This week, my good friend Traci, over at Beauty in Rare Form, was nice enough to share her very first blog award with me. I love experiencing the joy of bloggers who receive their first blog awards. Its one of those "I have arrived" experiences. To be recognized and appreciated for your words, your views, your life, can be an overwhelming escapade. So, I thank her again for her generosity. As with the last award that was shared with me, I am going to share this with all of you! If you have never gotten an award before, please snatch this one up and put it on your side bar as a reminder that I think what you have to say is awesome! If your sidebar runneth over with awards, carry this one in your heart.

For those who like to follow the rules, here goes.

• Share this award with 7 other bloggers that you think are honestly amazing.
• Let those wonderful 7 bloggers know that you have recognized them.
• Share 10 honest things about yourself.

Since I am in an honest kind of mood today, I'll go ahead and play along...

1. One of the reasons that I decided to go natural was to "live by example" for my daughter. I go the extra mile to make sure that she views her natural locs positively, and will rip anyone who says otherwise a new asshole! I couldn't honestly talk about how beautiful, versatile, amazing, and super cool natural hair really was without having some myself. So now, we both rock our natural curls and discover, together, new ways to make them the best that they can be.
2. I'm easily annoyed. I don't try to be, it just happens, and you know what? I fully accept it. There are some things that just easily get under my skin, like people who talk alot. Don't like them... AT ALL. Now, I'm not talking about people who actually have good conversation, I'm talking about those people who will walk in a room talking, and will continue to go on and on about nothing at all, even when its clear that no one is listening.
3. While we are on the subject of folks I don't like, can I add 'people who are always happy' to that please? Its not that I don't enjoy positive people or positivity in general. I do. Really. But when a person uses "positivity" to overshadow what someone else is experiencing, that I can't stand. Example phrases: "Look on the bright side", "Things could be worse", "Just pray on it". These people make me wanna say, "Just SHUT UP".
4. I LOVE music. I think that life really does have a soundtrack. I'd bet that there is a song that can remind you of each stage of your life. Music just works that way. Experiences and senarios get put to a beat, and people relate. Or, a particular song/album/band/singer can define an entire era or decade of your life. Anita Baker does that for me.
5. My favorite Thanksgiving dessert is Sweet Potatoe Pie. I love everything about it. The smell, the taste, the wonderful memories of my great-grandmother that it brings. I always have to have my grandmother to make me my very own pie, separate from those that will be eatten at dinner time!
6. I don't understand women who can't leave the house without a full face of makeup. I feel like it should be a choice, not a requirement to face the world.
7. I think life would be soooo pointless without good comedy. There is nothing like a gut busting laugh, especially at yourself.
8. Don't know if I said this before, but... the Duggars scare me and amaze me at the same time. Poor Michelle, thinking that her 8 month old was gonna be their last. Ha! She never saw pregnancy #19 coming.
9. I'm looking forward to finding a good paying job, and hoping that it is very far from corporate.
10. I appreciate having the circle of friends that I have. They are the very best!

That's it. Enjoy your award and the rest of your weekend.

1. Plans and schedules are never fixed.

2. I'm happy when things are serene.

3. The last thing I drank was a tall can of ice cold tea.

4. One of the most valuable things in my life is my child.

5. I like a combination of toppings on my pizza.

6. Dear November, please bring yummy Thanksgiving food, happiness into my household and a certain level of closure.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to getting caught up in my reading, tomorrow my plans include hopefully nothing and Sunday, I want to get prepared for the week ahead!

To participate in Friday Fill-Ins click here --->

If you have been following the national news, you will have learned of the recent gang rape of a 15 year old girl, outside of a high school homecoming dance. The crime scene? My alma mater. I can't even explain the level of shock that came over me as I stood in front of my tv watching the local news report. Gang rape? People watching? People filming? WHAT?

Being a high schooler at Richmond High wasn't a cake walk when I was a student there. We were faced with outdated materials, the school district's debt, low quality instruction, and the occasional experience of a teacher leaving a classroom in the middle of a semester because s/he was offered a better opportunity at a "better" school. Within this, there were a few teachers and administration who truly gave a damn. Two of those people are part of the reason that I was able to recognize UC Berkeley as a possibility. I had a teacher who saw potential in me in my Freshman year at RHS, and he nominated me for a scholarship. Through that scholarship, I was paired with a mentor for four years, who took me around networking, bought my prom dress, and volunteered her car for my driving test that landed me a license. Our career councilor took me under her wing and made sure that I knew about every single scholarship that came across her desk. As a result, I graduated from Richmond High School with $55,000 in scholarships, including a full ride to Cal.

But that was then. Recent years at RHS haven't even had a career councilor. Recent years at RHS haven't yielded scholarships. Recent years at RHS seem to be extremely different and severe. And now, students are faced with further tarnishment of the school's name and reputation. This is an unacceptable high school experience. An unbelievable high school environment... one in which students are expected to excel and are viewed as incapable and un-valuable when they do not.

My heart goes out to the victim and I am wishing her all the best in her recovery from this horrible ordeal. I am incredibly proud of the students who have stood up and made their voices heard about their worth and how this crime has affected them. Proud of the girl who had the courage to call the police after she saw the victim in distress. I am also glad that the boys involved are being rounded up and arrested and I am hoping that justice will prevail in this case.

As you all know, I walked it on out back in May. I was in full graduation ceremony mode, participating in like, FOUR of them. I had my department commencement, a scholarship dinner, a commencement for student parents, and I also participated in the commencement for Black graduates. I practically spent the month of May in and out of cap and gown. There were plenty of enjoyable moments from these ceremonies, like when Miss J walked across the stage with me during my department graduation, and when my Cal mommies and I got to celebrate our accomplishments together during our student parent ceremony. There were also some bittersweet moments, like the fact that my grandfather was in Mississippi for the month and missed out on the happiness. He really wanted to be there, and was saddened not to see himself in the family pictures.

Lucky for him, we all have the opportunity to do it all over again. Well, maybe not "all" of it, but I do have the opportunity to participate in the December commencement ceremony for December graduates. Since this is officially my very last semester as a Cal student, THAT'S ME! Sure, I wouldn't be walking with any of my friends this time, but at least this would give my grandfather the opportunity to be a part of the experience as he should be. He is currently on another trip to MS, but gave me the go ahead to get all signed up because he'll be back home by the date. So, looks like its on. Back in the cap and gown, and time to flip that tassel to the left, to the left.

Sometimes I wish that I could stand here and fade away...

I stood in the mirror and beat my face to perfection with the war paint. A battle ensuing within me from the night before. The war paint would keep the tears away. No waterproof eyeliner, no waterproof mascara, no touch-ups necessary. But, on the walk to the bus stop, I found myself waving my white flag, surrendering to my emotions, my tears, my depression, my anxiety. Life was suddenly harder to live. Just kill me now, don't keep letting the war drag out. End it already!

I stood in the mirror and watched the tears pour from my gold dusted cat eyes, chocolate creeks flowing down my cheeks, sparkling lips trembling. My God, you are beautiful. The mascara may not be waterproof, but powder erases all traces of a battle lost.

The sun is shining so brightly today. I should be enjoying the warmth on my skin, the natural dose of Vitamin D to my system. The campus is alive and the people are stirring about. I should be enjoying the atmosphere, being around such positivity and brilliance. However...

Not today. Today, I'd rather be in my cool apartment, in nothing but a big t-shirt, laid across my leather sectional. I'd rather be alone, just me and my yarn and hook. Left to be thoughtless and carefree... at least until 6pm when the happenings of a 1st grade day will begin to ring in my ears.

How's your day?

Its National Blog Posting Month again, and again, I'm all in. Ready to take the challenge. It will do both myself and my readers some good. I'll discipline myself to write everyday, which I will need since the thesis needs to be nearly completed this month, and you will have the opportunity to stop by for everyday rants and raves. What fun.

Seems like the month of October flew by. One minute the semester was starting and I was trying to find an available class, that might be enjoyable, and now I have 5 more weeks until its all over. I'll get all of my papers in next month and then start the task of packing up a household that I have been settled into for the last 6 years. At the moment, I have no idea where we will be heading, but I'm sure I will figure it all out by the time we must be moving on. Miss J is a little sad about our move. Its the only home that she's known. We've been in the same neighborhood and apartment since she was 5 months old. All of her friends are in this neighborhood. But as all good things do, our time hear must come to an end. I am taking the time to explain to her that just because we wont be in the same neighborhood anymore, it doesn't mean that she wont be able to see and spend time with her friends anymore. Its gonna be a process.

How's your Monday?

A full, fun-filled Halloween came to an end a few hours ago. What a perfect night to gain a whole extra hour. With all of the day's activities, it came in handy.

After attending a birthday party, Miss J and I got in our costumes and headed over to a friend's for a Halloween party.



Then, came the trick or treating.


The night closed with Miss J going over to a friend's house for a Halloween sleepover, while I joined a friend for, Halloween: Grown and Sexy.


How was your Halloween?