Simply Sunday

Alas... the weekend has sadly come to an end.

Aww...

And a decent weekend it was.

A cold and rainy one here in the ATL.

And it's not that pouring down type of rain. It's that nasty drizzly stuff. I didn't even really need an umbrella. That drizzly stuff gets in my face anyway.

I will take this over whatever is going on out in Texas. They are having an ice storm or something. I hope they thaw out soon. It looks crazy on the News.

Today is Sunday, and I didn't have much of anything planned. When it is cold and rainy, I can't say that I care to be out ripping and running around in it. I don't want to catch cold. That would be pretty bad.

I only ventured out to go to my friend Dawn's house. She lives out on the Westside, some 20 minutes away from me. She has been wanting to learn how to crochet that blanket I like to make so much, the one with all the little squares.

That takes time and patience, especially when just learning the pattern. I copied the pattern and wrote it out step by step. I was hoping that once we went over it a couple of times, she would get the hang of it. And she did.

The problem is that she is working with some fine baby type yarn. I don't have the patience for that. She seems to have it, and that's a good thing.

She did well on her squares.

They look like little circles, but they are squares.

Only 200 or 300 to go. I hope she sticks it out. She's not going to use the purple yarn. That is for practice. But she is using something similar.

I've never made a baby blanket version of the blanket. But it was good to think about how to scale it down to infant size.  I plan to make one next year. We figured out that we just have to use a smaller crochet needle. That is good to know.

All and all, it was a good time. I was there for a good 3 hours. Felt like half an hour.

I am always glad to teach someone to crochet, just like my cubicle mate the Cowgirl Cre taught me.

That was a very nice completion to my weekend.  I am always thankful for happy endings.

Saturday 7

Been a long time since I've done a "Saturday Seven".  So here are a few thoughts from my day.

1. I am sitting here on a Saturday night watching the Soul Train Music Awards. It's a shame that the production of the Soul Train Music Awards is much better and less ratchet than the BET awards.

2. I had the best smoothie this morning: spinach, pineapple and blueberries, with a juiced apple base. I am going to have to make that again.

3. I hung out with my sister Kentucky today. And there were no discussions of her isshas with our mother. That made it a good time. It felt good not to be angry today.

4. She accompanied me to my Triple F (Financial Freedom Fighters) Posse meeting today. I've been quietly asking her to go and today and we went together. She walked in and everyone jumped up like she was a movie star.

5. I enjoyed the meeting today. It is great whenever I get around nonjudgmental people. It feels great not to be on guard and I can just be me.

6.  Kentucky turned me on to this local chiropractor and nutritionist Dr. Joe Esposito. He has local radio show some good lectures on youtube. He is right up my alley. I might have to holler at him.

7.  I knocked $40 off my monthly landline phone bill. Now if I could just find that phone. It's probably under the couch.

Friday Nite Lites

Not sure why on earth I said I would blog everyday.

Because I have NO idea what I should blog about tonight.

A couple of friends have given me some interesting suggestions.  And they have either been too hard, or something I have to spend time thinking about.

So of course, it will just be a randoms freestyle of what's on my mind.

1.  I had a very interesting conversation with someone today... unexpectantly. I actually have more than my share of those. Those are the best conversations anyway because of their impromptu nature.  And it makes me wonder why people choose to talk to me about things.  I mean, I'm not a part of any popular crews, and I don't have much of an opinion about things.

Someone told me that I have good counselor skills. I don't think I do. I am very good at encouraging people, though.

And let's say this: 99% of what folks tell me, I've already done did it.

So how can I be judgmental?

I can't.

I can only offer a listening ear.

And much of that was born out of personal pain. As a child, I was shut down so bad. I wasn't allowed to have an opinion. If I did, I'd better keep it to myself. And if I did say something, that wasn't good. It would be used against me at some future time. Or blabbed to the rest of the family... with added stuff to make it more interesting.

Sigh.

So I don't mind listening. We don't have many impartial people in our lives. I know I don't. So when you do find them, it is important.

So I appreciated that convo today.

2. My happiest moment this week was coming to work and finding a nicely wrapped gift on my desk. I will post it next week.

I didn't want to open. Why? Because I don't remember the last time I got a wrapped gift. As you know, I am not big on Christmas and what not. And heck, I probably got a wrapped gift in recently and I just can't remember.

But I rarely wrap Christmas gifts. I don't get into the whole Christmas hoopla. The end of the year is my time for self-reflection, and just thinking about the year and what has changed and what has remained the same (fortunately or unfortunately).

But the gift meant much to me. And it was something simple that I really really like. I think it meant much that someone was standing there listening to me glean wistfully about something I really like and they went and bought it. So unexpected. And it meant something during this time when I don't have all these big Christmas plans or anticipations of plans.

3. My saddest moment of the week was the whole debacle between my sister and my mother.  So after their spat, where Ma told her to never call her house again, Ma went up to her school. She left a envelope of money and some strange note. Got the secretary looking at her crazy.

And that made me mad. I have had fights with Ma and she has talk trash about me to folks. And I see the same thing occurring with my sister.

The goal right now is not to call her and give her a piece of my mind. I am doing real good if I can sit here and be quiet.

I just have a simple question. Why are you treating my sister like shit?

Excuse my language, but I just want to know the answer. I mean, this is the only family member that talk to Ma or try to hang with her. Why treat her so bad?

I just want to know. That has just been a burning question on my mind.  I would like a simple answer.

Ma lurks on my blog from time to time. Just call me and enlighten me, Ma. Without blaming everybody else for your misery.

I just need to not get all caught up in it. It's really rubbing me the wrong way.  I am a little sensitive when it comes to my sister.  That's all.

That's enough for today.

I need a drank. A good strong drank.

Let's see: I have some E&J, some Evan williams, some Bitch Wine, some tequila, some rum, and a bunch of other adult stuff in the cabinet. I rarely drink, though. Very rarely.

How about I just listen to the Song of the Day... while I drink from my red Solo cup of lemon water.



Yes. I like that song. Not what they are talking about, but the beats.

That is the first time I've ever seen the video. I can see myself knocking all that off the table. And I can see myself catching a beat down if I walk up in there while they are drinking and smoking...

And E40, why are you drinking and smoking in the video with your child? Get out of here.

LOL.

That is it for me. I am going to go off and have myself a decent weekend. Yes I will.

You do it too.

On purpose.

RIP Nelson Mandela, 1918-2013

LadyLee Favorites: Ice Cream

I really love ice cream.

But I don't eat much of it because it gives me serious mucus issues. And that is putting it mildly. Anything over a scoop is a problem. I hope I'm not becoming lactose intolerant. I like good ice cream, so I just have to deal. I like ice creams made form cashews, coconut, or almonds. But I still love dairy ice cream. Sigh.

So as a result, I don't mind paying good money for expensive locally made small batch ice creams.

One of my favorites is Bourbon pecan ice cream.

It's not the butter pecan ice cream of your childhood, honey.

It's made with a little bourbon. That makes it ice cream for Grown Folks.

LOL

This is a locally made ice cream. And it retails at $6.99 a pint, which is the going rate for such specialty ice creams.

It has that bourbon in it. It is definitely not enough to make me walk sideways or fall flat on my face, but I can a taste a slight slight hint of it.

And it is quite tasty.

I'm not sure I would buy it if there's a bunch of folk living in the house. It's the type of ice cream that would get gone... real fast. If I bought it, I would have to hide it way in the back of the freezer where no one could find it.

I don't have those issues. It takes me 2-3 weeks to get through a pint of ice cream.

So that's one of my favorite ice cream...

What's your favorite ice cream?