Good Monday Morning

Shame on me for not posting.

I have been BUSY as all  get out. And when I'm not busy, I've been somewhere laid out.

I am trying to finish up a few things, as I am going to see my sister sometime in December.

(And yes, I am SUPER excited about that. I miss her much).

Needless to say, there is not much going on over here except working.

This is Thanksgiving week, which means it will be very quiet at work. I am happy for that. I have no plans, as I am only taking Thanksgiving day off. If I could work that day, I surely would. My friend the Green Eyed Bandit's Mama is in town, and I may go spend Thanksgiving day with them.

Because I know Mama Bandit is frying up some pork ribs for sure...
























LOL

Forget the turkey. Fried ribs, man.

That's some 'itis AND a heart attack. My goodness.

I don't know if Mama Bandit is frying ribs or not. I just think of that when Green Eyed Bandit call and holler "My Mama is in town, so come on down."  She was in town earlier this year and I missed out. So I will get down there this Thanksgiving.

This week I spend time thinking about my year and what I am thankful for. I may post on that.

I know many of you are off this week. 

Be safe out there if you're traveling. And have a good week... on purpose.

Monday Afternoon Ponderings.

Happy Belated Easter to YOU!!



I meant to post yesterday. Completely forgot about it for some reason. Sigh.

Anyways, I am sitting here pondering during my lunch time. 

I made the best salad for lunch today. And it was pretty too.

Best of all, The Cowgirl Cre bought me some strawberries, cabbage and dressing from Easter Dinner at her parent's house. Best of all, she brought me an Easter egg.

I was so happy for this, as I'd wished I'd colored a few eggs for Easter.

And I was happy because it perfectly matched my pink work folder.

LOL.

That's completely irrelevent. I just noticed they were the same color.

For my Easter dinner, I had stuffed acorn squash.

I posted up a couple of weeks ago about my foray into the land of acorn squash. This stuffed squash looks a tad bit different, and it has a bit of sausage mixed in. I liked my first attempt at stuffed squash best. This was great also.

I tried the recipe that one of my readers suggested last week. I forgot to post a picture of it, though. She suggested slicing the squash and adding some salt, olive oil and a maple syrup drizzle, and then baking at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. 

Good stuff!

Oh wait... It's missing something.

Chopped pecans make everything better. Oh yeah.

That was so good. I have enough for the week. It's easy to reheat and it, along with a salad, fills me up. 

I had a quiet Easter weekend. I didn't even leave the house, save for taking out the trash. That was about it. And it was all nasty and drizzly out. No need to venture out into that.

Long gone are my days of Easter dresses and Easter speeches. I spend time thinking about the reason for the season. And I, as always am thankful for it.

That's it for my ponderings.

I MIGHT post everyday this week. Wouldn't THAT be something. 

Have a great week. On purpose! 

Good Monday Morning

Monday Morning Randomness

Monday!

Glory!

I'ma start celebrating my Mondays. I want to be different and move away from the norm of "Oh Gosh, it's Monday. Ughhhhhh."

Someone somewhere didn't make it through the weekend. I did. Good enough for me. Celebrate the day.

One of my prayers is always "God, I thank you for the day and all the great things that will happen today. If not for me, than someone else. Amen."

And I make a mental note of the good things that happen that day. And something good always happen.

Good is the normal. I heard that on a radio show the other day.

The news never reports that an airplane landed safely at your local airport today. That's not news. That's good. Now when the plane crashes? That's bad news. And it's all over the news. You see what happened when the plane disappears. That's even bigger news.

Just a mini food for thought there. Big lesson: Monday is a good day. Period.

My weekend. I hung out with my sister all day Saturday.  We didn't even leave the house. Somehow we got caught up lounging out and watching Lifetime Television for Women. Why? Because there was an interesting slate of movies.

The Girl I Met Online.
The Boy I Met Online.
The Husband I Met Online.
The Wife I Met Online.

And finally... the season premiere of The Bride I Bought Online.

I'll just say this: there was plenty of tomfoolery, deceit, anger, mental problems, sociopathy, and murder on Lifetime Television for Women on Saturday.

And here's the kicker: There were a ton of Online dating commercials the whole day. LOL! Hilarious. These movies were a cautionary tale against such.

 It was good to hang out with my sister. And I got a ton of crocheting done. I need to get as  much time in with her as possible.

I went to church on Sunday. This is a bizarre thing for me, as I usually go on Saturday nights. But it worked out well. I enjoyed myself. Then I ran a bunch of errands, which seems to be the norm on weekends. My only issue is that it was HAWT outside. My goodness. And today it's going to be 100 degrees.  The weather lady said the heat index would be 107 degrees. I don't know what the hell that means. But it means to me that I should keep my behind inside.

Song of the Week.  I don't have anything really... but here's an interesting Kendrick Lamar appearance on the Ellen show."These Walls"



I like how they did that. A bit more mature. Something for the grown and sexy!

The 10th Bloggaversary Sweepstakes is still in full full effect until August 15th. $100 gift cards up for grabs. I am not sure how many. It's all dependent on the number of posts I do. You just be sure to comment for a chance to mean. Texts and emails work, too. I have a good enough system to keep up with that. So holler back!

Look out for a full load of posts this week... on purpose.

Good Monday Morning... Birthday Sweepstakes Winner

It's that time again... Time for the sweepstakes winner to be announced!

First of all.... Good Monday Morning.

It's been a cold and rainy weekend in the ATL. Not really all that cold. But everyone seems to be collectively wide-eyed, trying not to get caught up in some tomfoolery where it's so cold that rain turns into ice and we all iced out and sitting on the highway looking straight up crazy...

But oh well. That didn't happen. And I need it to not do anything ratchet like that, as I am flying out to a conference later this week. It's only for a couple of days up north, but I don't want to be on the TV news telling a story of being straight stranded somewhere. Nope.

So hopefully all goes well. My weekend has been a blur of getting ready for this trip. I've pulled my flyest gear out the closet and making sure it all fit just right. And it looks like I am pretty much ready to go.

Anyway, on to the winner of the Birthday Sweepstakes. This year, there is only one winner. I kept it low-key on purpose. I've been so busy and distracted, that I didn't think I could blog as much as I wanted. But I actually posted all that blog posts I wanted to post, mostly reminescing about year 44. So I am glad about that. But since I said only one winner early on, then one winner it is.

So there were 73 entries. Here they are.

If you don't see your name, it's on the second page, under the first. That is mostly email and/or text messages. Sorry. By the time I realized it, I had cut up the names.

'Tis a small stack, as compared to my Dr. Parker soda can.

And that's cool. A low key drawing this time.

I have a new person responsible for pulling my names... I moved to a new building, and I found someone new in my area. Hence, Commander By has been fired. (He wasn't too sad about it. I think he is happy for his military comrad to take over his job).

The new person sits in my area in the new building. Her name is Commander "Git Jiggy Wit It!"

Just like Commander By, she too is a member of the military, trained in hand-to-hand combat. I NEVER worry about some active shooter, terrorist, or alien rolling up into the workplace with some tomfoolery.

I'm not all that worried because Commander Git Jiggy Wit It sits a couple of cubicles away. I will just go crawl up under her desk.

She got on her combat boots! Laced all the way up!

Anybody come near us, she will STOMP them. And when she kicks the enemy's azz, she doesn't have to worry about losing her footwear. That's smart, if you ask me.

She really doesn't even need to stomp a fool. She has deadly hands. When those hands ball up into angry fists, it is ON and POPPIN!

Fist's of Fury!

I'll just run over her way and be protected by her Fists of Fury!

Fists tough enough to take out the enemy!

In one shot. One right hand jab will do it!

Yet...

She has hands gentle enough to nurture and care for her children, a little boy and a little girl.

Hands precise and agile enough to pull the winning name of the Oldgirl LadyLee 45th Birthday Sweepstakes!

So it was time to pull a name. We needed a container. There was the plastic bag...

But I decided that would be better used as a purse.  A Jiggy purse, for when she was out in the field undercover. She can't carry her normal fly pocketbook, as that will cause her to stand out to the enemy.  She can conceal her Git jiggy essentials in this Git Jiggy Pocketbook and tape it to her chest. Yes. Undercover! Vice!

We can't have her standing out! (Especially since she is protecting MY freedom. NO!)

So we pulled out the Git Jiggy Cup!

So she shaked the Jiggy Cup...

And she shaked the Jiggy Cup!

And she pulled a name!

And the winner is....

That Oldgirl Chele!!!!

!!Chele!!

Chele! Your comment on the 9th on the Good Monday Morning Post Birthday edition did for you, hon!

Oh wait... Commander Git Jiggy Wit It has to officially certify the winnings...

Chele! You win a $45 gift card from Target or Walmart!

Go girl! I said Go Girl!

I like Chele. She's been one of my favorite bloggers for the last 8 or 9 years.

She is one of my favorite authors. I love her books.

And she is also my favorite SuperHero.

I think she had just won a figure competition. And righfully so. But that looks like some type of sword she has in her hands. I assume that is the trophy.

But she is a superhero in my book. I remember when she started that fitness journey, when it was a mere seed, a mere thought in her mind. It is always wonderful to read and be a witness such a uncommon thing happen.

And the trophy, it's a sword. She can take out some people with that... Hence Super Chele to the rescue!

All she needs is a cape, man.  Fab Fit Flygirl!

50 looks good on YOU!

(She is gonna kill me for jacking pictures off her site. Oh well. You need to lock those down, hon.You will have to come to the ATL and chase me down).

I've always wanted to meet Chele. That's a bucket list item. But I fear it would be like when Celie passed out on the dirt road when Shug Avery was leaving for Memphis. She is such an icon in my eye. Sigh.

I wish I lived up her ways. She has started her own personal training company. I would be a client. I would just have to get behind on my mortgage and mess up my credit score. I want to be fab and fit at 50 too!

Ok. Time for me to stop jocking!

So congrats Chele. Good for you. Holler at me on my gubment or oldgirlladylee email. Or twitter. Or facebook. Whereever honey! And if you want me to hit up a Sports Authority for the gift card, I will. Just make sure the sports store is near Downtown ATL, preferably out on the Southside. Okay??

I know you like Target. So holler back!

So that's it for the sweepstakes. Next Sweepstakes is in August for my 10th Bloggaversary.

I need to start saving up money for that one. What I want to do? I don't know if I can afford to do. But we will see. Yes indeed.

So watch out, now!

That's it for the sweepstakes. In honor of Commander Git Jiggy Wit It's first day on the job, the Song of the Week is dedicated to her!! Will Smith "Get Jiggy Wit it"



Not sure how long that will stay up before it is yanked. So enjoy while you can.

Thank you Commander Jiggy for pulling the names. And thank you for protecting my freedom!

Stay tuned for a full battery of posts this week, some automatic as I will ghost. And don't come trying to rob my crip. I have a bootleg housesitter. That should shock Mitch and Callie good fashion, lol.

Have a great week. Not by default, but by design. On purpose!!!

Good Monday Morning

Good Monday Morning, ya'll.

Not all that happy about going to work today, but I am thankful anyway.

Today was a SLOW weekend on purpose. That is because the end of my weeks have been long workdays and I have been totally exhausted.   So I have been keeping my weekends as quiet as possible. No grocery shopping, no errand running, no nothing. I bWhatever I do, I better do around the house. And for me that meant chores. And I did a LOT of sleeping. A lot.

But I had to leave the house once this weekend. I had to take Sister Callie Jo to the vet.

Last weekend, I was looking at her foot, and the pad was cut. And it was looking all black and nasty. And you know what that means: infection. I had wild imaginations of having to get her foot cut off. I thought I would have to tie a tree branch to her leg so she could walk right.

I talked to my coworker Mel. She worked in a vet clinic once. She told me to look at it and to stick her foot in a bowl of peroxide. I frowned at this. I wanted no part of an angry cat.

But it worked fine. And I made her an appointment at the vet to be on the safe side. No, I didn't want to spend a hundred dollars to have her foot looked at, but if it was infected, best get it taken care of.

So I soaked her foot in a bowl of peroxide for all of ten seconds. Then I cleaned it with a q-tip. She didn't give me too much fuss. She seemed to be shocked at the process. All that nastiness was kitty litter. I cleaned it up, and she was confined to her cage for a couple of days with some paper kitty litter. (She refused to use it and threw it out the litter box, which pissed me off.)  Then I wrapped her foot up with some gauze. And here she is, contemplating some shenanigans, i.e., thinking about how to knock that fan over.

Even with a wrapped foot, she's trying to start some mess. She is constantly knocking things over, and in that picture above, she is eyeing that fan. And every time I go to put on my sneakers, there are interesting gifts inside, like bottle caps and paper and coins. Sigh.

So I put her in her crate on Saturday and I took her to the vet. She remembers that place well, and was shaking the whole time and wanted to be held.

But guess what? They said her foot was healing just fine. I was also concerned about her slightly swollen lip and they said that came from just chewing on stuff. (Yes, she likes to chew on cardboard and sponges).

And I was not charged a dime.

I hurried Callie into her crate (and she was more than happy to go and hide inside), and I hurried out before they could change their mind.

And that was my weekend excitement.

I am not sure what the week will bring, but I am hopeful for a good one. I have another week on this detail- possibly two- and I will go back to the laid back stylings of my old group. I am having to walk from building to building right now and that is too much going on. The people of the group are nice enough, but it is mostly, uh... melanine challenged folks, so I try to just do what I have to do, smile, and keep moving forward. They all seem to go out to lunch together, etc. I am not invited, and if I was, I wouldn't go. I rarely go out to lunch with people. On purpose.

Anyway, I have gotten some of my questions answered. It has been more of a recon mission for me... go figure out what the world they are doing, and think about it.

Now, this group is working with to.bac.co, and the odors are causing me problems.

"How you like it over there," a couple of coworker said.

"It's alright," I said. "But it make me want some weed!"

That gets the O_O look. Oh well. I'm just telling the truth.

One day last week, I was looking like Pookie in New Jack City.

Ya'll see how he was feening... the smell of to.bacc.o is doing that to me for some reason. Sigh.

Odd.

Don't worry. I'll be good. No weed for me, honey.

That's it for me...

Song of the Week. I don't know what my problem is, but I have been listening to quite a bit of Johnny Gill lately. I'm not the biggest fan, but oh well.



I really like that song. I can't believe that it is close to 25 years old. That's an oldie but goodie.

Well that's it for me. We are still in sweepstakes mode, and every one is in a comfortable jog heading for the finish line. So comment for your chance to win. You've had a ton of opportunities.

Make your money honey! On purpose!

And have a great week!

Good Monday Morning

Happy Monday Morning.

I am feeling O_o today.

I REALLY need a couple of weeks off. Really.

But alas, thank you Lord that I have a job to go to. So I will NOT complain.

I had a pretty good weekend. I am a bit tired because I did too much yesterday. My grass is 6 inches high because of all the rain and my inability to get out there due to my knee being all jacked up. It is better now (GLORY!), and you should have seen me yesterday. It was a serious adventure movie titled LadyLee versus the Forest. Part I was yesterday, and part II is today. I managed to get a lot done, but the trimmer battery runs out fast. So I should finish cutting grass today. I only have a 10'  x 5' patch left.

My best day was Saturday, though. I attended my cousin's baby shower. Oh yes, I did finish that blanket on time. I finished it on Friday night. I was so sleepy that I was cross-eyed, lol. But I finished it. I ended up washing it on Saturday morning and it came out really nice.

I love little girl blankets because I like doing ruffles. And I put one on this one.

I had a good time at the baby shower. My cousin Nicki is such a diva.

I haven't seen her since our grandfather's funeral, which was some 12 or 13 years ago. She and my little brother are the same age (I think she is 6 months older than him), and they have always been thick as thieves growing up. He keeps up with her now, and I saw her on his facebook page and we've been chatting back and forth. She is posing there with her best friend's daughter, and I tend to still think of her as THAT age (around 6 or 7), and not age 27.

So it was good to see them. Her father is my mother's youngest brother. He has MS and wasn't at the shower. But I have taking my grandmother to see him at the rehab center he's in over the past year. And one of my major goals was to catch up with Nicki's Mama and coordinate with her so I can take grandma to see him at home.

It was a good time.

It is day 6 of the Financial Fast. 15 days to go. I have been doing well on it. I went to Home Depot to get string for my trimmer, and since I knew I had a ton of trimming to do, I bought 3 spools. So that was a bit out of bounds, but it is hot as hell outside, and I don't want to be ripping and running back and forth to the Home Depot for string. Hopefully this string will last until the end of August.

I thought the evening one hour conference calls would be a bit too much, but they are much needed and cathartic. They are providing a ton of insight. We all have different ideas about financial matters and I am the type who has learned to learn from and appreciate different points of view. I feel help me understand or even add to my own point of view. And as a result I can make better goals.

So thanks ladies (and gentleman) of the Triple F Posse. It is quite the enlightening experience.


Song of the Week. I have been listening to some old Queen Latifah, two songs in particular. "Gimme your Love" and "If you don't Know". These songs came out 22 years ago, I believe. They are off the Nature of a Sista CD.





And here is another song I like off that CD.  "How Do I Love Thee".



Now, she and I are the same age. So she was only 21 or 22 years old when she made that CD.

Now imagine the depth of a 21 year old female rapper today. You can't imagine it? No you can't. Because they have no depth. It doesn't take much depth to rap about how bad you are and how everybody is a bitch. Sigh. This Oldgirl can't listen to that.

Maybe I'm just getting older. And wiser. I am understanding more and more every year that that is a good thing.

That's it for today!

I have a TON of food-for-thought posts in my head. I will try to get them out. That was last week's goal, but I didn't get much of anything done. Food for thought tends to drain me a bit, and I have been cranking hard on that crochet project. I am done now. Maybe I will have time to get all that I am thinking about out in a few posts. Some of that stuff... I may have to turn off the comments. Uh... maybe I will just keep those to myself.

So for now, keep commenting. Sweepstakes is still in full effect until August 13th. Whether you comment once or multiple times, just comment. Just don't miss your chance at those $99 gift cards, honey!

Get your money, honey! Git it!

On purpose!!!

Monday Morning.... Again.

It is Monday morning... Once again.

It seems as if this day comes around and around and around once each week.

As every other day of the week does.

Anyway, I heard them talking on the news about some slight sleet or something. I winced. I don't want to think about that. AT ALL.

I want to think about the weekend. It was beautiful in my beloved ATL, some 70 degrees outside. I didn't even need a jacket. Well, I did need one because that wind sure was whipping around.

I didn't do much this weekend. I was a bit sickly this past week, AND aunt flo was hanging around so I was just doing all I could to keep up.  But I am a bit better now.

I have a Doctor's appointment this morning. For some reason, I am not looking forward to that. It is the first of the year with my lupus doctor. Let's hope I don't get in any trouble. That won't be nice at all.  And I am not in the mood on a Monday morning. No indeed.

I actually went to work on Sunday for all of two hours (well, 1 hour and 50 minutes). Sushi and Lady S were there and they had been there since 5 in the morning. Who in the world gets up that early on a Sunday? I walked into there lab at 2 pm, they had that look in their eyes. It was that look that said "Whoever coming up in here on us gonna catch some 4 liter bottles upside the head".  LOL

That was a FAST 2 hours. So I didn't mind going in. I had other things to do downtown. I really needed to go to Whole Foods to get my 39 cent per gallon water refills, but that place was packed like a One Direction concert, so I bypassed and went on out to the Eastside to the Farmers Market. It was packed, but not as much.

I've been reading a book since Friday by one of my favorite authors, Anybody's Daughter by Pamela Samuels-Young. 

This book... whoo child. It sho is good.

Pamela writes the BOMB law thrillers. And it's with some black protagonists, usually a sista.  You know I like that type of thing, black folk running around looking crazy, whether it's running from aliens (sci-fi) or vampires (horror) or the law (thrillers). GOOD stuff. I've read all of her books, and this one is a sequel. I actually had a good convo with her a few years back about the prequel to this book. And this sequel is one of the best. I am only 25% of the way through it, and man oh man, I am O_O.

When I finish reading her books, I want to drop the book, stand at attention and clap furiously and holler "EXCELLENT!"

This is a book about sex trafficking of young girls. And as the saying goes... "Pimping ain't easy." But it easier these days on the internet. This book is about the search for a young girl. Her uncle, who has a shady past himself, is looking for her... with the help of his lawyer love interest. GOOOOOOOD stuff, honey. Wooo-hooo! This one is singeing my eyebrows.

I want to finish reading, but I am waiting around on Cinnamon Sugar, aka Sam, to kick in. She reads like a alien chicken, i.e., she can read this book, which is 360 pages, in a day. I suggested that we read it together since her thing is the juvenile justice law system, which is one of the major settings of this book. So I am waiting around on her to catch up... and I am sneaking around reading more than our agreed stopping point for discussion.

Come on, girl... *lee slaps Sam in the back of the head* COME ON.

I am the one that reads slow like Celie, not you! Come on!! *one last slap on the back of the head*

LOL

Oh well... enough of that.

I will keep reading. She will probably text me and say "I've finished reading the book."

Just like that chicken Serenity does. That's why I don't read books with that chicken anymore.

Oh well. That's it for the day. I am on my way to the doctor this morning, and then I will be going on in to work.

Do I need a Song of the Day?  Yes. Let's see... One of the top songs on my spotify playlist:



You know I love some Jill Scott!!

With that said, have a good week!  On purpose.

Good Good Monday Morning

Good Monday Morning to you ALL.

And it's a good Monday morning for me. Why? Because I am OFF.

My birthday weekend has stretched out to a 4 day weekend.

My boss was asking me about this, whether I'd be taking off on Monday, that is.

"If you don't see me, that means I'm not here," I said. Several times that day.

*Boss kicks the hard eyeroll*

She doesn't see me. So that means that I'm not going to work.

It was her suggestion anyway, this taking a few days off. Hmm.  Don't get me to thinking.

And it may stretch out to the rest of the week, because Atlanta is under some type of snow storm warning... AGAIN.

And it all still sounds ambiguous like the last time when a couple inches of snow and ice shut the ATL down. I don't care what's going on. I just don't want to get stuck at the workplace... or on the freeway. I have 4 or 5 weeks of leave time at work, and 5 months of sick leave.  I will take off. I am not banging up my cars fooling with non-driving ATLiens.

I had a WONDERFUL birthday weekend. Oh, how nice it was. And the weather was absolutely wonderful, meaning there was no rain, ice or snow, and the weather was in the high 50s to 60s. And the sun was shining.

OH JOY!!

It is too much for one post. So I will sprinkle the posts out throughout the week.

So let's run it down in an outline, and I will write about each one...

1. I woke up Friday morning, full of JOY, because it was my 44th birthday! GLORY.

2. Got up and went to friday morning Bible study! And I got in trouble at the bible study. Hmm...

3. I picked up LadyTee and we did our Thelma and Louise thing.

4. I came home and went to bed.

5. Saturday, I hung out with my sister Kentucky!

6. She took me to a Dr. Joe seminar, which was fantastic!

7. Then we went to a really good vegan restaurant.

8. Then we returned to my house... where Kentucky did my taxes! I should have my money by Friday! *ladylee throwing dollar bills, making it rain*

9. Sunday I did my church thing... on the internet (I rarely go on Sundays). What a good service. I will call it a birthday service, just for me.  Should I post up the notes? Hmm. I didn't take notes. But it is something I've been hollering for a while over in these parts. I can go back and watch it and take notes. Maybe a nice food-for-thought post... perhaps?

10. I went to the Home Depot. I bought a furnace filter and some garbage bags.  I tried to go the Christian bookstore, because I wanted a good workbook. But it was closed. I will go on Monday.

11. I went to the Best Buy. I want another Roku, but decided against it. I am not sure it fits my bedroom flat screen TV, which is not HD. (I paid $500 for a 15" flat screen TV, some 7 years ago. It is amazing how cheap they are now).

12. I came home and watched Friday Night Lights. I am on season 2. It is such a great show.

That's the rundown of my birthday weekend.  Today I am thinking about going and getting my emissions done. Both cars failed, but they should pass now. (Lucy Jr. needed a sensor- this car has a gazillion sensors O_O, and Pam just needs to be driven around- I've only put 80 miles on that car this year, and it didn't help that I gave someone a jumpstart late last year. Sigh).

I went to Whole Foods yesterday and everybody and their mama was up in there. I think it is because the ice storms are coming. So we are all gonna be stuck in the house again.

Hey, as long as this power, gas and internet stays on? I am GOOD. It is a problem if power goes out. Ugh.

Oh... and last night's WHOA moment - I talked to my mother.

Not Play Mama out in Alabama... my biological Mama.

*crickets*

I was skipping merrily through the Whole Foods last night and I she called. I couldn't get to my cell phone fast enough. I had my blue tooth headphones on, but they were off. So I missed the call.

This was a good thing, as I could call my sister and ask her WHY she was calling me. My sister says she was ailing and wanted to talk to me. There's always this "Call Lisa and tell her to call me."

Well, Lisa ain't calling nobody. She wants to talk to me, she can call. Don't get it twisted.

And my sister tells her this. And mother never calls. She is too afraid to call me. That's her problem, not mine.

But she called me this time.

I don't know what's wrong with people. For some reason, just because I have a "Dr." attached to my name means I am a medical doctor. I am sorry. I am not. I cannot write you any prescriptions. I am so sorry. And i can't diagnose you. I am so sorry.

But I can talk to you about some organic chemistry. And some analytical chemistry. I can talk about food chemistry too. And pe.sticides. All that.

But she has her ailments, mostly her kidney issues (she is diabetic). I talked to her last time about it. I told her what to do (I have slight kidney disease due to my lupus).

She don't listen. I think she just wanted to talk to me, which is... odd. I am not very interesting.

You will be proud of me. None of my anger concerning my sister surfaced. Mama called my sister because she wanted my sister to do her taxes. They haven't been talking. I don't blame her for calling about taxes. My sister know how to do some taxes, honey. Sho' nuff. Yes indeed.

But that was interesting... and exasperating at the same time. How many times can you tell someone to drink their water, decrease meat and not eat salty food intake? It helps my kidneys. I may know what I am talking about.

*ladylee hangs up phone*

SIGH.

Alright! That's it for my hard ramblings.

I am not sure when I will do the drawing, since we are under winter storm warning. My lone employee, Commander By, does my drawings, as I don't like doing them myself (I need witnesses, because I don't need ya'll cussing me over cheating). I am thinking later this week.

So here's what I will do: we'll extend the commenting out for a few more days. And how about I throw in an extra gift card for second place most comments?  How's that?

That's it for me. How about a song of the week... That Southern Black Gal says she turned her cousin onto my blog. She's an older chicken like me. So some old disco will do her just fine, I bet.



Man... I have to apologize to new readers. I am somewhat intelligent. I promise I am. But I am very much ebonically inclined, so excuse my language. I am writing like I talk. Yes, I know I need to take an english and grammar class. Maybe one day I will...

But not today.

I'm leaving.

Before the Ice Man cometh.

LOL

As always, have a great day! On purpose!!!  

Happy Monday Morning

Congratulations to the 2014 Superbowl Champion Seattle Seahawks!

Did you watch that game?

Where was Denver? Were they out to lunch?

Man, I tell you... I got so tired of hearing "Peyton, Peyton, Peyton..." the past couple of weeks.

Peyton got his behind handed to him last night. Yes he did. I bet he can't quite remember a butt whooping like that. So it turned into this:

No one could help ol' Peyton.

It was a good game. I don't really care for lop-sided games, but Seattle's defense is always nice to watch.

I had a really good weekend. I didn't do much past running errands. I was just glad to get out of the house. I have been sitting up in the house since Tuesday. I didn't quite have cabin fever, but I wanted to go somewhere. And wouldn't you know it, there was no snow on the ground. There was a little on rooftops, but that's about it.

And wouldn't you know it, yesterday the temperature got to 73 degrees. Wow.

And that's how it goes around here. Any snow or ice issue lasts no longer than a week. And this type of thing may not happen for another couple of years... hopefully.

I must admit that I am not doing that well with all this time off from work. It takes me a minute just to get myself acclimated back to work when I am off voluntarily. I haven't worked a full week this year. Sigh.

Back to my weekend...

Look what I saw in the candy aisle...

Red velvet M&M's? Really?  I don't like red velvet anything, but I had to pick up this package and snap a picture.  What will they think of next?

I know for the longest, there were only plain ones and peanut M&M's. Now there are so many flavors. We have come a long way...

And while I was standing in line at the cashier at the Wal-mart, some guy in front of me struck up a conversation. I am not sure why people like talking to me. I let him talk. Then I saw this on the magazine stand:

Kendrick Lamar on the cover of Jet magazine.

I snatched it so quickly off the stand... so quick that I scared the man who was talking to me. He left me alone after that.

The cover asks "Can Kendrick Lamar save hip-hop?"

The answer is NO from me. I don't see these youngsters coming up with much of anything intelligent, let alone telling some good stories that don't involve bitches, hoes, and slanging dope. I rather listen to my old-school. Anyday. And of course, Kendrick's music. That is it.

Of course I bought it. You know I am a Kendrick fan. Not a stan. He was here in concert opening for Kanye back in December.  Of course I didn't go. I'm not paying big money to see ol' complaining and whining Kanye. Kendrick better come through by himself to a small venue with that band he had with him on Saturday Night Live.Or he better run up through here with Jill Scott or Erykah Badu.  I would go. Otherwise, fagetaboutit!

But I bought that Jet magazine. A good article indeed. He has some songs I had never heard. How 'bout I went on Spotify looking for them, and I found 2 CDs of 60 instrumentals of his songs? Yeah. You know instrumentals are RIGHT up my alley. I picked the ones I liked and made a playlist. I am all good now.

We usually leave Jet and Ebony magazines on our desk in the cubicle.  Uh... this one won't be left out. And I'm going to verbally shank anyone who touches it.

Maybe I should just leave it at night.

Song of the Week.  This one is befitting for my topics this week. Or close to it.



I am a little nervous about my posts this week. They are all food-for-thoughts, and it takes me awhile to get them just right, although that never really occurs. They are read before I post them, so if they get the green light, then it's all good.

Only 4 more days until my 44th birthday... and I am in serious reflection mode, so stay tuned. I need to post some 20 posts, but that's not going to happen. I have about 8 in mind. We will see.

At any rate, Birthday Sweepstakes is still in full full effect. $44 gift card for most comments since January 6th, and $44 gift card general drawing.. so comment for a chance at those gift cards.

Get that money, honey... On purpose. 

Good Monday Morning

(Don't forget to Comment, text or email to participate in Birthday #44 sweepstakes. See post for details. Drawing on February 8th).

Good Monday Morning to YOU.

I had a good weekend. How 'bout you!?

My weekend was automatically good. Why? Because the polar vortex got the heck on. I don't know where it went and I don't care. All I know is that on Saturday, it was 65 degrees in the ATL.  It was warm enough for me to open my sunroof and let my hair blow in the wind. Yes, I was chilly, but so what? It was 5 degrees earlier in the week. 65 degrees feels like summertime right about now.

There were busted pipes all over Atlanta last week. Water everywhere! It didn't make a bit of sense. Just all over the place, even at work. We even had a day off this week because the boiler went out. I remember that morning getting out of the shower and putting on my clothes... then receiving a text saying that everyone was being sent home.  Well, I just got right on back in the bed. I was texting coworker Sushi, who was on the train, wailing about getting her hours. I told that chick to take her tail back home.  And she did. (Never seent anyone who wants to work so badly).

So, yes I was glad for a warm day. A Saturday no less.

Friday night, I had a writing workshop, which went well. Only two stories out of it, but that's cool. On Saturday I had Triple F Posse. My sister has joined up with the group. (She was part of it in the past). She is such a delight.

And yes, it was a delight when she had 2 pages of "reflections" from the last meeting. We were all O_o.

I gave her some advice before went off to college: take time and sit down and reflect.  And my goodness, it is some 13 years later and she still clings to that advice... with a a vengence.

I can learn from that.

I ran a few errands and went on home. I stayed in on Sunday. I was all tuckered out from Friday and Saturday.

In other news, congrats to 12 Years a Slave for their Golden Globe win  for best picture.

No one expected that. Not even the director. He was shell shocked.

Oh how we hate slave movies. Oh how we hate them. We hate a good butler or maid movie.

But we wouldn't be where or who you are without that slave, butler or maid.  Really.

I remember I went visit my grandparents one day, some 20 years ago when I was working on my PhD. Granddaddy ask me how school was. I whined and complained while he sat quietly glaring at me. When I was done wailing he said "Your grandmama didn't get down on her knees and clean white peoples floors so you could sit up here and whine and complain."

I remember thinking... Uh, Grandma wasn't thinking about me back in the 40s and 50s. But I thought better of it. And that's why I don't mind seeing slave, butler and maid movies. It reminds me to be thankful for my priviledged life now. Yes, convoluted reasonings, but whatever.

Grandaddy is long gone off to glory. You best believe I don't spend time complaining about stuff to Grandma, though. No way.  And she will listen. But I leave her be.

That is all I will say about that.

I too want to see more movies about our history in Africa. We have to get out there and support it, though. I am also a fan of black science fiction and black horror. But we too have to go support that also. But you know how "we" tend to be.

Book of the Week. Speaking of black horror, I love black horror books. They are very hard to come by. I am reading one right now. Well it is novella. Live Again by L.R,. Giles

It is about a widower who is trying to cope with the loss of his wife. He runs into a strange man in a bar that gives him a spell to bring her back. She comes back to life alright... but with a whole slew of isshas.

This is scaring me GOOD fashioned. Oscar-Tyrone jumped up on the bed while I was reading and I jumped sky high. Whoo-wee. That old cat almost got trampled. LOL

I'm wondering what else this author has written?
 I may check him out later. I have to get back to my spiritual reading. Amen. And amen again.

Quote of the Week. I write down so many quotes that it is hard to pick out just one. I heard this one this weekend. It is a question of sorts:

Will you spend the rest of your life living up to the ideas of what or who people think you are or should be doing? Or do you have the courage to break the mold?

That is powerful.

And I think a lot about time these days.  I wrote a post a couple of weeks ago on time (See "The 4th Dimension").  Years and years and years of worrying what people thought of me... I can't imagine it. But it is how we live, isn't it? It's how we have been trained.

I always ask myself from time to time. If I was the only person on the planet, how would I feel about myself? About the decision I am making?

And I let my answer to that be the answer.

I know one thing... the answers to my prayers always have a little "*" next to them.  And down at the bottom of the page it says...

*this answer was NOT run past other people to see how they feel about it.

Good. I won't have it any other way.

I need a good song of the week. Why don't I just play my FAVORITE song for the past 25 years or so.



*swaying in chair and sanging VERY hard*

I LOVE that song. Makes me want to jump up with my glass of brown liquor and dance in the middle of the dance floor all by myself!

Or maybe jump up in the middle of the cubicle area with my bottled water and dance all by myself.

*silence*

I can't do that, honey. Chickens will talk about me and make up stuff.  By the time it gets around the building good, it'll be said that I was drunk and crying over some dude I'm messing with... Some random dude in the building... and that I am pregnant... and I that I'm in a halfway house after beating a charge for attempted murder... and that I smoke crack.

*lee turns off song*

Maybe I should sing to myself.

I should sing quietly... using my inside voice.

Oh yes. That is what I will do... ON PURPOSE.

Good Monday Morning...

Alas...

It is Monday morning.

I tell you, my days are all meshing together. I have worked 2 Saturday's straight, so I am not getting much of a weekend buffer. And I am bone tired. This is not good.

But I am just trying to keep up. And I don't really plan on working next weekend. No sir. Not if I can help it.

I am looking forward to thanksgiving because it is simply a day off for me. I am waaaay thankful for that. Heck man, I might just fast that day. That would be... interesting.

My goal this weekend was to make sure I went out and did some things I enjoy. So on Friday night I attended my Women of Color Writing workshop. I loathe the whole Friday evening thing, especially since I am tired and have to rush, but once we get settled down and started, I am pretty content. I always get some decent material, and I love to hear the other ladies share their work. We all have such different voices and it is a wonderful thing hearing our takes on the same writing prompts.

We wrote a bit of haiku, and I wrote 2 stories that I will probably post pretty soon.

I also got up with the chickens on Sunday Morning and went to church. This is O_o because I rarely attend church on Sunday. I catch the internet stream. When I go to church, i like the Friday morning or evening bible study. I like to support the smaller gatherings, as my church is a mega with a gazillion locations. So that was good and gave me much to think about.

And afterwards I went to the movies. I saw the second installment of the Hunger Games trilogy.

Catching Fiya!

That was a good movie.  Especially since my favorite actor Jeffrey Wright was in it.

I almost shouted "GLORY!!!" when he appeared on the screen. Such a delightful surprise. I was grinning with MUCH glee.

Like I said, it was a good film. It ended with one heckuva cliffhanger.

Not good when you're in the 'hood. Yes, I went to see it at a black theater. Folks were HOT about the cliffhanger. The movie was already two and a half hours long.

I wanted to turn around and holler "Did ya'll jokers read the second book? It's suppose to end with a cliffhanger. Now SHUT UP!"

I thought better of it. I didn't want to get into a fist fight over a movie. Humph.

The final book will be split into two movies, coming out in 2014 and 2015 respectively.

The problem is that the final book was the most depressing book I have ever written. I am not sure how they will pull off the film adaptations, but my goodness, I know they will lighten it up. Please lighten it up. If they don't, I'm not sure I will be seeing it. Yes, it was that depressing. And understandably so.

After the movie, I ran by the job for all of 15 minutes. I had to make sure that the things I set up on Saturday had finished up. Nothing worse than coming in on Monday Morning and nothing worked right. Luckily it did. I would love to get to work at or around 6:30 am. I have a dental appointment with the lovely Dr. Watson at 4. I need to get 8 hours of work in tomorrow. I have to leave at 3 to get across town on time. We will see how that goes.

I hope this week is slower.  Just a little slower. Please, please, please.

It has given me pause. I am thinking a little at least about looking for other employment. It is interesting that that comes to mind. I am just terribly bored right now, and uh, I ain't got the energy to be working 50 hours a week. No ma'am.

But it is just a thought.

And we can't overlook thoughts.

Because thoughts are... seeds.

And if you have read over here for any length of time, you know how I feel about seeds and trees and fruit and roots and all that...

Hmm...

I stopped by Whole Foods after leaving work. Something really nice happened. In the checkout line, my little clam shell of blueberries flipped open and I lost about 1/3rd of my blueberries on the conveyor belt. Of course I wasn't going to keep those. I scooped up the bad ones and handed them to the cashier so he could throw them in the trash.

A white lady two customers back said "You want me to go get you another thing of blueberries?"

"Uh, no, that's alright," I mumbled, a little taken aback by the question.

"I can run get another. I'm just standing in line."

"Uh, okay," I replied reluctantly

She left her hand held grocery basket there and ran and got me some more blueberries. I thought that was nice of her.

I say that because all we hear in the news is how awful black folks are and how much white people hate us and all this foolishness. It seems as if we are inundated with it all, constantly. And here is someone who saw that I had a issue, however minor, and she was happy to help me.

That meant much to me. It reminded me of the most amazing 15 minute conversation I had when I test drove Lucy Junior. One of the things the seller, Lady M, a nice white chick, said "I always take people at face value and treat them equally. Only 1 or 2% of any race has 'problems'."

I forgot what caused us to get in that discussion. But if you think about it, that's very simple and a very good way to look at things. I think she is right. However, it flies in the face of what the media is saying. And for some reason it has stuck with me.

I remember going home that night after test driving Lucy Junior just very thankful for a 15 minute conversation that solved many of my issues at the time.  I remember thinking that I was probably not going to get the car. Maybe the whole point was to have that conversation.

My prayers that evening were peppered with thoughts of that. "I don't even have to buy the car," I said. "I just feel a whole lot better about everything after that converstion that healed my ratchet emotions about this car thing."

I was very thankful for that. For it would have been highly incredulous to stumble across the exact same car that I had just totaled.

The conversation was the cake. The car purchase was the icing on the cake.

Man... If I ever write out all of my thought on Lucy Junior. Hmm... Goodness.

So glad I now have some thoughts about blueberries to remind me of it all.

Song of the Week.  "Sixteen" by Rick Ross and Andre 3000. (Warning: got a couple of cuss words in it).



One of our workplace maintenance men likes this song a lot. Big Z raps and DJ's on the side, and I was lamenting that there was not much good rap music out there like back in our day some 25 years ago. Sigh. So he recommended the latest Rick Ross album, and he likes this song in particular. ("It's 'Grown Men' music", he hollered with the hard head nods.)

I don't like Rick Ross. Dude, rap about more than Maybachs and Ciroc and running women and "bricks" (drugs).

But I love Andre 3000. We're both College Park/East Purnt!

Rick Ross became a footnote on his own song. He should've just sat in a corner and given Andre 3000 the whole song.

And I like this production team, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. league. They make great beats.  Can I PLEASE get a CD of all their instrumentals. WOW!

That's it for me.

I'm going to try to not get all burnt out this week at work. My goal is to NOT work on Saturday. Nope. Can't do it. I am too old for all this. Man.

This is just one more week for me. I have no plans for Thanksgiving. Haven't much thought about it. I have to work all week since I didn't put in for vacation time. But that is okay. Like I said, my goal is to not get all burnt out. I am bone tired and I sprained my back a couple of days ago. I should be laying my tail down somewhere.

I am thankful every single day. That is my goal for the week. For the year, really.

You have a very good Thanksgiving week! On purpose.

Good Monday Morning... The Peach Brandy Edition

Good Monday Morning!

It's really good here this morning in the ATL, especially since the sun is shining. It was cold, rainy and drizzly all weekend. It was enough to make me want to just pull the covers over my head this weekend and not get out of bed.

But alas, that wasn't the case. I worked on Saturday. ALL day.

This is a rarity. I like my weekends of leisure. But I have so much to do. Interestingly, we have 2 people out, and of course, this being the government and all, the workload ratcheted up. So there's just not enough time to get all that I need to get done during the week.. So that meant working 8.5 hours this weekend. I worked from 7:30 am-4:30 pm.

At least I got there at 7:30. A couple of other people got there at 5 in the morning.

O_O.

"But it's still nighttime at 5 a.m.," I told them. "It's still nighttime around that time!"

But they were there. Bright eyed and already working. I told the youngster of the group, Supersonic Sushi, "You must've come STRAIGHT from the club!"  LOL

That was a long long day. I'm not sure what I even did when I finally went home. I just don't remember. I was exhausted.

My sister Kentucky came over on Sunday morning. She was on her way to the Farmer's market. I thought about going with her, but since I'd worked all day Saturday, I had NO unction to go anywhere that early in the morning. Church was already on, the choir was singing hard and I was "there" via the internet. She left and returned a little later. We had a good discussion about hydroponic lettuce. (I happen to have some in the fridge, even though I don't normally buy it).

I am very proud of her. She has been doing her juicing and healthy eating. She feels much better. I think cutting out daily intake of sodas and fast food would make anyone feel better. So I am happy that she is able to do that, and I can help with some of her questions.  I am such a good big sister!

So...

On to the Picture of the Week.

We keep most of our snacks and whatnot up in my cubicle mate Cowgirl Cre's cabinet over her desk. I opened the cabinet the other day, and I saw this...

Peach Fruit spread... That's innocent enough.

But I didn't read it as Peach fruit spread...

"Oh Lawd... Cre got a fifth of Peach liquor up in the cabinet!"

She happened to be sitting there, working on her computer.

So much went through my mind in those few seconds. I had visions of a stressed out Cowgirl Cre opening the bottle and taking a few sips from time to time.

But I looked closer. And saw that it was fruit spread.

"Gal," I said. "I thought that was brandy!"

"No," she said.

We got a good laugh out of that... as my heart beat returned to normal.

LOL

It made me think of the Song of the week... "Ghetto Heaven" by The Family Stand



I like this video. It was made back in the days when videos weren't all glitz and glam.

They look like they just got off the bus... in some ghetto for real.

And I thought of this song because of the following verses...

'Nana likes brandy
Especially Peach
She keeps it by the radio
And listens to the Reverend preach
It's 10:07
Time to get some ghetto heaven.

Yes... time for 'Nana to sip some ghetto heaven.  'Nana has a drank while listening to the reverend. I don't do that. I clean up or crochet while listening to pastor!

Thank goodness The Cowgirl Cre ain't sipping ghetto heaven at work!

(I may have had to drank a little on Saturday when I was working hard. Humph).

I think that fruit spread is for her occasional morning bagel.

And that's a good thing. I don't know what I'd do if I had to share a cubicle with a lush.

Oh my!

With that said, I am out. I hope to get a few posts in this week.

Have a good week! On purpose.