Day 31 - Lisa

I was driving home yesterday and noticed this crowd near the railroad tracks by my job.  I was intrigued as to what was happening.  A glance up the road a bit further I saw five fire trucks.  It became obvious these people had all been evacuated out of a warehouse.  Turns out it was a minor fire.  However the crowd reminded me of when I was a kid with my cousins all living in the same neighborhood.  My mom and Tia Madeline told us about the Spanky & Our Gang kids doing all kinds of crazy things that we could do too.  Like all of us gathering at the corner of a street and just staring up into the sky.  Find out how many people you can get to do this too.  Don't say a word while doing it, just look and point into the sky.  Suckers that we were and always up for an adventure there'd we go.  Hours of standing on various corners to get all kinds of reactions; good, bad, funny, outrage, almost accidents with skaters, bicyclists and cars.  Little did we know at the time this was just their way to get us outside, lock the screen doors and do whatever they did in the house.  They claimed it was so they could clean house but the stereo was always cranked up.  Lunch would come and out of the barely opened door would appear "the arm";  sandwiches on a tray and a jug of kool-aid!  With orders to leave the tray and jug by the door and be back home for dinner.  With all the concern my mom could muster would come the following statement,  "I'm only going to call you once."  LOL!   In my best Edith Bunker voice, "Those were the days."

Day 30 - Lisa

I hope tomorrow when I have breakfast at my desk, I do not startle anyone when I have a sudden urge to yell OPA!

Day 30 - Sis

I found this a few days ago while walking the dog. This little box cutter, unknowingly to me at the time, was an omen of what was to come today. Another surprise and unexpected box of goodies from my sister, Judy (Chickie)! Lovely favorite flavors and even an article about a bird that is important to regalia in our tribe. Dang, not even my birthday, what a great way to start the week, thanks Chick. Big (( )).

Day 29 - Sis

I buy a Sunday issue of the paper and the fact that Sunday brings more in depth news of the world and local issues, it also has a slew of coupons. No, I do not use all of these, some go to others who can benefit from them. I have found though as in yesterday, that carrying them to the store or having your daughter hold them in her pocket until paying, if you don't hand them to the clerk at the checkout stand, you can't save, say $5.45 off your grocery total! :-(

Day 29 - Lisa

Starting to plan our first whole week long vacation in New Orleans in August.  Yes August, I know it's crazy hot and humid at that time but it's the only time my sister can get vacation. I live for planning trips; looking up hotels, tours, activities, restaurants and scoring a good airfare.  I'm so excited that the four of us (Steve, Yolanda, my mom and I) are getting to do this together.  I can't wait for them to experience "Nawlin's."  Just looking at the pictures below makes me feel happy.  I can close my eyes and feel myself in the Quarter hearing the music and smelling the good food.  CANNOT WAIT!  When we go it will be during the Satchmo SummerFest (the tribute festival to Louis Armstrong) and the Coolinary Days. That's when all the best restuarants serve their 3 to 5 course meals for $20 lunches and $35 dinners.  Heaven!

Day 28 - Sis

Finally received the calendars I ordered, one for the kitchen, one for my bedroom. I always enjoy a Norman Rockwell drawing and am still in awe of his talent. Elvis was my heartthrob when I was 12 yrs old and the early days of his career will be a reminder of that time period for a full year. I'm fond of the big day squares to write appointments, birthdays, visits, upcoming tv shows, date of plays or vacation notes. I know there are ways like digital, desktop and organizers to record these events but I like my own personal way of doing it. January's almost gone and I'm looking forward to that new view in February!

Day 28 - Lisa

I got all excited this week.  I was driving home from work and seen a van with a logo that read, "Skip's Chicago Dogs" on the side.  In small writing it said including "Chicago Italian Beefs."  OMG!  I have to try this place.  If there is one thing I miss about Chi-Town it is the taste of those delightfully smoldering hot Italian Beefs.  I loved them so much (yes this is an unhealthy obsession with food) I have worked to master my version of an Italian Beef, even special ordering the peppers online.  I email my mom - LOOK!  I decide that this weekend I "MUST" go to Skip's and give these a try.  I mean it states on the website he is originally from Chicago.  

So tonight my mom, oneeya and I set out to go to Skip's in Avondale Estates.  It's about 20 to 25 minutes from where we live.  Well, Nancy my GPS voice, was a tad cranky I think and sent us on a 45 minute journey into the Hood.  So we were now thinking these better be REALLY good.  Luckily, Skips is a drive-thru as oneeya was now really antsy.  We got our beefs and headed home.  Home only took us 20 minutes.  Grr!  We munched on greasy fries all the way home to keep the doggie happy.

I open the brown heavy paper wrapping, OMGosh it looks so good.  Smells just like Chicago. I take a bite and my ankles instantly swell.  I'm pretty sure that sandwich contained all the salt content my mom and I will need for the rest of the week.  I ate 3/4's and surrendered. What a disappointment.  ;< I guess I'm going to have to bite the bullet and order from Al's online or maybe Portillo's. Or maybe we need to fly to Chicago.  Well, when it's Spring time, not the dead of winter.

Day 27 - Lisa

I feel like Lucy as in "I Love Lucy" a lot.  Usually Ethel is played by my sister but this time my "Ethel" is a good friend who resides in St. Thomas of the Virgin Islands.  Today I came home to a package on my bed.  I loathe shopping, as in going to the Mall, but shopping online is SO fun.  So I know it was not a shock to my mom to open the door to the FedEx guy handing her a package, I mean it was just yesterday she received the tamale pot.  I did not remember ordering anything from Amazon so before I settled in for the night (put on PJ's and ate dinner) I opened the box.  An Apple TV?  Huh?  Sure, I've wanted one of these but I do not remember ordering.  I exam the receipt over and over.  It states it's a gift.  A gift?  Who?  My sister, nah.  She's not techie enough to think to get me this.  Maybe my boss?  My mom?  Nothing makes sense.  So I go online and pull up my order history on Amazon, maybe with these crazy hours I've been working I completely forgot.  Nothing there.  My mom says, "call their Customer Service."  I do - yes it was supposed to go to me, it's a gift, they will not tell me who the purchaser is.  Alrighty!  After all that I decide to "hook the sucker up."  After about 45min I'm listening to music from my TV, deciding what movies to watch and smiling at the thought of being able to watch 162 SF Giants games from MLB all due to my new Apple TV.  Woohoo!  I gleefully post onto FaceBook about my surprise gift and go to bed happy.

Next morning while still discussing it on FaceBook, my friend Tammy private messages me.  "Um Lisa, that's my Apple TV."  Ding!  Ding!  Ding!  "Oh caca."  I had forgotten that Tammy was having something shipped to me.  LOL!  We do this every so often because a lot of companies will not ship to the VI's.  So she orders, has it shipped to me and then I ship to her.  We are laughing, I'm laughing so hard I'm crying.  She keeps stating, "I never ordered it as a gift."  I, we, assume Amazon had to have made a mistake.  Tammy graciously tells me I can just pack it up USED and ship it to her.  

What?  I'm hooked now.  It's all set-up.  I'm using it.  I love it.  So, I go to Amazon.com and I order her a new Apple TV.  This has to be a new marketing ploy.  Something Amazon and Apple cooked up - Amazon probably gets a kick back for every Apple TV they ship to some random customer "as a gift."  

Oh well, I'm happy and Tammy will be happy at the end of this week.  All I know is thankfully she did not order a CAR!

Day 27 - Sis

Snack or meal for lunch, salsa is always a favorite of mine, also doesn't involve any cooking. Bonus, minimal cleaning up of utensils used in preparing!

Day 26 - Lisa

Tamales in the ATL!  Yeah baby!  I found another pot online and it fits on our apartment stove.  Now I just need a 4 day weekend to get the production line going.

Day 26 - Sis

OMG, woke up feeling like a teenager! I have a zit, remember when this would ruin your day?

Day 25 - Sis

At my age these type shows are not good for my health. Experiencing any aches, pain, flutters, etc., is making me spend too much time thinking of all the diseases or other medical conditions I may have; possibly could be making me a hypochondriac. At least I don't have to worry about two medical issues - pregnancy or prostrate problems. By the way I make sure any shows about mental health are not included on my viewing list!

 

Day 25 - Lisa

LOL!  I do not think this is on the WW plan I keep delaying getting back on.  Um, thanks Mom!

Day 24 - Lisa

"Pooch pouting" cause no one would play with her.  LOL  Poor mama!  It was just a mere 6 months ago she didn't even know how to play.  ;>

Day 24 - Sis

Changing the Billie Holiday lyrics in, "What A Little Moonlight Will Do", to singing, " Ooo, Ooo, what a little sunlight can doo, ooo, ooo!"

Day 23 - Lisa

I'm actually pretty tired of being adaptable.  I've been "adapting" for 4 years now.  Steady, I like the word steady more.  And yes, I continue to feel a bit sideways!

Day 23- Sis

Love eclairs and the blend of flavors, chocolate, pastry and whipped cream, ummmm. Oh wait, went from joyous anticipation to a second day of disappointment. You're joking? Custard filling?! Probably only way for me to cut calories, sigh.

Day 22 - Lisa

No amount of praying to the Mojo beads helped.  Our 49ers lost to the NY Giants.  So now it's an exclusive East Coast Super Bowl with Madonna as the half time show.  Blech!

Day 22 - Sis

And there goes the NFC Championship and many broken hearts. Hope my Super Bowl pool scores hold up better than the game numbers did. Waaaaaa.

Day 21 - Sis

Accidental street art? Well isn't there a saying about art being in the eye of the beholder? Think that might explain some of those "famous" artists! Well here's what I'm beholden, a mutant praying mantis?  A mutant praying mantis killing a diminutive kangaroo? Or one of those strange, unorthodox romances, like Bennifer or Brangalina, etc. Hmmmm, the newest pair of lovers, Prayaroo, Kangantis, Manaroo, Kangman? Eh, doesn't matter, it won't last long, you know what a praying mantis does to her loving males. It brings to mind, someone's trash another person's treasure.

Day 21 - Lisa

The unthinkable has happen!  There are a ton of reasons to miss my sister and be sad that we have lived far away from each other for four years.  Yeah, she's a pretty cool person to hang out with, she's married to an ok guy, she gave me a decent nephew, her dog and cat are cute.  These are all trivial when you put them up against my current predicament.  Since the late 80's, being my sister is allergic to just about every fragrance ever made, I've been the lucky recipient of all body wash and lotions she received each year as holiday and thank you gifts for being a teacher, an ok, sorta pretty good at her job, parents might love her a tad kind of teacher.  How does this affect me you ask?  Well, sister the soap well has run dry!  And now that I'm facing the loss of my hard earned money to fork out for "my" body soap for the first time in 22 + years, I'm feeling a bit perplexed.  As I reached for my favorite Gardenia scented bottle of body wash and my loofah did not sud up while taking a shower just now I thought why has the well run dry?  Has someone taken my place?  Nooooooo, I mean I'm her ONLY sister!  Or have parents become cheaper?  Well, there is the whole economy thing.  Still how dare they not reward her good work with giving me a soft feeling, flowery scented body.  Or wait!  Curse the invention of gift cards.  Now she actually gets to buy things she likes and not give me all her gifts.  <sigh>  

Day 20 - Lisa

We lost Etta James today.  I was so sad to hear the news.  I've seen her multiples times over a span of many years.  Always a good time and left me amazed.  She is another family favorite.  Yes, there's her most famous iconic song; At Last, but my favorites run from "Don't Cry Baby, Trust in Me, All I Could Do Was Cry, Something Got A Hold On Me to her later years when she did her tribute albums to Lady Day, Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Gershiwn and other famous standards.  The deepness of her voice, the POWER, the range, her playfulness on stage all stand out.  I will never forget the first time I heard her at an outside concert in San Francisco at Fort Mason.  We were sitting pretty far back and she walked on stage and started singing without a microphone.  Her voice boomed and she was so emotionally raw.  Then she lifted the mike and started to sing I'd Rather Go Blind, my most favorite of all.  She did a slow build up and I was mesmerized, frozen in place, just standing there and I could feel the tears well up in my eyes.  She was a force of nature, a gift, one of a kind.  I was hooked, felt like her voice put me in a trance. An unforgettable moment. Of course, I grew up listening to her music through the influence of my Mom.  In our house Dance or well, Roll With Me Henry was a favorite, no matter how raunchy 1950's society though it to be; we danced and sang to it over and over again.  But LIVE, Etta LIVE was an experience.  You never knew what you were going to get.  She could sing anything and she did!  Rock, Jazz, Blues, Standards, Scat, Animal sounds - she was limitless.  Her recordings will never do her live shows justice.  She could make you cry, laugh and squirm from her sassy and unpredictable stage antics.  As Mom said, "her life was far from perfect but she was always true to herself, her fans and her music.  I will miss seeing you, Miss Etta James but you will be in my heart and voice as long as I'm on this earth through your music.  I will make sure that people younger than me hear your beautiful voice.

Day 20 - Sis

The Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, some time in the 1980's a couple of my sisters, my oldest daughter and I are at the place to hear Etta James perform, and she did. We were sitting upstairs, looking down, not too far, on the left side of the stage, at her and she was in full voice. She was raw in how she talked and sang, we loved it. So she sings a few songs and gets the inevitable request for, "I'd Rather Go Blind", from a guy next to our table. She let's him know she was a little tired of that request but she was going to sing it. Oh yeah, this guy was on the floor by the time she finishes, yelling, " Etta, Etta, sing it girl, oh yea baby". The crowd is yelling right along side him and just goes nuts when she sings Stevie Wonder's, "Birds of Paradise." She not only sings it, she does the birds noises in the background of Stevie's record. Just kill me. It's so good I think and then she slips on a pair of sunglasses and does a version of, "Born to Be Wild!" I fall out. I loved her from, "Dance with Me Henry" until now and forever. Saw her in person many times, always thrilled and amazed at the the songs she would do that no one expected out of her. Thank God there are her recordings and my memories of her.

Day 19 - Lisa

What a nice surprise to come home too!  Tamales!  My sister sent overnight express two dozen of the tamales we made the day after Christmas.  Normally, I joke that once we make tamales my quota is to have 2 a day until we run out, I have a slight tamale addiction.  Oh well, not going to happen this year and much better for my health but grateful for what she sent us.   Dang, do they taste good!  A little chili on top, some of mama's rice, some sliced tomatoes with mayo and pepper.  I'm doing the Flamingo Kid already!

Day 19 - Sis

Thanks to my daughter Yolanda, tamales made on our California holiday trip arrived today and that extra taste of home was a welcomed surprise! Oh so ready for Sunday's game now, "Who's Got it better than us?" NOBODY!

Day 18 - Lisa

We are ready for Sunday!  Go Niners!  Who's got it better than us?  NOBODY!

Day 18 - Sis

Replacement scratcher was way past due and sunii, has shown unbelievable patience. So to keep the grandcat/grandma bond intact and the rug unshredded, I hitched up oneeya and walked to the Pet Smart to purchase a new one. Oh she was happy when she saw both scratcher and "that" little bonus bag. No pictures of her though in case later there may be a legal matter to face, something to do with contributing to a feline and under the influence.

Day 17 - Lisa

Tasty pleasure; my mama's spanish/mexican rice with cheese in a warm tortilla.  So good!  She makes THE best rice!!

Day 17 - Sis

 I stepped on the scale with trepidation after a month long holiday treats eating. Holey Moley, look at that, woo hoo, yippee, all's right with the world! What? Replace batteries? IT DOESN'T SAY THAT!

Day 16 - Lisa

“Never, never be afraid to do what's right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society's punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.   

I will shout it to the mountain tops I love Martin Luther King Jr.  I cannot listen to his speeches enough, cannot read his words enough, I cannot ponder, examine and put thought to his teachings enough.  No one, I mean no one other than Jesus has spoke to me as Dr. King has.  If only we each carried one ounce of his conviction, passion and dedication to human rights would we be a much better world for it.

When my family comes into town to visit us, the King Center is most always a first and MUST stop.  I am proud to have grown up and continue to watch expand my multi-cultural family who take into our family with open hearts and love people of all color.

Day 16 - Sis

Today is always special for some of us who followed this man's life and death for many years. The changes that have improved in many everyday lives, due to his leadership, are well known and recognized world wide. He had a dream and we live in the reality of it. Thank you Dr. King.

Day 15 - Sis

Winter has a different beauty about it, even these trees, to me, show this. While covered in leaves you would never notice the bent branches, double trunks shooting up from one base, broken trunks bowing at a standing one. Just like us, without our outside foliage, we could be better or worse than how the world sees and judges us.

Day 14 - Lisa

Just like the SF Giants run in 2010, we are here in ATL all by ourselves; my mama and I. Facebook was our saving grace to feel like we were home with family and friends through the playoffs and ultimately the World Series.  It was so much fun.  Yesterday was a repeat of that fun.  Our beloved SF 49ers beat the NO Saints in the Divisional Play-Offs.  So sweet it was.  Fantastic game and we got to share it long distance; thank you technology.  You make being away from home way different than when I did it back in the 80's!

And Alex Smith, yesterday, your steel nerves and that tiptoe dance down the sideline for that TD must have brought you the sweetest redemption.  Congrat's.  Smith to Davis, now belongs with Young to Rice, Montana to Rice-Taylor-Clark-Solomon!!!