483: Aha!

Maybe they were wearing magic glasses.

Who knew... 

Wear Sunglasses to See Better When Driving in the Rain

400: bus stop babies

hey y'all.

school has just started and already there have been many reports on the news about incidents at the bus stops.

scariest so far: an adult -- who had no business on the bus -- stood at the bus stop with the children and the parents and hopped on the bus with a bunch of middle school students.

and no one said a word. i believe he rode all the way to school with them.

later, it was revealed to have been a prank by a local radio station personality.

supposedly, charges will be/have been pressed.

um, yeah.

and?

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272: if you're looking for a date...

try your local library.

we're still here.

baby bliss is on the PC and i'm on my laptop.

there's a young(er) man sitting at the table across from me. he's a cutie. dark, smooth skin, pleasant face, nice smile.

maybe it's my imagination, but i think he's watching me.

not that i'm paying attention. okay, i am. but only cuz i watch everyone around me. so i can feel safe.

if i was single and childless, it might be a hook up.

if...

220: news of the "varied" sort

hey y'all!

how was your (collective) weekend?

mine was busy. baby bliss and i semi-house/dog sat for a friend. i say "semi" cuz we didn't sleep over at her place.

thank God/Goddess/Universe for friends with pets. baby bliss has been begging for a pooch for too long now but a weekend of keeping up with somebody else's lil pooper was all it took to convince her that no four-legged critters will inhabit her immediate future.

hallelujah!

the entrepreneural (is that a word?) baby bliss was paid for her services but i'm willing to bet she won't want to work like that again any time soon.

the most valuable part of the lesson: cleaning up pee pee and poo poo comes with the job.

for today's language arts assignment, baby bliss will draft then finalize a short story about her experience.

we now move on to the news.

* * *

ladies (and gents too), if you have chaps working fast food, tell them to be careful!

a 20-year old young lady was arrested for "over-salting" a burger. yes, you're reading it right. and you can read the full story here: Well That Wasn't a Donut!

why this strikes me as unjust: not only cuz it's stupid but why wasn't the manager arrested too? my interpretation was that the manager was more concerned with store profits (why not add more meat to counter the extra salt?) than the customer's taste buds/health.

i smell an overly salty lawsuit coming.

* * *

if nudity offends thee, don't move to Oakland, CA where one man has a judge's okay to work naked. check out the full story: Shouldn't You Cover Your...

* * *

the final story is of particular interests to parents. think long and hard before you let your chaps ride out with your family, friends, or neighbors. some of them might have secrets that could lead to this: If It Ain't Paid for Ya Cain't Keep It

personally, i think the guys lied when they said they searched the SUV first...

194: the library police

yesterday y'all, i learned that we have library police.

reminded me of that stephen king story but i was still happy to see him here. '-)

did i tell y'all about the gang banger incident here at the library a few months ago?

it wasn't a shoot out or anything serious like that. but it was unsettling just the same.

baby bliss was looking for videos in the kid's section and i was checking out the CDs over on the other aisle.

she came and said, "mommy. there are some guys sitting in the children's section and something ain't right about them."

i asked her what she meant and she said she didn't know, just something. baby bliss ain't scared of much so i sashayed on over to see what she was talking about.

sure nuff, something was strange about those guys. i played it cool and strolled over to the videos with baby bliss. we acted like we were looking for movies but i was actually checking the guys out.

the first thing i noticed was the looks on their faces. they all looked spacey. not in a drugged way, just in a dog-tired kinda way, or like they were in stand-down mode and waiting for orders. weird...

second, i noticed their clothes. the clothing was typical urban teenager/young people type of gear: baggy pants, over-sized tees, and thick-soled footwear. the clothes looked obsessively clean and pressed, maybe brand spanking new.

what made them stand out was the red bandanas. one guy had one hanging from his lower pants pocket. another had his hanging from his back pocket. the third guy had his tied around his neck. they also stank. like they'd been sleeping in abandoned houses or dirty places.

just so happened that they left when we did. i told baby bliss to hang back, so they could go out before us. they got into two black SUVs with california tags.

scary.

186: scary...

that's what it's like at #2 Auntie's house at night.

she lives in a rambler, her floors creak, there's a wooded area right behind her house, none of her neighbors leaves their porch lights on at night, and all the windows in the front of her house are a few inches from the ground.

baby bliss and i both agreed it's kinda scary to sleep over at #2 Auntie's.

161: the man at the pool

men don't read women's blogs, right y'all?

i hope not cuz somebody out there might know who i'm talking about then i'll be busted.

any way... *sucking my teeth*

there's this guy i've been seeing at the pool fairly often in the past few weeks. he's teaching some folk round here to swim.

i've been going to the pool with baby bliss but not getting in. she plays and swims while i "work" on the shaded porch. (might that be called a "portico"? i'll have to look it up.)

we go to the pool at different times every time and we don't go every day so i'm not stalking the guy. we just happen to be there at the same times lately.

he has an interesting face and a beautiful body. he's tall and mostly slender, a very dark shade of burnished mahogany, and he's fit. not in an ugly over-muscled way. but in a comfortable, spoon-me-on-the-sofa kinda way. mmmmm... yummy.

we've exchanged smiles and greetings, spoken a few words about the weather in passing. and that's as far as it'll go.

despite the fact that mr. bliss and i are more like a roommates these days, there is no one else for me. by that i mean:

1. right now i don't want more than i have.
   
2. my life is full.
   
3. i don't have the energy or the inclination to do anything more than what i'm already doing: sneak peeks while i watch to be sure baby bliss isn't drowning.

besides, the guy wears this gigantic cross around his neck and y'all know what that means. '-)

but it's all good. the swimming instructor shall remain a delectable specimen of eye candy and possibly good fodder for a steamy short story or two.

c'est la vie...

131: gore conspiracy?

okay y'all, after i comment on this one i won't be doing any more news/current events blogging today.

i read that al gore's son--al gore III--had been arrested after being pulled over for speeding. the officer(s) smelled marijuana and found Rx drugs in the car but no Rx for al gore III.

the article said he was doing over 100 mph in a "blue Toyota Prius".

haha. yeah. right.

doing over 100 mph in a prius?

give me a break.

the whole story is now suspect.


editor's note: i am aware that substance abuse is serious and possessing prescription drugs without the prescription can be a crime. i have friends and family members who are recovering abusers so i do understand the heartache...

my post is not intended to make light of substance abusers.

you see, there have been rumors that the gore isn't practicing what he preaches about global warming and ways to slow it. but i was happy to see that the younger gore is obviously taking heed as evidenced by his race car of choice.

i saw the senior gore on telly a bit ago. it was an excerpt of an interview he gave during which he was asked about his son's transgressions.

the senior gore's response was that his family is handling the matter privately and his son will get the help he needs. let's hope that's true. my prayers go out to them.

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129: pool alert!

i hate to be the bearer of bad news y'all but i think this needs to be seen by all.

so many of us take our little ones to the pool this time of year. most of us (myself included) would assume that the kiddie pool is the safest place for our tiniest ones. after reading a story in today's news, i know this is NOT the case.

*** GROSS OUT ALERT ***

a small girl was disemboweled during a swim in the wading pool at a golf club in Minneapolis. the story is a horrible one so if you have a weak stomach, you might want to skip it.

for those of you that won't read it, i'll say this: be extremely careful of pool and hot tub drains. the article said "Since 1990, 170 people mostly children have been caught in drains and 27 of them have died. Legislation is pending that would require pools and hot tubs to have multiple drains to ease the suction."

i don't recall ever feeling suction from a pool drain (maybe i've only been in pools with the safer drain covers?) but i am aware that the drains are potentially hazardous.

here is the link to the story: http://kdka.com/national/topstories_story_186074452.html


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29: men who like chil'ren

originally posted Fri., Mar. 17, 2006; 11:13 a.m. EST

they scare the crapp outta me.

seriously.

i'm a momma and if i ever...

i think y'all know the rest. but let me tell y'all 'bout something that i observed th'uther day.

a friend and i took the chil'ren to the local library. we looked for the kiddies section where they said it was. but i thought, "naw, that's not right cuz i see two grown mens over there reading newspapers. sho'ly grown mens wouldn't be reading newspapers in the chil'rens section cuz they want peace and quiet."

well kick my azz cuz i was wrong. they WUZ sitting in the chil'rens section, looking like they waz reading the paper.

whut the hooter scooter?

can y'all tell me why two grown mens -- with no chil'ren, mind you -- would be sitting in the chil'rens section when there were a gazillion other empty seats all over the place? it boggles my mind and i disliked like that doodie more and more when i thought bout it later.

so i done decided that i'm gonna write a letter to the city and the library. specially since it's all over the news bout these doggoned pedo rings they keep breaking up all over the country. where the hell do they think these pervs get their fill of sights any way? it's places where they can SIT and OBSERVE chil'ren: schools, libraries, day cares, bus stops...

the list is endless. i know we cain't do nothing bout some of it, but i'll be dogged if i'm not gonna do my best to do what i can about this mess.

i think it's sho nuff interesting that urry woman i saw in the kiddie section was 'companied by a CHILD.

maybe the police departments need to start checking out this kynda stuff.

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28: people and they chil'ren

originally posted Wed., Mar. 15, 2006; 2:08 a.m. EST


i'm listening to Break Up to Make Up by the Stylistics... mmmm... sounds so goooooooooooood...

now to the topic of the hour.

why the hell do people think other people want to watch their dayummed chil'ren? i don't mean babysittin for ya homegirl or sista. i'm talkin bout when you rolling wit a sista-friend and she let her chil'ren run all over tha store and what not. that is more than annoying. it's stooopid. what with molesters being around every corner and carrying on. and the supermarket be havin people ridin around on forklifts and stuff. what if ya baby get ranned over? then ya wanna sue somebody! and for what? cuz you're being negligent.

what really frooked me was a momma who kept actin like she didn't see her youngin bangin up a set of blinds at a friend's house. i was right there between baby and momma and i was the one tryna stop the poor lil thang from pullin the blinds down on his haid. then his momma kept right on eat-in and talk-in while the baby walked head on into the glass table top several times. and not one with rounded edges either. this one had funny swirly edges with sharpish points. i was like "what the hell?"

what kinda momma is that?

i mean, are y'all just so tired from raisin ya youngins that ya just turn them over to tha world as soon as ya get them in public? could ya at least let the rest of us know when this is what y'all intend to do, so we can be ready? maybe we'll just leave that dayummmed sto cuz we ain't down wit that.

sheeeeet, i got a youngin too but i don't allow that runnin-round-in-the-store mess. my youngin betta walk wit momma or it's gon be major drama when we get home. and no, i don't mean a beatin. that's a whole nother topic but yeah, i got time.

my momma was a psych major and i know why people beat the kids. it's cuz they (the parents) are angry. they think it's cuz they love them rats but it ain't. not that they don't love them. i'm just sayin they ain't beatin 'em cuz they love 'em.

cuz how is beatin somebody showin love any way?

when it's a man beatin a woman's azz, do we think it's love? seriously. so why is it love when somebody is beatin the child's azz?

what is a beatin really teachin a child? i think it teaches them how to fight, how to bully, how to deal with anger most ineffectively, and gives them complexes about certain behaviors.

like, if my momma beat me for pissin my pants and i'm only a year old, how do i know i got a beatin for not using the potty? what if -- in my lil mind -- i got a beatin just for peeing? then it wouldn't be so strange if in my adulthood, i have problems with my bathroom habits.

back to beatin.

what if every time you made a mistake at work, your supervisor or anyone superior to you in title, was allowed to come whip your azz? how much would you love that job after a few days of that b.s.?
are we parents mirroring our own familial pasts or trying to live up to society's expectations? why do we expect our children to behave perfectly when our own actions are flawed?

i'm not a beater. but i am a screamer and a holler-er. i have living proof in my house that neither of those behaviors is a form of positive motivation. so now i try not to raise my voice at my youngin unless it's an emergency. i've noticed that the outcome is much more pleasant for both of us.
thanks Dr. Phil. it really is starting to sink in.

(i am you. you are me and we are you...)

but back to the subject of absentee parenting.

if you don't wanna mind your own chil'ren out in public, do us all a favor and leave them home.

or at somebody's home.

take 'em any where but where you're going. if i'm gonna be there, just don't bring 'em out with you.

thanks in advance.

.

21: if i don't need it, should i want it?

originally posted Sun., Dec. 04, 2005; 10:55 p.m. EST

for the second time in my life, i have the means to make a major purchase with cash. and tho we do need this thing, my love-hate relationship with money has rendered a sista immobile. my husband has left it up to me to make the decision so i can't later blame it on him if i feel i've done the wrong thing. which kinda pisses me off cuz what is a spouse for if not to be the fall guy in all and sundry difficulties?

i have to overcome my inertia for several reasons. one is the tax write-off. this is supposedly the last year to be able to write off this type of purchase on personal income tax. the other is necessity. as i said before, we do need this item. safety is another concern. we need a new one (did i fail to mention we have an old one?) because it will be safer due to design updates in the 11 years since the old one was made.

i have a few more weeks to decide but part of me feels like i'm just being a stick in the mud.

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