Before Lunch

Thus far today I've *takin deep breath and talking all in one breath (or two)* nursed the baby DOD who likes to eat at 6:30am sharp, EVERY morning. Watched as she and Mr. Richardson played before he got ready for work. Got me and baby out of bed, ran us a much needed bath and let baby crawl around on bedroom floor. Went downstairs to start boiling water for older DOD's morning grub of apple cinnamon oatmeal. Made sure water was on EXTREMELY low so it wouldn't over boil while baby DOD and I bathed. Grabbed baby's car seat and headed back upstairs, laid out baby's undershirt, sleeper, t-shirt and socks. Laid out my lounge clothes. Found baby's towels and jumped (or climbed rather slowly) into bath. Soaked for 10 minutes, washed baby, nursed baby, wrapped her up in towel and placed her into car seat so that I could wash. Listened as 1, 2, then 3 other DOD slowly crept into my bedroom. Dressed myself and then baby DOD. Instructed older 2 DOD to go to bathroom and did diaper change on toddler DOD along with change of undershirt and found fresh pj's to put on her. Scooped up baby DOD, held hand of toddler DOD and then headed downstairs to fix oatmeal. Placed baby DOD in high chair. Got out 3 bowls for oatmeal and 3 spoons. Went to pantry to grab box of Purely O's for baby DOD. Refilled water cups. Grabbed butter spread and milk to stir into oatmeal. Prepared oatmeal and poured cap full of Life Minerals into each bowl. Gave older 3 DOD oatmeal. "Thank you mama" they chirped. Washed out sauce pan from last nights broccoli and placed some baby carrots and chicken broth into pan and onto stove to cook for baby DOD's baby food, since I'm out of the other kind. Grabbed a baby bowl, and reserve jar of baby spinach and peas to feed baby DOD. As the DOD ate oatmeal, swept the entire downstairs floor (hard wood seems to be some type of dirt/dust magnet) put dishes from sink into dishwasher and washed pyrex and cast iron pot by hand. Checked on baby carrots boiling and turned down even lower. Finished sweeping and then emptied kitchen trash, tied neatly and placed on back patio for Mr. Richardson to take to the alley. Wiped down counter tops. DOD finished oatmeal, so took wooden bowls to sink and washed them by hand. Wiped down toddler DOD who looked like she feel into her oatmeal instead of eating it. Baby DOD started to yell about her food. Prepared her baby spinach and peas, plus added some chicken broth and baby Seminola Pastina. Older DOD's ran off to 3rd floor to play. Instructed them to make up their beds first. Fed baby DOD her food. Then got up and added some cut up apple to simmering baby carrots and chicken broth. Walked very fast up 3 flights of stairs to discipline the 3 DOD for rough playing. Plus bed still not made, and then put them on time out. Went back downstairs, grabbed my african wrap cloth from the 2nd floor. Picked baby DOD up from high chair and swaddled her on my back so I could be hands free. Placed remaining few items into dishwasher. Turned off baby carrots and apples. Turned kettle on for my cup of tea. Refilled water cups. Replaced batteries in toy flashlight for middle older DOD who came downstairs to give it to me. Straightened floor palette in "living room" area. Baby DOD fell asleep on my back. Walked up to 2nd floor and laid her on the guest bed and closed the door. Headed up to 3rd floor to instruct 3 DOD to "be quiet because Asaria is sleep." Was handed another toy flashlight from toddler DOD. Went back to 1st floor, digging thru boxes to find the remaining batteries. Turned off tea kettle and took out a tea bag. Noticed it was almost lunch time and figured I'd better make sandwiches and get out fruit for DOD. Made sandwiches, cut them in half, and placed into small baggies. Got grapes and strawberries out the frig and placed in fruit bowl on the table for DOD to eat. Put sandwich on each DOD place mat. Finally able to make my tea. Ran upstairs to 3rd floor again to break up dispute. Gave toddled DOD her toy flashlight. Back downstairs to make tea. Restocked toilet tissue in 1st floor bathroom. Took out egg noodles from pantry, tuna, and cream of mushroom soup for tuna casserole and placed onto counter top. Took TBSP of omega 3 and flax oil liquid supplement, co-qu 10 pill, vitamin d, and vitamin b and iron supplement. Walked upstairs with tea and informed DOD that fruit and sandwiches are on the table from them. *letting out breath*

No wonder my azz be tired by the time 8pm rolls around. LOL

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.

I Need a Life

I'm so dayum bored it's not even funny. I need to do something, some stuff, get out and get moving. I mean it's not like my azz don't have sh*t to do. I mean I could clean my own dayum house instead of paying someone else to do it. But I don't want to be on my hands and knees cleaning floors and wiping down walls. I could fold the clean laundry thrown on the bed in the guest room. And then I could put it away but I don't want to do that either. Not to mention the basket in the laundry room that's full of clothes waiting to be folded and put away. BORRRIIINNNG. I could organize the girls play room, AGAIN but I don't feel like doing that either. I could make my bed but what's the use since that sh*t is just gonna be jumped on and have pillows tossed to the floor. I could bake something, NOT. Make some baby food and store it, NOT. Finish and start the 3, now 4 scrap books I'm working on and use all the hundreds of dollars worth of stamps, stickers, ribbons, photo albums, gel pins, decorative edge scissors, markers, colored pins and pencils that I have but I don't want to do that either. I could redecorate the bathrooms that I just decorated when we moved. I could redo the color scheme in the kitchen. No, no, and no.

I'm so tired of doing the same old day to day stuff that I do. I need to break up my routine, like YESTERDAY. I need to go on a real vacation, seriously get a hobby, take some classes, volunteer, get a job outside the home, open a daycare. . . do SOMETHING. Because really, I'm so totally bored it's not even cute anymore. I don't even want to shop. *lookin into camera* I don't know why I just told that lie. Maybe that's why I'm so bored, I need to go shopping again. *chuckle*

Maybe I need some more children so I can have something to do. Yes I'm seriously bored if I'm talking crazy like that. And being online is so boring now. *shakin head* You know I ain't got nothing better to do if I'm reading folks blogs and commenting through out the day.

I guess I'll plan a birthday party. That ought to keep me occupied for a month or two.

*bored yawn* - Lady A

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

My Product de Jour

So you know I must have absolutely NOTHING to talk about if my azz is talking about how "great" a dayum cleaning product is? *shakin head* But for some reason I just can't help it. Why? Cuz this product is like, the bomb. And here is why. . . .

I have these pots that I just HAD to have since like forever and ever and ever. The main reason I had to have them is because them suckers seemingly last a lifetime. My parents have 2 colors in the complete set and I SWEAR they been cooking on them things since the 1970's (and they still using them today). Back then the pots only came in one color, a bright fiery orangish color. Today they have about any color you want. So my Hunny finally got some of my pots, in a red fire color that sorta goes with the theme of my kitchen. Now I don't have the WHOLE collection cuz we ain't rockefeller so we gotta buy them in small sets of 3 to 5. And let's face it, my azz has already killed dayum near an entire set of some wal-mart pots bought for us and a few additions of some target pots, raley's pots, and well I could go on and on. I'm a pot killer so I need some pots that can weather my storm. LOL

Anyway, I've only used the 5.5 quart pot like maybe 4 good times when I noticed stains. What do I mean? Like painted on food stains that did not come out with my scrubbing, soaking, scrubbing, using baking powder, more soaking and more scrubbing. So I was sorta bummed that I ain't even used the dayum thing good yet and it's already stained. I don't recall my parents pots being all super stained and they've had those pots since they've had me. So I was like dayum, what am I gonna do cuz I didn't want to use "killer cleansers" and really mess up the inside of the pot. Soooo I just resigned myself to be extra careful when cooking and to be sure to wash any of my "good" pots immediately and do not, DO NOT put into the dishwasher.

Well in walks my My Hunny with my Product de Jour. He picked it up because I was already overspraying the house with the lemon verbena room freshener (that I LOVE). So this product says you can use it to clean pots and that it's gentle, etc. So I figure let me try it on my "good" pot. Since it's a non-harsh product I figured it had to soak overnight, and so on and so forth cuz that's how most of those natural cleaners work. Well honey, let me tell you, I sprinkled a little bit on the stained areas of my pot. That's a lie I scattered that sh*t over the whole pot. LOL. Sprayed some of my usual everyday cleaner spray and continued to load the dishwasher. So after about 5 minutes or maybe less I decided to gently scrub the pot with my dish sponge/scour pad. Why did those food stains just lift as tho they'd NEVER been there? At first I thought I was trippin, cuz *snappin fingers* those stains were GONE. I couldn't believe it. So then I sprinkled some over this spot in the sink, scrubbed, GONE. I must admit, now I'm hooked. Of course I HAVE to get ALL her products now. I'm so easy. Who knew that cleanser came in the scent of lavender and a pretty colored can.

So ya know I'm happy right? Yeah I'm a simple girl and sometimes a lil lavender in a pretty can is just the trick to brighten my day. Altho I am mad cuz the dayum wholefoods charges a dayum dollar more than the website. Okay so now I'm an official Mrs. Meyer's fan. And yes I'm buying the "holiday" gingerbread collection. Who knew cleaning could be such fun. Ha!

That's all *chuckle*

*smoochies* Mama Alyson

A Day in the Life

It seems that the week-ends are the only days that I REALLY look forward too these days. It's not much that I do outside the home mondays thru thursdays. Except for maybe taking the girls walking with the nice lady I met who lives across the street. Well she doesn't live exactly across the street, more like down the block and around the corner AND then across a semi busy street. *chuckle* But I can see her townhouse kinda from my bedroom. (yeah we all kinda scrunched up over hear on the "eastside"). So other than that, the week-ends are my 2 days out of the week that I can either hang out with the ENTIRE Richardson clan or do some "mommy" stuff that I need desperately, like get my feet done and my hair fixed.

So this week-end was my feet and hair fix week-end. I'd do it EVERY week-end if I could but then my hubby and I would spend no time together at all. Or what I consider time, like actually having a conversation that doesn't involve him picking up diapers, wipes, take out, milk, detergent, bill paying, and me needing money. Cuz even tho that's "talking" it sure ain't what I want to talk about all day and everyday. Marriage can be so hum drum at times. My hubby feels more like my dayum roommate at times and not a life partner. Funny, my children always feel like my children tho. *chuckle*

Anyway, I went into seattle as usual, like I do every other week-end. Why? Cuz that's only place I've found a salon that specializes in "black" or rather african/curly hair. I don't mind tho cuz it gives me a chance to go to my favorite bakery/cafe since I've been here Bella Dolce. I just LOVE love, love their food and especially them dayum red velvet cupcakes. Them sh*ts like crack, cuz once you eat one then you can't live without'em. But usually after I get my hair down, I want to hang out and do grown up stiff, like eat at a bistro that's NOT kid friendly and drink red wine out of pretty glasses and have adult conversations with the man I love. Sh*t even takin in a movie would be nice. Altho I have to admit I do go see American Gangster on saturday cuz I just LOVE me some Denzel. That's such a BLACK name, Denzel. Umph. LOL. Anyway, I went alone which was cool but I would have really loved to see it with my Hunny. But who we look like going to the movie with 4 babies all under the age of 5? You know that is NOT cute. So stuff that I haven't done in years, I have to either do alone (which is what usually a happens) take the whole family (but it has to be kid friendly) or just don't do it. And the latter happens more often than not. Cuz let's face it, after I come out the dayum WholeFoods with all my babies and the hubby, my azz is tired. Okay? Tired. Why? Cuz it's like trying to take 3 different age groups on a dayum field trip. Everybody wanna go their own way (includin my Hubby) no one wants to cooperate and no one wants to help do the shopping, which is the whole purpose for going.

Now that I am away from any kind of family up here I see how it was helpful when they did come out to the house. Cuz even tho my Hubby and I only got alone time once a year (for my birthday) it still something I look forward too. My hubby says it doesn't bother him or he doesn't complain about it like I do but I see it comes out in other ways. Like when he gets home from work, he's STILL working and then is up with the light on in our room until 3, 4, or 5 am so he can have is "time" only to have to get up at 6am or 7am to do it all over again. I guess that's what happens when you have children. I don't know why ain't nobody told me all this before my azz started having all these babies. *shakin head* But I suppose if it was the other way around and my azz was talking about my other "children" i.e. my students I'd be trippin about not having any of my own. Ohhh lawwwwd, what us gone do? *chuckle* I suppose things could be worse. How old do your children have to be before they can be trusted to "watch" themselves?

Okay, so other than gettin my usual mani and pedi and hair AND sneaking off to see Denzel, I didn't do anything else. I'm saving my allowance to blow on Black Friday, the day after ThanksTaking when I can shop with my 2 favorite gals, my mom and sis. Thanks for the vent, now I can start my day (cuz ya know my kids is up, plus today is my cleaning day so I'd want to put some clothes on).

That's all (in Meryl Streep "The Devil Wears Prada" voice) LOL

*smoochiies^ - Lady A

Why . . . .

I feel like the dayum Army commercial? You know the one, "we do more before 6am than most people do all day." Well yeah, that's me. And my azz don't get paid either. LOL. I'm so tired. *exhausted exhale* Today I learned how to make a 30 minute meal, using 2 minute ingredients. Dayum, back in the dayz before I had children I woulda never ever even bought no dayum canned beans, let alone used them in a meal. But baabay, let me tell you if you add a lil fresh onion, garlic and the right seasoning them sh*ts can be the bomb. *chuckle* My hubby even liked them, and he don 't like much on account of him being a picky eater. We had like our second sit down dinner since we've moved to this retched place. *after thought* Why did I just have a thought of actually being here in Washington for like my daughters prom and graduation? Ohh lord. Anyway, it was nice to to have everyone sit at the table and have dinner. My hubby was actually home in time to eat also. It's not that we don't eat, we just don't eat together. The girls eat at their chairs at the counter and I usually eat standing up. Which is an absolutely horrible way to eat - standing up.

So I made this really quick meal in one big azz pot. I cut up some onion, garlic and let it saute a lil in the pot. Then I threw in some turmeric, cumin, coriander, hawaiian salt, and pepper. I then threw a small can of whole tomatoes with all the juice, some garbanzo beans, kidney beans, and green chick peas. I drained the beans first before puttin them into the pot. I let all that simmer for about 20 minutes and then I put in about a half cup of veggie broth, let it simmer another 20 minutes or so and I'm done. I was gonna make some rice and corn bread but figured why spoil a good easy meal by makin some dayum rice and bakin up corn bread from scratch. So I just sliced up some challah bread we had on hand and called it a day. Sh*t I feel like Rachel Ray up in here LOL. And you know ya girl was cutting and chopping with the littlest one Ms. Sumehra in a dayum sling attached to my side. So you know I was sweatin like a dayum slave. Cuz ol' girl is gettin big and it ain't so easy to have her azz in the dayum sling AND cook sh*t.

Other than realizing that my azz really does work and very hard, ain't nothing else happening. The girls just doing their thing and having fun. Everybody is growing and their personalities just BURST out all the time, all day everyday. My girls are funny. Just earlier when the two older ones were instructed to clean their play room Ms Ayana decided to get in on the act. How? Well when they were cleaning after being told for the 5th time, I went into the play room and was like "yall betta clean up this play room" in my mommy's gonna get you voice. Well Ms. Ayana decided to turn to them, point her hand at the toys they need to put away, while she instructed them (word for word what I'd just said) how they need to clean up. And since she's only 2 it came out in this kinda garbley way. You know I had to turn away and laugh. But not before I told Ayana, that was MY job to tell her sisters what to do and not hers. Funny, they ALL like to tell each other what to do and what not to do. That's a trip.

Oh and on a side note, how come their ain't not ONE "Mocha Mom" out here in Washington? My search engine must be buggin or something because I can't believe there is not ONE in the dayum entire state. No chapter, no nothing. *shrug*

I'm done, cuz my back and neck are hurtin like somebody kicked me in them.

*Nite Nite* - Mamma Alyson

Have I Been Nanny Dissed??? (This is LONG for me)

Okay I must say that I can be a bit of a pessimist, thinkin something crazy is just waiting and lurking around the corner if I don't take extra precautions to "ward off evil" (yeah I can go there sometimes) LOL. So all that being said, I started to realize that I truly cannot manage all of these lovely babies that I have at home all day long with no help. My Hunny and I have been going back and forth about the nanny/mother helper type of assistance. Cuz like I said before I'm a lil (well maybe a lot) paranoid and barely have my babies around family, let alone a TOTAL stranger who is gonna come into my home and "poof" be in all good with the family.

So anyway, I was searching online cuz my azz has no clue on how to go about finding a nany and I don't know of anyone who has a nanny. Most folks I know just have sitters and homes of close friends or relatives who do some sort of daycare. And what I wanted was someone who could come to me. Okay so on CraigsList.org there's a whole section for "childcare" for whatever state city where you live. Since we were gonna be moving to Washington I started lookin there. No I don't know if some of yall know but finding a nanny "of color" ain't no easy feat. Especically if you looking for one of African decent (i.e. from america, the caribbean, africa, etc). Not that I don't want an Asian or Latina nanny, I just wanted my babies to be around someone who at least sort of looked like me, you know?

Well after searching and searching and searching (I even went to some of those "nanny sites" and had no better luck there) I found a young girl who is about my nieces age and who at least looked like she could be black (sorta Lisa Bonet'ish looking). She had a nice ad saying she was a loving summer nanny and possibly could work after summer too. (I'm on the bootleg so I don't know how to link sh*t, so bare with me.) http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/kid/353902497.html So my Hunny he sent what I thought was a clever response and inviting to this potential nanny.
Subject: NANNY NEWS: Family of Six in Redmond Seek Loving Summer
Nanny for Nanny Help

Hello, We wanted to inquire about your nanny services for our family. We've recently moved to the Redmond, Washington area from San Francisco and saw your craiglist post. We are a family of five, including Alyson and Langston, our three daughters, Amira (5), Aaliyah (3), and Ayana (19 months) and a fourth baby on the way due to arrive in August 2007. Among the things that stood out in your ad (Langston works in advertising/marketing) was the examples and the fact that you have experience as an educator (Alyson is a long time educator). We are open to develop an on-going situation that goes beyond the summer (winter/spring breaks,etc) and most of all help us with our growing family. We would love to speak to you more about your nanny services.
Alyson and Langston Richardson
http://the_invisible_writer.blogspot.com/
http://www.thedaughtersofdestinyfilm.com/
http://www.thedaughtersofdestinyfilm.com/blog

So I was excited when she emailed back that same day. What I forget to mention is that I had seen this EXACT ad a few months earlier while we were still in Cali, like back in April, and was thinkin that she probably had a hard time findin a family cuz most folks weren't lookin for "black" girls. And she seemed like she was active, which is what my two oldest need. And I was thinking it could be a potential match. Well since my Hunny including links to our blogs with family photos etc, I thought it would give her a chance to see us before she met us (I guess he was thinking the same thing also). Well her response started off good and then I got a litttle skeptical because I was always told that when looking for employment you are suppose to "sell" or "market" yourself and not the opposite. She seemd to be sort of "un-marketing" herself about halfway thru the response. But then maybe I'm just tripping. So this is what she replied.

Hello Allyson & Langston,
Thank you first of all for responding to my ad. I think there were 1 or 2 spelling errors but thank you for the compliments. You sound like a great family, and I am very enthusiastic about learning to see if we could be a better match. My educator experience is not too intense (I'm only 21) but I did spend time Student Teaching a 1st grade classroom for a school year (earning a scholarship) and was the lead teacher for a preschool classroom for 2 year olds. I would love to develop an ongoing relationship 20 with a family, however my schedule changes in the Fall, and thereafter next Fall of 2008, I am not sure where I will be. I am a junior college now playing basketball in north Seattle. I am hoping to transfer to a 4 year school, and playing somewhere for my junior year in 2008/2009. This fall, 07, I will be available during the day until about 2:00pm. I am not sure if this will work with your schedule, but if it does I'd love to speak to you further. I live in Bellevue, which is about a 20 minute commute from Redmond (just had a BBALL game there tonight), but can be worse with the traffic. At this point I am a full-time student (online), and an athlete for the schools team. I have managed to nanny on a part-time basis during the school year, but at this time I am mostly a nanny professional during the summer as it is my first priority. My only concern is that you'll need someone more flexible during the school year, I can be consistent with my hours, and somewhat flexible, but will require the same with basketball. I have attached my resume for you review my experience, I have been interviewing with families this week, and hope to make a decision soon. I hope to hear from you, and I thank you again for the email.
Jayme

Now after reading that I wasn't quite sure if she was turning down the job that we never offered or if maybe she was just not used to being interviewed. I emailed her anyway. Because I wasn't looking for a live-in nanny or a true live-out one. I just wanted someone part-time who could really help me out with the girls, since I'm a SAHM it's not like I need someone all day, everyday. I emailed her back the following day, since it was very late when she sent her reply. And this is what I said.

Hi Jayme! We would love to schedule a meeting with you. Our schedule is quite flexible as we were not looking for a fulltime live in or live out nanny, just someone who could help me out on a part time basis 2 or 3 days during the week. I'm a SAHM and mostly need assistance in trying to manage my very active 5 and 3 year old daughters (who constantly beg for me to "take me to the slide and out on the concrete to walk"). Also it's hard for me to run errands at almost 9 months pregnant and toting 3 active babies who like to do there own thing. So hopefully our schedules will work for each other. Let's see if we all can set up a meeting with a date and time that works for everyone (I'm open because I'm home all day :-) ) - Alyson

Now here's what happened next. . . . . NOTHING. Ol' girl didn't ever respond to my email, call (cuz my Hunny included our phone number) NOTHING. She didn't say she wasn't interested, or that she'd gotten another job. It's like "poof" like we never had an email correspondance at all. So at first I was feeling nanny dissed cuz I was thinking that maybe she checked out our websites and found out we were actual African folks. Then I talked to my girlfriend on the east about it, and she said ol' girl probably just flaky and wishy-washy like folks can be and ain't nothing too it. I was like yeah, you probably right. And who want somebody flaky and sh*t watchin they kids, you know? So that was that right? Now this was about 2 weeks ago.

Guess what I found this afternoon searching on my favorite place in the world, again? Yes, ol' girl's add. This time she took down the little post card type thing she'd put up on the first one. She put in a real website that went into all this extensive detail about how she been a nanny since birth and all these young azz children she's cared for (in other states now), etc, etc. So this is the new ad I found today, which was actually the very first one I clicked on in my area - no lying I swear, I swear.

If you are looking for an on-call nanny/sitter, please contact me! I am looking for supplemental hours, and am very excited to meet you and your family! Potential for long-term! It's always nice to have a sitter that the kids know and are comfortable with so would love to continue for years to come. Please take a look at my site, that has all of the information you need, including contact info. Looking forward to hearing from you! http://www.freewebs.com/love2nanny Please visit my site, it will also be updated with more pictures/references!!

Now if I'm not mistaken ain't this the SAME girl who told me by like the end of this year she doesn't know WHERE she'll be. Well according to her website, she's gonna be right here. Now yall I didn't know this was the same girl who my Hunny emailed a few weeks ago and then fell off the face of the earth. I still didn't know when I went to her website. However once I looked at her pic, I had a feeling that she looked really really familiar. And it was not confirmed until I clicked on her resume section and saw her name. Yes this is the same girl.

Since this IS the same girl and I confirmed it cuz that's the name she signed at the end of the email. My question is this, am I being nanny dissed? Is that hot azz New York times article true, that other colored folks don't want to work for Africans ANYWHERE? Are we really being dissed by our own people? Now let me not make assumptions or mass stereotypical conclusions and sh*t. Cuz I don't want to do what other folks do to Africans just because we the opposite shade of white. But I was just wondering. It's one of those things that "makes you go hmmmmm " as Arsenio would say.