Monday Mindspacing Vol. 6

1) I've realized there are some things in GQ Rashan will never wear no matter how much I like them because they will look far too "Twan" on him. In fact, there are some things I really like in there but know they would look silly on him.
2) As much as I miss the internet, I almost enjoy being unconnected sometimes... almost. I still have a need to know what's happening in the world and miss things I would otherwise be all over (family response to MJ's death, resignation of the killa from Wasilla (I think that's Palin's most hilarious nickname), the most popular stories on the NYT daily).
3) My grandmother could live without A/C because she says it gives her a crick in her neck. We love you, but my mom and I can't roll like that. Heat index of 100+ daily and we're gonna be sweat boxing it up in the house? That's a no. My mom's brothers (she's the only girl) will suffer in silence with sweat pouring down their faces. My mom? Yeah right. I don't know if she's always been the one most willing to stand up to my grandma but she certainly is now.
4) Guess who got 4 fab new hats from her grandma's collection? MEEEEEE!!! Le sigh! So great except... there were 2 others I wanted which she says she still wears. She wouldn't part with any of the jewelry. Bah humbug.
5) I brought 9 pairs of shoes (including one pair of tennis shoes) to MS with me for a 9-day stay and am determined to wear every pair just to prove to Stace I can and will!! Lol. She was with me when I packed and appalled. As of Saturday night I only had 3 more pairs to wear including one set aside for Sunday morning and another ready to be applied for Sunday afternoon. Score!! As the church folk say, "We're gonna make it!" And then I didn't go to church... hmmm... I still think we can make it!
6) Sometimes when I get behind on movie-watching like I am right now, I freak out for a day or 2, then become incredibly zen. Like well... I'm either going to get these movies watched or I'm going to spend time with my grandma and cousins and uncles and Stace when she was here. Family time, it is. That deficit can be smashed in 2 weeks of heavy movie-watching. I hope I won't have a reason to come back to MS before next year (one of my uncles just lost his transplanted kidney and is back on dialysis BUT if another kidney becomes available he might get one).
7) I'm seeing most of my family for the first time in 5 years. They never come to NC and I haven't been here since one cousin's wedding 5 years ago. I met my cousin's 8-month-old baby for the first time-- such a cutie!-- and if I see my cousin Chasity it will be the first time in probably a decade, at least 10 years. I've never met 2 of her 3 children. She was missing in action a lot of that time. I haven't seen one of my uncles who lives in Atlanta in at least 9 years, since my h.s. graduation. I keep meaning to call him but I really don't want him to ignore my calls, too, like he regularly does to his siblings who are quite exasperated with him-- he's the baby.
8) It makes my mom sad to come to Jackson because of how run down it looks. There are an outrageous number of abandoned buildings and homes. There will be 2 abandoned homes right next to an occupied one, then one more occupied, then another abandoned or extremely run down.
9) Mississippi white people are different from Charlotte white people. They looked way too shocked to see us in a decent restaurant which served brunch Sunday morning. My mom said blacks and whites still don't really interact down here or make an effort like they do in Charlotte. My grandmother says she doesn't know any white people her age other than this one white woman at her senior center who seems extra comfortable surrounded by blacks like those white women who always dated black men and probably had black children, too. How weird is that that she doesn't know any white people? It makes sense seeing as she was born and raised in MS and in a completely different time (the 1930s), but still weird.
10) My mom's first love sang at her wedding to my father. I saw the church where they got married and my grandma still had bows and flowers. So weird. Especially because she didn't want to give them to my mom. Only one of the lace bows is something I might be able to reuse.
11) I just found my mom was the secretary of the SGA her senior year in high school. Random, I know.
12) My cousin Amber asked when she found out Stace left MS early, "It ain't that bad is it?" Lolol. No, she already had a previous engagement.
13) I have THE WORST country accent when I'm down here because everyone I know sounds like that and I'm an accent chameleon. I've never had a discernible accent but I've just found it easier after years of ridicule as a child for sounding white to blend. It's unconscious now unless I'm around other people who don't usually hear me like that (it also comes out when I'm talking to my mom). I didn't even previously realize the reason behind it. That's the one that makes the most sense. Actually now I really only sound different around (usually black) people with southern accents.
14) I know you're trying to be helpful and nice, but if you're a senior citizen assistance agency, please stop giving my grandmother crap she will never use. She has enough clutter without you helping. Give her some food or some sort of non-tangible help like with her will or something. No more trinkets!!!!

*Movies of the week are posted below.