Words of Will Smith I wanted to share

I found this article in the middle of the US TODAY paper laying on a table at Panera's the day after the inauguration and wanted to share what I found to be a very insightful and powerful message while everyone's view was there, it was Will Smith's that made me stop and take notice.

In observance of Barack Obama's inauguration, USA TODAY invited a wide range of notable people — including Will Smith, Richard Parsons, Mary Frances Berry, Ken Burns and will.i.am — to answer the question: "What does Barack Obama's election mean to you?"

For me, it was something that I've always believed. I've read the Declaration of Independence. I've read the Constitution. I have the preamble memorized. It's something I've always believed in, and when Barack Obama won, it validated a piece of me that I wasn't allowed to say out loud - that America is not a racist nation.

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I love that all of our excuses have been removed. African-American excuses have been removed. There's no white man trying to keep you down, because if he were really trying to keep you down, he would have done everything he could to keep Obama down. Yes, there are racist people who live here, absolutely. But they're not the majority anymore.

I'm an African American, and I was able to climb to a certain point in Hollywood. On that journey, I realized people weren't trying to stop me. Most people were trying to help me. Before Obama won the presidency, it was like, I'm the exception. Tiger is the exception. Michael Jordan is the exception. Bill Cosby is the exception. But there's something about being the leader of the free world, with every other position on earth below that. You can't argue with that. If Barack Obama can win the presidency of the United States, you can absolutely be the manager at Saks.

Come on. It was such a fantastic experience for me to be able to say out loud that I love America and not be called an Uncle Tom. That I can stand out, and I can say out loud that I love this country and not get funny looks.

I don't think we are African Americans, Irish Americans or Japanese Americans anymore. I think Americans are a new race of people. We are Americans of African descent. We are Americans of Irish descent.

It's a whole new world.

January 8th is a Great Day!

First and most importantly my godson/nephew was born today and is 8 years old. He is a great kid who is super smart and a super talented athlete and artist...must get it from his Auntie Julie (j/k) I hope you have a wonderfully "golden" day.

Happy Birthday OWEN!!

Second, I will always remember my first day of work at InsureOne eight years ago today because I was sitting in a training room in Chicago when I found out I had a new nephew. I was so excited... My 8th year anniversary has also reminded me that I am lucky in this economy to have a good career that I am fortunate enough to excel at and enjoy.

So happy work anniversary to me.


And lastly today we brought home Ocho, our newly adopted bengal cat. We've been kicking around the idea for a while of getting Bubba a playmate for those long days. Basically Michael, Austin & Taylor have went along with the idea after several months of me trying to convince them it was a good idea.
So last Saturday MJ, Austin and I went to check one out from the Humane Society. (Taylor at this point still hates cats and thinks its stupid we are getting one) The one we went to see had already been adopted but before we even started looking around...Michael and Austin fell in love with this leopard looking cat almost immediately and had decided that he was the one...
Well the people there had other ideas - he was surrendered (owner had passed away) and he was a "Bengal" and not adoptable. We were upset, didn't know what that meant but set out on a mission to change there minds. We found out it meant he was a fancy hybrid cat that was really expensive. After 5 days, 15 phone calls, more paperwork than it takes to buy a house and 2 supervised visits: WE GOT HIM TODAY!!!
So how is he doing you ask? Well Taylor just got home from school and after watching him for about 3 minutes got up and went and sat with "Ocho" on his lap and has been petting him non-stop. He adapted much quicker to his new home and new family than anyone would have expected. We were expecting a bit of a territory war for a few days and really with the occasional banter him and Bubba are already chilling together.