blogging

photo of body of water with boulders — Photo by Inge Wallumrød on Pexels.com

We’ve reached the end, folks. It’s January 31, making this the end of the first month of the new year. Not so new anymore. How’s it been for you? My month has been decent. I have made some good changes and pursued goals, meeting some and working on others. The important thing is to keep on working. So, without further introduction, here are the top 10 thankfuls for this week.

1. The Golden Girls and Betty White’s birthday! Who knew that Betty White really is older than sliced bread? That’s what the internet says 🙂 I love Betty White. She’s been in my life for years. I used to watch her on her husband’s show and they were so cute. It was called Password. Maybe some of the older ones on here remember that show. I turn on the Golden Girls in the background while I am working on projects. It’s like visiting old friends.

2. Daughter is coming! She is going to turn 44 soon and she will be coming this week to celebrate and do annual important things such as get her new ID. We are going to a special event and have some valuable time together.

3. Lucy Brummett has this Lovely Blog Go check it out. I have met her at the Raleigh NC Bloggers meetup and she is a true gem! She is an author, freelancer and archer!

photo of person taking out arrows from target board — Photo by Burst on Pexels.com

4. Paul Stryer has an awesome blog for helping people get blogs started. He’s a walking, talking resource who has helped our blog group members so much! Here is th elink to his blog: Bloggers Workspace

5. Test Results were AOK! I had a MRI of the brain this week and other than old age, I am AOK No news is good news!

6. PT is going well. I was able to perform the exercises and I am doing well.

7. The neck procedure on Monday worked out well. It was painful, but better than the prior time. Breathing helps. Otherwise, I might be dead. So always breathe!

air atmosphere blue blue sky — Photo by Skitterphoto on Pexels.com

Picture of the sky to remind us to breathe.

8. Art news! My niece is a wonderful artist and I referred her to someone who needed an illustrator and she’s on the job! I love it! Here is something she did a while back:
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My sister holding the Cardinal painting done by niece (her granddaughter) Kay Doiron

9. Attitude is Everything! I wrote this little Six Sentence Story about that topic: There’s Something to Be Said for Attitude

10. Here’s the best seat at the house. It’s the one where you get a chance to tell us your thankfuls! Please feel free to reply with your thankful for this week or create a blog post and join us. Just click on the link below to add.

clear glass bowl beside yellow flower — Photo by Mareefe on Pexels.com

Here’s to a great week!!

blog, Personal Essay, TTOT

Ten Things of Thankful – January 24, 2020

January 24, 2020January 25, 2020 Lisa Tomey-Zonneveld

That’s right, folks! It’s January 24 and a FRIYAY! So time for Ten Things of Thankful or TTOT!! So, let’s do this!

1. Mom! This would be her 97th birthday year! WOW! On January 20, 1923 God brought this woman into the world and in 1954 I got to meet her! How lucky was I? The luckiest baby in the world, but I am partial to my mother. While she did not get to stay on this part of life long enough, I am grateful for having her for a mother, who I always called “Mom.”
mom

2. Paul, my cousin, who passed away this past week. I am grateful that when I was last back visiting in Iowa that we got to see him. He is now with his beloved Sally and the rest of the family on the other side. I am sure he is talking away as he loved to chat up a storm. Rest well, Paul, you were always one I could count on to make me smile.
Paul Niemann

3. Learning – I have been learning so much from fellow people in many walks of life, but this week I want to feature Deanna Martinez-Bey, a writer, cook and fellow blogger. Here is one of her blogs The Fiery Whisk Bakery. I am reading one of her books and it’s making me hungry!

4. Walking – I have had some difficulty with walking and weeble wobbles, so I devised a way to walk indoors. I am “trying” to increase my cardio without going kerplunk! I did get to the gym and use the bike on the weekend, but I am trying this in home walking routine and so far, so good. One day at a time, right? I am thinking of trying this video again as it helped me before:

5. This spot is for you!! That’s right! I decided to meet you in the middle, so why not take the steps to join the party? Here’s the link to join us! Even one thankful is perfectly fine!

6. Opportunities – I was having a discussion with my friend about how wherever you look, wherever you go, there are always opportunities to reach out and help others. We had that experience yesterday at the Dollar Tree, helping a lady who needed to find the right color flowers. And in the Living Poetry prompt “Service” was the theme. So, would you like to see the responses? you might see mine, oh yes you might or may… Living Poetry Monday Prompt

7. Glasses – I was at the blogger’s meetup and my friend and fellow blogger, Missy, had glasses to give us and I got a pair for my daughter. They are pink! Maybe she will model them when she gets them. Thank you, Missy!! Here’s Missy’s blog: Midlife Margaritas

8. Humor – So, I had a little fun this week with Medium. On Friday on post on the Friday Fix and respond to the prompt of the week. See what I did here and tell me if it made you giggle: Put the Seat Down

9. And many years ago I walked on water! Oh yes I did! It was ICE water, so there is that factor… Grateful I survived and that my partner in this did not fall in, that time… Here’s the story: Walking Across the Mississippi River

10. A Warm Bed – Not all people get to choose where they will live. Unless you call choosing between sleeping under the stars or in a tent a choice, then, there’s that, but I know I can lay my head on a pillow in a heated home. What made me think about this moreso this week was when I was driving and saw a tent pitched next to a fence. I am supposing that someone slept or was still sleeping in that tent. It is cold outside, even though in NC we joke about how that changes by the hour, it is cold and to have to sleep in a tent must be hard. Yes, I have slept in a tent on cold nights, but I was camping by choice. I had a campfire and I had warm sleeping gear, but it was fun for me. I cannot imagine that this person had a campfire or heat and yet they chose to pitch a tent and even take that risk near a busy road. I don’t know anything about this person. I don’t know their story. But I do know it is cold and I am grateful I am not having to sleep in a tent when I would not want to do so.

gray beddings — Photo by Andrew Neel on Pexels.com

short story, TTOT

10 Things of Thankful – August 2

August 2, 2019August 2, 2019 Lisa Tomey-Zonneveld

barefoot beach blur break — Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com

Good Morning! It’s time to share about all the wonderful things for which we are grateful. Namely, 10 Thinks of Thankful or TTOT! This week, I have the pleasure of co-hosting TTOT, joining a wonderful group of dedicated peeps. It’s an honor to be asked. There are no hard and fast rules, just make a list or not a list, but mainly share ten things for which you are thankful, more or less. I promise there will be no head bonking if you can’t come up with ten, or listing, numbering yada yada yada… Just hop in. There’s a link at the bottom of this post and you can link up by going there and adding your post link. It’s easy and always wonderful to add more to the gratefuls. So, without further chatter, here are my 10!

Poetry Dive – I dove into a month of poetry with Jena Schwartz. It was a great way to write to prompts on a regular basis and write it raw, no edits, just write your poetry and post. It’s a vulnerable and empowering experience and I am grateful to have done this. The feedback from other poets was helpful to encourage me to take those poems and develop them. Who knows? I may have another secret project…well, you know I do!

art artistic blank page book — Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Laughter – Last Saturday I got together with a couple of Blog Squad members and we had a blog working session. Whenever I am with this group I always find funny things to laugh about. One of the women in the group, also the founder, Missy Cheney Farrow, has a fun blog, often poignant humor about her kiddos, and I look forward to reading her posts right away. They are the kind that make me stop what I am doing and read. So here’s her link so you can LOL and go AWWW with me: Midlife Margaritas
Six Sentence Story – This weeks prompt word was Pad and I saw so many variations from this word. I have a lot of fun with this group. Here is my STORY
Family – This should be #1, but regardless, it’s important to have family and friends who become family. I may have mentioned before that I have two children. One is my daughter who is grown and the other is my son, also grown. And my daughter was adopted by me when she was 10 and my son adopted me about six years ago, no official paper or date, but as a grown man he decided I would be his mother. His wife is like a daughter to me and we met before I met my son. There is also a third child, one I think was a boy and I have written a couple of poems about him, he didn’t come into this world alive, but he grew in my womb and in my heart and would be 19 by now. Another time, in another way, I will tell more about his story, but suffice it to say, I am grateful for the time we had.
Celebrations – August is my birthday month and I will be 65 next week. I have a good friend who has her birthday next week, as well. We get together and have a birthday dinner, just the two of us, each year. Once we work out our schedules, this will likely happen next week. I also get a lot of freebies for my birthday, so I look forward to the fun yums this month.
Weight is still slip sliding away. YAY

blue tape measuring on clear glass square weighing scale — Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Air Conditioning – What would we do without this? I remember back in the day (yeah I am THAT old) when you could get by without A/C When we lived in Texas we had air coolers which were like glorified fans. We ran them in the living room and made pallets on the floor. It looked like we were camping.
Swimming – It’s been a rough week of not being able to get to the pool as much, but oh it has been so nice when I have gotten in that water. It’s not soupy hot and sooo refreshing. I am soooooo grateful for this and wish I could invite everybody to join.
Tea – This week I tried a new tea, recommended by my friend and oh boy is it a game changer. Plus, I got it free because of a special this week at one of my grocers. It’s a Cinnamon Chai by Paromi. I like the other chai I have, as well, but this is another lovely treat. It’s also caffeine free.

Appliances – As I sit here listening to my washing machine running, I feel ever so grateful not to have to run to the laundromat. Hopefully, those days are behind me. It seems that more apartment complexes are furnishing these and I am so happy. If they did not, I would have to get them, but oh isn’t it nice that I don’t have to do that.

So there you have it. Those are my TTOTs – Come join in!

TTOT

Ten Things of Thankful – Easter Time

April 19, 2019April 19, 2019 Lisa Tomey-Zonneveld

Jodi
Jodi and Easter Eggs from 2018

It’s that time again to think of all the wonderful things of which to be grateful. It’s also Easter and that’s always special. Let’s just hop to it!

1. April 15 is past!! WOOHOO!!

2. Daughter is here for a few days and enjoying her being here and super duper news is that she was recognized for all the years she has been a volunteer at the thrift store. Here she is in all her smilyness!!
Jodi

3. I made the cut!! Read about it HERE Serious Flash Fiction accepted my piece for their anthology. Thanks to D. Avery for sharing about this and for also being included. She has been doing wonderful works with her blog!

4. I’m still staying consistent with Six Sentence Story. Here’s my latest:
Every 1000 Miles I’ve already edited it a couple of times.

5. Oh my goodness!! National Poetry Month is keeping me honest! So far, I have written a poem every day. One rule I have is that it has to be in the raw, with very little editing. If I catch something later, I can change it. It’s more about discipline than perfection. Here’s the last one from yesterday. I’m doing today’s after this blog post. Little Did I Know

6. The weather has been amazing!! It’s supposed to storm today, but it’s been nice enough to do some walking. I don’t go far, but I enjoy the fresh air. Pollen has been snarky, but it’s better now.

7. The after tax season two days off were lovely and we went Putt-Putting. There were several families out there! I think school must be out for the week.

8. Book Club coming! Our community is going to start a book club. It was one of my suggestions and they are going for it! WOOHOO!!

9. Interview with a poet. Last week, I interviewed a fellow poet at the clubhouse. It has been years since I have done anything like this. I do know that I would not want to do this on a regular basis because of stress, but I enjoyed this one as it was pretty much a conversation. I admire the work of this lady and here’s the video: Interview with Aruna Gurumurthy

10. I have been doing a series about the Muse. Here’s the last one I posted and I have another in the process. It’s been a fun project. My sister has often given me ideas and although she is on the other side of the veil, I still hear her musing me. Last night I had a dream and she decided in the dream to go spend some time with another family member. I suppose I should share her, but I hope she comes back soon.
4 National Poetry Month