The Musings of a Latte Queen: Narratives of Everyday Life

I woke up this morning, actually went to bed last night, thinking about those things that I am thankful for. In the midst of wiggly kids during a praise service, a messy kitchen left over from the husband and said kids, and never-ending laundry, I decided to make a list: 1. God. Jesus. His unconditional love, His eternal forgiveness, His unending grace, His full acceptance. 2. My husband. He loves me and the kids. He works tirelessly so we are never without home, food, clothing, and our hobbies. He gives me room to grow and explore. He supports my writing and community efforts. He is growing and that gives me room to become myself. 3. My children. They are the air I breathe and my life is so much richer being their mother. 4. My friends. Some are lifelong, some are new, all give life to my life, they make me know the depth of my potential and relish in the width of my warmth. I adore them all. 5. My family. Some are gone, some are young, some are old, all share an ance...

I am now that mom. You know the one. She shows up at her son's wrestling practice and basically chews out everyone from the coach to the players. Well, not quite chews out, but it doesn't escape the entire team at Kirkwood High School that Joshua's mom is really mad! I became that mom. My son Joshua is a freshman. That should be enough said right there. He is also a little goofy, has the attention-span of a knat, and sometimes has science experiments growing under his bed. He is brilliant but scatter-brained, maybe an Einstein in the making. He forgets to turn in assignments or remembers at the last minute that he has a test tomorrow. His natural smarts let him make a B+ on his Geometry exam while I'm sitting here sweating bullets checking the online grade reports, assignments, and fielding emails from the teachers. The other day I emailed all the wrestling coaches, one is his freshman counselor. I let them know in no uncertain terms that their 2.0 requirement f...

I just came back from catching tonight's latest showing of "The Secret Life of Bees" starring Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys, Sophia Okonedo, and Dakota Fanning. I still feel a fullness in my heart that extended beyond the movie screen. It was a rather impromptu date with my husband, the rare late Saturday when we are not in our respective worlds with obligations and kids. I was really very tired and almost ready to go to bed when he asked me if I wanted to catch the 9:45pm show. My body pulled itself from the cocoon of my Mitchell Gold chair and warm, red blanket. The milk chocolate of my calf boots seemed to pull themselves on my feet for I was too exhausted to go through the motions, it had been a long day. I wrapped myself in the sweater-softness of a pashmina he brought back from Harlem, hoping I wouldn't fall asleep in the theatre. The movie transported me back to a time and a place that only existed somewhere in my soul. I was born in 1964, ...

I never thought it would matter to me if they voted yes or no on Proposition 8. To be perfectly honest, during most of the election season, my focus was primarily on the Obama-Nixon-Carnahan-Lavender portions of the race here in Missouri. All my major candidates won except Lavender and Trout, thanks in part to the heavily Republican district I live in. Kirkwood probably was one of the towns that voted for the gay marriage ban when it was on the ballot back in August 2004. Frankly, I don't even remember my vote, that was so long ago, many words ago, a couple surgeries ago for my daughter, and a son in another country ago. So, the other day I was browsing the Internet, finding time on my hands since I'm not cooking for the Obama volunteers. I stumbled on some of the discussions pertaining to the California vote and how the mostly gay white males who were so upset that the ban is in effect took to blaming black people. Why? Because CNN, needing something else to report since...

This time a week ago, as I looked out my family room window, I saw a sea of blue signs. My stomach was in knots as my son was out canvassing for now President-Elect Obama. I wondered about the next day and had a nervous energy as I prepared dinner for my children. It has been an historic time! I was at the Chase Park Plaza celebrating with family and friends. The blue yard signs greeted me as I came home, still waving proudly in ordinary yards in Kirkwood. The McCain sign across from my home was gone by the morning after victory. Yet, the Obama signs still stand proudly. The days since the election, I have taken short drives around my inner-ring suburb and have marveled at the signs still up. Certainly on my street, only one of my neighbors has taken down their Obama-Biden sign. I pondered this as my tour took me through middle class and upper class areas. There was a sense of joy as I drove past the huge homes on Woodbine only to see the rows and rows of blue. I spoke to one ...

This is a new day in America! I work up to the beautiful sun and an unusually warm autumn day in St. Louis. The grass is covered in the multicolored leaves, each doing a dance, each being their own beautiful self. It is a new day. Outside, on my quaint street, there were lots and lots of Obama signs leading up to the election. I'm in the middle of our block so on the other end, were a few McCain signs. There was one right across the street from me. This morning, early this morning, that sign was gone and all the Obama signs were still up. One of my neighbors was getting ready to take his teenager to the high school and we waved to each other, separated by a slight hill and five houses. I jumped in victory and he said, "the sun is shining today!" He was one of the ones in the early line yesterday. His family is white and have an adopted biracial son. This day, there is an opportunity for America to carpe diem . Like the leaves dancing on the ground outside, all o...

I just returned home, it is midnight here in Kirkwood. I attended a huge party at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel on the Central West End. There were hundreds of people there. My entire family was there. My Obama children were there, all the college staff from the West County office that I have been feeding were there! It was an amazing night. I saw America anxiously waiting for the results. We arrived around 8:30pm. The atmosphere in the room instantly energized me after a long few days. I could feel the energy. My youngest son saw his classmates from Kirkwood High School. He had just been out knocking on doors today to make sure people in our precinct got out to vote. President Elect Obama ran a wonderful campaign. He had an awesome campaign manager and chieft strategist. The ground game was unprecedent. The people that made phone calls, donated, talked, knocked on doors, wrote articles, cooked, all of it mattered and all of it added up to today. I was there. I witnessed hist...

It was a bsolutely amazing this morning. I woke up at 5am, sleep would not hold me to my king-sized, solid wood bed this magical morning. Darkness was still over us like a warm blanket, warming, and comforting. I dressed and made my way downstairs for some yogurt and a chocolate, soy latte. My husband stirred about 20 minutes later and prepared to go make history. We drove together the short three blocks to our polling place in Kirkwood, Missouri. We thought we would be one of the early ones. We were wrong! We found our place in an already long line at 5:45am. In less than 10 minutes, the line was stretched down to the end of the block and there were over 100 people waiting. The earliest people in line arrived at 5:15am. I was so happy! The most amazing thing to me was to see a daughter pushing her elderly mother, age 79, in a wheelchair. I gave my husband my coffee and went to help her across the street. It was my honor to assist one of our elders who lived through so many o...

We offer our deepest sympathy to Senator Barack Obama, Mrs. Michelle Obama, Sasha and Malia Obama, and the entire family on the loss of their Grandmother, Toot. We hold you in the whispers of our prayers on this night before the winds of change sweep through our nation. Toot's memory and strength will carry you. We are so happy you were able to see her and send her with your love and heart. Rest assured, she helped shape and mold a fine man. I honor her memory and her strength.