Friday Freestyles

Happy Friday To YOU!

I am glad it's Friday. It's not even payday. And that's alright. It is Friday.

You know, I woke up before the crack of dawn on Tuesday morning. I gathered the down comforter to my chin and said "I'm so glad it's Saturday. I don't have to get out of this bed."

LOL! Man! What kind of craziness is that? Ohhhhh how disappointed I was when I realized it was only Tuesday. Wow!

Alas,I will be able to say that tomorrow. Even though I do have to get up and get a few things done early in the morning. At least I don't have to be at work.

But I have work on Sunday. O_o.

I don't even want to talk about that right now. Humph.

Anyway, it has been a good week. Interestingly, I've been very productive at home. I have put myself on a plan to clean up daily instead of waiting around for the weekend. So this weekend I have less to do. If I can stick with this plan, I will be able to do some deeper cleaning and reorganizing and throwing out. That's the ultimate goal.

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday. Not with my regular doctor, but with a hematologist. I was a bit pissed about that, because I really didn't need to go. But my immunologist is a stickler about checking everything. So I begrudgingly went.

I'm glad I did. The hematologist was a sister, and she was really cool. She understood lupus pretty well. I have some strange blood numbers (that have been that way for years, mind you), and she's gonna try to bring them back under correction. I don't have any iron stored (again, been that way for years, mind you), and so she wants to work on that.

I haven't had anemia problems in a long time. For some strange reason it went away when I moved towards vegetarianism. But I had a test come back in January that was slightly out of order (I took that test after my cycle ended. Ladies, you know we can't even give blood at the blood bank after a cycle. Iron is low, mind you. Not sure why my doctor is all O_O. My iron was only 1/2 a point out of range. Sigh).

We were looking at my January blood work and it turns out my kidneys are excellent! So much for the kidney disease. That looks to be under control. No signs of it.

GLORY. *church shouts*

I am making an effort this year not to be all cantankerous... I really want to just work on doing what the doctor tells me to do. And to be expedient about it. We've been talking about physical therapists for a good two years now. I need one, so I am still looking for that. I don't care for that process. But I need a little help with some excerises.

I am thankful that after 10 years after diagnosis that I am functional. No hospital stays since 2002. No wheelchairs, canes or walkers. The lupus is active, but it isn't severe. It is in the light range.

And I am thanful I am still here. I am thankful for every day.

I feel just fine. And I will contiune to feel fine. That is all.

AMEN.

Other than that, all is well. Work has been slow, but productive!

Fruit of the Week. I bought a honeydew melon last weekend. So I've been trying to eat on that.

 It is good and it is sweet and flavorable. But I had to balance it out with some strawberries and mangoes. Talk about something good, good, good!

Vegetable of the Week. That should read strange vegetable of the week.

Those are tindora cucumbers. I threw my sharpie in with them to show how small they are. I never heard of cucumbers that small. Is that what the gherkin sweet pickles are made from? I'm not sure. And what are a couple of them turning red??

Quote of the week. From Power Thoughts: 12 strategies to Win the Battle of the Mind by Joyce Meyer

"Modern societies are full of messages that say to us, "Something is wrong with you because you are not like I am. Something is wrong with you because you can't do this as well as I can." So we repeatedly hear the message, "what's wrong with me?" "What's wrong with me?" "What's wrong with me?" After hearing it long enough, we get convinced something is desperately wrong with us and we become disabled emotionally. The wrong thinking negatively affects all relationships and everything we try to do."

That is the best thing I've read all week.

The truest thing I've read all week.

Really though.

I'm reading that book with one of my favorite readers. Lots of interesting tail-kicking self examination questions throughout the chapters. It is helping me a lot.

Pictures of the Week. This restaurant is located next to my favorite Thai spot on the southside.

Can you read the words under the name of the restaurant? It says African American Cuisine.

What is "African Amerian Cuisine"? Yeah, I know all about soul food. I suppose that is considered African American Cuisine. So if it is soul food, then whey not cal it that? I don't think it is. They have the american flag and the African continent on the sign. Hmm. Maybe I will run up in there and be nosy the next time I'm over that way.

Whenever someone comes to the desk with a bunch of craziness, I show them my screen saver.

"You see that cat? You see how Oscar-Tyrone is looking?" I ask. "That's how you making me feel right now. You're irking me right about now."

LOL.

Song of the Week. Oldie but Goodie. You have to be over 35 to remember this song from 1985!



Man... Morris Day was so narcissitic. I wonder if he's still that way all these years later.

Whelp! I am looking forward to the weekend! I'm going to make it a good one...

You have a good one too... on purpose!

The Excellent Boss!

So...

I have an interesting routine most mornings. Most times, I get up and spend a bit of time praying and crocheting. Then I get ready for work.

I'm not the type of chick that just wakes up and be out of the house 30 minutes later. That's not going to happen. I need a full 1.5 to 2 hours to be ready to leave for work.

No, I'm not doing my hair or putting on makeup. I'm not that type of gal. I have to wake up, pray, read, watch the news, make my lunch, read some more, feed and water Oscar-Tyrone, blog, write... all kinds of stuff.

So I have settled into a schedule... of sorts.

I need to be at work around 10. So around 8:30, I like to have my clothes on and hair comb, and I like to be piddling around the kitchen around that time.

Around that time, Joyce Meyer comes on. I like watching her in the mornings. Nothing like a good sermonette to get me thinking.

Anyway, she said something interesting. She was talking about letting people know that you appreciate them versus always finding fault with people. Let's face it, one is much easier than the other.

And she asked an interesting question. She asked when was the last time you told your boss that you appreciated them, and that they did a good job?

I believe I was juicing at the time. I, along with the audience she was preaching too, got real quiet.

What kind of question was that? Didn't she know that Management was the absolute devil, hell bent on making an employee's life absolutely miserable?

"She talking crazy," I murmured. I threw another small apple into the juicer. "I might have to turn this off."

But she went on to make her case. (She had to, since everybody was looking at her like she was an odd bird that had just flew into the room). She said that they have to deal with much that we don't have to deal with. And we should tell them that we appreciate the job they are doing.

A bit far-fetched. But it made a little sense to me.

A little.

Enough for me to think about it long after the program ended and I headed off to work.

So... I swooped into my boss' office.

"Hey!"

She looked at me like I was crazy. Which is usually the case .

"I just want you to know I was watching Joyce Meyer this morning, and she asked when was the last time you told your boss you appreciate them and how good of a job they were doing. I thought I would come in here and just tell you that."

She said nothing. Just stared at me.

"I want you to know that you are excellent! And you do an excellent job!"

She stared for a moment. "Uh, ok."

And with that, I was gone.

That was back in late October. I decided then that I would stay on that for the rest of the year.

Everytime she came to my desk or I ran up on her, she had the pleasure of hearing me holler "You are EXCELLENT! You do such a good job! You sure do!"

I'm not sure this was all that pleasurable for her, as everyone absolutely HATES management. HATES with a passion.

"Thank you for your help! You do such an excellent job!"

"Whatever, man," she has mumbled a number of times... followed by the hard eyeroll.

"I like saying that," I told my cubicle mate, Cowgirl Cre. "It makes me feel good inside! It really does."

She only nodded.

"Maybe you should let your boss know he is excellent, too!"

*Cowgirl Cre's eyes widen big as hoola-hoops*

Her boss... sigh. That dude is special. I'm sure he is excellent. But he is special, first and foremost.

There are people around me who I make sure that they think that I'm just a bit... touched. Just so they won't bother and harrass me. You know, make sure that they think I just a bit off and unpredictable. It saves me a lot of trouble, I tell you.

Yeah, he's one of those types.

And I notice that when Cowgirl Cre needs supervisory assistance, she calls my supervisor. And my supervisor comes over and helps her, and all is well.

Well I don't like this. That is MY boss. MINE.

She was helping Cowgirl Cre one day, and when she finished I had to tell her "Look, don't help her no more. You not her boss. You my boss. She needs to call her own boss. Get that joker to help her."

"I don't care," Cowgirl Cre said with a note of arrogance. "I call her and she comes right over and she knows what to do."

"That's because she's excellent! Call your own boss!"

"I don't care, blah blah blah..." Cowgirl Cre continued.

My boss backed out of our cubicle slowly... but not before kicking the hard eyeroll.

Earlier this week, she was helping the Cowgirl Cre with some word game. I think it was Words with Friends. And it had me seething.

"Look here, man... don't be helping her with spell words. She need to go ask her own boss to help her spell. Cut that out!"

They both looked at me and then went at her smart phone.

HUMPH.

I really do think my boss is excellent. Close to a couple of years ago, we had a management regime shake-up. The evil empire was shook up, and I ended up with a good boss. My old boss is our director, and that's alright. She doesn't make my life miserable and that is cool.

I asked my boss the other day, "Do you lay up in bed at night and try to come up with ways to mess with people and hurt people?"

"No," she said.

Well that makes you excellent in my book!"

Because we had so much of that going on. And it is always odd that management likes to mess with the unstable folks, putting all our lives in danger. It is bad to have that on your mind, but shoot... I will never understand that.

But I understand the gist of Joyce Meyer's message that morning. After a few months of doing that, I understand how far it goes to squeeze out the negative. VERY far. And it takes power away from the negative.

And that is a good thing.

I was in the other building adjoining my own on my job, and I saw some folks in a lab. I wanted to congratulate them on getting some extra workers, as a couple of people had left or retired. Well, they were in there going off hard about what was going on in the building. And you know me, I don't deal much with all the negativity anymore. Well they got into going hard on management.

"My boss is excellent. She actually has a clue. She actually thinks about the problems. And if she don't know the answer, she go get it. And she asks questions. She don't mind learning. And she ain't trying to come up with ways to destroy people!"

"Yeah, you right," they said. "She is good."

Yes. I broke up the negative monotony. Then I got on out of the lab and went back to my own.

From time to time, the Cowgirl Cre will remind me, just when the boss is walking out of the cubicle area... "You forgot to tell her. Remember you gotta tell her."

"Oh yeah," I said. "Hey man!!" I holler. "You are excellent!"

Say it with me. "I am excellent."

"I am excellent," she mumbles... not before kicking the hard eyeroll.

Not all that enthusiastic, she's not. But oh well. But that's alright.

I'm going to stay on it! Yes I am.

She is excellent.

She likes really sad songs. I mean... sad, sad, sad. "I like the songs that make you drink the brown liquor," she said.

She has had me listen to songs she like in the past. They have me like "Dang, man. That's pretty sad right there."

She likes the crying-in your drink in the back booth of the club type of songs. And when I hear one, I let her know. And of course she likes it.

Here's one by Kelly Price. The title is "Tired"




The last part of that song... Lots of agony in those wails!

The boss will find that to be quite... excellent!

That Original Oldcat Oscar-Tyrone... Still Hanging in There

It's been awhile since I gave an update on the The Original Oldcat, Oscar-Tyrone.

Way back in October, that Original Oldcat Oscar-Tyrone fell ill.

He has never been sick. And I hate to admit it, but he hadn't been to the doctor since 1999. And the only reason he went then because he and my other cat, Jeremy Girard, had a bad case of worms.

That was nasty.

Anyway, he had a bad case of pancreatitis and hepatitis. And some -itis with his gall bladder. He was running around acting like he was having hallucinations, and he was hurling and had a case of the runs plus constipation. Trust me, it was an odd site to see.

He had to stay in the hospital. Because of him, I won't be going on vacation this year. *gives Oscar the side-eye*. It cost around two grand to straighten him out. Sigh.

Anyway, he had his last doctor visit back in early December. He gained a little weight (1/2 pound), and his liver numbers were going in the right direction (whatever that means).

"Do we need to schedule another meeting?" I asked the veternarian.

She was a sister. I think she could see in my eyes that I didn't want to spend another dime on him.

"No, I think he's good. It takes as much as 6 to 8 weeks to recover from this."

I nodded.

"But I want to keep him on the bland diet," she added.

The bland diet. The bland diet of duck and peas. A case of can food was 61 dollars. And a bag of dried food was 56 dollars.

Sigh.

I nodded. Again.

"He seems to be alright," I said. "He's eating and eliminating on the regular now. I'll know he's back to his normal self when he jumps out and plays on the beams that run over my living room."

She shook her head, and rubbed Oscar-Tyrone's back. "I don't know if that's gonna ever happen again. He's an old cat. The beams may be too much for him."

The beams.

He has always loved the beams. He would sit quietly up there and watch me walk back and forth, especially when I was looking for him.

He likes the beams.

I suppose the vet had a point, though. He is 15 years old. No more beams. I packed him in his carrier and we headed on home. He seems to understand the riding in the car ordeal. He knows if he doesn't want to be flying all over the car, he needs to sit still.

And he seems to understand... don't scratch the Lucy the Lexus' leather. Just be still.

That month he would stare up at the beams. It was if he was... pondering. Pondering whether to test his strength and agility.

He would walk upstairs, and walk back down. You see, for awhile, he'd been working on jumping up on the back of the couch or the big easy chair. And he wasn't negotiating it right. He would jump up... then fall off the back.

It was quite funny. All I could do is holler, as he ambles out from behind wherever he fell, "Dude, you took a big spill there... Are you alright?"

I knew if he couldn't figure out how to lay on the back of the furniture... Then he had no business fooling around with the beams.

Then one day last month...

I was laying on the sofa watching television, half dozing off. Oscar-Tyrone ran top speed up the stairs and jumped out on the beams.

The noise caught my attention. First of all, he hadn't ran that fast in awhile. I had to make sure he wasn't running for something. If he was, I was going to be running right along with him, lol.

And there he was... out on the beams.

"The dead has arisen," I said.

He not only jumped out on the beams, but he got all acrobatic with it. It was like he thought he was a Olympic gymnast or something.

He was doing what he use to do when we first moved into the house: jumping out on the beams and pretending he was going to jump or worse... fall down.

My sister and I would holler "Oscar! Oscar! Don't fall!"

And we would brace ourselves to catch him.

It turned out to be a dirty trick he liked to play on us.

He tried that again and I didn't fall for it. There is a ceiling fan connected to one of the beams, and he was running out on that beam, too. That would have been a disaster if he fell into that fan. But he didn't.

Someone asked how he gets up on the beams. I took a couple of pictures.

He jumps up on the rail next to the laundry here.

And then he jumps out on the beam. the beam is 9 feet above the living room.

So if he falls, that's a big drop. (He or the other cat has fallen before. There is a long scratch on the side. Wish I could've seen that!) And I'm not taking him back to the doctor. I would just have to go outside and break off a branch or stick from the bushes and use it a stint for his leg. I'm sure I have a little duct or electrical tape to hold it all in place.

I guess he is getting back to his old self. That's a good thing. I figure he has a couple more years to live.

He has a cold right now. That whole sneezing thing... he knows that is a good way to get me to head in another direction real fast. I think his teeth may be bothering him. I grind up his hard food and mix it with the canned food and add a little water to it all. That seems to be working out well for him.

And he has hairball issues. Ick. YUCK.

His food bill looks as if it will be running $70 a month. That's on the level of a utility bill or something. I'm not happy about that. But cheap food would probably blow his liver and pancreas up. For now, it is duck and peas.

So that's the update on The Original Oldcat. I am doing what I can to keep him stable.

And now that he is back to his beam gymnastics? I think he might just be coming along just fine.

Just fine indeed.

Monday Food for Thought: Knowing Your Options

I came across this information a few weeks ago. It was part of a sermon on dealing with conflict and difficult people. I wrote it down on the back of an envelope, so it's a tad bit cryptic, but I thought it was interesting.

What to do when dealing with difficult people (conflict resolution):

1. Demand that THEY grow up. Sometimes you are dealing with immature people. Hallmarks of immaturity are selfishness and egocentricity.

2. Demand of YOURSELF that you grow up. A major part of this is that you learn to pick and choose your battles wisely. Do not waste your time arguing and fighting battles unless they threaten your destiny or personal convictions.

3. Demand that THEY move on.

4. Demand of YOURSELF that you move.

The bottom line is that you always have options.


My thoughts on this...

I like that last line:

The bottom line is that you always have options.

And I don't know if people understand that. I myself didn't understand that until I hit my 30s. Up until then there was always this goal of being accepted by people. I am the direct opposite these days: I only want genuine relationships... or nothing at all. Take the drama and conflict somewhere else.

It's alright for me to feel that way.

Afterall... There are 7 billion people walking this earth. I only need a decent handful in my life. I know I can't please everyone. And everyone can't please me. I accept that.

The points above resonated with me. They point to the fact that I have options. I don't have to be held emotionally hostage by anyone. And no one should be held emotionally hostage by me.

In any case, it points to the issue of things having to change. I know people who have been in conflict with the same folks for some 30 to 40 years... most of their lives, really. 

That's a long long time. A long time to be going through mess with people. Part of me admires people that can continuously go through a lot. Even though they are exasperated, they are long suffering. I just don't have that character trait, man. I am a champion of #4... I demand of myself that I move on. Period.  Now, I spend a lot of time thinking about whether I am being selfish or wrong. And if I can't figure it out, I move on.

But I thought that was interesting. I wanted to post that, just in case I lose my handy envelope.

You have to admit that any of the above options go a long way to resolving conflict.

Friday Freestyles.

My goodness.

TGIF!

GLORY!

AND it's PAYDAY!!

GLORY again!

And can you believe it is March already? 16% of the year is gone. Soon we will be hollering "Merry Christmas!" LOL

March means spring to me. I am wondering why it is so doggone cold outside. It's 40 degrees and the wind is whipping something awful. And if it's not cold, it's raining. I am waiting for the March Sun. That is all.

And this is the doom and gloom day... Sequestration starts today. I am a government employee, and we have gotten very vague emails.  But you know what? I refuse to worry about it. Congress ain't worried about. I won't worry about it either. I am going to be happy. Period. And have a good day. Humph.

I haven't been in the mood to post much this week. Why? Because I want to do a lot of Food for thought posts. I need to leave that alone right now. I've been a bit too busy this week, more than normal. So I need to save that for later.

Crafts and Cookies. Anyway, I wanted to post up some cards I made.

That one is for Southern Black Gal. She won the birthday sweepstakes. Too bad I spelled her name
 wrong. :(

Here's another for one of my favorite readers!

Thank goodness I spelled her name right.

I owed her a tin of cookies. So I made some chocolate chip pecan cookies for her.

That was fun. I made the cards one morning before work. For some reason, it was therapeutic. I was VERY calm when I arrived at work that day, even happy. I have to do that more often.

Spell Well. So, something interesting happened in one of my cubicle mate Cowgirl Cre's WWF game.

Yes. My cubicle mate, the Cowgirl Cre beat the great WWF wordsmith expert Tayari Jones in a game. This doesn't happen. We had to snap a picture of the score to prove it happened.

Ya'll just don't understand... Tayari can REALLY spell very well. It is a time of celebration when she gets beat. Cre had been sitting there in her cubicle, all wide-eyed, showing me the score in the final moves.

"Girl, if you beat her, I'll call her. I sure will. I will call right up. And we'll talk to her!"

So Cre beat her. I thought that chick was gonna turn cartwheels. And I dialed Tayari up. She didn't answer, but she called right back. She is on tour right now (I can't keep up with her. Sigh). Goodness, we talked to her. You would've thought we'd won the lotto or something.

Cre was so happy that she went out for lunch instead of eating the sandwich she made for lunch.

Yes. We are nerdy, I know. But Cre found out that she too could spell well! LOL.

Movie of the Week. Limitless staring Bradley Cooper and Robert deNiro.

This movie is the BOMB. It appeals to the Dr. LadyLee side of me. I wish I would've seen it at the movies instead of on my kindle. But it is always good to find something decent on Netflix!

I'm not going to review it. It's about a little pill that, when you take it, your mental capacity becomes limitless.

If I could invent a pill like that... wow!

Great movie. Had me on the edge of sofa! And that Bradley Cooper is gorgeous! I never knew what all the fuss over him was about, but I'm a fan now. Wow!

Check that out!

Song of the Week. I REALLY like this song. I know it has to be close to 30 years old, but I heard it for the first time last month.

You are my Sunshine by Mtume.



Man. I really like that song. Yeah, I know I'm 30 years late, but that's all right. Still a good song.

That's it for Friday Freestyles. I don't have much planned for the weekend. I'm sort of trying to take it easy, since I am having some back problems. I hope to get out on Saturday, though. Pam needs an oil change, a headlight and some new windshield wipers. (Ain't nothing worse than driving in pouring down rain and the wiper is half off. Sigh). That will be my adventure for the weekend. Otherwise, I'm going to try to relax and take it easy... on purpose.

You have a good weekend!