My New Life In The Bayou....

I'm finally all settled in after my long move and have hopped right into work with a vengeance. My slow work days are gone and I'm runnin' my butt off now (if only I were literally running my butt off ha!). I'm finding that there isn't much to do around here. I got spoiled being in northern California because everything I needed was right at the tip of my fingers and opportunities for entertainment were far and wide. Here, many of the businesses and residents are still recovering from Hurricane Katrina so there is alot of construction but still some visible destruction. I cannot even begin to imagine what people went through living here through that storm.

The casinos are the greatest tourist attraction in the area but I've never been a gambler. If I put money into a machine, I want money to come back out! As for card games, I already know that playing games against a computer for free can satisfy any gambling urge I might have. I don't know how true it is or not, but I've heard that statistically there are more women addicted to gambling than men. But, I think Charles Barkley is a perfect example of men that love to gamble too.

As for my hair, it's been a month since my last retightening and my hairline finally seems to be cooperating much more than it has been. Praise God!!! This is the first time that I haven't had considerable slippage at the hairline this far out from a retightening. I wash my hair every weekend usually so you can imagine that there have been some Mondays where I have looked like a hot mess! Now that my hair has grown some though, I have to admit that I'm really loving my freestyle alot more. My hair has a little more weight to it so it hangs with a little more shape and because my hair is thick I have a considerable amount of volume (at least I think I do?).

I'm so excited because one thing that is good about having the casinos here is that they sometimes do have some good entertainers coming through. I have tickets to see D.L. Hughley this coming Friday night!! Whoo Hooo! He's my favorite comedian. I'm forcing my boyfriend to go with me. It's interesting; he didn't seem to want to go because D.L. (pretty much all black comedians really) talk about and crack jokes on white people. I said that he being down here in the south with me is a good opportunity for him to really get in touch with black culture.

Alot of people won't get involved with interracial relationships but I always have just because of some of the things I enjoy or where I've lived or worked. I've dated brothers too, just let me be clear. One of the challenges of having an interracial relationship with someone who is purely Mr. Wonder White Bread is having to somewhat educate them on what's appropriate and inappropriate to say to or around black people. Of course we know some things are obvious and he knows those things but unfortunately some of the stereotypes or things he sees on tv is what he assumes to be true for all black people. Some things are pretty much dead on because let's face it some of us do know certain things to be true like knowing that a sistah is a strong opinionated woman that is not to be messed with, while other things like foods we like or attitudes we have can be all over the map.

I've always been patient in helping boyfriends and friends to learn more about and understand black culture but he has to be receptive to the lessons that I give and Kevin takes things I say too jokingly. I always have to warn/remind him that certain things he says about black people and other races are going to get him his a** kicked one day if he's not careful. I have a feeling that I'll be the one laughing the most at D.L. Hughley, but the cultural experience of being surrounded by black people with a black man running the show and yes, cracking jokes about white people will be a priceless one for him.

I've come to peace in my mind that this relationship is most likely not going to work out though. It's just a matter of timing before I let it go. I've come to a point where my feelings have changed and he is seriously just lacking in relationship tools. When I try to approach the subject he says I'm nagging but I'm kinda like "Really...you might just want to listen because you just don't know how close I am to dumping you right now!!".

I was completely single, and I mean without even one date for three years single, before I met Kevin and that was such a good experience for me even though I didn't see it that way at the time. I learned to be okay with being alone. Sure, there were times when I got lonely; of course!! But, I also learned that solitude can be a beautiful thing. I'm okay involved or single and with how I feel about myself right now....I don't think it will be another 3 years before I'm dating again. Oooh, somebody stop me!!

Alright, enough for now. I took a few pictures of my new "neighbors" that I thought you might enjoy. They have somewhat become my adopted children as I feel the need to feed them almost everyday.