I don't pretend to be who/what I'm not. I will be honest here unless I publish under the category "This could be news," which is 99% fiction and a wee bit sarcastic. ;-) I want readers who come here to have as much fun as I do. Not all subjects can be fun, but most can be funny if I do my job right ;-)
My inner child is reflected in my logo and will change at a moment's notice.
I should have been a princess. Who else could stay here except royalty or the filthy rich?
You could jacuzzi and watch the sunrise while you waited for room service to deliver your latte with two shots of expresso because the warm tropical air makes you sleepy. You could nap at home. You want to soak up all this experience.
After a quick swim in the ocean, you rinse off and cuddle up in the luxurious robe you find in the closet. You finish the latte while going through the notes you made regarding your novel. This should be the final draft after tearing it down and rebuilding things 4 times, doing a lot more research, and outlining the thing repeatedly. Seven drafts should be plenty. Any other story she would have tossed by now, but not this one. It was her life’s work.
The way things usually go for her, it will be published, and movie rights will be sold soon after. Of course, there will be no book signing tours or readings. You see, it will be published posthumously.
All week, I have been doing just that. I secured my garden stuff on our deck, tucked in my avocado trees, and put my snow shovel by the front door. Stocked up on pantry and freezer items earlier this week. As long as the power stays on, I have 2 quilts to finish. If (when) the power goes out, I have knitting needles and crochet hooks.
Since last weekend, I have been bombarded with our county warning system alerts about a severe blizzard hitting our county and surrounding areas. These have come over our landlines, our cellphones, and emails. White-out conditions, hurricane-force winds, snow coming at 2″-4″ per hour, accumulating 27″ in one day. From Friday until Sunday, this will be going on.
Heavy snow is one thing, but the strong winds are the scariest thing in the forest. The sound of forceful wind beating the trees causes the imagination to go wild with visions of tornadoes and cows flying through the air.
Last night, we had strong wind gusts and rain. The temps have dropped dramatically into the snow zone. We may wake up to a winter wonderland. Or not. Either way, we are not supposed to be in the white-out, so we are not going anywhere except our chairs by the wood-burning stove.
Our sweet Bernese Mountain Dog, Ziva, is 9 years old now and NOT a fan of weather of any kind that has a sound. She loves to watch and play in the snow, which normally is quiet unless it arrives with a blizzard. Even when I give her anti-anxiety meds, she paces (trots) from room to room, outside and in. No one is going to sleep well this weekend.
The rain is thickening and slowing down as it turns into snow. I can see this while I watch out the window in my office. I say a little prayer, asking that the trees surrounding my house have deep, strong roots.
I wish you a less exciting weekend wherever you live.
You may have heard this saying, “Think positive, but prepare for the worst.” I think it is a practical idea, and it was suggested to me to pack a “Go” bag. In case of a natural disaster or something preventing me from getting home. Do I have one packed yet? No. However, in my defense, I do have a list of things to put in my ‘Go bag.’
I need to get a large box. I don’t have big enough bags. Since the theory is each carries their own load (bag), I probably will not be able to pack clothing and shoes. Besides the oral medications and the diabetic paraphernalia I need to keep me alive, I will not be able to carry much else.
It’s funny how our priorities turn around during an emergency. For example, if I spend a few days visiting my daughter, I pack my skincare, make-up, and hair products. I have a separate bag for craft projects to work on, my journal, Bible, and snacks. A third bag contains my meds, insulin, and pump supplies. I can carry those 3 bags myself, but only to and from the car when there is no urgency.
I decided to get a shoe box and put it in my bedroom. When I got low on skincare items, I would toss them into the said box and replace them in my cupboard. My travel cosmetics bag already has a few items in it. I don’t have to put cosmetics in it. I can use it for alcohol wipes, tweezers, bandaids, antibiotic creams, etc. I can set aside meds and pump supplies, already packed up, and then I would only have to grab insulin out of the fridge and an ice pack from the freezer.
Oh yeah. I need to bring my glucose monitor sensors. They are small, but the applicator they come in is huge. Those are lightweight but will take up a lot of space. Sigh. This is why I can never “pack light” or “go at a moment’s notice.” I am way too high-maintenance to travel well. Maybe I should invest in a pack mule. Another deeper and longer sigh.
I pass along this wisdom to y’all!
Did you know that if you Googled “Go Bag,” you get 3,200,000 results? The ones that pop up first are trying to sell you bags, organizational notebooks to plan for a Go bag and survival kits. Scroll past those ads, and you will get to articles about How to pack one and how long it should last, ad nauseam. Advice from emergency services, State departments, and consumer affairs. After trying to read this information over to check if I was missing something important, I discovered I was…
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