Justin's School Projects. Oh Joy!

 So my nephew Justin started Pre-K this fall. 

It seems like he was just born yesterday. 

Time sure is flying. He is a big boy now. 

And he loves school. 

And he loves doing projects. 

This project was his first, where he made a poster about all the great things he did over the summer. 

I heard he read every sentence. Trips me out that he can read. 

The next project involved counting by 5s. 

 

He did such a good job. Go Justin!

The next project involved coloring the picture of a turkey that no one will eat. Justin's favorite superhero is Spiderman, so he dressed his turkey up as Spiderman.

"I like you turkey," I said. 

"Auntie, my Spiderman turkey has a booty."

*crickets*

I frowned. "Uh what?"

"My Spiderman turkey has a booty!"

"That's just the crease in the turkey's pants, Lee," my sister explained. 

Uh, Okay. LOL... 

That was funny as all get out. 

And we all know turkeys have bootys, so he is on to something. 

I am so very proud of him. He is so smart. I can't wait to discuss his future projects. 

Sunday Scripture- Psalm 139:5 (TPT)

 Every once in awhile, I hear or come across something in scripture that is very powerful and sticks with me. 

Psalms 139:5 in the passion translation did just that. It has been heavy on my mind for the past 6 months. 

You've gone into my future to prepare the way, and in kindness you follow behind me to spare me from the harm of my past. You have laid your hand on me! Psalms 139:5 TPT

That verse gives me such an incredible sense of comfort and relief. I feel like I am living in a world that constantly bombards me with negativity. This scripture is something positive and provides some sense of hope. I spend a little time meditating on it daily. 

And I must admit that I have such a hard time dealing with the unknown of the future sometimes. It is the reason I tend to procrastinate when it comes to getting things done. I have a bad habit of overthinking things and simply just mulling over and over in my head the worst case scenario. And it is so hard to confide in friends about this. I get blown off or shot down a lot. ("Girl, why you worried about that? That's silly."). 

So let's just say that I tend to keep a lot to myself. A lot.

And upon examination of my actions, I find that when I do step out and deal with a problem or situation, it is NEVER as bad as I have imagined it to be in my head. 

As of late, my prayers have changed some. When praying about things going on in my life and/or stuff I am worried about or scared of doing, I keep that scripture in mind. 

"God, you've stepped into my future to prepare a way. You already know what will happen. Just lead me down the best path to the right solution. I can breathe easy and just move forward because you are my Help. And I don't need to think of my errors in the past, as you are protecting me from the disappointment and the pain of my past."

I find that a path forward opens up. My courage is a lot better these days. 

One interesting thing that I find that has come out of this is that I took a workshop last month titled Fear, Anxiety and Overwhelm. It helped me critically think about my fears and anxieties and simply what overwhelms me. It helped me be specific about what I need to be praying about. And that in itself lowers my anxiety and ushers in some sense of personal peace.

And peace... that is just what I need. 

I can never get enough of it. 

Saturday Seven

 Thank God for Saturdays, but whew chile... this was a busy day. I think I could have the Saturday 27. But I will pick out the most interesting parts of the day. 

1. I walked FOUR miles today. And what was interesting is that I explored a new route. I walked to the zoo, which I never do, and I found out I live a mile from it. So that is a good marker if I want to measure my walks a little better. I find myself getting bored if I don't switch my walking routes up from time to time. 

2. I think it was around 70 degrees today. And of course I wore some shorts and a t-shirt. I think this weekend will be the final time to do that, as it will be cold and rainy next week. I have walked in the rain with my umbrella before. Let's just say that that's not a great idea. I need sunshine and tweeting birds when I walk!! 

3. I went to the Whole Foods today. Yes it's a Saturday, but I expected it to be empty. Why?

Because the big SEC championship was going on. And yes, it pretty much was like going there on a weekday during the middle of the day. And all the chicken wings and broccoli was gone. (I can understand the wings... but the broccoli? Hmm).

4. I also went to this wholesale spot which is an Asian bootleg version of Sam's club. It even has a name similar to Sams Club. There is no door to this place. You go in through a bootleg loading dock. (Took me a minute to figure this out my first time there). And the

Asian cashiers are behind bulletproof glass. (Interestingly enough, the door to the cashier station is always open. So what is the point of the bulletproof glass?) They only take cash and debit cards, and over the years, they don't take debit cards issued by certain banks. There is no lovely music playing softly over the overhead speakers. And it is VERY dark. I have been looking for something, and someone steps out of the shadows asking if I need some help. (Yikes). 

It's a bit intimidating. But it is near my house and it is cheap. And the people are nice. 

5. Part of me over the years has wanted to call up the Sams people and report them for copyright infringement. But here's the kicker: this place was around BEFORE Sams club and before Walmart became a thing. So... maybe it's the other way around, lol. 

6. My sister needed snacks for her students. They are at that age where they like hot chips, hot takis, hot fries, all that type of stuff. And This place has all that bootleg stuff. They have a whole room devoted just to chips. So I bought around 60 bags of various chips. I also needed some storage containers for food. And some of those little sample cups for sauces, etc. I think I spend $60, which was a heckuva lot cheaper than Walmart or Amazon!

7.  By the time I got home, it was near dark. This is odd for me, as I haven't driven much during the pandemic, and not at all when I have to use my headlights. It was a very interesting experience. Not gonna get caught out late like that again. No ma'am. No sir. 

Such an interesting day it was. Well, at least for me. And that's a good thing! 

Five Friday Thoughts

Now...

1. I wanted to blog everyday for the month of December, but blogger will not let me upload photos. And you know I like pictures. So I have to use words. Sigh.

2. I walked 2 miles this afternoon, which is okay for me. I prefer 3-4 miles if possible. But it gets dark early since the time change, so now if I don't get out of the house by 3 pm, I am struggling. Today I got out by 4 pm, which means I have to be back near home by 5 pm. 

3. So here is the problem. I walk slow, around 2.25 miles per hour. Sigh. So as you can see, I need to be high stepping down the round by at least 3:30 pm.

4. The great thing; the weather in the ATL was BEAUTIFUL this week. No rain. Temps in the 70's.

5. And here is the bad thing... well, not really bad, but the yucky thing: it's gonna rain bad next week. Inches of rain. Ick! Sigh. 

That's it for my 5 thoughts. Hopefully the photo function will work again soon! 

Have a great weekend! 

Thanksgiving (Pandemic) Meal 2021

So here is a picture of my plate of food for Thanksgiving.

   

Big emphasis on plate of food. Since the pandemic has started, I have spent my holidays alone. So what is the use of cooking a big spread for Thanksgiving? I have gotten to the point that I will go get some food off the hot bar at Whole Foods now around the holiday. I refuse to cook a pot of greens, a pan of macaroni and cheese. Let's just say I am not doing anything that will keep me in the kitchen for too long. So I had some air-fried chicken, smoked sweet potato, green beans, collard greens, mac-n-cheese, and squash (looks like corn above). It was SOOO good. 

Now... I did make a pan of cornbread dressing. 

And that was made with a couple of pieces of cornbread from a local barbeque joint. So it was small, made in an 8 inch pan, and about 1/2 inch in height. Good enough. It was good, but I haven't made it in awhile. It was a light version, I suppose. I used chicken broth instead of cream of chicken/mushroom soup, so it didn't have that "umph" to it. Sigh. But it was my "cheat" for the holidays.

My sister was talking about coming over, because I understand that for whatever reason, she needs to make her rounds. People want to see the baby (Justin), so you know how that goes. She was really wailing hard about just wanting to stay home and have a day to herself, but she ended up going over to her father's house and staying for a hour or two. (This is what is called "showing your face").

I had to tell her that it was okay to want some time to yourself. Don't be afraid to have a low-key day to yourself. School has been stressing her out and she just wanted to sit and just be. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

But I just about panicked when she said she may come my way still. This meant that I would have to share my lone plate of food. No ma'am. 

She didn't come over. 

So I ate my food and watched Soul Train on YouTube all day. And I think I did some writing, well, editing, really. This has become my pandemic holiday ritual, and for some reason it makes me very happy. 

Hopefully we will get back to "normal". Normal for my holidays is hanging all day with my sister and Justin. We cook nontraditional Thanksgiving food. I think we fried fish one year. And when she was away teaching, I spent some holidays alone. I find it best to plan my days to the hilt, and I have to admit that those have been some memorable holidays for me. I am very thankful for that. 

I worry about things going back to "normal". My workgroup is having a holiday party inside, but I freeze up at having to spend time with folks inside a closed space during this time. That seems like I will have to work on that post pandemic, and just not be afraid that I won't catch the virus. 

Ugh. 

I can't wait to get back to those days.  Someday in the future, we will talk about all this. Hopefully it will be a memory long gone.