High-5 Friday(s)

Another installment of High-5 Friday (I will combine the last couple of weeks.  Opps!).  Thanks to the help of my wife, my hope is to provide 5 pictures and 5 descriptions of things that have I have done and/or seen since the previous Friday.  I know I will look forward to this weekly blog and I hope you will too!

1.  Maya and Me

A few weekends ago  my Goddaughter was Christened.  My wife and I drove up for the occasion.  My close friend since we were like 4 or 5, and her husband have been in the process of adopting Mya since she was a few months old.  She is now officially their daughter, and I am blessed to be a part of her life.

 

2.  Dress Barn

My wife recently had a birthday.  As part of my birthday gift for her, I made her a gift certificate that she could redeem to go shopping for clothes at the store of her chosing.  She really has been wanting to ‘grown-up’ her wardrobe.  She chose Dress Barn.  We had a fun time with her trying on clothes and me paying for them!  :-)

 

 

3.  Party Time!

I have a great group of friends, and they know how to throw a party!  We had a house party for a friend that was turning 40, and there was a full bar.  It’s not often that I drink, but I enjoyed myself this evening.  Here are two of the many drinks I had.  Don’t worry.  I had a designated driver.  Thanks honey!

 

 

 

4.  Steel Drum Band

A woman I sing in the choir with plays in a steel drum band.  She invited the wife and I to hear them play at a local coffee shop.  This was my first time hearing them.  It was really nice!  The music was good, the food was good, and we had a good time!

 

 

 

 

5.  Root Canal

Last Saturday I had a pretty bad headache.  Eventually I figured out the pain was coming from my tooth, and not my head.  I went to the dentist on Monday and found out that I would need to have my first root canal.  Wednesday, I was sedated (I sought out a sedation dentist because  I don’t do well at the dentist) and had my first root canal.  All I can say is thank goodness for Vicodin!!!!

Busy, Busy Weekend

It was a busy,  busy weekend.   Friday night my wife and I met up with 7 friends for dinner to celebrate her birthday.  We ate, laughed and had a great time!  Saturday, we were suppose to get up and do the stop AIDS walk.  However, it was dreary and yucky outside, so we decided against it.  I’ve been fighting off this cold thing that keeps coming and going for the past several weeks, so being out in the elements was probably not what I needed.  We will submit the money we collected online.

Instead of the walk, we went to a fundraising event for a place called Hope Springs Institute.  A woman I sing in the choir with is on their Board and thought I might also make a good Board member.  I am looking forward to visiting the place.  It looks nice and serene!

After the fundraising event, we went to Michael’s.  My wife loves this stores!  She got a gift card for her birthday that she couldn’t wait to use!  She bought yarn to make scarves and socks and more supplies to use for her card making.  She is really artsy craftsy and good with her hands.  She crochets, knits, makes cards and in the near future plans to also learn to make soap and pottery.  I can barely write my name in a straight line or use scissors correctly.  LOL!  I’ve crocheted once before.  She wants to teach me to knit or crochet, so I have agreed to get a crotchet lesson this week in hopes of being able to make something. 

After leaving there, we went with a friend for dinner.  My wife got a text from a mutual friend (the woman who introduced us) that said she’d been in the state (45 minutes north) and wanted to see if we wanted to drive up and hang out.  I’m not sure what we were thinking, but we did it.  We left the house at 9:00 p.m. and met her at 10:00 p.m.  Now for some of you, this probably sounds fine, but for me this was dramatic.  I am usually in the bed by 10:00!  We didn’t go home until after 2, but we did have a nice time hanging out at this wine place.  I sipped on coffe (with khaula) and had some delicious pizza.

Well,  I paid for my lack of sleep when I had to get up this morning at 7:30.  We drove up to my hometown (1h 45m) to see my Goddaughter get baptized.  My good friend since I was like 5, and her husband recently adopted her.  It was an emotional moment I was glad to be part of.  We joined the family and some friends for dinner, and headed back home.  I got in the bed as soon as we got home and watched the game.

Yes- the Bengals beat the Steelers!  Doing the happy dance as my wife does the not so happy dance!

As I type this, she is lying beside me in a deep sleep.  She drove back and when we got back, she did her hair, so she is sleepy.  Today she turned 37.  Today is the born day of my honey.  Looking over at her thanking God for her birth and for allowing her to find me.  We have our ups and downs, has any couple does, but we get through it, and I am looking forward to us celebrating many more of her birthdays together.

It’s 9:34 and time for me to snuggle under the covers, watch some of the Colts game, and drift off to la la land.  Have a great week and

Let the rythym catch you!

High-5 Friday

3rd installment of High-5 Friday.  Thanks to the help of my wife, my hope is to provide 5 pictures and 5 descriptions of things that have I have done and/or seen since the previous Friday.  I know I will look forward to this weekly blog and I hope you will too!

1.  Me at the Mic- On Tuesday I recorded my first voice over demo.  It was pretty exciting, but much harder than it looks!  I recorded ten spots that were a combination of commercials, tag lines, narrations and books.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.  Mama’s Lasagna-  A few weeks ago, one of my younger sisters sent me the recipe for lasagna that she got from the Neely’s (Patrick and Gina).  They are a married African-American couple that has a cooking show and website.  This is a picture from the website (and not the actual one I made), but it looks close to mine.  The thing to remember here is I don’t cook often, so I was proud of my meal.  I made it as a surprise for my wife to celebrate our 4 month wedding anniversary.

 

 

3.  Letter to Audia- Several weeks ago, one of my sorority sisters, Audia joined the Army.  I have mixed feelings about this.  I understand (kinda) serving the country, but it just seems so scary.  She said she thought long and hard about this decision, and I told her I would support her and even be her pen pal.  This is the 2nd letter I’ve written her.  Need to be a better penpal!

 

 

 

 

 

4.  Benihana’s Grill- Sunday is my wife’s birthday.  Tonight we were joined by 7 of our friends at Benihana’s for dinner.  You sit around the hibachi grill as they cook your food in front of you.  This picture is of the onions (huge), zucchini and chicken.  It was delicious!

 

 

 

 

 

5.  Michelle’s Birthday Cake- I ordered an ice cream birthday cake from Grater’s for my wife.  It’s called Strawberries and Cream.  It is strawberry ice cream, yellow cake strawberry topping and whipped cream.  Very yummy!

The Best Laid Plans….

This morning I woke up not feeling very well.  I actually haven’t been feeling well off and on for the past couple of weeks.  Anywho, I dragged myself out of bed and got ready for work.  While in the bathroom checking my email and facebook, I sent an email to my wife to wish her a Happy Anniversary- 4 months of marriage.  We are moving slowly and surely to years of wedded bliss

As I was grabbing my purse this morning, I noticed a card.  It was from my wife.  It was soooo sweet and acknowledged our anniversary.  She is a sweetie and I am blessed to be able to call her my wife.  So, I decided to surprise her and cook dinner tonight.  Keep in mind, she does most of the cooking.  She is a lot more domesticated than I am.  She has me a little spoiled, so I thought she deserved to have a nice meal cooked for her.

When I got to work, I printed off a lasagna recipe that my sister sent me last week.  I took it to the grocery store to use as my grocery list and added salad and bread to it.  I did my shopping.  When I got in the car, I checked my text messages and my sister said she had made salad and garlic bread to go with her lasagna when she made it for her boyfriend.  That reminded me that I had forgotten to get both the salad and the garlic bread.  Since I was still in the parking lot, I ran back into the store and grabbed salad, garlic bread and shredded cheese.

So, I got home and gathered my bags to bring into the house.  I was having trouble finding the bag with the salad and the bread in it.  Since it was raining, I grabbed the bags I could find and came in the house.  After a few minutes, I went back outside to look for my last bag.  Guess what, no such luck.  Somehow I managed to go back into the store, go through the self check out line, pay for my groceries and walk out with no bags!!!  How does that even happen?  If you know, please let me know because I have no idea.

If you’re wondering if I went back to the store, the answer is no.  It’s raining, I’m tired, and I don’t feel good.  So, the wife and I will have lasagna and wine unless she volunteers to take my receipt and go back to the store…….

You know the drill,
Let the rhythm catch you and enjoy it!

High-5 Friday

Time for my 2nd installment of High-5 Friday.  Thanks to the help of my wife, my hope is to provide 5 pictures and 5 descriptions of things that have I have done and/or seen since the previous Friday.  I know I will look forward to this weekly blog and I hope you will too!

1.  Karaoke-  On Saturday I attended the wedding reception of some friends who got married in Canada in May.  They wanted to have a local reception for family and close friends.  The theme of the reception was Broadway.  Along with that there was karaoke.  The first song I sung was with the d.j., and it was Endless Love.  For the second song, I sung Destiny’s Child with two friends.  We had a great time!

2.  New Works- A few weeks ago I won free tickets to the ballet.  On Saturday, my wife and I went to see the New Works.  The choreographers and musicians were all local.  There were 5 different ’sets’.  My favorite was the one choreographed by Missy Lay Zimmer & Andrew Hubbard with music by a local group called Over the Rhine.  I hadn’t been to the Ballet in a while, and I loved it!

3.  MUSE- The choir I sing in started back to rehearsals on Monday.  I am glad to be back to singing on a weekly basis.  I’m sure my wife is glad too, in hopes that I will sing less around the house.  We will be practicing for our November concert.  At the end of the season we will be recording another cd.

4.  Toilet- Ok, so why did I take a picture of the toilet?  Well, it’s because on Sunday I started not feeling well.  Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I spent A LOT of quality time with the bowl you see to your left.  I am happy to report that my stomach is just about back to normal.

5.  Voice Over- Several months agoI took an introduction to voice over class.  They invited me to take a more extended class called the Master Class so that I can really work on breaking into the business.  I had 2 hours tonight, 8-6 tomorrow, and a half day on Sunday.  Lots to learn!
I’ve wanted to do voiceover work for a long time.  I hope to get into books on tapes and public service announcements.  I’ve also been told I could probably do well at phone sex.  I don’t know if this last one counts as voiceover work, and my wife isn’t having it!!!

Thanks for reading.  Enjoy your weekend and of course,
Let the rhythm catch you!!

Don’t Embarrass Me Out In Public!

Over the past several days we have seen a few people in the limelight cutting up.  Of course, I am referring to Joe Wilson, Kanye West and Serena Williams.

What keeps running through my mind is my mother saying to me “don’t embarrass me out in public, or I will embarrass you”.  Regardless of these three people’s personal OPINIONS, there is a time, a place and a way to voice your concerns.  As adults, most of us (grant it, not all of us) are taught better and are expected to do better and make better decisions than those of a child.  I think Jay Leno’s question to Kanye West was a brilliant one!  What would your mother say about your behavior?  What would any of their mother’s say about their behavior?  My guess is that they were all raised better than the behavior we have seen of them recently.

I understand that we all make mistakes, but it seems that somewhere along the line, as a society, we are losing our self-respect, losing our respect for others, losing our sense of responsiblity and just plain manners.

Over the weekend I was at a potluck over a couples house that my wife and I have become friends with.  One of the couples there had their teenage daughter with them.  My wife and I were so shocked to hear her using some of the language she was using around adults, and the language that some of the adults were using around her.

My mom works for a public school system.  She use to be in the classroom, and say that with each year of new students, they were worse than the previous year.  Makes me wonder if the behavior is more the result of parents who have somewhere lost their way, or a society that is surely losing its way?

Looks like my wife and I will be raising our children in the basement away from all the madness!!!!

Let the rhythm catch you, but make sure it’s a positive rhythm.

High-5 Friday

This Friday is my first installment of High-5 Friday.  Thanks to the help of my wife, my hope is to provide 5 pictures and 5 descriptions of things that have I have done and/or seen since the previous Friday.  I know I will look forward to this weekly blog and I hope you will too!

 

1.  Teal Toes
Tuesday, September 8th, folks were asked to paint their toenails teal for Ovarian Cancer in an effort to get people talking and raise awareness about ovarian cancer.  September is ovarian cancer awareness month.

 

 

 

 

2.  Handbook
This week I have been getting ready for my program kick-off.  Tomorrow I will met my students and their parents.  One of things we will go over is the Student Handbook.  Rules are important!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.  Are You Ready For Some Football!!!
The NFL started on Thursday, and I am so glad.  I love football.  This picture is of my laptop and my wifes, side by side as we watch the Steelers/Titans game in bed.  She is a Steelers fan, and I am a Titans fan.  My team didn’t win

 

 

 

 

 

4.  Movies
My wife and I went to see Tyler Perry’s, I Can Do Bad All By Myself.  When you go to see it, (which you should).  Make sure you take your tissue.  Good story, great music, and talented actors.

 

 

 

 

5.  Bookstore
After the movie, we swung by the bookstore so my wife could pick up some knitting magazines.  She has picked her knitting back up and she is really enjoying it.  I’m excited because she is making me socks!  She also picked up The Gay & Lesbian Review.

Hi-five to Fridays!

I am sooo excited!  For the past few weeks, I have been trying to think of ways to add some spice to my blog.  A lot of the blogs I read have a theme day once a week, and I was trying to come up with one of my own.  Well, I think my wife has come through for me (as always).  She suggested I do a “Five on Friday” where I list 5 things I have done since the previous Friday.  The catch is, I won’t just list them, I will also (hopefully) provide a picture for each one.  I love the idea, and I can’t wait to get started tomorrow.  Now, I’m not sure if I will have 5 pictures tomorrow, but I’m anxious to get started, so tomorrow it is!

She (my wife) does a 365 picture blog.  She posts a picture everyday to chronicle her life.  Wow that sounds great, her Five on Friday idea will allow me to write and do better with taking pictures (especially since she bought me a camera a few years ago that I don’t use enough).

So tomorrow I will start on my new blog journey.  Hope you enjoy it as much as I hope too!

As always,
Let the rhythm catch you!

Is It Your Passion?

It’s been a good couple of days!  I am getting excited because choir season is about to start back up!  We sang Saturday in Columbus, and it was nice.  I always feel good after leaving a MUSE event.  This time I felt good not just about the beautiful music we made, but our group as a whole.  We performed at a GALA (gay and lesbian association) Choir program.  There were a total of 5 choirs.  3 of the choirs were male, and 2 were female.  Out of the other 4 choirs, there was only one (obvious) person of color,  and it was a black male.  The choirs appeared to be all white.  I was amazed.  I mean, I always hear people talk about the diversity of our group, and I’m sure this isn’t the first time I’ve seen it, but I am still so surprised.  Our director works hard to make sure we are diverse in age, race, and sexuality and that is a big part of what makes us who we are- special!

This evening we had a meeting with all the new choir members.  We have invited 10 new women to sing with us.  I am sure we overwhelmed them with all the information we had to share.  However, I hope they felt about being part of the group after several folks shared their special moments in the choir.  For the most part, they seem excited and ready to jump in feet first.  I know I will be complaining soon enough about all the work, but I will try hard to remember how warm and fuzzy I’ve been feeling over the past couple of weeks, and carry it with me throughout the season!

Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in life. – Confuscious

Work is staring to pick up (thank goodness).  I get to meet my students on Saturday, and hopefully it goes well.  I am already having a personnel problem, but I’ve been working with my supervisor to correct the situation.  I’ve never understood why folks get into and stay in education if they just don’t love what they do!  I mean, most folks in education don’t get paid a whole heck of a lot of money- so why do it?  Being any type of educator, is not a job you should have or do just because.  If you are not passionate and you are not in it for the love of the students and the impact you can make- LET IT GO!  You have children’s lives in your hands.  You have the power to help mold peoples futures.  It has to be a full-time commitment that is filled with a lot of love and a lot of patience. It irritates me that someone can resent me for wanting better for the students.  There is no need for people to be bitter and unhappy at work.  As far as I am concerned, it’s not personal, it’s business, and sadly enough this may not be the right business for everyone!

So, look at what your ‘job’ is.  Are you doing it just as your job, or as a career- something you are passionate about?  Do what you do best and do with excitement!!!

Let the rhythm catch you (and enjoy the music)!

A Hairy Situation

Happy Saturday everyone!  Hopefully everyone is excited about the 3 day weekend.  I know I am!  Pretty soon I need to get up and be productive.  MUSE (the choir I sing in) is singing today for Government and the Arts in Columbus, Ohio.  My wife and I will be headed to Columbus in a couple of hours.  I still have one Spanish song I need to work on for our concert this evening!

So Thursday I got my hair cut (again).  I feel like since after the wedding, I have had my hair cut every time I have gotten it done.  I just feel like I’m not as attached to hair as I use to be.  For years, I have wanted my hair to grow out.  When I was in high school, it was about shoulder length.  Then, I chopped it to a short bob, and it hasn’t quite grown back the same.  So, with each passing season, I say I am going to let it grow back out.  Then it gets cold, the time for sweaters and scarves.  I start feeling my hair rubbing up against said sweaters and scarves, and I get it cut again.  When I was in college, I had my most favorite cut.  I have tried to have it re-created several times with no luck.

My sister has long hair that falls past her shoulders.  I have to admit I’ve been jealous of those long locks.  I imagine God (or the Jeanie from Aladdin) visiting me and asking me what one thing I’d like to change about myself.  My answer (in my dream) has always been “I want long pretty hair”.  Of course “pretty hair” can get us into a looong conversation about good hair VS bad hair, and what does that really mean, especially in the African-American community.  That’s a conversation I don’t want to have now.

So right now my hair is short(er) in the back.  It seems like I still have a lot of hair on my head, so I’m thinking when I go back in two weeks to get a relaxer, I may need some more chopped.  Yes, there are days I miss being able to pull it back into a ponytail and be on my way, but it’s not that important to who I am as a person.

My wife is in the process of going natural.  She is a lot braver than I am!  While I have come to realize I am growing unattached to having a lot of hair, I’m not sure if I could handle natural hair.  I have been tempted though.  I saw this Tyra Banks show on hair in the Black community and there was a woman on there who had gone natural.  She had just a really short amount of curls that I thought was really cute.  However, not sure if I have the patience to go through that process!

So, as I continue to find my happiness with my hair, I’ll keep you posted.  In the mean time, regardless of your hair, get out and enjoy the beautiful weather and as always,

Let the rhythm catch you (I know I will!)!