Today, already, is hot as hell here in Arkansas (it’s 85 degrees Fahrenheit at 9 AM). The temperature will be over a hundred. We tend to stay indoors when it gets like this, then wander out to the pool when the sun dips below the horizon. The pool is so warm it offers little relief, except for the lovely feeling you get when you’re soaking wet and enter the AC-cooled house. My daughter doesn’t deal well with the heat. She loves winter—sweaters, leggings, and boots. Summer makes her ill. Just sitting outside this morning, talking to me over a cup of coffee, made her nauseous. AND IT’S ONLY THE FIRST DAY OF JULY. I’m down for it. Of course, most of my day is spent in my cool-ish window-less basement office. When I rouse to step outside, I enjoy the bright light and looking at the flowers blooming. My dd would love to mow the lawn, but she pretty much has to do that at dusk or dawn. Like a vampire. LOL. I think today, we’re going to take a break from the heat and head to the indoor flea market. Whee!
So, thinking about summer and lovely things I wish I could do, I searched for a photo of my dream vacation spot. It’s today’s puzzle challenge. Enjoy!
For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, let me know if this would be anywhere on your bucket list. If not, what would be?
I revised and re-published a story that was originally part of an Entangled anthology, Along Came a Spider on June 27th!
I began writing the next Montana Bounty Hunters: We Are Dead Horse, MT — Jackson!
I settled on the theme for the next Boys Behaving Badly Anthology — Secret Identities!
I completed 3 editing projects for other authors in June.
Health-related:
I’ve been swimming almost every day. Sometimes, twice a day.
Through medicines and some diet tweaking, I’ve managed to get my blood pressure down. Not enough, and not without an occasional spike, but it’s so much better.
Happiness-related:Â
I have been working on and making great progress organizing my art room, getting ready for the next push for art shows and reopening my Etsy store.
I finished #the100dayproject online art challenge! Here are some of my last pieces I completed in the beginning of June…
July
For work-related, I plan:
To complete writing and publish Jackson, the next in my Montana Bounty Hunters: Dead Horse, MT series which releases on July 11th!
To complete 4 editing projects in July!
For health related, I plan:
To swim at least once a day!
To resume counting those points for my Weight Watchers diet and hopefully shed at least 5 pounds, remembering, as always:Â Slow is good!
To continue to reduce salt, processed food, and incorporate foods good for blood pressure (spinach, broccoli, bananas, red wine).
To begin walking and counting my steps.
To do more housework because my art room isn’t finished! Cleaning is exercise, too.
For happiness-related, I plan:Â
To spend quality time with the family—movie nights, swim-time, making fun meals together!
To participate in and complete a free art workshop, the Fodder Challenge 2023!
Contest
Comment on anything you’ve read in this post. Tell me what you’re doing to make yourself happier and healthier. Tell me what you plan to read in July… Like I said, comment on anything for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!
[Play the music while you read!] It’s my birthday today! I’m the big 6-5! I’m officially “elderly” now! My daughter is in denial. I’m excited. I’m old enough for Medicare now. Not that I need it because I have my military retirement with Tricare. Important stuff when you get old though.
What else can I celebrate? I’m 65! When I was a teen, I didn’t expect to live past 21—I was a bit of a wild child. So, I always thought any day over 21 was just “gravy.” And while some bemoan the milestones, I’ve never worried. I hit 30 and thought, “awesome!” 50—the same. 60—I had a lovely birthday party with both my parents still there to celebrate. Now, at 65, I’d love to have them here, but life’s a journey, and I’m not going to bemoan the fact I’m 65 and still fabulous!
I decided to take a picture to prove it. I sent my selfie to my dd and said, “What do you think?” She immediately sent the 14-year-old to snap a picture with her iPhone. So, I’m assuming she wasn’t impressed. This is what she sent back to me.
Huh. She thought I needed a filter—and wondered why I didn’t bother with makeup other than a swipe of lipstick. I guess she was right. My sunburned nose and forehead made both look shiny and really big. Still, I don’t look like a wrinkled old woman just yet. Well, there are some wrinkles. Here’s the original, what do you think?
I still have less forehead wrinkles than someone I won’t name because she’s pissed looking at me every day. My eyebrows and eyelashes aren’t blond anymore. Or gray. They’re translucent—which is why you can’t see them! Still, I don’t feel a day over 40. Actually, I don’t feel old. Period. Although, sometimes, when my hands hurt after a day at the keyboard… I just call that a workout. They’re supposed to be sore.
They threw me a party last night. It was nice to have the fam around, plus a couple of their friends. We ate finger foods and pie. No candles, because we didn’t want to burn the house down. Today, I’m back at the keyboard because that’s what I do. Who I am.
So, tell me: Have any of your milestones been downers for you?
First, Be sure to say Happy Father’s Day to all those great dads out there!
I lost mine but think of him often. This is my favorite picture of the two of us together taken nearly five years ago. He didn’t like the silliness of those birthday photo props, but he stood there smiling for me. I miss him so much.
Cherish them while you have them!
See what I made?
Thought since I mentioned what I’d be doing yesterday at a workshop that I’d share the end result…
My first basket—and it’s far from perfect. I need to trim some things sticking out here and there, but I think it looks pretty good! Wish I’d had more colorful options, but I’m not complaining. I have a new skill.
Today, I’m re-jiggering my plans again. Have a deadline for a book looming, have several sets of edits to complete. Life never stands still. I want more crafting/art time. I really do need to make that a priority because it makes me so happy. Finding what makes you happy should be a goal—well above making money or doing what’s expected of you (within sanity, of course!). Life’s too short not to find your happy place.
We had storms last night and into the morning. Another power outage. A few downed tree branches to clear up. All the animals are well. Crazy-crazy June weather. Looking at the forecast, it’s going to finally warm up enough for frequent swimming this next week. A double-edged sword that. It’ll be as hot and muggy as an armpit, but the pool will feel like heaven.
I’d love to hear about the dads your celebrating or thinking about today. Plus, tell me about your happy places!
This morning, I’ll be sitting in a workshop with my daughter and one of my granddaughters, learning a new craft. Something I’ve never tried before. WE’VE never tried before. And I can’t tell you how excited I am. Yes, I have an art room filled with supplies for a ridiculous number of arts and crafts already, but I’m on the side of there’s never too much STUFF to learn. I’m nearing 65, and I have to fit it ALL in before I go.
So, when I post this and walk away from my desk to get ready for the fun, I have a question for you to ponder, perhaps a challenge you might accept.
Today, or this weekend, or this month, is there something NEW you want to try? A new craft? A new recipe? Shopping at a new store? Eating at restaurant you’ve never tried? A trail you’ve never hiked? Some new adventure you want to undertake—big or small? Say it here then accept the challenge of actually doing it! Life is about collecting memories and experiences, about sharing journeys. Name something you will make happen!
For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, share the challenge you will undertake! Enjoy the puzzle!
Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” ~ St. Francis of Assisi
I’m working on updating my plans today. Trying to re-jigger them to fit in everything I have to accomplish. It always looks so…possible, until real life intrudes.
After finishing my #the100dayproject (yay, me!), I feel like I can do anything once I focus. My priorities this week? I need to write some chapters! I have an editing project to wrap up. I want to complete organizing my jewelry-making station in my art room. I haven’t made jewelry in a while, in an organized fashion, because it’s such a jumbled mess, but I’m making progress. I don’t want to get mired in indecisions about where everything should go/how can I make some space/what I should de-stash, etc. Plus, I want to leave time for family fun, too.
The jewelry station feels like the most daunting thing, and it shouldn’t be, because it’s not a money-maker gig. However, I feel less stressed overall as I make improvements in that room. So, health-wise it should be a priority, right? Okay, so maybe I’m trying to justify focusing on it to the detriment of the “real work.”
I’ve accomplished a lot already. The areas underneath my worktables where I have boxes/bins stored, have all been cleaned and only “necessary” stuff was kept. I completed organizing my ink/glasswork station. What’s left? The jewelry station. The art table which has to be cleared/cleaned/and space made for painting. The rolling bins need to be cleaned out and organized, but I am trying to finish one big task per week so that by mid-summer I’ll three stations free and be able to find what I need when I start a project.
In case you don’t remember or haven’t been following this blog for a while, this is what my art room looked like shortly after my mother passed and ALL HER ART SUPPLIES were dumped in here for me to sort through. I barely had room to navigate the aisles on either side of the art table to the left here—standing sideways! It’s nothing like that now, but it helps me to remember where I started. Now, I know my goal is possible. When I finish, I’ll share pictures. It’s not anything fancy. The room itself is painted concrete block walls with 1980s industrial tiles on the floor. The furniture is a mishmash of things. But I will share. A workspace doesn’t have to be stylish to fulfill its function!
And none of that has to do with books. However, I should let you know that while I clean and de-stash, I work through story issues in my head. I have a notepad always ready for ideas. I can’t complete any editing, but I can be working on my own stories, so it’s not wasted time.
I’m rambling. And no doubt you’re bored. So, I’ll close with a contest!
Tell me about any huge organizational challenge you faced and how you overcame it for a chance to win a $5 Amazon GC!
It’s Saturday after the first full week the kids have been out of school. Not much happening for me other than swimming, editing, and cleaning. The kids and my dd have had their hands full.
If you saw the video of the ducks being released to the pond recently, that did not last long. We lost two ducks that first night, so it was back to the chicken pen for the rest. The poor things followed my SIL like he was the Pied Piper all the way back to the enclosure because they were so stressed out. So, we filled a kiddy pool for them and they’re perfectly happy. We have 4 ducks now. My daughter got the idea of adding geese to the mix because they are larger and more intimidating, and if they like the ducks, they’ll defend them. We have 3. Maybe, one day, we can try the pond again. But in the meantime, we have baby geese and they are smellier and ugly. Gah, we really do have a menagerie.
My dd put lawn chairs in the chicken pen and they sit out there in the evenings petting the fowl and watching them. I think it’s a bit weird, but then, they think my hermit-like existence when I’m in work-mode is a bit weird, too.
Yesterday, I spotted this beside the fence surrounding the pool. Ignore my weedy grass! We live in the country, and nicely manicured lawns are stupid here.
I’m not sure what kind of snake it was. The thought that a shed skin could be that big and that close to the pool was a tad disturbing. I did have a snake slip over the side of the pool once when I was swimming. I’ve never climbed out that quickly.
And the fact that those two pictures were worthy of sharing with you tells you how peaceful and uneventful it’s been. I do love my life. The past couple of days, the 14-year-old has been helping me with cleaning and organizing my art room. I have 1980s square industrial tile on the floor. It gets gross and dull. She cleaned it and waxed it yesterday for me. I like the old tile. It’s utilitarian, and it doesn’t break my heart when I drop paint on the floor that dries and is there forever. The 9-year-old’s rabbit had been outside during the nice Spring weather, but now that temperatures are approaching the 90s, he’s back in his indoor cage—on my art room floor. I bought a big rubber pad and paper puppy pads to put under it to try to save the wax. The 14-year-old has been doing a slew of special chores for me because she wants a betta fish (like my Loki) with tank, etc., so she’s been looking for little jobs to save up. She’s almost there—and then we’ll be adding to our menagerie.
Puzzle-Contest
For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, give me some suggestions about what to do with the geese and ducks. Have fun with it. Even silly ideas count!
And isn’t this painting lovely? I’ll have to try something like this. I love the texture!
