I was sitting in a meeting last week and others gathered around the conference table kept looking at their phones. After a few minutes someone said, “We should wrap this up because hail and very strong winds are heading our way. We have 20 minutes to get home to safety.” People started gathering their belongings and packing up their bags. Before I could say, “Meeting adjourned,” chairs were being pushed in and lights shut off as people started dashing for their cars. In Texas, when you hear Keep Reading...
My “Not Word” for 2023
While others are posting about their word for the year, I have determined my "not word" for 2023. Hear me loud and clear – I have absolutely NO problem with people having a word that is their focus for the year. I love the idea and fully support it! Unlike those who pick a focus word every year, I don’t pick a "not word" every year. In fact, I have only done it once – in 2019. My "not word" that year was Busy and you can read about it here if you want. Back to my "not word" for 2023. It is Keep Reading...
A Sticky Mess
Hey! Remember me? It’s been about four months so you may have forgotten. When I started my blog, oh so many years ago, it was called Chuckles in the Chaos. I said I would only post about once a week. Well, the past few months have been filled with chaos. Some of it I cried about but some of it gave me reason to chuckle. There wasn’t time to write about it or even to figure out what message I wanted to relay. A writer friend of mine who saw the tears and heard the chuckles encouraged me to make Keep Reading...
I’m Rooted and Planted – or Am I?
“Bloom where you are planted” was cross-stitched into a picture and hung in my Gram’s kitchen. My family laughed about it because she wasn’t planted anywhere long enough to bloom. She flipped houses before flipping houses was cool. My grandfather was a true traveling salesman and more than once he returned home on a Friday evening to find a For Salesign in his yard. I thought it was fun to visit a new home nearly every time I visited her and though I have many of her characteristics that is Keep Reading...
Searching for Sand Dollars
I can’t believe I haven’t told him before now. I’ve known him for 37 years and haven’t told him a very pivotal story in my life. A turning point. A tipping point. I’ve shared a bed with him for nearly 35 years but I never told him the story until this week. If you haven’t guessed, who “he” is, it’s my hubby. And this week he heard the story. This week we were sitting on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean enjoying some pre work trip together time when I decided to take a nighttime stroll along Keep Reading...
Christmas Capade #3 – The End
I have two short stories today to finish up my Christmas Capades. Both of the stories involve moving to a new town. I’ll start with the most recent. When our three daughters were teenagers, we moved to a new town. We knew it was a hard time to make a move so I was thrilled when my oldest daughter came home and asked to join an organization called Symphony Belles. The Belles handed out programs and ushered at the local symphony events and would also learn manners and leadership skills. So we Keep Reading...
Christmas Capade #2
To say Christmas was a big thing in my family growing up is a huge understatement. HUGE. When Hubby and I were engaged, I thought it would be a good idea to take him home with me for Christmas so he couldn’t claim I didn’t warn him after we were married. My family did NOT disappoint. My Dad met us as we got off the plane in a green and white Santa suit! My nephews might have been wearing reindeer antlers. That was in the days before 9/11 when whole families would wait for someone to get off Keep Reading...
Surprise Harvest – Tomatoes and Souls
I have a hidden garden. The garden I plant veggies in every spring is on the side of my house I don’t see every day. During the spring when I am excited to see the plants sprout and produce, I make a habit of peeking around the corner. But by July in Texas the plants are scorched and my enthusiasm for checking on my plants has burned out so I don’t check on the garden very often – or at all. When I say I have a garden, you should know I pretty much grow salsa. I try to grow a lot of other Keep Reading...
Midnight Musings About…Frogs
That last trip out back with the dog is when I see the frogs. Rarely at eight o’clock or 10 o’clock. It’s usually closer to midnight. Not sure who is to blame. Me, the dog or the frogs. I probably should blame the dog because if he wasn’t such a “GI dog,” he could go out on his own. If you missed the blog about my “GI dog,” you can read it here. Back to my midnight musings about frogs. If you read my last, lengthy post about “Mom Jeans,” you know I promised to keep this short... so let’s talk Keep Reading...
Mom Jeans
Raise your hand if you’ve bought jeans recently. Really, comment with an emoji if you recently went jean shopping. Except if you’re a guy. Especially if you’re a guy who wears Wranglers. If you’re a guy who wears Wranglers, not only don’t raise your hand but go ahead and put your hand in your pocket. Wranglers haven’t changed in 40 years. If you’re a guy who is a pastor of any type at a hip church, you might want to raise your hand because you’ve probably followed the fads. I recently went Keep Reading...