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...
Coconut on the Beach and…Thoughts
Late one night. I recently walked on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. Just me and my thoughts. And a waterlogged coconut. I stared at the coconut being pushed back and forth by the ebb and flow of the waves as they crashed on the beach and for some reason, I felt the need to throw the coconut back out to sea. I’m not sure why I thought the coconut needed to go “back out to sea” because coconuts don’t come from the sea. Maybe I just wanted it to be free to bob in the ocean and not rot on the 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...
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...
Shoes, Mushrooms and Marriage
I’ve spent the past two weeks at my parents' home caring for my father after he had a fall. Though it’s not the home I grew up in, some of the rules and expectations my dad had when I was growing up followed him to this home – causing me to revisit some of my teenage trials and tribulations. My dad and I butted heads a lot when I was a mouthy teen. I always attributed our conflicts to us being a lot alike and after learning about the Enneagram, it is confirmed. Dad and I are very similar. I Keep Reading...
A Good Summer Read
Recently a friend sent me a book she picked up at an airport. She told me it made her laugh out loud on the plane – embarrassing her husband. “Enjoy it. It’s a good summer read,” she said. What exactly is a “summer read?” A little googling informed me that “summer reads” are light so you can take them on vacation and not get caught up in the story in case you need to throw your book down and jump in the ocean waves or lake. What if I want to read a “light” book in the dead of winter while Keep Reading...