5:00 AM - Wake up...cry
5:20 AM - After 20 minutes of mommy trying to console me, decide I may as well go back to sleep.
6:00 AM - Cry. Mommy looks extra sleepy, so I cry extra hard just in case she can't hear me. Big brother comes and comforts me.
6:07 AM - Big brother is now tired of me and puts me down. Cry even more vociferously. Mommy picks me up, but mommy's eyes aren't open.
6:30 AM - Daddy comes home. DADDY! :)
7:30 AM - Mommy and big brother leave home. :(
8:00 AM - Eat breakfast. Devour entire jar of baby food in 5 minutes.
8:30 AM - Nap... I'm pretty tired after being up all morning.
8:35 AM - Decide that even though daddy worked all night and is probably pretty tired, I need his immediate attention.
9:00 AM - Nap with daddy...this time I may let him get a few hours.
11:00 AM - Enough napping for daddy...besides, I'm hungry.
11:30 AM - Daddy took too long preparing my food, so I am expressing to him how much I don't like that.
12:00 PM - 5:00 PM - Eat-bottle-sleep-play-eat-play-bottle-poop...wonder why daddy's eyes are so glassy.
5:00 PM - Mommy! Big Brother! :)
5:01 PM - Big brother picks me up.
5:10 PM - Wonder what is taking mommy so long to pick me up.
5:13 PM - Cry because mommy hasn't picked me up yet.
5:20 PM - BOOBY! Yay!
5:30 PM - Daddy leaves :(
6:00 PM - Dinner! Peas! Yum!
7:00 PM - Bath...Scream every time mommy has the audacity to touch or try to comb my hair.
8:00 PM - Fall asleep with big brother.
8:00 PM - 12:00 AM - SLEEP
12:00 AM - Wake up, cry, nurse...put fingers in mouth...go back to sleep...
12:30 AM - Wake up, cry, nurse...put fingers in mouth...go back to sleep...
1:00 AM - Wake up, cry because my gums hurt...mommy picks me up...put fingers in mouth...go back to sleep...
1:30 AM - Wake up, cry because mommy put me back down......mommy picks me back up...put fingers in mouth...go back to sleep...
2:00 AM - Wake up, cry because I want to sleep and nurse at the same time...nurse...go back to sleep...
2:30 AM - Wake up,cry because the milk is coming out too slow...get frustrated...go back to sleep...
3:00 AM - Wake up, cry because there's no milk left. Cry inconsolably for 10 minutes...put fingers in mouth...go back to sleep...
3:15 AM - Wake up, cry because my butt is wet or poopy, get changed by half-sleep mommy, nurse...put fingers in mouth...go back to sleep...
3:30 AM - Wake up, cry because I want to be held...get picked up...put fingers in mouth...go back to sleep...
3:45 AM - Wake up, cry because I don't like the way mommy is holding me...mommy puts me down...put fingers in mouth...go back to sleep...
4:00 AM - Wake up, cry because I cant find my fingers...
4:05 AM - Put fingers in mouth...go back to sleep...
4:30 AM - Wake up, cry for absolutely no reason...put fingers in mouth...go back to sleep...
Repeat...
Monday, November 28, 2011
Friday, November 25, 2011
Black Friday...It's for the birds
I sat in line in the lawn & garden area of my local Walmart at approximately 8 PM, with my friend Anjail. She was hunting for the 32" flat screen tv for $188. Great deal and she was only about the 10th person in line. I asked her repeatedly if she was sure she wanted to do it. It was a 4 hour wait, after all. She decided to stay and I decided to support her. After all, there was a waffle iron on sale for $2.84...and I was going to get that!
I propped up against a bag of birdseed and opened up the smart phone. Anjail was on my right, playing Angry Birds on her phone. A guy was on my left playing Angry Birds on his phone. He, his girlfriend, Anjail and I ended up forming a quick friendly bond and giggled the hours away, laughing at the idiocy of even venturing out in the madness. I started to play Angry Birds on my phone, but my battery was beginning to die.
At about 9 PM, I ventured out from the safety and relative calm of the lawn & garden section. The villagers were getting restless. Everyone stood sentinel around the item they were intent on grabbing first at the strike of 10. Everything was wrapped in Saran-wrap and Walmart associates stood around nervously guarding their jugular veins with both hands, while trying to shield the merchandise with their bodies. They seemed to understand that these people were willing to rip them apart if it meant they would be getting their needed item. The Saran-wrap had been torn into, with some people grabbing electronics and other items way before they went on sale while sales associates meekly shouted "You can't take those yet!"
You see, Walmart, in all it's genius decided on THREE Black Friday Sales, One at 10 PM (toys, appliances and clothing), one at 12 AM (Electronics) and one an 8 AM (ammunition), Unfortunately, this was not very clear to some people...who were intent on grabbing their X-box, Kindle Fire, and large screen tv in both fists at 10 PM and shimmying out of the door. There were even those who tried to buy their purchases earlier, but Walmart had a fail-safe and I personally witness an associate attempt to ring something up, heard a loud "BUZZ!" and she stated "Oh, I am sorry sir...You cannot purchase this until midnight."
Covering my head, I made my way back into the safety of the lawn & garden area. I hung out there until it was 9:45 and figured I may as well make my way back to my waffle iron. At 9:55, after traveling over land and sea, I finally found the Saran-wrapped waffle iron section...
...there was nothing there but an empty palette and a helium filled Mylar balloon that read "$2.84"...
It wasn't even 10 PM yet! But the hungry vultures had descended upon that particular bargain and tore it to shreds. I texted Anjail this information and she texted back "GO GET YOUR BIKES!!!!"
Oh yeah...the bikes!
Completely Gone...
Throughout the store, there were arguments, yelling, people running over other's feet with shopping carts, arguments with the unfortunates who worked that Walmart shift. One lady barreled though a dense crowd, utilizing her cart as a battering ram.
Thank goodness the ammunition didn't go on sale until 8 AM...
It was shameful...just shameful. I took some back roads, grabbed a few things no one was hovering around, made my way to the car, then came back in and found my way back to the safety of the lawn & garden section...but not before someone ran over the back of my foot with their shopping cart and didn't believe apologies were in order. The line for the 32" tv was now out the door of the lawn & garden section, out the door and up and down three other aisles...
Anjail got the tv. I took her back home, drove back home at a million o'clock in the morning and collapsed.
Never...again....Online shopping is my friend...
I propped up against a bag of birdseed and opened up the smart phone. Anjail was on my right, playing Angry Birds on her phone. A guy was on my left playing Angry Birds on his phone. He, his girlfriend, Anjail and I ended up forming a quick friendly bond and giggled the hours away, laughing at the idiocy of even venturing out in the madness. I started to play Angry Birds on my phone, but my battery was beginning to die.
At about 9 PM, I ventured out from the safety and relative calm of the lawn & garden section. The villagers were getting restless. Everyone stood sentinel around the item they were intent on grabbing first at the strike of 10. Everything was wrapped in Saran-wrap and Walmart associates stood around nervously guarding their jugular veins with both hands, while trying to shield the merchandise with their bodies. They seemed to understand that these people were willing to rip them apart if it meant they would be getting their needed item. The Saran-wrap had been torn into, with some people grabbing electronics and other items way before they went on sale while sales associates meekly shouted "You can't take those yet!"
You see, Walmart, in all it's genius decided on THREE Black Friday Sales, One at 10 PM (toys, appliances and clothing), one at 12 AM (Electronics) and one an 8 AM (ammunition), Unfortunately, this was not very clear to some people...who were intent on grabbing their X-box, Kindle Fire, and large screen tv in both fists at 10 PM and shimmying out of the door. There were even those who tried to buy their purchases earlier, but Walmart had a fail-safe and I personally witness an associate attempt to ring something up, heard a loud "BUZZ!" and she stated "Oh, I am sorry sir...You cannot purchase this until midnight."
Covering my head, I made my way back into the safety of the lawn & garden area. I hung out there until it was 9:45 and figured I may as well make my way back to my waffle iron. At 9:55, after traveling over land and sea, I finally found the Saran-wrapped waffle iron section...
...there was nothing there but an empty palette and a helium filled Mylar balloon that read "$2.84"...
It wasn't even 10 PM yet! But the hungry vultures had descended upon that particular bargain and tore it to shreds. I texted Anjail this information and she texted back "GO GET YOUR BIKES!!!!"
Oh yeah...the bikes!
Completely Gone...
Throughout the store, there were arguments, yelling, people running over other's feet with shopping carts, arguments with the unfortunates who worked that Walmart shift. One lady barreled though a dense crowd, utilizing her cart as a battering ram.
Thank goodness the ammunition didn't go on sale until 8 AM...
It was shameful...just shameful. I took some back roads, grabbed a few things no one was hovering around, made my way to the car, then came back in and found my way back to the safety of the lawn & garden section...but not before someone ran over the back of my foot with their shopping cart and didn't believe apologies were in order. The line for the 32" tv was now out the door of the lawn & garden section, out the door and up and down three other aisles...
Anjail got the tv. I took her back home, drove back home at a million o'clock in the morning and collapsed.
Never...again....Online shopping is my friend...
Monday, November 21, 2011
...Or is it Student, Musician, Mother, Healer, Wife...?
I stare at this computer screen through one bleary eye. The current buzz of the room and weakness in my chest accounts for the whopping two hours of sleep I managed this morning. I am creating a blog on the suggestion of Davina. I think it is an excellent idea. I can express my life through words and others can see what goes on in in the atmosphere of Adwoa Tacheampong: Mother, Wife, Healer, Musician...
This weekend was a prime example of my life in general:
Friday, I oversleep, but still manage to get Kwesi to school on time and me to work on time. I frantically contemplate how to squeeze 8 hours of work into 3.5 hours because I need to leave early. The phone rings approximately 97 times in the span of two minutes and I put out fires, assist with computer issues, make flyers, and give advice...oh, I also do tasks that are relative to my job description.
12:00 arrives and I prepare to leave. This takes a while because I don't like leaving my desk messy. I run downtown. The parking gods are nice to me and I find a parking space right around the corner from the Sheraton downtown...on to play batá for a conference on ethnomusicology.
After the presentation, I'm off to Trader Joe's. I am famished at this point and devour chocolate and sea salt covered almonds in the car. It's then off to pick Kwesi up and take him home...trade car keys for a baby in the span of 10 minutes that I see my husband during the week, then with a kiss he is off to work. Gotta work on my two papers for class. One needs to be 8-10 pages. The other needs to be 12-15 pages. Uggghhh... I do laundry, then work on the paper, then go to sleep.
Saturday, I arise and try to add more to both papers. I don't get much added. Time flies as it comes closer to the time I need to leave to go back to the Sheraton. This time, I am performing with PhillyBloco. Chuckie leaves to go play batá at a bembé. My mom comes over. Anisa smiles when she sees her...that is until she remembers that when Nana comes over, that means mommy and daddy are leaving. Anisa's smile turns to crying. After some moments of consoling, I sneak out of the door. Performance is great and I have a good time. I did a bit of Maculele and jacked up my old lady knee...dangit!
Home again and working on paper until around 1 AM when I cannot keep my eyes open...I succumb to sleep.
I wake up on Sunday a bit late to a baby who is annoyed because I took too long to wake up. Kwesi is outside with the girl across the street, Kareema...he asked me could he go outside when I was fast asleep. Apparently I said yes... I peel myself out of the bed and get myself ready to leave out of the house...off to the studio... Recording vocals with Elizabeth and Susan. The studio goes off without a hitch and I soon head back to New Jersey. I go grocery shopping before heading home. Now, I must REALLY tackle my papers...after all, I have a 2 AM deadline (midnight, MST).
My vocation is Mental Health Counseling. I am midway through my quest for a Master's Degree in this field. The first paper I must complete for the end of this semester is for my Diagnosis and Assessment class. I must present a Five-Axis Diagnosis of an individual, fictional or real. I chose Animal...yes, the Muppet Electric Mayhem drummer. I decide he is manic-depressive. With one page left to the paper, I hit a mental roadblock. I decide to turn in the paper under the page requirement. I rather have points taken off for failure to meet the requirement, than to fill a page with fluff. Anisa wakes up...boob time.
Next paper: for Lifetime Development class. Lifetime development of an important individual. I chose Miriam Makeba. I have worked on the paper for a few weeks...so I only need to add... TEN pages to meet my page requirement. Melancholy continues to hit me as I write this paper. Miriam Makeba is my idol. I wish I had the chance to meet her before her death. Half-way through my goal, my laptop overheats. It becomes sluggish and disagreeable. I hurriedly e-mail my paper to myself. Anisa wakes up again...boob time.
I switch my work to my desktop. Working furiously to complete the last few paragraphs, I fail to save every few seconds as has become custom for me when working on something important. My desktop computer decides it has had enough. It faints. I nearly faint. The computer tries to turn on again. It faints again...and again. I begin to cry. I turn the computer off completely, then turn back on in safe mode. I am able to reopen my document and realize I lost an entire paragraph. I have no idea what I wrote, nor do I care. I can't access the Internet in safe mode, so I have to roll back my computer to fix the issues. This takes a while. I try to occupy my time by taking out Anisa's clothes for the next day and doing laundry. It is way past the 2 AM deadline. I don't see Anisa is asleep under her blankets on the floor. I trip over her and wake her up. Chuckie comes and gets her. He has stayed awake this entire time in order to support me.
The desktop is finally over its issues and I am able to complete my paper. I go slightly over the minimum of required pages...slightly...the paper is about 12 and 1/8 pages long. I hit send to submit and breathe a sigh of relief. It is 4:30 AM.
After a hot bath, my husband rubs my lower back which is killing me. It is 5 AM. I contemplate just staying awake so that waking up in 2 hours won't be as painful. I decide to go to sleep....
Anisa wakes up again...boob time...
Just a catch up to my weekend. I promise that most other blogs should not be this long!
This weekend was a prime example of my life in general:
Friday, I oversleep, but still manage to get Kwesi to school on time and me to work on time. I frantically contemplate how to squeeze 8 hours of work into 3.5 hours because I need to leave early. The phone rings approximately 97 times in the span of two minutes and I put out fires, assist with computer issues, make flyers, and give advice...oh, I also do tasks that are relative to my job description.
12:00 arrives and I prepare to leave. This takes a while because I don't like leaving my desk messy. I run downtown. The parking gods are nice to me and I find a parking space right around the corner from the Sheraton downtown...on to play batá for a conference on ethnomusicology.
After the presentation, I'm off to Trader Joe's. I am famished at this point and devour chocolate and sea salt covered almonds in the car. It's then off to pick Kwesi up and take him home...trade car keys for a baby in the span of 10 minutes that I see my husband during the week, then with a kiss he is off to work. Gotta work on my two papers for class. One needs to be 8-10 pages. The other needs to be 12-15 pages. Uggghhh... I do laundry, then work on the paper, then go to sleep.
Saturday, I arise and try to add more to both papers. I don't get much added. Time flies as it comes closer to the time I need to leave to go back to the Sheraton. This time, I am performing with PhillyBloco. Chuckie leaves to go play batá at a bembé. My mom comes over. Anisa smiles when she sees her...that is until she remembers that when Nana comes over, that means mommy and daddy are leaving. Anisa's smile turns to crying. After some moments of consoling, I sneak out of the door. Performance is great and I have a good time. I did a bit of Maculele and jacked up my old lady knee...dangit!
Home again and working on paper until around 1 AM when I cannot keep my eyes open...I succumb to sleep.
I wake up on Sunday a bit late to a baby who is annoyed because I took too long to wake up. Kwesi is outside with the girl across the street, Kareema...he asked me could he go outside when I was fast asleep. Apparently I said yes... I peel myself out of the bed and get myself ready to leave out of the house...off to the studio... Recording vocals with Elizabeth and Susan. The studio goes off without a hitch and I soon head back to New Jersey. I go grocery shopping before heading home. Now, I must REALLY tackle my papers...after all, I have a 2 AM deadline (midnight, MST).
My vocation is Mental Health Counseling. I am midway through my quest for a Master's Degree in this field. The first paper I must complete for the end of this semester is for my Diagnosis and Assessment class. I must present a Five-Axis Diagnosis of an individual, fictional or real. I chose Animal...yes, the Muppet Electric Mayhem drummer. I decide he is manic-depressive. With one page left to the paper, I hit a mental roadblock. I decide to turn in the paper under the page requirement. I rather have points taken off for failure to meet the requirement, than to fill a page with fluff. Anisa wakes up...boob time.
Next paper: for Lifetime Development class. Lifetime development of an important individual. I chose Miriam Makeba. I have worked on the paper for a few weeks...so I only need to add... TEN pages to meet my page requirement. Melancholy continues to hit me as I write this paper. Miriam Makeba is my idol. I wish I had the chance to meet her before her death. Half-way through my goal, my laptop overheats. It becomes sluggish and disagreeable. I hurriedly e-mail my paper to myself. Anisa wakes up again...boob time.
I switch my work to my desktop. Working furiously to complete the last few paragraphs, I fail to save every few seconds as has become custom for me when working on something important. My desktop computer decides it has had enough. It faints. I nearly faint. The computer tries to turn on again. It faints again...and again. I begin to cry. I turn the computer off completely, then turn back on in safe mode. I am able to reopen my document and realize I lost an entire paragraph. I have no idea what I wrote, nor do I care. I can't access the Internet in safe mode, so I have to roll back my computer to fix the issues. This takes a while. I try to occupy my time by taking out Anisa's clothes for the next day and doing laundry. It is way past the 2 AM deadline. I don't see Anisa is asleep under her blankets on the floor. I trip over her and wake her up. Chuckie comes and gets her. He has stayed awake this entire time in order to support me.
The desktop is finally over its issues and I am able to complete my paper. I go slightly over the minimum of required pages...slightly...the paper is about 12 and 1/8 pages long. I hit send to submit and breathe a sigh of relief. It is 4:30 AM.
After a hot bath, my husband rubs my lower back which is killing me. It is 5 AM. I contemplate just staying awake so that waking up in 2 hours won't be as painful. I decide to go to sleep....
Anisa wakes up again...boob time...
Just a catch up to my weekend. I promise that most other blogs should not be this long!
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