In the Middle with Barack Obama and the duality of black folk

Barack Obama and the dual souls of Black Folk

First of all, the goddess is not “up” on politics, world history or physics. Don’t expect her to enter into a debate about the Iraq War. This is the woman who thought the Hanoi Hilton was a real hotel, ok? I’m not ashamed to admit my ignorance about certain events, but I do know how to change a two prong outlet to a three prong with the grounding wire, so back off my political ignorance!

This is the first time I have taken time out of my very busy day (see preceding posts) to actually think about Barack Obama and the effect his campaign is having on America’s conscience. Let me first say that I did like Mr.Obama, but was truly put off by his wife’s comments about ‘this is the first time I was proud of my country’. Then the comments by the pastor – while some of his comments may have some truth (who can deny the horrible Tuskegee experiments, Scottsboro Nine, Emmet Till, Bull Connor and his dogs, the Little Rock Nine, ugh, must I go on?) let’s just say that while I do believe the CIA did help to incite riots during those tumultuous times, I don’t believe that the ‘white man’ invented AIDS to kill the ‘black man’. Some black folks are killing themselves w/out the help of the white man….and many of the medical personnel involved in the Tuskegee experiments were black. Just as some Jewish people were involved in the holocaust – no one race can be held blameless for the trouble in this world. Shoot, I LOVE America despite its faults – I wouldn’t choose to live anywhere else. (Do you know what the bath tissue is like in European countries – no Scott tissue, no goddess.)

Well, goddess, what’s up with the dual souls of black folk? Tell us!

Dear readers, for those of you who know about W.E.B. DuBois, know exactly what I’m writing about. From Mr. DuBois: One ever feels his two-ness,—an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.

As black people (I can’t stand the term African-American – I am from New Jersey, folks and since my family/married name is Irish-English, whoa, do I have a problem or what!!) we are equal, yet not equal. There is still the old boys club. There are still job interviewers who see us coming and imedialty make their decision before we open our mouths. I went to a nearly all white prep school and Yale College in the 80s and in my experience….well let’s just say some folks of the “other” race are less than enlightened. (and the goddess is being VERY nice.)

This is what I see in Barack Obama. Not only is he bi-racial, he is part of the black upper class. His speeches about unity and understanding and change, I feel are a very personal cry - all of his life he has been plagued, in a very real sense with his duality…the feeling that he had to pick a side. Tell me if that came out more obviously when he referred to his grandmother as a ‘typical white person’. I don’t know about you, but what a thing to say about your blood relative!! (Remember folks, this is my personal opinion). Unfortuantely, that is how it is with many black people who “make it”. Do you go “white” , or do you go so “black” (rev. wright black) or do you hover in the middle?

I remember attending a dinner with my husband who had done some work in education about the Holocaust. We were the only black folk there, and there was this old man (80s) who talked to us. Now, the man was old and I bear absolutely no ill will toward him at all, in fact, my husband and I joke about it now. When he found out that I had graduated from Yale, he thought for a moment and said, ‘you know this may interested you that black women at Princeton….blah blah” Now, was that racist? Or was it an attempt by a man, separated by two generations, interests and race trying to make me as a black woman feel more comfortable? Who knows and you know what, who cares? The man was nice and I did him the favor of talking to him about things that I thought would interest him. Certainly we weren’t bosom buddies at the end of the night, but we did have a civil, if somewhat stilted, conversation.

I hope that I have made my point. It’s been so long since I’ve written something serious for this blog (in between answering requests for juice and Word World) that I certainly hope my words and/or my message is jumbled.

Let me know what you think.

Mr. Mookie out of Control

I realize that I really have to schedule myself in order to write on this blog on a regular basis. I've got a tremendous amount of topics, as you know the life of a stay at home mom is NEVER dull, but haven't had the time to actually sit down and write about them because of these non-ceasing exciting events.

As many of you may know, I also run a bath and body products business. Well, that's been taking off, but somehow, the children just haven't given me enough time to focus on it. Imagine that!

But let me get to the title of my post, as it is so easy for me to go off on a tangent, especially when I'm trying to write as well as oversee the building of a skyscraper in my living room.

The children were enjoying their TV time when I peeked in to see what they were watching. Hmm, Big bird is on, but the hour is not quite right. Basically, Sesame Street starts at the top of the hour, which means Elmo's World begins about twenty to the hour. Elmo was jumping around about twenty five after the hour,so something was up. Turns out, Mr. Mookie ordered a Sesame Street ON DEMAND. This is what he told me he did:

"I pressed 'on demand' (which is a big button on the remote.)....I scrolled (I kid you not) down to Kids (how the heck did he know the word kids)...then PBS then I chose Sesame Street."

Mr. M also knows how to turn the television to his other favorite channel, the Speed Channel.

He's five. FIVE!!! How is this little dude ordering Sprout on Demand????

Mr. Mookie is FIVE

Well, dear readers, the goddess has passed yet another test of moms all over. The birthday cupcakes. Last year, I passed the test of providing SNACKS so this year, while not a breeze, at least I knew what to expect.

Mr. C, is turning five on March 8th. Since he has all these little friends, or "his children" as he calls them, we decided to have a bit of a celebration at school. Of course, Mr. C, aka Mr. Mookie, can't just be provided with store or even bakery bought cupcakes - I mean, as a stay at home mom, how would that look? So, Betty Crocker to the rescue. Say hello to 18 yellow cake, chocolate frosted cupcakes with little sprinked on top. Thank goodness DH took them, along with Mr. Mookie to school - I could just see myself struggling with him, Princess E, and Mr. J, cupcakes, and goody bags. Talk about a diaster wating to happen. Glad I didn't have to risk it.

Of course, I waited eagerly at home for my report. "What did the children say?" (like they were the food critics from Iron Chef, right?" DH complied and said, "they said oooooooooooooooo when they say the cupcakes.?" And for some reason, that completely delighted me. Now I know just as well as the next person that preschoolers when preschoolers meet cupcakes of ANY caliber, there will be an "oooooooooooooooo" elicited. It feels good all the same. Plus, as an added bonus, after Mr. Mookie came home from school and after he talked about the whole little cupcake escapade, he asked, "Who made the cupcakes?" DH told him, "Mommy did." My little first born said, "They were so good. Thank you mommy!" And that was the best accolade of all.

So for all you moms out there who want to make a good impression on those preschoolers in your lives, look to Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines. Throw soem sprinkles on them from Party City and you've got it made!

I can't believe Mr. Mookie is five!!!

Vague Ramblings

Dear readers...I have absolutely nothing of consequence to write about today, however, my pledge is to keep up with this blog and to give you all something new to read every week. This week, the goddess welcomes the return of the stomach flu to her household. I simply cannot describe the happiness I felt when Mr. J showed me dinner again, in the middle of the kitchen floor. Yay, didn't know chicken and broccoli looked like THAT after being in contact with the bubbling hydrochloric acid contained within his stomach. And then he had the nerve to cry! He wasn't the one who had to clean up all that vomit.

Ok, Mr. J, put away, tucked in for the night, clean, no vomit smell. So, as a good goddess mama does, I went in to check on my little ones in the middle of the night. As I patted Mr. Mookie (The big C) on the back, he sat up, then got on all fours, coughed a bit, then.......(drum roll please) vomited, retched, then vomited again.

I admit, as I was patting his back (too late to try to run him to the toilet and I had to change the sheets anyway) I was laughing. Don't judge me, it was pretty funny. I mean, think of it like this, I was up at the plate and 0-2 (for it's one, two, three pukes you're out.....) (Of course, I didn't let Mr. Mookie see me laugh - he's very sensitive). So the goddess cleaned another round of stomach regurgitation. Ah, motherhood. Just waiting for Princess E to get the pukes and that's no laughing matter. At least the boys puke, rince their mouths and keep it moving. Princess E, on the other hand will vomit into her pillow, rub her hair in it (accidently of course) then cry, scream and carry on for the next 30 minutes. During the first occurance of the stomach flu, I left her in the capable hands of her father for if I heard her screaming one more time, I would rinsed her hair out in the toilet bowl. (Don't even blink, if you've got girls, you KNOW how it is!)

Times like these, makes me wanna go to rehab....how can I get an involuntary 72 hour hold like Britney Spears???

And I am telling you......

Ok, it's been yet another too long gap - keeping you, dear readers, hanging. Let's do a quick catch up on the goddess' life so that you can finally exhale.

First of all, I caught the last half or so of Dreamgirls (the movie). Now you know the goddess dotes on her three little ones and hardly takes the time out to sleep and almost never goes to the movies (why, it's coming on cable soon anyway!!). Pretty good movie. I especially liked Eddie Murphy - what a great part for him.

Yes, I saw Snakes on a Plane. Seems like the kind of movie that plays better in a movie theatre full of people screaming and shouting. Of course, we all know what the best line in the movie is...the rest of the movie is just ok.

Now, a real treat for you readers. a friend of mine sent this to me:



My favorite part is the subtitles translated into English, but I'm pretty impressed. The goddess appreciates any kind of good music!!!

For that matter, check this out - Enjoy!





Until later!

Christmas is just around the Corner

Dear readers, I don't have anything especially significant to say today, but just wanted to check in with everyone before the gap between posts got too large and I would have to write yet another 'mea culpa' post. Nevertheless, your entertainment in reading this blog comes first and foremost, so I will attempt to give a quick overview of what has been happening in the last three weeks.

I have been working hard on my website and am in the process of filling basket orders for Christmas. Wow! Last year at this time, I had a barely functional website, only one product and was basically giving the stuff away. Now I have more that four products (yes, I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but when you're making the stuff by hand and testing different formulas, that's a lot!! Now I am considering going natural and totally eliminating the dyes from my product. Notice I said considering!!!I really like the look of some of the colored product, which is why I have an all natural and a nearly all natural section to my website. If you're interested, click the banner at the top of the page.

The little ones are doing quite well - no colds, no one is sick - and my oldest is taking well to his swimming lessons. One day he came home and said to me "I hate swimming." Now, swimming is an integral part of the preschool program, so I wasn't having any of that. So I used that good ol' reverse psychology on him - "Oh really. What's the best thing you like about swimming?" And he proceeded to rattle off a list of things he actually liked about swimming, so another diaster thwarted. I wouldn't want to have to pick him up from school early because he didn't like swimming.

You know, talk about a non sequitur, but what the heck is up with Tyra's hair? Is it me or does it look like she just put a mop on her head? That straw look does not look good on her - I hope she goes back the burgundy!!

Well, that's really it for now - pretty uninteresting, I know, but ya know, that's life....that's what all the people say.....you're riding high in April...Shot down in May.

We're going to be getting our Christmas tree soon - this is the first year that my 19 month old will really be aware of what is going on...let's see how long it take for him to rip all the ornaments off the bottom half of the tree.

Once again....

Oh, dear, dear readers! Once again I have left you hanging for over a month without any updates to my exciting life as a stay at home mom!!

Let's see, what have I missed updating you with? Well, for starters, Mookie was sick again! That durn preschool has as many germs as that nasty Monica Lewinsky dress. I mean, really, he only is there three times a week for 3 hours at a time. I really must get on all of the little ones about the importance of handwashing. However, his sickness did not develop into the crisis it was in September(see here for the full story. Anyway, I only had to hit him a couple of times with the Xopenex, but I took him to the doctor just to be sure. Not that I'm a big worrywart, but the Goddess will NEVER let her little Mookie get to that crisis stage again, not if she can help it!

So, after Mookie got sick, so did the Diva and Squeaky. Nothing is as heavenly as wiping three runny noses at once and running back and forth in the middle of the night because the Diva woke up and her nose is stuffed up. What a drama QUEEN! "Oh, my dose, my dose my DOSE" I wanted to tell her, look honey, stop all that screaming, concentrate on breathing and you won't have a problem. But, how do you reason with a three year old? Answer: you don't!

Now, the business. I've been workign on the website, making products,taking pictures and on top of that all, trying to keep the house in some sort of working order. My husband is a saint, because he doesn't balk when I call after a particularly difficult day and say "can you stop and pick up...." He will be rewarded greatly when my business takes off!

Anyway, dear reader, that's my sorry excuse for not keeping you thoroughly entertained for the last month. I promise to be much more diligent in the future!

What Happened?

First of all, dear readers, I am so sorry to have left you in the lurch for so long. I'm sure many of you have been checking back often, looking for a new post - wondering, 'what has become of the goddess?'....'where is the goddess I need an update'. Well, readers, let me tell you that it is has not been easy for the goddess in the past two weeks.

Deep breath......

The goddess was.......wrong! Yes, please do not allow this earth shattering admission to throw any of you for a loop. I understand that many of you come to me for guidance, for laughs, for what have you, and to hear that the goddess was wrong, just might drive some of you over the edge. Let me explain.

Little Mookie has been coughing, which I noted in a previous post. Took him to the doctor, as a good mother would do, and the doctor listened to my explanation, listened to Mookie's chest, proclaimed it clear, then prescribed Xoponex, which the goddess refused to give her little Mookie, seeing as there were no real tests given.

Well, little Mookie started coughing one night and just could not stop, even with steam and everything else. Mookie went to the ER!!! He had to be nebulized and came back with albuterol in pump, diagnosed with an astham attack! What? My little Mookie, who has always been healthy and never shown signs of any type of respiratory distress, ASTHMA? How did the goddess fail??

Don't fear, there's more. Poor little Mookie was stable, but didn't find true relief, even with the albuterol. Back to the drs later that day. Well, well, the doctoer (not the same one from before) diagnosed the croup, the coughing from with irritated little Mookie's bronchial tubes, which in turn caused them to "seize up" so to speak, thus causing the tightness. What happened? The goddess had to stand by while her little Mookie was nebulized FOUR TIMES until his oxygen level was sufficiently high enough to be released home. We were in the drs office three hours and came home with a nebululizer, Pulimcort, Xoponex and Prednisolone. (Yes, now I'm a pharmicist, one of many hats that I wear). Yes, the goddess was against the drugs before, but with a competent diagnosis, a thorough examination by the doctor, a thorough explantion by the nurse practitioner and phone support by the drs, the goddess was willing to administer....well, let's just say we're lucky cocaine wasn't the end cure for Mookie for the goddess would have been trying to 'score'.

Now, a week after the crisis, Mookie has a wonderfully loose cough, mucous is plentiful and the tight continous cough is no more! Mookie is being weaned off his steriod regimin ans is still doing well. He is running, jumping and yelling with no ill effects....and no coughing.

So there's your fix, dear readers, rest assured the goddess is back and will have more tales to tell in the future.

Sick, Sick, Sick

This is one of the times that I start to seriously consider home schooling. My oldest lovely son brought home a cold from nursery school that has plagued us the entire month of May. Now I've got it and it's a doozy. Stuffy sinus, dizziness and a hacking cough - you know those kinds of coughs that make your chest tubes hurt. It's terrible.

I'm not the type of person to take a lot of medication, but let me tell you, honey, I was swigging that cough syrup. I could not sleep Monday night and ended up watching some special about the Star Wars legacy on the History Channel that was pretty interesting. Maybe I'll be able to catch it later when my head and chest are not swimming with mucous!!

At least the weather is nice. There is nothing worse than having a bad summer cold with that gross, sticky rainy humid days hanging over your head.

Hope you all had a great Memorial day weekend - it was really nice here in good ol' NJ!

Writing a Business Plan

Yes, like many stay at home mommies I do have a business. Yes, it is legit, registered with the state and everything. And, I have insurance. No fly by night operation here!! What's the problem then? NO BUSINESS PLAN.

Sure, it was okay the first few times out, but when I found myself ordering supplies for stuff that I never concocted, then it was time to sit back and not re-evaluate (because I never evaluated in the first place) but to evaluate where I'm going with this whole thing. Which is, right now nowhere.

So, I am sort of starting at square one with a lot of experience. In order to grow, I have to know where I'm coming from and where I want to go. Planning has always been a downfall of mine - yes, as a teacher I had to write lesson plans for two weeks (or more) and I hated the time that went into planning. Truthfully, though, it was rewarding in the end when I could simply open my lesson plan book and everything was right there for me.

Now back to my business. What do I do? I make and sell body and skin care products. My daughter has eczema and instead of loading her up with commerical products, some of which actually contained lye, I decided to do a litte internet research and find out what is "from nature" that would work for her. Right now I've got a formula that lessens her itching and breakouts (no, I have not found a cure for eczema- I just found something that works for her) which is great and want to pass out samples. But my inventory is a mess. I don't know what I have, I don't know what I need, I mean, really, now, is this any way for a Yale graduate to run a business?? I've got great ideas (no, I really, really do) but my follow through lacks punch.

So now, I challenge myself to write a comprehensive business plan in two weeks. Easier said than done with little ones at home, but hey, that makes the challenge even better, and I do love a challenge.

Ugh! When I have an update, I'll post it, I promise, y'all!!

Well, it’s about time

When you are black, most of the time it IS all about race. Except when it comes to making the best of the education you are getting and seeking more when you need to. I had the distinct pleasure of being a teacher for over 10 years in the classroom. One day, I asked my students what was keeping them from getting an education. Some said that they didn’t have a place to study or that there was no one to help them at home. These were all issues that could be remedied. However, one student told the class and me that the white man was keeping him from getting an education.

I was truly shocked. I then asked the student and the class about this mysterious white man. Was he at your house, turning on the television and video games while you were trying to do your homework? Was he standing at the front door of the school, blocking the door? When I broke it down to them like that the class laughed and, hopefully, saw the silliness in that remark. Of course, they were not really aware that there are factors that, later on in life, will indeed conspire to keep them from getting a good education, but I thought that might be a bit too advanced for fourth graders.

What this reminds me of, and now I come to my real point, is the Little Rock five. As a child of parents who lived through the civil rights movement, I was treated to a viewing of Eyes on the Prize when it aired on channel 13 and my parents’ VHS set. These students wanted a white man keeping them from entering the school? How about the National Guard of Arkansas?? Complete with guns? I so remember the video of those brave, brave children who walked the gauntlet of screaming, ugly white folks, hitting them on the heads with bricks and spitting on them. One of the girls, I think it was Elizabeth Eckford, who was memorable to me because of her shades, white shirt and gingham/checkered skirt said that the white people had spit so much that she had to WRING OUT HER SKIRT to get all the spit out. How foul!

All this, as usual, to say that the Little Rock Nine have finally been honored on a coin issued by the US Mint. See article here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/19/AR2007051901031.html?sub=new.

We have so much to thank those who were so brave so that we can be where we are today.

My Snobbish Children

I used to talk about people on foood stamps - how all they used to buy their children was fruit drinks and hotdogs. Now, as a mom of three children under four, I realize how expensive it is to buy good food for your children. Juice alone (100% juice, not juice drink or juice cocktail) cost anywhere from 2 -3.49 per 1/2 gallon - more expensive than gasoline! Now if you've only got a few hundred for the MONTH and trying to feed three little ones, forget it. You're picking up the cheapest stuff possible to make that food stamp last. It's such a shame because the poor nutrition these children are receiving is directly correlated with their performance and their basic ability to perform in school - who the heck can think straight on a belly full of fruit punch soda and a honey bun, where child in the next seat has had oatmeal, bacon/eggs toast and orange juice for breakfast. How sad that No Child Left Behind doesn't cover breakfast foods also.

That being said, the family attended a storytelling session sponsored by my local Mocha Moms. The refreshments included a choice between fruit punch w/ .02 percent juice (but oh, so sugary sweet and good, admit it!!!) and apple juice. I tried to pour some of the fruit punch for my children - since they only have 100% juice at home, i figured they would appreciate the surgary goodness. Heck , no. "Mommy,I want apple juice. I don't want red juice". I had to shake my head and my nearly empty wallet (well, my husbands nearly empty wallet). They won't eat canned spaghetti- Now they're Don Coreleone, right? "We want hot pasta, mommy. Can you boil some water?" Oh, how about McDonald's? "No, mommy, can you cook us a burger?". For lunch- How about a baloney sandwich (my secret vice, along with the sugary goodness of the red juice) " No mommy, can I have natural peanut butter and jelly?"

Yes, my crunchy, nutrition oriented children resist my attempts at tempting them with

The Slowskys

Seems like the makers of commercials are getting better and better. I love the Slowsky, hate the cavemen. I liked the first few caveman (geico) commercials, but getting a sitcom? Who the heck is going to watch it?

Anyway, digression aside, here are some clips from my Slowky commercials. I especially like the "you come push it.....push it real good"..



And this one, how rude is Mr. Slowsky???

Teacher Abuse has no Color

Well, I must have been under a rock to miss this little gem. The link is here: http://www.abcnews4.com/news/stories/0806/356376.html, but a brief summary this: a white teacher sued the school district in which she worked because the students (black) cursed at her, calling her white c__, white MF, etc. etc. and apparently the school did nothing about it. How interesting that she sued. Why wasn’t this make more prevalent in the news? I’ll tell you why – because the teacher was white and the students were black.

As a former teacher, let me tell you, I’ve seen cases in which students were rude, verbally insulting and threatening, scratched teachers cars (for no reason), and pushed teachers in the hallway – not in an overt hands on the shoulders push, but a rude shouldering aside.

This case is important to teachers as it shows exactly how much bad behavior is tolerated from students because of either their race or their socio-economic circumstances. It’s as if the bar is lowered: you are allowed to act in a totally inhumane way towards another human being because you’re poor or black or both. Shame on these administrators to allow such hostile environment to proliferate in their school. Shame on these other teachers, black and white, for not banding together and demanding some sort of relief from this behavior. Why should teachers, who are there for the benefit of these children, be subjected to such abuse? Animals at zoos are treated better than this.

Why are we as a society are so worried about what a raggedy headed white DJ is saying about a women’s basketball team ( a one shot deal) when urban teachers are abused on a daily basis and (some) administrators turn their heads – fearful of having too many violence/vandalism reports for that month?

Why too, is this teacher mocked and made fun of (in some black circles) because she is white? Does that make her any less prone to suffering at the hands of these rude, nasty students. According to her, there were other teachers (black and white) suffering the same daily abuse – she just happened to be the one to bring a lawsuit.

Either way this speaks volumes about the state of urban education today. Because these students were black and poor, their nasty and abusive behavior was tolerated because it was “part of their culture”. Well, most certainly I am black, and foul language does not pour freely from my mouth on a regular basis. Therefore to denote the regular use of profanity as a part of black culture insults me.

I was inspired

By catching about 2 seconds of the Martha Stewart show. She was showing her "plane purse" and stuff that she carried with her while traveling. Well, everything was so well organized and in those cool baggies that when I opened the family room closet to see if my daughter's other sneaker was in there, I decided to clean it. Oh, what a fool am I! As I am writing this, I have found at least 10 coats hanging in the closet as well as a box full of office supplies. Now, I loooooove office supplies so it was like a bonus, but where the heck am I going to put all this stuff???

So, out come the space bags. I wish I had the nerve to post pics of my diaster area family room, but since this is not Clean House (oh how I wish I could be on that show) I am not going to embarrass myself in from of the Internet world!!

The good news is, I discovered a recycling plant that takes paperback books. Now for some, that may not be a big deal, but for me, queen of paperback books, it is a godsend. I can't wait to pack up some of my less favorite books and cart them over to be recycled. I simply hate throwing stuff out but.....since it is being recycled I feel a LOT better.

Mother's Day

What did you get for Mother's Day? First of all, my husband did me the greatest favor. I was able to lounge about all weekend and not have to change not one diaper. I also got the best gifts: two flats of impatiens, two bags of garden soil (the good stuff), 50 landscaping bricks and the time to stack bricks and plant flowers. I can't wait to get the raised beds in which to plant the tomatoes.

On the indoor front, I also received the newest Michael Buble CD and a new book by Dan Brown.

Well, that gives you readers a bit of a insight into what I like to do - much more interesting than listing the mundane details on my profile.

Either way, hope all you moms had a great day.

Black Moms Push Their Kids’ Educational Aspirations More Than White Moms

Haven't had a chance to read it thoroughly,. but will write more later!


Ok, here it is:

Here is the link to the article: http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/bawnews/momssurvey511


Well, I finally had a chance to read the story and I am ambivalent about the results. Now, as a married mother of three, I do expect my children to complete some sort of higher education, but I do not feel that graduate or professional school is a must. Although I do have my master’s degree (recently completed), I would be perfectly happy if my children chose a non-traditional path such as contracting (building) or writing. Everyone does not have to be a doctor or a lawyer, and to be honest those two career paths are certainly not as glamorous as they may seem on television or in the movies. For one thing, the malpractice insurance that you have to carry as a doctor is insane!! All lawyers don’t dress in great clothes and drive fancy cars – some of them are like that lawyer in that move Dark Water, who has an office in his car and goes to movies alone.

Now that I have digress enough, back to the article. I found it interesting that first of all, more white women than black women answered the survey. Even in 2007, it is obvious that more whites, no matter what the income level, have more internet access than blacks. True, the gap is small ( I don’t have the exact stats), but there is still a gap. Further, many of the black mothers who answered this survey were either never married or divorced – only 36 percent of the black women, out of @293 who answered the survey were actually married, compared to 65 percent of the white women. So it would stand to reason that in this sample, black moms are the driving force behind getting their children an education because they are the only parent in the home.

I expect my children to go to college. I don’t work, but I do have a graduate degree. I truly believe that education open doors to everyone regardless of race. I also believe that racism is alive and quite well in 2007. Therefore, I want my children to get the education they need to be successful in this world, whether they need to form their own companies or practices or what have you. This is expected and will be emphasized by both my husband and myself as my children get older.

Whoa, I'd better catch up~

I just took a look around on blogger as well as myspace (you know how clicking links can take you far, far away from where you began!) and realized how far behind I am in actually working towards making a true web presence. Plus, there are soooo many black resources out there that need to be advetised. So I'll start here:

Check out http://beingfamilymagazine.blogspot.com, www.blackmomsclub.com, and www.blackliving.com. There are much more, of course, but too much for my little fingers to type right now, especially since my little ones are begging to go outside.

sigh..... Seriously, check out those sites!

JV and Elvis

I used to listen to 92.3 free fm before I got Sirius and was able to listen to Howard Stern. In addtion, Sirius allowed me to listen to a channel chock full to my all-time favorite vocalist, Frank Sinatra. But I digress. I turned on my terrestial radio on Monday around 9:05 am to find out that JV and Elvis were indefinitely suspended due to some crank phone call they made to a Chinese food restaurant.

I did not hear the phone call, but I've heard the type of humor that JV and Elvis do. It is puerile and adolescent, but they're good for mindless entertainment and sometimes they make me laugh. ( I don't have a sirius radio dock in the kitchen, so when I clean up, I have to listen to regular radio.) I also know that they had poor ratings and were on the verge of being booted out anyway. Soooooo, I don't think that this suspension was a direct result of their poor taste in humor, but just like a Imus, an excuse to get them out the door because of thier poor ratings.

I only ask, how far is this going to go? Will jokes now be exclusive to the race or ethnicity? Will I, Dave Chapelle, Eddie Griffin and other black comedians only be allowed to make black jokes? Will Ralphie May only be allowed to make jokes about fat, white men? Will Ant (the host of Celebrity Fit Club) only be allowed to make gay jokes?

Humor is humor. Some find it funny, some don't. That's why it's humor! People really need to lighten up.

I'll have to come back to this post.....bear with me!

Ahhhh...Freedom

On Wednesday, I had the distinct pleasure of spending a total of three hours away from everyone in my family - don't get me wrong, I do love DH and my three dear children, however, day in and day out contact can wear a bit thin. I took the time, with the help of a lovely friend who gave me a gift certificate, I visited the Skin Deep Day Spa in New Providence. What a lovely experience! I had a great mini-facial - who knew that someone else washing your face could feel so wonderful!

The ladies who work there are were very nice and the spa atmosphere was simple and calm. I almost fell asleep in the skin treatment room and the pedicure stand chairs were massage enabled. I felt refreshed and rejuvenated when I left and would certainly visit again - I am looking forward to the hot stone massage!