1. My brand new pair of skates. Now, for the time being, I have two pairs! Photo Credit: Tremaine L. Loadholt
2. Jernee Timid, sitting on my ottoman, finally sharing the chair and electric blanket with me. Photo Credit: Tremaine L. Loadholt
1. My new skates arrived on Tuesday afternoon, and I am in LOVE with them! There is nothing wrong with my other skates at all. I simply wanted a pair with sure-grip and rubber wheels, all black.
When my eyes landed on these beauties as I searched Amazon for what I would instantly know as most appealing, they were the pair I decided to purchase after reading about their specs. I cannot wait to take these babies for a spin tonight! And then again on Sunday afternoon!
I’ll report back over the weekend about my test drive in them tonight.
2. Jernee Timid is sharing my chair and electric blanket with me. I should probably be grateful for this as I am certain it may not occur again anytime soon. Lol!
She loves my chair and the electric blanket–so much so, I’ve carted a doggy heated pad for her I found via Amazon. I’ll purchase that tomorrow.
I have a lot of pictures of her commandeering this chair and blanket, and I’m sure there will be many more! She likes what she likes.
She has so many places to sit in our apartment; places catered to her and to myself as well, yet the one piece of furniture I want for myself, she will not let me have. Whelp, what are you going to do?! 😂🤣😆
1. My best friend’s dogs; Bella-Rue (Baby B, on the left) and Stacey-Lou (Lil Miss Busy Body, on the right), and a pair of my glasses. Why did I choose this photo? On Tuesday, March 05, 2024, I had yet another follow-up on my eyes with my ophthalmologist to determine where we stand with keratoconus (a “rare” eye disease that currently affects about 200,000 people each year) and its progression in both eyes.
My right eye is still getting worse and now my left eye has decided to join the party and cave in as well. I have written at length and ad nauseam about myeye disease, and I am sincerely over it at this point.
As I type this, I am still hopeful and prayerful about a positive outcome, but it will not occur without moving forward with Collagen Cross-linking. We decided we would focus on the right eye first and when it has healed, a recheck on the left eye will occur, and if necessary, we will move forward with the procedure for it as well.
I am now in the waiting stages for my ophthalmologist’s office’s surgery scheduler to contact me so we can select a date for the procedure. Once the date is set, I can further assess the logistics of it all: who will take me, who will stay with me for about two days, and how much time I’ll need to take away from work.
It’s a risky business dealing with one’s eyes and invasive and/or surgical procedures, but it is what it will be, and I cannot do much about that now.
2. A Shirley Chisholm Quote. “Shirley Anita Chisholm was an American politician who, in 1968, became the first black woman to be elected to the United States Congress.” –Wikipedia
Not only was she a force to be reckoned with politically, but she fought fiercely for her rights and the rights of others in the United States.
From what I have learned about her, she never bit her tongue. She was forthcoming about any of her political plans and decisive about the goals she implemented for herself. She also ventured down the road of Presidency and became the first Black candidate to be nominated by a major party.
There is a biopic about her and it will release soon. The incredibly talented and gifted Regina King will be in character as Shirley Chisholm, and the movie is set to drop on March 15, 2024, and trust and believe, I will definitely be lending my coins to this fantastic production! The trailer for the SHIRLEY is below:
I watched Mommy Cook Though I cooked With Grandmother
With Grandmother I learned To pluck chickens Peel carrots Turn chittlins inside out Scrub pig feet
With Mommy I watched leftovers for stew Or vegetable soup Great northern beans Mixed collards turnips and mustard greens Garlic cloves Bay Leaves Very beautifully green Stiff so fresh With just a pinch of salt Not everything together All the time but all the time Keeping everything
I make my own Frontier soup in a crock pot I make my own ice cream with a pinch of salt And everything else With garlic But fresh Bay Leaves Are only for very special Ox Tails
1. Bay Leaves, a poignant and vivid poem by the incomparable Nikki Giovanni. Yolande Cornelia “Nikki” Giovanni Jr. is alive and well and is 80 years old. She is an activist, writer, creator, poet, a lover of her people, and wishes to see humanity at its best.
Bay Leaves is a favorite poem of mine by her.
2. Mitch Albom quote. Mitch Albom is one of my favorite authors. I was introduced to his work as a junior in college for my Psychology, Death & Dying class.
We were tasked with reading Tuesdays with Morrie and writing a 5-page paper regarding the effects of the book on us throughout reading it.
I fell in love with this book. I was 20 years old and experienced so many emotions while reading it. I still have an incredible memory of each event documented in the book. However, I’ve read it several times since then, too.
If you haven’t done so, do yourself a favor and give this one a bit of your time.
I own four of Mitch’s books and they all deal with death, grief, dying, and adjusting to life after loss in some way. He is truly a genius in this subject.
1. Tattoo#7, “October Star” for my cousin, Chrissy. Photo Credit: Tremaine L. Loadholt
2. Jernee Timid in Red. Photo Credit: Tremaine L. Loadholt
1. October Star. The first image is my latest tattoo which is a tribute to my cousin Chrissy who passed away on February 18, 2022. What you see before you is “October Star.” Chrissy was born in October and she lit up everyone’s life. I dubbed her our October Star and she will always be that to me/us.
For those of you who do not know, I also compiled several narrative poems, lamentations, and memorial works along with colored photos for her, aptly named, October Star. Information for the book can be found here.
Making this tattoo number 7 for me was a no-brainer. It seems right. It feels right. And I have a feeling Chrissy is smiling and is also pleased with it.
2. Jernee Timid has two new shirts. Since it is getting just a bit warmer, she doesn’t need to wear her sweaters or her hoodie, so I purchased two new T-shirts for her. One is light grey and the other is red.
She is casually donning her red shirt in this photo while commandeering my chair and electric blanket. She likes both shirts and gets aggravated when I take them off at night before she goes to bed. She wants to sleep in them, but I know she’ll get overheated during the middle of the night.
There’s never a dull moment with Jernee, and I have to say, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
1. brave is a poem that came to me this past Sunday evening. Words are funny in a way for me; they come tapping at my brain unannounced, and I have to lend them the attention they are seeking to move forward with my day/night.
I think if more of us were brave enough to love hard–truly love at our most vulnerable and genuine selves, we’d get rid of some of the tragedies that befall this world. I am still praying and hoping we can move toward this form of bravery.
2. A James Baldwin quote … if you’re not familiar with Sir James Arthur Baldwin, I am unsure of how to give you the details you need to become familiar with a forceful voice, poetical talent, and literary icon who only graced this earthly space for sixty years.
He was an activist and outspoken about the various racist acts that plagued our nation and world during his time. If you couldn’t glean where he was coming from by reading his work, you could definitely feel his passion and understand his dedication to righting the wrongs that were in place by watching some of the interviews he agreed to do.
I’ll leave you a snippet from one of his interviews below so you can see for yourself.
1. Spaghetti & meatballs with spinach. Photo Credit: Tremaine L. Loadholt
2. The next book I’m reading; Finding Me by Viola Davis. Photo Credit: Tremaine L. Loadholt
1. This past Sunday, I made spaghetti & meatballs with spinach, and it was absolutely delicious! I like to add spinach to my spaghetti along with fresh garlic, oregano, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, brown sugar, onions, bell peppers, and a dash of hot sauce. I made such a big pot of it that I just finished it off last night!
I don’t think one can go wrong with spaghetti. It’s relatively easy. It’s convenient. It’s semi-healthy (depending on how you prepare it), and it lasts long (well, if you don’t have many people to cook for, that is).
2. The next book I began reading is the one you see above by the incomparable Viola Davis. I have a feeling, Finding Me is going to be an incredible read . . . something pulled me toward it, and now I am locked in and ready to be its willing partner for the next one to two weeks.
I love Viola! She’s amazing at what she does; acting and producing. She also has multiple awards to show for her excellence. IMHO, she definitely deserves more.
A Cornered Gurl 
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