I Survived

I am so happy that Christmas has come and gone.

I couldn't afford to buy all the stuff the kids wanted, but I most of it anyway.

I wasn't in the mood to deal with my parents staying in my little house for two days, but they stayed in a hotel(thank god) and left early to beat the horrible storm that is now pouding Southern Cali.

My favorite cousin and her 2 boys who are visiting from France stayed two nights with us. I love her and them, but am glad they are heading back to the desert.

I was on vacation last week and never had any time to my self. I never updated my blog, checked in on any one elses blog or even accessed the internet other than to check my dwindling bank account.

I guess I am just selfish. I want to read my book, drink my wine and be left alone.

I know I should be happy and counting my blessings, instead I'm pouting, I'm tired and I am broke. And, I am back at work. crap

I know, I know. Get over myself.

What kind of soul are you?

Some aspects of this are pretty accurate.


You are a gentle soul, with good intentions toward everyone.Selfless and kind, you have great faith in people.
Sometimes this faith can lead to disappoinment in the long run.No matter what, you deal with everything in a calm and balanced way.
You are a good interpreter, very sensitive, intuitive, caring, and gentle.Concerned about the world, you are good at predicting people's feelings.
A seeker of wisdom, you are a life long learner looking for purpose and meaning.You are a great thinker and communicator, but not necessarily a doer.

But, I am definately a doer. I waits for no one. Much to my husbands dismay.

Two posts in one day

This is for Elle.

Three names you go by:
Bballmom …the internet moniker
Rena.. my real name
Mom

Three screennames you have:
I only have one: Bballmom

Three things you like about yourself:
my height
my laugh
my long legs

Three things you hate/dislike about yourself:
Having no boobs
being a procrastinator


Three parts of your heritage:
African-American
Haitian
American Indian

Three things that scare you:
Snakes
Spiders
Some horror movies

Three of your everyday essentials:
Decaf coffee
a glass (or two) of wine
a snickers bar

Three things you are wearing right now:
Black pants
Black shirt
Black shoes

Three of your favorite bands/artists (at the moment):
Jill Scott
Evanessence
Alicia Keys


Three of your favorite songs at present:
“Golden"
"you don't know my name"
"my immortal"

Three new things you want to try in the next 12 months:
I have no idea

Three things you want in a relationship (love is a given):

Friendship
Honesty
Laughter

Two truths and a lie:

My 14 year old son wears a size 16 shoe.
I love to read
I had an affair with a younger man

Three physical things about the opposite sex (or same) that appeal to you:
A bald head
A nice butt
Nice Brown skin

Three things you just can't do:
Sew
make cornbread from scratch
eat okra

Three of your favorite hobbies:
Reading
Writing
Knitting (still learning)

Three things you want to do really badly right now:
Eat lunch
Go to the library
get more family gossip from my cousin T.C.

Three careers you're considering:
Teaching
Media director of an inhouse agency
selling Avon

Three places you want to go on vacation:
Mexico
Italy
France (to see my cousin)

Three kids names: for either a boy or girl
Ashley
Lara
Megan (yes, Megan!)

Three things you want to do before you die:
Write a book of Poetry
Go see VM in France
Read the Bible all the way through

Three people who have to take this quiz now or die painfully:
Gwen
Antonio

I only gave you two.

To my Dad

Forgive me. This rambles a bit, but I had to post it here.

I was going to post a blog complaining all about my Dad. He's nosy, a pain in the butt and very opinionated. But, he's always been there for me. He was apart of my everyday life. He spent much of his time working so that we wouldn't be poor like he and my mom's families were.
We had family vacations and I was never hungry or went without.

I realized the need to be thankful and appreciative after reading X's post. The things that my father does to annoy me do not compare to the disrespectful way many fathers treat their children. I've never experienced that.

I love you Daddy. You are the example of what a hardworking black man should be. You taught me self respect and the importance of working hard. You always talked to me in an intelligent way and never put me down for anything.

You often didn't understand why I loved the high jump or play basketball. You didn't agree with my choice of husband, but you didn't verbally disservice that choice. And, I know that you would do anything in this world to make me happy.

You told me when I had my first child that you were going to hug your grandchildren. All the time. That you would make sure they got the hugs my brother and I didn't. You never learned that simple gesture of affection at home, so you couldn't pass it on to us. But you understood the importance of giving to the next generation.

I thank you for that. So do the 5 Jays and the Bball clan.

Thanks Dad. I love you "as midnight loves the moon."

This is a fundraiser

I have to tell this story because this is really bugging me.

I organized a raffle to raise money for my son's travel basketball team. I had a contact with a local electronics store who sells lots of big screen TV's. I asked if they would donate a TV as a grand prize for the raffle. They very nicely agreed to do so. And to deliver the TV to the winners house and set it up to their DVD, VCR etc. They one they agreed to donate was a 34" flat screen HDTV valued at $1400.00

All went well with the ticket sells. We had a great event where we drew the winners name. We sold just under $2,000.00 worth of tickets. The winner was contacted and the TV was to be delivered on Saturday.

The delivery man arrives and the winner proceeds to have a fit. Telling the delivery guy that the TV delivered to her is not what she won. She was told she was getting a "Plasma" big screen flat tv that would be mounted on her wall. I have no idea why she thought this, but she was wrong. So, she was rude to the delivery guy. Then she and her brother called the store and harrased the store manager. He hung up on them. To make maters worse, they sent the TV back to the store.

Through all of this, nobody bothered to call me and ask a question about this. I used my contacts to get this donation, I knew the serial number of the prize and that it was a $1400.00 TV moniter, not a $5000.00 plasma flat TV. No, they'd rather harrass a busy store manager on a Saturday during the Christmas shopping season to complain about a raffle PRIZE that they didn't even pay for.

What gets me is the winner spent $5.00 on raffle tickets to win this prize and pitched a fit because she misunderstood what she won. And instead of being grateful for the prize, harrases people and sends the TV back to the store. WTF??!!

Now, who would be the winner who has created all of these problems you ask? None other than the sister of the assistant executive director of the kids sports league!! Somebody who's name shouldn't have been entered in the contest and someone who should know better. This was about rasing money for kids, not about what you could win for a $1.00 ticket price. He and the executive director have made the biggest stink of all about this. They mispoke about the prize, not me. But, I look like boo boo the clown to my now very pissed off donor. A man who is a multimillionaire who may have been willing to make cash donations in the future.

Now, I have to apologize to my donor and we've lost the opportunity to work with this person again. And it also effects two other potential HUGE donors I may have gotten to give us some really big money. I understand why it is so difficult to get businesses to help and make donations. They don't want to be bothered.

The biggest loser of all is the kids. And none of these ghetto ass adults seem to understand that.

It's gonna be one of those days

This day hasn't started off well.

I woke up with a headache. As a matter of fact it hurts so much I had to get out of the bed to take something for it at 3:45am. Needless to say, I am beyond tired.

When my husband woke up at 5:00am and decided he wanted to talk about the things that were bothering him, I had no patience. So an argument insued. One that we just didn't need to have. AT 5:00AM. or any other time for that matter.

And then I had to get up and come to work.

I'm screwed.

The very first post

Hello all!

Welcome to my blog spot. I have never had a blog before and I am not sure I will stick with it. But, many people have encouraged me to give it a try.

Folks like, X and Gwen thought it would be a good idea. So here we go.

Let's see, what can I tell you about myself?

I'm married, and we have 3 children. A 15 year old daughter, a 14 year old son and an 11 year old son. C~ and I have been married for 15 years but have been together for a little over 23 years. Yes, we are old.

As the title suggests most of my posts will be about living, working, being a mom and being marrued. Or anything else I have an opinion on. And I usually have lots.

Hope you'll stop in and check it out. And feel free to leave comments. I know some of you bloggers have been waiting for this opportunity!

Chat with you soon!