Yeah, I've Been Away for a While But I'm Back Now..

How have y'all been? Good, I hope. My last post dealt with me going to South Carolina for a funeral. All in all, it was a good visit. I spent time with my "family" and really enjoyed myself. I got to get out of NYC and I am all the better for it! I love travelling. It soothes my soul and gets the spiderwebs out of my mind.

But being as I am me, and my life is full of drama, I came home to some drama! Some with Love and some with my oldest daughter. I won't go into details but Love and I are still together and oldest daughter and I are still estranged. Such is this life I lead and the reason for the name of my blog!

Here's what I have been into lately:

I feel in love with the soap and beauty creations that Patrice is making and want her to hurry up and open her Etsy shop so I can buy some stuff.

My girl Christina is so very eloquent and she makes me wish I could just be around her every day waiting for her to share her knowledge and her nurturing spirit with me. Her kids and hubby are definitely blessed.

My creative juices are dry right now so I am loving looking at Sasha's scrapbook pages for inspiration. Hopefully my mojo will kick in soon!

Of course, I can't start or finish my day without being on Facebook! It is such an obsession. I went from having 6 friends to 96 friends in a matter of one week and I am now up to 199! I really didnt know I knew that many people but you know what, I LIKE IT!

Anyway, that is all for now! Talk to you soon!

xoxo
Charisse

Heading South Again........For Another Funeral (unfortunately)

My Aunt Hazel died this past Saturday morning. I am heading to Georgetown, South Carolina via Charlotte, North Carolina on Thursday afternoon.

Hazel Linen came into my life in 1985 when her daughter and I met and became best friends in high school. Hazel was loud and bossy and skeptical of me but I won her over by being terrified of her! LOL After she felt me out, she welcomed me into the family wholeheartedly. I spent A LOT of time at their house, hanging out and having fun. Ms. Hazel allowed me in with no questions asked.

When my family ended up homeless and living in a shelter, she offered to let me move in with her family. My mother wasn't going to let us be separated but she appreciated the offer. I knew then Hazel loved me and that is when she became "Aunt" Hazel. I especially knew she loved me when on my 16th Birthday, she sent her daughter to school with a box full of candy and treats that she got from her job at the candy factory in the Bronx!

My first trip to the South was with Aunt Hazel. I went with her family to celebrate her parents' 50th anniversary. It was my first time traveling past New Jersey. She teased me about being "nice-nasty" while we cleaning up the little house she was selling down there. She laughed at my first experience with a little lizard that scared the mess out of me. She schooled me about not crossing the next door neighbors' front yard to get to the general store because it was "rude" and plus they were racist.

Aunt Hazel was never had a problem giving you her opinion and most of the time, she was right! She gave good advice and never steered you wrong. She was funny and happy and loved living life.

Aunt Hazel was there for all of my major life lessons....my first boyfriend, my first apartment, my first child. She congratulated me on my college graduation. She was happy if I was happy and full of advice and care when I called her for advice.

I visited her when I traveled to Georgetown to attend my best friend's wedding in 2002. She had pictures of me from high school and my college graduation and pictures of my children too.

When I married "Moe" in 2004, she had already retired and moved back home to Georgetown. She and Uncle John had car issues and couldn't make the trip but she sent my present in the mail. My sweet Aunt Hazel made my purse to hold my cards and my garter for my "something blue".

She was a very special person to me and I am glad that she loved me and allowed me into her life. I am blessed to have had her in mine.

xoxo
Charisse

You Rocked Our World! RIP Michael

I don't know about y'all, but I am in Michael Jackson overload! I changed my ringtones to MJ songs. I downloaded Thriller and Off The Wall on iTunes and I am listening to them right now! I feel so happy listening to these songs and they really bring me back to my early childhood!!! His voice makes me so happy and I can't stop smiling!!! Are you feeling the same way? Is it just me?

I didnt see the BET Awards last night. I forgot the show was coming on. I did see Janet looking beautiful and real on the news this morning. To us, Michael was indeed a part of our life but he was their family, their brother, their uncle, their child. He was a person who was complicated and magical and so elusive and so distant to us regular people. He was their family, their heart!

He is with The Father now, wearing his wings and resting in peace from all the controversy, true or not. It is not for us to pass judgment on Michael any longer. It is up to us to praise his talent and music and humanity. It is up to us to remember that he was indeed a Black man who had issues, just like the rest of us and he has gone on to a better place.

I think he is in much better company, if you ask me!

RIP Michael and tell my mom I said hey!

xoxo
Charisse

My Son is 14 and other Randomness

-My son turned 14 years old yesterday. He got 2 pairs for cleats from Love, two Under Armour shirts that help keep out the heat (?) from me, and $300 from his Dad! I would say that is a good birthday!

-Thanks to Facebook, I met up with one of my junior high school friends on Sunday and we had a blast catching up. She is also going to be a bad influence in telling me about these low cost wines that she found.

-Speaking of wine, I am not a drinker but there are just times when I need a little something to take off the edge. Hard liquor is too much and so I recently discovered wine spritzers. Yes, I am a softie, but spritzers are right up my alley. Now if this Seven Daughters wine and Yellow Tail wine that my girl told me about are as good as she says, I may not need to "spritz" them and can have them on chill when the time is appropriate. LOL

-I just held a newborn baby boy. I miss that feeling, that smallness, the innocence and helplessness. I didn't miss him taking a dump while I was holding him!

-I spend way too much money on iTunes but it's like a sickness! I don't want to take a chance and download a virus on Limewire.

-My favorite gospel song is "His Eye is On the Sparrow" and I think the best version is by Tanya Blount and Lauryen Hill from Sister Act II. It brings tears to my eyes everytime!

Well, that's all for now!

xoxo
Charisse

Saturday Music Mix

-Teena Marie and Faith Evans definitely worked their new song "Can't Last A Day"! I HAD to get it on ITunes. Welcome back Teena!

-How many of y'all love Sylvester? I love his music....Do You Wanna Funk???

-Mary and George Michael singing "As". The video makes me want to hit up the club!

-Since the kids are wearing leggings and bright colors and copying the '80s, why not a little bit of Lisa Lisa?

-Last but not least, just a little extra FYRE for my sweet Christina and any of you who want a little bit of Sister Nancy!

Enjoy!
Charisse

Happiness Comes from the Simple Things.....

-My son and his "first love"
-My daughter and niece striking a pose
-My Love and I
-Pictures lost and now found, thanks to family reconnections
-My mother and her girls (makes me happy and sad at the same time. Miss you Mommy!)

Thanks for the assignment, Christina! Luv you!

xoxoxo
Charisse

Online Friends are the BEST!!!

So I got home from work last night and went about making my way from dropping groceries on the counter in the kitchen to saying hi to the kids, to saying hi to the dog and then going into the bedroom to change my clothes. I stop in the living room to turn on some music on the computer and notice a package addressed to me on the desk. I look at it and S M I L E because the return address is that of my "online" friend, the lovely Ms. Christina! I love that the mailing label says 'Christina Martin Photography" 'cause my girl is a SLAMMING photographer! Anyhoo, I open the package and see a beautiful journal notebook with cool graph paper inside and the outside reads "Be the change you wish to see in the world"! I love that quote! Then I see a card with a beautiful picture on the front and a handwritten little note on the inside from my girl! Just as I am about to sit and read the card again, I notice a red plastic bag at the bottom of the mailing envelope. Inside is the prettiest beaded bracelet with my favorite colors of peach, pink and brown to blend with my skintone and it fits my wrist perfectly without pinching! That's the absolute best part. Why?? Because even with thousands of miles separating us, from Milwaukee to The Bronx, Christina knows....
We fluffy girls like to wear pretty things too!

Thank you so much, Christina!!!