Read at Your Own Risk!!!

I’m telling you now this blog will be long for the following reasons:

I love to write
I love to write for people to read
Blogging is my outlet for my first two reasons
Writing relaxes me
I have had a lot stuff going on since the last time I blogged (random thoughts, life events, and just your general non-sense)
I have had a super busy last few weeks at work
I am pretty much always long-bloggeded (I know, I just made up that conjugation. What can I say I have a lot to say! *lol*)


So in an effort to unwind, distress, catch up those who care about my life, and wind down for my 3 day weekend I present to you a very looooong blog!!



First things first
Last week, my very dear friend, no my sister, lost her mother. I have written about buschick, her mother, and her family a lot in the past year, because they are family. I met BC when I was 17 (5 days shy of my 18th birthday) and she was 19. She was cool and she and her friends adopted me on my weekend welcome to Rice visit. If you don’t know the story, just know we’re great friends.

Caroline was diagnosed with breast cancer several years ago. She never seemed to gain the upper-hand on it and after several rounds of chemo and a very vigilant fight her cancer spread to several spots on her body, namely her lungs and on Jan 3, 2007 we lost a great light. To be honest one of the main reasons I hadn’t blogged was because I wanted my next blog to be something dedicated to Carla (buschick) and Caroline, but despite a few attempts I haven’t got that special piece just yet, you will know when I do. I will be in Seattle for a memorial service in a few weeks so it will be a bittersweet moment for me to see my friend. Anyway I wanted to start of this blog saying you will be missed Caroline!! Your legacy lives on in your wonderful children and many kind deeds. Here is BC’s blog tribute to her mommy! Love you Carla!

Lets talk about Work
Let’s not and say we did!! *lol* Work has been super busy, I mean like crazy busy. Then there has been all kinds of work drama that has nothing to do with work. I don’t know if you guys remember when I was saying how I was enjoying my downtime to the fullest because I KNEW there would come a day when I would be working NON-STOP!! That day has arrived. The thing is, as stressful as it is and as mentally taxing as it is, I like what I do. I mean I love what I do when I really get to do it, but I mean love in terms of job love, not love in terms of love love!! *lol*

Now don't get me wrong, I have plenty to complain about, but I know there are LOTS worse places I could work. I definitely like the people I work with and isn’t that half the battle? Enough talk about work, or as I refer to it these days HOME. I should just stick all my shyt in storage and sleep under my desk I mean I already spend more time there than in the place I pay money to live!


Speaking of HOME…
My house is going along nicely, suppose to be meeting with the architect soon. I have pictures of my lot and my neighborhood; I guess I could load them up after I finish this blog. Wait ‘til you see my Oak, it is majestic! Anyway, right now I am working on a book of all my selections and stuff. Building custom is great because I am not limited to the choices that are in the design center. I get an allowance for a lot of those things, which is great because I’ve got big ideas about how I want this house to look. This will be a chance for me to truly flex my interior decorating muscle.

In my first house I did the basics, back when we bought that house dark cabinets weren’t even available now that’s all you see. I originally was thinking about dark cabinets but now I think I am gonna take a new approach, like I said a chance to get my inner decorator on! Now once y’all see my house I will be available for hire. This is way more fun than my first house because I have a little more money to work with and it’s also an investment for me as well as a place to live. I picked out the most fabulous floors last night at a local retailer. Why did I just type local retailer? I know …Imma dork ANYWHO… I have a vision of wide plank dark hardwoods with a 3 inch base board that has quarter round at its base. I was going to carry the wood through to the kitchen but I really want some natural stone in my house, it’s a bungalow and it reminds me of arts & craft type home, so I think stone would be a good fit for it. Ok, ok enough design talk, maybe I let my inner Martha back for blog about my vision for my house.


Holiday!!
I’m so glad that Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream. Of course for the MOST OBVIOUS reasons as a black woman, but I am also glad because I work at a bank and I get the day off!! I believe the holiday is old enough now that lots of businesses don’t observe it. I guess that is good and bad, I mean think about the other holidays that we don’t get anymore unless you work for a municipality or bank. I assume that EVERYBODY got ‘em off when they first became holidays and eventually they became one of those holidays that retailers have sales on! Although it’s not as catchy to have an MLK Day sale, doesn’t roll off the tongue like saying President’s Day Sale.

What I do wonder is how many years was a holiday like President’s Day or Columbus Day observed before corporate America stop giving it off. Anyway weather you have the day off or not, you can still honor Dr. King!! Me I’ll be honoring him big time relaxing on my day off. I’m attending a program at Rice, put on by the BSA, to commemorate the holiday. It’s a silent march to the Rice Chapel and then a program! I remember planning those things when I was an undergrad. It was one of my favorite events!


Speaking of Rice
I’m doing some really cool volunteer stuff as of late. I’m sitting on a few planning committees for big celebrations at the university this and next year. I actually like my volunteer alumni work. I know that may seem strange, but for me it seems right. I went to Rice on a full academic scholarship. My tuition was paid for by a scholarship named after some lady who went to Rice or her rich family liked Rice or perhaps her children, grandchildren or great grandchildren went to Rice and they wanted to honor her by funding a scholarship for someone like me. You know poor not so little black girl from a small country azz Texas town who had big dreams of doing better than where she was. I one day hope to get to a point where I too can fund that scholarship!

So until then, I volunteer my time at Rice because I think of it as my gift back. The one thing I wish I had saw more of when I was an undergrad were alums that looked like me. I can tell you how many black alumni I saw on campus when I was an undergrad, 3 ok maybe 4. Let me tell you seeing those 4 was like bright lights at the end of a dark dank tunnel. So, for me that is why it is important for me to be involved. I feel bad because my time has lessened a bit since I was married, but according to my co-worker I am super alumna. In reality I’m nowhere near that, I’m still wondering how some of these Rice alumni find the time do it all. Its hard for me to find the little time I do find to volunteer.

Did you know…
That I have been blogging since December 2004? I know that’s a long time that is what thought too. When I first started blogging I was over on Spaces. Here you go click here and you can go check some of my old blogs out. Then I moved to 360, click here to check those blogs out! When I started blogging I was trying very hard to be happily married on the outside *lol* I began blogging just as my marriage began falling apart. I went back and read a few old blogs and boy has this been a journey. Reading my old blogs made me look through old journals too, it is amazing how perspectives and priorities change with age and maturity and GROWTH!! I am so glad that God allows the non-physical to continue to grow even though the physical shuts down.

I’ve been thinking about moving to blogger, mostly because the extra social networking of 360 is becoming a bit overwhelming for me. The friend request (I’m sorry I have no room and I refuse to make a second page. My page is open to the public for the most part, so just drop in and comment. You don’t have to be my friend to do that. Hell you don’t have to be my friend to send me a message. I guess all this just ain’t that crucial to me. You know to be locking my shyts down. *lol* I know … I know GAW some of us have our reasons. ) and the messages and the chopping block feel of it sometimes. Anyway I haven’t truly decided, right now I’m double posting, and so we’ll see. I really don’t know but you guys will be the first to know, ok maybe not the first, but you will know if I do move blog spots!


Farewell…farewell….
Well, I guess this wasn’t as long as I thought, but I definitely feel much better after writing it! Feel free to comment on any portion you want or don’t like I said this one was more for me than it was for you! You guys have a great weekend and I’ll see you…when I see you!


Be EZ,
OG