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My Baby…or a Monkey?
One of the few jokes I can actually remember well enough to tell is one that comedian Flip Wilson (remember him?) told. It was the sixties and I was a little kid, but this joke stuck. It goes something like this: Here’s an incident that took place recently when I was returning from Chicago by train. I got on the train and sat down. And I noticed that the woman across the aisle from me had her baby with her. Ugly baby. Ugly baby. From the other end of the coach comes this guy and he was very drunk and he was staring at the baby. And the woman heard…
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My Turn
Back in August, I guest blogged at the Bettyverse about a special ring that my siblings and I gave to our mother many years ago. Here’s the post…and below a picture of the ring. When we did our annual Black Friday picnic at the winery yesterday, Kate gave it to me to wear–it’s my turn. When I was first married, my siblings and I decided to give our mom a “mother’s ring” for Christmas. Remember those? They were hugely popular in the seventies, but we wanted something different, not the typical gold band with birthstones that you could pick up at any department store. Nope, our mom needed something truly…
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I’m at the ‘Verse Today…
…the Bettyverse, that is. Come join in the conversation. We’re talking about special childhood memories and little-girl dreams realized–things that affected your whole life. I know you have great stories to share!
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End of the Season
Our first summer at the lake is over. Today, we closed up the cottage, packed up food and other stuff to take home, covered the furniture, and winterized the water pipes. We can go up during the winter if we choose to, and we probably will to check on things, but our weekends at the lake are done for this year. The park has gotten very quiet as our new compatriots go back their other lives, and after the holidays, some will even go South for three months to avoid the cold and snow. We had a great last weekend, though. One of the five couples that we’ve become good…
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Mom’s Wish for Me
I was going to title this post, “Today I’m Finally an Author.” But when I posted that thought on my Facebook page, my critique partner shook a virtual finger at me and scolded, “First — you’ve ALWAYS been an author. Now, you’re just a published author.” Then I remembered a StoryWonk post from last week, when Lani and Alastair said words to the effect that if you complete a novel, even if only one other person reads it, you are a novelist. I am a novelist. I sent my novel, Rule Number One, to Bookstrand Publishing and they offered to publish it. I’m accepting their offer. So now, I’m going…
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Guest Blogging…
…on the Bettyverse today. We’re talking about marriage and money. Come on over and add your two cents!
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My Something New…
…today is TSTL–Too Stupid To Live. No, not me, although I guess I have my moments. I’m talking about the characters in my new novel. It’s a romantic suspense–a mystery, and I sent chapter 15 to my critique partner last night. Although she liked the chapter, she warned me that my characters were on the edge of being TSTL. That took me aback just a little–this is a mystery, aren’t we supposed to be setting things up for big surprises and unexpected events? And aren’t the hero and heroine supposed to be figuring things out and solving the mystery on their own? But as I reread the chapter, I saw…
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I’m Writing Again
After an arduous two weeks of editing other people’s work, I’m finally able to work on my own novels again. Many of my fellow writers are doing NANOWRIMO (National Novel Writing Month). NaNo is a challenge to write 50,000 words (a complete novel) between November 1 and November 30. I would’ve loved to have given it a try, but because I have several editing gigs scheduled for November, I opted out of NaNo this year. However I’m intrigued with the idea. Maybe next year, I’ll see if I can make my paying gigs work out so that I can have more time in November. It’s a good goal. Writers fall…
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My Fortieth? Seriously?
I just had a wake-up call on a day I’d much rather have stayed asleep. My fortieth high school reunion is coming up next year. Meep! Fortieth! I have the clearest memory of a time too many years ago when an old (as in older than me, not long-time) friend told me she was going to her fortieth high school reunion. I recall thinking, “Forty years! Sheesh, she’s way older than I thought she was!” Now, I’ve never been to any of my high school class reunions–the first three, I wasn’t inclined because I was fat, and everyone told me that the people who got fat after high school were…
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Listening to My Body
I have a sucky relationship with food. I try hard to control it, but more often than not, food controls me. All the great words about being perfect just the way I am, dieting doesn’t work, I’m beautiful…they’re wonderful thoughts, but the bottom line is my joints hurt. So I need to lose some weight. I know myself well enough to know that I’m not going to diet–Weight Watchers is a fantastic program, but I’m not going to pay to fix my body and I’m not interested in weighing in or going to a meeting. Been there, done that and it worked–for a while. All the other choices leave me…