My How They've Grown! 2013

 g-baby boys  Spring 2013

 

g-baby girl Spring 2013

g-babies Summer 2013

You Can't Win... You Can't Break Even...

...and you can't get out of the game!

I'm not sure if my daughter remembers but for a long time this was our favorite song. She had a friend who would say ..."you can't win" all the time. Naturally, whenever this friend said it my daughter would break out into our rendition of this song. It made her friend cringe...we might have been off key...but I remember having a good time.

New Year's Plan - Just DO it!

Gabrielle Douglas (16 yo)
2012 Summer Olympics in London
 the first African-American woman to win Olympic gold medals
in both the individual and team all-around gymnastics competitions

Dear Daughter
(with children - Shortie, Baby Girl and Repeat)
Baltimore Women's Classic June 2012

Some Favorite Photos of President Obama

Little Boy Feels President Obama's Hair
The first four years

President Barack Obama kisses First Lady Michelle Obama for the "Kiss Cam"
while attending the U.S. Men's Olympic basketball team's game
against Brazil at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., July 16, 2012.
Vice President Joe Biden and Malia Obama look up at the jumbotron.
 (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

President Barack Obama and his daughters, Malia, left, and Sasha, Treaty Room - White House, Tuesday night, Sept. 4, 2012.watch as First Lady Michelle Obama takes the stage
to deliver her speech at the Democratic National Convention
(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

"Four More Years"
November 2012 - Social Media History
3.2 million "likes" and counting 

End of the line

As I reflect on days here in the MD - DC area, I actually remember how crazy it was trying to get accustom to the public transportation system know as "The Metro". I saved this photo back in April 4, 2010. At that time, I was looking for a photo to go with a "not-so-funny-at-the-time-but-funny-now" experience I had.

Not  quite used to the Metro, and the long ride from Southwest DC to the end of the line Glenmont, MD. I must of fallen asleep. The conductors of the train announce each stop and tell you what side of the train the doors will be opening. I had fallen asleep to a male voice announcing "Wheaton. Doors open right side".

Not realizing that I had fallen asleep I was confused, when I heard a female voice saying Forest Glen.Doors open right side". It took me until I heard her say "Wheaton. Doors open right side" to realize that I had slept through the last stop (Glenmont) and was on my way back downtown!!

My How they've Grown!!

November 20, 2011

Halloween 2012

Halloween 2012 - Bumble Bee

Halloween 2012 - Ninja Warrior

Halloween 2012 - The Green Power Ranger

For since I can remember...

For since I can remember, I've wanted another name. Something different. 

For since I can remember, I've wanted another name. Something memorable.

For since I can remember, I've wanted another name. Something with meaning...pride...history.

For since I can remember, I've
                                                wanted...
                                                               another...
                                                                                name.

Today I remembered I have that name...had that name... always had that name.
           The name where the first and the last have the same first four letters - different.

Today I remembered, I have that name...had that name...always...had that name.
           People who knew me then call out to me by both --first and last --now - memorable.

Today I remembered, I have that name...had that name...always...had that name.
           The one my parents decided to give me; decided would honor their union and my dad. The one they gave me at birth -meaning ...pride ...history.

Today I remembered, I have that name...had that name...
                                                             always...
                                                                          had...
                                                                                   that...
                                                                                           name.  
                                

Devil's Backbone...

Family Photo - May 2012

Sometimes the best family photo is the one where no one is aware of the camera. No one has blinked or moved or frowned. There isn't one person "off". No one is requiring that we all say "cheese"; no one is posing. Everyone is as they were, as they are and... well... you get my meaning. This is my daughter, my son-in-law and my three grands eating water ice, looking at photos just taken and apparently heading for mommy's Ipad (smile). Fun times!

Mother's Day 2011

Dear Son and Dear Daughter with me on Mother's Day 2011

On Mother's Day 2011, I had ALL of my children--my children, my children's spouses, my children's children--with me. I was quite happy.

Wiser on Wednesday - November 11, 2009

IF - Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head, when all about you

are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,

Or being hated, don't give way to hating,

And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;

If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster A

nd treat these two imposters just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: `Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

I'm sure if Rudyard was alive today he'd include women in this! So let's forgive him his sexism just this once.

;-D

My dear SNL introduced me to this poem this year. It has become one of my favorites.

Wiser on Wednesday - October 14, 2009

DESIDERATA
Max Ehrmann

(in the 1920s not "Found in Old St. Paul's Church"!)

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,

and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,

be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly;

and listen to others,

even to the dull and the ignorant;

they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons;

they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,

you may become vain or bitter,

for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;

it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,

for the world is full of trickery.

But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;

many persons strive for high ideals,

and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.

Neither be cynical about love,

for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,

it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,

gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.

But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.

Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,

be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe

no less than the trees and the stars;

you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you,

no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,

whatever you conceive Him to be.

And whatever your labors and aspirations,

in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,

it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

This poem had a profound affect on me when I first saw it written on the side walls of a covered stairway leading to one of the dorms at Syracuse University. I carried a copy with me for years and when I couldn't find it one day, hand copied it from a friend's wall hanging (no Google - really there was a time! ;-) and eventually counted cross stitched it in order to always have it. Stitching it was wonderful (! ) as it was a way to recite it and memorize it and internalize it. Each row took about an hour or more to complete. It is the first piece that I ever charted and I cherish it as much for the work womanship as for the poem itself.

My 15 minutes of fame! -

On Page 6 of the "Mid-Atlantic Regional Connection" a newsletter for the Mocha Moms, Inc. I am mentioned ---alongside my daughter---for participating in a public awareness event for Infant Mortality. I am excited to have participated and to have been acknowledged as a Mocha "Mom-Mom" (smile). Thanks Daughter and Mochas for including me!

THE BACK STORY

Lately I have been trying to "find myself" as this stage of life is commonly called. Frankly I know exactly where I am! I am a very educated, talented, smart, funny African American woman of a "certain age" trying to make this time of life meaningful. It is not lost on me that people (my children) are watching how I handle and navigate this.

So one day my DD shoots me an email suggesting that I might be interested in a public awareness project on Infant Mortality. Certainly I thought, I could easily make the 10 hats requested and hopefully before I left on vacation. But as I was packing I decided to take yarn with me "just in case I had a moment". Well we know flying is about waiting these days and I had plenty of time! So my project went from making ten hats to "how many can I get made before the mailing deadline?" My DD says I was getting obsessed clearly she's right because I had to make myself stop at 70!

THE NEWSLETTER ARTICLE

Chapter Spotlights
Mocha Grandmother "Hats Off"

Almost 2 months ago Southern DC Mocha Claudia Booker sent out a Mocha SOS for the "Heads Up on Infant Mortality Public Awareness Project" for Wash-ington DC. She asked Mochas to knit or crochet in-fant hats. These hats would be given to the local hos-pital NICU’s. Mocha Claudia posted the request on the Yahoo Group to get the word out. [One Mocha] shared the request with her mother in [another state]...Last week Mocha Claudia received 70 beautiful infant hats ... As an added bonus, this Mocha Grandmother has decided to help head this project for the NICU babies in [her home state]! "HATS OFF" to Mocha Claudia for serving the "Head’s Up" project from the heart, to [our] Mocha for sharing her mom, [and ] for [her mom for] being [such] an angel for the NICU babies!

Nap Time...?

Last weekend I was tired! The kind of tired that you can't see or think straight. The kind of tired that makes you so loopy and out of it that you can't image why people do drugs, thus rendering themselves this way on purpose! Yes I was that tired! but I had stuff to do. The kind of stuff-to- do that has already gone undone for days ( who am I kidding - weeks) and must get done now. The kind of stuff-to-do that if it goes undone one more day it will make the impending week worst than the week past--which I might add--was bad enough!

Needing a nap made me remember how much I hated it when my mother sent me and my sisters upstairs, to our rooms to nap. No matter how we protested - no matter the logic ...she had an answer - they went something like this:

Me (or one of my sisters): None of my friends take naps!
Mommy: Well I'm not your friends' mother

Me (or one of my sisters): I'm not tired.
Mommy: then just lay there quietly;

Or my personal favorite - you don't have to go to sleep - seriously?

But like or not last weekend the overriding reality was that I needed a nap or more specifically someone (MOMMY!) to make me take one! And so I found myself longing for my mother to take over ; to shuffle me off to bed no matter my logic (but I have stuff-to-do) or protests (but who else will do it?) and MAKE me take a nap!

In All that You Are - Antone Oliveira Fonseca

In All that You Are - Antone Oliveira Fonseca



In all that you are
There are no untruths;
For you speak with the rare trust
Of a longtime sister as the warmful
Ease with which you listen makes me
Long less for home. Truth is only that
Which is real to one, as you are real to
Me.

In all that you are
There is much wonder;
For as the beauty of the wave is as
Uncertain as the sea itself, then so
Is the beauty of your mind. And as the
Beachcomber searches for the wave’s perfect
Then so do I search for your concreteness. Won-
Der is only that which complements the presence of
Desire, as you complement me.

In all that you are
There lacks little strength;
Looking at your whole petiteness I see
The ounce of black fold which reveals all
Of your strong womanhood. There are no words
To describe the vibration you lend to the thought
Of life. And as each second builds strength in the
Year, then so do you build strength in me.

In all that you are
There is genuine beauty;
All that you are is beauty and as the
Seasons change then so do the shades of
Your beauty, when you frown, smile, and open
Your eyes wide to laugh. Your beauty is insepar-
Able with self as it is your nature to be such. As
The night is the enhancer of the star’s beauty then
So does the world’s impurity enhance you.

In all that you are
There is great innocence;
For you draw from life only that
Which is yours as I find life guilty
Of your misgivings. And in the space
Where there lies no guilt there lies the
Whole goodness which flows from your heart
With each pulsation. As I watch you walk I can
Not help but love you more with each step for just
Being. Innocence is that which refines guilt as you
Have taught me much.

In all that you are
There is innocence, beauty, strength, wonder,
Truth, Wisdom, happiness, sadness, love,
Peace, generosity, tenderness, ambition, hope,
Compassion, purity, freshness and so much much
More.

In all that you are
There is
A deeply
Beautiful
Life pulsating
Freedom.

You are a mountain
Climb yourself,
And let no one drag you down…

(especiallyforrjr – 4/20/1973)

Sunshine - Antone Oliveira Fonseca

Sunshine
Antone Oliveira Fonseca


Your beauty I only witness in my
most pleasant dreams by day
For your freshness cannot be imagined
by night

The warmth you radiate is as the swift
but ever so gentle rays of the sun
For I’ve never really met you but know
you enough to depend on seeing you and
feeling you

You not realizing how much I appreciate
your existence. And me, wishing for the
Day when you will shine only for me

Oh, why should I worry myself
there are many fish in the sea
Funny though, I do not feel like a fisherman
tonight…I did not last night…nor the
night before that…

Come to me shining one
And spill yourself
Over my troubled
Mind.

Christmas 2008 with ALL my Children!!!

Repeat was so pleased with his train table that
he played with it all day!

DD is clearly pleased with her gift from her hubby!

Shortie getting help from Daddy.

DS and DDnL explaining Wii to me.

DDnL is happy with her gift from her hubby too!

Thank you!

When my son was a toddler I began saying "thank you" every time I gave him something and every time he gave me something. Over and over and over. unlike now there was no Internet, Google wasn't a word much less verb ( I'll just google it!) so I didn't really know when or if he would get it.

One day I was in a children's store window shopping and the clerk (a much older grandmother type) came over to speak to us ( well really to him) . She asked and I agreed that she could give him a cookie. He blinked a few times (his brain processing, processing) and then he said "tank ouu". The clerk was so shocked(!) (me too actually!) that she ran and got the other clerk, told her to "watch this" and offered my son another cookie ( no she didn't ask first) Again my son blinked a few times (processing, processing) and repeated "tank oouu". I was so proud! They refused to believe it and went for the bag of cookies (!) offering him cookie after cookie until I had to tell them to stop!

Never had I been so proud of another person's accomplishment! Thank you , DS!

Birthday Memories

My two children are 23 months and 2 weeks apart...My DS's birthday --which is tomorrow December 7--comes after my DD's even though he's the oldest. As adults we think nothing of this. But children particularly young children just don't quite get it. Of course, I know this now but not when they were the "particularly young children that just don't get it".



One year when they were young, very young children --and when I had less than enough money (was there ever a year when that wasn't true?) I decided to hold their b-day parties together. I figured it was a good idea rather than invite the same family members and friends to another gathering just two weeks away. So I had their b-day celebrations together. I let them each invite their own friends. I ordered a cake for each one of them. (DD's was a Barbie cake and DS' was ET - you know the Extra Terrestial?) We sang "happy birthday" twice - once for each of them. So you can surely see that I was treating them as individuals right? WRONG! When my DS's b-day rolled around two weeks later, he wanted to know when his party was going to be. There was no explaining that his party had been on the same day as his sister's party - that he and his sister had celebrated together. He didn't get it that the two cakes, the two songs, the two sets of friends, meant two parties. I guess in his mind two parties also meant two days!



Maybe it was because it wasn't near his birthday...geez what's two weeks?! Maybe it was because it was before DD's birthday ...which if you think about it (apparently only if you think about it as an adult) it was also before his...but whatever the reason ...he felt for quite some time that he didn't have a party that year.

What can I say? I tried.