Live Your Life With Purpose

[music] All right. All right. All righty, you guys. Child JB is in the middle of now control. Anybody who know girl, let me get this belly together. Anybody who know um anything about asthma, you have to control it. Um, and so he started coughing. It always starts with a cough, right? He started coughing. It's been about five days ago and I'm like, "Oh, hell no." Um, so now he's back on his singular. Singular has horrible um side effects unfortunately. Um, but it's one of the things that can keep him in check. So, I started with Singular. He's on children's zereek. Um, but then I rotate that with Benadryil and girl. I just have all type of stuff for him because he's going to be with my husband. They're going to uh Houston [snorts] um when is it? Next week. And I did give my husband a um my ex-husband a heads up. I'm like, "Hey, you know JB's asthma's flared up. Don't try to be outside too much. Um, I also need to change out the air filters. They dropped those off. That's the good thing about renting a house. It's almost like an apartment. Everything that I need done, like when my um when my I'm sorry, y I'm not trying to show y'all my flashlights. When my bathroom in the guest bathroom was acting up, the toilet, uh, the maintenance man came by. Y'all, he he looked at it and literally an hour later I had a brand new toilet. I was like, "Is that how we do that here, girl?" Brand new toilet, no problem. But I met the owners of this house. Um, they actually own several. They're from They're They live in California now. Um, older Hispanic couple and they look like they invested in several houses in Dallas when they were living here about 20 years ago. So [snorts] they were just making a road trip looking at all the houses that they have here and there. I think they had like two or three, [snorts] you know, that's where the money is at, y'all. Investing in the property. But anyway, and so they were outside in the backyard looking at the trees and stuff. And I said, "Hey, you know, how are you that I you're in this house?" I said, "Yeah, you want to come in and take a look at it?" Now, this thing that's crazy is that I guess they never really, of course, they seen pictures cuz it's their investment, but they never really been in the house, which is crazy to me. They always just look at the outside. [snorts] So, I invited them in. I'm like, "It's your house. You want to come here?" They're like, "Yeah." And so, they came in. And you know me, I keep my place relatively clean to where if someone says they want to come over, no one really does that because I only know one, well, I know several people here in Dallas, but my point is that no one really just says, "I'm coming over." But anyway, my house was presentable enough for them to invite them in. And so they're looking at all the decoration and um the wife was like, she's like, "Are you into um what did she asked me?" She's like, "Are you an artist? Are you a art dealer?" I said, "No, I just like I just like art and decorations, you know." So, but yeah, y'all. I'm going to talk to my ex about some stuff because we got to get it together. like we were almost at the final stages of filing for this damn divorce when I had to keep going back up to work and it was too much because at the time I was working for the Department of Navy and having to take off with them and we were even in the middle of a transition working at the Department of Navy transitioning to another system which by the way I looked at their just just to be nosy I looked at their jobs are hiring now and they're hiring for PMs now. I'm like now y'all need two more PMs. Honestly, losing that job was a blessing in disguise because my manager was hella micromanaging me. I mean like he's one of those type of people to where if you do something bad or even if it's not bad, it's going to make me look bad. So, I yall know me, I have a quirky sense of humor and I'm like that with people in the workplace to a certain degree. Of course, I'm not I'm going to still stay professional. Well, he made a comment about it one day. He's like, "You know what, Vivian? Um, I love your sense of humor. You're funny, but you may want to be careful with how you interact with people cuz they may not know if you're serious." Mind you, 90% of the people I interacted with it were black people and I've been talking to them. [snorts] And so, it's so funny. I mentioned that to my one um old coworker Jolene. She still works for the Department of the Navy out in Virginia. And I told her that I said, "Girl," he had made some comments about me being not necessarily. What did he say? He said, "Well, people may not know if you're kitty, you joke, you know, you come across you, it's really funny, but still, you never know." She's like, "I never got that from you." She's like, she said, but she said, "Vivian, that's that red tape [ __ ] that they like to do." She said, "You you always kid with me and um her other coworker who's no longer there, child." People started during that time cuz when I was working there, we were on government shutdown, right? And we were on shutdown for like weeks and we weren't bringing in no damn money. We were on shutdown. When we came back from shutdown, that's when I got the can. I got the boot. But anyway, during that time, I'm still talking to people on on the on the um DO side, Department of Navy side. They cool as hell. That's how they are. But he's like, "Oh, yeah, he's like, but it was just way too from him. It was way too micromanaging." Um, yeah, it was a bit much. And quiet as it kept, I think, and I told her this, too. I'm not going to say what I want to say cuz you never know who's watching it. So anyways, let's [laughter] move on. Um, so I am up 30 minutes early before I have to start work. I always do this. I always have to get situated, have my coffee. My favorite coffee mug broke. So I'm going to have to get another coffee mug. [snorts] I'm going to come in here in the living room soon. I'm surprised JB not up. He's been getting up. Child, school starts here in one more month. So, I already registered him for school. And I I know I keep asking him, not I ask him, "Yeah, I think he has a little crush on this little girl. Her name is Janessa. She's a um she's a black Well, her parents are black Latino. She's so cute and chocolate." And so, every time I go in there, well, first of all, I notice that he be doing his hair now. He be fluffing out his hair and they FaceTime and they're they're talking. It's nothing. It's just sweet. You know what I mean? and they're oh they're playing um they're playing um Roblox or whatever and so they they can see each other and playing Roblox. But I know he's really not that because her little brother being on the phone to her little brother's like a toddler like three or four years. It's just so cute to me. But I think he I think that he may have something for her but she to her she's just it's just friend. And so I met her parents. And so [laughter] I met her parents last year, her mother, her mother specifically. And I said, "Girl, do you think like this is like that they have a crush?" She said, "She," that's what I was thinking. So I asked my daughter, Janessa, I asked. I'm like, "Okay, do you like this little boy?" And she said, "No, I mama if it's just friends." She said, "So I think they're just friends." I said, "Okay, girl, but let me know James." She said, "I will definitely let you know. Look, you got to stay in tune with your children. You really do, girl. What [snorts] the hell you want? This man who I used to know, I met him while I was in college. Uh gosh, it was like 25 years ago. Oh, I got a lot of work to do, y'all. Um, but anyway, it's a lot involved to become a US citizen. And depending on how you get here, it is a lot. um it's costly and I don't think a lot of people realize that like my ex he was able to come over because they were fleeing Ethiopia him and his family. Um but even then it took forever and he came here when he was like I think he was like 19 18 19 and so he that you know him and his his brothers but mind you he had a brother already here who was able to send for him. Does that make sense? So, what's the point, girl? So, they had to uh girl, what's the point? It took him a long time. And even then, like he didn't become a citizen. I remember it was after I met him. And at that point, he had been in the in the country for damn near 20 years. So, it took him all that time to finally become a US citizen. But you'll be surprised some of the stuff that you know immigrants go through when they come to this country thinking that you know they have all these high hopes depending on what where you're coming from. I know. I met his because he has family. He had family in Phoenix. Actually, he has two cousins that live there and I met them. Um, and actually the another cousin, his other cousin, and these are like in our family, like this would be like his second or third cousins, people that he didn't even grow up with, but they just so happen to live in Phoenix. So I met the family and the one cousin's husband and he was telling me how he came to this country with him and his wife um knowing that you know her sisters his sisters-in-law were living here and he thinking that it would be like you know looking really nice and they were living in the not necessarily the hood but basically yeah like the hood in Phoenix one of the hoods in Phoenix and he was shocked you know it's feel good, but he was shocked. And >> [snorts] >> um he's like, you know, I have an engineering degree where I'm from and coming here, I'm just just so now he and now he's driving taxis. And he's like, you'd be surprised. A lot of us who are driving taxis, we have we have PhDs. We have, you know, we're very educated. I said, I that's crazy. Better. It's Friday, y'all. It's Friday and I'm ready to swing. Pick up my girls and do them thing. It's Friday. Half day Friday. Half day Friday means that if you got all your stuff done early in the week, you can take a half day on Fridays. And [clears throat] so that's what they encourage us to do. Um I have stuff planned for this weekend. Girl, get out of here cuz you got on my nerves today. This is Trinity at the door making all that dang on noise. Get Get out of here. Bye. Um, so I have a couple of things I need to do today for work. Um, I mentioned before you guys, one other thing that's a little bit different with this job for me is I deal more with I have to close my door cuz I don't want to see you right now. I'm recording. I'm dealing more with invoices and tracking down payments, submitting invoices and stuff like that. [snorts] Um, I've done it before. I've done stuff like that before, but that was earlier in my career as a program coordinator, as a project coordinator. Same thing basically. Um, what's the point? I just got a couple of things to do there. >> [snorts] >> I JP wants to go to I don't know what mall it is that has grape vine me malls but he wants to go to this mall it has grape vine meals. Um child a lot of these school a lot of these things like as your kids get older the the got all Yeah. I have so many pillows. Let me make this up differently. [snorts] What's the point to do wolf which is what we were originally was going to do. That would have cost me um $100. I'll check y'all. I have to check my expenses and see. But because school is coming up, I gotta get his school supplies, which I've already ordered half of those. I look, I don't waste any time. I already ordered half of his school supplies. Um, and then my mama's texting me. My cousin is in the hospital. I'll tell y'all about that in a minute. Um, so yeah, he wants to go to Great View. I want to check my Let me check my bank account and see if I can, you know, do that cuz I did get paid today, but still I just need to be careful cuz again, I ain't got that second second set of income. Now, I did apply for another part-time job through this uh consulting gig, but I haven't heard anything. Oh, I have not heard it. Girl, you didn't do that right at all. I don't care. Yeah, I haven't heard anything from them, which is okay cuz I'm really busy. I'm showing y'all my titties. I'm really busy with my job now. [snorts] Um, with my full-time job, y'all. Busy enough. So, I also want to try and see I have a cousin that's in kidney failure um down here in Dallas, the hospital. Um he has he has sick cell. I have one, two, I have five cousins that have syel anemia. Um, I mean to the point to where before I even child, before I even got married and did anything, I [snorts] checked to see if I was a carrier and I'm not. Um, y'all, Sickel is primarily, you know, if you like you know about cell is primarily with black people. Um, And it's actually a genetic mutation um to fight off malaria. So um people who have you know sickel basically the blood cells for syel it's looks like a sickle. Um well that is why also people with syel are in a great deal of pain too because [snorts] basically their their blood is not getting any oxygen. is not breathing. But the pathogen, sorry y'all, the pathogen in malaria can't survive in sick cell. >> Wait a minute. I don't remember a bar being in here. This is so this is where the um the [music] this is where they're going to have the thing at later on the performance. [music] Hold on, baby. Hey, do you see all the stuff up there from here? You see all the stuff right there on on the um shelves. [music] [snorts] Hey you guys. So, this is going to be it for this video. This is the last bit of this video. Um I'm getting ready to make me some um fish tacos. Um this part of the video is going to be a little bit emotional. I forgot to get paper towels. Lord have mercy. So, um [snorts] um because I haven't cried yet. I haven't really absorbed everything. I've been just working, working, working to not take into consideration what's been going on. So, [snorts] you guys heard me mention earlier that my cousin um was here in Dallas. He lives in Long View. >> [snorts] >> Um he is here in Dallas um to get a to go he was going to be transferred to Houston to get [snorts] um better care because the hospitals here can't handle a person with sick asel and so y'all my my cousin ended up passing away and and I just want to say this um it is terri ly sad. Of course, I'm upset about it. We're all upset. But when someone passes away, someone dies, that's when you really get a chance to see what type of life they lived. [snorts] Um, [snorts] he was young, 48. Uh he cheated death for 30 years. He was not supposed to live past 18 because he had an extreme an aggressive form of sick asel. [snorts] Always [snorts] talented. [snorts] He played the organ and the piano and he was one of the and he played that since he was like eight years old I think you know a child and he was one of those type of piano players to where he would hear something one time and he could play it. [snorts] Um but what I mean by when you pass away what people say about you is a testimony of how you lived your life here on earth. when I and I had to get off of Facebook and I don't even h I don't have a lot of friends on Facebook. I probably have less than, excuse [clears throat] me, I have less than 400 friends. But when I tell you every three posts is about my cousin >> that I had spoken to his his mother, my aunt Glattis last weekend and my goal was to come go down there and see my cousin, but I really wanted to spend I really wanted to make you know J happy and take him to this thing that we would. So anyway, my goal was to go see my cousin this coming weekend and that didn't happen. And so my aunt told me, she said, let me back up. My mama told me that his kidneys were failure. What? Failing. Well, when I talked to my aunt, she said his liver and kidneys are failing. Basically, she said his organs, his organs are done. When she said that, me I was like, "Oh, that's not good. That's not good." Um, and then when you are just tired, you know what I mean? This is somebody who has been going through this more than 30 years. I think since he was like eight or since he was born, you know, since they found out. So to live this long and be in pain, sick as hell is extremely painful disease. Um, and so he is just resting, you know. So I am relieved that he is not suffering. And I feel so much better knowing that he touched so many people in the short amount of time. It's a long time, but it's one of my my point is is that he could have been like, "Wo, it's me. I'm in pain. I got this going on. I'm going to sit here and be depressed." But instead, he was very positive. He uh he had an organization out in East Texas called Sickell Warriors. And so he made a stamp to see all these people coming forth. I am like I honestly I don't even think I could have that many people, you know, say things about me and I'm just shocked. Um in a good way. And again I I know he was he was that type of a man, but I'm like wow. he didn't [snorts] have a family because it is not recommended for someone like him this far in advance with sick as hell to have kids. It's not recommended. But anyway, um so y'all um that is it for this vlog, but I want to end it off with saying that, you know, make sure that while you have your time here on Earth that you make an impression on others that you can leave a footprint to where you are when you leave there is a difference with your absence here on earth. Does that make sense? All right, y'all. Y'all take care. Okay.