Hello World!!!

Aww, yes, I have finally gotten back to my regular schedule post cruise and now that I’ve had time to reflect, I think I can write a somewhat interesting piece on my 35th b-day vacation. (I’m sure you will tell me if it’s the most boring thing you’ve ever read.)

If you’ve read my previous post on my 35th b-day, you know how I feel about it, but what I neglected to tell you was how I had planned to celebrate it. Drum roll pleaazzz….Me and my girl, V, embarked on a seven-day cruise to the Eastern Caribbean. We started in Puerto Rico and visited Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Maarten and St. Thomas.

I wish I could sum up the experience in a word, but I cannot – so I will tell you about my thoughts here and there along the way. (This blog thing can be sooo self indulgent, but oh well…)

Day 1

In the airport still in the A, as I slipped back on my sandals after the security check, a guy commented on my hair and shoes and muttered something that sounded like, “Really pretty.” I smiled, replied ”Thank you,” and wondered if his comment was indicative of the events to come. Some days, no matter how cute you think you look before you leave the house, you ain gettin’ no play for whatever reason. I took his comment as an affirmation that the “Cute gods” had sprinkled pixie dust on me, and I was well on my way to some much need flirting…okay, pause…For those who have read my previous post on my man fast, you may be wondering why I even care…Well, y’all know this blog is supposed to be “fresh, real and relevant.” Well let me be REAL, I have successfully completed about three man fasts. (U, my girl, is my witness!) But this time around, I have fallen off the wagon…not sure what’s up with me…praying about it…get back to y’all at some point, I think, about it…

Anyway, this blog is dragging a bit so let me speed it up. So I’m looking forward to some light flirting on the cruise. Fast forward to our arrival in PR. From the moment we got off of the plane, it seemed like we were bathing in heat, and I loved it…I ADORE hot weather…And then I started looking at everyone in the airport. When I visited in PR years ago, I was struck at how beautiful everyone was…I love my white friends, but I have never been envious of their skin color. (Okay, I did hang a towel from my head when I was little girl to pretend like I had long, flowing hair like the white girls at my elementary school, but that is where the envy stopped.) Everywhere you looked, everyone was bronzed and beautiful…

Day 2

Me and V were excited because we boarded the “Adventure of the Seas.” As we are waited in line to board the ship, we were told that we could buy liquor duty free at the store in the loading area. Me and V walked in the store and took a look around. (Okay, I know some Christians don’t approve of drinking liquor. I’m not one of them. I don’t think it’s appropriate to get sloshy drunk, but I do enjoy some “spirits” every now and then, ha, ha!) I bought a bottle for a co-worker back home.  Flirting on day 1, buying liquor on day 2…hmm, I bet you’re wondering what’s coming next.

Day 3

At sea. Although it was my first full day on the cruise, it didn’t take me long to realize that eating is one of the main activities aboard a cruise ship…but I wondered how you gon look fine in your bathing suit if you’ve been eating too much…clearly, not all of the cruisers pondered this dilemma as I saw a feast of flesh daily…Remember, keeping it real, keeping it real…

Day 4

Barbados. I’ve started to adapt to the fact that I wasn’t at work and any amount of exertion i.e. leaving my bed, made me want to go back to sleep. It’s really weird, actually, how you quickly you get into vacation mode. Me, V and some of the women that we cruised with took a quick tour of the beautiful isle of Barbados. My parents will probably hate me for saying this, but I almost feel like if you’ve seen one beautiful, tropical island, you’ve seen them all, but I had high hopes for discovering its uniqueness in under four hours – the length of the excursion. We visited a rum distillery and a plantation house among other sites. Those plantation houses show up all over the world, don’t they? Y’all know what I’m talking ’bout.

Day 5

St. Lucia. Again, beautiful, tropical isle. We visited a botanical garden where we were introduced to cocoa trees through which we get chocolate…my traveling companions didn’t quite understand my fascination…let’s just say I have a love/hate relationship with this substance…anyway, I thought about smuggling a few seeds in my bra to grow some trees in my backyard, but the thought of being embarrassed at the airport allowed to gracefully back away from the trees…

Day 6

Antigua. Someway or another, me and V were sooo tired from exerting ourselves dancing at Club Jester, the ship club, and other activities that we managed to sleep in til just about noon. After eating brunch, we decided to venture off of the ship. In no less than half an hour, the heat drained us and we decided that we wanted to abruptly stop our perusal of the shops nearby the port. But then we happened upon a spa where we were able to get somewhat reasonably priced massages…I discovered a red swelling on my leg later that night and wondered if one of those island masseuses had put a hex on me…my father once told me that in Jamaica a man put a hex on him and he coughed up blood…we island people believe in voodoo…

Day 7

St. Maarten.  Can y’all believe that me and V had still not been on the beach yet. So we put on our bathing suits, took a water taxi from the port and deposited ourselves in the middle of the white sand…V waded in the water, and I guarded our belongings under a beach umbrella. A woman bearing several trinkets that she claimed she made herself tried to entice me to buy one of of them. I said, “No.” Another woman bearing several trinkets that looked suspiciously familiar to the first woman’s trinkets tried to entice me to buy her trinkets. I said, “No.” When a third person approached me and went into a similar spiel, I almost screamed, “No and spread the news to all of your beach peddling friends.” But I didn’t. That would have been rude and likely insensitive…besides in Bush’s economy, I may be reduced to selling “handmade” trinkets…

Day 8

St. Thomas. When I spotted an Obama headquarters in a shopping center, I screamed! Wow, it’s really great, isn’t it?! The most blue water I’ve ever seen. We traveled past Sapphire Bay which was, in in a word, breathtaking… I started to feel sad though because it was the last stop before we sailed back to PR.

Day 9

Back in the A – tired, serene and broke…

Any thoughts?

Hello World!!!

Yes, I’m back from my Eastern Caribbean Cruise with Royal Caribbean! (Awesome cruise line if you’re in the market!) Right now, I’m walking serenity although I sometimes lose my balance because I still feel like I’m swaying on the cruise ship! (Yes, no matter what anyone says, you can feel the ground move under your feet!) Not even John McCain and his reference to Barack Obama as “That One” can ruffle me…It sounds dangerously close to “You People,” but I digress.

At any rate, I do have LOTS I want to share with y’all so yes I will be breaking the international rule of traveling – what happens in or on…, stays on in or on… But to my friends that traveled with me, don’t worry that I will reveal your secrets. Self disclosure is strictly my forte.

However, this week I must devote to catching up on my job. With the Bush Doctrine (I’m not politico Sarah Palin, but even I know that. What is it you say? I want to be vulgar but I won’t. I guess the sanitized version is Texas Hold ‘em and we seem to be losing. Rant, Rant, Rant!),  the economy is no joke and a girl has got to keep her job!

So expect “Cruising Musings” in Sunday, October 12 in which I will be dishing about me and my first cruise! In the interim, here’s a pic of me and the “Adventure Of The Seas.”

Any thoughts?

Hello World!!!

Your girl is headed to Puerto Rico to hop aboard a Caribbean cruise tomorrow so don’t expect a new post until October 8! (I may be able post but not sure…)It’s my official 35th b-day celebration…Can I say more? Naw! What happens aboard the cruise ship stays on the cruise ship!!! Ha,ha! Hopefully, somebody out there is listening or reading rather, in this case… (I wonder if Isaac from “The Love Boat”  will be aboard…Sorry, this is my first cruise. I had to get that in.:)

Any thoughts?

Hello World!!!

“Forty is so old the only time I will ever be referred to as a young man for the rest of my life is if I die at 40,” said comedian Chris Rock in an interview with the now deceased Ed Bradley of “60 Minutes” on the night before Rock hosted the Oscars in 2005.

     As I write this post on my 35th b-day, all I can say is at least I’m not 40…Now my blog is supposed to be about faith after the altar call, and a post about my birthday may seem to be off topic – but it’s really not when I think about it. If I’m supposed to believe that life is supposed to get better, rather than worse, after 35, that’s a real act of faith (at least for me).

     Five years ago, just a month or so before my 30th b-day, my father and I sat in the living room of my parents’ home and talked about my impending b-day. As we talked, tears fell down my face. Yes, it really happened! My dad, a sympathetic man in most cases, looked at me as his head turned sideways and said, “What’s going to happen when you really get old?” I said nothing as the tears continued to slide down my face.

     A few months after I turned 30, the movie “13 Going on 30″ starring Jennifer Garner came out. I ADORED the movie for many reasons!!! (If you haven’t seen it, you must – particularly if you are nearing 30 years old.) But my absolute favorite thing about the movie was this slogan “Thirty, Flirty and Thriving!” After I saw the movie, I said to myself, “Well maybe 30 isn’t so bad.”

     Today, five years later, I wonder what slogan or quip will help me frame this b-day in my mind. I’ve decided that “35 is all the way Live!” Can I get a loud “Amen?” (Maybe that will help me really believe it, ha,ha.) Seriously though, as I have pondered this birthday almost since just after I turned 34 years old, I have wondered how I’m supposed to see things. Let’s face it. Yes, I have advanced in my career (at least somewhat). Yes, I know more about myself than I ever have. Yes, I know God…But is that supposed to make up for rapidly graying hair that I have been dying cherry red almost since just after I turned 30? (My family grays early.) Is that supposed to make up for skin that already is starting to look not as taut although I work out on a regular basis? Is that supposed to make up for the fact that when me and my girls go out and try to “style and profile,” there is a group of similar girls that are hotter than we are just because they are still in their 20s? Goodness, I sound shallow, but don’t act like you haven’t had similar thoughts if you’re a female…self awareness ain’t everything!!!

     Jokes aside, yes, there are some downsides to getting older, but I actually do cherish the fact that I’m more confident in my own skin than I was in my ’20s although the previous paragraphs don’t support that. And for the record, I look 10 years younger anyway, according to a college student I met yesterday at a journalism convention. When I told her that my 35th b-day was the next day, unprompted, she said, “Wow, I thought you were 25!” I wanted to hug her. (Ironically, her name is Imani-so maybe that was God’s way of giving me a dose of faith after all, ha,ha!) But back to my more philosophical conclusion, I do revel in the fact that I’m more confident in my own skin than I have ever been before, and I thank God that He continues to reveal more to me about true self everyday and His purpose for my life- if that makes sense.

     So in keeping with my made up slogan, I have decided to be who I truly am – without apology or affectedness. What does that mean? For me, that means I will be the same person wherever I go…I have this habit of tailoring myself to fit whatever crowd I’m hanging out with at a given time – sometimes that’s the “cool” crowd or the “not so cool” crowd. (Yes, an element of that, unfortunately, still exists after high school.) Sometimes, it’s the black crowd and sometimes it’s the not black crowd. Sometimes, it’s the “Godly” crowd, sometimes it’s the “not so Godly” crowd.   I’m not going to do that anymore – or at least I will try.

     I just want to be me…I just want to live the way I truly am on the inside. I just want to be person that God has created me to be. Maybe “35 is all the way Live!” As you ponder that, check out this song, “It’s all the Way Live,” by Lakeside below. Any thoughts?