The Last Post of the Year 2016

Tis the night before New Years Day 
And all through the house
Callie Jo was acting a fool
Mitch was quiet as a mouse. 

Actually that's everyday life in my house. Callie Jo is always running around trying to get into something. Right now she's on a quest to unlock the front door. Sigh.

Anyway, I am surprised that I have only managed to do a couple of posts this month, if that much. I have been SUPER busy, which in all actuality is a good thing. Spread on top of that the fact that I took my first vacation in three or four years, and that means no posting for me. However, I have scribbled a few thoughts in my journal from time to time.

But this is the last day of 2016, and I wanted to journal before the year is out.

I am still a bit jetlagged from the vacation, knocking out cold at around nine in the evening and waking up bright eyed and ready to go at two in the morning. I get a bit woozy around three in the afternoon. I hope this is over before I have to go back to work. And I'm not going back until Tuesday or Wednesday.

I am still thinking about vacation, this wonderful vacation halfway around the world. I've never been further than Mexico and the Caribbean, so being in the Middle East of all places was... a thing of courage for me.

And guess what... I have taken close to 700 pictures. 700!

That's a lot to sort through. And no, I will not post each and everyone.

But I've been perusing one particular picture since returning home. Well, it has been on my mind since I took it.

While my sister and I were having breakfast on Christmas day atop the Burj Khalifa, a couple of ropes came swinging by. Then a man came swinging by.

123 stories up off the ground.

Mind you, those buildings in the background are skyscrapers.

That puts it into some perspective for you.

"Ain't no way I'd be up here cleaning windows this high," I said a bit to loudly.

I took several pictures of this brave worker. I was trying to get a picture of him looking my way. But he never did. He just swung around, being the most dutiful of employees so high up in the sky

I was amazed that he wasn't distracted. One would have thought he was walking around on the ground, checking the windows or whatever he was doing.

And this has been the most interesting-and unexpected- picture I captured on my trip.

2016 was a turbulent year. Nothing of my own doing, though. It was a year of ups and downs, highs and lows, triumphs and tribulations and the life.

But the waters of 2016 were made exceedingly murky by the election.

(Murky is the nicest word I can come up with for now. You don't know what I really want to write on this here rated PG blog. Let's just stay with...murky).

And all that murkiness was a DISTRACTION.

There were days, far too many to count, that I was glued to the television, watching this whole drama/wanna-be reality show unfurl like smoke from a stale cigarette. There were many more days where we endlessly discussed the shenanigans.

In other words, there was all this distraction. And I could have used that time to be more productive. I could have used that time to pray. I could have used that time to feed my spirit.

I could have used that TIME.

So I study the worker swinging from his ropes some 123 stories off the ground. I see what's going on around him- the wind blowing in his face, the amount of space between him and the ground- and I am afraid for him. Really, I am afraid for ME.

I am looking at the circumstances. He is not.

He is equipped and well trained for the job he is doing. I'm not trained for that.

Thank goodness there is thick glass between he and I.

I wonder how my negative words would affect him.

Would my negative words affect him as the negative words I've heard all year affect me?

I have discussions with people, successful black people, gay people, and other people who don't fit the "Great" in Make America Great Again.

And our spirits have been broken, even if it is on a subconcious level.

And that's a bad seed to sow, breaking a person's spirit.

It's a difficult thing to know that you've done all the right things in life, yet your gender, the color of your skin, your sexual orientation, and/or your religious choices deem you insufficient by those who consider themselves supreme.

It's been a task dealing with my own psyche and self worth during this time, and even harder watching my peers do the same.

I know and you know if you have read here long enough that I love some old school music. (Stick with me for a second on this digression). I really love some Earth Wind and Fire. Why, I have been listening to them since I was 4 years old.

I'm 46 years old now. Certain songs, I know every word, every inflection, EVERYTHING. You can the very first note of the song and that is all, and I can most likely tell you the name of the song.

So likewise, for the past couple or years or so, we have heard some very scary things. Talks of walls, banning, rounding up of folks, kicking folks out, i.e., this whole process of making America great again... and it gets into the subconcious. And all this seed sown there produces... something.

Earth Wind and Fire produces joy for me... a memory of a time when I was a little girl without a care in the world, just excited that my favorite song was on and that I could watch my cartoons and play with my barbie dolls.

I wonder what kind of crops will be produced from the seed sown into the hearts of those considered "less than". Seed that has been sown day after day, month after month, and so on.

*jumping back to what I was talking about*

I don't want to receive any of that. I want to be like the worker there above, swinging and doing his job despite the dire circumstances and danger. I watched the Dubai fireworks show tonight and realized that he wasn't washing windows. He was setting up fireworks. And yes, he had to concentrate on getting that right. Distractions could cause him to do something wrong or cause a fire of tragic proportions.

The worker taught me something that day, though. I must concentrate on the job at hand and root out distractions. And that's what I have learned this year.

Whatever distracts me takes away from me reaching my goals. It keeps me from seeing the positive.

And that needs to stop. I need to take that seriously.

Distractions are bad seeds. And when allowed to root, they choke out the good seed.

And all of us have experienced great things in 2016. I am sure you can name them if you try.

I know I can.

I have reduced my cable news intake by a good 95%. It was a distraction.

And I have noticed the quality of my life has increased dramatically.

I feed my heart and soul and mind good things. Good things.

Imagine that.

More of that will go on.

I will continue to be successful. I will increase and not decrease.

And so will you.

So don't be afraid.

Have a Happy and Safe New Year.

ON PURPOSE!!

With much love,

Your Friendly Neighborhood Oldgirl LadyLee.

Vacation Abroad!

I have been on VACATION!

That is such an odd word, as I have not been on vacation in a few years. I have traveled on the company's dime, but that don't count!

I have been in the UAE. And I am posting from there... and here are a few of my favorite pictures.

My favorite tourist spot so far: The Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi!

The Mosque was beautiful. And the history of it was amazing.

My favorite buildings were in Abu Dhabi.

They looked like something out of the Jetsons.

My favorite building so far: The Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

That is the tallest building in the world. It was nice to see it (and hard to take a picture of since it was so tall). It costs 500 dirhams (approximately $125) to go to the top. We will have breakfast on Christmas there. A tad bit cheaper than going all the way to the top. (The restaurant is 3/4ths of the way to the top).

I have been having a great time so far and I have a gazillion pictures. I hope to post some this week, so stay tuned!

Ten Thursday Thoughts

Shame on me for not posting...

A Ten Thursday Thoughts is in order, then... 

1. I have been busier than EVER. I cannot remember being this busy. EVER.

2. I am flying out to see my sister soon. Not sure how I will deal with a 15 hour flight. Sigh.

3. I don't particularly care for the holidays. I think it's the commercialism of it all.

4. I can always tell when it has not been raining for awhile, as my skin gets really dry. I also become dehydrated. I will never understand that.

5. Speaking of rain, we haven't had rain for over 40 days in the ATL... and all of a sudden last week, we got, like 4 or 5 inches of rain.

6. Water falling from the sky looks real foreign when I haven't seen it in awhile.

7.  Funny Convo of the Day: So, I need someone to water the plant on my desk while I'm gone.
      "Dr. Ling," I holler from my cubicle. "Come here, bruh!"
      "Wassup," he hollers. My ebonics seems to be rubbing off on him. This is not good.
      "Water my plants, man."
      "No problem!"

8. I showed him what to do.  He looked confused, but hopeful after a little more explanation.

9. My plants better not be dead when I come back.

10. Playing on my Spotify right now.



What's up with that sound? Someone must've recorded this straight from the TV with a tape recorder. You remember how we use to do it back in the '80s.

LOL

That is all for me.

I may be posting. Who knows.

We will see!

Holler at ya!

Happy Thanksgiving 2016

My First Taste of Thanksgiving 2016

So... 

I got to work early  (2 hours earlier than usual). And I have a slight attitude. I am like a young child who has been awaken a bit too early in the morning. I am a little listless. I should be okay by noon. We will see.

I am awaiting my assistant to finish weighing some samples so I can get started for the day.  This will take her awhile, and I know I can be a bit mean about things getting done quickly, so I have decided to just go sit somewhere and be quiet.

So before that, I went downstairs to another department to pay for some raffle tickets, as there is a mighty fine spa basket up for grabs from our yearly fundraiser. Me being a tomboy... I am only interested in the spa socks. But my best friend LadyTee (pictured here on my front porch)  is a girly-girl, and would really love this basket. It would make a fine Christmas gift (after I pick out what I want from it, of course).

Anyway, I arrived downstairs, and Sister J, who preached a mighty fine sermon the other day in her office (I posted about that last week), offered up some homemade  sweet potato pie.

Now she'd mentioned this before out in the parking lot. I was a bit perturbed because she'd blown her horn at me. Apparently I'd been stopped too long at a stop sign (I was trying to take pictures of the new construction/high rise. And there was NO ONE behind me at the time).

I felt better once I found out it was her... and once I found out about this pie.

And oh... how lovely was this pie.

First of all, I am a bit upset that the folks downstairs get to have nice refrigerators in their offices, while we up in the lab have to share big janky fridges that don't get cleaned as often as they should. We also have to deal with our lunches and condiments getting stolen. That's a whole 'nother story.

But that's neither here nor there.

That pie, though...

How lovely.

And look... there is stapler next to the pie.

I like the idea of the stapler being on top of the fridge. That way, one can get work done and get their lunch together all at the same time. This is good use of work  space and time.

Back to the pie, though.

She cut a huge piece, even though I wanted just a sliver. I didn't complain, though.

  I took it though. It was free. And free is always a blessing.

*church jogs in the corner*

Anyway, Sister J was proud of her pie.

I took a bite.

SOOOO good.

Even though it was too daggone early in the morning to eat sweets. I needed the pick me up, though.

"I made it with Stevia," she said.

"Really?" I replied.

I could hardly tell. And the pie was just right. I don't like my sweet potato pies all sweet and dripping with oil and butter. This was just right.

"It's my Grandma Mattie's recipe," Sister J added.

"I bet she didn't use no stevia in it."

"No she didn't. She said 'Pass me that domino sugar."

LOL.  Yes Grandma probably did say that!  

I promptly bought my raffle tickets for the spa basket. I went and  harassed spoke to Lady K in an adjacent office (she thinks she will win the spa basket. I THINK NOT)....

And I came on upstairs and ate my pie.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good. I pinched off of it until it was all gone.

I tried my BEST to save it. Tried. It would've gone nicely with my salad for lunch. But it did not work out.

Sigh.

Good eating, though. Real good eating.

And I best get to learning how to use stevia in my desserts.

This is what I am thankful for today. The little things.

A good piece of pie and a good laugh.

Wait... that is much to be thankful for. 

Good Monday Morning

Shame on me for not posting.

I have been BUSY as all  get out. And when I'm not busy, I've been somewhere laid out.

I am trying to finish up a few things, as I am going to see my sister sometime in December.

(And yes, I am SUPER excited about that. I miss her much).

Needless to say, there is not much going on over here except working.

This is Thanksgiving week, which means it will be very quiet at work. I am happy for that. I have no plans, as I am only taking Thanksgiving day off. If I could work that day, I surely would. My friend the Green Eyed Bandit's Mama is in town, and I may go spend Thanksgiving day with them.

Because I know Mama Bandit is frying up some pork ribs for sure...
























LOL

Forget the turkey. Fried ribs, man.

That's some 'itis AND a heart attack. My goodness.

I don't know if Mama Bandit is frying ribs or not. I just think of that when Green Eyed Bandit call and holler "My Mama is in town, so come on down."  She was in town earlier this year and I missed out. So I will get down there this Thanksgiving.

This week I spend time thinking about my year and what I am thankful for. I may post on that.

I know many of you are off this week. 

Be safe out there if you're traveling. And have a good week... on purpose.

Happy (Belated) Halloween

I hope you had a good and safe Halloween.

I had a great Halloween. Nope, I don't celebrate, but I give out candy. Only because I was a kid, once. And candy is candy.

And I always have that GOOD candy.

Yeah, mon. 

I give out full sized candy bars and other good stuff.... 

That's what I call a GREAT Halloween! 

Wordless Wednesday: Dandelion Greens... And Callie Jo

Monday Funnies

That look I get from Callie Jo and Mitch when I sneeze too hard...

Happy Thursday

Happy Thursday to you!

And I have a post I meant to put up on Monday or Tuesday!

Shame on me. Oh well.

Anyway, I have been eating raw for the month. I am near the halfway point, and it seems to be going well enough.

My goal this weekend was to explore a couple of raw restaurants, one I am familiar with and a new one.

So I'd been itching for some raw nachos from Lov'n it Live, a raw spot down in East Point.

Got 'em!

And they were GONE. I finished those off... quickly.

For later on in the week, I bought some raw lasagna. I wanted to try this because my sister had been talking about it. Now my sister is FINICKY. And when my sister likes something, you better jump a fence, catch a train and steal a car to get to it...

So I did all that... and I got it!

Ooooooooh weeeeeee! It was good. And it lasted awhile. Good stuff.

My FAVORITE find this weekend was a restaurant a couple of miles from my house:

Tassili's Raw Reality... 

One word: FANTASTIC!!

I had some great raw corn, raw okra and raw "Stir-fry".

(There is that Callie. Her facial expression says... something. I don't think she was as enthused as me).

Not sure how they did that. But it was GREAT.

I had some raw cake also.

Blew me away. Not sure how they pulled that off, but I am not surprised. I have had raw apple pie and other raw desserts in the past.

Now, the most interesting meal I had from there was a kale wrap. I wanted it wrapped in a coconut wrap (not eating wheat right now), but they were out of those. So they wrapped it in SEAWEED. 

It looks a little scary. Seaweed. I've only had that as part of my sushi California rolls.

But it was filled with some goodness... kale, tomato, avocado and whatever else!

How WONDERFUL!!

It was enough for 2 meals. And I mean I was FULL.

I'm so glad I found a raw spot so close to my house. I have to make sure I regulate myself though, where I don't spend all my spare change up in there. Let's just say I have been up in there 4 times since Saturday. Hmmm....

So it was a good exploration.

I am so happy I ventured out. I found some places where I can kick a little variety into my raw month.

Friday Freestyles

Friday!

Finally!

And it is PAYDAY!

I am suppose to get off at 6:30 pm. BUMP that. I blowing this joint a good 3 hours earlier. I am just waiting for some experiments to finish. Then bye!

Sometimes we get to leave an hour early the day before a holiday. People have been wondering if we will be getting off.

"No," has been my answer. "Because Columbus didn't discover America. He got lost!"

I  would like that hour, though. 

My boss isn't here. I found one of my coworkers, Dr. Ting, and asked if he was in charge of our group today...

"Dr. Ting, you in charge today?"

"No," he said "YOU in charge."

"Well I need to let somebody know that I'm blowing this joint!"

"Okay!" he hollered.

So... I'm not sure if he knew that I am leaving. Maybe I need to stop using slang.

(Uh, Nope).

I don't have much to say today.

But I did see a movie trailer that had me like... "Wait, what?"



O_O

I am STILL confused. And frightened.

HA HA!!

I did see a movie that frightened me a couple of weeks ago. Don't Breathe.



That was a GREAT movie. But it scared me something awful. And I saw it in a Dolby theatre.

Nope, won't be seeing anything else in a Dolby theater. NOOOOO.

I want to see Birth of a Nation this weekend. Not sure I am in the mood for that. I would like to see Girl on the Train. We will see.

I have a lot of things I want to do this 3 day weekend. I need to make a list.

When I leave work, I'm going to the Farmers Market. I want some cilantro, watercress, swiss chard, dandelion leaves, and whatever else I can get my hands on. I am growing a bit tired of my kale, spinach and baby spring lettuce. Gotta go rogue for better greens.

Song of the Week. It is the 20th Anniversary of Outkast's ATLien CD. And it contains one of my favorite Outkast songs..."Elevators (Me and You).



I still bump Outkast's music. Yep!!

That is it for me. I am GHOST.

Have a good weekend. On purpose! 

Ten THURSDAY Thoughts

Whoa...  I named this post Ten Tuesday Thoughts...

*runs back up to title and changes it*

Oh THE HORROR. Today is THURSDAY. Not Tuesday. That would be a shame, especially since tomorrow is payday. Heavens no.
1. I am ready for the weekend. I am mostly just ready for my paycheck.

2. You best hope I get something done tomorrow. The shades of mind are usually halfway down on Payday.

3. Today I went to get a haircut.  My hair is straight skint right now.

4. I told him not to cut it that low. But I don't care. I don't have to comb or brush my hair for the next couple of weeks. And that is a good thing.

5. I am loving the Luke Cage series on Netflix.



I have one more episode to watch. I will watch that this evening while I do my crocheting.

6. This has been a semi-productive week. I can at least be thankful for that.

7. I have been eating raw so far this October. I don't know if that is saying much though, since this is just October 6th.

8. Today's breakfast: a spinach, pineapple and pear smoothie. For lunch I had some kale salad that someone made. Not sure what is for dinner. I haven't had much of an appetite, but I will eat something. Maybe a salad.

9. I find it interesting that I am craving dandelion leaves, watercress, arugula, and swiss chard. I will run get some this weekend. Those will make make for some good smoothies. 

10. What's playing on my Spotify right now....



Oh my goodness... watching that video right now... It is so CHEESY!!

That's it for Ten Thursday Thoughts....

Peace!

Happy 11th Anniversary to MEEE!!

Check it out...

Today is my House Anniversary.

I have been in my house for 11 years!

I could find only one early picture of my house.

I know I have some more around. I think I only have this one because I didn't have a digital camera or a camera phone. Both of those devices are common place now.   I have to look around for some more, because I have a small photo album of it as it was being built.

That was October 2005. Here it is today!

The bushes are taller. And I had it painted around a year and a half ago. But overall it looks the same.

One of my goals is to get the roof extended over the trellis area. I don't do anything fancy with the trellis (I imagined these wonderful ivy or roses going on). So I would love to get the roof extended. There is a house across the street from mine that's just like mine and they had it done. I should've gotten the fella's number that did it some 8 years ago.

But I love my home. I love the location. It is not a big house, but there is just me, and I basically live downstairs. (I rarely go upstairs, as my master bedroom is on the bottom level). That has to change. I have always pondered moving upstairs, especially for the fall and winter months. My sister stayed with me for 5 years, and that was always her domain. She was upstairs and I was downstairs.

Like I said, I love my home. I lived in the area (about 1/2 a mile away) some 22 years ago when I was in graduate school. I always thought if I could catch a house in the area in the future I would definitely get it, no doubt.

So happy I did!

Wednesday Funnies

I got a blessing today!

Someone left some grapes on my desk. Only they weren't grapes. They were muscadines.

I hollered, "I don't like muscadines, but these right here are free and they're a blessing! They are good!"

*ladylee chewing on fruit and spitting our hulls and seeds*

(Oh, and check out my screensaver. LOL)

Good FALL Monday

How on earth do I keep letting so much time go by and not post. I have plenty of post ideas. But I have let things slip off. Shame on me!

Oh my! I am so HAPPY that it is FALL!!!

I like fall. I don't have to turn on the air conditioner or the furnace. That means lower utility bills. GLORY!

(I don't know what I would do if some big deer were in my backyard like in the picture, tho.)

So it is Monday...and I go through the same thing I go through every Monday morning: looking for cats. I don't want them stuck in my bedroom all day (I close the door to my bedroom when I leave for work in the mornings). 

So there is a lot of:  "Ya'll up in here! GET OUT OF HERE!"

If they are, they usually scramble on out.

Because they know LadyLee is crazy.

When I don't see them, I go looking and I keep yelling.

And they trick me a few times a month. They sit silently on the beams over the living room and run back and forth.

And I know what they are thinking:

 "Watch this fool run back and forth. She won't even look up over her head."

LOL

As long as I know they are up there, I can just leave. 

I am looking forward to these cooler days. It seems like I'm not as flustered and I can think clearer.

Much clearer.

I am going to try to post all this week. Try.

Have a good week. On purpose.

A Slave and a Spaceship

So...   

I like rap music, but as I get older, I find that I prefer more experimental rap (and of course, old school rap). I in no way can listen to much of any current rap, as I do not understand it. You can have the current "mumble" rap. Take it far away from me, please.

But I like the group Clipping.  It is an industrial noise rap group. Industrial noise rap tends to be a bit too much to me, but I find that this group's music has at least has a little order to it (if "order" is the right word to use). The rapper of the group is an actor in the popular Hamilton broadway play.  When I saw him in clips of Hamilton, I thought "Daveed is a rapper. What is he doing in a play?"

They released a CD earlier this month that I absolutely LOVE.

It's a concept CD, and any time I can find a CD that strings the songs together into a story, I'm a happy Oldgirl.

The name of it is Splendor and Misery, and it's about a slave who takes over a spaceship and his mental and emotional issues concerning the whole ordeal.

And best of all, he is rapping over the sounds of space and the spaceship.

How creative is that? Who would've ever thought of sci-fi rap?

I was washing dishes when I first listened to it. There was much *blink*blink*crickets*blink*blink on my part.  But I like it the more I listen to it. (Maybe that's because I am a big sci-fi fan). There a couple of times that I thought dude was running from some aliens. Yikes. I think I would've dropped a glass in the sink and ran if that happened!

The cover of the CD is unnerving. If you look closely at the man's upper body, he's a astronaut, and his bottom half is that of a slave man (chains and ragged pants).

Ugh.

I gave it a listen. And I liked it. It even wove in some of what I thought were old negro spirituals.

I have had to listen to it a good 10 times to "get it". I am waiting for someone to post up all the lyrics, because I am sure it reads like a long short story of sorts.

And I must say that I enjoy it much. It is most definitely one of my favorite CDs of the year so far. I like every song. And I can count on one hand the number of CDs where I like EVERY song.

Here's a link to the full CD. It's short for a concept CD (some 38 minutes), but it packs a punch. I would have loved if this was made into a visual album. WOW.



Enjoy... if you dare.

RIP Bill Nunn, October 20, 1952 – September 24, 2016

Bill Nunn passed this weekend.

He played many parts in various movies, but when I think of Bill Nunn, I think of Radio Raheem in Do the Right Thing!

I also think of The Duh-Duh-Duh man in New Jack City.

I can't believe he was in his 60s. I was always think of him as being the age he was in the two movies above.



RIP Bill Nunn. Gone but never ever forgotten.

Semi-Wordless Wednesday: Left on My Desk Today...

This was left on my desk today:

I looked around, to and fro.

I don't know who left it, but I whispered what I always whisper when something is left on my desk:

"Blessing. It's a Blessing."

It may be just a bag of puffs... but someone thought of me. And I am thankful for that.

*doing hard gospel sway in my cubicle*

(found out later it was left by The Cowgirl Cre. Thanks, Oldgirl)

Ten Thursday Thoughts

It is that time... Once again for...


TEN.

Thursday. 

THOUGHTS. 


1. My phone knows when I am leaving work and going home. It even gives me an ETA (estimated time of arrival) to work or at home.

I am not sure when this started.  I just think it is... creepy.

2. My cubicle mate, Lady M, is in Swaziland, Africa for a couple of weeks. I miss her much. I am feeling lonely, as I don't deal much with the crews and cliques of the workplace. (I prefer the fringe folks like myself). This makes me want to make sure I leave my desk and go out and socialize with some of my favorite people. Sigh.

With that said, Cowgirl Cre visited my cubicle today! OH JOY!!! 

3. Lunch today was from UberEats! A Thai Salad from Raging Burrito & Taco

Man listen. That was GOOD.  Only $8.50. And the driver got here in 2 or 3 minutes.

4. The driver called, talking about  "I'm turning on your street and I'm heading up the hill."

You had to be there. It was funny. And creepy at the same time. And he was happy I didn't order the sandwich because he wanted the last sandwich for himself.

5. I had some coworkers grind up some tobacco products today. I need it ground to a coarse powder. They were flavored products, so it smelled like an ice cream truck had exploded in the lab. All those grape, cherry, strawberry, and minty smells sent me screaming back to my childhood.

6. What was funny though is that they were debating on the mechanics of weighing all the product. And they made listen to this debate. *crickets*  I don't care what you do. Just as long as I don't have to do all that grinding myself. Do you.

7. This song is CRUNKTASTIC. That is all.  Excuse the bad language.



8. Somebody posted that on Twitter the other day. They'd never heard of it. But the thing is that it is 3 or 4 years old. It was used recently on a Southwest Airlines commercial, so I guess that's what's generating new interest. Still makes me want to jump up and do the running man!

9.Why does this song always put me in a good place?



I think it takes me back to my early teen years where I didn't have a care in the world. And me and my friends would stay up watching this new thing called "music videos".

10.Tomorrow is payday. GLORY.  Oh yeah... and it's Friday, too. I hope I get some work done. The blinds of my mind are half closed on Pay day!

That is it for Ten Thursday Thoughts!

Food-for-Thought/Quote of the Week: On Being Thankful

So...

I am reading a book right now. Thank and Grow Rich by Pam Grout

I haven't gotten far, but I happen to like this author and I read whatever she writes. This happens to be a book on gratitude and thanksgiving. And those are areas where I'm hoping to experience growth. So I gather a few interesting truths from such books and move on...

I came across a most interesting quote, though. It singed my eyebrows, it did.

"When we don't stop daily to inventory all the gazillion things going right in our lives, the crazy voices in our heads try to make us their bitch." 

O_O

That is a STRONG statement.

But is it true?

I think it is.

I hear more people complaining about life than anything else these days. And I look at some of them and I think to myself...

But you have everything.

Everything. Yet they complain about everything.

No, no one has "everything". And we only see the surface parts of most people's lives, and not the visceral details. But I think we look at others and think that. And we tend to look at ourselves and think less. 


I personally think it is, this complaining, a matter of habit. If you complain all the time, then you just didn't start complaining today... It's probably deep rooted. It's probably been going on for years, decades even.

I have a family member that is a constant complainer. I recognized this when I was 8 years old. How do I remember? I remember because it was the subject matter for the the first time I ever journalled. And that was, albeit 2 sentences, what I journalled about.

I have at times, after to listening to someone complain to no end, asked a hard question.

Name 3 good things that happened today.

I have to ask my ownself that from time to time. I journal every night, and those are always good journalling points. Sometimes I will write out a small paragraph, but more times than not, I will fill up a full page or two with all the great things that happened that very day. And I am thankful for that, because when I go back and read my 30-50 pages of journal entries at the end of each month, there is just soooooooo much good that goes on in my life. So much. And it is such a blessing to record it.

That quote is so much about slowing down and examining life. And not entertaining all that negative. It always amazes me how the negative drowns out the positive. I even think it is more just our culture, just drummed into our thinking to always ponder the negative.

But I want to change that, tho.  And it reminds me of one of the parts of my personal vision statement.

"I am well developed, well matured, and well seasoned in the areas of gratitude and generosity."
I always want to be developing in that direction. Always.


I just thought that was a good quote. It definitely stopped me in my tracks.

And I will be thinking about it for awhile.

Baby Shower Fun

Every once in a while we have a baby shower at work.

This year, there are TWO pregnant ladies in our group. And the first one due up is Ash!

I like Ash. But she use to check our paperwork. And when I would see her coming my way, I would automatically think... "Oh no, here comes Ash. I'm in trouble. She's gonna make me do everything over."

That was never the case. I'm just nervous like that.

And I wondered why she had on pink... She's having a boy.

I didn't bother her about it. She's a lady, and she can wear pink if she wants to!

Anyway, we had a baby shower for Ash!

And there was a fine spread of food.

Fresh fruit and veggies... I was eyeing that real hard.

We had plenty of snacky-snacks: pretzels, chips and dips, nachos and salsa.

And you can't have a party without fried chicken wings.

Those were some good wings. And they got those done that morning at the local grocery store before a brown-out downtown, so the grease fryers didn't work. (The construction workers are highly annoyed that there was no chicken available. Thank goodness they didn't see our tray of chicken).

We had some sliced sirloin steak and sliced chicken.

(Someone bought that at Sam's warehouse. I have to remember that for the next time we have a party, because it was good!)

Potato salad!

You can't have a summertime party without potato salad. Nope!

Cheese!

And we had some sherbet punch.

Now that was good. I watched it being made. They mixed together a bag of frozen mixed berries, a carton of frozen concentrated fruit juice, some rainbow sherbet, and a couple of liters of ginger ale.

 I had 2 or 3 cups of it.  That was some good stuff!

Check out the cake...

The cake was beautiful, and oh so good.

We played games. And there were some professional baby shower game players there, so, uh... let's just say I didn't win anything. Sigh.  But it was fun.  We were competing like we were trying to win the Olympics or something. Hilarious!

And Ash had gifts...

And of course, I made a baby blanket. When she said she was pregnant, I began the questionings.

"What are you having? A boy or a girl?"

I wanted to ask "What are you having, a boy or a girl? I need to know because I need to make a run to the Southside suburbs for some yarn and I kinda wanna get that done as soon as possible."

Couldn't say that, though. And she was taking too long. So I went with my trusty variegated yarn that could go for any sex.

And she liked it! 



So glad she did!

And here's the group gift...

Not sure what that is... It's very nice, though. Baby toys have come a long long way.

It was a fine time!  We need to do that once a week. 

(Oh no. That would mean a LOT of pregnant folk, tho... Yikes).

But it's always fun to get together and celebrate a new life entering the world.

Best of luck to Ash! And congrats on the upcoming birth of your new bundle or joy!