmina was born via C-section.

We often tease her that she was even stubborn coming out of the womb.
I was not able to share her first hours with her. But fortunately, Daddy was there with her.


Family came to visit too. They waited all night in the waiting room to meet their little girl.



Here is the birthday girl now.

I love swimming! If I had my way, I would have a swimming pool in my backyard. Texas is perfect weather for swimming almost year round. Alas, we didn't get a house with a pool as I hoped. And because of school, the public pools shut down the pools early. So swim season is just as short as it is in New Hampshire despite the fact that it is in the high 90s here.

It's moments like these that makes me love having two. At times they can be so sweet to each other. Today, Desmina got a plate for Bodhi and sat him in her new Dora chair. She wanted to make sure he had enough to eat. It was just so much I did not suppress an "Awwwwww."

What is a party without a pinata? Now I love these pinatas these days. Instead of blindfolding the kids and have them blindly try to whack a doll with a stick and hoping that someone does not lose a tooth (or family jewels) they have these strings that you pull. Each child takes a turn pulling a color. It worked out beautifully as Desmina happened to choose the winning one!

The carnage, or as Fred so maturely pointed out, "Look Curious George is pooping out candy." Kids didn't seem to mind.

How come we spend hours making such beautiful cakes only to get destroyed?


Just to hear this song and see that smile on her face. It never fails, every year, when they sing the song I still get tears in my eyes. My baby girl is getting older.




Cake Time!!! Num Num Num!



Bodhi taking advantage of the situation

Eventually he decided to double fist the soy ice cream.

Happy Birthday, baby girl!

Closing time

A little Tom Waits anyone?

I love this album!

Fred and I closed on our house today! *Happy Feet* Glad that process is over!
We also went shopping for Desmina's birthday present. Ms. Thang is turning four. Then we shopped for tomorrow's festivities. All this before their nap.

While they napped, Fred and I worked like beavers. We made tonight's dinner, FWEG (vegan egg salad) sandwiches, pasta salad, pinwheels and four cakes. We even were able to take a little break in between.

I can't breath a sigh of relief yet...one more cake to decorate, and tonight we are having a few friends over for some good food and maybe wine.

So what, the house is a mess. Laundry is piled up as tall as my oldest (Hey, she is short for her age). You can't see the dining table because of the party decorations. My daughter is going to have a kick-a$$ party!

Tug of war

Roscoe vs Rocco

Roscoe Pickle Juice for the southern accent and Rocco Jelly Beans for the Boston accent. So which is it?

Introducing

the newest member of our family



he came with the name Roscoe. But we may or may not change the name. It all depends on what ind of accent we choose...yes we make our dogs talk.

Musicbox

It's amazing how much music just transports you to different moments of life. Music has always been a big part of my life. My parents were part of the church choir so when we were younger they used to go over to people's houses for rehearsal. And even though my dad can't carry a tune, I still love to hear him sing. He is so happy.

Towards the end of my pregnancy with Bodhi, I could not sleep. Insomnia sucks. I had it too back in college. My remedy was to listen to Fiona Apple. Fiona is apparently my remedy to everything. Heartache, insomnia, labour...

Desmina is angry right now. Put on some Fiona.

I am now in my living room. I can't get any sleep. It's two AM. Contractions...baby is coming. I must get some sleep. Next thing I know, I wake up to rain on the tin roof. It's 5 am. The sound of rain, a new memory for me.

It's Alive!

Before popping it in the oven.

Mmmmmm....homemade pockets.

Take a bite!

Open letter to my son

Dear Bodhi,
I love kissing you and inhaling your baby scent. I love your sweet baby breath. So please stop eating the toothpaste. Speaking of toothpaste, it is not lotion either. Your skin is still baby soft.
The kitchen sink isn't a swimming pool. Neither is the bathroom sink or the washing machine.
The trash can? Yeah, not a step stool. I like to keep the trash inside the can, thank you very much.
I know the lawn mower just sits in the back yard. It does have a purpose, I promise you. But I reassure you it is not a circus ride.
Love,
Mommy

Take me to the ball game

buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks...

We took the kids to the Ranger's game last night.

You have to fight for your right

to potty!!!!

Can you believe that this handsome devil had something to do with this?

All partied out


If I had a choice, I would put him in a sweater vest with a little bow tie every day. He may be destructive, but at least he'll do it with style.

Manic depression

Can I have this dance

for the rest of my life?

Elephant

My daughter has quite the memory. Sometimes it's a good thing; other times it bites you in the ass. Yesterday was a sweet memory.

"Mommy, do you remember when Bodhi came out of your birth canal?" What I wanted to say was, "How can I forget a six pound bowling ball tumbling through?"

"I ate ketchup chips. And WATERMELON! And got it on the bed." I can't believe she remembers such a minute detail. It did transport me back. Funny, I can still taste the chips.

Dig in,

Birthday girl


dig in!

Happy Birthday Evelyn!

Love,
Uncle Boogie, Aunt Cinnie, Mimi and Bobo

Happy Birthday Evie!

My little niece will be one tomorrow! I can't believe that she is one already. Everyone give a shout out to my baby niece and wish her a Happy Birthday.