Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Have A Happy Thanksgiving...



Everyone Have A Safe And Great Holiday!!!

As we all prepare to travel or stay home to give thanks to the Lord, I just wanted to type this brief blog entry to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving Holiday!!! I said the same thing last year, but I want to add one more thing. In the spirit of giving, if you are hosting a dinner and are aware of someone who may be lonely this time of the year, please think about inviting them over to let them know that someone cares.

Monday, November 24, 2008

I've Been Clowned...Again...



And Once Again...*Sigh*....

Honestly, I've been trying to get around to blogging more regularly again. But it's clear to me that it will never be like used to be ever again. Why? Because I can't really do it from work like I used to at lunch time. I can't comfortably blog knowing that they check the history log on our computers. *lol* Enough of my blogging excuses. Let's get on with the show.

Oh well...Let me let you all know what I've been up to. I've gotten back in to my cooking mood. Yeah. I watch the Food Network year round. However, watching somebody else cook and doing it yourself are two different things. My cooking desire always hits me in the fall when there's just the bit of chill in the air. I don't particularly care to cook in the summer when it's hot and the kitchen is only making things hotter. That's sandwich and salad time. But now is the time to really get in that kitchen and to experiment. And to top things off I'm simply loving the cooking blogs such as the ones Aly and Tam have come up with. Shux. I may be single and childless, but I totally feel the weekly menu. I could definitely stand to have some organization in my life. Plus, it seems it would be a healthier and a thriftier way to be more efficient with my grocery bill. Don't let me meet a guy. He would gain at least 10 lbs. or so with me feeding him.

But check all this out in the blogosphere. Zee loves to go to the grocery store when she's not too busy. Check me out talking in the 3rd person. *lol* But anywho let me change back into the first person. For a while I was going to the grocery every other day. I don't get a lot of groceries at one time. I would say that I would get the real groceries on Friday or Saturday and in the days in between I would stop by to get more produce. As the week progresses, I get more apples and bananas or things I forgot to get during my last grocery store run. And there have been times when I simply didn't feel like eating out, because I didn't think the restaurants could satisfy my tastes. Restaurant food can get to be so predictable. But I can introduce new flavors and techniques to my own cooking. And for the most part, I've been pleasantly surprised with my results. Shux, I've got to listen to what the food is telling me in terms of knowing what seasonings to use and I love the process of cooking itself for things to turn out right. Love it, love it, love it.

Then came along the clowning. *Holding down head in slight embarrassment* There is this little guy at the grocery store who started clowning me about a month or so ago. He's one of the cashiers. And actually he's not little at all. He's taller than I am. He just seems younger like a little brother. He looks to be in his mid-20s to late 20s or so. I actually like his demeanor. He's rings up your order fast. He just now recently started getting a little loud about announcing to his co-workers and other shoppers that I come to the grocery store almost everyday. I always try to play it down and come up with an explanation of me liking my own cooking and saving money by cooking at home. And usually I can emerge from the grocery store with some shred of respect and dignity about the whole thing.

About a week ago, I was the reluctant star of the Safeway Barnum and Bailey Greatest show on Earth. Yes, I admit that I needed to pick up a few cheer up greeting cards, some milk, paper towels, apples, bananas, pears, cheetoes, frozen peaches, egg nog ice cream, etc. So, when I saw homeboy out of the side of my eye and without turning my head in his direction, I tried to do a drive-by with my grocery cart to another lane and to "another" cashier. Why did little brother man get loud and say "OOOh, there she goes trying to not get in my lane!!!???" Yeah, I tried to laugh it off. I only went one lane over from him. And the whole time the lady cashier kept making so many mistakes on every shopper in my lane. When it was my turn in line in the lane next to him, homeboy kept turning around having something to say. I was beyond embarrassed. Could the collar on my coat be in higher on my neck to hide my face? I was hoping so. He accused me of breaking down his cash register for not getting into his line, told the old man in his line that I should have been in his lane, said that I should have cooked for him already since I'm from the south, Blah, Blah, Blah. I haven't been back to my favorite grocery store since then. Don't get me wrong. If I was younger, I would have given that cutie pie some play. Oh yes. But in my elderlyness, I made up that word, of my 30's, I felt like I better hold back on this one as handsome as he is. I'm not Demi Moore or Halle Berry. I'm just getting close to Halle's age. *lol* I'm just Zee. I better just stick to what I know with men my own age, that means men a couple of years younger, guys my age or a guys a few years older. I suppose I'll be shopping at my favorite grocery store again when I come back in town following the Thanksgiving holiday. I just hope I won't be the star again of little brother man's circus show extraordinaire.


Why must these things happen to me? *sigh*

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Let's Catch Up: Election and All...



Congratulations to Our New President Elect and Family!!!...

Hello and howdy. I know that I've been away for far too long enough to have to look up my password and notice that the dashboard to blogger changed. Thank you Princess, Pam, and Harpo for being so patient with me. I've been extremely busy with work and I exchanged my usual morning blog time with just trying to get to work on time. So now, I'm blogging at night when I'm so tired. So forgive my typos. Let's get down to it.

First off let me say that this was the most painful primary and general election season. I've been watching the evening news since I was about 5 years old, but this year things got to be annoying every step of the way. Everyday watching the news just got to be frustrating with all of the negative attacks from candidates running for president all the way down to the local politicians running for dog catcher. However, I will admit to laughing at Saturday Night Live's Tina Fey impersonations of Sarah Palin. Lawd knows Tina had enough material to work with.

But anywho, let's skip on to the election itself. Leading up to the election, I had been telling folks that I would be donning a pair silver metallic boots and an outfit resembling a band uniform if Obama won. I was going to march down the street as the drum majorette for justice once Obama declared victory, and I was going to take my duty seriously. But come Tuesday of last week, I got to be more serious about things. For starters, I got up with the roosters around 4:30 a.m. to make it over to the polls at 6:30 a.m. before they opened at 7 a.m. I know folks want to know why it took me so long to get ready. Well, it took about an hour for me to actually wake up. *shrug*. That's saying something since I usually don't leave home until 9 a.m. on most mornings. I just made an exception on this morning, because I meant business. Once I got to the polls, most people were very polite, yet very determined to make history. No one complained about long lines or about getting to work late. We had the same thing in mind. We were going to take our vote seriously.

Come nightfall, I was totally beat down from work. I knew I wasn't going to be able to hang so I took a nap early in the evening. Plus, I didn't feel like watching tv anymore once the early returns were indicating that that polls were leaning in McCain's favor. I woke up around 10:30 p.m. to check out the returns and to immediately work the phones. And 30 minutes later history was made with Obama claiming victory. Boy were we in for a rollercoaster of emotions. First, I was shocked and amazed. Then I felt extremely happy and excited that other people from different countries around the world were sharing our joy. Then later, I cried for all of those people who suffered to make this day possible, because they didn't get a chance to see it. Heck, I didn't think that I'd ever see a black president in my own lifetime or that of the more immediate generations coming up. I just felt like that night was built on divine intervention. A wise and longtime family friend said earlier in the year that if God wants something to happen, it will come to pass. And that's exactly what I believe happened. I can't really even articulate everything I felt that. All I can say that it felt good. It still felt good although I spent the next day trying buy to a copy of the Washington Post. Let's not even start on me talking about how long I stood in line trying to get the special edition. All I know is that history was made and it felt good.

Okay, I've got to run. It's close to 2 a.m.

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Simply Put...Please Vote!!!...



We all can make a difference...
Yes, We Can!!!...