Chocl8t Ramblings

Sorry, I Don’t Do Cats!!!

It’s Friday afternoon and I dip out of the office early with no real concrete plans for the weekend. I cannot begine to express just how happy I am to see this day. My moods swings this week have almost meant the death of 2 Dell customer service reps, random people in traffic, my sister, my “piece”…hell, just about anyone with whom I came into contact.  Nope. It wasn’t a good week.

I stop at my neighborhood Publix to pick up a few things before heading to the crib and veggin’ out. First stop is the bakery where, to my utter disgust, a fly is having his way inside the donut case. Shimmying his nasty ass around that blueberry bagel. BUZZZ…BUZZZZ!  Uuuggghhhh! No late night donuts for me.

After informing the baker of the FLY situation, I head to the case with the “covered & sealed” pies and grab a piece of key lime pie.

I make my way to the back of the store to the seafood department to order my Alaskan King crab steamed with Old Bay seasoning. While I’m waiting my turn, I notice a family of four with the youngest being a baby no more than 1 or 2 years old and from what I can see, a special needs child. The older child is about 13 years old and he’s entertaining the baby with a ball. The baby throws the ball and screams while the teen runs to retrieve the ball. This goes on about 3 or 4 times until the mom shuts it down to the apparent disapproval of the baby who begins to scream and grunt…very loudly.

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Please….Take The Mint!!

Halitosis. Bad breath. Dragon Breath. We’ve all had it before or know someone who suffers with it, regularly.

Or maybe you’ve had the unfortunate opportunity to be seated next to someone who had it in a confined space and there was no means of immediate escape. The latter happened to me just last night at choir rehearsal.

We’re seated in the Judah Room doing our warm up exercises:

“He has done. Marvelous. He has done. Marvelous. Thiiiinnnggss. Praise tha Laaaaawd….Marvelous. Marvelous. Marvelous Thiiinnnggggs. Praise tha Lord“.

When it hit me. Ugh, what is that, I think to myself.  I inhale a deep breath to sing the next refrain.

“Marvelous. Marvelous. Marvelous Thiiinnnggggs. Praise tha Lord.”

My nose is twitching like Samantha from “Bewitched” now while my mind is racing,  “WHO is that? OH. MY. GAWD!!!”

“Marvelous. Marvelous. Marvelous Thiiinnnggggs. Praise tha Lord.”

In blows another wind of putrid hot gawbage breath. Uuuggghh!! It’s coming from the young lady sitting to my right. Oh DAYUM!! Did she just lick a lump of shit before walking in here?

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What’s Going On?

I’ve been absent for a while, I know and I apologize. Thanks to all who have reached out to me. 🙂

I have not been inspired to write except for one or two pieces for my crazy friends at O’ Hell Nawl. Being crazy busy at work hasn’t been a help, in fact it is another reasons for my absence.

For the past week, one of my closest and dearest friends has been visiting from out of state. Since she is a remote employee she can work from just about any where as long as there is an internet connection. My evenings have been spent laughing, talking, eating, and drinking with her eliminating my evening blogging time – and that is a good thing. Sometimes it’s best to unplug and step away for a moment.

This quality time spent with her has been good. I’ve had a few epiphanies, a couple of “WOW!” moments, and a couple of moments that made me pause. I’m left with a deeper resolve to pray for not only her but for my own emotional healing. I will not go into details because my purpose is never to hurt her or to put her on blast – I love her too much for that. However, I will say that fathers, you have a PROFOUND effect on your daughters that reverberate through every aspect of their lives. If you’re a good father and husband – kind, loving, nurturing, protective, and involved – you’ll see the fruits of your labor. If you are not, you may not see nor feel it – but the rest of the world will.

Another, close friend (I have only 2) is beginning divorce proceedings and will be moving in with me this weekend. I am not sure how long she will be with me before she gets on her feet. This too has me in prayer. I’ve lived alone and been on my own since I was in my early twenties. Having another person in “my space” will be nothing short of a challenge. I know this is what I am to do for God has placed it on my heart so strongly that it is “a charge to keep I have.” If you have a personal relationship with God, you know what that means. 😉  But I am not so naïve to think I will not be challenged to grow and learn from this experience either. So I pray for strength and I ask that you keep me, and her, in your prayers also.

Once the dust settles I am certain I can get back into the groove and begin posting regularly. I’m looking forward to jumping back into Old School Fridays and giving you my views on everything from A to Z.

Peace, Love, & Blessings!!

Chocl8t

Stop. Look. Listen.

I want to tell you about a couple of people to whom we should pay close attention.

What will you be doing on 08/08/08? I plan to be watching the Olympic opening ceremonies and for the following weeks…the games. One person, and one person alone, has sparked my interest in the summer games.

Dara Torres is her name and swimming is her game!

In case you’ve been under a rock, or just not paying close attention, this 41 year old wife and mother has just claimed her spot on the U.S. Olympic Swim Team for the 5th time!! Yes, 41 years old!! Nevermind the new record she just broke, nevermind the fact she’s the oldest person on the team, nevermind that half the team could be her sons or daughters, nevermind that even before making it to the games in August she’s already made history…shyt, I can’t remember the point I was trying to make! LOL (You can read more about Dara HERE and HERE)

What I love about Dara is that she has dayum near, single-handedly eliminated any excuse you could ever conjure or cajole about not being fit in your “mid-life”! Blown them completely out of the water…pun most definitely intended! Barring the fact she was, by far, a superior athlete in her teens and 20’s, and has the income to employ a trainer and (2) full-time “stretchers”, she serves as a good example of what women over 40 can achieve, physically….if you would just get off your butt, toss the excuses and commit yourself to your temple…your body.

Granted, we all can not and will not make any Olympic team at 20, let alone 40, but we can strive to be more physcially fit and STOP marginalizing women when they reach a “certain age”. (Watch the video of Torres at the end of this post)

Dara, simply put….GIRL YOU ROCK!!!!!!!!

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T. Boone Pickens has a proven track record in the oil industry and knows what he’s talking about. The billionaire oilman is building a massive “wind farm” in Pampa, Texas in a concerted effort to decrease our country’s dependence on foreign oil. Mr. Pickens believes that oil prices will not come down and, in fact, suspects they will go much higher.

Instead, said Pickens, the price of oil, now hovering above $140 a barrel, will hit $200 a barrel.

This is not good news for those of us struggling with the high gas prices now….this shyt will not get better! IT WILL NOT GET BETTER!!!

I encourage you to visit his website, www.PickensPlan.com, to read his plan. Or you can read excerpts from an interview on Good Morning America, HERE.

Pickens does have skeptics about his plan to which he says:

“A fool with a plan is better than a genius with no plan,” he told “GMA.” “And we look like fools without a plan, that’s the way that we’ve been operating for 40 years.”

Priceless!!

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