yippee!!!!

i got my computer!!! it looks like this:

and you can check out its specs here. it turns out that kesi's internet means his house has wireless, so i probably wont be getting my own connection. i'll just shoot him a fiver every now and then, lol. itll be here sooner than i expected and i'll love it forever. yeee!

i also finally got my party pix online. this is actually the anniversary, but, bygones:

he is smiling, btw. i know its hard to believe.

and here's me and my lil brother.

aw, siblings.

80

Today is my grandmother's birthday! She's 80. How cool is that? I talked to her earlier while she was eating lunch and she told me she wasn't in the mood for cake. That's fine. I'll have a cookie in your honor. I lived with her for a few years when I was younger, so I know she doesn't like to be fussed over. This task can be a hard one, considering that you have so many offspring, and especially so when you turn 80. We had a surprise party for her 75th and she smacked my cousin (lightly) for not ruining the surprise. I have a great pic of her and Kesi and she's giving him this look. A look that says, "you may be new here, but you should know I don't like surprises!" ever since then she's been trying to steal him from me, lol. of course she had fun. Sat at the head of the table, and when it was time to cut the cake she prayed and thanked God for the (big) room full of people that loved her. You couldn't help but get a lil emotional over that. I miss her. Hopefully I'll get to see her soon.

In conclusion, I just found out I can mail pix to my blog, so I'll leave you with one. The oldest and, as of right now, youngest members of my family.
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finally!!!

pictures!!!!

me at the hotel getting ready to leave. please note that the birthday girl pin made a return for the 08. not seen: skinny jeans and stilettos. the headband brought the color into the outfit.

2 of my friends. the chick, i havent seen her since graduation, except for her best friend's funeral almost a year ago. i almost cried that she and another one of my friends came... i dont know how we lost touch but we wont again. once again i cant hate on my boy wearing the shades... once i really got to drinking, i put mine on too.

from left to right, thats grand mariner (2), a lemon drop, and a pom margarita. i got the glow face, which is what happens when i drink (check the above link for proof of that). that, and i lose control of my facial expressions. but other than that, and my lack of ability to pronounciate, i felt great! the cherry stem i tied is behind the lemon wedge. shoulda took a pic of that.

yall. that food was soooooooo bangin! of course there was more on the platter, but i got halfway through before i was able to think straight enough to take pix. i want to go back!!! can you see the spicy goodness on the shrimps??? ugh! heaven. and they blanched and buttered the brocolli, which is how i like it. there's no need to cook most veggies. that just takes away flavor.

and indeed, i did take pix of me in my new express clothes.

this is the shirt and skirt, which i usually would not wear together because its too bland a combo for me. when i do wear them i'd pair the top with a grey or black bottoms, and the skirt? something rich, like a jeweltoned. or patterned. also i zoomed in on the pic bacause i was doing laundry, i wasnt wearing shoes, and i didnt have on lipgloss. it was a rush job, lol.

last but not least, lauren's valentine. for those that dont know, lauren is my valentine. this year i was gonna buy her a shirt that said "free la, bitches," but they wanted an arm and a leg for it. and a finger from the other arm's hand. and i said, "for that much, i can make it myself!" and thats what i did!!! im pretty crafty, you know? i took pics of it but my phone ate them when i was trying to email them to myself, so i only have one. and i think it says everything.

ooh slim boy ya killin me

Certain lyrics make me think of my boo. Hence the title. 6 more days! Yesss! Enjoy the vid. I was trying to figure out all the album covers... I think I spotted 4 or 5.

*****why did this man ask me to smile (he was a guest, and was an older gentleman, possibly clergy given the guestage we had in the hotel) then when I did, he said "ooh yeah, I'ma put you on my top 8!" um, MySpace should have an age limit. You shouldn't even have the phrase "top8" in your vocab. I didn't know what to say!*****

*****my gift came from Lauren last night. It was such a bitch to open. But I loved it! What was it? A gift card from express! Mama's going shopping! Gonna get me a cute blouse! Her gift was sent out last night and should be there by the end of the week. Then I'll put up pix and share the story and what have you.*****

baby pix

*For more, are ms lady's blog@ Alyseshaunte.blogspot.com*


lil braylon, trying to look at us, despite the fact that he had not yet openned his eyes... grandma (my aunt) gushing.

the hand off!!! look at her smiling!
the happy family. (there were two cameras...)

more photos!

photos from my birthday! this is the best of the best... some i cant show because of identity issues and some i cant show cuz lauren and i looked silly for most of the weekend.

my cake. it was so sweet for kesi to put my nickname on my cake.

oh this heffa smashed a cake in my face! notice how i havent completely reacted yet; im still smiling and posing behind cake.

me and my babe. we're a tad toasted there... yes i am wearing a birthday girl pin.

i do have on shorts... originally i thought this was a dress, and now im seriously gonna wear extra long tees and short shorts as my look for the spring, cuz it'll be weather appropriate. (hahaha)

us being artsy at the waffle house. thanks Will for the pics.
jazzy on my berry. and wearing will's shades. at like 12:30 at night.

Everything the light touches

What a great weekend the Joy had.

Friday I met up with Lauren and her Will so I could check them into their hotel. All the while we were acting silly and Lauren was trying to get me to call in sick to work. I so would have if we were properly staffed. We rode to my job- through traffic for days and my not really knowing how to get there by car- and I spent the longest day at work. Busy but still boring. After work I called and called Lauren to come pick me up. She was definitely asleep. Wow. Lol luckily I still had a ride so it was all good.

Saturday we decided to go to "breakfast," you know, at noon. We went to the waffle house and Will caught a southern accent. He kept saying shawty and sprat (sprite). Somehow we managed to come up with a whole treatment for a waffle house music video, complete with video girls drenched in syrup and hash browns thrown at the screen. Classic. Also, a dance derived from Lauren's silent sneeze. They should give us a TV show.

We ran around so much that day. Mall, two grocery stores and walmart. But I got everything I needed for my party. My mom. Had agreed to stay at a hotel that night, but not before getting my dad to "chaperone," just in case someone were to start dancing too close or they were to spike the punch. Lol did I mention I turned 23 yesterday?

So we dropped her off and waited while Lauren went to grab her a burger. This took an HOUR. Old national was hungry that night. And also crazy. Some man was talking about an ambush by a big dog who bit quarter sized chunks out of some dude. Hopefully Lauren will tell this story cuz I wasn't there and would surely eff it up.

So I was late to my own party! Only a half hour, though. I had to rush and get dressed and then drive back to the house. I wore a red and burgundy striped jersey dress with my jeans shorts and black footless tights. Also a ribbon that says "birthday girl," lol. I had so much fun! Some of my friends had to leave early, but somewhere around 130 it was perfect. Everyone was on the same page. The guys were playing spades and talking so much junk- ok most of the junk talked was my dad, but it was funny- and having a good time. Lauren smooshed cake in my face, which was nice, and brought up the memory of when Will walked up to some dude and told him it'd be funny if he knocked his friend's pizza out of his hands. My dad kept calling kesi his son-in-law. I got all smiley at that. Dads are the awesomest.

The party wrapped at 4. I didn't wanna get the cops called on me. And I was getting sleepy. My dad stayed a little while and we talked. I asked him the same question I asked my mom last year: now that I am half your age, do you think I am doing better than you when you were my age? My mom said yes, my dad said no. Lol I wasn't expecting that. But then he was tellong me things about how he was making good money and trying to get my mom's confidence up to open up her own salon. Then he started talking about our families and the supportiveness of his side compared to my mom's. He talked about my brothers and I, and things we used to do when we were little and how proud he is of us. He hugged me a million times. The funny thing is, he was saying all this to kesi, as if I'd heard it before, and I really hadn't. Not this version. He told me I'm the only person who can make him feel guilty about smoking, and he wants to quit for me. Wow.

Sunday we went to breakfast at Ihop. Will kept turning things I said into euphemisms. Pseudo was there too. I forgot to mention him somehow... Found out he doesn't like breakfast very much. How odd. I could eat breakfast all day. He and Lauren are lovely together. I wish I could just out them together and have that be that. Damn circumstances. We also went to little five points. Its an area with great shopping and the oddest people you will see in your life. Kid you not we saw a lady with cotton gloves, devil horns and a hula hoop. I wanted to get a henna tattoo but strangely I was broke. After that we went to Lauren's dad's house and he made us a yummy dinner and we watched the Grammy's. We basically talked about everyone onstage and muted the country singers. What fun. I started to get sick that day and slept on and off.

I hated to see the weekend go so fast. I had been really loking forward to it for months. I miss them already and have so many memories and photos. Maybe I'll put up a few when Will sends them to me. Now everybody keeps saying I'm really an adult. Which is exactly what I said 23 would be. I did get my tax return Monday and paid of all my bills. I also want an MP3 player...

* the title comes from one of our recurring phrases from the weekend. Its from the lion king, but I think we used it to discuss waffles, then my mom said it, and it kept coming up.
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Busy week!

I'm currently sitting in my favorite pizza place waiting for a cheese slice. Its my little oasis of peace in what is the busiest day so far in a busy week. Ah... Cheese.

Today I have to the dentist (done), the otolaryngologist (ear nose throat lady), go to work, wash my hair, clean my room, pay my cable bill and get everything ready for Lauren's arrival.

Pardon me if I don't blog again til Monday. I still love you all. And one day I'll figure out autotext and comment.

My mom's trippin about my birthday party. For some reason she feels someone will call the cops or fight so my dad will be there while she stays at a hotel. Lmfao. I will kick a nigga out my house. Its just funny how much she worries. Did I mention a haven't had a party in 18 years? Yes, I was 5.

Our new shops openned at work this week. Insanity. The PM shift only has 2 associates so I'm working 6 days this week. And Saturday might be my only day off. Blah. B works in our new starbucks. I work in the gourmet gift shop. (I just left my purse at the pizza place. Shit!) We have a connecting door and sometimes we stand at it like we're at visiting day in jail. Lol we don't, really. But we so should. They take forever to close and I usually leave an hour after I close waiting for him. But its too cold at night to walk to the trains.

I know I said Blanket Statements would be up by Feb, but its not. It would be, but I'm booked through March with projects from people I work with and I want to be able to start fresh. So, March it is. Its listed on my profile but everything I wanted to put on the page is not there yet. So if you peek it may look different in a few weeks. And can you change a web page domain name? I named it joychantelle2, as this is the original joychantelle, but I wanna change it. Does anyone know how?

If you haven't read about my super sweet 5 anniversary, feel free, its below this post. This rambly post. I got my purse and I'm headed to the doctors.
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update:

i have my paypal situation handled. my account is under kaorijoy@hotmail.com. my other account seemed to have no password attached... how odd. anywho, my site should be up by my birthday. that's one month. i'm working on that, planning my party and someone else's, work, and a dallas cowboys star. my first big sale, which will in effect pay for the liquor at my party. i am considering adding hats so if you all wanted one it's 10 for that. smooches.

the roadtrips part...

so yeah, saturday morning lauren calls me way earlier than i am accustomed to being awakened on a saturday morning by anyone/thing i love. it was like 11am. "you awake?" no not really. i so went back to sleep after we finished texting. strangely enough we didnt really get going until about 4pm, after i watched a lil tv and my mom lectured la about her tattoos. lol. so we hop into the Mpala- purposely spelled that way- and head south. did i fail to mention where we were going? to "look, there's alabama!" georgia to see pseudo. it wasnt a far drive cuz lauren does 80 from the driveway, but the fact that she drove an hour says alot about how much she feels for this boy.

so we're drivin, and sharing stories, on this LOOOOOOng stretch of highway, when we come across, no joke, Whiteville, Ga. OMG, am i gonna get lynched? whiteville? shiiii.... can we drive faster? so finally we make it to exit 1. 1! we were really in alabama almost! we pull into a motor lodge and head to pseudo's room. AW!!! they are the cutest. i was jealous. they were cuddles and snuggles and all, and i really missed my booski. of course he was back in the A making music, and in most situations that would be us all snuggly, and everyone else looking on. now i know how it feels. they hadnt seen each other in a bit. you could tell. so huggy. my phone screen saver is them cuddling and looking at tv. it may make me wierd but its a darling photo. the next day i sent him a text message with the pic and a threat/seal of approval. something to the effect of "i think youre a great guy but i will kill you if you hurt her." kesi got one too. its tradition.

so anyway we drive back to atlanta with pseudo SNORING in the back seat. i mean letting the nasal passages have it! so we get into a deep ass convo about their relationship and how they work together and others who have not quite done it for her, one guy in particular. (the man vs. man guy.) we see a billion deer and freaked out over that. damn deer. growl. really nice night to talk and be scared by deer. just peaceful and quiet and beautiful. we get off the highway and pseudo pops up to announce way enthusiastically that we are home. yes we are.

sunday i spent at home, coloring my hair, laden with calls from lauren and a mutual friend who is dying to see her. funny, we're really close but we BARELY see each other. lauren comes to town and suddenly he's mr find-a-way. i'm just saying. yeah he might be in love with her or something, but damn. can a sister get some love? lauren and i planned to take her brother to the movies so he was gonna meet her at my house cuz he had to "pick someone up." lauren's bro is too grown. i told him he needs to be 7 again. he was such a cutie patootie! still is. but i cant call him that cuz he's near grown.

so our mutual friend arrives to see lauren and mock my turtle. they chat for a bit and we head to the movies. lauren says to me, "who's car is he driving?" not his. is it a honda? "yeah." probably his girlfriend's. "so he came to see me in his girlfriend's car?" and she's probably the someone he has to pick up. tacky! now if kesi went to see someone i didnt like, in my car... just, tacky! on to the movies. we saw SawIII. my second time seeing it but it was so good. please watch it. there was one scene i couldnt bear to watch twice, but still i loved it. btw did i mention the food cost a billion dollars? ok yeah we expect movie food to cost but still come on. 8 dollars and they gave me this gigantic coke which i couldnt get through half of. i shoulda snuck something in.

so movie, then it was time to say bye to my friend. i didnt wanna. i dont think we'll see each other til we go to VEGAS BABY in feb. sad face. on the up side, kesi came over and he got the rest of his present, heh heh.

birthdays and roadtrips

so this weekend was kesi, keem and lauren's lil bro's birthdays. i had three days off in a row! lets go back to thursday.

thursday was kesi's bday but we both had to work. whilst at work i get a text from la. "how's the weather there?" haha i thought she was just making convo. so i told her and asked why she wanted to know. "So i know what to pack." stop playin! i was so excited. couldnt wait to get home. so when finally we do get off work, we head to his house. i got him a card, a piece of his favorite lemon cake with a candle in it, and the grand finale, the rare and elusive sifl and olly complete dvds. (do ya'll remember sifl and olly? great mtv puppet show that he loves and has all over his myspace page. you were about 14 when it came out.) the first thing he saw when he walked into the kitchen was the candle. i wonder what he wished for. we watched the dvd till i was sleepy.

friday we woke up just in time to watch our soaps, lol. then we went to wendy's and i got him a birthday lunch. my plan was for us to go to the aquarium but i didnt have the money for it. so we went back to his place and i searched for a vet nearby to take mikey to. as i said before it took forever and the vet was gone. so we kept driving down ben hill so we could go to my mom's drycleaners at the "ghetto mall." but we got lost! somehow we ended up by his job. i dont know if you know but atlanta streets not only twist and turn but also travel through black holes and time warps. well since we're there, we picked up some crickets and went to target. when we got back home i happy birthdayed his bro and gave him $20. then lauren came over. yay! i ran out to the car. btw i noticed she was driving an Mpala rather than an Impala. lol, the i apparently came off. it was still a fresh car. we watched basketball. why? cuz she wanted to. at one point tony parker was doing something sporty and i said, "Oh, that's eva longoria's boyfriend!" i watch too much E! she couldnt stay and go to the club with us, but we ended up not going anyways, so... she asked if i wanted to go to columbus with her. sure. kesi couldnt go cuz he had to record a song. damn.

this is pretty long i think. or it will be if i continue on. more to come.

part two: lets have babies now!

So when we last left me i was ducking in the back of the F150 so i wouldnt see us inevitably hit the dog, which looked like charlie from "All dogs go to heaven."

my eyes were shut tight, and my mind saw the poor doggie dying under the wheels of this big truck. i hear a bump, and after what seems like forever i get up.

"You hit it! oh my god. we killed it!" i look back but the road swerved and i couldnt see. C and B alternate what sounds like chanting: it got up. it got up.

"Are you sure?"

"I hit the break and the right tire hit it. should i go back?"

"No, i dont wanna see the dead dog!"

"Its not dead! it got up!"

"are you sure?"

it went on like this for a minute. i was hysterical. i know i felt something, but that was a big dog. maybe we didnt hit it. B prayed for it anyway. it was the most endearing prayer. "please let the dog live, but if it dies please know i would never kill any of your creation." i cosigned that the dog have someone who cares about it and will find it and nurse it.

it was quieter in the car until we got to campbellton and the hater called for the first time since we left her. lots of where are you's and what you doin's... booty call. later they went to ihop without me, which i believe was purposeful on her part; she waited til i was gone to ask if he wanted to go. boo. everyone knows i love ihop! but i went home and went to sleep. 5am. i was tired.

the next day i woke at 1, did some laundry, and kesi and i headed to X's 23rd birthday party. he's my oldest friend. oldie. i mock his oldness.

we went to anthony's, which i'd been to before but didnt know it. i call it food amnesia. it was so good i wanted it to be new again. X was an hour late to his own party. no matter how he argues, i know its true because he drunk dialed me the night before and said 630, 7 cp time. we were there by 7 despite getting turned around. i bought him a shirt with riley from the boondocks on it which he loved.

we sat in the italian equivalent of a booth, near pix of james dean and the beatles. i was so hungry. i ordered eggplant parm with spaghetti and challenged X to a game of pool. i lost, but not badly. i only play good when i drink. i kicked ass on my birthday after two midori sours.

the place was packed with people, some whom i've known since high school, people X raps with- he's super talented and so is his crew, and his family. his ex was there; they're still cool even though she was crazy for a minute. i decided to be nice to her and not flat out ignore her after she was a bitch to my friends. he has another friend named joy, and he found pleasure in saying, "hey joy!" and watching us both turn around.

these people are the most made for each other group ever. fun times. most of the night was spent laughing at inside jokes.

after i had eaten half of my delicious dinner and gotten a doggie bag, X's cousin jayla arrived. she's 8 months old. she stole the friggin show. she's adorable! i called her chubby and he goes, "Dont say that! she's smart!" ok... she's also chubby... and cute. when he got up he handed her to me and she immediately started sucking her thumb and put her head on my chest. i looked up at kesi and said, "Lets have babies now!" she stole my heart. he decided to walk away from my delirious ass.

later, she decided it was time to be fed. i had on a pink vickies camisole under a long-sleeved red henley- no bra (In addition to my flare leg jeans and a red scarf. my hair was still a mess from last night). lil jayla pulled down my cami- luckily she doesnt have much of a grip- and almost turned this into a different kind of party. she also passed gas on me. they said, "aw, that means she's comforatable with you!" as a person with at least 20 cousins smaller than me, i handed her off cuz i knew what it really meant. i did not wanna be on diaper duty.

later there was freestyling (funny stuff despite interruptions by parents and phones) and lots of jokes, then the place closed and we headed to the parking lot. kesi pulled out some beats he made. he's very proud of them and i'm proud of him. he makes better music than i do and i'm taking classes for it. and then X pulled out a cd of some of his songs. at this point i started beating on him because despite my asking for at least a year he wouldnt let out anything but what is now on his myspace page. i then hijacked the cd from him. he protested but gave in and i now have 10 songs on my mp3 player. ha! i win.

we talked and kicked it in the lot til 12. it was funny, people i dont know were so familiar. everybody hugs. i might have to steal his friends like i did lauren's dc crew. fun night. i told him to enjoy cuz this'll be the best year of his life.

sigh. that was my weekend.

riding, riding, swerving, swerving....

ok, so it's been a minute. and in that minute here's what has occured...

i turned 22. conciderably unevetfully, despite my best efforts. seems jabre was right.- "no one cares after 21." (ok, pity party is a little too crunk) honestly i had a great time. i went to gladys night's chicken and waffles with kesi, although i had planned on more people being there. turns out all my friends are broke. but jabre and another friend kyle and us went to the bar near my job and played pool. and i kicked ass. won every game i played, though i was a tad tipsy. i did look cute doing it, naturally.

after we left the bar a homeless man proceeded to talk to kesi for a good five minutes NONSTOP, until i had to cut him off and tell kesi to roll up the car window. i mean, he already had all the money we could spare, but he just kept talking...after that i really didnt want to hear anyone talking.

after that was valentines day, a day that i think is a waste of time. every year that i have worked in retail, i see people come in to wherever it is that i work and rush last minute to show their love for whomever. but if you feel obligated, then it really isnt sincere, is it? and why do you do it? because its valentines day and thats what you are supposed to do, not because you actually love them (whether you do or not isnt the point). i didnt get anything from kesi. honestly all i wanted were some hotwings and to cuddle. i didnt get either for circumstantial reasons, but my friend who is a cook made all the girls at work chocolate covered strawberries. really sweet, and he didnt have to do it. he's not dating any of us. proves my point. i also got two boxes of mini reeses from my manager because i had mentioned that i was gonna try to pick up some on-sale valentines candy the next day, and she happened to have my favorite in her office. i shared one box and kept the other for myself.

the rest of the week i worked and worked. i really needed money. still do, but my refund should be coming in a few days. lauren called me on saturday and said she was in town, and where was i? stuck with 25,000 cheerleaders (that is NOT an exagerated number), all who want iced caramel macchiatos. youre 11, what do you need with coffee?

i finally got to see her monday night, after her dear dad decided not to drop her off at my house and my dear boyfriend decided to drive 50 miles to go get her(that boy gets a hero cookie). she also had my birthday gift, but if i had known she was coming, i would have told her to save the money and bring herself to ATL. (ok, maybe not- i love my coach wristlet!)

on the drive back we listened to some mixtapes kesi had and lauren heard some new stuff, which she should have heard since our friend Pizo claims to hold it down for the A in DC. one of which was "riding, swerving" featuring Project Pat, who i love...we stayed up til 4AM and ate the last of those valentine reeses, which i was happy to share. she slept on my side of my big bed and took all the covers. i still love her though.

lauren's back in DC now, and i am sad. kind of sad. i will see her in a month, and i'll be done with school for a few months by then. for now we will both be stressed and tired and working and learning and getting older, and forsaking our already late speech outline to type a blog.