8/30/2008

YEARS GONE BY...


I remember the day Zen was born as if it were yesterday...but it wasn't yesterday...it was eight years ago this past Tuesday!!!! I can't believe it. I remember how I couldn't believe it when we celebrated her first birthday or her fifth and now she's eight! All mothers feel this and I dont know why I feel so surprised to feel the same mix of emotions. I'm happy because she is healthy, smart, funny, beautiful, talented, and the list goes on ...but I also a little twinge of terror mixed in with a touch of sadness. Horror because I know that things will probably only get more attitudinal from this point on and sad because she's not a baby anymore and I cant take her opinion for granted the way I did when she was two and I dressed her up the way I saw fit. I'm also proud that she tends to be more of a leader than a follower...this is very important to me, case in point, she wanted an MP3 player for her birthday, so we got it for her...we all wondered what she would want to load on it...my mom suggested Hannah Montana, Jonas Brothers, Chris Brown, Jordin Sparks...the popular bubble gum cast of this era. While I knew she was interested in them, I wasnt sure whether she was interested enough to include them on her list...when I finally asked her she said, "Mommy, no, I'm not all into them like that...that's not real music, its ok to watch but, who wants to listen to that all day?" No offense to anyone who's "all into them like that" but she really made me proud! When I continued the inquiry she requested: Sergio Mendes, India Aire, Corinne Bailey Rae, John Legend, Queen, ABBA, Norah Jones and Carole King!!! BOOM BABY! That's what I'm talkin' about! Its amazing how much influence you can have in eight years! HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZENZELE!




8/23/2008

BACK TO SCHOOL BLUES...Its not what you think!

If you live in South Florida, then chances are your child's first day of school was delayed by the arrival of Tropical Storm Fay. While scores of teachers, students and even some parents welcomed this the summer's "stay of execution" others moaned terrible moans, gnashed their terrible teeth and even rolled their terrible eyes a la Maurice Sendak's wild things.

The Clarke girls learned of this terrible injustice after returning home from their back to school beauty makeover and were quite dismayed that they would likely not be as glamorous as they were on Sunday when school finally opened. Zen tried to put on a brave face but she was obviously shaken by the travesty, she finally uttered "Of all the days why did she have to come on the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!! I can't take it. Tafara on the other hand wanted to know whether there would be a flood...this is her standard inquiry during thunderstorms, she also added, I'd rather go to Kindergarten than be in a flood.

So Fay came and went without any damage to our neck of the woods although some areas experienced a loss of power, flooding and excessive wind. School statred two days later.
Simon was happy because he got his wish...two days off of work, rain and wind...no damage.

My emotions were mixed, I love the first day of school, but I appreciated the time off from work to focus on getting everything finalized for the BIG DAY (I get sooo excited!!!).

Though I'm sorry that the summer has come to an end (THIS WAS MY BEST SUMMER EVER THANKS TO THE APPROVAL OF MY MODIFIED SCHEDULE -- Shout out to Jim, Jody and Mary :) ), the first day of school is the beginning of another adventure - Tafara is in BIG GIRL SCHOOL aka Kindergarten and Zen is in 3rd grade which is a big deal since they are the oldest kids on the east portion of the campus, their classrooms are upstairs and now they'll be taking the FCAT...everybody say "oooh" :).

All in all...I'm glad that they were disappointed about the first day being delayed...especially since all the other smart kids I know felt the same way!!!

8/08/2008

I DONT DO SHOUT OUTS...BUT IF I DID

There is a segment on the Tom Joyner Morning Show where he says I DON'T DO SHOUT OUTS...BUT IF I DID and he would proceed to “SHOUT OUT” friends and family members etc.

Taking that lead...

Even though my blog is not necessarily dedicated to giving shout outs….I must give PROPS to my niece Hadiya who is a Freshman at Spelman and who just called to say that her tuition is PAID for the next four years…as she is a Dean’s Scholar!!!! I AM MIGHTY PROUD!!! YOU GO GIRL!!!