***BiRThdAy 42***

Happy NEW Day to you, Boys and Girls!

And Happy Birthday to ME!

Yaaaay!

It's my birthday!

And I gotta do it Star Trek style!

STARDATE

02.07.12

The 42nd year of that Oldgirl.

LOL.

Well, it is really the beginning of the 43rd year. But we won't get bogged down in semantics.

I was going to do a Food-for-thought Introspection today.

NERP!

Flipping back through 20 pages of my journal... uh, no. We gonna keep ALL dat right there. Let this be a FUN day!!!

*cartwheels*

So!

I got my Birthday Pie!



Peach pie! (Cuz I ain't the biggest fan of cake)

And I got my Birthday Flowers!



Didn't have a vase, so I put them in a Bell Mason Jar!




(How you like that, Lisa B? I got some Celie in me, just like ya'll, babes!)

Got the Birthday Candle!



Courtesy of my new friend in my head, "Lady Lifetime" is what I'll call her!

And the Birthday Cat!



*crickets*

Man, Oscar don't count. He was trying to keep me from journalling. He will be 15 this year. Such a typical teenager. Humph.

Birhtday CAR, boo! The Birthday Car!



Wooooooooo oooooh WEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

LOL

Not just yet.

Just scrawling the vision HIGH upon the walls of The House of LadyLee. That is all.

Soon though.

I got my trusty little 25 cent purse size notebook labeled Lexus.



Anybody who's known me for awhile knows...

When I get that little notebook going?

And start filling those thin ruled lines with stuff?

It's a done deal, boo.

That's like a personal claim ticket, and I am standing at the window, waiting for the folks to come back with my stuff!

Already got my insurance quotes written up in there.

Me and LadyTee did a driveby in the dealership lot of one I'm interested in. We roled up real slow, stealth like, like we were bout to pull out our .38s and blast some fools!

"There it go, right there, Tee. Right there. The gold one. The coach edition. Full leather package. Sunroof. All the extras. There it go right there."

*lee slows Mazda to a stop*

*lee looks both ways for shady salesman*

*lee jumps out of car and cups hands to window and looks inside*

*lee cheeses hard at LadyTee, who's craning her neck looking at my undercover ways*

EXTRA HARD. Cheesing extra hard! I was cheesing so hard I started sweating!

I wanted to lay my body across the hood of that car!

I love that one... but it has scuffed bumpers. They gonna have to cut that price in half if they want an Oldgirl in it. I don't want anything new, just need an extra car for the garage. I refuse to have a car note. CASH only.

I may have to get the cash out the bank, and take it with me when I go test drive these babies. TAKE THIS or I am LEAVING...SHAWTY!

No I won't do that... But the thought... WOW.

Gonna go test drive it... make the salesman take a picture of me in it.

And put THAT in my Lexus notebook.

LOL.

Yeah mon!!!

Oh and something else is brewing right now... but I won't talk about that. Something... interesting.

Hmm... Chew on THAT.

Happy Birthday to meeeeeeeeeee!

Happy New Day to Yoooooooouuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!

*Cartwheels*

The Last Day. Of the 41st Year. In the Life of Your Friendly Neighborhood Oldgirl LadyLee

It is Monday...

The Monday Before...

That Monday Before I turn 42.

I've been walking around the house hollering "It is the last day of the 41st year of my life!"

Yes it is.

It is...

The Last Day...

Of the 41st year...

In the Life of your Friendly Neighborhood LadyLee.

And I pondered this, while folding clothes, cleaning the bathroom, and gathering trash to take out later on.

Oh what a great year it has been. Simply terrific.

I'll write about that tomorrow. Not sure whether I will do an introspection post tomorrow. I would love to. But I have so much to write. I promise to condense and keep it short if I do.

I am OFF today. I sort of am at odds with that because I have a ton of paperwork on my desk. But the truth of the matter is that that is not my problem. I've been working hard. And I don't work on my birthday. Period. And I wanted to at least take my birthday and the day before off.

And you will not believe this, but I worked on Saturday! From 11:00 am to 2:45pm.

Members of management were there. O_o. Odd. Interesting, but odd.

Yesterday was my church's 26th anniversary. I rarely go to church on Sunday, but I figured, what the heck. And it was a good kickoff to my birthday holiday. Church anniversary is actually on my birthday, February 7th. So it is REALLY easy to remember the date, LOL

Karen Clark-Sheard was a special guest. That woman know she can SANG! I have NEVER heard anyone sing so loud and clear, and she wasn't even singing. There was a program on Friday night for my pastor's 50th birthday and 30 years of ministering, and she and the rest of the Clark sisters were there, performing all the old classics. Now I bet THAT was something to see. WOW.

But it was a good service. A south african Pastor who was instrumental in reworking the South African constitution after aparthied was the special guest. VERY interesting to hear someone who was a part of that history speak about life.

The most interesting thing I heard was: "You find out what you really believe in the midst of trouble, when you go through a few things. Your courage comes from staying focused on Jesus. Looking to yourself only porduces fear."

Hmmm.... looking to yourself only produces fear. And I can understand what he means by that. I myself, in the midst of my personal storms, find that I get upset not only about what I am going through, but the sheer magnitude of it all. And then I build these pictures in my mind and I get all exasperated really over the fear that I will never get over this, or this will always be how it is.

When in actuality, all things are temporary. I'm going through things. But the operative word here is "through". There is a beginning, a middle and an end.

And I need to get focused on a good end. A good solution. A good result.

Me and my sister Kentucky were talking about this yesterday, concerning some of her personal goals. I always like to check on her progress. She says that she's avoiding much exasperation by really focusing on very small goals, and believing to accomplish those. I told her I am too, and that is when I get the most done, and my faith stays strong. We encouraged each other to stay prayerful. That is the core of our focus.

Play Mama A and I had a long convo about this on Saturday evening: Do you focus on what God says about you, or do you focus on your circumstances...

Interestingly, the sermons at our respective churches were on that very subject matter... in great detail.

And I LOVE that, man!!

That happens a lot with us. That's called confirmation. God's stamp on what we were discussing.

And hey, I welcome that. Reinforces me. Let's me know I'm moving in the right direction.

And that's a GOOD thing.

Man... sorry for the food-for-thought moment. Well not really. LOL. That's what's on my mind right now. Especially since this is...

The last day.

Of the 41st year.

In the life of your friendly Neighborhood Oldgirl, LadyLee.

I'm not sure what all I'm doing on this off day. I'm going down to the Southside and snatch up LadyTee and we want to go see the movie Albert Nobbs.


Look at Glenn Close. They got her looking like a dude, straight up. She is up for an Oscar for this part. I hope she win. We are going to try and go see this movie. It's an arthouse movie, so it's only playing in a couple of theatres in the city. So we are going to try to track it down.

But that is all for now.

I need a song of the week. On this day, the last day of my 41st year, I need a good song.

This is my favorite song to listen to before I leave for work in the mornings. You know, while I'm looking for my keys, and getting my lunch and bags together to leave.




That's a good song. I feel alright after I listen to that.

I tend to holler "See you later, Oscar-Tyrone! You have a fine fine time patrolling this house today! Glory! Bye, boy!"

Oscar meows. And walks off.

LOL

You have a great day!

On purpose!

Friday Freestyles

Yes yes yes.

YES.

It is Friday!

And it's an extra special Friday for me. I have a 4 DAY WEEKEND coming up!

((((((BOOYAH)))))))

Oh yes. I cannot wait. This day best not go by all slooooooowwwww.

BOOOO at that! Boo!

LOL

Man, why is it that I wanted to post all week, yet I didn't? The horror! I gotta do better.

Anyway, work is strange right now. There doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day to get things done. My days are going by in a flash. And yes, that is a good thing. It is better than watching the clock.

I had a good annual work performance review. Funny how they like to treat you like you don't work and like you're stupid, but alas, at the end of the year, you did well. It's like some Jedi Mind trick craziness. And you know I don't do well with psychological crap. NERP.

Guess what? My sister Kentucky won Teacher of the Year for her school! I am sooo happy for her. I told her beforehand, if she didn't win, that she was MY teacher of the year. I don't care what NOBODY say. She MY teacher of the year. But I am glad she won!

So my birthday is coming up. I will be 42 year old. Wow.

You know, I'm never ashamed to tell my age. And it baffles me when people are. I guess that is just the way it is. For me, with each year of my life, there is new growth and experiences. So I am just always happy to see another birthday. Some people didn't make it to age 2 or even 42. So it is something to be celebrated. I am proud of the age that I am.

I don't have any special plans. I think me and Kentucky will be having dinner on my birthday. Not sure where we are going. And LadyTee and I are spending the day before together. So that's cool. AND as usual, I go get my emissions and tag done. I may go get my taxes done.

"Do something you really like to do on your birthday, girl!" my cubicle mate Cowgirl Cre hollered yesterday. "You know what I would be doing on my birthday. Riding my horse!"

"I would really like to write all day. And I have a lot of editing to do. I would love that."

And I will be doing a fair amount of that. For sure.

Song of the Week. I LOVE this song.




So with that said, you have a great weekend! I know I will!

On purpose!

Food for Thought: Dialects

I promised you a food-for-thought this week, so I think I will go ahead and work it out.

This food-for-thought has to do with a strange topic: dialects.

Sometime in early January, I came across an interesting verse of scripture that caught my attention and has stayed on my mind.

Why? Because it hits very close to home in an area that I work on.

I am especially interested in the sentence in red.

Ephesians 5:4 (MESSAGE) Though some tongues just love the taste of gossip, those who follow Jesus have better uses for language than that. Don't talk dirty or silly. That kind of talk doesn't fit our style. Thanksgiving is our dialect.

Hmmm...

Thanksgiving is our dialect.

Dialect.

I've been chewing on that verse for awhile, like a piece of chewing gum, trying to get all I can out of it.

I, not being the most learned individual, had to go look up this word dialect.

In linguistics, it means a variety of a language that is distinguished from other varieties of the same language by features of phonology, grammar, and vocabulary, and by its use by a group of speakers who are set off from others geographically or socially.

So, looking at the definition, I can conceivably, make an interesting substitution.

Thanksgiving is a variety of a language that is distinguished from other varieties of the same language by features of phonology, grammar, and vocabulary, and by its use by a group of speakers who are set off from others geographically or socially.

That is pretty insightful. Well, to me.

Because that verse describes different variations of language.

Gossipy talk. Dirty talk. Silly talk. And Thanksgiving talk.

And it says those that follow Jesus have better uses for language than talking silly, talking dirty, or gossiping. Much better uses for language than that.

But I'm going to be straight up. The folks I know who are hard gossipers, talk dirty and talk silly, are mostly Christian folks... these followers of Jesus, as they are referred to in the verse.

And if you are like me, some of them, well, I will hesitate to lay my purse down around. Doggone wallet may get stolen. Shoot.

I have had atheists that have been better for my life and personal growth than some Christians. Ought not be that way, but it is. That is a whole nother post altogether.

But let's get back to the post topic at hand. I was a mite bit concerned over the whole notion of "silly talk". Exactly what does this "silly talk" mean?

I think it means different things for different people. And as I was working on parts of this posts this Sunday, while watching my church services on the internet (I rarely go to church on Sundays. I am a Friday night gal #heathen) an interesting subject came up, and for me, in my own life, it defined the whole notion of "silly talk".

Complaining.

You have to admit, Complaining is cousin to Ungrateful, which is the direct opposite of Gratitude and Thanksgiving.

I jotted down some interesting church notes that Sunday morning... Wrote it all down, here it goes:

When things don't seem to be going our way, we complain. And we may holler "it's the truth!", but whether it's the truth or not, it is still what it is: "complaining".

Complaining short circuits our faith.

Complaining indirectly communicates to God: "I don't like what You are doing in my life, and if I were You (that is, if I had control) i would do it differently."

God hates complaining, and it is nothing more than irreverence. It is insubordination to God's authority.

Complaining.... sure is some silly talk, isn't it?

And it gets nothing done.

I heard another interesting definition of complaining recently: Complaining is talking about the problem, without talking about the solution to the problem.

Hmm.

I am not a dirty talker. I get a check in my spirit any time I cuss, and I work on that. I'm not a gossiper. I've cut that way down close to zero, and think hard about it when i do it... and make the corrections. I've gotten to the point where I don't too much deal with gossipy folk unless I really have to. You know my issues with gossip: it means I don't like my life, so I gotta get nosy about YOUR life so I can find something about you to talk about... so I can feel better about my own mess.

Hmm. Just my definition of it. Not my dialect. Besides, I like my life, with all its good parts and bad parts that are getting better.

I tell you one thing, though. I complain like others. Mostly due to what or who I around. I was speaking with a coworker the other day about this. I admired the fact that she recognizes that she complains and she's going to work on it.

I don't want this silly talk... this "complaining", to be my dialect either.

I want thanksgiving to be my dialect. I want to be able to hear my own voice and speech, and be able to tell for myself that I, LadyLee, am a thankful person.

I do believe that there is no coincidence that thanksgiving is mentioned in that verse, and is something to be strived for.

Much sprouts out up of gossiping, doesn't it? Much comes out of dirty talk and silly talk also.

Can't the same be said for thanksgiving?

Something good comes out of being thankful, being a person of gratitude.

This has become a part of my daily confessions, these 4 simple words.

Thanksgiving is MY dialect.

It is the language that I speak.

I hope to look up someday, and see that that is wholly true, that it has come to pass in my life.

I will leave you with 2 other scripture that go well with that above.

Phillipians 2:14 (AMP) Do all things without grumbling and faultfinding and complaining [against God] and questioning and doubting [among yourselves], That you may show yourselves to be blameless and guiltless, innocent and uncontaminated, children of God without blemish (faultless, unrebukable) in the midst of a crooked and wicked generation [spiritually perverted and perverse], among whom you are seen as bright lights (stars or beacons shining out clearly) in the [dark] world...

I Thessalonians 5:18 (AMP)Thank [God] in everything [no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks], for this is the will of God for you [who are] in Christ Jesus [the Revealer and Mediator of that will].

This Food for thought has been brought to you by your Friednly Neighborhood Oldgirl...

LadyLee

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Monday Night Special

Monday...Again!

Not gonna complain. Happy to see a NEW day.

Happy NEW DAY to you. Out with the OLD, in with the NEW. Right now. TODAY.

Something good is going to happen today, even though it's a Monday. Still, a chance for good things to happen.

Wow. I wrote that this morning. Meant to post it this morning. I thought to myself, "Nerp, I will post during lunchtime." I didn't have lunch today because I was so busy. And that's a good thing. Can't get caught blogging while eating my lunch.

That really isn't a good idea. Negroes swear I blog all day.

So that worked out well.

Alas... Monday night special.

I got off from work tonight and I needed a DRANK. Not a drink. A DRANK. A STRONG DRANK.

So I went to the Noodle house across the street from work, sat at the bar, and ordered a strong drank!

Water... on the rocks.

And it was good. While I waited on my spicy basil noodle with tofu take-out.

I am sorry that I haven't been posting everyday. Man oh man, do I have a LOT to post, but things have been quite hectic. Work has been swashbuckling, a real rat race, and I am just trying to adjust to the change of pace. So when I get home, I'm trying to decompress from my day, and spend more time on my personal writing.

This month, it's looking like I will hit 24,000 words written for the month. I've spent a good amount of time working on the second half of a novella, which I believe I will finish tomorrow. Heck, it may even be a full novel. Not sure. I am going to spend a little time today, probably during lunch (if I get a lunch), [update: NO LUNCH TODAY] planning my February writing.

I am looking forward to next month. BIRTHDAY month! *cartwheels* I will be turning 42 this year. I have been thinking about that, just reflecting over the past year. I have no special plans, even though I decided when I was 40 that I would spend my birthdays out of the country on vacation. I just was not interested this year. I MAY go on a cruise in June (if Green Eyed Bandit get back to me with the info, if it's not too late). But I haven't been all that interested in doing anything. My sister wants to do something but her teacher schedule is pretty rigid, and for some ODD reason that chicken gets a little nervous about spending more than a hundred bucks on a vacation. Sigh.

So, my birthday will be quiet. I think me and LadyTee are spending the day together. I have put in for a couple of days off, so we will see if that gets approved.

January though... it has been a pretty good month. The highlight for me, as I have said above is really being stringent about my writing. My goal is around 500 words per day, which is a small goal, and takes a good 30 minutes give or take. But I end up taking more than that, sometimes writing upwards of 2000 words. I think I average around 750 words a day. I am VERY happy about that.

I am working on not spending quite so much time thinking about my stories, and spending more time actually writing my stories. And that has been a good transition and it is working out well.

Nothing particularly interesting happened this weekend. I had a good conversation with Grandma. They always telling her some craziness down at the bank. This time some idiotic mess concerning the account she has under me. She needs to call me next time and hand them the phone. Take care of that real quick.

Please, don't abuse the elderly. Geesh!

I was over to her house one day last year, and she had an interesting book on Biblical Gap Theory. I asked her for the title of it so I could order it. She said she has to look for it.

Grandma has a degree in biblical psychology. She has upwards of 3000 books at her house.

"I don't know where I put that book, Sugar. I'll find it for you!"

Grandma is going to be looking for that book for awhile.

A VERY long time.

Long. Long. Time.

I baked a GANG of cookies on Sunday. I mailed them today. A couple of folk I owe cookies too- Dee in San Diego and the infamous La - ya'll need to text my phone with your address. If you don't have my phone number, you better get it. Which means email me, and I send you my number. I don't worry about you stalking me. I stalk La something terrible, so she's not going to stalk me. And I wouldn't mind a phone convo with Dee, so whatever.

Man, I can't keep up with addresses on the email. Sigh. You better text me! Quickly.

If you recently texted your address, your cookies are on the way. They will be there on Wednesday. That is all. (Look out for that ketchup too, Lisa B.!)

This morning, I passed the funeral procession police car line up for a policewoman who was hit by a drunk driver on the freeway last week, while she was directing traffic around an accident at a highway exit not too far from my house.

That sobered me up. I had a hard week last week, and a strange and tiring day today.

But any day I make it home at night... and have to decide whether I want to fold clothes or take out the garbage or clean up the kitchen... or just lazy around on the sofa...

hat makes it a good day. Period.

It means I made it home tonight. Some people didn't.

That makes it a good day.

And don't you forget it. I know I won't.

Seeing something like that really takes the "whine" out of one's whining. And rightfully so.

Really though.

So that's what's on my mind early this monday Morning [UPDATE: Monday night].

Look out for a Food-For-Thought post this week. It's something that's been on my mind allll month long. I think you will get something out of it. Changed my way of looking at things this year.

Have a GREAT Monday! [UPDATE: have a great WEEK]

On PuRpOSe.