Happy Cinco de Mayo!

I haven't been out to celebrate Cinco de Mayo in a long while but for those who are celebrating, have a margarita on me. Better still, have a shrimp fajita nachos (half-size) from my favorite Mexican spot. I haven't had one of those in a while too. Don't know how good they are for the waistline. Anyways, this is a quick post to say that I'm going away for a while. Have fun y'all!

Clothing Drive Update

I have been meaning to put up an update about the clothing drive for children in Rwanda and Nigeria. A few weeks ago, I got an email saying that the first batch of clothes had arrived and how happy they were to have received them. In true African tradition, it was filled with prayers and well-wishes for all those who had helped. It was so sweet, so touching that I decided that I would continue the drive through the end of the year.

Since then, I’ve asked for family and friends to donate more clothes, toys, books, blankets, bottles, and all things kid-related. I have already received quite a bit for the next go-round. It’s all been so great. I am amazed at how generous people are. One co-worker who takes public transportation to work dragged two heavy bags from the train station all in the name of helping people she doesn’t know. It was really cool. As I dragged the bags to my car at the end of the day, I was in plain awe of her dedication.

Of course there has also been the down-side of people not fulfilling their promises. Actually, that’s not so bad. I love that they are interested enough to say they’ll do something. We all lead very busy lives so I understand if they are not able to get to it. What wasn’t too cool was not getting any kind of reaction from folks that you think would want to help. You know, getting a blank stare. Like, whatever. I am not an overly sensitive person but that kinda hurt for whatever reason.

Forget that. This post was really to say that it worked! I am thrilled that the “eagle has landed”. I am ecstatic at how well-received the clothing drive has been. Despite all my initial worries, it has gone well. The clothes were not ‘stolen’ or sold on the black market like some people said they would. They got to their final destination intact and that gives me hope for the other batches en route.

Let’s put Blu on a schedule

Arggggggggh! My son has become a little bit of a terror at night. He’s cranky, loud (as in if we had a noisy generator going, the neighbors two miles away would still be able to hear him), and plain unsettled. I think he’s over stimulated. There’s too much going on around him. I don’t have a night time routine. Everything I’ve read says babies need some sort of routine. However, we just haven’t been able to stick to one. We tried once before and it worked. It was a pain to get him used to it, but it was great while it lasted. Unfortunately, when we went out of town, things went haywire. Now, it’s time to bring on the routine or put him on some kind of schedule.

Here’s what I’d like. I would like him to have at least one good nap during the day. Two, if the first nap is short (an hour or less). However, the second nap can start no later than 3:00PM. I’d like to be able to take him to the park on some evenings so he can get some fresh air. Finally, I’d like to get him in bed at 7:30PM…8:30PM at the latest. He’s a baby, what is he doing staying up so late? Also, in terms of his eating – he needs to do better in terms of solids. For all these to work, I’m going to need everyone on board.

Oh, and in the interest of full disclosure, I think the reason we haven’t been too hard on him having a routine is because we ourselves would have to be on a routine as well. For him to be in bed by 7:30 would mean that we would need to be home by 7:00PM at the latest, give him a bath, read to him and then put him in bed. Also, I can’t have CNN on low while I’m trying to put him to sleep. I know… what was I thinking? This would also mean no longer being able to go out to dinner as a family, etc. Anyway, I’ve learnt my lesson and I am all for a routine now. Lack of sleep is whack.

Things to do when you’re looking for love or hitting the refresh button on your current love life

** I am no expert. This is what I would say if I were asked for my honest opinion.**

Get a relooking
There’s nothing like losing a few extra pounds to kick-start a love campaign. This is not about going from a size sixteen to a size zero. This is about giving yourself a relooking if you haven’t had one in a while or if you think you need one. Relooking is French for makeover. It’s my belief that when you look good, you feel good. When you feel good, there’s some positive energy around you that draws people to you. You can always tell when a woman knows she looks good, she’s confident and that’s very attractive. Update that wardrobe and be happy – very happy – with what you see before you walk out of the door. So, if you’re looking for love or need to hit that refresh button, go ahead and do what you have to do in that area.

Get interesting
So, what’s interesting about you? What do you spend the majority of your time doing? What are you involved in? Don’t be one-dimensional. Take up some hobbies, go out with friends, join a massage club, volunteer, frequent your house of worship, become a member of your library, become a mentor, go hiking, try rock climbing. Do something. Just don’t do one thing and one thing only. That’s plain old boring and who likes boring? If you’re already in a relationship, this is a yes-yes (as opposed to no-no). Pick up new and interesting things OUTSIDE of your relationship so that you have something new to talk about.

Get out
Don’t stay home all the time. Go somewhere. Find something to do. Definitely don’t sit around waiting for him to show up at your doorstep. Sure, if you think he might come in the shape of the FedEx guy. (Nothing against FedEx guys, just saying no one really comes up to your doorstep these days). Go out and visit friends in another part of town or go out and get your nails done. Just get out of the house. Connect with the world. It’s all part of being multi-dimensional.

Get friendly
Be open to new friendships. Make friends with people in your immediate surroundings – work, church, gym, wherever. If you’ve seen someone more than once. Actually, three or more times, introduce yourself and just make conversation. They kind of know you anyway.

Get online
Three words. Match. Dot. Com. I can’t say it enough. I know three married couples that met online. Yes, they are Naija. Why are we so close minded? If you don’t like going out, go online. What’s the harm? You are indoors, in your comfort zone. Dangerous? So is meeting someone randomly at the gas station. These days, you have to be very careful but I think the online space can be used to make conversation and to prepare yourself for off-line dating. Just see what’s out there. Okay, if you’re not ready for online dating sites, definitely be on facebook. Hi-5 is kind of old now but use facebook to re-connect with people you already know or to meet people that your friends know. Oh and by the way, definitely have a cute picture on your profile. None of that question mark nonsense if you’re looking. And definitely don’t be caught with any crazy pictures online. If you’re looking kind of questionable in someone’s picture, be sure to ask them kindly to take it off or at least remove your name from the tag. If you’re already in a relationship, don’t go online looking for relationships. That’s a no-no.

Testing the waters

Lately, I have been feeling quite overwhelmed with work. Not that I have too too much on my plate. I have quite a bit but there's a lot of stuff in there that I don't FEEL like doing. This has got me thinking about testing the waters. Put my resume out there and see what happens. However, that's not a fool-proof option. I like my job for the most part and I LOVE the company I work for.

So then, why am I looking to leave? I am a very creative person and I feel like my creativity is being stifled. So then, what makes me think I can be more creative elsewhere? I don’t know that I can, but then again, I don’t know that I can’t. Besides, who knows what I can get by putting myself out there? Now that I have an MBA, who knows if that changes things? Anyways, being me, I probably won’t be completely happy with a new job. I probably just need to amp up my side-gig. Working in corporate America gives me a steady paycheck while I get really great satisfaction and fulfillment from my side-gig.

This post is boring me already! I think the point of it is that I need to take my MBA use it for myself. I didn’t walk all those blocks to class in the last stages of my pregnancy for nothing. And in the hot sun too! I am thinking of emailing my profs and asking them to put me on projects that they know about on a pro-bono basis. I might get a big fat NO but then again, I might get into a gig that leads to other things. I’m officially juiced out. More on this later.

My Vegan Baby

So Blu doesn’t eat any animal products. And now that the laughter has died down, let me explain. I am not comfortable feeding my baby any animal products. I have been advised to feed him eggs, chicken, meat, etc. No can do. At least not before he turns one. And now the obvious question – am I a vegan? I wish I were but while I am gradually, painstakingly trying to reduce my own animal product consumption, I am trying to delay his consumption of said products for as long as possible. Seriously speaking, I am afraid, very afraid of what we’re eating in this country. I haven’t seen any of the scary stuff that I’ve heard people talk about. However, from what I understand about how poultry and beef are processed, I wish I had been raised vegetarian. Vegan, in fact. It really is scary.

How did this go from Blu to me? Typical. Anyway, so please for the next few months, don’t nobody try to feed my son any animal products. For real, I'm afraid someone is going to try to sneak behind my back and give him something on my contraband list. Let’s give him at least one year of ‘safe’ foods, okay? After that one year, we’ll see if we can go two, then three, then four. Maybe at four, he’ll decide he doesn’t want to eat meat and then he can convince his mom and dad to leave it alone. I know a little boy that did. Blu, please help us.

Woman on a cake mission

One of the things on my list of things to do before I turned thirty was "learn to bake something, anything." My big 3-0 has long come and gone but I've decided that there's stuff on my list that I still want to accomplish in this lifetime. With my mom, aunts, cousin, and grandma being great bakers, I'm thinking that might be one thing I could knock off easily.


A few weeks ago, I put my all into baking a cake that turned out okay. Being that I have OCD, I can't deal with okay. One guy at work suggested I might want to get a mixer. And so I did. Since then, I've made all sorts of cakes with different frosting/flavor combinations. The other day, I made some cupcakes and took them to work. They were gone within minutes! As in, I dropped them in the kitchen on my floor and by the time I went back to get coffee (I'd gone to get my coffee mug from my desk) - they were all gone.

I've been warned not to take people eating your stuff as a sign or anything so I didn't think much of it. Apparently, some people would just about eat anything if it's free. I typically want to know where they came from, who made them, whether or not the person has pets in their kitchen, etc. Anyway, I didn't think anything of it until this one lady waiting to get coffee told another woman that the cupcakes were exquisite. Oh, joy! I think. I know she didn't see me drop them off so her comment wasn't for my benefit or anything.


Fast forward a couple of days. Our nieces came to visit so I offered them the cakes I'd saved for them. To my dismay, one of them just licked off all the frosting and ate a few bites of the cake. The other ate more than half and abandoned the other half. Hmmm... so now I'm at a loss - were my cupcakes really 'exquisite' or did they really tank? I was beginning to feel like a guru but now I'm not so sure. Anyway, the plan is to bake something well and that was just one recipe I picked up (excuses, excuses).

He said Mama and other happenings

Just this morning as I was getting ready to go to work, I heard Nanny #3 teaching Blu to say Mama. I've never asked her to do that so I thought "good woman" and went about my normal business. Next thing, as I was putting on my shoes, I heard him say "Mama". Oh, joy! My boy done did it! He said Mama! I was thrilled but that feeling I was hoping for wasn't quite there because I know he's sounding off. He doesn't mean it for real. Still, I'm glad he knows how. I'll be happier when he says it to me and knows what it means.

Other than that, I've started thinking about his first birthday. I was hoping we'd move by the time his first birthday comes around. But alas, with the market the way it is, I doubt that we'll be moving any time soon. Since our place is not conducive to the kind of party I want (with animals and all) I'll have to think of something else. Meanwhile, I've made several edits to my imaginary invitee list. I am uninviting people that haven't come to see him. Haba, one whole year? Forget that. Anyone that hasn't visited him won't be invited. I'll have to tell a 'friend' who already said she's bringing two kids if I have a party.

Boy, do this kid wear me out. I am physically tired just trying to keep up with the little guy. And he can't even walk. He loves his freedom and so every once in a while when he's tired of being held, I'll put him down and let him to do his thing. The only thing is that I can't turn my back when he's roaming the grounds. The other day, he tried to stick his finger in an electrical outlet and before that, I think he licked my shoe. Double ewwww! I washed his mouth out. Three times. Can't believe he'd do such a thing.