I'm on vacation!

I'll let you all know if we get kicked off the boat. Please now, D.elta is the debil. I had to pay $80 for my 10 pounds over limit bag. I'll be purchasing a small suitcase before I head home on next Sunday.

Why did we have to sit on the tarmac for 25 minutes while the TSA folks remove every bag from the plane in our spot because the passenger wasn't on the plane, but there bag was?

I ate some incredible Jamaican Jerk Shrimp with black beans, plantains and jasmine rice. Loved it!

Anyway more to come, but ya'll I am tired.

20 REASONS NOT TO GO ON A FAMILY VACATION



Here are the 20 reasons not to go on family vacations:

20. Your debit card is not your credit card with an unlimited balance. It i
is limited by the money in your checking account.

19. There is a reason why children on cruises should not be in a room by themselves. They are bad. So you know security is going to be called.

18. There is only one formal night on a 4 night cruise, a dress for ever night is ridayumdiculous.

17. The Sailpass needs to be explained to all children, because they will be using it to buy toys out of the gift shop. This means you 2 Hunny Bunny. No spongebob for you.

16. Oh, an oceanview is when you can see the ocean whether it is through a square or a hole…

15. You will need money on the cruise if you decide to drink more than water. There is no plan which will allow you to work off your debt by washing dishes.

14. No your in-law cannot share a room with one of the male members. Why? We don’t know his azz.

13. This is a family cruise not a honeymoon cruise. I am not giving you $50 on the Romance package. I don’t want to know if the newlyweds are having sex or not. I changed his dayum diaper for goodness sake! I prefer to think of my cousin as the little baby with colic.

12. The purpose of the walkie talkies is so your Mother can get in contact with her grown azz teenagers. Answer it so she won’t be running from floor to floor screaming y our name with her hair standing on top of her head.

11. Don’t change your reservations two weeks before your sail date…it’s not my fault you had to stand on the gangway cuz they couldn’t figure out where the hell you were suppose to be.

10. With family members arriving by train, bus, plane and car…someone is bound to be delayed and miss the dayum cruise.

9. When we plan a “family vacation”, that means family only. Not random folks to make up the group numbers in order to get a good price.

8. Um, we are 4 weeks out, what do you mean you don’t have your passport? You do know it takes 6 weeks for it to come back? What do you mean you don’t have the money for the passport?

7. If your summer clothes from 2007 were tight and you don’t have the money to purchase any clothes I would kindly appreciate it if you would always be at least 20 paces ahead of me or behind me. Don’t want folks to get the wrong impression about me. {I am dying on this one!!! My summer clothes from 2005 were too tight, but um I’m pulling them out! LOL!!}

6. You do realize you are going to need some money on the cruise?

5. Please do not embarrass me at dinner by ordering two entrees, because you know you are going to be hungry with the small portions.

4. Dear cousin, you have one more time to tell me that if I should find a man on the boat and will be gone for a few hours, to let someone know of my whereabouts. First of all, if I choose to get my freak on with the headwaiter because I love his Armenian accent and decide to lay up with him in the crew’s quarters, that is my dayum business. Further, never called into question whether I have an inner skank, we all have one. My suggestion is you discover yours so you can have as much fun on the cruise as I plan to.

3. Why are members of the family already fighting? We haven’t even left, lawd help us!

2. Read your dayum paperwork. In fact why didn’t you read the information before you booked the dayum cruise. It clearly states, “Oceanview – Porthole”. Read your dayum paperwork. There are forms you need to fill out before you embark onto the cruise ship. Read your dayum paperwork. Yes it will cost you to use the wireless service, yes it will cost your to use your cell phone and yes ain’t nothing really free. So read your dayum paperwork.

1. Don’t ever go on a cruise with family. Especially if they are broke! ….we’re bound to wind up either put off the boat, or on the headline news!!

Comments in blue are from my sister.

Hair pictures...I Hope...

My May...

Where do I start? This past May was a bit busy and a bit different. My hair was acting a fool. I went from April 11, 2008 until May 29, 2008 which is just short of 7 weeks before my retightening. My head was a mess. I had a little afro on the left side where several of my baby locs slipped completely out and the right side um, let's just say my consultant had a few to put back in on that side too as well as combine a few to make them stronger! And the shedding! OMG! My curlie ends, were not really curling like they normally do and the ends were just shedding so bad I was getting nervous. I mean a little is one thing but my ends were hanging on by threads and some of my locs were thinning, which is why some of them had to be combine to create stronger locs. Hot mess! Of course I told my consultant about it and she suggested the SL conditoner cream on my ends and to moisturize my ends regularly. So we will see. I will say the shedding isn't so bad, but hey it has only been a week. Other than these few mishaps, my hair is doing what it does. I have few more sealed ends which I tend to seek out when I am bored. Yep, these 5 sealed ends make my day. LOL!

Okay, on to what other things have happen this month. On May 3rd, a former worker from my second job was murdered by her ex-boyfriend who refused to let her move on. She was 19 years old and had a 2 year old and a 5 month old. When we hired her we didn't know she was pregnant. I was so pissed! I mean you couldn't tell during the interview process, but when she got hired it was SO obvious. Nothing we could do, but I found her to be a sweet girl with a lot of challenges ahead of her. She wanted to work and she was reliable and responsible. Now, near the end of her pregnancy she wasn't worth two pennies put together, but I enjoyed working with her. I remember her talking about this guy saying he was older and would give her money and she didn't have to do anything. I remember to this day that I told her to be careful, because older men are possessive. He was 42 years old and he shot her in the head and chest and five days later killed himself. I cried when I found out about it because she left two beautiful babies, and one thing about her was she loved her children. RIP Shyya!

Another heartbreaking thing happened to my book club member. Mary just completed her cancer treatments at the end of 2006. Well, after her routine 6 months check up, they found cancer again. This is how I told my book club members:

When my aunt and uncle moved into their house, my grandmother planted a rose bush on the corner of the porch. It was her gift to her son and daughter-in-law. That rose bush has withstood harsh weather, being cut down numerous times and many droughts. Still it flourishes. Right now only a stump remains, but it has been in this situation several times before and each time like a rose growing out of concrete, it has risen. I know by the end of the year I’ll be stopping by it to smell one of its delicate red buds and inhaling its intoxicating scent. That rose bush is a true testament to resilience. It has to be, because it takes a beating but doesn’t give up.

Like that rose bush, enduring life means not giving up and accepting it takes strength, courage and understanding to live. I wrote this to inform you as Imani Sisters that each of us has a strength and courage to withstand life’s obstacles. On last Thursday, Mary informed me her breast cancer had return to the other breast. I immediately barraged her with questions she couldn’t answer and in her typical fashion, she kept up the strong voice and face. You have to be strong when faced with such an obstacle. She asked that I refrain from telling everyone until after our meeting on Saturday. As you can imagine there is a sense of shock and a need to deal and accept what one must face and she really wasn’t ready to answer our questions because she didn’t have the answers and she was still dealing with the diagnosis.

So I have been dealing with that and trying to be supportive. Ladies, please check your breast. Mary found the first lump by doing a self-exam and this time the doctor's found it. It is a different cancer and a different breast. By age 35 you should have a baseline mammogram and at 40 you should have them done every year.

Now on to some not so sad things. I am in the process in getting ready for the family cruise that set sails on June 30th. Um, next week I am going to post 20 Reasons Not to Go On Vacation With Your Family. And when you read them make no mistake about it, it has happened. LOL!

Read a couple good books this past month. Our May book club read was, Casanegra by Blair Underwood, Steven Barnes and Tananarive Due. It is a mystery/suspense novel that I LOVED. This book kept me guessing until the end. The themes were so diversified and the storyline so rich it is one book once you pick it up, you will not be able to put it down. This was the best book I have read all year, and I have read a lot of books. Next, if you like steamy erotica with a storyline check out Up All Night by Delilah Dawson. Let's just say it takes sexual fantasies to a whole other level. I am currently reading Don't Blame It On Rio by Jewel Woods and Karen Hunter it is a nonfiction book about why African-American men are going to Brazil for sex. And I am reading Beneath the Bruises by Dywane D. Birch, he is one of my favorite authors and he also has become a wonderful friend. It is about a domestic violence victim and her journey to self-discovery and moving towards a healthy life.

This month promises to be crazy as well, but I am going to try to do the post them later posts so my posts aren't a novel.

Hope you are loving life and living it to the fullest.

Next week a funny post...