The color of my Saturday? Blue…

Feeling kind of down today because my husband is in Knoxville with his parents.  My father-in-law had a massive stroke the day before Thanksgiving and he’s been in the hospital or in a therapy/rehab center ever since then.  At first, we thought he might actually bounce right back after he got out of ICU and for a while it looked like he would…until he went to the first rehab/therapy place where he ended up with bedsores and an infection.  When his blood pressure dropped so low it barely registered on the monitor, the doctors there finally wised up and sent him back to the hospital.  He was re-admitted to ICU and we were told he probably wouldn’t make it but thankfully, he pulled through and is now in a different rehab center.  They’ve done wonders with him there and he’s getting better every day.

During all that, my mother-in-law started having problems remembering things.  We thought it was just the stress–they’ve been married for 55 years and this is the first time she’s ever really been without him–but when we took her to the neurologist to be checked, he diagnosed her with dementia.

So, my husband and his brothers and sister have had to make some tough decisions about what to do next.  Thank goodness his parents had already put their house on the market before all this happened.  The house sold a couple of weeks ago and now the kids are trying to find the best-case living scenario for their parents.  Dad’s pretty much set for a while in the rehab/therapy center, but what to do with Mom?

Assisted living seems to be the answer so my husband is over there today looking for the right place for her–and for his dad when he’s finally able to come home.

As for me, I’m home alone–well, not exactly alone, I do have the dogs with me–because of the darned MS.  No energy, wacky balance, and blurry vision so I didn’t think I should chance going with him and making it worse.  He’s got enough to worry about!

Hopefully, when he calls tonight, he’ll have found the perfect place for his mom and he’ll be able to come back home tomorrow.  We’ve only been married 34 years–a mere pittance compared to his parents–and I miss him.  Sure, most of the time I’m fine on my own and in fact, I prefer being “home alone” but I think that’s because I know he’s somewhere close by, like at the office, the golf course, or shopping at one of his two favorite places, Lowe’s or Home Depot.

I can’t imagine going through what his mom’s going through right now.  It really has me rethinking all those times I wished I was single and feeling a little ashamed because of the envy I’ve felt for women who are on their own without a husband to bother them.  I love my husband–even though he can be a pain in the butt sometimes–and I don’t ever want to go through what my mother-in-law is going through right now.

So, that’s what has me down in the dumps today.  On the other hand, I have been able to get some research done and even a little bit of writing.  And tomorrow, we’re supposed to have sunshine after three days of snow, sleet, ice and rain.  Yay!

…and to think I used to love winter.  But that was when I lived in Maine.  Winter’s different up there.  You expect the snow and the ice but it’s like a slap in the face when we get it down here.  Still, I’m glad we moved back to the south–especially since all this happened.

Depression can be your friend…

Yep, you read that right, depression can be your friend.  Why do I say that when everyone knows depression is extremely tough to deal with and sometimes can even prove to be lethal?  Because it was a bout of depression I suffered after being diagnosed with MS that finally made me get serious about writing.  My life hasn’t been the same since that happened and according to schuyler kaufman, the latest author interviewed on the Dames of Dialogue, it was depression after her divorce that got her writing too.

So, yes,depression can be your friend but chances are, if it is, you won’t understand that until long after your new pal has packed up and moved out of your life.  It’s sneaky that way.

Check out schuyler’s fascinating interview on the Dames of Dialogue blog and don’t forget to leave a comment!

Putting my trust in Punxsutawney Phil–phhffftttt!

The word is the famous groundhog of Gobbler’s Knob saw his shadow this morning which means, unfortunately, another six weeks of winter.

Bah!

I’m thinking ol’ Punx Phil got it wrong–at least as far as western North Carolina goes.  We had sunshine yesterday, after a weekend of snow and ice, but this morning it’s cloudy and rainy and there’s no way anyone saw a shadow of anything.  Well, except me because I’m seeing a huge shadow of doubt here…

I think I’ll go with the Germans on this one.  German tradition holds that if a hibernating animal sees his shadow on February 2nd then there’s going to be six more weeks of winter.  Notice it doesn’t say anything about Punxsutawney Phil, he’s only one of the many hibernating animals in the world, it just says a hibernating animal.  I guarantee the hibernating animals in my neck of the woods didn’t see their shadow today.

Hopefully, that means we won’t have six more weeks of winter.  As for Punxsutawney Phil and his fellow Pennsylvanians, they’re on their own!

Happy Groundhog Day!

The Good, the Sad, and the Ugh-ly

The Good:

Here’s an idea that may be of interest to anyone who’s looking to buy an ereader in the near future:  Amazon is now offering free downloads of software (Beta) in their Kindle store which will allow you to read Kindle books on your PC.  The software is labeled as Beta which I imagine means they’re still working out the kinks but I’ve talked to a couple of authors who’ve already tried it and they’re impressed.  I’ve been thinking about buying an ereader for a long time but can’t figure out which one I want.  They all have their good points but they all also have their bad points so…I think I’ll just keep reading ebooks on my laptop until someone comes out with an ereader that I can’t live without.  But I really like that I can sort of test drive the Kindle with this program.

The Sad:

We lost another great author this week, J.D. Salinger, the author of The Catcher in the Rye.  I’ve read quite a few articles on his life and death, but none touched me as much as the one posted today on AOL.  Searching for J.D. Salinger, Finding Something More is written by Francis Storrs and it tells of his journey to Salinger’s home in New Hampshire and what he found while he was there.  Interesting and intriguing and the author’s closing thoughts just might bring a smile to your face as they did to mine.

The Ugh-ly:

‘Weekend at Bernies’ Tries to ‘Weekend at Bernies’ Itself meaning some fool is doing another remake.  Ugh!  Please, Hollywood, I’m begging you, stop it!  Just. Stop. It!  Take a creative writing course instead and see if you can’t come up with an original idea.  Or better yet, read some of the great books that are being published these days and pay some deserving author a boatload of money to make their idea into an original movie.  I can almost guarantee you you’ll feel a lot better about yourself–not to mention the end product you come up with.

Non-rainy days and Mondays…

We got four inches of rain yesterday and although it’s not raining today–thank goodness!–my husband and I woke this morning to a broken water pipe which means we have no water and that–horror of horrors!–means I haven’t had my morning gallon of coffee.  Not a good day so far, but the plumber is here now and hopefully I’ll have water–and coffee!–soon. 

A few things on my mind today:

1.  Last week was a bad week for writers.  Don’t know if it was something in air or what, but we lost two of the best, Robert B. Parker, author of the Spenser series, and Erich Segal, author of Love Story.  Mr. Parker was sitting at his desk working when he died and I couldn’t help but think that’s the way every author would want to go.

2.  Last Tuesday was Edgar Allen Poe’s 200th birthday and though he’s been gone for a long time there’s still a mystery surrounding him.  Every year for the past 60 years, an unknown person visited Poe’s gravesite on his birthday and left three roses and a half-full bottle of cognac on the grave.  Seems fitting somehow for Poe to have a mysterious visitor but this year, the mystery person failed to appear.  Since no one knew who the person was, no one knows why they didn’t show this year.  Just another mysterious day in the Poe neighborhood.

3.  Congrats to the Colts and the Saints for making it to the Super Bowl.  Should be a good game even though I can’t decide who to root for.

4.  Interesting and fun post on Monday Dialogue with Guest today.  Linda Bulger is talking about knitting.  I’m a sometimes knitter and I learned a few things.  Check it out at the Dames of Dialogue blog!

5.  I spent most of yesterday organizing my Word files and I’m still not finished.  Amazing how many files I have.  I did delete a few but not enough to make a difference so it looks like I’ll be back at it again this afternoon–that is, if I can get my eyes uncrossed and my brain unfried.

6.  Also spent quite a bit of time researching the Melungeons.  Interesting people and they play a big part in the WIP I’m working on with my sister about my great aunt’s life.  Did you know Virginia passed a Racial Purity Act in 1924 and the Supreme Court upheld it in 1927, which led to 30 more states passing the same type of law?  What is it about humans that they always have to have someone to persecute?  

And that’s it for this non-rainy day and Monday.  Time to go check on the plumber and see how that water thing’s coming along…

Monday Meanderings…

–Herbie, a huge elm tree believed to be around 240 years old, stood sentinel on the corner of East Main Street and Yankee Drive in Yarmouth, Maine.  I was lucky enough to see Herbie when my husband and I lived in Maine and I hate knowing that he finally lost his battle with Dutch elm disease.  RIP Herbie!

–Less than a month to go until the pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training.  Yippee and yahoo!  Will the Red Sox go to the series this year?  Hard to say, I’m thinking…nope, not gonna happen, not this year…but honestly, right now, I don’t care if they do or not.  I just want to see some baseball!

–Why do my dogs prefer their blue chew toys over the orange ones?  Are they, like my husband, color blind?  Turns out they are…to a degree.  Check out this cool chart if you want to know how your dog sees colors–it also answers the question of why my husband once picked up a pink t-shirt and started to buy it.  I almost fainted because I knew he hated the color pink–don’t ask me how he determined that when he can’t even see it!–and wouldn’t be caught dead wearing anything pink. 

–Yikes!  Saw an article the other day about the so-called “plus-size” models Glamour magazine has started using and it said any model who wears a size 8 or 10 is considered plus-size.  Oh really?  I’m 5′7 1/2″ tall, I weigh around 125 pounds, and I wear a size 8  or 10 which, I suppose, means I qualify as a “plus-size” woman.  So how come everybody’s always asking me how I stay so thin?  And take a look at this picture:  

That’s Lara Stone.  Ms. Stone is a model who according to another article on Lemondrop, wears a size 4, and she says people often tell her she’s fat.  WTF?  Seriously, somebody needs to take a horsewhip to whoever decided the “perfect” woman is a size 2 or less.  Sheesh!

And while we’re on the subject of size, she looks more like a size 6 or maybe even an 8 to me.  Do designer sizes run larger than…what do they call them?  Off -the rack- clothes…that doesn’t sound right but my brain’s about meandered out so I hope you get what I’m saying.  She’s a size 4 and she looks about the same size as me but I wear a size 8 or 10.  Do those designers fudge with the sizes so they can sell more clothes to the rich and vain?  Does that really matter to women?  I’d be more inclined to fork over my money if they shaved a few numbers off the price instead of the size!

Failed New Year’s resolutions got you down? Why not try a “new” New Year?

My year hasn’t exactly gotten off to the best of starts, especially where my writing is concerned.  I just haven’t felt like writing much of anything lately and even though I open up at least one of my WIP files daily, I usually end up closing them again at the end of the day without having added more than a word or two–if that!  I guess you could say my New Year’s resolutions have already bitten the dust, but we’re less than a month into the year so there’s still hope.

And I’ve been thinking, maybe this year, I should celebrate Chinese New Year instead.  Back when I was teaching, I used to do a week long lesson on Chinese New Year every year and though I can’t remember all the traditions, it seems there were at least a few that might help me this year.  Chinese New Year is based on the lunar calendar and this year it falls on February 14th so there’s still time to do what I need to do.

For instance, tradition dictates that everyone should start the new year with a clean house and new clothes.  Adapting that to my writing would mean I need to start with a new computer and since Santa was kind enough to bring me a new laptop this year, I have that covered.  The hard part’s going to be cleaning out my cumbersome Word file and organizing the many documents into manageable folders and sub-folders.  A formidable job, yes, but it has to be done because that’s how you get rid of any bad luck from the previous year and make room for good luck in the coming year.  Thank goodness I have almost a month to complete this intimidating and onerous task.

Only problem is my new computer is black, a color which should be avoided on New Year’s Day because of the its association with death.  Red is the preferred color because it wards off bad spirits but I can’t paint my shiny new computer red–well, I guess I could but I have a feeling Santa might be more than a little upset with me if I did so…maybe a red scarf or some red yarn wrapped around it for the day or even a piece of red paper taped to the top.  Would that work?

Actually, the paper might be the way to go since another tradition is to decorate your clean house using signs and posters with the Chinese word fu, which means luck and happiness, written on them.  So, a small piece of paper with the word fu written on it in red and taped to my screen should work.  Also, I’ll need to go to the florist and buy some flowers for my office because flowers symbolize a new beginning and the coming of spring.

Okay, so now I have a plan and I need to get busy.  Those Word files aren’t going to organize themselves and I have to get them finished before February 14th because if I don’t, there’s always the chance I’ll accidentally throw out some of the good fortune of the new year.  Wouldn’t want to do that!

Now, if somebody would only lay a little hong bao or lai-see* on me, I’ll be all set!

*red envelopes traditionally filled with money to symbolize wealth and prosperity for the New Year.

Do you own more books than shoes?

I do!  Never have been a shoe person, take me to a mall and the first place I head is the bookstore.  I’d much rather have a new book than a new pair of shoes!

If you’re like me, the latest Dames’ Dozen is for you.  It features Joyce Sterling Scarbrough, a women’s fiction author who says she writes chick-lit for women with more books than shoes.  Yep, I checked and that would definitely be me!

Check out Joyce Scarbrough’s intriguing interview on the Dames of Dialogue blog and as usual, don’t forget to leave a comment!

Interested in writing non-fiction?

If you are, check out today’s Monday Dialogue with Guest on the Dames of Dialogue blog.  Robert Borgman gives some tips for the aspiring non-fiction author and some of them are worth paying attention to if you’re writing historical fiction too!

I know as my sister and I work on the book about our great aunt’s life, I’ll surely keep Mr. Borgman’s pointers in mind!

Inquiring minds want to know…the truth about New Year’s traditions!

When did people start celebrating New Year’s?  Why do we eat black-eyed peas and cabbage?  And why do we make resolutions?

If you’re the curious type like me, check out today’s Friday Favorites on the Dames of Dialogue blog.  Our own Laurel-Rain Snow has an informative and interesting post up today about New Year’s, complete with the dirty details of how all these New Year traditions came about.

Hope you’re all enjoying whatever holiday you celebrate and has a prosperous and wonderful New Year!