Sunday Sundries--Expect the Unexpected Edition

Getting ready for that holiday thing--we get to go visit family this year.We hadn't planned it, but my brother is having a fairly serious medical procedure, so I wanted to be there. Yes, we'd wanted to spend time working around the house, but instead, we get to have an adventure! I have to look at it this way and I hope you all do too. But, it's doubtful we'll have a tree or do the Christmas baking like I'd wanted. That's okay. We'll plan for next year or maybe do an open house or something in the spring for our 25th wedding anniversary.

Here's a picture of another Christmas a looooong time ago:

My brothers Joe and Ed, with Mom and me in front of a very tinsled tree. Yeah, I was the baby.

I have a scene at the end of my second series of books of three of the five sisters enjoying their first Christmas as wives. A fourth sister will marry her lesbian lover before the end of the year. While I haven't written much lately, I have been keeping up with notes and I have many scenes to share and transcribe. Another thing I was hoping to do this week, but that's okay. What was it John Lennon said, "Life is what happens while you're making other plans"?

Here's a Christmas tree we had up at the house when we first moved in, 20+ years ago:

We haven't had a tree up since we first got the stripey twins. They knocked the tree like this one down within a few hours and broke five "unbreakable" resin and wood ornaments. Doesn't keep me from buying new ornaments, though. I probably have a couple of hundred.

Speaking of:

This was titled, "Adjusting the tree topper." Yeah, right. This is more like it:

This is a tree I put up one year at work:

I have a ton of children's books (I used to run a bookstore and grew up in a library) and I brought a collection of kids' books about cats and Christmas. Yes, my geekdom has sub-categories.

This is a tree from a Writers Guild Christmas party a long time ago. I'm sorry, I don't remember the names of the lady standing with me, but I always wanted to have the kind of house where we could have people over for a party.

Prissy was a Christmas present for my 9th birthday year. She immediately jumped out of Mom's arms and ran up the tree, causing it to topple over. Last year I remember a live tree. Here she is in her later years:

The marble topped chest of drawers is in my garage now, waiting for us to organize the dining room. Another thing we'd planned to do this week, but that's okay.

A picture of me with some Christmas haul. Love the train--Dad worked on the railroad--but I don't remember it. I don't remember the politically incorrect "tar baby" either or why Mom cut out part of the picture. Weird.

Here's one that made me laugh:

Here's a recipe I wanted to try this week, but you guessed it, we'll be doing it later:

CAKE BATTER TRUFFLES

Recipe from: The Girl Who Ate Everything

• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
• ½ cup white sugar
• 1 ½ cups flour
• 1 cup yellow cake mix
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3-4 Tablespoons milk
• 2 Tablespoons sprinkles

Truffle Coating:

• 16 ounces (8 squares) almond bark (or white candy melts)
• 4 Tablespoons yellow cake mix
• sprinkles


Beat together butter and sugar using an electric mixer until combined. Blend in vanilla.  Add cake mix, flour, salt, and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Add 3 Tablespoons of milk or more if needed to make a dough consistency. Mix in sprinkles by hand. Roll dough into one inch balls and place on a parchment or wax paper lined cookie sheet. Chill balls in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to firm up.


While dough balls are chilling, melt almond bark in the microwave in 30 second intervals until melted. Stir between intervals. Once melted, quickly stir in cake mix until incorporated completely. Using a fork, dip truffles into almond bark and shake of excess bark by tapping the bottom of the fork on the side of your bowl. Place truffle back on the cookie sheet and top with sprinkles. Repeat with remaining balls until finished. {Note: for smoother looking truffles, don't add cake mix to melted chocolate, just leave it by itself}

Chill cake batter truffles in the refrigerator until serving. Makes around 24-30 truffles.

 
Yummy! I think I might try these with other flavors of cake mix, like chocolate or lemon.

So, because I gotta get to going here, I'll have to make this post a little shorter. Everyone have a great week and enjoy being with family and friends!

Sunday Sundries--Yeah, I Said It Edition

You know, I was feeling sorry for myself a little this week. My husband is on a driving restriction, so I have to take him to and from work and negotiate on our days off a little more than usual. There have been some illnesses with family members, including my brother who is out in Virginia and we may have to make a trip out there with, you guessed it, me doing all the driving. At work, there has been some grumbling because we will be changing our schedules for the next couple of months. I was relieved that I got to keep the 2nd shift schedule I wanted that is more convenient for my chauffeur duties. Then, my car, The Mighty Purple Saturn, started seriously acting wonky on me and may have to be replaced. And I was dealing with the repercussions of my fall outside of work on Thanksgiving day, dealing with insurance companies and feeling like my I.Q. had dropped about twenty points on some days because of my head injury AND fighting a virus.

Then, I thought, would someone please smack me up side of the head and make me stop feeling sorry for myself? Wait, that's what I did. I smacked myself up side of the head with my fall. All right, then. Let me learn this lesson again:

All in all, it could be a hell of a lot worse on so many levels. Nothing like the earth-shattering stresses I put my characters through, after all and we're in much better shape than so many of my colleagues, friends and family members. So, I go cry in the bathroom for a few minutes, put on my Big Girl Panties and deal with it. According to one of my friends, Mercury is out of retrograde, so the technology drama should be settling down soon. IF the world doesn't come to an end in the next couple of weeks, right?

So, as a function of my Thanksgiving posts and because I'm usually genuinely pretty good natured about life in general, I decided to channel my characters and deal with any residual stress with my sarcastic sense of humor.

After all,

And we always get in trouble when that happens, don't we? Because:

Getting angry and stressed really won't help matters any and it distracts you from getting done what you need to do.

Right? Wish more people would learn that last lesson, huh? And more importantly, why do we keep forgetting this:

While I did enjoy getting to talk with an aunt I hadn't heard from in a long while, this needs to be said too:

I have to put things in perspective. After all:

Had to talk a co-worker back from the ledge about the shift bid results. We'll be changing schedules again probably in February anyway. I try to teach this lesson to my characters, but often forget it myself:

I need to remember and you do too:

Did you read the last note on that one? So, yeah, I said it. Shut the hell up and start living that life you want. Start doing the things you really want and need to do to get to where you're going. Use active verbs in your life as well as your fiction, rather than passive.

Because:

Are you coming with me or are you going to sit there and whine? Think about it and try to catch up next week, okay? Love ya and you know how I worry, but I've got things to do.

Sunday Sundries--Gratitude Redux

Ah, so grateful you made it back for another week of Sunday Sundries! Hope your Thanksgiving and weekend after was super and that you still fit into your jeans....

Alas, I had an injury at work on Thanksgiving day, so I spent the next two days sleeping and recovering.

Boris actually got up on my lap and slept with me a couple times and Natasha wanted to be right up next to me. I'm feeling better now, thank you.
Two more things I'm exceedingly grateful for:

Found this just the other day:

I'm very grateful for libraries, physical and digital.
This is an unfortunate choice of fonts--I'm grateful for laughter and I love Christmas ornaments, though we haven't put up a tree in years:

I mentioned my kitties--Natasha's meowing at me right now, because she can't sit beside me when I'm in the office chair. I'm very grateful for all the pets I've had in my life:

Isn't she sweet?
I've been going through a ton (literally) of my needlework patterns, honestly assessing if I'll every do them and getting a box ready to go to a resale service. I might have to do this one, though...

I am so grateful for the fictional world I have created and my main goal is to finish the first book by the end of the year to get ready to share it with others. This made me smile:

This one was shared by my father-in-law during the election hoopla. I'm grateful for my family:

I'm grateful very much for the books I have on shelves, in boxes and in my Kindle:

I am grateful beyond words at my husband of almost 25 years. He truly:

Finally, I am grateful for all of you out there, who have taught me, encouraged me and listened.

Love to all--be back next week. Keep writing!

Sunday Sundries--Gratitude Edition First Installment

Coming up on Thanksgiving, I needed to get a few things down in a gratitude journal. It had been a few years since I put a bunch of pages in one of my blank books. So, here are some things to share.
1. Just got a call from my sister in law and my brother will have to have some surgery later in the next year. I'm grateful for my brother and his family and I worry. This made me smile:

As I'm his only sister.
2. I'm so very glad this year's elections are over. I hate the divisiveness it caused and I pray everyone will pull together to take care of all the issues that need to be dealt with. I tried to keep this blog and my Facebook page fairly free of politics. This is all I'm going to say:

What a great ad campaign, huh?
3. I love word play, writing and I even love editing. I have a few friends who are serious about using proper grammar and spelling and I truly respect that. This made me smile too:

Yes, it is important.
4. Friday nights are Girls' Night Out and friends and I have been going out to do things for a very long time. Three of us headed out for lunch and a craft show yesterday afternoon. While this continues the kind of adult theme, it's true:

Can't have enough friends, can you?
5. I have a carved wooden box some friends gave me that I use to keep memories in, until I can get them in the larger storage bin downstairs or organize. I've had a wonderful life and I'm grateful for the pictures, program books, invitations, etc., that make me smile. But:

Keep moving forward.
6. While I was raised to be a lady, my mother taught me to not be afraid to strategically use a curse word. So, here's another thing that sounds funny to be glad for, but sometimes we need "that kind of day" to make the rest of your life feel great:

I just pray they don't hit that often.
7. Earlier in the year, my buddy Pam Asberry went to the Magnolias and Moonlight conference and got me an autographed book from one of my favorite authors. This was a huge thing, as I have been collecting autographed books since I worked at a bookstore in the 1980s. This was the book:

So, this gratitude includes books in general, romance and friendship also.
8. I had an unusual childhood, but we had some great adventures. I need to get this button:

It's made me what I am now, so no need to look at the past with regrets.
9. Those past experiences have made me very practical in my perspective on life. I need to get this t-shirt:

Besides, I look good in red.
10. I'm grateful I've been able to lose almost sixty pounds in the past year and keep it off. This shirt made me laugh, though:

11. I do occasionally have what I call "brain farts," but I've learned not to sweat it as much. This is true and made me smile:

12. I'm also grateful for the space program and all the wonderful science it's given us:

There's the first installment of my gratitude list. More later, I promise. Everybody have a great week--I'm grateful for all of you!