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A Second Shot of Safety

I got my second COVID vaccine shot yesterday, and I came home with a mixed bag of feelings – some that I expected, and a few I didn’t. One feeling I anticipated – and experienced – was a sense of both relief and protection. Not entirely, since I know there’s a span of a few weeks before immunity is at full strength. Also, there are still a lot of unknowns with regard to how long it lasts, how effective it is against newly emerging variants, [...]

By |February 20th, 2021|Columns, Health and Well-being|Comments Off on A Second Shot of Safety

A Failure to Communicate

It was a comedy of errors, except there was nothing funny about it. It all started days ago, when I suddenly stopped receiving any email at my main email address, although messages were still coming through at an email address I rarely use. I spent the better part of a day going through every Help and Troubleshooting site I could find, with no luck. The next day, I called the Geek Squad, spent part of the morning on hold, and the rest on the phone [...]

By |February 13th, 2021|Columns|Comments Off on A Failure to Communicate

With all due respect

“Unity” is a word I’ve been hearing on the news a lot lately, ever since President Biden, in his inaugural address, called for unity between political parties. So far, however, it hasn’t been working out too well. Before we can achieve unity, or agreements of any kind, I think there are a few other words we need to put into practice – as individuals and groups, as well as communities and governments. I also think we need – if I may paraphrase a line from [...]

By |February 5th, 2021|Columns, Quotes and Sayings, Respect, Values|Comments Off on With all due respect

Promises to Keep

You’re hearing it here first, folks. And it’s going to be a lot of fun – I promise. “Promise” is the operative word, at least for this month, and it has to do with the kick-off of a new program from Georgia Writers Museum. It has to do with writing, too, of course, but it’s just for fun. And it’s for everyone. I serve on the Board and the Education and Program committees of GWM, and one of the goals of the Museum is to [...]

By |January 29th, 2021|Columns, Writing|2 Comments

A shot of hope

I got shot yesterday. That is, I received a shot – the COVID vaccine. There was already a long line of cars when my husband and I arrived half an hour early for our 9:30 appointment. The line moved swiftly, however, and we reached the tent where they were doing the vaccinations just a few minutes after our scheduled time. I have to admit that after all the news about the problems they were having with distribution, and the discrepancies between how much vaccine was [...]

By |January 23rd, 2021|Accountability, Columns, Health and Well-being|Comments Off on A shot of hope

An exciting day to come

Have you ever planned a special occasion event – like a once-in-a-lifetime vacation or a major anniversary party – that was originally so far in the future that it felt like it would never get here? It sometimes felt as though the planning would go on forever, and then, when the event finally took place, it felt almost surreal. And afterwards, it felt a bit strange to get back to “normal” without having the event to look forward to, or more tasks and chores to [...]

By |January 15th, 2021|Columns, Family, Health and Well-being, Travel|Comments Off on An exciting day to come

Lost in a Dream

It was the kind of dream that woke me up with a start, and left me sweating and with my heart pounding. I was still feeling shaky a little later when I started writing about it, although the more I thought about it, the sillier it seemed. Still, I found myself analyzing it in order to determine where it came from. Like many people, I’ve been glued to the television over the last few days, unable to turn away from the news of everything that’s [...]

By |January 9th, 2021|Accountability, Columns, Health and Well-being, Travel|Comments Off on Lost in a Dream

A really nice idea

I was on the phone with Aunt Vera, an amazing lady who possesses 101 years of wisdom and a mind that’s still sharp as a tack. After we wished each other a Merry Christmas, we talked about how different Christmas was this year and how sorry we were not to be able to see her in person, as we usually do over the holidays. We talked about how excited we were at the news about COVID vaccines, and how happy we will be to visit [...]

By |January 2nd, 2021|Columns, Family, Health and Well-being, Holidays|Comments Off on A really nice idea

Merry Christmas!

Wishing all of you a Merry Christmas, a Safe and Happy Holiday Season, and a Bright, Promising Start to the New Year! Love Always,                         December 25, 2020 ©Betty Liedtke, 2020 I welcome your comments, but please be aware that all comments will be moderated and approved before appearing on this blog. This is to protect all of us from unwanted spam.

By |December 25th, 2020|Columns, Holidays|Comments Off on Merry Christmas!

Holidays Around the World

There are many words we could use to describe the year 2020, and “surreal” is probably one of the kindest. The same can be said for how we’ll be celebrating Christmas this year. Like many people, my husband and I will be staying home for the holidays, rather than going home for the holidays to celebrate with family members who live in other parts of the country. It’s not our preference, of course, but we keep reminding ourselves that by staying safe at home this [...]

By |December 20th, 2020|Columns, Family, Health and Well-being, Holidays, Toastmasters, Travel|Comments Off on Holidays Around the World