2 Turtles and a catfish

Today I did not feel like going to the gym. But I still wanted to get in some sort of workout. I decided that I was going to take a walk around/through my neighborhood. I see people all the time walking and jogging. And the area where I live is pedestrian friendly. They have lots of sidewalks and paths.  I didn't want to walk alone so I asked Darrius if he wanted to come with me. Plus I didn't want to leave Darrius at home by himself. I knew I'd be gone for an hour or so. He hesitantly agreed but I could tell that he wasn't feeling the idea. So I bribed him. I promised him that we could feed the duck and geese once we got to Kingstowne. Of course he was down with that idea.

Darrius feeding the ducks.

Beautiful fall foliage.

More ducks arrived once they saw that we had food.




The evening was nice. The temperature was perfect for walking. Darrius and I talked the entire time which was nice. He updated me with what was going on with school and his friends. Sixth grade is so dramatical. LOL! Once we arrived at the pond, we fed the ducks - 100% whole wheat bread only.  When then walked over to this bridge so that Darrius could throw rocks in the water. As I was peering in the murky water, I saw something move. It was a turtle. Two of them! We watched them for a while and then Darrius saw more movement in the water. He says it was a catfish. He pointed it out to me. I saw the tail then the head of the fish. I don't know if it was a catfish but it was a fish.

I wish I'd brought my camera so that I could have gotten a better picture. This was taken with my cellphone. Somewhere in that murky water are 2 turtles and a catfish.

As we headed back home, Darrius was excited that we had our walk. He recounted the events saying: "We fed the ducks. And we saw two turtles and a catfish. This was a good walk mom."

And there you have it.

Forever by Judy Blume

This is a story about love. Kath and Michael met at a friend's New Year's Eve party. They start dating and the relationship becomes serious. Michael wants to take the relationship to the next level - sex. Kath isn't sure she's ready for sex. Or if Michael is The One she wants to lose her virginity to. Forever takes you on a journey of two teenagers in love, thinking that it's true love, and that they will be together forever. But at the age of 18, can you really find true love? Or is just your first love? One of many "loves" you encounter along the way to true love?

I remember reading this book when I was in middle school. The appeal at the time was that the book contained explicit material; in other words SEX! And bad language. This book was way different from the Sweet Valley High books I was reading at the time. One of my friends had the book and the book was passed around our little group of friends, from one friend to the next. None of us were bold enough to purchase the book on our own. Before Forever, I knew of Judy Blume through her YA (young adult) books - Blubber, Are You There God? It's Me Margaret and Superfudge. I was shocked to discover that Forever was more than just a story about a boy and a girl and teenage first love.

The reason why I thought about Forever was due to last week being Banned Book Week. I perused the list on the ALA's website and saw that Forever was on the list. I couldn't understand why. Yes, there's some language and sex in the book, but as I remembered, the story was more about Kath dealing with experiencing first love and the emotions and responsibility that comes with being in a relationship.  I decided that I would re-read the book. Maybe it was more explicit than I remembered.

Master by Bridget Morrow

"All she could think about was how careless she'd been, and how now she was dead"

The book Master takes place during slavery. The year is 1861 when we meet Lila, a 17 year old slave. She had just witnessed the lynching of her boyfriend, Percy. She is captured by Percy's killers (one of them being her owner, Mr. Benjamin).  She struggles but resigns herself to meeting the same fate as Percy. Just when she thinks her life is over, Lila is rescued by a mysterious man. She is not scared of him. When he removes the noose from around her neck and lifts her off the ground, she asks him if he is God. Lila is in and out of consciousness for several days. She finally wakes up but she doesn't feel the same. She learns the name of her rescuer, Alex, and that she is now like him. A vampire.

I first heard of this boook on the Goodreads webiste. The premise of the book piqued my interest. I was in my vampire stage after reading the Twilight books and the Black Dagger Brotherhood books. It took almost a year for me to find a website where I could order the book. I was so excited when I ordered the book from Publish America and it arrived a couple of weeks later.

Alex and Lila has a love that is like no other. Alex fell in love with Lila when she was an infant. He knew that he was going to "turn her". He didn't count on it being so soon. Reading this and it's only 20 pages into the book, I couldn't wait to dive into the life of Alex and Lila. A love that strong and passionate makes for a volatile and interesting relationship, especially since they are vampires which only amplifies the emotion.

Unfortunately, the focus o fthe majority of the book was not on Alex and Lila, but on Sally and other characters, which Alexa and Lila were a part of. The vampires were secondary characters in my opinion. I wanted more of Alex and Lila without Sally. I could have cared less about Sally and her life.  This was not what I expected. When the plot would shift from Alex & Lila and onto someone I had no interest in, I was disappointed. You can't tease the reader with this great love between two vampires and not write in detail about that love! I felt that Bridget Morrow, in her writing, would all of a sudden remember, "oh yeah. I need to write that Alex and Lila are madly in love". And then she'd move on to another character.  I know that due to their living circumstances, Sally was an important person in their life. But I didn't think it warranted being the majority of the book. 

I was ready for the book to be over. My disappointment continued with each turn of the page. Maybe I set my expectations too high.

It's an easy read. Some parts were a little confusing due to flashbacks or references to events that happened in that the reader was not aware of or that wasn't explained clearly. 

Don't expect this book to be like other paranormal romances or vampire books out there. 

My rating: 2.5/5

Breast Cancer Awareness

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Everyone has been affected by breast cancer or knows someone that has been affected. My mother-in-law passed away of breast cancer May 2001. She did not get the chance to see her only grandchild grow up. And my son will grow up without knowing his wonderful Grandma Viceta.


African-American women are more likely to die from breast cancer than white women even though we have a lower incidence of having it after the age of 40. Breast cancer is treatable through early detection. So please ladies....feel your boobies! Get a yearly mammogram. Early detection is the KEY!

Banned Books Week

This week is Banned Books Week (September 26 through October 3). I just discovered this today so I'm late to the game. I went on the American Library Association's website to look at their banned books list. I wanted to see what had been added to the list and to see if any books that I've read was on the list.  The list is phenomenal. There were books that I read in high school and that are considered literary classics that were on that list! What is wrong with this picture! I am so happy that I went to an international school overseas that encouraged the students to explore outside what was on the curriculum. That freedom to chose the books I wanted to read and to discover new authors helped shape the person I am today. I love to read. I have a hunger for it. I can't imagine going a month without reading a book. I hope when Darrius is in high school he will have to the change to discover these works of art.

Here are some of the books on the Banned Books List:
The Great Gatsby (I just read it for the 1st time this spring. And I loved it!)
The Catcher in the Rye
To Kill A Mockingbird (one of my all time favorite book and movie - I loved Gregory Peck as Atticus)
The Grapes of Wrath
Invisible Man
Native Son (this was the first book that I picked on my own to read for leisure. It was not required reading for school)
The Call of the Wild
Go Tell it on the Mountain

And the list goes on. It's sad that there are people out there trying to get these books taken out of our libraries and our schools. These books are Great American Literature.

To celebrate Banned Books Week, I'm going to pick 1 or 2 books from the list and read (or re-read) them. I'm not going to purchase them. I'm going to support my local library by checking out the books. I suggest everyone do the same.  We can not let these books be taken out of our schools, libraries and bookstores.

Here's the list of banned and challenged books for 2008-2009

Fall into Reading Challenge - Update

One week into the challenge and I've already finished two books and I'm halfway through my third. Woo! I am on a roll. Thanks to the challenge, my summer book purchase pile is slowly dwindling. I think I may actually be able to finish my book list by the December deadline.

Here's my updated list:

Books I need to Finish:

Black Hills

The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Living Dead in Dallas

Morrigan's Cross

Books I've purchased but haven't read:

Feminista

For Colored Girls...

Master (currently reading)

Club Dead

Valley of Silence

Push

Say You're One of Them

I'm tempted to add more books to my list since I'm on a roll. But I don't want to get ahead of myself.

Happy Reading!!

Gold Star for Me!

Yay! I'm so happy! I woke up at 4:15 this morning and went to the gym - accomplishment #1. I then weight trained for 30 minutes - accomplishment #2. But my biggest accomplishment was that I ran/walked for 20 minutes. And I ran for half of that! 10 big ol' minutes. I am so excited. That's a huge deal for me since I have not been training consistently. It felt great. I felt great! I actually ran long enough to get that "runner's high". Mayjah!

Yesterday I was having the worst day at work. It was one of those days where I wanted to pack up my stuff and leave. That. Damn. Bad. When I've had one of those days, the first thing I want to do is eat unhealthy comfort food or have a glass of wine (or a glass of any alcohol that's available).  But I told myself I was not going to fall into that trap. Before leaving work, I had decided that I was going to take my frustrations out on the treadmill. By the time I got home and sat for awhile, the desire to go to the gym ebbed. I still needed to de-stress and unwind. So I read a book and watched Glee. I didn't gorge on junk food. I didn't let my stressful day control me. I found more productive ways to relieve my stress.

So far I'm on a good path. I am determined to stay on that path. I can't let work or any outside forces derail me.