Snippet of Mahalia Jackson Song by Praline

Ms Praline performed in our church play recently and everyone had a phenomenal time! Big thanks to our Youth Leader, Mrs. "R" for putting all of her efforts in keeping church our youth excited about attending church.

Guess Where This Is??

It's a small corner in my place of refuge! Yep, since I am certified to do natural hair, love maintaining locks and starting new heads I decided to get a little spot so that I can keep my home private. The two pics on my wall of "Lock Fame" are the two people I started with Nappy Locs. More wall of fame pics to come as I venture off into lockdom.

There is also a pic close to the TV that shows ladies wearing Sisterlocks TM, which I do maintain. It's so crazy because I am actually turning people away since this is a semi hobby and I only do it maybe twice a week in my spare time.

Here's what my last locked sistah wrote: "Creyole I did not want to bother you telephonically, I know you have a busy life with your family. I must let you know when I finally took the hair down I thought it was as gorgeous as I have ever saw my locks. I can't wait to get it done again. The braids were so nice and cool, I wore those a few days,and you helped me in more than one way, since the surgeries in the last 6 months. After my hair I got my nails and toes done. But thank you so much. I will be contacting you right before the first."

We met in a store admiring each others locks and after I became certified she asked if would maintain hers. Now, I am very selective because I do not like drama but she had a very sweet spirit and we had a blast hanging together. Her email to me alone does my heart some good knowing I actually made someone feel beautiful in their locks. I must admit I did an awesome job on her 7 year old locks...shooow did! Maybe, she will let me take a picture of her next time.

Anyway, just wanted you all to know I am having fun in my spare time maintaining locks!!!! Not sure how long my excitement will last but for the most part I am in it for a minute!

More to come ~a dedication to Brunsli for her awesome support throughout the process!

My Nice Dell Inspiron 1100 is Dead!!!!!!

Look at it, it's so pretty I bought it because of the nice pretty color and demo I saw in the mall. My beautiful blue Dell Inspiron 1100 is DEAD!! It died on me after 2 1/2 years and I can't even power the thing up... Sigh!

After taking it to Geek Squad (notice the pink sticker) for an evaluation it was determined that it would be less expensive to buy a new laptop than invest in rebuilding this dead Dell.....I can't believe my Dell Inspiron is dead!!!! Lost all of my stuff too!!!

What??? A new laptop just when we have to shop for school uniforms, school supplies, gym shoes etc....??? We now have a 7th grader and 9th grader who would have been taking over my Dell Inspiron 1100 for school assignments anyway and now we have to invest in a new Dell!!! Wrong, a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do.

No sense in complaining, I ran out and purchased a Gateway, it's really fast and I got it on sale for $595.00! Not a bad deal for homework, blogging and personal business huh? The only thing I do not like about the Gateway is that the keyboard mouse makes a semi-loud clicking sound. Oh well, this time Best Buy recommended Trend Micro Antivirus and I like it already. No more pop ups like I always got with the Norton and McAfee Antivirus....also Trend appears to be compatible with Picasa so I can use my "blog this" feature.

Thanks Dell! Why don't you build a laptop that will last longer than 2 1/2 to 3 years? I really thought it would last much longer, my Dell Inspiron 1100 is Dead!!!! So sad...sniff, sniff!

Here's what Dell said:

Dell's mainstream Inspiron 1100 is the cheapest notebook in the newly redesigned Inspiron family, but it's by no means the runt. In CNET Labs' tests, the system displayed the fastest performance and the longest battery life among its Celeron-based competitors. The sub-$800 price is also impressive. Of course, you can't expect everything from a laptop this cheap. The Inspiron 1100 lacks perks, such as integrated wireless. But all things considered, the Inspiron 1100 is one of the best mainstream notebooks on the market.

Ugh! Does anyone know of a place where I can donate a dead Dell Inspiron 1100???

About Mac: Mac has come highly recommended by other freinds of mine and I'm afraid of the price and OSS. Maybe one day I'll venture out.....

Guess What We're Eating?

If you guessed Beignet, you are correct! We went back home to Louisiana this summer and had the pleasure of visiting one of my favorites indulgences ....Cafe Du Monde ! The French Quarters and Canal Street is in tact and we were surprised to see that Kenner is doing much better as well. As for the 9th ward we didn't venture off to see what it was like because I was not mentally ready to "no progress." Many of our family members shared enough about it and I'm just not ready yet.

We visited a couple of friends in other areas and found that their homes had been rebuilt and they are in good health as well. I almost felt a little selfish going down there to indulge in the good eats and treats but then Beignet (below left) reminded me that we are helping by visiting as tourist and business owners were very happy to receive all patrons.

One thing I was not ready for was many of the businesses only accepted CASH. I'm not a cash kind of girl so I was slightly inconvenienced...but how could I complain when two years prior some people lost everything they had? Needless to say, I got it together real quick.

Here's Roux (below left) standing next to he and Pralines favorite candy shop, which was closed! After Katrina, many stores close early now and that took some getting used to during the visit.

On a hair note, someone asked me and Praline and I quote, "how long have you all been wearing Reggae hair?" We were not offended, it was actually funny and then I proceeded to educate.