Today's Lesson: Work Hard, Nap Harder

I don't go back to work until Wednesday, and I've truly been enjoying my time away from the office. That doesn't mean I haven't been productive. In the past few days, I've managed to do my taxes, work on my thesis, plead to get reinstated into the grad program in the fall, pay bills and get my daily writing tasks in.

But there comes a time when you've just got to lay back on that bed and let the sandman take over. Most of my life, I didn't like naps. When I was a kid, I never wanted to go to bed. I mean, who did? As an adult, I thought naps were a waste of time. I was usually too wired up to nap anyway. And if I were to nap, I was the rare person who needed to fool myself into believing it was nighttime in order to go to sleep. That meant putting on some pajamas, closing the shades and getting under the covers. I'm so glad I got out of that foolishness.

Nowadays, the only thing I need to put me into a coma is my cat. There are times when I'll be watching television and The Animal just hops up beside me and closes his eyes. That makes me jealous and next thing I know, I'm out for the count. That happened at least twice today. I had a good night's sleep, mind you. Then I took a nap at 4 p.m., followed by another one at 5:15 p.m. All because of my lovely pet. And because his latest game is to follow me where ever I may go and cuddle up to me, naps may become an increasing part of my life. I can't say I'm complaining.


Photo from http://www.babble.com/CS/blogs/strollerderby/2007/07/16-22/nap%20time.jpg

The Sunday Spin (Or, "They sleep; I grind"**)

1. I had a FABULOUS birthday weekend

2. It started with seeing my homie in a play (she did a FANTASTIC job, I might add)

3. And it ended just a few minutes ago, with some delicious sushi

4. That was almost enough to make me forget the meeting I had with my professor

5. The one where she told me she wanted to nominate me for a significant monetary award, but couldn't, because I haven't been enrolled in the program

6. My response was to enroll in the fall, get back on my thesis grind and hope upon hopes that this money becomes available in the fall (apparently that is a possibility)

7. Now I'm sitting back, flipping between Celebrity Apprentice and How to Make It in America (Bryan Greenberg + Victor Rasuk = YUM) and am so glad that I don't have to work tomorrow.

Have a good week everybody!

**Quote from Erykah Badu, via Twitter, at 5:28 a.m. February 24, 2010**

Celebrate World Tuberculosis Day (Or, Celebrate My Birthday)

So today was my birthday and what did I do? For the first time EVER, I went to work. I only did that because I've been taking homeownership classes which are right near my office, so I figured I might as well work. I am off the rest of the week though, so that's good.

I have a coworker who said she always goes to work on her birthday, just to feel special from all the people who wish her a happy birthday. I thought she was pretty pathetic until this year. Now, I can be pretty obnoxious about my special day, but I'd like to think I'm only that way with friends and family, NOT the coworkers. If it weren't for Facebook, alot of folks wouldn't have known today was my day. But they figured it out, and here is how they made me feel special:

-A friend hand delivered to me a breakfast from Whole Foods -- French toast, eggs and bacon, along with my favorite Kiwi Strawberry drink
-Coworker tied a HUGE 'Happy Birthday' balloon to my chair and gave me a happy birthday pin, so I got more than my fair share of happy birthdays
-My immediate supervisor made cupcakes -- WITH 33 CANDLES ON EM!! -- and brought them out to me. I even managed to blow them all out. There's still some air left in me!
-My supervisor also gave me a snazzy pink scarf and a card from Hoops & Yoyo at Hallmark
-My aunt wrote my a birthday poem

So yeah, it all made me feel warm and fuzzy inside! And that doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of the number of phone calls, texts, emails and Facebook messages I got for my special day. Now I'm sitting back, waiting for my birthday pizza to arrive, and thinking about how I'll celebrate this weekend, because, as you know, birthdays are a weeklong celebration. =)

Random factoids about March 24:
-Tommy Hilfiger, Peyton Manning and Alyson Hanigan all share my birthday (So does Star Jones, but I don't brag about that one)
-The movie 'The Breakfast Club' takes place on one of my birthdays. It opens up with the line 'March 24, 198---' I can't remember which year, I think it was 1987. Shrug
-March 24 is also World Tuberculosis Day
-March 24, 1980 was sadly the day Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador was killed. I remember learning about this in Spanish class and being traumatized that such a horrible event could happen on such a wonderful day

Anyway, 33 has been treating me well so far. I look forward to having a healthy and prosperous Jesus year!

(Photo from http://www.thelifeofriley.org/uploads/images/birthday_33.jpg)

The Sunday Spin

1. I'm so happy the weather has finally broke, time to unleash the skin

2. I'm borderline OCD, so each March I'm faced with the same challenge -- to do a bracket or not

3. This year, I took i there: I've got three brackets going, two paid & one unpaid

4. Let's just say it doesn't look like I'll be winning any prizes, monetary or not (Big thanks going out to Kentucky, Georgetown, Maryland)

5. I have to spend the day after my birthday chatting with a professor I greatly admire, and greatly fear

6. The United States of Tara comes back on tomorrow and I'm too excited about that!

7. My local Blockbuster closed, so I switched back to Netflix. Now watching Damages Season 2. Glenn Close plays evil so well!

Have a good week everybody!

For Dreadlocked Girls Who Have Considered Scissors & Relaxers When The Hairdresser Has Had Enough

My world stopped last week when my hairdresser called. She was having an emergency and wouldn't be able to do my hair that evening. The situation was so dire, that she didn't know when she would be able to do my hair again. So I did what I could do, I comforted Hairdresser, offered words of support, then I hung up the phone and ....

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!SCREAMED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You see, Hairdresser is a close family friend. Ok, ok, she's family. There was a time when she had her own shop and I was comforted by the nice, easy banter among us women. Sure, I was often abused ('How long are you gonna make me stay here tonight & deal with your wool, Strength?'), interrogated ('Do you have a goal for this hair? Your locs are already down your back!') and teased ('Is this a gray hair or is this your cat? Oh, it's a gray hair!'). My favorite part of the shop was the way said Hairdresser would greet me, with a hand on her hip and a firm "What do you want?"

But all good things must come to an end, I guess. Economics forced Hairdresser to close up shop and start working at The Hair Shop and Salon. Things are different there. For example, someone answers the phone with a robotic "Thank you for calling the Hair Shop and Salon, where we experience beauty and wellness. What are your wellness needs today?"Each time someone washes your hair they say something like "It was my pleasure to service you." Have I mentioned how much they charge? I mean, I expected to pay a pretty penny for this thick head of hair. But they charge extra for EVERYTHING. An extra $10 just to cut the strands off the locs? Seriously?

So when The Hairdresser couldn't do my hair, that left me with few options. I could either go to The Hair Shop or do it myself. (Or obey my mother and get a relaxer) Clearly, I chose the latter. I've washed and styled my own hair before, but I try to avoid doing it because it's such a time consuming process. Thankfully, I did a lot of googling and youtube research to find the best way to get through this head.

Things actually went well, especially since I'm madly in love with my shampoo. I washed, I twisted, I oiled, I blowdryed, I cornrowed. Boy, it took some time! But I managed to get this head in one big ole braid and got nothing but compliments the next day. Hooray!

But I truly need my Hairdresser to return to locking form, with a quickness.


Photo from http://www.naani.com/contents/media/6fd42c7c0.jpg

The Sunday Spin

1. It has been a great week, which started out with the birth of Baby Extreme!

2. Baby Extreme was originally supposed to be born on my favorite holiday, but she just couldn't wait.

3. I guess I'll forgive the little tyke, since she was born on Robin Thicke's birthday, and ya'll know how I feel about him.

4. It's a three-day weekend for me, since tomorrow is a furlough day, so I spent today hanging out with my girls

5. Corey Haim's death has saddened me, and it makes me want to see 'Lucas' once again

6. A purse caught my eye at the Kenneth Cole store this weekend, and even though I left it there

7. I'm gonna go right back and buy it. That purse has been haunting my dreams, and hey, it's my birthday month! Time to spoil me!

Have a good week!

The Sunday Spin (or Your Screaming Orgasm vs My Stereo?)

1. I'm happy to report that I finally took the comprehensive exam that will take me one step closer to my master's degree
2. A 6-hour test ain't no joke, ya'll
3. Once it was over, I literally cleared my table of all my notes and dumped them in the trash. So I better have passed!
4. My loud upstairs neighbors had the nerve to report me to our leasing company, saying that I WAS TOO LOUD
5. That forced me to have a chat with them where I let them know everything I hear -- snoring, footsteps, the TV, whole conversations, them having sex
6. Dude finally understood where I was coming from and we shook on it. I'm so glad it didn't get ugly
7. I need to go clothes shopping in the worst way, but I'm not finding anything. Sigh.

Have a good week!

So Long. Farewell. Auf Wiedersehen. Goodnight

Well, February, you were the best of times, you were the worst of times.

You brought epic amounts of snow to my little patch of home. You caused me to eat much more than I thought humanly possible. Your winds shook my apartment, rattled my little car and whipped through me as I headed off somewhere to eat or sleep.I reached a level in my Seasonal Affective Disorder that I didn't know existed. February, you were brutal.

However, there were some bright spots. You did bring back the return of my much awaited Lost. I did have good music this month – Sade and Corinne Bailey Rae. And some of your epic snowstorms actually prevented me from going to work on days when I really didn’t want to go. For that, February, I thank you.

But I do think my biggest accomplishment this month is the new lease I signed on my apartment complex. Now, I no longer have a yearlong commitment to the lovely people who run my complex. That means, for a rent increase of nearly $40, I am on a month to month policy. I can give these mofos .. errr, lovely people, a two month notice on when I’m vacaating the premises and they can like it or lump it. This simple move is one of the many steps I’ve taken toward homeownership. I checked out a pile of library books on the subject – I’ll get to them after my exam this weekend – and I’m signing up for weekly homeownership classes that meet Wednesday evenings this month. Good times.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty I’ll miss about my apartment building. We’ve been together since 2006. Hanging tough. I like the fact that maintenance can come and fix any serious problems (albeit leave the door unlocked when they do). I like that my neighbor’s 5-year-old daughter feels comfortable enough with me that she can bang on my door when no one answers the door at her place. I can enjoy the soothing sounds of my upstairs neighbor’s snoring and constant passion with his woman, almost as much as I enjoy his coming downstairs to to tell me when my music or television is too loud. I can’t begin to express the gratitude I feel for that person/people who smokes on the steps, goes through my newspaper and tosses it around, or leaves our conrolled entrance door unlocked so that the entire town can come in and have a good time.

So, dear February, it’s been real. But like with my current place of residence, it is time to say goodbye.

Photo from http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/0f/39/c2/lawn-in-winter.jpg