Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to you all!

You all who celebrate.

I don't necesarrily know what celebrate means...

Me? I give out candy. That's about it. Never been to a halloween party. I got my costume just like everybody else as a child...

Speaking of costumes...

Serenity_23 sent a picture of the baby in his SCARY halloween costume.



OOOOOH! I am so scared of you, little Kayden, little skeleton boy! SOOOOO scared!

Here he is all stretched out!

Yes... that's a little more scary, Little Skeleton Boy!  I'm really scared now!

LOL!

I think it's cute!

Here's another picture:


That costume is his big brother's old costume. That lets me know that we should keep everything, ya'll.

You never know when these things come in handy!

"Little Kayden, Skeleton Baby" and "Here Comes the Bumblebee Boy"...

Next on the Baby Channel. Check your local listings.

LOL

Have a Happy and Safe Halloween!

Monday, October 29, 2012

Good Cold Monday Morning!

Good Monday Morning...

Correct: Happy Cold Monday Morning.

It seems as if the days of 100 temperatures are gone. They are in the rearview mirror...

And now it's cold. In the ATL, our morning temperatures will be in the high 30s this week. I actually turned on the heat yesterday. I'd pulled out my trusty space heater for the bedroom a couple of times last week, but it is getting colder and that just won't do.

And there's a hurricane about to hit the Northeast. That's rare. I haven't really understood the forecasts concerning it. But it looks a bit ratchet. My prayers are with ya'll who are up there in the path of that. If you can get out and get to shelters or safety, do it. They say that it will be bad, but let's just pray that is a flub. I rather that people scoff and be mad at how bad it was said to get, rather than anything catastrophic to occur.

My weekend. It was a bit slow. I did NOTHING... save for take care of the sick and shut-in patient: Oscar-Tyrone. After a couple days in the hospital, he is home. They said he would need intense home care and maintenance. I am not sure what that means, but I'm not taking off from work. I've watched him all weekend and he's been to himself. I have a cage out in the garage, so I'm going to clean that this morning and place him in there. (I know that's gonna piss him off).

His prognosis: hepatitis, pancreatitis, gallbladder itis, irritable bowel syndrome.  He got the triaditus (yeah, they actually call it that). Man, he got isshas. He hasn't been eating or drinking much of anything.  I haven't seen him hit the litter box all weekend. He has to take 4 medications. They had to teach me how to give him his meds, which I'm not all that crazy about, but it has to be done.

He is not his usual active self. I've heard him meow twice this weekend since we've been home. He sleeps A LOT.

And he prefers the same place... on the back of the chair. I made sure to cover it with a sheet just in case he got the notion to start hurling.

I have creeped up on him a couple of time to make sure he's still alive. I call his name and he peeks at me.
Then he closes his eyes again. Good enough. Still alive. Still breathing.

They must have given him a bath at the vet. They must know I've never given him one. He smells like clothes fresh out the dryer.

I did take a nap on the couch yesterday afternoon, and I woke up to see him staring at me.


So I guess that's a good sign. He has always like to... stare. He was woke up every few hours and wants to be rubbed.  So that's good.

I bought him a little bed on Friday night, in an effort to keep him in one place. PetSmart had them on sale, so it was cheap. (And it matches the living room, lol). He has preferred the back of the chair, but after staring at the bed for awhile, he decided to give it a try.


They had to shave his leg to give him an IV. That looks a little creepy.



And then he was back to sleeping. A LOT.


And he has to deal with me poking him every couple of hours to make sure he is still alive. Overall, he seems to be alright. You got one good time to near bankrupt me on a pet bill. If he doesn't get better, I will have to put him to sleep. No need for him to suffer.

But for now, he's okay.

Quote of the Week.  

"A GOAL without a PLAN is simply a WISH".
That's a hard one for me to handle. I rarely make goals. I guess that makes me bad, lazy, and whatever else. Whatever. Yeah, yeah, I know I'm suppose to have these 5 and 10 year plans, but I don't. I sit back and admire people who do. If I am alive in 5 or 10 years, that is good. I am thankful for that. That don't mean I don't get anything done, but I do. Much done. But of course I could be getting tons more done if I had concrete, written out goals.

But that quote has me thinking. I remember hearing an actual very detailed sermon, when I was 20 years old,  on goals. And how they should be written. I think the backup scripture was that one out of Habbakuk, of writing the vision and making it plain. (As a matter of fact, the message version says write the vision in big block letters.)

They aren't goals if they aren't written. And how they should be separated into long term and short term goals. That was a lot for me to hear in church. But it has always stayed on my mind. I tend to accomplish goals when I do write them down. With an actual plan of action attached to them. So of course that Quote makes much sense.

I am learning it's not reaching the goal that's the only important thing. It's the many things you learn in the process of marching towards that goal that are equally important. The PLAN is just as important.

Yes indeed... a little food for thought for your Monday morning.

That is it for me. The goal this week is to have a great week... on purpose. The plan is to eat well, sleep well, and work well...

And take care of the sick and shut-in Original Oldcat. Let's hope and pray he lives a few more years.

With that said... you have a good week on purpose. 

Friday, October 26, 2012

Oscar-Tyrone... A Sickly Kitty

So...

For the past month or so, I've noticed that The Original Oldcat Oscar-Tyrone has lost a little weight. He's always been 9 or 10 pounds, so he is small, but it has been noticeable.

I know he is tired of me saying...

"Hey boy, you got hips! I see your hips!"

Yes, his little hip bones were showing. However, he had been prancing around as usual.

But this week he was acting funny. He was vomiting a little. I thought it was hairballs.

Then he's been acting a bit delusional, like he's hearing things. Made me think someone was in the house for a minute there.

Then on Wednesday night when I got home from work, he wasn't at the door to greet me. I didn't hear a sound from him for a couple of hours. I didn't think much of it. I thought he may be somewhere sleeping in one of his hiding places.

Then I heard all this wailing... from somewhere in the house.

Then I found Oscar-Tyrone on the floor on the side of the bed hollering.

And he did not look good. He even got to the point where liquids were coming out his mouth and his butt. Yikes.

It was too late to take him anywhere. So I put him first in the laundry room with his litter box, and then in the upstairs bathroom. I only hoped he would be okay in the morning.

I checked on him before bed. He was sitting quietly in the corner staring at the wall. Mess was everywhere. I need a truck of bleach to clean everything up.

The next morning I took him to a ritzy looking animal hospital nearby. When I walked in there, I knew they wouldn't take me. And they didn't. They sent me some 15 minutes away to Decatur to an emergency hospital.

So I went there.

Oscar in his crate in the back seat of the car was a trip. He screamed the whole time. He does NOT like being confined.


As you can see, he is NOT happy. Being sick and mad is not a good combination.

Once we got to the animal hospital he was stone quiet. I let him out of his cage and he just sat there on the table.

But he was still shellshocked and skittish.

They spent a half hour examining him. They determined that he had some type of liver problem because he was turning yellow. So I left him there. Blood tests and x-rays showed that he had a liver and gall bladder infection. So they are keeping him for a couple of days so he can be on IV.

I got a call this morning saying that he was perky, had eaten all his food, and that he looked much better.  I can pick him up Saturday afternoon.

He will need intense home care.

*crickets*

HUNH? What the...?

Uh, I am waiting to see what THAT's all about.  Intense home care? 

Well, I am off on Saturday and Sunday. I can do "intense" then, whatever that means. Not sure how he's gonna make out when I go to work on Monday Morning. I have a big giant cage in the garage that I used for Jeremy when he was alive. He'll have to stay in that, I suppose. I live 5 miles from work, so I can go home in the middle of my workday and have lunch and check on him. That's as intense as it gets.

Intense. Hmm.

Anyway, I am glad he will be alright. The worse case scenario would be that he was in liver failure, and that's not the case. I told my cubicle mate Cowgirl Cre that I would just go back over there with my Mahalia Jackson Greatest Hits CD, play a couple of songs, have him put to sleep, and go on to the Whole Foods and have a little repast. 

Jeremy had a decent funeral. I would take Oscar home and bury him right next to Jeremy. Sure would.

I'm serious. I didn't give birth to him. Not going bankrupt over him.

Oscar has lived a good 15 years, and has never had to work a day in his life. He has lived the good life. The good life indeed. Yes sir!

Looks like he's going to live a little longer!

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Happy Birthday Cowgirl Cre!

I'd like to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my friend and workplace cubicle mate The CowgirlCre!

*throws glitter*

Why do we call her CowgirlCre? Because she is a Cowgirl, i.e., she owns a horse! She's the only negro I know who owns one. That makes me feel like I know somebody special!

And she is special indeed. We've been friends for over 15 years! That's a long time! She knows me through and through. She's able to deal with the good side of me and the bad side of me. And that's a lot to deal with, honey! She's a real trooper for hanging with me all these years!

Here she is riding her horse Felix!


Look at her... she's smiling hard. That's because she is doing what she enjoys most! Riding her horse!

And here's ol' Felix.


And you know me... I make suggestions, honey. We need to get Felix out there racing in the Derby, so he can win millions and millions of dollars.

We should plait and braid Felix's hair. We could put some beads and shells in it!

We can tat his name down the middle of his stripe. That would look way cool!

Mess around and shape that wispy beard of his into a goatee and he'd be the flyest horse in the barnyard!

LOL

Uh yeah... As you could've guessed, she's not taking my suggestions.

CowgirlCre is off today so I'm holding down the cubicle all alone. It is quite quiet in these here parts. Sigh.

But NO ONE should work on their birthday. NO ONE! Should be a crime to do so!

She's out at the barn today, hanging out with Felix.

Yesterday (and other days), she played one of my favorite songs for when I'm getting the HECK out of dodge... Getting the heck on could mean a number of things: getting off from work, moving to a new place, or going on vacation.



We sing along with it very loudly. And we sound like some hit dogs sanging. But it makes us happy.

She was happy because she was going to have the day off!

Her favorite part is

"If you see meeeeee... look into my eyes and reeeeeeeeaaaaadddd... what the sign has to say: GITTIN OUTTA here!"

LOL

We sing that a couple of times while packing up to leave work, and it has us high steppingo up out of the workplace, halfway running to our cars!

Dearest Cowgirl... thanks for your friendship all these years. You've gotten me through more than you know. And being your cubicle mate for the past 10 years is icing on the cake indeed! It is a blessing to know you.

Have a great time at the barn! Tell Felix I said Hi!

And make sure you come on back to work tomorrow, ya hear?

Don't get the notion to take the rest of the week off! Don't let me have to come find you!

Happy Birthday! Enjoy your day... on purpose!

Friday, October 19, 2012

Friday Freestyles

TGIF!!

Wooo!

Glory!

*church shouts*

The only way today could be better is if it was PAYDAY!

But alas, it is not. But I am glad it is Friday. I don't have a big weekend planned. Play Mama is in town, and I get to see her! *cartwheels*

This has been a good week! I won all my fantasy football league games (there has been much trash talking between myself, Tazzee and RhysPieces... it is becoming brutal), and I had a pretty good weekend. Not as productive as I like, but good enough.

Then I get a call yesterday that I have a dentist appointment today.

O_O

I thought it was on Monday, but it is today. Sigh. I'm going to call to make sure before I drive waaaay out to Fairburn from downtown. But it is a simple cleaning. And I get to see Dr. Watson again... with his fine self!

But I don't have much else to talk about today. I don't have time to upload interesting pictures, etc... Just wanted to say hi!

Anyway, I do have a video of the week:

You have to be age 35 and above to appreciate this one.



Man... that is an EARLY b-boy rap song.

I have NO idea what the heck that song is about. I am SURE something subliminal was going on. And the whole mixing of square dancing and break dancing... uh, I can't make the connection.

But we liked it for some reason. Seems a bit cheesy. And that was when breakdancing and popping and locking first started.

And it had us all running around hollering "All of that Scratching is making me ITCH!"

And the chorus singing "She's looking like a ho!!"

What the heck does THAT mean!? Geeze. Those are fighting words.

We loved it. Not so much, now. But it brings back memories.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

The Debate- Round 2 Continued


So the second debate took place last night....

Awww, that was a good one. Obama came to fight last night.

Look at how the president is looking at Mitt Romney.


And that is how I was looking at him too.

I consider myself an independent.  I try my best to read as much as I can about each candidate and and their policies. I try to find anything subjective if possible (that is hard). And I was done with Mitt Romney after the first debate because I can't keep up with the flip-flopping, i.e., policy changes at a whim... basically saying whatever your current audience wants to hear. Frankly, what he said behind closed doors when no one was supposedly looking is the truest measure of what he really thinks. Sorry, but you are who you really are when no one is looking.

You know it's bad when the moderator gotta fact check you on stage. Romney botched up the whole Libya issue. That's not good, seeing that the third debate is centered on foreign policy.

And it's not a good look to try to walk over a female moderator. I myself was a bit taken aback about that.

I am glad that the President checked him on using the Libya tragedy for political posturing. That was a tragedy. I myself was a bit taken aback by Romney's press conference that day. He is NOT the president yet. Sit down somewhere. I want to hear from MY president on any national tragedy issues. NOT from someone who wants to be president.

All in all, Obama came to the table this time. Of course both candidates had good points (Just have to dig through what Romney says, since he changes with the wind).

I thought it was interesting how Romney opened himself up for a 47% jab. At the very end. I knew there was a problem when he said he wants to be president of 100%. (Uh, I am having trouble with that one. Trying to accept that, but... sounds like another convenient thing to say.)

I am a solid red state, so I don't have to sit through many campaign commmercials.  Thank goodness for that. My vote may or may not count. But because people died so that I, a woman of color, have the right to vote... well, that means I will vote.

20 days until the election, ya'll...  20 more days!

And it's all getting very very interesting...

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Cabbage and Tape!

So Serenity23 sent the most interesting text message the other day:

"I'm cooking fried cabbage. Everytime I do it makes me think of u."

To which I responded... "*blink*blink*...*tears*

I always remember back to us having a long conversation on twitter concerning the art of making good southern fried cabbage a couple of years ago (Fry your bacon, but don't burn it!... sautee your onions in the bacon! Then add a little water!") I know folks were like... Are they really going step by step on how to make cabbage?? For half an hour? LOL

So she makes it now, and she makes it well. She texted me a picture of the final result:


That looks tasty! I told her I like, instead of bacon, using a little olive oil and different color peppers. She frowned on that at first, but she has tried it too. I suggested for her to try to add a handful of white raisins (she hates raisins). I also like to julienne an apple and add it sometimes.

It's good with sausage too.  Waiting for her to try that.  I'm gonna make some tonight with crumbled soy sausage.  (You say yuck! I say wooo-hooo!)

When I think of Serenity_23, I think of shoes. In fact, she made some money off of me last year. I bet that chicken $100 that she couldn't go a year without buying shoes. And that chickent did it for the 2011 season. Shoot. (Good for you, though. Easiest bread anybody every made off me.)

Anyway, like I said, I think of shoes when I think of her.

So... I was walking through the Office Depot the other day, and I saw some... shoes she would surely appreciate.


Those are FABULOUS shoes...

Correction: That's a fabulous tape dispenser.

LOL!

I was thinking "If Val saw this, she would tackle this display. 'Cause she gotta have it!"

I thought about buying it for her. But decided against it. It's just too tacky. It doesn't even look like it will stand up on its own if you try to use it. They should make it multipurpose, i.e., you can buy the shoe in your size... and pop out the tape dispenser if you want to wear it. Yeah, that's an idea.

No, no need to buy that for her. The last strange item I bought her was a bottle of Strawberry Hills Boones Farm wine a few years back. I am sure that doesn't quite fit her taste. But she graciously accepted it anyway.

I'll let her purchase this one on her own.

So Serenity, or any of you other shoe fiends... go get yourself a stylish tape dispenser. They're over at an Office Depot near you!

The Debates - Round 2

Alrighty now...

The 2nd debate is tonight.

Dear President Obama...

I'ma need you to come out swinging.

Get passionate!

Yeah, like THAT!

Because that what you did last time... that didn't work. Romney does more flips than an Olympic gymnast. I'ma need you to call him out tonight. Snatch his etch-a-sketch and smash it to the ground!

Because if you don't... uh, you might just lose this thing. Romney really wants to scratch "#28. Become President of the United States of America" off of his bucket list. He really does.

This debate will be town hall style, which is great for the President. That's where he is most comfortable... with the people.  With everyday people.

So work that out, Sir! Work it out!

Monday, October 15, 2012

Card and Cookies!

The highlight of my week last week:

Successfully sending out a card and cookies to one of my favorite readers, Remnants, who just so happened to win the second place prize of the book Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones, and $10 gift card.

I said "successfully sending" because I loathe post offices in the ATL. I always happen to be standing in line when some pure tomfoolery jumps off. This time my postal experience was okay. Although the postal worker helping me was a bit salty about not getting her lunch break. The customers weren't cussing mad this time about how long it takes to get serviced. I rule that a good experience!

No, she didn't get the book because she already had an autographed copy of the hardcover edition. (I actually ran into her at one of the booksignings. Oh joy!) But she did opt for the cookies. She has received cookies from me before, and she is particularly fond of the oatmeal cranberry raisin walnut cookies.




Hmm, hmm good.  I doubled the amount of nuts and cranberries in that particular batch. I know that batch made her a very happy Chicken!

I hope you enjoy those, hon!

Don't eat them all in one sitting!

Friday, October 12, 2012

Friday Freestyles...The Debate Edition

Once again it's Friday! This day seems to occur at the same time once a week. LOL

What makes today special is that it's PAYDAY!

*tosses dollar bills in the sky*


None of that. I don't think I even see a lot of my check. Most of everything, even savings, is on automatic payment.

Do you remember the days when you actually was handed a paper paycheck on pay day, and then you went and stood in line at the bank (or the check cashing center)?

My how times have changed. Everything is direct deposit now.

Technology is something else.

Anyway, the weather is strange here in the ATL. It is sunny now, but this morning it got real dark. I thought it would rain, which would make for a hellacious 5 mile commute to the workplace. But alas, it was just overcast.

I am about to run to the White People's Kroger to pick up some meds. They better have it ready. I dropped it off last night... Don't let me get up there and my meds aren't ready. *lee jumping over the counter and cold clocking the pharmacist*

No, I won't do that... but don't try me. Best have my meds ready and waiting. That is all.

Did you see the debate last night?


It was intense, wasn't it?

There were a couple of times there where Biden wanted holler "This is some bullsh**!"

But he used the words "malarky" and "stuff".

All I know, I won't be sending any letters to Biden, or saying anything in his presence. That man will bring it back up and throw it in your face.

And what was up with Ryan and his thirsty self?



What brand of bottled water was that? Because he was sipping hard. That's a nice frosted glass, too. I want a set of those.

I didn't learn anything new. Not sure why the repubs are being so tight-lipped about how they will reduce the budget. All this vagueness is not cute. The whole deal about wait until after the election sounds a bit suspect to me.

This is the way I look at it... and this is just me. It's one of those things where a man is trying to get you to drop your panties and he will say ANYTHING to get into them. And once he gets the coochie, he starts acting all funny.  You finally come to grips that he didn't care much about you... like he said he did. He was just trying to get it. You got duped.

Ladies, you know what I'm talking about. We've all been through that.

That's the way I feel. And it's all a bit... uncomfortable.

I thought it was a good debate, though.

Hopefully the presidential debate taking place next week will be up to par. I am still waiting for everyone to get specific on the issues. Please.

Just think... this whole election will be over in less than 30 days. Thank goodness.

On tap for the weekend? Not much. I did much visiting last weekend. May do the same this weekend.

I'm just happy for the weekend, man.

I'm gonna have a good one... on purpose!

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Mameys!!

So...

I constantly dream of leaving work early.

My normal work hours are 10-6:30 p.m., and just the thought of leaving work at 3 or 4 in the afternoon is a bit of a running fantasy with me.

So last week, on the day of the debate, I asked my boss if I could leave early. I wanted to go peruse around the farmer's market while it was still daylight. Heck, I wanted to get home before night time.

"Yes, you can leave," she said. "Bring me back something exotic from the farmer's market."

My eyes widened at the possibility of leaving early. The fantasy was in full swing, live and in technicolor.

I was going to leave early!

Alas... it was only a fantasy. I left at my usual time.

However...

I did peruse the exotic fruits section at the farmer's market.

I was going to bring the boss back something exotic.

Hence... I came across a mamey.



I slowed my buggie, and looked at the strange fruit. "Mamey," I said aloud.

I immediately thought of the old black house slave maids of the confederate and dixie eras of our countries.

I'm sure it's not pronounced the same. Who knows...

I thought it'd be a fine exotic thing to bring back to the boss.

Now, I make it a point to try new vegetables and fruits on a regular basis, as that is mostly what I eat anyway. So this fruit (or vegetable, i don't know what it was), would do just fine for the boss.

I gave it to her and we discussed it. We were not pleased that the fruit is pretty much the same color as we are. The whole negative mamey context came into play.

My boss took the strange piece of fruit and walked back to her office. We continued to discuss this out in the cubicle area. My coworker Lieutenant By took it upon himself to look up the mamey on the internet. We listened quite passively as he read the characteristics of the mamey.

He said that it was a tropical fruit found in the Caribbean. He also said that the seed was poisonous and should not be eaten.

"That's not good. Gotta make sure to tell the boss that."

"Or maybe not," someone said. This was followed by much laugther.

"The seed is poisonous," Lieutenant By continued. "And if you touch the seed, your arm will fall off."

A strong chorus of wails erupted from the cubicle area. I raced to Lieutenant By's side. I looked over his shoulder to see if he was reading that right.

"I'm just playing," he said.

Thank goodness for that. I wanted to slap him out the chair for that one. He had us all O_O for a moment there.

And I imagined myself running into my boss' office, diving over her desk, and tackling her to the floor as she was just about to take a bite of the mamey.

LOL

The next day, the boss came into the cubicle area with the peeled and opened mamey splayed ever so lovingly on a paper towel.


We all stared at it. It was not the most attractive piece of fruit I'd laid my eyes upon, even though the flesh was a pretty color. And oh yes... that poisonous seed looked... rather poisonous.

I looked at my boss, who was staring down at the fruit. "Well, did you taste it?" I asked.

"No," she said, still staring down at it. 

"I'll taste it," I hollered.

I grabbed a plastic knife out of the cabinet next to my desk. She held it so I could cut a piece.

I placed it in my mouth and chewed it.  My face immediately scrunched up into a fist. 

"Look at her face," CowgirlCre said. "Must not be good."

My boss got the notion to taste it. (Which is odd, since I was having issues with it. You'd think that she would've gotten the hint). She too had that strange look on her face... like she'd just placed something in her mouth that was not meant for eating. 

I looked down at the fresh cut mamey then back at her. "Yo, I wouldn't eat that if I were you. That doesn't taste too good." I walked off. 

I don't think she ate it. She went back to her office. 

Maybe she just wanted to eat it in peace. 

It was quite nasty. I wouldn't eat it if I was her.

Let's see... what does it taste like.

It tastes like raw pumpkin. The problem is that I don't like raw pumpkin. I don't like cooked pumpkin either. I just don't like pumpkin.

But it was more severe than that. 

Imagine that you just cut open a nice pumpkin and scooped a little into a bowl for yourself. 

Then you get the notion to add a little vanilla just to give it a little spark. Just a little. You figure a drop of vanilla will do. 

You open the vanilla, and tip it just so, so that a drop will come out. 

But oh no... you, with your clumsy self, dump the whole 12 ounce bottle of vanilla over in there. The whole bottle. You decide to just stir it all up and eat it. 

DANG.

That's what it taste like. Pumpkin, with this overwhelming vanilla flavor. 

Yuck.

I will assume it wasn't ripe enough.  Or too ripe. Something.

When me and my boss were standing there, I said "By did say that it tasted like pumpkin and vanilla. But dog! This is too much going on."

It mighta been alright if you took the mamey and added some sugar, cinnamon, ginger and nutneg.

(I like the word "nutneg". That's how my grandfather sometimes said it. He had a strange way of pronouncing words.)

I suppose it would make a fine pie. But I would want that pie made by an expert, by someone who had been making mamey pies for 40 or 50 years. 

But I will never know. At $1.99 a pound, it's too expensive for me. 

I will have to stick with my beloved sweet potato. That makes for a good pie, or a good potato fry.

And I know one thing for sure:

My boss will never ask me to bring her anything exotic ever again.

Tuesday, October 09, 2012

Video of the Week

My cubicle mate CowgirlCre and I have been snickering a bit too hard over the following video clip.



LOL!!

Hilarious! It's a bit old, and I'm surprised I'm just seeing it. I heard about it at CowgirlCre's family gathering a month ago.

I do believe that is one of Southern Black Gal's relatives. Don't quote me on that, but that's just GOTTA be family. Just gotta! Only Southern Black Gal's peeps would autotune a report like that. LOL

(Southern, I'm just playing with you *snicker*snicker*).

She was on her way to get a cold pop. Uh, I could tell from her saying that that she wasn't in Georgia. "Pop" is a term they only use up North somewhere.

And she was going to go get a cold pop from the soda machine in her apartment complex. I knew for sure she wasn't in Georgia. We would rob break into a public soda vending machine down here in the ATL. Heck, I myself would get the notion to rob an unattended soda machine. (That's too much temptation for an Oldgirl).

I know there have been a couple of times in my own life where I smelled smoke and thought somebody was barbequing. And then there's the stark realization that it's not a good hot grill going, but something is burning that should NOT be burning. UGH!

So I can identify with it.

And I can identify with it now.

My boss asks me to do something and I get all strange on her.

"I got bronchitis," I holler as I hold my hand to my chest and cough a little.

My boss simply rolls her eyes and walks away.

(She never falls for it. She thought the video was funny, too).

These things are funny, especially when no one gets hurt, which is the case here.

Of course Sweet Br.own got a little famous behind it all...

As we all have our 15 minutes of fame at some point in our lives.

Monday, October 08, 2012

Happy Columbus Monday!


Happy Columbus day to You!

Yes, I am excited about the day that Christopher Columbus "discovered" America.

Why?

Because I'm a gubment employee and I am OFF!

And it feels good!

So, Happy Columbus day! LOL

Not sure what's on tap today. It is COLD outside and in my house. The high in the ATL today is 60 degrees.

And I refuse to turn on the heat. And I see right now that I have to go buy some new blankets. I have split them up between 2 beds, and uh... that's just not gonna work out.

So a visit to the Wal-Mart is in order.

So, in the LadyLee news...

It's the 7th anniversary of home ownership.  

Yes, that is the actual House of LadyLee! LOL

I meant to do a post on Friday, October 5th, which is the actual anniversary. But I didn't get around to it. Would've been nice because I had many thoughts on it all. I can't say I am head over heels about home ownership, the biggest reason being that when something goes wrong or needs to be fixed, well, it comes out of pocket. It was nice calling the apartment maintenance man. Can't do that anymore.

I don't like yardwork, man. Thank goodness I don't have 5 acres of land. That would not work out!

But I like where I live. It's near the job. And I basically live downtown, so I am at the center of everything, and no more than 30 minutes from all parts of metro ATL. I don't drive much. And I REALLY wanted to live in the downtown ATL. Suburbia is not for me, since I had the experience some 20 years ago living downtown while in grad school. It was always my dream to find a home down there again. I LOVE not having to spend that much time in the car, man. I don't know how I would have to deal with spending too much time in traffic. Ugh.

I am thankful for my lil' home! Yes indeed.

So overall, I give my experience a B+.  And that's good.

Alright now... the election is 29 days away...

Have you registered to vote? If not, get on it!

I cannot wait for this election to be over. It is a constant topic on the news channels. That is a good thing, but   it is so fear inducing. I can't wait for it to be over.

I'm sure the muppets on Sesame Street feel the same way.


LOL.

You do understand that PBS is not going to shut down. They will just be forced to do more membership drives, and go to a commercial format like the regular stations. Infomercials will crowd the late night hours as they do on most stations.

And let's face it... how many of you even watch PBS... with all its quality programming? Hmm. Something to think about.

With that said, you all have a fantastic Columbus day. My holiday is great just because I am off. If it wasn't a shame, I'd put on a old fashion Columbus hat and place some tiny ships on the dining room table and throw something out on the grill!

But alas, I won't do that.

I am going to "get out in the streets" on this cold cold Columbus day. Plenty errands to run indeed. Hopefully I can get back home, just in time for Judge Judy!

Thursday, October 04, 2012

Of Presidential Debates and Seafood Debate Parties


So...

I told ya'll.

Ol' Mitt... He was gonna come out swanging...



Somebody gave Mitt a few cans of Red Bull before that debate. And you know how we get when we all amped up on Red bull. We run our mouths, man. The moderator couldn't even muzzle him. I know the moderator's blood pressure was SKY HIGH after that debate.

My goodness.

And these things happen when you try to stop folks from achieving their goals. Presidency is a bucket list line item for Mitt. He going for it... by any means necessary.

Had me sitting there last night listening to him thinking "Geez, is this guy making up stuff on the fly? How much red bull did he drink?" O_o

Our beloved president seem to notice this, too. And what scares me is that he was taking notes. Uh, if he was writing down all those doggone flip-flop antics... uh, Romney might be in a little trouble.

Come on, now... practice with me... say it with me, now...

President Mitt Romney.

Say it! Sang it like Luther Vandross would say it!

President Mmm-,Mmm-,Mmm-,Mmm-,Mmm-,M-,Mmmmitt Romney!!!

LOL.

(CowgirlCre is pleasantly livid about that. "That is funny. I refuse to say that, even if it is for play-play!)

Ya'll know ya'll still listen to Luther. I'm listening to Luther right now, honey. "Anyone who has a Heart".



That's what Obama was singing to the USA when he left last night. He better come out and verbally shank Mitt in the next debate.

Anyway... last night I left work and made a trip to the east side to the farmers market for my beloved fruits and vegetables. It was a nice outing, as it wasn't too crowded and I could take my time. On the weekend, it's packed butt-to-butt up in there like we in the club or something.

When I left, I got some gas for Lucy at a gas station near there that has REALLY cheaped gas. I think it's fenced. Hot stolen gas. But that's just my personal opinion. I never go in. I get my gas and go, just in case the police roll up.

While on that side of town, I needed to deliver a couple dozen of triple chocolate chip cookies to Nikki's auntie. She really likes my cookies, and for some odd reason was trying to save cookies I took over there 2 weeks ago so that she could take them home.

Ugh... those would be stale by now.

Anyway, why on earth did I roll up to their house... something was strange. There were a LOT of cars out front. It looked like a house party was going on.

I knocked on the door and someone opened the door chanting quite loudly... "Obama! Obama! Obama!"

"Yeah!" I hollered. I stared at the lady who opened the door. Never met her before. Maybe I had, though. Nikki had A LOT of people. "What's up?!"

"Come on in," she said. "I'm Wanda!"

"And I'm Lee! I came to drop cookies off!"

Nikki's mama came around the corner. She gave me a hug.

"What's going on?" I said.

"We having a debate party," she said. "The debate is tonight!"

I laughed so hard.

People in the kitchen looked around the corner. All of them had a straight face.

"Ya'll having a debate party for real!?"

Everyone nodded. Then went back to what they were doing, i.e, jocking for position to fill up their plates of food.

A debate party.

Let me correct that.

"We having a seafood debate party, Lee!!" Nikki's mama hollered.

O_O

LOL. I laughed louder.

They were all peering at me like I was some odd bird that had just flown through the window.

"Ya'll are really serious!"

Mama Nikki pointed to her Obama t-shirt. Then stretched her arms wide so I could take a picture.


"Yes. You are welcome to join us."

"No. I'm going home." It was already 8:30. I lived 25 minutes away in downtown ATL. "I'm going home and watching the debate."

"Well grab a plate. Plenty of seafood."

"No, Mama Nikki. I'm going home and eating a salad."

I was hungry. And I'd been thinking about the huge container of salad I make and store in the fridge. I'd even shaved some red cabbage and thrown it in there. I was going to cut up some strawberries over it. And pour a little vidalia onion dressing over it.

Yes, I'd been fantasizing hard about that salad!

"Fix a plate, Lee."

"No, Mama Nikki."

"You eat seafood, don't you?"

"Yes sometimes. But I'm having a salad when I get home."

That didn't go over well AT ALL.

Let's just say she drug me in the kitchen and made me watch her fix a to-go plate.

"We have crabs, Lee. You like crabs?"

"Yes," I said, as I brought out my phone and found the camera app. "Yes I do."

Boy oh boy  did they have crabs! 2 pots of crabs!


"We have some shrimp fried rice. I'm gonna give you some of that, too, okay?"
My eyes glazed over. I haven't had shrimp fried rice over there since Nikki was here with us. It was GREAT. I told Mama Nikki way back then...

"This here shrimp fried rice taste like you got some chinese in you.... like you learned to cook it while living over in the back country in China, where you had to go outside and cook it in a wok made from clay open an open fire in the ground."

Yes. It was that good way back then.  Best I've ever had. "Yes, I'll take some of that," I said quietly.

There was a pot of broccoli on the stove. "Lee, I KNOW you like broccoli."

"Yes, i'll take a LOT of that." LOL.

There was a big casserole dish on the kitchen table.

"We have crab salad, Lee!" she said.

"I don't want any of that."

"But it's good." She uncovered it. "Real good."

I peered down at the crab salad. It wasn't that old fake crab salad. This was that real crab meat. Lump crab salad.


"Whoa, that's the real stuff. Hey, gimme some of that."

My pictures are blurry because there were so many people and everybody was getting their food in the tight kitchen. And looking at me crazy for trying to take pictures.

But I took a picture of my plate when I got home.


That is a fine plate of food. That is another crew of people who know they can sho nuff cook!

I 'm saving that for the weekend! 

I ate some of my crab salad over my huge veggie salad when I got home....

 *heaven*swoon*

 That is all.

I'm glad I didn't stay for the debate party. They would've beat me down before it was over.

"See, I told ya'll, Mitt not playing games with ya'll. Bump ya'll 47 percenters! He ain't worried OR thinking about ya'll.  Mitt wanna be president!"

*lee gets smacked, jacked up, and thrown out on the front porch*

Mitt's not playing with ya'll.

President Obama, you better hit him with the FLEX next time. A verbal smackdown is in order. You know how we do, Sir.

You know.

Wednesday, October 03, 2012

Cornbread, Mitt, and Me!

Mitt!!!


Willard Mitt Romney!

Look at him. Doesn't he look presidential. White male over the age of 50. Presidential!

LOL.

Mitt really wants to be president. He says to help the country. I'm not buying it. I think it's a item on his bucket list. Really.

Governor Romney is debating our President tonight. It is the first of three debates.

Mitt, you better bring it tonight, Sir. You betta hit 'em with the flex!


Yeah, just like that! Point your finger! Do the 2-fanger crooked Celie point! That will get my attention.

Mitt, I'ma tell you like Ike Turner told Tina in the movie What's Love Got to Do with It?

"You betta put some stink on it!"

I'ma tell you like Ike told one of the Ikettes:

"You better get it right or you gonna be frying fish tomorrow."

Frying fish...

Or making cornbread.

Hot water cornbread, that is.

Which brings me to the hot water cornbread recipe.

You saw in yesterday's post Mama Bandit's FABULOUS spread of food. She even made hot water cornbread.  And it was good.

Now... the hot water cornbread caught my attention. Only our older generation seems to be able to make it just right. Reader Lisa B. text me after reading yesterday's post and said she finally made some.

I arrived at Green Eyed Bandit's house just as Mama Bandit was gearing up to make her special hot water cornbread.

*LadyLee pulls trusty camera out*

She is use to me taking pictures when she is at the stove. In other words, she knows when to step back and let me take a picture of her progress. She know how to lovingly flip over whatever she is cooking with much flair indeed.

So like I said, she was making her hotwater cornbread.



"You know, Mama Bandit," I said. "I've been trying to figure out how to make the hot water cornbread for a minute. How do you make yours?"

"You start with cornmeal mix and flour," she replied. "2 parts cornmeal mix to 1 parts flour. Either one of those can be self rising. You need an egg, too."

She mixes the mixture up in a mixing bowl.

"Then you add some milk and some hot water. Add some salt and mix it up. Add a little oil and margerine to your pan. And get the grease hot. Then spoon it in."


Uh, okay.

Tell me something... Why is it that we can't get the GOOD cooks to give precise measurements?

A little milk and hot water. How much, Mama Bandit? How much?

She didn't say. And I didn't bother her much about it.

All I know it looked good. And it was cooking mighty fast.



There Mama Bandit is... spooning more cornbread mix into the skillet.
"Sometimes you need to add more oil," Mama Bandit said.

And that is exactly what she did.
"Why do you use margerine? I asked.

"Because it's cheaper."
"Alright," I said. Sounds good to me.

She finished up her hot water cornbread in less than 15 minutes. After that was done, we were in the kitchen fixing our plates.

That was the BEST I've ever had. My goodness. Just the right crispiness. All nice and buttery. Not dry, but just right.

I have made these in the past. I like to sautee some onions and peppers and mix them in the batter.

Lisa B. and her Mama make the hot water cornbread a little more stringently than described above.  They only use boiling hot water and cornmeal mix and salt. We had an intense discussion about that last year. And when she read the previous post, she text me immediately.

I texted her back saying "U do that straight up slave method... Meal, water and salt!"

"That's back when they had NUTHIN!" I added. "Celie we got this here meal and hot water. We gonna make us a good supper out of it!"

LOL

Lisa B. text back:  "Nothing fancy. Just the bare minimum... and it stood the test of time. And don't let Celie happen to find some dqndelion greens down by the creek. Gurrrl it would b on!!"

I know that's right, Lisa B.... That's that GOOD eatin' right there, babes.

Really though.

Green Eyed Bandit and I were watching Mama Bandit make the hot water cornbread. We decided that it is something we just have to try and make... and mess up a few times before we get it right.

Or we'll just leave it to Mitt Romney to figure it out if he muck up tonight's debate!

Because he's a done deal if he mess it up. He knows that.

*handing Mitt a pot of hot water and a sack of cornmeal*

LOL 

Tuesday, October 02, 2012

Mama Bandit's Special Dinner

So...

Green Eyed Bandit's Mama was visiting the ATL last week.

And of course, she likes to get her cook-on.

All I know, I was bugging The Green Eyed Bandit in EARLY September about her mother's visit.

"Please let me know when Mama Bandit come to town so I can come over."

Yeah, so I can eat.

Because Mama Bandit know she can sho nuff cook. She always cooks when she comes to town.

People tend to worry about what I will eat if I come over. Heck, do YOU. Don't worry about all that... Just cook. I will show up with my own fruits and veggies, or I will eat whatever. Last time she cooked up a storm, she cooked some fried pork ribs. I had never had those before so you KNOW I had to try a little one.

So cook whatever. I will work it out. I am there for the fun and fellowship! And I like Mama Bandit. She's a cool Mama!

Anyway, I usually take pics with my cell phone, but when it comes to Mama Bandit's cooking, I had to dig out the Fuji digital camera and make sure it was charged to the max. I knew I would be taking plenty of pictures!

You know me. I don't show up empty handed. I'd talked to Green Eyed Bandit the day before.

"You want me to bring some cookies."

Bandit asked someone in the room. I heard "Hell yeah!" from someone off in the distance.

It was none other than Auntie Bandit. She likes the chocolate chip cookies.

She likes them a lot.

Anyway, I made chocolate chip cookies and oatmeal raisin cookies.


I think that's about 45 cookies. I wasn't sure how many people would be there, so I thought that would be enough.

They dove into those time I got there. Never mind that dinner wasn't even ready.

Aunt Ray-Ray was there when I got there. She was asleep on the couch. She is always smiling. She even sleeps with a smile. O_o.

Anyway she made her famous brownies. As you can see, they'd already dove into those.

On to Mama Bandit's creations.

She was standing in the kitchen at the stove with on hand on her hip, and stirring something with a spoon with the other hand. I looked around, and quickly realized she'd already finished cooking...

Mama Bandit hooked up the fried pork chops!

They sure looked good! I wanted to pinch a piece off with my finger, but decided against it. Me and pork just don't get along all that well these days.

She made candied yams!
Those yams were great! I told her,  "Mama Bandit! You went out early this morning, before the sun came up, and got down on your knees, and dug the sweet potatoes used to make these yams out the ground. Cuz they sho nuff good!"

There was a pot of green beans on the stove!
"Woo wee!" I hollered. "Those beans know they look good! Got every piece of pork in the world in them, but they sho nuff look good! I'm getting some of those!"

"You picked these green beans out of your magic garden, Mama Bandit! Early this morning!"

LOL

There were pinto beans and mashed potatoes.

"Boy! The beans!" I yelled. "What kind of beans are those!?"

"They are pinto beans," Mama Bandit said. "We weren't sure what you can eat."

"Whatever! I'm going to work it out, Mama Bandit!"

I lose my mind when I see vegetables! Hell, they could've had the pig's head up in the pot staring back at me.

No matter. An oldgirl gonna have some beans! That is all!

A pan of smothered chicken sat on the kitchen counter.
I had to pause and look closely at that.  I 'm from the south. Our smothered chicken is fried, then smothered down in thick gravy. This was different. It looks like it was baked, and a gravy was made for it.

I didn't question it. Mama Bandit is from Cleveland. This is smothered chicken... Cleveland style. I suppose they do things a bit differently up north, you see.

A close up of the chicken:
That looks good! Looks real tasty! A lightweight version of the southern version of smothered chicken. Nothing wrong with that.

Again, I wanted to pinch off a piece with my finger and taste it. But that would have been rude. LOL

Another pan held some smothered roast beef.
That looks mighty tasty. As you can see, Green Eyed bandit is holding up a piece of roast beef... just for you.

"The gravy is the bomb!" Auntie Bandit hollered.

"Really?" I said. I looked over at the mashed potatoes. "Uh, yeah, I believe I'm gonna have to try the gravy."

Yes sir. I did. And it was GREAT.

"Mama Bandit," I said. "You went outside early this morning and killed the cows, the pigs and the chickens just for this dinner!"

LOL.

And then there was the hot water cornbread.

I do love good cornbread. And the whole hot water cornbread is special if you can get it right. (Reader Lisa B.... are you still trying to figure it out?)
Down south we call those hoe cakes. No hot water used. I didn't know much about hot water cornbread until Lisa B. and I discussed them. They are called hot water cornbread because they are made with hot water.

That was the best cornbread I've ever had.

"Mama Bandit! You went outside and ground the corn to a fine meal on a rock. That's what you used to make this conbread! You ground it by hand! Early this morning!"

(I had her laughing hard with my pontifications about how she prepared the food.)

Yes, I talked much food trash. The food was GREAT!

"Take some beans home, Lee," Mama Bandit said. "Because they're not going to eat all of them."

You don't have to tell me twice, honey. I had some fresh nacho chips at home. I was gonna have some of those pinto beans with chips and salsa. Me and Bandit fussed over what to pack my beans up in. I told her to give me some ziploc bags and let me work it out. 

(Already had my beans and chips and salsa. It was DIVINE. That is all).

Thank you Green Eyed Bandit for allowing me to come fellowship with the family. I had a great time. Me and Aunt Ray-Ray were stretched out on your couch with the 'itis something awful. I'm not sure how that happened for me, as I had a plate full of beans and potatoes. Maybe it was the beef gravy on my potatoes! Maybe the starch got me! Because I really just wanted to lay out on that living room floor and go to sleep!

Bandit lives some 30 miles from me... The drive home was long. I took a much deserved nap when I got home!

Yo, holler at me when Mama Bandit comes back to town!

I will make sure to get there... EARLY in the morning! So I can help her get those vittles together!

LOL