Good Monday Afternoon

Good Monday Afternoon!

Short post today. Just checking in.

(And you know how I am when it comes to short. This could be a really long post).

Anyway, this has been a pretty decent weekend. And by decent I mean that I wasn't running around looking crazy. I actually didn't go anywhere on Saturday. I like to do that from time to time. Yes, I had some errands to run, but I just needed to decompress.

Plus it was raining. Who wants to be running around in that.

One of my cousins is having a baby. She's the same age as my brother, and she and he keep in touch, but I haven't seen her in the last 15 years. She's my mama's youngest brother daughter. Her mama don't too much like our side of the family (from what I hear), and yes, I can understand that. So we don't see each other. But I saw her on my brother's facebook page a few months ago and we've been chatting back and forth.

She invited me to her baby shower, which caused me to raise an eyebrow. I wanted to ask "Did you clear that with your mama?" and "Should I keep this to myself?"  But I didn't. She told me to tell my sister, and I did. So I MIGHT go.

At any rate, I am cranking away on the baby blanket. And that's another reason why I stayed home all day Saturday. The shower is on this coming Saturday, so I'll have to do some marathon hours.

Thank goodness for roku, because I got a notion to get nosey and watch the first season of this show. 

It comes on NBC I think. Not sure. But it looked stupid, and this ain't the type of series you come into halfway through. So I didn't bother watching it. I just happen to see it listed under my Amazon Prime, so I figured I would watch.

It's about a small town that becomes inclosed under some strange dome. Nobody knows why. But you can imagine all the chaos that goes on. Plenty room for conflict here. And it's a good show. And it made for some good crochet time.

The blanket is 24"x24" right now. I am shooting for 34"x34". So I have to really CRANK this week. I am looking to try to do upwards of 3 hours in the evenings. We will see how I feel. It WILL get finished.

She is naming her baby a variation of my name. My first name and middle name, but with an "x" in place of the "s". I told her to just go ahead on change that "x" to an "s".

She was puzzled. She didn't know my first name. She always thought it was "Lisa", since that is what everybody calls me.

NO!

Oh my goodness, that was funny. I told her, she herself was supposed to be named after me, but wasn't. She has my middle name. But she does have a sister who is almost named after me. Add a "F" to the beginning of my name, and you got it!

My own sister didn't know my name until she was 4 years old. She answered the phone one day, and when someone asked for me, she told them I didn't live there. I went off on her. Our mother told her that my name was not really "Lisa".

That little girl laughed at me HARD for three days. I'm still hot about that. LOL.

It is all a reminder that I need to make sure my folks know my name!

Now, I attended church on Sunday which is incredibly odd for me. There was a speaker I wanted to see, and I must say, that was a good sermon.  It was about pride, but not the definition that we are all accustomed to, where pride is defined as arrogant and thinking you're better than others. But it was looked at from the flip side, where pride is defined as being self-centered and having an inferiority complex. I thought that was a real stretch, but it made sense. It pointed right to something that I have personally been working on for years: my own selfishness. I get the comment all the time "Lee, you're one of the most unselfish people I know." Well that's good you think of me that way. But it is only because I am constantly examining myself and making the necessary corrections. And for me, it's like peeling an onion. The more layers I remove, the more I see underneath where I can make the necessary changes.  And it was good to hear a sermon about that very thing.

So that was the gist of my weekend.
  
Song of the Week. We loved that Angela Winbush last week. How about some Rene and Angela, "Your Smile"?



That song is not about her man. Oh it would be lovely if it was.

It was about her grandmother.

Ain't that nice?

Good song.

Our Triple F Posse financial fast starts tomorrow, so I am spending a little time today thinking about a few goals. This also gives me a chance to do it using the 2nd edition of Michele Singletary's book The 21 day Financial Fast. I would like to know how it differs from the last edition. A couple of people are sending out a bunch of spreadsheets, so I need to print those out and look through those and see what I can use.

Fun, fun, FUN.

My sister has been hanging out with my brother and his family in Colorado for the past week. She returns tomorrow. Can't wait to see her. I miss her much. She and the oldest nephew have been having a lot of fun looking at all the pictures on my blog. Those have made for some funny convos and text messages, lol.

The Bloggaversary Sweepstakes is still in full full effect. There have been over 100 comments already. As you can see, I have been diligently recording comments, and I have more to do today.  This is like a marathon race and all the major players are in a comfortable stride. The more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The person with the most comments overall will automatically win a $99 gift card. There are a good three weeks to go.

Get your money, honey. Get on it, doggonit.

On purpose.

Monday Night Special

I meant to post something up this morning.

But it didn't work out that way.

Sigh.

I had a very nice weekend. And that is good because I had a couple of bad days last week. I don't know, I just don't care for my job that much anymore. I think it's because I've been doing too much writing. I've been really engrossed in that which I'm passionate about, and it makes me REALLY happy inside.

Really.

So sometimes the job becomes like walking in a room and seeing a smashed roach smeared in the middle of the floor...

You see how you just frowned up at the visual of that? Yeah, that's how I was feeling last Tuesday. Like "What the world?..."

It is very rare for me to feel that way. But when it happens, I am a bit ticked off.

I'd rather be writing.

Ugh. Thank goodness this is rare. And those are days when I think about the next day and how much better it will be.

Maybe we will chalk it up to PMS. Yeah, that's the ticket. And many people were off last week, most notably ones I look forward to seeing every day. If it wasn't for Lady Lifetime's presence, I think I would've slit my throat and jumped out the window.

And my boss came back today after a week off. You know it's not a good thing when I am excited to see management. STRANGE. I yabbered on about some things I got done last week like I was talking about the bargins I found at the mall. Yeah. Odd and strange.

Anyway, I had a very nice weekend.

Saturday. I went down to check on Play Mama, who had surgery last week. She is doing okay, and she is on bedrest. So I paid her a visit.

And I really needed to put Lucy the Lexus on the road. My sister says "Run Lucy out to Texas and back!"

But Texas is a good 12 hours away. Too far. Birmingham would have to do. A good 300 mile round trip is enough to let me know if Lucy won't stall out.

So I headed that way, and you know me... I come with a whole LOT of stuff. I brought cookies and lots of goodies from the Farmer's market, lots of staples and spices. Her mother, Grandma Donna, just had a birthday, so I had a care package for her.

That's where things got funny. We were all sitting in the den. Uncle Tony came downstairs and one of the kids asked "Is Grandma outside?"

He said yes. And like a herd of cattle, we all headed up the stairs hard and fast out of the den and out the front door. The girls were eager to show off the Easter dresses they'd purchased earlier that Saturday morning.

I'd been wanting to see her for a different reason. Not only to give her her gift, but to see her car.

She has the sports convertible Lexus.

(((ladylee's eyes glazing over like a drug addict)))

"I got a Lexus too, Grandma Donna!" I hollered, as I pointed a bit too hard at Lucy. "It's old, and not as nice as yours, but I got one too!"

"Yes, I see," she said. "And it's really nice."

*Lee cheesing EXTRA hard*

LOL!!

We were ALL excited to see her. She brought over food for easter. Made me want to spend the night so I could get my eat on too!

We sat and visited with the sick and shut-in for a little while.

But I was interested in that Lexus. I ran my hands across the soft tan leather. I wanted to rub my cheek against it, but thought better of it.

"Grandma Donna, this here is that real Italian leather,. It's from good Italian cows. The leather in my lexus is that Georgia leather. It's made from cows from Camp Creek Parkway and East Point, College Park. You know, the cows in the hood. My leather doesn't feel like this! This that good stuff!"

They laughed hard at me. But it was the truth.

It's the hard top convertible. She pushed a button, and the trunk opened backwards on a hinge and the hard hood folded and disappeared into the trunk.

"Whoa," I moaned, as I jumped back from the car. I had to blink back tears.

"It's like a bug, like one of those transformer bugs! It transforms!" Uncle Tony said.

"Sure is. I want one of those," I whispered.

What an experience.

We watched Grandma Donna drive off, and we all headed back in the house.

"Ya'll all left me!" Adrienne said later.

"Yes we did. It's alright. The dog stayed with you!"

LOL!

We didn't do much. She's is on total bedrest. We crocheted and knitted, and watched movies on the biggest flat screen I've ever seen. I felt like I was in the movie!

And we did that lazy thing: everybody falling asleep... doze in and doze out type of sleeping. It was that good sleep, where your head is leaned back, and your mouth is wide open. Good sleep, babes!

That's what I'm talking about!

What a good day it was. I'm a little salty behind her not making up an errand list for me. I was down for doing some running around for her. But oh well. Next time!

We had such a good time. I usually bring my own food whenever I go somewhere for a long time. People usually give me a HARD time about that for some reason, but they didn't. Although I think it horrified her oldest daughter when I slapped a mound of broccoli sprouts on my sub sandwich! ("Eww, what's that, Miss LadyLee!!!??")

I thought I was going to have to pick that child up off the floor when I asked her "You want a bite!?"

Ha Ha!!

I spent about 9 hours there then drove Lucy on home later that night. I got home around midnight. What a nice trip. I found out that Lucy goes 100 miles an hour with no problem, lol. Let's just say it was a fast trip. And Lucy makes the round trip on only a half a tank of gas. Good job, Lucy!

Honey, get well soon. Make SURE you follow the doctor's orders! I was glad to see you. And you won't hear me wailing anymore about how "I gotta go see 'bout my Mama!!"
LOL.

Sunday. I didn't do much on Sunday. I was bone tired after that drive. (Not sure why. It's just driving). Anyway, my goal on Easter Sunday was to get outside and cut the grass in the backyard. I managed to do that. But my trimmer ran out of the plastic wire. So I bought a new spool today from Home depot. Gotta get that jungle weed by the fence hacked down, man.

I knew it was Easter, but didn't realize it really until I left and ran an errand. There were lots of family gatherings in my neighborhood. It made me wish that our family had gatherings. We don't. Makes me sad sometimes.

I do believe I would've eaten a piece of Easter ham that day. Woulda tore my stomach to pieces since I rarely eat meat, but hey, it was Easter.

I happen to talk with my Grandmother on Easter evening, though. Her oldest niece died. The woman was around 70 years old. So we talked about that. She has a slew of nieces and nephews. And it's always a good time to talk to her about her family history. When you ask her about people, she don't like to mention illegal stuff, tomfoolery, or ratchetness. But there is A LOT going on. It's like you gotta drag it out of her. She only wants to say good things about people.

"Martin... That's your Uncle John's son. He's one of those children, that you, uh... uh... one of those children you have before you uh... get married."

"That boy Charles, he's in a convalescence home. He and some boys, they were uh.. they were uh, running from some people or someone, and uh... he, uh... *moment of silence*... he fell off an overpass onto the freeway onto his head. Been under care every since."

Wow. Falling off an overpass onto a freeway. O_O.

We had a good talk. She said she was feeling like she'd been slothful, and was working on not being such. She hasn't been meeting her goals like she'd like. And she was acknowledging it all.

I kind of went off. "Mama, what are you talking about? You 83 years old. You old. You're not lazy or slothful."

But I knew what she meant. I told her I was working on things too, and I'd been talking to my siblings about such. And we talked about my bad day last week.

"Mama, it's like walking from Atlanta to California. Big goal, but just get headed in that direction, honey. You'll get there! One step at a time."

Even at 83 years old, she thinks about getting and doing better. Never mind going through the depression, world wars, civil rights movement. She looking forward to doing better each day.

And I can learn a lesson from that, When I have bad days, reflect on them, and look forward to a new day. Yeah, I didn't do as much as I aimed to do, but I know it and I own it, and tomorrow is a new day. A day where I may do better, if only for a little bit.

A little food for thought from a convo with my grandma!

And that's a good thing.

A good weekend indeed!

I'm looking for a better week also... Not like last week...

I'm going to have a good week... on purpose!

Monday, Monday, Monday...

Ah yes...

It is Monday... once again.

At least I'm not working a full day. I went to the doctor this morning for my regular standing appointment I have every 8 weeks.

I smile everytime I go to the doctor's office. I have to keep from laughing.

Why? Because of LadyTee. She has gone to my doctor a few times in the past.

"Yeah, Lee, I saw your girl, your doctor."
"Oh yeah, you saw, Dr. B?"
"Yeah," LadyTee said. "I was looking at her shoes. She wears those Payless shoes from the 1980s. I wanted to tell her, now, don't nobody wear those shoes anymore, honey. I know you make enough money to go buy yourself some nice pumps!"

We got a good laugh out of that. And now, when I see my Doctor, I have to make sure to look her square in the eye. If I look at her shoes, I will fall out laughing...

All of my bloodwork looked really good. I even lost some weight (don't see where, but the scale- it don't lie, man). So that's a good thing.

She asked me how my birthday was. I told her it was fine and dandy, and that I bought a car! She was pleased to hear that, but of course, she wasn't impressed by the model. She has the top of the line big Mercedes Benz, the one that costs well over $100,000.00.

That's the way to roll... even if you're wearing Payless shoes from the 1980s.

Really though.

Anyway, this was a good weekend, but a busy one. I actually did yardwork on Saturday and Sunday. AND I cleaned out my garage (which is odd for me- sweeping it out and throwing out useless stuff only took about 30 minutes. You can't beat that).

I hatcheted up my front yard, but at least it's cut. I did a great job on the back yard. I tried to trim the hedges, but uh... let's just say that I'm going to Home Depot to buy a nice electric trimmer. Holding up those hedge clippers if for the birds. Ya'll can have that! Ugh!

So, in the process I junked up my good Nikes.



*lee looking down at grass-stained shoes and screaming really loud*

So I immediately jumped in the car and drove down to Ellenwood for some new ones!

Yes. I sat those right up on the coffee table. Just because.

Anyway... I have fresh new kicks.

It was quite HAWT this weekend. And you know I'm a juicing fool right now.

So what's better after a weekend of yardwork in the hot sun that a cool refreshing drink?



It looks cute, but those grapefruit weren't cold when I juiced them. So I had to break out the blender and the ice!



That was good. Bet it would've been better if it had some liquor in it. I have some tequila and rum and whatever else in a cabinet. Ya'll better be glad I'm not a lush! LOL.

Grapefruit Mint. I have to remember that. Very cool. Very refreshing.

I even offered some to that Original Oldcat, Oscar-Tyrone.



As you can see, he ignored me. He wouldn't even look at me. Humph.

He has been such a jerk lately. I'm not sure what his problem is. I hope he's not sick. He better work it out if he is.

Maybe it's his new catfood. It has cranberries and barley, real chicken and brown rice and flax. Maybe he's a bit salty behind that.

When he gets to acting like that, I play his song... the song from which his middle name comes from.



"You Better call Oscar-Tyrone!!! Call him!... and tell him come on and help you get your sh**!"

LOL!

(Oscar-Tyrone is not amused... of course).

Ya'll have a great week! On purpose!

Monday... the I am Back Edition.

Where am I?

Here I am.

I was gone. Now I am BACK.

Not sure why I didn't post last week.

I've been busy. Busy at work, busy at home.

We had a couple of church fasts over the past couple of weeks, and I tend to go off and do a lot of reading, praying, etc... Wasn't really interested in blogging.

Honey, it would have been ALL food for thought. ALL. And you don't want an overload of that. That was stuff I wrote down elsewhere, man.

And their's the stuff on my mind that I don't care to post about. I've been worried and angry about a couple of things that ain't got jack to do with me. I have all that under control, locked off in a cage in my mind so I don't flip out. I like to be helpful in such situations. That's what I concentrate on, or at least try to. And that's what is important.

I like to at least try to keep it somewhat smurfy up in these parts. That is the ultimate goal.

Anyway, I am back around. I suppose. I have a few posts in queue, so those will be put up.

I need another 30 day straight posting. That was such a release.

But alas... we won't do that. Gonna just take it one day at a time.

I am OFF today. I'm trying to get this porch painting and staining finished up today. And Ol' dude is SLOW. This was supposed to be finished this weekend, but he is taking his sweet sweet time.

Wow, dude. Just wow. Hurry UP!

But the semi-gloss white of my porch rails and trim is blinging nicely in the sunlight. Can't wait to see how the porch staining turn out.

So I am off. I could conceivably go to work, but that would be around 3, and you never know when management has issues. To say you're coming in, and then can't, well... don't want any AWOL problems. It is bad I have to think that way, but that's what I could be dealing with.

I just called off. If he finishes up by 2, I will head out to the Farmer's market. My fridge is bare.

Very bare. I need my fruits and vegetables!

So expect a few posts this week... really, I mean it.

I really do.

Monday...

Boy I tell you.

You know I work for the government, right?

I thought I'd be waking up this morning, a fired furloughed out employeee, not having to go to work. I thought I'd be getting up this morning, making plans to do some home improvements or something.

I even had this grand plan, this elaborate vision in my head of packing a few pairs of panties and bras and clothes in a backpack and flying standby to Bermuda and backpacking around the island for a week.

Alas all that went up in smoke. The Congress agreed on a budget on Friday. I knew they were gonna do that. Congress grandstands like no other. This was all for show as far as I'm concerned. When they were talking about the military not getting paid, well, you know that ain't going down. They were gonna sign something.

So I'll be dragging it into work this morning. All the more thankful for my job.

I know on Friday nobody was working working worth nuthing... Heck man,I was getting ready for my weekend. I was going to meet a couple of bloggers, Singlema and Tazzee, at the Sickle Cell 7K race over on the Southside of town!! I was excited! I spent most of my day making posters!




I also made a couple of Church fans!



Fun fun fun!!

I'll write about that later this week!

Besides that, I didn't do much of anything.

Not much excitement.

Some minor excitement: As you know, last week I bought a lawn mower.



Couldn't mow anything, because I couldn't get a safety clip off the crank string.

I went up to Home Depot, bout to snap on them about my lawn mower. It has a clip on the string I was trying to get off. They couldn't help me any.

So low and behold, good Ol' Mr. Thomas came over last night, wanting to cut my grass. I wailed about not being able to hook up my lawn mower.

He pondered it and got it going for me!



LOL

That blade was too low, though. Chunked up some of my grass!

But we worked it out! Now I'm happy! I'll be a grass cutting Oldgirl!

(What kind of posts will I be writing about that!? LOL)

Oh well... Should be an interesting summer!

Have a good week! On purpose!

Happy Monday Morning to you...

Today is the officail observance of Martin Luther King's birthday.

Happy MLK Day!



I can't say that I'm doing much to celebrate the day. I love how people do their MLK day activities - attending a parade, attending memorials, etc. I don't. And I suppose that it's because I came up seeing it as a day off. I do make it a point to go watch an old speech, or do some reading, and learn one new thing about King that I didn't know.

A character in the manuscript I'm currently working on is an Asian-American, and he's so proud of the fact that his mother gave him the middle name "Martin". Of course this is thought to be funny, but he is proud of it, and when he is down, he speaks that whole "I have a Dream" speech to himself.

Of course this is hilarious. But it comes from my college days, when I worked with this older indian guy who absolutely LOVED black history, and enjoyed buying books and reading up on black history. "You're such an important people," he would always tell me. "You should learn to appreciate your history. It is very rich."

So I was thinking of that when I wrote that part of the character's personality. People snickered at his middle name, but he was proud to be named after such a "great man".

These days, thanks to Cheap Seats Terry, I have a greater appreciation of history in general these days. Anytime anything happens, like for instance, the earthquake in Haiti, I'd spend a few hours reading up on the history of that country. It adds so much to my knowledge base, and I also think I can learn lessons from our world history. And that's a good thing.

So today, i'll find something new about the great Dr. King, something I didn't know.... And if I do that today, it will make help me appreciate the man, and the holiday all the more better.

My Weekend. It has been slow. Not much going on. I mean, after such a FABULOUS snowcation, well, the weekend... I don't remember much of it.

I know one thing: I went to work on Friday for half a day which was STUPID STUPID STUPID. Why was it stupid? Because the roads were still ICY. It took me 5 trys to get out of my driveway. I slid on a hill at work, sliding into the sidewalk. JUST STUPID.

So remind me the next time this happens. Keep my tail at home. Enough said.

I didn't do anything this weekend. Just stayed around the house, getting chores done and writing.

Now the writing, that was exciting. I clocked about 7800 words over the snow holiday, and you just don't know how great that makes me feel. I know I was looking forward to taking a 4 week vacation next month, and it would be centered on writing (and cruising and vacation getaways), but it was a pleasant surprise to have an opportunity to really do some intense writing.

I am almost finished with this particular manuscript... One more chapter to go! I think I will just go back to my 500 word minimum word count for the week. That should put me close to fininshing up by next weekend.

Quotes of the Day. These are some great quotes from "twitter prophet" consciousskillz, concerning gossip, something I absolutely HATE.

Gossip is a social communicable disease.

Gossip infects both the listener and carrier of the germs.

Gossip is like a microscopic bacteria that only blooms within the darkest recesses of minds and hearts.

Man, I really HATE gossip. And I am having a lot of trouble with gossipy folks, which I must admit, troubles me to some extent. And when I say that, I don't really mean us gossiping about some star and what they are going through. For some reason that's the norm. And in that case too, I am always thinking to myself "Dang, that's tough what they are going through, all in the public eye. I'm thankful my life isshas aren't on display."

No, I'm talking about gossiping about people around you. It is TERRIBLE at work. Just terrible. And what's interesting, things ALWAYS get back to you. ALWAYS. I'm at a point where I watch what I say, and I just don't deal with certain folks because they fish so hard for information to spread, and I've heard things about people that I REALLY didn't need to know. The older I get, the more it bothers me. Like the quotes state above, it's infectious, it is. I am extremely vigilant about not spreading other peoples' business. This over the years has made me a "go-to" person for people who want to discuss private matters. I am thankful that people can trust me. You can't trust people who are gossipers. You just can't.

And on a deeper spiritual level, and speaking only for myself, me gossiping means that I don't like my life. It means I don't want to deal with or focus on my own problems, so I take delight and joy in digging into other people's business, searching and prodding for juicy juicy bits and details... just so I can feel better about myself and my lot in life.

And that bothers me.

I have to admit I think that of other people. It is my first thought, you see. I have to work on that. It may just be your sport, your joy in life... to gossip.

Hey... enjoy yourself. Just keep all that over there... waaaaay over that.

Whelp... An impromptu food for thought moment. That's been on my mind for a minute.

What does the day entail for me? A little reading. A little writing. Chores.

Grandma is one day older than MLK. So I plan to go by her house, spend a couple of hours with her. I bought her some sweats for her birthday (she likes to relax these days in sweats). I'll be doing a little crocheting and just kicking back with her.

So you enjoy your MLK day, however you choose to celebrate it.

I will enjoy it... and as I always say when I first open my eyes every day...

I am thankful to see a brand new day, a day that has never been lived or seen before...

Something great will happen today.

I will rejoice and be glad in and on this day.

On purpose.

Monday Night Special... Random, Random

Look at me...

Haven't been blogging!

Just got a lot of other stuff going on.

(Or being hard-headed - the choice is yours).

You know, I have soooo many posts in my head, all of which I want to do at the very same time, that I don't take the time to work on them. And I need to do that, because this is part of my therapy.

Well, I'll just do some quick randoms.

I had a pretty good Thanksgiving. I'll write about it later, as I am still thinking about it, and I have to load up a couple of pictures.

I've pretty much had a 4 day weekend. I was off today (Monday) due to having a dishwasher repaired. It's still not repaired. They had to order a part for it. I have one of those high end digital Jen-Air joints. I HATE anything digital. That stuff is bound to go out. I only used the washer once a week, and heck, it's been out for a while. (You should've seen the repairmens faces when they saw all that rust. LOL). But it runs, and all the digital stuff don't work. So... that means sticking around next week for another repair job.

This is cookie baking season. I baked a couple dozen for Thanksgiving (I never go anywhere empty handed), and I baked a few for blog sista Tazzee.

I like her comment concerning them. She and her tailgating crew found them to be orgasmic.

Now THAT'S what you call a GOOD GOOD GOOD cookie!

LOL!

I was happy to meet her, albeit briefly. She seems to be a funny chick. Good to meet you, Oldgirl!

I've gotten much writing done this weekend. TWO whole, very pivotal chapters.I've been battling around with them all month long, and I am finally done with them. (I think I may have 4 or 5 chapters to go... I think). Serenity3-0 has been reading some of the latter chapters. I was VERY nervous about giving these 2 chapters to her. She loved them. It all made her curly natural hair bone straight, lol. She enjoyed them, and that made me proud. It's hard to hold her attention. I'll write about my writing later on this week too.

I spent most of the day doing chores (I'm so slow with my chores... I think I'm caught up for the week) and watching television.

A couple of interesting things I saw on several talkshows.

The chick that is to be the new princess, Kate Middleton, has a wonderful style. There was a whole segment on it, and how I too can dress just like her.

The Kardashian girls have a new book out. They were on 4 different shows promoting their book of nostalgia and style, etc.

This depressed me a bit, along with every other story. Most of it surrounded the theme of, as far as I'm concerned

"How can I be like this or that person? Because I just don't like who I am."

I think that's our problem. No one's satisfied with themselves.

This makes sense, though. We should all be in some stage of personal growth in some area of our lives. I don't deal much with people who aren't, as I myself use them as inspiration to do better.

But I like me and who I am. I love my good side, and I don't care for my bad side.

I'm working on my bad side. That's where my growth and development will take place.

No one wants to be like me. i'm NOT famous. I have NO style, none of that. And that's okay.

I have my portion. And what a wonderful portion it is.

I consider myself one of the most unique individuals on the planet. And one thing for sure: there will never be another like me, and you will never meet another like me.

We have a problem of identity crises in this society. And with all I watched today, while busying around the house doing my chores, and a little writing, well, rightfully so. We do take in a lot of garbage. All day, whether we notice it or not.

I myself have to work on filtering out and separating the garbage from what is good and helpful for my life. And the lines tend to blur sometimes.

It means work harder... I suppose.

Whelp... That's it for my Monday randoms. I REALLY want to do a full battery of posts this week. I think that will be my goal!

I hope you had a good Thanksgiving Holiday!

Now get back to work! LOL

Monday Afta-Noon ramblings...

Good Afta-noon!

How is everyone faring?

I feel fine. Still under the weather, just a tad though.

The current temperature here in the ATL is, uh...

I don't know. All I know is it is NICE outside. A bit cool, just enough for a light jacket or sweater. But it is suppose to reach the 70's today. GLORY!!!

My weekend. I'ma try to make this a short post. (Shut up and stop smirking!)

I had a great weekend. The Iniquitous One, Nikki, stopped by The House of LadyLee on Saturday night.

Yeah, she still alive, ya'll... just not blogging right now. I cooked dinner and we hung out.

I will write about that this week sometime.

My BFF's birthday is today, but we celebrated yesterday...

Happy Birthday LadyTee!!!!!

She turned 41, but she said she don't feel a day over 20. Go head on, girl!!

And LadyTee looks to be about 20, so she is holding her age VERY well.

I will write about that later this week also.

So hanging out with the two of them, my BFF since age 10, and my buddy as of late, Nikki, made for a GREAT weekend.

Quote of the month: This one is from a blog that I absolutely LOVE, According to Aretha .

I like her blog because she is very positive about how she approaches her issues. Not knowing what to do in a situation doesn't get her all discombobulated. She becomes more intuitive and analytical concerning it, instead of falling apart. And there is always a spiritual thread looped through it in somehow, in some way.

And you know, this Oldgirl likes that!

She is fasting and praying during her lent season. I think she even stopped watching television during this time. I am terribly excited about this. I was hoping that she would post or at least write out in her personal journals some of her personal revelations, because there will be many without all the distractions. (Well, I was REALLY hoping she posted them... I am REALLY looking forward to what was going on in her spirit).

And this quote was simply remarkable (from Lent Lesson #3)

"The fact is that sometimes we actually are only visitors to a situation, a place, or a person…it’s called a season of your life. I appreciate God’s glory and mercy even when I don’t completely understand what’s going on. So, with that, I appreciate being in this space at this time in my life and I won’t allow my complaining to block the blessings that are here for me to receive or those blessings that are supposed to be provided to others through me."

I don't know, Mayne... I felt my heart beat a little faster when I read that one.

I've been meditating on that every since I read that. That was some good stuff right there.

We are living in a time where we just need to stop trying to figure out everything in our minds and simply be thankful and appreciate where we are right now in life.

You and I are where we are for a reason.

And it is for a season.

You know, I figured out the reason that I get all bent out of shape about stuff was because I feel the situations are permanent.

Nothing's ever permanent. Everything is temporary. Everything.

Just like a frickin' hairdo. A hairdo don't last forever.

Don't believe the hype.

All situations are subject to change.

And I give myself only a limited amount of time to complain about a situation.

I mean, I am only human.

I hurt.

I cry.

I whine.

I yell... and much more.

But, I make SURE I follow that up with twice as much thanksgiving. God has given me much. Not only that, but He has always kept me out of messes I don't even know about.

I am thankful for that.

And I don't want Him to ever say "You ungrateful thing, you. Nothing is ever good enough for you."

And I sure don't want my blessings blocked due to lack of gratitude. EVER.

And let's not EVEN get over into the notion of blocking blessings that are to be provided to others through me. Let's not even talk about how my complaining could be messing things up for someone else.

THE HORROR!! That even makes the *crickets* pause and think. GOODNESS GRACIOUS ALIVE!!

Thanks for making me think, Aretha.

I really love your blog...

That's it for me. This was short (for me, that is).

Hope you enjoyed your weekend.

And have a good week... ON PURPOSE.

Monday Afternoon Ramblings...

Good Afta-noon, Party People!

The current temperatue in the ATL is 44 degrees. That ain't bad. That's better than that 13 degree craziness back around January 8th and 9th. Man, I thought it was the end of the world.

So, 44 degrees is a GOOD thang.

My weekend. I had a very good weekend. I actually had dinner with one of my favoritie bloggers, Terry. He decided to hop out of his Los Angeles Cheap Seats and come alllll the way over to the ATL to see your friendly neighborhood Oldgirl.

LOL!

Naw, he just happen to be in the ATL on bizness, and we hooked up. We had dinter at one of my favorite places, The Watershed. It was a bit difficult, since I'm not eating any meat, dairy or junk right now, but I am a MAVERICK, baby!! I didn't break down and get the grilled porkchop or the fried catfish that I LOVE so much. I had a veggie plate and a huge salad and some water. GO ME! I am a MAVERICK!

But I must tell you... Terry is a GREAT dude. Salt of the earth. He is good peoples, of the Celie variety! I tell you, he is a treasure chest of information. You DO NOT find that in people these days. Folks are shallow as HELL, and he is NOT one of them. It was great to be in his company, and the convo was amazing...

I'm not worthy! I'm not worthy!!

*Lee falls prostrate on the hard concrete*

That has been one of the most important meetings of my year thus far. And I was happy for it.

So thanks, Terry, for hanging out. I know the man behind the Cheap Seats now! And yeah, you are all I thought you would be. I am blessed to have you in my corner:)

On Saturday, I attended another one of the Green Eyed Bandit's son's basketball games. They actually won the game. So, I am NOT a jinx. I had a good time, and I MAY attend one more!

And the Green Eyed Bandit didn't haul off and throw a shoe at the referee or anything. So it was a good day!

Sunday, I had a finance meeting with my Triple F (Financial Freedom Fighters) Posse. That was good. It always gets me motivated to handle my money right, and someone ALWAYS has a success story. ALWAYS.

I LOVE when people are doing good and meeting their goals. I really do!

Afterwards, me and my sister Kentucky went to the natural foods vegan store Sevenanda. That was a treat. There were a gazillion people up in there. It looked like Wal-mart on a Saturday afternoon.

I will have to write about this whole fasting thing... Uh, I have some stories to tell. LOL!!

Weird stuff. Keith has all kinds of widgets over on his blog. So I decided to entertain myself and play around with them.

Some of ya'll be complaining about how long winded I am. Hush up. I am terribly quiet in person, so all of what is stuck in my brain comes out on blog, lol.

But there was some site that calculates how long your blog posts are, or something like that. And here is the result.



Whatever!!! I don't agree with that! My posts aint THAT long.

Another one rates your blog:



My blog is NOT rated R. My blog is rated SMURFY.

Humph.

One last one:



I really don't know WHAT they're talking about there. That makes it seem like I be cussin up a fire and burning down forests over in these parts.

I do NOT bring out my Book of Cuss to often. HUMPH.

!%$@#!@!**!!!!!!!

Doggonit!

LOL!!

Well, I decided to let it go after that. It was all messing with my smurfiness.

Really though.

And if if ain't smurfy, it ain't right.

Well, let me get back to the work. The boss, the Darth Sista, is messing with an Oldgirl.

We have foolishness going on already, messing up my Monday. EVERYBODY is gone to D.C. for training. Our work group Super Hero Hen Dog is gone. The Cowgirl Cre is gone. Lieutennant Meek-Meek is gone. UGH.

They are gone all week. I am lonely. I have no one to talk to. I might get some work done, lol.

I'm surprised Darth Sista didn't hit me with the HARD football tackle when I walked through the door.

She has this knack for calling me at the very moment I walk into the cubicle area. I mean, just as my butt is about to make contact with my seat. She must have a hidden camera in my cubicle.

"LadyLee, did you get a chance to look at that data? It is laying right there on your desk. Do you see it? Do you see it sitting there?"

"Hold on, Darth Sista! Gimme a chance to sit down and get my head right. I gotta smoke a cigarette and drank a little of this liquor here before I peruse this here data. Just give me a minute, man. You know how I am on Mondays."

*Darth sista hits LadyLee with the hard sigh*

"Whatever, LadyLee," she moans. Then hangs up on me.

Yeah... it's gonna be THAT kind of week.

LOL!!!

Ya'll have a good week... on purpose!!