all over the place today...

...so, bear with me. I've been home long enough to realize that Ty.ra Ba.nks annoys me. I had the TV on downstairs for a little background noise while I read and due to the dreariness of the outdoors and the warmth of my blanket, I wasn't abandoning my curled up position on the daybed in my loft for anything short of a fire. Besides, I loved taking breaks and looking on as the light rain obscured the view through my skylights. I had a dental appointment this morning and I decided to miss my company's summer weekly ice cream truck runs since I was numb up to my right eye...in fact, this eye is still feeling as lazy as the rest of my body feels right about now. I'm sure that I'll hear about it tomorrow as I have gained a reputation for being the smallest person in the office but with the biggest sweet tooth. I'm sure that's precisiely why my a$$ got tagged HARD in the dentist office this morning. I've always been and forever will be a salt lover and can't take large doses of chocolate, but I somehow worked around all those petty details and managed to get cavities. Anyways...

In the midst of reading my book, Dan.ce In.to Des.tiny, my answering machine picks up and I hear Suzie B on the line, telling me when her next available appointment is. I had cancelled for today b/c I just didn't feel as if I had a co-pay's worth of stories to share...that is, until she says, "I hope that you're doing ok with your son gone." I immediately became pi$$ed that she even brought that up, thinking that that was a low blow and that the mental health business must be slow this time of year...I'm kidding, of course. I've been seeing her about 6-7 months now and much like my visits with my Bishop at my old church when I first moved up here, I've run out of pressing subjects to work through. I guess that's a good thing. I still like to go in there and just talk and joke around freely since in the short amount of time that I've been seeing her, she has managed to find out more about me than my best friend...maybe even more than Bishop. But again, since that appointment was short of a fire, I wasn't moving from my cozy position.

Of course, I miss my JJ but lately, I have been feeling homesick. I had a great fourth of July. I went to a cookout, won a dance off, and drank enough wine to see fireworks before the real show! Did I mention that I won a dance off? I mean, I believe that Mich.ael Jack.son came out with that little known song "Bl.ood On the Dance.floor" and THAT day, I felt his gift. But I humbly digress, lol. So, I totally forgot about Ess.ence weekend with all the hoopla up here. Ess.ence is not a big deal to me anymore, but I miss the post-Esse.nce rendezvous. Between the calls from my closest friends telling me of all the C-list celebs they saw and took pictures with, I'd receive calls from my not-as-close friends asking if I had snuck into town and not told them. So, I started missing some of my running buddies. Plus, my old boss from back home called to tell me that her youngest son had been accepted into my high school. You woulda thought that he was MY kid, b/c I was too excited. It had been a while since I had talked to her b/c I thought that she was going to drop the phone when I told her that I had just turned 30 y/o. I guess that its hard to believe that "Lil Bit" is grown...that was the same thing that I was thinking about her son...and I'm missing it all.

I think that I mentioned in a previous blog that I am an "emotional decorator," right? Well, I thought that I'd turn this homesickness around and start on projects that make me feel as if I'm back in the N.O., pinching tails and sucking heads. (THAT'S A CRAWFISH REFERENCE, PEOPLE!) So if you remember, #6 (I think) of my summer projects was to create a bistro-style awning for my kitchen bay window. I want to establish the feeling of being in a Caf.e Du Mon.de, minus the green and white stripes. After browsing a fabric store and feeling totally lost, I sent off for 2 different, yet colorful fabric samples at an online store. I printed off some instructions from the hgtv website, but b/c I have to modify them, I feel a little intimidated by the whole project. But I drew out a mock up, so we'll see how this comes out...especially with my lack of skills in the sewing department. If there's anyone out there that knows a little sumthin' sumthin', throw a sista your email addy, lol. Once I'm done, I'll invite S30 back over to cook up some burnt biscuits and try to suagr 'em and pass them bamas off as beignets, lol.

I also got the idea to paint "Laiss.ez Les Bon Tem.ps Rou.ler" in some fancy black letters on the wall opposite my kitchen bay window. I just want to have fun with my kitchen. Nowadays, everyone is so fixated on granite countertops and stainless steel appliances that creativity and personality is lost. Granted, I would love some stainless steel appliances...not so sure if I would put granite in THIS house or not...but I like little quirky things too. New Or.leans is filled with both crazy and creative people so I guess that I got that honest. Heck, "I'm an artist and I'm sensitive about my sh*t." - Ery.kah Ba.du. I'm gonna get like Pam and do that backsplash one day, perhaps in mosaic tile. My friend Tray and I agreed to tackle our backsplashes together, so we'll see.

I'm feeling especially motivated b/c my boy from back home, G, sent me the first draft of his book and I knew that it was a long time coming. I haven't finished it yet, but I had to call him last night b/c what I read so far TOTALLY went over my head. I underestimated it, thinking that it was going to be some regular, run-of-the-mill fictional story but that mess read like some book-club-discussing, cliff-note-deserving, piece on spirituality and his POV on the state of the world. MAYNE!!! To hear him explaining it for hours over the phone, with such passion and purpose, made me feel a 5-second crush. I heart creative people b/c that stuff just hypes me up. But don't worry about that crush, I'm back to normal.

Well, normal for the most part. I got this overwhelming urge to paint some pottery this weekend. LOL, I probably SHOULD have gone to see Suzie B. today.