Rainy Monday Morning

It is STORMING in my City.

I woke up around five in the morning to angry cracks of thunder and the sound of wind and rain beating upon the roof.

And Aunt Flo is whispering in my ear "Young lady, this would be a great day to take the day off and lazy around in the bed."

Sure would be. But that is not going down. Nope! I'm taking my tail to work.

They're saying on the news that we've already had 2 inches of rainfall. There are flash floods all over the place. I don't leave for work 'til 9:45, so less peeps should be out by then. (We in the ATL drive crazy in the rain.)

I had a good weekend as usual. I didn't venture out much. I took my laptop to the Geek Squad for service. My living room television is jacked (on/off button is busted), and you will be proud of me: I didn't go price televisions while in Best Buy. I just took my computer in, and got to stepping! Noooo window shopping at all.

My sister Kentucky was camped out in the living room all weekend long. This is odd, since she usually stays in her room. But she was working hard on what she called a "Ca.pstone Project". She talked about this for a moment. (I see *crickets* when she talks about her studies. I just listen.) But that is what the education call their thesis. She has to make a video montage of her student teaching and current teaching. Very interesting.

I know I got on her nerves. I sat in there with her and watched television. And then, I was in the kitchen (my kitchen, dining room and living room is one great room), and I chopped up a lot of veggies for the week. So uh, she had to see much of me.

I am proud of my sister. I remember when she got the letter of acceptance for this Masters program. She came downstairs and ran all around the house. I grabbed my camera and took pictures of it.

And now, she's worked hard, and will be graduating in a couple of weeks. GO KENTUCKY.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE seeing things like that happen. I love seeing it when it is a mere seed, a thought in someone's mind. I remember when my sister was thinking about the program. I remember telling her "go head on and apply."

From a thought to full manifestation. I love witnessing that in my life, and in the lives of others.

This is Day 19 of 21 of my 21 day Financial Fast. Almost there. I mean, I can seeeee the finish line up ahead. LOL

Honestly, it hasn't felt like 19 days. I've made a lot of decisions and goals during this time. I haven't been talking much about it. Serenity has checked on me from time to time, but it has been moreso something I've done along.

Speaking of Serenity, she called me on Sunday. She and I rarely talk, so I was like "What's wrong? Why are you calling me?"

I had to give her a pep talk about this fast. I told her that she will be alright. This is simply a mere self-examination process. Period. Examine yourself financially, very closely. Yes, that can be painful. In this case, it's mentally painful. Man, we build some serious pictures in our heads concerning these things. This is JUST 21 days. A little over 5% of the year. That's the way I looked at it.

We discussed her plans and decided we'd both come up with our weekly budgets and discuss it this morning. I've been a bit quiet, but I'm gonna bombard her with some of my goals and plans. (Not an issue, cuz she likes that!)

Those of you who are thinking about going through it, or just reading along, I wrote a long-winded introduction over at her blog. She has already posted up her "Day 1" thoughts.

It really wasn't that bad. I learned much about myself and my spending habits and I feel okay about evaluating myself through journaling and making the necessary changes.

This all coincides with the last line of my personal vision statement regarding being a good steward. It pushes me a little more in the right direction. And I am glad of that.

People are always asking me about the vegetarian thing. Like, I have this thing where I eat something new every week. Last week, I had some abate fetal pears. It's a South American pear, more oblong than regular pears, but it tastes like a regular pear. Interesting enough. Last night I had some "Forbidden" rice. I noticed it as a new grain in the bulk section of my vegan co-op. I asked a worker about it, and he didn't know much about it. It is a short grain rice the color of black ink. I bought 50 cents worth and cooked it up. Tastes like regular rice to me.

For dinner, I had this rice, along with brown basmati rice, and some sauteed szechaun okra. It was all very pretty. I suppose it's for decorative purposes. Who knows.

Well that's it for today. The rain has let up some, and hopefully it will be this way when I get ready to go to work.

I'm determined to have a great week... on purpose.

You be sure to do the same.