The Wave

It was a nice weekend in Indiana, 80 degrees! No complaints here. Because it was so nice a lot of motorcyclists were out on the road, so I saw a lot of the "wave". You know what I'm talking about.....the hand gesture that people riding bikes give to each other when they pass another biker on the road. You also may have seen Jeep drivers do this as well.

What I want to know is where is the mini-van greet? I think we deserve to be put in this category of a general sign of respect for the other. Why aren't we mini van drivers waving at each other.....with acknowledgement that we know what the other is probably going through. There's probably kids yelling at each other in the back seat, babies crying for their mommies, Are we there yet? questioning, change the music station, turn the music up. All those with mini vans know what I'm talking about. So I'm going to start this trend....lol.

Short but sweet this time......J

The Remix

Definitions of Remix:
as an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version.
to mix again.

Or my own personal definition....take a song and give it a second go around by possibly put someone new in it (ex...jay-z, justin timberlake, or rihanna) make the beat a little faster, a little "funner", and make me want to run it back on replay (haha). 


I define my life, the Bowser Bunch, as a remix...and God was the producer.

Both Unique and I had an original song. We had the first version of our life in our previous marriages...but the intent all along was the REMIX. I mean I know when I hear the remix of a song I rarely go back and listen to the original cuz I like the new version better. For instance, JLo has a song called I'm Real...but I can't even tell you how the original goes cuz the one that is stuck in my head and that I will remember is the remix version with Ja Rule. It's just in general a better song. So is my life...it's a second go around..we aren't a blended family we are a REMIX. And no matter how busy my day is, no matter how many times Amaria screams at me cuz she figures that's how she communicates in this loud family...I'll run this remix back on replay all day! (Trae on the drums, Kiki on the keyboard, Day on the guitar, Kel mixin, Nique on the vocals, and Me and the Munchkin back up
dancin...lol)

It's Not A Game!

As the opening of the NFL season approaches I can’t begin to express the level of excitement I feel.  It has been a long agonizing offseason, full of unknowns, with the increasing possibilities of a lost 2011 season. But now the wait is over. The season is days away and many of us will begin to ride the emotional rollercoaster of highs and lows as we follow our cherished team.  The time spent following them in the offseason, tracking all of the moves in personnel, and even the financial status of the team and their ability to improve. Wow! Is this a sickness? Is there something wrong with devoting so much time and energy to a sport team that offers so little in return? 

I have a long standing relationship with the New York Football Giants that extends 20 plus years.  It can be as crazy as any other relationship at times.  A love/hate relationship, in which any given Sunday they can break my heart, let me down and disappoint to no end.  In the very next breath or week they can bring a level of joy and happiness because of the way they performed and fought to win the game.

I love football.  I love the competitiveness and the mental focus it takes to win.  I love the physical nature of the game.  Being a defensive player in my day, there is nothing like delivering a hit on an offensive player, dislodging the ball and watching as they struggle to get to their feet.  But today, in this moment I was hit with the bigger picture.

The season kicks off Thursday for 2 teams but for the other 30 teams it begins on September 11, 2011.  This marks the 10 year anniversary of the most devastating attack this country has faced since Pearl Harbor. So as I sit here anxiously awaiting the start of the season, I realize there are millions of friends and family members revisiting the pain, agony and devastation of the moment when they first heard the news or saw the impact.  There will be over 6000 grave site visited, specifically because of that fateful day.  I think about how close I came to losing my children’s mother in the pentagon.  How my life and the life of my children would have changed had she been a part of that 6000.  I am humbled and ever so thankful that the Lord spared her and therefore sparing me and our 3 children the unimaginable grief while attempting to pick up the pieces.

I wonder how the day began for the 6000 people who lost their life 10 years ago.  I would imagine that it began like any other Tuesday, in which we dread the long week ahead of us, alarms fail to go off, and cars won’t start, not to mention the traffic that’s so thick you wonder why it is you even own a vehicle.  What about the argument that morning between spouses or the night before in which they left the house not speaking to each other. It’s like a horror movie to imagine those folks morning and what each person encountered, not knowing that it would be their last.  How did your morning start? What have you taken for granted this morning? I can only imagine the things those people would do different if they had the chance.  All the things they thought were so important but were really just meaningless.  All of the regrets they were forced to take with them without the opportunity to make amend.

I used to always say “It's Not A Game” as I referred to football.  I guess that speaks to the intensity in which I viewed the game.  The truth is, at the end of the day it is a game and it is trivial to say the least when stacked up against the important issues we faced today.

I think it is important that we keep the proper perspective, stay grounded and remain humbled to the chances that we have every day to enjoy life. There is beauty that is ever present regardless if the sun doesn’t shine, the rain starts to pour, and the temperature goes from 87 to 54, trust me it’s there.  Did you look? Can you see it? I did …….and I do.  By Unique

Politics

Politics: The science or art of political government......The practice or profession of conducting political affairs.

I have never been a political person, although politics surround me.  It lurks in every corner and crevice of society.  I view it as a game that I watch from afar, there are no true winners and the real losers wear the scar.

I've seen enough through the years and heard the lies with my own ears, ignorance is bliss as we turn a blind eye to our own fears.

Republican or Democrat? Oh is that a fact...a Trillion dollar neither one of them can handle that. We have always been a country divided and we can't deny it, so many agendas... they can't even hide it.

How do you go from "We the people" to "Separate but equal"...come on, this is what the mess was built on. Tranquility, Liberty and Posterity but we are still in need of clarity between what they say and what they do, in the end the only one looking out for you....is YOU.

I don't know it all but I know what I know, I'm not self absorbed and I'm willing to grow.  Our only command was that we love The Supreme, and love our neighbor, so simple it seems, but it's a trying task to say the least especially when the focus is controlling that monetary beast.

It's not about affiliations, let build relations, find that common ground and become a nation, under GOD...Indivisible, it's not rocket science...it shouldn't take a miracle.  By Unique

 

Short and Sweet...

‎"I shoulda listened when they spoke those words..read between the lines and seen the truth in the lies... so now ima ride this wave even if it be the death of me...let the vultures feed until there's nothin left of me my heart on my sleeve expect nothin less from me." By Unique


‎"Love is like poker...you can't expect everyone to CALL, some will only CHECK but most will choose to FOLD without even trying" By Unique


‎"After
5 seconds I knew u were special/After 5 minutes I knew u were 1 of a
kind/After 5 hours all I could do is imagine n wonder how after 5 days
this could have eva of happen/After 5 months it was a wrap I was
sold/Realizing wat I found was more precious than gold/It was a yr
and some change b4 we took those vows/And
5 months after I still feel like WOW!...." By Unique


‎"By opening yourself up to other peoples views and opinions you will either be enlightened or strengthened in your own understanding" By Unique


‎"Neva sell your soul for monetary gain, Lyfe is a game so if you're losin that's a shame. Politics, Religion the hustle is the same, all a man has is his character and his....name" By Unique


‎"I'm boycottin Valentines, I don't need a DAY... to tell my lady that she's mine, how much I need her and that she's on my mind. EVERYDAY I try to show her love, doing little things...just because. I might rub her feet while she takes a nap, I got the house work and the kids boo.....just relax." By Unique


‎"Sometimes we get too busy and that's unfortunate, our days go 100 miles an hour and we're missing every bit of it, goals have been set and we sacrifice so much in pursuit of it, we've created a race against time and we're losing it..." By Unique


A yr ago 2morrow I said "I DO",
"I DO" to all the things known and unknown,
"I DO" to the expected and even the unexpected,
"I DO" to a lifelong commitment to loving her, giving her my very best...and even then I reach deeper for the rest.
"I DO" to every situation, unconditionally the words resonated through me, fearful that my best would be less than she deserved, I stood tall and just let them fall...." By Unique


‎"I used to wear pain like a badge
I carried hurt like luggage
With my eyez wide shut
I thought I saw the truth but it wasn't
Nothin but lies in that fairytale, lost in that mental jail
I broke free, spread my wings....now i see very well."
By Unique


“Mental weakness is a form of slavery, bound and shackled, vulnerable to the controlling force of its master…laughter is disengaged when the seriousness is realized, and foolishly we rationalize the truth and the lies… in hope to keep alive that weakness…that sickness..‎Mental strength is how we become empowered to combat these vices…these habits…it’s the things we really want to walk away from but we reach back and grab it. It doesn't matter how long or short the list, some people are oblivious and don’t even know their…..Mental Weakness” By Unique.


‎"For every father who has failed to answer the call I can give you a mother who has also dropped the ball. So lets take a moment to recognize the MEN holding it down, doing their best without a script, without wavering....not even a little bit" By Unique


‎"Being a father isn't about being perfect, it's about staying the course, caring enough to sacrifice the short term for the benefits of the long term to release to the world a better extension of you." By Unique

Friends.....

How many of us have them?  Today true friendship is hard to come by.  I see my kids and I feel sorry for them that they may not experience the friendships that I have in my life.  A true friend isn't bound to a certain city or state, organization or church group but they extends beyond the barriers of life itself and into eternity. True friendship can't be confined to social network sites like facebook, in which some people have upwards of 500 friends. A real friend has no agenda, there friendship isn't conditional on what you're able to do for them.  The friendship is about the laughter shared, the support given and ability to keep it real at all times.  They tell each other the truth and not what they want to hear but they do it in a way that is sensitive to their situation.  At the end of the day there is a thin line between true friendship and family, and they are often one in the same.  A true friend is blessing that we should never take for granted and count ourselves fortunate that if nothing else we have at least......ONE.  By Unique

In The Mind Of A Man

Lost in the mind of a man with a dream
No one knows the things I've seen
The things I've heard or the things I've shared
But maybe one day when I find my way
The things I will say...will be the things I've learned
While......In the mind of a man.  By Unique

Taking the time......

to appreciate the little things.  Every now and again, when I stand still enough to take in all the beauty that's around me, I get an overwhelming appreciation for all that I have.  Unfortunately life tends to be a race and the destination is never really the finish line.  I love being busy, and with our family there is plenty to keep us that way but it scares me when the state of being busy clouds my mind, alters my mood or maybe a hint of stress that not even I am aware of..  So I find myself wanting to take life in stride, not slowing down but appreciating things more along the way.  I think in some ways being in a mindset of being busy all the time is the devils ways of distracting us, keeping us from what's really important in life such as our Spiritual, Mental, Physical and Emotional health.  It's so easy to be consumed by the negative that surrounds us.  It is harder to be a LIGHT that shines positive in the midst of a downward spiraling world

the small things....

I wish our kids would continue to love "the small things" in life like they do when they are 2.

For instance, when I wash Kihanna's blanket, she runs around the house with such excitement telling everyone "my blanket is washed, my blanket is washed." When I buy her strawberries, fruit snacks, or any one of her favorite treats she gives me the biggest hug and says "thank you mommy!!" She is so excited when I make popcorn, loves it when I tell her we are going to "header's", and is the first one to come running to me when I walk in the door from work.

They say its the "terrible twos" but I have a feeling come 3 and 4 years old this small stuff that is exciting her now won't be so exciting anymore.....and I will be wishing for those so-called terrible twos again.

Intro

Welcome to "The Bowser Bunch".  We are a family of 7 strong, 1 beautiful woman, 1 beautiful teenage girl who thinks she is grown (smirk) 3 beautiful lil girls, 1 teenage boy (yea I know what a shame...smirk) and last but not least, ME, the Man of the Bunch.  To say there is never a dull moment is an understatement, between work, school, workouts, sports events for the kids, housework, diaper changes, and pot training, trying to fit in quality time with everyone is tough....but we make it work.

Our family consists of a lot of characters with different personalities, a competitive bunch we are so playing household games can get pretty lively.

So stay tuned for regular updates surrounding  TBB and all the madness ;)