Love Letter to Michael

Dear Michael,
I miss you...more than I thought I ever would. We have been friends for so long that I never thought a time would come when you wouldn't be with me. We grew up together as old friends do. I had such a crush on you! Not a secret crush because it was shared by many. I always thought that I loved you the most though! You were so talented and so cute. Your music touched my soul and colored my life. As I grew from childhood to adulthood so did you. I felt you change in the words you wrote and the songs you sang. I watched as a friend, when your face was often covered and your skin was no longer the same as mine. Dear Michael. I watched as a friend, when they said so many things about you. Dear Michael. I watched as a friend, as you became a husband and a father. Dear Michael. I watched as a friend, when you were in physical and emotional pain. Dear Michael. I watched as a friend, as you touched people across gender, class, and color lines as only the King of Pop could. I watched as a friend, as your sense of charity was matched by no other. I watched as a friend, as your music continued to touch us from decade to decade. I watched as a friend, when the entire world wished you an emotional and very personal, fond farewell. My Dear Friend Michael....may you finally rest in peace.

Love Donna

Always "the Kids"!

Its funny even at_____ yrs old(LOL)my parents still think of Donna, Douglas and myself as "the kids". No matter what we do we still have that title. I used to laugh about this thinking, we're all responsible adults! I learned very quickly on my excursion to AC that thank GOD I was still the "kid" LOL! My parents got a room at the Water Club in Atlantic City for 2 days and asked if I wanted to tag along....."YES!", said the "kid". Unfortunately there was a lot of work piling up at Pooka and I told them that I probably couldn't get away. Sunday before they were leaving they called and said meet them at Pooka! They worked all day with the "kid" so I could go on their trip!!! On Monday I met them at their house and for some reason I turned into the "kid" for real! "When are we leaving?" "I'm hungry!" "Ahh...daddy has to stop at the bank!!!!" "You didn't get gas yesterday!?!?" As I flopped around in the back seat of the car I realized I was giving William and Wesley a run for their money!!! Eventually, luckily for my parents the "kid" fell asleep until we arrived at AC. Our first stop was to visit the spa where my father treated my mother and the "kid" to facials (Hey, mommy and me days aren't just for the little kids!) Afterwards, I quickly put on my swimsuit and went to the pool, deciding to meet my parents later. At the pool I ordered some lunch and when I went to pay they told me they charged it to the room. Wow this "kid" thing is workin! That night After our first day I was exhausted so I went upstairs by myself to go to bed. I had forgotten my contact case so I put my contacts into some drinking glasses with a note in front of them and just for extra security put a bottle of saline in front of the contraption. When I woke up the next morning and went into the bathroom I almost passed out as I saw the 2 glasses neatly cleaned on the sink!!!"Who used the glasses?" I screamed. My father cringed and said that we was disgusted that the hotel would leave dirty glasses out so he rinsed them and unknowingly sent my contacts down the drain. Well he must have thought if he blinded the "kid" I'd stay out of trouble but oh no I just whipped out my glasses and ran to get my comped (by my parents)breakfast! That afternoon I slipped right back to 5rs old, ordering things and charging it to the room, while my parents were downstairs I perused the mini-bar and snack items, before I knew it I had ripped open a box of junk food and ate it deciding to put the empty box neatly back in its place!(Hello! that's what kids do!) After my snack I went to the casino looking for my parents and realized that looking sad at the slots usually got me a $20 from my mom and breathing down my fathers neck while he played and saying, "da...you should cash out...da...you're up to 5 dollars..." usually got me a $20 and a beat it from him! We went out later and had a great dinner and I really did try to offer some cash but my father waived me off, at this point I was thinking about getting another tattoo saying "the kid forever!" Well I had the most fabulous time with my WONDERFUL parents. The next time they go somewhere they should choose an adults only place! NO "KID" ALLOWED!

Ps: please don't hold my bratty behavior against me the "kid" is a hard habit to break, LOL!!

Michael

Hey Pooka family, I don't know about you, but I'm still trying to come to grips with the death of Michael Jackson. Despite all his eccentric behavior in the past, he is still a part of my childhood and continues to hold a place in my heart. I am so disgusted with his father's behavior pre and post his death as well as all the other bloodsuckers so much so that I refuse to watch or read any more media press about Michael. I want to remember the good times of when I saw him in concert in Philly and of his groundbreaking videos and of his humanitarian efforts in Africa and across the world when everyone embraced "We are the World!" My uncle sent an email the other day reminiscing of when he took my cousin Karen to her first Jackson concert. That in turn sparked my other uncle to email about the time when he was stationed in Germany and he took my cousin Jessica to a Jackson concert. Then the email chain continued throughout our family. I thought it would be nice if our Pooka family would do the same i.e. tells us about your memory of seeing a Michael Jackson concert or any Michael memorable event. Hit us on Twitter, Facebook or the Pookalitas blog and tell us about your Michael experience. Let's keep the positive memories flowing so we can stamp out all the negative press!

My Jackson Five!

I miss Michael Jackson. When I look back at it Michael Jackson has been through every part of my life with me. He was definitely my first crush, Donna and I would argue over who gets Michael and she would have the nerve to always throw Marlin or Randy my way(sorry guys) but I held out for Michael all the time. We would put that record on and played it until the grooves wore off and it was funny because growing up we lived on one floor and we played that record in our living room for hours and just recently Donna and I looked at each other and said, "Where were mommy and daddy?" I asked my mother and she just laughed, "Yes girls, your father and I were very patient, LOL!". We actually saved our own money to buy that album which made it even more special and our very first concert, yup, the Jacksons. We've known them our entire lives. Growing up we would play Jackson Five with friends of our family and we would do all the steps. We each had fedora hats borrowed from our dads (except for me, now that I think about it,since I was the youngest and we were out of cool hats, they always made me wear my ski cap, not cool guys, not cool) and sang all night long. There was always a song along my path to adulthood from "ABC" to "Thriller" to "You give me Butterflies". And please tell me what girl didn't put on the knee pads and straighten out her bangs and try to jump over a chair like Janet did in the pleasure principle?!!!Who else except family has been with you through everything! I will always love Michael Jackson, The Jacksons and Janet! yeah, yeah randy and marlon too, Donna!

We're Havin a Par-Tay!!!!

Hello Pooka People!


Hope everyone is having a blessed week! Just wanted to drop you a note to invite you to our Pineapple Summer Splash! For all of you people who call me all year long and ask me, "Why is the pineapple gone!!!?", this day is for you! Every year around this time we bring back everything Pineapple for one day. We make a great day of it, we make food, have a fabulous DJ and pass out Pineapple Pookaladas! I hope you can drop by and officially launch summer with us. If you're out of town our delicious pineapple products will be on the website for just one day, Saturday June 27 or you can call in and place an order. Make sure to check back next week when we put up the pictures, you might see yourself gettin your dance on, LOL!

See Ya Saturday!

Saturday June 27, 2009
Pooka Warehouse
364 Glenwood Ave.
East Orange, NJ
973-954-2471
10:00am-4:00pm

Our Not So Sex in the City Day Out!

Well Pooka family I’m here to tell you things have changed! Remember the sassy girls who put on their stilettos and had cosmos and dinner before going to see sex in the city? Yeah, well they’re gone! This Friday April and Wesley invited us to Williams (her 7 yr old) spring concert. So Tricia, Taiye and myself went and it was so very cute.. We decided to go out to lunch at Tricia’s favorite place PF Changs(she also suggested Cuban Petes but you all remember what happened the last time she had the Ricky Riccardo!) Now why we would take 3 children to PF Changs we’re still trying to figure that one out! We sat down at our nicely set table knowing that wouldn’t last. We all ordered and William told me he wanted Shrimp my man! (aka Shrimp lo mein, cute!) During our tasty meal as I was sipping on an Organic Agave Nectar Martini(you heard right an organic martini! Guilt free drinkin) William whispers to his mom “Yuck, I don’t want to see auntie dawns B-U-T-T!(and he had the nerve to spell it out!) Nothing makes you realize quicker that the time for wearing low riders has passed than hearing a “Yuck!” As I slowly tucked my butt fat back in my jeans I quietly ate the rest of my meal. When Tricia whipped out a boob to feed Taiye it was then that I knew we were no longer hip and sassy, no sex in the city here! Wesley drummed on the table with his chopsticks for the entire meal and managed to only poke himself in the eye once before falling out of the booster seat landing under the table. I was tempted to just pass him his plate under there and let him finish, it would have definitely been quieter! I licked the inside of my Organic Martini glass hoping to find just one more drop to get me through the rest of dinner, but no luck! Our table now looked like a war zone it was definitley time to go home. Will, April and Wes had gone to the bathroom, Tricia and I were paying the bill when an older gentleman walked by our table with Will following close behind him. Tricia and I just stared blanlky as William ran after this man, we hear, "excuse me, excuse me" and then William has a quick conversation with him and walks back to the table. We ask him what he said to the man and he says "I told him he didn't wash his hands in the bathroom that's disgusting!!!" Tricia and I exploded with laughter as we were wondered if we were going to have to fight this now angry gentlemen! April returned from the bathroom with Wesley and a toilet paper trail stuck to his shoe. We quickly exited the restaurant. So people while we are definitely not wearing stilettos we're going to make a conscious effort to not throw on our orthopedic shoes just yet!

New Jersey's Newest Hot Spot

Hey Pooka Family! You have to check out New Jersey's newest Hot Spot! You know how we're always saying, "There's no mature adult spot for us to hang out." Well, this is it..the VIP Game Lounge is the new thing to do! I had such a great time Friday night @ the Game Lounge! I am so very proud of Joe Campbell, the proprietor of the VIP Game Lounge, because he's created an event for the mature crowd (i.e. 28 and older seemed to be the age range) to go to and have a great time! The Game Lounge travels to different locations so you have to check out the website to see where it will be next (http://www.vipgamelounge.com/). Friday's Game Lounge was at the Newark Marriott Hotel. It was a great space for it because it was large room, parking was free with the passes Joe provided, you don't have to wait in a long line to get in, and there was food & drinks and some nice neo-soul music. We played Taboo, Pookalita Pictionary, Wii, Bid Whisk, Spades, etc. Now the girls will tell you, I am very competitive so I let my hair down when it comes to Spades. I met some new friend's playing cards that night. Sedica was my partner in Spades and next time Sedica, I promise not to be so conservative with my bidding. Next time we will run Boston's on everyone who sits at our table! Also, don't get me started about Pookalita Pictionary! It was the guys against the girls and let me tell you family..the guys cheat! Ladies, we know we won that game! I'm telling you family, we had a good time! And I got home just in time for Taiye's 2 AM feeding.

The next VIP Game Lounge will be at NJPAC on Friday June 26th. I am looking forward to it. Hope you guys will come and check it out.and don't forget to bring your "A" Game! One more thing Family, there's also a Gospel VIP Game Lounge. Check out the website for the date and time for that one also.