"...maybe we can start again."

My time in Hammond, IN is coming to an end. I can’t believe I have been laying my head in Indiana for what will be 5 years when the lease ends. Though I’ve worked in the city the entire time, I still felt so far away from my family and friends. It wasn’t until my best friend, her husband and baby/my g-baby moved back to the states earlier this year that I had someone who stayed near me. For once, I could go visit someone on the regular and it wouldn’t take me 30 minutes to get to and from their house.

What prompted this change was spending a week at my grandmother’s while my car was being serviced. I got spoiled by the convenience of public transportation, a shorter commute to work, and being 20 minutes or less from everything. It was after that week, I knew I had to “come home.”

The time I've lived in Hammond was what I needed. I needed to step out of my comfort zone (it took months for me to get used to the quiet). I needed to go through the pain I experienced after moving to Indy to learn from it. I needed that time by myself to work on myself. Please believe, people don’t look at driving to Hammond like they look at driving to Orland from the city (though Orland is further). So I had plenty of time to myself. As an introvert, being alone wasn’t an issue. I did learn that people will go where they want to go. Once I accepted that, hearing “you live too far” stung less.

With the move, I have to recondition myself to city life. Some things I could get away with in Indy just won’t fly in Chicago. The block I’ll be staying on (shoutout to family owning property) is pretty quiet. However, no more leaving my radio faceplate on while in the crib. Look, I love my city. But I’m not naïve. I have to find another gym to join, meaning I will have even more “Basketball Chronicles” as I’ll have to gain respect from a new group of regular hoopers. I’m also looking to teach yoga in the city, in addition to continuing to teach in Highland.

A lot of changes on the horizon, but I’m not worried. Like my homie Alvin always say, “I’m alright, because God’s got me.”

Happy New Year!

K to the…

"...to the east side"

What up, y'all! I don't know what it is about the month of March, but it's definitely been March Madness for me the past three years, and I'm not talking NCAA. Well, this year's March Madness was me finding a place to stay. My lease ended on March 31st in the place unaffectionately known as "Baby Stateway Gardens" in the luxurious South Shore neighborhoood. I was there a total of three years, and thought I'd be there longer than that. However, I knew in May 2010, I wasn't renewing my lease. Lemme tell y'all why I didn't renew my lease.

• I dealt with mice…TWICE! And it wasn’t during the time of the year when mice usually appear when they are trying to find some cover from the cold. NAW, these bastards were around when it was warm. Neither Mickey nor Ben's names were on my lease, yet they were up in there like they paid rent.


• I dealt with roaches. Not so much in my apt, but in the COMMON AREAS of the building. Someone moved out of their apt and there were roaches all over the damn building. For me to have to scurry pass the elevators to avoid seeing a roach is just...ugh. Call me "bourgeois" all you want. I grew up in a house where I only dealt with spiders and ants. I don't do roaches!


• There were about 9 cats that roamed the parking lot of my building. There was a man that came out everyday and fed those cats; even during a thunderstorm (I seent with my own 4 eyes). He was so attached to the cats, he even noticed when one went missing. These gangsta auss felines would also walk on folk's cars in the lot, including mine. I had a piece of a cheddar biscuit chillin on my windshield wiper one day and was befuddled. I'd even had paw prints on my windshield.


• I dealt with people who can’t park. There are two lines your car should be parked in between. I was parked between two people who didn’t understand this concept. If my hips were wider and thighs were bigger, I wouldn’t have been able to get in and out of my car everyday. Also, someone parked in MY spot, one day, so I was forced to park in theirs. However, they left ME a note saying to show some respect. What?


• I witnessed two carjackings in a 10 minute period from my living room window…AFTER hearing gunshots fired at a police officer. I saw the whole thing, picked the guy out of a line-up AND testified before the grand jury. Yep, I’m a snitch.


• Three of my visitors have had their cars vandalized.

And all of this happened during the 3rd year of me staying there. So yeah, it was time for me to go. I have moved on up (well, down to the first floor) to the East Side (literally, east of Chicago). And I love it. So hopefully, the only pests I'll be writing about are the ones I see OUTSIDE through my patio door. :-)

K to the...