I am now a month into summer vacation 2019. As is the case with everything these days, I have no idea where the time has gone. Thus far my break can be summed up as…random acts of…. Today I find myself examining these last four weeks more intentionally, trying to identify in concrete terms exactly what I have done, what I haven’t done, and what I want to be doing with my days. This exploration will hopefully lead me to…
No fifty-something year old woman with no children or grandchildren around and who is fairly competent in the kitchen should be making a special trip to the grocery store to buy cream cheese, pretzels, Cool Whip, and Jello, all to be used in the same recipe…and be excited about it. But, this is exactly where I find myself today. I partially blame my Sifted Together blog buddy, Tracey, for this predicament in which I find myself. She gave me a…
If you ignore the weeds, eventually they will take over. Just as if we allow people to make the same mistakes over and over and over again, the wrong or hurtful or dangerous ways will take over. Why is it socially unacceptable to point out the error of one’s ways? Why is it wrong to acknowledge that making mistakes is natural. Everyone makes mistakes. Yes, even you! When did it become a sign of weakness rather than a sign of humility to…
My world has always revolved around the academic calendar. I calculate every day and date around the start and finish of my semesters. I know what day of the week it is based on my MW or TR Thursday schedule. For the past several summers, I have taught summer school so my reference points have remained in tact all year long. This summer, however, I am not teaching and I realize that half the time I have no clue what…
In the eleven years or so that I have been blogging, I have written this same post countless times…the one about having gone missing for months and now being back. They always come with a promise to do better. And countless times I have failed, but I keep coming back and trying again. Before writing this tonight, I have given some serious thought to why I keep falling short with regular posts lately. It is easy to blame a busy…
I never quite made it totally to Christmas this year. I loved Advent, that time of waiting, of reflection, of trying to not get caught up in the commercialism of Christmas. I “did” Advent so well that I didn’t even get the Christmas tree put up until December 20th. And by that time, other than some outdoor lights on the front porch, I wasn’t inspired to do any other decorating. Usually I seriously decorate the mantel and hearth, as well…
I just watched a story on the news about former Olympian and six-time gold medalist Amy Van Dyken-Rouen, now paralyzed from the waist down after an ATV accident in 2014, who is upset because a lock Dallas hotel employee referred to her as “a cripple.” Cripple is apparently an offensive term. Interestingly, nowhere in any of the reports that I have read on the incident does she ever say how she prefers to be called. This argument over how one refers…
So what have I learned lately? My desire to do is greater than my ability to do. My intention, once school was out was to write more. I have done that…just not here, which was not the plan. I thought that I could keep up here, with my regular Pixels, Plates, and LOLs posts, and writing every day for Blueper B…oh, and a photo a day for him and for me. Then there was stuff like preparing meals, and laundry,…
So the worst thing that some folks have to worry about these days is the fact that Starbucks has removed any “Christmas” symbols, like snowflakes and reindeer, from their holiday cups. One militant Christian posted a viral video online saying that this is because Starbucks “hates Jesus.” I’m fairly sure that snowflakes and reindeer are not signs of Jesus. And even if they were, why does it matter what is on your coffee cup? My understanding of Christianity is that…
Today’s Capture Your 365 photo prompt was color. I love color! This should have been so easy for me. I am discovering though, that the prompts whose subjects are those about which I feel deeply connected are the one’s that are most difficult for me. I suspect that I over think them. I finally decided that i would buy some colorful flowers this afternoon at the grocery store and photograph them in a colorful hand blown glass vase that Weber…