December 31, 2019... The Last Day of the Year

I cannot believe that the last time I posted something was on December 6, 2019.

It's not like folks are reading anything, for the most part. Yes people do. But we are all on Twitter, Facebook and the Gram. I have accounts on all those platforms, but I go on mostly for the news and things like that. I rarely read folks postings. I like to write long and be a bit more creative, so those platforms do not suit me. And besides, what we are reading is the "silver lining" to people's lives. (I will let you figure that statement out).

I cannot believe that this is the last day of 2019, though.

I am about 3/4ths of the way through my 2 week vacation, and all I have been doing is contemplating my year. I usually have such grandiose dreams concerning the time off I take at the end of each year. This year, in early November, I had some 160 hours of leave I needed to use or risk losing it at the beginning of the year. So with that said, I haven't worked much during the month of December. There were a handful of half days and, between thanksgiving and Christmas, some 3 full weeks off. It was poor planning on my part. I have a ton of sick leave, and was using it for the many medical appointments I had this year.

I was using my sick leave for something else too... helping take care of mother.

"Take care" doesn't seem quite the right words. Me and my siblings are NOT medical professionals and not trained care givers. So we have been basically trying to figure out things as we go. We've been basically flying by the seat of our pants. And that's not what's best for her.

My mother has had a series of strokes and heart attacks. She has lost a leg due to diabetes, and her other leg is looking pretty bad, and she may lose that soon. She has been in and out of rehab. And she has wanted to come home, as she thinks we want to take her house. I understand that, as that is what some people do, take advantage and all. We are nothing like that. I choose to think that she just wants to be in familiar surroundings. So that's where she is, at home. My sister and I are off. My sister does most of everything since she lives there. I help where I can, mostly concerned about not getting in the way of her plans for mother. And me and mother do not have a relationship. This makes it harder.

So I spend time thinking about what I can do to be helpful... and just do it. Talking to other people who are taking care of their parents, I have learned that it is a hard and taxing ordeal. I must agree with that. The best thing to do is take things day by day.

So my year has been spent ripping and running back and forth to rehab, getting frustrated over it all. My sister is kinder and gentler. My goal is to support her the best I can. It is a lot dealing my mother and my nephew for her. Things are just day to day. Let's just make it another day, another step. Maybe one more thing, just one more thing, will go right. That is what I pray for.

Another thing on my mind this New Year's Eve: Work.

We haven't had permanent leadership over our workgroup in 2 years, as my old director was ousted. He didn't do anything wrong. Let him tell it, folks conspired to get him out of the way. And he didn't fight it. He got a better position in our organization out of the ordeal. (That let's you know some shadiness was going on).

So we have had a bunch of "acting" directors. These have been mostly current supervisors. But for the past four months, a particularly "interesting" coworker has been in charge. If I posted some of the messiness that I've heard that has gone down, this post would be a small novella. So I won't do that.

Notice I said: If I posted some of the messiness I've heard that's gone down....

Heard is the operative word here. Folks don't usually give me trouble. If I know that you're a...challenging individual, I absolutely don't fool around with you. Everything is absolutely work related. I don't care about your life, your dog, your Mama... nothing about your life. You've been treating people like trash, and you WILL NOT be bringing your craziness my way. My personality is just rough like that. I do not have the patience to sit around kissing your azz... none of that. You are considered problematic, even though I don't have problems out of you.

Let's just say, I like to make people think I am just a bit... touched in the head. That way, I don't deal with much foolishness.

Now, I do not care who my leadership is. It could be Scooby-Doo for all I care. As long as I get my paycheck every two weeks, it's not that important to me. What drains me is all the shenanigans I have to hear about. All the HIGHLY inappropriate mess I have to hear about. Luckily, folks sent complaints to higher-uppers, and somebody heard the complaints... and decided to go in a different direction.

So I was sitting at home on vacation (or holiday as the royals like to call it), and I was texting back and forth with a new coworker, and she told me a decision on our new leadership had been made and who it was. And it was NOT the challenging coworker. It was a supervisor from another group, a woman, no less.

Shocked the heck out of me.

This had all been a part of my morning prayers for a few months. Everyone was so stressed out with the acting leader. I would just pray for everyone, and hope that we could all get some type of answer.

And then we did... a leader who didn't even apply for the job.

I saw the new leader in her office before I left for Holiday.

I threw open her door and hollered...

LOOK at GOD!!

Won't He Do IT!!!

This got a hearty chuckle. And rightfully so.

But it is true, isn't it?

And I can say that for so much going on in my life, in every crisis and concern that comes my way... from taking care of our mother, to dealing with the workplace.

Look at God... Won't He do it?

So much interesting stuff goes on in my life, my personal world. Why, even during this time off, I tape a large piece of construction paper up on the wall, and I write with a sharpie marker, all the good stuff that happens that day. I call it my "Good of the Day" list. And I am amazed at all the good surprises that happen every day.

Every single day.

And for that, with the end of the 2019 drawing to a close... I'm thankful.

I'm so glad that I understand one thing at the end of this year. Of course I have known this all along, but I understand more this year:

God answers and takes good care of me.

And of you too...

So here's a thumbs up to the end of a year, the end of a decade.

I hope to be a better person each and every year. Now, I tend to ebb and flow in this area, I do admit, but this has nothing to do with being who everyone thinks I should be, as we are as a whole overly concerned with what others think of us.

But I hope and pray just to be better. I pray some of the old bad habits fall off and are replaced with new habits. I pray that some of the old thinking falls off and is replaced with new thinking. I pray for those around me, who I deal with and who I don't deal with anymore. In other words, I pray for the new friendships that will enter my life, and those friendships that have seen an end to our season together.

I pray for my purpose... on purpose.

And I pray for your purpose... on purpose.

Have a safe and New Years Eve.

And see you in 2020.


P.S I read my post from 10 years ago today after I finished writing this post. Some good food for thought there: https://ladylee35.blogspot.com/2009/12/post-3-southern-black-gal-postulate-99.html

Blanket Season, Part I

I am making baby blankets right now. I am happy for that, as I didn't make any blankets this year for babies, and this is the first year in some 20 years that that has been the case.

"Nobody is having a baby this year," I whined all year long to whoever would listen.

But alas, a couple of folks have babies due in February. So at least 2020 is taken care of. And suddenly, a coworker asked me to make a blanket from one of her expecting friends, who is due around Christmas.

The crochet year has been saved. GLORY!

So I just finished that blanket.

I like to model them on my slate dining room table.

But I forgot. So I had to bootleg it, meaning allowing the recipient to model the blanket.

And since Lady A commissioned the blanket for a friend, she was the de facto model.

I threw her in a chair in the cubicle area, and took a few pictures!

This was a pretty cool blanket. I've gotten in the habit of making small versions of the blankets so the buyer can see what they want.

After seeing it, she requested three stripes of white composed of three rows of white each.

*ladylee looking puzzled*

"My favorite number is three!"

"Oh, ok," I said.

And she didn't want a spot of white in the middle. That's easy enough to skip, and just start with baby blue yarn.

I think it came out really nice.

It came out about six inches too big, but that's okay. I made it in about a month or so. Could have been faster, but I was finishing up another blanket at the same time.

It is about 3 feet by 3 feet. (I started the white stripes too late in the blanket). The baby can use it in his toddler years!

That was a fun blanket to make. I hope the parents and baby like it.

Wordless Wednesday: Days of Baby Blanket Crocheting

Ten Tuesday Thoughts

Ten Thoughts!


On a Tuesday, no less!

1. I am enjoying the nice cool ATLien temperatures these days. Although I admit it was a bit jarring to go from 98 degree days to 70 degree days and at times 40 degree nights. That is a big swing!

2. I refuse to turn on my furnace until November 1st. I want to take advantage of a month or so of low utility bills. But lets just say I was around the house shivering quite hard a couple of nights.

3. This has been my favorite salad in the past couple of weeks.

I wish I had a chef who could make that for me EVERYDAY! Every single day!

4. Song I'm listening to right now: "Nothing has Ever Felt Like this" by Rachelle Ferrelle and Will Downing


How GREAT is that song? My goodness! That is REAL music! I miss it much.

5.I am ready for the weekend. It cannot get here fast enough.

6. I hate that I feel this way, as it means that work is boring and meaningless. Hopefully this is just a short spell of time of it feeling like this. Or maybe it may mean that it's time to make a change.

7. I don't eat after 5:00 pm most days. I only drink water. And I notice I sleep a lot better. No more late night eating for me, especially after 6 pm at the latest. That is a goal for the 2020 season, though.

8. I am currently trying to get my mind right for the Christmas season, meaning getting ready to give out some cheap and useful gifts. That means plenty of cookies!

9. Are ya'll watching The Watchmen?

I am, but I am confused as hell. But I am down for some Regina King and Yahya Abdul Mateen II.

 ALL DAY. I will watch whatever they're in. Yes ma'am. Yes indeed.  Black love on the screen, man. I do not know what the hell I am watching, but my eyes are glued to the screen. Glory!

10. What I'm listening to right now: "Is it Still Good to You" by Ashford Simpson.



That too is a GREAT song. As you can tell, I like old music, because today's music is HOT garbage compared to this. Smoking hot!

That's all for Ten Tuesday Thoughts!

Have a great evening!

Freestyle Fridays: Them Good Shoes

Happy Friday.

And I am glad it is Friday. Would be nice if this was a payday, tho.

Really.

Shoe of the Week. Anyway, there's nothing like a good pair of shoes. I have a favorite pair that's in desperate need of repair, and so I need to work on that. Next time I see some shoes I really like, I will buy two pair, and put one pair away. Because it is hard for me to find good shoes.

But, I ran up on my workplace Mom, Lady P. And that woman knows some good shoes.

I happen to run up in her office and have a seat next to her. She was busy as usual, and she allowed me to jibber jabber while she tried to concentrate on sending out emails. I know she was busy, and I don't usually bother folk too much, but she has the patience of God when it comes to me. I saw her office door open and just wanted to see her.

While I was going on and on about something of no particular importance, I looked down at her feet. She had some designer sneakers on. NOT, Nike or Adidas... none of that.

She was donning some Louis Vuitton sneakers.

"Mama!" I hollered. "Look at them shoes, girl! That's them good shoes!!"

"Yes, these are some nice shoes. I like these. I don't wear them often."

I wanted to ask if they were fake. Like, if she got them from the local discount mall. The discount mall gets busted pretty often around these ways for carrying counterfeit merchandise.

But I didn't ask her, because I knew they were real. Mama like them good shoes, you see.

"I bet your daughter Mia looking for her shoes right now. Give her shoes back."
"Unh-unh," she said. "These are my shoes. Mia tries to raid my closet."

I would too. Because those are some good shoes.

"Turn around and let me get a pic of the back of those shoes, Mama!"

Yes those are the real Louis Vuitton shoes right there. Those look like they have pieces of the brown classic LV purses affixed to the back.

"Girl," Mama said, "when you get my age, you like to have nice stuff. You get what you like, you know?"

"I know that's right," I said.

Since I am getting up in age, I thought I'd go on and look up those shoes. Maybe I could run up to LV store in Lenox mall and get a pair.

When I saw the price, I just closed the website down. I will just pay my mortgage instead.

Maybe one day, tho...

I will just stick with my $50 sneakers for now.

But I love Mama's shoes. That's them good shoes.

Song of the Week. I try to post whatever song I've been listening to all week. I have 2 songs, and I cannot decide what to post. So I will post both.

"Trippin'" by Total.



"Don't Wait for Me" by Morris Day.



Both of those songs were songs that randomly came up on my Spotify streaming lists, and both had me like "Oh!! I remember that song!" I can remember the state of my life and what was going on when those songs came out. Some songs just transport you back to a place and time. A pleasant surprise indeed!!!

So I have had those songs on repeat.

That's it for Freestyle Fridays.

Have a great Weekend! On Purpose!

When the Peppers are HOT...

So I made a visit to my favorite local farmers market on Sunday.

I love hot peppers, and I saw a pepper I'd heard about but never seen.

GHOST peppers.



I only bought a few, as I didn't want to just didn't want to eat them whole or even cut them up in food. They are too hot for that. In fact, they are the second hottest pepper on record (1,000,000 SU. (The Carolina Reaper is the hottest at 1,500,000 SU).

No, I wanted to dry them and make some infused olive oil. I like to use infused pepper oils for sautees. They give a great flavor. 

So I dried my peppers in my oven, as it has a drying setting that I rarely use. I dried them for 8 hours overnight at a low temperature.  Here's the result.



They look burnt, but they are not. I placed them I a plastic bag and crushed them up. I tasted a piece the size of a grain of salt and thought my head was going to pop off. That little bit was potent and HOT!

I remembered that I had some African birdseye chili peppers, aka African devil peppers in the cabinet. I keep these around.



I keep a baggie of these around. One or two of them flavor up a dish. They are hot, but Ghost peppers are up to ten times hotter.

But here's the result. The tall bottle is the ghost pepper oil, and the short bottle is the African devil peppers oil.

Aren't those lovely? I bought the bottles at a Container store on Saturday for two bucks each. Those will sit up in a kitchen cabinet in the dark for a couple of weeks. The oils should be good and hot by then.

I tried a little of the African devil pepper oil to sautee some two chicken thighs this morning. I used a half teaspoon of it, and dilute it the skillet with more oil.

It was good, and it was hot. Not the blow your head off hot, but noticeably hot and spicy.

Alas, I am afraid to try the ghost pepper oil. I may not recover. Maybe that bottle will just be... ornamental. Something very pretty to look at.

But it was something fun and different. I was thinking of making these and giving them as Christmas gifts.

I can do it, but maybe I should try it with a milder pepper.

Much milder peppers.

Meals of the Week

 Here are a couple of my favorite meals this week.

I try to make sure I eat my raw veggies during the week. Salads are the best route to this goal.

Now, what's interesting here is the radish.  It's called Watermelon radish. It's named from its very apparent similarity to a cut watermelon.

It was interesting. It did not taste like watermelon. It taste like radish. I am not a big radish fan. But it makes a very pretty addition to a dish. I'm not running to the store to buy it. It was on a salad bar, and that's as good as any reason to try it.

My second favorite dish was my bootleg version of barbeque shrimp!

I caught a special on head-on shrimp. For some odd reason, I couldn't get it as hot as I have in the past, and I didn't feel like fighting with it. But it was quite good with some warm French bread. Made me feel like I was in New Orleans all over again!

Good stuff!

Hence the Fence, Part II

(Yes, there is a "Hence the Fence, part I". Imagine that. And look at the date on it... it is an OLD post.)

So there has been some craziness going on with my backyard fence for at LEAST the past year.

It's been leaning something awful, with one stick holding it up... barely holding it up.

Then I was leaving for work one morning, and I saw this.

UGGGGGGH. I was O_O!!!

And my silly behind went back there and tried to lift the completely fallen part back up into place.

SHOOT. That was a fruitless effort.

Look at this tomfoolery.

UGGGHHHH.

Now, like I said, the fence was weathered and was falling down. And my next door neighbor, well, his part had completely fell down, and at some point he had his part of the broken down fence removed. And I noticed something: the locals had started using our yards as a cutthrough from our street to the next street over.

I tell you, it's a bit jarring when I sweeping off my front porch or washing dishes and I spy someone just walking past the side of my house. VERY jarring.

This wasn't that big of a deal. But when I saw a whole SECTION of my fence down, I had to do something fast.

Why? Because of one thing, really. My neighbors across the street have moved, and I suspect (don't quote me on this), that some locals are using my back yard as a route for raiding that house of its appliances or AC or something like that.

And I can't have that.

So I was extra motivated to stay the least.

By the end of the day (a Thursday), I'd found a contractor to tare out that fence and build another. We were mailing contracts and deposits at 10 pm that night.

And when I arrived home on Friday evening from work, Home Depot had delivered all of this fella's supplies were in my backyard. (He'd said that he refused to stand in line at Home Depot buying things when he can get his supplies delivered by Home Depot. Apparently that is popular now with the contractors).

By midmorning Saturday, the contractor was out there knocking down the fence. And by the time I was leaving for my book club meeting, he'd had it down, and I could see the neighbor's backyard.

I told him to keep the old posts up if they were in good condition. Good enough. I wasn't trying to do nothing pretty. The neighbors gotta stare at the posts, not me. Humph.

That old fencing was busted! Super raggedy! Uggh!

And by Saturday night? I had a NEW beautiful fence.

How lovely is that? And one of the locals slid up on me and convinced me to allow him to get rid of the weeds and trim a tree or two. Worked out well enough.

The fence extended about 3 feet over into my neighbor's yard, but dude ain't said a word. And I know he's been looking at it. His yard was the big cut through part. No more! Although I do plan on talking to him about it if I see him anytime soon.

But within 48 hours of first making a call, the fence got done. Part of me had been wanting to get the fence taken down, as far back as 2016, but a neighbor on the other street behind me and one house over filed a lawsuit to move the fence. It was decided that they would move my 2 FEET OF my FENCE at their expense. Such BS!! My lawyer said don't have the old fencing taken down until they move it.

That was 3 years ago. They never did.

They wanted to work out something with me, but I sicced a lawyer on them. There was no way I was signing paperwork with all the gentrification going on. I may have been signing away my house, since they pushing up on folks to move out so the white folks can move in.

But now, I have a NEW fence. And it is beautiful. And there's no locals cutting through my yard.

Heck I may even spend a little time in the backyard!

A Very Cookie Day

Dedicated to "Carmen"...

So one of my favorite pastimes is making cookies.

I love making them in the morning while I'm watching TV, folding clothes, or washing dishes.

Not sure what that's about. It soothes me for some reason. It's therapeutic.

However, I don't want all of the cookies. I want a few, maybe no more than three or four. And those will last awhile.

It's just that when I want a cookie, I want a really good cookie. And the best are homemade.

No, you will not find me buying cookies off of the cookie aisle at the grocery store. NO.

So, I do not mind making them. I just need to get rid of the bulk of them. They will go stale in my house. Yes, I have thrown cookies away before. Too bad, so sad.

Alas, there are ALWAYS homies at the workplace who will GLADLY take cookies off my hand.

Here's this morning batch cooling on the counter.

Those are oatmeal raisin walnut cookies. They were for Lady A.

The convo was looking crazy with Lady A yesterday.

"Girl, why you didn't tell me your birthday was on Wednesday?"
"I told you last week," she said.
"Man... I'ma make you some cookies, then. What kind you want?"
"Oatmeal raisin," she replied.
I grimaced. "I don't know if I have any raisins. I have to look for them."
"Or you can do the oatmeal, raisins, and chocolate chips together."
"YUUUUUCK," I hollered.

The convo went on about the type of cookies she wanted. And her and her hubby's birthdays are a day apart (Lawd, how does that happen?)  So Brother B likes my cookies. (I have to STRESS to her that she must share with B, though. Humph).

That was a 5 minute convo. I know the cubicle area had to be like, What the world is LadyLee whining about?

Lady A was like, whatever. That's what she like. And Lady A is on a high right now. Her and B going on vacay for their birthdays. She got that vacation braid job, braids so fresh that they looked like she'd just had them done that morning right before she came to work. Had me cracking on her...

"You not Lady A, you Carmen today!"

LOL

Anyway, back to my whining. I whine because I did not feel like looking for raisins.

But, I went home and immediately found the raisins. They were in the cabinet in a quart ziploc bag with other stuff like that. I had some gold and regular raisins, and it was just enough to make cookies. Thank goodness, because going to the store for a missing ingredient really sucks. I don't keep raisins around. I usually use dried cranberries, as they cut through some of the cookie sweetness.

But I wanted to hook Lady A up right, you know?

And that I did!

She got 1.5 dozen of oatmeal raisin walnut cookies!

(I also like drawing on bags. This too is mighty therapeutic for some reason).

There's always a few leftovers, so I took a bag to one of my new coworkers, who is quickly becoming one of my favorite peeps in the building. Lady Cora!

I think she got 6-8 cookies: oatmeal chocolate chip pecan, and the remainder of Lady A's oatmeal raisin walnut cookies. (I couldn't fit them all in A's bag).

She was munching down on them before I could even tell her the type of cookies in the bag. She'd never had them before.
"These good, girl," she mumbled while munching down on an oatmeal raisin cookies. "These real good."
LOL

This made for a great morning. It's been a long time since I baked cookies on a morning where I gotta go to work. But it was fun. And my lab experiments worked today, so GLORY! A great day.

Gotta bake cookies more often!

Have a great birthday, Lady A (and Brother B)! And many more!

Ten Tuesday Thoughts

Ten Thoughts! On a Tuesday.

1. Why is it still hot outside?

2. No let me rephrase this, since it is snowing in some parts of the country. Why is it still hot in the ATL this week?

3. Isn't this October now? Shouldn't I be seeing some nice temperatures in the 70s and the 80s?

4. Oh well, can't worry about that now. We are also in a drought. That is far more important. I can only remember it raining once in the last two weeks. I will take the heat with the rain if I can get it.

5. I find it interesting that we're not waiting for it to become cold before we run up on all things "pumpkin-spiced".  I saw some cream cheese in the store the other day.

6.  Look at that price: two for $5. Better get up on it while you can!

7. Why? Because it has been said that the pumpkin-spiced Spam is disappearing off the shelves.

8. Part of me wants to google some recipes using pumpkin-spiced spam, just to see why folks are all excited about it.  But no... I cannot. I WILL NOT.

9. BUT, I did come across a pumpkin-spiced food that I found intriguing. Pumpkin pie kit-kats!

Those are GOOD! They taste like sweet potato pie. But I can only eat one or two. If I'm going to eat some candy, I want some chocolate.

10. Song I'm listening to a lot this week: "Next Movement" by The Roots


Can you believe that song is 20 years old? And it is STILL great? A rap group/band. You know that's not happening in 2019. Nope. And the Roots still going strong as Jimmy Fallon's house band. Can't beat that!

That's it for my 10 thoughts on a Tuesday!

Big Shiny Things

I've seen some shiny cars around town lately. Some with a shine that I didn't even know was possible.

When I was at the new Whole Foods downtown, which happens to be the biggest in the Southeast, and I saw a shiny gold car. And everybody was walking by gawking and taking pictures of it.

One lady, whispered, as I was putting my groceries in my car, "It's a Bentley."

So I took my phone out and snapped a picture, too.

Then the other day, on Peachtree Street, I saw a big shiny silver G-wagon.

Now, I thought it would be odd to drive around in something so glaring like that. But it's not.

You know, you will probably never get carjacked. Those cars, though expensive, with those paint jobs will be left alone. Too easy to spot.

But they do stand out and turn the head. Not sure I want that much attention, but more power to them!

Happy Autumn to YOU!

So Fall has arrived.

Doesn't quite feel like it, though. We had some mild temperatures last week in the ATL, but now it's back up in the mid- to high 90s. My poor air conditioner is screaming LAWD-T!!!

Alas, very soon we will be hollering Merry Christmas!

I had a good weekend. A quiet one. My nephew Justin spent the night. He is talking more now, moreso singing songs like Old McDonald and his ABCs. That gets a bit old after the 10th go-around. But I just grin and bear it.

My favorite picture from the weekend is this one.

I'd been throwing the plastic balls (100 of them) all over the living room and getting him to pick them up and place them in a bag. I was trying to get him to separate them into colors, but looks like it will be awhile before he figures that out. Anyway he got tired of picking up the balls and he laid down and went to sleep.

My most interesting picture was the one below. I saw some black smoke spewing from what looked like the westside of Atlanta. I took a picture and kept driving to work.

Turns out a junkyard was on fire. Ugh! I know that had to be hell putting that out!

But they must have taken care of it, because the skies were sunny and blue when I drove home from work.

... And it was still hot. Hopefully the mild temperatures of fall will soon be among us.

Friday Freestyles

Another Friday. It would be awesome if it was payday! Ummhmm, sho you right.

But alas, it is not.

I am nevertheless thankful for the day.
Because the weekend cometh. And rightfully so.

GLORY!!! *church jogs in the corner*

And I have some good Friday thoughts...

Quote of the Day: I was listening to the Karen Hunter show, and she's taking a 30 day break, a fast of sorts, from negativity. This is a bold undertaking to say the least. Her guest, rapper Common, appreciated her making such a positive goal.  And he said something that resonated with me:

"...it takes work to stay in a positive space, but it's worth if for the individual and for the whole too. Like meaning, the more we talk crazy about other people, kinda the more negative energy we're receiving too. And people don't think about it all the time, but it's like, to sit there and comment about somebody else over and over and say negative things, you're sending God a message, you're sending the universe a message that kinda that's what you think of yourself too, to a certain degree. And even if you don't know it, it's a subconscious thing."

That is profound, but it confirms much of what I have learned over a the past few years. People project their mess on others. I read in a book one time, and I talked about it here in an old post, that people are screens and we are projectors. I think about that when I am around someone who always stirring up a bunch of mess, just messy in general. And I view myself through that filter at times, and make sure I myself am not projecting.

But what really got me is that he said that you're sending a message to God or to the universe. That takes it deeper to some other level. Never thought of it that way. Geesh.

Happy Story of the Week. I love when great things happen to people around me. Keeps my mind away from whatever has me all stressed out at the moment.

One of my favorite coworkers "Sushi" got a promotion! This is exciting because it is difficult to get a promotion in these parts. I was so proud of her! I can finally stop thinking of her as a 12-year-old, even though she is around the same age as my brother. (My brother is 32, but I still think of him as a 10-year-old, lol).

Sushi is one of those rare people on the job who gets along with EVERYBODY and everybody likes her. I have never heard one bad word about her, and if she ever tells me of anyone she dislikes (which she hasn't), I will secretly be looking at that person as they walk by thinking... Sushi don't like you... you must be straight TRASH. Worse than trash.

I remember she randomly texted me a picture of an ultrasound a couple of years ago. I sat shocked at my desk for a moment. And I remember another coworker mouthing what I had been thinking... "Do we have to go kick someone's ass? Because I am down for it." I said no... even though I had been contemplating how to run up on a dude and run him over with my car...

...because Sushi is only 12-year's old in my mind, you see.

(Sushi keeps her business to herself. Sushi could be married, and the Queen of Wakanda for all we know!)

Anyway, back to her promotion. I was so happy. She's on MY level now. I told her that I will have to start calling her Dr. Sushi!! *Sushi kicks the hard eyeroll*

She used it as an opportunity to ask me for some of my famous cookies as a promotion present. Of course I would make some for her (only after I hemmed and hawed about if she was gonna be at work. It SUCKS when I bring cookies for someone, and they take the day off. UGH!!!!)

I made those cookies. Really, tho.

And I didn't draw her name on that bag until she responded to me texting asking if she was at work. If not, they would've been somebody else's cookies.

Sushi be kicking the fly shoes, too!

I couldn't decide if she busted up and killed a leopard , a tiger, a zebra, a cheetah....

But I did ask... "Are those designer shoes or did you get those at the Discount Mall?"
*Sushi kicks the hard eyeroll*
(But on the real... never seen those before. Haven't seen them around these parts.She probably is the Queen of Wakanda and won't tell us. hmm)

Congratulations, Sushi! I knew you were going to be great leader when you taught me how to use the Cash App! I knew then, this girl gonna take over the WORLD!!!

Song of the Week. This has been my song this week, much so for the reworking of Loose Ends "You Can't Stop the Rain".
Ghetto Gospel by "Curren$y et. al


I love that song! (Well, I love the song it is sampled from, really). This song is off an album titled Umbrella Symphony. Dudes just riding around in the rain rapping. I really like this album. It's not that ratchet, but some of it is like... dang, I gotta be a dude to get what they talking about.

That's it for my Friday Freestyles. I really need to post every day, because this is cathartic and therapeutic. 

Gotta post more... on purpose!!!

Freestyle Fridays

It's the weekend! AND it's payday!

A good time for some freestyles... on a Friday, no less!

Quote of the Week. I tend to watch TD Jakes when I'm getting dressed for work in the mornings. This quote caught about destiny caught my attention.

"Finding and following YOUR destiny will always disappoint people who have appointed you to theirs."

Really, though. No further discussion needed.

Meal of the Week. I went to the dentist last week to have my grill cleaned and IMMEDIATELY left there to find some food to muck up the great cleaning my teeth had just had. LOL.
So I got on yelp and found a spot about a stone's throw from the dentist office. I was out in Fairburn, and if you don't know anything about Atlanta, that's a quiet suburb on the Southside of metro Atlanta.  I had a taste for some mexican food. So I found a spot less than a block away from my dentist office: La Costa Tacos y Mariscos.

I bought 2 taco asadas. They were $1.99 each, which is a little pricey for mini tacos. (My regular bootleg spot out in Cobb county are $1.29 for mini tacos). But whatever. I was hungry.

I got in the car and opened the container. They looked tasty enough.

Here's a close up.

Man, when I tell you these tacos were GOOD? They were GOOD-TY! So good that I finished them off while driving. (Why not since I was rolling 25 miles to the house. If you know how short my commutes are, this is a long country drive.) The corn shells were soft and warm, but with just a hint of a crunch. The meat tasted like it came off a grill. The sauce was good and spicy. And it had just the right amount of cilantro and onions. Definitely one of the best authentic tacos I've ever had.

I had to call my best friend LadyTee and tell her about it.

"Yo, new spot!" I hollered when she picked up the phone.
"Where at, girl?" she asked.
"Over by the dentist office. Behind the gas station on the corner. Off in the cut. You would never know it was there. The tacos are FIRE!"
"I'ma check it out, girl!" she hollered.

We are always looking for "new spots". And she lives in that area, so I know she'll check it out. And this one was a good find. I will be grabbing more tacos when I go back to the dentist to get my grill cleaned!

Song of the Week. This song always has me feeling some type of way when I hear it. It just makes me happy, doggonit.

"Come into my life" by Joyce Sims



(Video may not play for some reason. But you don't even have to hear the song, because you are singing it in your head, and will be singing it the rest of the day. LOL)

How awesome is that song? And how bootleg is that video?

I am looking forward to the weekend. I know I have to get up early in the morning and get my hair cut. But I have to make cookies for my barber.  He loves oatmeal chocolate chip pecan! (And I do to. That is why I don't mind making them once a month).

Lots of other errands and chores to do, but I plan to relax A LOT.

Yes indeed!