What If?

Out of the blue, I applied for a job in Nigeria and I've been wondering what if ever since. What if I get the job? What next? It's something I would totally LOVE to do but my life would take a 360 turn hopefully for the better but then again, it could be for the worse. What do I know about living in Naija after having been gone for so long? What would it be like? Where would my future kid go to school? Would I have to go to the market - ew. Would life be more fun with family and friends? Where would I live? Can't really live with the folks and we don't have a place of our own in Naija. Wait, wait, DH is NOT in Naija. I'm assuming he would move at some point. This is still me in the la-la stage. I haven't heard back from them but would LOVE, love, love to get that job. It sounds like a great opportunity. This is verrrrry forward of me but hey, sometimes I like to dream.

A Night on Broadway

I've been wanting to blog about my Color Purple experience since forever but never found time. Eventually, I bought my own damn tickets to the show (sad but true). DH never took the hint so I bought two of the cheapest seats in the house in case I had to go alone or worse still, in case I didn't end up going at all. I didn't want to be out too much cash if that happened. So we get up there and the lady asks to see our tickets, she looks at me and says dammmmmmn! I guess the seats were that bad, huh? Anyway, she takes pity on my bulging belly and lets us seat near the rail at the first level so we could have a good view without having to go way back to where our actual seats were. Thank you, ma'am!

Fantasia was fabulous! She did an awesome job acting and of course, singing. I was especially surprised by her acting ability. I know she did that Lifetime movie but I didn't see it. The cast was great. I loved Sofia and Shug Avery. Harpo didn't disappoint and the Mr. was well-portrayed. I was especially thrilled that almost all of my favorite lines from the movie were used. Anyone wanting to go see The Color Purple on Broadway should definitely go. The music was out of this world. The wardrobe was spectacular. Loved it when Miss Celie started wearing the pants. The wardrobe people did due diligence.

The only thing I had a problem with was the 'Africa' scene where they were playing some yeye (useless) Africansoundingfromttheirpointofview music and the outfits were just plain ridiculous. You know, the long flowing robes with the up to the sky headwraps? It didn't look like it could be from any particular African country that I know of. Seriously, anyone wanting to incorporate anything African into their play, movie, or whatever should consider consulting with a native of one of the 52 countries just for a teeny bit of authenticity. I am sure American audiences too are tired with the Coming to America type images and rubbish music and gibberish talk that don't make sense. Other than that, it was great. A tad bit long at almost three hours but well worth seeing from upgraded seats, if possible. If I could, I would go see the show in Chicago because I think Michelle Williams would make an interesting Shug Avery. It would be nice to see her in a femme fatale type role, very different from my impressions of her as a third of Destiny's Child.

One last thing, I always thought going to Broadway was this shishi thing to do but it turns out that you'll be okay showing up in jeans and a tee. What a spoiler. There are some things you just want to dress up for.

All My Life I Had to Fight

Remember this line from the Color Purple?
“All my life I had to fight. I had to fight my daddy. I had to fight my uncles. I had to fight my brothers. A girl child ain't safe in a family of men, but I ain't never thought I'd have to fight in my own house!”

I feel Sofia's struggle and exasperation with having to struggle through life. I will say though that her struggle is on another level entirely. So here's how I feel about work: All my life I’ve had to fight for what I’ve wanted and I am still having to fight. When do we get to that point where we’re just sailing? Where everything is just cool, just flowing, no wahala especially when it comes to work? I feel like I’ve always had to struggle to get from one level to the next. Almost nothing has been easy or given to me. Not that I expect that things should or would be easy, it would be nice to not to have to struggle all the time. Think of this in terms of having a car and being denied gas randomly when you go to the gas station. Sometimes, you're able to pump gas without a problem and other times, no fuel for you. Then you look around and there are other cars that seem to be able to get gas all willy nilly. Probably not the best analogy. But anyways...

The highlight of my career - and this dates back to about six years - was when I got promoted without asking for it. Just like that, I was recommended for a position and it was mine because someone said so. Even that particular event wasn’t without drama. I wasn’t paid at the level of the position but I figured that with time, after proving myself, I would automatically get the raise I felt I deserved. Obviously, nothing is really ‘automatic’ and so I had to fight for my raise. The rest of my journey has pretty much been like that – one struggle after another.

The latest one is the struggle to work from home after the baby. I must say that it has been a battle. From my point of view it seems rather unfair (laughable use of the word - I certainly am not a kid crying about something being unfair). However, based on my work environment where working from home full-time is available to some and now doesn't seem likely to be available to me, I feel as though something's most definitely amiss. All the same, my plan is to trudge along and do my best all the time. The good thing about life is that we've all got the ability to make choices. Note to self: either deal with it or stop whining.

Do you know what you're having?

That's a commonly asked question of expectant mothers. I get asked this at least five times a day. At least. At the very minimum. Everywhere I go, people want to know. Yesterday, I had a pregnancy massage scheduled and the masseur wanted to know, the receptionist also asked. After that, I went to get my brows waxed and my nails done. The waxeuse/esthetician wanted to know. Funnily enough, before asking what I'm having, she asked if I was pregnant. Okay, like my 40-inch waistline is due to gas or something. LOL. Anyway, after I was done with my brows, I moved on to the nail section and the nail tech also wanted to know. When I was done with that, I went to VS to get yet another bra. So much for my ever-growing poitrine. The lady in the dressing room wanted to know. I went to a couple more places and all the people I interacted with wanted to know: Is it a boy? Is it a girl?

IT'S A SURPRISE - We are not finding out.