LadyLee Birthday Monies 2016

Dedicated to Sasha... who has a coin jar of her own!


I save all my change in a mason jar from birthday to birthday. I use it as "blow money", i.e., money that I can just blow on something I really want. I like to cash in my birthday change on my birthday, but that didn't happen this year. I decided to wait.

I did cash it in around a week later. That was the next time I would come across a Kroger with a coin counting machine.

I took a photo of my change jar first.

There's something different this year. I saved some dollar bills in the jar also.

Maybe I have done this in the past. But I think this year that the change jar was in the laundry room for the better part of the year (I don't know why, though), and I would throw in any change and dollar bills I pulled out of pants pockets while sorting laundry.

So I cashed it in.

$62 in change before the coin peoples took their cut.

And there was $32 in paper money.

Grand total? 32 +55.40 =

$87.40

Glory!!

I didn't do anything with the money. I just put it up, and I will use it whenever I think up something I really want as a gift for myself. I was looking for a new satchel/briefcase for work, but LadyTee gave it to me one as a birthday gift (More on that later).

Thanks, LadyTee! That worked out great!


I got a $61 escrow refund check from my mortgage company, so I am going to put that with the money.  That will give me around $150. I can buy something nice enough with that.


So this was a good "blow money" haul.

Changes in My 'Hood

There's a very long traffic light on the cross street next to my house. Sometimes I head one street over to a street that has a stop sign if I am in a hurry.

The street has been closed for a couple of months, though. The other day, I noticed it was no longer blocked off. So I decided to use it.

And I saw something peculiar: the street had been paved with bricks.

I was fascinated. I decided to open up the car door and take a closer look.

I thought, "Oh my. We are about to be gentrified. The white folks are moving in. Bout to force the black folks out."

Some of the older black folks can't stand that. My father's family neighborhood is WOW. Brand new houses, white folks all over the place. All kinds of shops and eateries less than a mile from their house. (They gave me the side-eye when I talked about it and said they should go on "down there" and look around.)  I am glad they haven't lost their house in all the fray.

I'm not sure if there is about to be a big gentrification in the case of my neighborhood. There are white folks on my street, but the majority are up around the zoo area about a mile away. I live more on the hood edge of all of that.

But there is a very fancy park at the other end of the street. I have written about it. It even has the fancy water spouts.

All this in the hood.

Oh, and it's on the coming Beltline. That's some big circular green walkway that circles the city and connects various neighborhoods. I don't quite understand it fully. I just know it's coming our way.

Here's a picture of the end of the street where it meets the main road out of the neighborhood.

So I looked it up. From what I understand, these are bricks with 4 feet of tightly packed gravel underneath. So when it rains, the water does not flow to the edge of the street, but it filters through the bricks and downward to... somewhere.

I didn't quite understand the article. Construction science is not my thing.

But it looks like they will be paving my whole neighborhood as a solution to the massive flooding problems we have when it rains hard. I don't know if they will be paving my street, but the street next to mine has been marked up with white chalk. I think they are about to pave it.

That is interesting. It looks nice, but I am wondering how well it will hold up when stacked on top of gravel.

Brick roads will raise property values. I was underwater a couple of years ago, but I seem to have a fair amount of equity right now. *raised eyebrow*

This still seems like a big urban gentrification thing, though.

Hmm...

Saturday 7 (Saturday Love)

Look at that... Ain't posted in a whole week, but I have the nerve to be posting on a Saturday Night.

What the world.

Don't matter. I want to post something in this precious space of time that my laptop is acting right.

So here we go.

1.  I've been working like a Hebrew slave these past couple of weeks. I know that I am working at least 50 hours or more a week right now.

2. I am learning that I am too old for such long work hours. I do wish I had my 20-year-old self back.

3. This week I have had a strange sinus thing going on. It is lupus related because it affects my right side (my symptoms are always on my right side).  It is sort of like how I felt when I visited Colorado, where I was having nose bleeds from being at a high altitude. I think this may be a flare from just being all stressed out. NOT good.

4. I went to work today. This is the second Saturday in a row. I worked from 9 to 5. Straight with no lunch. I am gansgsta like that. Well, wanna be gangsta. I need my YOUNG gangsta self back.

5. Best part of the day: getting off work and driving home... with no radio. Just me and my thoughts and my quiet ponderings concerning my day. I always remind myself that no matter how good or bad the day was, something positive happened. Always.

6. I haven't been eating right. I need a good 2 day juice cleanse.I do have some Mommie Boost in the fridge. Might have to fall over into that.

7. I am OFF on Monday. Not the best idea to be off. But I have a doctor's appointment with my hematologist.  And I have to turn in a 24 hour urine test to my other doctor. AND I need to go get my tag for Lucy Jr. (I will worry about Pam some other time. Sigh).

I will be running around hard all day long.  I have to, as I can't take off any other time.

Bonus

8.  I have to remind myself of one thing... and it's one of my favorite quotes of sort.

Like a hairdo, this situation is temporary.  Just like a hairdo.

Aww yes... felt so good to post.

So so good.

On a Saturday, even. Still all good.

My favorite song on a Saturday: Saturday Love...



I love that song. It makes me want to get up and do a Wonder Woman spin.

Several Wonder Woman spins.

Spin until I fall out from dizziness.

LOL.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

A Message from Mitch

Dear Serenity23,

This is Mitch.

I heard you like men in pink dress shirts.

I don't have a pink dress shirt.

I only have my natural tuxedo... and my pink collar.

How you like that?

Love, Peace and Power,

Mitch.

Wordless Wednesday: My Cousin Nicole is a Fabulous Body Paint Artist!

LadyLee Birthday Gifts 2016

I received a few birthday gifts, and I wasn't expecting them!

My cubicle mate Lady M gave me a candle. Her husband works in Africa off and on, and this past month he'd been in Swaziland.They are known for their candles and candle holders, and she knows I like candles. So she gave me one!

"Swaziland..."  I said. "What country is that in?"

"Swaziland is a country," she said.

"No it's not," I said.

And  this is where the trusty world map hanging in my cubicle comes in handy. We leaned down and looked at the bottom of the map at Africa. And yes, Swaziland is an actual country in Africa!

Man.  I learn something new everyday.

And we like to put people's names on the map to show where they are or where they have been. So Don has been to Swaziland!

It amazes me that, as an African American, I know every country in Europe, but I don't know every country (some 50 of them) in Africa. Hmm..

I walked into work last Friday and saw two more gifts on my desk.

I bring candy to work for our Sharbucks, but I  myself like GOOD candy. In other words, I have dove chocolates in my cubicle, and they are NOT for sharing. You  bustas can eat them silly snickers and hershey kisses! None of that for  me! I  live Doves!

I love Sanpellegrino sodas, a soda out of Italy. My coworker, Lady D, the youngster in our group, must've seen me drinking the lemon ones. This is a new flavor, pomegrante orange flavor. I saw it  in  the store, but I  didn't  know  if I would like it (they cost upwards of $7 for a 6 pack), so I passed them by.

So I was happy for these sodas. And I went downstairs to the break room for some ice and I tried it out!

Soooo good and refreshing!!

I rarely drink sodas (a six pack will last me 4-6 months), but when I want one, I want my favorite!

Thanks ladies for the gifts. 

You made my birthday bright!

RIP Earth Wind and Fire's Maurice White, 1941-2016

Maurice White, the lead singer of Earth Wind and Fire passed today, February 4, 2016.

I love some Earth Wind and Fire.

That is the music of my childhood.  Real music.

Here's a great video of Earth Wind and Fire and Natalie Cole.

And it is the most awesome thing I've seen all year.



Like I said, I love Earth Wind and Fire.

Always have.

Always will.

Semi-Wordless Wednesday: Best Juice Ever

Sometimes I don't feel like juicing.

So I do the next best thing: I purchase a quart of Mommy Boost from the Whole Foods. 

At $11.99 a quart, it is pricey, but  like I said... sometimes I don't feel like juicing.

This lasts me about a week and a half.

And that's good enough for me.

Something New!

I FINALLY bought a set of new tires for Lucy Junior.

Finally!

I have been pondering this for the past 2 or three months.

I have been teetering on the edge of angst concerning this tire purchase? Why?

Because the tires are for Lucy Jr.

And I am use to Pam.

And Pam only gets tires when Pam has a flat or a nail in the tire.

Pam has always had 4 different tires. I don't care if the tires match or not. As long as the car is rolling, I'm good. Now, last year, I actually purchased two brand new front tires for Pam, because the old ones looked like they were cracking or dry rotting or something strange. So I dropped $125 for 2 new tires.
But Lucy Jr... She's special. She needs a special Michelin tire.

I remember when I bought Lucy Jr. back in 2013. The owner, Lady M, said, "I like to buy Michelins for the lexus.They ride the nicest."

I looked down at the car and then back up at her. Ain't no way I'd sell a car with some Michelins on it. I would've had those taken off and had some $10 tires put on. Sure would have.

So at my last oil change, my Lexus specialist said it was time for some new tires. I grimaced. I knew I couldn't put any bootleg tires on Lucy Jr.

I wrote down the name of the tire and started looking around on the internet for them. I called a few places and they didn't carry that tire.

I, LadyLee, don't do well with inconvenience.

Then the car's steering wheel started shaking when I was driving. It wasn't bad, but noticeable. It would start shaking at 60 mph. A little research kept leading to one thing: the need for new tires.

Lucy Jr. needs Michelins. Michelins are expensive.


It got to the point where I would look at the tires of other Lexus' like mine. Some had the michelins, others had another type. I looked the other type up online, and people were arguing that the Michelin tire was better than that bootleg one.

I talked to my Lexus Mechanic, Chuck.

"Yo, this car has Michelin Primacys. Is there something comparable to those?"

I wanted to say... Is there a cheaper tire available?

He said "Well, that's the best one to get."

I like Chuck. He wouldn't tell me anything crazy. And some of the guys there at the shop drive the same car. So I called the place he'd been telling me to call. I'd gotten a quote from the same place in Forsyth County (and uh, I as a black person, don't have NO BUSINESS up in Forsythe County. Nope!) But there was a location nearer to me (20 miles away). I went there this past Saturday, super early in the morning, and I had a new set of tires and an alignment in a little over an hour.

All this bellyaching and near angst for nothing.

I got a new set for $600 bucks. The alignment rounded it out at $700. I would've preferred to pay around $400 for tires, but this ain't Pam. This here is Lucy Jr.

And the drive? Man oh man... the drive is SUPER smooth. Absolutely no shake at all.

If I would've know a new set of tires would've been that nice, I would've bought some sooner!

Hopefully these last a few years.
 
It almost makes me want to put a new set of Michelins on Pam!

NOT!