Category: miracle on 169th street

I love the hell outta my ‘hood but I HATE my local post office.  

No matter the time of the day, whenever I walk in there are at least 25 smelly people waiting in line and only two dusty ass service windows open. Talking about they’re sorry for the long wait but the branch is severely understaffed. 
Bump that! We can ALL see the five random employees milling around behind the 1000 year-old teller doing a whole lot of NOTHING. Why don’t you go tell Maria and Jose to stop eating the arroz con pollo and come do something?? DAMMIT!
Not for nothing, I thought you had to at least have a GED to work for the US government? Am I right? So what’s the problem?  Why is something so simple as choosing to pay for the stamps with my American Express card seem like I’m asking you to go through Armageddon??
Ay con Dios.

As of today there are t-minus 67 days until Toya’s super sexy 2nd wedding. And since my lil mini-me has decided that she wants her bridesmads to wear specially designed super short, very low-cut, fitted cocktail dresses, Operation Pull-It-Together is in full effect.

First, there were three weeks of the crazy 6.30a bootcamp workout to jump start the mission. Although I’ve done bootcamp in the past, that sure didn’t make going back remotely easier. Real talk? I still don’t know how I managed to wake up and get out of my house by 6.10am 4-days a week. ‘Cause if you don’t know anything else about me, please understand this: I am not the one for the early mornings. But praise god, somehow we made it through. And now, I’ve committed to daily hot yoga and at least 4 days of cardio at the gym.

Okay, bump what you heard about feeling more relaxed, detoxed and zen-like after bikram yoga. I’m gonna keep it real- that b.s. is kicking my ass coming and going. Seriously? I feel like 2 cents. From my toenails to my scalp, every inch of my body hurts. I can barely make it home before falling on my face. Ain’t nothing relaxed, or zen-like about me. And let’s not even talk about the gym… OMG, this morning I was on the elliptical machine for 15 minutes sweating and heaving louder than the 350lb woman on the machine next to me. Mind you, my resistance level was only 5. WTF?
So the next time you wanna know why I’m not thrilled to be in one of my very closest friend’s wedding, lemme tell you- it’s not the money on a dress I can only wear to a club in Miami or Vegas. It’s not the hours of my life lost stuffing envelopes with save-the-date cards. Or even the big ass hole homegirl has talked in my head with all the wedding day drama. Nope, all that is water under the bridge. The core issue is the damage control.
It’s trying to find a waistline that I haven’t seen since the summer of ’08. It’s eating an orange when what I really want is a warm chocolate chip cookie (or two). It’s the bars of deordorant that I’m going through trying to hide the constant state of stink I find myself in. Dammit, I’m tapped out!
For the record, I will so not be offended if any of my peeps decide that they don’t want to be in my wedding (whenever the hell that actually happens) because they’re soft and squishy. Just keep it real. Not only will I understand, I promise to save you a second slice of the cake.

So after much ado, Shayla and Sklylar Ann Marie (a.k.a Sam) arrived for Sam’s first ‘Big Girl’ trip to New York. YIPPIE!!! I am thrilled beyond belief to have the BFF around.

But for the record, as much as I love, love, love me some Sam; I am sososo clear that everybody (specifically yours truly) ain’t able. Who knew so many questions can be asked in the span on of day? Damn that, one minute? Sam’s energy level is unbelieveable. She’s like a non-stop Energizer bunny- going, going, and still going. For the record, hell hath no fury like a four year-old without her midday nap.

What is most amazing to me is how calm Shayla is about everything. Oh, you fell down? No problem, just get up. Oh, you want to be carried up and down steps? Up you go. Oh, you want to scream/ whisper the same secret 30 times in my ear? Feel free. I promise you she was calmer than a Jedi Master- unforreal.

And to think that crazy woman has 14 children and 0 help??? Sheeeit. Good luck.

Can I tell you? I love me some snow. Okay wait, let me be a tad more specific- I do not love cold weather, dirty slush, treacherous driving conditions, or the stink in the subways that inevitably accompany a snowstorm BUT I do love me some winterwonderland-esque snow days. Sigh.

And guess what? This blissful day right here is THAT much better because super dope journalist/editor Juleyka Lantigua (if you don’t know the byline you better get to googling), included me in her latest Republica Update blog post “Afro-Latinas to Celebrate During Black History Month“!!!

Yes maam, I’m all up on there with Rosario Dawson, Gina Torres and even Rita Marley. Mmm-hmm, betcha didn’t know good ole Rita was Cuban, did ya?

Take notes and feel free to spread the good news…

So lemme tell you what had happened…

In true impulsive Mitzi fashion, in the middle of the night, I up and ordered a brown file cabinet from Staples. I mean it wasn’t really, really all that impulsive since I’ve allegedly been redecorating since October. However, I describe it as impulsive because genius that I am, I didn’t bother to check the measurements. I was just so relieved to 1) find a brown file cabinet (who knew how hard that color was to locate?) and 2) find it while Staples had a free next day shipping promotion going on, that I figured what the hell? I mean how big could one 2-drawer file cabinet be, right? Right.

Needless to say, the file cabinet arrives a day later and this mo-fu is huge. Huge like it takes up a complete third of my living room. And to make matters worse, its heavy as I don’t know what. There’s absolutely no way in hell I can just pick it up and take it back to Staples myself. At least not without giving myself a freaking hernia. So you know I’m super stressed out…

In this moment it dawns on me what the absolute worst part of being single is… No, it’s not the long nights the week before your period, the lack of companionship during all those annoying couple events or even the crazy dating games we all too often find ourselves caught up in. Yo, forreal, forreal, its the maintenance. Straight up. It’s the not having someone to put shit make back together when the little things make me wanna fall apart. From figuring out how to change a lightbulb in the vaulted ceiling to taking out the freaking trash to changing a flat tire on the side of the highway in the middle of the night and yes, getting this big ole stupid bix outta my damn house- I really miss the extra set of capable hands.

I’m telling you, when I finally land a boy worth mentioning, I’m always going to loan him out to all of my friends like books from the library. No questions asked. Cause that there feeling of helplessness is for the birds.

Yo, karma is the truth. Even as all signs were pointing to a no-go for my speaking engagement at Sojourner Truth Middle School last Wednesday- blizzard, bad hair, and oh yeah, the fact that I had no idea why a bunch of middle school kids would give two cents about what I do for a living since I’m not Beyonce or dating Chris Brown.

But instead of opting out, I just thought to myself, ‘What Would Michelle Do?’ and I kept it moving. (You like that, right?)

Well, not only did I end up having a great time with the kids- Lord knows there’s no bigger ego boost than winning over group of pre-teens whose parents sent them to school on a snow day- BUT later on in the day I received an email from my editor at Scholastic. And guess what?

HOTLANTA has offically been selected for not one but TWO of the American Library Association’s 2008 top teen book lists: Quick Picks For Reluctant Readers and Popular Paperbacks (fame &fortune category)!!! Which means- drumroll, please- school librarians nationwide think my teen book series is the fire!!

WOO HOO! Go Mitzi, get busy! Go Denene, it’s ya birfday! WOO HOO!

So if you haven’t already copped your copy of HOTLANTA or it’s sequel, IF ONLY YOU KNEW, now is the time! At $8.99, cheap as hell as a fantabulous read.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw_0_8?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=hotlanta+series&sprefix=HOTLANTA

Question: why do owners of small and minature dogs think its appropriate to stand by and watch their pet attack a larger dog?

Every time I take Drama for a walk through the park, somebody’s little foo foo dog comes running up to growl and snap at her. Luckily, Drama could care less about other dogs so for the most part we just keep walking and eventually the little mo-fu will get tired and return to its owner. No harm, no foul. (Of course, there was this minature Yorkie that nipped her nose and drew blood… I won’t get into the specifics of what I promised the owner would happen if her pissant dog ever came near us again but let’s just say, it hasn’t happened since.)

So lemme tell you, my neighbor Glaydys owns two minature chihuahuas, Ruby and Brownie; as well as two pitbulls, Mindnight and Hannibal. (I know, I know it’s a lot but try not to get sidetracked with the details.) Anyhoo, Ruby hates Hannibal. Like, every single time Hannibal walks near by her little basket/ home, she jumps up, loses her little mind and attacks his legs, tail, nose, or whatever else she can reach. It’s a mess.

For the record, on numerous occasions I’ve warned Glaydys about letting Ruby run amuck. But everyone in the apartment laughs me off because she’s so tiny and Hannibal doesn’t pay her any mind.

Well you know what they say- all good things must come to an end.

I guess Hannibal was in a bad mood last night and finally snapped back. Don’t you know he grabbed her up by the neck, shook her around and tossed that little ass straight across the room. Mmm-hmm, just like that. There was no blood drawn but poor thing was shaking leaf for at least an hour afterwards.

Now you know… if you have a little nosiemaker for a pet, you better act like you love it. Cause they can get it.

Why am I being held hostage by UPS?? No, seriously, I’m not even playing with you. Any other day, when I’m NOT expecting a package, this dude is ringing me bell off the hook at 9.01am. But just because I’m expecting something important- and really need to get it no later than today- he’s a straight no-show. I swear this fool is gonna drive me to drink. Jerk.

Ummm, why is it always so hard to get ready to go out of town?

It’s not like, I didn’t know that I was going to DC for the inaguration all of ten seconds after CNN declared Obama’s victory… Yet and still here I am the day before I leaving running around like a chicken with out a head.

I am so EXCITED. I cannot believe that I am alive to witness a Black man become the President of the United States. I swear to God, this is bigger than the day the video for Thriller premiered on channel 5. When I think back over the past two years… all the anticipation before he finally declared, all the naysayers who were concerned that he didn’t have enough experience, Jeremiah Wright, Hillary Clinton, damn Sarah Palin…. my god. But we made it.

And now I’m off to handle the nails and hair (cause we all know Barack doesn’t want me in DC without my hair did). Hopefully, I’ll see some of you guys there… If not, be sure to look for me on CNN in the middle of the masses in somewhere near the front but not too far from the back. I’ll be the short chick with the big hair losing her mind and falling out as if I’ve won the lotto.

YES WE DID!!!! YES WE DID!!!

I can barely type these words without tearing up. For the first time ever, I truly understand what people mean when they say they are proud to be American.

I guess I’ll start by stating the obvious. From now on, there are NO excuses. We are “The Man.” It’s time for folks to step our game up. This is the window of opportunity generations of people before us dreamed of, shame on anyone who doesn’t take FULL advantage of this moment. Get focused, the time is now.

But I do think there was a less obvious but just as important statement made last night. And so let me be the first to acknowledge and thank, Barack and Michelle for single handedly redefining the face of Black love. His shout out to her in his victory speech brought tears to my eyes.

I just hope that all the amazing Black men that I know who continue to insist that it’s too difficult to date/love a strong Black woman were paying close attention. The most powerful man in this country just willingly acknowledged that he needed one of us by his side to make it through. Not as a jump-off, baby mama, home girl, etc but as his best friend, wife and the mother of his kids. Michelle is Barack’s first choice.

And I can’t just blame the guys. I take full responsibility for my some of my bad dating decisions and a lot of the ridiculous compromises that I have made over the years. But like my mom said, it was all fun and games… until today. I’m about to pull together forreal, forreal.

POP, POP, POP!!! That’s the sound of the bottles party people! See you in DC on Jan 20th!!


Contact

Name
Email
Message

Yay! Message sent.
Error! Please validate your fields.
Design by materialdsign.com