Vegan In The Ville

Completing my first half marathon

2012-02-01T06:25:00.000-08:00

I completed my first half marathon (Tinkerbell Half Marathon) on Sunday! Although my finishing time was 3:19 (with a time limit of 3:50), I'm proud of myself for completing a exercise goal I set for myself. I woke up at 3:00 am Sunday morning got dressed and then went online for a minute to calm my nerves about the race. Around 3:30 am, I woke Den up so he could dressed and we could walk down to the hotel and catch the shuttle to Disneyland. Disneyland is a magical place during the day but early in the morning with no one there, its kind of surreal. Once we got there, it was amazing to see so many people there dressed as Tinkerbell, Peter Pan and other Disney characters as well as people dressed like regular people going out for a run. I took the opportunity to take a photo next to the mile 4 marker since we still had time before the race began.

Soon we arrived at the entrance and I took a photo with some pirates before heading to the main event stage and then carroll D where I'd be starting the race from.

I run the race using a combination of running for 4 minutes then walking for 1 minute.....in the beginning. Eventually, I began to walk more and run less because my foot started to hurt. Around mile 8, I fell while stepping up on a curb and scratched up my right elbow and knee. After some nice fellow runners helped me up, I brushed myself off and kept on going until the end. While a little part of me felt I should get my injuries checked out at the medical tent area, I decided I'd worry about that at the finish line.

I know my form wasn't pretty and I didn't look like a runner but darn it I was going to get my Tinkerbell medal! After the race, I was so happy it was over and was super stoked to get my medal and finally wear my reward for completing the race-a "I completed the Tinkerbell Half Marathon" shirt. Although the race was hard and trying at times, I enjoyed the camaraderie I felt with the other runners and I loved the sense of pride I felt by having earned a medal rather than just being given something for participating.

I am planning to resume my half marathon training schedule once I'm healed up since I signed up for the Hollywood Half Marathon in April. I'm also really considering doing another Disney run in October (Wine & Dine 1/2 Marathon) so I could get two medals;a medal for the Wine and Dine and a medal for running a Disney race on the East and West Coast.

Cheezy Pizza Restaurant Review

2012-01-22T20:10:00.000-08:00

Today me and Den decided to try out a new pizza place. Although we usually got to Cruzer's Pizza in LA, sometimes it can be a bit annoying having to sit and traffic and find parking nearby. When we were in Loma Linda and stopped by Clark's Nutritional Store, I saw an entire vegan menu for Cheezy Pizza in Colton which was not too far away. When we arrived there, I was surprised there weren't more people there but we didn't let that scare us.

I was happy to see that Cheezy's is vegan friendly and it was advertised outside of their building;things were definitely looking up!

After Den talked with the owner and was told that they no longer had boneless chicken wings (the owner said the they weren't popular), we decided to try their garlic cheese bread, jalapeno poppers and loaded meat pizza. The garlic cheese bread was delicious soft and chewy. I loved that every bite was covered with garlic and daiya cheese and the marinara sauce was a wonderful complement to the bread.

The jalapeno poppers were interesting in that Den felt that they weren't traditional poppers but more like jalapeno calzones. We really enjoyed the vegan ranch dressing (which is made in the store) that came with the poppers and we liked the simplicity of the poppers being made with only jalapenos and daiya cheese.

We decided to order a vegan loaded meat pizza which was topped with daiya cheese, soy sausage, soy beef, soy chicken, and soy pepperoni. The pizza was crispy, hot and very delicious. We both enjoyed all the food we had there and will definitely be going back again. Overall, the restaurant staff was friendly and the food was great.

My mission to tackle the Post Punk Kitchen 100

2012-01-18T16:23:00.000-08:00

A new goal of mine is to complete as much of the Post Punk Kitchen's 100 list in 2012 as possible. So far, I've complete 7 out of the 100 things listed. I'm also gonna have to adapt some considering that nuts are involved and Den's deathly allergic to nuts. Wish me luck!

Candle Cafe Frozen Dinners Review

2012-01-17T09:49:00.000-08:00

When I was at Whole Foods recently I saw that the Candle Cafe Frozen Meals were on sale so I decided to try to of the meals out.First, I tried the Tofu Spinach Ravioli. This consisted of organic pasta, spinach and tofu in tomato sauce. The spinach ravioli was okay but the tomato sauce could've been a little bit thicker and I'd have preferred more chesse.

Next, I tried the seitan piccata with lemon caper sauce. This meal was made of organic brown rice, spinach, and seitan piccata in a lemony sauce. This meal was really good; even Den couldn't keep his hands off of it. The combination of spinach with lemon was unexpectantly pleasant and out of these two meals, I'd definitely buy this one again.

Happy Veggie Restaurant Review

2012-01-17T09:31:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to eat at Happy Veggie in Redondo Beach for a while and was really happy when Den surprised me with going to dinner there last week. Although the parking was a little tricky, we still had an awesome time there.

We began our dinner by have vegan drunsticks as an appetizer. These drumsticks were served with a teriyaki sauce and a pickled salad. The drumsticks were perfectly cooked, really chewy and the stick used as a bone was a nice touch.

For dinner, I chose the Szechwan Chicken Strips which consisted of onions, broccoli and ginger layered with soy chicken strips.

After much thought, Den decided to have the vegan pan fried noodles which had soy chicken with stir fried vegetables, tofu and onion served on a crust of pan-fried rice noodles.

The food was delicious and the staff was nice and informative. We're definitely going to go back again!

Belated Happy New Year and other news

2012-01-17T09:09:00.000-08:00

Let me start by saying Happy New Year! I've been so bad at blogging on a regular basis and one of my resolutions for 2012 is to blog more (at least one post a month). Other goals for 2012 is to become a better runner and as such, I've signed myself up for two 1/2 marathons, the Tinkerbell 1/2 Marathon on January 29th and the Hollywood 1/2 Marathon on April 7th. I've been following a run/walk 1/2 marathon training program so I'm excited to be participating in these running events.

This year I also plan on continuing my goal of losing weight and getting down to a healthy weight.Currently I weight 220 but I'd be happy to get my weight under 200lbs. I just finished reading Eat To Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman and plan on following his weight loss plan within the next couple of weeks.

Farewell Quarrygirl

2011-11-30T22:51:00.001-08:00

Dear Quarrygirl:
Thanks for creating a blog which introduced me to yummy vegan food and helped make my move from Alabama to California and from vegetarianism to veganism less painful. Thanks for introducing me to Ronald's Donuts, Veggie Grill, Vegan Pizza Day, Frankenstand and all the other wonderful things that made your blog so awesome to read.I am really gonna miss reading your blog and still hope to meet you someday.

Thanks,
Tamara

Restocking my emergency chocolate via vegancuts.com

2011-10-16T14:57:00.000-07:00

I love chocolate and was super stoked when I saw that vegan cuts.com was having a deal on 40 mini bars of chocolate for the price of 20.I was extremely happy when the mini chocolate bars arrived and after eating one of each bar, I was definitely impressed.

These chocolate bars were made from Newtree natural born chocolate company in Belgium.

The flavors are as follows: Blush contains cherries, Refresh contains mint, Renew contains blackcurrant and sexy contains ginger.

Here is a photo of all of the Newtree mini chocolate bars

Starting a juice fast

2011-10-09T18:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I watched the documentary "fat, sick, and nearly dead" on Netflix's streaming channel. It was an inspiring story of Jim Cross, an Australian man who was tired of being sick (on medication) and overweight,who decided to go on a 60 day fast of nothing but juice made from fruits and vegetables. Seeing this documentary has inspired me to do a 10 day juice fast starting tomorrow. I hope that doing this fast will help break my addiction to junk food and processed food. Wish me luck!

2011-09-24T21:37:00.001-07:00

had an awesome time doing my part to be a foodsoldier for Christ;can't wait till next week.

Just ran my first 5K!

2011-09-05T11:59:00.001-07:00

After several months of training, I'm happy to report that I just finished running/walking my first race in a time of 1 hour and 11 minutes! When I did run a race several yeas ago (2004), I didn't train for the race at all so when I ran 2K, I finished third from last in 29 minutes. Today me and Den participated in the 3rd annual Conquer the Bridge race in San Pedro, California which was actually a 5.3 mile run/walk. I alternated between walking and running and although I had planned to finish within 1:10, I am proud of my finish time today (1:11) as well as my pace during the run (13:31) and am definitely making it my goal to finish within an hour next year.Den also walked the course and finished in 1 hour and 30 minutes. We're both really proud of our achievements today.

2011-09-05T11:13:00.001-07:00

is super excited that we conquered the Vincent Thomas Bridge in 1:11 (tam) and 1:30 (den)!

2011-09-01T07:36:00.001-07:00

is excited about the upcoming Labor Day holiday and running Conquer the Bridge in San Pedro

2011-08-26T21:19:00.001-07:00

today was a good day

2011-08-24T08:44:00.001-07:00

is thinking about restarting my blog/journal

2011-08-19T20:02:00.001-07:00

had fun seeing "friends with benefits" with
hubby

2011-08-19T15:39:00.001-07:00

will be so happy when the weekend starts.

Vegan Restaurant Review: Evolution Fast Food-San Diego, California

2011-08-19T11:01:00.000-07:00

This past Friday, me and Dennis (my husband) decided to take a trip to San Diego. After checking the happycow.com app on my cellphone and seeing what vegan restaurants were there, we decided to go to Evolution Fast Food.

Evolution Fast Food Sign

Once we arrived at Evolution, I was completely surprised that they have drive thru service as well as a place for customers to go inside and order food. Their menu was pretty extensive and I was really impressed by the variety of desserts they had such as cookies, cakes, cheesecakes, and parfaits.

While we were there, they set out this tray of green goddess pasta salad which was pretty tasty.

Den ordered himself some vegan "chili" cheese fries. These fries were topped with vegan chili and mozzarella dayia cheese.The fries were the perfect blend of spicy (due to the chili) and melty (due to the cheese). I could tell that Den loved them too because as he was eating them, he was humming a happy song.

I ordered the mushroom swiss burger which contained an amy's vegan burger, veganaise, tons of button mushrooms, dayia cheese, lettuce and tomato.As I bit into the burger, I could taste a variety of different textures combining together;the crunch of the veggie burger along with the smoothness of the mushrooms. I also liked that while the burger was topped with dayia cheese, it worked well with the veganaise and was not overpowering at all.

We also ordered some chick'n tenders and I was completely blown away by how close in both taste and texture these were in comparison to real chicken strips. Evolution is great in that they provide three different sauces for your dipping pleasure: bbq, ranch, and chipotle.

Den also ordered a Bacon Chesseburger with their homemade black bean burger patty. His burger contained the black bean patty, veganaise, vegan bacon, dayia cheese, lettuce and tomato. He said it was pretty awesome and it hit the spot considering he had been craving a bacon cheeseburger for a while now.

For dessert, I had a slice of their chocolate cake and it was okay. The cake itself wasn't as moist as I expected it to be but the icing was perfect!All in all, we had a great time at Evolution Fast Food and plan on heading back there the next time we're in San Diego.

Becoming a Vegan Food Critic

2011-08-15T13:17:00.000-07:00

Me and Den were talking today about my future and what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. Although I am currently working at a community college in the library, I'm not sure if this is what I can really see myself doing for the next thrity or so years. I asked Den said what is something I excel at, something I do better than anyone else and his response was simple: be a vegan food critic. While initally I was hesistant considering that there's not a large amount of people professing to be professional vegan food critcs; I realized that he did have a valid point. We do travel alot and have had the opportunity to eat at various wonderful vegan restaurants as well as the fact that I have a background in Enlgish and grammar so this so help with my reviews as well. I look forward to any comments you have regarding my reviews and happy reading and happy eating!

Vegnews and photo controversy

2011-04-14T10:13:00.000-07:00

Sorry I have haven't written in a while but after reading Quarrygirl's and Babe in Soyland's responses to the fact the Vegnews magazine has been using non vegan stock photos and photoshopping them to make them appear vegan, I've decided to add my own opinion in regards to this upsetting development. Keep in mind that what follows is my opinion only so you can feel free to agree to disagree with me.Although I'm sad that Vegnews has been using stock photos made with non vegan ingredients, I'm still going to support the magazine because it is the only vegan periodical out there. While I've read Vegetarian Times in the past, it seemed boring ,clinical and serious Vegnews is a more fun and informative read. People should realize that anytime you see a photo in a magazine, it's highly likely that it has been altered in some way. I think Vegnews can save face and regain some dignity by hiring vegan photographers and apologizing for their error. I love reading the magazine and hope that they can fix this issue in a timely manner before they lose anymore online and print subscribers.

Happy Vegan Pizza Day!

2011-01-30T10:26:00.002-08:00

I know it's been forever since I've posted, life's gotten a little crazy but now I'm back to write about celebrating the first annual vegan pizza day. This holiday was created by fellow vegan blogger Quarrygirl and Chicago Soy Dairy and I was totally excited be able to celebrate eating vegan pizza. Yesterday me and my hubby celebrated by going to some place new for vegan pizza in Valencia. While we usually go to Whole Foods for my vegan pizza fix, I had heard great things about Tomato Joe's so we decided to celebrate vegan pizza day there.Although I've never tried the brand of vegan cheese they use (follow your heart), I was excited to try something new and hoped that Tomato Joe's wouldn't disappoint.

Once we got there, we decided to order the Sally's Secret Garden pizza with artichoke hearts instead of green peppers, added veggie chicken and had it on the beer battered crust. Here's a photo of this pizza perfection!

Oh my gawd I can't tell you how good this pizza was. I went with the promise to eat only two slices and keep two for tomorrow but once we started eating, we didn't stop till the pizza was all gone (I know, we're so bad;-) Here's a photo of me enjoying the Sally's Secret Garden pizza (please forgive me for looking so geeky)

and here's a photo of my hubby enjoying the pizza:

Even though my husband is vegetarian, he really liked the follow your heart cheese as did I. I liked that the beer battered crust was flaky yet crispy and the flavors were incredible. We'll definitely be going back there soon!

Enter to win $40 vegan essentials gift certificate at Vegan and so forth blog

2010-11-14T15:13:00.000-08:00

Jenny at Vegan and so forth is having a give away to win a $40 vegan essentials gift certficate. If you've never shopped at this online store, you're definitely missing out because they have TONS of awesome vegan stuff from food and books to clothes and housewares. Enough reading, go enter already!

I'm profiled in The People Project and Saturn Cafe now has vegan pancakes!

2010-10-19T23:02:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to see that my profile is on The People Project website at veganvoice.org. The purpose of the people project is to show people from different races and countries that are vegan as well as show the various reasons why people decide to become vegan. It's a great website and I definitely recommend submitting to it.

In other news, I just read from one of the many blogs that I follow that Saturn Cafe is now offering vegan french toast and pancakes. Score!!! I've been craving pancakes for a while now and can't wait to taste what Saturn Cafe has to offer.

My first vegan festival (with photos)

2010-10-03T17:40:00.001-07:00

After months of reading about the upcoming World Veg Festival in San Francison, Den decided to indulge me and take me there. We went to festival yesterday and it was so much fun, I can't wait for it to come around next year. The World Veg Festival was a two day event filled with vegetarian and vegan speakers, various food vendors and San Franciso's first ever vegan fashion show. I was super excited because I got to take photos with Colleen Patrick-Goudreau and Rory Freedman, author of the Skinny Bitch books series! I also ate way too many samples and bought more cookbooks to add to my collection.Without further ado, here are some photos from the festival.

Collen Patrick-Goudreau & me

Vegan rice krispie treat and smores cheesecake square

Dr. Joel Fuhrman & his sister

Banana leaf tamale and vegan taquitos

Den pinkine promising Rory to he'll try veganism for a month

Author Rory Freedman and me

If you'd like to see all the pics I took, check out my flickr feed at flickr.com/photos/bamalibrarylady.

I've been a bad, bad blogger

2010-08-01T09:05:00.005-07:00

I'm sorry I haven't written in such a long time, we've been extremely busy traveling and trying to get settled in after having moved to California. Travelwise, we left from drove from Huntsville, Alabama to Bakersfield, then from Bakersfield to Columbia, South Carolina for my mother in laws family reunion then me and Den took a trip from Columbia to Huntsville and Huntsville to Wahsington, D.C. then returned back to Huntsville and finally drove back to Bakersfield. The next week, we went on our yearly trip to Adventist Campmeeting in Soquel, California. It was fun but tiring considering we hadn't really had time to relax after our cross country trip.

Now that all my traveling's over (unless it's for a job interview), I have time to clean up our new digs. It's proving to be an uphill battle but I know with persistent, I can succeed. I am also happy that the 29th will be my veganversay;I can't believe I've been vegan for a whole year-it's been rocky but completely worth it! I did partake of some extremely delicious foods during my travels so try not drool too much on your computer while looking at the photos:-) I'll post some more photos later.

Cupcakes- Sticky Fingers Bakery, Washington, D.C.

BBQ Tofu-RP Tracks, Memphis, Tennessee

Vegan veggie pizza- Whole Foods, Atlanta, Georgia

Greek Tofu Scramble-Dharama's Restuarant, Capitola, California

Preparing to move and enjoying good food

2010-05-22T12:34:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in my last post, Den and I have decided to relocate to California to be closer to his family. At this point I'm finishing up porjects at work as well as emptying our place before we make the big move. In other news, Earth Fare (a new grocery store) has opened in Huntsville and we really love it. There's so much tasty food there that we always end up buying more than we planned whenever we go.

I've been reading other vegan blogs and the writers have been raving about Amy's vegan Mac and Chreeze. Prior to Earth Fare opening, I could find this product anywhere however I was downright giddy when I saw it in the frozen food section at Earth Fare. I took this for lunch yesterday and after eating it, I'll definitely be buying more of this in the future. Although I've had Dayia cheese before, I wasn't really sure how it would taste when paired with macaroni. While I was warming it up, it smelled so much like the real thing, I actually double-checked the box to make sure it was vegan and it was. When I took my first bite, all my food fears melted away and one of my meat eating co workers tried some and said it was good. This vegan mac and chreeze rocks!

The times, they are a changing

2010-05-15T09:28:00.000-07:00

After having a very long discussion with Den, we've decided to relocate to California. I gave my job my notice on Wendesday and we've started the packing process. This is probably the hardest thing I've ever done because I'm leaving my hometown and a job I've been at for eleven years. I'm kinda torn because I'm happy to be moving to California yet sad because I'm leaving my family and co-workers.Although I won't be living in Huntsville anymore, I'm still going to keep the name of the blog veganintheville since I am from Huntsville.

Tranferring from Easyjournal to Blogger

2010-05-08T10:28:00.001-07:00

I've keep a online journal at poetchik.easyjournal.com since 2003 but I recently realize that this website doesn't have a back-up feature so I've decided to shift my previous easyjournal entries to here. Keep in mind that my earlier journal entries were written when I was younger and not yet vegan. I'm also posting my older entires because they reflex who I was as a person back then and show what life was like for me at that time. Happy reading!

Life goes on and my first poem in two years

2010-04-20T10:27:00.000-07:00

So, it's been a while but I'm back. Got my Masters degree and now I work at the local library as the Web Services Librarian. The new job is lots of fun and I'm talking to more groups of people than I ever have before; I even had the opportunity to present at the annual Alabama Library Association (ALLA) convention that took place in Huntsville last week.

In other news, Mom is displaced due to a kitchen fire at the house. She's currently staying with Martha and hopes to be back in the house soon but there's some outside drama going on so we'll see. I've also been losing weight and I am now do to 224 from my highest weight of 298 (woo hoo!) My goal weight is 170 and at this rate, I'm confident I'll go there soon.

The Limestone Dust Poety Festival is happening this weeked and although I usually don't go to those sort of things, something is urging me to go....to not only go but to read a poem during open mic time. I dunno...I wrote this poem yesterday to express how I've been feeling lately and Den liked it;he said it was deep.Maybe it is time for me to start writing again, I just wonder if I've still got the creativity to do so.

No without any further ado, here's my poem:

Middle Class Poor

My mama always said
“go to school,”
“get an education”
“get an degree”
“get a good job-a good life.”
Always believed if you play by the rules, life would be fair; everything would fall into place.
Didn’t know that the rules were made to be broken
unspoken deals made between unknown forces.
The game is the same but the world has changed:
got an education,
got student loans,
got a degree,
got no job,
got no job,
I get got I got no shot
I got no shot
I got to get out
Out of time
Out of money
Out of home
Home is where the heart is
Is this all there is
Is minimum the new maximum?

Tasty Vegan Donuts in Las Vegas

2010-01-18T11:15:00.002-08:00

Over the Christmas holidays, me and Den went to Las Vegas and California. While in Vegas, I just had to stop by Ronald's Donuts which I'd read about in Quarygirl's blog. I was everything I hoped it'd be and then some. We went a little donut crazy and bought apple fritters, cinnamon bun and cinnamon twists. We're definitely putting that on our must visit list when visiting vegas from now on. Here's a picture of our donuts from Ronalds.

My first very vegan Thanksgiving

2009-12-06T16:26:00.008-08:00

This Thanksgiving went extremely well and I'm very happy that I was able to have a completely animal free Thanksgiving. Here are some pictures of the tasty food me and Den had for Thanksgiving. First up was the "meat" and after we debated whether to have tofurkey or some other option, we decide to buy a celebration field roast stuffed with apples, mushroom, and butternut squash. We both really enjoyed the celebration roast and although it was small, we were able to make it stretch for four days by slicing it thin. Next, Den made some vegan mashed potatoes by combing plain soymilk, water, earth balance margarine and a box of mashed potato flakes. While the potatoes we're think like the mashed potatoes I grew up with, they were pretty good.

Here is a picture of all the delicious food we had for Thanksgiving. In addition to the celebration roast and mashed potatoes were mixed vegetables, brown rice, cranberry sauce, and potato rolls.

After we stuffed our stomachs with Thanksgiving food, it was on to dessert. Considering that I'm not much of a cook, we bought two vegan pies when we went to Whole Foods.This is a picture of the vegan peach pie.

This is a picture of the vegan pumpkin pie right out of the oven. All of the food was a great way to end Thanksgiving Day and helped me to realize that it is possible to have a completely vegan holiday meal.

Vegan Eats in Asheville, North Carolina

2009-11-11T15:38:00.014-08:00

It's been a while since I've written but I'm back with pictures of the fantastic food I had while on a girl's trip to Asheville, North Carolina with my best friend Keesha. We had a wonderful time touring the Biltmore Estate and we also enjoyed eating great food. Although Keesha isn't vegan or even vegetarian, she was a good sport by eating at a vegan restaurant with me. This first pic shows what I ate when we went to Barley's Taproom and Pizzeria which was a spinach salad and a sub with teriyaki marinated tofu, olives, mushrooms, and atichoke hearts. It was healthy as well as really tasty.
This next picture shows what I ate when we went to Rosetta's Kitchen, a great vegan restaurant in Asheville. I ordered a portobello swiss melt without the swiss, added avocado slices had some sweet potato fries and a side of vegan mac and cheese which was made with nutritional yeast. It was really yummy!

After my sandwich, I was still hungry and craving something sweet so I decided to have a slice of their chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting. After my first bite of the cake I felt like I died and went to vegan cake heaven!

The next day, we went to tour the Biltmore Estate and afterwards, we went shopping in downtown Asheville.I had read online about this great chocolate shop called French Broad Chocolate Lounge that had vegan truffles. We stopped by there and I bought this chocolate balsamic truffle.

Mmmmmmm.....this was one tasty truffle! Here's a shot right after I bit into the chocolatey goodness. I would normally pair chocolate and balsamic vingear together but it was surprisingly good. Great trip and great food-you can't beat that!

Vegan Gumbo or there's a first time for everything

2009-10-08T17:30:00.002-07:00

Tonight Den decided to try his hand at making vegan gumbo. In order to make the gumbo, he used Bayouland Magic gumbo mix and then he added okra, carrots, corn, green beans and cut up pieces of tofukey tomato and basil vegan bratwurst. Although I've never eaten gumbo before, since Den usually makes great meals, I decided to give the gumbo a try. Here's a picture of the gumbo right after Den combined all of theigredients.

Below is a picture of the gumbo served on a bed of white rice. Overall, I liked the gumbo because it was spicy but not too hot. While the gumbo was good, I didn't really like the okra in the gumbo at all, the taste and texture didn't really feel quite right in my mouth.Other than the okra, the gumbo was great.

Assorted vegan goodies

2009-09-30T17:44:00.005-07:00

Just wanted to write about some of the yummy food that I've had lately, both homemade and store bought. First up is a wonderful vegan pizza that Den made for dinner a couple of weeks ago. This pizza was made on a wheat crust using Ragu spaghetti sauce and topped with mushrooms, olives, artichoke hearts and onions. Not only was it simple to make, it tasted fantastic!

Next is a loaf of vegan banana bread that I bought at Garden Cove ( a local natural foods store). It's always comforting to go to a store that as vegan options as well as nut-free options (since Den is allergic). The loaf was small in appearance but big on taste.

Tonight for dinner we had baked potatoes with Lightlife Smart BBQ and Tofutti Sour Cream-healthy and tasty. So there it is-three tasty vegan goodies I've have lately.

Thanksgiving in September

2009-09-20T15:52:00.004-07:00

Lately, I've been thinking about what to eat for Thanksgiving and other holidays since I've recently became a vegan. While shopping at Foods for Life, a local natural foods store, we saw Tofurkey with stuffing and I decide to test it out. Den cooked the Tofurkey,yams and wild rice. Overall, Tofurky gets my seal of approval. It tasted good and I can definitely see myself having it for holiday dinners.

Some of the best chinese food in southern California

2009-09-20T15:22:00.004-07:00

Recently, me and Den had to take a short trip to California to take care of some business. While we were tere, we had the opportunity to visit our favorite Chinese restuarant, Dragon House. What I love about Dragon House is that the restuarant has a separate vegetarian menu. Here's some pictures of the yummy food that we had when we went there. Just so you don't think me and Den were pigging, it was actually Me, Den, Den's Dad and Den's stepmom eating all this food at Dragon House.

This is a picture of Dragon House's Vegetarian Beef and Broccoli

The bowl up top contains vegetarian orange chicken while the bowl on the bottom contains vegetarian sweet and sour chicken.Although it was vegetarian, I asked the server whether or not it was vegan friendly and he said it was. Their food is always something I look forward to when we visit California.

Chocolate temptation then Chinese chicken & broccoli

2009-09-11T07:31:00.004-07:00

Athough I've beeen doing pretty good with my new vegan lifestyle, there are some areas I'm still weak in such as when co-workers bring in chocolate candy from a trip overseas. I've had my moment of weakness and almost gave in but in the end, I stood my ground. Yay me! I'm doing my best to take it one day at a time and reassure myself that by not eating eggs or dairy, I am helping animals and not hurting them.

Last night Den made a tasty dinner of Chinese chicken and broccoli however since money's kinda tight right now, he cut up some veggie chicken nuggets rather than using Morningstar chike strips and instead of using regular white rice, he used a bag of pre-mixed rice and vegatables. Surprisingly, it was very filling and I told him he'll definitely have to make this again.

Labor Day weekend road trip

2009-09-05T16:18:00.011-07:00

Today Den,my mom and I decided to take a road trip to Scottsboro and visit the Unclaimed Baggage Center. Unclaimed Baggage is a cool store in Scottsboro, Alabama where you can buy items that were found in luggage people have lost at airports. Every once in a while, you can find something good. Although I didn't find anything over there today, we did find some tasty food at an outdoor market a block away from the store so we went there after visiting Unclaimed Baggage.

Mom+ Funnel Cake=Love
The first booth we stopped at was selling funnel cakes and both me and Den were shocked when my mom told us she'd never had one before. While she was initially cautious about eating it (she thought the powdered sugar was a bit too much), she couldn't get enough of it.
The Pita of Yumminess
After we finished up the funnel cake, we decided that we need to find some lunch with a little more substance. Fortunately for us not too far from the funnel cake booth was a booth selling Greek food like gyros, homemade potato chips and kebabs. At that booth, I was able to pick up a veggie gyro or what I've nicknamed "the pita of yumminess" which you can see below. The veggie gyro has peppers, whole olives, cabbage, lettuce, and tomatoes which have been simmering in their own juices all day. It was extremely tasty!

Vegan Nachos for Dinner is a fiesta on my plate
After ending our road trip and taking mom home, it was dinner time for us and Den decided to make nachos. While he did miss cheese and sour cream at first, since he had other toppings like tomatoes,onions, olives, salsa and guacamole, he got over it and we had a great dinner. After all this eating today,I'm stuffed-happy but stuffed.

Great food all day

2009-09-04T16:56:00.005-07:00

Lunch
Today I went out to lunch at Rosie's Mexican Cantina with my co-workers in honor of his birthday. Considering I hadn't been there before, I wanted to make sure I had a dairy free lunch and I'm happy I was able to eat out with friends and not feel out of place. The veggie fajitas were very filling since it was made up of carrots,mushrooms, onions, peppers, rice, beans and tortillas.

Dinner

Tonight for Dinner, Den decided to make me a childhood favorite of his as which was a reuben. Den had some convincing to do since the only thing I knew about a reuben was that the sandwich usually had sauerkraut on it and I can't stand the smell of sauerkraut. Den made the rubens by using Lightlife turkey,red wine vinegar and fajita onions and peppers. This was really good, especially once I put it on a hoagie roll and spread on some veganaise which is my new favorite sandwich spread.

My new Red Robin favorite-the Natural Burger

2009-09-03T19:27:00.005-07:00

Me and Den were debating where to go out for dinner tonight and finally decided on Red Robin. Since I'm still new to veganism, I was kind stuck in reference to what choices were available for me to eat there. It's weird how I'm noticing the small things on menus now that I used to ignore before;it's like every Red Robin burger had either cheese, mayo, or both.

Initially I was going to order what I usually get which is the California Chicken Burger (subbed with Boca Burger) and request it without the cheese, mayo or bacon. After thinking it over for a few minutes, both Den ad I agreed that this would making the order process harder than it needed to be and suggested that I order the Natural Burger and add a side of guacamole since I love guacamole so much. Reading the contents of the Natural Burger on the menu, it seemed like a safe bet considering it contained neither cheese or mayo so I ordered it (subbed with Boca Burger) and hoped for the best.

Once my natural burger arrived,I immediately put all of fixings on the burger and took a big bite. Oh My God,it was fantastic! This was the perfect cure for my burger & fries craving and I'm definitely gonna order this the next time we eat at Red Robin. I was happy that had the option of either french fries or melon and that I was able to go out to eat with my husband and still leave the restaurant feeling full but not overly stuffed.

My new Sunday Breakfast Favorite

2009-08-31T05:38:00.003-07:00

Usually, me and Den head over to Steak'n Shake for breakfast on Sunday
but yesterday, he decided to make a vegan verison of our favorite scrambled eggs with veggies that we always eat when we go over there. He went to Kroger and but the MorningStar Farms Sausage crumbles, some tofu, and olives then scrambled it all together. This was really tasty, especially with bagels.

Vegan Veggie Pizzas

2009-08-30T06:22:00.001-07:00

Last night my husband made some delish vegan veggie pizzas. For pizza crust, we went to Walmart & found some wheat olive and rosemary foccaica rolls and used Newman's Marinara spaghetti sauce as a base. After that, Den piled it high with olives, mushrooms, and artichoke hearts. Yummy!

On Becoming Vegan

2009-08-29T18:08:00.001-07:00

Hi, my name is Tamara and I've recently decided to become vegan. While I have enjoyed a life long love affair with dairy and eggs, I realize now that by eating these things, I am being a hypocritical vegetarian by avoiding meat but still eating products which hurts cows. I have went online and researched egg and dairy alternatives and I look forward to trying these new foods. I'm planning to start on Monday and am looking forward to feeling better about my relationship with the Earth and animals. I'm grateful that my husband is so understanding (which could be because he was raised vegetarian) but it's interesting how many items I'm finding that have egg or dairy ingedients in the ingredients. If you'd like to read more about me, visit my old blog at www.poetchik.easyjournal.com.

I graduated!

2009-08-11T16:14:00.000-07:00

It's been too long since I've last written so I'll keep it brief-I graduated with my Masters in Library Information Studies from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Yay Me!

It's almost over.....almost

2009-05-09T06:17:00.000-07:00

Time has really flown by and I'm happy to report that I'm now in my last semester of grad school at UA. I'm taking an online class for the month of June and then my last class will run from July until a few days before graduation. Although had other plans, I'm so not sweating this, I'm just glad I'll still be able to graduate by the deadline I had set for myself. I've come such a long way from my undergrad years and I'm so excited to almost be done. My only regret is that out of all the classes I've taken, I have all A's and two B's;true one of the B's was in a doctoral level class but if you know me, you know how am able anything I do,I strive for prefection and get pissed if I fall short. Oh well.....I'll just keep working hard and get ready to move to the next level in my professional life (whatever that may be).

One semester to go-bring on the roadblocks

2009-04-28T15:44:00.000-07:00

I realize it's been a while since I've written; school and work have been busy so now I've finally gotten a chance to come up for some air.

Now that that's out of the way.....so, I'm all excited because I'm down to my last two classes, I waited for the classes I wanted to open up after the distance learners had a chance to register then last night, I get an email which says the following:

We are writing to let you know that you were permitted to enroll in the Interim Class LS 590-903 with Dr. Laurie Bonnici. The class was to have been capped at 20, but due to a clerical error more permits were issued than the limited enrollment. First, students in the distance education cohorts that began their studies in 2005, 2006, and 2007 were to be allowed into the class. Unfortunately some students who began in fall 2008 were permitted to register as were on-campus students (who should have had the class opened to them only after all DE students had registered.) Dr. Aversa is asking that if you receive this message, that you drop LS 590-903 (CRN#34535) and select another course. It is her intention to offer this class again next academic year so that you will have the opportunity to take it.

We appreciate your compliance with this request and apologize for the inconvenience.

What the deuce!

So you're telling me that although I waited and woke up early to register for this class, now I'm being forced to drop it because too many students who are distance education can't get it? This blows! As you can imagine, I was none too please with this new development and promptly email Dr. Aversa (the head of the library school) about my situation. I expressed that these are my last two classes, I've already made arrangements at work and now you're telling me I have to push back my goal to graduate in August? I called to speak at Dr. Averesa today and talked to Cherry Quinn (the sender of the email). She explained the situation to her and she responded with this email:

I understand that you called Ms. Quinn regarding the problem that we had with the enrollment in LS 590-903 in Interim term. I regret that this error was made, but unfortunately permits were issued to far too many students than we could have permitted in this brief interim class. Since this class is an online class we have limited its enrollment to members of the online cohorts only at this time. I believe Ms. Quinn explained what happened.

There are a number of courses still available for summer term, so I invite you to register for one of them. If you have not done so, you could also consider a directed study or an internship since you are so near the end of your studies here. Please note that LS 590-903 is not a required course for completion of the MLIS program, so it is not required for graduation.

If you would like to look for an internship or a directed research, please contact me and we’ll discuss the possibilities.

I email her back and ask about directed study possibilities as well as taking another online class. I want to make sure I won't get booted out of this second class like I got booted out of this one.

What to do.....what to do.....guess I'll just have to suck it up and deal with it. Nothing and I mean nothing will stop me from graduating in August.

Happy New Year and school complaints

2009-01-26T10:44:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!!! A new year is here....which makes me that much closer to having my Master's degree. Currently, I'm taking LS 502:Research Methods and LS 590:Virtual Reference. Although the classes are pretty interesting, it sucks because my Reasearch Methods class meets in Tuscalossa every Monday morning. I In addition, I don't like to drive long distances so I've been having Den drive me there on Sunday then he has to drive back to Huntsville early to get to work on time. I am a bad wife....I should stop being a baby and drive myself to school. The problem with this is that it's not my driving I worry about, it's other people that make me nervous. Well, guess we'll wait and see how this plays out. Needless to say, I'm definitely making sure me last two classes in the summer will be online.

Catching up

2008-12-11T14:38:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't written in a while; this have been busy. I'll give you the Cliff Notes version of what's happened lately: I was awarded employee of the month at work and I got an A in my Gadsden class, the grades in my other class were okay. The two major assignments were term papers and I've gotten a B- and a B;although I'd normally beat myself up over a possible B, I'm proud that I was able to get a B in a doctoral level class.

Hakiu for the "pretty" girls

2008-10-29T13:09:00.000-07:00

Sitting at work today, I was annoyed at how quickly men will give up their computer for a woman they view as attractive versus a woman they feel is not. Why are women constantly being judged for their appearance and not treated equally regardless of how they look? I see guys fall over themselves to help out a woman wearing tight clothes or a short skirt but will let a woman with kids or an older lady sit and wait because she's not cute enough. Sorry to vent, but this really burns my biscuits.

Anyway in honor of my annoyance, here's a haiku:

Snobby "pretty" girl
dudes may bend to your will but
poor you, I'm no dude

So much for the best laid plans

2008-09-23T08:11:00.000-07:00

This semester is such a pain. I am have one required class left to take (LS 502:Research Methods) and now a kink has been thrown into the plans. The library school has decided to not offer required classes at the UA Gadsden Center anymore starting in the Spring. In addtion, they aren't offering the class online and the Birmingham branch is offering a class I've laready taken-go figure. Since they've made this change, after e-mailing my advisor he said I'm left with two options: 1) Wait until the class is offered at the UA Gasden Center which probably won't be until Fall(maybe?) or 2) Take LS 502 at Tuscaloosa ASAP.

I'm sure you already know what option I'm picking;option 2. I have a timetable I'm working on here and my goal is to graduate on August 8, 2009. I will do whatever I have to do to make this dream a reality. I've come too far to let something like one class stop me. I just don't understand why the school has decided to do this now. I feel like they're more focused on pleasing students who haven't even started the program yet rather than keeping the already enrolled students happy.

Oh well, just gotta keep counting down the days until the end of the semester.

I believe the children are our future (or watch what you say to the wee ones)

2008-08-27T08:32:00.000-07:00

At work today, I overheard a mother tell her child who couldn't have been any older than three that "you better shut up if you know what's good for you." I have also seen other examples of parents talking harshly to their (other small) children. What type of message is this sending to the child? How is this going to affect the child once they're old enough to attend school? Talking to my aunt and cousin the other night, the results from this type of behavior is clear; these children learn to only respond when threatened.

I see it everyday when I'm at work, kids who are more interested in going on myspace than doing their homework and who show no regard to authority figures. These groups of kids have no definition of consequences because I feel that some parents have focused too hard on their own goals and being the kid's friend rather than enforcing discipline. Also, parents are choosing to let TV raise their kids rather than actual people. I'm not saying that there's a problem with this; I watched lots of TV when I was a kid but when you sit a kid in front of BET's 106th and Park after school everyday, what do you think is going to happen. There are children in kindergarten that can do the soulja boy dance but can't even spell their name. I think there's a major problem with this but until you find a way to make parents care about what things they expose them to, things will keep getting worse.

Me and Den finally arrived in Cali. and made it to Bakersfield early this morning. Although we were able to get a good price for our tickets, Den didn't find out to yesterday that if we brought an extra bag, we'd get charged $25 dollars. Needless to say, Den changed the way that he packed so we were able to put everything in two bags. The flight from Huntsville to Ohio was uneventful however the flight from Ohio to LAX was interesting. First, JoJo from Jodeci with his wife. Since we could tell he was keeping a low profile we didn't say anything to him. The flight to LAX was booked solid and by the time we got on the plane, all we wanted was to sleep. After boarding the plane, we watched the cutesy flight video featuring a cute red head (den's words not mine) and then the flight attendant started listing the prices for everything. Six dollars for a movie;3 dollars for a can of pringles;six dollars for a cup of wine;two dollars for headphones. Although all of these prices together might not seem really expensive,when you add it up, it gets a little costly.

2008-07-17T11:23:00.000-07:00

Me and Den finally arrived in Cali. and made it to Bakersfield early this morning. Although we were able to get a good price for our tickets, Den didn't find out to yesterday that if we brought an extra bag, we'd get charged $25 dollars. Needless to say, Den changed the way that he packed so we were able to put everything in two bags. The flight from Huntsville to Ohio was uneventful however the flight from Ohio to LAX was interesting. First, JoJo from Jodeci with his wife. Since we could tell he was keeping a low profile we didn't say anything to him. The flight to LAX was booked solid and by the time we got on the plane, all we wanted was to sleep. After boarding the plane, we watched the cutesy flight video featuring a cute red head (den's words not mine) and then the flight attendant started listing the prices for everything. Six dollars for a movie; 3 dollars for a can of pringles; six dollars for a cup of wine; two dollars for headphones. Although all of these prices together might not seem really expensive,when you add it up, it gets a little costly.

Packing for our trip and backing up my blog

2008-07-16T06:13:00.000-07:00

I'm finishing packing for our flight out to Cali. for a week or so. I found this cool website when you can back up your blog for free.This can be especially handy if you've been blogging for a long time.If you'd like to back up your blog, go to blogbackupr.com.

Summer grades are in....

2008-07-09T14:40:00.000-07:00

Checked my school website today and I am happy to report that I got A's in both of my classes! I'm now officially halfway though with getting my masters degree.

Tough times hit everyone

2008-07-07T07:46:00.000-07:00

Saturday night, we were having problems with over internet modem and Den had called a service technician to come to the home to fix the problem. When we woke up Sunday morning, the modem was working fine so Den called and cancels the technician. Me and Den were enjoying a nice evening at home yesterday when we heard someone pounding on the front door. Although we initially ignored the pounding at first, Den eventually stopped what he was doing and answered the door. He was still thinking that the cable company may have sent out the service technician anyway but when he opened the door, a man (late teens-early twenties) was standing on the bottom of the front steps with a lawn mower in hand.

"Excuse sir, could I please mow your lawn. My dad's birthday's today and I need more for a gift." Considering that we too are currently strapped for cash, Den turned him down. "Okay, well can you at least donate a few dollars for a gift?" Den again turned him down. In the end, the man ended up leaving our yard with any money. It really saddened me that times have gotten so tough that people have to beg for a chance to do work in order to get money. Me and Den were also discussing the shape this country is going to be in after everything is over.

Currently, the prices for everything is increasing except for the amount of pay that people are receiving. When you go grocery shopping now, you're still paying the same price (if not more) and are getting less for your money. In addition, the only foods out there that are cheap are junk food and completely unhealthy so you're left with the choice of eat healthy and be broke or eat junk and have money. Most are choosing the later and are going to suffer for it in the long run. Even today my heart broke when the front of the local newspaper stated the cholesterol drugs can now be prescribed for children as young as 8. Eight years old and on cholesterol drugs! What the hell is wrong with our world when childhood obesity has become so out of control that this is the only course of action?

Not to be mean but I feel like all junk food should be removed from the grocery stores or at least have a warning label telling shoppers what years of greasy pizza and ice cream (two of my favorites) and hamburgers will do to your heart, body and self-esteem. While some food maker and restaurants have made a positive step by listing their nutritional information of their packaging, in the end I personally feel that the only way that people will start to truly change their lives is through making consequences personal for them. Sure it's good to know how many calories are in a big mac but I'd be less likely to eat it if I know that it'll take an hour to burn of the calories.

A little note for my reader

2008-06-27T09:37:00.000-07:00

I regularly check my blog to see how many people are reading this and latey, the nunmbers of readers have shot up dramaticaIly. I am both flattered by this increase in readership but also puzzled as to why so many are interested in what I have to say. I suppose what isn't interesting to you is interesting to some. At any rate, I just wanted to say thanks to anyone who's been reading my blog, have sent me a comment or have stopped by to just read a post.

A very interesting article on the homeless

2008-06-12T17:12:00.000-07:00

While at Tellini's the other day with Den getting dinner, I picked up the Valley Planet which is a free local arts newpaper here in town. I read an article in the latest issue that was so great, I'd thought I'd post it here. Keep in mind I didn't write this, I'm just reprinting the article as it was in the Valley Planet.

Hope you like it:

Disclaimer: First, I want to make it absolutely clear: I am NOT writing about H., Alabama. I am NOT writing about the H. mayor. I am only writing about the crassness of SOME town or towns in this nation and how they treat the poor and homeless.

Jesus was a HOMELESS MAN.

He hung out with HOMELESS people.

The prostitutes, like Mary Magdalene. The lepers or untouchables or incurables, the unrehabilitated, the

lost souls. The unliked, the tax collectors. The

dregs of human society at that time.

Reminds me of those today with A.I.D.S. who have been kicked out of hospitals because their insurance ran out, or they never had insurance; those simply on disability whose insurance ran out; the prostitutes who still sell themselves; the mentally ill turned out from mental hospitals; the drug addicts who only think about two things: 1)where the next fix is coming from and 2)how to stop (Must be lovely for them!); the sociopaths who may be beyond help; and the few who have lost their homes and dignity in hard economic times. “There but for the grace of God go I.”

Jesus didn’t hang out with the mayors of the cities--uh, I mean--the priests of the temples and the kings.

He didn’t hang out with the money changers. Hm. One of the few times in the Bible where Jesus gets angry--at those darn money changers on the steps of the temple. “You cannot worship both God and Mammon.”

He had one pair of sandals. I bet they were really dirty, in that land of little water, until someone who loved him washed them for him. “In as much as ye have done it unto the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it also unto me.” Let me repeat that one, in caps: IN AS MUCH AS YE HAVE DONE IT UNTO THE LEAST OF THESE, MY BRETHREN, YE HAVE DONE IT ALSO UNTO ME.”

He had one robe. I bet that was quite dirty, as well, until someone who loved him washed it for him. “Love thy neighbor.” “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” “The first shall be last, and the last shall be first.” Guess what? SOME town is going to be LAST.

His hair was probably full of dirt and dust of the Middle East, and his sweat, beneath that hot sun. And it wasn’t clean until someone who loved him washed it for him and “anointed it with oil.”

He never knew where his next meal was coming from, though he never worried about it because he was like the “lilies of the field.” But, I bet he felt hunger until someone who loved him shared some bread and wine, until someone “set a table before [him] in the presence of [his] enemies.”

Everyone wants to go to church on Sunday morning and sing aloud how they love their neighbors. In SOME towns.

But, if Jesus were to come to SOME towns, in his dirty shoes and robe and dirty hair, they’d move him out of the downtown area, which is being “cleaned up” to make us--I mean--THAT town somewhere else--“look good” so some friends of the mayor--not OUR mayor, of course, but of SOME TOWN, sell houses and make money--and make Jesus walk on his aching feet to some other part of town, where nobody would want him, either. I suppose everyone would hope he, and the other dirty miscreants, would just wander on away to other cities. But, more than likely, what would happen is that some teenagers would think it fun to mug Jesus or torture him. Things like that have happened in SOME towns before. (I’m SURE it hasn’t happened in THIS town.) Or, Jesus might be walking along a main drag in the rain and a car might run him down. It happens all the time in SOME towns with the homeless. Or a night train might kill him as he crosses the tracks. (That happened to Charlie--oh, I don’t mean Charlie of this town where there are so many churches per block, for Heaven’s sake! Just Charlie of SOME town.) Maybe on a winter night, Jesus might die of exposure, from pneumonia. Or, he might say, “Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do.”

I wish I were as forgiving as Jesus. I wish some of the rich people--and apparently there are MANY of them in. . . . SOME towns . . . could get away from their mammon worship and their fear for five seconds and do something about one of the worst travesties of this city’s--DER--I MEAN--SOME city’s--history. I’m sure no one is afraid of someone’s mayor--I mean, a mayor isn’t like the POLICE, is he?--in SOME town?

In SOME town, why are people not standing up in absolute outrage? Where is their courage to be the Good Samaritan? Where is the heart of Christianity in this--uh--SOME town? You do not have to put your very life on the line for these homeless: You need not take them into your own homes. However, you can stand up to the powers (of fluff--you know, like birds over the Courthouse) that be and say, “No. This is not right.

This is NOT how my community treats the poor and the homeless.”

Shame on all of you who have not said a word against this outrageous maneuver that was only for MAMMON, of course. I am thankful to and for the few of you who have spoken out.

If SOME town cannot respond to compassion, if SOME towns have no ability to empathize or to follow the teachings of their very own--well, at least, professed--God, then maybe embarrassment will help to move them. Maybe national disgrace will help. . .

SOME TOWN.

Summer school blues and a haiku

2008-06-08T13:50:00.000-07:00

In my continuing quest to finish grad school by summer of next year, I signed myself up for two classes for the first summer session. These two classes are extra fun because I'm taking them two days a week (Tues. and Thurs.) one is in Tuscaloosa in the mornings and one is online at night and they're both lasting one month.

Some of my classmates think I'm crazy for doing all this while working a full-time job, but you got to do what you have to do to get what you want in life. So far, I feel I'm keeping up with my assignments. I kind of feel like I have to overachieve and wow my classmates since I work in a library reference department and this is a reference resources class. Oh well, I'm just gonna keep on keeping on.All I have to do is keep juggling assignments and readings for the month of June to make it to the end of the semester and our annual vacation in July.

Here's a Haiku to reflect me feelings towards my current situation:
Two classes one month
What the hell was I thinking
All will be impressed

Tam's Googling adventure

2008-05-29T14:02:00.000-07:00

So, we decided to go to Savannah for Memorial Day weekend and it really sucked. I'm a fan of Paula Dean and was really looking forward to going to her main "Lady and Sons" restaurant in Savannah. Unfortunately, Paula Dean's restaraunt was not what I expected at all (it was really crapy looking on the outside) and we didn't get to eat there because they fry everything in peanut oil so I didn't want to chance Den getting sick. We then went to the Savannah Candy Kitchen and got some salt water taffy, fudge and other stuff. It was a cute shop and we also had a chance to watch taffy being made which was cool to see.Historic Savannah made me feel like we were in New Orleans before Katrina came. All the old historic buildings had been gutted and replaced with cramped businesses which is so not good if you're clastrophic.

We then went to Tybee Island to go to the beach but there was no where not park at all. We did find a cool old fort (Fort Pulaski) to visit and that was fun. At the fort, we also watched a musket firing which was interesting as well. We then went to Hilton Head Island and had the same problem with parking. It seems like everything there is resort or residental parking and everything's too close together. We then took a detour and ended up at this private gated community called Seven Pines where everyone rode around on bikes. It was nice and they had this really great three cheese painni and we also were able to see some bigger yachts as they entered they harbor.

Lastly, we also went to Chattanooga and went to Mellow Mushroom which was fun as usual. The visit there was pretty uneventful except that there was a big downpour of rain which had Den slightly worried for a minute. After the rain passed, we were on our way home.

Overall, I think we had such a sucky time because we went during a holiday so if we go again, it'll definitely be on a non-hoilday.

A Sucky Memorial Day Weekend

2008-05-27T19:56:00.000-07:00

Happy Memorial Day!

2008-05-22T14:33:00.000-07:00

I realize this is pretty cheesy, but I just wanted to wish my readers a happy and safe memorial day!

Spring Grades

2008-05-13T11:07:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to report I got an A in my Materials and Services for Adults class and an B in my Introduction to Library and Information Science class. I'm now that much closer to getting my Masters in Library Science.

Yay me!!

Father daughter bonding

2008-05-09T11:28:00.000-07:00

Just came from hanging out with my dad. It was actually nice and we got to get a lot of things out in the open about my past and his past.

I brought him my scrapbook, high school yearbooks, and literary magazines as a way for him to see what him missed out on in reference to my childhood. He read my poetry and complimented the amount of talent I should through my work.

I asked some tough questions and he gave me answers that I may not have wanted to hear but I needed to hear. It was just nice to talk to him and feel like I matter to him. I really enjoyed having a chance to talk to him without being angry at him.

Well at any rate, I feel that today was a great start in order to build a relationship with my dad.

The times, they are a changing

2008-05-07T15:34:00.000-07:00

Dad stopped by the job today to deliver info. for the first ever family reunion on his side. It's weird how that worked out considering that I've been planning to call him for sometime now but haven't had a chance to but when I finally did, he said he was pulling into the library parking lot since he was returning from a doctor's appointment.

I feel bad I'm not gonna get to go to the reunion because I'm working that weekend. He also told me he's getting a divorce from his wife to which I don't really know what my reaction was supposed to be. I asked if he was sad. He said no, so I said congrats instead. I asked if he was planning on staying here after the divorce and he said he thinks he will. I told him he should. I hope he understands what I meant by that.....that I want him to stay....I've just started to want to get to know him and it would really suck if he moved away.

In reference to school, classes are over and I am waiting with baited breath for my grades. I am positive I got an A in my onlne class but my other class I'm not so sure about. I made a undergrad mistake on the first assignment and instead of turning in 20 article reviews, I turned in 15. I read all 20 and didn't turn in the reviews for the 5 required readings. How dumb was that? At any rate, I got a C for the assignment and then I turned in my term paper and am praying that the teacher will have mercy on me and at least B because I need a B average to be upgrade to regular grad student status.

Work wise, we should be finding out who the new director will be soon although I'm 99.9% sure it's someone aready working at the library. I really hate the politics at my job sometimes-it seems like it's not what you know anymore but who you know and who you've helped that determines your future here.I realize there's politics everywhere but I'm just sick of the gossiping, the two faced behavior, and conversations had behind closed doors.

Fighting my mom's battle

2008-04-28T16:32:00.000-07:00

Den has been hanging out with my dad a lot lately and he's told me some very interesting things about me as I baby which I've blocked out. Den think it's weird that I don't remember massive chuncks of my growing up.

At this point, I'm torn about what to do. I've been a solider in a secret war for 29 years; the war between my parents. I've been fighting on my mom's side for so long, I don't know what will happen if I decide to change sides now. I've grown up hearing about what a bum my dad is and how he's no good but all the things that Den has been telling me lately wants me to give him a chance. The only problem is I don't know how....I've never had a touchy feely relationship with my dad and he's a stranger to me.

I've been programmed against my dad for so long, I can't even tell which feelings and opinions are really mine and which ones are things that my mom has taught me to believe. It's awful to think that your mother is evil and is capable of deceit and yet, I can believe it because sometimes mom'll say things that will get under my skin and then she'll act as though she's said nothing at all.

I don't know how to build a relationship from scratch, but I think I may just be willing to try.

Birthday Thoughts

2008-04-08T06:24:00.000-07:00

So today's my birthday (I'm 29) and I decided to celebrate it in the best way I know how, by going to places and taking advantage of free stuff. Did you know if you sign up for Red Robin's and Coldstone's e-mail, they'll send you a free coupon for a burger and an ice cream on your birthday? I know that it's not much but hey, with gas prices and everything else going up daily, it's the little things that make life worhwhile. I also received a card in the mail from my aunt and uncle yesterday. It's always nice when people care enough to see a birthday card and wish you a happy birthday.

Mom said she's sending a card but apologized for not enclosing money. She's such a silly lady. I told her I could care less if there's money in the card, it's the thought that counts. Den is coming home from work early today so I wonder what he ha planned. All in all, it's been a good day so far. I took the day off so I coul enjoy my birthday and have time to reflect on my life and the future. I feel very lucky and blessed to be alive, especially considering how many people have been dying lately. One of my cousins (Marvin Stone) passed away last week and the fact that he died so young (26) really makes you realize how important life is.

March in like a lion,out like a lamb-yeah right

2008-03-31T07:44:00.000-07:00

There is a lot on my mind right now and I'm trying to sort everything out. In the last two days, I've gotten family news which leaves me both questionable about the futures of certain people as well as irritated that as usual, families members view me as the strongest person to confide in about what is going on.

I feel confused because I've never viewed myself as someone to confide in, I just try to be a good listener and not be judgemental. I think that may be the reason why family memebers come to me with their secrets and burdens-they know that I wouldn't share what they say with anyone and I'm not going to judge them for their behavior.

The pattern in my family is that they talk about situations to other members, never directy to the person themselves.Then after the situation has occured, they (family members) come out of the woodwork saying what the peron should have done and pretty much condemming them for their actions.

My whole thing is who am you to judge you? Last time I checked, no one's perfect and I feel that it's wrong to judge someone else when you've done some things in the past you're not proud of either.

Hopefully things will work themselves out, they always do. I'm just grateful I'm able to vent without hurting any feelings.

Staff development day or the most wonderful day of the year

2008-03-14T11:24:00.003-07:00

This past Wednesday at work, the library was closed in honor of Staff Development Day. On this day, the library is closed and everyone from main library and library branches gather to take training classes and mingle. This year, our theme was "simply the best" which is a direct steal from Tina Turner. As you can imagine, the entire day anytime anyone said anything, it was ended with "simply the best." The thing that sucks about it is that we have to dress in work and we have to be there from 8:30-5. I do like that we get an hour plus for lunch and some of the classes are interesting.

If you ever wanted to know what librarians do when the library is closed and they need a laugh, check out this remake of "simply the best" done by some co-workers at staff development day.
Click here to watch the video

In addition to the training classes, we got to listen to a motivational speaker and then the day ended with service awards for those who have worked at the library for 5, 10,15,20, and 30 years as well as door prizes and drawing for employee of the year. I'll be up for my 10 year certificate next year (WOO HOO!). All in all, it was fun and if nothing else, it was a day without the hassle of dealing with crazy patrons.

Chippendales come to Huntsvegas (or another goal checked off my list)

2008-03-09T07:03:00.000-07:00

When my friend K invited me to go to a Chippendales show, I was excited. Although I'd never been to a show before, I had seen it on TV and heard that it was alot of fun. At any rate, last night, me, K, Deb, and K's friends from work went to a local club to see the Chippendales. All I can say is that if I ever go to a show again, I will pay more money for better seats.

Since K's friend reserved a table, when we got there, we were able to go right in and sit down. It was only then that I noticed that we were actually sitting in the very back of the club. There was a VIP section and then a ground section and after that us. Needless to say, when the guys came out, we got to see them dance but when they hit the floor, we couldn't see because all the girls in the front were standing up. How crappy is that? It's like you paid to go to a sold out concert and you end up in seats that only let you see that artist from behind.What the hell!

Besides that, I had a good time. I was shocked at how uninhibited the women and the dancers were. The guys were grabbing boobs and slapping butts and the women were grinding all over the guys. I really did like when the guys came out into the audience to dance with everybody. If you gave them a dollar, they'd dance with you. I'm sure my friend manange to get at least one incriminating photo of me.

I always wondered how the Chippendales made money and now I know how they do it. After you pay your money for your ticket, they ask if you want to pay a dollar to enter a raffle where you'll win a bag of Chippendales stuff. I know a dollar isn't really much is it? After that, they bring out six chairs and have "hot seat dances" (at least 6 times) where for ten dollars, you can go on stage and have a Chippendale dance on you for a couple of mintues. Then after the show is over, for ten dollars, you can get a polaroid taken with the Chippendales. All that adds up to be alot and that's not even adding in alcohol.

The experience overall was fun and if nothing else, eye opening. While it was fun to go see the Chippendales (boy were they hot!), being there reminded me of why I don't like going to clubs: the club was smoky, the music and girls screaming was too loud, and everything cost too much. Although I thought that I wouldn't act like all of the other girls, in the end, I did wind up screaming just as loud as everyone else.

Yay and boo

2008-03-07T13:33:00.000-08:00

Yay:
I turned in my massive public services paper for my LS 523 class. I'm really happy I managed to write 21 pages and have it make sense. One assignment down, three more to go.

I got a positive comment letter from a patron I helped the other day. She had a stroke and her left side was paralyzed so I helped her find what she was looking for on the virtual library and she was happy. That really made my day.

Boo:
UA's summer class schedule for SLIS students are looking kinda sucky. I really hope they add more online and Gadsden classes. With gas going up by the hour,I really can't afford to have to drive down to Tuscaloosa.

My braider/hair stylist is moving to Texas at the end of the month. True she does a fabulous job on my hair but I'm trying to decide if she's willing to travel for.

Current pet peeves (my short list)

2008-02-27T09:51:00.000-08:00

Since I'm currently bored at work, I've decided to make a short list of current pet peeves. Enjoy!

My current pet peeves:
1. Having to repeat myself to patrons on the phone (via speaker phone)
2. The fact that hotmail refuses to open (again)
3. The skanky halter top/booty short combo my husband bought me while in gulf shores....it makes me feel like a hooters girl-a generic hooters girl-hell, let's call me a cooters girl in honor of my undying love for "The Dukes of Hazzard" (imagine if you will a top 3 sizes too small and tight shorts with the words "gulf shores" written on the butt-it's craptacular!)
4.People that are shocked and pissed when their library card is not in the system anymore and decide to gripe to me about it.
5.When co-workers transfer telephone calls without telling me what it's about or the call ends up being something the transferer could have easily answered themselves.
6. Having to explain to patrons the ins and out of the computer reservation system for the millionth time.
7. Snow flurries but no full fledged snowfall (I would really love a snow day!)
8. Having to answer the same crossword puzzle clues for the crossword puzzle lady and she's not even trying to give me clues I answer.

What's the deal pickle part 2

2008-02-20T08:01:00.000-08:00

Me and my friend are friends again. I went to her and asked if she was mad at me. She said no but I told her I didn't believe her and aplogized for whatever I may have done to make her mad. I then asked if we were okay and she said yes. I am happy to silent treatment is over.

What's the deal pickle?

2008-02-19T13:07:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, a friend of mine asked to borrow money to get her car fixed. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to let her have it. It was just really bad timing being in that we'd just paid our bills and Den had planned a suprise valentine's day trip to the beach.At any rate, now I feel like I'm getting the cold shoulder from her and she's not talking to me at all.I understand that she may have a lot on her mind and all but the fact of the matter is that by not talking to me, this implies that something is wrong whether is it or not.

I really respect her and value our friendship and Ican't believe that something as not lendingher money would lead to her shutting me out. I've lent her money before, I just couldn't do it this time-I've said I'm sorry.I don't know....maybe I'm just being paranoid,but I don't think so.

I just feel like once again, I'm not being treated like an adult and by not talking to me and not saying why is just childish. The worst part about it is that she knows I'd give her the money if I had it-hell-she's the only person I would lend money too because she's good for paying me back on time. Even my mom doesn't always pay me back when I loan her money.

Of well....I'll just wait and see how this plays itself out.

Feeling better but still getting my butt kicked

2008-02-11T17:34:00.001-08:00

So.....I'm feeling better, but I'm still getting my butt kicked. I have a powerpoint presentation due next week and an 18 page paper due on March 6th. I you know me, you can imagine that right now, I'm trying to work on everything all at the same time. This may or may not be a good idea.....probably not so much. Okay maybe I am putting too much pressure on myslef, but this is my graduate school career we're talking about. Since I'm in grad school on a conditional basis, I have to maintain a "B" average or risk getting kicked out. So far, I've gotten two A's but this online class has got me worried.I always worry when a teacher asks for something and I'm not sure what they want. Oh well, I guess if I was able to BS my way to a BA, I can probably BS my way to a MLIS. Here's hoping.

Being sick sucks

2008-02-09T07:10:00.001-08:00

I am sick right now....being sick sucks. My head is stopped up and my throat is sore. I am currently medicating myself with cherry cough drops, musinex (I think that's how you spell it) and different types of cough syrup. Hopefully, I will be feeling better soon. Again, being sick sucks.Well, at least I have work to keep me busy....that and an 18 page term page I haven't even begun to write yet. Yah me!

Here's a poem I just made up in my medicine induced haze:
I am sick right now
I can hardly hear anyboy
Pass the cough syrup please

How lucky am I?

2008-01-31T14:12:00.001-08:00

Today while at work, Den surprised me at wrok with ballons and a stuffed monkey since he likes to monkey around (his pun, not mine). I was completely surprised considering that Valentine's Day is still at least two weeks away and my birthday isn't until April. He said he did it "just because." Is that sweet or what? Of course being that I'm on a haiku roll lately, I wrote a poem reflecting my feelings for what he's done:

My husband is sweet
Surprised me at work with gift
How lucky am I?

Was it something I said?

2008-01-25T11:28:00.002-08:00

This semester, I'm taking my usual combination of one online class and one class in Gadsden. One the first night of the online class, each student says where they're from, where they work, etc. and the proceeds as usual. Pretty much the only way you'll meet someone from your online class in person is if you have a group project and live in the same area. That being said, imagine my surprise when I came into work and was told that one of my online classmates had called and was coming to look for information as well as meet me. I was both surprise and excited about the idea of meeting an online classmate in person.

The next day, the classmate arrives at the library and we meet and talk for a while. She is worried because we have to projects, one dealing with reading five books in a particular genre (I got chick lit) and doing three booktalks and the second project deals with a service offered to Adults in the public library (I got Reader's Advisory). She was given historical fiction and Reference to work with and was having no luck finding books in her genre or on her service. She then asked me how far I was in the program and I told her (second semester, taking my third and fourth classes) and if I work full-time or part-time (full-time). After I looked up some books that seemed to interest her, (she only wanted books from the main library not sent from branches since she lives far away), we said good-bye and said we'd see each other Thursday night online in class.

Last night, my teacher told the class that the classmate I had spoken to decided to drop the class and wait until next semester to start the MLIS program. I feel so awful. Although I remember a student saying that this was their first semester and class, I had no idea it was her. I'm sure she felt overwhelmed by all the stuff the teacher wanted from us.

Den said that the answers I gave her made it seem like I'm the shit, I’m on top of things, and that's what scared her away. I don't care...I don't like feeling as if I'm the direct cause of someone postponing their graduate school career. Then again, if an 18-20 page paper and booktalks made her head for the hills, maybe she should reevaluate whether or not this is something she really wants to do.

R.I.P. Helen Lee (1951-2008)

2008-01-19T10:06:00.000-08:00

A co-worker of mine, Helen Lee, passed away this week at the age of 56. She was a wonderful person as well as an exceptional librarian. I have had opportunity to work with her daughter Annie and you couldn't have known two nicer people.Annie loved her mother dearly and Helen loved Annie equally which was always demonstrated when you saw them together.

When I heard that Helen was running in the Cotton Row Marathon, it inspired me to take up running. Although I'm not a competitive runner, knowing that at age 50+ she was athletic and active made me want to get active too. All of my memories of Helen are of how strong she was, whether it was shown through running the Madison Public Library or in how loyal she was to her family and friends.

Helen, you will definitely be missed and God Bless you.

Here's a haiku im memory of Helen:

Helen, you will be missed
Your strength and poise was superb
It was an honor

Work haiku take two

2008-01-17T16:39:00.000-08:00

I have no problem helping high schools kids but I do get extremely annoyed when the kids come in a large group and the groups are loud and unruly. I also find it ironic when there is a large group (around 7-10) and one teacher comes in the rule over them. At any rate, here's a poem I came up with to express my angst.

High school kids are dumb
Why must your group be so loud?
Turn your volume down

A work related haiku

2008-01-15T08:34:00.001-08:00

Why is it that right after I help a patron by getting their library card number for them so they can use the computer, I turn around and get mooned? WTF!!! Okay, maybe mooned in not the right word but what else do you call seeing someone's barely covered butt and then watching them try to up pull their pants but not quite doing it fast enough? What is wrong with people? Anyway, in honor of this mooning mofo as well as other mofos like him, I have created a haiku. Enjoy!

Full moon out today?
Sir, please put your ass away
We all know crack's wack.

A Haiku for my SLIS sisters

2008-01-14T15:07:00.000-08:00

In memory of a fun and memorable weekend of LS 501:Intro. to Library and Info. Science class in Gadsden filled with profanity ladden worksheets and cheesetastic 1980's videos, I created a haiku to reflect the good times had while having lunch at the Grind.

He promised warm cheese straws
However, no straws ever came
I am so saddened

Lucky.....yeah, if you say so

2008-01-08T16:33:00.002-08:00

Today as I was talking with a co-worker, she was telling me about how her teenage son is having growth spurts and said she hoped he'd end up as tall as I am. What?

I am always confused by people who tell me how lucky I am to be tall. I don't feel particularly lucky...I just happened to get good genes when it comes to height. It just happened that my tall dad (6'1) and short mom (5'6) mom made me and I grew to be 5'11. I don't feel unusually special because I'm taller than a lot of people, as a matter of fact growing up, and my height was a real pain in the butt. I was the tallest person in the 5th grade (even taller than my teacher) and there's always the stereotype that because you're tall, you're good at basketball. Well I tried playing basketball and I sucked at it. I did however get a trophy but I think it was more for being on the team than any outstanding playing ability.

Another downside of being tall comes when you're starting to date. Although some girls dream about finding a guy who's tall, dark, and handsome, how many guy look for a girl whose tall, lighter, and beautiful? Not saying they aren't out there, I'm just saying that when I did go out with a guy, I was mostly drawn to guys slightly shorter than me. Why? I have no idea. Even my husband is slightly shorter than me and he likes to joke that he got with me "to knock out the short gene in his family). I guess I can see where he's coming from considering that his mom is 4'9 and his dad is 5'9.

I guess we’ve all say this sort of thing one time or another; see something in someone else we wish we had or were able to obtain and expressed how lucky they are. Then again I suppose I'm guilty of doing the same thing too; I often tell my best friend how lucky she is to be able to eat whatever she wants and not gain weight. The main lesson in doing this: the very thing you envy about someone else may be something that they view as a burden, a problem, or something that needs to be fixed.

California Screamin (thank God the nightmare is over)

2008-01-04T11:16:00.002-08:00

Den and I are finally back from California and I'm so glad to be back. Although these trips are supposed to be vacation, they never are and we end up doing stuff for his mom or having to divide our time between his family members. This trip, we ended up installing doorknobs, overseeing facets being installed by plumbers, doing data entry for her church's website, and replacing light bulbs at his mom's house. I've already been told that when we come out in the spring or summer, we're going to be pulling up the shag carpet throughout the house and putting in a new bedroom suite. As you can see, I have a lot to look forward to. While this may seem like a lot of work, at this point, I'd much rather be doing this that the other option which is hanging out with Den's sister, D. the Disneyfreak.

D. (I don't know if I mentioned this or not) is Den's big sis and she has an unhealthy relationship with Disneyland. The reason I say her relationship is unhealthy is because every conversation has Disneyland in it, her and her husband have gone to Disneyland without their 11 year old son to punish him for bad behavior, she has used work and sick days to go to Disneyland, and she goes on vmk (virtual magic kingdom) religiously. I realize that she may view Disneyland as a coping mechanism because her life is crappy right now, however that is now reason to suck everyone else into your Disneyland obsession. We spent New Years at Disneyland although no one wanted to go but D. and had to listen while they (her and her hubby) complained about being there ( we were there from 7:00am-11:00pm New Year's Day). Another thing that irritated me was how many times D. had to check vmk. She constantly checked the site to play with her character then logged on with Den's character and played with that one too. When in a room full of people, she chooses to immerse herself in her virtual world and not engage in real life interaction. Even when we finally got to Disneyland, her favorite place in the world and the whole reason why she's on vmk in the first place what does she do? She logs on to vmk to let her online friends know shMe and Den are finally back from California and I'm so glad to be back.Although these trips are supposed to be vacation, they never are and we end up doing stuff for his mom or having to divide our time between his family members. This trip, we ended up installing door knobs, overseeing facets being installed by plumbers, doing data entry for her church's website, and replacing light bulbs at his mom's house. I've already been told that when we come out in the spring or summer, we're going to be pulling up the shag carpet throughout the house and putting in a new bedroom suite. As you can see, I have a lot to look forward to. While this may seem like a lot of work, at this point, I'd much rather be doing this that the other option which is hanging out with Den's sister, D. the Disneyfreak.

D. (I don't know if I mentioned this or not) is Den's big sis and she has an unhealthy relationship with Dinseyland. The reason I say her realtionship is unhealthy is because every conversation has Disneyland in it, her and her husband have gone to Dinseyland without their 11 year old son to punish him for bad behavior,she has used work and sick days to go to Disneyland, and she goes on vmk (virtual magic kingdom) religiously. I realize that she may view Dineyland as a coping mechanism because her life is crappy right now, however that is now reason to suck everyone else into your Disneyland obsession. We spent New Years at Disneyland although no one wanted to go but D. and had to listen while they (her and her hubby) complained about being there ( we were there from 7:00am-11:00pm New Year's Day). Another thing that irritated me was how many times D. had to check vmk. She constantly checked the site to play with her character then logged on with Den's character and played with that one too. When in a room full of people, she chooses to immerse herself in her virtual world and not engage in real life interaction. Even when we finally got to Dinseyland, her favorite place in the world and the whole reason why she's on vmk in the first place what does she do? She logs on to vmk to let her online friends know she's there. She even celebrated New Years online at a vmk party with her virtual friends.

I understand that people like things....there's nothing wrong with that but there is a point when you cross the line from enjoyment to obsession and I feel she definitely crossed that line there.

Bring on the Christmas cheer!

2007-12-18T15:21:00.001-08:00

I don't know if I mentioned it or not, but I got the second grade from the second class I was taking this semester, pbulic libraries. I am happy to say that I got an A in that class. This means I've gotten two A's for my first semester in grad school. YAY ME!!! I am so happy that this semester is over. Although the classes were interesting, I'm glad that I can now focus my attention on other things like packing for our California trip and my spring classes.

In other news, this weekend me and Den as well as co-workers are supposed to be meeting somewhere for a Christmas dinner. Unfortunately, my cousin sent me an e-mail yesterday reminding me of our family Christmas dinner which will be happening on (guess when?) Saturday as well. Well although the family Christmas dinner is well....a family Christmas dinner, I called mom and told her me and Den wouldn't be able to go. I further explained to mom that we had a prior commitment and apologized.

Mom of course seemed very nonchalant about me not being able to come and said that she figured we wouldn't since the same conflict happened last year.I'm at the point though that if you know you're planning a family gathering for Christmas, it would be in the best interest of everyone if you'd give a lot earlier warning than four days before the event will take place. By planning in advance, people can have you event marked down somewhere and feelings won't get hurt.

All I want is a little consideration for Christmas-is that too much to ask for?

New Do or did I ?

2007-12-17T09:27:00.000-08:00

It's always funny to me how people react to a new hairstyle. Mainly, people react to a new hairstyle in one of three ways: (1.) They acknowledge the new hairstyle and make positive comments, (2.)They completely ignore the fact you've done anything at all, or (3.)They ignore the hairstyle until someone else comments on it and the add their positive comments. At any rate, I've experience all three of these reactions today which is always surprising to me because I don't think that people really pay that much attention to me.

Over the weekend, I had my hair braided and prior to that, I had my hair permed. I'm not really a fan of perming my hair, it's too much upkeep to worry about. Also, whenever I've gotten my hair permed, it's limited the amount of things I can do like exercising, messing around with my husband and just doing anything that leads to sweating. Do you know what it smells like to have had a perm done and then sweat it out? It smells like rotten eggs. Yep, you read right, rotten eggs. That being said, can you blame me for wanting to use any method possible to avoid having to do that? The process I've been do for a couple of years now if braiding, letting my hair rest (perming) then rebraiding. I am at the point though where I will be wanting to go natural and be completely chemical free.

I guess that other thing that trips me out is how intrigued some people are with the concept of braids. It always makes me laugh when someone asks to touch my hair. It's like they've never seen hair like that before. Then comes the question of is it all my real hair and I have no problem sharing the information. After all, I believe that the only way people can become educated about things is if someone teaches them and so if it has to be me, why not?

Counting down the days till California

2007-12-15T18:54:00.000-08:00

I am so ready to leave for California. It's not even about California itself,I just need to get away from all the crazy patrons and frustrating work environment and the cold weather. I'm sure as usual, me and Den will get bombarded by his family while we're there but I won't mind it so much because I'll be on vacation. I mean a week away is better than no time at all right? His sister has already given us her vote for where to ring in New Years (Disneyland) although everyone else would much rather go to Vegas. Well, guess we'll see how that pans out.

In other completely unrelated news, I went to my best friend's lingerie party lasy night. We all had a great time but the whole situation still seems surreal to me.Initally, she was supposed to get married in June 2008 and instead, the moved the date up to January 2008. She says he didn't want to wait anymore which is understandable considering he's in the military and could possibly get called up again. I couldn't imagine being in a relationship with a man in the military and having to deal with deployment and worrying about whether or not he's safe. Anyone who can do that gets my eternal gratitude.

At any rate, the shower was fun and nostaligic for me as I was seeing her open the gifts. It seems like forever although it was last year that I got married. Man how time flies.

My husband, his sister, and VMK

2007-12-09T18:36:00.001-08:00

Although I love my husband very and much and I like my sister-in-law, lately, they have found a new way to drive me up the wall and its name is VMk. VMK (aka virtual magic kingdom) is an online disneyland website. On this site, people from all the world can meet, creat avtars and do stuff like create rides, play games, and trade items as well as build their own room. I have no problem with this, as a matter of fact, I think it's kinda cool. I do however have a problem with the fact that him and his sister spend hours at a time on the webiste and that he has her on speakerphone so they can talk back and forth the whole time.When they're on VMK, the rest of the world doesn't exist and they are completely focused on VMk and nothing else. I've had to force my husband to take a break to eat because he's been so wrapped up in VMK, he lost all track of time.

I guess I should be too surprised;my husband and his sister have always been close. I guess I just have a problem with it because I feel excluded from the experience. After all, since my husband was born and raised in California and has been to Dineyland millions of times and has not been able to go as much since we live in Alabama, VMk has a bigger significance than it does for me. In a way, I really should be counting my blessings, at least I'm not married to his sister. She lives, breaths, and sleeps Disneyland. As punishment for her son sometimes, her and her husband have went to Dinseyland and left him behind. She had memeberships to tons on Disneyland groups and has an annual pass as well as pins collection. Disneyland was nice-I'll give you that, but it's nothing to get crazy over.I don't get it....I just don't get it.

Weight loss and its unforseen cost

2007-12-05T09:27:00.000-08:00

There's something funny and equally sad when you're overweight. You're always constantly ingored by people and the clothes that are available for you to wear are unflattering to say the least. You get used to people not noticing you and while you do your best to look good, more often than not, nobody cares. At least that's been my experience in the past.

Growing up, I've always had problems with low self- esteem and my weight. As you can imagine, teasing in school only made matters worse. I've always been the type of woman known for not being able to take a compliment. It's not that I don't appreciate the compliment, I just don't know how. Whenever someone says soemthing nice to me, I automatically overanalyze what they said and why they said it. The most I've ever weighed was 298 and as of today, I weight 234.Although I am proud of what I've accomplished, I don't broadcast it to everyone I meet-that's what other people are for.

Since I have lost weight, the compliments pour in on a daily basis. While I appreciate the positive compliments, I can't help but wonder if people are being serious or if they are hating me for what I've done. Relationships have become strained because I don't view food the way I used to to and for some, this is that only way I could bond with certain people. Even now, while two co-workers were talking, co-worker one mentioned my weight loss and asked me to stand up so that the co-worker two could look at me and how thin I've gotten. It was amazing to me in that after co-worker two looked at me, she said "Are you sure she's not pregnant? You know with her being so young and looking weight, it wouldn't suprise me."

Even this Thanksgiving at a gathering with family, even though my family gave me tons of compliments about my weight loss, I was still uncomfortable. Partially it was because my aunt pointed out that while I'm getting thin and have always been fat, my sister and cousin who have always been skinny are picking up weight. The nerve of her!Both of them are 25 years old and if they weighed the same now that they did when they were 12 or 13, I'd be worried about their health. My aunt has her own issues with weight and she's also diabetic so she's definitely not one to judged anyone.

I also get irritated because people ask me what I did to loose the weight and I tell them eat less and exercise more. My husband has gotten pissed with me "lying" as he calls it because he saw the hard work it took for me to lose the weight and it took a whole lot more that eating less and exercising more. I had to cut my calories to around 1,800 a day in addition to exercising three to four times a week. I've started telling people what I've really done to lose the weight and if nothing else, I feel better for being truthful.

Why is it that when someone looses weight, you can't just be happy for them and instead look for flaws and reasons to tear them down?

Ignorant people at the library and future career goals

2007-12-04T17:37:00.002-08:00

I am so sick of ignorant people coming to the library and showing their ass when they don't get their way. They always come in packs and we (the library staff) have to constantly tell them to be quiet and to stop gathering at one computer. Most of the time, the problem people do comply but it's usually after we've threatened to kick them off if they don't stop what they're doing. I think what irks me the most is that it's almost always black teenagers that are causing the trouble. I don't understand why people are so angry.

As a young black woman, I feel that working in a library I act as a role model to some people and it just irritates me to see people treating the library with such disrespect by cursing, talking on their cellphones loudly or pretending to fight while in the library.

I am just so tired of having to babysit grown people all day. It's a thankless job and although I'm in library school. I decided a while ago that I definitely didn't want to work at a public library anymore. Right now, I'm leaning more towards working for the federal/governemt sector.

Term Paper, Scherm Paper

2007-11-30T12:36:00.001-08:00

Right now, I'm supposed to be working on my ten page term paper for Public Libraries class that is due monday night and yet I am constantly looking for something, anything to keep me from working on it. Why?

Well, I think it's probably because I haven't written a term paper since around 2003 and although my professor is really cool about the whole thing (it's 10 pages long but he's said to make it as long as it needs to be), I still have this nagging fear that he's gonna read it and think it's the worst piece of crap ever written. Granted I have little bit of leeway in that this is an online class that meets one night a week so at least I won't see him be completely dumbfounded when he reads my paper about weeding in public libraries.

Why did I write a paper on weeding in public libraries? Well, to be honest, it was a topic that interested me and I liked when we had to do it at work. As you can tell, I like organization way too much. At any rate, I'm currently (well not right now) writing the paper and so far, I've managed to bang out 7 1/2 pages which isn't really all that bad I guess. Thankfully when it comes to writing papers, at least for me, this is when having a Bachelor's in English comes in handy.

Just when I think I've found a way out, I get pulled back in

2007-11-13T18:24:00.001-08:00

I applied for a job at another library as a library technican at a government library branch about a month ago. True, the library's schedule was weird and it wasn't a full-time job, but at least I was going to get paid what I was worth being that I have nine plus years of library experience behind me and am currently in library school. At any rate, I called to see what was up with the position when I got a hit with a big pimp-hand of reality: although I was more qualified, since I'm not a military spouse (they get first dibs),I might not get the job.

After finishing talking to the branch manager, I tried to rationalize the logic of the situation. Although I have more experience, someone with little or no experience will get a great paying job all because they happened to marry a soldier? While I guess I understand this, it still smells like bullcrap to me. As you can imagine, when I called today to follow up on the job, I was informed that the position was filled. I'm somewhat surprised but not really.

I'll just chalk it up to the job probably not being the right fit for me....yeah, that sounds good. The job wasn't a good fit and the perfect job for me is just around the corner.

Guess I'll keep sticking it out where I am until I either finish library school or a great job comes along.

Final Exam-the aftermath

2007-11-03T08:48:00.001-07:00

So I took my first graduate level final yesterday and did very well. The teacher was also able to grade my other assignment fairly quikly and was able to tell me my grade for the whole class. I got an A!!!! I am so happy.

I was kinda worried for a while there because on our third assignment, the teacher said that out of the entire class, 25% got an A and 75% got an F. The funny thing was, after she said all that, while passing out the papers, she tells us not to panic. Yeah, good luck with that one! Needless to say, I was worried because my other grade up until this point were good and I didn't want my whole semester of work to geo down the toilet. At the same time, I also knew that she was going to drop our lowest grade so I was praying this was going to be my lowest.

Turns out my grade for the third assignment sucked but I did perfect on the fourth assignment and the final. In reference to the final exam, since she went over eveything the night before the exam, it was still fresh in my mind and I made sure that I studied and was able to do what I needed to so I could pass.

One class down, one class to go.

Registration Frustation

2007-10-31T12:23:00.000-07:00

I am so frustrated with the registation process for this semester! I was planning on taking LS 500 and LS 507 this semester, but then I (along with everyone else) received and e-mail from the head of the school saying that people who enrolled in the library school in certain years are going to be allowed to register for LS 560 and LS 507. Although I understand the reasoning for this, I am also irritated that while registration offically started on the 29th, most of the class in the school on library science are still closed.

How am I supposed to complete my degree in a timely manner if I'm being blocked from signing up for classes that I need? Granted, I do understand that there are some students who are almost finished and need to get their last class in,but my whole thing is if you say students can register for classes, let students register for classes without giving them more hoops to jump through. I mean it's hard enough to be a graduate student working a full-time and having to occassionally commute without throwing any unneccesary obstacles in the way!

Hero to Zero all in the same day

2007-10-24T15:37:00.001-07:00

Today was both a great day and an awful day. First, the great part; I helped catch a bad guy! This is what happened. Early this morning, my co-worker got a call from IT that one of our patrons was wanted by the U.S. Marshals for being a child predator, they had tracked him to using out computers and she was asked to keep an eye out for him. Although she recognized the patron's name, she couldn't remember what he looked like but fortunately since he comes in a lot, I was able to give an pretty good description.

Some time passes and a patron needed my help, so I went over to computer 5 to help him. Imagine my surprise as I'm helping the patron on computer 5 and I see that right across from him on computer 6 is,yep you guess it, Mr. Child Predator. After helping the guy on computer 5, I quietly alerted my co-worker that he was in the library and using the computer. She had me double check that it was him and she alerted the IT guy. The IT guy then called the U.S. Marshals who then came and very discretely escorted him out of the library without any problems.

Now on to the zero moment of the day. I had been having an enjoyable work day then my boss tells me and my co-workers that our computer policy has now changed. Before, a patron could only get 1 hour in our department and two hours in another department which equals 180 minutes a day. After a patron used their hour in our department, they couldn't get another hour but instead, they had to use the other computers on the third floor. If they were caught re-logging in after they'd already had their hour, they'd get kicked off the computer.Today we were told that this rule no longer applies and that patrons can re-log on to the computers after their hour is up and we can't stop them.

I think this is the stupidest idea I've ever heard! With this new rule, this means that a person can come and get 3 hours on the computer uninterrupted while others have to wait. Another issue with this is the number of kids we have that come in using myspace, this means we will probably have more complaints because people who need to do homework and type papers/resumes won't be able to cause they'll have to wait for kids to finish myspacing and playing games.

I guess my big question is where is this going to stop? I feel that the library and the powers that be are trying too hard to cater to the patrons.We already had a patron complain about "being forced " into having to get a computer card to access the computers and now this. I'm expecting any day now, we're going to be told not to enforce the no cellphone policy anymore because someone will be bothered by it. Either that or we're going to start letting patrons eat and drink at the computers.

Will this ever stop?

Playing catch up

2007-10-06T13:09:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been a while since I've written-I've was just reminded that I had this site today while I was in my computer technologies class. So much has changed in my life since the last time I've written. I guess this is because I've been busy with work, homework, and just life in general.At any rate, I'll give you the cliffnotes version of what's been happening since I've written last.

First, I got married on June 24,2006 to my wonderful husband D. We had a nice evening church wedding and my mom walked me down the aisle. It was a beautiful day and one that I'll always remember.

Secondly, me and my husband bought a house. We actually found the house, took care of all the inspections and closed on it within a two week period in Feburary of last year. That being said, I am really enjoying having so much space and a chance to decorate the house the way I want.

Third, I decided to start graduate school I am currently enrolled at the University of Alabama where I am taking classes to obtain a MLIS. So far, the classes have been very informative and my classmates have been great to work with. If everything goes as planned, I should be done by Summer of 2009. My goal in reference to clasess are to take two classes a semester for six semesters so that's my plans for now.

Wish me luck!

Too much on my plate and not enough hands

2006-03-26T18:15:00.000-08:00

So, I've made some major changes in my life fairly recently. First, D. and I decided to stay in Huntsville, at least for the time being. The main reason for staying is that the housing prices in California are extremely high right now and I refuse to go from living with my mom to living with D.'s mom. That being said, we deicded to try to get a house. I know what you're thinking, buying a house is a major project to take on and it takes lots of time and effort. I know all this, but with God's help, we were able to accomplish everything in a matter of three weeks. Now, we've moved into a very nice house.

Second, I decided to take the MAT (Millers Analogies Test) to try to get into grad school before the deadline at Alabama passes (April 15). I think I did pretty good but one never knows about these sort of things. In reference to grad school, I'm excited yet scared at the same time. On the one hand, I'm excited because it will be an opportunity to do something new in order to achieve a goal that I really want which is to get a Master's degree. On the other hand, I'm scared that I won't live up to the standards that everyone has set for me. Although my boss and co-workers have said "I'll be a great librarian," I still have that fear of failure in my head that I won't be able to cut it.

Third, I am still in the process of wedding planning. With the whole process of buying our house, wedding plans kinda took a backseat However, I did manage to have a bridal shower last Saturday which was fun yet bizzare to me. Growing up, I never really had a lot of birthday parties. I am also the type of person who doesn't really like to be the center of attention. After having said all this, you can just imagine how exciting it was for me to be at a party when I am the guest of honor and there are games being played which revolve around how well the party guests know me. It was strange. Then it was also odd seeing so many people coming out to wish me well and give me presents. It was nice and I had a great time.

I feel bad because it has been so long since I have taken the time out to write. Writing used to bring me so much joy.Writing was once my medicine; it provided me with release after a stressful day. I guess at some point in my life, I felt like my words had no power and no one cared what I had to say. I just needed time to come to the realization that if I find comfort in writing, then writing is what I need to do.

"Life" after Katrina

2005-09-10T08:50:00.001-07:00

Let me start out this entry by saying that I am sorry to everyone whose lives have been effected by Hurrican Katrina.Now notice if you will that I said everyone not those just in New Orleans or Mississippi or Florida but everybody has been affected in some way or another.
For example, although I don't know anyone in any of those areas, my fiance's brother-in-law's (M.) parents live in New Orleans as well as his sister & her family, and his cousin lived in surrounding areas. Needless to say, when Katrina came, his brother-in-law was very worried about the whereabouts of his family.
After a week or so, M. sister got in contact and said that her and her family made it out and they were now in Houston. M.'s cousin was okay and in Atlanta. While we were all glad to hear they were okay, no one had heard anything from M.'s parents.I was really worried about them especially after the photos that are being played daily on TV, I told D. I had a bad feeling they were dead.I don't mean to be negative but even though they had a two story house, I was under the impression that they were porbably either stuck in the attic with no way out or they were stranded on the roof needing help. Eventually, they were found safe and sound in their home with a generator and food. They have since been rescued from New Orleans and are now in South Carolina.
The reason why I feel this is important to mention is because sometimes it take a tradgey to make you realize how precious life is.It also makes me feel ashamed for complaining about what I don't have and things not being my way when there are thousands out there now with nothing except for the clothes on their backs. I especailly feel bad for the kids who have lost thier parents and the elderly who lost all of their posessions. I also feel bad for those that were living on next to nothing prior to the flood and now have absolutely nothing.
Since Katrina, we have patrons coming in daily using our computers and trying to get their lives back together. When I see these people, I don't see victims, I see heroes and surviviors. I don't know how I would cope if I was in that situation. I can't even imagine what it is like to lose everything that I hold dear.I don't know what I would do if in one day, my entire life as I knew it was gone. I just don't understand how something of this magnitude could happen.All I know is that it will take a lot of time to heal and rebuild what has been lost but just the fact that there is a possibly to rebuild should serve as a testament to how strong the human spirit can be when faced with a disaster.

Giving peace a chance-sort of

2005-09-10T07:53:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, I went with my mom to at a funeral home to pay my last repsects to the husband of the piano player for my church. It was strange because this was the first time I've even been to a family hour and I didn't really so know what behaviopr was expected from me.Then again, I never know what to say at those sort of situations;I'm always afraid I'm going to say the wrong thing or end up making the grieving person feel worse than they already do.At any rate, I was sitting there with my mom listening to a pastor reminise about "Big Moe" when it hit me: this family really loved this man and he would truly be missed.

As I sat there just pondering this thought, I realized that if my dad died today, I am harboring so much hate in my heart that I wouldn't be sad, I wouldn't cry, hell...I wouldn't probably be glad he's dead."Big Moe", whose name was actually John Moore, was a great guy. He was a man who was devoted to his family and his church and always told people how much he loved the Lord. Even when he lost both his legs, he never complained but instead,this made him even more determined to tell others about how the God impacted his life. When he had to be put on dialysis, he never missed a Sunday at church and talked about how much he loved God and his family.

We sat there for family hour(which was actually 2 hours) and listened to people share their memories of "Big Moe", I thought about my current relationship with my Dad and asked myself am I really that petty that I would continue to dwell on how my dad hurt me in the past? Who am I really hurting, him or me? Why am I choosing to hang on to this pain? I'm planning on calling my dad up and starting the healing process which, according to some, has been long overdue. Although I am giving peace a chance and attempting to improve our relationship,I am not letting him walk me down the aisle on my wedding day, I've already asked my Uncle Mack to do that.

Between an apartment and a hot house

2005-09-06T18:37:00.001-07:00

Lately, I seem to be having problems between my family and my fiance'. According to my family, I'm never home and I spend way too much time at D.'s apartment. I have been trying to tell D. that I might as well move in since I am over there all the time anyway but he worries that by doing so, my mom will stop paying for my car insurance.

I love my mom to death but, the real reasons why I don't stay at my house is because:
1.There' s nothing to do
2.We have no heat or air and
3.The "bed" I sleep on is very uncomfortable.

When I say there's nothing to do at my house, I mean that all we do is sit around in separate rooms of the house and watch TV. Since we have three TV's, this means that there are three TV's running at the same time and sometimes, we might actully sit at the table and eat dinner together.
In reference to the lack of heat and air conditioning, this is a problem we've had for years. While I've managed to grin and bear it, sometimes you'd like to wake up in the morning and not have sheets sticking to your body or not got to bed in the freezing cold.
The last problem with being home is what I sleep on at night. At this time in my life, I at age 26, sleep on a rollaway bed. This is because our house is small. Our house was made for a family or three or maybe four and had at the most fit seven. Can you blame me for wanting to sleep in an actual bed?
I guess at the end of the day, I just love the privacy and the freedom that I feel when I'm at D.'s apartment. I can watch TV, exercise, go online, do whatever I want to do. The only thing is that I don't know what my family expects from me. When I'm not at the house, they complain that I'm not there and when I do come home, they ask me what I'm doing there. There's no winning with these people!

One hospital visit won't stop the show

2004-10-26T12:47:00.000-07:00

My father has recently finished a stay at the hospital after suffering from a heart attack while mowing the lawn. I know what you're thinking "oh poor you,you must be so worried about your father" well not so much. As a matter of fact, had I not been called by my brother letting me know about my father's hospital stay, I probably wouldn't have went to see him at all.

Why the bitterness? Why the total lack of concern on my part? Simple. My father hasn't spoken to me in about four or five months. He got remarried, got a new family and chose to only talk to my younger brother totally distancing himself from my sister and me.

I did feel somewhat obiligated to see him however. He is my father after all and I suppose I'd feel bad if he died and I didn't make peace with him.

So this is what went down.

Me and D. went to the hospital friday night around 8:00 since that was the last chance for visitng hours in ICU. We got there and the nurse told us that they were putting something in and we would have to wait. We went to the visiting room and waited.

During this time,I realized that we were sitting right by my dad's new wife and her daughters.They were talking up a storm and were quite loud.I wrote D. a note asking if I should introduce myself and he didn't have an answer. "I don't know what to do,but I know someone who would." He called his sister on his cell phone and I told her my plight. Of course, in my telling her, I completely forgot how much my voice carries. D. politely reminded me by coming out of the visiting room saying "they can hear you in there!"

Needless to say, mortified could not even begin to express how I was feeling.I had just completely badmouthed a person I didn't even know and I had still not met her face to face. I hid behind a snack machine and then tried to lower my voice some more. After the conversation with his sister was over,I came from behind the machine running right into with Dad's new daughter. I said "hi" to her which was greeted with a confused look.

Fast forwarding to about 20 minutes later, the people that they (dad's wife and kids) were talking to had left. It was silent for a minute. Now consider this, if you were one of two groups of black people in an area, wouldn't you assume that you're there to see the same person? Guess Dad's wife missed class that day.

"So, who are you here to see?"
"I'm here to see L.J, my father."
"Who?"
"I'm L.J.'s oldest daughter."
"Oh, you mean Jay."
"Okay?"

After a few minutes of introductions and small talk, we were able to see him. I can honestly say that he looked surprised to see me and D..The nurse came over and asked him who all of his visitors were. He beamed with pride as he introduced his(3?)daughters and his future son-in-law. Now although I was touched by this gesture, I was somewhat pissed that he would have lumped those girls into the same group as me.

I was his daughter first.Before these girls were even a twinkle in their momma's eye, I was here first.

Then they invited us to their home and dad let me know that "I'm still his daughter." What a big pile of bull!

I just don't get it. Why do these girls treat him like he's a great dad? Why do they give him kisses on his cheek? What has he done to desereve such love and devotion?

D. was joking around,asking me if seeing dad in the hospital changed my mind about letting him walk me down the aisle when we get married. I told him that it'd take a whole lot more than one nice hospital visit to change my mind about something like that.