A Clear Channel - Day 204

Another pouring rain storm in the middle of the night in Hollis Queens. I love it!
Had an interesting day yesterday. A family friend who was doing my Mom and I a favor, said something to me that hurt my little feelings. I felt she was out of line. Although I've love to get this off my chest and move on, I realize I don't want to get into this now because anyone can read this blog. I'm starting to censor what I say here and I don't like that feeling. Originally, I didn't care who was reading it but I'm changing my mind. I still have a goal of 365 blogs. Let's see if I make it.

A Clear Channel - Day 203

Danny and I have been playing house for about a week now, but last night we cooked our first meal together. That was interesting. I really need to work on my collaboration skills in the kitchen. I kinda wanted to do it my way. I'm used to either cooking for myself or having someone cook for me. When he wanted to add more paprika and sliced onion to my baked chicken, I had a bit of an attitude. That's not how my Mama did it. That's not like MY baked chicken recipe. What a brat I am. That chicken was slammin'!! And so was the brown rice, the corn, the roasted veggies and the salad. Now that I got over that hurdle, it will be better next time although I noticed we haven't made dinner plans for tonight yet. Let's see what happens. I also feel a little torn between two households but that's another story. All I know is my Beloved didn't request any biscuits with his meal last night. Whew!

A Clear Channel - Day 202

I just realized I haven't checked my email since I've been here in New York. That's one week! Yikes. That's one of the reasons I bought this laptop. Obviously, I've been making time to blog, check out facebook and look up a couple of addresses on mapquest. This week, I've really got to get down to business with my Mom. With Danny being off from work last week I split my time between the two of them more than I thought I would. My Mom is not into the "one big happy family" concept so some activities have to be separate. Danny and I did take Mom to church yesterday. She looked beautiful!! All three of us saw people we hadn't seen in years. Very nice. I think I found the place where I will send my tithes until I find a church home in L.A. In the meantime New Jerusalem Baptist Church feels like home to me.
After church Danny and I went into the city to a jazz club. My friend Andrea Meyerson was in town from L.A. working on a documentary. She's been working on this project for a while and I wanted to support her. Besides, we had never hung out in New York together and I wanted her to meet Danny. Andrea and her partner Maureen gave him the thumbs up and that means a lot to me. The reviews are in...he's an all around good guy...but I knew that already.
I was pretty tired after all that, but there was one more stop. We had to drive to Brooklyn to pick up my lost wallet. We met Adrienne and her lovely family at their home, chatted a bit and was on our way. I hope we will keep in touch. Adrienne is my new best friend. Now I'm going to go put my wallet back together or probably throw most of the contents away. I know I'm going to be wondering from now on....what do the contents of a person's wallet reveal to a perfect stranger? Hmmmmmm?

A Clear Channel - Day 201

What a day. God is good. So I experienced Coney Island with my Beloved. I could blog about how I was only there to support him because I really didn't feel like I fit in with these people dancing in a trance like state to house music I didn't recognize. I really wanted to get into it and join them but I just wasn't feeling it. Danny was totally enjoying himself as usual (he talks about going to Coney Island every weekend) and I certainly didn't want to sit there with my lips all poked out. The last thing I wanted was to ruin his fun time with his friends. And then.....we took a walk on the beach to watch the sunset, then he asked one of the drummers if I could play his djembe, then we hustled together just like back in the day. He did everything to make the evening enjoyable for me. I don't consider myself high maintenance but I know I can be a little grumpy at times. I'm so thankful my sweetie brings out the best in me. We really had a good time. On the walk to the car, I just had to get some popcorn so we stopped a little place right down the street from Nathans were I just had to get a hot dog a few hours earlier. We get the popcorn, walk to the car and drive off. About half way home I discover I had lost my wallet. We drove all the way back to the popcorn place, retraced our steps....nothing. Fortunately, it wasn't the wallet with all the important stuff. Whoever found it would get some money, my SAG card, insurance cards and a bunch of junk I should have thrown away a long time ago. Oh well, I was really working on letting go even though I had a fantasy of getting a facebook message from some nice person who found my wallet. My phone seemed to have a lot of activity going on so I checked my messages just the keep my mind off my missing stuff and the first message was from an angel. Her name is Adrienne. She found my wallet!! On the corner at Nathans. She and her family were coming from dinner. She googled me and called about three different numbers after finding my webpage. It was so cute because the first thing she said was..."don't get too excited, there's no ID, drivers license or credit cards". After explaining to her that those items were in a different wallet, she asked me if anyone from Hot Java had called me. (Lord this is a long story). My friend Jack had called because he got a call in California that my wallet had just been found in Brooklyn and he thought I had gotten mugged. So ironic, I had texted Jack some pics of Nathans earlier just to make his mouth water.
I will be meeting Adrienne tomorrow or during the week. Oh, did I tell you she read yesterday's blog so she knew the number she was calling was indeed attached to me cause I blogged about going to Coney Island. It's so nice to know there are decent, honest people in the world.
So how was Coney Island? Awesome. Between texting, google, blogs and mobile phones social networking took on a whole new meaning for me tonight.
Thanks Adrienne!!!

A Clear Channel - Day 200

Day 200. Wow. Only 165 blogs to go (details later). I wish I could say it was 200 consecutive days, but I've missed a few especially lately. My ritual had been to blog every night before bed but here in New York staying with my sweetie pie it just hasn't happened that way. Hmmmmm, I wonder why...
Just had lunch with my Mom and my god brother. What a god send he has been. We had a little business to take care of and now I'm off to Coney Island with Danny. He is crazy about Coney Island and so proud to be a Coney Island dancer. I'll probably have a good time, but I'm really not as excited about it as he is. I don't know why that is, I haven't been to Coney Island in years....it's a landmark. Maybe after today I will feel differently. I'll let you know.
Yesterday, we had a real family day. Danny took me and my Mom grocery shopping and then I came home to fix dinner for the three of us. My Mom requested my potato salad and I also made roasted veggies and a slammin' meatloaf. I totally miscalculated the timing of the meatloaf. It was still raw inside when I served the rest of the meal, so we pretended to be vegetarians last night. Every thing was delicious and we'll have meatloaf sandwiches tomorrow.
I'm feeling more and more optimistic about my Mom's situation every day. No matter what, everthing's gonna be alright.
Off to Coney Island to do the hustle....do do do do do de do do do...do the hustle...

A Clear Channel - Day 199

What a fun day. Caught up on some phone calls and set up some meetings for my Mom.
Tonight I went to the first rehearsal of the Brooklyn Interdenominational Choir. My beloved Danny has been excited about this choir for months. After sitting in the back of tonight's rehearsal I can see why. There were about 100 singers there (mostly sopranos) and the choir director (Pastor Frank Haye) wants it to be 200 strong. There was such great energy in the room and I love Pastor Haye's style. It promises to be a blessing to the entire city of New York. They will be doing TV appearances, traveling and going into the studio to record. I can tell you right now, if I were here in the NYC I would totally be a member of this choir. They learned three songs tonight and I was singing all the parts! (Quietly). I felt like I had been to church.
Hmmmm...I think I miss singing.

A Clear Channel - Day 198

Did you miss me? It's been a couple of days since I've let you in on the not so secret life of Carlease. I've been traveling, visiting and getting massages.
I'm here in New York with my Mom and my man and things are going quite well. My Mom is running around like she never had knee surgery but I am still concerned about some things. I'm learning to take it one day at a time. I have a wonderful support team and we are working it all out. It was fun to accompany my Mom to her hair appointment yesterday. I've got my eye on her big time.
Last night, I treated Danny to a massage. No, I did not give him one, I took him to a professional!! My dear friend Donna M. Webb (google her on the web) retired from her first profession at an early age and has been studying massage therapy which seems to be leading her into other healing arts. She is amazing and I am so proud of her. You know you've had a good massage when you fall asleep on the table and then go home and fall out again. Unbeknownst to me, this was Danny's first professional massage and he was not disappointed. How lucky is he to be right here in Queens near Donna. Me? I'm trying to figure how to move her out to L.A.!!! She even gave us tips so we can give each other massages. She taught us just enough but not too much. We know where we have to go to get the real deal. In either case, ya'll must check her out and tell all your friends in the New York area. She has a beautiful set-up in Jamaica, Queens and so worth it. She's able to target your problems areas and make the proper adjustment without even saying a word.
Donna, your hands are like magic and I will be back so you can work on my back!! Danny thanks you too!
Make your appointment ya'll....Donna M. Webb, Licensed Massage Therapist (Google her NOW!)