Live Life

There's something about this crazy life that keeps me going. I mean, with all the bullshit and nonsense that go on in life, there's still something about it that makes me wanna see tomorrow. My life ain't perfect but I still luv each day that I'm given to try to make the best of. I know there are times when people make u wanna slit your wrists and throats and just give up but then that one reason that makes ur heart fly comes to mind  letting you know that it ain't all half bad if you really sit back and look at things. Most of the time your pros out do your cons. You just gotta know how to list them correctly. You gotta stop making "mountains out of mole hills" as my Gramma would tell us. Appreciate what's in front of your face and be thankful for it. Understand how valuable the non valuable things really are. Things are usually not as bad as they seem at first. If you sit and think rationally, you can usually fix what's wrong. You just need to keep faith, motivation, dedication and commitment very close by. You're gonna need them. Without them, you will fail.

Another One

11-11-11 My birthday! Yep, another year has gone by and I'm still here. I'm blessed and I know it. I could be a million other places but I'm here. I'm fed, clothed, loved and wanted. That's all that matters to me. I'm not hard to please. I'm a simple girl. I don't need much to make me happy. It's as simple as that.

Life has led me through alotta ups, downs, turns and arounds but at the end of the day, I'm happy. I can't complain. There are plenty of things I would do different if I had the chance but I don't regret ANYTHING! I did learn a few lessons tho. No matter what happens, who you meet, trust no one. Keep ya guard up at all times. Never let them hands down. I learned that the hard way. I will always be a loving soul, open to all but I won't be fooled or led on with trickery. I don't need to be sold dreams to survive. Give it to me like it is. Truthfully. The way its supposed to be. I'm a big, strong girl. I can take it. Trust me.       

Out of it (life) so far, I've got a husband, son and family that I would die protecting. That's enough to keep me alive and happy forever. "Reasons for living". I've lived a wonderful life, made the best friends and I still gotta whole lotta life left to go on. I'm gone chase my dreams and not follow them. I've always did what I had to to take care of my family and I always will until the end of time. That's what being part of a unit is all about. It's not just about you. To those who's ever had anything worth anything to live for, you know what I mean. Bottom line. I trust what I believe in.

Reinvention

Ain't nothing wrong with change. Sometimes it's just what we need. Dealing with everyday life can become a little, "routinish", turning us into zombies for eighteen hours a day. After awhile, you forget to pay attention to the litte things that truly make you happy. Waking everyday at the same time, eating the same thing for breakfast every morning. Taking the same routes everywhere you go, never veering off course. Again and again, the same thing during the same hours everyday can drive a person into an extremely unhealthy mental state. Some people just ain't strong enough to handle it. That's when the AK's and machine guns come out. I've seen the pressures of everyday life take down the best of them.

Personally, I'd rather not totally lose my mind over things that I just have no power to control. Instead, I am focusing on the thing's that I can fix. The things that are important to my happiness and is key to my survival. I can't seep into despair because of the things that don't go right in life. Nothing is perfect so I expect things to go wrong sometimes. But I can't lose my mind when something does go wrong. It doesn't help. All it does is make things worse. You can't think. If you can't think, how will you be able to make it better? When something happens in my life that is some what mind bending, I do my best to remain calm. I try not to rush judgement. I hate to be made to look like a fool. Of course that doesn't work all the time but my effort ain't in vain. For the most part, I do pretty ok.

Our ability to deal with everyday life and change means everything. It affects our health physically and mentally. It controls how our relationships with people go. It affects our quality of life period. If you can't reinvent yourself then you might as well lay down and die. With time things change, you should to. Accordingly.

Aging

I never thought I'd b happy to be getting older. I can remember a time when I didn't think of life past 25. Lol Now, Im maturing and aging so gracefully. I'm 35 soon to be 36 and I'm loving it! I look better everyday and I feel awesome! The older I get the happier I become. I get wiser, more experienced in everything I do ツ and I appreciate and treasure things as I should. Life seems easier cause I understand it better. As a kid, the world seemed a little scary to me. Dangerous enough for me to hide but now, I see nothing but space and opportunity. I don't worry about things I can't change or have no power over. I worry only about what I have the power to change. It makes my journey worth every battle. Life dishes out some crazy shit but mostly lessons. If you're not paying attention you'll miss alot.

Don't knock being a "Ol G". Lol It's the shit!!  ツ

Yep!!

The funny thing is that all I have are good intentions but somehow I always get fucked in the end. Well guess what? No more. I'm not waiting around for nobody, it's all about me now and what I want and need. I'm gone let my voice be heard and if you don't wanna hear it then don't listen. I've said this before but I mean it this time. No, I'm not turning bitchie because thats just not me. I never was a bitch and I never will be one. I hate bitches and I sure ain't gonna become something that I hate. That defeats the purpose of my self satisfation. Besides that, who likes bitches? I love who I am as a person, I'm just gon pay more attention to me. Everybody else goes on the back burner. Simple. I'll be taking my own advice from here on out. Ppl need to do that more. We all give great advice but never apply it to ourselves and our own situations. Let's give it a try. ツ

19 Years In and Counting

So, it's been 19 years since I've met my hubby. ツ Wow I can't believe it myself sometimes. There's been good times and bad, times when I've wanted to kill him and chop his body up into tiny pieces and bury him all over the earth but for the most part, it's been absolutely the best times of my life. In him I have a best friend, a husband, someone I can confide in and tell my most terrible secrets to. I have someone who tells me what's real and not what I need to hear when it really matters most. He's my protector and my provider and he's also my partner in everything. I know I'm blessed to have someone like him in my life. Now, don't get it twisted, he's a pain in the ass like most men BUT he's never given me a reason to leave, or want to leave. Most of my friends envy my relationship and it's for good reason. I do have something special.

Now he's not the only reason this relatonship has lasted this long tho. I play a BIG part in that as well. I'm secure in who I am as a woman and a person so I don't worry about things that are irrelevant. I never ask if I'm good enough for him because I know I am. Shit, he's lucky he got somebody like me who understands that he is a man and he needs to breath and he underatands that I do too as a woman, so we don't bump heads often. Compromise and underatanding is key in a successful relationship. Also, you gotta listen to each other. Don't think for each other, talk to each other. If you dont listen, how will you know what to do and what not to do. How will you know what he wants and how will he know what you want? It's simple if you take the time and use your mind. ツ It doesn't have to be rocket science. ♥

WTH?!

Ladies, what the hell is going on? What are you doing to yourselves? I can remember a time when you rarely saw an overweight girl. Now, out of every ten I see, seven are overweight! Seriously? Is this what its come down to? I don't understand. Everywhere I turn I see a FAT girl. A fat young girl too. These aren't older women, these are women in their 20's and 30's. It's sad to see what you've become. I know that there are women with gland issues and other medical issues that may cause you to be overweight but not ALL of you! Ya'll have become so lazy and it's not funny, not at all. What happened to a little self control and some discipline? Doesn't anybody care about themselves anymore?

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that you're supposed to be 125lbs but you are supposed to be curvy and sexy. You're not supposed to be possibly mistaken for a fat man from behind. You're supposed to have a shape, not be boxy or round. You shouldn't waddle when you walk you should sway. You should look sexy in heels not awkward. Ladies, come on. We gotta do better.

It starts with a little self discipline and some self control. Watch what you eat. Spend a little time working out. It doesn't take much. Cut down on your portions when you eat. Eat just a bit more sensibly. It's not easy, I know this, especially when every where you turn there's an add for some unhealthy, greasy fattening food that taste so good but adds pounds to your hips, thighs and stomach that causes the problem. You should care about yourselves enough to say, "no, I dont want or need that". Not all the time but most of the time.

It's just something to think about, that's all.

Once More

OK, I know I've spoken on this already but I feel the need to speak on it again. Our children. Ppl, please. Listen to your kids. They're in desperate need of your attention and guidance. Each passing day brings us closer to the future and that shit ain't looking so good man, not at all. Our kids aren't being educated well enough by us or the school systems to handle the weight of the world. They won't be prepared for what's coming. It shames me to know the reading levels these kids are at. They can't even spell! I have so many young ppl as friends on Facebook and as I read over their statuses, I'm amazed at the simple mistakes of common misspelled words, poor sentence structure and grammar. I'm not even gonna go into the topics they chose to discuss. Thats a whole other blog. These are kids fresh out of high school or are in college. What the hell?! Is attendance the only requirement to pass a class nowadays? I myself recently took a test and was seeking some help in basic algebra. I asked high school graduates of 2010/11 and a couple of college freshman for some help on the subject and guess what? I couldn't find one to help me. Not one. Smh I was in complete awe over this. I can understand my ill knowledge of the subject. It's been well over 15 years since I've been in a classroom but what's their excuse?

Parents, are you following your children's education to see if they're progressing well? Do you know if they're understanding what they're being taught? I sit and watch videos of children performing songs from videos of the most popular artists out word for word, dance move for dance move and they have these routines down packed. Some are as young as 4 or 5 years old but I rarely or never see anything posted of a child doing something extraordinary to show that they are beyond their years in anything educational. I recently watched a clip of a fashion show of kids ranging in age from about 3-14 years old and they were grinding on each other as if they were auditioning for a roll in the remake of Player's Club or a postion on the pole of the local strip joint in their neighborhood! They weren't even modeling the cothes! What was even sadder was the fact that the crowd of ADULTS they performed for were cheering them on and encouraging them to grind harder! Smh I mean come on, is this the best we got for them? Are we that occupied with our own lives that we can't pay them the attention they need and desire? Why aren't we concerned enough to realize the damage that's being done. Im so ashamed. 

It's time to take charge of our children's lives again. It's time we show them that there are way more important things they should be learning. Instead of allowing them to watch hours of inapropriate videos, how about switching to programs to help develop the skills they're gonna need to succeed in life. How about we offer them more educational toys instead of ones that place them on imaginary stages to perform adult dance moves and sing songs with lyrics that they are too young to sing. Or what about teaching them how to respect their elders and themselves. There is just so much more that we can be doing to raise our kids better.

Please, I'm begging you all to listen to, pay attention to and guide your children accordingly. They need you, BADLY! Stop failing them!

Really though?

If you let em, ppl will suck the life out of you! Smh I get so fed up wit ppl sometimes. It's always can you or do you or take me or I only need. At any rate, a hand is always in ya face for something. Pls stop it! I live in the same hood u do so that means I pretty much have wat u do or close to it. I work hard for what I have. Why should I part with it so easily ALL the time? Im not even gonna mention the ungreatfulness. I mean most of the time, they act as if you owe them. As if it's my duty to accomodate them every time Im asked. Geeez!! What's so funny is, if I ask for something, there's that awkward silence and the sound of crickets laughing. At me! Smh Im so done. So done. Ughhhh....

That's Just How It Is

I make mistakes because I'm human and to be human is to be imperfect. I don't care how much you practice, how much you try, you will in fact, make a mistake sooner or later. It's inevitable. Impossible to avoid. Understand and know that and your journey through life will be much smoother.

Mistakes are made to be forgotten, forgiven and corrected. If you don't mess up, how will you know what's the right thing to do? Now, don't get me wrong. Making the SAME mistakes over and over is unacceptable. You're supposed to learn from them so not to do it again. Doing that just makes you a fool. It's like walking into the same wall everyday. You know it's there but yet and still each day you bust yo head on the same wall in the same spot all the time. After a while, it gets tiring and old. At some point you should learn to walk around the wall or go another way or even build a doorway so that you now have a short cut. LOL At any rate, realizing that you  have to do something about it is the point. Take responsibility for your actions, fix them and learn from them. Share your findings with others too. It may help them along the way. Like crackheads for instance. I've learned that smoking crack is not WINNING. It's LOSING. I learned that from watching people around me smoke it. Lives lost, so many heartaches and hardships behind it. I saw that that wasn't something I would ever do and it's thanks to the crackheads I've known in my life. Take heed. Haha

Anyway, don't be afraid to mess up. It's ok. Just learn from your mistakes and try again. You'll get it. ツ

Just Stop

When you dress in the morning, do you look in the mirror? If you dont like what you see, what do you do? I am almost convinced that people do not even look at themselves. Thruought the day I constantly see fashion DONOTS! Here's another question for you. If you are living with someone, anyone and you see that the outfit that they have chosen to wear does not become them, do you say anything? Or do you let them waltz right out the door looking like SHIT?! I'm starting to believe that most people live alone or people just don't care about nobody but themselves anymore. Never in my life have I seen so many people who just dont seem to give a shit about their appearance. I'm not speaking of wearing expensive or name brand clothes but clean clothes that fit!! Why do overweight women wear strapless items? Why do women with bellies bigger than their asses wear tight shirts? Why do they wear lowriders creating the "muffin top" look?  Why do men who work dirty jobs wear their oil and dirt filled clothes past work hours? Why do I see unmanicured feet in sandles or flip flops so much? Pajamas are not to be worn past early morn hours or past your corner store. Please take off that dirty baseball hat. It smells sour. I mean really, come on. I can remeber a time when nobody came out unless they were clean and pressed. Oh, how times have changed. Smdh...

Troy Davis

At around 11pm last night Troy Davis was executed by leathal injection. First, I would like to offer my condolences to his family and friends. I can't imagine how they must be feeling right now. I pray that in some way their hearts and souls are eased from the pain of this loss.

How can this be justified? A man being put to death without any real proof of a crime. A web of lies is what laid this man to rest. Or should I say unrest because I see no way of him resting peacefully. He was robbed of life for what? The satisfaction of people only looking to see someone suffer because of an unexplained loss of their own. How does this make it even? The person truly responsible still walks free amongst us. How can they be satisfied? Aren't there questions still unanswered? Gaps that need to be filled? What right does an imperfect person have to put another like himself to death? Really? How can one point a finger at another when he himself is capable of the same actions. If there is a man among us without sin, let him cast the first stone. Smh What is the world coming to?

All I wish is that Troy's soul does not linger in limbo. I pray that he truly found a way to be at peace with this so that he may rest. RIP Troy Davis.

To the Parents

This goes out to all the parents out there who are absolutely oblivious to what's going on in their children's lives. I wanna say thank you for fuckin up. Do you realize how much you've contributed to the demise of the future of this world? I'm gonna say, "no the fuck you don't". I look at the teens today and get sick to my stomach. They are so mislead and uneducated because you are way to busy worrying about the insignificant issues that go on in your lives. The issues I speak of are not the ones you feel are important like you aren't getting fucked enough or that you don't have enough outfits to wear during the week or you don't have a ride to the club on Friday night. I'm speaking of the ones that are imperative to the survival of our future, like the fact that there aren't a sufficient amount of jobs out there to carry us into a decent and prosperous future or the fact that the school systems get worse and worse each year creating a group of dummies and coochie poppers instead of leaders and business men and woman to rebuild what's being destroyed by the so called government that lead people to believe that they are here to help us today. Have you forgotten that it all starts at home? If you don't instill and teach them the basic principles and morals then what the fuck do you expect the rest of the world to do with them? The world didn't have these babies, you did. Take responsibility for your responsibilities. I mean really. You all sit and complain about what you don't have and what you're not given. You're not supposed to be given any fucking thing. It's all supposed to be earned and learned. The world wasn't always this bad. There was a time when people cared about what happened to their families. They cared about how their children represented them and taught them right from wrong. Now, they push em out and expect them to learn on their own. You all are too occupied with your drug habits and dependencies on things that mean nothing but your death. STOP IT! PLEASE! The world is shrinking and so is our time. We have little of it left. Each day we grow closer to death. Realize that and try to make these last days count for something. The world will end one day. Let's go out with a real bang. One that we can be proud of.

Being Thankful

Each day I sit n remind myself of all I should b thankful and greatful for. There are so many things. Sometimes, I become so overwhelmed with the BS in my life that I can forget that everything aint all bad. Life is a crazy mixed up thing and can take you on all kinds of highs and lows. One minute its this the next second its that. You have to be prepared mentally for this or that or you can potentially lose your current senses and go off the deep end for something. Sometimes the something is serious, sometimes its not. Before you lose your mind when something crazy happens, count your blessing. They usually outweigh the BS but the BS makes you forget your blessings. Dont forget em most times they're all you need. ツ

Why Lie?

I've been told all my life that honesty is the best policy. Then how come I know so many liars? Nobody tells the truth except when its in their best interest. Only when it counts for them. Im so sick of being lied to. I've always been a bad liar. I can never keep up with the lie. Once you start it, it has to be kept up. One lie leads to another and another. Smh After a while it becomes a full time job. Personally, I'd rather be hurt with the truth than being made to feel good with a lie. That feeling never lasts long. Then, you're hurt twice as worst than if you woulda just been told the truth from jump. All Im saying is, pls dont lie to me. I hate liars. 

Consideration

How hard is it for you to think of someone else? It's not. Selfishness is becoming one of the worst diseases out. SMH The only thing anybody can think of is ME! Sad. From ya home to ya job you can find the disease full blown. Why have people become so self centered? I know that times are hard but DAMN! What ever happened to, "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine?" I guess thats why they made back scratchers. So you can do it yourself.

FAIL

We have truly failed our kids. Smh I walk the streets each day and I get more and more disgusted at what I see. These kids are basically raising themselves. They make their own rules and do just as they please. I don't blame them of course, I blame these poor excuses for parents that they have. These parents are too worried about themselves to raise a child. Thier twats n johnsons, drug habits and fetishes out weigh the needs of their children. They don't have or want the time to deal with these kids. It's truly very sad. For instance, my nieghbor has five children. The oldest is six and the youngest is four months old and she is pregnant with the sixth child. Now, the man she says is the father of them all does live with her but he is a straight dead beat. No job. No money. He don't even have all his teeth. Smh Of course she don't 
work. She collects welfare and state checks like SSI or something. I mean, hey get what you can but come on man. Don't make a career out of collecting government checks. On top of him being a dead beat, he's abusive. He beats her in front of her kids and publicly. Smh She pays her children little to no attention. Her oldest isn't even in school yet. We live in a city and she feels that its ok for her kids to run barefoot up and down the street. They wear clothes that are too big or too small. They are never clean or have their hair combed. They're always begging for something. Don't walk by eating something, they run you down for whatever it is. You'd think the mother would stop them or correct thier behavior. She doesn't. She just looks at you with this stupid stare as if she expects you to give. Can you imagine what these kids will grow up to be like? They curse like sailors, have no manners and no shame. They WILL become menaces to society. The girls will spit babies out at a young age and will have no respect for themselves. The boys will be abusive losers looking for a handout all thier lives. Training starts at home. Yes, it does take a village to raise a child but morals are instilled at home. You can't create a monster and then expect people to deal with it. It don't work that way. The people will label that little monster and put him away. Without our children, there is no future.

The Natural Me

Change is good. We've all heard that one before. Well, Im gon have to agree. All change ain't good but I say hey give it here. I get tired of dealing with the same old BS all the time. No matter when or how, we will always experience some type of BS. The same BS all the time gets old. Besides that, it means you're going in circles, never solving anything. So I guess in the end, change is good. Anywhoo...change is what I needed about a year ago. My hair was long but it was damaged and uneven and beginning to thin in the front. I knew it was coming from perming my hair (and my famous ponytail wasn't helping much either) so I decided to do something drastic and go natural. I didn't want to continue to damage my hair. One of my worst fears is going bald, thinning or not having a healthy head of hair period. My Gramma always told me that a woman's hair is her crown and glory and to take care of it well. I followed her instructions well until I had my son in 1993 and got tired of caring for it naturally and not to mention I wasn't caring for it right anyway. I was frying it every chance I could with a straightening comb to get the straight look. Back then, that's how we got the permed look without the perm. I had no idea how to care for it so I did what I thought was right and permed it. SMH It provided the convenience I was looking for but it wasn't healthy and started a process of damaging my hair.

My last perm was in June 2010. The first few months wasn't bad of course. About eight months in, I began to get frustrated because it was becoming harder to deal with my hair and I was seeing alot of breakage. It began to scare me. I would call my sister with so many questions about how to deal with my hair. She knew a little about caring for hair. She kept up on that kind of stuff. She did her own hair a lot. Me, I depended on the salon all the time. She gave me lots of tips about how to condition and strengthen. She offered names to lots of products and techniques to care for my hair. It helped alot. I also took advice and tips from youtube videos and blogs, also friends who had gone natural too. I was noticing that my natural hair was growing and looking healthy but the permed hair looked, DEAD. It was falling out all over the place. It became hard to style and my hair looked a mess. All my life I've had a decent length of hair. I wasn't used to a short look and after eighteen years my husband wasn't used to it either. I was afraid to cut it. Some time passed and my natural hair was beginning to grow as long as the permed hair. The permed hair had all basically fallen off. It looked terrible. I couldn't take it anymore. I finally decided to just cut it a year later. Not short, just the permed hair. OMGEEE! I was so happy with the result! It took a day or two for me to get used to it but it was definitely the move to make. It looked awesome! A curly fro! LOL Too funny! I got all good feedback. Of course that made me know that what I did was right. So, now I'm wearing it curly. I haven't straightened it since I cut it two weeks ago and I probably won't for a while. At least the length of the summer. In just the two weeks time, I've noticed that it's grown nicely. I can't wait until the Christmas season! I'm dying to see what it's going to look like! I'm experimenting with different products to see which ones work better for me. I'm open to any suggestions that anybody would like to share. I know there's a lot of woman out there doing the natural challenge. I'm so glad I did. I wish I would have did it sooner. No, scratch that. I wish I never would've permed my hair. SMH @ me.

Cherokee Rose

Well, I guess this is my introduction to the world. Hello, I'm Cherokee Rose. A simple yet complicated woman doing nothing more than what I should. I'm no hero or saint nor am I famous or rich. Im just me. Along the way, u'll get to know more about me and what I like and don't like and a whole lot more. I look forward to meeting new and exciting people that I can learn from and maybe teach a lil of what I know. Anywhoo, the point being, I'm here. LOL Nice to meet u.