Happy New Year Pooka Family! I am exciting about the New Year and what new possibilities are in {the} store (no pun intended) LOL! As you know from Dawn’s previous post; we have begun our Daniel Fast and this year’s theme as communicated by Rev. Watley (williamwatley.org) is New Possibilities for Faith, Family and Finances for 2012. I love Rev. Watley’s themes each year for the Daniel Fast because he not only lays out the guidelines for the Fast through the word of God but his themes also challenge me to look outside of just the abstinence to food but also inward towards what I am seeking for myself through God. This year I took the time to right down exactly what new possibilities I would like to see come to fruition. That was a crucial first step for me because once I write something down; I look at it every day to see if I’ve completed it so I can check it off. One other thing we (the Pookalitas) did this year that we didn’t do last year is that we each invited one other sisterfriend to join us in the fast. For the one who did join us, we are happy that she has taken on the commitment and to the others who were not ready to do so, we still include them in our Daily Word.
Pooka Family, I hope that each of you have thought about what new possibilities lay in store for you and are open to receive them
Greetings Pooka Family! I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful October weather! Here in NJ we’ve had some 80? October days and some 60? days and I am not complaining one bit!
So recently we celebrated Dawn’s birthday and next month we will celebrate mine. We each react differently when our birthday’s come around so of course it sparked another one of our many discussions - if we could, what age would we like to return to i.e. high school or our 20’s or 30’s? As each of our responses varied, this got me thinking about our future and getting older. We usually joke about our age but then I began to think seriously. What will our lives be like when we reach our parents’ age? Will we be as active as some of them are with trips to Atlantic City, Senior Line Dance Classes and active participation in our respective churches? Will our destinies have taken us outside of Jersey to another state or even another country? Or will William, Wesley and Taiye have checked us into some Senior Living facility and have gone on with their lives! LOL!!! Whatever our senior years hold for us, there is one thing we all agree and that is what we do now will affect how healthy and happy our senior living will be. With that said, we all made a renewed focus on eating right, exercise and reducing the level of stress in our lives today. As our bodies and minds grow older, we are not able to readily adapt to the evolutionary change as we could in our younger years. Therefore, it is imperative that we keep our minds strong with thinking exercises like crossword puzzles, suduko and game shows like Jeopardy and of course reading books; and keep our bodies limber with exercise and healthy eating. We look at our parents and think about how proud we are that they are embracing their age with how they have chosen to live their lives and we hope that we can emulate the example they provide by simply living gracefully!
Greetings Pooka Family! Hope everyone here on the east coast made it thru Hurricane Irene okay. So here’s my video blog of being stuck in the house with Wale and Taiye during the storm…..enjoy! (and yes, the house is a mess!)
Day 1
Day 1 continued
Day 2
Greetings Pooka Family! Hope everyone is enjoying their summer! We’re half way through it already and Mother Nature has definitely made up for that extended winter we had. If anyone is complaining about these 90+ degree temperatures just remind them of that week of snow storms we had in March!
So family, I want to talk to you guys about “The Change”. No, not the change in weather…I’m talking about the change in life. I recently had one of those “ah-ha” moments when I realized that I’ve made the change from that young, single, happening lady to the older, married with child, still happening but not-so-much woman. I guess it came to me when I was reading my email accounts one morning and I received a Groupon or Living Social emails for a 1 day whitewater rafting singles event. I said to myself, “this is something I always wanted to do. I should buy this Groupon/Living Social.” Then I realized, “wait a minute, how am I going to be able to do this and who’s going to do it with me?” I’m not single anymore so I’d have to ask my husband to come with me, but then I would need to find someone to watch Taiye. I could ask the girls if they wanted to do it with me but then thought about this again, no one’s is gonna want to get their hair wet, Donna would look at me like I was crazy and Dawn would say she’s not sure her arms could handle the work of rowing, oh and by the way, who’s gonna watch the store while we’re gone? I guess that’s when I realized that I’m at a stage of my life where those spontaneous events I used to do without a second thought now requires a little more planning. That’s not to say that I have totally given up on doing anything new and exciting. I’ll still think about doing those fun events when I get those emails, I’ll just have to really think it through before I purchase.
Greetings Pooka Family! I greet you on this BEAUTIFUL day as we enter into the month of June! Okay family, so here’s the thing….like many of us (woman), I’ve made the decision to go chemical free with my hair. I have not had a perm in close to 3 years. However, I’m finding it challenging trying to decide what will be my new style for the summer. I usually go to the doobie shop and get a wash and blow-out but this past weekend I walked into the doobie shop on the Friday before Memorial Day and I just stopped and looked around me. There were at least 25 women sitting and waiting. Some were sitting under the hot dryers others were sitting waiting to be rolled. Well family, I turned around, put my little $20 back in my pocket and walked right out that door. At that point, I made the decision; I can’t sit up in here another summer afternoon! So now I’m faced with the challenge of deciding how I’m going to wear my hair if I’m not going to continue to do the blow out. Now family, you know us (Pookalitas); Dawn and I rock the European hair styles (straight blow out with bangs); Donna and April rock the Afro-centric styles (braids and afro). But now, I’m leaving Dawn behind and I’m going over to team Afro-centric! Donna said that she would do my hair in a style that is both cute and I can manage without going to the doobie shop every week. Now I know this is a process and it will take some time to fully transition into a style that fits me and my hair type so the next time you see me family, please be kind if my hair has not made the full transition yet.
Enjoy your summer Pooka Family!
Hey Pooka Family! Well, time certainly flies! Two years ago today I threw up on Dawn's hand while Donna and Carlene held on to mine and I delivered the most beautiful baby girl in the world (unfortunately April couldn't get off of work otherwise she would have been there too)! I can't believe that she is 2 years old today! Motherhood has definitely changed my life for the better. Everyday I look at Taiye in amazement! I can't believe that wonderful baby came from me (with the help of Wale too). I know there will be trials and tribulations ahead of us when she hits puberty, adolescence and high school but until then; I'm enjoying this glorious time of her being a toddler.
Happy New Year Pooka Family! Welcome to 2011 - A New Year to get it right! As you reflect on 2010 and all the things you've accomplished; what is the one thing you would like to focus on this year? I'm not talking about your standard resolutions i.e. exercise more, eat better, be more organized, I'm talking about that 1 goal you'd like to set for yourself to achieve with 100% success! This one goal is not something which is expected to be reached in 1 day, 1 week or 1 month. Those goals are a lot easier to achieve. This is your Challenge Goal. A goal which you will work on frequently throughout the year then set monthly or quarterly checkpoints for yourself to see how you're progressing. Think about this family. I know a lot of you are waiting for me to give an example or maybe share my Challenge Goal, but I don't want to do that. I think a Challenge Goal is something that you alone should come up with. It may take some soul searching, meditation and praying, but I truly believe that each of us can come up with 1 thing which we can focus on for this year so that on January 1, 2012 you can confidently say that I successfully accomplished ______________ this year! Fill in that blank family and let's focus on achieving our 2011 Challenge Goal!
Hey Pooka Family! I hope everyone enjoyed their summer and you are comfortably transitioning into the Fall season. We had a great summer and I still can't believe we are into the last quarter of the year already!
Well, the girls and I are excited and looking forward to seeing "For Colored Girls" this weekend! I remember when we went to see the play years ago at the Schomburg Center in the City. What a moving play! I can't wait to see how Tyler Perry has transformed the play into a movie. The cast is phenomenal (also loving Janet's new haircut; thinking about cutting mine like that)! This is one of those movies where you get your sisters and sisterfriends and go see it together (much like we did for Precious and Why did I get Married). We're planning on catching the matinee on Sunday and doing brunch afterwards to fellowship and talk about the movie. Hope you get a chance to get out and see the movie this weekend too and if you do hit us up on our Facebook page and join our roundtable discussion on your thoughts of the movie.
For those of you in north Jersey..maybe we'll see you at the show!
Hello Pooka Family. My heart is heavy and I am not in great spirits today, mainly because of two separate incidents on bullying that have been in the news recently. The first one is about the little girl in Florida whose father went on the school bus to berate and threaten the kids who had been picking with his daughter (who by the way has cerebral palsy). Some may not agree with his methods, but as a parent you can identify with his intentions. I'd always feel compassion when I'd hear about these incidents in the news but now that we have Taiye, I find myself more compassionate to the victim and angry at the perpetrators. Since day one when we found out that we were having a child, my prayers at night changed from, "God bless, my husband, my sisters and my family" to "God, I pray that we raise Taiye to be a strong, confident, Christian person loving God first, us second, her family & friends and her community." I think it is so important that we raise Taiye to be a confident child so she is not easily manipulated by what others think of her or influenced by some little boy who says she needs to prove her love to him by doing God knows what! As a teenager, I was insecure and not completely confident in myself so I definitely don't want to pass on those feelings to Taiye. I want her to be a leader and not a follower and achieve all the goals she sets for herself.
The other incident of bullying that has affected me was, in my opinion, a form of cyber-bullying. This was the incident where two students taped and then streamed on the internet an intimate encounter between his roommate and another person. As you may have heard the result of that incident lead to suicide. I'm sure these two student probably did not mean for this to happen and I'm sure they thought what they were doing was a joke, but what does it say about us/our children, that we find someone else's personal preferences a joke? Why are we so judgmental? Why do we feel we can make other people the butt of our jokes? Like I said, I am sure they did not mean for that young man to commit suicide, and yes, that young man could have possibly been suffering from some other issues that contributed to his decision to take his life. Nevertheless, it does not absolve those students's culpability of what they did. I feel sorry for the parents of all of the students involved in this tragedy. I'm sure they did not expect that when they sent their sons/daughters off to college that their children would end up being responsible for someone's death and for the parents who loss their child, this was probably the furthest from their minds.
Let's teach our children tolerance and confidence!
Hey Pooka Family! I am writing this blog while sitting on a plane staring at the back of a man's head (why do men usually go bald at the top of their heads) on my first business trip without Taiye! This is actually my third business trip since I started back to work in March. The first trip, Taiye and Wale went with me to Oregon. Wale wanted to check out Portland because he's mentioned on more than one occasion that he likes the northwest climate and we may be moving there in the next 5 years (yea, right! I can't see Taiye and me going that far away from her Aunties). The second trip was to Atlanta and just Taiye went with me but we have a lot of family there so she stayed with them while I went to my business meetings. Now it's just me...without my baby...away for 3 days and 2 nights. Surprisingly, I'm not too nervous. She'll be at day care during the day and they take great care of her. In the evenings my husband will pick her up and warm up the dinner that I cooked dinner for both of them. Can you guess what I made?..yep, chicken and rice! I told you that's my standby meal and it can last up to 3 days! I laid out her clothes; Miss Erica at Day Care loves to do her hair, so with all that, I'm not too nervous about leaving her. My main concern is for my husband and how he will manage with her throughout the night. You see, Taiye still nurses at night. She is used to turning over and having her milk on demand. So the nighttime will be the challenge for her (not having the boob), for my husband (because she is going to scream bloody murder not getting the boob) and for me (because my boobs are going to swell up with so many milk ducts that it will feel like they will burst). I am prayerful that we all will be able to manage this short trip away for Mommy. Keep us in your prayers Pooka family!
