Homegirl Quel (kel) in Austin

So The Kennedys endorsed Barack Obama

I watched Ted Kennedy's endorsement on CNN last night and read the transcript a few minutes later on The Huffington Post. I'm nervoused-ed and excited.

Whatever the outcome of these primaries and the subsequent presidential election, what's happening right now in politics is exciting. I'm inspired. I'd like to think that turning 30 and growing up a bit is responsible for my increasing interest in politics, but all credit goes to what's happening right now with Barack Obama (especially) and Hillary. I don't ever recall politics being this exciting. To have a black man and a woman as viable candidates for Leader Of The Free World, is just exciting. A black man, y'all. A woman! 

I'm nervous to be hopeful, but it's hard not to imagine what a powerful impact it would have on our black sons and daughters to see a reflection of themselves in the White House, or for girls to see a woman in charge. It's nervousing, and inspirational, and SO exciting.

Therapy begins tonight!

In Treatment premiers on HBO tonight. 
Every day of the week there's a new episode. 
Monday-Friday at 9:30pm/8:30C on HBO.

Daily half-hour therapy sessions. That's it! This is going to be SO good?

Here's the weekly run-down of the sessions:

• Mondays-Semi-crazy lady who's afraid to move on with her fiance and thinks/claims she's in love with the therapist with whom she's had no romantic interactions.
• Tuesdays-Perfectionist Air Force pilot with a guilty conscience about collateral damage on his latest mission. This is Blair Underwood's character, y'all! He's so handsome and SUCH a great actor. I watched a sneak-peak on HBO OnDemand. I know he's going to be nominated/win an award for this series.
• Wednesdays-Possibly suicidal teenage girl. She's some kind of prodigy who her parents think was in a motorcycle accident on purpose.
• Thursdays-Screwed up married couple--wife is pregnant and wants to abort, husband wants the baby, current husband was wife's lover during her previous marriage.
• Fridays-The Therapist...has a therapist! Love it! His marriage is screwed up and he wants his clients to just grow up and go away. I LOVE it!

Is anybody else planning to watch?

Update: Of course I'll love this series. It's a Rodrigo Garcia production. I didn't realize it until the credits rolled after the first episode. Nobody...no.bo.dy. conveys the most complex emotional experiences of women specifically and of humans in general better than him. You should IMDB him. He's great. So weeks 1 and 2 of the season are on HBO on Demand. I watched all of week 1 already. It's awesome.

37 Weeks!

Just a matter of time before there's another man in my life! Everything is going great and we're SO ready...and anxious,,,and EXCITED! My biggest concern at this point is making it to the hospital in time to get the IV dripping into my general spinal region. I'm not trying to feel an.ty more pain than I have to. I appreciate the beauty and benefits of drug-free labor, but I also appreciate the advances in medical science...and being as pain-free as possible...and drugs.

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures!

New picture of the baby at 37 weeks. I had an unexpected sonogram last week. My doc couldn't feel where his head was, so she ordered a quickie for me. I was SO excited to see him again...and to see that he was still a he...and to see that his head was positioned where they wanted it to be. This picture isn't as clear as the others, because he's more squashed up in there, but hopefully y'all can see him: he's facing the camera, his forehead is on the right and his eyes are those two dark slits in the middle--his cheeks and chin are in the middle of the image just before the brightest white part of the image. We have a DVD of the sonogram too. Maybe that's why it's so easy for me to make-out where his face is. i can't wait to see him in person!

New pictures of me at 37 weeks. The family and close-enough friends got the actual real images of me. For y'all (and for my need to not be a little too exposed on the Internet) I applied a special effect to the images before posting them. Obviously I love to share bits and pieces of myself with the world, but naked baby belly...I'm not so comfy with. Still, you get to see how this baby is shaping me up. :) I'm actually planning to frame all 3 of these images in a 3-part frame. I think they look pretty cool.

New pictures of the finished nursery. It turned out just like I wanted it to. I only need to get black-out blinds for the window and there's one more piece de resistance to go on the wall over the bookcase and room will be all set. My mom will be organizing the closet space. Billy and I go into the nursery very frequently and just look at it, pretend like we're tucking a baby into the crib and turn on the mobile just to listen and watch it for a second. We're having fun being silly and "playing" parents. I hope it's as much fun as we're expecting it to be.

Pictures from our baby shower (additional pics coming soon). The shower was SO MUCh FUN! I missed some people who couldn't make it, but we had a great time with the friends and family who did come. My brilliant sister flew in from D.C. and was an excellent host. Her best friend from high school also flew in from IN and was an excellent co-host. My mom and aunts came down from Memphis (missed y'all Paula, Lisa and Amber). Summer Breeze was there holdin' it down for our other college homies who couldn't make the trip to Austin (missed y'all Browngirl, Blen, Tonya and Rhonda). It was fun. I felt very loved. As many of you know, I love/collect frog things, so the theme for the shower was our own version of Little Frog Prince. And OMG, I just discovered a whole line of frog bathroom decorations for kids at World Market. I'm fighting the urge to buy everything now, mainly because my kid won't be able to really enjoy the decor for a couple more years, so a kid themed bathroom wouldn't make much sense now.    

HomeBaby Updates! Pics!

I stayed home Friday from work. My energy level during the first 35 weeks of my pregnancy was great. Now, in week 37, pregnancy fatigue has decided to grip me in a mean headlock for a minute. Morning sickness is back with a vengeance too. I finally took the day off on Friday, which was a great idea. Even if I wanted to, my body was like "hell to tha naw...I dare you to get up off this bed." I napped off and on all day, slept until noon on Saturday and napped most of today. The cold I had been dealing with for a couple of weeks is almost gone and I feel a LOT less sleepy...tired still, but not as sleepy.

After my noon breakfast I got busy updating HomeBaby with the pics and updates on my soon-to-be-over pregnancy, the baby shower and the nursery today.

If you care, click here for the latest.

Bill, Bill, Bill

In his defense, he has been hitting the campaign trail pretty hard for the wife...

Clinton Caught Nodding Off During MLK Service

Still, Bill, you know you on television! Drink a Red Bull or something, man!

Hear y'all, hear y'all!

My sister officially finished the first full draft of her dissertation at approximately 2:00PM CST today! 

I seriously needed to document and announce this to the world.

YAAAAAAAAAAAY, Adriane!

Tagged again!

Browngirl tagged me. Refreshing that many of these questions haven't been meme'd by me before. So here goes...

1. At what age do you wish to marry?
   23
2. What color do you like most?
   purple
3. Where is the place that you want to go the most?
   London
4. Which part of you do you hate the most?
   The part that doubts myself
5. When you encounter a sad moment, what do you do?
   Withdraw
6. What are you afraid to lose the most?
   My beauty. That's shallow, but it's the truth.
7. If you win $1 million, what would you do?
   Give 10 percent to charity. Gift my peeps. Get a house on a bunch of land somewhere by a lake. Save /invest what's left. Get a couple more dogs for Okie ad Stella to run around with. Have a couple more babies and chill.
8. How did you celebrate the New Year?
   At a church concert.
9. Til now, what is the moment that you regret the most?
   It's private, but I can say that I'll never do that again. It's not the easiest thing in the world to forgive yourself.
10. Which type of person do you hate the most?
    Hurt people who hurt people. Why unhappy people begrudge others their happiness is beyond me.
11. What is your ambition?
    To be a writer...for pay. To be a great mom to many children and wife to Billy.
12. If you had one wish what would you wish for?
    To be a perfect size 10 forever
13. Name one of your body parts your hubby or boyfriend tells you he adores:
    my hips (and surrounding frontal region)
14. What is the best gift you can give someone this year?
    A son to my husband.
15. List two of your Top Ten New Year’s Resolutions.
    I didn't make resolutions this year, but as usual, I'd like to pick up where I left off before I got pregnant and get fit again. I didn't gain much weight, so it shouldn't be that hard. I'd also like to walk my dogs more often.
16. What do you need to do this year in order for you to be happier in life?
    I don't think I could be happier than I am in life right now. It'd be nice to be skinny-me again, though. I'd enjoy life more, I think, if I were back to my old self. First things first though...gotta birth this baby.
17. What are the Top 2 things that you are most thankful for the year 2007 that made you even more happier for 2008?
    Getting pregnant. Getting back in touch with an old friend.
18. What was the best lesson you learned in 2007 (be specific)?
    The people you love should never have to wonder how much.
19. In this very moment, are you doing what you thought you’d be doing at this stage in your life?
    Yes. For the past 10 or 11 years I've pretty much expected to be married to Billy and having his babies right about now.
20. If you knew tomorrow was the final day of existence, what would you do today?
    As much as I would want to be with my siblings and parents, I wouldn't waste time traveling to them. I'd call them like I do almost everyday to share one last laugh. On the last day, I'd go to a lake somewhere here in Austin and enjoy nature with Billy and my dogs from sun-up until the end.

I'm supposed to add a question to the list for the people I tag to answer...

  21.   If you could do over any moment or decision in your life, what would it be?

Y'all are it! GC, Safa, Bunny, Honest, Cornflakegal

The FDA is hell-bent on making a vegetarian outta me...

FDA says food from cloned animals is safe
By Rick Weiss

WashingtonPost.com — "A long-awaited final report from the Food and Drug Administration concludes that foods from healthy cloned animals and their offspring are as safe as those from ordinary animals, effectively removing the last U.S. regulatory barrier to the marketing of meat and milk from cloned cattle, pigs and goats. "<<more>>

It's just not right. Period. When I heard this on news radio this morning, I threw up a little bit in my mouth, heard my inner Mya Wilks say, "AwheeeaaallNO", and just shook my head. I totally get the need to make scientific advances in medicine for the sake of curing diseases and tampering with natural rice grains to make them more nutritious for poor countries where it's the main source of food, but this cloning mammals shizznit is messing with nature a little too much for my taste (pun intended). These scientists need to know when to say when on helping Mother Nature out.

No thank you, Mr. FDA. If/when this Frankenstein meat hits our food supply, it's brown rice, beans and broccoli for me.

This writer's strike is SO not awesome

Since Grey's Anatomy aired a new episode (which I missed because I hadn't reprogrammed my DVR after switching boxes) out of nowhere last week, and since watching the episodes online come with annoying commercials that you can't fast forward through, I googled around and found this comprehensive list of major network shows and how many new episodes are left until the strike is over. Fortunately Scrubs, Nip Tuck and Prison Break have a few new episodes on the way. Why isn't Girlfriends even on the list? Other CW shows are. Whatev. My DVR is set to catch new episodes of it if/when they pop up.

F.Y.I.

I've posted to my Honeymag.com blog. I haven't posted over there for a couple of months. I SO don't want to get fired, so please check it out. I'm slowly making my way back...

Questions

1. Why am I not surprised Will Smith announced he's Scientologist? Will and Jada have been mighty chummy with Tom and Katie these days. Apparently Jada's not into it, though. Interesting. I also read that they have no paper goods in their home...not even toilet paper. I must say, I have respect for anybody who cares that much about anything to let it affect their lifestyle. I care about Mother Earth, but I don't think I can ever stop squeezing the Charmin.
2. Why didn't anybody tell me Grey's Anatomy was new last night?! I heard about it on the radio this morning. I heard some things went down too--they didn't spoil it. I had stopped recording it...Writer's strike got me all fed up with TV. Now I gotta watch it online...after I re-set my DVR to record it.
3. Speaking of Grey's Anatomy, why is Blair Underwood showing up on 3 different shows right now, on 2 different networks and HBO on 3 different shows and ain't showed up as Dr. Burke's replacement on Grey's yet? Somebody go get him and drag him by the ear over to Seattle Grace, please.
4. Why is the lemonade so good at Chic-A-Fillet that I went through the drive through and only bought the lemonade? I didn't even get waffle fries! Sometimes it bees like that.
5. Why is Brit-Brit going through such a hard time? I need for the tides to turn and for people to light a candle for her. I don't really care so much about her as a performer, but my heart goes out to her. What she's dealing with is hard enough for a regular Joe, but to have it be everybody's business? I hope she makes it back from whatever dark place she's in.
6. Why am I SO excited about my baby shower this weekend, but SO embarrassed to open the gifts? I hate hate hate to be the center of attention. My wedding day was even hard for me. But apparently people like showers and like to give things, so my sister forced me to have first the bridal and now the baby shower...a co-ed one! Her best friend flew in too help her host...and my kin folks are coming down from Memphis...and my bosses and some co-workers are coming...and some other friends of ours...and our neighbors...and it's going to be so much fun! Everything but the gift opening part. Trust me, I'm grateful for the stuff, but I can't help it, y'all! I'm shy. :)

I posted a pic of my semi-finished nursery on HomeBaby. Check it out...

Finishing touches and his nursery will be ready!

 

It's all coming together!

 

Happy New Year, Y'all!

I'm so late, I know, but I'm still here. I've been busy nesting and holiday hosting and working and sleeping. Seriously, that's all I've been up to. I haven't even watched Girlfriends, Scrubs or Gilmore Girls reruns in two weeks...that's how busy I've been. Usually at the start of a new year, I have a list of resolutions. This year, no resolutions from me. I just hope taking care of my new baby comes natural to me. I really need it to be easy. Like...neeeeed it to be easy. I hope I don't neglect my dogs when he gets here. I hope I get back into the blog swing ASAP. I've seen some cool movies and visited some neat shows and restaurants in the city while hosting family and friends from Thanksgiving to last week, but have had some serious writer's block. I'll be back soon...hopefully with something way interesting to say.