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Wash Those Hands!
How many times have you heard (or read) this in the last week? “Wash your hands.” The coronavirus: some people say that it’s just like the flu, and I understand the thought process behind that, but I think with this being so new (and with no vaccinations, etc.) it’s different. Not only that, it’s now considered a pandemic. The last time the flu was a global pandemic was in 1918 when the Spanish flu killed at least 10% of the people who became infected. So yeah, this coronavirus mess is definitely something to take seriously. Schools are closing, events are being cancelled, and many people are panicking. And if you…
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Cute as a Button and Sharp as a Tack
Regardless of how old you are, meeting someone’s parents for the first time is intimidating. It always has been for me, anyway. Throughout the years, some people’s parents have loved me, some have been neutral, and others hated me. There have been two unforgettable instances when someone’s parents have disliked me right off the bat without knowing me at all, and this is about one of them. I was twenty-six, and I was dating a guy. I had met his mother (she was a lovely woman) and his grandparents (her parents), who were also wonderful people. His father was a different story. Upon finding out that I had a child,…
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LET’S SHAKE ON IT
Everyone has something that really, really gets under their skin. Most people can’t stand to be lied to and hate a thief (with good reason), but there’s another behavior that I’m seeing more and more of that drives me bonkers, and that is when people say they will do something and then don’t. Before my dad passed in 2011, he often complained that things weren’t the same as when he was young. Back in his day, he said, when a man shook your hand and said he would do something, he did it, and it was a rare occurrence that he didn’t follow through. If he didn’t hold up to…
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The Perfect Thanksgiving Recipe
How is it almost Christmas again? Where did 2019 go? If you know the answer to that question, kindly share it with me. Yesterday was Thanksgiving, and it was a wonderful day. I spent the day with my brother, sister-in-law, and nieces. As always, the food was out of this world (my sister-in-law is a fabulous cook), and so was the company. I sometimes see memes on social media about how stressful it can be when families get together during the holidays; the memes are usually funny, and they make me chuckle, but I imagine that’s because my family doesn’t stress me out—in fact, they kind of have the opposite…
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To burn, or not to burn
Jackson Brown said, “Don’t burn bridges. You’ll be surprised how many times you have to cross the same river.” Don Henley said, “Sometimes you get the best light from a burning bridge.” I say, “If you must burn a bridge, don’t do it on a windy day, and be sure to first consult your locality’s fire-burning ordinance regulations.” Seriously, though … To burn or not to burn; that is the question. I believe that Mr. Brown and Mr. Henley were both right when they said what they had to say about burning bridges; I think a person should choose what advice to follow on a case-by-case basis. Well, sort of…
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Kettlebell Day
I’m a creature of habit to the nth degree. For example, every single day of my life, I eat the same thing for breakfast. Every. Single. Day. For dinner, I shake things up a bit by eating one of three meals. So, it’s fair to say that I don’t like change. I find comfort in the familiar. Except when it comes to kettlebell day. What’s kettlebell day, you ask? Well, not only do I eat the same things daily, I also do the same exercises. One day is elliptical day, and the other is kettlebell day. I hate kettlebell day. I’ve been doing it for about two years now and…
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Porch Time
Back in August 2011, my father was diagnosed with an aggressive form of terminal cancer. “How long?” is one of the first questions, if not the first question, people normally ask when diagnosed with a terminal disease, and it was one of our first questions. The life expectancy they gave him was broad; I believe they said six months to several years. I was in denial, wanting to believe the chemo would help, and he’d be with us at least a few more years; treatment had come a long way since my mom had died more than thirty years earlier. He ended up passing about two months after his diagnosis,…
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The Hardest Thing
When I was a kid, we had a beautiful black, Persian cat named Miss Puss. She had big, yellow eyes and was a sweet-natured kitty. Like many animals do, she had picked her person, and her person was my mom. Every so often, she’d gift my mom with dead animals. Although my mom found these tokens disgusting, she knew they were gifts and never scolded Miss Puss. When my mom passed away, Miss Puss came with my sister and me to live at my dad’s house, which was in the same neighborhood, just a few minutes walking distance away. Once in a while, Miss Puss would disappear. The first time…
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The What-wases
2019 has been the year for trying new things. I am a creature of habit; structure is my security blanket, so when changes come along, I resist with all of my might. Because of my book, I’ve had to open my arms to change, and although that’s been tough, it’s also forced me to get out into the world and do things I would have never done before. Travel is one of those things. I don’t like to travel. I’m not a crazy cat or dog lady, but I do miss my little friends when I’m away; I’d be willing to bet that they miss me, too. Plus, I…
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Killing My Precious
This one is about writing. Well, my writing, that is. I try to give little tips on Instagram, and most of the tips I share are ones I learned from articles or books by other authors. Some things I have learned along the way from experience, but those are more regarding edits and after I finish the first draft. Today I was thinking (I do that sometimes), and I remembered one of the early struggles I had when I started writing. Luckily, I also remember what I did to fix it, so I will share it with you. While my current book is the only one I’ve finished, I started…
