9/11 and Heaven

Today is the first 9/11 since the event that was actually on a Tuesday. It sort of feels like the same kind of day. I would have been coming in the train station under the path train and World Trade or in Borders bookstore killing time before going to work near by. But I was home that day, because I was tired and my baby son had a cold. I was at my moms house doing his hair. ( Yes, both my boys are blessed with hair like Samson) Today I just came back from my mom's house in ATL. I am not watching TV. I kind of have giving that up and I don't miss it. Sometimes the news but not really. I still have internet and can get things that way.
On that day 11 yrs ago, my world was rocked. My comfort zone of what I knew and what I thought I knew was totally flipped.
We are not safe here. Who are the real terrorist? It was not who blew up the planes. It was more like the ones that set the explosives in the world trade.

I saw the report of the planes in the air and not responding. I knew from school and everything I saw in movies that the secret service was gonna scoop in an shoot them down. This did not happen.
I called my husband , repeatedly until I got through his upper Manhattan office and told him to turn around and come home. I didn't know what we were gonna do, but we should all be together doing it.

He and his co- workers thought is was a joke that the world trade had a fire going ( from what they could see from their  conference room windows.)  They didn't know it was a plane crash or what was about to come.
The second plane hit, and laughter got serious real quick. My husband heard cries and shouts and said he was on his way home. He didn't get home til 8 hrs later after catching a bus half way then  leading a little  group to walking across the Brooklyn bridge . His navigation skills of being a NY city foot messenger paid off that day.
The most that I remembered was the ash on his clothes, and the feeling of being unprepared.
I am working on not having to feel like that again.
I don't want to remember the deaths, and the anger of pointing fingers.
There are still a lot of unexplained facts, and crooked politics going on. I want to cherish today,just being here. I have my husband, my boys, my mom and her issues  and all my bills.
But guess what, I can see this sunny day. I can smell fall in the air.I can enjoy and try to hold onto the little treasures that are still here around us.  I think that feeling is heaven.
This should have been important that day to us. So today, feels sort of the same, but really its a lot different.

 Strawberry Margaritas

Ok so is it hot enough for you?  In my area we are getting between 96 to 107 degrees.  I am inland and not that close to a beach. Boy do I miss having the Boardwalk at my backdoor, back home.
We use to have one of those backyard pools you get at Costco, but it takes a lot to keep that up. So how have I been keeping cool in these hot days of summer you ask?

Smoothies and lots of healthy drinks. Ok on a Friday some are alcoholic, a girls got to relax sometimes right, lol.

Here are some of my favorites recipes:

Blackberry Juice Drink
Fresh blackberries ( preferably organic)
Simple syrup (sugar water) or agave sweeter
Apple juice
1/2 Teaspoon Ginger

I like the kick

Strawberry Delight ( Son's best friend creation)

 1 cup Fresh strawberries ( these are the ones I grew) Freeze
Apple Juice
2 tablespoon of lemonade drink powder


Tropical Tasty

half of papaya  cubed
I ripe mango
one kiwi
pineapple juice and ice

you can also use coconut water if you like.

Lean Green Machine 

 1/2 quart Pineapple juice 
 half bag of spinach
1 banana
1 tsp of Spiralina ( green algae powder)
lots of ice

enjoy and stay cool!

Spring Spree!

Hello Spring,

OK,  I am not doing that great at keeping this blog updated. I guess I have to figure out a way to get some blogging done.  I just put up a YouTube update, Isis2775 (check it out) so this is a follow up to that.

What have I been doing?? Not really much, I finished school now I am looking to make my degree work for me. I have been making little purchases for myself. We really need a new car so I am kind of saving for that.
I really wasn't thinking about spring fashion shopping.  I am more into getting healthy and spiritually good.

I have bought so crystals and some books. I did plant my garden. This year I did the tomatoes, green peppers again. I also planted butter lettuce and spinach. I love green drinks. I will be posting videos on what I put in mine. I also planted okra, cucumbers, peas and green beans and carrots.  I wanted to plant cantaloupe but I need to put in another raised bed.  I have the land just need the man power.

Couponing is my big hobby now. I have my coupon binder and I hope to get the coupon cover tote bag for it. So far my savings are about half off my shopping budget. But I made lots of mistakes. My stockpile is growing . And this is the best part. I understand how to do this. I just have to get out there and take advantage while staying on budget.

Ok I hope all of you have already been to see this movie. If not , what the heck are you waiting for?

For saw many reasons you need to get out and see this one.  First its a true story. This film is based on the trials and tribulations the 1944 Tuskegee Airmen had to go through.  I hope you know that if it were not for them the U.S Military  might have not been totally  integrated. I mean African- Americans played a major role in every war in US history and even the  American Revolution before we were actually the U.S but that didn't matter.

 As ugly a cancer racism is, like today, there was still much progress to be made. The government  started one of its social  experiments in letting a few highly educated brothers go into the air-force and get pilot training in Tuskegee. Since we were thrown into war thanks to Hitler and Japan this gave our boys a chance to make some critics  turn more red than they already were and have to eat their words. Should have been some black cooks ( shit pie a la " The Help).

These young men exceeded every non-expectation and then some. 

This movie captures every minute of their glorious battles both in the air and on the ground.

With star headliners like Cuba Gooding JR. Terrance Howard, Nate Parker ( that fine brother from The Great Debaters), Ne-yo, David Oyelowo ( the Dr. from  Rise of the Planet Apes) and even Method Man who by the way is a great actor, this movie should have been a winner from the start.

But like the real life story of the  332nd Tuskegee Airman, black actors & actress and in Mr. Lucas's case directors/filmmakers, Hollywood didn't feel the same way. Hollywood  i.e every major film studio turned down the production and the distribution of this film because they feared there wasn't a market for such a black film. See that is why Tyler Perry has his own studio.

Guess what Hollywood ( cracker-wood)  $19 million and counting . Hows that for a market ?

We must remember  we are not sound bite, media,or political party controlled robotics. We know what we like or don't like and we do have a voice. 

Use your voice, go take the kids, support this movie.  On your way out if you past by a Occupy protest pick up a sign and if I may take a quote from "Red Tails, Fight, Fight, Fight!

Nameste

Its a New Day, New Year!

Wow, what happen to the holidays?  It flew by.  OK so we have to make this year a good one. Why you ask? We might not be around after The Mayan predictions of Dec 21, 2012 right?

OK, I am not totally sold on this one. I do think something big is gonna happen or perhaps is already happening.
I think it more about the economic structure collapse than anything. Have you read anything on GDP lately?

The America the Beautiful might be up for sale or having a rent party. What  we the  99% are going through is exactly what the country is going through on a bigger sale. The difference is  for the most  99% its not all our fault.

I don't know if the right thing  to do is what we always do ( at least women) and go shopping or button down and conserve.
For me, and my family we cut back. We are trying to only buy  basics and we are stockpiling food. So far it been going slow. I remember what I had done before 9/11 and how it was then. I am just going back to that set up.
We need reliable transportation. So we will buy that hopefully used and in  cash. We are trying to keep ahead of our bills which is hard in itself.  Cutting back on out cable, Internet and telephone bundle didn't help.
We still have to have a phone line apparently. So really they only took away long distance and caller ID.
I canceled a channel on Direct TV and might do one more we watch movies and Netflix. Our previously low bill went up because hubby had to have HD.
We cook as a family, so we save there. We save eating out to once a month or birthdays.
It just seems harder to make money. Everything is up. I don't know  if anyone besides myself has taken a look at grocery prices but things went up in area the day after New Year's.
So my New Year's Resolution are;

  Save where I can. Buy in bulk but not from whole food stores.
  Cut down on water bill( wash one full load of dishes a day).
  Keep up with extreme coupons ( Not a Pro yet)
  Keep up with social networking(Blog, Youtube, Facebook)
   Prepare for my graduation and sons.

On  the haul shopping front. Not much. Santa got me a Kindle for Christmas so I want more books for that.
There is nothing trendy I really want. I might need some clothing items but I am really funny about
fashion.

So that's my new info for 2012.