Friday Freestyles

This has been such an odd couple of weeks. 

Blogger changed a bunch of little stuff and I had a little trouble accessing my site. So I have to just use a computer I don't like using to post anything. And that is fine. With all that's going on, I rather have that problem than anything else. Ugh. 

Man... The Notorious RBG has departed this earth! Wow. 

I was sitting in my living room chair when they announced it. I yelled an expletive that I am more than sure could be heard up and down my street. 

She tried her best to hold on, but couldn't. So, an administration that has been dragging its feet on everything, now is moving fast to replace her. Funny how fast one can move when one is motivated. 

And with that said, the Covid-19 still roams amongst us. Ugh. I am not sure when this will end. I have been teleworking (if you can call it that) for a little over six months. I am past numb now. I am just day by day, and hoping we can return to normal soon enough. 

I had a dentist appointment this week, and I don't think I'd been out of the house to go anywhere since September 6th. I was so happy to see my dentist. I wanted to ask him, "Can I work here once a week, and just take out trash and sweep?" LOL

I want so much just to get back to a sense of normal, where I have some type of routine and the like.  I never thought I would even feel that way. And I have to, at the same time, remind myself that people have lost family and friends to this virus. So me feeling the way I feel about my situation is a small thing. I know that. I am allowing myself to feel, and I work on just trying to encourage myself. And I am making sure to open up and talk about my feelings when I can. And journaling everyday helps a whole lot, more than I would ever know.

The Election is around 40 days away. People get mad, but I been telling folk that there is no way that the current president is going to leave office. He's just not going to do it. He is going to scrap the whole thing, and we just have to deal with it. I think he will stay in until his death. And the punk azz congress won't do a thing about it. That is what we get. I will vote, nevertheless.

I think things will get a little crazier with all this before it gets better. I am so thankful for my no news weekends. I may have to extend that into the weekdays. This is messing with my peace of mind.

Song of the Week. I have been watching the New Edition Biopic. That has to be the best series I have seen in a while. So I am posting my last favorite song by them, and two songs I liked back in 1983.  

Those guys have had a great career, with all its ups and downs in tow. 

That is it for me. The weekend is nigh. Not sure what that means. But I am just happy to see another weekend. That is how I have been approaching it... on purpose. 

Friday Freestyles

I can't believe I let a full week go by and hadn't posted. The shame!

I think it is just I have been writing a lot, and when I am not writing, this is my outlet.

This has been a trying week. Someone else was diagnosed at work with covid, and some are not handling it well at all. Let's just say there was a bunch of crying going on. And sadness, at being helpless as to what to do. It is just awful that none of this appears to be getting better. And we got a president right now trying to gaslight us by telling us that one day it will all go away. Not sure how I feel about that, but my goodness, if only that was true. I don't believe it is.

On top of that, my mother is in the hospital. She is unresponsive and deteriorating, and me and my siblings had to have a 3-way call together and just map out what making a decision about taking her off of life support would look out, and if we are ready to even make that decision. It was a good productive phone call between us all, with me mostly listening, and agreeing or disagreeing. I told my sister awhile ago that I was leaving any decisions up to her, and I would fully support it. That is still the case. But I am glad of a call where we were calmly discussing things, and I could tell they'd both been mapping out what it would look like.

So that's that. I think we are up to day one-hundred and thirty something of quarantine. And I have lost count and have not even thought to sit and try to figure it out. All I know is it is approximately 90 days until the election. I have already made the decision to early vote, because Georgia is going to pull out all the stops and do what they can to suppress, suppress, suppress.

Ugh.

Pictures of the Week. On a happier note, here is my favorite thing I ate this week (Or last week. These days are running together).

That was some potatoes, kale, onions and peppers. Real simple: dice up a red potato, boil it for 15 minutes, then sautee it in a tablespoon of olive oil with kale, onions, and peppers. I meant to throw in a scrambled egg, but it looked like it may be good without it, and it was.

My favorite thing is always a bowl of fresh vegetables. That can be a whole meal for me, easy. And many times it is.

On yet another happy note, my crochet projects are barreling along. Thank goodness, because for a moment, the blanket below... I didn't think I would EVER finish it.

100 squares. That blanket is made up of 100 squares. Initially I was making five different color of squares for the blanket: white, yellow, pink, green, and blue. But the yellow and white were too bright. So I stuck with blue, pink, and green, with pink being the primary color since it is for a baby girl. (Lawd, I hope my coworker had a girl as I heard. Oh my).

I am currently working on another blanket also. It is a blanket for my coworker's daughter's 5th birthday.

I am making it big enough for her to use well into her teen years. I think she will like it.


This one is about 50% complete. I messed around and needed more purple yarn and I couldn't find it. And I KNOW I buy all the yarn I need for a project at one time, as I have to make sure the lot numbers of each roll of each color are the same. If not, the attentive eye may notice that there are two different purples in the piece. I haven't had the problem yet, and my eyes are not sharp enough to spot the imperfection. But after a little digging around, I found it in the bottom of a bag. Thank goodness.

Song of the Day. I have been listening to the same things over the past two weeks. But here are a couple of songs that I listen to in the car, as they sound great on my 10 speaker Nagasaki system (not sure that is the name of the system... I just know it starts with the letter "N").

Sade's "Cherish the Day' and "Soldier of Love"  (Live 2011)





(I am sure those will disappear, and that's okay. Go look them up!)

I remember my sister calling me about this concert. She couldn't believe that the tickets were $550 each. That is a lot. We whined about it. But man oh man, I wish I would've just took my mortgage money and bought us a couple of tickets. Who knows if we will ever be able to be in arena ever again? Who knows if the notoriously reclusive Sade will ever tour again. Ugh.

But it is what it is.

That's it for my Friday freestyles. No matter how it feels to me, I declare it a good week. These days, it is a good day when I wake up and I am feeling fine.

Every morning, I am very purposeful about waking up and thanking God for a new day.

And I do that on purpose. I think it is the right start to my day during these trying times.

Have a great weekend!

Friday Freestyles: The Workplace Edition

Friday!!!

Baby!!

Okay, that's my excitement for it being Friday.
And right now, I am watching the congressional hearings on the coronavirus and they are questioning the scientists. I am a scientist. Can I just tell you how GREAT it is to hear some detailed information on coronavirus?  Why in the world is the president not making better utilization of these people? Why is he just getting up and making up crazy stuff?

And as usual, there are some congressman who know that the president are watching, so they are grandstanding, making outrageous rants for the audience of one. They do not understand how stupid they sound. Makes no sense. This would be even more informative if they would just shut up. Ugh.

Man... I am just wondering what the fallout of sending kids back to school. I pray that all will be well, but uh... if kids and teachers start getting sick or, God forbid, dying? Ugh! I don't even want to think about it!

So much is going on. I will be talking about it all day, but let me move on.
Workplace Rant. Interestingly enough, I have been off all week from work, whatever "off" means. Mind you, I have been online attending meetings and/or webinars. My supervisor called me yesterday, and he is going on vacation next week to his homeland of Puerto Rico.

"I didn't want to bother you on your vacation, LadyLee," he said in his thick Spanglish accent.
"Whatchu talking about, J?" I asked (with much attitude). "Man, I'm trying to burn up some hours. And I got a webinar I'm trying to check out."
"But it is your vacation!" he hollered. "You shouldn't be doing anything work-related."
"Whatever! I have three weeks of leave that won't roll over to next year. Y'all ain't taking my time!"

As usual, he laughs at me.

I wonder if my ebonics confuses him. Oh well.

Now, we have a system that is well known in the gub'ment: one can accumulate 240 hours (6 weeks) of leave during a calendar year, and you best use the time, as it will be lost with the new year. Last year I got caught looking crazy because I had about 130 hours plus 240 hours of leave, and I didn't take much time during the year, so I had to pretty much take the month of December off. I was a bit perturbed about that because I was super busy, and I would have much rather been at work.  But not at the expense of losing time.

So alas, I am burning up some time, even though I am working from home and I plan on pretty much just going out for essential items only and medical appointments. I have had five doctor visits and two dental visits during these past 4 months. I have gotten to the point where I use my annual leave for those things instead of sick leave.

Sick leave can be rolled over year to year. Your friendly neighborhood Oldgirl has 1000 hours of sick leave. What is that, 25 weeks? That's over 6 months worth. GLORY.

And I like to keep a good amount of sick time on hand. I have had two hospital stays in the last 19 years, and I had sick time. THAT is when I use my sick leave. I must say that I am blessed, considering my lupus status, to not have had many medical episodes. And just in the past year, I have just decided to use annual leave instead of sick leave for medical appointments, etc.

Thank you for attending my blog class "The Use of Leave: Better Take Your Dayum Time Off!"

LOL

Workplace Funnies. On a good note, I got a $350 bonus and about 30 hours of time off award. Hell, I don't even know what I did for that, and I ain't asking NO questions. My boss sent an email stating "Thank you for all you do, blah, blah, blah..."

I told one of my coworkers that I wanted to email back "Man please, what is you talking 'bout? We been at the house for the past 4 months!" But I controlled myself and sent back "Wow. Thanks much!"

And time off awards roll over from year to year. I think I have 20 hours that I have been rolling over for the past 10 years. Appreicate it, Boss J! Enjoy your vacation to Puerto Rico! Wear your mask, have your sanitizer handy, and be sure to practice your social distancing!

My branch director, who started with us back in December, is the sweetest chick on the whole planet. I mean, just good ol' down to earth genuine goodness. And I appreciate this, as she is able to handle my rants and side-eyes with the greatest of ease. She realizes that Dr. LadyLee got issues, and don't get along real well with folks (or purpose).

But she has been saying something crazy lately on our version of Zoom group calls.

"I feel like we are all a family and blah blah blah".

Now, I am usually doing something else during the one hour work group "Check-in" calls, like washing dishes, folding clothes, mopping the floor or even crocheting. But when she started all of this "We are a family" jazz. I drop whatever I am doing (dish clanks in sink, crochet needle falls to floor, etc), and I text another coworker who is on the call...

"What the world is she talking about?"

The reply is usually something like "Girl, who you asking?"

I am wondering, is this something she learned in her soft skills class? It ain't working for me. I don't even like half the people I work with. And I hate that about myself, but it is just a part of my personality. Look, if you throw me under the bus or lie on me, or lie to me, or any combination or variation thereof, I am DONE with you. Full stop. And I am like that with quite a few people in my group. While, at the same time, having to watch them do crazy stuff to people around me.

Family?

Dysfunctional family. And that means I don't care to talk to you. I grew up in a dysfunctional family, why the hell would I be dealing with you?

Enough workplace rants and funnies. Moving on!!!

Song of the Day: I pay close attention right now to what I am listening to so that I can have a song of the week to post, lol.  And my favorite song right now is an oldie but goodie, "Tease Me Tonight" by Guy.



That's a good song right there! Can we get the good 90's music back, please?? Loved-ed it!

That's it for my Friday ramblings. This post was LONG, but if felt good to review my workweek! And it means I need to just post everyday, lol.

Anyway, be safe in these streets. Wear your masks! Wash your hands! Practice your Social Distancing!

On purpose!!

Friday Freestyles. The Food-for-Thought Edition

Friday!!!

And it is Payday.

I am always happy for another Pay Day. Always.

Spontaneous Rant. You know, I don't even think I took time to imagine anything for a few minutes this morning like I usually do when I get paid. If you have noticed, I have a tendency to spend a few moments blowing my check in my mind on something interesting. But today there was none of that. I just paid my bills. Not in the mood for deep imagination today. Not when it is month FIVE of quarantining, and teleworking from home. And I am still not sure when we are going back to work. The whole "volunteer voluntarily" to come back... well, they can kick a sack of rocks with that one. My convos with coworkers who have worked a few days out of this whole time have revealed that no more than 5% of people are doing this "voluntarily volunteer" thing. So I am not the only one who is like... bump that.

And we get emails, albeit sparingly, about who will be at work for receiving service on some equipment....

I don't even answer.

Humph.

I may or may not be wrong for that. But I have been with my current job for 19 years. I have sacrificed- gone in on the weekends, worked extra long hours, been talked to and treated any kind of way... and I have decided right now, for once in my life, especially during these obscure and dire times, to put myself first. To make sure I put my own life first. Period.

Well... enough of that Friday mini-rant, food for thought.

But it is just what's clouding my mind now. There's a hint of guilt for not going in. But the proverbial wall of guilt is one foot tall. So I force myself to step over that sh**.

(Excuse my language)

Quote of the Week. Speaking of guilt, my pastor gave a good sermon on dealing with guilt. I got some good notes, and I need to go back and watch the sermon again. But one quote struck me, for its simplicity mostly:

Guilt is the strongest robber of personal peace.

Ain't' that the truth, tho?

He went on to discuss ways of rooting a guilty conscience out of your life. There were about 10 things (I only caught 8 for some reason. Hence the reason I need to go back and watch the sermon again), but one of the points was to write your feelings about your situation down on paper (basically, journal about it), and then just tear it up. It's seen as a symbolic gesture.

But I read a book a few years ago about scientific studies related to this. In a nutshell, it was determined that it is important to write all your feelings out, as it is a confession of sorts. And what I found to be most interesting is that it has a profound physiological affect on the body, where it boosts the immune system. Now, that is something good to know.

Anyway, I think about that a lot. I journal much, especially during these confusing COVID times, and I have journalled anyway all of my life, since it is extremely rare for me to express my feelings to friends and the like.

But I do agree with the statement of guilt being a robber of peace. Where there is guilt, there is a lack of peace of mind.

Hmm.

Book of the Week. So last week, I think I talked about Brit Bennett's book, The Vanishing Half. I decided to look her up, and see whatever else she has written. So this week, I listened to the audible version of the one other book she has written, The Mothers.

Now, I must admit... I enjoyed this book MUCH more than The Vanishing Half. My book club folks didn't really enjoy The Vanishing Half. The ending was... meh. And I myself enjoyed the writing style (I read more for style than anything else)... but I found myself thinking, where is this going?

Not so with The Mothers. I liked it more. The Mothers refers to the Mothers of a church. I think this more relates to the traditional black church. Anyway, it is a story about some folks who are members of the church, but the book gets over into their personal lives and secret places. And the Mothers give commentary on what they think is going on with said congregants.

You know how church gossip goes. Humph.

And it's one of the reasons I don't like traditional church. I am a church member, but I ain't the one you gonna see at any extracurricular church functions. NO MA'AM. And that's just me. I am very private, and I don't need no one speculating or getting into my business and vice versa.  And I am a difficult personality (I have promised myself that I will stop saying that about myself, but it is what it is), and I'm an introvert, so this can become a problem with "church people" real quick. I just find that the older I get, the more I just want to be ME. So this book made me think of all of that.

So this book was a deep dive into ALL of those types of issues. It was a fantastic listen, and one of the few books that, upon listening to the audible version, that I wished I would have sat down and read the hardback. It was that good of a book indeed. I would suggest it to my book club, but they are finicky. They didn't care much for The Vanishing Half, so they may not read another book by Ms. Bennett for a minute.

Song of the Week. This has been such a slow music week for me, so nothing just jumps out at me. But right now, I am doing a TON of writing, and certain songs relate to whatever I am writing. One I was talking about with a member on my reading team is "Affair" by Cherrelle.



That is a GOOD song. As a matter of fact, the Affair album, released in 1986, is one of my all time favorite albums. It is early Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis production work, pre-Janet Jackson. I think that is why I like it so much.

But, the first line of the novella I've been working on since late February is...

Monique use to get all bent out of shape about cheating on her husband.
But not anymore.

HMMMMMM... Wonder what that's all about?

LOL.

I don't care to write long form, but I do so from time to time because I can cull short stories from a longer work. And I have counted some ten short stories. One of my writing instructors once said to our class about me that "LadyLee has this wonderful skill of writing long form and carving short stories out of that long story."

That made me feel good, that someone recognizes this immense talent and skill of mine. And it is something that I have been believing about myself for the longest.

And we should feel positive things about ourselves.

On purpose. As much as possible.

This was a LONG post, laced with some food-for-thought, wasn't it. That is what I get for not posting all week.

It has been quite helpful. Wonderfully cathartic as always. This has been a true snapshot of my mental.

And I declare it at the same time has boosted my immune system.

I declare it!

LOL

Friday Freestyles

Man oh man, it is Friday.

I don't even know what day this is quarantine. Everybody is just like "screw it", anyway. We stop counting days now. This is the beginning of month #5. I think. I am ready to go back to work. They have disinfected the place after 2 people were COVID positive. It is still on a volunteer basis.

This Oldgirl ain't volunteering for NUTHIN. I am ready to go back to work when I get an official email, something on paper and documented, of an exact date to return. Not gonna be in a building with a bunch of people on a volunteer basis.

When I can get paycheck at home and teleworking. HUMPH.

It sucks, but oh well.

I don't know what they gonna do about all this. We need LEADERSHIP. Everything is beginning to feel like a campaign rally right now. Bump that. Solve this problem!

Speaking of leadership. Y'all need to come get my governor. Ugh.

Tell me... what is he doing? He sued the Mayor of Atlanta over the mask mandate she put in place.

Sir, stop it. You know what EVERYBODY is thinking, don't you?

Mind you, there are several mayors all over the state of Georgia who have instituted mask mandates.

But he decides to sue my mayor Keisha.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

My Mayor bust out with an Audre Lorde quote on him.

"I AM DELIBERATE AND AFRAID OF NOTHING."

Translation---> I have 0 f**** to give, so bring it on, bro.

You know we all siting down here thinking the same thing.

Sir... you were not even smart enough to cover that up by suing EVERY mayor in Georgia. But you picked that one. Yes, ok.

Your slip is showing, sir.

This may not matter because ALL the major grocery stores have slapped mask mandates into place. I don't blame them.
Stop all this foolishness.

That's all I got to say about that.

Movie of the week. Fatal Affair...

This movie was okay. If you have seen one affair-gone-tragic movie, you have seen them all. Each has a little different twist to it, but that's about it. This one, sadly, stuck close to the same ol' formula. I watched it on Thursday night, and it was good to crochet to, I suppose.  But it's not anything I will watch again. Typical Netflix fare. It would've made a great Lifetime movie.

But what I liked about it was seeing Omar Epps and Nia Long on screen. They are a throwback to the 90s.  That made it worth watching. I will give it a grade of a C.

Song of the Week. "Inside my Love" by Minnie Ripperton


That is a good song that comes up in my Spotify weekly playlist. Loved-ed it! So calm, so soothing. I wish we had pure singers like her still. Ugh.

That is it for my freestyle Fridays. Man, I am thankful for living another day... and in these times, I always end that every morning with...

LITERALLY.

On purpose!

Have a great weekend.

And please practice your social distancing and wear your masks.

Friday Freestyles

It is Friday!

And it's Payday.

Which doesn't mean the most to me these days. Not saying that I am not grateful for a paycheck. It's just that I schedule all of my bills to go out on payday, so monies are GONE. Humph.

Alas, I do take a moment just to sit down and imagine for all of fifteen seconds of my check being mine, and I can go blow it on something. Today, I imagined purchasing a nice new mattress. I need a new one. Sigh.

Maybe later this year. We will see.

Anyway, it is Friday. We are, like, in day 115 of telework. Whatever that means. I have ran out of things to do, save for meetings and webinars. I have a 1.5 hour meeting today, and it's a done deal after that. I may read a few articles, have a few discussions. But that is about it. I am more interested in cleaning the kitchen and thinking about what's for dinner.

I forgot to put up my 4th of July dinner!

Baked chicken!

Baked Ribs!

Green Beans.

I wasn't all that happy with those. I didn't have many beans after snapping.

Before snap...

After snap.

Since I had few beans, I threw a whole lot of onions and a small diced red potato in there, just to give me a few extra servings of beans to last me the rest of the week, as I am the type to sit down and just eat a bowl of vegetables for a meal...

I find that through quarantine, my favorite meal is a simple bowl of sautéed squash/zuchinni.

At any rate, a week later, I still have barbeque left. I will most likely finish it off this weekend.

Corona, Corona. So the virus is still surging forward like a locomotive train with a full tank of gas.

 I thought we would done with this mess by now, you know. I was telling someone that I thought we would be off for 2 weeks, then back at work. However, it has been close to 4 months. I wish I would have known it would be this long. I would have set some really serious goals during this time. Really.

And my beloved Mayor Keisha has tested positive for covid!

Ugh!!!

Lawd.

But I tell you what. She is not playing around. There is a mask mandate in the city. Thank goodness for that. Sometimes it takes someone in the situation to make some rules.

And our beloved president is demanding all the children go back to school in the fall. Corona be damned if it is still raging rampant. I can tell you now... that is not going to go over well. It is a shame that the real reason why the demand is there is for political purposes. Wow. Sigh.

Here is my philosopy: As Americans, things do not matter to us unless it falls on our doorstep, meaning, we don't care unless it shows up in our house or affects us personally. That's unfortunate, but it is the essence of American entitlement. Once the president is personally affected by it, he will not care. It affects his political goals. And that is the problem.

I pray for all affected. And I pray we make it out of this unfortunate situation.

Song of the Week. I have to think about this one. I have not been listening to a lot of music.
Since August Alsina and Jada P. are in the news, I can put up a song by him that I like.

"Us" by August Alsina



Man oh man, all of their business is out in them social media streets, ain't it? Stuff like this always makes me ponder my own life... and makes me glad that I am a private person with a private life that will never be under the microscope of the public. Thank goodness for that.

That's it for my Friday thoughts. I have a lot of them. I have absolutely nothing to do this weekend.  My porch needs to be swept and cleaned up, and I need to cut some hedges. That will be my excitement for the weekend. And of course I have a ton of writing to do. I think I clocked around 4000 raw words this week, so I am really excited about that.  I completed a writing workshop cycle, which will crank back up around July 25th. I am always excited about those, as I use them to explore whatever projects I am working on.

I am just about done with a crochet project. It's for a baby that has already been born, but since it's a coworkers baby, I have no idea how to get to him. I am also making a blanket for  a coworker's daughter's 5th birthday. That isn't due until August. So I will have that to keep me a little busy.

But overall, I am prayerful and working on being content. I must say that I am thinking a lot about my life and what I want to do or be in the next decade.

I am also having some hard conversations with myself... on purpose.

Have a safe weekend. Practice your social distancing and please wear your mask.

Friday Night Freestyles After Dark... The Disinfectant Edition

Happy Friday!

Whatever that means. Once again, my days are melding together. Friday is Friday, and nothing much I am looking forward to for the weekend.

Ya'll... they out in the streets trying to do some Jim Jones-Guyana mess to us.

I just wish someone in the press corps jump up during these silly press conferences and holler "KNOCK IT OFF! WE TRYNA LIVE, AND YOU STANDING UP HERE TALKING ABOUT INJECTING OURSELVES WITH DISINFECTANT!"

What the hell, man.

Everybody sitting up here all stressed out, couped up in the house, yearning for answers, and here he comes DAILY with a bunch of bull....

Ain't nobody got time for that!!!

And I try to give him the benefit of the doubt. This is someone who is uber-wealthy, and probably hasn't had to push a cart down the aisle of a K-mart or Wal-mart, trying to get some bleach because he gotta clean his house. He may not know that you can't inject yourself with disinfectant.

And I heard today that he was talking about he was being sarcastic.

No you weren't, Sir. Ain't nobody got time for no danggone sarcasm. CUT IT OUT and be a leader!

I stopped watching the press conferences. After a couple of weeks, I figured out that they were bootleg political rallies. I cannot. I cannot deal with that. I cannot. I like hearing from the scientists. I just look up the highlights later on YouTube.

And on the other hand... what would happen if Obama stood up during a pandemic and said some dumb crap like that?

These YTpipo's heads would pop off. Hell, the black folk would've dragged him.

It would never happen, because Obama would listen to the professionals... and would not get up and embarrass his country like that.

Listen... the only Lysol I wanna see is the one in the store that I can buy (if it is available) to disinfect the air and surfaces. And that is real hard to find right now.

I wouldn't mind seeing this too:

Really, tho. That's it right there. That'll take all this Covid out the air. ALL of it.

I am a scientist. I know what happens if you inject yourself with disinfectant. Someone needs to give my president a high school level biochemistry primer. And a news conference should not be a brainstorming session. You're supposed to brainstorm before the meetings and not run out saying dumb stuff.

Rant over.

I hope this has been a great week for you. It has been okay for me. This teleworking thing is O_o.  I really need a laboratory. It would be perfect if I could set up a lab in my garage. Really.  But for now, I must figure out the telework thing.

It didn't help that our supervisor (who I have seen NO emails from in over a week), sent some long email today talking about how he's been having a good time playing basketball and soccer and spending time with his family. And he also said basically about how nobody better be coming up into the lab and contaminating the lab, cuz we don't know if you sick or not, and how folks got pre-existing conditions and they got families and you don't want to be infecting them...

blah blah blah blah...blah blah blah blah BLAH!!!

*blink*blink*

Man... I just closed my computer and went and sat down and watched the View.

And on top of that, we got a free hour off today for administrators day.  Mind you, I'm not an administrator person. I am a scientist. However, since he said that in his email...

I REALLY turned the computer off and went and sat down somewhere. 

And besides, it is Friday. I tend to do a little work on the weekends (which needs to stop). I just sat down somewhere.

Quote of the Week. I was listening to something on Facebook watch, and you know how it rolls over to the next video. Well some lady was preaching down. And she said something interesting.

Fear is the belief in negative possibilities.

Oh my. Such a short statement, but chocked full of truth. I won't discuss it, because this post will be 100 pages long . No ma'am. I think I we should just let it marinate. I have been journalling during these corona times. I think I will use it as a journalling topic. So I may revisit it later in a blog post.

Song of the Week. When I post a song of the week, it is usually something I have been listening to all week. Nothing much has struck my fancy this week. Earlier this week, I was highly interested in "That Girl" by Stevie Wonder.



It is part of the soundtrack to a story I am writing. So it helps me in my writing process. And that's a good thing!

That's it for my freestyle ramblings. Ya'll have a good weekend. Georgia is wide open for black folk activities this weekend.

I will NOT be participating. Nope!! I even had a medical appointment on Monday. It is something routine. I pushed my appointment to June. I gotta see all this play out, you see.

So ya'll be safe out there. Wear your masks, and wash your hands, stay MANY feet apart...

And remember... use your chlorox products ONLY as directed on the label. Don't be fooled by silly ish.

Be aware!! Do not drink your disinfectant! Do not pop disinfectant pills! Do not inhale disinfectant from an inhaler. Be aware!

On purpose. 

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!

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!

Friday Freestyles

Friday!

And it is PAYDAY.

Glory!

I ain't got a THANG done all day.

And there is nothing much I could do about that because I am waiting on an order of chemicals to arrive. So all I have to do right now is paperwork.

So it has been slow, slow, slow.

Adventure of the week I.  I have been running around trying to get Pam to pass her emissions.

The car is 22 years old, and every year, it takes a minute to get that emissions done, because I have to catch her when the light is on.  So this week, there has been a lot of driving and running to and fro, and right now, the computer isn't ready. So I will keep driving her.

You should see me driving, though. I am looking back and forth in the side view mirrors, looking for the cops! I am constantly checking my rearview mirror. It has been wrecking my nerves.

I found out that I could get a 30 day extension on my emissions. So we will see how that works out. At least I'm not riding dirty right now! And that's a good thing!

I like driving this car, but if I have to let it go, I will. I haven't had any repairs on it for at least 5 years, and it's a great extra car, but living in downtown Atlanta... LAWD have mercy, the insurance is high. I make decent money, and I am debt free (minus the house), and I am meeting my savings goals, so for now, we will keep Pam. And in 3 more years, the car will be 25 years old, and she will no longer need to go through this emissions process. GLORY.

Adventure of the week II. But on a good note, there's a new gentrified Whole Foods open near where I work.

And it's 4 stories tall. Best believe we have been whispering about that place for a minute. I will write about that next week.

Song of the week. Not necessarily a song, but a mini-concert from NPR's Tiny desk concert. Leikeli47.



That was AWESOME. That band made it awesome. I have seen this rapper before, but she throws me off with the whole bandana face mask thing. That's her brand so more power to her. I like her voice and she has good content. All I know is that this will go down as one of my favorite Tiny Desk's concerts.

And I love how the band is the "TSA band", with their TSA shirts on. LOL. I wonder if they work for the TSA for real. I would definitely buy an album by them. For real, tho.

But that's it for my week. It has been pretty slow at work. Dayum near everybody is gone for spring break. Ugh. Next week, back to normal.

But right now, I am FEENIN' for the weekend. And I hope to make it a good one... on purpose!

Friday Freestyles

Friday!!!

Yes, it is Friday!

And it's a 3 day holiday weekend.

I am REALLY happy about that. And we were just told that we get to leave an hour early today.

*Ladylee doing some SERIOUS clock watching as she packs her bag to leave*

LOL

I have nothing much planned for the weekend. I have to attend a graduation party on Saturday or something. I have to remember to get a card and some cash out of the bank. Hmmm...

Otherwise, it is a quiet weekend. I plan to get quite a bit of reading and journaling done, though.

Pictures of the Week. I have had these pictures since Mother's Day, and I am just loading up. But they are pictures of Scoot Booty, aka, my nephew Justin!

He and his Mama Kentucky showed up at my house. The little dude was looking all dapper in his fly hat.



How fly is he? All he needs is a gold chain!

(He can't have that. He would put it in his mouth).

He can crawl now, so he likes to be down on the floor.



And he's so bold now that he likes to get up on one knee.



Of course he is trying to stand up with no support, but he comes crashing to the ground.

And that hat falls from his head. He was constantly reaching for it and placing it back on his head, albeit crookedly.

He can stand up with support, though!



Go Scoot Booty! You have come a mighty long way, little man. He's only 8 months old, and still underweight, but I think he will be walking before long. Maybe before his first birthday.

This is my favorite picture. Look who's photobombing...

Sister Callie Jo! LOL. And that's her usual facial expression whenever Justin is around. She let's him rub her head, but she is still... perplexed.

Sister Callie Jo is always interested in Justin.

 But she usually goes on her own way... or stay far out of Justin's reach.

Oh, and here's a final picture. It's him and his Mama, my sister!!



This was her first Mothers Day. I think we both forgot, lol. I still need to get her a gift! I was gonna give her some cash, but she didn't want it. I will figure it out!

Quote of the Week. I was watching a TedTalk this week titled "The Art of Being Yourself" by Caroline McHugh, and I came across a fabulous quote. It stuck with me.

"It's not what your life expectancy is, but what do you expect from life, and what does life expect from you?"

That's a short quote, but it's loaded.

That Ted Talk is chock full of quotes. Man oh man. I have listened to it several times. Here's the link... https://youtu.be/veEQQ-N9xWU

That is it for ME. I am just waiting to go home!

GLORY.

But that clock just goes tick, tick, tick. It's like time has slowed or something. Ugh.

I will sit here... and wait... on purpose!

Then I will go on home and have a GREAT weekend.

You do the same.

Friday Freeeestyles

It's Friday! And it's Payday!

Most importantly, it is the last lab day of a project I am working on at work... well, if it comes out right, that is. I won't know until I crunch a ton of data.

But I will worry about that when I get to it.

Not much to say, but I don't want to go a week without posting. Having trouble uploading pictures again, so... bleh.

My favorite Picture of the Week...

It's a faceoff between Big Mitch and Justin.

But for me there's some "food for thought lite" in that picture.

It reminds me to always be sure to face my challenges and fears. That something that's difficult for me.

Now in the above picture, I don't know if it's Justin or Mitch that's challenged or in a state of fear.

But we have to face up to them nevertheless.

Mitch usually goes on about his business, away for Justin. I think he may still be unsure of what Justin is. He's gotten close enough to be petted, but that's about it. And Mitch doesn't scratch or fight. (Well, he scratches and fights my girl cat Sister Callie Jo, but that's a whole 'nother matter.)

Movie of the Week. Avenger's Infinity War!



I saw it last night. (No I was not going to fight with the crowds. NOPE.

That was a GOOD movie. I don't usually like movies with a gazillion heroes in them, but this one was very good. I liked Black Panther more, though. But this was well worth it.

Black Panther comes out on DVD and digital this month. I will be downloading it the day it comes out! Correction: I will be downloading it the MOMENT it comes out.

Song of the Week. My favorite song by Destiny's child is "Girl"



My best friend LadyTee really likes it, too. That is how she feels about me after nearly 40 years of friendship.

Well, I was washing dishes the other day and I hear the first few notes of the song. I start to sway, and I was gearing myself up to sing. But the song sounded strange. I don't know, it was a little slow.

Lo and behold, it was an oldie. In other words, Destiny Child's version is NOT the original.

Go figure!

Well the original is titled "Oceans of Thoughts and Dreams" and it is by the Dramatics, a popular 70s soul group.



Humph. I don't like it AT ALL. But whoever found and used the sample - good for them!

Makes me yearn for some original music, though. These new songs... you never know who if they are sampled or not. Sigh.

Oh well!

With that said, I am done. I am ready for my weekend!

I'm going to make it a good one! On purpose!

Friday Freestyles

Friday!

And it is PAY DAY!!

Thank goodness!

And I have FOUGHT for a couple of days trying my best to load up pictures. My very best. I think I may have to spend the weekend loading pictures, then go from there. Because when I try to do a post, it is a serious fight.

Oh well.

With that said. My tuxedo cat Big Mitch has something to say concerning the Pictures of the Week.

"I, Mitchell Lamar, would like to announce that the little human thing is sitting up and crawling."

That's right. Justin, aka Scoot Booty is crawling. And sitting up.

Not for long periods of time, though. And he has to have some type of mission, like grabbing something he wants.

The cats don't know what to make of it. But Sister Callie has allowed her to pet him. Mitch has too, but he is just more curious than anything.

It is a sight to see, especially when the little guy came into the world weighing all of 3 pounds.

Go Justin!!

Quote of the Week. I heard a fantastic quote today.

We were all human
Until race disconnected us.
Until politics divided us.
Until religion separated us.
Until wealth classified us.

That right there encapsulates the current climate of this country. Hmm...

Book of the Week. Nana by Brandon Massey.

Man. That book was FANTASTIC. Oh my goodness. What a great piece of black horror. Twist on top of twist on top of twist!!

WOW!!!

I am a huge Brandon Massey fan. He can put out a twist on Mary had a little lamb and I'd be good. Really tho.

Song of the Week. A song by Niki Minaj. Normally, I don't like her music, because you can just holler and scream how you the baddest bitch ever for so long. I wish she could tell as story. I like when rappers can tell a good story. She cannot . She can just talk about how she is a bad bitch and how we all want to be like her.

Okay.



But I like her Barbie Tingz song. Maybe because it is a kickback to some ol' school rap. And I like the Chun-Li song too!




Thank goodness somebody put the clean versions up. I suppose they will be snatched down in a week.

Not a Niki fan... but with Cardi being #1 right now, she must've figured that she better come up with something good.

Yay!

Anyway, I am ready for the weekend. I have too much stuff to do for some reason. Not happy about that, but oh well. I will have to pick from what I need to do. And that's fine.

I will have a great weekend on purpose! You do the same!

Friday Freestyles... Holiday Edition

It is Friday. And I am off because Veterans Day is tomorrow. So since Veteran's day falls on a weekend, we get the closest weekday off. And that is fine with me.

This has been a pretty quiet day. I have a 1000 things I want to do this weekend, but alas, it is all in my head, and it's all a dream. I will most definitely get 1% of those things done.  And I am fine with that.

It is officially Autumn. Yes I know that the first day of fall was awhile ago, but I know it's officially fall when I see this:



Disposable bags of leaves at the curb. My lawn man has been busy at work raking up leaves, I see!

So today, there is some HUGE child molestation mess going on with Roy Moore, who I think is running for Senate in Alabama. Now, you would think that this would mean automatic dismissal from the race entirely, but nope. What's going down in Hollywood is not going down in Alabama.

They are saying it was so long ago. And "if it's true" jargon is flying left and right.

What it says to me is that they are sanctioning pedophilia.

No one sanctions that. But a special case can be made when they are trying to get some things done, you know.

Got to erase that black man's legacy, by any means necessary.

That whole Roy Moore scenario happened 40 years ago. Sorry, but that would have had to have happened yesterday, and it had better been caught on camera. Then and only then will it be acknowledged and action taken. But not now. Nope. Pedophilia- who cares.

And this is my thing: this man is way heavy on the legalism and religiosity. WAY heavy. This is ALWAYS a signal that they have some serious ingregious mess going on in their backgrounds. If we pull back the heavy velvet black curtain of their lives and take a look, we will see some straight craziness. And that's what we have here.

Hmm... Just my opinion.

Quote of the week. This quote comes up in my thoughts a lot these days. It is from Abraham Lincoln.

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him some power."

Power magnifies character. Money does too, I should add.

And I am seeing it in context now, where all these powerful men are sexually harassing women. And we are seeing only the very tippy-tip of the iceberg. You know that. We would all probably pass out from stress if EVERY woman with a story of her run-in with sexual harassment surfaces.

Let's just say I've never met a woman who doesn't have a story to tell. Including me.

If you don't have a story to tell, consider yourself lucky.

Song of the Week. I love this song AND the cheesy video! "Don't look any further"



I LOVE that song. And that video is the cheapest EVER. Still great though, even better than these glitzy million dollar videos.

That is it for me. I am going to enjoy the rest of this day by working hard at crossing off stuff on my "To-do" list.

And I'm going to enjoy this weekend too! You do the same!!