Food for Thought: A Parable of the Squares, Part II

So...

Last Friday I wrote a food for thought post on squares. I won't rehash it, so go back and read it if you want ("Food for Thought: A Parable of Squares"). It was about the mound of squares that I am making for a blanket right now. I keep them in a storage bag and a couple of yellow squares from a past project were mixed in.

I essentially said that I would throw the yellow squares out and continue on with my cream squares. It was all a parable concerning not letting your problems (yellow squares) overshadow all the accomplishments in your life (white squares).

So I was crocheting late one night, woke up the next morning, and saw THIS:

Honey, I had to look twice when I saw that. I caught a hard crook in my neck from turning my neck too hard. I hollered "What the world?"

In all my crochet greatness, I wasn't paying close attention to the squares I was grabbing from the bag. I inadvertently grabbed a yellow square.

UGH...

I told reader Lisa B. about this. She had a good hard laugh at my expense.

But she saw the Food for Thought contained within this mistake...

Take the microphone, Lisa B.

Take it to the bridge!

*Lisa B. grabs the microphone and stands tall on the front porch of The House of LadyLee*

"You know, people," Lisa B. begins softly as the House of LadyLee Mass Choir hums gently in the background. "Some things we brush aside and say we will 'tend to them later. Then we never get back to it... then it resurfaces again."

*lisa B. drops microphone and promptly leaves the porch as mass choir sings loudly*

"Brang it down a notch, sangers," Ladylee hollers. "Lisa B. preached good, I know, but calm down!"

Say that, Lisa B. There's much going on in your simple words. Makes me wanna sang loud like the choir, it does.

Much.

I will let you all ponder her words. I am still pondering. Lisa B. rarely comments, but she will blow my phone up with a good text message. We have food for thought time right there on the test messages. And it is such a blessing.

She always makes me examine myself... examine those things I talk with others about. And I am always better for it. Always.

So thanks Lisa B. Like I always say, you're my best friend in my head.

Now back to the squares. I unraveled that part of the blanket and took out the yellow square. It was only 2 hours worth of work to undo. This is a 120 hour blanket, so that is okay.

I did what I had to do to take care of that yellow sqaure (the problem).

Because it was best to take care of it right then and not wait until I was 100 hours in.

And all is well now.

I must do the same... with my own life.

Wednesday's Words

I was heading to morning Bible Study in our chapel a couple of weeks ago and I saw this poster on the wall...

The children's daycare is in the building. This sign was near the bathrooms. The usher gave me permission to take a picture.

I thought to myself... I wish I had that on my wall growing up...

I wish I had that at home on my wall even now.

Dear Ladylee, 

I love you with an everlasting love... 

Steak and Potatoes!

So...

I was sitting in the cubicle the other day doing some paperwork when my cubicle mate, the Cowgirl Cre called my name.

"Hey, look at this. You need to snatch this picture."

I turned around to see what she was talking about. She was pointing at her computer screen.

I looked at the picture. It didn't ring a bell.

"Who is that?"

I scooted my chair closer over to hers and peered at the screen a little more intently.

"Is that Da'Kari? Is that my brother?"

"Yes," Cre said. "It popped up in my facebook timeline. It took me a second to figure out who it was."

I looked a little closer. "That's my brother? That's the Lil' Egg?"

(Our mother used to call him "Lil' Egg" for some odd reason. I have no idea why. I call him that from time to time).

"Yes it is," Cre said again. "That's a good picture."

He looks like he's about to go on stage and sang some Keith Sweat and New Edition songs.

LOL

I texted the picture to my sister Kentucky. She had the same reaction as I did. "It took me a minute to figure out who it was?" she said. "I was like 'Is that Ralph?'"

(My sister calls him Ralph. This was odd for so long. She gave him an alias when he was a teen. "He don't need to use his real name when he out with folk," she'd said. O_o)

And we can't tell him he look good. Back when he was a teen, Kentucky said "Ralph, you look good in bright colors."

And that's all he started wearing. Bright red, neon, yellow... anything bright.

Hurt my eyes every time I saw him. For years.

"He has slimmed down," I told my sister.

"He said he's been working on it," she said.

And that he has. My goodness.

Well shoot. We can't call him "Milk and Cookies" anymore, can we?

He is no longer a simple snack, man.

He has turnt into a full course meal. He's steak and potatoes now. Chicken fried steak with a side of collard greens, black eyed peas, and candied yams...

...and a hefty piece of cornbread.

And a bowl of peach cobbler with a scoop of ice cream on top!

(Don't forget the iced tea. Please and thank you.)

But look closely at the picture. Look at the refrigerator in particular.

I asked him... "How you gonna take a hardcore picture in front of a fridge with the children's baby letters on it?"

Ha Ha!!

Sorry, ya'll... I still think of him as this fresh faced toddler in the picture below with my sister:

He will always be that child in picture.  I still try to pick him up like I picked up that toddler back then whenever I see him. I hurt my back every time.

Well, I guess he a grown man now. Whenever he grows a mustache or beard, I tell him I want the lil Da'Kari back!

Sigh. My how they grow up.

Sorry, dude. You will always be Milk and Cookies.

Forever.

He just moved from Seattle and is stationed in Colorado now. I may go out and see him. (Been saying that for awhile).

And this gives me an excuse to play some Keith Sweat... and some New Edition.

Enjoy!

Monday Morning.... Again.

It is Monday morning... Once again.

It seems as if this day comes around and around and around once each week.

As every other day of the week does.

Anyway, I heard them talking on the news about some slight sleet or something. I winced. I don't want to think about that. AT ALL.

I want to think about the weekend. It was beautiful in my beloved ATL, some 70 degrees outside. I didn't even need a jacket. Well, I did need one because that wind sure was whipping around.

I didn't do much this weekend. I was a bit sickly this past week, AND aunt flo was hanging around so I was just doing all I could to keep up.  But I am a bit better now.

I have a Doctor's appointment this morning. For some reason, I am not looking forward to that. It is the first of the year with my lupus doctor. Let's hope I don't get in any trouble. That won't be nice at all.  And I am not in the mood on a Monday morning. No indeed.

I actually went to work on Sunday for all of two hours (well, 1 hour and 50 minutes). Sushi and Lady S were there and they had been there since 5 in the morning. Who in the world gets up that early on a Sunday? I walked into there lab at 2 pm, they had that look in their eyes. It was that look that said "Whoever coming up in here on us gonna catch some 4 liter bottles upside the head".  LOL

That was a FAST 2 hours. So I didn't mind going in. I had other things to do downtown. I really needed to go to Whole Foods to get my 39 cent per gallon water refills, but that place was packed like a One Direction concert, so I bypassed and went on out to the Eastside to the Farmers Market. It was packed, but not as much.

I've been reading a book since Friday by one of my favorite authors, Anybody's Daughter by Pamela Samuels-Young. 

This book... whoo child. It sho is good.

Pamela writes the BOMB law thrillers. And it's with some black protagonists, usually a sista.  You know I like that type of thing, black folk running around looking crazy, whether it's running from aliens (sci-fi) or vampires (horror) or the law (thrillers). GOOD stuff. I've read all of her books, and this one is a sequel. I actually had a good convo with her a few years back about the prequel to this book. And this sequel is one of the best. I am only 25% of the way through it, and man oh man, I am O_O.

When I finish reading her books, I want to drop the book, stand at attention and clap furiously and holler "EXCELLENT!"

This is a book about sex trafficking of young girls. And as the saying goes... "Pimping ain't easy." But it easier these days on the internet. This book is about the search for a young girl. Her uncle, who has a shady past himself, is looking for her... with the help of his lawyer love interest. GOOOOOOOD stuff, honey. Wooo-hooo! This one is singeing my eyebrows.

I want to finish reading, but I am waiting around on Cinnamon Sugar, aka Sam, to kick in. She reads like a alien chicken, i.e., she can read this book, which is 360 pages, in a day. I suggested that we read it together since her thing is the juvenile justice law system, which is one of the major settings of this book. So I am waiting around on her to catch up... and I am sneaking around reading more than our agreed stopping point for discussion.

Come on, girl... *lee slaps Sam in the back of the head* COME ON.

I am the one that reads slow like Celie, not you! Come on!! *one last slap on the back of the head*

LOL

Oh well... enough of that.

I will keep reading. She will probably text me and say "I've finished reading the book."

Just like that chicken Serenity does. That's why I don't read books with that chicken anymore.

Oh well. That's it for the day. I am on my way to the doctor this morning, and then I will be going on in to work.

Do I need a Song of the Day?  Yes. Let's see... One of the top songs on my spotify playlist:



You know I love some Jill Scott!!

With that said, have a good week!  On purpose.

Friday Food-For-Thought: A Parable of Squares

(For reader Lisa B... who loves some good food for thought. Maybe she will come out of Lurk City and comment. Or even better, text me.)

I sometimes sit in my big chair and prop my feet up on the ottoman and crochet 'til my heart's content.

And sometimes it creates a mess.

Goodness gracious. I was crocheting up a storm, wasn't I? When it gets that bad, that means I've been getting it in. I have the netflix playing, just binge watching some shows.  I think that night, I just got tired of crocheting and walked off and went to bed. I wake up to yarn and a blanket on the floor.

And I have made a complete mess.

But that's okay. For I can pull out my trusty vacuum cleaner, and in less than 5 minutes, the area looks fairly presentable.

Fairly.

I usually crochet enough squares to fill up a gallon-sized storage bag. Around about that time, I think about hooking them all together. So I pour them out on the table and count them up.

Here's my mound of squares. I crocheted these since the beginning of the year.

That's a whole bunch of squares. 323 squares to be exact.  That's a whole slew of squares right there.

Really though.

It's not enough. I need 836. So I have a long way to go.

Look closely at the squares though. Do you see something... strange and out of place?

There are two yellow squares in my pile of cream squares. I can't use those yellow squares in the current project, as they are left over from another project. I tend to find old squares when cleaning up, you see.

*ladylee wails loudly and pulls out her hair in disgust*

*ladylee cries uncontrollably and beats head against the wall*

*ladylee gets depressed and sits in the corner and broods*

"Man, LadyLee," you may say.  "You sure are getting all worked up over those two yellow squares amongst the cream squares. Calm your tail down."

"NO! There are two yellow squares in the pile of my cream squares!!!," I holler. "Can't you see that??!!!!"

I stomp my foot. Two times. "You've really pissed me off by now, by trying to talk and reason with me. I know you are being helpful... but can't you see the two yellow squares? They will ruin my whole project!!

Hmmm...

You may be looking at me a bit O_o right now. But don't trip.

We do this all the time.

In life.

I think of people in their accomplishments. I am surrounded by highly accomplished people. Over their lifetimes (especially my older friends who are in their 40s and older), we have accomplished SO much stuff.

Then there are those hard times, those moments and issues that depress us and leave us feeling bad about ourselves. There are those failures and disappointments in life.

In other words, there are those yellow squares in life.

My yellow squares (my issues and problems) are scattered amongst many cream squares (my accomplishments).

And interestingly, my accomplishments outweigh my problems. But it doesn't feel or look that way in the face of the problems. The problems get ALL the attention. It is almost as if they, dare I say, begin to define us. I know for myself, other stuff gets dug up in the process. I have a deep dark dank broom closet in the back of my heart where I keep the things that bother me (all there with my Good Book of Cuss).  It seems when problems arise in my life, stuff seeps out of that closet along with it. Ugh. And it all must be dealt with.

Interestingly,we give the personal issues more weight than the long laundry list of our accomplishments. Afterall, like the yellow squares above, they do stand out amongst the white squares, don't they?  They are bright, almost glowing, overshadowing the cream squares, plentiful in number as they are,

And that's just how it is in life. Our problems overshadow that long laundry list of all that is good in our lives.

Afterall, we are conditioned to be that way. Just watch the news. News comes on in the ATL some 8 hours a day here. And it's mostly negative. We are conditioned to zone in on the negative instead of the positive.

I have been working on reversing that conditioning. With very good results.

For when problems and adversity arise, and I consider it all. But I do understand now that adversity shows me who I am and what my feelings truly are. Change has to be made. I can face myself and grow from it. I grow as a person. And most importantly, my faith grows. And faith is like a muscle. It must be worked and strengthened.

And here's another thing to think about. And I heard an exceptional sermon on this a couple of weeks ago:

It's not the problem that's the issue. For we all have problems. We always will.

It is your RESPONSE to the problem that matters.

How are we responding to the problems?

Are we responding in faith? Or in fear?

Each determines the series of thoughts, decisions and actions we take...

Now that's something to consider.

And it's a question I have asked others (and most definitely myself) over the years.

I will take it a step further, though.

What is your (and my) pattern of response when it comes to reacting to adversity, problems, tragedy, failure and issues? Especially in the face of all your (and my) accomplishments, triumphs, and achievements over the years?

I am sure the answer is all over the board. Hopefully we have all grown and matured over the years.

I know I have.

After all, shouldn't light cast out the darkness?

And with that, I look back again at my huge mound of crocheted squares.

I don't flip out and have a conniption fit. That won't do me any good.

I pick the yellow squares out and I throw them in the trash. Sure, I want to hold on to them. Afterall, I spent some 6 minutes making those couple of yellow squares. That took time. I have residual thoughts of them, even after I throw them away. I can learn from it. Next time, I won't make more squares than I need.

I make a decision to go on and press on with my white squares... for they are many.

(Funny what I learn from a harmless mound of squares. I tell you I can get a revelation out of just about anything).

So that's for you, Lisa B. You're my best friend in my head, lol. Through our conversation this week, you caused me to have to think about some of the issues I keep hidden in the dusty back broom closet of my heart... and I am better for it. This food for thought was just for you.

And for all my readers, too.

Have a good weekend.

On purpose.

A Red Pepper Oldgirl

I like Old school things.

And when I say Old school things, I mean Color Purple Celie Oldschool. types of things.

I like doing stuff they had to do back in the day just for fun...

Stuff like canning!

I only can one thing: red pepper ketchup. I make it every couple of years, so I got the BRIGHT idea to make it the night before I was due back to work (after being off for 12 days).

I haven't been able to find any organic red peppers for some reason. So I found some the other day at $2.99 a pound. (I saw some for $6.99 a pound here and there, but I didn't want to pay that much).

Here's my recipe!

As you can tell, the recipe is well worn, pages all smudged. It looks like one of my grandmas's recipe books.

Or one of Celie's recipe books.

That's Oldschool right there.

Here's my mason jars, justa boiling and sterilizing and boiling away...

Here are my ingredients!

Diced red bell peppers (9 cups), onions (5 cups), garlic and ginger.

Honey, that all took me an hour to cut up. It felt longer than an hour.

Here's my spice mix.

That took about 15 minutes to mix up.  My kitchen stills smells strongly of cloves.

Here's everything cooking and stewing down.

I let that stew for an hour!!

Then I pureed it all in my blender.  I added some light brown sugar and apple cider vinegar and let it cook down for a good hour and I canned it all up.

And here we have it! My red pepper ketchup!

That's good stuff. I didn't finish until one in the morning. My back was on fire from all that standing and stirring. I was not a happy camper the next morning.

But at least I had my ketchup. That's all that matters.

I probably won't make anymore for awhile.

Unless I have another Color Purple Celie moment.

WINNERS of 44th Birthday Sweepstakes!!

These are the hands of the Man!

They are the fierce hands of the man trained in hand-to-hand combat.

They are the mighty hands of Lt. Commander By, The Black Rambo!

By can knock a fool out cold with a single sucker punch... then pick him up, and knock him out again!

And he can also pull the names of the winners of the 44th sweepstakes, which is more important than hand-to-hand military combat.

So Mrs. By clipped his nails and moisturized his hands up extra special for the drawing. She knows us ladies don't like no rusty ashy man. Thanks Mrs. By!

Here are the names of the commenters.

276 entries. That's a whole lot, a world record of sorts. Well, it's a lot because the sweepstakes was extended due to the bad weather.

I cut those pages up into strips.

I shuffled the strips and cut the individual entries up. And I placed them in a cup. And I placed that cup in the hands of Lt. Commander By!

We decided the cup was too small for the entries.

So we threw the names in a bag.

By shook up the bag, and commenced to pulling names...

And the winners are:

Dorothy!!

Honey, your second comment on "Snow Jam 2014... ATLien style" on January 29th won you a $44 gift card!  Go girl!!

And since the contest ran long, I mentioned there would be a drawing for a second winner!

And the second winner is:

Moe!!!

Girl, your comment made on the February post "Celebrating Black History" made you some money, honey! A $44 gift card, just for YOU!

And here's By doing what he does best... verifying the winners by writing their prize on the back.

Now on to the prize for winner of the most comments over the Birthday Sweepstakes time period.

There were 5 of you in the running...

And here's the tally.



As you can see, the winner is Sasha!

It was close, wasn't it?  Shai needed 3 more comments to win.  But Sasha wasn't having it!

Congratulations, Sasha! You win a $44 gift card.

Alright ya'll.  You have to claim your prize.  Text me if you have my phone number. Or email me (oldgirlladylee@gmail.com).

Oh, and let me know if you want a Target or Wal-Mart card.

Congratulations to all the winners!

Thanks to all for participating in the Sweepstakes!

Thanks By for doing well at pulling names. A free lunch for your, Sir!

Your next Sweepstakes is in August. It will be a $99 gift card for 9th Bloggaversary Sweepstakes. Now that's some money, honey! So be sure to come back and play with us then.

I Once Asked

I once asked you if you were happy.

Happy here in this place

Happy here in this space.

Happy with the love we share.

That was your chance, you know, to come clean with me. At that very moment I would've been willing to forgive. Not forget, but forgive. Forgetting would take a little longer.

For it would take a little longer to forget seeing you with her in the restaurant where we had our first date, in the very place where you proposed, at the table you asked me to be your wife for life.

It's too late now, too late to answer the questions I once asked. For you're staring at me, eyes vacant black pools, blood streaming from the hole in your head, made from the bullet from my gun just seconds ago.

I once asked her, the woman laying next to you in our bed, why she took you from me. Just like you, she can't answer the question either. Her eyes are shut, but the hole in her head is bigger than the hole in yours.

Maybe she's with you somewhere in eternity.

Wishing that when someone asks a question, you both would have the courage to answer.

from Women of Color Writing Workshop, February 2014
Writing prompt: 7 minute timed.

Choose one phrase from the following to start your story:

If I could stop...
If you must know...
I once asked...
The first day...
The hurricane neared...


It is easy to see which one I chose. I chose to use "I once asked..."

This story shocked the ladies. The angry woman in this piece seems so... calm. 

Did the turn in the story shock you?

If so, good. I love when I can jar your emotions in so few words.

Shock value is key.

Happy Presidents Day

Happy Presidents Day to you all!

Reeeeeeeemiiiiiiiiiixxx!!!!!!!!

I said...

Happy Presidents Day to you all!!!!!

Sho you right!

That's more like it!

Friday Freestyles... The Cabin Fever Edition

I got that fever...

That cabin fever...

Fever, Fever, Fever...

I'm your friendly neighborhood Oldgirl and I got that Feeeeeeeveeeeer!!

Yes, that Cabin fever.

Well not really. I just felt like making up a song and singing about... cabin fever.

Alas, this weather catastrophy is just about over.

Our beloved ATL fared well... And Charlotte was in the news for abandoned cars this time. Funny, I didn't hear anyone criticizing them about all of that. Hmm...

Anyway, today is Friday, February 14th... And oh yes, it is Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day!

A flower, a pink rose, just for you.



I usually post up some story today. But not this time.

A simple pink rose will do.

Anyway, it snowed and iced and snowed some more on Wednesday and Thursday.

Here's a picture from my bedroom window on Wednesday morning:

And here's a picture from my bedroom window on Thursday morning.

It got worse before it got better, I suppose.

Look at Pam the Protege sitting out there under all that snow. Poor Pam. I thought about squeezing her into the garage with Lucy Jr., but that meant cleaning out the garage and that was not gonna happen.

Big hand clap to Pam! She passed her emissions test and she is ready for her tag! I'd only driven her 83 miles this year so I jumped in her and pushed her around the interstate for a good 100 miles to get her ready, and she passed with flying colors. GLORY!

I haven't driven Lucy Jr. since Friday. I need to push her around the interstate and get her ready to pass her emission. Hopefully I will do that on Saturday. That is when I will leave the house. I don't like to see any ice or snow on the ground before driving. I can't get out here driving with these ATLiens who drive worse in shaky weather.

The boss has been texting to let us know whether to report for duty. I know we have to be in on Friday.

"I'll take the zero, honey," will be my text reply in the morn. Yes, I will take the zero.

I wished her a Happy Valentines Day. And I threw candy and roses at her feet.

I figured that was a nice enough gesture.

So let's look at some home grown pictures of the storm.

Here's a picture of my steps leading off the porch.

How 'bout I'm not leaving the house until the porch is clear. Yes.

So what have I been doing during my days in the house?

Reading. Crocheting. Watching Netflix and Amazon Prime. Listening to music. Texting. Yacking on the phone. Doing a little writing (should be doing more). Cleaning up. Blogging (I have done multiple posts in one day!). Sleeping.. and thinking. Singing... and praying.

That's about it.

Common cabin fever activities.

My electricity stayed on. Thank goodness for that.

Listen, as long as this electricity and internet stayed on? Whatever, man. I can stay in the cabin for a very long time. 3 or 4 days is a drop in the bucket.

I think we need a Quote of the Week. This one is short, but packs a punch.

Do not confuse your net worth with your self worth. 

No. Don't you do it. They are two different things. And you can tell that with all these stars, who shall remain nameless, running around with all kinds of issues.

You give me a 100 million dollars and my life will be PERFECT.

No it will not. All my idiosyncracies, self esteem isshas, flaws, self worth isshas, etc... will be magnified and exposed... naked as newborn baby for all the world to see.

I just came to that conclusion from watching television. Trust in our money is an odd thing. Folks kill themselves when they suddenly lose it all. Sad but true.

And I read a book about these issues earlier this year. So that quote caught my eye when I saw it early Sunday morning in a sermon by a preacher out on the West side of town.

Simple quote. But it packs a big punch. It reminds me to have proper balance, to love myself and to grow, whether I am struggling or banked up. Indeed.

Picture(s) of the Week. Serenity_23 is up in Charlotte dealing with her own brand of cabin fever, and she texted me a picture of her baby looking out the window at the snow.

He is the picture of cabin fever. He wants to, no he longs to go out into the snow. He even has his little baseball bat in his hand. He's ready to play. He's ready to play in the snow.

And that he did. He and his big brother.

Lil' Man is high stepping, ain't he?

Serenity said he was ready to come on in. He wanted to get out of that stuff.

I know that's right, baby. I know that's right.

Sam, aka Cinnamon Sugar, was texting me, talking about throw out some salt or something outside. I asked for what? She said just in case I needed to take the trash out or something.

Stop it, I say. I am not in Ohio. I am in Georgia. And I ain't leaving this house to take out trash or do anything else until not na'an one piece of snow is visible on the ground. The most I have done has been to run out in the garage and crank up Lucy Jr. I opened the garage door so I wouldn't choke on carbon monoxide smoke. And I stared out at Pam.

No trash was taken out. I didn't think it was a good idea to do that in bare feet, shorts and a tank top.

LOL!

Song of the Week. I tell you, I have been listening to a ton of music. I know I have some 2000 songs on my spotify playlists. Set it to random and get ready for the party!

One song I like... some Old school Queen Latifah.




She and I are the same age, so this came out when she was 20, I believe. I loved her as a pure rapper. Oh how I miss dope female emcees! *cries*

How about a 2 for 1... ANOTHER Old school Queen Latifah song.



*ladylee turning cartwheels all around the living room*

Ha Ha!!!

Real rap! I love it.

Okay, today marks the end of the Birthday Sweepstakes. This is the 35th post of the Sweepstakes time period, so I hope you've been commenting. Make sure you get your comments in. I am working on writing up the entry slips today. I don't plan on going back to work until Tuesday. By will draw names then.

This has felt like some bootleg furlough craziness. For real. It is amazing how snow and ice can cripple us something awful like this. Good thing it's temporary.

Let's hope that it won't snow again around these parts until next year.

You have a great weekend.

On purpose.  

Distillation

Dear God,
Distill my thoughts
Separate the good from the bad.
Separate the bad from the worse
Separate the blessings from the curse

Distill my life
Separate the harlot from the wife
Separate the lies from the truth
Separate the secrets from the root
Separate the hate from the love I once had.

Just as one drop of oil taints a cupful of water
So does one lie taint all that is good
So does one dark memory keep me from loving myself the way that I should.

Dear God
Help me to see me the way You see me
Pure
Good
Distilled
And real.

From Women of Color Writing Workshop, Janurary 2014.

Writing Prompt: 5 minute prompt. Use one of the following words in a poem or story: Distill, putrify, sterile, putrid.

I like this little poem. In so few words, I see such a complicated woman. She is a woman plagued by the secrets of her life. Some of these issues may be memories and she is far removed from them, but memories are strong and haunting. And God has forgiven her... but she can't seem to forgive herself.

You may see something different.

At any rate, it is way more complicated than these few words posted here. 

A LadyLee 44th Birthday, Part II

My birthday was last Friday, and I spent the day with my best friend LadyTee.

The following day was a day set aside for time with my sister Kentucky.

"What do you want to do, Lisa?" she asked.

"Don't matter none to me, gal," I said. "I just want you to hook up my taxes."

My taxes. We've been talking about that for a couple of weeks. I was just waiting for a couple of forms to come in, and they were here, and I was ret to go. She gets the whole teacher discount thing and I get money off for preparation. And that's a good thing.

I had no idea what she planned for the rest of the day. As long as we got that done in the next couple of weeks, I was good. Saturday was as good a day as any.

She texted me Saturday morning and asked if I wanted to attend a "Dr. Joe" seminar.

My eyes lit up. Dr. Joe. He's a doctor she's interested in since she has started to eat better these days. He's a vegan, and she seems to be in to that. Me? I am what I am. I do what I can. And that's not much these days. I have reduced my meat intake by 90%. I get lazy beyond that.

She has to drag information out of me.

"I don't like kale, Lisa," she hollered a while back.

That afforded a trip to the local farmers market and a lesson on greens that are on a similar nutritional level as kale. She has definitely found some that she like.

I am ECSTATIC to see her doing some interesting things and getting the results she desires. Here was a girl who drank a couple of liters of soda a day and ate way too much fast food, changing up how she does things.  I am so proud of her.

And she admires Dr. Joe.

So I'd checked out Dr. Joe's radio show and he has some good ideas. Why not go to one of the two seminars he holds per month. Plus I wanted some information on making an appointment with him. That is one of my goals for 2014. He seems to have some good programs going.

So we went to the seminar. We got there an hour early, so we looked around the natural foods store where the seminar was being held. We even went next door to see the homeless dogs up for adoption.

Kentucky was laughing at me because I was singing The Sara McClaughlin song that comes on when the homeless pets commercial comes on.. "In the arms of an angel..."

I am looking for a cat, but they didn't have any. Well, they had one in the store. He was asleep in his cage and I woke him up by sticking my finger in through the cage rails and into his shoulder.

He bit me. Gently.

And we decided to leave him alone.

We finally went to the seminar and Dr. Joe came out.

"Look at him. There he go. There he is, Kentucky," I whispered. I nudged her with my elbow. "Go talk to him."

*kentucky kicks the hard eyeroll*

What a good seminar he gave. I like when folks delve into the "why" of why we have certain food addictions, etc. It was a really good seminar.

They even had food samples, samples of gluten-free and raw food. I especially liked the pomegrante sparkling cider.

I needed a whole glass of that. It was good. He was just coming up with suggestions of different beverages to drink instead of sodas and liquors.

We had some nice pasta with raw pesto. Turns out the pasta was brown rice pasta. I have had brown rice pasta before, It is as close to the flour pasta that I can get, but if it's cooked to long, it turns to something kin to porridge, something fit for the Goldilocks and The Three Bears. But this particular brand cooks up al dente with no falling apart. I definitely walked through the store and found some that. We also had some artichoke dip made with vegan mayonnaise and vegan parmesan cheese. I will make that one day. I already have vegan mayonnaise up in the fridge. Good stuff!

Afterwards, Kentucky and I went to one of her favorite vegan spots as of late over on the East side in Kirkwood, Dulce Vegan.

She has been constantly raving about this BLT sandwich that she's been having there over the past few months. If Kentucky likes something, especially something vegan, I know I better jump a fence to get to it.

And I ordered that sandwich.

Along with a cup of quinoa kale tabouleh.

Kentucky ordered the aame sandwich, along with a bowl of split pea soup.

There's an interesting idea: potatoes and carrots in a split pea soup. I'm going to have to try that recipe.

Back to that sandwich. That sandwich was better than any BLT I have ever had. You could not tell me that that wasn't real bacon. Look at it:

That is not bacon, that is tempeh. My sister asked me about it awhile back. It is fermented soybeans that is sold in blocks and strips. It can be used in recipes that call for meat. I have never cooked with it, but I have bought products that contain it.  Kentucky has tried to work with it and she didn't like the results. This is why I find places that make it taste good and go with that. And this was a GREAT sandwich.

Kentucky also had a cupcake.

I pinched off a little. It was good. I wish I knew how to do gluten free baking!

We came back to my house, and we watched a movie (The Avengers), and Kentucky did my taxes. Oh what a joy it was to sit next to her and call out different amounts and she entering them into the system. And I get my refund by Friday. Whooooo-Hooooo!! *cartwheels*

She even gave me a gift card: $25 to Pier1 imports.

I told her, she is gonna walk in my house and wonder where the big piece of furniture came from. I got it for $25 at the Pier1 Imports. LOL

I had such a lovely day with my sister. For once the sun was out and it was such a beautiful day.  And I am so proud of her and her efforts to eat better, and for her exposing me to new things.

Such a wonderful day.

This Oldgirl couldn't ask for anything more! 

The Ice Man Cometh

This is my 3rd post today! Glory!!

I have been watching the news the past couple of days and the whole entire metropolitan Atlanta area is like a girl on Fire!

Why?

Because the Ice Man Cometh.

Seems as upwards of an inch of ice is about to cripple all of us ATLiens.

The Ice Man Cometh.

RAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!   RAAAAAAAAAAAAH!  ARRRRGGGH!

That's what they are making it sound like.

I am hearing words like "Catastrophic" and "complete and utter disaster".  I have never heard such words like that except in description of a hurricane or tornado.

And words are little seeds, little containers holding a lot of stuff. I can't take it no more. I just can't. The word catastrophic causes so many thoughts.

Back in 1994, I was caught in an ice storm. A transformer blew and I was without power for 3 days. I packed up and slept on my aunt's couch for a few days. Oh joy.

I turned off the news. And went and did some other things, things I needed to do just in case my power goes out.

I decided that I should go do some of the things that the news people say to do. Some proactive things.

I found my flashlights and candles and placed them where I could easily find them.

I placed all my nonperishable food together in one place.

I washed up all my clothes and folded them. I put together clothes I may need just in case I have to go stay with someone else.

I charged up all the devices in the house. And there are plenty... laptop, netbook, phone, kindle, headphones. Oh joy!

That's about all I can do.

I rebuke the ice man! Rebuke!

My workplace people all texting each other wondering if we have to go to work tomorrow.

Heck man, we didn't have to go to work TODAY. And it's pretty calm outside. I told them they need to be like Oscar Tyrone was today...

They needs to chilllll.....

We need to be like Oscar-Tyrone and get that beauty sleep in. He don't care what's going on! Get that beauty sleep!

He gets up and warms his nether regions on the furnace vent near his bed... then he goes back to sleep.

No worries. No worries at all.

But on the real, I hope this isn't a repeat of the chaos of two weeks ago. That was awful. They said that this will be much worse. Hence, we all are hunkered down in our abodes, hoping the ice doesn't cripple us all.

I hope and pray it doesn't.

A LadyLee 44th Birthday Bash, Part I

So, the tradition for the past 12 years has been for my best friend and I to spend our birthdays together.

And this year, the tradition continued.

Her truck was in the shop, so I had to drive. This was a good thing, as I just had a new sensor put into Lucy Jr., and I need to drive her in order for her to be ready for emission testing.

I arrived at LadyTee's house and she was sitting on bed doing her homework. I sat on her bed and noticed she had a SUPER soft blanket on her bed.

"This is soft right here," I said. "Real soft."

"Glad you like it," she said. "My mama bought you one."

Oh that made me happy. It's this super soft blanket. It feels like cashmere. I have been wrapped up in it every time I lay on the sofa.

We headed out and made a stop by the Hobby Lobby. I was in desperate need of embroidery scissors.

As you can see, they are so small. Because of this, I tend to lose them sometimes.  But they are so good for trimming crochet work. I have become accustomed to it and I only use big scissors only if I don't have these little ones.

So I found some at a good price ($5.99 a pair).  I bought 3 pair. I can put a couple of pairs away.

Oh I forgot to add, LadyTee also gave me a balloon.

Me and balloons. Sigh.  These balloons are in my kitchen... and they follow me around.  O_O.

Anyway, we wanted to go to the movies. LadyTee wanted to see The Last Vegas, but I am sorry, I just didn't want to see a movie about a bunch of old men. Some other time, yes. That day? NO.

Whatever we saw would have to be from the Dollar Movies...

The Dollar Movies... Do you have a dollar movie theater in your city? We have had them scattered around. This seems to be the only one in town now. (We use to have a Penny Movie on the West Side some 20 years ago).

We decided to see Thor: The Dark World.

I would not usually be interested in a Thor movie, but my sister turned me on to it.  She saw the first movie a few weeks ago. "I liked that movie!" she said. "I want a red cape like Thor! Go Thor!"

I found this interesting. My sister is such a diva. She like Thor?  So I watched it. And I loved it.

I told her "I don't want a red cape like Thor. I want that Hammer he swanging. That's what I want!!"

So since LadyTee loved the first Thor also, we decided to see this sequel.

Here we are in the 2:20 pm showing. And here's a picture of the screen.

If I had a good camcorder, I could've made a bootleg. Of course it wouldn't have been all that great, but whatever.

LadyTee purchased a huge tub of popcorn.

We ate some of it. She bought it so she could get a refill and take it home to her kids. (This turned out to be a great idea).

The drinks are ridiculously expensive, so we had courtesy cups of water.

This is barely a swallow. But I don't care to pay $4 for a bottle of water. For that amount, I may as well have a soda. And I very rarely drink sodas. I don't think I've had one in the past few months. This little swallow of water was good. And the water fountain was just outside the theater.

The movie was GREAT! And we discussed it much on our way to dinner. We went to one of my favorite places in the deep south ATL suburbs, Franks at the Old Mill.

And I got what I always get when I go through there.  The fish and chips. LadyTee had it too.

Oh that fish and chips is always so great.

We also split a side of shrimp.

LadyTee was highly upset that the shrimp were served on a bed of that GOOD spring greens salad. "They need to use the cheap stuff, not this good salad." LOL

She gave a card for my birthday... with some money tucked neatly inside!

That right there is enough to make me holla "GLORY!!"

*church spin* 

*church jog in the corner*

All the waiters in the place came screeching around the corner singing Happy Birthday. (Scared the cheese out of me. My heart was beating so fast).  I blew out the little candle on my piece of cake. We were too full to eat the cake (and my battery in my phone was dead, hence no picture. It was quite pretty)!!

All in all, it was a very good time. I really enjoyed myself.

It was great birthday. I look so forward to our birthdays every year, because my best friend and I don't spend much time or talk much these days due to our schedules. I hate to admit it, but it is one of those things that have bothered me over the years, especially when I see other best friends freely spend much time together. I have wanted that for us. I want to take it back to high school, back to elementary school even, when we had minimal cares and concerns and could spend the whole day watching videos.  Oh how I miss those days. I have done much better over the years concerning it. I am thankful for that.

But I cherish these special days, our birthdays.  More than you will ever know.