THIS Black Friday Freestyles

Happy Black Friday to you!

Did you get out there and fight fight fight over those electronics?

Not me. I don't fool around, babes...

Plus it's 29 degrees right now in my beloved ATL.

I am in my warm house, on the sofa, under this crocheted blanket watching television.

The high will be in the high 40s today. I may venture outside then.

The biggest goal today is to get out in the backyard and sack up some leaves. I bought 20 lawn bags on Wednesday. Hopefully that's enough. I think I will sack up 5 bags.... then bring my tail back into the house.

Speaking of lawn bags... I bought those at my local Home De.pot. And the guy showing me where they were gave me some huge lecture on why I shouldn't shop on Black Friday, and how all black folk need to boycott Black Friday as a protest of all the police injustice.

Okay. I understand that. But black folks aren't a cohesive group. Especially when Wal-mart has 50 inch TVs on sale for less than $200. Or Staples has laptops for $100. Damn protesting... gotta get the cheap electronics.

I told him I am not concerned with that, as I don't shop on Black Friday. The last time I did was some 15 years ago. My sister got hold of some Macy's coupons in the newspaper, and we were standing in line at the store at 5 in the morning. I bought something for 40% off in the housewares department. I haven't been out since then.

And I don't hate on people for doing so. For some people it is tradition shared between family and friends. There is nothing more exciting than getting up and getting out there for the sheer joy and experience of it, than finding the #1 bargain... That's what I think.

And fighting over the bargains reminds me that we are a nation that has high class problems. We are standing in lines for hours at a time waiting for the store to open so we can get that cheap iphone or tv. We are NOT standing hours in line waiting for the workers to give out our food rations for the day. We are NOT standing in line for hours at a time, after walking for two days, to get desperately needed medical treatment.

High class problems. That's a good thing when you come to think about it.

But I have a deeper issue: I really can't stand the commercialism of this season. I just don't like it. And that is just my own personal thing. You know me: I love homemade items. My budget for Christmas gifts is $100. That's it.

This season falls pretty much during the last month of the year, and for me, it's a time of reflection. I think about what's gone well, and what's gone wrong. I think about what has changed and what I need to change. And I think about the areas of decrease and increase in my life.

Things have changed. Not as much as I like. And that's okay. A new year is coming.

And that's what I'm thinking about on THIS Black Friday.

Quote of the Week. I am sitting here watching Joyce Meyer. She and another minister are having a chat about relationships.  And they said something that caught my attention.

"Make sure you have the right 'they' in your life."

This means make sure you surround yourselves with the right people.... The right "THEY".

People who are

Tough
Honest
Encouraging
Yielded to God.

Pray about your relationships. Surround yourselves with people who replenish instead of diminish you.

"Have the right "they" in your life... so you won't become prey."

That is awesome.

Like I stated in a recent post, when I thumb through the pages of my gratitude journal, I am amazed by all the conversations I have. God sends so many folks around at just the right time to replenish me when I need to be filled. He allows me to replenish. And this is on an ongoing basis.

No I am not popular. I'm not a member of the cliques. I tend to keep to myself. And I have my ways. Lord knows I have my ways.

But the whole cycle of replenishment.

That makes me VERY rich. Very rich indeed.

And somehow I feel that I am developing in something...

Something more than that which is common and base.

Today I am thankful for all the "Theys" in my life. And I hope that am functioning as someone's "they"

And that's what I am thinking about on THIS Black Friday.

Song of the Week. William Murphy "It's Working"



My coworker Commader By plays that in the lab these days. And he and I were walking down the hall singing it hard. And we are not real singers, you see.

Another coworker was walking down the hall and she simply said "Stop it."

No. We didn't stop. Because it's a good song. And even though we can't sing, we sang anyway.

It made our hearts glad. And the whole song is a GREAT confession in itself.

So I sing it on THIS black Friday!

You have a good holiday weekend. On purpose!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

It is 10:00 a.m. as I write this post on Thanksgiving Day and I have finished my cooking.  I will post pictures later. But I only made veggies (and some dressing), and I am headed over to my sister's house at noon. She doesn't have cable, so I will miss football (darn). But that's okay. I will watch the highlights on ESPN later on tonight.

But as you can see, I want to do something different on a holiday, as I usually put up a banner of some sort and go on about my business.

I have been meditating on a particular scripture for nearly a year now.

Colossians 3:16 (Message Version)

Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.

There's a lot going on in that scripture. But for some reason the part I highlighted in red... that's the part that has stuck in me. That's the part I've been meditating and chewing on.

Those three simple words... And cultivate thankfulness... are action packed.

The word "cultivate" is an interesting word. When I see it, I think of a garden, and how you have to break up the soil to prepare the garden for seed, or to keep the plants growing properly.

There are several definitions of the word "cultivate":

Prepare or use land for gardening.
Try to develop or acquire a quality sentiment or skill
Grow or maintain living tissues in culture
Try to win the friendship or favor of someone
Apply oneself to improving or developing one's minds or manners

Whatever the definition may be, it involves some action on our parts... prepare, develop, acquire, grow, maintain, favor, apply and so on.

Back to that statement... "Cultivate Thankfulness"

To me, it means work on my thankfulness (or thanksgiving). Be mindful of it. Think on it, meditate on it. Grow in that area. Apply myself in that area.

Cultivate, cultivate, cultivate... just like working the soil of the ground, I have to continually work on being thankful, working it into the very fabric of my life.

And you would think no one would have to say "cultivate thankfulness", or it wasn't important to point out. For we all have things for which to be thankful, right?

But let me ask you a question...

How many people have you been around who murmur and complain incessantly? How much have you murmured and complained?

How many thankful people have you been around? More specifically, how many people have you been around who always find the good in a situation and who always find the silver lining of the dark cloud?

If you're anything like me, and if you are paying close attention, the numbers are severely lopsided. There are many many more complainers than thankful people in our lives. People are well developed in either one direction or the other. And that's sad.

That's why that verse has stayed on my mind.

Our hearts are very fertile soil. Anything-attitudes, beliefs, morals, idiosyncracies, etc- will grow in this "soil" when planted. And it will grow like crazy.

As for myself, on this Thanksgiving day, and frankly all this year, I've made a considerable effort to grow thankfulness in this fertile soil of mine.

And I'm glad of it. It has freed my mind.

So today, be mindful of one thing:

"And Cultivate Thankfulness"

And the more thankful we are, the more there will have in the future to be thankful for.

I can promise you that.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!! 

Before and After: My Favorite Veggie Dish

So my sister has her Thanksgiving menu together.

She is cooking a bunch of interesting stuff... pot roast, fried chicken, mash potatoes and gravy...

Then silence.

It's just the two of us. Not sure who's gonna eat all of that. I know she likes to eat for the week and freeze stuff. Not sure how one freezes fried chicken, but oh well...

"I'm bringing vegetables," I said.

We talked about that for awhile. I think I will make a nice salad. I will make a kale dish and a cabbage dish.

And she made a special request: my butternut squash, pear and cranberry dish.

That happens to be one of my favorite veggie dishes to prepare. It is simple to make. As a matter of fact, I was making it while we were talking.

Here it is before going in the oven:

Bright! Vibrant! Colorful!!

The recipe is simple enough.

4 cups of cubed butternut squash
2 cups of pears
1/2 cup of dried cranberries.
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup water

Mix all that together. Place into a 400 degree oven, and cook it until it is done, up to 2 hours. 

(That is it. I suppose you can add some cinnamon and sugar and all that. I just don't like sweet sweet stuff. Trying to keep it somewhat healthy. I have also had it with garlic, but I don't particularly care for garlic).

Here it is after a couple of hours in the oven...

I cooked that color right on out of it, didn't I?

I think next time I will cook the butternut squash first. Then after an hour, I will add my pears. They seem to cook at different rates.

I may add some pecans to it.

That'll be good!

Happy Monday Morning... Thanksgiving Edition

Monday!!

Half day work day!

Cartwheels! Big Swooping cartwheels.

I actually have a lot to do. But if it don't get done by 1:45 pm.... OH WELL!

I will be back tomorrow.

Well this is Thanksgiving Week. And we are all "Thankful" this week. Well, I think that needs to be a yearlong, every-single-day type of thing. And it takes work. I have a a journal, which I call a gratitude journal, where I write down what I am thankful each day. And over the years, I have seen an interesting trend: I am thankful for many intangibles... for instance my conversations with people. I have a LOT of good ones. I'm talking high level conversations. Good positive conversations. Conversations that impart some knowledge and wisdom into my heart. Conversations that solve problems and change or add to my perspective. Corrective conversations.

Just good conversations.

And this is the reason I don't care for frivolous conversations. It's one of the reasons why I don't just talk to any and everybody. The level of conversations are just not the same.

I am looking for balance... whatever that means.

But this week I am just thinking of what I have been thankful for this year... Those convos appear to be something I am always thankful for. Good to see that.

I am thankful for all the pictures I get of my nephews. Here's Milk and Cookies Jr!

That's his football picture.

"He suppose to be looking hard," I told his Daddy.

"That's my baby," his Daddy said.

"The boy look like he's about to sing instead of play football," I commented.

"That's my baby," his Daddy repeated.

LOL. The boy is happy to play football.

Here he is with his Daddy... Both of them cheesing hard. 

 And we can't forget about Milk and Cookies 3.0 can we?

 Hopefully he will be playing football soon!

They are such happy children.  Thankful for that.

And here is Milk and Cookies Jr.'s first school picture.

His first school picture! Kindergarten! How wonderful is that? Such a handsome little boy, he is.

I was standing at the mailbox all weepy, staring at that picture. (I know my neighbors had to be looking out the window and thinking... what's wrong with her?)

My brother is so proud. He says he is doing well and is one of the smartest children in the class. And we are all thankful for that.

I am thankful for family today. No, we don't get together much, but that's okay. We do what we can. 

Alright now... Thanksgiving is coming. If you haven't started defrosting your chitlins yet, you need to get on that. You need time to clean them and cook them. So get going!

LOL

Have a good week... on purpose.

Friday Afternoon Funk (Freestyles, I Mean)

What's up to all of y'all...

I am feeling GREAT. Because it is PAYDAY!



And I can ball for a couple hours! Big Ballin' LadyLee!

Ball Ball Ball 'til we Fall Fall Fall!!!

*tosses $1000 bills high in the sky and breaks out all the bling-bling*



Ball... Until it's time to pay my bills.

I take all 100 rings off my fingers. And I put them back into the Jewelry box. 

Balling all over. Back to being that Oldgirl...

Your Friendly Neighborhood Oldgirl LadyLee.

Well well well... When I watch the news, I see how COLD it is. And it's been cold in the ATL. But alas, it's been a really nice day today in my beloved ATL... The early morning temps were middling in the 20s early this week, but the temps are hovering in the 60s right now. Thank goodness for that. And my heart goes out to you all up north with all that snow. Ugh. No snow here. And you know we get upset down here in the ATL if ONE snowflake hits the ground. We will shut the city completely down, honey. Shut it down.

Work has been QUIET. And slow. I can't say I like it like that. I resort to clock watching of the worse kind. And we can't have that. 

We are up for a rainy dreary weekend. At least it won't be snow or ice. And the temp will be in the 60s. Good enough for me.

I don't have many plans. Chores and reading. And I have a new crochet project underway. No going off to the workplace this weekend (thank goodness for that!).

A nice quiet weekend in store. Thankful for it.

My sister and I have been discussing Thanksgiving. I going to her house this year. She's making a pot roast. I will bring a couple of sides. And I will stuff a $50 dollar bill off in her purse to help her out with the grocery bill. It's just the two of us, but I know how she likes to go all out. As long as I can leave it all there, that's cool. 

Quote of the Week.  You know how much I like quotes. I heard a couple this morning on television while getting ready for work. Here's one of them.

Excuses are reasons stuffed with lies.

Oh my. It's interesting how much meaning can be stuffed tight into six short words.

I think we all make excuses. I know I I do. But I have learned to spend a little time looking at what's underneath the excuses. I've learned to try to just stop lying to myself. And that quote lets me know I'm doing the right thing.

Songs of the Week. I've been listening to some Mary J. Blige.

This song right here is the most AWESOME song ever.  "Your Child" by Mary J. Blige



I love a song that tells a good story. And that song does it for me. Yes it does.

But I've always been partial to young Mary. You know, the young 22 year old Mary.

The Mary who was dranking too much and snorting too much cocaine.

THAT Mary.

She made her best music ever... under the influence.

"Reminisce"



"What's the 411?"



And my favorites off the My Life Album... when she was still dranking too much. When she was all messed up in the head over K-Ci of Jodeci...

"I'm the Only Woman"



And "Be Happy"



Now if that don't take you back 22 years, I don't know what will.

I think I have a whole Spotify playlist on my phone with at least 40 of Mary's songs. Put that on random and hook it up to house speakers in my living room and I can get some GOOD house cleaning done. Good house cleaning.  

Mary and I are the same age. And we have done many of the same things. The only difference is that she has had to live her life out in the public eye. I haven't.

And Lord knows I've done more than my fair share of... questionable tomfoolery.

My fair share indeed.

But I have loved her development over the years. If she was still as ratchet at the age of 44 as she was at the age of 22, that would be a different story.

The lesson here is that we are ALL always under construction.

Until the very day... until the very minute we die.

And we all need to remember that... on purpose.

Welp! The holidays are upon us!  I'm working half days all week.

I told my boss... "Uh... I will git here when I git here."

As long as I work my 4 hours, honey.

She kicked the hard eyeroll. The X-tra hard eyeroll.

X-tra.

And that is alright. It is.

Ya'll have a great weekend. On purpose.

Cats (with No Names)

So once me and and Grandma "got our exercises", we retired to her backyard.  She gave me a tour.

And there was a lot going on.  Lot's of planters and decorations randomly scattered all about. I am sure there was plenty of method to the madness, but I couldn't figure it out.

But look closely at this picture.

I was highly interested in the clothesline. It's a little hard to see, but that's a REAL clothesline. It's set up with three lines of hard wire. That was awesome. I would love to have a clothesline.

And I really like this rug.

Little black girls praying. I've never seen a rug like that before.

That's on the carport, where my Uncle Tweet repairs lawn mowers and trimmers.

And the carport is where his cats eat.

There's no bowl or anything. He just grabbed a couple of handfuls of dry cat food from a garbage bag and scattered it on the ground.

How... uncivilized. But the cats were happy to have it, as you can see.

"So what are your cats' names?"

"Big Red," he said.

He reached down and petted a cat.

Uh, I suppose and assume the one he petted was Big Red."

"So," I continued when he didn't answer. "What's the other cats' names?"

"They don't have names."

*crickets*

Wow. So much went through my mind at that moment.

Cats with no names. There was a food-for-thought message in that.

And I think there still is.

I just haven't figured it out yet.

Then a BIG black cat showed up out of nowhere.

It made me jump back a step.

I guess he (or she) with no name was late to the party. But it got in there and ate with the rest.

We watched as the cats ate all the food off the ground.   I thought about snatching one up and taking it home to play with Callie, but they are feral, and would tare my house (and Callie) completely apart.

I let that thought go.

Then Grandma and I went back in the house.

We left Uncle Tweet, and the cats with no names, to themselves.

Exercises with Grandma

My Grandma is always saying, in her small slight voice, "I need to get my exercises."

This means that she needs to get out and go for a walk. And she rarely does that if she has to do it alone. I told her, she can walk to the end of the driveway and back just a few times and that will be fine. She can walk one house up, and one house down, and that will be just fine too.

She nodded.

And I don't know what the head nods means.

"Do you want me to come over and walk with you one afternoon?" I asked.

She nodded again and smiled. "Yes Lisa, that would be real nice."

"Okay," I said.

So I went over one dreary afternoon and we went outside to walk.

Before we left the front porch, she grabbed a huge heavy stick.
 

"This here is my stick I walk with," she said.

"And it's a big stick," I said.

"This here is for in case the dogs come at us," she added.

And she know how to hold it, too...

That's that special Black Belt Ninja stance and hold right there.

We could rest assured that if any dog or any other animal or robber come at us, Grandma had it under control.

That would be one dead dog or person that day. That's just how heavy that stick was.

So we set out for our walk. We walked down the street, which amounted to half a block, then back up. We were going to do this for as long as she could stand it.  And this was a slow walk. I usually walk upwards of 3 miles in one hour when I am walking alone. But she walks really slow. So it took us some 10 minutes to walk down the block, and back.

I took a few pictures of the houses on the street. Like most inner city neighborhoods, the neighborhood has gone downhill. Boarded up houses dot the streets. There was a clearing down the street where I would wait for the afternoon train and wave at the conductor and he would blow the horn. It was good to see that, even though it's a bit overgrown now.

And it's always good to see my great-grandmother's house:

She passed over 30 years ago, when I was 12. But I practically lived with her and Uncle Olin and Otis here up until the age of 5 or so. She lived next door, to the left of my maternal grandparents. She loved to watch her "stories" in the afternoon, and my grandmother would arrive home for her job around 3:30 pm. This excited me, because I could leave and go to her house and watch the afternoon cartoons.

And then there's this house, which is on the other side of my great-grandmother's house.

I shudder when I see this house.

Why? Because I got stung by a bee one day. I was 6 years old, and I was playing next to a bush and out of nowhere... STUNG. There was some random man walking down the street, and I ran screaming and hollering into his arms. He scooped me up and knocked on the front door. I don't remember much after that.

(But I don't think that is a good idea, running and jumping in strange people's arms).

Anyway, Great-Grandma Minnie took me next door. There were some old ladies sitting up on the steps. The owner of the house, Mrs. Mac, peered at me curiously as my great-grandma explained how I'd been stung on the back of my hand by a bee.

I liked Mrs. Mac.  She was really nice to me. Always yelled "Hey Lisa" as I walked (or rode my big wheel or my bike) around the corner to the corner store for my bag of Funyuns and orange Nehi soda. And she was really light-skinned with what was called "that good hair". At one time, I thought that she was white. I asked Great-grandma about it. She said she wasn't, and that was that Massa blood in her. O_o.

(Not sure one should tell this to a small child. I thought about that for days).

Anyway, Mrs. Mac grabbed my hand and grabbed some of the snuff she was chewing on out of her mouth and slapped it on the back of my hand.

THE HORROR!

I was too shocked to cry.  I remember the huge intake of hot summer air, the large gasp.

Nearly 40 years later, I can still see the sticky beige goo on the back of my hand.  All the old ladies were staring at me. I knew not to wipe it off.

"Leave that on there for awhile," Mrs. Mac instructed. "It take the sting out."

I don't remember much after that. I must've been shocked the rest of the day.  It must've worked, because I was back to playing outside the rest of the summer.

All these years, even now, I dare not go by the bush where I got stung. No way. No sir.

Grandma and I talked of all this while we "got our exercises." It's funny how I can still see and feel the vibrancy of the neighborhood circa 40 years ago, even through the dilapidation.  I can still hear my grandparents neighbors greeting me. I can still hear the train coming down the railroad tracks.

I hate that is all lost.

But it truly isn't lost.

It's alive in my heart.

(And I'm glad of that).

Good Sleep... Once again.

Sista Callie Jo, in all her kitteness, likes to sleep a lot.

She's pontificating in that photo. Maybe she is thinking about Oscar-Tyrone and how she misses him so. She misses their many fights, and how he use to kick her azz.

I do understand that, Sista Callie. One must sit quietly and remember an Oldcat.  I miss him too. *sniffing back tears*

But it bothers me when she feels the need to lay up on me.

Here she is laying up on me, right between my legs as I lounge on the sofa.

Stretched out, legs wide open. Good grief, Sista Callie.

This is odd, as she is not the type of cat that jumps up in my lap for attention. I just happen to be laying on the sofa and she decided to lay between my legs. Sigh.

And she was getting that good sleep... once again.

Sadly she was jarred awake when I jumped up off the sofa. The look of bewilderment on her face was priceless.

Too bad I couldn't get a picture of that!

Friday Freestyles

I tell you one thing...

I am thankful it's Friday, but it is COLD in the ATL.

29 degrees this morning.

COLD.

I can deal with this cold weather better than it being azz hot.

It was so cold last night that I made my yearly trek to my local beauty supply store and bought some cheap gloves, a scarf and a hat. Granted I don't spend much time outside, I have very little hair. I'm just trying to keep the heat from escaping from the top of my head.  That is all.

This has been a quiet week at work. Not sure why. I have had much time to stare and pontificate.

My major goal was to get the job applications filled out. I am thankful for someone who set me down and walked me through the whole electronic process. I am old school, where I fill out stuff by hand.  It's been 5 years since I applied for anything, and around here, things are so political that I just decided not to waste the time to do so.  But management has run up on me so hard about it (yes, it is all still political), so I just do what I am told.

BUT, and this is a big but... my entire goal was to figure the system out so that I can apply for bigger things.... 

Hmm...

That was my goal. No, that is my goal. Period.

So that has been my accomplishment for the week. If you want to call it that.

Right now, I am more concerned about this cold weather. I don't want to even leave the house this weekend. But surely I will... Errands, errands, and more errands to run!

Picture of the Week.  Some of us keep our supervisor's candy jar stocked up.

That's  a lot of candy.  I have learned that it keeps the traffic over in my cubicle for my candy stash down. And that's a good thing for me and my on purpose antisocial moody self.

Like I said, that' s a lot of candy. But that's not a candy jar. That's an old school candy dish.

I've been joning her out about it. "That look like something you stole from somebody's grandma!"

She gives me the hard eye roll. The extra hard eye roll. 

I don't know where she got it. But I am sure it was not purchased brand new. That's from the thrift store or somebody's flea market!

As long as it holds candy, who cares. And if that candy dish falls off her desk, it will never break. That's how good that old school glassware is.

Song of the Week. I like REAL female rappers. Not sure what's going on with these sisters now, but it looks like they rapping for the dudes. And the vocabulary doesn't veer much from the use of the word "bitch". Not sure why they all wanna diss each other like that. And no, I don't want to see females near butt-nekked gyrating on the floor spitting sub-par rhymes. No...

I'd rather have some Nikki D... "Daddy's Little Girl"



I like a little storyline with my rap music. I'm just saying. Spin me a tale, please. Make me think.

That is it for me!

My boss is gone. I am in charge the rest of the day. Sigh. I have already gotten on the phone to make sure someone finishes up today. "I'm just trying to catch you before you go speeding down I-20, gal!" I holler.

Yes. I need the rest of the day to go smooth. No hiccups. Not while I am in charge. No ma'am. No sir.

I am looking forward to quitting time...

So I can get my weekend started...

On Purpose!

Quote of the Day: Life's Chapters

 My cubicle mate Cowgirl Cre called my name and asked me to turn around and look at something on her computer on her facebook page. It was a quote, one that left her particularly fascinated:

Do not, I repeat, do not allow anyone to sit high and look low to judge you. Everyone has a chapter in their life they don't read out loud.

Well, dang!!

I heard that.

And I think that anyway. People who are overly judgmental and critical of folks and their lives are most likely hiding a few things.

They have quite a few skeletons crammed type in their proverbial closets. There are a few chapters in their lives that they keep hidden from view.  And they make themselves feel better about their own secret issues by judging the lives of others.

I see that all the time. 

And it is reminiscent of one of my favorite scriptures:

Romans 2: 2 (Message version). Judgmental criticism of others is a well-known way of escaping detection in your own crimes and misdemeanors. Every time you criticize someone, you condemn yourself. It takes one to know one.

Yes it is.  A well known way indeed.

It takes one to know one. Um-hmmm...

One word in that quote sticks out to me: Everyone.

EVERYONE.

Everyone has something. We all have lived and have done some interesting things that we were just glad we got through it.  Lord knows I myself have done some questionable things. Highly questionable.

So it's hard for me to sit here and look at folks and judge them. Most of my thoughts in that arena run along the lines of "I've done something similar to that before."  And I spend quite a bit of time thinking about it. And how I can be of help in some way.

Now with that said, I think we all judge in someway, even if we don't come out and say it. But you know what we're talking about here. Everyone knows those people who are waaaay over the top. They ALWAYS got something to say about someone else is doing.

They are experts on everyone else's business except their own business, which by the way, they hold close to their chest. They are quite secretive about their own business.

We all know people like that. I know I do.

But the antidote for that behavior is to remember our own lives, and to go back and read a few of those chapters in our books.

We don't have to read them aloud... just read them in our own minds to ourselves.

And maybe we will have some compassion for others who are going through things... since we ourselves have gone through things our ownselves.

Wordless Wednesdays: "See How She Grows"

Thank You, Veterans

Good Monday Afternoon

Good Monday Afternoon.

I am a little late with these Monday Freestyles. But that is alright. I see ya'll reading. Some of ya'll are even texting me.

I worked this past Saturday. Only 4 hours, but I get a good 8 hours worth of work done in 4 hours on a Saturday. There are barely any distractions, and it's very quiet. I had a ton of reports to read, so I got all of that done, plus a little lab work. I just needed to get from under it all, and to start my week off with a clean slate this week.

I was going to work on Sunday, but I called a coworker, one of the youngsters in the group who was here on Sunday, and asked her what she was doing and if she needed me to come in. She said she'd been at work since five in the morning.

Humph. There is NO way I am coming to work at 5 in the morning. Shoot... it's still nighttime as far as I'm concerned.

I told her that I had my work clothes laid out and my church clothes laid out. After conversing with her, I decided to put on my church clothes and go to church.

Praise the Lord!

I called up my best friend LadyTee and met her at church. I rarely go to a Sunday service (I prefer a weekday bible study). But I was glad I went. It was a good message, and I was glad to see my best friend.

Last night I had a good phone conversation with one of my favorite readers and imaginary hypothetical heroin shooting partner, Ginae! She called me a couple of weeks ago to check on me, and I told her I would talk with her again. You didn't think I was gonna call, did ya gal?  Ha ha!

I have your phone number. I can harass you now. *sinister laugh*

But seriously. Good to talk to you. It was like talking to Michelle Obama, it was. Let's talk again:)

Today's foodstuffs. This is just TOTALLY random.

90% of the time I have some type of green smoothie in the morning:

It is based on throwing the french doors of the fridge open and pulling out whatever. This one is organic baby kale, red pear, blueberries, strawberries, cold water and shredded cabbage. And a scoop of my vitamin supplement powder. It was interesting enough. I have been on a cranberries run for the past couple of weeks. Not sure why I left those out. Maybe because I need to use up my strawberries.

Here's my salad!

Lettuce, tomato, various peppers, cucumbers, apples and shredded cabbage (trying my best to get rid of this cabbage, man). And I found an AMAZING tangerine coriander dressing for it.

This is a small salad. Cowgirl Cre is running out to get something to eat, and she's bringing me back some tater tots!

OH JOY!!!!!  Nothing like a little grease on my Monday, right!? LOL

Quote of the Week. This one had me a bit...... O_O.

If I don't have a sense of purpose in my life, I'm going to make your life a living hell.

Well dayum!

That's a bit extreme, ain't it?

But it makes sense. When I see folk just being dramatic and wreaking havoc in the lives of everyone around them, I think to myself  Don't you have something else better to do?

Apparently not. According to the quote above... they have no purpose. Nothing to focus upon. So they got all the time in the world to mess with you.

But I submit that's just one of the issues.

I feel more like this:

There you are, walking in your purpose.

Here I am, sitting here, with no purpose at all.

Time for me to knock you off course.

Hmm. I have a self-esteem issha. Indeed.

But the same ol' question comes up: Don't I have something else better else to do than to be messin' with folks? DANG.

I heard that on a talk show on SiriusXM from a financial and small business expert. I did not get his name. I was too shocked.


Song of the Week.  This is one of my top ten favorite songs EVER. "Love is on the Way" by Deborah Cox.



That's one of my favorites. You want me to sit down somewhere and calm down? Play that song. Loved-ed it. Brings me down a notch!

That whole CD is great, one of my favorites from the 90s. People hate that she didn't blow up in the USA. But she's huge in Canada. Plus she's not singing half nekked or gyrating on the floor. Hence, this means you're not a big female pop star in the US.

I'm just saying.

Alright! Tomorrow's Veteran's day!

Are ya'll ready for Veterans Day? I am. It's a day off for me! And I am going to make some calls and thank some of my favorite veterans for their service and for their protection of my freedoms. I even made one of my military coworkers a batch of cookies today. 

Thank you Veterans for your service to our great nation!

Have a great week on purpose!

Friday Freestyles

Good Friday Afternoon...

Where is everyone at?

Hmm... It makes me want to write something deep, uncensor myself.

Not now, maybe next week.

Anyway, it's Friday, and it's Pay Day. And as stand here and pretend to be a baller until midnight. That's when all my bills and mortgage hit out of my account. But for now I am a baller.

It's starting to get a bit cold in my beloved ATL. Today we won't get out of the 50s, and I have found that I have had to turn on the heat so I won't wake up freezing cold. This is fine, because I don't miss the searing summer heat. Not one bit.

One thing I am glad of, though: the elections are OVER. I HATE election time. I have to be subjected to endless television commercial after commercial. They are all dark and dangerous looking, meant to instill fear.  That ends the day after the elections.  Thank goodness.

And now the Republicans have control of both houses. This means nothing will get done. I couldn't be President. I would veto everything, and I would get everything done by executive order. You talking about impeaching me and repealing my health care act? How about I veto the cheese out of you. Humph.

This should all be interesting. I still don't think anything will get done. 2016, here we come.

And what of the whole ebola epidemic? Shouldn't 1/2 of the USA be sick or dead right now?

No. It all comes down to the whole fear thing again. And the media uses that like a pimp uses a prostitute.

And it's big reason that I'm not a fan of manufactured news.  I am reading a book on ebola right now. That's just me and my PhD mind. I have to go research stuff.

With that said, here's a quote to remember. And it's applicable for every single nook and cranny of life.

The FEAR of something is always stronger than than the actual something.

That's a LadyLee original Quote of the Week. I don't know if that makes sense or not.

It is something I think we all struggle with on some level or another.  What happens when words are said and you receive them? What happens when those words are written across your heart?

Life can get interesting very fast. And it all begins with words. Because with just the  just the right combination of words, I can get you to paint an awful picture in your mind, and have you scared beyond belief. You know it and I know it.  And that's how it all starts. I saw it with the ebola. And I saw it with the elections. Sigh.

With that said, I am learning...

My faith must go past my feelings.
My faith must go past all the question marks.

And most importantly, my faith must go past my fears.  

It must.

Period.

Just some thoughts for this brisk November day.

Song of the Day. I like Jhene Aiko. I like this song well enough...



But I like it when the beat and melody changes at 3:44 minutes. I like songs that change completely to something else halfway through.

Plus Kendrick Lamar does a guest spot. And you know I like him.

By the way, have you seen his latest video?

O_o.

That is all. Maybe I will post that next week.

With that said, I am working this weekend, on both Saturday and Sunday. I don't really mind because I get much more done on the weekends when there is no one around. I can concentrate. I have a ton of paperwork. But I hope to work only 4 hours each day. On the weekends, that's like me working 8 hours each day. That's just how tightly planned and consistent I am on the weekends.

But Veterans day is coming up. I will have Tuesday off. Glory!

You all don't work this weekend, alright? Go out and enjoy this brisk cool weather. On purpose!

Sista Callie Jo Part I: A Tale of Convalescence

Look at ya girl Sista Callie Jo!  Trying to mean mug me!

I've never seen her do that before.

I rolled my eyes. "Sista Callie, you ain't ready! You can't mean mug like the late great Oscar-Tyrone, with that doggone jacked up collar around your neck. You ain't ready. Go do some church jogs in the corner, Sista Callie!"

She stares for all of 5 seconds, then she runs off to play.

Oscar-Tyrone would stare harder. For an hour. Without much blinking.

She ain't ready.

But I hope she is ready for her new kitty litter.

Look at me, trying to be all environmentally friendly.

Normally, I don't care. Just give me litter that kills off the litter box odor. But I was looking at some cats at the Pet store (just looking), and I was talking to the keeper and he told me about corn litter and how it is safer for cats. So I decided to try some.

I mixed it with her litter. I have to do that because I noticed she gets PISSED when her litter is totally different and just throws it all out the box. But this time she behaved.

We will see how it works out.

For now, she is still in her e-collar. It has been 14 days since her spay, and she is healing up well enough. But I will leave her in it until this weekend.

For some odd reason she likes it, though. And she has figured out how to sleep in it.

She has managed to sharpen her nails on the scratching post while wearing it.

She has managed to lounge in it.

She can't really eat with it on. It gets all nasty and I have to clean it. And I'm not spending another $10 on one. Yikes.

When I sent a picture of her to my sister Kentucky, she texted back "Whoa! That's a bit extreme!"

I thought so too, at first. But when they said I had to keep her, with her hyper self, from licking her surgical wounds and taring out the stitches... extreme will have to do.

But like I said, she likes the collar. I may just keep it on her.

No... that would be cruel. And extreme indeed.

I am just glad she is healing well.

As for that mean-mugging... she'll just have to continue to work on that.

Ten Tuesday Thoughts... Voting Edition

1.  Whatever you do, get out and VOTE today. The Oppressor is doing all this suppressing today, so if you have your license, you might as well.

2. I was playing Words with Friends with Tayari's father and listening to the Sirius XM at the same time. The host of a show I like was having a black political roundtable with black folks who have taught politics over the years, and they announced someone with Tayari's father's name. I texted him in the chat room and asked "Was that you, Mr. Jones??" Indeed it was.

3. That political roundtable was deep off the pages. I learned a lot. He spoke of how we are to the point now where we vote for the less egregious candidate.

4. I totally agreed with him. But I call it voting for the "lesser of two evils".  I can't stand that. I want to be excited about the voting process. It is such a pimp-ho game now.

5. I don't care for the Democratic party. I think they take the black vote for granted.  And the democratic candidates shunning President Obama is a dayum shame. Really.

6. I don't care for the Republican party even more. Stop making everything about your hatred for the black President and come up with some solutions to some problems.

7. The most interesting thing I heard this morning was a quote from someone on Fox News yelling about how the president was a racist. They yelled about how people are on welfare and food stamps even more now.

8. I found that all interesting. Seeing how there are numbers-wise more white people on food stamps and welfare than black folks. Hmm. Confusing. Why dog your own people like that? Or do they want to continually culturally condition us black folks into thinking we are all on public assistance?

9. I wish the Republican party had some black leadership. We see what happened with Michael Steele and Herman Cain. That's enough for me.

10. They would do good to go find Colin Powell and get him to lead something. But they can't do that, though. Colin Powell is his own man, and he doesn't read from the script. And I raised an eyebrow at the whole party when he got the heck on. It was almost like someone raising the "baptist finger" and excusing themselves from the church. LoL.

11.  I can't WAIT to see what happens with Dr. Ben Carson. He will get snatched down if it even remotely looks like people are on his side. But he's saying a bunch of crazy stuff lately, so... we'll just have to see.

12. I am tired of every other commercial being a political commercial.  And they are all dark and fear based.

13. We may have a run-off in Georgia, and it won't be held until January.  So that means more political commercials.  Sigh.

14.  I tend to vote across the board in local politics. It is easier to evaluate if the incumbent has done a good job. But national politics is a whole nother animal.

15. With that said, I am not sure how my current governor got into office. Didn't he get kicked out of congress. He makes me squeamish with all his ethics charges. Just shady. He did not get my vote.

16. I was voter number 13 at my precinct. And that was about 45 minutes after the polls opened. Let's hope the numbers in my 'hood rise over the day.

17. Best rule of thumb:  Vote your interests. Period. 

18. Make sure you get out and VOTE.  I don't care who you vote for. Make sure you VOTE.

That was more than 10 Tuesday thoughts. I have many more. But you get the picture.

Go VOTE!!