Quiet Symphony

It is amazing how when at night
I turn off the television and the house lights
In search of quiet so I can fall asleep.
Except it isn’t really quiet.

For in the distance, there is a freeway.
It’s not far away, but it is far enough away not to trip me out and have me staying up all night from all the noise.

Yes, I can hear the cars as they speed to their destinations.

And in the distance, a train track runs. I can hear the hard thrusts of engines, powering trains down tracks of wood and steel.


Suddenly into this quiet symphony blows a hard wind, rushing with urgency through the tall trees that dot the yard. And on this very night, there's an extra special cameo:

It’s the rain,  a soft and persistent patter upon my spanish tile roof. It's working with the wind to batter the trees, causing them to drop their acorns from their delicate branches.

And tonight, there is you
Laying here beside me.
Your breath is slow, deep, and even.
I hear you exhale
Inhale
And exhale again.
And the sound of your breath, it is quiet.
But at the same time
Just as loud as the car, train, wind and the rain.

My head rests upon your chest
Your chest hairs are sparse and downy
They tickle that space that has no name
That space between my cheek and nose.

We made love during this quiet symphony
Our moans and groans special guests stars
At this performance given just for us and by us.
As we lay, you break the silence with one simple question
And it’s the same question you always ask:

“You still think about him, don’t you?”

At a time like this, it would be best to lie.
 But I can’t lie.
I can’t lie.
Not when I'm vunarable like this.
Not when I’m coming down from my sexual high.

And I can’t lie to you, my husband
My husband who has loved me faithfully for so many years.
Love is the conductor tonight, and it won’t let me tell a lie.

“Yes,” I say.  "Yes Lord Yes."

The word is quiet as it slips from my mouth, barely a shushed whisper.
It is barely audible amongst the quiet symphony of cars, trains, wind, breath and rain.
I still think about him, the love of my life. But my parents didn’t approve of him, saying that I would make you, my husband, a better wife.

They were right.
I was a better wife.
I had a better life.
But what of the rushing wind?
What of the falling rain?
What of the hurried cars?
What of these cargo carrying trains?

And what of my heart?

I can’t think of that, my heart
My fast beating heart, right now.
My thoughts are brash and loud, off-key and in need.
There's no need for other words to be spoken.
For now I will concentrate and focus on the quiet symphony

This quiet symphony...
Which plays so softly for you and me.


Afterword

Hmm.  Usually I holler "That ain't me!" after a story. 

But that story is highly biographical.

When I wake up in the mornings, I hear all kinds of sounds. And they aren't loud enough to jar me, but I still hear them. I live about a mile from the freeway, and I live about the same distance from some train tracks. I hear the rain, and the wind blowing through my trees.  Those are always still quiet moments, where there's no television, no nothing. Just the sounds of nature and life moving fast for others.

I was reading something in my favorite author's rough draft of her next novel, and a portion indirectly reminded me of that one line in the story:

"You still think about him, don't you?"

I was asked that one evening after some lovemaking by the ex-hubby. I said yes. He didn't say anything, but I remember him having a attitude later. It had to be connected with that.

The boyfriend I had before him was the best boyfriend EVER. But I let him go because he wasn't that smart. I should've been mature enough to appreciate his best attribute: He was good.

I was young. And I didn't know any better.

Tayari was like... "Wow."

"I'm gonna use that as a writing prompt," I told her.

And I did.

And a good writing prompt it was.

Semi-Wordless Wednesday: Triscuits Galore

So I was walking down the cookie and cracker aisle in the Wal-Mart and I saw this:

What in the world?

When I was little, there was only one type of Triscuit. Now there a whole bunch of different types...

When did this happen?

Maps and Hips

I don't watch much news, but when something major goes on in the world, I tend to turn on a news program just to get a general idea of what's going on.

And it seems as if over the years, there are conflicts in countries I've never heard of.

When this happens, I do something I haven't normally done in the past: I locate the country on a map. And then I go read about it. This is especially nice on a rainy afternoon, just spending a couple of hours researching the country. I've been doing this for a few years now. I have more of an appreciation of history now.

This began indirectly after years of reading my big blog bruh Cheap Seats Terry's posts, and observing his love of history. And he writes about it so well. It made me want to just become more knowledgeable in general about world history. The news only tells you so much, you see. I want to know as much of the background as possible.

So... a couple of years ago, I noticed that my best friend LadyTee put some huge maps up on her walls. One was of the world, and another was of the united states. And they are huge, the size of twin beds.

This was funny to me at first. But after a number of visits, I'd stand up and get real close to them. I'd put my hands on my hips and ponder them.

And I noticed a few things:  For instance, look at this map of east Asia...

"I didn't know Mongolia was a country," I said. I turned around with my hands still on my hips. "I thought that was something out of the early or middle ages, way back long time ago. Back with Ghingis Khan and them dudes."

"Naw'll, it's still there, girl," she said.

That is odd. We NEVER hear of some mess jumping off in Mongolia. That is something that I will be looking up on a rainy day.

I continued perusing the map. Still standing there, my face some six inches from map.

I did NOT know Tasmania was off the coast of Austraila.

Why did I think Tasmania was in Africa? Maybe I am getting that mixed up with Tanzania.  I don't know.

This caused me to move over the the country of Africa. I was still standing there, with my hands on my hips considering the continent.

You know, I heard someone on a radio show say that we, as black folks, don't know much about Africa. That is because we were sent to school to learn to adore our oppressor. That's a bit harsh. Well, I thought it was.

But answer these questions:

How many countries are in Europe?  Can you name them?

Well... how many countries are in Africa?

I can name all the countries in Europe with relative ease.  I even speak a little french. And because of my chemistry background, I can read french really well, and I can understand it when spoken (There are chemistry papers in french, so I took french).

I thought there were some 10 countries in Africa. I named a few.

But there are actually 54 countries in Africa.

Here's the kicker... Can you name them???

And if you can, good for you.  And if you can't.... why is that?

Hmm...

That's just something to think about. I can't name all the countries of the continent from whence my slave ancestors were purchased.

I stood there with my hands on my hips taking it all in. There are countries in Africa that I can't even pronounce. Sigh.

Anyway, LadyTee and I go to Saturday night church. She called and asked if I would be there, because she had something for me. So when I arrived... she gave me a bag of maps similar to hers.

Man... you KNOW I was cheesing.

I will be standing in my own house with my hands on my hips studying my own maps.

How wonderful is that?

Good Monday Evening

Good Monday Evening!

I know, I haven't been blogging.  That's because a LOT has been going on.  I have been super busy...

Moving into a new cubicle space in the adjoining building.

Yes! New job in another group, and a new workspace...

And that seems to be what drove the whole driving force in the first place.

The drive for a new cubicle, that is...

But that is waaaaaay too deep for me to discuss here on blog. Way too deep.

I swear this is on some Lucy Jr. type of level, the things going on right now. And you know how long it took for me to fully understand, digest, and even fathom what was going on with Lucy Jr.

I will leave that for my personal tomes. Way too deep to scratch high up on the walls of The House of LadyLee.

Anyway, I had to move 13.5 years worth of stuff from one cubicle in one building to another cubicle in another building. Well, some 70% of it was legitimate paperwork, etc.  But 30% was stuff. Lot's of stuff, which became lots of trash. Ugh.

The first thing I did was move my nameplate. I did that because I looked at my old cubicle spot and had absolutely no idea what to do first when it came to cleaning and moving. So I just snatched my name plate off the wall, and laid claim to the new spot with my nameplate.  That was a start. And then in a hard marathon dash, I moved my belongings in two days straight.

I am not all that sure how it happened. I think I have some senority now. Someone went and mentioned that I wanted the cubicle to the person who makes that happen. It got approved by the union, and the rest is history.

When I got the email of approval, I broke out into a mess of hives. I was that excited. I had to take the next day off because my lips had turned into soup coolers. I was told to get it done because a new person would be starting on Monday and they could take the cubicle that I wanted and we could switch later.

*crickets*

NO. No need for folks to get comfortable in MY new cubicle then have to move. NO!

It was like a mad dash. I was tired as hell. But I got it done, complete with wiping down my old cubicle with lysol wipes. DONE.

I am happy to be in a new spot. Yes, I miss the Cowgirl Cre, who has been my cubicle mate for these past 13 years. And we have been friends for close to 20 years, and she knows me, the total arc of me... the good, the bad, the horrific and the ugly. It is difficult for me to deal with my "uniqueness", and still have my back unconditionally.Trust me, I spent much time thinking about that.  And I decided it is gonna be alright.

Cre has even been over here to see me a few times, and I appreciate it. We didn't discuss, but she understands. One of her many purposes and roles has been me to keep me calm and from cussing folks completely out. I think I will be alright now. I've grown quite a bit, I hope.

So that's what I have been up to. My mind is still whirling from these sudden good changes this year. And I suppose that's a good thing.

CD of the Month.  I listen to a ton of music since I have my Spotify account. Whatever CDs come out on Tuesdays, I'm on it. I can't tell you what the world comes on urban radio, as I don't listen to it. I rather pull up a CD and pick my favorite songs off of it.

One CD in particular caught my attention. That's because I really like some 80% of the songs. Jazmine Sullivan's Reality Show.

The back cover is funny...

Yeah... that's reality alright.

You know, I may go out and BUY the CD so I could just have it up in my 6 CD changer in Lucy Jr. (Yes, that car is 16 years old. I still have the cassette player in there, too. Ain't changing it!)

This chick knows how to tell a crazy story in her songs. She sure paints some interesting characters and situations. I love it!

Here are four of my favorite songs on the CD (warning: semi-explicit lyrics):










Wow. I like her. I Hope she does well with that CD.  That last song I posted makes me think the CD is a concept album, since it is one of the last songs on the album. Most of the songs are some pretty ratchet characters, but the last song is a song of self-love and acceptance.

That is it for me. Hopefully, I can get back on track. Maybe I can. We will see.

Would you like to see a story this week?

Hmm... we will see. It's been a long time since I've put up a story. That would be so cool. 

With that... have a good week!

On purpose.

Headlights Beaming

From time to time, I see headlights beaming around my house.

Not headlights from "Headlights" that occur when light hits Sister Callie's and Mitch's eyes.

Here they are on the beams running above the living room.

I laughed at something on TV, and that's the look they gave me that pretty much says "What's wrong with that chick?"  They haven't gotten into any fights up there, although Callie has been a little miffed that Mitch is blocking her way. It takes her a minute to walk the other way to the staircase.

Man... they gonna catch hell from me if they step out on that ceiling fan. Pure hell. That is all.

Callie likes to chase her tail while up there. I swear it's just to piss me off. No accidents so far.

I was watching a movie and listening to music on laptop, but I'd connected to a set of big speakers and a woofer that sits up on top of my bookcase.  Callie was skittish the whole time, running to and fro, as she thought someone was in the house.

I caught her sitting up on a step ladder.  When I went to take a picture, Mitch was in stun mode too.  He'd climbed on top of Callie's cage carrier.

I'm still laughing at Callie... just the look on her face, lol...

Okay. You had to be there. It was too funny.

It took awhile before I could figure out her problem was. I decided to spare her the shock of it all and turn off my speakers.

I may do it all again... just to amuse myself.

Maybe I won't.

It's still strange to catch those headlights beaming, though.

Oh so strange. 

Good Cold Dreary Monday Afternoon

Good cold dreary Monday Afternoon to YOU!

I will celebrate like it's a nice balmy 75 degrees outside, but really, it's 44 degrees and all dreary and drizzly in my beloved ATL. That's better than that 16 degrees last week. Ya'll can have that madness.

I didn't do much on Sunday, except laze around the house. I got a respectable amount of chores done. This tends to disturb me. I really need a maid. *closes eyes and imagines such*

But I had a busy Saturday.

We had our first Triple F Posse meeting of the year. (For those of you who don't know what that is, that is my Financial Freedom Fighters group). It was good to see everyone, and to spend a little time thinking about what we would like to do with the group this year. We also went over our financial accomplishments of the last year. I paid off a couple of things. And I did well enough with my savings. I want to create a new savings goal for the year.

What helped me most was us going over our financial fears for the year. This gave me pause for a moment. Why? Because I rarely share such personal things as fears with anyone. I pray about it, and move along until it gets taken care of. I have found that my fears aren't the fears or others (and vice-versa), and I have been knocked down verbally over my lifetime for having feelings, opinions, and fears that are different. So I keep it to myself. Or as was said in a movie once "You better not tell nobody but God."

It felt good to verbalize how I felt. And it felt even better to do that without judgment. Very good. So now I have a base to work from. I can beat that fear with the baseball bat of faith. And that I plan to do.

After the meeting on Saturday, I went to see the movie Selma.

My verdict? It was a good movie. I must tell you that I realize that when I go to the movies, I am much more accustomed to some sci-fi craziness, some state-of-the-art special effects, some monsters and aliens! I think I would have dealt better watching this with the lights on. That theater was tooo dark. Maybe I was just tired. But like I said, I am use to a different type of stimuli from the big screen.

It was good. Worth seeing. If I had a teen or preteen child, I would take him or here to see it. It was educational.

I tell you one thing: I will never whine about voting. I wasn't whining anyway, but I don't mind sitting down and reading and making a choice of who I want to vote for. Folks fault for our right to vote. And if the movie serves to light a fire under us to take voting serious, then the movie has done it's job.

I have to go to the dentist this afternoon to get a filling replaced. Dr. Watson is supposed to do something different so it won't fall out again. I plan to do my part this time: don't eat any now-and-laters, or any other questionable foods and candy. Those moments of pleasure are costly. Sigh.

I am looking forward to a productive week. I have a lot of instrument repair and calibration to do, and as soon as that is done, I can move on to my next job. GLORY! And I am ret to go. My start date is February 8th, the day after my birthday. That is a good birthday present, don't you think?  It would be better if I could move my desk, or work from home. But I am thankful for it anyhow! Again, GLORY!

That's it for me.  I am off to the dentist. :(

Thank goodness for the dentist! If it wasn't for good dentistry, we would all be walking around here with the Yuck Mouth!

You have a good week! On purpose.

Friday Freestyles

It's Friday!

And where I am, it is COLD.

It's not as cold as it was around the middle of the week. Right now it's 34 degrees in my beloved ATL.  Good and cold. But better than that 16 degrees it was during the middle of the week. COLD. That's that Chicago, Detroit, New York type temperatures... minus the snow. And ya'll can keep the snow!

Now what's on my mind right now is whatever the hell is going on over in France right now. I peruse the news in the morning, mostly one of the major news analysis networks, just to see what the major news of the day is. I can usually find this out within 5 or 10 minutes, and I can go on about my business. But over the past couple of days? This terrorism in France. This is some CRAZINESS. Wow.

And it's just awful.

Terrorism.  That is another word for FEAR-ism. Just terrible. It's not just the acts that are awful, it's the residual effects left in the minds of all of us who are watching all this unfold. Just how many seeds of fear have been sown over the past couple of days, and what will be the results of it all?  

I see this type of thing, and it's one of those times when I appreciate my issues. Correction: My high class issues. And I know these issues can be resolved. It's when they can't be resolved that there is a problem. But it makes me have a little faith. I mean, when you get to a point in life where you start murdering people because they don't have the same beliefs, religious or not, than yours... uh, my goodness.

And you know what else it makes me think of? It's a quote I heard from Andy Stanley, a local pastor here in the ATL metro area. He has an app that replays many of his episodes (he comes on after Saturday night live). I cannot stay up that late so I catch the app. (Great for when I am cleaning up).

Anyway, he was doing a series based on the following scripture... the last scripture of the last chapter of Judges:

Judges 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.

Hmmm.  I frowned up when I saw that. I remember a long time ago, I read the book of Judges. When I finished reading it, I thought "Dang, those people had some SERIOUS issues going on." And they did, too.

The basis of one segment of the sermon was this is basically how we live our lives these days. We do whatever the heck we want to do. And it's the truth.

And chaos tends to erupt.

But he said something interesting.

Our thoughts are along the line of (and I am paraphrasing here) "I can do what I want, when I want, and how I want to do it... as long as I'm not hurting anyone!"

True. I feel that way. I'm not hurting anyone, so step off. Leave me be. I'm good.

But what if we could turn that into...

"I can do what I want, when I want, how I want to do it... as long as I'm helping someone."

That was just frickin' PROFOUND to me.  A most befitting Quote of the Week, it is.

How much tomfoolery and drama could I cut out of my life if I asked myself that question every morning?? Because I was good with the "I can do what the heck I want as long as I ain't hurting nobody!" scenario.  That reworking of the statement, changing hurting to helping, takes it to a whole nother level. Shoot, it takes life to a whole nother level.

I think much about it already. Every morning, I spend a little time in my prayer life asking that I be used to be a blessing in some way that day. It makes me giddy to be helpful to someone during the day. With all the people around us causing us problems and drama, I wasn't in that category, but I brought some light to your day. That just makes me happy. Especially in a world like this.

I never want to cause problems, let alone terror or fear in someone's heart. That is just awful. Such an awful seed to sow.

Let's face it. It's a lot better than asking "Who can I kill today? How can I invoke terror today?"

Not too many people ask themselves that question. Thank goodness. But as you can see in the world, people ask themselves those questions. And plan accordingly.

Bad seed sown. Ugh. 

And you know how I fill about seed. I read a scripture during my time off (and I don't want to go look it up, somewhere off in II Corinthians, so ask me about the reference sometime later, please) that said once a seed is planted,  it dies in the ground, and it comes up as something much more brilliant. When you plant an apple seed, it doesn't come up out the ground as one big ol' gigantic apple seed. It comes up as something complex: a tree with branches, limbs, leaves and fruit. It was discussed as a metaphor for resurrection, which makes plenty sense, but you know how my mind works... I think about it from other directions.

Much bad seed was sowed over the past few days with these acts of terrors. Honestly, I can't tell you off the top of my tongue what good happened in the world over the past few days.

Can you?

So I look up the latest news this evening and I see that the ones who committed these acts of terror are... dead.

So we can all breathe a sigh of relief and go on with our happy lives. The terrorists who caused this are dead.

 Except... some seriously bad seed was sown. We're a little more afraid now. Fear has deepened. And fear is the reciprocal of faith. Each is a seed that produces... something.

Hmm... I could go on and on. I am done.

Something good did happen to ME though...

I got a promotion.

Ain't that something?

GLORY! 

I haven't thought much about it. The discussions in the workplace are... interesting. This whole thing didn't shake out like many expected. I've been blackballed for years, if I'm being honest with you. To the point that I don't even care anymore, man. Too much good happens to me on a daily basis. Daily. Worrying about job issues is a high class problem for me. This is the first time I didn't care one way or the other which way this went. It was a political move, and I got a couple of goals accomplished in the process in even applying for the job. My goal was to make some type of move career-wise, and this is just the beginning of it. I am thankful for it.

So we will see how it goes. Your girl will be making more money. More ballin' 'til I fall! (Yeah right).

Someone said to me "That Ph.D is finally paying off."

"Whatcha mean by that?" I replied. "My degrees have been paying off since the day I got them."

Really though.  It's the truth.

That's it for me. I would put up a song of a week, but it is a bit... ratchet. And we don't want that, do we?

No.

With that said... Have a good weekend. On purpose.

Quote of the Week: Getting Older

Something off of Facebook again...

Come this February, I will turn 45 years old.

As they say in New Orleans, "Come this February, I will make 45 years old."

LOL. It always made me laugh during my 2.5 years living in the city. I took me awhile to get use to the vernacular.

People don't like to tell their age. And you're definitely not supposed to ask a woman her age. I wonder why that is?

I remember when I turned 32, I proudly told someone how old I was. Why? Because there are people who didn't even live to be that old. And besides, why should I be ashamed of my age?

The older I get, the wiser I become. I have more life experience. I am better able to help someone who is going through trials and tribulations I have gone through myself, and overcame.

And I can identify all that the quote above alludes to.

Can you?

Quote of the Week: I Declare...

I come across interesting quotes while lurking around on Facebook.

And I really love this one. I don't know the source, but it is was Shawna Renee's facebook status. She hosts Cocoa Mode on SiriusXM on Sunday mornings.

Now I don't do New Year's resolutions, but this one right here would be an excellent resolution to have:

How wonderful is that?

And there is talk of seeds and such. You know how I feel about seeds.

I would think that someone who took that to heart...well, hate and negativity will find no place to lay their heads in their heads in their heart.

No place.

I just thought that was worth posting. It is something that I want to always remember.                

Happy First Monday Morning

Good Monday Morning! (Well Evening... meant to post this this morning but my computer keeps shutting down...)

I should be at work today. But I am not. I had pretty much left it open for myself whether I would take today off or not. Since I had that mindset waaaay back last year before Christmas, I decided to take it off. And I will spend the day just prepping for the week. I have to admit, I should have used the weekend to get my mentality ready for the week. AND if I hadn't slept late, I may have gone in. But since this was an iffy either/or day for me, I just chose to take off.

It's actually a beautiful day in my beloved ATL.  It has been raining cats and dogs for the past few days, and it is nice to see some actual sunshine. But it is COLD. It is 40 degrees right now, and it will get even colder later on in the week. This makes me want to go buy a coat. I haven't had a good one in years. I have a couple of heavy jackets, and when it is cold like this, I can't say I even hang around outside for long. It is moreso me moving from my car to job, from my job to car, from car to whatever place I need to go in. Now, if I was taking the trains or the bus everywhere, then that's a different story. I need coats, long johns, ear muffs, everything...

I received 5 pairs of gloves for Christmas, though.  So at least my hands won't be cold.

Anyway, I don't have much of anything to say. I am STILL thinking about my goals for the New Year. I don't like making resolutions. It seems as if tagging something as a "resolution" dooms it to automatic failure. And like I always say, I don't need a resolution. I need a revelation.  Things don't truly change for me until I have a revelation. They may appear to change, but they don't truly change. Not long term or forever.

I need that "Forever change".

And that is something I will think about.  I am still doing a lot of morning writing, as I spoke about in this post (thanks Shai for the book reference. I looked at my book shelves and I didn't immediately see the book so OH WELL, lol). It is interesting what one learns about one's self when one looks under the rugs of the heart.

Anyway, that's about it to me.

By the way, Happy Birthday to one of my favorite bloggers, one who has taught me much about the blogging game, Serenity_23. She has closed her old blog and has started another, Living My Faith, one that is more geared towards faith and other spiritual matters, which is right up my alley. I thoroughly enjoyed her series on prayer, and on gratitude, which took my thoughts on the subject matters to a whole nother level.I truly appreciate you. Thank you gal, for the past 9 years of friendship. We've had our ups and downs, our ins and outs, but through it all, I am so thankful for a friend like you, one who loves me even when I am at my worst. Thanks for all the advice, and chastisements too when needed.

Such friends are few and far between. Thanks for your friendship. You have truly been a blessing to me.

That's it for me! Have a good week.  And a good YEAR on purpose!

First Friday Freestyles

It is FRIDAY!

But not just any Friday.

It's the First Friday of the Month.

But not just any First Friday.

It's the First Friday of the Year!

So that makes it a special Friday.

Plus... It's PAYDAY!

Well, we got our checks on Wednesday. I didn't know that until I went to get money out of the ATM machine, and I saw the balance. As usual, I have fond thoughts of "Ball 'til you Fall!"  But that is fleeting. Mortgage is due, along with a variety of other bills. But there's nothing wrong with imagination, right?

This is the last day of my vacation. I have truly appreciated having an entire week off. Truly. I haven't gotten as much done around the house as I like. And that's alright. I got a few things done, and I will get more done.

I am immediately reminded of a slogan one of my classmates and I came up with in 20 years ago while drudging through grad school... 

"It's gonna get done. Why? Because it ALWAYS get done."

Always. So why fret. And if I fail, so what. Learn from it. And build. And find another way to get it DONE.

It always gets done. 

I do believe that I will implement that for my 2015. 

These are lazy days around the actual House of LadyLee. I have learned that from observing the daily behaviors of the kittens. 

Not sure I would call them kittens anymore. Callie is close to 9 months old, weighing 7 pounds, and Mitch is 6 months old weighing in at close to 8 pounds. Sorry, but they are CATS. I bet they are going to get twice as big as they are. And that is a bit scary.

And they have taken over the ottoman. There is no room for my feet anymore. Sigh. 

One thing I have learned from the cats is to learn how to rest.

They sleep all day, seems like. Then around 9 or 10 at night, they get super active, running up and down the stairs and all about.

But that's not what I'm talking about.

They don't worry about anything. They play. They eat. They sleep.

Oh yeah, and they lay around and groom. I read somewhere that cats spend some 3 hours a day grooming themselves. That's a lot of grooming.

But I notice that they aren't wrecked with worry. I understood the full meaning when I was living in New Orleans some 15 years ago (has it been that long?). Every Sunday, I would gather up our old bread scraps that I saved during the week and I would walk a few yards down to the pond in our apartment complex and feed the ducks and birds.

And I was reminded of that passage of scripture where Jesus said how God made sure the sparrows were taken care of. And that was always an example of that to me, when I would go feed bread that I had purchased with my money to some fowl who hadn't paid me for it.

I also began to extrapolate that to my cats. I know in New Orleans, I was a bit depressed about my marital situation and worried about finding a new job. I was worried about a lot of other stuff, too much to get into here.

But I would look at my cats, at that time being Jeremy and Oscar. And they were resting. Sleeping. Relaxing. Playing. Never fretting about much. Living the good life. I would have to buy food to feed them. I even cleaned their kitty litter. I took them to the vet if they needed to go.

They wanted for nothing.

And that verse of scripture stated something to effect of how God takes care of the birds, and we are more valuable than birds. How much more will he take care of us?

Well, I took care of the cats. They were never worried about nothing. Yet I was wracked with worry. Didn't make sense in the grand scheme of things. I began to understand over the years that if these cats ain't all worked up, well, I don't need to get worked up either. Pray and trust God to take care of me. End of story.

I still work on that. To this very day. The older I get, the deeper understanding of all of that gets. And that's a good thing.

And that may be the reason I like cats around. People laugh about this, because I say that I'm not a hardcore cat person. And that's the truth. Still is. (I know some hardcore cat people.)

So that's a mini-food for thought for your First Friday...

Song of the Week. Wouldn't it be quite RATCHET if I put up some cuss-riddled rap song right now? LOL!

I am putting up a rap song. It's not ratchet, though. It's some Wu-Tang. That's right, Wu-Tang has a new CD out. And I like this particular cut "Never Let Go".



Wu Tang! Wu Tang is for the children!... as the late member Old Dirty Bastard said long ago.

And there are some Martin Luther King, Jr. speech samples in there. I hope they cleared those samples. (Bad when you have to wonder about that).

I like that song. Positive. Have you heard some of this rap music these days? Ratchet isn't the word for it. Maybe I'm just getting old. But some of it sets my head on fire. Toooo much for me. Tooo much going on. How many bitches can one slap around and sex up? Just how much cocaine can one sell? How many bricks and bodies can you throw in the trunk of your sports car? I don't know. And I don't want to know or hear about it.

This is a softer Wu-Tang. They are older now, in their late 30s/early forties. Still grimy, but not on that teenage level. Thank goodness.

I like that song, though... especially the hook.

No matter what the odds be
No matter how hard, we...
We never let goooooooo!

That's a good Quote of the Week. Heck man, that's a good quote of the year.

What say you?

I say have a good first weekend of the year.

Not by default, but by design... and on purpose.

****HaPPy NeW YeaR****

STAR DATE

2015.01.01

*HAPPY NEW YEAR*

...from Your Friendly Neighborhood Oldgirl...



Happy New Year!

May this be a year all your dreams come true!

Let's get started with a quote...

I know that's right, honey!

That quote right there is for my girl Chele! Hang that up in your personal training spot.

Really though.

That quote is for all of us. That is going up on my bathroom mirror. I'm taping that up on the dashboards of my cars. I am tacking that up on my desk cabinet at work!

Thanks for the lessons, 2014. All of them.

Here we go, 2015! We ready!

Let's get it!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!