Good morning, and welcome to the Insecure Writer's Support Group! I blogged with everyone until earlier this summer when life took over and all my hopes, dreams, and aspirations had to go on the back burner. I'm so glad to be here again, and hope to have many new friends to hop with as well!
Like I said, life got in the way. Isn't that what always seems to happen? Five years ago, everything seemed to be going my way. Our family business was running smoothly and my helpful hubby gave me the green light to step back and write. It was what I dreamed of for so long, I should have known something horrible would go wrong.
And it did.
Now, three important people in my life have died, my sales person quit, my husband's health has gone down the drain and I'm back to working full time.
Life is what happens when you tell God your plans. So everyday I pull up my big girl pants, paint a smile on my face and get done what I can. So what if writing happens every night after the late night shows? At least I'm writing. For three months I wrote nothing, not even Facebook posts.
I felt empty. What I really was, was pissed at life. Why do some people get everything their way while the rest of us struggle just to get by? What did I do in a previous life to deserve the crap I've been dealt in this one? Basically, I've been having a major pity party and spreading my 'happiness' every where I went.
As a writer, you want to write all the time. I want the freedom to set my own agenda for how my days are spent. Unfortunately, that's just not going to happen anymore. But I'm getting okay with that. I wrote my first novel working at night, over 100K words in a little over five months for the original draft. So I know I can, but it isn't what I wanted.
So, off I go again on a new dream. Yes I am a writer. Yes I have a full time job. Yes, I want to do both. No, I'm not crazy. I don't make enough money as a writer to quit my day job. Yet.
We have to have our dreams. They power the words and the worlds we create. Without dreams I wouldn't have ever put the first word on paper. Following my dreams has helped my grieve the loss of loved ones and the postponement of my career. I won't stop now. I know if I make it through the valleys, the hills will be so much sweeter.
Be sure to visit other Insecure Writer's on the hop. We love visitors!
It's Day 4 of the 'A to Z Blogging Challenge', which means today's letter is 'D'. So I feel I need to brag on my dogs. My husband will laugh to hear I am writing about the boys; he says they don't need the attention. But I love all my four legged pets, they are part of my family just as my children.
This is Ketka's Meriadoc of Buckland, commonly known around our little corner of the world as Merry. He came to us from a breeder in Michigan. Merry is a Norwich Terrier, and he lives to be loved. This picture doesn't show it, but he is actually laying on my helpful hubby's legs watching television. If you lay down on the carpet, he will lick your face so long you will actually not be able to breathe. He's a lover, not a fighter.
The white fuzz ball in the bay window is Peregrin, Prince of the Halflings, aka Pippin. Yes, here is the other adventurous hobbit. A West Highland White Terrier, we rescued Pip from a pet store. He is my boy; when we ride together to work he has a tendency to slide into my lap while I drive. We have an easy rhythm together and our lives would be slow without him.
My animals are just as much a part of my family as my children. Together we form a strange pack: Four humans, three horses, two dogs, and one cat. But we all get along, and having the patter of four little feet around the house is comforting.
Thinking of bringing a new animal into your home? Please consider a pet from either a reputable animal rescue or shelter. And don't be afraid of an older animal. They have just as much love as a puppy, and they need more reassurance. They've already been abandoned once.
AND... no matter where you find your next family pet, please spay or neuter to help control the pet populations.
The holidays are packed away and the weather has gone to the dogs. Yep, it's January again. The start of a brand new year, but the weather sure feels recycled. For some reason January feels like such a month of let downs.
I want to be skiing in Colorado, or swimming in the warmth of the Caribbean but I'm stuck at home wishing for another time and another place. For years helpful hubby and I have used January to rest and start anew. But with so many losses in recent years, January has become the month of not again.
Do you remember being a kid? Do you remember how difficult it was to go back to school after the Christmas Holiday break? That's what I feel like. All the wind is gone from my sails and my thoughts are as frenetic as the weather we are experiencing. What I would do for just one month where the weather and my moods would co-operate.
Perhaps I have a bad case of SAD (seasonal affective disorder)? Lack of sunshine can definitely make me grumpy. I love turning my face to the sun, just like any sunflower soaking up all the Vitamin D I can in the shorter daylight hours.
Well, all things happen, and so January will come around every year. Darn it.
Rmember - There will be over 200 giveaways on each blog hosted by that
Author or Blogger.
But that's not all....
We have THREE grand prizes. You as
a reader can go to EACH blog and comment with your email address and be entered
to win. Yep, you can enter over 200 times!
Now what
are those prizes?
1st Grand
Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet
2nd Grand
Prize: A $300 Amazon or B&N Gift Card
3rd Grand
Prize: A Swag Pack that contains paperbacks, ebooks, 50+ bookmarks, cover flats,
magnets, pens, coffee cozies, and more!
Again today we are participating in Carrie Ann's New Year's Blog Hop. Another year has come and gone, the end of the world didn't happen and now we are stuck in a year ending in Unlucky Number 13! But don't let that stop you, this year is a clean slate, the chance to right the problems from the previous one. What is the strangest New Year's resolution you ever made? Did you keep it? Chances are probably not.
The tradition of making promises on the turn of the year goes all the way back to the Phoenicians who promised their gods to return any borrowed objects and pay all their debts. In ancient Rome, promises were made to the pagan god Janus, for whom January is named, and the knights of the Middle Ages took a 'peacock vow' at New Year's as a symbol of their renewed commitment to chivalry and chastity.
There is no hard and fast formula for resolutions. Some people say you must make them before the final stroke of midnight on New Year's eve. Others are more liberal and say it should be done before the end of the first day of January. I'm not sure if there is any research as to success rates depending on when you make your vows.
The overall success rate for those who swear this year will be about 20%. Men are more capable of lasting than women; I would say because of their hard headed stance about failure. I quit making any resolutions when I stopped to think about the hypocrisy of the whole thing. Either I would keep these promises because I was truly sincere about the change asked for; or it was something I already do.
But expecting life long behavior changes because of a day seems a waste of time. So take them as you will. Let me know about the strangest New Year's resolutions you've made, and did you keep it. There will be two prizes, a $25 Amazon or B&N gift card (winner's choice) and a signed copy of my ebook, "Catalyst - Guardian Rising".
In a post-apocalyptic future, the fate of the rebuilding world hangs in the balance. An unknown power seeks the forbidden knowledge needed to unleash total devastation once more upon a fragile Earth. It falls to one woman to safeguard the future of the Five Kingdoms.
Princess of the West, Vivienne has been plagued by nightmare visions of past and future since the moment of her birth. Now, to save all she loves from destruction, she must rise above the crippling self-doubts that have assailed her since childhood to become the prophesied Guardian—because the enemy is moving, and the world will soon plunge into a war of sword and sorcery.
But who is the enemy? And who is a friend? Can Vivienne trust anyone apart from her sworn protector, Devon?
The answers lurk in the past—but should the past be destroyed to protect the future?
"...The Council of Elders thinks I am insane, unlucky to be born a woman and too young at the age of nineteen for the responsibility as my father’s only heir. Perhaps I am crazy. I did not ask for these dreams, these voices directing my actions. I have been cursed to spend my life reliving the nightmare of my birth. It has haunted my dreams since early childhood. The dreams created within me a deeply ingrained sense of doubt, questions of worth and abilities. Perhaps if the birth had been normal, all the torment and guilt which burned itself into my psyche would have ceased to be the essence of who I am. Instead, I was fated to have this repetitive horror as much a part of my nature as the blood streaming through my veins. My birth was a circus of violence, bloodshed, war and death. Hallmarks that created the basic characteristics of my personality were defined at the time of my voyage into this life.
For most of my life, from childhood through present, my dreams have encompassed a vast array of subjects, some familiar, others not. Sometimes I’ve dreamed of a strange world, where the sky pulsed a sickening shade of reddish-orange and the ground ran slick with blood. Other dreams contained mere shadows of people I did not know, doing things I could not see. Those dreams did not impress my brain enough to record their intimate details into my memories. But the complex details of my most horrific nightmares … those I have remembered with excruciating exactness. Those nightmares have at times driven me to the farthest reaches of my sanity where madness beckoned with welcoming arms, laughing when I gasped for air and tried to recoil from the horror.
In these repetitive, abominable shows, there is no past, no future — only an uneasy sense of existing simply in the“now.”
My worst and therefore most prevalent nightmare always starts at the same place: the laboring of my mother just prior to my birth. In this horror show, I can see the room and the people involved through several different sets of eyes, some at the same time. This gives me some interesting perspectives on everyone and their motivations. Despite the impossibilities involved in the complex process of dreaming, when I am locked within these nightmares, events never seem to be a part of my past. Everything and everyone seems to be moving in the “now,” not the “then.” But the pain and terror and the horror are always mine. I need bear no other person’s baggage — I have enough of my own.
Everyone is a product of their past. Since well before my birth my father, the Western Kingdom and the Northern Warrior tribes had been defending their borders against repeated incursions by followers of Minnlin, a renegade Druid, with exceptional talent for Mysticism and War Craft. Fifty years before my birth the Druid Master of that time, a grim fellow named Reave, gave his permission for the young Minnlin to be given instruction in both areas.
The Druids gave him free rein over the knowledge contained in their massive libraries. In their folly they allowed the young man to study unobserved and unsupervised within the forbidden Books they were sworn by oath to protect from abuse.With this lack of oversight from his teachers, Minnlin grew in talent but with apparently no sense of right and wrong. The Masters tried to keep the monster they created confined in the safety of the community.Too late they realized the potential for destruction he possessed.But Minnlin had seen his future, and he knew it did not lie within the thick stone walls of the Druid's Mountain Fortress. For half a century, the threat of a druid unbound to the Oath hung over the Five Kingdoms.
In fall, early November to be precise, the first winter snows began storming in from the oceans. Our lands, the Five Kingdoms, were thrust into sudden and horrific warfare. As the heavy, black thunderclouds began rolling over the craggy mountains that marched across the Western horizon, enemy forces in the East streamed up from the Plains through the rapidly closing passes and into the Forbidden Mountains, leaving behind the more hospitable lower climate. They continued fighting skirmishes and ambushes over the next six weeks. Both sides gained and lost territory during these encounters.
Even though my birth was imminent my mother, Katarina, decided to make a visit to see my father, the Western king, in the field becauseshe was determined not to give birth alone. She traveled to his headquarters, close to the actual front line, the manor home of friends King Der, ruler of the Northern Tribes, and his wife, Mari. With Der’s youngest brother Devon and Hana, a Tracker who was retraining as a Healer, also in residence, the king’s house was a safe harbor in the midst of war. My father, Philippe, was a nervous wreck having his very pregnant wife anywhere close to the fighting. But he was so happy to see Katarina after an absence of more than two months, for the first and only time in his life, Philippe threw caution to the winds and left his field tent for the traditional Winter Solstice Celebration truce and returned to the manor house to stay with Katarina. Before he could arrive, my mother went into labor."
I thought about posting this yesterday, but Christmas is a time to spend together with family and friends. This year was my son's first with his girlfriend and her 2 year old son, so he got to experience for the first time, all the craziness that goes with making accommodations for two sets of parents and grandparents. It brought a smile to my face, watching my first born take those steps in manhood, a rite of passage I didn't even know existed until it happened.
With 50+ Christmas' under my belt, I sat and thought long and hard about the most memorable holiday experiences of my life. Most are happy, family and friends; the worst stands out every year: the year my father was in intensive care with an unknown infection and a fever bordering on 104 degrees.
My father went into the hospital the first week of December 1982, with a high fever and general aches and pains of unknown origin. Three days into the stay, he suffered the first seizure, while I was on the phone with my mother. Racing to join her from three different directions, my siblings and I made our way there. The news - Daddy had a stroke. Then came the phone call I dreaded, come to the hospital now, your father is dying.
Upon arrival I was informed my strong, invincible father had a hole in his heart. Conferring with my brother the doctor in South Carolina the decision was made to move Daddy to Emory Hospital, where my brother had a friend in the cardiac department. Since he was too sick to move by ambulance, a Life Flight helicopter was arranged.
The worst feeling I ever had was watching the 'copter leave not knowing that when it landed he would be alive. All three of us had our own cars, so we each drove across town, reconnecting in the parking lot. As we walked into Emory, there was the Life Flight crew walking back out to leave for another mission. Seeing us, they stopped to tell us Daddy made it through the flight and was in the Coronary Care Unit.
Speaking with my brother by pay phone, I sat by the window of his room, watching the action through a crack at the bottom of the blinds and relaying everything to John as he drove through the night to join us at Emory.
Everything eventually calmed down and Daddy stayed at Emory for 9 months before returning home a most different man than the one who left. But I will never forget that first Christmas without him at home, when my sister and I decorated a palm tree in Mother's living room with bows and ribbons and called it a tree.
Daddy died 9 year's later, 22 years old come next March, but I will always associate his illness with Christmas. It makes each one precious, knowing that at any moment it could be the last you have.
Happy Holidays, and as today is the first day - Happy Kwanzaa for those who celebrate. Please stop back by starting on New Year's Day and continuing for a week for a chance to win a $25 gift card to either Amazon.com or B&N.com; or a signed copy of my e-book, "Catalyst - Guardian Rising".
I hope everyone is finished with their holiday shopping lists! Still need to go to the grocery store for Christmas dinner, but the presents are all wrapped, the stocking stuffers are ready to go and it's beginning to look like the holidays have arrived.
If you aren't too deep in the shopping mode this Friday, come over and visit as I am interviewed by Lindsay Avalon, as she does her blog tour for the release of her first individual novel, "Breaking the Nexus". I haven't had time to download it as of tonight, but it is on the top of my list for vacation reading.
Also, I will be participating in Carrie Ann's Blog Hop for New Year's, and this time I will have two prizes to choose from: a $25 gift card to either Amazon or B&N, and a signed copy of my e-book "Catalyst - Guardian Rising". So stay tuned as I wind down this election year and prepare to survive the end of the world (and the end of 2012!)
Well, despite my constant complaining, December keeps rolling along. This month is almost half over, there are fourteen shopping days until Christmas and this year I might still be out there come December 24th. First it has been too hot for shopping. I mean really, how can anyone listen to "Sleigh Ride" or "Winter Wonderland" when it it pushing 80 degrees outside and you have the air conditioning running because the hot flashes are getting help.
Now, it is raining and a long overdue cold front is pushing through the state. Rainy days are good for two things: napping and reading. Nothing else seems to get accomplished when the clouds hang low and grey in the sky. The days are still getting shorter and the people in this town cannot seem to handle driving and rain at the same time. So, rather than scare myself out of five years of life, I elect to stay close to home when it rains.
But the tree is up, and the decorations are out. The dining room table is almost free of the year's worth stuff with no other home and my shopping lists are complete. Starting tomorrow the run to the finish line begins. I know which stores I want to hit, so I can maximum my trips to the mall (I like to park near to exits, for quick escape). I've picked up all my layaway, and there is room in the freezer for Christmas Dinner.
Just a quick note to say I hope everyone is enjoying a happy Holiday season, regardless of what religion you follow. I will have some great news (hopefully) coming up right after the turn of the year, and I will be blog-hopping for New Year's, and raffling some awesome prizes. So take a deep breath and remember - this only comes once a year Thank God!
Tomorrow is that most American of holidays - Thanksgiving. In the spirit of the occasion I have decided to list the things I am most thankful for.
1 - I am thankful for my family. God brought me the perfect man, and we have been together for 25 years. My children aren't perfect, but they are to me and I am amazed everyday I created these two exceptional humans.
2 - I am thankful for the country we live in. America isn't perfect, but I'm glad to be here where I have the freedom to disagree with others and grouse about taxes and other issues without having to worry about who is going to show up at my door.
3 - I am thankful God blessed me an incredible imagination and the gift of gab. It makes being a writer much easier.
4 - I am thankful for my friends and colleagues in all three professional areas of my life: as a business owner, as a writer, and as a volunteer with rescued horses.
5 - I am thankful for all the varied blessing in my life. They are too many to name, but I try to acknowledge them each. I look carefully each day because sometimes a blessing can be disguised as a problem. It's all in how you perceive things!
6 - I am thankful for my animals, all of them. Whether small or large, my animals are my children just like darling daughter and sensational son. Our family would be lost without them.
7 - Most important, I am thankful for each and every one out there. What a wonderful world this is!
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Enjoy your turkey and dressing, don't eat too much pumpkin pie, and I'll see everyone next week as we begin the countdown to the end of the world (or at least 2012!)
Last weekend here in Georgia was magnificent. Clear blue skies, pleasant temperatures - all the right ingredients for contemplating my next story!
Actually, I have three that are battling for attention and it is becoming crowded in my head. Everyone is talking at once, all of them convinced their story is the most important, and I hoped taking last weekend off from writing and just wandering through the woods on horseback would put all the pieces in order. I was partly right.
Ever since childhood I have found solace in the forest. The lack of noise pollution, the quiet acceptance of the creatures, these are just two of the reasons I love the woods. As a teenager I would disappear into the trees behind our house (usually with a stolen pack of cigarettes I'm afraid), to spend hours staring up at the tall Georgia pines and majestic oaks; working out the mysteries of the universe in two hours or less before dark.
Riding through the property was awesome. The weather was just right, my mare figured out the way home and all I had to do was sit back and think. All my characters came forward and presented their cases.
I need to finish the synopsis for book 2 of the Guardian Stories. That is the first priority. Everything is ready for submission and waiting on me to finish the synopsis. But for some reason I am having a block against sitting down and writing, not just the synopsis but anything. My mind is full of snot, compliments of my children and husband, and I cannot put words together in any sort of sense.
There are two other stories vying for attention, who have also fallen victims to the mucus attack. I promised one the first crack when clean oxygen returns to my brain, but the other is going to have to wait, much to their consternation. I hate to say no to the voices in my head, but between making chicken soup for everyone, working two email accounts for work, picking up prescriptions, and blowing my own nose - something has to give.
All these things and more slogged through my densely crowded brain while Penny (the horse) and I tackled the woods and hills of Northwest Georgia. Wind from Superstorm Sandy the previous weekend had removed most of the leaves from the hardwoods. The sun was bright in a brilliant blue sky, with not a cloud to be seen and the air was warm until the light breeze stirred up a chill to brush the skin.
After a while it began to dawn on me to stop being so hard on myself. I need to just allow myself the time to care for my family and myself; something I tend not to do when I am in full on writing / working mode. September and October were crazy at my day job. My crews were out working more than 70 hours nine weeks in a row, which of course meant hubby and I were working those same hours. If my brain is overtaxed, there's a good reason for it.
So I've decided to spend some time doing nothing. I've worked hard, I owe myself downtime, and no one is going to deprive me of the opportunity to clean out the cobwebs and snot. I know many people are participating in the NaNo WrMo challenge of 50,000 words and more power to each of you! Believe me, I would if I could. But that's not where my head is at this moment. While the rest of you write, I'm going to relax, catch up on my reading and work on outlining my next book.
With that goal in mind, I make the pledge to not do any "serious" writing until after Thanksgiving, which is amazingly only one week away. So, for one week I am taking suggestion for books to read. I have a Nook and would like at least 5 books to choose from. If you know of something I should check out, leave me the title and author.
And with that, I'm off for the day. I think taking the pressure off might kick start the healing processes, and that might spread to the rest of my sickly family. And a healthy family for Thanksgiving is the best blessing of all!
You are the winner for the Autumn's Harvest Blog Hop giveaway of a $10 gift card to either Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble - your choice!
The comments were awesome, and it was hard to pick just one winner. If you ask me, you are all winners. I wish I could give something to each one!
Autumn is on the downswing now as we head to Thanksgiving, then the Holiday season in December. Join me later this week as I talk about our family's Thanksgiving traditions and my fondest recollections of dinner disasters!
Thank you to everyone who came by; whether you left a comment or not I feel extremely humble to have shared not only my memories but also an excerpt of my first novel, "Catalyst - Guardian Rising."
If you are interested in learning more about my book, the first of a trilogy, then please visit my blog: www.catalyst-the-guardian.blogspot.com.
And a BIG thank you to Carrie Ann's Blog Hops for putting together this magnificent networking opportunity. I hope I get to know some of you better as a result of her 'Hops"!
The elections are over. No, my person didn't win but that's OK. Now it is time to move past the heat of the moment and concentrate on other important issues. Such as:
1 - Why does Wal-Mart start loading in the Christmas decorations before Halloween is even over? It is so hard to find turkey decorations unless I want mistletoe hanging over their heads. I want each holiday to have its own moment in the sun. Is that so much to ask?
2 - The Northeast, who got socked again today with another nor'easter. We should all pray for a quick restoration of services, especially for heating as the temperatures begin to drop further. It will be a long time before the Jersey Shore returns to their glory days.
3 - There's a blog hop coming next week! For those of us who are unfamiliar with the concept: over two hundred authors / bloggers will be devoting their columns to Autumn, and its importance to each of us. More importantly - there will be prize drawings on every blog, PLUS 3 Grand Prize Swag Bags drawn from comment posts on all sites. Be sure to visit - you never know what writer's can give away!
4 - This year is rapidly drawing to a close. That means it's time for holiday television shows and sale circulars. But this year why not try to spread cheer to someone less fortunate than yourself. Volunteer at a shelter or soup kitchen, donate blood to the Red Cross, adopt an older dog or cat from a shelter, organize neighbors to collect items to send to those ravaged by Superstorm Sandy. Remember to give back - it is the gift no amount of money can equal.
America is, in my honest opinion, the best country on the face of the earth. Why? Because where else on this planet can over 100 million different people cast a ballot based on their personal convictions without fear of retribution or their ballot not counting. We need to look back at the ideals our Founding Fathers set on paper. True so of them are antiquated and not relevant today, but the basic principles still stand:
"We the People, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility; provide for the common defense, support the general welfare and secure the blessings of Liberty, for ourselves and posterity to ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of America."
Next week I will be among the several hundred authors / bloggers participating in this Blog Hop. I must confess this is my first 'rodeo', so to speak. While I blog quite a bit and on a variety of subjects, this time I am joining others on a topic. I'm excited!
As I have often stated, opinions are personal and not everyone agrees with everyone else. But that's what makes the world so interesting. Discussing and arguing, freely exchanging ideas, ah the possiblities are endless. But enough about that.
What do you
love about Autumn and Fall? What does it remind you of? What about reading? Do
you think it's a good subject to read? Well, as authors, we
are always ready to share our Autumn stories and why we love snuggling in the
cold. *wink* Starting on Friday and ending on Oct 22nd, over 200 Authors and Bloggers will share their
favorite things about those sexy men we know and love.
And while we do that, we are EACH doing a
giveaway. Yep. There will be over 200 giveaways on each blog hosted by that
Author or Blogger.
But that's not all....
We have THREE grand prizes. You as
a reader can go to EACH blog and comment with your email address and be entered
to win. Yep, you can enter over 200 times!
Now what
are those prizes?
1st Grand
Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet
2nd Grand
Prize: A $50 Amazon or B&N Gift Card
3rd Grand
Prize: A Swag Pack that contains 10+ paperbacks, ebooks, 50+ bookmarks, cover
flats, magnets, pens, coffee cozies, and more! Plus - each blogger will also be doing a drawing for their own give aways
Check back in on November 9th and let's hop around together!
Just a quick note with my thoughts on the current issues around the country:
1) - Hurricane Sandy - Truly a monster of a storm when you can be affected by the storm more than 1000 miles from the center of the storm. I am glad all my family and friends are safe, and my thoughts and prayers go out to those not as lucky. Having gone through more than a dozen hurricanes in my life, I am glad that another area of the country go socked for a change. (Not really - I hope everyone knows that is only a joke!)
2) - Election 2012 - I promised my family I wouldn't get on a soap box about the elections, so much as I would love to sound off I will only say this. Don't forget to vote. It is a right many people have died protecting. Do not use that right without being informed as to each candidate's positions.
3) - Halloween - I hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween. The Charlie Brown special has been played, the pumpkin's have been extinguished and I took my grandson in love out for his first trick or treat. He was dressed as a Transformer. It was magical.
Don't forget to join in on the Autumn's Harvest Blog Hop, sponsored by Carrie Ann's Blog Hops! Be sure to leave a comment to be entered into a drawing to win a $10 Amazon gift card from me, and entered to win the Grand Swag Prize through Carrie Ann. Dates for the hop are November 9th through November 12th.
Well, it's that time again - Election Time. Normally I don't practise politics in mixed company (Democrats and Republicans), but I thought it might be interesting to put my opinions down on paper; forgetting the cardinal rule in our family - Never discuss politics, religion or the Great Pumpkin.
Now I know you are wondering what the heck the Great Pumpkin has to do with politics. It doesn't. But he invokes strong opinions, just like the other two subjects. I have discovered people are very vocal about their own opinions regarding politics and religion.
Party-wise, I will say upfront I am a registered Republican. Do I vote a straight party ticket? No. Do I blindly adhere to all the planks of the Republican platform? No.. Do I use my brain? Always.
The greatest gift we enjoy in this country is the right to choose our leaders. But it can also be our weakest link. When it comes time to elect the men and women who will spend our hard earned money, it seems lately people are not studying the facts behind the rhetoric. News Flash People: not everything candidates or their commericals say is true. Both side stretch and distort until without research it is impossible to tell fact from fiction.
This is on purpose people! If it is hard to check the facts, people won't do it. Let's face it, as a society we expect the newspeople to check our facts for us. Second News Flash - newspeople are not neutral! There was a time when journalists reported the news without bias, but that ended with CNN. Both sides report things as they see them, which may or may not be accurate depending on which side of the argument they agree with.
So, what do I believe it? I believe in America, not as a political system, but a country built on the premise that with his own hands, a man can go from indentured servant to prosperous businessman. A country that said it didn't care where you came from or who you were - this is a land of new beginnings.
I want a conservative approach to giving away my money. If a country doesn't like us, why should we try to buy their friendship? How well has that worked for us so far? How about we take some of those millions going overseas and spend them right here at home, where the money is truly needed. Remember the adage - charity begins at home? I don't think Congress does.
I think government should stay out of healthcare. I favor a strong military as a deterrent to other countries thinking we are sitting ducks for another 9/11. While I personally object to abortion, I will defend to the death a woman's right to make her own decisions. It's called free will, and if it's good enough for our Creator, it's good enough for me.
Our tax system isn't fair to any of the classes, and the small businessman is being squeezed. If all that stimulus money had gone to the companies who create jobs, it would have gone to the small local businesses. And, no matter how you re-name it, wealth redistribution smacks of the basic tenents of Communism.
For more than two hundred thirty-five years, this nation has survived internal strife, war on our soil and across the oceans, civil rights battles, and anti-war demonstrations. But I am afraid that apathy by our own citizens might be the downfall of the greatest democracy / republic the world has ever seen.
So in prepartion for the November elections - do yourself and everyone else a favor. VOTE!
As June progressed, I finally got all the turnip greens out of my garden, and it seemed things were well on their way to a fabulous summer. I peeled and chopped and canned zucchini and summer squash while dreams of mountains of beans, rivers of sweet peas and bushels of tomatoes danced him my head. Once again, Mother Nature had other plans.
That's right - we have another drought on our hands. Just as my corn was tasseling and the bean pods were plumping, the rains went away. For more than three weeks, not a drop fell from the heavens. When the grass starts crunching under your feet, then you know it's dry out there.
So, I harvested my cucumbers (apparently they like it hot!), and squash and monitored the damages. Both my helpful hubby and my father-in-law pronounced my garden dead on more than one occasion, only to see me harvest baskets of potential pickles. My corn popped inside the husks but the beans popped out in full force, leading to a basket so full I had to have my son carry it to the house.
At last I relented and pronounced the harvest done. Some seeds were extra prolific (Squash of all kinds, cucumbers, pole beans) while others never ever popped through (carrots, peppers, peas). But for what did come up I reaped gold.
My final tally for the first Reece garden is: 20 quarts of beans, 15 pints of pickles and pickle relish, 5 quarts of summer squash and onions, 10 pints of lemon honey jelly, 8 pints of zucchini pickles, and 3 quarts of pickled butternut squash. All in all not a bad haul.
The tomatoes came in slow and never in any great quantities, so I just shared them with friends and co-workers. We got 5 full grown pumpkins, which were ready by the end of July. I am saving mine for Halloween. The biggest failure was no watermelons. I love watermelon in the summer. This year I had to resort to grocery store melon. Boo.
I gathered seeds from all the produce that I could and I intend to try again next year. No winter garden, I'm not ready to fight another battle against turnip greens. No, we are going to plow, rake, plow, rake, and hope for cleaner dirt next spring. I had a lot of fun, recalled a lot of good times with my father, and I wouldn't trade a callous or twinge in my carpal tunnel for anything else. Good times from the simplest thing - a new memory to join the many from childhood.
Thanks for listening to my summer saga. It might not sound like all that much fun, but trust me. It was a blast.
Once the great Turnip Green disaster of 2012 was averted, I thought for sure my garden was on its way. Seedlings were popping up, squash and cucumber vines began sending out their first runners, and my pumpkins appeared to have been set into pure fertilizer. Visions of fresh vegetables danced through my head at night, and on Sunday mornings I couldn't wait to be on the road to measure the week's progress. Then - another crisis.
From Mother's Day until Father's Day, I was out of town. Not for business, not for fun, but for family issues. First, my 92 year old mother lives with my brother and his family. My sister-in-law was getting a well deserved break and would be gone for two weeks. Since my brother has odd hours (he's a doctor), my sister and I decided to split the assignment between the two of us. So for ten day I 'baby sat' my mother. It was wonderful.
I had always been a Daddy's girl,. My mother and I get along, but I'm a strange child (it says so in my baby book). Only when my dad died early did Mother and I finally come to a mutual place from which to base our adult relationship. When she could no longer drive herself around, my brother moved her into his house in South Carolina. It was the best thing (did I mention she is 92?) and we all agreed it was time, but afterward I discovered it hurt.
Spending ten days sitting with my mom, talking, working crossword puzzles, watching every game show on television, fixing her meals - it was glorious. For really the first time in my adult life we related and bonded and discussed past history which cannot be undone. When Memorial Day weekend rolled around and it was time to go home, I was so sad I didn't even listen to the radio the entire three hour drive. I wanted to just savor the moment.
Well, the next day I returned to my little slice of vegetable heaven, only to discover nothing had been done in 10 days. Okay, in gardening terms, ten days is an entire season. The weeds were taking over. I lost my carrots, my lettuce, my peppers, everything that wasn't a squash, pumpkin, cucumber or beans had simply been overwhelmed. For five hours I pulled and grunted and cursed (again) my city-slicker hubby, but as the sun began to sink over the horizon there was a semblance of order in my plot.
Then, less than a week later, my aunt died. Back out of town I go, knowing that when I returned there would be more weeds to wrangle, plus they were cutting hay that week. I prayed no one would run over the pumpkins, which by this time had already started to bloom. Returning six days later, I raced up the expressway only to discover - more zucchini and summer squash than Carter has Little Pills (obscure 60's reference - look it up!).
When I say zucchini, I mean green blimps! These monsters were at least 7 pounds a piece and as long as my arm. Nothing close to the grocery store zucchini. My first thought was: did I plant the wrong seeds? But then I looked at summer squash and they were enormous yellow pillows! You think I am kidding? One summer squash made a casserole that fed three people for four days! My hubby asked if I bought the seeds from some mutant source. They were huge and they didn't stop coming for weeks. Even my usually eager town friends were saying no thanks, we've had enough.
Harvesting everything that was ready took two extra large storage tubs from Wal Mart. After some more weeding (those turnip greens were stubborn little twits), I left knowing that upcoming weekend I would again be out of town - this time for a family wedding in Ohio!
Well, the gardening fun didn't stop there. Next time, we will discuss who knows more: my city boy husband, or me?
Once we decided to do a garden this year, the decision on what to plant was left up to me with hubby's stamp of approval. Corn, beans, peas, tomatoes, watermelons - all standard Georgia garden fare. With the ground prepared and the seeds ready we set out the rows and off to the races we went. All the squashes, beans, peas, melons, in three short hours we had seeded an area more than 1000 square feet. Happy and pleased with a job well done, we headed off for our first week of waiting.
Anxiously I watched the weather report, glad when radar showed rain heading in our general direction. The weekend took forever to come around again. Sunday morning arrived at last and I bounced in the car like a kid on the way to see Santa. Just when I could wait no more, we turned down the street, up the long winding driveway, then past the garden. I could see little green shoots beginning to poke through as we headed to the main house.
Church seemed to drag that morning, and lunch was forever. Just when I thought I would burst from anticipation, we arrived back at the farm. Changing into work clothes I race out to my little slice of heaven to find...
Turnip greens. That's right, turnip greens popping up all over my nicely plotted garden.
Imagine my surprise. Covering the entire garden, in my neat straight rows and in between, anywhere there was a spare inch of fertilized earth, were little turnip green leaves. Apparently the previous fall, for a winter garden, one of the helpers on my father-in-law's farm had planted turnips, harvested the greens but left the turnips themselves in the ground. With the warmer weather and the fertile spring rains, those little suckers just popped right out, heedless to the fact they are winter crops that cannot survive the hot Georgia summers.
So my first full Sunday as a gardener was spent identifying and pulling little turnip greens while trying to not pull up actual seedlings that were wanted. This is when I discovered what a non-outdoors man I married. He couldn't identify weeds from plants, didn't like having to pull so many wrong plants, and within 45 minutes had abandoned me completely to sit on the front porch drinking ice tea while I sweat and pulled and cursed turnips with my every fiber.
1) My mother was in a math honor society, my father was an aeronautic engineer and I have problems adding 2 + 2 without a calculator.
2) There was a family portrait of my great-great-great-great-great grandmother where the eyes followed where ever in the room you were standing. I would not go into that room after dark unless all the lights were on and someone came with me.
3) I love old movies. It is great to share with my parents movies they saw during the 30's, 40's, and 50s.
4) When I was in elementary school, my grandmother used to pick me up from school every day. It started being embarrassing about 5th grade, especially after the police stopped her one afternoon for driving 15mph in a 45.
5) My husband and I have worked together 24/7/365 for 17 years. It works because we are usually never stressed at the same time.
6) When I was a child, I used to think that if I didn't do things in the same order every day something bad would happen to me. That was the beginning of my OCD. I still do the same routine every morning: shower, moisturizer, teeth, makeup, hair. Steve thinks I am really weird.
7) I always wanted a dog as a child, but my mom and dad both had issues about dogs.
8) One of my favorite memories of my dad is from when I was a teenager. I worked at Six Flags and he and I got home from work about the same time every morning (God bless the night shift!). We would sit up for hours and discuss every time from politics to religion to absolutely meaningless crap, but it was great because it was just us two.
9) My brother, sister and I all married left handed people, but only one of our offspring is left handed (my sister's daughter).
10) My first boyfriend was from Cumming and grew up on a farm.
11) I had a near death experience as a child. It has shaped my view on Heaven, God and the afterlife ever since.
12) I love horses and always wanted to work with them until I found out there was no money in it. I love the time I spend volunteering at Blue Skies. Winston Churchill once said "There is something about the outside of the horse that is good for the inside of a man" and i firmly believe that is true.
13) I am scared of certain heights. I cannot dive, but I love roller coasters. I love glass elevators, but cannot stand at the edge and look down. I think it is because I was pushed off a high dive as a child. (By my swim teacher of all people!!)
14) My children are my greatest accomplishments. They are each amazing in different ways. I know they will be close even after Dad and Mom are long gone.
15) I would rather read a good book than watch a bad movie. Do not try to understand my reading tastes - they range from biography to science fiction. One summer I decided to read nothing but Russian novelists.
16) Soon my first book will be published. I think everyone will like it. At least, I hope so.
17) My sister and I were never close until we got older.
18) If I am your friend, know that I will stick up for you till hell freezes over unless you throw me under the bus. Then - it is on.
19) When we retire I want to spend at least a year travelling with Steve and the dogs in an RV. Afterward we can settle down and live out our days.
20) If I could go back and start again from, say 9th grade, I cannot think of many things that I would change.
21) My favorite sport is soccer.
22) I didn't think this would be as hard as it has been.
23) Why do we park on driveways and drive on parkways?
24) I only watch the Super Bowl for the commercials. The game itself (GO Steelers!!!) gets too slow.
25) I love my family and pray for them each every day.
2012 is already under way and it seems to me this is like another year already past. I just can't remember which one. As I grow older it feels more and more that nothing original happens anymore. Just the same stupid stuff happening in new random order.
Take for example the presidential primaries for this election. Not one of the candidates in the Republican party is trying to say anything new. In fact, they don't really say anything about anything except to flame whoever is in first place, dragging up decades old dramas and skeletons which may or may not affect that candidate's judgment or ability to be President. Helpful? Not at all. Tiring? You have no idea.
While I am grateful for our democratic process, I came across an article the other day stating that only millionaires can afford the run for public office. Which begs the argument, how can any of these politicians say they represent the majority when the majority of the population are not the rich? Who do they really represent?
Wouldn't it be nice if we could design a robot as a candidate? Then we could program them with our values, our ideas for improving government and the economy. They would be impossible to bribe - what could you tempt them with? Of course, a large EMP bomb would take out all the robots and leave us leaderless, but that might be an improvement over the past few years? We wouldn't have the sex scandals but we would be vulnerable to all the robots banding together to wipe out humanity.
'Sigh'. There is no perfect system of government. There is no perfect politician. There is only the process we are currently wading through. Come summer 2012, the Democratic Party will again present Barack Obama as their offering to the public. Who knows who the Republicans will settle upon. And there are Libertarian and Green Party entries in most states as well. And not a one of them really is in step with "We the People".
This is just like any other year. Except different. But similar. Oh, you know what I mean.
The presents have all been opened, the food eaten and Christmas 2011 is already a fading memory. Time to begin looking ahead to 2012. Some people say it will be the last year of our existence. Others say all the 2012 hysteria has been blown out of proportion. With that 'possible' end in mind, I have begun thinking of my resolutions for the New Year.
Number One: I refuse to believe the world is going to end on December 21, 2012. While I do think there might be some changes to disaster prone areas, I don't feel God is going to wipe out the world just because the planets will make a rare alignment. The Bible tells us no man will know when the end is coming, and I think the Mayans are exempt too.
Number Two: I will learn to roll with the punches. The past three years have been filled with loss and pain and confusion, but in 2012 I intend to judge what I get upset about and what I accept as God's will for me. He knows I have a lot to learn about patience and a lot of pride to put aside.
Number Three: There must be more balance in my day. Trying to be all things to all people is only wearing me to a stump. I am God's child, my husband's wife and my children's mother. I am a writer, a thinker and a free spirit. That is more than enough for anyone.
Number Four: My first book will be published next year. I resolve to put all my spare time and energy into making "Catalyst: Guardian Rising" into a success, as well as working on the next books in the series. It is what I have wanted since I was a child. I pray that God approves and blesses this career change.
Number Five: Above all, I resolve to be happy. I've been happy and I've been sad and happiness is infinitely more satisfying. But happiness is also a choice, one that I intend to make more often.
If 2012 is to be the last year of our existence, then it shall be a glorious one. If not, then it will still be glorious. The choice is mine.
