I had no idea the people upstairs had a Wii too.

So someone just asked me why I was home on a Friday night. I stated my reason now I wish I was out on the town. My landlords have a Wii. I have one too so I know all that's involved. Well now they are upstairs making their character called a Mii. I know how fun and exciting that can be. I remember the cackling that happened when we set up one for B. Short, skinny, freckles, big noses, chinese eyes and a kung fu beard. You can make all kinds of crazy looking characters. Unfortunately there is no sound barrier between my space and theirs. They have a friend over I think he stomps his foot every time he laughs. They haven't even played any games yet. It's bound to be worse when they start moving around. It's sad that in 30 minutes the voice of Sarah Palin will sound great to me.

I have no idea why I thought living in a basement was the move. Seriously no one warned me about it. I've known a couple of people in basements but none of them mentioned the noise factor. Everyone talked about bugs and floods. I was enticed by the price. I thought I was giving up closet space. No peace and quiet is gone. An inconvenient truth. What's the point of living solo if you have voices in your living room? Luckily I only have 5 months to go. Maybe I should look more forward to work travel.

How to Make an Aloo Paratha

This is one of my favorite indian dishes but it's not found on many menus around here so I am going to attempt to make it myself. 

Hains Point Conquered

Well Hains Point is flat so I did the loop three times so I put in about 10 miles. I went pretty slow compared to other cyclist but I don't care. I just needed to do something. I may have big legs but they aren't that muscular.  The whole point of riding is to get them muscular. 

Well to that end, I'm brining on a new addition to my workout routine. I'm going to start Exotic Aerobics at a studio 3 blocks from my house.  On the surface it seems really sketchy to go to the basement of someone's home to pole dance. However, I went to the website and the woman who runs it is simply a personal trainer and decided to get on this pole dancing fitness craze.  She's also Black so that's a plus. You know how I love Black businesses. Well I'm going to start with her Body-licous which is a strength training class. I know what a squat and some crunches can do for me.  January 27th will be one year since I went on this weight loss journey so I'm hoping I can make it to my goal by then. At that rate it's one 1lb a week. I think I can make it. 

That Negro Tried to Kill Me

If you are reading this, I'm still alive. Well this morning I woke up to a slight discomfort. It was my overweight lover with his arm around me. Usually that isn't a problem but today his elbow was poking into my side. Well it was starting to hurt so I wanted him to move it. I tried to say his name and I tried to move. Well I was suffering from sleep paralysis yet again. As the pressure became too much to handle I yelled and screamed. However, he couldn't hear me as nothing was actually coming out of mouth. Nor was I moving around. Finally I snapped out of it as I was beginning to panic and think "This Negro is going to rupture my damn appendix."

I'm going for that confidence ride now.

Battle of the Arboretum

So yesterday I got off my rotunda and bought a new bike wheel. In the process I discovered that you could buy wheel locks. They aren't bolted on but you have a key that releases them fairly quickly. I'm excited by the prospect of my wheels being difficult to steel but in my heart it still doesn't seem that secure.

So this morning we decided we would take a ride around the National Arboretum. Well I thought rolling among the flowers would be a leisurely thing to do. Boy was I wrong. It's quite hilly and after not riding or doing any type of exercise for 3 months that thing nearly killed me. After 20 minutes I was done with those hills and I wanted to go some place else that was  flat. What a confidence killer. In the process I realized that my brakes were rubbing which greatly contributed to how challenging the arboretum trails felt. Well at least that's the story I'm sticking to.

We were near B's friend's house and this guy rides a lot. So we went to his house for some light bike repair. We loosened up the pad on my breaks. Well B went riding around a bit and I see him walking back up the hill. His chain was broken. So much for going out for another ride. Instead I decided I was hungry. I said "let's find some brunch guys". B says "woman why don't you cook?" Well I don't think he expected me to go upstairs to his friends kitchen and whip up a meal. No his friend is a bachelor but he has enough food for a family of 4. So I made potato and onions, scrambled eggs and Eggo waffles with a banana caramel sauce. Mighty good if I do say so myself.

So tomorrow I'm going to sneak out the Mall early and ride by myself. I can't be embarrassed the way I was this morning. I need to get my bike mojo back. So the first step is education. I decided to look over this tutorial on how to shift gears to make sure I'm doing it right.

I let a white coworker try to tell me that Diana's famous song is "I'm coming UP". Here is your answer JM.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdKeGAoWEg8

I love the Internet

I woke up in the middle of night and I realized that missed Obama's speech. What the hell? Such a historic moment and I missed it. Well thank god MSNBC has the whole thing.

In other news I woke up at 6 am and it's pitch fucking black outside. The crickets are still chirping. I'm not sure I will make it in this basement apartment. From bay windows to only one window that lets light in. I curse B every time. However, I'm going to probably be cursing everyday when he leaves his clothing in the middle of the floor everyday.

The End of an Era

So Cheryl aka Shurrryl moved to Arizona last week. I'm not sad as it was probably time for us to seperate. She wanted to leave DC and I'm beginning am in transition in my life. So no more spontenous barbeques, drunken walks to Ben's and not stopping each other from eating Taco Bell.

So this week I am moving into my last apartment as a single woman. It's for 6 months. Don't ask me why because I'm kind of sick of answering that particular question. I am that's it. I'm moving to a part of town that is very different from every other place I've lived in DC. While I am not that far from the metro I'm much further than I've ever been. It's also an area that doesn't have many small businesses. Therefore I won't really be walking for late night runs to anything. While I could get along as many people do without my car. It will be much easier to just get in the car and ride to Popeyes. That's one thing that I will hate. My options for convient healthy eating have gone down. Well I am only moving a mile away but things get sparse on this side. It's pretty sad. 

Dear Barack Obama Supporters,

I would like to inform you of why I am voting for your candidate. I'm voting for him because he is a Democrat and he's Black. When it came to the primary I voted (well i was going to vote) for Obama because Hillary and Bill were playing dirty. If you go to the the various websites that track voting history Obama and Hillary are barely indistinguishable. I also would have voted for Obama because he's been in politics for less time than Hillary. It means that he hasn't made as many back door deals. He hasn't been out there playing the politics game for that long. It was obvious that Hillary had "bought" many of the black Dems along the way and now they are mad they put their money on the establishment. Obama has made deals, he just doesn't owe as many people as she does. Also I'm voting for him because he's Black. I cast a vote for Jesse in the Girl Scout mock election in 1988 because he was Black. Well times haven't changed that much and I am going to ahead cast my vote for Black again Why not ? People vote based on race everyday. I think anyone voting for change hasn't thought about it really hard. We have a government that is slow and has three branches. Although in the Bush presidency he's wielded the power of the executive very heavily, I doubt Obama will be doing the same.

Signed,

Aisha

P.S. Of course Edwards cheated I knew that from the first day I saw him. He's a young, politician, rich, good looking with a $400 haircut and a great smile. Uh Duh.

It's been a long time...

Yesterday I attended yet another bachelorette party. I'm really warming up to them. Obviously I can't talk about what happened but there is one story I must tell. When I arrived at the hotel, I was in the elevator with two guys. We made small talk and they made jokes about coming to the bachelorette party. They exited on the 6th floor...6th Floor Boys. Later on the bachelorette party attendees were banished to the lobby so that when the stripper arrived. I guess word got to the 6th floor that there were 20 fine ass ladies in the lobby. There was not a single ugg mugg among us. Next thing I know there are lots of men in the lobby including the guys I was previously on the elevator with. I made small chat and they said they were at the liquor store with me earlier as well.

When the ladies are asked to returned to the suite, somehow 4 of us are on the elevator with the 6th Floor Boys. So apparently I had been to the liquor store and now to the in the elevator twice. So they start making jokes about being our pre-entertainment. One lifts up his shirt and I had a couple of ones in my hand so I decided to stick it in the waist of his pants. Well what I didn't count on is that he didn't have on underwear. I didn't really look as I reached in and there it was, pubic hair. Here I am essentially grabbing the pubic hairs of a strange. An accident but typical Aisha.

It's here....

I found a Wii in Providence, RI. So for the last 6 months I've been casually looking for a Wii. I'm so glad I found it. 

Bummer

So some asshole stole my bike wheel again. I'm so pissed. This time they used bolt cutters to take it in broad daylight from one of the busiest intersections of the city. So that's another $80 plus I need to buy a heavy duty lock.

Then I was walking from the Metro and this guy said "girl i'm glad your pants are too tight." So he implied that he was happy that I decided to squeeze myself into this pair of pants for his viewing pleasure. Like I was one of those tacky DC girls who sports a constant muffin top an booty about to split the pants. The thing was that my pants weren't tight. In fact when I put them on I thought about how they were finally the perfect fit and were no longer too snug. But the hell with him I lost another 2.6 lbs for a total of 16.4. I'm only .4 lbs away from being able to say. I've lost 10% of myself. Awesome. I'm going to celebrate next week with sushi.

So this week someone stole my front while. What a downer. But my boo is taking care of it for me. He rocks.

In other news my weight loss is still continuing. Yesterday I was wearing this dress and I swear there was a little midget following me. That's because since my waist is getting smaller it's making my lower body that much more prominent. Also in a dress the hind parts are able to run around freely. It's such a catch 22.

...and today we have turkey burgers
i don't measure for this so here we go

1 lb ground turkey
Worcestershire Sauce
Dijon Mustard
chopped Chives
1 egg for binding
Grill Seasoning
Salt

This works best in a grill pan.
They look so pretty.

Making Easy Food sound Fancy


So let's talk today about frittata. According to wikipedia.com:

"frittata is a type of Italian omelette that frequently features fillings such as meats, cheeses, and vegetables. Like a traditional French omelette, a frittata is prepared in a skillet. However, whereas an omelette is cooked on a stovetop and served folded, a frittata is first partially cooked on a stovetop but then finished under the grill (broiler) and served open-faced."

So essentially it's a non folded omelette by another name. So let's talk about how to make a frittata.

The essentials: Eggs, milk, cheese salt and pepper
The optionals: ham, turkey, onion, spinach, bacon, tomato..... whatever you like in your omelettes

How to:
Preheat oven to 375
Whisk 6 eggs and two egg whites in a bowl with 1/4 cup of milk.
Preheat a 10 inch ovenproof skillet on medium heat.
Add some oil (any type will do even nonstick spray)
Add your "optionals" and cook them
Add the egg mixture over the "optionals"
Let the frittta "set up"....wait until the sides look firm but the top still jiggles
At that point put it in the oven for 5 minutes
Remembering that the handle is hot, take it out and sprinkle cheese on top
Put back in the oven until the cheese has melted
Remov from oven and let rest for 2 minutes
Cut, Serve, Enjoy

My Life via Hood Films

1.Remember when Ricky (Morris Chesttnut)got Shot in Boys in the Hood and he took a piss right before that? That was my back gate he pissed on.

2.Remember the house Jada Pickett lived in Menace to Society? That was across the street from my Elementary School.

3.Remember in White Men Can’t Jump when Wesley and his wife are looking to upgrade to a new house ? It was just 1.5 blocks from our house. Every house was a California bungalow or craftsman so they look very unique because architectural details were often maintained.

4.Remember in Love and Basketball they both Monica and Q play for Crenshaw in High School? I also dated a star basketball player from Crenshaw.

5.Also do you remember in White Men Can’t Jump when Wesley meets with the Tile Salesman at Oki Dog? That place was one block from my grandmother’s house. So I would always try and get her to take me there. I can’t believe I used to want a burrito filled with hotdogs, chili and cheese.

6.Remember in Traning Day when Denzel goes to see his child in the hood. Well that was in Jungles near my other elementary school. The Jungles were considered very dangerous as it was a bunch of cheap apartments right on top of one another. Lots of drug dealing but I never felt unsafe around there but I would watch my back a little bit more after passing King Blvd.

7.Remember in The Wood when they go into the 7-11 to get breath mints….well that was like the only 7-11 in all of the hood. Seriously there aren’t very many. In fact I think “The Wood” has 2 and that’s all we get.

I am truly a heathen.

Today was condom distribution day once again. So we were walking around a shopping center handing out condoms since it was raining today. I hand one to this brother and he hesitates on taking it. I tell him if he doesn't need it maybe someone else he knows does. So he walks away with it and brings it back a few minutes later and says "I wanted to give this back since I won't need it and someone else might." How nice of you "such a fine specimen of a running back with a squeezable booty."

We continue to hand out condoms and we run into him and his companion again. We thanked him again for returning the package. He stops and talks to us more about what we are doing. He asks us if we ever promote abstinence since that is the only sure fway to not get HIV. So we rap a taste about different things and we have some good laughs. Something tips me off that he is a man of God. So I asked him if he was a part of a ministry. He tells me he goes to the church up the way and I joke with him about the church causing ungodly amounts of traffic on Sundays.

Now I have only been to church twice in the last 5 years. In my lust, I seriously contemplated attending this church sometime soon. Not to catch a sermon but to catch a glimpse of this fine man again. Generally people invite folks to their churches or say "you should attend" but I'm sure he read the message across my boobs "There is no religion but sex & music." signed, Sting. Thus I wasn't invited to church.

This is also not my first foray into trying to corrupt men of God. (I may have posted these stories before but I don't care, lol.)_The first time was in college when another fine specimen of a man walked into the sanctuary and there was only one seat left in the church that wasn't on the first row. So I assumed I could point him to it. I see him looking around so I try to flag him over. He walked right up to the front row. Damn Damn Damn. I figured I'd try and talk to him after church or something. Well before the service was over he was introduced as a minister in training. Well goodness gracious. So after church he actually walks up to me because he said that he recognized from school. How had I not seen this man on campus? It was an awkward chat as I was nervous that he was coming up to me. I was kind of curt with him but, I should have been more friendly because being a first lady sounds like a cush job.

The 2nd time this happened I was attending a pentecostal church for the first time. They had these praise singers and one of them looked aight. He was a tad too mixed looking for my taste. When church was over and I was leaving he ran through the crowd just like OJ running through the airport to try and talk to me before I left. Then I attended a gospel concert in the park and I was having a hard time finding my friends in the crowd. So I ran into him and his mom and just shared a blanket with him. So we exchanged numbers and emails and what not. So we were sorta kinda talking to each other but he too was a minister in training. So we could never get anything popping off because he was trying to stay on the straight and narrow. Me not so much.

"Hey JP you are so tall when you really get into singing I get nervous because you always look like you are going to bump your head."

"Aisha how do you even notice that? You should be deep in prayer and worship and not paying attention to me."

Whoomp Whoomp Whoomp

He probably prayed a lot to take the temptation named Aisha away. One day at work I was talking to a coworker about the situation and I mentioned his full name since it's of french origin, very unique and sexy. My coworker starts screaming so I'm thinking she saw a rat run by us or something. No here I am talking to her about her cousin. Well it all ended right there. His mom was white how was I to know he was Haitian? Well yeah his name but I thought his mom might be French or something.

Someone asked me the other day if I still get tempted. My answer was obviously yes but I would never act on it but I was truly having some visions earlier today. Whole "flicks" running through my mind as we talked. We were talking about sex...I mean sexual health the whole time. So the words, penis, vagina, head, cigar & blue dress were sprinkled in the conversation.

Clearly I need the Lord. I can't even go into his house without lusting over someone. The church the guy was talking about actually has a webcast....yeah I went to their website and looked through the photos, lol. Maybe I'll catch a webcast so I can see what the church is about. I'm serious I won't be scanning the crowd for the dude...well I'll try not to.

Lots of Random Things

I forget what it's like to be a teen sometimes until I get to talking to the girls at the afterschool program.

1) The Senior who got the "itis" so bad that I hope that the colleges don't rescind their offers.

2) The sophmore whose mother died of cancer and now her family is split up.

3) The sophmore who has a 21 year old man trying to talk to her and she tells me he wants her to be involved in some questionable things of a sexual nature. He's also been to jail three times.

The first two will probably work themselves out but the 3rd I'm feeling the need to intervene. So I'm trying to get her a job that will involve her spending 8 hours a month with me. So it's kinda like she will be getting paid to be my mentee. Hopefully that all works out.

I have to question when something positive happens


So my uncle and I have never really had a relationship. If I went to my grandmothers or my dad's and he happened to be around we might chat for 5 minutes. So I basically would see him for 5 minutes once a year. No calls or anything in between.

So 3 years ago in that 5 minutes I tell him I have to buy a new car. I get back home and there is an envelope from him with check for the down payment.It was odd because in over 27 years he'd never given me anything. Not even a few bucks for the ice cream truck. I thanked him profusely for the check.


So now he calls me every so often, like once a quarter and that 5 minutes has turned into 1 hour every time I'm home. So he called two weeks ago when I changed my number he called again today. So I should be ecstatic that we are building a relationship now but something feels so strange about it.

How to make your own Lean Cuisine

So at first I was just trying to get my sexy back. Now I have to figure out how to make my food taste good without adding a lot of salt. I also spend a ton of money on food and I need to cut that out. My savings account is larger than it’s ever been but I know I could trim back even more.

So I’ve been trying to take my lunch but I’m so lazy I can’t seem to get it together. So instead of sitting in the bed listening to NPR I got up and made breakfast and packed a lunch while I listened to the news. So I got this great idea for making my own Lean Cuisine.

1/2 cup frozen brown rice
6 medium frozen cooked shrimp
3/4 cup of frozen asparagus tips
1 smashed clove of garlic
2 ½ TBSP of low-sugar orange marmalade (no artificial sweetener)
1 TBSP rice wine vinegar
1 TSP sesame oil
Black Pepper
2 frozen ice cubes of chicken broth

Place all of this is a microwaveable plastic dish. While it sits in the fridge at work all the ingredients will start to defrost. Microwave with a top on for 3 minutes or so (you just have to figure that part out). Mix it all up and you have a yummy healthy meal. You might have to adjust the flavoring to your liking. I’d even say add a little soy sauce but I can’t eat that.

I have a pretty decent pantry so it’s a little easier for me to throw stuff together. Also chicken broth only lasts a couple days in the fridge so if I know I’m not going to use the whole carton I just freeze it into ice cubes and have them on hand.

It's not really about being fat.

So I'm sure we've all looked at people who were obese and thought things about them. Thinking they are so unhealthy ecetera. However, what if all the tests say everything is okay? No diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholestrol.

Then there is me. Always trying to get B to be more active because his size signals to me he might be unhealthy. Then I go to the doctor to find out I have high blood pressure. I'm the one who exercises all the time and tries not to eat processed foods. I'm the one trying desperately to get fit and stay fit. I'm doing all the things I should and none of it seems to matter.

So now I have to give up more than ever before. I now understand why father appears to eat a tasteless diet. He probably had this same moment I'm having. No more pickles and olives. No more bacon, not even turkey bacon. No more bloody Mary's. No more lunch meat. Who really wants to eat low salt peanut butter?

Get Money

So I keep wondering should I buy a condo to live in until I walk down the aisle because I'm not one for shacking up. However, it seems silly because I probably wouldn't live in all that long but I guess there is rental income potential.

I also have a friend who wants to buy something in my neighborhood. So she asked me to help her figure out the market. You can look up the tax assessment values of a property but they are usually a little lower than what the market rates are.

So I just google my address and up pops a document of area revilization. In this document it talks about the revilization on my neighborhood. So I know for sure my landlord was able to get the place I am renting through one of those first time buyes low income specials. Let me remind you that low income in DC is like 62K. So in the document it says the place was sold for 150K. She I know she is renting it illegally because she told us that she had to wait three years to rent it but her daughter needed her to live with her fo the next couple of years and then she would move back in. So in essence she's pimping the system hard. We are paying more than three times her mortgage to rent this place. She got the place well below market rates and is renting for market rate. I can't begrudge anyone getting money but damn.

The lady below us treats us like renters. It pisses me off even more because now I know what her mortgage payment is roughly. So she always has a roomate which means they are probably paying her mortgage for her. So she needs to get off her high horse because we I could pay her mortgage and then some. She treats us like we are some poor stupid renters.

For the better part of three days I've been stuck at home hacking and coughing. I thought I would clean up or read but I managed not to do anything. But I don't want to talk about being sick I hate it. The good news is that I finally found a doctor. I'm so excited to go in at the end of the month. Time to finally face the facts about some of my health problems.

But I really want to talk about mommy syndrome. I know that little kids love me because of my hair. I think it excites them when I really think I should scare them. Part of me wants to know what excites them so. Generally I expect children to point and stare and say "Mommy look at the funny lady." But on at least two occasions children have tried to get out of their high chairs at restaurants to come to my table. In one case the mom got sick of the kid and just pushed him over to eat at my table. He sat there played with the pancakes and was cool when he was with me. The same thing happens at grocery stores, kids trying to get out of their shopping carts. Then there are the random kids who run up and squeeze my legs saying "mommy". I stand there dumbfounded like "umm who's kid is this?"

It really bothers me because I try to pretend like I hate kids. But I guess it's not true. But I have not idea why children find me that interesting, ready to abandon their mothers and run of into the world with me. A stranger. Ninety percent of the time they are white children. Do I remind them of their Black nannies? Or am I around white children 90% of the time?

I've been told I have motherly instincts but I say it's all hogwash. However, my bestfriend is pregnant and I had the answer to every question that husbands asks. How much is a car seat? Do we need to get a bigger car? What about diaper services. I seem to have all the answers. I guess that's what happens when you've been an Aunt since 5. So I've said all this so say...ha ha...to say *shrug*

Oh also let me plug my new favorite blog: postbourgie.com

One post a month? Wow this is really piss poor.

So in today's news...

I sat in a meeting for 6 hours with wet pants. I had to drive to a meeting and I spilled a bottle of water on my crotch. Oh joy.

Can I say I'm going to have more bike clothing than regular clothing very soon? It's no fun being sweaty in regular clothing. It makes it so uncomfortable.

I also lost 8lbs in February. I need to make sure I keep it up for March.

This year there are so many weddings happening. I can't wait to help everyone celebrate their love.

Getting Things Done

On a general weekend I get nothing done. I say I'm gonna take care of this or that but it never happpens. Well today I accomplished the following things.

1. Dropped off Dry Cleaning
2. Dropped off donations to Goodwill
3. Replaced my license and renewed my registration (2 damn hours)
4. Handled some over due personal gromming
5. Picked up my prescription and that much needed pack of toilet paper
6. Picked up the dry cleaning I dropped off this morning

I know it doesn't seem like a lot to some people but on a general weekend I might do one of the 6. Tomorrow I hope to accomplish about 2 big task around the house and pick up a couple of things from the mall but I doubt I'll do it all. But I'm about to play hard tonight. I'm going to attempt to go out with my girl tonight after a dinner.

Bad News

I'm not registered to vote. I'm pretty pissed. Last February I filled out the application at the DMV when I got my license. So I realized that I didn't know my polling place so I went online to check. Well it says they don't have a record for me. So I can't vote for *********** on Tuesday. I'm pretty disappointed. Ironically I'm going to the DMV tomorrow because I lost my license. Well I won't be filling my voter registration application again because apparently they don't submit them. Really I should have checked earlier but when you apply you just assume you are registered. Yeah I'm pissed.

Close Encounters of the Racial Kind

Now for the 2nd installment. Again I have a Vietnamese nail technician asking me "Is that all your real hair?" I guess the weave queens are the pevailing image in their minds. So I got intot he waxing room and now she's up close up and personal. She comes over to examine my brows and has to move my from out of the way so it doesn't get waxed. I've seen hair like yours before but I've never touched it. Well you can't really go off on the person about to put hot wax near your eye.

In other good news I lost 5lbs this week. I worked hard and my efforts paid off. It was actually a lot more weight that I thought I would lose. I stll managed to eat out and drink alcohol in the process. So whil I did change somethings there was no serious restricting I had to do. I'll share the plan with you at some later date.

It is 49 degrees in DC at 5:30am. Instead I'm in Akron, OH and weather.com say it is 15 but feels like -6. Yeah really this sucks. I'm going to freeze my ass off.

In other news I took a Confident City Cycling class Saturday. It really sucked. Dude just sat there and read to us. We didn't get on our bikes. He did show us how to change a tire. I really couldn't do it myself if I had to based on his demonstration. So me and my girl get on our bikes to ride home. In the process of speeding down 18th Street in Adams Morgan we had an encounter with a bus. We followed dudes directions and we nearly were taken out. Then something popped off my girl's bike and flew across the busy street. I was able to stop and cross the street. There was a dude about to illegally parking. I get over there and he gets nervous and inquires "Are you parking enforcement?" Well that solidified my dork on bike status. I apparently I'm the adult version of a hall monitor. There I am trying to get her bike parts from under a parked car in the middle of 18th street. Well after all that we made it home safely but didn't feel any more confident that before we went to the class.

Today is a day when I would have taken a ride to work but instead I'm in Akron, OH. On my way to the airport I had a how not to holla moment. Well this person didn't holla but I was offended by his remarks:

"Where did you get your cuteness from? I mean I'm know you are black but what else are you? I can tell you aren't just black."

So today I was reminded that if you are cute surely you just can't be Black.

Go Wizards

I really hadn't realized that basketball season started. Seriously I really didn't realize that it was January and well the season starts in October. Wait that's a lie, I was trying to get Wizards tickets back in October. Well basketball just hasn't been on my radar.

Well yesterday after a moment of crisis I ended up in Ben's Chili Bowl for dinner. They have the Wizards vs. Celtics game on. I knew they were at the Garden which meas that they would have their road jerseys on but I still squinted because I didn't recognize the uniforms. Well these new uniforms are just awful. I hope they are some sort of temporary uniforms or something.

So there is yet another thing I need to add to my social calender. I try to go to at least 3 games a year. Hopefully I can end up in a luxury box again this year.

I'm typing this to you with tight arms. I went on a 10 mile bike ride yesterday. The only thing that hurts right now are my arms. It feels good but I'm surprised my legs don't hurt. I really think my arm hurt from putting my bike on the bike rack on the car. I have women's style bike but that makes it hard to put it on the rack.

After the bike ride I rushed home to cook some chicken and to take it to Girls Night Out. I was invited by a friend to night of women just hanging out and building with one another. You know they say women are catty but this night just proved everyone wrong. We had a nice time.

A part of this included a male stripper. This dude was well known. All the girls had seen him before. I guess I'm missing an adventure here in DC. They all go to male strip clubs. I've only seen them at house parties and really I don't like them. Something about them makes me timid. I'm so not timid. But dude was just okay. I didn't like his look and that's half of the fantasy. But I enjoyed his show.

I'm typing this to you with tight arms. I went on a 10 mile bike ride yesterday. The only thing that hurts right now are my arms. It feels good but I'm surprised my legs don't hurt. I really think my arm hurt from putting my bike on the bike rack on the car. I have women's style bike but that makes it hard to put it on the rack.

After the bike ride I rushed home to cook some chicken and to take it to Girls Night Out. I was invited by a friend to night of women just hanging out and building with one another. You know they say women are catty but this night just proved everyone wrong. We had a nice time.

A part of this included a male stripper. This dude was well known. All the girls had seen him before. I guess I'm missing an adventure here in DC. They all go to male strip clubs. I've only seen them at house parties and really I don't like them. Something about them makes me timid. I'm so not timid. But dude was just okay. I didn't like his look and that's half of the fantasy. But I enjoyed his show.

Well I've changed the name of this blog again to more correctly reflect my life. I'm hardly having adventures these days. Right now I spend more time with my bike than anyone else. There was also this strange incident where a random group of strangers called me Bicycle Girl. I resisted the name but now I'm stuck with it. It also allows me to refer to myself in the third person quite easily.

What has Bicycle Girl been up to?

She had a fabulous time in California.

Since my mother passed going home has been rather stressful. I am not able to go to the childhood home I grew up in and I don't feel like I'm going home anymore. Most of my family has moved to other parts of the city so their homes don't feel like home anymore. These aren't the homes that they lived in for the 17 years I grew up in Los Angeles. My dad's house kind of feels like home only because he hasn't really changed my grandmother's house since she passed nearly 15 years ago.

Sometimes I feel disconnected from my family because my path is totally different from those close in age to me. These are my 2nd cousins. I try not to look down at folks I just want them to do better. I don't want them to have kids and then depend on a welfare check to take care of them. When I hear folks saying things like "I think I should have another baby so that I don't have to work." That shit is not cute. I get disgusted and doesn't make me proud to be a Dones family member.

I want them to provide more for their kids than they had. Instead they are content on providing less for their kids than what they had themselves. I want them to get up everyday and go to work. I know no one wants to do that especially at a low paying minimum wage job but I know that children need to see their parents work. Your parents retired from jobs after work there for 20 to 30 years and you've never held a job for more than six months. For shame. I want them to choose good male role models for their children. Not just find a man they can hustle into paying their bills and buying them coach bags.

It also bothers me that my older family members who enable my cousins not to do better. I know they don't want their grandchildren to suffer but they are also making so that their children don't have to do better. I can see getting your children out a rough spot but paying others rent and mortgages has got to stop. I know parents can competely control their kids but don't make it easy for them not to be productive people. If you want to contribute, pay your daughters childcare so they can go to work. I could rock with that.

Can you see why I think welfare reform wasn't such a bad idea?

See but I don't want to look down on folks right? I don't want to be Bill Cosby with mine but it boogles my mind that my family is hustling backwards. I don't really want to agree with Juan Williams. But I am close enough to this to know this is about the choice to struggle. I'm not sure why they are in love with the struggle.

But Bicycle Girl what about your sister?

Well Bicycle Girl's sister fits in here to. The only difference is that I to my knowledge my mother didn't enable her. She did take care of her first child but soley because the child had special needs and wasn't going to live past age 5. The child is 23 now. It's one thing to have a wayward child. It's another thing to enable your child to be wayward. In fact I think my sister had an untreated mental illness. But that's another story altogether.

But Bicycle Girl aren't there any positives in your family?

Well of course. I'm hopeful for the kids under 10. They have really taken a liking to me. Everyone was surprised when Cousin Bougie joined the line dancing during the Christmas festivies. Well actually it was odd because we have never danced during the festivies. We used to sit around and talk and after aunt passed who used to hold the party people started playing games. We played family trivia and sang Christmas Carol's. This year they tried to get children to sing. We laughed as lil DeMaya told us that on the 8th Day of Christmas we get 2 cameras. I agree with her, maybe the song needs a little updating. After that someone got the genius idea to play some of the classic line dances that black people loved to do. There was shock when I go up there and joined in. They were even more shocked when I didn't need anyone to show me how to do them. What Cousin Bougie knows how to do the booty call? Yes I right foot stomped my way back into the family. Soon all the kids were just dancing away and Jada danced her heart out. She's needs to get into dance classes. She's destined to be the new little girl in the Missy Elliot videos. I'll put up the video of her dancing in another entry. Then there is Imani. Imani already has a job, she does commericials. At 6 she came up to me to tell me that she's was too nervous to dance. She was so sincere. They all made me smile a lot.

But Bicycle Girl this isn't what you set out to write is it?

No really I wanted to talk about how badly I want a Nintendo Wii. Nintendo is pretty smart. They make something a low price point, easy to use and fun. So I really want one and I can't have one because they are sold out. Gamestop and Walmart are running a hustle where you have to buy a bundle to get one. Umm no I'm not spending $600 just to get something that cost $250. But when I get one everyone is welcome to come over and play. I will whip your ass in boxing and I'm not too bad in Tennis either. I spanked my nephew's ass right before heading to the airport and well he really wasn't sad that I was leaving anymore. He was just like "Bye Auntie. Have safe Flight."

Little Tortilla goes Vegan

Well that's not true at all. But she is trying to limit her amount of dairy. So this weekend I made a vegan fruit smoothie (fruit,tofu,soymilk,sugar) and vegan mac and cheese. Well the smoothie is delicious and the mac and cheese was much like velvetta shells and cheese. So it was all great edible alternatives but of course it wouldn't be my first choice. . But my stomach hurts right now, just like it would if I had lactose. So what gives? This so defeats the purpose of leaving out the dairy. Am I alergic to soy? *pouts*

Hide and Seek

Well my roomie and boyfriend are planning something for my birthday. I swear they are terrible at trying to keep a secret.

My cellphone acts crazy all the time and never rings. On Thursday I sat waiting for his call since we were going out that night. So he calls the home phone and she answers it. We don't have caller id but he's the only one who ever calls it. So she starts talking to the person on the other end which I know is him. Then she hands me the phone. I talk to him for a bit. When I was finished, I asked her what he wanted. She says "He wanted to hook me up with one of his single friends." Well that was a blatant lie. So I knew then they were planning something. Great, because I didn't plan a party this year.

On Saturday I was at his house and I went to log into Gmail. Well when I pull up the website it goes right into a mailbox. I see there was an email from my roomate but the title says "Aisha's Present". Then I remembered that this was his computer so thus it's his email. I sit for a second and debate on opening the email but I decide to not ruin their surprise what ever it is. But they are doing a sucky job at hiding whatever it is from me.

Citibank can kiss my ass

So I have all my bills set to be paid automatically. I check my statement and I realize my bill is late...this can't be so since I have it set to pay auotmatically. I look and the last payment was processed a day early. Therefore when the next bill was due it wasn't paid because on time because the payment I made was reflected in an earlier billing cycle.

So I call Citibank to resolve the matter. I've never paid my bill late in over 10 years so it shouldn't be a problem. I talked to the lady and we got the matter resolved fairly quickly. "I'll take the late charge off for you but don't you ever do this again." What happened to customer service? She reprimanded me like I was stupid and she was my momma. I'm like well isn't that funny. It was very early in the morning so I didn't flip out on her. I am just going to write them an email and just change my automatic payment date so I don't pay the bill too EARLY!

First Big Day as Manger: Failed!

I had a meeting out in Rockville. I've been to this place before. I know how long it takes to get there. I did metro trip planner just to be sure. I gave myself an extra 15 minutes just in case something happened. Well Metro politely ate that up and wouldn't even say what was going on. We are just waiting on the platform went from saying "Shady Grove 2" to "Shady Grove __." So I was late to my first meeting as manager. Well by the end everyone had forgot it happened. It was such a good meeting. So next time I will give myself 30 minutes grace period. I'll just sit a little longer in the lobby if need be. Being late is not a good look.

Since I wasn't born unti 1978 I had no idea about this part of her life.

From the Los Angeles Times
Maxene McGinnis, 1926 - 2007
Group home founder turned around lives of troubled girls
By Jocelyn Y. Stewart
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

December 8, 2007

In the end, Maxene McGinnis did more than offer a home to girls nobody else wanted. The founder of Jacqueline Home for Girls offered the girls another way of seeing themselves, a view from a different mirror.

The girls questioned their worth; McGinnis never doubted it. They said they couldn't achieve; she said she expected no less. They hung their heads; she told them to lift them high.

With that view, McGinnis wielded a power that transformed the lives of troubled girls.

McGinnis, who helped raise 210 girls in her group homes, later operated child-care centers that served 160 families and was honored with a star at Staples Center's Star Plaza, died Nov. 27 of stomach cancer at her home in Los Angeles. She was 81.

On Tuesday, the nearly 200 mourners who packed Grace Chapel at Inglewood Park Cemetery heard of the lives McGinnis helped salvage.

"She never made me feel like I was her job," Debra Johnson, who spent some of her teen years in McGinnis' home, told the mourners. "She made me feel like I was her child."

For former group home "girls" like Johnson, Phyllis McNeal and Sharon Cameron, time spent at the home was the best experience of their childhood.

"I never saw love like that. . . . I thought it was just on TV," said Cameron, who at 15 was labeled the "worst of the worst" and sent to the home.

If McGinnis had followed conventional wisdom, the Jacqueline Home for Girls might never have come into being.

Born in 1926, she graduated from UCLA in 1948 with a degree in sociology. She was eventually hired as a social worker in the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services. The Texas-born McGinnis, who was raised by her mother with the help of a close extended family, grew up in Dallas during a time when opportunities for African Americans were few. Jobs like hers were an accomplishment to be proud of, not to leave.

But in the 1960s, McGinnis was young and ambitious and had a vision of running a home for children in need. That vision began in her youth, grew after a stint teaching Sunday school and kept growing and refining itself; it would not let her rest.

At the social services department she was placed in charge of a unit that trained the daughters of welfare recipients to find work. But she found the girls' life skills so meager that "we had to begin with proper dress, personal hygiene . . . proper grammar and the most basic manners and social skills," McGinnis wrote in her unpublished memoir.

The girls were eager to do well, but they needed to get out of their chaotic surroundings to achieve, she said. So she gathered them together and helped them find an apartment and stayed in their lives to help them. Later she learned that a change of environment would benefit youngsters who were in juvenile hall and other locked facilities simply "because there were no other places to go."

Driven by her vision, McGinnis left her job and rented a home in the Wilshire district, opening the Jacqueline Home in 1968.

The home would eventually be filled with as many as six girls from various backgrounds, all wards of the court, referred by the county Probation Department. For each girl, she received $307 to $355 a month, according to a Los Angeles Times article.

"She was a black woman in the '60s running this home for girls," said her daughter, Michelle McGinnis. In the beginning "most of the girls were very affluent. Most of them were white."

At the house, McGinnis was "mom," and she set out to raise the girls. She disciplined them to correct behavior, visited their schools to make sure they were performing, encouraged and rewarded them and listened to them.

"It's a happy house," McGinnis said in a 1969 Times article. "People always expect something dreary and sad, and they're surprised to find that it's not."

In 1969, she married Essic McGinnis, and the following year she gave birth to Michelle, now a prosecutor in the Los Angeles city attorney's office assigned to a program through which she assists youths at Markham Middle School. In addition to her daughter, McGinnis is survived by numerous cousins.

Over the years the house earned honors for its work. McGinnis expanded to three houses, but in 1977 closed them and moved into child care, in which she continued to work until retiring this year.

Long after she closed the homes, some of the women who had lived there as girls remained a part of her family. In the end, their reclaimed lives were a testament to her work.

"She gave me hope, encouragement, pride and unconditional love," said McNeal, who holds a master's degree, is a probation officer and runs a program to dissuade young people from crime. "If not for my mom, I wouldn't be working for the system. I'd be in it."

Daily Horoscope for Sunday December 9, 2007

Your life is continuing to change and today's New Moon can send you into the next phase of ongoing personal growth. Whatever opportunities are presented to you should be received as a message directly from the cosmos. It may take time to understand the significance of the next few days. In the meantime, be gracious as you accept what arrives on your doorstep.

.....

Well today is my first day as Project Manager. I've never been as excited to go to work as I was last night. I feel a renewed sense of commitment and I really think it's my time to shine. I haven't been that confident at work these days but this new development is just the infusion I needed in my life. It doesn't come with a raise but we were all scheduled for raises this week anyway. Wish me luck.

R.I.P

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/18/AR2007111801496.html

The summer before I left for UNC I gained about 15lbs. I had stopped working out and I would spend all of my time at Ben's Chili Bowl. It's a DC institution and the food is expensive for what it is but I would go there mulitiple times a week. I would go because it was the place where everybody knew my name. The staff members made me feel at home. Often times I was served by Timothy Spicer because he had a crush on me. I would walk in and he was tell the other guys that i was his customer. He tried several times to get me to go on dates and he would flash his charming smile. Last night I learned that he had be killed in a car jacking. I shed some tears because he was a good kid. He went to work everyday and enjoyed what he did while trying to craft away through music and art to a better life. I'll miss you Tim.


Earlier my my dad called me to tell Ms. McGinnis past of a heare attack. Ms. McGinnis owned Bene Pre-School where myself, my niece and my 2nd cousin attended. At this school I learned all the basics. It wasn't daycare it was true learning. Ms. McGinnis was all about learning but she also employed many people that wouldn't otherwise have a chance. Besides my family, this is the person I've known the longest. I'm truly going to miss her. I don't have that many ties to the old neigborhood since my mom died. This is one less.

It's been two years since I posted on my old blog. I noticed that and decided to get out my old posts. well most of them are gone. I'm so sad. I do have some entries printed it out but that was the craziest time of life so i'm sad that my "journal" is gone.

Well today was also crazy. Somehow I managed to put my tampons into the fridge at work. I meant to put my lunch in there but I put the wrong bag in. Secondly, I was talking to some of my coworkers and one asked "what's that near your belt?" Well it turned out to be a random piece of a tampon wrapper. Whoa is me.

I've noticed that my life has been much better since I started riding my bike to work everyday. I do not have the "how not to holla experiences" anymore. I look like a dork with my helmet on and well i'm on bike so no one is going to talk me. Well sometimes other black bikers talk to me. Mostly the bike messengers messing with me because my bike is so cutesy.

I never thought I would be an outdoorsy person but I love riding my bike. It's like 30 degrees outside and I'm still riding to work. My coworker is going to bring me some cold weather biking gear. The only thing is that I just wear my regular work clothes. I haven't gone so far to wear bike gear because I'm not that hard core. So hopefully it will all pay off. But I really don't care about all that, I just love it.

Major Flub

I've been sick for the past two days but I had a draft of a report due today. I worked pretty hard on it and everything. So after I emailed it off at 3pm. He responds "thank you for working on this while you were sick." I went downstairs and watched a movie and then took a nap. I finally get of my ass around 10pm to go to bed. I look at my cell phone and it says 6 missed calls. Who could that be? It's my project head trying to tell me that there was no attachment. It's not so bad because it was just a draft however, what if this was something more important? I could have gotten fired. So this is a lesson learned. I was using the web based version of outlook and there were some extra steps I wasn't used to. So I'm glad this happened now and not when it really mattered.

-Aisha

Sniffle. Cough. Hack

I prayed that I wouldn't get sick this year so I could hold on to all my paid time off. Of course my body didn't listen. I clearly remember being sick last thanksgiving. I was offered some southern concoction to relieve me. I tell you those southerners sure are special. I'm gong to Lynchburg again so maybe I'll take the cough syrup this time. So I am at home and that's why I am bringing you this lovely blog entry.

I'm guessing I'm sick because I haven't been nice to my body. My diet has consisted of carbs and liquor for the last 7 days. If I don't get on top of it I'm going to get lose all the loses that I've made recently. I was feeling festive this week so I was out on the town. Thursday night it was $5 shots of patron and wings. Okay so there was some protein in that meal and does the celery count as vegetables?

Friday was probably the highlight of the weekend. I went to Wonder-Full. This is a yearly tribute party to Stevie Wonder. DJ Spinna and Bobbito get on the wheels and turn the party out. I've never danced so much. I only left the floor because I was tired. It was good to party with friends who really just wanted to drink and dance.

Saturday was also a great night but it almost turned into disaster. We attended Old Ebbitt Griill's 12th Annual Oyster Riot. I got gussied up and rock the sweater dress I had been holding on to for a while. I put on my fishnets and suede boots. I also put on these earrings that I had been holding onto for a while. I loooked really good, no cleavage but the dress just brought out all the assets of my shape.

B shows up and I see he's wearing jeans. I didn't really trip but I gave him some words about jeans not being appropriate for this event. Then he took his sweater off and he was wearing a tshirt. I nearly lost my mind. Now if I thought of him as Bamma with no home training, I would have been sure to tell him how to dress. Well I assumed wrong about this one. We almost didn't make it to the event because I was a bit irate. I explained to him that given the price we paid for the tickets and that it was a night time special event for this venue he should have known how to dres. I just couldn't believe he thought jeans and a tshirt were appropriate. I sat on the stairs and moped for a while I considered changing my clothing so I didn't look over dressed. Then I said fuck it, I'm not changing my clothes so that he doesn't stand out. I looked fucking hot as hell and I'm not dressing down. He said something about wanting to be comfortable and as a die hard fan of Stacy London, using the comfort excuse for dressing sloppy just made me cringe.

We get to the event and it's amazing. There are oysters, wine and champagne everywhere. It was a bit crowded and people were everywhere. In true white people fashion no one bothered to say excuse me if they bumped into you. Given how crowded it was I didn't expect everyone to say it every time. But if you bumped me hard or bumped me to the point that I spilled something on myself you should say excuse me. I wouldn't be pressed to go again but I recommend it to all those who like oysters on the half shell.

Premature Exasperation

Me: Since your other bday present was sold out I will get you that
game you wanted.

Him: I'll buy it and you pay me back.

Me: No I want to buy it for you.

Him: Wel make sure you pre-order.

Me: okay

fast forward 3 days

Him: did you order it?

Me: No. I didnt have time.

Him: you didnt have time or you didnt make time?..

Me. Well I still plan to go get it that day.

Him: im irked. Ill just do it myself.

Me: okay. Im sorry.

Fasrforward to the day the game comes out

So i decided with some consultation that i would stilll purchase the
game. I had every intention of getting the game but did not pre-order.
I shouldn't have been in trouble until I failed to come through. He
probably bought it for himself but I decided that technically I did
what I promised but not the way he wanted. If it was sold out then he
could be disappointed.

When am I ever going to have time to write a blog?

Well today I just opened Microsoft Word and started writing because I didn’t want to do any work. I am envious of my friends who blog everyday. I have time to do so but not the desire. However, I never meant to go this long without writing. So what have I been doing instead?
During the summer, discovered spinning at the gym. I loved it so much and that’s why I bought a bike. However spinning bikes are more like racing bikes so the feel isn’t the same. Well I’ve been riding this:




But then I realized that it’s more for grandmas to ride around the park than it is for commuting to work or anything else for that matter. It was very cheap from target so I don’t care so much about the money I’m going to lose when I sell it on Craigslist. I did some research and went to a real bike shop this time around and test rode some bikes. My online research had me in love with a certain bike. However, I got a much better feel from the bike I eventually purchased. So I bought another one this past weekend.



As a novice bike rider I always thought the speed of your bike was determined by how fast you move your legs. That’s only part of it. The type and weight of the bike you are huge factors. These bikes may look nearly the same but they are not. This bike has thinner tires, more gears and is much lighter than the bike I have now. It’s hard to see from the pictures but the old bike has the old school curved handle bars so it was impossible for me to squeeze next to cars. So I got an entry level hybrid bike that goes fast enough that I won’t die in traffic but not fast enough to win any races. If I use the bike I have consistently for 18 months then I might upgrade to the next level. So I will be riding to work most days and hitting some trails this fall to see the scenery.

With all this research I learned a lot. I had not idea there were bikes out there that cost $5000 dollars. That floored me.

In other news...look at this cast. They "upped n gave" everybody a job.

http://blackvoices.aol.com/blogs/2007/05/03/the-divorce-black-woman-united/


I'm don't think I'll go see it but I'm sure you men will like the eye candy through out the decades.

I Miss You

Since we don't really need premium channels we forego HBO except when the Wire is on. Well I realized that I am also missing my other favorite show, Curb Your Enthusiasm. The creator of Seinfeld, Larry David, has a show about the mishaps of life. Actually I really wish this blog was a written version of Curb. Just when I was considering canceling Netflix, I think I am going to fill my queue with the last few seasons of Curb. I never liked Seinfeld mostly because I was too young to get the humor but, even in syndication Seinfeld doesn't amuse me the way Curb does. So I am going to bless you with a scence from one of my favorite episodes, "Krazee-Eyez Killa"

The Art of Doing Nothing

I'm convinced my roomate and I have perfected the art of doing nothing. Saturday we picked up breakfast from Mocha Hut, ate, did nothing, picked up Mexican food, ate that, did more nothing. We giggled to ourselves all day that we were doing nothing. It was kind of nice.

Well that meant sunday I had to everything I needed to do in one day. So I did brunch, shopping, cleaning and laundry today. I even managed to stop by my new office put up the decorations I bought. I'm doing a beach theme in my office because that's what is inspiring me to work right now. I'm earning money with the thought of my next beach vacation.

Tomorrow it's back to the grind and a hectic week. Wednesday I start intermediate spanish and Thursday I am panelist at UMD speaking about careers in heatlh education. So enjoy your week everyone and hopefullly I can fit in a real post sooner rather than later.

My late night search for new undies revealed this review of a pair i was considering:

,"July 27, 2007
I have this in aqua (or teal, I can't remember exactly) and it is one of the pairs of underwear in my drawer that I classify as "comfortable." I agree with the posters below in that it becomes baggy with wear, but I have found that each wash will restore it to its proper shape. It's kind of like jeans - they're pretty tight when you first start wearing them, and when they're all loose 'n' comfy, it's time to throw 'em in the wash."


Last time I checked we only wear undies once and then we wash them. This has to be one of the grossest things I've read in a while.

Positive Wednesday

Yesterday I checked my horoscope and it said something about “a turn in your career.” I read my horoscope about once a month when I am bored. However, since I haven’t been working to my full potential at the new gig, because they haven’t given a reason to do so, I was wondering if that meant I should save up for an impending loss of work. This morning I get an email from someone in another department saying they saw my resume and were impressed with my background and appreciated that finally someone has the same skills that they have. She’s also a very young black woman with a PhD and an awesome sense of style. Frankly, I’d love to be her.

In other news I’m sitting here at my desk trying to figure out how I am going to make it through the day. As previously mentioned, I ramped up my workout routine quite a bit. This week I finally added some weight bearing exercises back into my routine. Now I am stiff and can barely move in a normal fashion. I’m telling my mind to walk but my body, my body is telling me no! So today I begrudgingly got on the Metro instead of walking. This was particularly hard to do given that it would have been delightful to walk on a day without humidity. Given that I can barely put one foot in front of the other it was best.

As I am walking the block from the metro to my job I am thinking about how bad I feel as everyone is passing me. I get to my building and someone walks in behind me and I notice a faint limp. It was a man who seemed to be slightly physically impaired. He gets off the elevator a few floors before I do and I watch him walk to his office. The elevator operator who always seems antsy says to me “You know he was hit by a Metro Bus, he’s lucky to be alive.” That was a little bit of a reality check and I always hate when that happens.

Don't worry i'll be back in a few. I've been on vacation and my new exercise routine zaps the life out of me. I mean walking at least 12 miles a week will change the game rather quickly. Add to that 3 spinning classes a week. I'm working on a series of a Best of DC restaurant reviews. In the interim let me give you a list of things to do in DC this weekend:

Tonight and Friday:
Using spoken word, oral narratives, step, tap, and hip hop movement, Aysha Upchurch explores the plight of today’s youth and how children are a product of their environment—family, friends, schools, church, communities, and the media. Part of the Local Dance Commissioning Project. Free at Millenium stage.

Friday:
9PM @ The Red and The Black1212 H Street NE
Washington DC
Free Shuttle from Union Station
Live music by EmoniFela, Tanya Morgan, Che Grand and of course Dumhi and Sankofa.

www.myspace.com/dumhi
www.myspace.com/sankofamusic
www.myspace.com/tanyamorgan
http://www.myspace.com/emonifela
www.myspace.com/chegrand

Sunday:
Noon-7pm
Another year in the making, this Sunday, September 9th boasts the famous 29th Annual Adams Morgan Day Festival. Always on the second Sunday in September in Adams Morgan, one of Washington's most diverse neighborhoods, the namesake international cultural festival stands behind its neighborhood roots.

Sympathy

My father's" lady friend" passed from cancer a week ago. He had only known her about 3 months but had completely fallen in love with her. B said, "when you are that age you already know what you want." I'm inclined to agree with him. I called my father to see how he was doing. He proceeds to tell me about every moment in their relationship in great detail, which for once I do not mind. Listening to him was my way of showing sympathy. I knew he really needed to get all of his off his chest. He ended the call with some words of relationship wisdom which I gladly accepted.

Fifteen minutes later my phone rings and the caller id shows it's my father again. I answer and he says, "Can you send me a sympathy card?" At first I don't respond because I was trying to convince myself that I misheard him. No I was correct he wants me to send him a sympathy card. Actually I had considered sending him one before he called. Now I didn't want to send him one at all. I stopped myself from berating him but I sure did want to. I'm not sure what possessed him to call me to ask for a sympathy card. You don't ask for sympathy cards. I can't tell you why you shouldn't but you just don't. Is it sympathy if you ask for it? Yesterday I begrudgingly went to the store and bought him his card. I really didn't want to though but if that's what he needs I'll do it.

Part III: Te rompiendo mi corazón

After I met with Richard the travel agent I ran to my room to change into my bathing suit. I couldn’t wait to get on the beach. I had not been to the beach in 4 years. Since moving to the East Coast I have stopped going to the beach for three reasons. I can’t deal with driving hours to the beach when I grew up only 15 minutes from the beach. In the Boston area the water is freezing and what’s the point of that. Also, as I have mentioned in this blog before I’ve gained 25lbs since then and I kept telling myself my body wasn’t beach ready. It took a lot for me to go to the store and buy a bathing suit and even more nerve to show that much of my body in public.

I strolled out there and decided that I couldn’t be concerned with my flaws. It was the beach in another country so I could not let my insecurities ruin my relaxing vacation. I find myself a beach chair and an umbrella and lay down. I took out my book with the intention of staying out there all day reading. I read two pages and then I realized that I didn’t want to read at that moment. In fact, I would not read any of the 3 novels I toted with me. I just laid there staring at the water and the beautiful white sand. I was captivated with my surroundings and I could do nothing other than gaze into the open ocean.

There were only a few open thatched umbrellas open and unfortunately I was near all the water sports equipment. After a while I realize this is advantageous as I get to watch people wind surf and go out on their kayaks. There are a group of guys who are in charge of the water sports who are constantly out there helping guest with the equipment.

“Hola!,” says the young thin man with the grey eyes. I greet him in return. He begins speaking Spanish but I have to explain to him that I don’t really speak that well. As usual he questions me about my background. There is a couple next to me and he starts talking to them in Spanish. I can understand most of what’s he’s saying. He’s telling them that I am the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen. So every time he walks by me he says something to me or to them.

“I lover jor eir. Can I touch it?”

I just laugh it off. Then I realize that he isn’t always speaking Spanish. He’s speaking several languages and I realize he’s talking to everyone about me. I don’t know what he is saying but from the reactions and the pointing I know he’s talking to everyone about me. He’s acting like a teenage boy.

“Hey how many languages do you speak umm, como te llama?” I ask.
“I speak Spanish, Italian, German, French and English. Oh and my name is Gabriel (Gah-bri-el).

He was very good looking with a great body and the attention he paid me helped the day move along.

I went to lunch and on my way back I hear “Hola” again and I see someone waving at me frantically. He runs over and before he gets started I stopped him from bombarding me with Spanish. He asks me if I am interested in taking part in any water sports. I tell him I’m not and looks puzzled.

“You came this far and you are just going to look at the water?”

Indeed sir, I’m just going to look at the water. Later on he stops by my chair just to chat. He convinces me to try snorkeling. I actually get excited and I am looking forward to it. He tells me that he has to do it after work so I should meet him out there at 5pm. When the time comes he walks by and says “let’s go” and starts walking before I can even get out my chair.

He’s changed from his work shorts and is wearing jeans and flip flops. He grabs some equipment and he tells me to put it in my purse. We start walking towards the less crowded side of the beach. He continue to walk and I am aware that he’s starting to take me off property. I ask him how far we are going and he tells me we need to get to a part where the water is more clear. I am hesitant as I am alone with a stranger. We continue to walk but I keep looking back to make sure we aren’t getting that far. I tell him that I am not interested in walking any further. He informs me that this isn’t the best place but if this is where I want to stop we can try it.

He hands me the mask and explains to me how it works. He takes off his pants and we get into the water. The water is warm and we are right on a reef. Although I had been in the water earlier I didn’t feel comfortable. I’m not sure what it was but I start getting nervous. I begin to panic and he tries to calm be down. “Tranquila, tranquila,” he says. His efforts are futile and he helps me get out of the water. “You can’t snorkel unless you are relaxed. Let’s sit here for a moment and then let’s try again,” he tells me. He takes my towel and makes it into a cushion so I can sit on the rocks. I was embarrassed that I was freaking out.

“Yo creo que estoy lista pero no era la verdad,” I say nervously.
He laughs, “We will get in when you are actually ready. You just let me know.”
I giggle nervously for the next five minutes.

We sit and watch the water for a while. We start talking about where he’s from, how I learned Spanish, and our families. There are quite a few moments of silence that I welcome; something that I usually nervously fill immediately. At no point did I feel like I was talking too much or he wanted me to be quiet. The surroundings are comforting and I start to dig my toes into the damp sand. My companion notices this and begins to bury my feet in the sand. He takes care to make sure that every part of my feet are covered. I get nervous as I realize how sensual it is when he caresses my ankles to pack the sand around them. At that point I realize that I have forgotten his name. He tells me his name is Coco but I ask him for his real name. He takes his index finger and writes his name in the wet sand, C-A-R-L-O-S. Two hours pass with ease and I never get back in the water. I get hungry and we walk back. I thank him for the company. He suggests that tomorrow we go for a ride on the catamaran since that doesn’t involve swimming. I tell him I’ll think about it.

The next day I go out to the beach and I don’t even bring any books with me. I plan to just sit there all day and get some sun. “Hey Aicha, why are you in the sun? You are going to get too dark. You have the perfect Domincan color, not too light, not too dark,” Gabriel exclaims. I was taken a back at how openly people talked about skin color. This was the third time someone told me “don’t get too dark.” For some reason this day Gabriel didn’t have much to do and he seemed to be really comfortable around me. When he would walk by he would sneak up and pet my hair, sprinkle water on my feet or throw sand at me. A couple of times he just sat on the edge of my chair and made me speak with him in Spanish. During the afternoon I decide that I need to make sure I get an even tan and I start to lay on my stomach. I’m nearly asleep and then someone sits on me. It’s Gabriel, I start laughing and calling him names in Spanish. The German couple next to me is laughing too because he’s been telling them he’s fallen in love with me. I start playfully hitting him but then he stands up all of the sudden. I ask him what’s wrong.
“Coco is over there driving the banana boat and he just saw me sitting on you and started shaking his head.” he tells me.
“I bet he’s going to be mad at me,” he continues. I don’t really respond.
“Is Carlos your boyfriend? I saw you guys walking way over there yesterday.”
I looked stunned and said “No, he was teaching me how to snorkel.”
“Well he’s your boyfriend now.”

I was confused because I didn’t know what just happened. Gabriel leaves and I go back to sleep. I see Carlos and I ask when we are going to take a ride on the catamaran. “Later,” he says curtly. I start to get restless so I go take a swim in the ocean. The water is warm and I stay out there for a while. When I get out of the water I have to walk right in front of the water sports booth and all of the guys are sitting around doing nothing. I hear someone say “hey!’. I turn around and wave and I hear in unison “Hola Coco” accompanied by a thunderous laugh. At that point I am really annoyed. I was convinced that Gabriel was the mastermind of this incident. When I run into Carlos later I tell him what happened as best as I could in Spanish. “People just like to talk,” he tells me.

My last day comes around and I skip breakfast and I go directly to the beach. I get out there and walk around trying to soak my last moments on the beach. Gabriel of course is the first one out because what he loves more than me, is the beach.

“Estas aqui temprano ,” he says.
“It’s my last day out here. So I skipped breakfast since I’m leaving at noon,” I inform him.
“No! Ah, ¿porque te rompiendo mi corazón?” he asks.
“Of course I wouldn’t purposely break your heart.”
“Look she’s going to leave me here and I don’t know what to do,” he tells the Dutch couple.
They laugh hysterically.
“Well let me help you find another woman,” I tell him.
“There aren’t any other women. White women are ugly and I don’t like Dominican women,” he says with a straight face.
“What’s wrong with Dominican women,” I ask?
“I just don’t like them.”
I decide not to press him any further.

“Well, before I leave let take your picture.”
“Why? So you can tell all your friends ‘this is the crazy fucker who wouldn’t leave me alone on the beach’? ” he says in his best English.
“Pretty much!”
We both begin to laugh hysterically.

He convinces me to go out with him on kayak. I agree since I really wanted to try something new. We go and get life jackets and I see Carlos. I try to engage him in conversation but it’s clear he doesn’t want to talk to me. I am confused with his demeanor and I realize he must be mad that I was hanging with Gabriel. I laugh to myself as I realize that after two days I have caused drama amongst co-workers. I’m known for this but it never happens this fast.

At this point I was glad this was my last day on the beach. I don’t think I could have taken the drama. I was on my do nothing vacation and I didn’t need anyone stopping me from relaxing. A couple more hours pass and I say my farewells. Gabriel was out on the boat and I didn’t get to say goodbye. I hugged Carlos and went on my way.

Part II: Solamente en Español

Based on the reviews at Tripadvisor.com, I knew that most of the resort staff would not speak English. This was simultaneously exciting and nerve racking. In 1998, I was nearly fluent in Spanish. After 3 years of high school Spanish and one semester of college Spanish, I could have a conversation in Spanish with almost anyone. Nearly ten years have passed and I have lost most of my command of the language. My career and my social life could benefit immensely from knowing Spanish.

Upon arrival, the first person I encounter is the bell hop. He says something I don’t understand. I assumed that he wanted me to leave my bag with him so I did. Another guy says something that I understand to mean that I should register then come back and tell them my room number. After leaving my bag with him I headed to the registration desk. I hesitated to talk in Spanish lest he think I could actually speak Spanish. I was able to check in using a mix of English and Spanish and I was on my way.

As I waited for the bellhop, I sat next to a very dark skinned brother who started speaking to me in Spanish. I gave him a sly smile and said “Solamente hablo un poco de Español.” He started asking me questions and I could only understand 30% of what he was saying. After that we were very quiet until he wanted to know the time. “Diez y diesicuatro,” I said. Then I realized fourteen was catorce and not the literal way I said it. I’m sure he now really believed that I wasn’t Dominican. The bellhop comes to pick me up and asks me for my room number. “Seiscientos y veinte ocho” I tell him. He starts to speak to me in Spanish but I inform him that I “entiendo mas que hablar”. “You aren’t Dominican? You don’t speak Spanish?” I'm sure it's also strange that I keep telling people in Spanish that I only speak a little Spanish or that I understand better than I can speak.

At that point I didn’t realize that I would be asked this every time I encountered a staff member. The bartender, the waiter named Amable (which I knew meant friendly), the hostess and the travel agent all thought I was Dominican. The resort does get a few local tourists on the weekend so I was starting to understand. I wasn’t expecting any Dominican tourists.

During my first day I met with Richard from Coco Tours to inquire about excursions. I knew I did not have time to explore but I wanted to know more about it for next time. He spoke English well and is very animated since he is a salesman. At lunch Richard sees me eating alone and joins me. We start making small talk in English. The waitress approaches me and asks me what I want to drink in Spanish. Richard interjects “en ingles” but before he could get it out I answered “Coke por favor.”

“You speak Spanish?” Richard asks in spanish.
“A little I learned it in High School.”
“Well then, solamente en espanol.”

For the next 30 mins I had to speak in Spanish. I was nervous but excited for the challenge. We talked about New England as Richard got a scholarship to go to Providence Community College. He studied mechanical engineering in undergrad but he is a travel agent because he loves to travel. He’s going to Brazil in September because Sao Paulo is so popular. He also loves baseball but informed me that Dominicans don’t like Alex Rodriquez because he denies his culture. We also talked about my fear of water sports and he encouraged me to try something out while I was there.

I was actually hoping that I would find time to have a full conversation in Spanish. I got my wish. I felt somewhat confident that I could even understand what he was saying. However, I was disappointed that I couldn’t speak better. At least my accent still sounds authentic. I’ve been meaning to take Spanish classes at the USDA graduate school and this ensured that this time I would actually do it.

Part I: Welcome to the Dominican Republic

I arrived at night to Punta Cana airport in the Dominican Republic. As I walked down the stairs of the plane I had to assume that the thatched roof structure in front of me was the airport terminal. It is an open-air airport so the weather is right there with you as large ceiling fans try and cool you down. I wasn’t sure how long I would spend in immigration and customs before I could get on my way. Surprisingly it took about 30 seconds to clear immigration, 5 minutes to get my bags and 3 minutes to find my driver.

After booking my trip I didn’t realize how far my resort was from Punta Cana. On the map it looked close but it was really 90 minutes away. There was another airport that was closer but flying there cost about the same price as my flight with transportation. However, I would have loved to save the time. I get into the van and we start on our journey. As we drive through the mostly two lane roads of the DR, it is quite dark and I cannot see much but the lush vegetation. However, I can smell everything and I am able to use my sense of smell to discover what I cannot see. I can identify sugar, trash, and cow dung. When I could see I rather close my eyes.

Dominicans are very aggressive drivers, which left my heart in my throat for most of the ride. It’s common place to pass drivers on the left on a two lane road. It often turns into a game of chicken as the driver tries his best to pass while another car is coming straight for us. Plenty of people walk uncomfortably close to the road and the cars don’t bother to move over. The main mode of transportation is the moped. When you are in a city you see women or two to three men on a single moped speeding along on the road. The cars get very close to the mopeds asserting that the road belongs to them. The mopeds ignore their flashing lights, honking horns, and the fact that the cars are less than an inch away from mowing them down. Driving is like ballroom dancing and I suppose they were driving Bachata, very close, very trusting but dance with the wrong person and it can be dangerous.

In the cities of Punta Cana and Higuey, I was able to see many local people before I got to my white washed tourist destination. I don’t think I saw a single person with skin lighter than me. It felt like I was at a family reunion and everyone could be my cousin. At 9pm on a Saturday you see packed churches, bars, and pool halls as evidenced by dozens of mopeds in front. It’s colorful, the flat roofed homes in every pastel imaginable. Merengue and Reggaeton continuously blare from the pool halls and clubs. Women with painted on jeans, halter tops and a fresh blowout or cornrows. This is the DR I want to eventually experience but not on this trip.

After 90 minutes we finally arrive at Canoa Coral my home for the next three days.

Just a Start....more to come


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Last Week's Penny Pinching Tip

Go to your local library. When I got the idea that I was going to the Caribbean on a whim, even before this whole penny pinching idea, I needed to do some research. I went to tripadvisor.com and Frommers.com, two very reputable travel websites. I looked around but I really was getting sick of the web and I wanted to read a book.

That day I decided I needed to get a library card. I walked down the street from my office to the library in search of a Caribbean travel guide. To my delight they had at least a hundred or so travel guides about the Caribbean alone. I got high as I walked through the aisles imagining all the places I could go not for this trip but for the rest of my life. It really made me feel like I was missing out on this world since I haven't left the country as an adult.

The other things I have been meaning to learn are how to knit and make beaded jewelry. Yet another reason to buy a book right? I seriously lack hand eye coordination, as evidenced by my poor typing skills. Instead of buying books for a new hobby that I don't even know that I'll like, I decided to go to the library get some books and try it out. That's about $60 I would have willingly dropped at Borders or Barnes and Noble and the library is free.

I actually don't need to penny pinch. I make enough money to do what I need to do and then some. However, why not try it out so that I can do even more with what I already have? I have a tough time with discipline so this is more an experiment with delaying gratification than actually saving money. I want to be able to say eff it all and move to South Africa at a moments notice. There is so much freedom in that. That's what I'm striving. Let's Get Free!

Penny Pinching 101

I’m not very good at this whole penny pinching thing considering I’m going out of the country. One of my goals for the year was to leave the country twice. It didn't happen in the first six months and I didn't know if I would get anywhere the rest of the year. So the trip fufills half of that goal.

Yesterday I took it upon myself to try to save money at the grocery store. The first step was seeing what I already had; tuna, ground turkey, chicken breast, pasta and a can of clams. That translates into tuna salad, turkey tacos or burgers, chicken parmesan and linguine and clams. You all know I can cook but I am often lazy. This inspired me to “bust out” some of my tried and true meals. The second step was passing by Whole (Paycheck) Foods and going to Giant since many things are cheaper at the chain grocery store. For the most part I just bought what ever I needed to complete the meals I listed above. I wanted also to buy my favorite summer snack Jell-O. I see the six pack of Jell-O jiggling in my face and I grab it. Something told me to look at the price and that is something I rarely do. It cost $2.29 for six small cups of Jell-O. Sugar, gelatin and some water that’s all it is. So I took a gander down the desert aisle in search of a box of Jell-O. A box of Jell-O cost 80 cents. I was proud of myself for investigating and going with the deal. Now most of the time I am a fan for paying for convenience but, making Jell-O takes 3 minutes. I’m also saving the environment since I am not throwing away 20 Jell-O cups a month. Okay well I just thought of that added benefit right now.

Well that is $1.50 I saved is a one day tip for housekeeping at the resort. Also my coin jar was full so I cashed that in at the Coin Star. It was a good bit of money so it should cover my extra spending cash in the DR. The way it's looking I won't have to take any money out of my checking account for this trip. Well not until September that is.

Another bizarre myspace message

Hi,

I think this is XXXX, from John Burroughs? You probably don't remember me, but I remember you, and for all these years have wanted to apologize for being so mean in junior high. This is Liza XXXXX, whom you invited to your b-day party, which was one of the best birthday parties I had gone to in junior high. I believe this was seventh grade, when we were in Ms. Williams science class, and we watched with your cousin/little sister videos of some teenagers dancings (was it Kids Incorporated? "K-I-D-S!") and ate yummy bite sized sandwiches. I had the time of my life, because I felt so at peace, and a surge of excitement being with you upon the brink of our teen years.

So then I don't know really remember what happened after that. I think I developed an injection of that film "Mean Girls," and was mean/ cold to people. There is no excuse for that, and I wanted to say that I will never forget your warm heart and sense of humor, after what, 29-13 years...my math is fuzzy at 6am...It just suddenly occurred to me to write you when I was in the shower.

Gotta jam, but hopefully you are well, and this is the right Aisha, and I wish you all the best in the future and in the present. You deserve well.

Cheers,
Liza


I really can't believe that she remembered all these details about the bday party that only she showed up to. Even I had blocked that out of my mind. I haven't talked to her since 1993. Our favorite song used to be "Let's Chill" by Guy.

Get Away

Just in the last post I said I was pinching pennies. However, I just convinced myself that I need to get my summer getway on. I have a week between jobs and I just didn't want to sit around the house. So I pulled out my trusty gold card and set off to find a vacation. I set a budget for flights and accomodations and a few other parameters. It should be near a beach but somewhere very relaxing so South Beach was out. The catch was that I wanted to leave on June 28th which was less than two weeks away.

All week I sat around searching on line sites and I couldn't really find anything that suited my need for short flights and relaxing environs. This morning I decided for one last try. Orbitz was having a sale on packages to the Dominican Republic. As I logged into the site they further reduced my package for being a "loyal customer". In addition it asked me if had a promotional code which I did not. So I googled to see if some nice person had posted a promotional code that applied to my package. Well they did and I had yet another discount.

So I will be spending 4 days and 3 nights in La Romana, Dominican Republic. I'm exicted to just get away from it all. (always plan to woo a sexy DR man with my Spanish)

Having The Will


I got a new job! Hooray me! I realized over this past weekend that I am very emotionally attached to my current job. However, it just isn't the correct fit. I love my job and I don't mind going to work everyday. However, when I get yelled at from time to time, realized how bad the raises are, and that the benefits aren't as good as I believed, I feel less than satisfied. It's the tangibles that make me dislike it. It's the intagibles that make me love it. I like my coworkers and I will remain friends with at least two of them when I leave. I like the work that I do and I feel I have made a great contribution to the work. It's nice to work for an organization that has a great mission.

I've never quit a job before. It won't be a surprise to anyone because they all know that something is missing for me. The only thing that sucks is that one of my supervisors is on vacation. She's also the one most affected by my departure. We were in the beginning of planning a big project. There isn't much I could do about the timing since I got the offer the day she went on vacation.

I am getting a 20% pay increase and full benefits including tuition reimbursement. The only glitch is that I won't get my first paycheck until September 1st. I think I have enough money to make it but since I have been dipping into my savings a lot so there isn't much there. This is a test of will for me. I buy a lot of clothing and shoes and I buy expensive groceries. I go out to eat and drink with friends as well. So for the next 6 weeks I will have to spend significantly less money. I know I can do it but I know I have a hard time sticking to anything. In fact I already have my eyes on:

http://www.anthropologie.com:80/anthro/catalog/productdetail.jsp?color=prl&navAction=jump&id=741362
http://www.anthropologie.com:80/anthro/catalog/productdetail.jsp?color=bla&navAction=jump&id=760093

So it' s a six week fast from spending. I have to figure out how to get more out of life than being a consumer. I should be able to live 6 weeks without buying anything I don't need. However, I haven't proven that to myself in the past.

plops you all in the middle of the convo...



ha ha ha......that was really funny

too bad my breasts aren't even real

they felt real

felt?

yeah you let me feel them before.

wait when? let you? I don't remember this.

a couple of years ago on my birthday.

really? dude i remember everything. please stop playing with me.

no I carressed them.

bullshit.

what was my reaction?

you didn't react.

i can't believe this.

i'm really serious. you should stop drinking so much.

actually i didn't drink that night. you were the drunk one.

oh yeah.

maybe you imagined this because i would remember something like this.

let me do it again so you can remember this time.

One of my favorite party jams. Yes, I said party jams. Whenever anyone mention Bass music this is the first thing that comes to mind. Videos have really changed. I didn't see any stilettos by the pool. Wait there are black women swiming!

Dress better than you feel.

After being sick for a few days while on vacation, I made my return to work this morning. Last night I decided to pack my items for the gym so I could back into the swing of things. I woke up this morning at 6:30am which is exactly when my class started at the gym. I overslept, even slept through the alarm which is something I never do. Given that, I could get in another hour of sleep.

I was still coughing and hacking but decided to goto work anyway. To combat how I felt, I put on the best non wrinkled summer outfit I could find. I even put on earrings, lipgloss, and "Stunna Shades II".

I get there and I am already tired and disoriented. I tried to do some work but I couldn't. Also there was something looming over my head that I would like to get resolved fairly quickly. I went to take a sip of water only to realize that there was a giant piece of paper in my new water bottle and it took me 3 hours to notice. That's when I knew I was out of it.

I checked the bus schedule so I could time my departure perfectly. I walk out the door into the sweltering heat and the bus pulls right up. I sit on the seat and it starts. Loud noises from my stomach. It's going crazy and I'm not sure if i'm going to make the 10 minute ride home. I start to think "Will I be like the girl from flavor of love 2" ? I never saw that infamous episode but I know enough of the details to know that I have to make home. I do just that.

I made it home in time to relieve myself and just in time for the rain. This morning the weather man stated that there would be no rain today we would have to wait until tomorrow. I feel sorry for all those scantily clad women downtown who were caught off gaurd. It's rather nice to be laying in the bed in the rain.

p.s. this blog doesn't have adventures anymore so I need to work on a new name. any suggestions? I picked a new one for now but it doesn't fit either.

I'm sick and haven't felt like posting.

Just a quick update on the last post. He touched her thigh, is how she tells her side of the story. I haven't asked for his yet. I think he got excited during the piggy back ride, lol. It's all good now.