Time is Tight

Since relocating to middle america from the coast I've noticed that the money we're dishing out seems to have INCREASED rather then DECREASED. Altho my hubby increased his salary 1500 times 10, that may as well be monopoly money because thus far it hasn't been helping much. Not to mention the fact that we had less relocation money than when we moved from Cali. And I know yall know it ain't cheap to move from one house to another within the same city, let alone moving from one state to another.

The situation is (as Ms. Barbara like to say) our dayum groceries ain't even cheaper. Well maybe a little bit but dayum I was looking to cut that sh*t in half. *lookin into camera at my own self* (knowing you can only do that by bulk shopping at costco, bj's, sam's club, schnuks, walmart, etc. *sigh*) Do they sell organic products? And please don't let me start again on the house we live in. It's like what we're paying and having to spend to make it livable is what folks pay when they BUY a home, not rent one.

And somebody PLEASE tell me why the dayum A.TT phone bill is $401.00??? And no it ain't cuz I been calling Cali or Mexico and talking for 500 minutes. Our monthly plan is $50.00 a month. We were charged $267 for the dayum installation cuz they had to redo what the property owners tore down, i.e. the outside phone lines that are owned by the phone company! Why would you tear those down, Pookie? Huh? *shakin head* I'm *this close* to being ready to move, if this dayum house didn't grow on my azz.

I don't know I suppose we're just feeling the crunch of having to pay for alot of sh*t upfront to get out here. And then of course it costs money to settle in. And am I gonna get the $220 back we had to pay for a cleaning service to come and "move-in" clean the first floor? Yes, only the first floor was done cuz I didn't even want to know the price for cleaning all 3 floors for deep cleaning. A cleaning the property owners AGREED to have cleaned before we moved in. According to them, they did clean. LOL. I just laughed deep and long cuz that was some funny sh*t. LOL. I had to laugh again. *chuckle*

Well let me do the old "let me thankful because I could be homeless and eating out of garbage cans and at least we all healthy and have money coming in" song. I just get pissed when it seems like sh*t keeps popping up. When I know at least half of the expenses we're incurring are NOT ours and yet we the ones who keep pay for them. Dayum we some sucka's. We buying bridges over here if anybody got one to sell. LOL.

I'm done, thanks for reading.

*smoochies* - Mama Alyson

Life in Da Lou

Why did I wake up in the EARLY a.m. to my dayum house shaking? And why I wake up my hubby asking him if we should all go down into the basement? Why? Because my azz thought it was a tornado. *chuckle* An earthquake in the midwest NEVER even crossed my mind. Coming from Cali lord only knows how many earthquakes I've slept thru. And I can't even remember the last time I felt a shaky-shaky quake, unless I count the 7.1 Bay Area quake back in 1989. So here I travel away from "earthquake country" to be awakened by a dayum 5.2 quake AND some after shocks. And yes there were some even still after 10a.m. Oh the irony. I thought the weather was a little funny out here, thinking "dayum this feels like earth quake weather." Who knew?

As for home life, we are trying our best to get settled in. We have lots of space to do all sorts of things. The girls love that I made the 3rd floor into an area all their own, replete with our 8 month old sofa and love seat that we purchased in WA. If goes perfectly in their area. Now we just have to get new stuff to fill up the living room and entry way area on the 1st floor. The 2nd floor is going to have to wait. And I ain't even touching the dayum basement. Yall know I don't know nothing about no basements. I keep calling it the garage. And yes we have one of those too.

The neighborhood we live in is one of change. Meaning, half ghetto and half chic or wanna be chic. The house is charming and full of character as well as flaws. Thus far I've had a "crackish" looking dude ring the doorbell on Sunday around 5pm asking about work being done in the NEIGHBORS yard and all the while telling me "oh I worked in your backyard." Huh? Negro I don't know you. And yes he was on foot and had the nerve to ask me about the man who "hired" him to do the work. Why he ain't knockin on that fool door? Not to mention the little old lady who seemed nice enough and came to the porch when I was talking to the new cleaning lady and said she did lawn work. *lookin into camera* All the while smoking a cigarette and saying how she mows lawns and plants flowers, i.e. landscaping. Ummm, she didn't look like she could stand up good, let along push a big azz mower. She said she'd bring me her card *chuckle.*

I was gonna post some pics of our airplane adventure and some new home photos but frankly after walking from the dayum basement and up to the 3rd floor more than a few times, my azz is tired. And I'm sleepy. I think I'm still trying to adjust to the time change. I get up around 8am, which means 6am Pacific time and go to bed about 2am or 3am. *shakin head* So of course right around 3 or 5 pm my azz starts to get hella sleepy. I'll see how I feel this week-end after we come from the WASH HOUSE *faint* and not having a washing machine and dryer is a WHOLE nother issue/story. *shakin head* Pray for me. LOL

Etc.

That voice thing was cute for a minute but frankly I'm getting tired of hearing myself all over my dayum blog. I can't even click on the dayum comments good before I start talking again. *chuckle* I would record a new one but since it's 1am on the west coast I'd probably sounds like a dayum crack head. *sleepy yawn*

I really don't have much to say. Moving is heavy on my mind and I'm nervous about the packers, the movers, and possibly having no dayum furniture for 7 days. *shakin head* Moving across the country is no joke and expensive. I could take a nice long family vacation with the money being spent. And I ain't talking about Disney Land either. We going over seas with our sh*t. *chuckle*

I still have to wash, comb and re-braid my girls hair. At least their hair is out so that will save me about an hours time per head. I need to get cracking because it takes me about 3 hours to do each head from start to finish. And NO I am not looking forward to jumping into all their thick azz hair. And neither are they. On top of that I have to start packing clothes that we're taking on the airplane. It's hard enough packing for myself, let alone having to pack for 5 people. Not fun.

Then I have to try and make sure we use as much food in the frig as possible, if not that sh*t is gonna get tossed. My hubby says to just toss it anyway. That would be such a waste. So I'm trying to be super duper careful about not just buying stuff. I have to even be careful about buying milk.

I'm mad because I'm really going to miss my hair stylist and the lady across the way I call Ms. Barbara. I'm even gonna miss the nail/hair salon down the rode, who affectionately refer to me as California. LOL I'm even going to miss the Whole Foods Market that's so close to my house I could walk to in 15 minutes are less.

Dayum for somebody who didn't have much to say I said a mouth full huh? Okay, my azz is sleepy and thirsty so I'm done.

*nite-nite* (or good morning) - Mama A

Sunday Monday

Today is Sunday but it feels like Monday and business as usual. My hubby will "officially" be back then. *sigh* I was doing good with the girls the first few days. So good in fact I was the typical illusionary SAHM from the mythical era during the 1950"s. You know the one who abides by the rules. Aside from the fact that I was hubbyless, I was one rule abiding mama. How so? Because my azz was up BEFORE my children and not at the same time as them. They were bathed in the morning, instead of sometime during the day. ALL beds were made and arranged nicely, including my own replete with it's 14 pillows. And to top it off I made home cooked breakfast, DURING THE WEEK-DAY. I'm talking biscuits with eggs and other creamy confections. To go even further we all ate at the dinning room table. When that was done, I sent the girls to play amongst themselves (like who else they gonna play with?) and started prepping for dinner. And did I mention I washed clothes, dried them AND put the away? Cuz usually I'll wash them and dry them, but fold and put away? Naw, that don't happen that way.

Needless to say I was on a roll. And realized that by the time my weary azz got to day three I was DONE. And I told my hubby that when women who work inside the home, do all the things that society says you SUPPOSE to do in order to be deemed a "good wife and mother" yo azz has worked from SUN up to SUNDOWN and had absolutely NO time at all to yourself. Oh and did I mention I even managed to squeeze in a bath for ME and Asaria? I'm surprised I'm able to type now. *chuckle* He did admit to me though that he has taken me for granted as a wife and mother and cook and cleaner and nurturer of the family. He says he doesn't want to take me for granted. And DOES appreciate me for all that I do. I was thinking dayum, he must have snuck over to Mrs. Diva's and read that post about appreciation. I don't know what happened but I tell you it was right on time. What she said was right, that you do just want to KNOW that you are appreciated. I'm glad he said those things, they were truly heart felt. Thank you Hunny. You really earning that Love of My Life title. *chuckle*

So anyway, as I came back to my senses of the type of SAHM I am (and no it ain't the June Cleaver type either) I realized so what if I don't cook some sort of "full course" breakfast 7 days a week or whip up some Food Network dinner AND dessert. Or if I pay someone to clean my home for me, or that I let the laundry pile up before I wash it or leave cleaned laundered clothes on the bed in the guest room or if I only re-braid my daughters hair once a month instead of doing it everyday, or that I don't put on my "outside" clothes while I'm at home. I realized there are alot of myths out there and the SAHM cira 1950's is one of them. That sh*t ain't even me. And I don't want my girls thinking that's suppose to be them either.

Needless to say I'm back to my regular because the girls had instant oatmeal for breakfast. LOL And now I'm about to go and cut up some fruit for their snacks and lay out some Purely O's and refill their water cups. It wasn't easy being that 1950's mom but sh*t being a 2008 mom ain't no cake walk either.

Saying Something

I'm so tired. And yet my azz still up and on the dayum computer. *chuckle* And my hubby is up too, knowing he has to get up for work in about 5 hours.

Nothing much going on in Washington, except some cold weather. Just found out my east coast in-laws are coming next month YAY! *clapping* Now I have something to look forward too. They haven't been out yet since we moved to Washington.

Got my hair re-braided on Saturday. I LOVE my salon cuz the ladies just always have me crying because I'm laughing SO hard. LOL. It's hard to be anything but upbeat in there. All the ladies are TOP NOTCH and down home. That's my kind of place.

I have little red and white hearts on my nails and toes. Why? Because it's St. Valentines week. Do we celebrate? No. But for some reason when holidays come around my azz always gets in this festive mood. I must have been an event planner or something in my other life. Because my azz LOVE celebrations.

*thinking* Dayum I would really like a "starbucks coffee drink" that they make for me at La Bella Dolce bakery and cafe. That place has some of the best cupcakes and coffee I ever had. And my azz don't even drink coffee. That's my every other week-end treat when I go into the city. YUM-O (yes I like Rachael Ray).

My baby just turned 6 months on Friday. She seems like a big baby girl already. And now she's "talking" and quite loudly at that. Honey, she goes on and on and on. It's too funny. She flips herself over. Laughs all the time. Grabs stuff, like hair and then YANKS it with all her 6 month old mite. *chuckle*

Found a new cleaning service. I didn't realize my former cleaning lady wasn't really cleaning until I noticed some obvious dirt in my bath tub after I'd come back from Cali. That dirt made me notice other dirt. And the next thing I know, I'm bending over and on my hand and knees checking stuff that's SUPPOSE to be clean and realize it hasn't been cleaned since she'd started in July. You know I was mad right? Cuz she was paid WAY more than the $25 an hour rate. And I ain't even gonna get into how she'd be on her cell phone practically the whole 4 to 5 hours she was here. *shakin head* I'm so easy. Folks just run over my azz. Funny thing, she NEVER talked on the phone when the hubby was here. Ummmm, I wonder why?

So far this month, for money we've spent on food it's up to $506.34. I swear my azz don't cook like that. So I don't know what we buying at the grocery store that costs so much and yet I always feel like we never have any food. I'm trying to be very mindful of the money we spend on groceries since we spent $2,300 in December on food. And we didn't have no food then. Somebody must be stealing that sh*t, cuz I don't know what the f*ck is going on. LOL. I swear.

My hubby said he's going to send me on a vacation by myself so I can stay balanced or rather GET some balance with all these kids running around HA. *lookin into camera* Right now I'm still waiting. If you don't hear nothing about a vacation one year from now, you know I ain't went nowhere. *chuckle* Altho I am holding out that he REALLY wants to send me off some place fun with a pocket full of cash.

Okay now that my back and bottom hurt, I guess I can call it a night or morning. That's it for me. Plus somebody is watching old WWF or whatever they call it now on YouTube HELLA loud (he keep turning the volume up on his Mac) LOL. That's when you know you grew up in the dayum 80's. Okay, NOW I'm done!

*nite, nite* - Mama A

A Good Wife Meaning

Now at first when I read this article that was forwarded to my by my sister I had the SERIOUS *looking into camera* look on my face. But then after the I got over rolling my eyes and *looking into camera* AGAIN, I started thinking. And I thought, has much changed about how folks view marriage in the "roles" that men and women play? What the f*ck am I talking about? After I red that article, that was written in 1955 for married women, I started thinking that not much of what was written has changed.

The article said things like be sure you keep a tidy house so your hubby's home can be his castle. It also said, don't be negative and complain so much. It also went on to say makes sure your appearance is nice and that the children are neat. Make sure dinner is ready, make him feel comfy, listen, comply, etc. and so on. And when I really thought about it, women are still doing the same sh*t today. Yeah we have careers and nanny's and drive our own cars and buy our own homes. But the regular day to day stuff on how you suppose to treat your man, from what I read - that sh*t has NOT changed. Now some folks may say "Ohhh I don't do that" but they do. Why? Because in alot of "woman" centered magazines what are they always telling women? Keep in shape, be sexy, don't be negative, keep your hair done, nails done, be polite, etc etc. And I've heard plenty other woman say the same types of things. Even get on other women who they may feel "don't keep themselves up and have a dirty house." With the idea that "ain't no MAN gonna want a woman like THAT." Suggesting the only reason to look good, smell good, cook, clean is so you can attract a man and keep one.

I guess for all our women liberation and what not, we still catering to men?

Enjoy! - Lady A


This is the article (open picture in new window to magnify and read)

People are Funny and the Clothing Crisis

People are so funny. *shakin head* and let me tell you why. Because I have SO many girls, you know we have clothes falling from the sky. It's not like the girls only get new clothes on their birthdays. That's not good enough for my immediate and extended family. They get stuff all through out the year. And even more importantly, when it's one babies birthday, EVERYBODY getting something. And since we don't live in the Bill Gates mansion or on Oprah's estate, the girls closets fill up rather quickly. So much so, that I have to separate their clothing by seasons. Yupe, sure do. Winter clothes must be packed away during the spring and summer. Summer clothes must be packed away during the fall and winter. Why? Cuz if I didn't, sh*t would be falling out all over the place. Not to mention I wouldn't be able to find jack.

Since I try and stay on top of their clothing and keeping it organized. I also try and make sure the 5 year old don't have clothes in her closet from when she was 2 years old. *chuckle* So as you can probably guess, I'm always changing clothes out of their closets, ESPECIALLY when they get new sh*t. And since we at home all day long, alot of their clothing still has tags on it when I have to give it away or they may have only worn an outfit once, for a few hours.

Anyway, when I was living in Cali I used donate all their clothing since the lady who was my regular hair stylist was also the "first lady" and her organization had a FREE clothing shop for ANYONE who lived in the area and was in dire need. So that worked out great because I had so much stuff, they said they were able to open an ENTIRE children's section. (yall know I had too much sh*t). And that's in addition to sh*t I gave away to family who may have needed it or some friends. So ain't like I was new to giving away some sh*t.

Well since I've moved, I don't know who I could personally give the girls old items too. I don't do the salvation army or try to sell them, cuz that's too much work. Besides I like to give sh*t to folks who I KNOW can really use it. And I like to do it for free. So that's why I stay away from more "corporate" types of places. Well finally I thought I had some folks to give some clothes too, cuz my computer room is starting to clutter cuz the girls old clothes are trickling out of their closets and I know when the spring gets here, I'ma really be in trouble.

Since I'm a member of Cafe Mom, I found one of my mom groups that's for "clothing swap, sell, give-a-way" so I posted that I have girls clothing for anyone who's interested. Well I had that posting up for about a month with no contact. Then last week a lady in virginia emailed and asked about me having sizes 3 thru 9 months. Well may baby is 5 months, so I really didn't have alot of those sizes. I replied to the lady and told her I had size 12 months and up. Then she got back to me and said that she would take whatever she could get. And then explained that she's raising 2 almost teen daughters AND that now she has her 3 month old granddaughter, with SSI being her only source of income.

Of course upon reading her last email, I immediately went and rechecked Asaria's closet and found 2 brand new packs of baby tee's, size 3-6 months, that she can't fit. I found 3 brand new pairs of shoes (that are also too small) and some other stuff. In addition to the bigger sizes I was giving away. I replied to the lady and told her what I had and how I found some smaller sizes too. I also told her I was GIVING her those items. And that we only needed to figure what to do about the shipping, seeing as I'm in Washington and she's in Virginia and that shipping ain't cheap. And yall may not know, but if the lady emailed back and said she's not sure if she can pay, or whatever - I woulda just paid for the shipping and sent her the clothes. Cuz sh*t, I know SSI don't pay nothing.

But this is the sh*t that just boggles me. After I emailed her the last email asking about shipping and how we would work out her getting those items - that lady NEVER replied. And it's not like she hasn't been on Cafe Mom, cuz we a member of the same group. Then it dawned on me, that since I even suggested her contributing to the shipping costs, all of a sudden she's not interested in the clothing I have. And I immediately thought, ol' girl must have thought I was some sort of "shipping scammer". You know, cash your shipping money order and then NEVER send you the items. But how else was she going to get the clothing? Drive over and pick it up?

That's what made me post, people are funny. I'm now starting to truly see how folks block their own blessings. *shakin head* And I really feel for the lady. I wouldn't want to be raising my granddaughter, plus my 2 other children on SSI. Sh*t. But oh well. Maybe there's some other sole in dire straights.

*Hugs* Mama Alyson

Biting Babies and Party Planning

I was reading a post on a mommy forum that I'm a member of, called Cafe Mom. And on this particular forum one of the mothers expressed concern because her small toddler was bitten by another small toddler at the day care. She said she was only given info stating that her child was bitten but was refused other info, such as who the child was, what happened etc. Well as I was reading the comments, many of the women stated that was a common practice among day care providers, in that no info about the offending child is ever given out. Many of the women went on to say how common biting was among small children and gave stories of how their own children were bitten and so on and so fourth. Of course I put my two cents in about how I was amused that children biting each other is considered common.

So then that got me to thinking. Is biting among small children really such a common thing that it is now considered "the norm"? Because actually I was concerned that a behavior I personally deemed "aggressive" is viewed as "common" and that "it just happens" and that's that. Then I really started thinking is biting considered the "norm" among small toddlers who are in a day care setting all day, with other small children? Is the commonality the same among same aged small toddlers who are cared for in their own homes by one or two parents or a nanny?

I suppose what I was really wondering if this biting each other was really just a natural part of childhood development, like growing teeth, as much as these women stated it was. Or if it's really more prevalent among children who are at day care vs. children who remain at home.

And for my next trick . . . . . My birthday! *clappin* Since I'm full of questions at this moment in time, is it in bad taste that I'm siting here picking out food items I want catered from my favorite spot, WholeFoods and actually planning my own "tea party" or is it just sad? Yall know I ain't got nothing better to do than make a detailed list of all the things I want for the party I'm planning for myself. And yes I'm writing out how many balloons I want AND the color. *chuckle* And then I'ma leave the list with the hubby and STRESS how much I really want a party. *thinking* Ain't no body coming, so I don't know why I'm tripping. Is that bad? Planning ya own sh*t? *shakin head* I think I may be in need of an intervention. LOL.

Anyway, stay tuned to see if my "party" was a success. *shakin head* I keep saying I like parties, but I don't think nobody hear me tho. What they say? "whenever 2 or more are gathered together in my name . . . " Yeah, I'll drink to that. *clink*

*Hugs* - Lady A

Good Money Meaning

Okay so this thought stemmed from a commercial of all things that I saw today. It was one of those technical college commercials, you know the ones - that promise you gonna be on a new career track and working at your DREAM job and making MONEY in less than 12 months. Just call the number on your screen to get started. So anyway they do these "real" stories type of commercials where EVERYONE and their momma's swear they were at a dead end job, making minimum wage, not happy, etc and so on. And now after attending and graduating from such and such, they are making GOOD money, VERY good money So then that got me to thinking. What exactly is GOOD money? I mean GOOOOOD money?

I mean, this commercial is not the first time I've heard folks say good money. In fact I hear it quite a bit. I hear it from friends, family, acquaintances, radio, tv, internet. And with so many folks using the term I just assumed that everyone was on the same page as to what defined GOOD MONEY. But then I got to thinking that more than likely what I myself considered GOOD MONEY was probably not what the technical college commercial considered GOOD MONEY or the DHL driver, or the person working 2 jobs. It dawned on me that there were just too many definitions floating around on what defines GOOD MONEY. Cuz let's face it, everybody wanna be "rolling like B.A.R.T." as my uncle Kev used to say (and I don't mean Simpson *chuckle*).

So what are folks talking about "I make GOOD MONEY" and "Oh my husband/significant other/brother/sister/mother/lover make GOOD MONEY" and "XYZ rapper make GOOD MONEY" and on and on. Because then I guess my real question would be if so many folks out there in Moneyland making such GOOD MONEY, why is more than 20%. 50%. 70% (should I go on) of the population in such debt. Cuz folks don't save? Are they crack heads? Spending too much? No investments? Or is it that there is truly only ONE definition of what defines GOOD MONEY and truth be told, most folks don't have it and they don't know it.

On the real, I would really like to know how others define GOOD MONEY. If you have just enough to pay your bills, is that GOOD MONEY? Ability to pay bills, vacation once a year out of pocket, and still have money left over? Being able to save all your money and not be living in a cave? Is it minimum wage with no bills and living with your parents? Is my Bill Gates idea of GOOD MONEY not correct? I would surely think that he makes GOOD MONEY. But I don't know him personally and maybe he's more the exception. You know this sh*t really got me twisted and not in a Keith Sweat kinda way. *chuckle to self*

What is GOOD MONEY to you?

*hugs* Lady A

An Email from my Mother

So my mom is good for sending or rather forwarding an FYI email. Usually about some event or some other news worthy thing that she figures I'd be interested in or that I need to know. Well to my surprise last week she sent a prayer email of sorts. I was literally crying by the time I finished reading it. And now I want to share. Happy Friday! Enjoy - Mama Alyson

(Ohh and Happy Birthday to my Mommy, even tho she doesn't read my blog and a B-Day shout out to my girl Carmell over at my "KoolBreeze" mommy spot)

HOW TO TELL IF YOU NEED TO PRAY AT WORK

When a coworker comes in a little too happy singing "good morning" to everyone and you think,"somebody needs to slap the s#@! out of her"
- You need to pray at work

When someone comes in and announces, "office meeting in 5 minutes," and you think "what the f*&% do they want now?"
- You need to pray at work

When you're in the elevator and it stops to pick up someone who stood for five minutes waiting for the darn thing only to go DOWN one floor, and you say "that lazy b*&%$#"
-You need to pray at work

When you hear a co-worker call your name and the first thing that crosses your mind is, "what the h*&^ does she want now?" and you try to hide underneath your desk
-You need to pray at work

When you take some vacation time and come back to find a mountain of paperwork sitting on your desk because no one else would do it and you think "sorry a## M#$^% F%&#'s"
-You need to pray at work

If you have ever thought about poisoning, choking, punching or slapping someone that you work with
- You need to pray at work

If you avoid saying more than hello or how are you doing to someone because you know it's going to lead to their whole f*&^%$# life story
-You need to pray at work

If you know all the words that have been bleeped out . . . . .
- You DEFINITELY need to pray at work

Let us all bow our heads

Sunday Edition

Why have we bought $545.76 worth of grocery's so far this month? Not including the one receipt I can't find or the $217.44 WholeFoods thankstaking catering cost (which would make it $763.20). But the really cold part about all that is, there still ain't sh*t in my house to eat. *chuckle* Now that's just plain sad. I mean yeah, if I like wanted to make some sh*t that needed about 8lbs of a bunch of different types of flours (on of which is teff flour) or maybe some plan pasta recipe or maybe a dayum crushed tomato, tomato sauce, diced tomato, etc. Oh yeah and least not forget the 10 bags of "ground" which is fake hamburger meat. Or if I wanted to fill up on the ever present bottles of kombucha tea or acai berry juice. All that and nothing to show.

I have all the staples needed but I guess I'm just wondering, "where's the beef?" I suppose that's what I get being married to a veggie boy. Not only just a veggie boy but a no sugar man, no high fructose corn syrup, no GMO foods, no over processed food, no ultra pasteurized milk, butter, only caged free eggs, and on and on. *sigh* I mean which is all great and groovy but dayum it sure does put a dent in your food money. Cuz we could take that $500 and go to Costco and clean up. Sh*t I'd have enough of whatever food I wanted to last probably 2 months, plus something extra for me. *chuckle*

What made me think about this was the fact that we always say we have a $500 a month food budget. But in reality that is sooooo not true. When I make a list of things I want to get each month the budget is suppose to be $500 but what usually ends up happening is that we go over that initial budget about $100 or less. But then, we proceed to get stuff each week that I may need or that he wants. And let me tell you for any one who has every really done ALL there food shopping at any of the "natural/organic" food stores you don't just pick up sh*t and then drop a $20 on the counter. You pick up a small basket filled with about 10 items and yo azz done spent $100 already.

I tell my Hunny let's just go to Costco or Sam's club or something and just be selective. But he's like ohhh hell no. See he's been doing this since WholeFoods used to be Fresh Fields somewhere in the DC metro area like way back in the dayz. And he says since he's changed his food habits, he's really had a better quality of life health wise because he doesn't get sick the way he used to when he was younger. And I'm all for that, but I tell you it ain't cheap to live healthy.

I'm keeping all the food receipts (or at least trying too) to really see how much we really spend on food. We don't eat out, so all this is just straight grocery. I'ma have to post about it again when I get all the receipts for November. This is wild man. LOL

Happy Sunday and all that good sh*t.

*That's All* ha!

Love, Mama Alyson

Monday Musings and Pan-Africa

I just found out today that Dr. Asa Hilliard III passed away. Only thing is I just found out today and he died almost a month ago. Anyway, I've read a few of his works and have some of his lectures on tape/dvd. *sigh*

In other news, which means there is no news, the power went out this morning for about an hour or so. Lord only knows that I never knew how much I needed electricity to do the menial day to day stuff that I do. Like what? Like boiling water to make instant oatmeal for 3 hungry babies. Can't do that when you have an electric stove or warm up food when you have an electric oven. Altho our stove top and oven cooks with gas, it has electrical functions. Yeah I'm still tryna figure that one out too. *shakin head*

I ran a bath this morning and still have yet to get into it. Why? Cuz baby Sumehra is curled up in my right arm like a beetle bug and "operation moses basket" only works for about 10 minutes (once baby realizes she's been swaddled up with blankets and not mommy). *shakin head* What is a poor mommy to do who is in DIRE and DESPERATE need of a nice hot bath. Shoot I'd even take a lukewarm bath. *chuckle* And not that I just want to lounge out and chll (well I do) but I really do need a bath. There is nothing cute about being stinky. *shakin head*

Okay let me go and try to do some kinda chores, cuz I know my time is limited to when the baby sleeps. Who ever says "sleep when the baby sleeps" had absolutely no idea what they were talkin about. Who can sleep when there's work to be done? And you can only do it . . . . . .you guessed it, when the baby sleeps. Duh! LOL

*smoochies* Lady R