A book is always Picture Perfect!

Another reason I look forward to Friday is I get a free Nook book each week.  Just go to the Nook Blog: The NOOK Blog - Barnes & Noble Book Clubs and you can see what book is up for grabs!  Check the comments area too - there are more books listed there.

I just finished this one - Picture Perfect, and while it wasn't a freebie, I really LOVE the books by Janice Thompson so it didn't matter.  If you are a fan of contemporary romance with a Christian foundation - fun, but not preachy, then her books are for you!  Pick up a copy and enjoy!!

BTW - Janice is a Houston girl - and her books have that Southern twang to them.  Enjoy!!

Friday is for...project planning!

I look forward to Fridays - I mean I REALLY look forward to them.  Not just because it's the last day of the work week, but because I can make preparation to do some fun stuff over the weekend.  At least I try to plan one fun thing to do every weekend.  Amazingly enough, as I get older, that list of things gets shorter, and many times at the top of the list is - NOTHING.  I just want to sit...and look friendly.

But THIS weekend I'm looking forward to being crafty.  My creative juices have been flowing lately and I'm getting back to the things that bring me joy - which is making something with my hands.  Sewing was at the top of the list for the past few weeks but scrapbooking and DIY crafts are catching up.  Over the weekend I plan to finally make something to fill the wall in my bathroom that has been vacant for 9 years.  I know, it's really sad, but yes - 9 years!

I'm going to do my version of a sunburst mirror.  What you see below is one that I saw on the wall of a restaurant I visited a couple of weeks ago that kicked off the "ooh I want one of those" idea.

So tune in next week - and see the pics of the finished project - if I finish it - it IS the weekend, you know!

Happy Friday!

Paula Deen is not the face of the enemy - look in the mirror.

I've just spent the better part of the last hour responding to some FB posts about the Paula Deen situation.  Just in case you don't know, it has been reported by a former employee that Paula Deen made racial statements (the N word) and wanted to do a themed wedding where the servers would be African American/Black men in white jackets. In a deposition, Paula admitted to having used the word before. One statement said that it was when a black man came into the bank where she worked to rob it and held a gun to her head. People are upset - calling her a racist and talking about no longer supporting her work.  Ya'll make me tired...

I DO NOT like the word being used by ANYONE under ANY circumstances!! I can understand the reason behind her using it, but it doesn't negate my feelings about. YET - we are up in arms when someone White uses the word, but not when someone African American uses it? IT SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM EVERYONE'S VOCABULARY! Stop saying it's ok for some and not for others!!!!!

One person on FB stated that Paula said that in this Civil War themed wedding she " would really like is a bunch of little n-ggers to wear long-sleeve white shirts, black shorts and black bow ties. You know, in the Shirley Temple days, they used to tap dance around. Now, that would be a true Southern wedding, wouldn’t it?"  What I read in an internet article, wasn't that she admitted to making that statement, she admitted to using the word. The former employee was the one that said she made the statement. Paula said that she used the word Black in her vision of the event. But that is really not my issue - MY issue is how we get all mad about a WHITE person using the word, but we allow and even celebrate (Richard Pryor, Dave Chappelle, etc) when they use the word!! Also - this former employee - are they black or white? How long did they work there? Why were they terminated? Why all of a sudden are these things an issue with this employee? I want to know more about her. I just think there is a lot more to this story than what is being displayed by the media, who we know will ALWAYS tell the truth about everything!!  I'm just not going to judge the woman by this one situation - she has to face God for what she has done. I do not think it she was smart to say whatever she may have said, but I appreciate the fact that she was honest when asked about it. She is a 66 year old white woman who was raised in the deep South. My mother STILL uses the N word - and I repeatedly tell her how I feel about it. She has told me many times that's just what she was taught to say.  So what is our excuse?  WE, as a younger, stronger, more enlightened, more "intellectual" generation, continue to allow it to be said to us and about us by our own.

Then comes the response that I knew was out there..."but it's two different meanings"!

That's just it - it is NOT. I don't care HOW you spell it.."ger, gga, gah"- it is still negative, derogatory, and WRONG.  If you like or love me...call me by name, say my friend, my girl, my sister, even my "homie", but DO NOT call me your nigga! I never said I wasn't bothered by her using it - I don't like that she does - but I dislike it MORE that my own people use it as a term of endearment. THAT IS PURE FOOLISHNESS!

Bad Paula for using the word in the first place!  I pray you REALLY learn from this situation and begin to strip those types of behaviors from the representation of who you are. Bad former employee for using the status/name of her former employer to gain money. (If you don't pay, we will tell - what does THAT say to you?) BAD AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY FOR TAKING THIS WORD AND TRYING TO MAKE IT ACCEPTABLE. We have GOT to stop tolerating the behavior of people who look like us simply because they look like us. I'm not saying that you can influence every person in the world, but I'm pretty positive that you can influence a few around you, and if they do the same, the change will happen. We have become a culture of acceptance; and most of the things that we accept within our own community, we are ready to curse, fight, and boycott if it is done by those who are outside of our community. I do not accept it and I do not allow it (still working on Momma). I'm not your n***a, your b****, or your ho. It is not amusing.  It is not endearing.  It is NOT who I am.

What we REALLY should be afraid of, is being afraid....

I had forgotten about this blog.  It wasn't that I had forgotten about thinking or that I had stopped having opinions, but I had just stopped recording them. It was wonderful to go back and read the old posts and see how far I have come - and what I stopped doing.

Follow through - do you have a difficult time with that?  Sometimes I do.  I don't intend to not complete anything - and actually maybe possibly in my mind it's already complete.(aha!)  I know that I get bored easily and like to move on to other projects - and all of the projects are creative - most involve cutting, pasting, and writing. The others involve reorganizing, making something, or making something old new again. Is that so different from what we do when making changes?  If your life is about moving forward, isn't that what you do? You cut out some things - paste some things over other things - write about it (a la Twitter or FB) - you reorganize your thoughts, your feelings, your possessions - you make something; a friend, a promise - or sometimes you make something old new again - friendship, family relationship, old flame, or just how you think about life and what your next steps will be.

My Pastor talked about moving forward on Sunday.  His BRILLIANT analogy (don't tell him I said that) was of Michael Jackson's Billy Jean video.  He shared that the director/producer had it all lined out, and ALL Michael had to do was take each step as it was directed and everything would fall into place.  The camera would record it correctly - the music would line up correctly - and most importantly, the scene would be complete and it would be a success. That's what God wants us to do - follow the path he has laid out for us and see the success.

I thought about that analogy on the way home from church.  How many times had I stopped making the steps because my MIND said it wasn't the right path to take. The results of that action? I became Frustrated.  Disappointed.  Angry.  Jealous. Hurt. Envious. Sad. Disillusioned.  - and those emotions caused me to stop progressing because I was afraid.  Afraid of failure - afraid of rejection - just plain old SCARED. Hmm, (aha) it was during THAT time that I stopped posting on the blog...wow...FEAR caused me to stop other things which caused me to stop...and be still...and not move forward.

...but just like Michael Jackson - I BEAT IT!(Thank you BW)  Ok, so you didn't accomplish all that you thought you would have by now - and your path wasn't as smooth as you thought it should. SO...WHAT! Mine wasn't...and I didn't...but I CAN say, that I really do LOVE who I have become!  I really LIKE that cute caramel complected woman that I see in the mirror! She is beautiful and talented and thoughtful and smart and creative and compassionate and loving and funny and ready for whatever God has next for her! I am EXCITED about the growth I have made! I am sorry if who I am doesn't measure up to YOUR idea, but I love you anyway, and I'm glad that YOU DON'T MAKE THE RULES!  HA! I am NOT afraid anymore! :::insert praise break:::

A coworker recently shared with me that her mother was "refined, dignified, and sophisticated" and that she had passed those traits on to her.::::side eye::: She then went on to talk about how she really didn't have friendships inside or outside the workplace. "Hmm," I thought initially, "is she trying to say that I am NONE of those things?"  That little voice of fear and insecurity that drove me to stop moving forward began to speak...BUT the new strong resilient excited about life voice piped up and said "SHUT UP".  That happened just in time to hear her say "You know, I come over here and speak to you, and you never come over to my area and speak to me."  "No", I responded, "I came over to you once - and you turned your nose up at me and didn't respond to what I was saying, so I felt it best to leave you where you were.That way, when and if you do come by, I know you want to be friendly.  See, I like people and I spend more time here at work than at home, so I like to enjoy wherever I am.  I prefer to do as the quote says and 'bloom where you are
planted'". Yes, she said, the quote by Mary Englebreit. "Actually" I corrected her, "The Bishop of Geneva, Saint Francis de Sales originally made that quote. Mary Englebreit just made it popular." I smiled as she turned and walked away....and took fear with her.

::: George Jefferson strut::: Yeah...I'm bad... :::moonwalk and leg kick:::