FIFTEEN Friday Freestyle Thoughts

I want to post today. So here I go. This was going to be a five friday thoughts.

1. It is FRIDAY. And I have been off since Tuesday. I love waking up and laying in bed and thinking of what I would like to do. I can even go back to sleep if I want to. Glory!

2. I had absolutely no plans. Of course as always, I have these grandiose ideas of all the wonderful things I would do. I may get around 10-25% done. And I celebrate that like I got 100% done.

 Tomorrow, I MUST make some plans, though. I think I will just wake up and shower and get dressed early enough. Then get on out of here. I have a Walmart list that's pretty long. But I didn't want to get out today and have to fight anyone over TV... while I didn't even want a TV. I was only on my way to the aisle where the paper towels are. Sigh.

So hopefully it is fine tomorrow.

3. I have been on this sofa dozing in and out. I did manage to finish reading a very good book, though.

4. I have managed to get a few chores done around the house. Trash has been taken out, kitchen has stayed pretty cleaned, and laundry is in the midst of getting done.

5. The Unsung marathon on TVOne is giving me LIFE today. Awesome.  So far, the only new episode I've seen is the Chi-lites episode. I have missed most episodes from the last 2 seasons. Hopefully I will see some of those tonight.

6. I had phone conversations with several people over the last couple of days. I spoke with Grandma for awhile. I also had my usual convos with my sister. And my best friend always goes on a cruise during Thanksgiving, so we talked before her ship sailed.

7. When I am off like this, I get my full compliment of journalling done. That means 3 full college-ruled pages per day. I am getting much out of that. Since December 24th of last year, I have done 575 pages of journallng. I should make 700 pages by the end of the year. That is my goal.

8. My neighbor keeps cranking up his LOUD motorcycle. He keeps leaving and coming back and leaving again. Man. I would call the police, but you KNOW that ain't gonna happen. (He is white so he will be alright, though. Lord have mercy, too bad we think like that. Sigh.).  I looked out the window and he's simply trying to fix his truck. It looks like he is tinkering with it, running to get something for it, and coming back and working on it again. I hope he gets it fixed. He can rev up his motorcycle all he wants. I know what it feels like for a car to break down.

9. I just drank some sweet tea. That means I may be awake ALL nigh long. Sigh.

10. Overall, I am enjoying this time off. It is giving me time to decompress and think. I am taking a week off for Christmas, and I am already looking forward to that.

11. I really want to see the movie Secrets in Their Eyes. But it's not getting the best reviews.

12. I want to see Creed. I heard it was good. And I love Michael B. Jordan. He is a great actor.

13. I am up in the air about seeing the new Hunger Games. That third and final book was SO depressing. I know they will clean it up pretty good for the American public who loves happy endings, but I'm not rushing to see it. Besides, LadyTee wants me to wait until she gets back from her cruise so we can go see it together.

14. I am thankful that we didn't have any terrorist attacks in the USA on Thanksgiving. It is just another example of how the media likes to instigate a fear mentality in us. I'm not buying it.

15. Just think, this time next year we will have a new president-elect. Hopefully it's not Trump or Carson. My money is still on a repub Bush/Rubio ticket and a Clinton/Castro ticket. I can live with that. But not with Trump or Carson. You would think that we are smart enough not to elect folks who are blowing a dog whistle signalling that they gonna do some concentration camp tomfoolery. But like they always say... history tends to repeat itself. Sigh.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

I was looking back at the post for Thanksgiving Day 2014. I was only going there to do a picture grab, but I read the post and I thought I'd repost it. It is very much related to my thoughts on today.

No, I won't be spending Thanksgiving with my sister, as said in the post for last year. She is in the UAE, and since there is no thanksgiving there, she has to work today. But she and a few people of her group are getting together after work to celebrate Thanksgiving together. I saw on Facebook that she is making strawberry shortcake using our mother's cake recipe. She was so excited. And I am excited for her, as she is assimilating well into the culture there. Today is her "Friday" (they work from Sunday-Thursday), so I know she is happy for the weekend.

I will miss spending the day with her. Our family doesn't get together on the holidays, so she and I had developed a tradition of our own- spending Thanksgiving and Christmas together. That's no longer the case. Hey, maybe I will go visit her next year during this time. That's an idea.

I had no plans for today. Cowgirl Cre's parents live a few miles away, and I may go over there.

When asked about this the other day, I hollered "I'm calling a fast for Thanksgiving!"

She and a coworker Zack were O_O.

No, I'm not doing that. It was a thought, though! But I have already had my morning smoothing of super greens and kale. Good stuff!

And I may bake some chicken wings. That's up in the air. I may just have a salad. I may shoot by Cowgirl Cre's folks later on. We will see.

So I wanted to post the post from last year, as it is something to think about.

Repost from Thanksgiving 2015

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!! 

TWO Tuesday Thoughts... The Thanksgiving Edition

Here's an easy one:

TWO Tuesday Thoughts.

Around this time, I look back at my year, and I think about the turning points and changes. There are areas in my life where I have stayed the same, and I regret that. Those are the rusty dusty areas that I need to work through, and that will happen. But there have and have always been some good things, some great blessings.

And here are two great things for which I am thankful

1. I received a promotion this year.  I am still a bit surprised by this. I'd stop applying for promotions on the job years ago, as there was too much drama going on. So I applied for this job last year, and lo and behold, I got it. Not only did I get a promotion, but I got a new, more private cubicle, and a great boss. It all worked out well.

There are the ups and downs. I am "Dr. LadyLee" for real now. There is not much routine now, and I have to critically think more about what I'm doing and what I want to do, which has been a strain at times. (The biggest reason I say that is because my passion and purpose is NOT my profession of chemistry. It is writing). And it gets a bit rough dealing with a group full of PhDs. We do have our egos, and I have had to learn to work through that, because you know how laid back I am. I don't care for the pissing contests, etc. And I have to make sure that I don't get caught up in that. I make sure to examine my own ego and attitude, and keep it in balanced.

Every day has the potential to be a good day, and at the end of the day, I spend time thinking about what I have learned and how I have increased during that day. I must say that there have been NO days where I have learned nothing of interest. I have increased in knowledge daily. And there have been more days where I have been helpful in the lab and to my group in general.

Now THAT makes me happy. I am thankful for that.

2. I spent the summer with my sister.  That was TOTALLY unexpected. I was dealing with just being all emotional over her leaving for the UAE as it was. I think she told me she was officially hired sometime back in late spring, so that gave me time to get past it. She moved in with me after her lease expired on July 1st. We thought she would be leaving around August 1st, but she left on October 1st. So I got 3 WHOLE MONTHS with my sister. That was so unexpected. And I am thankful for that. I pray about it often. When I am down, I think about how God cared so much for me and knew that I needed that time with her.
 
And it made me examine some of the things going on in my life, and some of the answered prayers. I get answers to prayers that I haven't even figured out how to fully verbalize.  I have a much deeper appreciation of the depth and breadth of the answers these days. For some reason, my time with my sister helped me understand that a little better, if that makes any sense.

I still have to fight back the urge to holler upstairs to her, though.

"Kay, you hungry? I'm cooking something if you hungry."

She's not there. She's on the other side of the world. 

My eyes get wet over it from time to time, but there is no full out crying. I just take a time to be still and calm down, and give thanks for all the time I had with her this summer.  It was so unexpected. Granted, my utility bills went up, and as I paid my bills, I remember how I would say a prayer of thanksgiving for just having the money to pay bills, and to be able to afford to help my sister the best I could. It was all worth spending that time with her.

That's it for my 2 Tuesday Thoughts, my thanksgiving edition!

Happy COLD Monday Morning

It is Monday morning.

And it is COLD.

Specifically, it is 35 degrees in my beloved ATL.

35 degrees!

But you know what the silver lining is here?

There's NO rain. And it's going to be sunny all week long. Cold and sunny, but sunny all week long!

GLORY.

And you know what? That's all I can ask for. Because after all that rain? I didn't think we would EVER see the sun again. EVER.

Alas we see it. On Thanksgiving week, no less.

And this is a 2 day work week for me! So good, so good, so good!!

I didn't post much last week because I was so busy. It is rare that my mind is tied up in scientific things and I'm all O_O. I was learning a new procedure from someone who only gives 10% of the instructions and then the other 90% must be figured out on my own. I can't stand that. I am very detailed. Stop being nebulous, dude. So I was working hard on that. It got to the point where i would just come home and go to bed.

I told my boss the other day "My bullshit antennae is sky high and you need to make me feel better about what I'm doing."

And you know what? He did. Then the other boss came along and made me understand more. So now I have a correct state of mind to work out of. Thank goodness for that.

(I know that probably doesn't make much sense. Oh well).'

Look who I ran into the other day:

Snake! The self-appointed "Mayor" of my Hood! And the Poet Laureate of my blog. Just search his name in this blog and plenty of posts and poems come up.

I see Snake from time to time. I just don't get much of a chance to stop and talk, as I am driving and/or he is on his way somewhere. Well, I saw him in the middle of the day last week, on Veterans day, I believe. I happen to be off that day. He came running at me, his hands waving all over the place.

"LadyLee, I need some help!"

"Wassup," I said.

"I need to fill out a job application, but I need to do it on the computer."

I was silent, wondering what it had to do with me.

"I don't have a computer, can I use yours."

"Yes," I said. Stop through in another hour.

He was happy, his toothless grin wide. "Thank you so much!"

"No problem," I said as I sped off down the road.

I have my regular laptop and a netbook I rarely use around the house, so I figured I would just charge up the netbook and just let him sit outside and use my internet to do his application.

(At the same time, I was hoping he wouldn't run down the road with my stuff and sell it...)

He rang the doorbell and I handed him the netbook. He stared at it.

"What?" I asked. "Just sit out here on the porch and use it."

"Ladylee," he hollered. "I don't know how to use a computer or the internet."

"Really?"

"No, I don't. You have to help me."

So he came in and we sat at the dining room table and I pulled up the website and typed in all his information. It took all of 15 minutes."

"Thank you so much. I knew you would help me."

And I was glad to do so. It was such a simple thing to me, but it meant much to him. I can't imagine people not know how to use the internet. He actually had a cell phone, and he already had a gmail address, so that's a good start. But I remember the internet wasn't popular until I was well into my grad school years. It took much to get accustomed to even then.

I learned from him that the guy who takes care of my yard is locked up. My yard looks a mess right now. Thank goodness it's cold, because I can just take care of it myself. My yard man Wayne got caught running up in a house under construction. I guess they caught him running out with something. And I haven't seen him in a few weeks.

"I will go bail him out if it will cost less than $15," I said.

That's how much I pay to have my whole yard, front and back, done: $15.

Snake said, "Uh, more like $1500 or so."

Oh well. I won't be seeing Wayne no time soon. I even spent time cutting and shaping my hedges in the front yard. Oh well.

I need my leaves raked now. I'm going to just pull out the leaf blower and work it out. I can do it. I know I can.

And that will be my goal for my 5 day holiday weekend: straighten out my yard. That looks to be a combination of some leaf raking and grass cutting. I will spend no more than 30 minutes a day on it. That is all. Good enough. I would take a before and after picture of it, but honestly, it's not all that bad and may not be that much of a difference. Once I rake leaves, they will continue falling, but I have to at least stay on top of it.

Fun, fun, FUN!

I have a ton of half done posts that I want to put up. So I will jumping through those. I need about 45 more posts to surpass last years total, and that shouldn't be a problem.

Song of the Week. What is up with that Drake song? The Hotline Bling.

I say that because I saw the video, which was... interesting. But it samples something. And I remembered which song. MC Hammer's "Why can't we live together"



But it turns out that the Hammer song samples another song: Timmy Thomas "Why can't we live together"



Now, Drake's song sounds closer to Timmy Thomas' version. But Hammer's version stuck closer to the message of the original song. Drake's version is in the direction of some thotness.  Nothing wrong with that. Just a sign of the times, I suppose.

LOL. Can we please get some original music... Please.

Uh, no.

And it's okay.

Because I am the The Original Oldgirl. And that's all that matters.

This is Thanksgiving weekend! Please take a little time to ponder your year and what you're thankful for.

If you do, you will find out there's so much. So so much.

Ten Tuesday Thoughts

1.  People are always talking about how much they loved The Cosby Show.  It was great, but not all that realistic to me. I loved 227 more.

2.  I spoke with my sister for 2 hours on Sunday. Thank goodness for Facebook free calls in messenger. Our phone bills would be a mess if it wasn't for that and Skype. Glory.

3. I am loving the sunshine and cool weather we've been having for the past 3 days. Glory again.

4. I do believe Sister Callie needs a therapist.

5. That sounds like it will cost too much. So she needs to do what I've been telling her to do. "Just lay out in the floor and have a good cry, Sister Callie. A good long cry or a good scream."

6.  Mitch just sits and stares. But he does have that look in his eye that says "There was an interesting person that lived upstairs. It's not fair that you took her from Sister Callie."

7. Folks are highly upset with President Obama's speech about ISIS yesterday. He was too subdued. I swear, we know we like to be entertained, like this is an action movie or a reality show. Personally I think he had his poker face on. Handle this tomfoolery and tell us about it later, Mr. President.

8. I received a quote for a chemical I need early next year. 1 gram is  $3200.00.  There's a multigram discount, so 10 grams is $28,000. My goodness. That's like, new car prices. Shoot, that's cocaine bricks in the trunk prices.  I think I will just purchase the 1 gram amount and make it last.  I only need 15 milligrams at a time. I may have to use what I need and store the rest waaaaay in the back of our -80 degree celcius freezer.  Waaaay in the back. 

9.  My boss wants to order the personality tests for our group. This could be a good thing or a bad thing. No telling what he will find out about us.  I wonder if I can cheat on it?

10. Someone asked me what my favorite Madonna song is.  It is "Where Life Begins" from the 1992's Erotica CD. That was a rated R CD and this is a rated R song. So I will just post the instrumental.



Don't look at me in that tone of voice. I was a crazy 22-year old when that came out! LOL.

Madonna know she be going through some things. Over 30 years after her music career began, she's STILL ratchet. She does manage to reinvent herself over and over, though.

That's it for 10 Tuesday thoughts.   I will holler tomorrow!!

The Sad World

This must be how the world feels right about now...

It's because it's been that kind of a weekend.

Wait, it's been that kind of the week.  You do know that there were 2 huge terrorist attacks last week, right (in Lebanon and France)? And let's not leave out that Russian plane blowing up in the sky a couple of weeks ago.

Man. It's been that kind of month. 

But I think it is just this type of thing happening in "western" civilization that has everyone O_O. And rightfully so. This, like the 9/11 tragedy, is on our doorstep and in our face. We can't ignore it. It is brutal and sudden. It makes us sits up and take notice.

Some countries deal with such ratchetness and tragedy on a daily basis. And we look at it and say... oh, that's sad. Then we go on about our business.

I am always amazed (and thankful) that this type of thing doesn't happen here in the USA. Do you know how great it is to go about your day and not have to worry about attacks? I think we take it for granted.

But when it happened in Paris, there is the thought that it can happen here, too.  That is scary and something to think about.

I'm not sure that we will have a peaceful world. I don't think there has ever been a time when the world was peaceful. The only reason it is ratcheted up is because everything is now caught on film. Everything. And in recent years, we have social media. That has changed everything too.

I think we should just strive to find peace within ourselves. That is my goal, anyway.  That's probably even one of the roots of the problem.


And that is all I have to say about that.

Friday Freestyles... The Pictures Edition

It's Friday!!!

And it's all sunny outside!

I arrived to work at 7:30 am, and traffic was all light... And did I mention that it was a sunny day??

And this is how I'm feeling. I'm feeling like Elsa from Frozen... on a good day:



Ha Ha!! 

I don't know why that little video made me so happy. But it did.

This is more of a picture edition of Friday Freestyles. Happy Pictures!!

Kentucky.  My sister Kentucky seems to be doing quite well. We talk often. It's like she's in the next room. Sister Callie seems to be calming down, as she has been acting up and acting out since my sister (who happens to be her person), has gone.

Kentucky went to a water park last week. She sent a picture.

Look at that! Look at those desert rocks/mountains. How beautiful is that? And it was especially nice to get such a picture during this Atlanta monsoon season, lol. I could just sit out there and go to sleep. It looks so peaceful!

Salad. Here's my salad of the week.

I've ditched salad this week for some reason. I have gone straight kale. Maybe it's because I don't have any of my usual spring lettuce on hand. And I don't plan on going to the store until tonight. 

But my coworker Lady D likes raw kale with a splash of lemon and olive oil, and a pinch of garlic and cayenne pepper. That's been my salad base ALL week long. Something different and so so good.

That's it for me! I have more pics, but I will save those for next week.

I have a semi-busy weekend planned. We will see how it works out.

Have a good weekend! On purpose!!

Thoughts on Something New...

I like to eat or drink something new periodically, and this fall I bought a jar of macadamia nut milk from Treehouse Milk.

I'm not a big fan of macadamia nuts. I am more of a fan of the pecans and cashews.

But I had never seen "macadamia milk" before. I think this is because macadamia nuts are expensive. I've never bought any, but people ask if I bake macadamia nut cookies.

The answer is always.... Uh, no.

Anyway, I bought this milk. The cost? $9. During the last week before my sister left for UAE, I took her to my favorite little gourmet grocer, The Mercantile, and we saw it.

Pricey! But it's made locally, with no additives. Worth a try.

It tasted... alright. Very thin. No sweetness. It tasted like watered down skim milk.

I drank it. But I don't want anymore.

Why? Because it costs too much. And it didn't blow my skirt up. I will stick to my almond, rice, and cashew milks. I like oat and hemp milk also.

I looked at this and thought "This must be something white folk drank."

LOL! I don't know why I think like that! I need to change that mentality!!

It did have the macadamia nut taste. It was definitely macadmia nut milk. I don't care for macadamia nuts, so that is most likely why I was neutral about it. I ain't GOTS to have any more of it.And I think the major problem (or benefit, really), is that it doesn't have all the additives, some of which are considered not good for us. So it tastes different. I have to admit that it tasted very clean, if that makes any sense.

They do have a cashew milk, though. I may try that next time. They also have pecan milk. I want to try that one, too. So I will buy more milk.  I just like supporting businesses in my community :)

Anyway, I had another thought... This must be what breast milk tastes like.

Uh, I wouldn't know. I just remember my mother pumping breast milk from her breast with a manual pump, and then storing it in the refrigerator for my brother and sister when they were newborns.

I wouldn't know what breast milk tastes like. I was too chicken to taste it.

Anyway, I have a funny story.

My mother had made biscuits one Sunday morning back in 1981, when my sister was just born. My stepfather and I really liked the biscuits, so much so that we had seconds.

"Those were some really good biscuits," my 11-year-old self said to my mother.

"Sure were," my step-father said.

"I'm glad you liked them," my mother said. "Because I'd ran out of regular milk so I used breast milk instead."

WOW!

UGH.

My stepfather and I were... speechless.

And for years, whenever she made biscuits, I paused.

That was just a funny story.

This was a good buy, a good "something new". I want to try more of their milks.

Happy Veterans Day

Happy Veterans Day!

I would like to say thank you to all military for protecting our freedom.  I will never know what it is to put on a uniform fight the enemy. But they have done so, and I am thankful for those still here and those who have given their lives for this country.

Today, my brother, a veteran himself, posted a picture of my grandparents.  My grandfather is in his uniform, and holding my aunt. And my mother is standing in front of my grandparents.

This picture is a little less than 65 years old.

It is classic. It is timeless.

Now, what's funny is that I was sitting next to my grandma while scrolling through facebook. We were at the clinic at the local drugstore near her home. I'd taken her for her flu shot, and we were waiting for her name to be called. I tapped her on her shoulder and I showed her the phone.

"Who is this?" I asked.

She squinted hard at the picture. I held it closer, since she didn't have her glasses.

Her eyes widened when she recognized the picture. She got excited, placing her fingers to her lips.

"That's me!" she hollered. "It's me!"

Then she burst into a fit of giggles.

I told her that Kari (my brother) had posted it on Facebook. I'm not even sure she know what "Facebook" was, but it was just a joy to sit and watch her reaction to seeing a picture of herself in her Sunday's best with her husband and two young children.

That was my blessing of the day, among others.

But for some reason it brought tears to my eyes.

I think it's because I miss my grandfather. He died some 13 years ago. He was always someone who was happy to see me. I think of those moments when I do something that pisses someone off and they act silly on me. (I know that don't make much sense, but it is my reality).

Or maybe it was just seeing the surprise and joy in my Grandmother's eyes. It was such a happy moment.

Whatever it was, it was good.

And it made for an excellent Veterans Day.

Monday Night Randoms

It's Monday!

I have decided that Mondays are now officially my BEST day of the week.

No particular reason for that... just need to do something different. This will be a GREAT day. Period.

The only thing that would make it better is if it would just...

Stop...

Raining.

Wow.

I remember the sun shining this past Thursday morning. I remember because I made sure to open the sunroof and I let down all the windows despite it being a little chilly out.

And that is the last time I remember some sunshine. That is it.

This weekend I was staring out the window at the falling rain right along with Sister Callie and Mitch.

They were interested in the birds, squirrels, and  I was wishing for some sunshine.  

Politricks. So the story of the week has been Ben Carson and his uh, hard stretching of the truth.

Sir. First of all, you need to stop whining.  Don't be going HAM when you been all super soft and sensitive. Stop it, I say.

Second, you need to call Herman Cain, Michael Steele, Colin Powell, Alan Keyes, and JC Watts and have a few heartfelt conversations.

What is up with the Republican party and Black republicans? Not any Black republicans, but black republicans who look like they may attain a bit of upper level power?

Why is Ben Carson doing all this whining? History is only repeating itself. Sir, you been in the lead for a minute... They are gonna stick a telescope up your life and examine EVERYTHING.

They are doing with everybody. But it looks a bit suspect when they do it with him. I am only thinking that because of what happened with Cain last time around. They went and conjured up one of his mistresses. End of story.

They are combing through the details of Carson's book. And a lot of it is a bit... stretched.

I don't think he will be in the race for long, but I didn't expect anything as simple as the details of his books to be scrutinized.

Now I raised an eyebrow when he told the Popeyes chicken store robbery story a couple of weeks ago... I found it odd because he is a Seventh day adventist. And most of them practice vegetarianism.

So if he is made out to be a liar, well, that's not going to go down with his adoring Evangelitical base. He should be alright because his base doesn't trust the media, so if he spins it right, he will be okay. But make no mistake: all of this is initiated by the Republican party. Period. Same patterns of operation.

He still needs to have some convos with some high level black republicans. They tend to get treated like crap. Not sure what that's about, but I don't know why Carson should be any different.

Anyway, that is all I got to say about that.  It will be interesting to see how it plays out. And it looks like it is time for me to take another news break. Sigh.

 My prediction: They gonna clear out all these top jokers.  Repub ticket will be Bush/Rubio.  Democratic ticket will be Hillary Clinton/Julian Castro.

Oh yeah.... Hills has had a convo with Castro. And if he is on the ticket, all the repubs gonna pass out.

Because someone with another funny name on the ticket for the white house, uh that's too much. Way too much.  But if she puts a popular hispanic person on the ticket, the White House is hers. The repubs have alienated everyone. That's on them.

Those are my political thoughts.


I had lunch Saturday with Jo Garner, one of my favorite authors. I am reading her book Banner of Love.

 This is the sequel to Solomon's Blues.
 

I absolutely LOVED Solomon's Blues. I reviewed it a couple of years ago. 

And I love love love Banner of Love. What a befitting sequel. And it has been just the best rainy day read ever.  I spent all day finishing it up.

So it was great to have lunch with her. I liked catching up and talking about writing.

I will finish up Banner of Love tonight. And I will call her and harass her about it!

Song of the Week.  Since it's raining... Oran Juice Jones "Walking in the Rain"



And then there was that awful answer song  "Thunder and Lightning".



Both songs were great back in the early 80s, when I was 13. We were stoked!

Not so much now. But I think of "Walking in the Rain" when it's all dreary outside.

That is it for me!

Have a great week.

On Purpose!

Friday Freestyles

Finally Friday.

Goodness. This has been a LONG week.

I think it's been long because there has been no sunshine. It has been drizzly all week. I can't even say that I have encountered rain. I haven't even had to open my umbrella, as I don't think it would even matter. It's that type of nasty drizzle that floats in the air. That's the only way I can describe it.

But this morning, sunshine flowed through my windows. And I realized how much I took it all for granted. Sigh. I just took a moment to be happy to see it.

So that is my good thing of the day!

Nothing much going on here this week. Just wanted to post something...

Today is PAYDAY!!

Glory!

I heard my old work group was shut down. People still have their jobs doing other things. I saw that coming a mile away, so I am glad I decided to take a promotion in another group. That was right on time.

It reminds me even more to pay attention to red flags. That was a doozie.

My sister is a pro at spotting red flags with people. She is one to listen to her gut. I tend to make mental post-it notes and keep them on the back wall of my mind. And when some mess jumps off later, I think... well, I knew there was an issue there. It blew up in my face. Now I know for sure. She is good about getting ghost on you long before you give her much trouble. And she will hear the stories from others.

I need to get to that point. I am starting to pay better attention. And getting out of my old work group shows that.

Quote of the Week.  I heard this one yesterday:

The man on the left thinks of himself as nothing and nobody. The man on the right thinks of himself as important and all that.  
Both men are correct.
(As a man thinks in his mind, so is he. Period).

That is much to consider. I spend A LOT of time journalling my thoughts, and really seeking if and where I need to make a course correction in my thought life. It is more often than not, and that is fine. As long as I recognize it and change.

Songs of the Week. For these rainy days, a couple of pieces of what's called "Cloud rap"...







I didn't know there was such a sub-genre of rap. I don't like chopped and screwed rap, but this has elements of it. And it works well. I think you have to have a good amount of liquor in you to listen to too much of this.

Indeed.

A bit of ratchetness... just a bit.

And with that, I am out.

Ready for my weekend! And I declare it will be a great one!

Ten Tuesday Thoughts

Here we go again! 10 random thoughts on a Tuesday.

1. Today was a decent day. It went by super fast, and that is how I like it.

2. I usually get to work at 10:00 am. And this means light traffic.

3. I had a meeting at 9:00 am, so I had to leave early. I am always a bit perplexed by why there is SO much traffic. And then I realize, oh my... it is because it is 8:30 am in the morning. Sigh.

4. That makes for a 25 minute drive to work versus a 12 minute drive for work.

5. I shouldn't complain. One of my supervisors makes a two to three hour round trip commute daily.

6. You have to live that far out if you have children, because you want your children to be in good schools.  And let's just say that Atlanta public schools are, well, they leave something to be desired, and I suppose they are working on it.

7. The meeting was O_o. Just when I think I have a grasp of what's going on, I don't. I knew I wasn't alone when one of my coworkers sitting next to me said, "I don't know what's going on."  The coworker on the other side of me likes to pop me on my shoulder and laugh. Let's just say that we were all lost. I spent the day thinking about the meeting. I talked to another coworker.  Let's just say... lost is a normal feeling.

8. You have to live that far out if you have children, because you want your children to be in good schools.  And let's just say that Atlanta public schools are, well, they leave something to be desired, and I suppose they are working on it.

9. I talked to my sister for an hour tonight. She was up and getting ready for work. I told her to call me whenever she is in the tub. So funny to hear her talking and all that water sloshing around.

10. I missed her last 2 calls. She called at 4:00 am my time, which is 8:00 pm her time. I was out like a light. I hate missing her calls.

That's it for Tuesday's Ten thoughts. I am going to bed!

Monday Night Musings

Monday Night!

Glory!

The time has been turnt back, and it is raining cats and dogs and frogs in the ATL.

All during rush hour, no less. Wow.

And what's interesting is that I didn't even go to work today. I had trouble sleeping last night due to not feeling well, so I just called off. No big deal. At least I didn't have to get out in the rain. The most I did today was take out all the trash. And that was this evening and the rain had tapered off a bit.

I also made some cookies tonight. My goal is to make cookies for everyone in my cubicle area. If I can remember their birthday. Lady M had a birthday last week, but she took off. So I will carry her's in tomorrow. She likes oatmeal cranberry. That's easy to remember.

Anyway, I had the bomb Halloween. All ten of the trick-or-treaters that came to my door were VERY happy. Why? Because I had the excellent treats.

Whole candy bars. Packs of cookies. And chips, chips, chips.

To the point that a couple of teenagers rolled up on me. I think they were chaperoning a crew of kids up my street. And they were bouncing a basketball, which was getting on my nerves.

They were the last to come to my door. I let them get what they wanted.

I wanted to add... "Could ya'll please stop bouncing that dayum basketball?"

LOL.

Alas, I did not.

I left that alone. I live in the hood. Let's just say I left that be. I did not need any problems, even though they were very nice young men.

I had a quiet weekend. It was raining, and I stuck around the house. I didn't need anything, and I needed to catch up on my chores and reading.

Now, there was a special episode surrounding suicide last week of Being Mary Jane. I wanted to watch it, as a journalist will be discussing it on talk show I like this week. He had experienced some of the same problems as on the show, and it left me a bit O_o, because this person is so well accomplished. How could he think of suicide? So I wanted to go watch this show. I've never watched it in the past, as I am not a fan of Gabrielle Union. I watched it, and it was great. I didn't know any of the characters, so I decided to snoop around on my Hulu and Netflix to see if old seasons were available, and they were.

That is a GREAT series. I don't know, I never care for any show where there's a black woman who seemingly has everything, except a man, so therefore her life is NOTHING. Who needs that? Such a cliche. But I thought it was well written, that first season anyway. I am halfway through the second season, and it's pretty good. I may try to catch up before the next current episode comes on. If I don't, they cost $1.99 a piece on my Amazon prime. Sigh.  I  bought that one episode on suicide, but I don't care purchase anymore.

I don't know what I have on tap for the week. I hope to see some sunshine. Just a little. Please and thank you.

Song of the week.  "Optimistic" by Sounds of Blackness.



A good positive song. We need more of those.

That's it on this Monday night. I must get up at the crack of dawn and show my face at work. I'm still not sleepy. I will pop some zzzquil on something.

So I can sleep hard... on purpose.

LOL

Quote of the Weekend

Most weekends when I don't have any major plans, I tend to make a to-do list of chores I need to get done that day. There are usually ten items at the most. Any more than that becomes overwhelming.

A decade ago, I read in one of my spiritual books that if you make a list, put a time constraint on the tasks. This has been helpful, but it can be overwhelming. I tend to do that sometimes. It reminds me not to get bogged down.

Today list, made on the first day of November was simple enough. It included:

1. Change both kitty litter boxes

2. Living room -15 minutes

3. Wash sheets

4. Make up bed.

5. Mend comforter

6, Kitchen-10 minutes

7. Proofread LadyTee's class paper before 8pm

8. Drink my water

9. Have a green smoothie for breakfast

10. bathroom-10 minutes

A couple of those things are not really necessary to write down. But let's just say that I picked up this habit from my mother. And I saw one of the things on her list was "drink wine".

*crickets*

Anyway, the above list isn't the subject of this post. I think it gives you a little insight into my days at home though. And this was a particularly bad rainy weekend. Atlanta is set to get 2-3 inches of rain this weekend and Monday, and the sound of hard driving rain on the roof makes me believe that is the truth. 

I have a notepad that I place these to-do lists in. I have 2 or 3, but none of them were at hand this morning. Luckily I have tons of scrap notepads laying around. I found one this morning, and I saw an interesting quote scribbled hastily on one of the pages. I may or may not have posted it, but I don't remember doing so. Heck, I don't even remember writing the quote, much less where I heard or read it. 

But it was a good one, nevertheless. 

Life is a bunch of decisions, and a decision is an open pathway to reality. And each decision has some fruit attached to it. 

That is chalked full of... a whole lot of stuff.

But ain't it the truth.

And you know why that caught my eye. You know how I feel about seeds and roots, trees and fruit.

A decision is like a tree, and the consequences of that decision are the fruit.

Enough said.

I've been pondering that quote all day as I cleaned the kitchen, cleaned the kitty litter, and drank my water...

Any and all decisions I make have consequences.

In other words, any and all decisions I make have fruit attached to it.

It could be bad fruit. Or good fruit.

Any which way it goes, we eat the fruit.

Enough said.