I used to get so mad at Dad for singing the wrong words to a tune...

He did it on purpose, in front of me. He loved to see my face when he forgot the words. Now I do that to my little ones. Is that Pokeyman on the tv? They get livid. I made such a mistake saying that it was in Pride and Prejudice that Jane was looking in the mirror. I know its in there somewhere but it isn't chapter 1. Oh well, I will find it.
My celebration of Aunt Ra Ra's birthday began as a result of her calling me. The only thing that I can remember from March 28th, 1989 is that Aunt Roz didn't come and now the thought of her takes my mind off my own griefs. I wonder if she knew that it would do that? Doing hair and celebrating the perfection of the Aunties and talking about the old ladies enjoying themselves in their latter days at Trump fills the day, instead of hiding my head under my pillow.

My husband, "bless his heart," invited James Taylor to the celebration. Covers is the next CD you have to get. There is something human about cd's now that music is available, minus the soul of it. When you listen on line, you get a taste of the soul of it. When you have the whole composition, intact, you have almost the whole artist in your life. Virtual reality of his intention in the music. The only thing better is to have the sheet music in front of you with the earphones on when you listen. I have had no strength to listen to my treasure, between laments that I have done so little of my intentions with the three remaining girls and boys. And then I remember, it is Aunt Ra Ra's birthday. Lets bake a cake, lets listen to James and lets do a jig. Except now, I can't remember the words...:) LOL

JT is at it again!

Rain, Rain, Go away.

Come again another day. Today is a foggy day and I am enjoying the beauty of the sky, under the glum of the emotion of the day. It is the countdown to Aunt Ra-Ra's birthday. The day and the week that I concentrate on self care, for self care sake. Today's self care will be in my bed. Because my muscles can't move from yesterday's over doing it. OWWWW!

Work out till you feel the burn!

That was my day 2 motto. I can blame 9 of the extra inches on my whittled waistline on the 9 pregnancies, maybe; but, at least 1 of the inches is due to my lack of consistent discipline. Thank you, Mr. T for the disciplines of a carefully whittled waistline. Volleyball practice and the drills that we did, sent me into life with the chisle to whittle down my waist. I put it down somewhere along the way.
My shoulder has deteriorated due to the "uptown shake" I think. I don't know how you young people are able to still use the neck after the season of that dance. I did it a total of 5 times in my life and I will have bursitis in my neck till the day I die as a result. The new dance down here is something I don't even try to do. It would do me good to try. They do the hokey pokey and touch the floor and jump to the side alot. It is cute to watch and would be a good chisle to use on some of the other stubbornly fat parts of my body. But not today. I did my work out and sweating to the oldies, makes me feel a little younger.
In Pride and Prejudice, Jane starts out looking at herself in the mirror and considering the image before her. Michael Jackson's, Man in the Mirror, was my mirror this morning. My waist is 10 inches off target. I'll not talk about the other portions of fat that I have added to. Don't stop, till you get enough. I have to go to work so. I will continue to work on my morning routine. How about you? Any exercise tips or new dances that you would share with me. Email me the video, please??

by the way... If you guys would put instructions on the facebook for me. I could jump on. It is like a rollercoaster!

I'm gonna make a change, for once in my life...

For once? How about for the hundredth time, already. Today starts my spring bootcamp for myself. That cushy seated job has put weight around my midrift. I woke again with a new resolve. This time, Michael Jackson's Thriller webpage has made it's way into my morning regimenMichael? I did a whole 10 minutes, I think? My weights, my stairs and my Michael Jackson and...I am sweating to the "oldies?". Michael Jackson is not old. He is well kept, like me? Well, I will be, after this Spring regimen gets into full swing. I had intention of walking a marathon, but the "old funk" got me down and I missed the deadline.


I remember measuring myself on that step and being able to lay down on there with my feet up on the wall and there was no one to walk down on top of me, because the rest of you guys were babies. I took that thought and went to my steps and did my routine with Michael and it did a number on my "funk". My hips are still about the same size, but I feel a little better.

I have also been reminiscing about the beautiful hair people in my life. I decorated my hair with a necklace in it, as though I had dred's like Jo, on Monday. Yesterday, I did a perfect braid in the back, like Lisa and today, I guess, I'll curl it. It is all working up to the perfect hair do for Aunt Roz's birthday.

Today, my sick young ones went back to school.

They were down for the count the last few days. The house was quieted from the usual wrestling and arguments because the boys were sick. They are funny, the two of them always trying to out do eachother. Ethan, at 9 is the reader and writer and now Wii expert and Ezra imitates everything the older boys do. This causes conflict several times a day. Enoch has outgrown being upset about a little fellow who imitates everything, but not Ethan. He is still annoyed and rightly so. I saw in the video from the snowy day that Ezra takes advantage of his smallness and catches them in the stomach with a punch or two. We never had boys that liked boxing before, so he must be from my side of the family. I love to box. :)
The boys are growing well and I am extra glad that this time that the house is quiet it is because of the wellness of them and they are out at school.

Ethan's teacher is such a dear. I have never met anyone who listened quite like that before. She called to see how he was doing. She had also been down with some sort of flu recently. Every word that I said she listened and responded to. This was not just a courtesy call. I was so blessed to think that she thought about what I was saying. It made me think about what I was saying. So different from the way my children listen. Yea, right mom. :{ This is a new season for me. I am not the new mommy and my children really don't need the kind of attention that I am used to, like changing diapers and such. There is so much more laundry and bigger laundry. by the way. I'd better go to it now...

I remember going over to Grandma Ruth's house

and catching her playing the memory game with Muffy. She thoroughly enjoyed her season of great-grandmothering. I can just imagine my mommy enjoying the time that she is up there with her great grand daughters.
I was pining this morning that Jacqueline is always the first one in our family. She gave mom the first grandchild and now she has mom all to herself with the great grands. I said, I am going to get ready, because I intend to ship that mother of mine down here when she gets decrepid and old and I get my grands.



I am not expecting any yet, But one day, years and years from now.




I always tell Ethan that he was the one who made Grandma Ruth smile in the latter days. So, I may be stuck down here in the South, but one day, God willing, I am going to gather my grands and their decrepid old Great grandmother around me and we will have some time with her too. Nyyyaaa!
I am jealous of those beautiful grands, my sister has, but I can distract myself with my precious ones also.
Love you guys and miss you guys.

This was a video of Ezra at his pancake day. His teacher made the crafts of the chefs cap for all of the children and Ezz wanted to wear his, even while eating.

I ate so many sugar cubes and birthed...

A Sugar Cube Castle




this is the sugar cube castle, a Walker presentation for Ethan's 4th grade project. Everybody helped, including Uncle Elijah.


I remember how I loved to eat sugar. We used to play hide and seek at 113th and I would find the strangest places to hide. Once, I discovered that Mom had a hidden stash of sugar cubes, in the cabinet, next to the sink, in the kitchen. Everytime I would hide there, I would eat just a few of them. Usually, no one would find me under there; so I could stay there for a while, eating sugar cubes and hiding for the game.
One day, Mom was having the Rosarians over for tea and those little sandwiches. (Do you all remember cutting the crusts off of the sandwiches for the Rosarians?) Well, anyway, Mom said, Jayne, go get the sugar cubes from under the cabinet. GULP!
You know what came next. I was in trouble again. One day it was pie the next it was the sugar cubes. I would have loved to have seen Dad's face when Ethan decided to do his 4th grade projects in sugar cubes. What a perfect combination of Ben and me...Don't you think?

The St. Patrick's Day Parade

I really never realized that Uncle shared a name with the parade that happened every year. Uncle never seemed to have anything in common with St. Patrick except that he was beautiful. No one ever said that St. Patrick was beautiful, effective, in Ireland, I hear, but I will have to look up if he was beautiful as our Uncle Pat.

I think that we should make patties for St. Paddy's day. Don't you think that would be a wonderful West Indian comraderie with our Irish roots to make patties? I won't be home, so that is my excuse.

Elyse made something that I could've put in patties, last night, "bless her heart".

We are learning that "bless your heart" is what you say in the south when people mess up and you would castigate them, but your good breeding won't allow it. So bless her heart means that, she tried.:)

I go to work at 11:30 so my woman daughter is a great helper in the kitchen and her Irish eyes are smiling,(she's 1/8th Magee) she likes to remind us all. Her Grandma Rosalee was a chef and a green eyed beauty and she always makes us remember that we must celebrate St. Paddy. So I will make patties and she will say, Mom! bless your heart. :)

Coconut custard and me

I used the rest of the coconut from my rice and peas, to make a custard and it was delicious. It is not gone yet. I used to sneak small pieces of the coconut custard at home when I was young. Dad would laugh and giggle that I still have a piece of custard in my refrigerator as a symbol of selflessness to my children. He and I had eye to eye contact as to who took the last piece of coconut custard pie. I cannot tell a lie (? NOT) It is I, who took it everytime. Everyone knew who. He and I looked at eachother. Dad would say who? and then nevermind. You ate, what else? no food, just pie.

Enjoy it now, my custard pie children; because, a minute it is on the lips, but forever, it is on the hips. :)

Between You and me and the...lampost.

I do remember that, occasionally, Dad would take his pointer finger and hit his lips intently; to mean, Don't tell Mom this or that. Nobody, but us have this secret.

"If I were you, I would do this or that"..., but...(and then the finger would go to his lips and that meant mum is the word.) Didn't you just love keeping a secret with dad. A sprinkle cookie left over that we split could be a secret. The fact that he was going to hide somebody's special treat, that they had mislaid in his drawer, never to return. might be another secret that we would keep. Secrets between dad and anyone were always fun.

He never kept secrets well, though. Anything I said to him, he would always repeat. He would meet a friend of mine and say, you are the one that, Jayne said steals or has a zit, is that true. Dad, that was between you and me and... is that what the lampost means?