TTOT

Ten Things of Thankful – May 24

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A picture I took at New Bern NC Tryon Palace grounds.

Good Morning and Happy Ten Things of Thankful Day!!

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As we go into Memorial Day Weekend I am thinking of those who did not return from wars. As I am not certain of my complete family history, I don’t know who did not return. I wish I had done better about keeping track of things. Mom would know, but she’s on the other side. One thing I do know is that when you have people away fighting wars, as I do remember that part of it in my family, it is scary. My Grandmother Hall had a rough time of it when her boys were fighting WW II. They all came back, but every time Grandma would hear something about the war she would be so afraid that one of her sons was affected. I don’t remember hearing what it was like for Grandma Tomey, but I know she had all of her sons in the war. Both would have been a Blue Star Mother which was started during WW II. I remember a letter stating this for Grandma Tomey.

Several years ago, we attended the wedding of a sweet couple. He was in the military and going back for another deployment. After the wedding they took off on a honeymoon, cherishing the time they had together before he had to return to duty. Sadly, he did not return. He died a hero, putting himself in the protection of his troops. I only met him at the wedding, but I know his wife, who was my co-worker, and I remember their devotion to each other. His loss cut to my heart for the pain she endured and I am sure there are still those pains, for her. Love has no end when we lose those we love, it lives on with memories and with the impact we make in our lives. Such a person that she is, that love does live on.

So, it’s only natural that my #1 Gratitude is for those who have sacrificed for our freedom and those left behind who have supported them all the way.

2. Last year I posted a story about suicide and I just this week was asked to contribute to Noteworthy Journal, a part of Medium. Here is the POST I am grateful if this can reach more people, the whole purpose of accepting this honor, as this is a most important topic, close to my heart.

3. Six Sentence Stories – I am still keeping up with this weekly effort. Here is a LINK to a recent one. These have helped me to be more concise wit my writing.

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4. Research Triangle Writers Coffeehouse – This is a monthly group of a variety of writers who come together for a common cause which is to accomplish writing tasks. We share, problem solve, offer encouragement, genuinely supporting each other in our efforts. We meet at the Quail Ridge Bookstore in Raleigh NC the second Sunday of each month. Here’s the Facebook page if you are interested.

The one I am listening to.

5. Luther Vandross – Because I can only be grateful for such a sweet soul, gone too soon. Listening to him now.

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6. Our cousin Cheryl is visiting (in Charlotte) and helping her bestie sort stuff and sell such stuff as her friend is moving to Florida. I am excited to get to visit with them. She comes to NC maybe once a year, sometimes more, but this is the last trip to NC. She lives in Iowa. It makes me sad to know she won’t be back this way, but it’s important to think of the time we do get to see each other. This picture is from last year.

7. The pool is soon opening! As I sit here, I have learned that the pool inspector is coming today and we will get to swim this weekend! I cannot wait! We love to swim! Can you tell?

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8. Sleep – The insomnia bug is back to crawl in my brain Shoo shoo! I am grateful for when I can get sleep and for tools to help me get what sleep I can.

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9. Food – Yes, basic needs must be met and my clean eating efforts are paying off as I see the scale keep dropping.

10. Secret Projects – I am on another secret mission and will be able to reveal once I have cleared it with the powers that be.

So, there you have it! Those are my 10! How about you? Why not join in by going to this link: TTOT

 

TTOT

Ten Things of Thankful – May 17

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It’s time again to think of the 10 things I am thankful for this week. Let’s go!

1. Losing weight. It’s 2 more off WOOHOO!!

2. Shorts – it’s turning warm and I am glad for less because I know the pool will open soon.

3. Berry Season – Here in NC it’s berry season and I am loving the taste of local berries. I know I mentioned Strawberries last time, but it’s more than that this week. Yummy!!

4. Joy Prom – Daughter attended Joy Prom on Friday and had a blast! I love that this happens each year, sponsored by local churches and vendor assisted.

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5. Dental School – I am almost finished with my dental work and I am so grateful for a dental school near enough to get this done. My student graduated, but he stick around until I am finished. Isn’t that a double win?

6. Art – Daughter is here for the weekend and I taught her about Sidewalk Crack Art and she created a cute cardinal. She caught on quickly.

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7. The ability to read. I am reading a book as a beta reader for one of my fellow writing peeps and am grateful that I get to enjoy this. I am one chapter 4.

8. Book Club – Thanks to the interest, there is going to be a book club in my living community and I will be leading said club, starting in June.

9. Challenges – I have some physical challenges I am trying to get past and I am grateful that I am able to try.

10. Birth – I was making some taco meat yesterday and discovered that my pepper had given birth.

Instagram Pictures of Pepper Birth

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There you go! Those are my 10! Go HERE and join in!!

blog, Book Announcements, North Carolina Finds, poetry, Short Fiction, short story, TTOT

Ten Things of Thankful – May 10

It’s that time again to share the Ten Things of Thankful. You can go HERE to see more and to join in!

This has been a busy week. I’ve been on a break, I suppose one could say, but it’s been a short feeling break. So, without further delay, here’s this weeks YIPPEES!!

1. Getting Away-We took off on a weekend to New Bern NC. It was lovely there. Here are some photos to tell the story:
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Tryon Palace – The first state capital for NC

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Handsome man at the gate of Tryon Palace

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Me playing peek-a-boo at the shuttle station

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Entryway to the stables at the palace

2. Art

There were all these beautiful statues in the gardens of Tryon Palace

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3. Nature and Gardens

Lots of beautiful gardens at Tryon Palace and Stanly House

4. Textures – this is a thing I have – I love to capture interesting shapes and textures. Things I saw in New Bern

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5. The Neuse River

I have several more photos of the trip, but I don’t want to overload!

6. Mother’s Day is coming up and if you are fortunate to have your mother in your life,you are blessed. I miss my mother, who has been gone for 31 years. In light of Mother’s Day last year, I did a post about my own motherhood. Take a look if you wish: Mother’s Day is Every Day

7. Remember the secret I have been talking about? Well, I can now share it. You have to go to this post to check it out: Simplicity Beckons

8. Six Sentence Story – it’s still going strong. This weeks is a rather sad tale and I may go back and visit it some more. Focus Lost

9. Weight is holding it’s own…Staying the same the past two weeks, but I did go away and that’s sometimes a challenge, although I must say that I probably ate less vs more and made healthy choices. It’s not easy on the road, so I am saying I am grateful for this WIN!!

10. Farmer’s Market

On the way home I got a hankering for local strawberries and we stopped at the Farmer’s Market and loaded up big time. Pretty much, I got produce for the week and lots of strawberries!

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Photo by Alexander Mils on Pexels.com

poetry, Short Fiction, short story, TTOT

Ten Things of Thankful – May 3

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I looked for images in a sidewalk crack photo and this is what I ended up with. Since then, I have taken more photos of sidewalk cracks to create more pictures.

It’s that time again to express Ten Things of Thankful!

Want to join? Go to this LINK

1. TAF Write Now Conference https://tafnc.com/ was last Saturday. It was an awesome conference. Highlights were: a class on documentary poetry with Jaki Shelton-Green  Jean Claude Bemis  Joe Finder  and Erika Hoffman  I learned a great amount and left with enthusiasm.

2. I finished out National Poetry Month, writing a poem a day. Here is my post about that: I Am Possible

3. I am on Page 31 of this book as a contributing writer:

4. Yesterday, a fellow poet and friend and I went on an art day at the NCMA. It was such fun to go out and take in the wonderful works of art. Here’s their website: NCMA I particularly liked the Wim Botha collection. That sculpture appears to be made of carved books.

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5. I have time (a break) to create art and write. The picture for this blog post is one thing I made using images I saw in sidewalk cracks. This is part of a video class called Sketchbook Revival

6. Six Sentence Story is still going strong. Here’s this weeks post Say I Do

7. New poetry forms. I mentioned sestina before and I am working on one which is very challenging and LOVING it! You won’t see it on my blog as it is going in my book. Maybe a sneak peek, maybe…

8. I am now officially working on my second book of poetry and adding short story pieces. There was a target date, but I decided to leave it open. There is another writing project I’m working on and it’s caused me to slow my roll, in a good kind of way. It involves zombies and other characters and wouldn’t you just love to know…

9. My son, from another mother, is going to Spain with his beloved wife and my sometimes partner in crime. I am so happy for them and interested in hearing all about their trip. They are hiking there, well, not TO there, but while there. My younger self would have been all up in that activity! My older self says ouch!

10. It’s so beautiful outside!! Even with the achoos, it is so spirity out there! It’s like the spring fairies have danced around and blessed my days. OKAY… well, you get the picture…
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10.1 Samesies on the weight this week, but that’s AOK because it’s normal to have a hiccup when you lose weight. So, hiccup n then back to dropping it like it’s hot.

10.2 Remember that secret project I spoke of last week? Stay tuned!

Still here? Why not join in? Go HERE and check it out!!

Have a beautiful week!!

TTOT

Ten Things of Thankful – April 26

My Post (20)

Ten Things of Thankful

It’s that time again to ponder on all the gratitudes for the week! This is possibly one of my favorite things to do as it affects my whole week. You start looking at the silver lining of each cloud and start seeing the goodness. So, without much more ado, awaaay we go!! If you don’t know where that came from, then I think I will be nostalgic and start with that one!

1. Jackie Gleason was one of the best comics from my age. I have many fond memories of watching his show and our father saying “Away We Go!”

2. National Poetry Month has gotten my poetry flow going. Today is day 26 and I am still in the running! Here’s probably my favorite so far. Check it out HERE

3. Earth Day – we need this day 365 days a year, if we are going to make a difference. I did a little poem for the earth.
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4. Triangle Association of Freelancers Conference is tomorrow and I am over the moon at being able to be in North Carolina Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton-Green’s class!! She was just given an amazing honor. Read about it HERE I hope to learn about her documentary style poetry and more.

5. Joy Prom is provided annually in Raleigh and dear daughter will be attending this year. She last attended several years ago and decided she wanted to go again. I think she will have a great time.

6. Six Sentence Story is still going strong, for me. This week I wrote something that cuts close to my heart. It is likely going to be developed more, as it came to me with more information than I shared. It’s about The Last Haircut I gave my father.

7. The weather has been amazing!!! We did have a storm and today we are expecting another one, but it’s just nature doing what it does. It’s been nice to be able to start wearing shorts. If the pool was open I would have jumped in!

8. The library is something I am super thankful for. We walked to the library last night and picked up three books I had on hold. It’s nice we live so close and I love how they can get the books I want, pretty much. I also request that they buy certain books and many times they have followed though. The librarians are super nice and it’s cool how they are so eager to assist.

9. Art has infiltrated my brain! I am an artist, but I go in spells with creativity. I started doing some mindfulness art with a free class and now I am slowly going through another series for your sketchbook. It can be challenging to try new things, but it’s also fun. Here’s one item I made.
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10. Accomplishment. I worked on a special project of which was a new challenge and it is complete and I feel a little bit more experienced and that’s all can say about it. It’s a secret…shhh

10.1 BONUS!! I lost 4# since my last report and I forgot to report last week.

So, there you have it! One more week of yahoos!! How about you? Do you feel yahooistic? Go for it and share. The more, the merrier!!

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