I can not show some pictures without the consent of the people in them. So this is a handful of the pics taken during my b'day celebration. The pictures may take a while to load up becos they are huge since I did not have the time to re-size all of them. BUT DO ENJOY!.

Although I don't do it often enough now that I moved to another city, I love hanging out with my best friend, Marie. She's an American but I believe she was Nigerian in her former life. She reminds me so much of my late best friend Ugochi who died in '92. And just like with Ugochi, people often marvel at our friendship simply becos we're so different in character, fashion/hair style and general disposition. I tell 'em we can be such good friends becos we ARE complete opposites...like night n' day...so we compliment each other. I am a Leo and a gyspy at heart and she's an Aquarian who lets me run wild. Sometimes she joins in the fun too but she's always there to catch my falls and make me see the bigger picture when I stress the small stuff.

But our similarities bridge the gap between our differences. For instance, we share the same love for Janet (Miss Jackson if you're nasty). We were like school gurls when we saw her perform live in Cleveland. And Marie also has the same weird sense of humor that I have. We laugh at inside jokes that nobody else gets atimes. She loves to cook too and she's probably the only private American that I've met. She's even more private than I am. For instance, I once asked her how much her car payment is and she looked me dead in the eye and said, "It's none of your business, gurl!." I mean, in a society where you meet a gurl at 10am and by 10:05am she's told you of her 2 abortions last yr. Can you say R-E-S-P-E-C-T-!?. Don't let her conservative image fool ya though 'cos ol' gal can get down on the dancefloor like a dancing machine. Yup!. Luv ya, Marie...(Antoinette!...lol).

4 yrs ago when I first met my in-law Lynn, I thought she was Italian 'cos she was working part-time at a pizza place and she used to wear only black. But I found out soon enuff that she's really a black girl in a white girl's body. (Don't worry about her being offended by that remark, she'll tell you so herself). Apart from bringing into the world my two beautiful nieces, Chi-Chi and Ngoo and being the only white person I know who has perfect rhythm (she's fierce on da dancefloor...like WOA!), she's also very down to earth, cooks Naija food berra each day and is inately nicer than nice!.

*Yup...this is how we made those cute babies.. LOL...crazy runs in da family.*

*She's a bundle of joy and a whole lotta fun...reminds me of another Leo gurl in da familia. Looney folks..*

One thing we don't have in common though is that while she's a phone queen, I happen to loathe that invention. Actually, that's how I know when I really like someone, how long do I talk to you on the phone without hanging up first. So when she calls me, we always seem to talk for hours on end about every subject imaginable. Naija parties, breast sizes, childbirth, epidurals, rashes, cars, cameras, houses, ex-boyfriends, long-distance relationships, cheating, Nigerian/American accents, Igbo language, u name it!. Simply put, at her best, Lynn is love!.

BTW: She can not tan to save her life hence her pale skin in Summertime!. Poor Wifey. We love her all the same.

They say that lightening doesn't strike twice. Although it rained that day, thankfully there wasn't any lightening in sight. But there was a bit of a deja vu going on. These guys and I always meet up at parties and social gatherings. And last year, we took a similar picture together at a different picnic. So in this pic,

the guy pointing at me is saying..."that's the girl who takes our pictures and never lets us see 'em." Pointless but true! (pardon the pun).