This Day, Thursday.

I may have finally made a breakthrough with my procrastination, my laziness, and the bad habits I sunk to. Yes, I was getting sloppy about my dream. Easy to do when you wake, sit and drink coffee, scroll the phone, while watching the (depressing) morning network news. It’s easier with the Babe going to the Honor Guard duties very early. I need to have enough resolve to stick with it on the days he’ll be home.

One thing that made such a huge difference, I turned off the TV. I turn on this local radio station and listen to it instead. There are all the songs from my late high school years, and early married life. They spark so many memories! I’m enjoying the memories and the happy mood the music brings. It’s great.

I’ve assembled my second book cart, and kind of scoped out the table I’m trying out for the new sewing machine. I’m kind of on a mission now. Get those Christmas gift quilts started! I want to be sewing them by July 1. There you have it, I have publicly committed and will follow through. Schedule changes, projects, and attitude changes are all things to help people keep track of what the need to do to achieve their dreams. I got sloppy. Time to get back on track! Thanks for the help, friends!

Photo collage, above, Mira Hadlow is a new FB follow for me. I love her poetry memes, her posts, and just purchased her book. More on that after I’ve read her book. The Honor Guard letters were addressed early this morning, with coffee, on the deck. I read some of Donna Ashworth’s book of poetry from the pandemic. She is another FB follow for me. She writes so eloquently, I think most would enjoy following both of these female poets. They’re great.

Bottom row: My second book cart for my office. This one will truly have books in it! Part of the office/studio cleanup I’m working on. Middle photo, my haul from Hobby Lobby yesterday. I decided to heck with the plain, generic, white paper napkins? No, I decided to get pretty party napkins. And why not? Every day is a special day, a party for your life. The little door hanger says, “Bless Our Nest.” Goes with the bird theme I have going on for Spring. Makes me happy.

And the last photo? Grandson Gavin has another ball game tonight. The team had a bad game Tuesday. Dejected players everywhere. This is a pep talk my favorite coach gave them. Our son in law is such a good man. Good Dad. Yes, he has his days. We all do. His love of the game (which he got from his dad) shows in his interactions with these kids. He wants them to learn the right way. Just because some guys are coaches doesn’t mean they’re good ones. And I love most watching him catch for his son while warming him up to pitch. It makes my eyes sweat, to say the least. We get to see another game tonight. Good times.

Whatever you do today, celebrate it as special. You are. I am. See you tomorrow! Let’s get this done! Going back to the patio to edit my kid book now. Enjoy!

Swinging Saturday!

Yeah! Gavin started playing ball last night in his Youth League. They have a tournament all weekend. Nothing like going big or going home! I’m excited about this for many reasons. I love baseball. I love when kids get to learn and play. I love this team because his dad, our son-in-law, is one of the coaches. From what I hear, he was quite the player in his day. Never got to see him play, but I’ve heard the stories. Good ones, of course. His dad is a good father to both the kids, and a terrific son in law. We have three great ones, TJ, Aaron, and Brian.

So if the rain holds off, we may get to go to the game later on. Addison is back at dance now, and she’s enjoying seeing her friends. I don’t think there are many girls in her neighborhood to hang out with, so she’s glad to have human contact again. While it’s all good now, I’m concerned about what will happen later, in October and November. Just praying and taking precautions for now.

I am having some challenges with the office help this morning. Letting them in. Letting them out. Getting them water. Right now, a squeaking squirrel is making it’s way up my thigh, complete with bad doggie breath making it a little warm in here. And now, here is the dinosaur, doing the same. If I stop writing and go to the living room to sit with them, they go to sleep. Can’t win, but I can laugh while I’m doing it. Finally, twenty minutes later and she found a place to lay down and nap. Lexie prefers the couch. In fact, she knows the word “couch.” Funny what we do for our pets.

I am writing a scene/point page for my new story about a girl who has to find courage to leave her unhappy marriage. She is discovering many resources to help her leave, she just has to be vigilant to make sure she sees them, and has the courage to act on them. The more she discovers, the more there is to discover. I think life works this way. The scenes are major events she experiences, and the points are the way she feels about the experiences.

I’m beginning to think ideas are full of fluffy, filler words. It’s a real challenge to tone them down and not make the meaning difficult to find. I think we speak with a lot of filler words, and tend to try and write that way, too. Quite different from business writing. Then it’s the facts, summarized for an executive in fewer words. Almost as if they don’t want to waste their time knowing what goes into researching what they ask us to, then only wanting to know the important things.

And technical writing is really precise, with all the details, and sometimes hard to understand. Learning ASSEMBLER computer language was so painful. I attended a two night per week school and my younger son had his appendix rupture during that time. He required emergency surgery and I missed two of twelve classes. He nearly died. I almost didn’t pass the class, too. Neither of these things happened, thankfully. Never want anything so awful again. Either that class or one of my kids nearly dying.

This is going to be an afternoon I need a little nap, so I’m heading that way. Hope you have a wonderful rest of your Saturday. Thank you for reading, I appreciate your support. Wash your hands. Wear your mask, thank you. Call your mom. Be a good example. Share a smile with someone. Listen.

Fortunate Friday

This, is what I needed yesterday

Today is already a much better day than yesterday was. For some reason, I was ready to burn all my manuscripts, all of my “how to write” books, and just give up. I tried all my tricks to get out of the funk. Every single one. Except for the most important one. Give into the physical fatigue I was feeling and get a good night’s sleep. Guess what? It worked.

Each and every time I commit this crime of omission, I feel pretty silly. Why? Because I know the best thing for me, when things are out of control, is to just go to sleep. I wake up again and my soul is refreshed, the fight is still in me, and I’ll go slay the dragons of my mind again. Every time. I’ve known this for over forty years. Why did I forget it?

Because the world has gone crazy, the messages are in an out of control feeding frenzy, and I got caught up in the vortex of the tornado. Again. The fact that I’m feeling silly is just because I’m human. Most of us don’t like to admit all humans are flawed. We are all flawed. Being imperfect is something we need to admit. Once we admit it, we can work on it. We’ll never become perfect, at least not in this world, on this earth.

I believe that is for whatever Heaven is. I sometimes think Heaven is whatever is best for us on earth, it is what we have in heaven. Family and friends, kids and grandkids, music and dance, puppies and dogs, flowers and breathtaking scenery, it’s all going to be there. And never end. No one will die. Or fall out of love. No one will be mean. Or bullied. No one will murder the body with objects or the heart with words. We will have never seen anything like it. It sounds pretty incredible.

Whatever you believe, I think belief in something bigger than ourselves is critical to living now. We are not the “it” that exists at the top of the heap. We are simply sharing the middle ground with others we need to get along with. Don’t infringe on others. Share with one another. Don’t hurt or kill each others. Do good. Do be good to each other. Do know you’re all just as lovable in God’s eyes. And your mama’s. You’re equal. Now all of us need to act like it. And stop the insanity. Please. Before it’s all too late for all of us. I have hope it is not too late.

Thank you for reading today. I appreciate you returning after a sub-par blog yesterday. I feel it’s necessary to share those to show we all have terrible days we can and do recover from, believe it or not. Show, don’t tell. That’s what authors are supposed to do. Have a beautiful day. Get some rest. Make some progress. Be kind. Be thoughtful. Be the change. I’ll see you tomorrow.

My Hope for All of You!