(Semi) Wordless Wednesday

Good Wednesday to ya!!

I’m not looking forward to the weekend, I’ve enjoyed my time away from the crazy gig.

Lately, I”ve been spending a lot of time outside  in my garden…chillin.

And watching the birds.

I guess that makes me a  bird watcher  now.

They’ve been hanging around a lot lately.

The other day I happened to look outside and spotted a flock of Parrots eating from the feeder.

PARROTS?!

Where the heck did they come from?

I don’t know, but I love having them around.

The first morning I spotted them, I had six in the yard.

This morning, I had 24 parrots in my yard!

Amazing!!

They’re so pretty!

After doing a little research, I found out that these are Quaker Parrots,

Apparently, there was a large nest of them last year in Westwego.

I guess they decided to cross the river.

 

 

My dad can’t believe we have parrots visiting our yard.

It really is amazing.

And to have 24 of them coming around…

yeah, that’s awesome!

 

 

 

I wonder what other birds will find out about my lil habitat.

 

50 and Fabulous and We Have a Winner!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes.

I had a wonderful day!

I had racked my brain, trying to come up with something to do,when all I really wanted to do was spend the day with my family.

So that’s what I did.

I feel so blessed that I’m now 50 years old.

The fact that I have made it to this day is not lost on me.

As you all know, I share my birthday with my daughter.

She was trying to steal my day!

We spent the early part of the day together then,I told her to skedaddle!

Her dad had a family reunion and all her aunts and uncles were in town so,  they  celebrated her birthday over there.

I had a wonderful birthday surrounded by family. I’m very happy that my dad was able to share the day with  me.

I’m the ultimate daddy’s girl (even at 50) so, the moments we spent together on my birthday laughing and reminiscing are priceless to me.

So many memories are in this house…

NavySeal made my day a truly special one.

It’s wonderful to have such a kind man who adores me in my life.

My cake was beautiful!

And it was delicious!

I say was because…it’s gone!

We tore that cake up!

After the cake cutting,I opened my presents and then NavySeal and I headed out to dinner and a movie.

 

It was raining terribly, so  there was no way I was wearing shoes out there!

Give me my sneakers and let’s roll!

My hair was banging, but after the weather got to it, I had an afro puff.

 

I had my ribbon on that said, “50 The Big One”   and spent most of the day saying,

Yes, I’m REALLY 50. 

I AM…trust me, I’m 50.

I  fully embrace this second chapter of my life.  I love that  I am a seasoned woman.

I wouldn’t want to return to my 20’s again for anything.

I thank God that  I’ve been blessed to age gracefully.

I was not always appreciative of the gift.

Being 29 and looking like a pregnant teen, I didn’t feel joyous about not looking my age back then.

I’m grateful the gift has remained with me.

It showed me that God is patient with me,

even when I’m not patient with myself.

I’m grateful to have come across such wonderful people as you all.

Even though I’ve yet to meet some of you,

your words have gotten me through some dreary days.

And for that, I thank you.

Oh, we have a winner for the birthday giveaway!!!!

Y’all had some really great odds!   Every time you posted a comment, I put your name in the basket,

 

Yeah, I know it’s an easter basket!

I had to improvise!

 

And since I had some handy hands hanging around me, I decided to put them to work and let him pick the winner.

 

 

 

IDA, YOU GOT IT CHICK!!!!

You won the $50 gift card from Walmart!

YAY!!!!

You have one week to get me your address before it goes to the runner-up.

That would be VAL!

Val, you must have good energy around you because, you’re two for two. You hit on my last giveaway.

Ida, send your information to  Bayoucreole63@yahoo.com so you can receive your card.

My 5th anniversary as a blogger will be in October  and I think I’ll do another giveaway around that time.

The number five is all around me this year.

Five represents change and freedom.

I’m gonna have to think of something to get my lurkers out for the next one.

In the meantime,

y’all stay safe and have a great day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why Can’t We Be Friends

If you’ve read my blog any length of time you’ll notice that, I don’t open up too often .

It’s a struggle of mine not only on this blog, but in my everyday life.

I tend to be a loner because, I don’t like drama.

If you’re the type of person to bring drama, I  steer clear of you.

I don’t believe friends have to argue. We can agree to disagree and leave it at that.

All the hooping and hollering stuff ain’t for me.

I’m not in the business of trying to change anyone’s opinion about anything.

I will not use anything you tell me against you.

If I can’t be a blessing in your life, I’d rather not be there.

I recently had someone use something I once told her against me.

It wasn’t traumatic but, it did let me see the type of person she really is.

I can not do the frenemy thing.

Life is too short for all that foolishness.

Which is why I tend to be a loner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Random Thoughts

1.  I love Joan Rivers, Bette Midler and Kathy Griffith. I think that says something about my sense of humor.

2. One of my favorite movies is Best in Show. I think that says something about my sense of humor.

3. YellowJacket is trying to take over the birthday already! Not gonna happen chick!

4. I wish my blogging folks were closer so we could hang out.

5. A man’s back is the sexiest part of his body to me.

6. The older I get, the more I love to watch 70’s television shows. Mary Tyler Moore and Lou Grant are my favorites. I think it’s because they make me feel as if my mother is still around.

7.  I’m feeding these birds just a lil too well. They’re telling all the other birds to come on over and sit a spell. They must be NOLA birds because, they’ve invited all the other birds to come over to eat and drink! Two days ago, we had a pair of parrots in the yard!

I can just hear that conversation,

Pigeon: I told you this spot was on fiyah! Look at all of this food! You can eat,drink, take a bath, hang out on the hibiscuses…just do you! NOLA living for life!

Parrot: Thanks for the tip bruh! I’m gonna hang out for a while with my girl and then we’re gonna jet out. I’m gonna spread the word though.

Yeah….where’s a cat when you need one.

8. I miss my brother (Oracle). I hope he comes for a visit soon.

9.Folks are going to get wet for Essence. Scattered showers are heading in.At least the rain will make it cooler…consider yourselves lucky.

10. #creamycrack. That is all.

11.I may join the natural train in 10 years.

12.I can’t watch the Zimmerman trial. I. Just. Can’t.

13. I guess  tomorrow,I can officially join AARP.

14. I’m doing a double blog post today.

 

Jury Duty Hell

I don’t know how many of you  have served jury duty but, I get called to the blasted thing all the time.  I mean it’s like, they must have my name flagged and as soon as my two years are up,

I’m called again.

NavySeal rarely gets a notice to serve. He has only received one summons  the entire time I’ve known him.

And he didn’t have to serve because of impending surgery.

I’ve received a slew of them.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have a problem being called to serve.

I don’t have a problem with serving.

 In fact,once I’m a juror, I’ll fight my tail off in deliberations.

The problem is,

if I get called to go to a courtroom as a potential juror,

that’s it.

I’m going to be a juror.

I mean with about 100 people hanging around the jury pool area, if my name is called in the 35 or so to head to a courtroom so they can select 12 jurors,

I’m gonna be one of the 12.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s civil court or criminal.

If I walk into the courtroom,

those darned attorneys are gonna pick me to sit on the jury.

I haven’t figured out what it is that makes me so attractive to attorneys that, they want me sitting in that box.

But, I haven’t broken my streak yet.

Recently, I served on a 6 day trial.  Five days were from 8:30 a.m to 4:30 p.m.  and the 6th day (deliberations)was a marathon from 9 a.m to 9 p.m.

It was a multi-million dollar civil case. Dude was rear-ended by a company truck and had to have surgery.  Doctors said that  it’s unlikely  he’ll ever work again.

At least with that case, I understood why the plaintiff’s attorney wanted a nurse as a juror.

But, they had two of us in the room and the other one had more experience than I did. She had 40 years experience.

They picked me anyway.

 

I actually teared up when they called my name.

I’ve been the only black person on the jury…

in New Orleans.

How does that happen?

I’ve been the only female on the jury.

I haven’t been sequestered yet though.

I have one friend who always tell me that, they need intelligent, honorable people on the jury.

And that I should consider it an honor  I’m chosen so often.

I think my name is stuck in whatever it is that selects potential jurors.

Have you ever been selected to serve on a jury? 

 

 

4 Days To Fifty…It’s All In My Head.

Happy July!

I can’t believe this year is almost gone.  It’s hot and humid as hell in New Orleans. I don’t know how folks who aren’t used to this kind of heat are gonna walk from the Convention Center to the Superdome this week (Essence Festival).

Even though my birthday is in a few days, I still haven’t figured out anything to do.

I wanted to go to Vegas, but it’s hotter there than it is here so, we’re gonna wait until the fall to go.

Is it weird that I want to see Joan Rivers if she’s out there? I’ve always loved  Joan Rivers.

Back to the birthday thing.

I think I’m just gonna stay home and do a quiet celebration here.

Maybe get  into some of that Essence Fest hoopla,

if it isn’t too hot for me.

I was going to have brunch at Brennan’s, but since they’re closed…

Does anyone else make a great Bananas Foster?

I share my birthday with my daughter so, we’ll probably do something together,

before she ditches me for her friends.

Whatever I decide to do, I’ll do a post on it.

I did take time off from the jobs. I’m gonna enjoy almost two weeks away from the craziness of nursing.

That’s a gift in and of itself.

In other news, my phone broke on me.

It froze up and I had to break down and get a new one.

I’m pissed because, all of my festival photos were on that phone.

I’m not a person who likes to upgrade. My daughter literally took my dinosaur phone away from me and upgraded me to the Galaxy Prevail last year and I was still behind the times.

I shocked the hell out of everyone and  got the Galaxy S4.

The way I figured it is, I may as well go all out because, I don’t plan on upgrading for a looonng time.

I can’t lie, I love this phone!

It’s really gonna come in handy during carnival.

Speaking of which,

Two of my good friends just received invitations to become riding members of  Nyx!

I am so excited for them! !Hopefully, we’ll all be on the same float. It’s really gonna be fun now!

I had to give up running long distances and I’m really sad about that. My knees just can’t take the pounding. I was just getting to the point where I could run a mile nonstop,but  my knees are taking a beating so, I’m giving up the ghost on long distances.

I find that, I don’t have a problem with short distances so, I’m gonna listen to my body.

I’m still going to enter  5K races because I walk pretty fast and if there’s a time restriction, I’ll still be good.

Guess what?

I’m doing a giveaway!

See how I snuck that in there.

That’s because I want to give you, my faithful readers, the chance to win.

And if you’ve made it this far,

you’re a faithful reader.

It’s a $50 gift card from Walmart  and all you have to do to enter is comment.

I want to put some love back into the universe,

and show you all some love for taking the time to read this lil ole’ blog of mine.

I’m going to do the drawing on my birthday…July 6th.

Each time you comment, I’ll put your name in the hat.

I’ll post the winner on Monday, July 8th.

The winner will have one week to contact me with their address.

After a week, it goes to the runner-up.

I’ll be putting posts up the rest of the week and I haven’t the foggiest idea  what I’ll be blogging about so,

it’ll be interesting to see what pops.

Countdown to 50 begins!!