For Crying Out Loud

I have found myself in quite a pickle this evening. As I type this, my precious son of 3 years is screaming at the top of his lungs in protest over being put to bed. He is 3 years old, and he's upset about going to bed. Par for the course, maybe? I'm not so sure. Stay with me on this one.

My son goes to my mom's house every weekend or so to visit. He plays to his heart's content, and then promptly at 7:30pm he starts making his way towards the bedroom where he sleeps when he's there. He climbs into bed, and by 8pm he is sound asleep. That's the scenario at my parents' home. (My son is still screaming right now, by the way)

Here's how things go down when Mommy is home alone with the kids: Mommy is at work until right up until 6pm trying to finish all the work she took on that day so that she will continue to be the shining star among her peers. Mommy barely makes it to darling son's school on time to pick him up, and we usually don't make it home until around 6:45pm. Dinner isn't ready until around 7 or 7:15pm. We eat and watch one of his favorite shows. Between 7:30 and 8pm, we spend time reading ALL of the books he has stashed in the living room. By 8pm it is time for a bath. This is one of his favorite parts of the evening so there's no protesting yet. Then, the dreaded words come out of Mommy's mouth: Time for bed!

And let the drama ensue. Screaming, crying, "MOMMMMYYYY!!" I read him books, and let him watch another 30 minute show while I clean up. None of it matters. He knows that ultimately he will have to go to bed, and he is unhappy about this. Yet at my parents' house, he goes right to bed with no problem. While typing this, I just realized what the issue stems from (besides me just being a jacked-up mom).

My mom is retired. She's home all day with my son and daughter while they're at her home, so by the time bedtime rolls around, he's fulfilled his quota of loving "Grams" and "Pop Pop" time. Unfortunately, Mommy works all day so that in the future, he and his sister can attend a high-end private school funded by their attorney father who happens to currently be a full time student and not working, hence Mommy's full time job. Get my drift? It's a no-win situation, at this point.

I just pray that he grows out of it soon. By soon I mean by this upcoming weekend because we will SO be at Disney World for a week, and he will need his rest to keep up with Mommy. :-)

P.S. He's still screaming at the top of his lungs, and sounds so pitiful. But every time I give in, I contribute to the delinquency of a Mama's Boy and I'm trying to prevent that. But he's the cutest boy I've ever seen, so I'm signing off now to have cuddle time with my little angel and rock him to sleep.

R.I.P. Dennis Johnson (1954 - 2007)

Probably one of the most easy-going personalities in NBA Basketball. A Celtics legend. He will be missed.



Currently the top story on SI.com

Read FULL STORY here.

"Auto"matic Foul!

Update: 3:30pm

My labels for this post are quite redundant, wouldn't you say?
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I got hit by a car yesterday morning. It was one of those things that was inevitable based on the "near-misses" I've been having recently. A car pulls out of a gas station into the road. I'm driving in the left lane of said road, figuring that he is merging into the open turning lane to wait on my lane to clear of traffic. No, this car actually proceeds to drive straight into my lane...right into my truck! The driver never stopped, and I guarantee you that they saw me. There was no blind spot involved here, or anything like that. I did not stop and get out of my truck to check for damage and exchange insurance information. I just kept driving even though the other driver was at fault. Here's why:

There are a few roads here in metro Atlanta that Chris has warned me over and over not to drive on. MLK Drive is one such road. Chris has actually pleaded with me to take any other side street I wanted, but to avoid MLK Drive like the plague. Well, this morning, I got a late start leaving home, and by the time I got on the road traffic reports were measuring the length of time to drive from Douglasville to the I-285 perimeter at 65 minutes. Bear in mind that this is a drive that should only take about 17 minutes. So, MLK Drive pretty much dead ends at the CNN Center, and I figured I'd chance it this particular morning. Looks like the odds were against me. most of the people that live in this particular area of town invite confrontation so that they have a reason to react violently and impress their friends. I refuse to give them the opportunity to use me to prove their thug, wannabe "manhood" to someone. So I never even stopped driving until I got safely to work.

I prayed the entire remainder of my drive, specifically asking the Lord for peace and understanding. I was beginning to tremble with anger. "Why does this keep happening to me", I wondered aloud? Remember the incident with "Laura" from a few months back? No? See my post "Legalities vs Emotion" for a refresher. I also neglected to mention the interesting event that occurred about two weeks ago where a MACK truck came barreling uncontrollably across the entrance ramp simultaneously crossing all 4 lanes of the highway before crashing into the median wall 25 feet in front of me. I was too shaken up to bring it up here, and by the time I got over it, I had moved on to other things.

I can't help but wonder if this is the Lord's way of getting my attention. Sometimes I get so caught up in my own worries and concerns that I forget to just listen out for Him. You better believe I'm listening intently now! Oh and by the way, I did finally check my truck for damages after I got to work. Not a single scratch! That's called "God's Unwarranted Favor!" :-)

Carlos Mencia EXPOSED

Scroll to bottom for update

Over the past few days, there has been a lot of discussion about comedian Carlos Mencia. If you're not familiar with him, Carlos has made a career out of telling self-deprecating ethnic jokes. He's basically a Dave Chappelle sans the raw talent. I'm glad that things are starting to come out now, because I've always liked the jokes that Carlos told, but I couldn't understand what kept me from buying into him completely. It's like 5 out of every 8 jokes he tells leave me thinking to myself, "Why does that sound so familiar?" I'm always feeling a sense of deja vu while watching Mencia's routine. Now I understand why!!


[Source: hispaniconline.com]

Apparently, Carlos Mencia is the running joke among improv stand-up comedians. In fact, it seems that Mencia has ticked off quite a few people in the industry. Do you know who Joe Rogan is? Well, he happens to be the host of Fear Factor, and one of the most "in-your-face" guys I've ever seen in my life. In the clip below, Joe puts Carlos "on blast" as one of my favorite bloggers P. Moore puts it. This video is from this past Saturday night. I've got to hand it to whoever put this video segment together; they really did their research! Carlos really looks like a...well, see for yourself!




More info at:

[Source:TheThink.com]
[Source: Digg.com]

UDPATE - 9:45am

See Joe Rogan's website. He says that he was banned from The Comedy Store because of his "altercation" there with Carlos Mencia this past Saturday night.

TBS. Very funny.

Why this title, you ask? Something very funny happened today. Something worthy of calling 1-800-TBS-FUNNY.

I went to Moe's for lunch today. This particular Moe's is in the CNN Center, and all of the workers there are Hispanic. There was a gentleman in front of me on his cell phone chatting it up, and attempting to order at the same time. The Moe's employee seemed to be growing increasingly irritated with this behavior. Here's the funny:

Hispanic employee: Salsa?
White American guy: Si, por favor (Translation: Yes, please). Es caliente? (Translation: Is it hot?)
Hispanic employee: Nope, it's mild.


HAHA!! That made my day. :-)

In Memory of Nyia Page

I read the horrific story of what happened to Nyia Page for the first time about 4 days ago. It has been one of the top 3 stories on CNN.com since last Tuesday. The story didn't get a lot of attention, presumably because it was sharing screentime with stories of the death of Anna Nicole Smith, and the story of the crazy, cross-country driving, diaper wearing astronaut.

More details about Nyia's story became available on Thursday, and I was instantly sickened upon reading them. I have spent the last few days grieving over the tragic, horrifying death of this baby. I have never before mourned the loss of someone I didn't even know for this long. But the moment you become a mother, you instantly become a mother to all children. I honestly felt physically ill for most of yesterday, and based on my symptoms, I'm pretty sure that it's due to the emotional toll that this story has taken on my heart.

I have prayed to the Lord, and asked Him to give me a heart of forgiveness for the person who caused Nyia's death. But each day, more details about the story seem to be released, and I feel the anguish hit me all over again. I feel that if I go ahead and write about Nyia Miangel Page, share her story with those that have not heard about it yet, maybe I will finally feel some peace. Here is the story of an angel who never had a chance.

Nyia Miangel Page hadn't even turned 2 years old yet. She woke up around 12:30am last weekend and went to her parents' room to crawl into bed with them. Her mom took Nyia back to her own bed and laid her down. Some two hours later, Nyia ended up in the hallway near her parents' bedroom playing in front of a mirror. Her father was angered by Nyia still being awake. He began to hit her. He struck Nyia so violently that she hit her head against something hard enough to knock her unconscious. Her father then used a towel to wipe blood from Nyia's head, and proceeded to wrap her in a blanket and place her in the car. He drove to an old abandoned playground a few blocks from their home and left Nyia on the ground. The temperature in Pittsburgh last week didn't even reach 10 degrees in the evenings. She was unconscious but still breathing, according to her father. She was only wearing a diaper and a sweater. She didn't even have any socks or shoes on her little feet.

Her father then drove back to his home, and sometime within the next hour began ranting about his daughter being missing from his home. His neighbors witnessed this and everyone began assuming that Nyia was kidnapped from her home. For two days, about 100 residents in and around this Pittsburgh community began searching for Nyia. She was finally found, two days after her father had left her. According to police reports, Nyia was completely frozen when they found her. This is the part of the story that haunts me day and night: When Nyia was found, she was no longer in her blanket and her tiny footprints were found nearby in the snow. This suggests that she regained consciousness and began wondering around all by herself at night. The image of her screaming for her mommy and daddy, and eventually succumbing to such an awful death as hypothermia are honestly almost too much for my heart to bear.



Nyia would have turned two years old next month. Instead of having a party next month with cake, ice cream, and her favorite cartoon character on balloons, her family watched a casket containing Nyia's body be placed into the ground yesterday. I found a poem written in tribute of Nyia by a gentleman named Gary L Meyers.


Little Footprints in the Snow
I trusted you, your love a disgrace
Seeking only a fathers embrace
Betrayed by blood of my own kind
Conscious lost, its pain I find
From thy own hand, you swell my eye
Alone in snow, just left to die
The love I seek is all a lie
Little life the enormous cost
Imagine; imagine what you’ve lost
I wander, seeking your evil pain
Only cold and fear scream my name
My child’s cries are all in vain
My little footprints prove your shame
I live forever now in heavens glow
Foot prints on golden clouds, not in snow
Punishment by God will be your fate
True love of Jesus, was worth your hate

In the memory of Nyia Miangel Page

Gary L Meyers

Copyright ©2007 Gary L Meyers


Rest in peace, sweet angel and child of God. You are now in heaven, embraced by the love of the Heavenly Father. You will never hurt again. You will now only know eternal joy and happiness.

Sources:
CNN.com
Examiner.com
WPXI.com

Friday Roundup

Anna Nicole update: By now, you may have heard some of the speculation that's beginning to circulate...maybe Anna Nicole's death wasn't an accident. Well, my first thought was that she may have intentionally poisoned herself, feeling that life had become too much. I hope with all my heart that's not what happened. Then there are those that surmise that Howard Stern may have had some part in this tragedy. Want to read something eerie? Here is a post from DListed.com back in October 2006 in which Anna Nicole's mom gave her opinion on what may have contributed to the death of her grandson (Anna Nicole's 20 year old son Daniel). That speaks volumes as far as I'm concerned, but we will have to wait for the results of the evidence.



Prince the Shadow Puppet Man: Oh my friggin' gosh. More halftime Super Bowl controversy, except not really. No, what we have now are people who sit in a chair, eyes glued to the television set hoping to witness something at least as exciting as "Nipplegate 2004". The result is a complaint that Prince's act was intentionally lewd. Phallic-gate 2007...perfect. I take the position that the people who initially made this whole phallic-guitar comparison are the ones who have the lewd minds. I watched that halftime show about 3 times, and it never occurred to me that it was suggestive. I don't appreciate the insinuation that Prince Rogers Nelson has an obscene bone in his body. As far as I know, he has never done anything to warrant this type of conversation to take place. Okay seriously, who am I kidding?

Y&R: If you are not a fan of the soap opera, "The Young and the Restless" now would be a good time to jump on in and join the fun. This show is seriously good enough for prime time, and I'm not even exaggerating! The plot is so thick right now that I find myself trying to unravel it in my mind long after the episode has already ended. Four words: Sheila Carter...Carmen Mesta. There are some crazy intertwining of plots at hand that even those of us regular watchers will probably not be ready for. If you're not home during the day, please setup your DVRs. If you don't have DVR, you're dead to me. Oh, I kid, only because I love so deeply. :-)

[Source: youngandrestless.com]

Q100 update: I enjoy listening the morning show on Q100, a radio station here in Atlanta. The Bert Show is the best and they make my morning commute tolerable, even fun! Yet there is one DJ in particular that I wish would take up some other craft. Jennifer Hobby brings absolutely zero value to that show. She seems like a doll, and I'm sure she's a wonderful lady to be around. That doesn't mean she needs to be a radio DJ. Jeff brings the funny every single morning. His one-liners and quips are delivered with awesome timing on a regular basis. Even when he goes too far, or isn't as funny sometimes, he even acknowledges this in a hilarious way! Melissa and I haven't a single thing in common as far as I can tell, yet she is the grounding force on that show for me. She usually does a wonderful job of being able to separate her personal feelings from her overall job on the show. Even though I seldom agree with her from a general perspective, the woman always makes excellent points that I feel are well thought out and articulated brilliantly. And what can I say about Bert except that he is the glue that brings everything together. He has an amazing voice, his personality comes pouring out of the radio, and he just seems like a dynamic person that you could listen to for hours. And Jenn...well that's just it. She brings nothing to the show. She's not funny at all. She stumbles over her words a lot even while friggin' READING from a script right in front of her nose. Her voice is pretty, but not cut out for radio, in my opinion. I think that she would be better suited for television (with a very minor speaking role), since she's a very pretty lady and has some industry experience. I'll blog more later about why I chose today to specifically rant about my disdain with Jenn Hobby as a Q100 DJ.

RIP Anna Nicole Smith (1967-2006)

Very sad news. My prayers go out to her family. I can't imagine what they're going through.

[Story on CNN.com]

For those that missed it...

Here is video of the best Super Bowl halftime show that anyone has ever seen. Prince OWNS.

Part 1:


Part 2: (finale)

Congratulations Indianapolis Colts!

What a great Sunday this has been.

I went to church this morning and taught Sunday School by myself, since Chris has been really slammed with writing papers and briefs and getting little to no sleep. After Sunday School while still at church, I ran into my friend Lisa, and we decided to go grab a coffee from Starbucks. We had a wonderful time!! Sitting in a cafe in the middle of downtown Vinings on a beautifully crisp, sunny afternoon with a great friend. I wish I could do that more often!

Once I got back home, Chris and I had a great afternoon together. We have so much fun when we can just focus on one another! We eventually woke up the kids from their naps and Chris went to get an array of items for us to devour later that evening for our Super Bowl viewing.

We watched the 1st half of the Super Bowl while munching on hot wings, hot dogs, chili, french fries, pita chips, and hummus. So I will be hitting the gym extra hard this week! I spent the entire halftime show wondering who to write to and send my vote to have Prince perform the halftime show EVERY FRIGGIN' YEAR. That gorgeous purple guitar he used during "Purple Rain" greatly contributes to the rocking of my world. Best performance ever!

Oh, and Chris faded out by the beginning of the 3rd quarter. He started getting all 'serious law student, gotta be up by 5am, responsible parent' on me. We cleaned up downstairs, got the kids into bed, and 20 minutes later Chris was sound asleep. You know he was tired if he fell asleep on his Chicago Bears during the Super Bowl!!!

I stayed downstairs to watch the Colts finish whipping on the Bears. The happiest moment I've had in quite some time was the postgame show. I watched two of the nicest guys I've ever seen (Tony Dungy and Peyton Manning) give glory to God for both tonight's victory and for this team's entire journey together. As Tony Dungy pointed out, this was a chance for the world to see two Christian, black coaches (Bears Coach Lovie Smith is a Christian also) do things the Lord's way. Amen, brother!! I love it and I'm just seeping with pride right now!!

The only thing that worries me is the fact that Olan and Cassie were still awake about 5 minutes ago, and Chris and I will be waking them up at 5:30am sharp! Based on this alone, tomorrow may not be such a good morning; lots of prayer will be necessary for us to have another shot at the Best.Week.Ever. :-)

"Attitude reflects leadership". - Remember the Titans

Friday Tidbits

I think that on Fridays, I'll begin doing a quick round-up of all the little things that have been going on, but were overlooked with the hustle and bustle of the work week.

Harry Potter Book 7 release date: It has finally been unveiled! Scholastic announced yesterday that "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" will be released to the public on Saturday, July 21 at 12:01am. I wonder if I should head out there and save my place in line? Because you know there are people already lining up some places. Seriously.

The countdown begins: Four weeks from tomorrow, my week-long vacation in Orlando begins. You may remember that we were planning to go to Walt Disney World in December for our annual Christmas trip, but it was canceled due to overuse of my PTO throughout 2006.

James Biden inserts foot into mouth: Surely you've heard about the infamous "bright, clean, storybook African American" comments made by liberal Delaware Senator Biden earlier this week. The most unfortunate thing about this for Biden is the timing of his statements. He made them in an extremely PC country on the eve of his big announcement that he's running for president in 2008. Good Luck with that, Senator.

What's that sound? Oh it's deafening silence. It's been strangely quiet lately, since North Carolina District Attorney Nifong's entire case fell apart before his eyes. He used the blade of preexisting sharp racial tension in Durham, NC, to carve out an ideal scenario which would get him voted back into office as Atty General. Low-income blacks in Durham, that already experience class envy as a way of life, were exploited by Nifong and basically fed a bunch of lies and inconsistencies about a rape that never occurred. It didn't take much to convince a group of people that already feel like victims, that one of "their own" had been victimized by a wealthy, white Duke lacrosse player. Now, Nifong has come under fire by the North Carolina State Bar and others. Oh what a tangled web we weave...


I haven't been to work all week long: Olan got sick last Thursday, and I picked him up early from school. Within 24 hours, I felt pretty awful myself. We have both been home all week. I actually went to work from 3pm - 7pm yesterday which was helpful. I was able to get caught up on some things and reconnect with a couple of my co-workers that I've been missing. I learned one major thing this week...my family needs vitamins. All of us. Vitamins are our friends.

Enjoy the rest of your Friday!!