Help for Pam... Finally

So... Pam was stuck in the mud in my backyard for a couple of weeks. I was waiting for it to dry up outside so I could move her, but it only caused me to tare up my yard a little more each time. So one sunny  Sunday, I had a mini-pep rally in the house and I ran outside with hopes of moving her...

And it didn't work out.

So I called the local tow truck company.

Back up, now. I called a tow truck company a week prior to this, but they said "Nope! We're not playing in the mud today."

I told them that they only had to move it a few feet. They didn't care. I called another company and they said it was too late. (It was near dusk. And I live in the hood. They are definitely not having that!)

Anyway, I called the same company back on the following sunny Sunday, and they came out and towed my car out of the mud.

How simple was that?

It took all of 2 minutes to tow my car out of the mud.

And here's how my yard looks afterward.

Ugh. So I will spread that out and go buy some grass seed and hay and work it out. It should be a good learning opportunity. Can an oldgirl grow fresh pretty green grass where there once was grass? We shall see.

Oh, I tried to get my car out with some cardboard leveraging. No, I didn't have rocks and plywood.  Only cardboard. And cardboard looks like plywood, right?

And look what it caused:

Wet cardboard stuffed all under my car. Yuck.

Then I finally manged to get it out from under the car.

I tried to wash water off my wheels with my water hose. That didn't work out.

The wheels are still muddy.

Oh joy.

My driveway is muddy. 

Oh joy.            

And I did something silly: I used a pushbroom to push all the muddy water off the driveway. And you see the results.

Ugh!!

So you know what and how I feel about all of this...

...It's a high class problem. 

I think back to my mini-pep rally in the house, singing hard and fast about how I was gonna get my car out of the backyard. No, I didn't go back there and simply get it out. I had to call a tow truck. It costs $75  to do so.

Any which way it goes, it is out. Pam is out of the backyard.

I haven't driven her yet. And it's been two weeks since she's been out of the backyard. No I haven't driven her. I just wanted to have her back in the driveway.

Now if that ain't a high class issue, I don't know what is. In other words, there is no need for me to gripe and complain about it. No indeed.

She may need a repair. I'm not sure. She has to pass emissions. The engine light goes on and off. So I have to get the emissions while the light is off. This means that I need to sneak and drive her for a week without the police chasing me down and giving me a ticket.

I will work that out.

I'm just glad Pam is no longer stuck in the mud!

Friday Freestyles

Friday!

Finally!

And it's PayDay!

Glory.

And I just sat here this morning and paid all my bills, or lined them up to be paid. Something like that.

I'm at home, getting some work done on the house. I plan on going in sometime later, hopefully. Whenever they finish up.

So I am getting the house painted! And a few other repairs. But I am more excited about the paint.

And of course... the cats are all antsy about the noise. But they are dealing with it.

But I like how it's coming along.

Honeydew peach is the color. Not sure what that's about, but it's a peachy orange. Like a fuzzy navel drink.

You can see my house good from outer space. Yes you can.

Oh well. I think we have one or two more days, and we are done.

That's pretty much it for today. I just wanted to check in. Ya'll sure are reading, but not commenting. And that is fine. Heck, I might write something... crazy.

No I won't.

LOL

Have a great weekend. On purpose.

Close Encounter of the Worst Kind (Can You Imagine?)

So uh...

What would you do if you walked out the house and saw THIS:

*crickets*

It would take a moment to register with me. I see myself blinking twice. The question "What the hell is THAT?" would not come out of my mouth, but it would fly lightning speed through my mind.

And then I'd scream so hard that I would faint. But not before taking my tail back in the house and closing the door. Closing the door hard!

Ain't that some craziness?  I thought  it was a small child at first. It even looks like it has on a pair of pants.

That's a close encounter of the worst kind.

Don't worry. That is a flying fox that is native to Austrailia. And it's a herbivore/nectiavore. That means no meat. They like nectar and they are good for pollinating stuff. (You  know I had to go read  about them).

But still...

I'm just glad that they are not indigenous to the USA.  Could you imagine a whole flock of those suckers flying over your head?

Got doggitt!!  That looks like something out of Jurassic Park. What the heck?  Can you imagine?

Not I.  No way. I don't even want to go to the zoo and see that.

And I live a mile from my city zoo. Every once in awhile, something gets loose. A snake, an owl...

But I would have to relocate if the flying foxes get loose (if they even have them).  And when they find them, then, and only then, could I move back home.

Only then.

March

We’ve made this journey for well over three decades, this journey every March to my Grandfather’s grave site. Before we leave out the front door on the chosen day, my father would pour each of us an ounce of his father’s favorite drink: a glass of thick chocolate milk topped with frozen sliced strawberries.  We'd have a moment of silence, and it's so quiet that we can  hear ourselves breathe. And I wince every time from the brain freeze brought on by cold  fruit.

And then we make the long march to the grave. We walk a mile through dense woods, down to where the

river breaks from left to right. And right there, as the river turns, we rest. But only for a moment.

I get scared there, right at the river bend. Thirty years ago when I was a ten-year-old boy, we saw a bear, a big one. But lucky for us, a gentle wind blew, and the bear decided to follow the wind instead of following us.

After marching for awhile, we can see the grave from where we stand, covered in a thick blanket of bright green moss.

“Let’s clean Daddy’s grave,” my father says, his voice an odd mixture of excitement and sadness.

We his children are happy to oblige. The five mile walk is worth my own father’s sad smile. We clean my grandfather’s grave. We talk of good times long gone.  And after we pay our respects, we make the long walk back, the long march back home.

From: Workplace Creative Writing Group, Washington DC, March 17, 2015.

10 minute writing exercise: Use the following 12 nouns and verbs in either a poem or prose about MARCH. Title your piece “March”.

grave, pour, bear, breaks, rivers, rest, moss, follow, wind, turns, door, breath

Lucy Junior turns 100,000 Miles

On March 17, 2015...

While speeding down I-20 East from Atlanta to Covington...

A 16-year-old Lucy Junior turned 100,000.

(My goodness. Someone please remind me to dust the glass!  Wow!)

So glad to capture the turn. And I am so glad that Lucy Junior is still going strong!

GLORY!

Good Monday Afternoon

Good Monday Afternoon.

I could say I had a very long busy weekend, but I didn't.

I planned on working yesterday... but I didn't.

I looked out the window. I saw the dreary rain. It wasn't cold, but cold enough for a jacket. And I noticed my house was quite warm. So I closed my paper blinds and went  back to bed.

Actually I figured out that I could do what I wanted to get done at home. I spent an hour typing up some instructions yesterday. I also made up a detailed list of what I needed to do today. That took me all of 45 minutes to do.

So... I am officially finished up in my prior workgroup. GLORY!! *lee cartwheeling out of lab*

And now I can concentrate on my new workgroup. I have been here for some 6 weeks. Hopefully the other group will leave me be!

Nerdy Moment. So... besides the release of Kendrick Lamar's new CD last week (which left me close to fainting), something else happened.

(Please allow me a Dr. LadyLee nerd moment. Thank you).

I ordered a special book, something that could be a good reference for my new position. It came in:

My secretary peered at me curiously as I hugged it close and did a happy dance. I even sniffed the book pages, lol.

"Look at the structures," I said.

Oh that is some loveliness. 2238 pages of loveliness. 500 page index.  200 pages bibliography.

Ohhhhhhh, that is going to be some GOOD reading.

Sorry, I just love structures. My doctorate is in organic chemistry, and I don't do that anymore. I could sit around and draw the structures ALLLL day long. All day long. All the live long day!

*lee holding book closer and humming an old negro spiritual*

I cannot WAIT to read it. I almost took that book home this weekend. But it's as big and heavy as a telephone book. So I left it at work. Sigh.

Okay. That's it for my nerd moment. Back to regular programming.

Song of the Week. "Living All Alone" by Phyllis Hyman..



I love old early 90s R&B diva videos. The women are DRESSED all the way up. Sharp. The hair is perfectly coiffed. And the hats. My goodness. Such a throwback.

RIP Phyllis Hyman. It's been 20 years this year since her death. Gone but not forgotten.

That's it for me. I HOPE to post all week. I have lots of pics to load up. But we will see.

You have a good week on purpose.

Friday Freestyles

I am OFF today.

That should be enough to freestyles right there. We can just end that.

The only thing that would make it better was if today was payday. Yep.

But alas it ain't.

LadyTee's birthday is on Monday, but she wanted to celebrate today. I am fine with that. It is Friday, and I can have a proper three day weekend. We are going to go see Insurgent.

Glory!!!

I hope it's good! The last one was a Hunger Games lite. So I expect the same from this one.

One of my coworkers, a youngster at work, is an extra in this movie. She told me where to look for her. When I see her, I'm going to stand up and clap.

I am.

I am proud of young Kels. She takes her acting classes and she's an extra in a few things. I look for her.

I do.

We are going to eat at South City Kitchen, one of Atlanta's best restaurants.

I expect to drop $100 easy. I hope no more than $200. It get that high, I do believe we just need to sneak up out of there. I got the cheese, but something wrong with spending that much on dinner. But I see several entrees I want to sample. So bring our food. And some to go boxes. We will be using those...

...When we sneak up outta there.

We will.

So... some CRAZY stuff happen this week. Something I can't really say, because it is too doggone deep. I am still trying to absorb and understand it.

But something else happen.

KENDRICK LAMAR DROPPED HIS ALBUM THIS WEEK.

Whoooooo weeeee!!!!

*ladylee bunny hops all around the room... forever and ever*

Whoooooo!!! Glory!!!

So... on Sunday a third single came out. I listened to it early in the day, but I wanted to listen to it later that night through my headphones. It had disappeared though.

Awwwww. Musta been a leak.

DARNIT.

I went to bed. I woke up to check my phone for the time. And there was the WHOLE playlist of the album from Spotify.

You know when you stand up too fast... and not enough blood reaches your head in time... and you feel all faint.

That was me.

I ran into the living room... The cats didn't know what was going on. (I was yelling GIT OUT DA WAY, Sister Callie! Move your slow tail, Mitch!! MOVE!).

I frantically hooked my phone up to my surround sound speakers in the living room, and I heard....

A MASTERPIECE.

Poor cats. You could see the look in their eyes as they stared at me doing my high rockette kicks and wonder woman spins. "Mornings... they are usually filled with gospel music and prayer... what is this ratchetness LadyLee is playing?"

It ain't gospel, but far from ratchet. Some black power, angry, despair loveliness.

I didn't think dude could top Good Kid, Mad City.  But doggonit, he did it.

I have listened to To Pimp a Butterfly (which is a play on To Kill a Mockingbird), no less than 20 times, and I hear something different every time.

It is mecurial. It is organic. It is angry. It is everything.

It is not trap music. You can't twerk and be a hoe to it.

If I was a rapper about to release something after this dude did. I would just delete it... and start over. Or just go away.

Favorite lyrics...

If I was the President.
I'd pay my Mama's Rent.
Free all my homies and dem
Bulletproof my Chevy doors,
Lay in the White House and get high
Oh Lord, who ever thought Massa'd take the chains off me!!!

*ladylee does Wonder woman spin*

One more...

I washed my hands, I said my grace
What more do you want from me?
Tears of a clown, guess I'm not all that was meant to be.
Shades of grey would never change, if I condone
Turn this page, help me change
To right my wrong.

I don't know what's up with that last lyric. That's from the song "How Much a Dollar Cost". I think it's a prayer. Kendrick gets into it with a begging homeless man. Turns out the homeless man is God. O_O. Like I said, I don't know what that lyric means, but Ron Isley sang it VERY well. Goodness. I need to go pull out my Isley Brothers greatest hits CD.

Maaaan... this is some grown folks music. Rare for me to have an album I can listen to from top to bottom. He even interviews Tupac at the end. *flatlines*

Oh my.

Thank you, Kendrick!!! Whoooo chile... thank you.

man... Ya'll will NOT take this dude's grammy this time. Nope. You will not. You will not.




My mind and heart is still on FLEEK. Maybe I will calm down soon.

That's it for me. I have run out of time. Gotta get up and go get LadyTee so we can get our Thelma and Louise thing on. Minus that crazy ending. LOL.

You have a great weekend. On purpose.

Wordless Wednesday: "This is Sista Callie Jo When I'm Not Around"

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Yeah yeah! I know I'm missing in action! I've been SUPER busy! SUPER!

But I like to wish you a Happy Saint Patrick's Day.

Take a look at the picture above. When I think of St. Patrick's Day, I think of leprechauns and drinking.

Actually, this is a little stereotypical. Some Irish people don't like it. Some find it defensive. I didn't know that until I saw something on the news about it.

If you didn't know, the irish were looked down on in the early colonial days. They were brought in as indentured servants/slaves.  It's all very interesting. You should look it up sometimes. I plan on finding a better historical account of it soon.

But they have a holiday. That's great. So let's do this right:

Alright that's it for me.

I wrote a guest post over at Val's  Living My Faith for her 40 Days of Faith series. I am always super nervous about writing guest posts. I want it to be just right.  But that's my homie, so I did it. Glory!!

Go check it out:

Faith, Question Marks, and Feelings 

by Your Friendly Neighborhood Original Oldgirl.

Enjoy!

Good Friday Morning....Or Afternoon. FINALLY.

It is Friday.

FINALLY.

Lawd help me. This has been a long week. And I have been feeling like this little girl.

Emotional. For no dayum reason. Sigh.



One good thing, though.  And it's payday. And when I saw that new amount on that pay stub I wanted to jump up on the desk and holler...

"DR. PARKER IS IN THE HOUSE!!! GLORY!!"

But I can't do that. It's too doggone quiet over here. And that's the way I like it.

I whisper  "Glory" to  my my ownself in my own space and I keep it moving.

On a side note, the Triple F Posse is doing Financial Peace University with Dave Ramsey every Thursday  night.  We are suppose to be on a envelope system. One of those envelopes is "blow money".  That is money you can just spend. I said that I would have not a blow envelope, but a "BALL 'TIL I FALL ENVELOPE". And I would trick that envelope out with all kinds of rhinestones and colors.

So every pay day I have a proverbial "Ball Til I Fall Envelope". I close my eyes for a couple of minutes every pay day and I spend in my mind.

Then I come back to reality.  But it's a nice mental trip, though!

Anyway...

I have been dragging all week. I don't like cleaning up when I get home. Goodness. I like to save that for the weekend. But I am back in some type of routine in the evenings, where I clean for about half an hour a night. Any longer than that and I am just wiped out. I think I am using more mental energy on this new job and I just want to lay down and watch TV when I get home.

I have been quite jealous of Sister Callie.

Look at her, all laid out like that. Man, I wish I could stretch out like that.

And of course she has knocked my journal off the table again. Along with a nail file and an ink pen. Sigh.

But I wish I could stretch out like that. That's that good sleep. Sigh.

Pam is still stuck in the backyard.

You see I tried to do some bootleg and put some cardboard out there under the wheels and work it all out.

Nope, it wasn't going down. And it's been raining too.

My little yard has semi-flooded out with all the rain. Not sure what to do. I called a tow company and they said they start at $100 for pulling it out. I think I will pass. Next week is supposed to be a dry week. I was thinking about buying a couple of sacks of rocks and working it out that way. We will see.

I throw this in a high class problem category.  It has been there for 2 weeks. It will get out. Eventually. I will just drive the Lexus instead. Hmph.

I made cookies for a group meeting. Everyone liked them.

And here's my favorite lunch of the week. Lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes in a spinach wrap.

And it has some spicy hummus inside. That's some GOOD eating. I am one step from the itis with that one.

And I am out of spinach wraps. Sigh.

So I think I did 5 posts in one today, didn't I?

I think I have a quest post coming up on Monday over at livingmyfaith.org. Make sure you check that out. I hope you have been reading, because the ladies are putting it down over there.  I told the Green Eyed Bandit last night at our Triple F Posse meeting that I learned some things about her that I didn't know. And that's a good thing.

I love getting a glimpse of people's hearts. I love getting a glimpse of the truth. 

Not saying folks don't tell the truth. But what are your thoughts? What are your thoughts when no one is looking?

What are your underlying thoughts?

Thoughts are simple seeds you know...

They truly are.

I will leave you with that mini food-for-thought.  Yes I will.

And you have a good weekend. On purpose.

Mitch and Callie Tales

Most mornings I let the paper blinds up in the living room so the cats can look out the window.  Sister Callie and Mitch get excited about this.

I'm not sure what's up with that. Maybe they are enlightened by the occasional fleeting bird or passing car. Or they get all riled up by the occasional cat that (right now, a long haired black cat) that happens to wonders up on the front porch.

They get really curious if I'm going in and out of the front door. Especially that Sister Callie.

And they really like sitting on that end table next to the chair. It's to the point where I can't keep them off of it. Let's just say I don't really even sit over there, or eat near that table. They can just have it.

They knock random stuff off the table. Especially that Sister Callie.  Mitch is good about just looking out the window and leaving stuff alone. Callie is just hard-headed.

So one day I was lounging on the couch watching TV.  So one day she knocked something over. And I yelled about it. She glared. I went back to watching TV.

I noticed they were really quiet.  This isn't usually the case unless they are hiding and sleeping.

I looked over and these jokers were laid out sleep.

And they, well Sister Callie, had knocked EVERYTHING off that table. Hand wipes, post cards, random pieces of paper, my wrist blood pressure monitor, scissors, crochet needle...

...And a journal that my Triple F Posse sister had given me for Christmas. Callie made sure to lay her backside right on top of it. Humph.

I wanted to GO OFF on both of them. A peaceful Mitch, with his chin resting lovingly on his paws as he sleeps, was just as guilty. Both of them needed some punishment.

But I decided to leave them alone. 

And enjoy the peace and quiet.

Good Monday Morning... Or Afternoon... or Whatever It Is.

Good Monday Morning... or Afternoon.

I'm not sure what it is, especially with this time change. I am all throwed off.  I was up and down all night. I couldn't sleep right for nothing in the world. 

I haven't been able to find time to blog like I like with this new job change. I seem to be running a bit hard at work, and when I go home, I pretty much crash. I just be so exhausted. That makes it a bit difficult to do housework, which is really irking me. I did a lot of decluttering this weekend, and I am all tuckered out from that. I really needed today off. I may have a visitor next weekend so I have had to come up with a plan to get a few things done this week if I can muster the energy. Let's just say my sister Kentucky had to give me a real good pep talk. I think I am up and ready to go on and come up with some type of plan to tidy up the way I like when someone comes through. The operative word is think.

This is a borderline high class problem. I say borderline because I am not living off in a makeshift tent in the desert in a tent city somewhere. THAT would be something to be concerned over. Decluttering means that I have too much crap laying around. At the same time, I have GOT to deal with my insecurities when it comes to having people over. I tend to live like a squatter. I have to spruce things up when people come through. I GOT to get past that. Lord have mercy.

That is one of my idiosyncracies. It comes with being such a loner. And it takes me all of maybe 2 hours to clean my house from top to bottom, so I just don't know what I'm moaning about.

This will all go in the category of ...middle class problems. 

Borderline bull... but still an issha.

And I will work it out the best way I can.

New Dog. There's a new puppy in town! His name is Diesel!

No... it's not my puppy. Heavens no. I like dogs, but doggonit, cats work out better for me. I can just leave Callie and Mitch for days with no problem. While I was gone to Philly for a conference a couple of weeks, I put down a mixing bowl of food and water and 2 big boxes of kitty litter and that was that. Kentucky stopped by a couple of times to check on them and that was it. With a dog, you have to let that sucker outside twice a day. Uh, no. Dogs are much friendlier, though. Cats have an attitude. Definitely that Sister Callie. I don't know what her mood is from moment to moment.

No, Diesel is my former cubicle mate The Cowgirl Cre's puppy. 

But doesn't Mr. Diesel looks suspiciously like another animal?

He looks like my cat Mitchell Lamar! Even down to the white-tipped tail.

So, I didn't know that tuxedo dogs existed.

Why you trying to be like me, Cowgirl Cre? Get your own brand of dog. Don't copy! LOL.

And you know me and how nerdy and scientific I am. There's actually a gene that causes the tuxedo effect in animals. It's called the white spotted gene. I actually read up on it. But I will spare you the boring details of it. I'm just nosey and nerdy like that.

Song of the Week. I like old Wale these days, and here is something from his Folarin mixtape.  "Change Up"



So uh... this sounds sampled. I am guessing this because no one really does any original music these days, especially rap music.

And I found the sample. "Change Up" by Jean Terrelle.



I'd never heard of her. Turns out she was Diana Ross' replacement in the Supremes when Ross left. I like that song. I wish she would've been more popular.

That's it for me.

I don't know if I will be posting all week. But maybe I will.

Because I really want to.

We will see. 

Either way, have a good week.

On purpose.

Box or Glass?

So...

I was walking through the Whole Foods and I saw something interesting...

Boxed Water. 16.9 ounces. 500 mL, if you're into metric.

"Humph," was  my first response. But I did stop and peruse.

I am a bit turned off by the whole generic look of it.

What's up with the "hello" in cursive on the side?

What's up with that? How generic is that? Why couldn't they put a picture on the side?

Sigh. (Yes, they are high class questions. Some people in the world don't have clean drinking water, so... yes, high class questions).

I bought it. 10 boxed waters for $10. No, I just bought one carton. I spent a dollar. I wanted to know what "boxed water" tasted like.

It looked well enough when I poured it into a glass.

 

 

It's clear. Clear drinking water.

And it tasted great. Boxed water tastes great. With no aftertaste. Glory.

But I am a lover of water in glass.

And I will stay that way.

It's more sophisticated. A tad bit more expensive... but I love it.

Oh, unless I'm going camping or hiking or something. The boxed water seems like it would pack up pretty well. And I could probably toss the empty container off a cliff. That would lighten my load wouldn't it? Hmm...

Good thing I'm not a camper. I'll get fined for littering!

Oh well, it was worth a try.

Traffic Jams

Sigh.

I know I need to post.

And I wanted to do some posts about my quick business trip to Philadelphia.  But it  takes awhile to go through pictures.

This morning, Val,  aka Serenity_23, is starting to get all antsy because I haven't posted anything. Well, I think I will appease her. She hates cats, so uh... I will do an update post on Mitchell Lamar and Callie Jo. Just for her.

,

There they are, sleeping peacefully. Callie has gotten the notion lately to go somewhere and hide, as it seems like she likes to get her beauty sleep alone, away from the touchy-feely Mitch.


Callie and Mitch like to roam the beams above the living room, especially when I'm laid out on the sofa or cleaning up the living room. It is most definitely the best vantage point to watch my every move. 

But sometimes, there are problems.  I have noticed that traffic jams occur. And Sister Callie gets an attitude.

She gets all confused because she can't figure out how to get around Mitch and back to the landing.

I have to talk to her.

"Sister Callie, calm down. Don't get your panties all in a bunch!  Just walk all the way around the long way!"

She stares. Confused and annoyed. 

She eventually figures out that she needs to walk the long way around.

And Mitch is left all by his lonesome.

I just don't want any repeats of the fights that use to take place high up on the beams between Kramer and Oscar-Tyrone.

None of that, please.

Mitch isn't all that aggressive. And even though he is 3 months younger than Callie, he is quite solid and heavy pawed, so she doesn't go at him that much.

So there will just be the steady traffic jams.


One of them has fallen before. I don't know which one, but I can tell from the long scratch mark on one of the beams that a cat fell. 

They are both fine. I hear they land on both feet so...

These traffic jams are not much trouble at all.