Those THREE FATEFUL WORDS!

I am 41 years old and in exactly 4 months minus a day or two from this day, I will be 42 years old. In that time, there have been many moments in my life when I was granted the opportunity to say exactly what I wanted to say.

There was the time when my boss' boss wanted me, a pharmacist, to make him a cup of gourmet coffee and I got to explain that the only reason he even had the audacity to suggest that I should make the coffee (in the gourmet deli located in the pharmacy where I was the chief pharmacist) was because I was a black female. I went on to point out that had I been a white, male pharmacist, [or technician for that matter], he would have waited for the deli staff to arrive and he would not even have considered asking me to undertake such a task.

Then there was the time that my son Ryan's teacher suggested that he should be put on medication for attention deficit disorder, to which I was able to submit for her consideration that a child who could lie beside his mother for two hours and read quietly to himself while she reads certainly did NOT have ADD. Furthermore, I suggested that maybe she might try to provide more of a challenge in her lesson plans so that Ryan as well as the other children in her class might feel more compelled to give her their attention.

As I said before, I have often had the opportunity to say exactly the words I have wanted to say. Even so, there is one phrase I have wanted to utter for some time ever since I first heard it spoken in one of my all-time favorite movies, "The Color Purple". Though I love this movie and have many catch phrases from it that I have utilized when the appropriate scenario presented itself, I have never been in the appropriate set of conditions for which my favorite phrase was indicated.

Well, will wonders never cease, because suddenly, and inexplicably, I find myself in just such a circumstance. Seemingly without warning and with no apparent reason except that GOD just decided that now is the time, I am finally and definitively on my way to being able to utter my favorite phrase from my favorite movie of all time. "What?", you might ask has caused the stars, sun, and moon to align themselves in such a manner to cause such an amazing opportunity to present itself. Well, it is the result of a very simple proposal. That's right folks, the PO has proposed. Even better, Ms. Just Right NOW! has said YES! And as a consequence of those two events, I will in less than one year (September 1, 2007....our wedding day) be able to utter those three fateful words in the tradition of Ms. Shug Avery before me.......

I'se Marryed Now!

She's BACKKKKKKKKKKKK!

Hopefully, some of you are still checking in here just in case I might show up. I TRULY HOPE SO. If you are, I'M BACK!!!! My mother has been so generous as to loan me the laptop my brother and I purchased for her a couple of years back as a gift until such time as I am able to get my own again.

All is well with me and slowly but surely I am getting back to my old self. I'm back at work and trying to readjust to life without naps! I'm finally out from under the mountain of work that was waiting for me when I got back and beginning once again to be more proactive as opposed to reactive when it comes to my approach to my job.

Things are great with Ryan. He is a starter on his school's varsity football team, and to date they are 7 and 1 on the season having lost only their first game this year. If they win two more games, they will make the state play-offs. The past summer has turned my big little boy into one heck of a responsible young man. He has completely impressed me this fall by getting himself up on his own and off to school on time to pick up the kid he drives in his carpool. He goes from school to football practice following which he drops his carpool buddy off at home. He arrives home around 8:15pm or so and after cleaning himself up and eating, he completes his homework without being told. His grades for the first quarter are exceptional, and as his amazed mother, I could not be more proud. Sometimes in life, we do things the way we are supposed to and get to see the end result of that. My son continues to reinforce the one thing I know for sure, I did the motherhood thing well, and he is no slouch in the sonhood department either!

The PO and I are still going strong. Things are going extremely well, and he is still venturing over the friendly skies down the I-70 connection to St. Louis on average about every two weeks. Though like all things in life, things are not perfect, they are still close enough to perfect that I find myself thanking GOD for the blessing that is my PO each and every day. More to come on this in upcoming posts.

So in a nutshell folks, I am alive and well. As is typical of my world, things are hectic, but as most of you know, that is the pace at which I tend to thrive. I will be posting regularly again barring any unforseen mishaps, and I sincerely hope that you all will come visit me as often as you used to before my unplanned, unfortunate disappearing act.