Milestone Planning: I’m Counting on You!

So, in just over a month my honey and I will be celebrating a decade of love, marriage, camaraderie, child-rearing and in a few cases, the ultimate practice in patience.  Because of this milestone occasion, I was given specific directives to cash-in my vaca hours and submit to my boss my request for a week-long vacation and to make arrangements for us to get missing for the first 7 days in November.

Now as wonderful as all this sounds, I must also mention that my honey has instructed me to stay within a pre-approved budget for these festivities if I want to celebrate another ten years with him.  That being said, while we can still have a fantabulous time with these economic constraints, his fiscal responsibility has sort of forced me to limit my proclivity to indulge, just a smidge.

This is where you come in Pack Faithful.  Help me to decide what it is my honey and I should do and where we should go for our Aluminum-slash-Diamond Anniversary:

Packing It In On a Rainy Humpday

It’s raining, it’s pouring…

With Tropical Storm Nicole rip-roaring and acting a fool all up and down the eastern seaboard, she has pretty much left me wet, sniffly and tempted to turn on my furnace for the first time since mid-March.

Seriously though, once I got home it became increasingly evident in my mind that the torrential downpour outside made for homemade soup, down comforters and snuggling up with a good book (and Terrence Howard Law & Order Los Angeles later) on the inside!  Besides, I’ll be back tomorrow to convey my two cents; that is of course unless tomorrow’s forecast has me swimming to the nearest ark.

Ciao!

Gang Green: Trying To Sway the Court of Public Opinion

Even with Roger “No Nonsense” Goodell at the helm of the National Football league (after having succeeded Paul Tagliabue back in 2006), rehabilitated players now making the best of their second changes and initiatives like “NFL Cares” and other league affiliated service organizations making a difference in the lives young people, the NFL still can’t seem to shake its bad reputation (National Felons League anyone?).  And it’s unfortunate that until very recently, one of the league’s most recognizable teams hadn’t seemed all that interested in dispelling the truth myth that  American professional football players are nothing more than raucous street pharmaceutical using, wife beating, behind-grabbing, child support dodging, libation indulging frat boys with big paychecks and even bigger egos.

Yes, I said it.  The New York Jets are the Frat Boys of the NFL. 

Be it Rex Ryan’s bird flipping debacle (caught on camera by some Miami Dolphin fans during a Mixed Martial Arts event last season), HBO and NFL Films rawest of the raw “Hard Knocks” Jets documentary,  the month long hold-out on Revis Island,  Ines Sainz-gate or the latest installment Jets Behaving Badly, starring Braylon Edwards as the typecast law breaking-inebriated-black-guy, is it really any wonder that we hear more negative reporting about the small minority of immature, living on a prayer players who regularly showing their tails in public than the vast majority who are doing great deeds in their communities and going home to their wives and kids every night?

 I know, I know. Many will argue that when testosterone filled, burly young men experiencing that new money sensation and are put in situations where their newly acquired wealth affords them access to the finer things in life, they don’t quite know how to reign in their frivolous mandates and uncontrollable desires, resulting often times in the poor decision making and depraved behavior that seems to be a staple with these athletes.  And while I can understand this way of thinking to a degree; a miniscule, scarcely recognizable degree, I am still of the belief that grown-behind folks within a certain age range who should know better ought to be held accountable for their foolishness regardless of how famous they are, how many catches they make or how much green is in their bank account.  But before anyone goes around saying that I think The Jets have already gotten the self-destruct button stuck three weeks into the new season (even though it wouldn’t be a lie), let me point out that the organization has made strides to soften its crude, rough around the edges image. 

 Whether it was their “we’re working with the league to maintain a respectful environment” statement after that little sexual harassment in the clubhouse incident, Caveman Braylon’s kinder, gentler look after his 0.16 blood-alcohol level and subsequent DWI arrest or head coach Rex Ryan’s angry in-house Come To Jesus Meeting with his players and frustrated comments to reporters last week about not wanting to be that team, it looks like The Jets are beginning to realize that nothing good can come from their bad boy image and that the real sports fans who are tuning in to see clashes on the gridiron and not in the streets are growing tired of their off the field antics.

 Still, like I pointed out earlier, it’s only week three.  Who’s to say they won’t start a turf war with the Buffalo Bills this Sunday for the title of “New York’s Official Football Team” (seeing as how they don’t play the Giants during the regular season…which might be a good thing since The Giants molly-whopped them during the preseason).  I mean, the foolishness aside, The Jets are a pretty sound ball club.  It’s really easy to find yourself rooting for them to” get right” and just win, but you just never can tell with these guys.  It’s almost like they are more media thirsty than even Paris and Lindsay with all of their behind the scenes mess lately.  Which is a shame because if they spent half as much time honing their craft collectively as they do staying on the cover of newspapers and in talk radio reports, they’d be more of a threat around the league and less of a laughing stock.

But I guess short of looking into my foggy Magic 8 Ball with the chipped glass window, we’ll simply have to just wait it out and see if Rex and ‘dem can hold it together ’till January.

 What do you think?  Are they Jets’ off the field foolery too much of a distraction for them to be considered Super Bowl Contenders this season, or will they somehow pull off an NFL Darlings kind of year?

Quite Frankly: Town Hall Attendees Seeks to Cash-In On “Change”

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As much as I side with Barack Obama on matters of transformation of social programs, fiscal responsibility and relief for the middle class, I can’t help but to wonder if the president knew what he was getting into by addressing an assembly of what can only be described as frustrated Americans at an economic town hall meeting which aired on CNBC last Monday.

While many attendees voiced their concerns about economic uncertainty, difficulties in securing employment and complications faced as small business owners, the pinnacle moment no doubt came when a self-proclaimed Obama supporter let the president know non-to-gently how fatigued she was at coming to the defense of him and his administration.  And while I am sure a lot of eyebrows were raised and “oh-no-she-didn’ts” were uttered en masse amongst Obama loyalists, I must say that these are exactly the types of truths that the president must hear from Americans both on the left and right, AND these are the types of truths that he must address distinctly if he is to restore any type of confidence in his leadership with the American people.

Caught a bit off guard I’m sure, President Obama did attempt to speak to this woman’s concerns, highlighting areas where he believed his administration had gotten it right; specifically with changes in the affordability of college loans and more loans, grants and scholarship funds being directly available for students, the laws established to keep credit card companies from taking advantage of their customers, and the legislation written to disallow insurance companies from denying coverage to children with preexisting conditions.  Still, while these changes undoubtedly assist the average American in ascertaining stepping stones toward their American Dream, to me it felt that this woman’s exasperated personal declaration went unanswered.

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To be fair, President Obama is correct when he incessantly states (on any given occasion) that it took nearly a decade for the country to get to this place of recession, war, uncertainty and economic stagnation, but he has to realize that Americans (myself included) are tired of that being the answer to every question that he receives about what he plans to do to move the nation forward and to every critique that is leveled at him.

What I’ve continually noticed in scenarios like last week’s town hall meeting is that for some strange reason, this administration does not appear able to capitalize on these prime opportunities when President Obama has the nation’s ear.  He seems to readily acknowledge that for those Americans who are employed but have experienced significant decreases in their home values, no appreciation in their 401(k)s or haven’t had a raise in quite a while; that their fiscal status is the economic equivalent to treading water, but from there, that seems to be where his message becomes fuzzy.

“My goal here is not to try to convince you that everything is where it needs to be, it’s not. That’s why I ran for president. But what I am saying is, is that we’re moving in the right direction.”

Sure, in only two years’ time, that sounds genuine and forthright, but certainly not all that reassuring to the Americans barely making ends meet and those who are worse off than that.  And while he and his administration are likely doing the things laid out on his presidential action item list, he seems to be failing at making people feel that progress.  Besides, with the attacks that are regularly directed at him (even more so than his administration) from those who habitually aim to diminish his authority or simply seek to unseat him in 2012, President Obama has got to be more than town hall sound bites and stump rhetoric if he wants America to continue to believe in the type of change (I still believe) he has in him to institute.

Man-Law Breaking Epidemic: Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Oh!

What in the name of machismo is really going on!?  From the illegal use of Under Armour, the whimsical poses by athletes and now this limber Lithuanian, I am thinking there needs to be a Man Card recall posthaste!

Having originally seen this video on Faux News Live this morning (don’t ask, I won’t tell) I must admit that I was just as confounded as the conservative news show hosts at the sheer audaciousness and plucky demeanor of this latest Man-Law offender.  I am not sure in what world it is okay for a 33-year-old man to twizzle and gyrate animatedly as a fake-me-out Justin Bieber  background dancer (looks indignantly at Usher), but apparently, that is what’s hot in the Baltic States.

Now, I will concede that this man’s moves, complete with ripples and levels, barefoot ballet, and plentiful pirouettes and pada-berets-kick-ball-changes are pretty snazzy, if not a little creepy considering that he is totally stealing the shine from the two little girls in the video (likely, his daughters), but is this guy for real?  And I just loathed loved his flared merengue inspired blouse and snug high-water pants to complete the look (hey, the flood pants worked for MJ).

But, as much as this man needs to go sit it all the way down, I blame his daughters for enabling this bad behavior.  I mean really, what teenaged girl makes a boring Karaoke video with Hitch to Albert instructional dance steps (“this is where you live, right here. This is home”)?  They really gave Daddy Dance-a-lot no other alternative but to add some excitement to this lackluster viral video by whinin’ his hips pon di dance floor living room floor.

Check him out (as you cringe for his kids).

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Caption This: Another Man-Law Breaker

O divine and tricksy internet gods, how in the name of all things green and big-boned did two years pass without me seeing this picturesque little gem? 

Glen “Big Baby” Davis is one of those basketball players who, despite his more football-appropriate build, you still root for and love to see get substantial playing time on the court.  Too bad he continues to find himself in embarrassing situations that make you wonder if he’s ever read his copy of Man-Law Digest (can’t you just see his feet swinging back and forth?).

Now for the record, I am a Glen Davis fan; who doesn’t love a guy with heart, determination and a an uncanny resemblance to Shrek, but thanks to his overly expressive posing, I have no choice but to caption him:

Glen Davis Smizes (Smiles with his eyes; thanks Tyra) after The Boston Celtics defeat the L.A. Lakers in the 2008 NBA Championship Finals.

Someone Needs An Intervention

I just realized that several posts this week have had to do with my “extra” (as in dramatic, not additional) family.  What’s funny is, this family theme was not even intentional, but because everyone in my house has been in rare form this week (with the exception of me… of course) my blog posts have kind of turned into a narrative For Colored Bloggers Who Have Considered Family Abandonment When Their Foolishness was More Than Enough.  Still, what is it they say about it not needing to be fixed if it isn’t broken?  With that said, let’s take yet another trip to La Casa Del Pack.

So, my honey and I were watching television last night when a Wisk commercial came on…

Okay, wait.  In order for you to be able to follow the foolery, let me pause for a moment so that we can put this tale into the proper context.

Last school year, through some really unfortunate events and utterly gauche cowardice, the football team that my honey coached for let their Head Coach go.  This became very problematic for my honey because although he was invited to stay on with the new coaching staff, he felt a sense of loyalty to the sacked (pun intended) head coach.  This was mainly because the two were (are) great friends and he had brought my honey from their previous school (where they both used to worked together) to be a part of his coaching staff.  Taking all of this into account, my honey felt incredibly conflicted staying on as the team’s offensive coordinator.  So, after an off-season to think about it, my honey decided that he was going to focus on more one-on-one homework time with our children after-school (which he is well qualified to do, being a teacher and all) and making preparations to go back to school for administration instead of coaching this season.

Well, while he’s been incredibly proactive with our kids’ education, this man has been missing coaching like Bobby misses Whitney’s crack drug stash.  But in fairness, the players and coaches miss him just as much.  For the past four Friday’s, he’s been a spectator under the Friday Night Lights, but after the games, everybody is chatting him up like he’s still on staff. 

Okay, caught up? Now let’s proceed.

So the honey and I were watching some forgettable network season premiere last night, when a Wisk commercial came on.  As the advertisement began touting Wisk’s new Stain Spectrum Technology, the images coming through our television screen were of a group of tiny tots participating in what looked like a pee wee football game.  In the act of getting his pristine uniform muddied and grass stained, a little running back powered through the defensive line to score a touchdown.  In what can only be described as a totally out of the blue, possessed Dennis Green voice (think: “they are who we thought they were” raging lunatic Dennis Green), my honey retorts:

“WHY IN THE HECK DIDN’T SOMEONE FILL THE A-GAP?!?!?!?!”

Uh…

The fact that he was berating some 5 year olds…playing pee wee football…in a commercial, greatly concerns me.  Don’t get me wrong, I thought his random outburst was hilarious, but I DO think my honey needs a football intervention.  Now, I truly understand that he misses coaching, watching film and developing his young boys into men on and off the field, but there is still far too much of the football season left to be worrying about whether or not he is going to be stalking local youth football leagues and calling plays from the stands. 

Poor thing.

When Your Babychild Is No Longer a Babychild; That or He’s Watched Too Much Degrassi With His Sister

What I’ve come to learn about each of my children within the last decade (especially the babychild) is that they have clearly been here before…and by “here”, I mean they must’ve lived a long, worldly, previous life on this planet. What else could account for their razor sharp intellect and quick wit at such young ages? Take this evening for instance.

While putting the babychild to bed, my honey comes into the room and usurps my authority by continuing with their previous game of spies. Before I could fuss him out good and proper though, my honey whispers to our offspring that I am not his mommy, but a bad spy. The child took one good, long look at me and shrieked, “IMPOSTER” to my honey’s sheer-keel-over delight. Seriously though, it is instances like this one that cause me to actually inquire of myself about this kid’s true origin, and lately I find myself doing it more times than I care to admit!

Which leads me to the crux of this post. I am beginning to notice that the interaction between myself and the babychild is swiftly changing. While he still loves kissy faces and being held, this little boy is becoming more and more emboldened about what he likes and dislikes, and he has become fiercly independent in a lot of situations that would normally require quite a bit of hand-holding. And the stuff that comes out of his mouth…yeah, it makes me want to cancel our cable service (that or send the older Pack Children to boarding school).

Case and point: It was once again time for the babychild’s multi-hour hair-wash-dry-braid ritual (the poor kid has my moon face and his dad’s cranial circumference, so his head shape is totally incompatible with fades and ceasars) and I had him all psyched up with fruit snacks and Dora The Explorer reruns. Making early progress and getting completely done with the washing and drying, I was halfway through the braiding, when my comb got caught in a pretty massive tangle. The initially tugging of course, caused the babychild to wail in pain and unapologetically breach our sit-still-till-mommy’s-done agreement. Not only that, but he stood with huge crocodile tears in his eyes and began slowly backing away from me. And no matter how profusely I apologized, he wanted no parts of my contriteness or my plans for his makeover. In the break-your-heart voice that only your offspring could muster, the babychild proceeded to tell me what he really thought of the operation I was running.

“I don’t forgive you mom-ma (sniff, sniff, whimper), you ruined my life!”

HUH?

Now, I knew that this instance of dependent insurgence would one day descend upon the Pack Household, but good grief! I totally expected to be dealing with a pimply, hormonally imbalanced teen when it did, not my (otherwise) sweet toddler who gives me wet “sugar” when I get home from work each day, and rides on my swiffer sweeper like a witch on a broom, calling it his “Dune Buggie.”

Sigh.

I think I may have my hands FULL with this one!

Is it a Case of “Let He Without Sin”…Or “Therefore, Rid Yourselves of Hypocrisy”?

As is normally the case, tonight’s regularly scheduled post was already prepared (yet another motherhood angst draft completed and in mid-revision) before the BREAKING NEWS bomb was dropped in my inbox all Hiroshima-like this evening.  Thanks to cable news networks and the instantaneous nature of the social networks that I subscribe to, my Twitter Timeline, Instant Messengers and emails pretty much imploded my Blackberry amid news of yet another seemingly fallen Good Reverend.

According to CNN.com, two male parishioners have alleged sexual misconduct and coercion by an esteemed Atlanta Pastor:

Two Georgia men have filed a lawsuit claiming that prominent Atlanta, Georgia, pastor Eddie Long coerced them into sex.

The suits, filed Tuesday in DeKalb County, Georgia, allege that Long used his position as a spiritual authority and bishop to coerce young male members and employees of his New Birth Missionary Baptist Church into sex.

“Defendant Long has a pattern and practice of singling out a select group of young male church members and using his authority as Bishop over them to ultimately bring them to a point of engaging in a sexual relationship,” the suits allege.

Long is considered one of the nation’s top black preachers. His church has more 25,000 members, according to the suit, and was the site of Coretta Scott King’s 2006 funeral, attended by then-President George W. Bush and three previous presidents. King was the widow of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

The pastor took one plaintiff, Anthony Flagg, 21, on overnight trips to a half-dozen American cities in recent years, Flagg’s suit alleges.

“Long shared a bedroom and engaged in intimate sexual contact with plaintiff Flagg including kissing, massaging, masturbating of plaintiff Flagg by defendant Long and oral sexual contact,” the suit says.

Long took the other plaintiff, Maurice Murray Robinson, 20, to Auckland, New Zealand, in October 2008 for his 18th birthday and engaged in oral sex with him, Robinson’s suit alleges.

“Following the New Zealand Trip, Defendant Long regularly engaged in sexual touching, and other sexual acts with Plaintiff Robinson,” Robinson’s suit alleges.

Long spokesman Art Franklin said Tuesday that “we categorically deny the allegations.”

“It is very unfortunate that someone has taken this course of action,” he said. “Our law firm will be able to respond once attorneys have had an opportunity to review the lawsuit.”

Long frequently denounces homosexual behavior. A 2007 article in the Southern Poverty Law Center’s magazine called him “one of the most virulently homophobic black leaders in the religiously based anti-gay movement.”

“Everybody knows that a bishop or church pastor … cannot have any sort of sexual relations or sexual relationship with one of your parishioners,” the lawyer, B.J. Bernstein, said at a news conference Tuesday evening. “And even worse to have it with two young men who trusted him and got to know him at a very young age.”

Bernstein said she has alerted federal authorities about the allegations.

In June, Robinson was arrested and charged with burglary in connection with a break-in to Long’s office. An iPhone, iPad and other items — more than $1,300 worth — were taken from the office, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

On Tuesday, Bernstein said the theft was Robinson’s attempt to retaliate against the pastor. She said that once Robinson began telling others about his experience with Long, “he realized he wasn’t the only one.”

“It made [Robinson] angry,” she said.

Both plaintiffs said the pastor, his church and church employees gave them cash and lavish gifts that ranged from cars to college tuition.

The suits also said that Long framed the sexual relationships as religious in nature.

The suits allege that Long chose the plaintiffs to be his “Spiritual Sons,” a program that allegedly includes other young men from the church.

Flagg moved into a home owned by another New Birth pastor when he was a high school junior, according to the suit, where Long would sometimes share a bed with him. Flagg was eventually put on the church’s payroll, his suit alleges, with Long personally delivering his checks.

Flagg’s suit says that Long presided over a spiritual “covenant” ceremony between the two of them.

“It was essentially a marriage ceremony, with candles, exchange of jewelry, and biblical quotes,” Bernstein said Tuesday. “The bishop [told] him I will always have your back and you will always have mine.”

Robinson’s suit alleges that “Defendant Long would use Holy Scripture to discuss and justify the intimate relationship between himself and Plaintiff Robinson.”

The suits are seeking unspecified amounts of punitive damages from Long on various counts, ranging from negligence to breach of fiduciary duty.

Now, I will be the first to admit that although I don’t preach eternally damnation to random strangers and infidels or claim to possess the power to evoke a Fire and Brimstone downpour on all non-believers (you know, that new-age religion that some on The Right and many of those who travel on The Tea Party Express would have you believe that Christianity is all about), as a compassionate church-going, God-loving, Kingdom Striver, these allegations were incredibly disturbing.  And not so much because there are implications of gross sexual impropriety committed by a well-known and respected man of the cloth; one of the faces of the black “mega-church” culture, but because people have used this story to further vilify Christianity, “the body” and collective church-going as a whole. 

I cannot tell you how many comments I’ve read or responded to today that ranged from joking about whether Bishop Long’s S-Curl and silk too-tight shirts would be charged as accessories to this crime to people accusing the man of pedophilia with adolescent boys.  Please understand that I don’t repeat these crass opinions as a way in which to pass judgment. I only mention them to show how easy it was for the world to jump on the “there-goes-another-preacher-spending-my-up-my-tithe-while-creeping-with-the-choir-boy” bandwagon without having heard a single word in the way of Bishop Long’s side of the story.  Moreover, I know in media how important it is to get “the jump” on a hot and fresh story (as I can guarantee every blogger and their momma will probably be weighing in on this topic tomorrow morning, if they’ve not already done so) but I have to wonder if CNN.com, with more than 18,000 recommendations of this story via Facebook and it being touted as the most popular article on their website, cared more about the sensation that this story would garner as opposed to reporting on the whole story in its entirety.  Now, far be it for me to suggest that Bishop Long’s two accusers in this case are peddling falsehoods; I am not saying that at all.  I just think that we should all be careful to consider not only people’s motives in instances like this, but also the source from which such information would come.

What I do know to be true however, is my sincere desire for fact, accuracy and vindication to reign supreme and be made known when this snafu is all said and done.  As crazy as this situation is though, it’s bound to get even uglier before it gets resolved.  That is all the more reason why (in my opinion) we have to step out of our cloak of judgment and not put our mouth on a situation we are only privy to via second hand revelation. 

In the book of 1 Peter, it talks about how the people of God shouldn’t be surprised at being mistreated and made to suffer as a result of doing the Lord’s work (paraphrasing), while on the other hand the book of Matthew addresses the sadness and destruction that people bring upon themselves as a result of the sinful behaviors they allow in their lives.  In reading just these two bible passages it is evident that God will not be mocked, and I have a sneaking suspicion that one way or another this incident will be the catalyst for God allowing people to be exposed for who and what they truly are.

Weekend Warrior: Showers, Brunches & Ball Games

After last week’s hectic work schedule, I was looking forward to chillaxing over the weekend and simply curling up with a deactivated alarm clock and a good book.  I knew there were a few obligations that I had to honor on both Saturday and Sunday, but for the most part I’d planned for a drama free, Pack Approved Weekend.

Clearly, my sinuses did NOT get that memo.  Waking up Saturday morning at 7 a.m. (thanks to the babychild breathing 2 inches from my face with an “I’m hungry” on his lips), my nose and throat felt as though they’d simultaneously snorted and gargled hydrochloric acid.  Remembering that my honey was feeling under the weather for much of the week, I was pretty sure that I was likely suffering from the same little bug that he had.  Of course, when he got up Saturday morning, there was a spring in his step and no trace of illness could be found.

Girding myself up for a long 48 hours, I self-medicated on Halls, Earl Gray and Motrin, put on my big girl bloomers and got busy.  Successfully checking a Jack & Jill Baby Shower, Church Services, and My Sunday Savvy Sisters Brunch off of my weekend to-do list, I crashed and burned into my bed around 3 o’clock on Sunday afternoon.  With several hours of undisturbed rest under my belt (my honey’s daddy duty was much appreciated) I woke up feeling a little better…that is, until I turned on The Washington v. Houston game and died a little death as I watched Graham Gano make a 52-yard field goal in overtime, just as The Texans called an “ice the kicker” timeout; which of course resulted in him missing that same kick on his second try.

But in true silver lining fashion, the comforting prospect to the Skins’ loss and my depleted voice (having screamed in total dismay; to the honey’s complete amusement), was the fact that Dallas also took a dive…and to Da Bears at their home opener Sunday night. 

Yep, color me catty!  🙂