Jazz: The Flute

Last year I was privileged to hear the Albany State University Jazz band. The band director's son, stepped in at the second semester to take over the music program at SQHS.

I never really cared for Jazz, at least that is what I always told myself, but while listening to this band, I had to revise that to "I love Jazz", I guess it is because it is so soothing and any music that soothes my soul is my music (don't particular care for rap/hip hop). When I was growing up and in my early adulthood, R & B and Soul was my thing. I have a pretty good size collection of old vinyl albums as well as a good sized CD collection, which is mainly comprised of Soul, R & B, and some soft Rock. I must also admit to liking some country & western music.

Back to the concert, The concert is April 4, 2009 in the ACAD building at Albany State University and features Dr. Decuir who is a flutist and he very good. He played with his students last year and when he began to play, my soul opened up and devoured his music.

People have different ways of handling the stress of living and music is mine. I remember sitting at night listening to the local radio station (WJIZ 96.3) during the Gulf Storm around 12 am each night as people sent request for loved ones fighting. My youngest cousin was over there and we were so worried about his safety and this was one way for me to cope.

I have now lived through one of the most traumatic periods of my life and music also helped me to a degree to cope, because you never get over the death of a loved one who has been your world since your life began. A person who would give up her life for yours, who would do anything so that you don't suffer pain. A person who in lean times would let her children eat first and then she would eat what was left and the food that her young children left on their plates to make sure that their little stomachs were full. A person who never let a hungry person leave her house in the condition they arrived, many had eaten at her table. Each time I have to say it, makes the pain still as fresh today, almost three years, as it was the day she died. I am talking about my mother who was a wonderful Mother, daughter, sister, grandmother, cousin, aunt, and wife. Music helped, but food was a better comfort. All my favorite foods that she cooked, I cooked to bring comfort to a troubled soul and yes, I drank gallons of sweet tea.

Sorry, for getting off topic, right now, I am so excited about hearing the flutist, Dr. Decuir, so that my soul can open up and absorb the soothing sounds of him playing his flute. If you are in the area, come on and join me.

Romaine

Life's Most Embarrassing Moments

If you can't laugh at yourself, then you are taking life way too serious. I have been having a tough time of it lately, spent too much time on the computer without getting up taking breaks and caused some swelling in my extremities. Well, my sisters took one look and said, you must go to the doctor, this was after spending a week, going to work with almost normal size feet and legs and then by the time I got home, they would be triple or twice their normal size. Now, don't get me wrong, I'd look at them and say, finally, big legs. See, I have twigs for legs, I have always hated that I have small legs, so I would say, if only these were my normal size. Well, anyhoo, I went to the doctor yesterday and he set me up to have them checked to make sure I didn't have a clot or something in my left leg. Leg is fine. I woke up at the regular time, got ready for work and drove to the hospital in Albany, Georgia.

Now, for those who are not familiar with this area, Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital is the largest hospital in Southwest Georgia, and it is always growing, always under construction. Today, I went and noticed the construction going on next to the Towers and went in and found that it had been remodeled, the information desk was gone. I looked to my left and saw a young lady sitting at a desk and asked her where was the diagnostic department, after being told to go to main registration office to check in, I looked closely and saw where they had covered up the door that used to lead to the waiting room. I went checked in, and was taken to the third floor by two kind volunteers (one was being trained) and when I got upstairs, I first had to wait for someone to open the door to the waiting room, and once this was taken care of, I was told to sit and someone would come and get me. I had to be in registration at 8:00 a.m., and my appointment was at 8:30 a.m., well, after sitting for about 15 minutes, I went and inquired, how much longer would I have to wait, because I had to be at work in another hour and my job was a mere 70 miles away. Well, the young man came and got me in about five more minutes.

The procedure was done by 9:00 and I began stressing, was I going to be at work on time. I was walking with my mine racing a mile a minute, mentally planning the quickest route to work and looked up and saw what I believe to be a door propped open. OK, now I have to stop, do you remember the Windex commercial where the guy runs into the glass door and the birds have a ball laughing at him? Well, I had my most embarrassing moment at that point. See, what I thought was an open door was actually, a glass wall, and yep, I walked right smack into it. I was dazed for a moment and didn't know what the heck had happened, then these two nice gentlemen, construction workers, I believe, were right there at the moment of impact, and in my dazed and confused befuddlement, I kept hearing, "Ma'am, are you OK, Ma'am, are you alright!" After what seemed like an hour, (actually, about a minute) I was able to say, 'Yeah, I OK, I am fine." He kept asking, and I finally said, "I am fine, embarrassed, but fine." I finally gathered my wounded pride and found the “real” door and opened it and walked out into the cloudy morning.

I had water streaming from my left eye due to some pain, some embarrassment, and a lot of merriment. I was so tickled, I had to share my episode with someone so, I called my sister Jennifer and informed her of my most embarrassing moment, instead of sympathizing with me, she started laughing, well, at this point I was laughing even harder. What do I have to remind me of this, well, probably a scar for life? While talking with my sister, I wiped the area and saw blood on my finger, looked in the mirror and saw where my glasses had actually broken skin. So now, I have an abrasion as well as the sore snooze (nose).So, what did I learn from this little episode, well, I once scoffed at those Windex commercials, but, now I know first hand (and the hard way) that it is possible, so next time I see the poor man running toward the glass door, I will say to myself, could happen, happened to me, now does the hospital use Windex, don't know and personally at the time, I didn't care, all I wanted was out. I started thinking on my way to work, that the cleaning department did a wonderful job, because I actually did not see the glass.

What else did I learn, that I am getting older and different things will happen to me as I age and no matter how guilty I feel, I need to get them taken care of and I need to take the time to laugh and smell the flowers. The purest relief that I have experienced in a while happened today, and the relief it brought was wonderful. Moral of my story: Things happen, not always good things, but you have to be able to put them in perspective and take the time to laugh at yourself instead of stressing. One of my favorite book titles is, "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff." Life has too many roads not traveled to stress over one mistaken path, as long as you are alive; you have many roads to travel.
Romaine

P.S. I am going to try to find different alternative to sweetening my tea, I am going to steer away from sugar and artificial sweeteners and try natural fruits and fruit juices. If you know of something that taste good, please let me know.

I wonder how pureed peaches would taste. Hmmmmm!

Welcome! Stay and have a cup of icy cold sweet tea!

A few things recently happened to me that made me decide upon this blog:

1. Currently dealing with a health issue that is extremely aggravating to say the least.
2. I went into a Subway and one of the workers was very rude and unprofessional.
3. Had the manager from the Subway instead of listening to me, try and place the blame for the workers behavior on me. I admit, I can be a pain, but when I am paying for it, I should get what I want. I used to work for Hardees’s and the Manager (Trish) changed how I looked at customer service. She once told me that the customer should get what they paid for and if you are a customer then you should too.

I decided that instead of having a blog where I discussed my views on growing up when the family extended beyond those who were actual relatives to those in the neighborhood. I have an opinion and that is what this blog is about, my opinion. Now you can agree with me or disagree, that is your opinion, and like everyone else, you are entitled to it.

The things that I discuss here, may or may not make any sense to anyone else, but, and I can now talk things out with someone who understands me, ME.

Now, for the name of my blog, "Sweet Tea in Georgia" and the reason for it, simple, I love Sweet Ice Tea and over the years have gotten tired of hearing people not native to the South complain about our tea, simply order it unsweetened and add sweetener to taste. What this blog boils down to is that life doesn't always have to be too sweet or not sweet enough. As long as you are alive, you have room for your thoughts and improvement.

Another thing I want to let loose is my wit, some may find me witless, but, hey we can’t always enjoy subtle southern humor, if I offend, that isn’t my intention, nor is always my intention to advise, you can always pay someone to do that, mind now, the coach may not be as comfortable as the rocking chair, but, we each choose our own method. So take a seat in a rocking chair on the front porch and rock gently while sipping your Ice Tea and let life lull you into a calm you may have forgotten.

My Tea Base Recipe:
My favorite method to create a tea base is to boil about 8 bags for 30 minutes, let it sit for another 30 minutes (heat off). Next, I get a gallon jug and mix sugar (1/4 to 1/2 full with sugar) and add the tea, I then stir until the sugar dissolves and I have the best base for tea in the world.

It can be mixed to taste; all you do is add a percentage of tea base and some good old cold water. This container of tea base will last for up to two weeks, and using the base, you can go from Southerners Puckering Sweet to “Northerners just a hint of sweetness. It works really well for large groups; I have used it twice to make a five gallon container of tea. You can make the base ahead of time and then just add it and water to the container and enjoy yourself.

Something else, I like to do is add Country Time Pink Lemonade to the base in a cup and I’ll have the best glass of lemonade tea, writing about it has my mouth watering. Lemonade tea is different from Tea with lemon, a friend introduced me to it and at first I was wondering why she gave such exact instructions if the service people had to prepare it, and then I tasted it and the rest is history. If you haven’t tried this treat, most restaurants in the south serve both (ice tea and lemonade) , just ask for a mixture, I like the ¼ lemonade and ¾ ice tea. Hmmm, good!