Noury's Creative World…

Today is a big day for me…I am putting myself through a big test…cannot think of anything to write about…have written about my laundry, my meals, my birthday, my recycling bin, my hair, my lovely daughter, my friends, my karma, my moods, my toilets, wow!  Is there anything left to talk about?

Well, the universe is always providing.  Look around and there is always something to talk about.  Let’s see…after watching the world’s headlines news, I decided to write about a lemon.

This real lemon was in a little basket right around where I pick up my mail.  A nice person had picked some lemons from a tree around our gardens and put them there for the taking.  I think I am using it on my salad.  What kind of lemon do you think is going to be?  A good lemon, a bad lemon…one thing for sure, it is a real lemon.  I have a lot of pretend fruits and veggies throughout the condo, but real are the bananas, lettuce, carrots, onions, sweet potatoes, and only God knows where these arrived from.  Most of them are in the fridge, but my only and unique lemon came from right around the building.

Yes!!!! something from Florida…well, now that I think about it, I had an avocado recently and it was from Florida, USA.  Buy local…if you can.

I also  had a very nice surprise today while shopping at the big W box, there was an ornament that I liked, and when I turned the packaging around, guess what!  Made in USA.  I was so happy I almost kissed the employee in that department.

So going back to the lemon, I guess I am delighted in having such a down home fruit.  It is going to be useful, Vitamin C, and it will make my salad taste good.

I have passed the test!  Three hundred fifty-five words.  I do not know how you feel about this posting, but silence is golden.  Keep that in mind.  You can opine if you feel like it,  that will be lovely also.

So…it was today…25 October, 2011…a day that went to the lemon.

Your Happy Contessa

“Check those labels, made in the USA is good for all of us.”  Contessa

And here it is…a new love in my life.  The molecular dog.  I think it is so cute!

My lovely daughter and I were visiting this other side of town, new to me, and found a full array of very interesting shops, restaurants, a lovely park and a community center.  Went into the restaurant, which we figure is the meeting place for the real locals, had a delicious lunch.  The other side of town is really for the tourists,  which we shall call the main drag, and for me and other locals when we want to play tourists.

After our lunch, we walked around the area, and visited a shop, and got two foo dogs.  Foo dogs are ancient sacred dogs of Asia who guard Buddhist Temples.  They protect you against bad energy.  Need all the dogs we can get.  Then, continued with our curiosity for this area and went into the park.  There was a sculpture that from far away looked like the infamous mouse.  Then started to look like a doggie, and by the time I took a few pictures, we found a description of what this sculpture really is.  It is a molecular dog!

Click on it to make it larger and see the actual description of the sculpture.  In case you don’t feel like clicking, here’s the information.  It is a molecule of propane!  Propane is a three-carbon molecule that is commonly known as liquified petroleum gas.

We had a wonderful afternoon and learned some chemistry and how beautiful it can be.

So…it was today…24 October…a day to remember a wonderful last Saturday, October 22nd.

Your Happy Contessa

“Out of your vulnerabilities will come your strength.”  Sigmund Freud, Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis.  6 May, 1856 – 23 September, 1939.

All that starts, has to come to an end.  The era of my 63rd birthday celebration has come to a complete halt.  Screeching halt.

Now it is the 63+ period.  Does it feel any different?  Right now, after the “not allowed” glass of wine and a good turkey sandwich, yes, the vegan discipline took a big break this weekend, I really do not feel any different from last Thursday.  Tomorrow is back to the school and discipline of just grazing on veggies and stuff such as tofu.  Need to get a firmer one, tofu I mean, the one I had last Thursday night was very soft and not so appealing.  Live and learn.

The neurons are tired and very relaxed after wine and great conversation.  Had a memorable birthday weekend.  The lovely daughter is on her way back to the big North where the chills of cold weather are in full swing.  Fine down here, thank you very much.

Today, short in words, but hoping tomorrow will be back to normal.

So…it was today…23 October, 2011…a short day of typing and thinking.  Very much on the happy and content side.

Your Happy Contessa

“Thank you for the meaningful and beautiful memories.”  Happy Contessa to the lovely daughter.

I make a big deal out of being able to say “I am sixty-three years old.”  That’s six decades plus three years.  A humongous accomplishment!

I feel such a fortunate woman.  I have always been surrounded by beautiful and wonderful people.  Have been in love a few times, always had a ball in the place where I was residing at the moment…I remember particularly St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Island.  What an exciting, incredibly fun and some heart breaks.  But all in all, whenever I look back, I can say I did it my way and with His blessings, everything turned out just right.

I learned my lessons, I am still looking forward to learning and experience very much.  It is a process full of promises and surprises.

But one very important thing I must recognize, when the going gets tough, show your class and do it with style.  Nothing beats going through hard times, than doing it in a classy way and with much style.  Even if the mascara is pouring down your face.  Nowadays, they sell that stuff that is water proof.  That’s exactly why I don’t use it any more.  To remove the holy thing, you almost have to remove the entire eye.  No mascara for me!

Well, my darling daughter is arriving in a few moments, so I have to get ready and look my best 63rd time around.

So…it is today…21 October, 2011…my 63rd Birthday.

Happy Birthday to me, to me and to me!  Oh, yes, I will be back on Monday!

Your Happy Contessa

“To be content and grateful regardless of our daily dose of crapola, is the best kept secret to succeed in living… and life is short, make it loud!”

I was making plans for a lunch birthday celebration on the 21st.  I will reach the tender age of six decades plus three monsoons.

Had settled for a nice Caribbean lunch with a very dear friend.  Just now, checking my emails, I received one from my lovely daughter and the subject was “Happy Birthday.”  I thought, probably she has the date mixed up, so I proceeded to open the ecard.  Very, very nice, and then the first line was SURPRISE!  I will be singing the birthday song in person.  I am arriving in Orlando on your birthday.  I read it twice to get it.  I started laughing and laughing and more laughing.  I thought, Oh, my God, she is coming to be with me on my birthday!  Have to clean the one and only toilet, wash sheets, and get everything ready for my little sunshine.  I love her so.

I couldn’t have asked for anything better.  My dearest friend is letting me enjoy the time with my lovely daughter and we will celebrate next week.  I am so blessed.  The festivities have already started!

Wanted to share with all of you my happiness and being grateful for still being around and among delightful people.

So…it was today…19 October, 2011…a day of a happy surprise.

Your Happy Contessa

“Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me”….rehearsing before I eat some cake too.

One of the reasons why I moved South was due to the cold weather.  Look at this week’s weather for my area.

Some 90% possibility of rain for today, but as of 4:25 p.m., only a lick of water.  Probably the areas where water is not needed, they are getting it all.

Good, or may I say, excellent weather to catch up with reading, studying French.  Have been watching a dvd in French, and all I hear is just noise.  Recognize a word or two and I imagine the rest because of the story and what they are doing.  But, that’s how I learned English.  Watching the Ed Sullivan Show and when all of them were laughing, I laughed because I did not have the faintest idea of what was being said.  My mother used to chase me to go to bed.  She used to say that if I didn’t understand anything, why I was wasting my time.  Little did she know.  English has been my greatest tool for survival in life.

Let’s go back to the weather…that’s what this posting is supposed to be about.  Today the air conditioner unit was not working, according to a recording I found on my phone.  Went out to catch up with laundry too.  Remember the want-to-be sauna dryer?  Yep, it swallowed four quarters from my pocket and started perspiring like crazy.  Nothing else.  Had to take out all the clothes and visited the second floor to get my clothes dried. Ah, the air conditioner unit…it will be put to the test next time we get a heat wave.

Oh yes, the weather…well,  it looks somewhat decent on the forecast.  Some people cancel appointments due to rain, so…I’ll leave it at that.  I am not making fun of anything or anyone anymore.  I remember the snow days up there in beautiful North Carolina and Virginia.  Give me some rain anytime.  No froggies apply.

So I am venturing out tomorrow, only 30% possibility of rain.   Even if it was 100%, I am going out.  Two days in a row in this condo is making me antsy.  Besides, no bananas, carrots, salmon, or ripe plantains.  Cereal last day is tomorrow.  Out I am going!

So…it was today…18 October, 2011…a day looking gloomy, but good to catch up in whatever.

Your Happy Contessa

“I am still learning.”  Michelangelo, Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, poet, architect and engineer.  6 March, 1475 – 18 February, 1564.

Some of my friends are going through rough times at this moment.  It seems that whenever I talk with whomever, there is always a challenge they are meeting.  Sometimes the challenge is mine to face.

That’s pretty “fuerte” (strong).  I have to admit that most of the time my beautiful circle of friends and I have to face the reality of this stage of our lives.  It comes with the territory.  If it not one thing, it is the other.  But only when you are faced with strong situations, that’s when you find out what a tough cookie we are.  I am surrounded by a strong support system.  There’s nothing we cannot handle together.  We make beautiful symphony, even out of somewhat discordant notes that show up into our lives sometimes on a daily basis.

I want to let all my friends and family on this majestic circle that we are all a part of this together, that I am so grateful to be a link of this forever strong chain, and that I know how special we are to each other.  We matter beyond words to each other and know we will always be there for each other.

We are into this together.  What touches you, it touches me.  I wouldn’t want it any other way.

We know we can handle anything that will come our way, and with His wisdom, strength, and peace we can face whatever is out there floating around.

Thank you each one of you for being my friend and part of the tapestry of my life.  I wish each one of you utmost peace and wisdom.

So…it was today…17 October, 2011, a day of being grateful for having my special family and friends in my life.

Your Happy Contessa

“When it happens to you, it is already happening to me.”

A very dear friend invited me for a Sunday afternoon fashion show in a bedroom community of Orlando.  It was labelled as a Fall Fashion Show.

Very lovely crowd, chicken salad in a croissant with romaine lettuce and fruit salad on the side was the delicious lunch.  Sweet or unsweetened tea or lemonade.  Lots of door prizes, and plants to give away.  I brought home two small plants.  Can’t wait to put them in my bedroom.

So the show gets going, all dark colors, hats, scarves, coats, ready to face a nice winter weather.  I was getting hot, very hot from just looking at the models in their “fall outfits.”  Hot flashes came back out of nowhere and there I was fanning myself in a place that was quite cool, weather controlled wise.

After the very entertaining fashion show, my friend and I went to watch the documentary “Forks over Knives.”  That is after me chewing down a chicken salad sandwich.  Veganism went out the window.  What can a girl do when she is hungry and I didn’t feel like grazing with just romaine and some mini-cut pieces of fruits.  Give the woman something meaningful on a Sunday afternoon.

Well…there we go happily after ingesting some stuff that are not at all acceptable by the Forks over Knives concept, to watch the film.  No wine suggested.  WHAT??  Isn’t a nice glass of red wine supposed to be good for you?  Besides it makes you feel all relaxed and ready to go to bed.  The world seems a friendlier place when you have had a nice little glass of wine.  I just looked at my friend and said “there goes the happy moment with dinner.”  Not only no meats for me, now no wine either.  Suddenly the world is not that nice and friendly any more.  But…I want to be healthy and live longer.  My cable guy told me just last Friday that by 2035 we may be able to live up to a 150 years.  What for, I asked him.  I am running out of things to do as it is right now.  Man, things are getting a bit much complicated lately.

One hundred and fifty years.  Hmmmm…How many languages can I learn?  Mandarin, Greek…and the list goes on.  It does not matter how good my life could be…150 years is a lot of years.  Stop!  No more thinking beyond this moment.  Suddenly I am getting tired.

So…it was today…16 October, 2011…a day full of contradictions…no more wine for me, and living up to 150.

Your Happy Contessa

“One thing that never ceases to amaze me, along with the growth of vegetation from the earth and of hair from the head, is the growth of understanding.”  Alice Walker, American writer, poet and activist.  Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction.  9 February, 1944-.

Let me introduce you to my new kitchen gadget.  My new convection oven.  I see myself having so many tasty meals.  It looks good,  doesn’t it.

First, have to clean it and read the manual.  So the first meal probably will be cooked the week after next.  I ordered it last Sunday afternoon, so when it arrived yesterday afternoon, I was somewhat perplexed.  I was not emotionally ready for this apparatus.  Just taking it out of the box took all my brainpower away.  Need to recharge the few neurons floating around my scarcely populated brain, so the whole excitement of tasting my first meal will have to be put on hold.

Isn’t this familiar with some other things in our lives.  I was imagining, that is before this thing arrived,  already preparing some zucchini with bread crumbs and parmesan cheese on top,  some broiled organic chicken having it all with Riesling wine, but when I heard a noise outside of my door, and hearing the motor of a big van taking off, I went to see what was the matter.  There it was!  My new oven.  Had to bring it into the apartment and open the holy box.  Then had to reshuffle things around in my kitchen to accommodate this sparkling thing.  Now I have to read the manual, after I finish studying my French and then…wash the whole thing…then go to mecca for organic stuff and…then cook.  I am exhausted already.  Maybe next month I will use this highly efficient new convenient oven.

Ask and you shall have.  I did.  Now I ask for time to get ready to use the blessed thing.

So…it was today…13 October, 2011…a day of admiring my ever shinning oven…and leaving it alone for a few more weeks.

Make it a happy and enjoyable weekend.  Next Monday it is.

Your Happy Contessa

“Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock, and the door will be opened.”  Holy Bible.

Everyday I am given suggestions from my blog host on how to increase my audience.

And my thinking is…I don’t need a bigger audience than the one I have.  I like what I have and why is this constant need in our planet to have more and more.

In my case, I write for the sake of writing, to keep a journal for my darling daughter and to have something to do.  To be accountable to myself.  It makes me be alert to make up stories out of nothing.  Look how far this is going.

The more you have, the bigger the responsibility.  My plate is pretty full as it is.  You don’t have an idea of how many times I have to consult the dictionary and other resources.  By the time I am done, 1/4 of my day is gone.  Ask my friend Lucy how long it takes me to take a picture…lots of flashes, props and taking picture and more picture-taking.  You see, I am very demanding and expect a lot from myself.

Just imagine if I was thinking that I have to cater to let’s say over a thousand people a day.  Holy tamale, I will have to be answering their somewhat half intelligent questions, well, you know what I mean.  The more you expose yourself, the higher the possibility that the stuff will be hitting the fan at a higher speed.

Leave me as it is.  I am under control somewhat and I love my highly intellectual and selective audience.  I hand-picked them.  I am not a tolerant person to put up with people who think they have a license to tell you what to write, how to paraphrase things and at the end, you end up angry and wanting to send everyone down to Hell City.

I am a happy unpopular blogger and I just love it so.

To my few followers, I am forever grateful that you put up with me and most of the time are very silent, so in a way, most of the time I don’t know what the heck you think about my writings.  Perfecto!

So…it was today…12 October, 2011…Hey Columbus, they really did a job on your fame, didn’t they.  I honor you today, the real day that you and your buddies discovered some beach in the island of Hispaniola.   To you Columbus, Happy you Day!

Your Happy Contessa

“When it takes little to be happy, you have mastered the art of living.”  Moi