The Heat Index

It is 102 degrees today – not a surprise.  It has been ridiculously hot this week.

PiratesLifeForMe
           Ridiculously Hot

But, you know – it’s a dry heat. Har Har.  Humidity would  no doubt, be so much worse!  Those two facts became very clear in my mind when I visited family in the mid-west.  The moment I stepped out of the airplane and into the walkway to the gate, I felt as if I walked into a sauna fully dressed.  All energy was sucked out of my body.  I wanted a nap and an air-conditioned Hotel room.

When I moved to the Sierra mountains, I assumed that cooler weather would be up here.  I was wrong.  Not only that, but it is occasionally humid up here also.  Summer storms make me nostalgic for the summers I hung out in my cousin’s basement.   Practicing our writing skills and deciding how much we liked certain boys.  We created a scale to measure exactly how much we liked someone.  We named it the ‘Really’ Scale because the unit of measure were “reallies”.

The scale was between Zero and ten.  You know, I really, really, really  like him.  That would give him a 3 on the really scale.  Not a great score, but you would probably go out with him again.  It was possible for a guy to change his score over time, either good or bad, so re-evaluations were often made.  We discovered that the Really Scale was fun for casual contact as well as dating. Passing a guy on the street, or in a store, we could communicate our rating to each other, by saying, “seven reallies.”  The casual rating was mostly based on good looks and general attitude.  The “hunk” factor.  Yes, mam’.    ThorWinking

What?  You thought only males judged and demeaned the opposite sex?   Good one!

 

It’s Thursday Already?!

Giggles & Bits

It has been that kind of week. Hubby’s alarm clock goes off on Thursday’s so he can open up the Sheriff’s substation on time. It’s a safety measure only because the sun blasting into our bedroom wakes us around 0600 in the summer. I take advantage of having a morning to myself to read my Bible, sew on the latest quilt I’m working on, clean something, and take my pup for a walk before the road gets too hot.

We walked at 9:30 because it has been cold this week. Overnight temperatures in the low 30’s I’m talking about. The sun is out and warm, yet a cold breeze hits you like icewater thrown in your face. It is 11:30 now and I am at my desk. It has a heater register right under my feet and the heater kicked on because it got below 60 degrees in the house. Although my fingers are busy, they are like ice.

No cleaning, sewing, or reading has occured yet. My morning has been tied up with dealing with an embarassing error in judgment. Sigh. I hate to admit this horrid mistake, out loud like this, but knowledge is a strong deterrent from stupidity, and I want to make sure that my faithful readers don’t take the bait.

I got totally and completly scammed this week. It truly humbled me. “I can spot these scams a mile away” I can hear myself say, in fact, I was convinced that I was far too smart for them. Well, apparently not. I got an email from a friend, who asked me for a favor. Why would I question this?

I blame the lobotomy I had in February. I can make excuses all I want, but it will not get my money back. It is gone. Not like it was my life savings. However, I feel vunerable and victimized, just the same. “Hoppin’ mad!” is how my grandma in West Virginia would have described how I feel.

No giggles this Thursday, heh? I will try my hardest to amuse you over the weekend, but first I must get my giggles back.

TTFN

Mission Successful

Not only did I find the 2016 version of Mollie’s story, but my notes, research and all that went with it.

The Draft Book Cover

So, I am excited and raring to get going of course, but I will not. Not until I have an outline completely worked out. There will be no “on-the-fly” decisions this time. No deviations from the story. This outline will probably take some time, and so it should – it is the blueprint of my first novel. This do-over is going to feel so great! I have had a year to let the story settle and the dust clear out. I am no longer sick and tired of it.

That being said, I will start by jotting down thoughts and ideas for the outline. But not tonight. I promised myself I would get my office under control so I can work in it again.

And there is that spring cleaning list looming over my head…

TTFN