My Weekend WrapUp

My Moo has been officially dedicated to GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm so excited and happy.  Oh, this weekend was awesome, a little bit stressful and amazing all in one.  As you all know, Saturday was the BIG Day!  I was happy that my brother was able to make it.  This is his senior year of college and we don't get to see as often.  However, he came him Friday afternoon and we had a blast.

Saturday morning got off to an early start thanks to Moo.  She is an early riser for some reason.  I wish she would sleep in more.  Of course, I wasn't really planning on sleeping in too late Saturday because we still had to make Moo's gown. Yes, totally last minute, but not my fault.  Her gown was suppose to be made two days prior to this event. However, somebody (who shall remain nameless) decided to procrastinate and wait until the day of.

And of course, that's where my stress came in.  That and the fact that Jay and I had gotten into a rather unpleasant dispute the day before and he had said that he wasn't going to come to her baptism.  So, I was on pins and needles waiting for him to show up.  In the back of my mind, I kept telling myself that he wouldn't dare miss his child's baptism ceremony.  Then again, I wasn't too sure.

So, here we are sewing, ironing clothes and curling hair.  Meanwhile, time is just flying by and before we know it it's time to go.  Actually, it was past time to go.  We were late to venue and had to rush to set up.  However, we managed to get everything sat up on time.  And her father did show up.  I was thankful.  I want so much for him to win back my family's good graces.  And I knew for sure that if he missed this event, his chances would be even more shot to hell.

I'm a family person and it's very important that we all get along.  He's done some stuff in the past that has made my family a little bit cold towards him, but I feel like he's trying to seriously turn over a new leaf, but only time will tell.  I've given the matter to God.  Whatever happens from here on out is in His hands.  Anyways, the ceremony was beautiful.  The gown turned out amazing.

As you can see, we did not go with your traditional white gown.  No, I wanted something unique and something that paid tribute to her African heritage. Excuse the back pic.  She was having a diva moment and refused to be still.  Had to catch her at whatever angle we could. LOL.

Anyways, I loved the gown and she did too.  In fact everybody loved it.  I can't say enough about how happy I am to know that Moo is officially welcomed as one of God's children.  My faith has always kept me grounded and gotten me  through hard times.  I very eager to help Moo establish an equally wonderful relationship with the Lord.

Sunday went well, but could have been better.  I'm learning to not let everything affect me on such a personal level.   Hope you all had a great weekend.

Father's Day Reflections

I just want to say Happy Father's Day to all the amazing dads out there who are doing an amazing job at trying to be in their children's lives and handle their responsibility.  And even to the dad's that are expecting but still being supportive on their wives or significant other, Happy Father's Day to you too!  I have to admit that for me and my siblings, Father's Day is always a bit bittersweet.  While others are out celebrating with their dads, we are left with a void and broken hearts over the distance and lack of involvement our father has with us.

And trust me, it's not because we haven't tried to reach out to him because we have.  It's just that somewhere over the expansive length of my parent's marriage my father fell out of love with the Family Life.  Having been a teenage parent, I guess he always felt the yearning to reclaim his youth.  And I'm sure the fact that his mother died when he was 12 and leaving them with an abusive father didn't help matters either.  In fact, I'm pretty sure the latter had a lot to do with it.  I was always led to believe that all my grandparents were deceased as a child. 

It wasn't until I came home after a breakup with the love of my life  that I found out my father's father died when I was four.  And all those years, I walked around not knowing.  I was helping my mom clean out some old papers and stumbled across the his obituary.  At first, I didn't know it was him.  I saw the same last night and thought it was one of my great uncles, but when I opened and started reading "He leaves behind to mourn his death..." and saw my father's name, I felt a rush of emotion.  I felt hurt, sad, betrayed and angry.  Then remembering how my father told me of some the horrors they lived with their father, understanding sunk in.

I'm not sure that I've still completely accepted my parents reasoning for leading us to believe that all of grandparents were dead, but at least I know why they did it.  They didn't want us to be disappointed.  My grandfather wasn't much of a father to his children and stepchildren and probably wouldn't have proved to be much of a grandfather to his grandchildren.  From what I understand, he didn't come to any of his children's weddings, school activities or graduations.  He never tried to make peace with his jaded past until he was on his deathbed.  And even then he wasn't very apologetic about the hell he'd put them through or the fact that he probably contributed to the cancer that killed my grandmother.

But still here we are years later and still we ended up disappointed of sorts.  I'm not going to sit here and say that my father has never been there for me, because he has and if I truly needed him again he probably would try his best.  However, what I am disappointed at is that he doesn't make an effort to call.  My Moo barely recognizes her own grandfather.  She's seen a total of maybe 6 times since her birth.  And it took my father months to remember her name (the sad part I gave her his mother's name for her middle name).  For months, I heard my aunts and uncles telling me how they saw my dad and asked about the baby and he couldn't even recall her name.

I cried the first time I heard that.  It hurt down to my very core.  I never felt so unimportant in my father's life than at that moment.  I mean I spent almost three weeks of my pregnancy living at his house!  We watched kung fu movies together.  There was the night he went out and got us a 100 piece bucket of chicken nuggets from McDonald's because I was craving them and my fiance had gone to work.  He gave up his room for me to sleep in and moved to the couch.  (My fiance slept in the other bedroom down the hall because my parents did not raise me to be disrespectful to their house rules even if I was grown and with child.)

And I was pretty sure that in those almost three weeks, I had surely mentioned the name I was decided on and he seemed to recall it every time he rubbed my belly and cooed to his unborn granddaughter.  Thank heavens that Moo came out a girl because we had chosen not to find out the sex, but common sense told me that my mother had five girls, my grandmother had nine girls and her mother had mostly girls and I too would 99.5% most likely be having a girl.  Her dad and everybody else swore she was coming out a boy.  LOL.  Imagine the shock when she came out a girl.  

I can only hope that Moo's baptism will bring about a much needed change.  During her service I plan to pay tribute to my deceased grandparents and even insert a little reading about the importance of raising children and being their for them even when they become adults.  I hope that my father will get the message.  I know that he has done somethings to us that will never be forgotten, but at least we can all move forward to a place of healing.  I don't want to have to lie to my daughter the way my parents did to me about not having a grandfather.  I pray that God hears this and throws us a miracle.

Ebay, a Baptism & a Logo

So, a few weeks ago I ordered a new charger for my Palm Treo 800.  Yes, I know that there are newer phones out, but I love my treo and can't seem to part with it.  Anyways, I ordered it from this guy on Ebay. I checked his ratings of course before I placed my bid and they seemed pretty decent. He wasn't huge seller on Ebay, but his feedback as a buyer was great.  So, I placed my bid with hopes of having a new charger to get my treo back up and running.

Well, the product was suppose to ship from NY.  I'm pretty familiar with mailing things up state. My BFF lives in Philly and I send her stuff all the time. And the longest it's ever taken her to get a package from me was three days.  So, after three days of waiting for my package to arrive, I got worried and checked the status of my order. Of course, I was disappointed when I found out it hadn't been shipped.  Now, patience is not really my strong point.  Therefore, I wait two more days and then I contact the seller.

He says that my item was shipped via United States Postal Service, but he didn't purchase tracking.  Okay, I feel a red flag go off in my mind. Who doesn't purchase tracking when mailing an electronic device?  So, I give him the benefit of doubt. I've purchased stuff from Ebay before with no problems.  Well, a week goes by and no charger. Then a few more days go by and still no charger. At this point, I'm a little pissed.

First of all he mailed my item late.  I feel like I paid on time. Therefore, I want my merchandise on time.  So, I decided to contact Ebay.  They offer Ebay Protection to their buyers now.  They send the seller a note that I haven't received my item. Do you know this nut case has the audacity to come at me crazy talking about how I was probably trying to rip him off and that it takes two weeks for mail to get from NY to SC.  Like really. I had to check him. I was going to keep it professional, but to insult my intelligence and talk down to me like he knew me I couldn't stand for.

So, we engage in a two day battle of words. Finally, he realizes that he can't play me and refunds me my money.  I decided to thank him by leaving a negative feedback rating on his profile. I mean times are hard and I can't afford to be getting ripped off online. I need money just like he does. Hello????? Single mom here.

Anyways, I'm glad that I've moved on from dwelling on that drama because I have finally set a date for Moo's baptism!!!  I know I waited a long time, but hey better later than never right?  I'm super excited because my faith is very important to me. I would describe my relationship with God as an awesome one.  He is certainly guiding me through some things and has always had my back.

So, it was never a question of if I was going to dedicate her to Him, but when.  And the timing seems perfect. Her father and I are in a good place. My family is coming around to forgiving him for walking out on us. Well, some of them are and some of them still wish he would just fall off a cliff.  And being the planner that I am, I want to go all out for this event. I mean I got invitations, I did a gift registry and am designing a program.

This is a very important milestone in her life and I want it to be grand.  Moo is by far the most spoiled and pampered one year old I've ever met.  I don't know where I'd be without her in my life. She has made me a better person and caused me to rethink certain aspects of my life.  So, much of who I am right now is because of that little girl.  I love her to pieces.  And even though this menu and decoration choices are driving me nuts, she's worth it.

And finally, I got word that YUMM might be getting a new logo!!  I'm super excited about that as well. A few months ago, I asked one of my very talented friends to create one and she had her hands full with work, being a single mom to a very charming young boy with medical needs and school to name a few.  Well, I got a message from her the other day and she is making progress on it. She hadn't forgotten and with school out, she started sketching and is bringing something to life for me.  Can't wait to see the finished product.

Good night out there.

My Weekend WrapUp

Although the weekend might be coming to a close, I'm sad to see it go.  I don't have to go into the office tomorrow. Therefore, I will be sleeping in for as long as Moo will allow me to.  Another reason I'm not sad to see the weekend go is because my Mommy will be back from her ten day conference training session.

I have to admit that I didn't think I was going to miss her, but I do.  I even got her a 'Welcome Home' gift.  I'll post pics in my next Weekend WrapUp.  This weekend has been kind of long. Saturday was graduation. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it to any of my little cousin's graduations because of work. Ugghhhh.. Frustrating but what can you do?  Bills have to get paid and diapers have be bought.

However, I did make it to the cookout and got a chance to hang out with family. Some people I hadn't seen in ages.  I tell you I'm glad that school is out because I have heard promises of more family cookouts to come.  And I'm proud to announce that I will be starting off the family cookouts with Moo's Baptism Celebration and Memorial Cookout in a few weeks!!!

My mind is running a mile a minute planning out menus, decorations and everything.  I want this event to be perfect or as close to perfect as it can get.  Looking forward to creating an atmosphere in which the younger generation will get to know the older generation.  Cookouts are the perfect setting for telling stories and teaching youngsters their history.

And today was wonderful.  We made it to church just in time for the offering.  And yes, I was THAT mom again this week. Moo was quite talkative and had a bad case of Ants in the Pants.  I think that her terrible twos came early.  At least we didn't have any more Bible tearing accidents.  So, that is an upgrade. I sent up a special prayer that God will continue to shape her and smooth out her rough edges.

I did enjoy a nice dinner with my immediate family today as we gathered for a surprise 49th birthday party for one of my uncles. He was genuinely happy to see that we had thought enough to surprise him.  With all the death in our family lately, we have learned to give each other our roses while we still have life.  Nothing will remind you what's most important like death will.

I'm looking forward to many more birthday celebrations to come.  Well, I am officially still stuffed from my dinner. I will certainly have to work out double time to get this off. Planning a little Mommy and Me retreat to the beach and I want to look super cute in my new bathing suit. 

So, how was everyone else's weekend?