Things to be thankful for ...

Every now and then, I look around and realize that I am truly lucky. This is one of those days.

My spouse is ill -- he's got a cold, and when he gets a cold, it's always a doozy. He's been bed-bound for days, and is wobbly on his feet. I used to think this was the old 'a man gets a cold and the world stops spinning' syndrome, but I think it really does wallop him. I seldom get ill and when I do, it's usually here then gone. So Point 1 to be thankful for.

Point 2: a friend of mine has been left a widow with 7 children and no life insurance policy from her spouse. Their house is mortgaged to the hilt and she has to re-enter the high tech workforce after a 10 year absence. I don't see a good solution to her problems anywhere -- 10 years is too long to be out of the high tech loop. There were a lot of red flags along the way, but no one expected her husband to die (he was only 52 and died after a very brief illness). So Point 2: I know where the life insurance policy is, and even if my spouse died, I could survive on one income.

Point 3: well, look at 1 and 2 -- if you've got your health, and you've got some financial stability, just about everything else falls into place, doesn't it? I don't have any impending crises, I have deadlines that are somewhat reasonable at work and at home, and I have a roof over my head.

Yep. Things to be thankful for .... Now if we can get this #*(@!)! election out of the way, I'll be truly thankful!

The benefits of being older

A friend of mine was blogging recently about how her parents don't understand her work. She writes romance, and has a couple of steamy scenes in her books. Her parents, who are Very Christian, are offended.

She's worried about this. My response was, "Hey. It's your life. Tell them you love them, you respect them, but they're wrong."

She's twenty years younger and me and uncomfortable doing that. I realized that is one benefit of getting older: you realize that you can make statements like that and the world will still spin and life will go on. It just ain't that important. I think I've learned that some fights you enter and some you just walk away from. And that's one I'd walk away from.

Hindsight -- it's always 20/20, isn't it?

Chapter 1 ... the longest chapter in the book

That 'in-between place' I talked about? I'm out of it and into the next book.

I made my first tentative start on the next book in the Bea & Lucas series -- the final book, I believe it will be. I always pick at Chapter 1 and write and re-write the opening. I really don't feel I can move on until I get it nailed down well. Sometimes I'll get to chapter 3, realize that's where the book really starts then go back, tear up chapters 1 & 2 and rewrite them completely.

I think I've got a good start on this one, though, so once I carve out some time from my To Do list, I can sit down and write.

I have a book coming out next month that's the first book in this series, and I just edits in for book 2 of the series, so the timing is auspicious -- I'll be promoing the characters and the series while writing the third one. Hopefully I'll get some overlap that way and the writing will go quickly.

So I'm putting myself on the line here: I started this book on May 1. I want to write "The End" by July 1. You read it here!

Coping with change ... the old-fashioned way

I'm doing the 'whistle while you walk by the graveyard' equivalent in the way I'm reacting to our wintry weather.

We've gotten more snow in the last 2 weeks than we got in Nov, Dec., and January combined. I mean, we've had a wimpy winter up to now, so I shouldn't be surprised, but still ...

The way I'm coping with it? I planted seeds. Yep, I've got pots lining the window sills and under grow lights in the basement. I lost my prime growing spot downstairs because we're in construction mode and that spot is now full of Stuff, so my seedlings are now on the counter near the laundry, which means whenever I want to do laundry, I have to put the seeds into the nearby (unused mostly) sink.

And LO -- THERE WERE SPROUTS. Woot! Yes, those little gourdlings pushing toward the sky are a sign that there is life after March. I have visions of those gourds twining around my (now snow-covered) fence and producing bright blossoms (which the deer will probably nibble but maybe not, who knows?)

Yep ... change. When in doubt, try to ignore what you don't like, cope with what you have to deal with, and effect change where you can. Or to re-phrase that old adage:

"Give me the serenity to deal with that I can't change, the courage to change what I can, and the strength to wield heavy artillery when needed."

Or something like that ...