Happy New Year! 2005 is looking mighty fine...

I've had no time to write so here's what's been happening to me in the past month:

1) Went to Las Vegas (not for pleasure) a couple of times to jack off into a plastic cup. Joanne was doing IVF treatments there. Good doctor, shitty staff. All for not, though. Third failed IVF and second mortgage is like a car payment (except it lasts for thirty friggin' years instead of 5). Thank God for refinancing.

2) Got a call from a birthmother in Sac; two days later she's at our house doing a match meeting with our adoption counselor. Two weeks later, we're in a delivery room at UC Davis Medical Center hearing the pains of labor. Three hours later, we've got a precious little girl in our arms. We named her Mya Josephine, and she came out 7lbs 10oz and 20 inches long. Birthmom was really gracious and wonderful throughout and the genes are pretty good. BF is a musician and 6'5'' tall. He's a white dude who still hasn't signed his relinquishment papers. At least he's been given the 30-day notice, which means he will automatically relinquish his rights if he doesn't respond in the allotted time. Birthmom is a beautiful Laotian/Thai/Chinese 20 year old who still wants to go to college, and pay the bills away from Mommy and Daddy. Get this, she works at Home Depot in Lumber and Contruction and drives a forklift. She was telling us that she constantly gets marriage proposals from all of the contractors that come in and get help from her.

Mya is doing well right now and is with family at home as we speak. It is T-minus 1 hour and 15 minutes til 2005, and I'm at Sage House working at the group home. Kids are all asleep, but shit has been going down at this house in the past two months, so we have to be extra-vigilant. Apparently, staff members were so relaxed with their rules, that they allowed two kids to be out of their eyesight for some period of time. As a result, one kid was constantly being sodomized by two other kids, no doubt, sexual predators in their own right. It's sad how the cycle just continues to perpetuate itself through the psychological hell that these kids have been through. So there are two of us right now, and I'm parked upstairs in the hallway with a computer in hand, so I thought I would blog.....finally.

Here are some pics of our little bundle of joy:



Daddy's little girl



Two beautiful women



Waddup, fool?

TWO damn good, long days

Woohoo! It's been a couple of days since I last left you, and it's been a whirlwind. Let me summarize, Lynch Mob style:

Thursday

Middle of da night - Didn't actually do too much in the middle of the night; just compiled all of my work from my computer and made sure it was ready to go to my compueter at work. Then I slumbered for two hours and got my ass up at 3:30am to get to the office at 4:30am

4:30am - Nobody on da streets and it took me 16 minutes to get to work, approximately 15.8 miles away. Brought the tape of Arsenal at Liverpool, which provided ambient noise and pictures, while I worked feverishly to not only get my December Deliverables done, but to make sure it was good quality. Also played the final race of the World Rally Car circuit. Worked like a mojo on databases, progress reports, photographs, student work, etc. until 9:30am.

8:30am - one of my co-workers comes in and tries to get stuff ready for her teaching. I'm actually teaching in the same school as her, so we ready our stuff together. She was kind enough to get both of our stuff together, albeit she was bothering the fuck out of me while I tried to finish my shit. I guess some peeps don't really understand how it is when you're stressed as an MF and you want to be left the fuck alone!

Let me stop right here. A couple of my co-workers have been pissing me off the last couple of days. Even though I have the weight of these reports to finish, Joanne's impending medical treatments, transportation, and babysitting of the pups, financial issues, along with morning and night injections that number in the 10's every day, not to mention the good news that I will soon tell you about (woohoo!), I have to deal with these peoples' issues! Jesus, Mary, Joseph, could you lay off me a little bit, you little monkeys. One co-worker of mine got on my case for having to leave for Las Vegas for an emergency procedure because I was missing a program meeting. A fuckin' program meeting?!?!? When she did this, I said curtly, "I've got my priorities straight, and the program meeting is not on the top of my list, so stick it up your wanker." Ok, I didn't say that last part, but I wanted to. This chick can get a little agro when it comes to "reminding" you of your shit. In fact, she "reminded" me of a meeting an evaluation right in front of a teacher, which was completely unprofessional. I didn't call her on it, though, because she has been very helpful to me in these first three months of work. Can't say the same for my other co-worker. She tells me to ask her anything and she'll help you out. When I do, she shoots me down as if I'm dumber than mud. No, thank you, sweetheart. I can't depend on your passive aggressive ass.

Cube, break these fools off!



This same co-worker gets on my case this morning. I come in at 11am, after buying a shitload of crap at Orchard, going to storage, and calling teachers in the morning, and this chick has the nerve to ask, "Did you just get in for the day?" All I reply is "Yup". I got a thick skin, so I can handle these people's bullshit. Later, my other co-worker (who actually played peacemaker) tells me that her and Miss Passive Aggressive worked a 12-hour day yesterday, and I retort, "Don't bitch about that, I worked 16 hours, so I don't care what time I get in this morning." A little childish of my, I admit, but PassAggro had to hear it.

Then her ass gets on my case about a field trip she's trying to schedule and tries to point out that I didn't email her in time, and I was procrastinating on my shit. I pointed out that she's been giving misinformation about the field trip site, and she goes wacko. She goes into the other room, gets into her PassAggro shell, and just indiscriminantly says things to get my attention. Fuck you, chick. I ain't got time for your little ego trip. The way she was whining and complaining reminded me of a five-year old not getting her way. My other co-worker (another one who has been really helpful to me) plays peacemaker and tells us to squash it. That's a departure for her, because she usually mutters fucked up shit whenever someone's having a bad time. I remember when my boss told me to "step up my recruiting" (recruiting of teacher, that is) during a staff meeting, and when the meeting was over, this chick mutters to herself "fresh meat". I think her inner voice sometimes comes out to her mouth. Nonetheless, this chick has really helped me out with my teaching and my administration, so I'm thankful to her.

Sorry, I got trigonometric on your ass and went off on a tangent. You'd think these incidences would make me have a miserable day, but I'm a positive person, and I shed that crap off me like shit from a dog's ass. Back to my day:

10:30am - teach one of my favorite lessons to a school in San Pablo. Kids are very responsive to my teaching style. I really am impressed with the improvement they made from the first lesson. They weren't that bad in the first lesson, but I think their teacher lets them get a little talkative and rowdy. I ain't having that shit, so I make students leave the activity, if they ain't got their shit together. But they still love my ass, because I inject humor, positive reinforcement (gave out pencils and rulers to those who were on point), and make the lesson fun as hell. Those kids are very intelligent, they were on my questions like a fly on a cow's ass.

12pm - during lunch, I get a message from Jo that a birthmother is very interested in us, and would like to contact us. It's been a month since we finished up all our paperwork and coincidently last talked to a birthmother who is due in January, and that one was all the way in Lincoln, Nebraska! We had a birthmother in San Jose that was also interested is us two days before that, but we decided to pass because she had just given birth and we could not take in a baby at that time. This new birthmother lives in Sac. Needless to say, I'm beaming.

3pm - drop by storage and get tree planting stuff for my co-worker, as well as drop off our teaching shit. Get another message from Jo that ANOTHER birthmother is interested in us. This one's in Concord. Unfortuantely, she was addicted to pain medications and used all throughout the pregnancy. The father of the baby beat her up, so she was in so much pain that she needed it. Sad, but we're still there for the baby if she decides to contact us. Every baby deserves a chance to live and be loved.

4pm - finish up my December Deliverable Report. Lots of peeps in the office, so I tried not to be bothered by their "pressing" issues. Jeez.

5pm - phone-a-thon: we had this event to raise funds for transportation coasts and scholarships. It was pretty disorganized though. My co-worker sent out fundraising letters that didn't say we would be calling them, so a lot of people got mad because they got hit up twice. I can't blame them, I hate getting shit in the mail, and worse, getting solicitation phone calls. I think I'll ask Jossie to call my list of people (I only did 5-6 people) because she works for the Cal annual fund, so she's a pro.

I think we did more harm than good, because people get resentful when you bother them too much. Especially if they already support your program. I'll bring it up with the boss next time.

7:30pm - had to hightail it home for Jo's shots; any more than 12 hours spaced apart, it becomes null and ineffective. I swear I should be a Med Tech administering all of these shots. Either that or a heroin addict.

8pm - 1st birthmother calls us! OMG. She's so normal, I thought to myself. She loves to cook, has a big family, and they are supportive of her impending adoption. To top it off, the baby's gonna be a mutt! Moms is asian and pops is white. Joanne has always wanted to have a mutt, because they are the most beautiful babies in the world. I would agree. We have a cousin who married a white guy, and neither one of them is spectacularly good-lookin' (at least not as good looking as yours truly, Big Sexy), but their kids came out like little models. Cute as a couple of buttons.

So our conversation ends in us scheduling a match meeting on Saturday. She's gonna drive down from Sac and we'll have lunch and later meet with an adoption counselor. I forgot to write that since Jo and I will be in Vegas for our medical treatments, I have to be available at a drop of a hat to fly to Sac and pick up the baby at the hospital. Her due date is soon! And so is our medical procedure. So Jo schedules me a flight out to Vegas this Sunday, so I could do my dirty deed, and fly back to the Bay on Monday morning.

Tonight, I bought a crib, comforter set, mobile, rug, car seat, etc. and it cost 500 bucks. A drop in the hat for a miracle waiting to happen.

It Was a Good, Long Day

The previous post is the song lyrics to Ice Cube's "It Was A Good Day", one of my favorite rap songs...I can actually rap along with this one, cuz Cube has a slow, deliberate cadence.



For me today has been very long, but very good. Here's the rundown:

4am - woke up and walked dogs, prepped for work, took vitamins, ate breakfast, clean up dog and rabbit crap; then watched the news, went on the internet, and took a nap

8am - gave Jo her shots, thank God they were only sub-cutaneous and not intra-muscular. Those intra-muscular needles are long as a dong!

8:30am - left a message for our Staffing Coordinator at Seneca to thank her for putting me on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and night, New Year's Eve and night. I really need the double-time.

9am - high-tailed it to work and put away yesterday's teaching supplies in our storage bin, went to the office and picked up my co-worker, loaded up the truck with 16 smelly-ass fish and crabs, and scooted to San Pablo to teach for the day.

10am - 2pm - taught 4th graders about fish and crab, played the food chain game, watched our video, and had fun! Also had lunch at this burger joint in Richmond that looked like a hole in a wall. Had the best cheeseburger I've had in a long time!

2pm - finally got my teacher's contract which I've been asking for each time I came to teach! Kristina got me an ice cream pop and high-tailed it back to the office.

3pm - discovered three of my other teachers' contracts on my desk (fuck yeah!); my boss praised Jo's websites and is looking to hire her to do our website. Had to bust a move to San Ramon to conduct an orientation meeting.

3:45pm - was late for the meeting, but got a hold of the teacher to inform her; the meeting was cool, and the teachers were excited. The school makes every other school I've ever seen look like a ghetto. This was one rich-ass neighborhood.

4:30 - Jo leaves me a message on my cell that someone finally contacted us and is very interested in us. I start singing in the car.

5:30pm - I get home and find Liverpool playing Arsenal on TV, two of my favorite English Premier League Futbol clubs. And to top it off, Liverpool wins in the 92nd minute with a last-second goal by Mellar.

6pm - walk Belly and she's doing well with her training; I'm working on her heel.

7pm - get a call from a teacher who I've been trying to contact for months! We finally get our signals on the same line. This is a big load off my work shoulders.

7:30pm - get another call from a Special Ed Teacher who is very thankful to me for giving her class a discount and accomodating her students. Her kids consist of an autistic student, and blind student, a deaf student, two wheelcahir-bound students, and a couple of SED kids. It's gonna be a challenge, but I'm up for it.

8pm - get another call from my co-worker, and we set up our teaching schedule tomorrow, she gives me info I've been waiting on for a while, and I debrief her on my meeting.

8:15pm - remembered Lost was on ABC and watched a really good episode. Alias is dog crap compared to this show. The cliffhangers they have every week are awesome. This one was no exception.

9pm - more shots for the wifey! 5 shots in total. I dunno how she does it. She's half woman - half amazing.

10pm - bloggin' and I finally got my 250 MB from Hotmail. Every last person I know received their storage update sometime in November, but those assholes at MSN decided to make me sweat it until December. Fuck you, Bill Gates.

So that was my day. No gats or drive-bys like my bruddah, Ice Cube. No booty calls, no social life (I'm working all the holidays), and no jackers in sight. "And, today, I didn't even have to use my A.K." But nonetheless, a very good day. Now, I'm gonna get 1-2 hours sleep, and work on my reports all night into tomorrow morning. No rest for the weary.

It Was a Good Day

Just waking up in the morning gotta thank God
I don't know but today seems kinda odd
No barking from the dog, no smog
And momma cooked a breakfast with no hog
I got my grub on, but didn't pig out
Finally got a call from a girl wanna dig out
Hooked it up for later as I hit the dough
Thinking will i live, another twenty-fo'
I gotta go cause I got me a drop top
And if I hit the switch, I can make the ass drop
Had to stop at a red light
Looking in my mirror not a jacker in sight
And everything is alright
I got a beep from Kim and she can fuck all night
Called up the homies and I'm askin y'all
Which court, are y'all playin basketball?
Get me on the court and I'm trouble
Last week fucked around and got a triple double
Freaking brothers every way like M.J.
I can't believe, today was a good day
Drove to the pad and hit the showers
Didn't even get no static from the cowards
Cause just yesterday them fools tried to blast me
Saw the police and they rolled right past me
No flexin, didn't even look in a niggaz direction
as I ran the intersection
Went to Short Dog's house, they was watchin yo on TV Raps
What's the haps on the craps
Shake em up, shake em up, shake em up, shake em
Roll em in a circle of niggaz and watch me break em
With the seven, seven-eleven, seven-eleven
Seven even back do' little Joe
I picked up the cash flow
Then we played bones, and I'm yellin domino
Plus nobody I know got killed in South Central L.A.
Today was a good day
Left my niggaz house paid
Picked up a girl been tryin to fuck since the twelve grade
It's ironic, I had the brew she had the chronic
The Lakers beat the Supersonics
I felt on the big fat fanny
Pulled out the jammy, and killed the punanny
And my dick runs deep, so deep, so deep
put her ass to sleep
Woke her up around one
she didn't hesitate, to call Ice Cube the top gun
Drove her to the pad and I'm coasting
Took another sip of the potion hit the three-wheel motion
I was glad everything had worked out
Dropped her ass off, then I chirped out
Today was like one of those fly dreams
Didn't even see a berry flashing those high beams
No helicopter looking for a murder
Two in the morning got the fat burger
Even saw the lights of the Goodyear Blimp
And it read Ice Cube's a pimp
Drunk as hell but no throwing up
Half way home and my pager still blowing up
Today I didn't even have to use my A.K.
I got to say it was a good day.
Hey wait, wait a minute fool
Stop the shit
What the fuck am I thinking about?

-Ice Cube and da Lynch Mob

Birth and Death

I had a pretty eerie day. One of my co-workers and I taught at a school in San Pablo, and it was her birthday. Later on in the day, Jo told me that our sister-in-law, Arlene, was also having her birthday today. When I got home from work, they had some crap-ass NBC Christmas special from Rockefeller Plaza, and Gay...I mean Clay Aiken was singing. It was his birthday, too!

On the flipside, Arlene told us that Josie and Riz De Ala's grandson (they were one of our wedding primary sponsors) had just died. He was two months old and recovering from a horrible birth defect where his organs were outside of his body at birth. Also, my boss from Seneca (the group home) called me and informed me that one of our Therapists that treats the kids just committed suicide two day ago. The managers all decided to fully enclose her death to the kids, but I'm sure they won't say how she died (or maybe they will if too many of the kids probe about it). She jumped off the Richmond/San Rafael bridge, which if you don't know, is pretty high up from the surface of the water. The irony lies on so many planes, including the fact that a Therapist, someone who is professionally trained to treat people, could not treat herself from her demons. Many of our kids are suicidal, themselves, and I have NO idea how this will affect them. Apparently, many people knew of her depression and problems, and tried to help her, but it wasn't enough. I just hope that she has found some measure of peace, and her family will eventually understand and cope with her decision.

However fucked up your life may be, it's never worth it to end your life. I truly believe that there will be dire consequences in the after-life for those who take their lives. I ain't gonna quote scripture or deliver the Catholic's church official stance on it, because as far as I'm concerned, the Catholic's unofficial stance on most things have been demonic, even to condone shit like the sexual abuse of minors.
I just know that ending one's life intentionally will not find a person peace, it will just end the pain temporarily.