And You Have a Great Day!!!!!!

Greetings Pooka family!   I was heading to work after enjoying a great summer weekend. Not to Pooka but to my "other" job.  Snoozing on the train listening to Donnie Mcclurkin so he could give me some Monday morning inspiration.  We pulled into the station and everyone does their usual train dance of unplugging their technology, looking for their metro cards and making sure not to leave their lunch! The man in front of me turned around because he recognized the woman sitting next to me. He was very cheery and happy to see her. She on the other hand was just trying to make it through Monday morning. He kept being cheery and then asked her "Are you going to have a great day today!" She quietly replied" Happy Monday". He then noticed me and asked me, "And you. Are you going to have a great day today"! I quickly replied yes because I guess I was surprised he asked me!  I then told him that I wanted some of what he had for breakfast lol! He looked at me an said "I didn't have anything. I just woke up this morning! Wow Pooka family! Talk about a simple but profound statement!  That man then proceeded to ask all the strangers around him that same question and it changed everyone's state of mind, everyone's perspective. The whole mood changed and everyone was smiling and sharing the spirit of the great day they were going to have. I have repeated this story fifty times since Monday because it so effected me. You see after he asked that question I decided to actually have a great day....no matter what.  I always know in my head that we decide our mood or our reactions to whatever life brings. Family we all know that doesn't always work. For some reason though, that man's question, his enthusiasm, his contagious spirit and his answer to my question so touched me. I am living one day at a time but I truly am determined to have a great day every day! Pooka family I challenge you to do the same because life is to short. So... When you head out to work tomorrow decide to have a great  day no matter what.  Remember if you wake up you are more than half way there!

Peace and Blessings family!

The Butler

Morning Pooka Family!  Hope everyone is enjoying these last few weeks of summer because fall is right around the corner!  So... we went to see The Butler yesterday.  Everyone has been saying how great a movie it is and I agree it is but I have to say that 2 minutes into the movie I was ready to walk out!  Dawn had to hold me back in my seat!  I won't give anything away to those who haven't seen it yet so I'll only say this.it was too soon after the Trayvon verdict for me to see this movie.  I still have a lot of anger inside of me and although the movie did come full circle from a race relations perspective (well, maybe not quite 360°) as you all know, we still have a long way to go in real life.  But family, I'll leave it at that.  Please go see the movie. Support our Black directors and actors and continue to fight for justice and educate your fellow White Americans because no matter how many Oprahs, Baracks, and Michael Jordans there are in this world, they still don't get it!   

Justice for Trayvon!!!!!

PS.pay attention to how many Black film trailers you see before the movie.  I wonder if they play those same trailers for Tom Hank's movies?  Hmmmm?

This weeks' Throwback Post!!

Pooka family, I spent a great day at my local pool and it made me think of the first time I ever went there, so I dug up my vintage Pooka post.........Enjoy

My own little oasis! (yes Donna, I have one too!)

Well everyone I have discovered my local, neighborhood Pool! I AM AMAZED!! I had such a stigma about public pools, but I was told to try the one in my new neighborhood and can I tell you, FAB-U-LOUS!! You know I have to share my experience with you. I went and got my pool pass and decided the next day I was going to the Pool (that was probably the day you called and Pooka was closed!). I decided to put on my bathing suit and go to the pool by myself. Now first of all I haven’t had on my bathing suit in a while and it was not………CUTE! I used to wear a nice 2 piece but now I’ve moved into the 2 piece with the little skirt on the bottom! But so what, I packed my sunscreen, towel, ipod, magazine, water, snacks, sunglasses, phone(If I needed to bring all that stuff I should have stayed home!) When I got to the pool and dragged my suitcase in I was amazed! It was so nice, 3 pools, picnic area, beach chairs, concession stand, I thought I was in the Bahamas. It was so liberating setting up shop for the day and just relax. The best part was the summer pass was only $20! What was even better was I could bring guests for only $5 a day! Now you know me I had to tell everyone about my little nirvana and the words “You should come to my pool….” will forever haunt me! That’s when the “VISITS” began. I have become a local tour guide for my pool. I now have a schedule by my bed of who is coming to the pool and what time. I get many calls about what slots are available. I now wear a uniform, similar to a bus driver when I drop my groups off at the pool. I’ve even purchased a whistle for when my groups get a little disorderly. Last week my parents and aunts and uncle came for pool day and we had such a nice time. Since then, sometimes when I look into the crowd, I see them sitting in the corner with shades on! “How did they get in without me?” I wonder. They pretend not to see me but I know it’s them! And you know I get the very frequent, Auntie Dawn can we go back to the pool? (hhmmmmmmmmmm………..I remember seafood night kid!) So now my summer nirvana has changed, I wish I would have known I could have gotten a job at the pool and got paid! The lesson here, we have to start taking advantage of things that are available to us, you never know you may find your own little Bahamas!(just make sure you get a one way ticket! hahahaha)

Where are my Garanimals!!!

Well Pooka family, lately I’ve been doing a lot of speaking engagements.  I’ve been packing and unpacking and constantly trying to figure out what to wear.  I am not a big shopper, it’s really not one of my favorite things to do.  So, constantly trying to decide what to wear made me think that I miss Garanimals!  Do you remember them?  They were made for kids so that they could match any giraffe top with any giraffe pants!  This was an AMAZING discovery.  I have decided that at this age I need Business Giranimals! I could go in my closet and grab a ostrich top and pair it with an ostrich bottom and Voila! dressed for my meetings and ready to go!  If you’re down with business garanimals, let me know we can start a new business together, LOL!