A Mother's Pride and Joy

My daughter and son. He of course does not want to take the picture.


I have a fifteen yer old son. Actually I have three teenagers. But that is for another post. Like I said before there is never a dull moment in the BIBI household.


Especially with my oldest son. Two years ago he began to experience the "puberty" thing at thirteen. Last summer he began to "smell" himself and began to be get very cocky. It's all good. I got him straight, and brought him back to earth with one of my 'if the momma ain't happy, nobody is' discussions. He got the message.


Or so I thought he did.


My talk was essentially about taking care not to smell when you become of a certain age. and as you become older you have to take essential care not to offend anyone.


He wanted to argue. I told him that if he didn't clean his 'pits' that we were going to have a problem. He sulkily went to take a shower. I was happy that I won the battle with the 'child' until I went into his room and discovered a letter that he wrote to himself.


FYI: I snoop on my children in my house all the time. It's my full-time occupation. Antyway...


The letter read:

Reasons Not To Wash

1. I was forced to as a child.
2. People who make soap are only after your money.
3. I wash on special occasions like Christmas and Easter.
4. People who wash are hypocrites--they think they are cleaner than everyone else.
5. There are so many different kinds of soap, I can't decide which one is best.
6. I used to wash, but it got boring so I stopped.
7. None of my friends wash.
8. The bathroom is never warm enough in the winter or cool enough in the summer.
9. I'll start washing when I get older and dirtier.
10. I can't spare the time.

I don't know where he got his writing skills from, but I'm betting the comics that he reads has a lot to do with it.


I let that infraction go. He was soon not to disappoint me again.


Now don't get me wrong, my son is good in school and he loves his teachers. But someone said something to him (an adult of course) and asked him why was he passing notes in class?


It wasn't nothing that serious, just a harmless drawing, but the teacher felt the need to address my son, in front of the whole class!


He (the assistant teacher) then preceded to tell him "That if you do this again I will send you back where you came from, as you will be banished from my class."


My eloquent son told the assistant teacher:


"No you can't, my momma ain't here!"


Why oh why did I ever encourage him as baby to talk?!?

Celebrate Heart Month

February is not only celebrating Black History month, Valentine's Day, and President's Day, but it is also National Heart month.


Lots of women put on their red dresses to celebrate this month. I don't own a red dress, but I do have a red dress pin. Two points!


Antyway, out of all the holidays celebrated this month I believe that National Heart month is a very noble cause to recognize. Especially for women everywhere.

I never knew that heart disease was so prevalent among the females until I began taking my nursing classes. The statistics is unbelievable, and heart rendering! (no pun intended)


With all the women folk in my house we have to keep a look out for our ticker because of our genes. Just for the record, we do support Woman's Heart Health. Now if only we can find the red dresses to go with the occasion.


I wonder if any of the women at the Oscars thought to wear one?

The Key to Longevity

Have we really found the fountain of youth? The secret to living longer? It’s no myth according to some analysts, and it’s called “The Blue Zone”. These are the areas in which scientist say the people who live here, live longer.

The segment featured Costa Rica, but also mentioned Okinawa Japan, a small unrecognizable town in California, and two other cities which I missed the name to. I watched the segment this morning on the Today show.

Studies done have indicated that those in “The Blue Zone” have lived longer due to:

a) Genetics. (Mine are not too bad. We could eliminate some of the ‘fat’ genes though.)

b) No smoking. (Okay I sneak a little ciggy here and there now and again.)

c) Diet. (Working on it!)

d) Zest for life. (My motto is: smile while you’re making it, laugh while you’re taking it, even though you’re faking it, nobody’s gonna know!)

e) Religion. (Since I think about religion as much as getting a tooth pulled I rarely go into long discussions about it. But I believe that having faith in something bigger than you (e.g. a higher power) can have some health benefits. It’s called faith. Some do prayer. I just thank God that when he sees me on the caller ID he doesn’t hang up because he does answer some of my prayers.)

Okay genetics is a biggie. We totally don’t know what is in store for us if you have no idea about your families’ history. Family-wise my gene pool has high-blood pressure, bad breath (not that I have any), diabetes, sarcasm, cussing, cancer, yakking too much about nothing syndrome, incontinence, heart disease, ADHD, and too much girth in the middle that just stays with you. Hmmm… according to this I should be keeling over at any minute, or at least in the hospital with a diaper on and a constant supply of breath mints.

Smoking. To smoke or not to smoke? It is ever debatable in my family since 1 out of every 3^rd person in my family does smoke. I only smoke occasionally (two ciggy’s a week) but according to this research you shouldn’t have none. Okay, *inhaling ciggy* let me know when you are finished *exhaling* reading this *blowing smoke circles* story.

Diet. Okay they emphasize that fresh is best. Fresh veggies, and fresh fruit. Living virtually as vegetarians/vegans. Shucks. That counts me out. I love a turkey ham sandwich with some mayo, mustard, on double fiber bread. Health nut? Not really. But I try to watch what I eat. (Trying is only half the battle)

Zest for life. Okay, some say that laughter is the best medicine. One thing remarkable about the people interviewed in Costa Rica, was the fact that they have never been to a hospital, never been sick and that they had genuine laughter behind that twinkle in their eye. That twinkle in their eye was put there with some help. They are not THAT happy with life. Perhaps they like what is happening between those sheets at night with their significant other. According to Akilah they are still enjoying the humping, even though it is somewhat dry now, well past the age when many think it is inconceivable to do such. Woohoo grandma, get your groove on!

Religion. Okay this is a tough one, but virtually whoever you are praying to is obviously looking out for you because you are doing alright so far. I hope.

This research is purely based on the fact that they kept records of these individuals and realized that a fifty year old man has a greater chance of making 90 than a man residing in the U.S.

So if you and the significant other want to keep the longevity in your life, you might want to consider moving to one of these ‘Blue Zones’ and keep the zesty, happy, free of bad genetics, fresh diet, with lots of prayer life that you are used to. If you don’t keel over when having sex at 120 and your partner is two months shy of 125.

Happy Heart Day!

Presently, I am in the mood to watch a good movie. A good romantic comedy/romantic drama. You know a chick flick! Something that will make me laugh and do the ugly cry at the same time. With it being Valentine’s day and the hubby at work until 9PM, I think it only appropriate that I watch a good movie.

The choices are limitless. Lifetime of course has many romantic movies showing today, but they are not what I want now. You have to be in the mood to watch Lifetime, and what I really want is something on DVD.

How about?:

West Side Story

Racial tension in the streets of NYC. Romance between man and woman on different sides. Guys with tight pants that are just a wee bit high. Girls with Brooklyn/Puerto Rican Accents who can’t sing. The most touching scene is when Maria holds Tony in her arms while he lies dying. That is cinema at its best in 1961.

Ever After

Indeed the best Cinderella story ever made! Drew Barrymore and Angelica Huston were the best in the movie, and the other characters made the movie as well. Action, laughter, tears, and the very familiar story of Cinderella winning the Prince in a storytelling way that made my children believe that the story was true.

Notting Hill

Julia Roberts & Hugh Grant, what a duo! Actually the whole rich girl, poor boy –or- famous girl, successful bookstore owner made the tale of star-crossed lovers very believable and I fell in love with the movie. Not enough to list it as my favorite, but close enough. For added comic effect they put the dingy, filthy but lovable flat mate of Hugh’s whose presence the audience needed when the movie got too heavy.

Titanic

Made movie history and I went to go see it three times! This is the first performance of Kate Winslet that I had ever seen and of course I fell in love with her. Just a girl crush mind you, nothing serious. Leo was excellent and of course with the rest of the world I was bummed when he didn’t get nominated for the Oscar. However, the movie will live forever in my heart as timeless, and it was money well spent. Just the right amount of drama to make the romance believable and for years I thought that Jack and Rose were truly real passengers on the Titanic.

Atonement

Nothing that Kiera Knightley does is small. The romantic drama was a little over the top but made me appreciate the life that I do have with hubby and not to trust anyone to mess with that. Great storyline and I felt so sorry for the lovers.

Serendipity

I love John Cusack, and he was also in Say Anything, one of my faves as a teen. Kate Beckinsdale is not to bad either. I love movies with lovers wanting to be together but can’t for some reason or another. The whole fact that they reconnected after 10 years separated with a book holding the final say so, on whether they will get together made me weepy. A great one for the box of Kleenex on the coffee table.

Runaway Bride

Julia Roberts again with Richard Gere since their movie ‘Pretty Woman’. They make one of the most pleasant couples on the screen right next to Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. Lots of laughs, just the right amount of romance to make the movie enjoyable. Plus, one of my favorites as well.

Pride and Prejudice

So many remakes of the classic story by Jane Austen but the movie starring Kiera Knightley was absolutely the best. You know wealth and status was such a determining factor in a woman’s amounts of proposals in those days.

Sense and Sensibility

Another with Kate Winslet and the movie was excellent as well. This is one for under the covers with the shades pulled down and lots of candy sprinkled around you, with the box of tissues nearby. Emma Thompson is a great actress as well and pulls it off real well. Especially at the end when she begins to cry at her marriage proposal by Hugh Grant. Such a chic flick!

Much Ado about Nothing

And last but not least, one of my favorites. Lover’s quarrels, innocent girls turning into women, accusation, sex, and jilted brides set in 1640 Italy. Sounds like an episode on a soap. However; I LOVE this movie and Shakespeare is of course the greatest romantic writer known this world over. Enough said.

Well, with so many choices you would think that I had my full of movies to at least get into the holiday spirit. But NOOOO!

Had hair duty (3 heads total), bubble baths, cookie making, spaghetti and meatballs dinner’ cause of course it is a holiday, laundry (6 loads), homework, and kitchen cabinets to straighten.

The only thing that came close to anything romantic on TV today was whether Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana could make up her mind to plant a big one on the handsome admirer or tell him that she was Hannah Montana.

And how did you celebrate heart day?!?

There Are Pheromones In the Air

In retrospect, February is the LOVE month. I am not in too much of a mushy mood. Yes, to receive a valentine would be nice, but I can’t write about love. I’ve tried and failed miserably.

Not to say that my children don’t enjoy it. Heck they had valentine parties in school today and came home with so much junk. Awww well, at least they are enjoying the holiday.

Some researchers are now saying that the attraction is now societal or biological, not logical. So does that mean that logically we don’t choose our mate properly but by societal judgment? Or is the biological part the physical attraction or the way we see our future mother/father to our children.

So is the chemical attraction for real or just something to keep researchers busy with money from the government to do bogus science experiments? Read this article to find out what USA today has time to write, wasting the readers time and 75 cents.

Coming tomorrow: the Anti-Valentine article.: ^)