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There’s nothing quite like the feeling of coming home after a trip.

A part of you misses the fun you had and another part of you..really misses being by yourself.

I am the most comfortable when I am alone with my sons or..

….just alone.

I could really deal with everyone else via email or phone and be fine. I feel so relaxed now that I’m home. I don’t know what to think but…I just need to accept that I’m not a socialite or even sociable. And that should be alright…

All I gotta say is…This weekend was such a treat for me… I gained a whole new perspective on my life.

Details soon.

Not Pleasing An Audience

Man….

I’m back here again. it doesn’t feel good. While I was with my boys I felt like I…like I meant something to somebody. I felt connected, cherished, important, valued, needed, loved.

I don’t feel like that here. I’m in full recovery mode, only coming out of my room to eat, phone is off so today I won’t be anyone’s entertainment.

It’s funny how I want to help people to heal in the same areas that I’m having issues in- relationships- but I don’t really connect with people myself.

I had a long nightmare last night. in the nightmare I was being chased by men, they were trying to rape me because they hated me. i managed to hide pretty well until I was surrounded by them. Then I rememebered that I was dreaming so I raised my hands to the sky like Superman and I said, “I’m gonna fly…”

But I didn’t.

I didn’t move at all. It didn’t work.

So I woke up.

I don’t know how to turn the entertainer/motivator in me off..and honestly, I want to be valued for more than that someday. When I’m with my sons, I feel like I can really be me.

Any other time, I feel like I’m acting, trying to please an audience.

I want to relax sometime…but there’s no time for that, I guess.

A New Perspective

I had a rough day today…

It was one of those days where I could have ended up in tears, hiding under the covers and hating myself but…

I chose not to.

I took out my camera and clicked through the pictures from this weekend. I love my sons. I know that’s a given but they really…feed me..feel me…know me.

I never feel that feeling when I’m with anyone else. It’s not some power trip because they have to listen to me, it’s a connection- like, they KNOW me. They love me.

I think I’m about to cry as I write this…but, I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Gainesville this weekend. Once I got on the road, I popped in my Bone Thugs N Harmony CD and I floated up the turnpike.

Driving like that gave me so much time to think and breathe and release my emotions surrounding my circumstances. The feel of the wind on my face was arousing. The thought of spending time with my sons gave me chills.

We did everything that I wanted for us to do. We were blessed beyond measure. We hung out on UF’s campus and took a tour of the city. We went to every apartment that I lived in while I was there and I told them stories of things we used to do when we were together. I showed them the hospital where they were born and took them to the park where we used to play. I even got to take them to breakfast at Shoney’s, we used to have breakfast there on Sundays.

They don’t remember much, and that saddens me. To think that after staying up nights with screaming infants, potty training and teaching them how to eat, walk and dress themselves, all of that is forgotten.

I met up with my friend Kenya in Gainesville and she introduced me to her Dad as my boys and I hung out on campus.

I was watching Kenya and her Dad interact, they are so much alike it’s crazy. I remember them not always having the best relationship and she said it all changed when she let go of wanting him to treat her in a certain way. She just looked at him..and accepted him for who he is and now they are pals.

Pals.

I watched with a certain degree of envy as she talked to him on the phone, “Hey Daddy! Come get me.”

Daddy…

Daddy…

That amazes me. I don’t have anyone to call Daddy. That word is so special to me.

After the boys were asleep Kenya and I hung out by the pool of the motel I was staying in. We talked forever about everything but there was one statement that really stood out.

She mentioned that she had told her Dad about my recent child support hearing. He looked at her and said, “She can do it.”

Wow. Everytime I have to tell that story I get the same response. “That’s messed up.” “He’s crazy.” “He’s going to get his.” “There’s no way you can do that.”

His one statement weighed more than all of those other opinions.

I can do it.

I can do this.

Somehow, God saw it fit to allow me to face this situation and there obviously has to be some kind of way that I can handle it. I have not figured out what that is yet..but I believe that everything that I need is always on my pathway. It always is. It may not be an option that I would have chosen for myself, but that’s how life is sometimes.

I have to be willing to do something that I have never done before.

I don’t know what that is yet but…

I will figure it out.

I can do it.

Happy And Nappy And Free!

Guess who I got to see today?

~dancing~

That’s right! MIMI!

My homegirl is in town and she invited me over to visit. We took a drive to the local Walgreens and we stood in the aisles for I don’t know how long as I explained to her why I think it’s important for me to try my hand at becoming a stripper.

She looked at me like I was crazy.

“Dawg, I’m so tired of being ashamed of my body. If I could just build up the confidence to strut around naked and work the pole I know that it would break down a barrier for me. I want to encourage women to love their love handles, stretch marks and booty dimples, if they have them. I think I’m gonna start a movement!”

“Umm..What you’re trying to teach is immoral?”

“According to who?”

“According to the Bible.”

“Man….”

We went back and forth as I explained to her how I feel about religion, that’s there no one set path and even if someone decides to engage in a religion it should be because that way works for them, not because someone told them that they are going to hell if they don’t believe in that certain way.

“Hmm…Now I can understand why you said you didn’t want to marry a Christian man. I thought my ex husband made you mad and you blamed all Christians for it, but it’s really because you know your beliefs will clash. But be careful what you put out there, your career may never recover from it if you decide you change your mind later.”

After our power chat session at Walgreens we went back to her house and she shared some of her Haitian food with me. She made a dish of fried fish, white rice and this bean soup. It was absolutely delicious! I could have stayed the whole day just sitting and chatting with her but I had to go back to campus to finish my presentation.

Before I left Mimi gave me the biggest, tightest hug that I’ve had in a long time. I almost cried right there in her arms and her baby gave me a kiss on the cheek, I almost melted with love.

I zoomed back to campus and chatted with Kim a little bit before settling down to do my presentation. Our group decided to do a presentation on the life transition: Graduation.

My part was to come up with a short presentation on what Graduation means to me. I didn’t want to do some regular junk so I took out my Graduation CD by my baby Kanye West and I did a whole power point presentation on how Kanye views education and how his view affected his relationship with his Mom. I then chose a few songs from the album and copied a couple of verses from each to show as examples of Kanye’s attitude and inspiration.

I finished with just 30 minutes to go before class. My group called me up and I rushed out to meet them. How about when I got there, they handed me a piece of paper and said, “Just read this.”

Whuh? “Oh, we changed the presentation and you don’t have to present your part anymore.”

Whuh?

Ughh..I hate group projects!

Fuck! All that work I did! Damn!

Anyway…We went to dinner together on campus and had all kinds of laughs about our teacher. She’s crazy! This man missed two classes and she handed him his withdrawal slip…at the end of class like…Bye.

My classmate was like, “Hell naw…I PAY for this class I can miss as many as I want to!”

But dang ya’ll! I feel so good right now!

I think it’s because..well..take a look for yourself!

Yep! I did it! I snatched my weave out this weekend!

~dancing~

No more weave for Ms. Tee!

I’m finally starting my locking process with my hair. Actually, my twists didn’t stay in for long because I just used mousse as I twisted them but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my natural hair!

Oh my gosh!

I feel so free!
I feel so nappy and happy and authentic and beautiful! I look like a Queen to me!

I can’t stop looking in the mirror and touching my coarse hair and pulling on the twists and just staring at my reflection!

I love it!

I ain’t nevah going back to that weaved out look again!

~sigh~

It feels so good to be free to be ME!

Back In Love

~sigh~

I heard Kanye and his fiance broke up… I think I’m in love with him again. I’m trying to stop it. Really I am. It’s just…After his Mom died I couldn’t even stand to hear his voice because it made me so sad for him. I finally got back to a place where I can listen to his music and appreciate him for his brilliant spirit again. It moves me to tears because I feel like I’m walking the same path he walked and it makes me feel better about my life.

I hate that I’m always crushing on men who are absolutely unavailable to me. It’s pointless.

Yesterday I decided that I wasn’t going to be all goo goo over any guy ever again unless he was goo goo over me too. I put certain men, like Donovan Daniels, The Prez and my Ex Bernard and other fools like DL Dell on a pedestal when they really don’t deserve that shit. None of them has ever done anything remarkable for me.

I know what it is. I treat people how I want them to treat me. I adore certain men because I hope that they will adore me too.

They never do.

So I’m gonna let that go..none of those dudes were worth it…or me.

But..I think I’m gonna hang on to Kanye for now..

I just..like him. Shit..ain’t no harm in that, really.

His sexy ass!
Our kids are gonna be so cute and smart!

27 Dresses With Tamara

My life is a miracle.

And I’m appreciative of the little things.

Tonight Tamara called me after work and we chatted easily about her love life and other “good news” gossip about our friends. She took a quick nap, I did some work on my book and we reconnected at around 8:30.

“I’m about to go get some crab legs,” Tamara announced.

“Ooh, I wish I could have some too!” I said.

“Go ahead and treat yourself, girl. I’m gonna put some money into your account on Monday.”

“Thanks Dawg!”

As we both made our trips to the grocery store to pick up our steamed crab legs, I stopped by the dollar movie machine still chatting with Tamara while I chose the movie 27 Dresses to watch on my laptop. Since I don’t have a TV I never get to watch TV unless I go hang out with my Mama. Tamara got home and decided to rent the same movie on PayPerview so we could talk about it after.

We both giggled and broke out our crab legs and settled down to watch our movie. When it was over I called her.

“Are you done yet?” I asked.

“Yep, I just got to the part where the newspapers is showing the credits.”

“I liked it. What did you think?”

“I liked it too.”

“Did you see yourself in it?” I asked.

“Yeah, I did. I feel like I’m that person who is always running to help other people. And I feel like that girl, her bestfriend was too much like you!”

“I saw that at some point,” I admitted. “But what I realized more was that this chick was always at someone’s side helping them, celebrating them when secretly she really wanted to be celebrating herself. But maybe she didn’t really believe that she would have her day, or maybe she didn’t think she deserve it. That’s kinda how I feel sometimes. I’m all focused on other people’s relationships and becoming a relationship expert and all this mess. It’s like I’m obsessed with love and romance..and it’s only cuz, I don’t know what it’s like to BE in those kind of situations.”

Tamara and I chatted more about what it feels like to be in love. I decided not to write about divorce for my term paper which is due in a little more than a week. Instead I’m going to write and research what being in love feels like and I’m going to use Tamara as my case study.

“I can’t stop thinking about this man,” Tamara said. “When I’m with him I just want to pinch him because I can’t believe he’s real. The crazy thing is..he looks at me the same way. Everytime I talk to him, he’s always telling me why he loves me. He can probably come up with so many reasons and still I look at him and think, ‘Why is this man with me?'”

Oh yeah..I got to meet Tamara’s man last weekend. She was in town with him so that he could meet her parents. She says he told her that that trip took their relationship to another level and he is so glad it did.

I’ma be so honest with you…Tamara’s man is the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen in my entire life. So serious. He looks like he should be a teen heartthrob or something. He’s not quite manly looking but if I were in highschool and I saw him, I would probably faint. I almost did.

When I saw him, I almost screamed. “Damn dawg, look what God can do!” I exclaimed and she looked at me and shook her head. “I told you,” she whispered.

It’s amazing to see how he takes such good care of her and her children. They are crazy about each other and I’m always like, “This seems so phony to me,” whenever she tells me stories. I mean, two people can’t be THAT much in love? Or can they…

Oh yeah. I wanted to mention that my sister is now the epitome of ghetto love. She and her fiance just got tattoos of each other’s names. LOL! She got hers on her lower back and he got her name tatted on his neck. I almost died!

At first I was totally against it, because I’m not a fan of tattooes, even though I have one. I regret that shit. But then..I was just walking through campus and I thought about it..Damn….Kanye was right. I think I read on his blog where he said if he doesn’t love something he’s not going to do it. So when you do love something you should do it BIG.

And that’s exactly what my sister is doing.

I called her up and said, “Teenie, I just want you to know that I am so proud of you.”

“For what?”

“Cuz, dawg…You don’t care what anyone says. You know people are saying it’s too early for you to be even thinking about getting married again, but you don’t care. YOu never ONCE worried about finding a job when you were unemployed and this good ass job came to you! You are the queen of allowing good things to flow and I need to be more like that.”

“Girl, if you understood how good it feels right now to be with a man like this you’d be getting a tattoo too,” she told me. “Even if for some reason, we don’t work out, I don’t care because I always want to remember how great being loved feels and I’ve never loved anyone the way I love him. But chile please..he’s not going anywhere and I know that.”

She knows that.

It is quote overwhelming at times to watch everyone around me be in love like this.
Shit..I wasn’t even going to write about this until it became for real, for real, but shit..Kim doesn’t read this and oh well..I can’t hold good news…

Kim is ENGAGED!

Like..for real. Like..She is getting married on December 6th of this year!

I’m amazed and honestly, so happy that my friend is getting what she wanted. I wasn’t feeling old dude for the longest because she always complained about leaving him and finding something better but now she has flipped it and she appreciates him for the way he loves her instead of wanting a man who had more to offer materially.

Kim is engaged…She has always wanted to be a wife. The best thing is, she’s getting married here in Miami so I will definitely be able to go.

Hmmm…I sometimes think that I should feel sad for myself because I have yet to experience what everyone is going through..you know, the bliss of finding a good match..but…I don’t know. It doesn’t bother me to hear their stories. It makes me feel good that they are all happy.

Cuz I’m happy too. Right now..Right here. Regardless of everything.

I’m living the good life.

Even my Mama thinks so.

75% Reduction Of Bullshit Because Of My Natural Hair

Hallelujah!

I am so so happy right now! It’s my hair. I know I said I was gonna try to start locking it, but I don’t know if I’m ready to make that type of commitment yet. Right now I’m still rocking the low fro. Half of it is still twisted, half isn’t. ~shrugs~

I love it!

First of all.. I don’t get NEARLY as many men trying to talk to me with this hairstyle. I can actually eat a meal without 2-3 guys coming up to me trying to “get to know me”. I am so grateful.

Now, I only get approached by one man per meal! I can go out and eat! Now..when I’m at the store, I see them looking, but they don’t approach me like they would have when I had all that weave in my head. I’ve cut down on 75% of bullshit from men since I snatched that weave out.

I feel like I can breathe. I don’t know if I ever want to comb my hair again…

This is so nice. I feel like I can really just relax.

And I still feel beautiful everyday…

First Rejection Bliss

Feelin good right now..

I got my first rejection letter from a publisher about my book. This is GREAT news because every big name author says they got rejected countless times before they got the deal that cemented their career as an author.

I had been doing research trying to submit my book proposal by myself but most publishers say that you need an agent so I had been looking for an agent in Miami as well.

The good news is my good friend’s Dad has his own publishing company but he wants to see the finished product before he can decide if he wants to offer me a publishing deal. The bigger companies only want to see a proposal and a few sample chapters, but I’m just gonna keep focused, keep writing and expect the best.

I’m feeling good. I got my first rejection. Maybe I’ll only get a few more before I get my deal.

In the meantime, I’m preparing my focus group to read and critique my book. I offered members of my yahoo group the chance to participate and I’m going to use my classmates at school.

The plan is to release my book within the next few months as an eBook on Amazon and see how sales go. If I don’t have a committed publisher before then, the eBook sales should convince them to offer me a print deal.

I can’t believe that I’m sitting here writing about getting my first publishing deal. I always wondered what kind of writing I did best, and I think I’ve found it. It’s funny cuz…blogging and doing the articles on Embrace Your Fantasy really prepared me for writing this book.

I really hope you guys like it. It’s a guaranteed pick me up!

I’m so happy!

40 Something Missed Calls

I went to bed late last night after finishing another chapter of my book. I felt like I was drunk with the feeling of accomplishment. I’m so close to becoming an author. I’m so proud of myself!

All of a sudden I was awakened from a confusing dream by the sound of my cell ringing. I blinked my eyes, grabbed it and looked at the caller ID.

Restricted ID

I clicked the green button and mumbled, “Hello?”

No one said anything but I could hear background noise.

“Hello?”

Silence.

Ughh.. I hung up.

The phone rings again. I pick up.

“Hello?”

Nothing.

I hang up and press silent on my phone. I can’t go back to sleep so after a while I check my phone to see the time and I’m shocked!

14 Missed Calls!

The phone rings again and I drop it.

Restricted ID.

WTF?
I let it go and watch as the phone rings over and over and over and over and over. WHen it finally stopped, it had 27 missed calls.

That’s over 40 calls from some random person…

I got scared and looked around the room. Who the fuck is stalking me? My mind wandered..No, I’m not sleeping with anyone’s man. Hmmm…I haven’t argued with anyone recently, I rarely argue anyway. I’m not bothering anyone at all. No one I know likes me that much. Hmm..I don’t get it.

I decided to change my number and I rolled over and went back to sleep.

Today I was thinking about it and I guess I felt better about it when the thought hit me, “Someone has you HEAVY on their mind!”

I’m not gonna worry. I’m protected and blessed.

But that was some weird shit…