New Year - 2023

 Happy (?) New Year

It's Monday, January 2 2023 and we start anew. For me - the diet, exercise, new hobby, new.....whatever goals. 

My tiny world is solid. Ray and I shall forge ahead with pickleball, friends, laughs, and projects. More visits to state parks. 

The big world picture - it's beyond my pay grade.  But after reading Time Magazine's Person of the Year issue, I feel compelled to say that Ukraine - the country, the people, the fight is pivotal for 2023. 

Volodymyr Zelensky & The Spirit of Ukraine embody 2022 and beyond. 

Zelensky's statement about the loss of freedom in one nation erodes freedom in all the rest sums it up

"If they devour us, the sun in your sky will get dimmer"

' Nuff said

2022

 Happy New Year!

2020 was our lost year

2021 was our "we're trying hard to be 'normal' but we still don't know what that is anymore" year

2022 - who knows?   New, new normal?

I like the Mary Oliver poem above. It's calm, patient, and urges love. 

Then again, I found this John Steinbeck quote, "If I wanted to destroy a nation, I would give it too much and I would have it on its knees, miserable, greedy, and sick."   Yikes. 

I kinda think he nailed the future and the future is now. 

So 2022 has kicked off. Do we fumble, or make it to the finish line victorious?

Happy New Year?

Almost Happy New Year - Monday edition

2019 is almost over and we face 2020....do we look it in the eye, face our fears, be ready to battle the jaws and teeth of destruction?


Family and motherland are but two circles that are part of the wider circle of humanity. Those who teach morality and who limit one's duties only to family and country teach a selfishness which is dangerous for all of us. 
Calendar of Wisdom - Leo Tolstoy page 377

Here's to selflessness - concern and caring for our fellow beings. Ponder our part as the year ends.

What? It's Wednesday 2019

and here's an ancient pic.  I should be writing a movie review, but I'm not. My father, who is now a teeny tiny hunched over man, is our star senior of the moment.  He's "healthy".

Forgive me my friends for another filler kind of post.  I'm wearing comfy pants and I'm winning Ray's company football pool.  Oh yes - there's no good strategy other than "hey, my cousin Rob went to Syracuse - that's a pick."   Or we hate Ray's old boss Jim and he went to Purdue - I'll pick against him.   Yes, it's genius.

I admit to some distraction - not a good excuse, but Ray's dad is in a rehab and doing well. He's 82. Had back surgery and getting his bearings. He wants to get well and is working hard. Root for him.

Ray's mom is having surgery today  1/2/19  - a broken bone in the leg and 2 in the ankle area. Don't even ask what happened...big sigh and she wouldn't let paramedics take her to the hospital.  But we're here now...and we shall see what happens.  Pray that social workers get her placed somewhere...i.e. not our house.  We are not medical folks. She needs professional care.

So - 2018 did not end awesome.   2019 starts as a challenge. 
I know that many folks  are far worse off.    (hey, Robyn - thinking of you in Chico - near Paradise)

But we'll get this figured out.  And I promise some movie reviews.  And Here's to 2019.

I hope you folks are all well and good........

Cheers!

Stumble into 2017

I shall ramp up and start writing and posting reviews again. I saw a variety of movies and read an assortment of books over the past few weeks, in between working. Plenty to recommend.

However, after reading posts reflecting on 2016 and oozing into 2017, I decided to begin my blog year with my Ray of sunshine.  He sent me this picture on Saturday, New Year's Eve Day and said he was thinking of me. Aw shucks!!! I know I broke into a grin at seeing it, and it makes me smile still.

Yes, he was at his deer lease (his aunt's place) and having a grand time. I was home and quite content with Netflix and books. After twenty seven years of marriage, we can be apart for a holiday. Frankly, I've never been keen on New Year's, so this was fine and he came home Sunday late afternoon.

A cactus piece shaped like a heart.........sorta sums up love.

You've got to treat it with respect.

'Nuff said.

Ease into January

I'm not ready for a major 2016 post. I'm not ready for January of a new year, or traffic, or accounting clean up of 2015, or being serious again.

So, Happy Monday.  Back on Saturday, a friend and I wandered into a store that was "giving" Christmas stuff away.  This fellow caught my eye and I decided he could hang out in the backyard for awhile.

If a scarecrow keeps the crows away from the crops, will a metal snowman keep away feet of snow and ice??

It's worth a shot. I'll let you know if it works

Happy New Year - 2014

Happy New Year!   New blank page to fill. I plan to finish my 2nd humorous memoir - Athletic Antics - hope it brings chuckles to readers. Meanwhile here are some highlight photos from 2013.  Abby - age 9 and Makyla - age 5 were happy at Kevin's ranch.

 Can't beat the Dallas Arboretum in the spring....or summer....or fall....or anytime.

 Ray and I zipped to Vegas for a long weekend and had a blast. We loved the waterwall at the Aria hotel.

 Blustery Quebec - long weekend with friends from junior high, high school, and college. We all celebrated our double nickel birthday this year. Yikes!

And I did publish my Wordsplash Poetry Puddle trilogy - Nature, Hazy Memory, and
Tread Water. I hope folks stocked up and handed them out as Christmas presents. No doubt, I shall submit more poetry to my favorite journals, and I love the flash fiction on Doorknobs & Bodypaint.

Keep writing and reading in 2014. Let's enjoy the yearlong adventure together.

Blown Resolutions Day

January 17th, I read, is Blown New Year's Resolutions Day. Supposedly by mid-month, folks have given up on their goals. Too tired, too hungry, too lazy, too much work - pick any excuse in the book. We've all used 'em.

I'm doing okay. Still eating more than I should, but I'm back on my Wii workouts. That helps a bit. I'm maintaining a decent attitude at work. That shall keep the paycheck rolling in. And I'm making progress on the first draft of my book, Athletic Antics.

Here's the opener:
                                                Tangled Jump Rope

Born in 1958 and a kid in the sixties, I was a deprived child. Band-Aids choices in that day were size only. No cool colors or characters. I couldn't heal quicker with my favorite cartoon hero. Nope - tan regular, wide, or small. That was it. And I used a lot of Band-Aids in my day. They covered cuts and scrapes treated with Mercurochrome - that weird orangey-red color seeping out from under the adhesive.

I was a dorky girl in sturdy corrective shoes. Skinny arms and legs flailed as I ran. Constantly pushing my glasses back on my nose, I participated but did not excel at kid sports and activities. I remember my time outdoors as a collection of athletic antics, and indeed, my coordination has not improved with age. However, I am no longer a patchwork of scabby knees and elbows, thanks to less risk-taking on asphalt.

The book is a humorous memoir, thus I hope you chuckled as you read this. I need to resolve to finish this book, super duper edit, and get it published.

How are you doing on your resolutions?  Blown completely?  Or floating in the breeze?

Hello 2012

2012 is the year of more technology. Here's Ray's interpretation of his media room ceiling courtesy of his iPad2 kaleidoscope photoshop program. The Anaheim souvenir rally monkey (only one) hangs from the light fixture. However, with some stylus maneuvering, Ray created art (and gave me permission to use it - yes it's gonna cost me (!))

2011 proved challenging as I published my book on Smashwords and Amazon. I'm very technologically inhibited, but my goal is to keep learning, pushing buttons, and keeping up with social media, publicity, and promotion.

It is a zoo world. But like the tales in my book, I shall conquer my fears, work on my author page, seek outlets for my work, and try to update my website . WordPress, so far, is winning. (Easy to use? I don't think so.)

If it all works, I achieve more booksignings and sales. Another resolution for 2012, is to work on my next collection of humorous essays. I'm a few chapters in and there are plenty of laughs in store.

I wish my fellow writers - Ann, Sharon, Rich, Arly, Bonnie, Sheryl et al TWW - an excellent 2012.

Happy Writing (and publishing) and technology!

Onward to 2011

Final hurrah on the 2010 Christmas season. Texas Santa stayed warm by the fireplace

Handpainted ornament, from a good friend, is only one of many cherished memories on the tree

A German ornament highlights many travel memories

Nutcracker sentry guarded the entryway. Maybe he should have been watching over cookie consumption in the kitchen.

Winnie the Pooh will be heading back to the attic for another year.

Finale: Christmas poem by me

Dismantle Christmas

slam attic door on

Baby Jesus, Santa, & joy

Open mailbox to bills

Don't Set Yourself on Fire

So, my ancestors probably sat around a fire and told tales of yore - myths, mysteries, and (half of my kin were Irish) more lies. I received this lovely fire pit for our patio and I have visions of gazing into the flames seeking truth and depths to characters in my books.

Or, here in Texas, the wind could kick up and it could snow on Christmas Eve Day. So much for roasting marshmellows.

Snow flurries on December 29th did not bode well, but now December 30th it's mid 50s and not too breezy. We'll see what happens for New Year's Eve.

As a child I remember Mom and me begging Dad for a fire in the fireplace. After much grumbling, stacking of firewood, placement of kindling, stuffing of newspaper, lighting of many, many matches, smoke, mild oaths from my father, and more kindling, the fire might be roaring by the time I had to go to bed. Mom and I had long lost interest and retired to the other room to read.

Poor Dad - never a Boy Scout, would fail on Survivor. Mom and I learned to stop asking for fire. And now it is part of my mythology, a tale of old, and perhaps a humorous interlude in an upcoming book. I'll have to work on that chapter by my new fire pit. Thanks, Ray.

Happy New Year and Happy Writing in 2010.