That damn 'Ruby Woo'

MAC's "Ruby Woo' was THEE first lipstick that I ever purchased. I'll never forget the day -- [1st Pic] I was working at Torlande's Hair Salon as an assistant,

right before I enrolled myself into Master Cosmetology courses. I left the salon that afternoon, after being inspired by my new ash-blonde hair

color(applied by the one and only hair guru, ANGELA TERRELL..And went to the nearest MAC store and asked for assistance in looking for the "perfect

red". And they helped me do just that! And ever since, I've been in LOVE! It's a perfect balance of matte and blue undertone. I get questions on it every,

single time that I wear it! It's my boo, my go-to, my "jush"! Pair it with "Cherry" or "Currant" liners (also by MAC). And use a clean lip pencil, with a bit of

concealer to get a precise lippie.

IF YOU THINK YOU CAN'T OBTAIN THE "PERFECT" RED FOR YOURSELF, YOU ABSOLUTELY CAN! It's RUBY WOO. It's blue-based and it's for EVERY SKIN-TONE! :)

#MAC #rubywoo #fave #lipstick #matte

Rays & Riches

B. Reezy, Granny's house, Easter, 1992ish

Growing up middle-class,in St. Louis, Missouri with a working father as a police officer and a mother as an accountant, we just knew them as "Mommy" and "Daddy" --Spoiled and didn't appreciate the little things and sacrifices they made as much as I do now. Remembering the hard times, is hard to remember as a child.We didn't know they were "hard". We just knew that we "had it all". (So we thought). I had my mommy, daddy, big sisters and a brother, an awesome family, a dog and every Barbie, Barbie car, and Barbie house you could ever think of. We would visit Grandma's & auntie's house on the weekends, our family would attend every extracurricular event and program, etc. While still pursuing their careers, they were there.(Even post separation, Mommy never let us miss a beat)

Now, that I'm a parent, experiencing giving, teaching and loving to son(future daughter), I want to teach them economics as well: saving more than you're able to could give. Because I know for a fact that my parents couldn't have gotten where they are today without saving something. We weren't wealthy in the state of having a lot of money, we became RICH in value, RICH in love...

Young B.

Daddy, 24ish and baby B.

Quinda hated anyone dressed up in any costume. Lol! I just wasn't sure, here.

I vaguely remember this day, walking into the photography studio and hating my turtleneck. Mommy is gorgeous!

Chuckie Cheese's was the spot back in the day right!? LOL! Celebrating my little cousin, Cherrah's (pictured, middle) Birthday

One of our first concerts ever, when Dad was working security one night at the Ambassador( St. Louis, Missouri) Nelly & the St. Lunatics opened the show, and performed, along with SILK and Immature. I was stoked because I got to hug 'Batman'. #JudgeMeNot

Me, Daddy, Quinda. #St.LouisMissouri

Me, Mommy & Quinda. 1998, Atlanta Fair.

Quinda and I. Mommy always coordinated our outfits. LOL!

Our uncles, SILK, TN concert, backstage, for one of Mommy's many jobs, working as a journalist for "Rolling Out" magazine

---

Unfortunate Reality & The Blessing

9:32 AM, Thanksgiving morning, awake and roll over & place my toes on my husband's leg...LOL. Like every holiday, my iPhone is filled with text messages and forwarded group pictures. We all get those right? Whether we like them or not. But, to my surprise there's one text in specific that made my skin crawl, like it always did... My son's biological "father", wishing us a "Happy Thanksgiving". At this point in our lives, we know when people contact you for their gain and simply for attention. I never hear, nor do I see of him because of the years of the run-around, I refuse to involve my son or myself in the emotional roller-coaster or games. It just isn't fair to him. Many times for the past 7 years, I've been cordial and cooperative with meeting up with him and allowing him to see Brycen whenever he was in town. I know that my most current events have surfaced to wherever he is, due to his multiple baby mothers, who love to keep up with what's going on in our lives. And that's fine. But, he can't possibly think that it's okay to just be so general and text me "Happy Thanksgiving", and we know he never calls or calls to inquire about his first-born son, nor has he put in the efforts of building trust between he and Brycen for these 7 years!? And let's not forget to acknowledge the fact that I am now married and in a union with a MAN. --who Takes care of Brycen and has a life with him and has built a bond --Something that he has never attempted to do. SMH. His actions never surprised me, but thinking of my child and all we've been through WITHOUT him, and knowing my child has questions, piecing things together and I cannot give him the answer, is what bothers me. Even with that feeling, I will never shut the door, for my baby's sake, because it it solely up to him if or when he wants to seek more info about this dude.

It's crazy how a lame ass "father" can be MIA and tell you to "lose my number" after you two spoke the last time, only for me to express Brycen's emotions to him. And you text annually? Some bullshit? My family, especially my father have always been here and there for us to make sure B never goes without, but when people see or hear that you're happy, here they come. Or when a MAN is raising their child as their own. I've seen it all before. I do know that it all comes back to bite you in the ass when you don't take care of your blessings and just lay low and be the coward that you've allowed yourself to be and that's exactly what is taking place with him now and has been for years.

While Brycen is excelling, his "father" is expelling himself further and further away from opportunity with the lack of compassion for his child and one day, he will have to face him --- or maybe not.

I know being a 'single mother' appears to be hard or it has it's stereotypes, but I have never considered them for myself because I know me and what I've always striven to accomplish. I come from a normal family, with it's crazy situations and I also come from a tree of very successful women, who some just so happened to be single mothers, but kept their self-respect and continued to work on themselves, while raising awesome children the best way they knew how. I'm still figuring out this thing called life and building as I do that. I also have learned never to take life too serious while doing so. ---"Happy Mommy, happy child!"

So I say this:

You beautiful women, who are single mothers or not, (who can relate to this article or not), we know what the bigger picture consists of. And if your child's father IS active in their lives, that is a beautiful thing when you both can co-parent and stay cordial throughout it all! Though, it shouldn't be hard and it isn't unheard of, unfortunately, our society has portrayed an ugly picture of that beautiful THING. You keep going! You keep trying because your child's life depends on it. And no matter how dark the "now" may seem, there is always potential there for a brighter path.

-With Love,

B. Ray Atkins

#beautiful #singlemother #baby #trill