Hello Again.

Hi. It has been a long time since I have been here to update. I am just getting ready to finish my first semester of graduate school. To say I have been doing a lot of reading and writing seems like a vast understatement. Not to mention that on top of that my husband and I both had surgery. It is hard to believe some days how amazingly well everything is going. It has been a lot of work. I have been adjusting my time schedule on what seems like a weekly basis to fit everything in. I think I may have to revamp a bit before next semester. Too much going on for me to spend all the time I think I should on school. Guess my biggest problem is I want to be out doing other things. Time to decide that those things will just have to wait. School has to come first. The rest can happen later. Here's hoping your last couple months have unfolded smoothly and your transition through this time of celebration will be blessed. I still have a paper to finish before I get some time to shine.

Saying Goodbye to Hoss

I got a phone call last week. It was one of those calls you hate to get. An old friend is in the hospital... I got the other phone call today. He passed away this afternoon... I felt sad, for a few minutes. I feel awful for his kids who are now learning how to deal with funeral homes and death certificates before they're 30. But for him, I just feel peace. He had a great life. He had lots of friends. He enjoyed every minute he could. I remember him practically falling out of a chair at a weekend long marathon event because he was so tired he couldn't stay awake but he wouldn't go get some sleep...he was afraid he was going to miss something. He didn't miss a thing. He grabbed every moment he could from this life and I am sure he will do the same in the next. Speedy travels my friend. Say hello to those we know who went before. I'll see you eventually. Blessings.

Busy, busy, busy...

I keep hearing Professor Hinkle the magician from Frosty in my head. "I've got to get busy writing - busy, busy, busy!" Oiy! I spent the better part of twelve days out of town for two important milestones. My adopted niece had her coming of age ceremony and the next weekend my parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. 
Those were both great one day events. So even if you factor in a day of shopping and a day of cooking for the anniversary party, that is still only four days. Well, when you live in Louisiana and the parties are in Ohio, you can add two days of driving, each way. Oh, so now we are up to eight days. The other four days, did I mention Professor Hinkle's quote, oh, yeah. As a full time graduate student in the Low Res MFA in Creative Writing program at UNO I have a bit of reading and writing to do. Every week. And let me say for the record, I love it, just love it. But, combining that with 4 days of driving and four days of parties and prep. I am beat. We have been home for two days and I haven't even been grocery shopping. My fridge is full of gallon jugs of water, we headed out on our little road trip a couple days after Hurricane Isaac finally moved on. We finally got laundry done today. And I think, after a day and a half in front of the computer I am finally caught up. Having said that, tomorrow is full of doctor's appointments and Saturday is an outing at a friend's place in the country. (I'll need that.) So Friday will be another computer day and tonight will be reading time, Dubliners and Sons and Lovers. Good thing I am loving this. I have learned an awful lot. Mainly I learned if I have to go north during the semester, I am flying.

Projects of life

I have many projects to do today. Some I hope to complete and check off my mental list. A couple have happened already, I did update my website, my twitter, and now my blog. Others, well they are more like ongoing projects or ones that will at least take several days if not weeks, a couple of quilts, bookmarks for a workshop, a worksheet for another workshop, reorganize the craft room, etc. You get  the idea. But as I was going over this list in my head, the thought came to me about two women I know whose lives have been changed this week, whose to do lists have probably been altered.
Both women are vital forces in their respective communities. Both have families and friends who need and value them. Both have been told they have cancer. Though tests are still being done and we are hopeful, it is probably that this will now be the main focus of the rest of their lives.
I wondered, what immediately came off their perpetual to do lists? Is there something on my list that could easily be discarded in order to do something healthier for me? Is there some emotional or spiritual need that I have been ignoring for too long? If this news had come to me or someone in my immediate family, what would change on my list? Does it need to change anyway? Wasn't I planning on simplifying some things already?

When Don Juan is teaching Carlos Castaneda he puts it like this,“… The thing to do when you are impatient is to turn to your left and ask advice from your death. An immense amount of pettiness is dropped if your death makes a gesture to you, or if you catch a glimpse of it, or if you just have the feeling that your companion is there watching you."

Blessings of light and peace, especially to those two ladies and their families.

Summer!

Happy summer solstice! I am glad that summer is officially here. I am also glad that my foot finally seem to have turned the corner and is on its last mending from surgery in February. Now on to the next big thing, graduate school. I have just a few more papers to get together for financial aid and then I am good to go. I am beginning to get excited about the prospects and getting to refocus my time on reading and writing again. Blessings.

Traveling through memories

This week we have been traveling to see family and friends. We had two birthdays to celebrate this weekend. Next week we have graduations to celebrate and if all goes as planned, we'll be traveling again to see some friends we haven't seen in quite a while. It has been good so far. Lots of fun and way more food than necessary. We did find a few deals at stores we don't have at home and we also got to see the movie The Best Marigold Hotel Ever. It was great. Hoping to get to another movie this week, Dark Shadows. I did take some time to get registered for my first graduate school classes this fall. I feel like a saying from the movie Armageddon is appropriate here: I can't tell if I'm 98 percent excited and 2 percent scared or 98 percent scared and 2 percent excited. Needless to say, there will be lots of reading and writing in my near and far future. For the time being, back to vacation...hope your days are going well too. Blessings.

Past, present, and future

I have spent a lot of time today thinking about those three famous time periods...past, present, future. My eldest niece is getting ready to graduate from high school. I think back to my own graduation and how great, scary, exciting, awful, etc. that it was and how many choices I made or didn't make that effected the rest of my life. If you have been following this blog you will know that it only took me twenty plus years after high school to get my bachelor's degree. That would be a clue to some of the decisions I made, or chose not to make. I have been thinking to about all her possible futures and the many choices, opportunities, mistakes, joys, sorrows, ... the life that is a head of her. For me today the future seems full of hope even if it is a bit scary. Hope that anything I dream is possible, that a little hard work will lead to great things. So to all of you about to graduate, or just thinking about what comes next I remind you, along with myself, don't forget about today. The present. Today holds many opportunities for all of us but more importantly, today holds the choices that will make tomorrow what it will be. Be mindful and see the many blessings you already have.
Reminisce a little, dream a little, but be here a lot.

The foot update and other things

Well, so much for the foot that will be healed in a week. Since then we have pulled a surface suture out from inside my foot which has now created a minor (thankfully) infection and another hole (so the wound care experts could flush it out) and I have (of course) another round of antibiotics. So, hopefully the healing will continue and pick up pace now that (please let it be true) we are done with all the complications.
I have been organizing my craft/sewing/computer/study for the last few weeks as well and ran across a few writings from last year. It is amazing how much and how little has changed. The big ethereal questions that have been looming out there for years still continue to be there. I began wondering if the answers to those ever really come or if we just get comfortable in our belief in the answer we have accepted. For me, the big "what's the meaning of life" type questions still intrigue me enough that I continue to search out answers or at least new explanations. I hope you have found ones that work for you and if not that you too are continuing to search. Blessings.

Head to toe and back again

I went and got my hair done for the first time in, well, longer than it should have been. And it didn't quite turn out how I had hoped. The color looks extremely natural. She (Micah from jcp) did a fantastic job. That being said, I have often been know to go for the dramatic or even shocking. I mean let's face it. I have shaved my head twice and at one point had blue tips dyed in. The cut, not so good. To her credit, when I came back two days later she happily re-cut it for me. Now, a couple weeks later, the bangs are too long and I am debating taking the scissors to it myself, which will not be good. So, I focus on my toes. Yeah, I am still trying to heal my foot after surgery. We have gotten much closer. Wound Care guys say next week we will be done. Then I just get to keep doing PT to strengthen the ankle and get some movement back in the toes. Then, hopefully back in the swimming pool and working on getting in better shape again. So, back to the hair. I don't know if I will get brave enough to attack it myself but it will get trimmed again soon. I think I will live with the color since it will hide the gray as it grows out. We will see though. I will keep you posted as it unfolds. Blessings to all.

All things old.

I was going to go for all things new but then I realized I haven't gotten there yet. All things old. Yes, I am still doing my best to lose a few pounds, okay, a lot of pounds. Yes, I still don't know what to do with my hair, though I did get a new hair style today from a lovely lady (Mica) at JCP. Yes, I still have editing to do on book two and am waiting for fresh notes on book one. Yes, I still have craft projects that need work but I still need to finish setting up the craft room from our move in January. And yes, I am still recovering from foot surgery. I had hoped to be getting back to a routine at this point and getting ready for graduate school to start in the summer. School, if it happens still will begin in the fall (well, technically August) and that routine is getting harder and harder to find. Some mornings getting up is the hardest thing of the day. Things had been appearing to be going so well and now they almost feel as if they are going backwards some days. I am doing my best to "one day at a time" but there are days I have to take it in even smaller chunks, like three hours at a time. I try to remember to celebrate the little victories, the little progresses.
I was taught to keep reviewing the blessings in my life, especially when it feels like there aren't many. I also try to remember that feelings aren't facts and if I will just take a moment to take stock of the actual situation then things get a lot clearer. It is also easy to be grateful for the simple things when I take a minute to get past the me, me, me and focus on those around me and what they might be going through or need help with. I have had prayer request from no less than four of my extend family members this week, several for very significant, life changing events. It really puts my unfinished craft room into perspective.
Blessing of light and love to you, and me.

Sorry about the delay

My last blog post was "January?" This one could be "March?" or "What happened to February?" Well, February 3rd I had foot surgery, that's what happened to February. Just got a shoe on yesterday for the first time since then. Start physical therapy tomorrow. I am grateful to have this surgery behind me though I don't yet know what is in front of me. I am just doing the next thing that seems to be right and continuing to ask for the blessing of the Creator. I do have plenty to do. I am working through the revisions that the editor sent back for book two. I have book one with a couple new sources and am hoping that some good notes and maybe even a reference come back from them shortly. I also want to begin to build a new query list again. I really would like to go the traditional route of publishing if I can. I am hoping the ease of online publishing will continue to weed out the slush piles of literary agents and give my manuscripts a chance to shine. Here's to a March with more time for writing. Blessings.

January?

Wow, I cannot believe it is already almost the end of January! Seems like things have been non stop since the end of November. I went back to school after Thanksgiving break and had a final week of classes, then final exams, then family in town and graduation. Yeah! Then, I got an amazing opportunity to work as a production assistant intern on the filming of the pilot Scent of The Missing that was shooting locally. What an experience! Was one of the funnest, hardest, most exciting, occasionally boring, incredible, do it again in a second, experiences I have every had. Did I say I had a great time? I had a blast. Then it was travel 800+ miles north to visit family and friends for three weeks over the holidays and new year. Then we cam home and moved, just across the parking lot, but moving is still moving. You know, empty all the cupboards and closets, clean everything, sort and simplify as best you can then set it all up in the new place. Whew. Now to make time to write those long overdue thank you cards and finish unpacking the craft room.
Oh, and yeah, January? It is 70 degrees and we had thunderstorms last night. I mean, Louisiana winters are usually nice but this is kind of crazy. Yesterday I saw a honey bee and a butterfly. Go figure. I know, it is my brother-in-law, he finally bought a snow remover and now it won't snow so he can try it out. (No really I think it has more to do with how we have treated the planet but that's another story.) Blessings to all. Enjoy the nice while we have it. And, if you live somewhere that isn't so nice at the moment, just remember, this too shall pass, for you and for us.