• cats,  Christian,  faith,  friendship,  life after 50,  pets,  writing

    Help me reach my goal …

    I’d like to write at least one blog a week in 2011. As you can see, I’m starting this goal a little late – it’s March already. To spur me on, I’m asking for friends to visit my blog and click “follow me” on the top right-side menu. You can sign in using your Google, Twitter or Yahoo account. You’ll be notified when (and if) I write a new blog post. So, in essence, you’re keeping me honest and motivated to complete my goal. In return for your faithful following, I will try and give you a chuckle or laugh at an interesting anecdote or happening in our meager lives…

  • baking,  Christmas,  priorities

    Merry Snowy Christmas

    Christmas has come and gone like a whirlwind in a snowstorm. It’s my family’s first Christmas without my mom. She passed away on June 5 unexpectedly. While I thought about her often throughout the season, it wasn’t until we all sat down at the dinner table Christmas Eve that I felt a tight squeeze on my heart. Mom loved all the dishes prepared from my Grandma Rose’s recipes. I missed her entrance into the house and her comments on how wonderful it smelled. I mailed out more Christmas cards than in past years, although many were mailed after Dec. 25. I felt a greater need to either touch base or…

  • inspiration,  motivation,  writing

    Motivation

    It’s Monday and I was looking for a little motivation so I visited one of my (soon-to-become) favorite blogs/tweeters. It’s called Urban Writers Retreat It’s a great idea. They offer retreats at a warehouse or other cool writing hangout that’s optimized for writing. Okay, so this one particular retreat is in London. I wouldn’t mind visiting London again sometime. Where did I put my pics of London? See how easy it is to get sidetracked when I should be writing? I like the premise of creating a space just for writing. No distractions (okay, perhaps just a kitty or two). This is a wake-up call for me to continue to…

  • transplant,  writing

    Nothing “blue” about blueberries

    I found blueberries on sale at the local grocery store and brought them home. I had a blueberry almond bar recipe that I wanted to try but could never find the time. We ate some of the blueberries on ice cream and they were awesome but the majority of them sat, washed, in the fridge. Over the weekend, my husband had a grand idea, “Why don’t you make a blueberry pie?” After getting a trusted recipe off of the Internet, I went to the store, got a few ingredients and made two pies. The house smelled like blueberry heaven after I put the pies on top of the stove to…

  • customer service,  non-fiction,  relationship

    Rant of the day

    Okay, call me old fashioned but is it too much to ask to have a real person check you out at the grocery store? I know every business is looking to cut costs but I don’t see the savings. By the time I attempt to scan each item (3-4 times because the little bar code doesn’t register), look up and punch in produce codes, and enlist the one real checker’s help in entering coupon codes, and show her my ID for the bottle of wine, I could have gone through the line with the human checker 3 or 4 times. Let’s think about other “service” industries where we wouldn’t appreciate…