The Haps

As life goes, there is always so much going on, with so little free time. One of my brother's finally came down to visit and we had a great visit. He bought me a new bag, 32-inch tv and a really nice watch. They were all early birthday presents.

Teddy hit it off great with my brother, as I thought he would. They were even both rapping to songs in the car. I smiled as two of my favorite guys got along and shared stories of their pasts.

School has been a lot more demanding lately. I meet with my classmates up to three times a week but the best part is I seem to be doing apparently well in both my Stats and Accounting classes.

Work has been alright for the most part. There are layoffs among us and I know of two people who are getting fired tomorrow but obviously I'm not the one to tell them. I felt so bad because one person was telling me her life woes, including being the only employed one in her family.

My sister has been down twice in a three week span, we even went to New Orleans. It was my first time there and we had a blast. We both definitely plan to go back somtime this year.

I interviewed for an internal position, but I didn't get it. Oddly enough, I wasn't disappointed, the manager of the position actually gave me the creeps, so no love lost there.

Hmmmm...what else....just kidding. I saved the best for last......

TEDDY AND I ARE GETTING MARRIED!!!

We're getting married this fall and I couldn't be more excited and stressed! I have been planning like a maniac. There is one thing that has been getting on my nerves when I tell people my news, their inquiry as to whether or not I'm pregnant. Can't a black woman get married without being pregnant?! Ugh!

Well I'm off to catch up on what's been going on with you all.

So Icy

Yes, here in the Lone Star State, ice has overtaken us. I just came in from taking Baby out to use the bathroom and there's even ice on the grass. The good news is that we've been getting warned for days, so as a precaution, my job informed everyone yesterday that today, we'd be closed.

One of my older brothers is coming into town today and I'm so super excited. He was supposed to arrive last night, but the airport cancelled his flight. The good news is that the weather is supposed to increase to 40 degrees today, 55 tomorrow and 67 Sunday. I am just hoping that by the time I leave for the airport this afternoon that the sun has melted away the ice.

I have an itinerary of things things planned while my brother is in town. What I'm most excited about is to have him meet Teddy. To date, the entire time we've been dating, Teddy has only met my sister. I think that Teddy and my brother will hit it off well. My brother is the life of the party and I think it'll be nice that Teddy gets to hang around a guy close in age.

I guess I'll nap for a bit since my body clock still woke me up instinctively at 5:30a.m.

Tidbits

Time has once again managed to fly by without me posting. Quite a bit has happened since my last post.

I received a phone call from my old BFF who I wrote about here. To say that I was surprised to hear from her would be an understatement. We played catch up and she asked if I was still in the same apartment I was two years ago. I informed her that I finally moved to Texas. All she could say was wow, you finally did it. She asked how long and I told her almost eight months now. It seemed to bring her down a bit, knowing that I had been away so long and she had no clue, but then again, I could be reading way more into her reaction.

I met Teddy's mom. She was really sweet; we shook hands after meeting one Sunday at church. Later that afternoon after Teddy and I parted ways and I headed home, I received a phone call from him. He announced that he had news and asked if I wanted to hear it or if I'd rather wait until later. Well of course when someone says they have something to tell you, you want to hear it immediately. He told me his mom said she got a great feeling from me and she can tell that I am the one for him. I sat there silent for a moment, like wow, did she really?

I have seen her several times since then and now we're up to hugging. I made her a cake for Mother's Day that they both loved. Speaking of the cake, I found a store that is a Baker's Dream. I've always enjoyed baking so I am considering taking my past time and potentially turning it into something much more.

Things have been pretty quiet on the drama front for the most part. My little brother's wife, who is in Germany, has found a new boyfriend. She proudly shared her new love interest on FB and even changed her marital status as married to this new guy. My sister decided to check her about claiming a new husband while being married to our brother and informed her that "husband #4 is not a good look". Needless to say, my sister-in-law deleted and blocked my sister and I as well as all of my cousins.

My apartment life sucks at the moment. I have had to call management twice about seeing little bugs. You can call it a fear if you like, or flat out hate, but bugs and I do not get along. I can't wait to move out of this place.

Work is still the same. I was just assigned a new project last week all while still covering for my coworker on FMLA. My Work Mom informed me that another coworker that hangs out with us was talking about me with another colleague of ours. The same coworker had a birthday gathering for her daughter, on the evening that Teddy and I had plans. She actually had the audacity to ask if I was going to pick my man over her daughter's party. YES! Please tell me what I look like, blowing off my man for a woman who talks about me behind my back?

That is really all that is going on for me at the moment. I have been stalking airline websites to see if I can find a ticket home that won't cost me a kidney and a liver, no such luck yet.

I am hopeful that my free internet connection stays up so I can start posting more frequently.

Just Die Already

If you thought this post was about Dragon Lady and my supervisor then you're wrong, lol! No, this post is about the wretched gnats that won't die. I have bug bombed the house two times in the last month and they just won't die. I have flying insect spray that I use but it just seems to empower them to live longer, I have no idea how to be rid of these annoying suckers.

Before my brother came to stay here with me, I was gnat-free. Now all of a sudden, they just won't die. He leaves take-out containers on the table for days and just sits his dishes on the counter. I don't have to tell you that I can't wait to get the hell out of this house. The countdown is just about to begin.

He has been acting like a brat about the fact that he has to move out once I'm gone. If he was more responsible, he'd probably get more time here but he isn't, so he has to go. He's been here since July and hasn't bought one roll of tissue, one bar of soap, nor paper towel..see where I'm going with this?

I have began selling furniture and each time he comes home and notices something is missing he comments how soon he'll be sleeping on the floor. My next mission is to sell the stove, fridge and dishwasher.

He has less than a month to find a place and he is being picky about apartment complexes, stating that he doesn't want to "get shot". At this point, he will have a better chance of being shot if he is homeless because he's to saddity to settle for what he can afford now and let me just throw in that he delivers pizza for a living. Now, no offense to anyone who may deliver pizzas but his income is not at the level where he can pick and choose at this moment.

I took three days off work and today I spent 312 minutes on the phone with B.lackberry trying to get my new phone issues resolved. I pretty much wasted today but I took care of business yesterday and I will do a few more things tomorrow.

Let's Get Ready to Rumble

Just when I thought that I would finally have some peace in the house, here comes more headaches. So my little brother has decided to stay in the States and work. His wife has been IM-ing & calling me to vent. There is only so much I want to say since I am really trying not to get back caught up in their ridiculous fights.

It's so sad because yesterday she made a comment about no matter how much they fight verbally and physically, they both know neither of them are going anywhere. I just sat there with my face semi-twisted.

Ok back to the reason for this post. I'm not sure if you all will believe me but in some ways my brother is actually worse than my sister. I thought I'd finally be able to live in a clean house and here he comes, The Tasmanian Devil. I swear, you'd think he was a stripper the way he has clothes all over the house. He'll have shorts in the livingroom, underwear in the bathroom, a t-shirt in the office, its like WHAT THE HELL!

I was trying to just be cool until he left which was scheduled for this coming Sunday. But since I heard from my mother today that he is supposed to be staying, I HAVE to say something to him before I attack him.

Last night and another night a week or so ago, he left the doors unlocked. While I don't live in the worse neighborhood, I don't live in the best either. I live off of a major street and there is an alley at the corner. I thought that I'd be a bit more comfortable having a male presence in the house but I was safer with just me because I made sure the doors were locked every night.

I mentioned to him last time how I was upset that the doors were left unlocked and he turned around and did it again last night. I started writing a note before I left out this morning but I decided we need to talk one-on-one.

The day before yesterday I took the trash out and was in a hurry. He was home all day but do you think he put another bag in the trash can? Of course not. I finally had to say something to him about it. He started to say something but decided to let his voice trail off instead. Perhaps he remembered that I give him money from time to time and I have let him use my car on numerous occasions since he's been back.

Well he put the bag in the can..I should be happy, right? Wrong! Why didn't he pick up the trash that he had piling up on the counter? He didn't because he's lazy, that's why. He also hasn't washed a dish since he's been there and he leaves loads full on the counter and in the computer room. He doesn't even has the decency to rinse off the dishes he uses, he lets them set and harden before dropping them off on the counter for me to wash.

I have a hair appointment tonight and when I get home, I am going to lay things out for him. If he doesn't help out, he has to go, flat out. I'm tired of cleaning up behind grown folks. The decision is up to me if he stays or goes and I refuse to clean up behing his lazy a$$ anymore.

A break

So its Wednesday and my week has yet to get better. Usually when I have a downpour of bad, an abundance of blessings are around the corner. I'm trying to just keep to myself so that I don't hurt anyone's feelings in the midst of this storm. It seems like people just don't understand when you don't want to be bothered.

My mother has been trying to force me to talk and that makes me all the more unwilling to talk. Aren't I entitled to want just Trish time? She and I played phone tag until I just said forget it. I think I am going to text her that I will talk to her when my mood is better.

Little brother decided to stay here and work so that he can get the money together for his wife and her son to be able to come back into the States. So of course he asked to use my car today. He was just sitting in the house bs-ing around and I pulled off and left him. Then I had to say to myself, he is using it to work, not just drive around so I went back and got him.

I just need to get my head and emotions together. I don't like feeling like this but I just can't help it. One of my friends mentioned making me dinner tonight. If he doesn't I'm thinking maybe I will treat myself to a movie, just to get out of the house.

He's Here

So guess what everyone? My little brother is home. He will be here for about three weeks. I haven't seen him as of yet though. I heard that he's supposed to have a tude with me because he read a message btw me and his misses about how she doesn't need to go for the treatment he gives her. But he wasn't mad enough to say anything to me about being mad so oh well. Anyways, my mom took it upon herself to tell my brother she heard he was mad at me. He denied it but I know he is. I still love him though, nonetheless and I can't wait to see him.

I think that at some point he will get tired of sleeping on the couch at my parents apartment anc come to the house with me. I'm sure he'll want to use my car and I will more than likely give him some money as well as my other siblings. Hopefully we can all talk some sense into him.

Do you guys know that his wife had the nerve to be mad that he was coming home for a few weeks? Mind you, this is after she called all of us here in the States Saturday, saying that he was being abusive which included pulling her hair and calling her names. My parents thought they better get him away as soon as possible before something happened that neither of them can take back.

The Marrying Man

Last night I met up with one of my older brothers for dinner. As always, we had a good time, filled with laughter and drinks. We went to his favorite restaurant, J.Alexanders, where all the staff knew him, which was no surprise. One of the reasons he treated me to dinner is because I loaned him money last week to put a deposit down on his wedding suit. Now how weddding was 21 days away at the time and he was just getting to ordering a suit....hm...

I know that part of the reason is because he was in a car accident recently that has him off from work and without income. His fiance was working part-time and going to school but she had to quit school in order to keep up with their bills.

I guess my thing is, if you don't have the money for a wedding, why not get married and just have a gathering afterward? I'll tell you why. The reason is because he's marrying a 40 year old woman with three kids and three baby's daddies and she has never been married. To me, he feels like he owes her a wedding.

So he's been borrowing from us, his family, to try to pull off this wedding. He even drew from his pension to be able to pay us all back and to afford the other wedding details.

He was telling me about a story involving a chick he was messing around with at the same time as his fiance. Apparently the other night, the woman called and left him a voice mail saying how she hoped that she'd be waking up in his arms on this particular morning. His fiance got to the message before he did and all hell broke loose. She confronted him, asking how he had the nerve to be cheating and they are so close to the wedding date. He assured her that he wasn't cheating and even called the woman in front of his fiance saying that he told her not to call him because he's engaged.

In true to male form, after he got frustrated with the fact that she didn't just fall into his arms with his explanations that nothing was going on with the other woman, he flipped it on her. Told her that he wasn't and hasn't been messing with the woman, but that if she doesn't want this anymore, then they can call everything off now, including the wedding.

I guess the idea of the wedding not happening calmed her down because she called me the next day and left me a voice mail that went like this.

"Hey Trish Trish. I was just calling to see if you were gonna stick to your word gal. Ha ha, just playing. Call me when you can."

First off, she and I aren't cool, so her message sounded so fake and scripted. Secondly, when she asked if I was going to stick to my word, she was making reference to the ham that she asked me to buy and bring.

The only reason I am bringing the ham is for my brother's sake. He called me saying that she didn't feel like his family was too involved. I told him that maybe if this wasn't his third wedding, that we'd be a bit more excited. She also asked me to decorate but I told her that I don't have an eye for that stuff, because I really don't.

While he talked about the women he's been with over the years and all they had done for him and what this fiance didn't do, he said something that struck a nerve with me.

I asked him why he was choosing to marry her when he has all these options that he brags on. He said that she was a hard worker. I said hell, so is a Labrador! I then told him my own fears about marriage and the obligation and responsibility behind it and asked him if he was sure he was ready for that yet again.

The Marrying Man went on to explain how he was again ready to be married. So I then said well why do you cheat? He said that he hasn't cheated since CHRISTMAS and how he's doing good. Mind you, CHRISTMAS, he was engaged to her. In fact, he proposed to her on Thanksgiving but he didn't even tell us, she told us sometime in early December at my little brother's wedding reception.

As I sat there thinking about how he admitted to cheating a little over four months ago, I thought back to last month. One Friday night I was exhausted and hopped in bed by ten. I was awakened to a phone call by him saying that he wanted to go out. Clearly, im in bed and sleep so that wasn't going to happen and I told him that. So he said well in case you get a call from anyone, you and me are hanging at Club XYZ tonight. In my half-sleep state I said okay, bye and hung up.

Doesn't that sound like someone who needed an alibi? If you were with your boys or just getting some alone time, why would you have to use me as your cover story?

His wedding is now 15 days away and I am not excited, not even a little. I think he is making a huge mistake and that he just likes being married, but he doesn't know how to be a faithful husband. He cheated on the other two wives and cheating on this fiance...See a pattern? I also think she is a bit crazy. Sometimes I catch her just staring at me. She always makes quiet little remarks that I have to check her about and she calls him a million times a day to keep tabs on him. Why marry someone you don't trust?

I know this isn't my business and ultimately, the choice is up to him but this will be the last wedding that I spend my hard-earned money on for the Marrying Man.