It took a long minute to press the “purchase” button. Once the mouse clicked, there was no turning back and my bank account would be depleted of a thousand dollars. I would have no choice but to take my first international flight halfway around the world to the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi, to be … Continue reading Impressions of the United Arab Emirates
This year I will be a half century old. It’s hard to believe, but true. I’m not one who normally talks about my birthday. Not because a higher number makes me want to crawl into a hole in an attempt to hide from Ms. Age. It’s just another day for me. In fact, I forgot … Continue reading 50 Thoughts About Turning 50
The older I get, the more introspective I get. The more I learn, or realize, about myself. Sometimes I like what I learn and others, not so much. In books and articles that teach about writing, they all say to make your characters multi-dimensional. To give them contradictions in their personalities. For instance, someone who … Continue reading Personal Paradoxes
Gratitude. It’s something we tend to take for granted. Maybe because it’s easier to complain and find the negative side of things. But feeling and expressing gratitude is good for our health. A few months ago the health website I use posted an article about things to do in the evening to prepare for the … Continue reading Gratitude Journal
Baseball season has begun, and I’m anxious to see if my team can do a repeat of the 2016 season. I am a diehard Chicago Cubs fan. In fact, I usually tell people I was born a Cubs fan. I've never been ashamed to claim them as my own, no matter how many losing seasons … Continue reading Lessons From Baseball
Five states and 750 miles can’t keep me away from four of the cutest and funnest kids in the Midwest. I’m privileged to be their Great Aunt, emphasis on GREAT, and they range from one to eleven years old. After visiting my niece’s family in the arctic north a couple of times, I decided to keep … Continue reading Conversations With Hunter
The following is a story I wrote in 6th grade as an assignment using a picture. While the story is the same, I did a lot of editing and embellishing for an online class assignment. Enjoy! It was Christmas Eve of 1999, two weeks after my tenth birthday. Snow drifted past the bigger than life … Continue reading A Christmas Eve Adventure
With the end of the year approaching, I realized it was time to give an update on my writing projects. It's been a busy year with all aspects of my life, but I've picked up the pace of writing. At the start of the year, I posted about three projects that were in process: So … Continue reading Contests…and More Contests
The following is a story I dug out of the archives that I wrote in sixth grade. It is uncut and unedited except for names of friends and places in order to protect identities. I hope it gives you a chuckle as it did me when I read it after all these years, showing I have … Continue reading The Day the School Burned Down
Father’s Day is rounding the corner, and I realized I’ve written a couple of blogs about my mom but not my dad. (You can go here to read the most recent one on Mom.) While he had his faults, my dad was a great guy. He quit high school to join the Army during World … Continue reading The Love of a Dad
