Retrospect for Life

Admittedly I’m not sure where I stand with having children of my own. Ideally if I have kids I need to be married—because children are too much work to have on your own and I am all about the delegation of duties. Whenever I see a baby my ovaries do a little backflip but then they cry and I am immediately put off by the idea.

Then I hang with my friends’ kids, they are all pretty cool and I love them to death. But then I invite my friend to go hang out and they are all like “nahhh, I have to take so in so to dance class then soccer practice and after that cook dinner.” And I’m all like “oh—I’m pretty sure our idea of fun are two different things”. Somehow that statement always follows a lecture about how I’m not getting any younger and how I need to start thinking about settling down. My response is usually, “Oh me, I don’t want kids” and that spins into a whole different discussion.

I need for Pope Francis to tell me where in the Bible it says that not wanting to have kids is selfish. Or maybe not—I don’t want to feel convicted. If having kids is a prerequisite to womanhood then me, Oprah, Barbie and a whole lot of women are in trouble.

Check out my newest weekly update and let me know your thoughts!

August 17, 2015August 12, 2015 by Twilla Amin Categories: My rants, The Black SJPTags: children, Feminism, kids, Life, mothers, Pope Francis, rant, Retrospect for Life, video blog, vlog, weekly updates, women, wtf Leave a comment

Its officially open season on hunting. This summer has been filled with folks shooting and getting shot by cops (and each other) and now illegally killing Simba’s cousin–Cecil. People don’t like when you kill other people but we HATE when you kill an animal. Are our priorities backwards? Maybe just a bit!

August 4, 2015August 4, 2015 by Twilla Amin Categories: Current Events, My rantsTags: animal cruelty, Cecil the Lion, current events, hunting, Police, rant, Resolutions, Retrospect for Life, Sam Dubose, vlog Leave a comment

It’s My Half Birthday

I’ve declared June 18th my half birthday. If you are asking me why, then your birthday must not be the week of Christmas– which sucks by the way!

If you live in America and celebrate Christmas you know that Decemeber is the most festive month of the year. People spend all year getting ready for the holidays, planning trips home, indulge in movies and exchanging gifts. This month alone can ressurrect entire economies as people dig into their wallets and share tidings of great joy with their families, friends, neighbors and co-workers.

However, if your birthday is anywhere around Christmas people are likely to make your Christmas gift a two for one deal. Let me give you a $25.00 Amazon Gift card to you for your birthday with a card that says Happy Birthday and Merry Chirstmas. No longer seems fair does it?

If you declare your half birthday, friends will buy your present and not think twice about making it a dual purpose birthday gift.

The other thing about being born the week of Christmas is that you don’t get birthday parties. Think about it. Most kids are getting out of school for winter break, so no in class celebration. As you get older, your birthday falls around exams—everyone is studying and then heading home, again no birthday party.

As an adult I took upon myself to start throwing my own birthday parties because DANG IT- I’m happy to be born and I’m gonna celebrate me. That is until friends start making request that you have your celebration two weeks before the actual day of your birth….because you know they have plans to get out of town. Being born too close to Christmas is an inconvenience to your loved ones. Throw a party in June and everyone is there, so why not celebrate your half birthday in June! A birthday party that consist more than you and your best friend—one with at least 10 folks!

Wanna get away? I hope you don’t mind that traveling during your birthday is going to be expensive—its peak travel time. Gas is high, flights are high, accomodatios are going to be high. And even if you did splurge and spend the money, guess who’s not going to be there? Your friends—they can’t spend a weekend with you when there are last minute birthday gifts to be purchased! During the summer you can find great last minute travel deals—half birthday in Italy anyone?

It’s not that I hate the fact that I was born in Decemeber. Come on we get to celebrate with Jesus and Santa. If you plan right, you can hit up all the open bars at the office Christmas parties and turn up all by yourself. If you request your aunt to make your favorite cake she probably will because she is already in a baking mood. And for all the gift cards you will get for your Merry Birthday, you can wait till the day after Christmas to spend it and get more bang for your buck during the after Christmas sale!

June 18, 2015June 19, 2015 by Twilla Amin Categories: My rantsTags: Birthday, Birthdays, Christmas, December babies, Holidays, rant, Retrospect for Life, Solutions, Toast Tip Leave a comment

Sweet Tea and Sass Video Post

I’m excited to share one of the many things I’ve been working on for this site—Sweet Tea and Sass Live. Okay, I’m not sure if that’s what I’m calling it but its in the running. I will posting two videos a month — just learned that it could be biweekly or bimonthly (mind blown)! Below I have posted a trailer for a quick peek at what’s coming up on Sweet Tea and Sass.

The polls are open, what am I naming my video post? Give me something great that we can write an intro song to!

March 30, 2015 by Twilla Amin Categories: Other NewsTags: prefamous, rant, Retrospect for Life, ToastTip, updates Leave a comment

Why Parent’s Visits are the Best

This past week my mother came to visit us (I have a brother and sister that lives in Cali as well) but I like to think that she came to visit me! If you don’t know, I LOVE MY MOTHER! Steph and I have a bond. One where I can call her Steph just as long as I am not seriously thinking that I am getting away with calling her by her first name. It absolutely drives my friends crazy. They’re so jelly. I also talk to my mom like 8 times a day. Not because we have an obsessive relationship but because our convos are usually cut short because we got to go into a meeting or something. Sometimes we just share a thought and hang up. I would text her but her phone is like the world’s first palm pilot or something and she doesn’t always get my messages. My sibs totally pick on me about how often I talk to my mom. Mom and I have an understanding. I teach her how to use Facebook and she helps me make sound financial decisions. I would never call my mother my friend because of the phrase every kid heard growing up “I’m not your friend, I’m your mother”. But we are kinda like friends. But she will still lecture me and give me unsolicited advice–because as she puts it, “I may not be a manager any more but I am still in consultant position for the rest of your life.” I realized on this last minute there are stages I go through during these visits. The week before I was kind of obsessed with making sure everything was clean and in place. Not because I’m junky but because mom is like super clean and has a way of finding dirt that does not exist. But then the day of, I came to the realization that no matter how hard I tried, mom was just going to end up cleaning anyway. All while making it looking so effortless. When mom gets here. I like to pretend that I am grown. I like to show that all of the hard work and investment has paid off. I am doing well. I can cook, clean, decorate, pay bills on time, have fun and have some sort of balance. This act of showing off or pretending, only last for a few days. If your parents are staying more than a few days it will be hard to convincingly keep this cover. Then there’s the moment when mom does a really mom thing and it tugs at that part of me thats sometimes wishes I could be a kid again. This time it was “Let’s go get groceries, I’ll pay.” OH-EM-GEE!!! Be still my heart! I totally wish I could hop into the shopping cart and pull things off the shelf and put into the buggy–my own version of a real life Throw Back Thursday. Sometimes we all need a chance to relive and appreciate things from our childhood that we took for granted. I’m not even ashamed to say that the grocery store trip was not that moment for me. It was the moment when I had a mini breakdown-tears and all- and mom was there with open arms. Hugs, encouraging words and great advice. My mom has a way of making everything better. When mom left, my house was cleaner, my fridge was full and my self esteem was intact. I needed this time with my mom. Parents are great—mine are the best! I am eternally grateful for the blessing that is mom and dad.