Rantings of a Creole Princess

GIRL.BYE.HELL.

Q. Help Me Tell Him!: 

 I found out a few weeks ago that I'm expecting a child. My husband has two children from a previous marriage. About two years ago I got pregnant and my husband went into a violent depression. He didn't speak to me for weeks except to tell me how I had ruined his life. Then, when I miscarried he celebrated. I started bleeding in the grocery store, and he fell to his knees and "praised God" for this wonderful blessing. After months of therapy, we decided to try to make the marriage work, under the agreement that we would never have a child together. However, I now find myself pregnant again. And, I want this baby as much as I wanted the last one. The trouble is, I decided back then that I would never want a child with my husband. There is a very good chance that my husband will divorce me and leave a man-shaped hole in the front door as he grabs his two kids and runs as far away as he can. I am not ready for the end of the marriage I have put so many years and so much work into. But, I'm even more not ready to hear my husband try to talk me into an abortion—which is not an option. And, I think it would be traumatic for my stepchildren to watch me carry a baby to term and then put it up for adoption. They are well old enough to know what's happening. Plus, I could never part with my child. I have to tell him. But how?

What advice would YOU give to her?

From:  A Little Bundle of Fear

Government Shutdown

Thoughts?

Do NOT look at your stocks.  Just don't.  In fact...just file the statements away without opening them for the next 6 months cuz yeah...they look like, once again, we're screwed.

*sigh*

What do you think about your representatives in Congress, etc?

Dear Helen Fielding:

Say bruh...

Bridget Jones' fans horror at death of Mark Darcy

Pre-order: Mad About the Boy

Would YOU date him?

You're divorced with grown kids.

He's divorced with grown kids.

You're both pretty financially independent.

You're being set up by mutual friends.

You arrive and meet him.

He's had plastic surgery and looks "pulled."

Too pulled.

You good?

Marriage Advice

For some reason I'm always asked for marriage advice by new brides.  I always say the same thing.  "Cherish each other because it's you and him against the world."

Good advice right?

I said this recently to a young woman about to get married and her friend chimed in with, "But what if he doesn't cherish you?  Do you stop cherishing him or do you still do for him hoping he'll start doing for you?"

Me:  Um...

Her:  Like...what if he's always angry all the time and doesn't really take it out on you but you have to tiptoe around him because he's always angry?

Me:  Um...

Her:  What if you know something is wrong but he just won't tell you?

Me:  Um...

Her:  Do still cherish him then?

SIP:  Say bruh...this was some sweet shit going on and you just dumped kerosene on it and lit a marriage match.

Me:  I do not have initials behind my name and those sound like issues folks with initials behind their names need to help you with.  Now...if you want to send me an email with specifics to post anonymously on my blog I will but that's all I got.

What about you?  Whatchu got?

HotNESS or HotMESS? (SM)

Vince 'Sonia' Pump

 

Parental Guidance Necessary?

I was with a group of friends recently and we were discussing teenagers dating.  We were a mixed group of women.  All ages and skin colors.

I listened as some of the women spoke about how their first boyfriend was when they were 13 years old.  One woman said her boyfriend would come over and study or watch television with her and have dinner with her family.  She would go to his house sometimes too, but not as much.

They were never alone.

Scenario from real life...

Your daughter is a sophomore in high school.
She gets asked to the homecoming dance by a sophomore boy.
Can she accept without asking your permission first?

Reality Show

If your family had a reality show...what would the title be?

Thanksgiving Question...

Are you traveling this year?  Have you started looking into your travel plans yet?  Are the prices what you thought they would be or are they more expensive than usual?

Jennifer Aniston's Living Proof Contest and Review

Sometime this past Spring, I read about a contest Jennifer Aniston was having about being obsessed with hair.  I was sitting on the deck with my laptop and pressed record and made a quick, quirky video adding different pictures of me wearing my hair differently.  I was bored and it was something fun to play around with.

I sent it in.

About a month ago they contacted me and told me I was a runner up in the contest and I won $100 gift certificate to use their products at Living Proof.

Cool!  Me love free stuff!

GO ME!  GO ME!

I then asked her which product line should I try since I'm Black and my hair ain't like Jen-Jen's.  LOL!  She told me to try the Restore line which is for dry hair.

When I received the product I was at the end of a relaxer stretch and wasn't going to do anything with my hair anyway but honestly...once I added my leave-in conditioner I thought to myself...hmmmm...I bet I could blow dry and flat iron it without a bunch of tangling so I tried it and it worked well.

I was happy with the way my hair turned out but I wasn't ecstatic until I tried the Targeted Repair Creme.  This stuff felt really good on my hair.  I only used a little bit but that little bit went a long, long way.  I learned that first week that I can't use it every day because it's thicker than I'm used to...but using it every other day works wonders.

I read some reviews online which suggest it doesn't work well on natural hair but they were using the No-Frizz line so I'm wondering if they would have had better results had they used the Restore line too.

They sent me a sample of this product and I think I'm going to order it too:  Perfect Hair Day

All-in-all I'm pretty darned pleased with it since I've been over here bouncing and behaving.  LOL!  GO ME!

Have you tried any new hair products lately?  Share please!  You know we're always looking for something hot!

Night Night Beauty Routine

What do you do beauty wise before you go to bed?

Script Flipped

What if a live in boyfriend told his girlfriend that she had to get her credit score up to AT LEAST 770 before he proposed?
Is he worried about the wrong ish? Would you have a problem with that?

Question...

Who takes care of your grandparents?

Sandwiches and Shit

A woman made a blog about the sandwiches she makes for her boyfriend.

Seems that one day, while eating and appreciating a sandwich she made for him, he told her she was 300 sandwiches away from an engagement ring.

She took it and ran with it and turned it into a pretty cool blog about sandwiches. 300sandwiches.com

Well...turns out she was a reporter for Page Six so, instead of it quietly flying under the radar forever...it made the Page Six news.  ‘I’m 124 sandwiches away from an engagement ring’

And then the normal chain reaction went down from there.  HuffPo, Mashable, Jezebel, ABC, NBC, etc.

I side eyed it because when I visited her blog she wasn't making a sandwich per day so at the rate she was going...it was going to take her over a year.  I was thinking...his azz woulda been having sammiches for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Period.

He'd have been so sick of sammiches he would have proposed early just so he could get some soup or a salad.  LOL!

Robby and I visited her sandwich blog and dude was straight DROOLING over the sandwiches.  

Robby:  She takes beautiful pictures of sandwiches.

And we laughed and laughed and laughed.

Her sandwiches look good as hell.  OH YEAH!

Then, of course, the angry people started in on her sandwiches and the reason for her sandwiches. 

Someone I know said something interesting on Facebook...they said had she been making 300 sandwiches for a Black man...they wouldn't have had problem numero uno and they would have been using her to teach Black women how to ack right.  They were like...a pretty Black woman in a pretty floral dress in the kitchen...making SAMMICHES?  Oh yeah...she was church lady proper.  BLACK LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE!

Instrastin.

Making sammiches about race.

I want a custom house and The Robinator told me what we'd need for me to get that.  I'm still blinking.  LOL!

What did YOU think about the sammiches?  Honestly?  Thumbs up or thumbs down?  Cute or KNOCKING WOMEN BACK BY 50 YEARS?  

 

Good Counsel

Whenever I'm struggling with something I go over it and over it in my head until I'm comfortable with my action or reaction.  There have been periods in my life where I've been quick to jump to the worst possible conclusion and I've grown enough to realize that it was because I wasn't in a good place in life.  The times in my life when I wasn't in a good place I made poor decisions.  VERY poor decisions.

And I stunted my personal growth.

The most perplexing part about it is that I knew good and well that I was wrong.  I felt it in my gut and in that nagging, burning feeling I had whenever I thought about it and then...I had to fill my brain with other stuff just so I didn't think about it too much and allow the guilt to eat me alive.

Solange - "Lovers In The Parking Lot"

To your knowledge...

Did your parents ever split up only to get back together? What do you remember about that period? Do you think it scarred you? Were things better when they got back together?

Bragg's Organic Sprinkle Seasoning

BEST.ISH.EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Bragg Organic Sprinkle Seasoning

You can get free samples here:  http://bragg.com/samples/samples_26749.php

You Good?

"Men, I know you think your woman isn't the type who wants to be taken. But trust me, she is. Every girl wants to get her hair pulled once in a while. If your wife says "no," turn her around, and rip her clothes off. She wants to be dominated."

'Real Housewife' Melissa Gorga's New Book Advocates Marital Rape

 

Jaheim - "Age Ain't A Factor"

Convo at 13700

Phone rings.

Me:  Hello?

Framily:  When did Fantasia get fine?

Me:  Da hell?

Framily:  I'm watching a video on VH1 Soul with Kelly and Missy and Fantasia wearing one of them Beyonce booty onesies and she's fine.

Me:  Um...I have to see that video.

Framily:  Bye...I'm going for a run.

*CLICK*

How to buy glasses when you're VAIN.AS.HELL!

Well...it's finally happened.  My eye doctor tells me that I need reading glasses.  *sigh*

This wouldn't be as traumatic if I only read at home but I'll be out and about looking some kinda crazy trying to read something on a menu or something and it's become bothersome to say the least.

I spent the better part of an hour trying to find a pair of frames to no avail.  I got some good ideas...but nothing jumped out at me.

Here are a few that were okay but just OKAY:

I really like the styles of this designer.  Lafont.  And I LOVE that their "name" is only on the inside of the frame and not emblazoned all along the side.  I want them to be stylish, of course, but not all BOING LOOKA ME WITH MY FANCY FRAMES!  I feel like I want my glasses to be simple in that aspect.

They are metal and have those nose things that I hate because they leave a print on my nose and I remember my father ALWAYS had a print on his nose and it brings back all kinds of weird memories when I see prints on sides of my nose like that when I wear sunglasses with those nose things and yes I know I have issues but yall already know I'm not working on them so there.

 

These were far more comfortable to me but I don't like the logo on the side.  They are plastic and don't have those nose things.  They felt like I was rocking a pair of sunglasses and after a few minutes I didn't even feel them on my face which is a good thing right?

So now I'm online looking at too much stuff like shape size of glasses for my face shape, etc. and getting overwhelmed.  Robby is, of course, no help.  He's all...the sooner you get them the sooner you can see again.

Old practical azz.  UGH!

How old were you when YOU had to get glasses if you wear them.  What shape is your face?  What shape are your glasses?  Are yours plastic or metal?  Do you have those nose thingys?  Any tips?  

 

 

Prince and The Revolution: "Mountains"

If you find joy in nothing else this morning...I hope a spinning Prince does it for you.

Question...

When you first walk into your home...is a television visible?

In YOUR opinion...

Is 15 too young to have a boyfriend/girlfriend?  

Fighting in front of the kids...

 

What do you think of this article?  Do you fight in front of your kids?  

The Family That Fights Together

I remember once where a friend's parents had an argument in front of her child and the child freaked out and cried hysterically because she'd never seen a mommy and daddy argue and she thought it was something very, very bad.  Like...end of the world bad.  Why?  Because her parents never argued in front of her so she had this fairy tale opinion of communication.

You know...where nobody ever gets mad.

She'd get overly sensitive at school too when it came to criticism because she lived in a happy place at home.

What do you think about that?  Do you think it's a good thing?  Did your parents argue/fight in front of you?

 

Swiffer Products

I saw a commercial for this recently and thought...hmmmmmmm...Swiffer Bissell Steamboost

I know I love my Swiffer sweeper since I have doggies and well...I will whip out a new 360 duster every few days.  Do I need to become addited to yet ANOTHER Swiffer product?  *sigh*

And hell...yall know I LURVE me some Morty and Lee!  LOL!  For 90-year-old couple, Swiffer ad stardom is ‘unexpected’

Do you use any Swiffer products?  Which ones?  Do Morty and Lee make you smile too?

You Good?

Non-sports watching women?

Are there any of you out there who don't like to watch sports?  

What do you do when your guy is watching sports?

Dear Pine Sol Makers:

I'm old school when it comes to cleaning products.  If you look at the stuff I buy...it's pretty much the same stuff my mother used to buy.  Pledge, Windex, Old English, Pine Sol, Tilex, Comet, ammonia, bleach, vinegar, baking soda, etc. 

I have a tendency to put hot water in the kitchen sink and add Pine Sol to it and wipe down my kitchen cabinets.  I love the smell and it keeps them pretty clean.

The last time I did this I walked around for about an hour after trying to figure out what the smell was I kept smelling.  I'd purchased the Citrus, Lime, Basil candle from Target's MELT collection and kept wondering if that's what I was smelling.  It wasn't an unpleasant smell...just an unfamiliar one.  I hoped it wasn't the candle because I thought it would smell better than what I was smelling and anyway...I'd only just lit it so there is no way the smell could be so strong and...following me around.

I went upstairs to wash my hands and use some of the brown sugar and vitamin E oil scrub that I made a while ago to use on my  hands after I handle harsh household chemicals or work in the yard and I realized I smelled the smell in my bathroom too.

And then I smelled my hands.

Hmmmmm...

The smell was there.

Not unpleasant...just DIFFERENT.

So I went downstairs under the sink and pulled out the bottle of Pine Sol I'd used.  It was a new bottle that I'd picked up when I bought the candle and yup...the words, "New and Improved, Longer Lasting Scent" jumped out at me.

Say bruh...Pine Sol doesn't need any changing.  Pine Sol is perfectly perfect just as it is/was.  Now...I hate that I have to go on this rant and whatnot but honestly...I'm feeling some kinda way.  It's Pine Sol.  People who know how to keep house well...know about Pine Sol.  You don't need to do anything to attempt to entice us.  We LIKE the old smell.  It's all...you know...Pine-Sol-ey.  This new stuff seriously smells like the sap that gets on your hands when you're bringing the Christmas tree inside.  No.  Just...no.  Why you gotta go messing with the good stuff?  You already have all those shiny candy colored fragrance ones for new folks...the old school folks like me are good with our original scent big bottle of Pine Sol.  We keep a bottle upstairs and a bottle downstairs so we don't have to carry it up and down the stairs and now you gotta be messing with our delicate sensibilities like this.  Is NOTHING sacred anymore?

SHEESH!

I've been buying Pine Sol the entire time I've lived in my own dorm room/apartment/condo/home, etc. as, I'm sure, many, many others have.  I've never NOT bought it.  When I run out, or get close to running out...it's added to the list.  I'll never NOT buy it.

You don't need to change it.  I've been hooked for a while now.  Well...hooked on the old smell.  This new stuff?

Meh...

Do YOU use Pine Sol?  Did you think it needed a "new and improved" smell?

 

Decorating Above Kitchen Cabinets

I was vacuuming the tops of the kitchen cabinets when I realized that I think it looks all nekkid up there.  I stepped back and really looked at it and decided I should put some stuff there.

But what?

I started pulling stuff out of the basement storage that just sits around waiting on me to use when I'm in the mood to use it and started layering those things up top there.

And I kept going...

...until I'd run out of space.

And now I'm all like...hmmmm...why didn't I do that long ago?

It's not finished as I needed to see what I liked and didn't like and now I know.  I'll remove some things today and space it out some more.  I think I want more bold colors up there only.

If you have space on top of your kitchen cabinets...what do you keep up there?

"Congratulations. Here's a potty pop."

Be Somebody Who Helps Somebody

We live in a world filled with takers.  We all know this and we're all equipped with warnings from family, framily and friends to watch out for takers.  I feel like people sometimes can get to the point where they've had enough giving and snap and decide to look out for me and mine only and take back what the world has taken from them.

And then I started thinking about timelines.  How much time does it take a GIVER to turn into a TAKER?

How long does it take someone to stop caring about others and what happens to others and ONLY focus on what happens to them?

And is this healthy or does this stunt our spiritual growth as people?

Income less than $65k? Send your kids to HARVARD!

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All of our financial aid is awarded on the basis of demonstrated financial need – there are no academic, athletic or merit-based awards, and we meet the demonstrated need of every student, including international students, for all four years.  We invite you to explore our web site for a detailed description of all aspects of our aid program, including our Harvard Financial Aid Initiative for low and moderate income students, under which parents with incomes currently below $65,000 are not expected to contribute to college costs. 

We do not consider home equity or retirement accounts as resources in our determination of a family contribution, and aid packages do not include any loans. A typical student may receive over $150,000 in Harvard scholarship assistance over four years and the majority of students receiving scholarship are able to graduate debt-free.  Our program continues to be generous for students across the economic spectrum, with more than two thirds of those receiving scholarship assistance coming from families with incomes greater than $65,000.

We invite prospective students and their families to complete our Net Price Calculatorto receive an individual estimate of their scholarship eligibility and cost of attendance at Harvard. We look forward to working with you.

http://www.fao.fas.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do

Friend Scenario

A friend has put on a lot of weight in the past year.

You know she's under a lot of stress.

For her birthday...you decide to give her a gift certificate to a spa in the area near her job.

She's grateful and goes making her OWN appointment.

Turns out the day she attends, the spa is hawking some type of weight loss chef deal.

The friend calls you and quietly and strangely asks you if you knew the spa was doing this now because it seems strange that you'd give her a gift certificate to a place she's never been anyway.

You only gave her the gift certificate there because it was close to her job and you thought it would be nice.  Oh...and the YELP reviews were awesome.

You tell her no...you didn't know and she's still acting funny.

You call the spa yourself and they tell you that it was something new they were trying out.

Cool.

No biggie.

But now...do YOU feel some kinda way that your friend thought you were being cheeky?

New Doctors

Our primary care doctor retired a couple of months ago and I hadn't had an opportunity to locate a new one.  Since we didn't need one...I didn't focus on it.  Well...it's annual everything time so I needed to find a new one so we could have our physicals. (We get them done around our birthday every year.)

I found one who seems good and scheduled our physicals.

Then I remembered that our insurance has changed and it turns out only ONE of our normal doctors accepts our new insurance.  I was shocked because damn...it's Blue Cross PPO something or other.

And I was annoyed.

DAMN DOCTORS!

But I kept on and identified new doctors.

But I forgot about our eye doctor and yesterday I went to my appointment scheduled a year ago and there was a new chick in the office.  She told me, "We don't take that." and walked off.

It's Midol Week.

Needless to say...that didn't end pleasantly for her and I was in a foul mood for the rest of the day.  Robby says my truck pulled in front of the house on two wheels when I returned home so he knew to stay in the office for a minute before coming to find out what was wrong.

Smart.azz.

My 6 month teeth cleaning was early morning and I woke with a crook in my neck.  GREAT.  When I got there...the dental hygenist talked incessantly.  

I left there in a foul mood and went to the Amish market.  Apparently...they are used to seeing me smile so it was quite sight to see me in a foul azz mood.  I finished with my purchases and one of my favorite people there handed me a brown paper bag with home grown tomatoes from her garden.  She then told me Happy belated birthday.

My mind got back right.

Fresh tomatoes.

A country girl's kryptonite.

Dear Shelly:

Scenario from real life...

You live with your boyfriend in a lovely home with a guest room.

Your mother is coming to visit.

She refuses to stay at your house and books a hotel.

Your boyfriend is offended.

HIGHLY offended.

Says your mother is too old fashioned and she needs to get with the program because it's 2013 and yall might not ever get married so is she never going to sleep under the same roof with yall ever?

You good?

Women's Rights

Do you think things are better for women NOW...or do you wish things could go back to the days when men were the primary breadwinners and women took care of the home as the norm?

Scenario from real life...

Your vacation home is trashed by 300 partying teenagers.

You find out via Twitter.

You track down some of the teens using social media and post your findings on a website.

The parents of some of the teens are now threatening to sue you for putting their kid's names on the internet which could ruin their chances of getting into a good college.

Do you feel bad?

Or are you still mad?

"There would be no trees."

I posted this article on Facebook yesterday and a friend commented with, "There would be no trees."

Students called 'n' word, chased through woods on field trip

Baaaaaaaby...he's so right.  There would be NO trees.

Thees parents complained to the school almost a year ago and didn't even receive an apology so they took it as far as they could take it so it's just now coming out to light.  I'm shocked that they had to take it as far as they did.  And I'm shocked ANYBODY thought this ish was a good idea.  I mean really.  The kids were 12.

Seriously.

I couldn't imagine going through that at 44 let alone 12.

Yeah...there would be no trees.  There would be NO.DAMN.TREES.

What say you?

 

Bookin' It

I TOTALLY need a new book.  HELP!

Tear Jerker (But not in the way you think!)

THE FART THAT (ALMOST) ALTERED MY DESTINY

No.

Question...

If you owned your house flat out...what kind of work would you do?  Like...would you still do your same job or would you find a nice part-time job in a happy place?  

New Blond Hair!

I put a rinse in my hair last night and dried it before going to bed.  When I got up this morning I was brushing my teeth as I remembered that I'd dreamed that my hair was blond.  I straight up SNATCHED my headscarf off my head in sheer PANIC and, even as my hair was still a shiny nice new dark brown...it took me a few seconds to calm down.

Just coo-coo.

You ever have a weird dream about hair or beauty issues?

The Queen Latifah Show

Are you guys watching?  What do you think so far?  Does she have a hit?

Glasslock Glass Shaker

I found this a while ago at HomeGoods.  It's a pretty awesome shaker.  The lid seals tightly and you can shake whatcha mama gave ya to mix whatever is inside.  I love it and drink my hot water and lemon juice out of it every morning.  Kinetic Go Green GlassLock Series Beverage Shaker

What say YOU?

Florida man beats daughter for 40 minutes to the tune of ‘Blurred Lines’

 

SIP:  I think a Smokey Robinson record got scratched once during a beating and then we got beat for making him scratch the damn record.  Ahhhhhh...memories!