Category: Reading

Animals, anxiety, Books, Cooking/Baking, Creativity, Dogs, dreams, Emotions, family, Food, Friends, Gardening, Holiday, Learning, Life, Love, Movies, Nature, Photography, Reading, retail, Thinking, Writing

Deciding What Matters

1972italy

We got up much earlier than I anticipated. But that is ok. I feel the need for my quiet time before the world wakes up. The pups have been fed and are off and on behind me sleeping (Archie has been up and down, I think he gets too warm up there with Stella). The morning is overcast and the temperature seems to be dropping. It is creeping ever closer to freezing. And I am ok with that today. I have today and tomorrow off but one of those two days I need to do some running. I have to go to Kalkaska to get some winter headbands to donate to the local Christmas event and Mom asked if I would stop by. I am feeling a bit exhausted and really want to stay hunkered in at home. So I am debating about going today (which leaves all day tomorrow to stay home) or tomorrow (which means no “day of rest” before my workweek starts). I am thinking tomorrow. I need to get my new boots treated so that they will be protected from all the mess I will be walking through over the winter. Once I get them cleaned and get the Sno-seal on they have to sit for a bit before I wear them.

I am also feeling the need to write today. I try to write every day but on those days when the mood hits I try to make an extra effort. And since the kids are snoozing that will make it a bit easier. I will probably pull out a few research books and read as well.

Things were slow enough at work that I put up the Christmas decorations. Only to find out that the closing shift manager had planned to do it that night. She wasn’t too happy with me. But if no one says anything then I am not a mind reader! I thought it would be a nice surprise for the store manager since he loves Christmas. Thursday will begin our nonstop Christmas music. Atleast it is not for several months in a row. Just a few weeks.

The family spent some quality time together last night. We had an amazing dinner while we binge watched “Wednesday” on Netflix. We agree that they did an amazing job with it. We both grew up with the original “Addams Family” and “The Munsters” tv programs. They did it justice and did not make it woke. It was modernized but still very true to the original. I highly recommend it!

If I am going to do some writing I ought to get cracking. Once our day gets going I will pass out bones. Archie seems to be doing better now that we have them again (the guys in the meat department ordered a whole box for me and it did arrive… originally we couldn’t find it, so I have enough bones for a few weeks). I also bought a bunch of turkey wings they were getting rid of. My goal is to make turkey soup from scratch. So I will need to get that big stock pot going soon as well. Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Aging, Animals, anxiety, Creativity, Dogs, dreams, Emotions, family, Friends, Gardening, Learning, Life, Love, Medical, Nature, Photography, Reading, retail, Thinking, Writing

Tuckered

1972italy

Stella is behind me under a blanket sleeping. It is a good day for it. The sky is a bit overcast and we had a hard frost last night so there is an icy glaze to the world outside. I got research reading for my novel done yesterday. I took a few notes as I went. I am thinking I might keep doing that today. It seems to be help generating ideas.

The bird feeder has been nonstop busy! I am glad I can help the little ones. I will probably need to refill it today. The waxwings are arriving in droves it seems. So far… four different birds? Maybe six since there are two different woodpeckers that are hanging out. I will start to take photos of them here soon. I need to save and delete my photos from my blog. That way I will have more space for the new ones (I have also decided that after this 12 month period is done I am going back to the free version of WordPress as the extra money I am paying gets me nothing). I even trimmed back some bushes so I’ll have a clear view to the bird feeder.

Honestly all I want to do is sleep. I’m not feeling any better. I am just trying to fake it and get through my days. I should water my plants once I get this posted. Now that the furnace is going the house is drying out. I usually need to water my plants twice a week. A few need to be repotted but that will have to wait. I should trim a few down too.

I have two meetings next Monday so that will give me all day Tuesday to get my other stuff done. Oh nuts… I forgot to send in my word count for last month. So that also needs to go one my list. I don’t know how much I will get done but I will try. Mom and I were texting a bit yesterday. She has a doctor’s appointment today and will probably be out doing a bunch of running so calling her won’t happen. I could see if Dad wants to chat. The last few times he hasn’t felt good so it was a no go. Right now I am not up to it. We’ll see how I feel later this afternoon.

I should get this posted. I am sorry for all the repeat photos. I am going to clean out my media once I get this live and I should be able to get new photos to share on a regular basis. I have a bunch of stuff on my camera to download and share. Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Animals, anxiety, Automotive, Books, Creativity, Dogs, dreams, Emotions, Exercise, family, Friends, Gardening, Learning, Life, Love, Nature, Photography, Reading, the World, Thinking, Travel, Writing

There Goes the Neighborhood

1972italy

I am hoping to get this written and posted before anything gets too crazy. The temperature is near freezing, the wind is strong enough that even the biggest trees are bending sideways and it is a rain snow mix coming down. The skies are dark as if it were dusk, not midmorning. Stella is curled up behind me in several blankets.

I took yesterday for myself. I made some headway on my novel. I think the story has become much bigger and more involved that I planned. I will go over some of it today but not too much. Things need to stew in the back of my mind for a bit. I did take Stella for a walk. We only did one loop (so 1/2 mile). It was too cold with that wind. It cut through everything! I also got most of my outdoor furniture into the shed for the season. The only thing still out is my aqua chair by the sliding glass door. I just couldn’t tuck it away yet. I may tomorrow if the weather lets up.

The big excitement was my quarterly Supernatural box arrived. Sadly I wasn’t too impressed. There were a few things (like the awesome flannel shirt, rib cage pin and special calendar that glow in the dark) that I really liked but the rest was a bit meh. What I like about the company though is they will send out an email asking what you liked and didn’t like with every box. I have a good response for them this box! Unfortunately I did not make it to the next round in my horror competition. I was in first for a bit but then fell back to second which is where I finished. I am super proud and grateful for making it as far as I did though.

I seem to be developing one of those weather headaches. Bah humbug. I have things to do! Oh well. I will just have to deal with it. I buzzed around and got the house as best I could (I need to vacuum only Chris gets up, as I forgot yesterday) so that if we end up losing power we will be caught up (laundry, dishes, etc) and batteries/back up stuff charged. I am also thinking of getting another case of water to keep stashed. For some reason I feel the need to have things stocked up for emergencies this year. I also need to pack my yearly winter emergency bag for the car. It won’t be as necessary as I live so close to work but still. I started doing it when I was working at Younker’s.

This headache is becoming a bit much so I will wrap this up and get it posted. I enjoy reading your posts this morning. Keep up the great writing! Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Books, Creativity, Emotions, family, Gardening, Learning, Life, Love, Movies, Nature, Photography, Reading, retail, Thinking, Travel, Writing

Mixing New and Old

1972italy

It was good to sleep in. My body wanted more but I can tomorrow. I have two meetings to cover today, morning and night. I will either get my articles written tonight or (more likely) written in the morning. I am very excited about my little Halloween adventure this morning/afternoon. I have found one more place to go to for my Halloween hunt. It is on the opposite side of town but oh well. I still can’t believe I am being given this big budget to get Halloween decorations!

Chris and I decided to watch several things we had been looking forward to seeing. The first was the new “Hellraiser.” Now when it was advertised in some places they touted it as a new series. However it is actually a movie. That being said it was a bad one. There is no real plot. The script writers tried to rehash tropes that Clive Barker was able to get away with in the original. They failed miserably. The Cenobites were awful. Clive Barker’s Cenobites had stories behind the way they looked. Their character appearance after becoming a Cenobite was a direct correlation to how they lived in life. These “new” Cenobites had no back story. They were made as they are at random. There should have also been a lead Cenobite. (Pinhead never had a name in the original story. That came with the movie adaptation.) Instead we find that all the Cenobites just try to get everyone instead of just the one that opened the box. They also act more like zombies than Cenobites. Then there was the box. It didn’t even look very good for starters. And in the Clive Barker movies it was the characters with vices that were killed and turned. The script writers turned a completely blind eye to the mythos of the story. In the end it just was almost two hours that I will not get back.

The second thing was we tried the series “Interview with a Vampire” on AMC. This atleast tried. The writing was pretty good and the acting was decent. Chris plans to continue with the series. I may at a later time but not soon. As a massive Anne Rice fan I was able to recognize pieces from her other books. What the writers did was pull from all of Anne Rice’s work, not just the Vampire Chronicles. There was Feast of All Saints, The Mummy or Ramses the Damned as well as using the Mayfair Witches storyline. I made Chris laugh when I compared what we were watching to a bouillabaisse. (I was quite proud of coming up with that on the fly. Especially since it is so apt.) And I was not liking the taste of that bouillabaisse. I might have if I had not read the books. Any of her books. But I have… several times. As a stand alone it is decent and creative. As an adaptation it is too much of a little bit of all Anne Rice’s writing.

I’m sorry this is a bit f a long post. I hadn’t meant to write about last night’s viewings. And I have barely left myself enough time to get ready to go. Eeek! Well, thanks for reading and stay safe! Let me know if there are any book adaptations that you enjoyed (or didn’t)! Or if you watched either of mine. What did you think?

Animals, anxiety, Creativity, Dogs, dreams, Emotions, family, Gardening, Holiday, Learning, Life, Love, Medical, Nature, Photography, Reading, retail, Thinking, Travel, Writing

Decorator Extrodinare

1972italy

I was reading your posts and I happen to glance at the time. I need to get moving. Yesterday had it’s moments. I was very glad to get home. I let Chris keep gaming after I got home. He’d had a long week and deserved to unwind. So I hunkered in bed with my reading. I finished reading one novel and started another. I think that will leave me with two more books that Mom got me for my birthday.

Stella balanced her time between Chris and I. Her voice seems to be coming back so I will just keep doing what I am doing. Right now she is beside/behind me on the love seat. I covered her with a blanket and she is drifting in and out of sleep.

I got the go ahead to get decorating for Halloween at work. I messaged with the owner and asked what my budget was. I also asked if there were and specifics he wanted. I was pleasantly surprised at my budget. I told the owner I would head into Traverse after my first meeting Monday and shop. I am a bit excited about this. I am hoping I can turn things out at work. I’ll share photos of the finished project if I can.

I need to get going here. Stella is off in dream lane chasing something. Her legs are moving as if she is running. Thank for being there and reading. Stay safe!

Aging, Animals, anxiety, Books, Creativity, Dogs, dreams, Emotions, Exercise, family, Friends, Gardening, Guitar, Learning, Life, Love, Music, Nature, Photography, Reading, retail, Thinking, Writing

Release!

1972italy

I didn’t get out of bed until 10am this morning. Mind you I didn’t get to bed til after 1am, but still, I slept in for once. I still feel like I could sleep for a few days it feels good to have slept in. When I called last night to find out about jury duty I was so relieved to hear that it had been cancelled. I don’t mind doing jury duty. I just needed a day off. (More than one but I’ll take what I can.)

The sun is out and we have blue sky for miles. It is still very chilly (46F/7C). I worry about friends and family in Florida. One of our friends that moved back up here lived in Florida for several years. Where he lived is completely underwater according to the news. I am trying to get ahold of my Aunt and Uncle that live down there but no luck. They have several cats and I am pretty sure that they would stay as long as they could.

I am trying to figure out what I want to do today. There are several things that come to mind, but nothing that I have to do. I have both reading and writing on my list. Mom got me a guitar music book. It is pop hits (that she has never heard of, lol). I might pull that and a guitar out. If I do pull out my guitar I might try my hand at the classical stuff again. Classical and Spanish guitar are my favorite to listen to. I also am thinking about taking Stella for a walk at the park. It is a bit chilly but we both need to get out and do something physical.

But I need to wrap this up. I sent a text to my friend who is having issues. I try to check on her every few days. She adores Stella so I send a photo of her and some encouragement. This morning she needs to talk. So I will share some new photos and get this posted. Thank you to everyone for the love and support! It makes more difference than you know. Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Animals, anxiety, Books, Creativity, Dogs, Emotions, family, Gardening, Life, Love, Medical, Nature, Photography, Reading, retail, Thinking, Writing

Fumbling But Forward

1972italy

This morning is overcast. The clouds started rolling in yesterday afternoon. We need the rain. It is supposed to start this afternoon and go almost through Tuesday. I spent pretty much my whole day outside reading beneath the boys’ tree. I mostly ignored my phone. I got all the way through one of my Elizabeth Peters novels and started a Richard Matheson one. There is a good chance I will finish that one today.

After I get this posted I am heading in to do my liquor order. I am hoping it won’t take too long. I would like to come home as soon as I can. The trees have suddenly started changing color. Things were pretty much all green when the sun when down last night. This morning I see that many trees across the way have atleast half of their leaves yellow. I should figure out where all my outdoor plants will be going soon. I think I will have enough room but it might be tight. There are several large pots this year.

Today will be a struggle but not as hard as yesterday was. I am hoping for small improvements everyday. Tomorrow I have both a morning and an evening meeting. Between those Mom and I are hoping to get together. I will be in Traverse regardless. If it is raining Mom might cancel. Thank you for the kind words and support over the past week or so. It means a lot to me. I am going to wrap this up so I can go make my order. Thanks for reading and stay safe.

Aging, Animals, anxiety, Automotive, Books, Creativity, Dogs, dreams, Emotions, family, Friends, Gardening, Holiday, Learning, Life, Love, Medical, Nature, Photography, Reading, Thinking, Writing

A Break in the Clouds

1972italy

I am debating about not going rock hunting tomorrow. I am just not feeling it. We would leave tomorrow morning and return sometime Sunday. I think I would rather have my last two days at home. I will have to message the Girls and let them know. I hope they won’t be too upset with me.

I had a meeting last night. It went well. I was a bit apprehensive about going but I did alright in the end. That was a relief. It was a fun one to cover. I plan to write the article once I finish this. Then I think I will pull out my novel. I have a few ideas that I would like to get on paper.

I was gifted two beautiful rocks by one of my customers when I went to put gas in my car yesterday. He said he thought of me with the one rock he had painted. It is actually my favorite of the two he gave me. My werewolf also (finally) arrived from Build-A-Bear. He has a Nightmare Before Christmas hoodie and red high tops. I believe that the hoodie glows in the dark as well. I now have my first werewolf!

Part of the post that never was able to post (that’s a mouthful) from the other day included some of the stuff we got done around the house. Chris got our security cameras up and running and our awesome neighbor not only mowed the front yard for us but he also came over to help trim back the two trees beside the house. I am so grateful for the help.

I think I will wrap this up and get my article written. I feel a bit better than I did yesterday morning at this time. I might bite the bullet and take Stella to the park. If she is not limping. She seems to be tweaking either her ankle or shoulder on a regular basis. And if I do go out I may slip into Traverse to the bank. I still need to deposit a check. Onward and upward. Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Aging, Animals, anxiety, Books, Creativity, Dogs, dreams, Emotions, family, Friends, Gardening, Holiday, Learning, Life, Love, Medical, Nature, Photography, Reading, retail, Thinking, Writing

Digging Through

1972italy

The nights are getting very cold already. Stella is in a little ball on the couch covered in blankets. I am contemplating changing my shorts for pants but the afternoon is supposed to get back to summer temperatures. Work can be so cold somedays. Yesterday I could not get warm no matter what I did.

The sun is highlighting the overgrown grass in the front yard. The mower is still down. With everything going on there just hasn’t been time to do the engine swap. And since both of us are off at the same time hopefully we can get the mower going for a few more runs before the snow flies. I may try the weed wacker. We’ll see.

I am contemplating what comes next. I have a whole week in front of me. I have already done some of the things I had planned to do over the course of my vacation. So what do I choose to do? What I want is to take Stella to the park for a walk. It is cool enough that she won’t get overheated. But I’m not sure if it is safe for her. She needs to get out. She is becoming bored again. Neither of us have been playing with her as much as we should.

I need to work on me this week. Yesterday was a bad day for me. What made it worse was I could not shake the depression. Everyone noticed it, even when I tried to fake it. I need to…. fix it? Can it be fixed? I am not sure. But something needs to be done.

I see that some plants need watering again. I know that some will need a new pot as well. My agave plant has a baby in there with her that needs its own pot soon. My succulent George needs another pot as well. I’m not sure how big to go for him. He is growing like a weed in whatever I put him in. There also needs to be more space for the plants that need to come in when it gets too cold to leave them out. Chris has gotten some hooks to put up for some of the hanging pots. I need to figure out where those will go.

The horror competition I entered will start tomorrow. I am really not up to promoting it but I am going to try. It would mean a lot to win. But I need to put forth the effort. I will share the link tomorrow when I do my post. I am thinking of doing a separate post just so I don’t bombard everyone everyday with the same thing.

Instead of rattling on I need to get this posted. I will try to have new photos for tomorrow. Today will be some repeats. Thank you for all the supportive comments. They mean a lot and you have some excellent suggestions. Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Aging, Animals, anxiety, Books, Creativity, Dogs, dreams, Emotions, family, Friends, Gardening, Holiday, Learning, Life, Love, Nature, Photography, Reading, retail, Thinking, Writing

A Chance of Clouds

1972italy

We had storms overnight and it looks like we might get some more rain this morning. The plants need it. Stella wasn’t happy about the storms but eventually she did settle down. Right now she is on her back asleep on the couch. We had a dragonfly come in a few minutes ago. I had to get it to land on my hand instead of beating itself up against the screen trying to get out. Once it was on my hand it was content to just sit there. I let it for a minute or two before coaxing it back into the air outside. Its colors were beautiful! Greens and blues all over. It was longer than my finger too. One of the bigger ones I have seen around.

I was only at work maybe three hours yesterday. Everything got done in record time. I didn’t feel right just standing around talking to collect a paycheck. So I got out of there about the same time that my manager did. I explained why I was leaving “early” (I put that in quotes because I really make my own schedule on Fridays). He had no issues with it. It was nice to be home. I was able to spend time with Chris and Stella.

The sun is coming out. It is showing just how dark the rest of the sky is. The leaves are beginning to change colors. Before it was a patch here and there. Now that September is here it seems to have triggered Fall in earnest. I love Fall but I am not liking what follows. This Winter is supposed to be very cold and very snowy. I have already started looking for sweaters and hoodies for Stella. With most of her fur gone on her chest and belly she is going to need something to keep her warm.

We are going to have company tonight. I am trying to figure out what I want to do. One of my big goals is cleaning out my office. I had thought to start that today and I still may. With company coming over I’m not sure how far I will get before I have to stop. And I could also work on my writing. But when Chris gets up he will probably want to game out here in the living room. I don’t do well writing with other stuff going on in the background when I am at home (that being said I would like to replace my old stereo so I can play my cds again). If it is raining that limits my places to go. I need to clean up the kitchen a bit too. If I do that I can write at the kitchen table. Sooo….

Regardless I guess I should get myself moving. Stella is so cute sound asleep on her back. Little goose. Thanks for reading and thank you for all the support. Stay safe!