My Two Blessings

Thinking - Davide Restivo My day to work at the shop. The guys called me a dozen times. James is upset because he can't find his New Super Mario Bros ds game which he hasn't played since 2012 .   I tell both him and hubby, I will find it when I get home.  But we have already looked everywhere they say.  Of course, these guys are notorious for looking, but not everywhere.  They seem to have a thing about not looking underneath or in things. I get home, search through James room, asking all the while if they went through the whole box of games in the garage.  Yeah, kind of, sorta maybe. Why don't you check, they eventually say. So I go through every single game case and find in the middle of the pack, the game in a different case.  I give hubby a look and he says, well it was hot, at least 103 in the garage.    Hmmm! Don't be discouraged. It's often the last key in the bunch that opens the lock. ~Author Unknown

Oh my goodness, where did July go?  This month zoomed by and I don't feel like we got anything accomplished life wise.  Blog and writing goals wise, I'm zooming online.  I've posted every single day of the month. Albeit a little late in the afternoon some days.  I've established daily themes with plenty of flexibility built in so I don't have to stick to that daily theme if I have something else to chat about.  I'm playing with art and poetry and having fun. The one thing I haven't done is work on Eyes in the Ashes. I seem to be stuck in a nonfiction mode.  Or is that just an excuse?  Am I still percolating or has it moved on to procrastinating.  Why am I having trouble with fiction?  The book I'm reading currently - Fire Up Your Writing Brain  says to write down and clarify your intentions about why you want to work on this piece.  Find your reasons.   Find your passion. Be sure of your passion.   I'm not feeling real...

Courtesy of A Lady In Red Invisible Today, I'm invisible A fly on the wall. They talk and I listen to one and all. How the mighty have fallen when once they would jest 'we have them deceived, we are the best.' Ignorance defined as one without intelligence. They sink themselves, left without relevance. Individuality, inspired duality Left without accountability, none with reliability. Inside and out, how can we doubt? Illustrations transcend, they've gone off the deep end. Innocence lost, possibilities found. What is the cost when life rebounds. ~R.Lee McCormack

Spotless in dust, waiting from free by Zhongwen Yu The man held the newborn girl and tears streamed down his cheeks as he said 'you are my Sorrow, you are my Joy.  She's gone. My darling, my heart, my life. What shall we do?  You and I, we shall survive.  She would have demanded nothing less.  We won't let her death destroy the most beautiful, precious gift I hold in my arms.  My sorry and and my joy.  Together, we'll prevail. My name is Sorrow Joy Andreas.  My friends call me Ro.  My dad named me right after my mother died during childbirth. My birth.  He used to say 'you are my sorrow, my joy.'  How can one be both sorrow and joy at the same time?  I don't know how he managed it. He raised me to follow in his path. A successful lawyer, an entrepreneur, a killer. My father, you see, was an assassin.  Not of lives, but of ambitions.  He took great joy in ruining people.  Those who deserved it, he would say. Those who ...

Light in Shadow  By Jayne Ann Krentz " The walls screamed at her .   'Oh, damn," Zoe Luce whispered. She halted in the doorway of the empty bedroom and stared at the white walls.   Not now. Not today. Not this time. I really need this job .   The walls sobbed.  Terror pulsed through the layers of sheetrock and the fresh coat of stark white paint that covered it. The silent shrieks ricocheted off the floor and ceiling.   She put her fingers to her temples in a purely instinctive, utterly useless gesture. She squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself against the ragged bolts of lightning that were shooting through her and pooling into a glacial pond somewhere in the vicinity of her stomach."

I hate reading news because it is just so dang depressing or makes me so angry that I avoid it if at all possible.  I'll admit I'm a celebrity junkie.  Daily mail showbiz, Eonline, and People magazine to name a few, capture my attention more often than not.  I've enjoyed being a fly on the wall ever since I was young, watching ET and other celebrity news shows.  Two very important things I have learned is neither gobs of money nor celebrity status can buy you class.  Most of these people are train wrecks which is probably why it's so entertaining.  Our lives compared to theirs are calm and happy.  They may think ordinary people live mediocre lives. Far from it and makes me appreciate mine more.      Last year was the year of the side boob. This year is the year of the underboob.  Neither is attractive and only makes them look like hoe's at best.  Why don' t they just cover the headlights with a couple pieces of duct tape and fo...

It’s kind of apropos that you are currently reading a story about lost things right now.  Totally fiction in which the lead character can see and feel the losses of everyone around her.  Awesome book and so you think about your losses, from little to big – keys, mom, fur babies, friends, and even directions.  Yes, losing your way easily because you have no sense of direction isn’t always fun.  You end up taking long detours that aren’t always an adventure.  You resist going down the pathway to talking about death.  Maybe because it used to be so foggy. And now that you’ve stepped out of the fog into the light, that sense of loss has dwindled.  Although grief hits at the oddest moments.  A smell, a texture. Even a TV show reminds you of that person.  And you wallow, let yourself sink, then rise back up to go on. You remember James first birthday and the family came to celebrate.  You were anxious and angry and had no idea w...

We met with our building team consisting of our architect, contractor, and electrician. Now the real works begins and since it took so long for the plans to be approved, it looks like things will be progressing a bit more slowly than planned and it will be about four to five months.  Everybody's busy since it is high summer so we just have to be patient. Grrr!  Never fear, I will be cracking that whip to make sure the renovations are done by the end of the year.  Fingers crossed, knock on wood, and where did my dang rabbits foot disappear too.  *grin*  I finished my birthstone bookology challenge for this month which should have been relatively easy since spelling out RUBY.   However a few other books yelled for my attention in the midst of the challenge.     R: The Rook - Daniel O'Malley (#1 Rook, paranormal, 504)  U: Fire Up Your Writing Brain - Susan Reynolds (nonfiction writing, 266)  B:  The Beautiful Mystery - Louis...

Hope Waits I'm here, she says Lean on me. Wait, don't go. I have much to teach, We have far to row. I'll do my best for tomorrow There is hope in my sorrow We look, we listen, we wait. We do our best to bear the hands of fate. We are saved. I am here. No more pain, no more fear. Yes, I'll wait. Stand tall, it's not too late.  Hope waits, hope gives, Sorrow passes, hope lives.  Don't worry, don't hate Sorrow walks alone through the gate. Remember, no matter what The door will not shut. Nothing is beyond my reach.  I have much to teach.  Don't worry yourself so. Save the tears for tomorrow. Hope tells the tale,  blessings prevail. Hope waits. ~R.Lee McCormack~

My mother said something prophetic the other day. I didn't know it at the time, but as the words sank into my soul and warmed my cold heart, I began to live again. My wife wouldn't have wanted me to give up. She had such courage. Obviously more than me. "Don't sit with your sorrow, but next to it." I hadn't the foggiest idea what mom meant.  With or next, what difference did it make?  Did she mean it literally or figuratively?  Did she mean don't sit too long on your ass, moping and dwelling, crying in your beer?  Or did she mean I should remove myself from the equation?   And just why the hell do I feel the need to analyze it.  Because it bothers me. "Don't sit with your sorrow, but next to it." Are we acquaintances, sitting together in a room, keeping each other at arms length. Or have we become friends sitting together, bonding over who knows what. Holding hands, gathering strength, being a part of each other's live...

The Rook by Daniel O'Malley "Dear You, The body you are wearing used to be mine. The scar on the inner left thigh is there because I fell out of a tree and impaled my leg at the age of nine.  The filling in the far left tooth on the top is a result of my avoiding the dentist for four years.  But you probably care little about this body's past.  After all, I'm writing this letter for you to read in the future.  Perhaps you are wondering why anyone would do such a thing.  The answer is both simple and complicated. The simple answer is because I knew it would be necessary." 

I can't believe I'd been afraid to dive out of an airplane.  It was the biggest rush, free falling and floating, diving towards the earth.  Granted I didn't do it alone, strapped to the instructor, a rather odd position to find myself in.  I don't usually get that close to another man unless I'm taking him into custody. A good old fashion headlock with no room to squirm.  Once was enough though.  Beautiful and terrifying.  One more thing to mark off mom's bucket list.  She made me do it. When have you ever been able to say no to your mother? I can't believe I was intimidated by her.  Here I am, forty years old and she still makes me feel like a child.  That's all me, though.  I like being taken care of...sometimes.  She won't let me see her bucket list. I think she's making it up on the fly. No pun intended.   I can't believe she never told me about the running of the bulls. She has pictures to prove it, along with th...

I'm a big proponent of writing everything long hand.  I write out all my fiction stories, flash and scenes long hand because I go completely blank looking at the white screen. However, I have no program writing blog posts on the fly.  Haven't figured that one out yet.   While reading, I'll underline portions and then go back and write it all out, along with the thoughts sparked by the text at that time. Otherwise I don't remember.  According to Susan Reynolds in Fire Up the Writing Brain  writing longhand helps with comprehension and thinking. "Handwriting is one of the most advanced human capabilities, because it combines all the complexities of language in concert with intricate psycho-motor activity.  It gives physical form to our thoughts and emotions, which is why some of us fall completely in love with the act of writing and spend hours searching for the perfect notebook for brainstorming ideas, journaling, or writing." I encourage everyone I ...

All systems are go. Our architect and contractor are working out details with subcontractors and gave us homework to start picking  out the rock siding for the columns on the front of the house.  I had it in my head that river rock or irregular rectangular rock would look good.  John likes stacked stone and even asked customers for their opinions  and they agreed with him. Generally, he lets me make the final decision as he usually ends up agreeing with me.  No, I don't always have to be right, I told him.   He patiently waited for me to come around to his viewpoint.   After photo shopping different styles onto a picture of the house, I came to the conclusion he was right and stacked stone created a more clean look. Miracle of miracles, we passed the first test in husband and wife decision making 101 with the new building without a major argument.  *grin* My sister and brother in law came by on Sunday and dropped off the box of stuff I'd collec...

Ghost Writer by Wolstenholme Goblin or Goon Ghosts float through the attic of my brain.  Used to be goblins and gremlins,  what could be more traumatic?  Goon and guns are more my thing as well as gallant gestures and clever angelic wings. Disingenuous  and gorgeous, he takes me out of this world with his geodesic looks and his wings unfurled. The glint in his eye, the glow of his skin he charms and deceives thinking he'll win. As we glide through the glade, reflections on bright glass glistens and blind as he says, 'don't be afraid.' Oh to be a guest in his mind,  so relieved.  Little does he know, he'll be the  one left aggrieved.  ~ R. Lee McCormack~

Courtesy of Tassels You wander through an old-growth forest with trees reaching into the sky  on a narrow, leaf covered trail. Wind whistles through the trees.   Branches rustle and sing as leaves scatter, captured by wild wind eddies, and fly around your head. You hear the roar of the waterfall, before the bridge comes into view.  The breeze pushes and pulls you and leaves crunch and crackle underneath your bare feet. Crack! You jump and race forward as a huge tree crashes to the ground with a bone jarring thud. Once the dust clears,  you realize its blocked the path and you'll have to take the long way home. The wind whips up and pulls at you, until you sprint down the trail, almost flying. You've heard about the bridge but not seen it yet.  The view takes your breath away.  Two huge oaks trees stretch across the water toward one another, and the roots form a natural walkway. The wood is warm and bumpy underneath your feet as you walk to the middle of the...

"Sophie Jordan lay utterly still in the inky darkness, the cool tile floor beneath her sweating body, as she checked her heart rate. Steady and solid after she'd done two dozen reps in perfect silence.  She'd been working herself up slowly over the months--as soon as she started breathing heavily she had to stop. There were no cameras or microphones in her huge bathroom, but she wasn't sure how sensitive the bugging devices in her bedroom were.  For all she knew, they could pick up the sound of her increased respiration."

Do you ever create your own anxiety by jumping ahead of yourself?  Yeah, me too.  I finished off the last few questions in Fierce on the Page. The last question is "What do I want to discover about myself as a writer or about writing in general this year? I don't know yet.  My goal right now is to write, fill my creative well, and post on my blog every day.  I'd like to come up with content that entertains, amuses, teaches others.  Maybe have folks learn from my experience.  Back the truck up. Am I ready?   I haven't been thinking of anyone else but myself at the moment. I put in a lot of time and effort the past couple years worrying about  and helping other folks with their writing.   Am I ready to write for an audience?  I can feel anxiety creeping in and I'm not exactly sure why. Some times you have to be selfish.   I'm taking this time to write for me, to find my passion again. Writing is a discovery process. I'm discov...

Courtesy of National Geographic  A few days ago when one of my customers dropped off his unit, he said, 'dang, I forgot. I was going to bring you a Jimboy's Taco."  It's been years since I've had one of their tacos and the memory of one sounded delicious.  I said 'you can't tease me like that. When you come back to get your equipment, you have to bring me a taco."  So true to his word, he bought tacos for me and my technicians.   They (yes I had two) were greasy, cheesy, beefy, crunchy good.   But and you knew there was a but coming.  Friday evening, I could feel the knot in my throat, the sly creep of indigestion making its way through my body. Major heartburn that neither tums nor peppermint gum could ease.    I even tried the baking soda in water trick...twice. I sat in the dark living room, staring out the window between moments of trying to read.  It began to ease around four ish and I headed off to bed.  For the next coup...

Waterdrop by Zen  Another hot weekend with temps in the 100's however I can't complain since Dad is in Arizona with consistent 110 + temps everyday.  I lasted all of 10 minutes out on the patio this morning.  Such a wimp when it comes to heat.  Despite it all, we are celebrating this weekend as we received our red tag approval from the fire department and got our final green tag approval from the city.  Yes, ma'am. Which means we can finally move forward and begin construction and renovation on the new property.  Happy Dance!!! In book news, it is week 28 in our 52 books quest and this week we are celebrating Octavia Butler.  I have Dawn in my stacks and plan on reading it sometime this year.   As for our readalong of War and Peace is going, I'm been a bit distracted and haven't gotten too far.  I've been reading Louise Penny's Armand Gamache inspector series and I've fallen in love with Penny's writing and can't get enough ...

Ode to F  Haiku Forever Fearless  Flights of Fancy Fairy Tales  Frogs fly high and free. Fake, fancy, fabrics Franklin sees through the fur tree Faded and foolish. Foster fetched Franny fabulously facing fear forever and free.  Fortunately  facts and figures do not fade like fables and fibs  ~ R.Lee McCormack~

The last few nights she had a recurring dream about her brother, Tommy.  They were lost in Oz and didn't have any idea how to get home.  He lay in the cornfield at the feet of a scarecrow, hands on his head and laughing. He shouldn't be laughing , she thought. He should be scared or angry.  Why wasn't he angry?   She pushed her way through the cornstalks, leaving a path out to the road.  The empty road. No yellow bricks, no Toto, no Tinman, no witch.  Just an empty Nebraska cornfield and a very blue and purple sky.  Puffy yellow clouds raced each other to the horizon.  Birds sang, stalks whispered, and Tommy laughed.  He hooted and howled.  She waited for him to wind down, to catch his breath, to look at her. Acknowledge her.   "You know," he said and startled her with his cheerful voice, "I do believe this is the craziest scarecrow I've ever seen." She gazed at the figure nailed to two pieces of wood, like Jesus on the cross. ...

"As the last note of the chant escaped the Blessed Chapel a great silence fell, and with it came an even greater disquiet. The silence stretched on. And on. These were men used to silence, but this seemed extreme, even to them. And still they stood in their long black robes and white tops, motionless. Waiting."

I got rhythm, I got music, I got my man Who could ask for anything more? I've got daisies in green pastures I've got my man Who could ask for anything more?  ~ Ella Fitzgerald~  I love Ella and just this very moment got the bright idea to copy her music. Just for fun and to experience her rhythm.  Putting her on the copy work list.  Which brings me to writing rhythm.  It's another one from Sage Cohen's list which is probably going to take me the whole year to finish working through. What kind of writing rhythm do you want? Rhythm implies music, tone, balance, pitch, chords on the page, making up a song. Individual chords and words working together to make up a whole. A song. Pretty music that is great to listen to and we're able to play without discord.  How are you going to tune it?  Like a guitar or a piano with strings in alignment, tuned by ear or using one of those electronic gizmos?  Do you like to play by ear or by design?   You want t...

Copy Work  The universe is trying to tell me something.  For all the years I've home schooled and had James doing copy work, as suggested by Susan Wise Bauer in Well Trained Mind  and Charlotte Mason's classical education ideals, not once has it ever occurred to me that it would be beneficial for me to do so.  I discovered I retain and remember more when taking notes while reading non fiction. I've learned to underline sentences and paragraphs that spark while reading fiction, otherwise it goes poof and I never find that perfect sentence again.  What does that have to do with copy work?   I read about the practice of copy work for writers in the last couple books I read, plus I've stumbled across the art of copy work on the internet this past week.  Brent McKay from the The Art of Manliness explains best how it will improve your writing as well as memory and focus. A few years back when I was reading all of James Scott Bell writing boo...