“So—Which place that you visited was your favorite?” I was expecting – and dreading – that question once my husband and I returned from our vacation in Italy. The only accurate and appropriate answer I could give would be the cliché response: “That’s like asking me which child is my favorite,” especially if my children numbered more than a dozen, instead of just two. I was planning to go on a pilgrimage to Italy with my church a number of years ago, but because of [...]
In my blog post last week, I mentioned thinking about bucket list items. This week, I’m out exploring and experiencing one of them. So I don’t have anything to post this week, but I will when I return. In the meantime, have a wonderful weekend. And if you haven’t done so lately, why don’t you take some time to think about some of the activities and adventures that are on your bucket list? Or add some new ones. Then get started on – or at [...]
We just passed the one-year anniversary of my husband’s heart attack. It’s not something we went out to celebrate, but we did take notice and reflect. In some ways, it feels like it’s been much longer than a year, but in other ways, it feels more like, “One year? Already?” In many ways, he’s back to how he was before having a heart attack. In other ways, it’s changed both our lives. After his surgery, his doctors warned him it would be a full year [...]
I have to admit that every so often, while writing a column or blog post, I worry that the topic I’m writing about is so ordinary and mundane that everyone reading it will be bored to tears, and quit reading halfway through – or sooner. Not only that, but I wonder if at the same time, I’m exposing all my faults and flaws, and showing how ordinary, mundane, and disorganized my life can be. Invariably, however, those posts end up being the ones people seem [...]
We’re cleaning out a closet in the back room, the one that’s become a storage unit. The one you joke about, saying you need to put a helmet on before opening the closet door – except it’s not really a joke. One of the shelves holds bags and stacks of gift boxes, wrapping paper, and greeting cards, and anytime I reach for anything, most of the rest usually comes flying down with it. The closet also holds Christmas decorations, photos and frames, and miscellaneous mementos. [...]
We had a visit last week from some out-of-state friends. We didn’t know ahead of time exactly when they would be here, or how long they’d be able to stay, because they were taking a road trip from Chicago and visiting some other relatives and places along the way. But we had done a grocery run anticipating company, and I baked some cookies and sourdough bread ahead of their arrival. The rest, we played by ear. We have known this couple forever – two of [...]
The writing group I belong to used to meet weekly. That was before COVID. Then, for a while, we didn’t meet at all. Eventually, we started getting together via Zoom, although we didn’t meet every week. Like many people and organizations, we discovered there were pros and cons to Zoom meetings. They were better than not being able to meet at all, and allowed long-distance members to take part. But technical glitches were frustrating and annoying. When it was okay to start meeting in person [...]
A friend of mine commented on last week’s blog about my New Year’s Resolution to spend an hour, first thing in the morning, writing. He suggested that one hour might be too big of a commitment at first, and that it would be better to start with a shorter amount of time – 15 minutes, perhaps, or even just 10. I’m sure many people would question how long it would take to write a book – or accomplish anything, for that matter – in 15-minute [...]
I’ve decided that 2023 is going to be the Year of the Book. This is no relation to the Year of the Tiger, Rabbit, Ox, Dragon, Snake, or any other animal celebrated in the Chinese New Year. Instead, it’s related to my New Year’s Resolutions. I’ve realized for a while now that I’m not spending enough time, on a regular basis, on any of the books I’m writing. I have four that are in various stages of completion, from great-idea-and-outline-done to basically-finished-but-needs-a-bit-of-tweaking. And none of [...]
After a mid-December trip to California to spend a few days with our daughter as she recovered from surgery, we were home packing our bags again, this time for a trip to Minnesota – with an overnight stop in Chicago – to spend Christmas with our son, daughter-in-law, and three grandchildren. The night before we were scheduled to leave, however, we decided to cancel our trip. Although we had already dug through our closets for any cold-weather clothing we still owned – in anticipation of [...]