Two days in a row....

I am on a roll.

I got Blog fevah!!!!!!!

I have been doing so much that I got sidetracked, but I have learned to BALANCE, I think? LOL

Am I the only one who is hooked on FACEBOOK AND TWITTER!
OMG! As if I need any more Vices!!! LOL

I have found so many of my HIGH SCHOOL BUDDIES and even GRAMMAR SCHOOL BUDDIES on Facebook! I couldn't be more thrilled. In fact, I am in the works of planning a get together with my Cassell and Mt. Greeenwood buddies from Grammar School. I went to Cassell in the 2nd grade, it was the first time I was in a integrated school. I was so scared! I had NEVER SEEN THAT MANY WHITE PEOPLE in my life!!!!! And I didn't know what to expect. I was only 6 1/2 years old. I had to go to this school, because I was not being challenged enough at my old school as I was RIDICIOUSLY smart! Like GENIUS smart. So they placed me at this school for Gifted students. Off the bat, I made so many friends. They took me in, and at that moment I didn't SEE BLACK OR WHITE, I saw my FRIENDS! 10 of us, REMAINED close friends to this day, and the rest of us fell off. We were FAMILY, I can remember my good friend Denise (our sons our best friends, Bee and Nic) lived right behind the school, and on recess we would sneak to the GATE, and her dad would give us juice and cookies!!!!! I can remember when my friend Patsy's mom died of EPILEPSY and the ENTIRE 3rd grade, walked to St. Christina Church (my first time in a Catholic church) and we sang a song, recited a poem, and the family was so pleased with how well behaved we were. Of course we were, Mrs. McKnight didn't play! She used to be RUTHLESS with that Ruler!!!!! I never fell VICTIM of the ruler whacking!!!! NO NO, not me!!!!! LOL Cassell only had one or two rooms for each grade, by the time we were in 4th, there was only one room per grade, so we were together until we graduated out of 6th grade. In fact, we had Ms. McKnight for 2nd and 3rd grade and Mrs. Maebane for 5th and 6th.

Now I can remember all my teachers, my Kindergarten teacher was Ms. Crowley, 1st Mr. Harris, 2nd Ms Perry (she pulled my hair and my grandmother came up to school and knocked her out, yep I remember that) I transferred and that's when I had Ms. McKnight for 2nd and 3rd, then 4th grade Ms. Hines (she slipped on a crayon, that I threw at somebody in the class, and slipped a disk in her back, I felt horrible, but that didn't stop me from laughing hysterically!) and for 5th and 6th I had Ms. Maebane. Now I am going to stop there......

You nevet knoe how A TEACHER can have such a STRONG IMPACT on your life and I had two teachers in my life that LITERALLY saved my life! The first was my 2nd and 3rd grade teacher Ms. Mc Knight. When I got to Cassell, I felt like a fish out of water! I mean it was only a handful of kids that looked like me in the class. I was a gorgeous little girl! Pretty eyes, long THICK HAIR, and full pretty lips! It was in 3rd grade where I started to suffer an IDENTITY CRISIS, I wanted a perm, (my mom wasn't having it), because my curly hair, didn't fit in with the long and straight flowing hair, that I was seeing ......My mom only would press my hair on SPECIAL OCCASSIONS, but I wanted the world to KNOW how LONG MY HAIR REALLY WAS..... I mean my little short curly pigtails, were not CUTTING IT! I wanted my hair to blow in the wind like my friends! One day, I went in the corner and I started to cry, and Ms. McKnight found me before any of my classmates NOTICED, and she seemed puzzled as to why, I was crying. I was a FIESTY little kid, so she knew I was not being PICKED ON, and so she asked was I ok, I told her I was ok, and she said "Awwww, I know.... and I looked at her.... She said you don't like what you see when you look in the mirror! I said...what do you mean..... She said Ms. Payne, YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL! You have the most beautiful smile, like an angel, it lights up the room! You have the prettiest CURLY HAIR, just like I didi when I was your age, she said my hair has been relaxed, and now it's straight and thin, but your HAIR is gorgeous! You have pretty brown smooth skin! and she did this all while having me look in her small mirror she kept in her desk! At that moment, I started to believe that I was OK, JUST THE WAY I WAS......

Fast forward to 5th and 6th grade, I met the MOST INFLUENTIAL teacher I had....
and she wa a TOUCH COOKIE...

Miss Maebane. My first impression of Miss Maebane was that she WAS MEAN!
She would yell, she would slam things down, she even hit Phillip Ford with some scissors, and I was kind of COCKY at this age, and I was saying in my mind "I wish she WOULD, try to pull that SHIT with me". Me and Mrs. Maebane never had a run in. I did what I was supposed to do and she NEVER HAD TO PULL IT WITH ME. Well I had always been smart, but in 5th grade it's not COOL to have your HEAD in the books all the time, it wasn't cool that I would rather skip recess and stay insided and help the teacher grade papers, and fix the bulletin board. I quickly was called a NERD OR TEACHER'S PET or SOMETHING MUCH WORSE a "ASS KISSER". I was in NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM THE LATTER. I didn't mind being called a nerd or teacher's pet as much , but ME A BROWN NOSER, I don't think so. So I began to change, my grades were slipping, I was getting into trouble, and I was FAR MORE rebellious! I was getting into fights all the time and I WASN'T LOSING, so it made me APPEAR to be a BULLY! The only thing that saved me from getting in trouble was MY GRADES!

One day, I was in the bathroom! And Ms. Maebane came in and made everybody LEAVE..
This was an UNCOMFORTABLE SITUATION for me, so I gave her this look like...
I wish you would PULL IT....

and that's when I was on the floor....
I don't know what happened, but I was on my butt!
Mrs. Maebane was crouched over me and said is this what you want, to be down here with the dirt? And I was squirming using all my might to get up, but she wasn't BUDGING! LOL
And this is what she said that woke me up "you will reside in DIRT permantly if you DO NOT GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER, you cannot WHOOP THE WORLD, you willl MEET YOUR MATCH one of these days and it MIGHT NOT END PRETTY" You need to stop. You are NOT A DUMMY, THIS IS NOT who YOU ARE!!! You are too SMART FOR THIS SHIT" and yes she said SHIT. Everytime you act up for the remainder of the year, you will be right where you are now, on your butt , because I will find you and put you there. You will bring your grades up, you will get your self together and you will stop acting like a DAMN FOOL. She lifted me off my feet with the FORCE OF WONDER WOMAN, so much so I almost flew into the wall. This WOMAN PUT FEAR INTO MY HEART, the only PEOPLE IN MY LIFE, that EVER PUT FEAR, was my GRANNY AND MY MOM! I was scared! I stopped FIGHTING, I brought my grades up, and I was at the top of my class. This woman believed in me, MORE THAN I BELIEVED IN MYSELF, she didn't give p on me, She was DETERMINED that I made something of myself, and I thank her for it...

What if she didn't stop me? What if she wouldn't have said anything? I am not going to Lie, I was A BEAST! LOL I never PICKED FIGHTS, but I sure FINISHED IT UP! I HAVE 4 brothers, I wasn't NO JOKE!!! LOL I fought boys, girls were NEVER a match for me. Even to this day, Baptiste and I will play fight and wrestle and he is amazed at how STRONG I AM. LOL But, I learned to walk away from fights instead of being involved in one....

I have gone several times to Cassell to see my FAVORITE TEACHERS!!! They are both retired now, but I still keep in touch! I owe my life to these two women, they both SAVED ME FROM SELF DESTRUCTION!!!! I am eternally grateful!!!