I Ain't Said Nothin' But A Word...

Brr it’s cold…. It's cold out there... That song is playing over and over again in my head ‘cause around the country temperatures have dipped big time. The weatherman predicted our low would be 20-degrees this morning, down from our low of 25-degrees yesterday morning. You can trust that the gym will not be seeing me but so early this morning. I have got to let it warm up a bit first although our predicted 45-degree high isn’t my idea of high. I absolutely detest cold weather with a passion. I moved south because I hated cold weather so much. This global warming, El Nino crap that has turned the forces of nature on its tail end is truly giving me reason to rethink my move. Arizona had been my first choice. The hubby insisted he couldn’t survive the heat. He’s a snow bunny through and through. North Carolina was supposed to be a happy compromise. I ain’t happy. When it gets cold all I want to do is crawl into my bed with a good book and a bowl of comfort food. Two bowls of comfort f

I was writing a love letter, of sorts, to a friend. The letter started as a thank you to this person for the overwhelming kindness and support they have shown me over the past few months. And it was a simple thank you note that ended up expressing just how much my friend has touched my heart. It expressed how loved I feel and how much love I have for this person. As I was writing it, I was reminded of that poem that says people come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. As I thought about it I realized that I’ve been blessed to have many a lifetime friend come into my life. My best friend in the world has been in my life since we were children. I cannot even begin to imagine my life without her. She is one of a select group of women, and a few men, who have touched and inspired me over the years. A group that I have established an incredible bond with. They are my sisters and my brothers, individuals who are more family to me than some of my blood relatives will ever be

The beauty salon I go to is owned by the biggest flaming heterosexual man one could ever imagine. And I say flaming because he is an entity onto himself. So pressed and pretty that he puts other guys and gals to serious shame the way he flaunts and swishes around the salon. But he is not gay. In fact, this boy believes himself to be the next coming for every woman with a pulse. Boyfriend sees himself as God’s gift to anyone with a vagina and I’m sure even with his bragging that he has lost count of the long and undistinguished list of women who have actually passed through his bed sheets. His saving grace is that he can hook up some hair. He has, however, never hooked up mine. I personally find his arrogance and swagger a complete turn-off. He spends so much time blowing smoke up everyone’s butt about his prowess and skills that I’m willing to bet he’s only packing a small square inch with no idea how to use it. But again, he can hook up some hair. With all his bragging and his pompo

Mr. Ben grabbed my breast. Claimed it was an accident but the old geezer had a grip on my bittie like he was hanging on for dear life. It caught me off guard because I wasn’t expecting it. Mr. Ben didn’t expect the slap I gave him either. It was reflex. Not enough to hurt but enough to get his attention. He grabbed and I popped him good. Then he apologized, but not before sharing that he had nicknamed my girls – Dove and Daisy . I let him know real quick that I don’t play like that and he better not think he can. And just as quickly as it happened, the awkward moment passed and Mr. Ben was back to his usual self like nothing had happened at all. Seems Mr. Ben and the lady friend are officially on the outs with each other. Apparently her dragon is still fired up and he can’t be bothered anymore. Unfortunately his love connection with the new gal in the church choir isn’t happening like he’d hoped. Apparently girlfriend likes her men much younger and Mr. Ben is sporting just

Damn, do my feet hurt! I’ve been parading around today on the cutest pair of high-heeled shoes and now I’m paying for it. There is good reason why I don’t do this often. Although I love the look of a stiletto, ‘dem bad boys do not love me and my toes. I was fine when I first put them on, standing in front of a full-length mirror admiring the way they flattered my tight calves. Since it’s been a while, I started with baby steps on the carpet, then moved to the hardwood floors. I practiced keeping my legs straight and close together. Had my knees locked so tight you’d have needed a crowbar to pry them babies apart. I wasn’t but so shaky on those first few steps and when it got good to me, I strutted like I was walkin’ a Paris runway during Fashion Week. By the first hour I was feeling just a little warm in my cute shoes. By the second hour that little warm had turned into some serious heat and before I could finish my lunch and get out the restaurant good, my dogs were on fire! Now, I ca

I am enamored with a place I have never seen. It haunts me though, the largess of it coming to me when I’ve least expected it. I first dreamed of this place years ago, images coming through the snapshots of a nightmare. I remember waking up in a cold sweat, my heart racing with something that felt like fear but wasn’t, then feeling that if I could just find my way back, all in my life would be well. These dreams continued to disturb my sleep for months after and then one day, out of the blue, I discovered that this place of spirits actually existed and had a name…Kiawah Island. Kiawah (pronounced KEE-a-wah) is now an island resort located just miles from Charleston, South Carolina. Kiawah’s history officially begins when it was “purchased” by the British from the Kiawah Indians for a sum of “cloth, hatchets, beads, and other goods”. Not long after, Kiawah was inhabited by hundreds of African slaves on two plantations. After the Civil War it was home to black freedmen and now it’s a sum

For the first time, I don’t have one writer’s lament. Nary a complaint or ill word. Nothing to bemoan or whine about. And I plan to keep it this way. And not to say anything has really changed with my situation but I’ve just decided to do what I do best and let the rest just do what it plans to do. If one peruses the many writers’ blogs out here in never-never land, we writers spend as much time lamenting about our writing and the publishing industry as we do lauding our work or the work of others. Perhaps more when you add it all up because our many complaints sometimes seem endless: can’t find an agent, agent we got ain’t doin’ her job, bad reviews, no reviews, publisher complaints, writer’s block, editor issues, Oprah won’t answer our calls, and even Gayle is ignoring us! Unless we‘re sitting pretty on the top of the best-seller’s lists, which most of us aren't, we seem to feel that little is going well with us and ours as we maneuver to master the art of our craft and the ever

I sometimes have these random thoughts that don’t quite manifest into full posts simply because by the time I’m able to post, the thought suddenly seems trivial or other stuff has just gotten in the way of my writing anything of coherent length that I think someone might actually be interested in reading. My random thoughts sometimes come out as dribble, but even dribble has some degree of value so with the New Year I’ve decided not to waste anything of any value. And so I’ll DRIBBLE… I typically enjoy the holidays with family and this holiday in particular there was lots of that. Cousins I haven’t seen in years came to town and we had a great time. There’s something just liberating about a room full of women who can laugh at them selves and each other as they reminisce over old times. And we did a lot of laughing. My son proclaimed himself scarred for life by some of the comments that came out of our mouths. What is also typical is that inevitably the conversation will wind around to

Had to have some resolutions to kick the the new year off right. Thought I'd try a different path from my usual lose weight, write a book, stop a bad habit list from the previous years. So here are my 2007 New Year's Resolutions : 1. I will keep on keeping on with the exercise and let this diet thing just do what it plans to do. 2. It being better to give than to receive shall be my daily mantra. 3. There will be nothing that I cannot accomplish once I put my mind to it and I fully intend to put my mind to a whole lot of stuff. 4. I will not sweat the small stuff. 5. Come September I will welcome my empty nest with open arms and revel in every minute of my ME time. (And I swear I will not call my baby boy every hour to see if he needs anything!) 6. I will not harbor animosity and bitterness or give temptation and loathing a home in my heart. 7. I will greet each day with a smile and a prayer and give thanks each night before d