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Browsing Tag: #resolution

Resolve to Write 2024 #338

I feel like this should be all about guns. But instead it’s gonna be all about Christmas. I really gotta get started on my shopping. Since Lisa isn’t in my life anymore, I don’t have to stress on not having a good enough gift. She should have just always taken advantage of my organizational and cleaning skills and had me come down the week before Christmas to get her house (and life) in order in years past. And no husband to buy for, and I don’t buy for JA, so I’m good there. But that still leaves my aunt, my cousin, Angela, and I always get Susan and Cynthia a little something. I’ll see them next week at the holiday meeting, so I need to be getting on that. I would be hunting Em something on Amazon so it will ship directly to her (by the time I posted this, it had arrived!) Fish brought me a bag of books and cookies last year, so I should really look for him something, too. Jake shouldn’t be expecting anything, but knowing him, he probably will. And I need to hunt some stuff for a better topper for my tree at home. That dilapidated bow is downright pathetic. Additionally, I’d like to have a new top or two for parties. Something red and sparkly, to match my personality šŸ˜˜šŸ˜ You remember the horror that was TJ Maxx…

Resolve to Write 2024 #337

Obsession. It ainā€™t healthy. You can drive yourself crazy. The mind is so incredibly powerful, and self destructive. I will always claim the key is staying busy, but it’s also vital to protect your mind from negativity. Limit your exposure to harmful media, people, and situations to maintain a healthy mental space. I think a good walk outside can work wonders for clearing your head. Some people like to take a liberating drive, but I live in Sevier County, Tennessee, which is a tourist mecca and a den of terrible drivers from near and far. So a walk is a much safer option. I have certainly pounded the pavement around the office many times in the six and a half years I’ve worked here. And I’m better for it. I even walked it barefoot once. It’s a sure way to beat the blues. The madder you are, the harder you can stomp. And, best of all, it gives you new things to look at. Sometimes, when I’m feeling sorry for myself or thinking this is the lowest I can go, I’ll pass Jason zipping along in his wheelchair, calling out friendly greetings to all around. And I think, “Amy, you are so spoiled. And so ignorant.” Sam said when one of his sons was in the NICU with encephalitis, he’d be sitting there, despondent, wondering if he would pull through, but you&#8217…

Resolve To Write 2024 #336

December 1st. The first Sunday of Advent. I donā€™t have an Advent calendar, or even a wreath with candles. I donā€™t know that theyā€™re all that popular anymore. Even the calendar seemed to have fallen out of favor until recent years. 80ā€™s Christmas was all about gaudy bulb lights, tinsel and tinsel garland, and those plastic bubbly looking Santas. And Jell-o molds. Sean Dietrichā€™s daily column was lamenting the ignorance of the population on Advent candles. Welllā€¦ guilty here, too.I do observe the reason for the season, though. I have a nativity, front and center of the living room window. I never was a Santa fan. Even to this day, I prefer snowmen, reindeer, and penguins. Iā€™m ok with gingerbread men. Nary a Santa or elf to be found here. My candles are red and crĆØme. Anyway. To each their own. You will never believe what I got into. I had a variety of less taxing things I could have done today: go turn out cows at JA’s, go help Aunt Bren with her closet and decor, lay on the couch and read and bask in all the things I accomplished on this long weekend. Did I do any of those things? Nooooo. I took it upon myself to clean my cabinets. “But Amy, you just cleaned your cabinets!” Well, sort of. But no, not clean out. Clean the fronts. I don’t want talk about…

Resolve To Write 2024 #335

My glittering, twinkling home is all adorned with the makings of a very merry Christmas, at last. What a relief to have this over and done with. I reckon everybody else feels the same way about the Georgia game last night. It went into 8 overtimes!!! I don’t have anybody close to me anymore that’s really into football, so I was spared staying up past midnight. The Smoky Bears are also headed to State, so Sevierville alumni are over the moon. I was thinking I haven’t even bothered keeping up with Eagle football since I graduated. I think I went to part of one homecoming game just to see some old friends cheer. But I just don’t have the school spirit I see ingrained in other people my age. I don’t think I’d give two hoots if Seymour went to State. But good for the people who are excited about the Bears. And, fun fact: this is the 100th year of the Bears. Team 75 also went to State and won, so it’s pretty cool the numbers are falling like that. I’ll be surprised if they don’t take the title, with all the fandom surrounding it. Anyway, the tree. Good grief. After I got all the decorations on I realized I really should have made more effort with the lights, but that would have entailed going to the store and buying some…

Resolve To Write 2024 #334

Black Friday. Nah. Glitter Friday, yes. Leftovers Friday, also yes. Donā€™t get out of pajamas all day? You betcha. It was the changing of the decorations from fall to Christmas. I love my fall stuff best, probably because it isnā€™t so involvedā€¦and itā€™s understated. Christmas is an undertaking. And I feel like I end up cleaning house from top to bottom twice before itā€™s done. But itā€™s still better than getting in all that mess out there in the world. I got a slow start. But it doesnā€™t matter, itā€™s not like Iā€™m answering to anybody. I had all the time in the worldā€¦.or three days, anyway. I made the executive decision to only put up the one big tree this year at home. After all, I put up the one at work and Aunt Brenā€™s, too. And if I can talk JA into not being a Scrooge, Iā€™ll be head of the decor committee there, as well. Iā€™d miss my mermaids, but not enough to drag it all upstairs and put it up. (Although the Mardi Gras tree is temptingā€¦.). Only about half my lights worked. This is so infuriating. Isnā€™t it bad enough I have to settle for a fake tree? My lights should just WORK. I donā€™t have a light tester, nor do I have the patience to fiddle with checking each individual bulb if I did. But I dutifully placed each…

Resolve to Write 2024 #333

45 years of Thanksgivings. No two have been the same in my adult life. The things I’ve been thankful for have evolved over the years, as well. I don’t participate in 30 days of Thankfulness posts anymore, but I do text 3 things every day to my friends dear Emily and sweet Cynthia. Here is an incomplete list, but 45 is a good start. Not in order of importance. ā€¢ My routine. Some days are harder than others. It’s good to have a plan of action to address the day and a basic timeline of how it will play out when it’s a struggle to get out of bed and face the day. Some people’s schedules stay up in the air as they are jerked about for the latest pressing need. I used to thrive in that type of environment but I much prefer the way my life is now. If I’ve got a clear focus on where to start, what needs doing, it’s like puzzle pieces clicking into place. Sometimes the hardest part is getting started. It’s good to have responsibilities. ā€¢ Social media. I just messaged a friend who has been absent on Facebook for a few months. I miss her. I don’t have her phone number or address (yes, I would totally send a card). We haven’t been close since middle school, but it’s…

Resolve to Write 2024 #332

Ah. The night before Thanksgiving. If I were hosting, Iā€™d be mixing my dressing, boiling eggs, and maybe grating cabbage. I MIGHT be making a chocolate crĆØme pie. Iā€™d be worried my house isnā€™t clean enough. If I hadnā€™t got my belly full of being used as a one way helpline, I would have been sitting in an Atlanta mansion in front of a fire drinking Meiomi. But Iā€™m curled on the couch, Chester beside me, drinking apple cider. Iā€™ve been chatting with Kay as she preps at her house, fortified with Prosecco. Itā€™s not a bad night. Iā€™m fairly content, as far as that goes. I have plans to go eat at my cousinā€™s tomorrow. Her husband is a chef. I have zero problem with that šŸ¤£ Just caught this on Facebook and it couldnā€™t be more true: There are days when all you want is to disappear, when the weight of everything feels too heavy to carry. But then, out of nowhere, you catch yourself laughing at a friendā€™s story, savoring the comfort of your favorite meal, or simply breathing in the calm of the evening air as you walk home. Itā€™s in these fleeting, almost unnoticed moments that life gently nudges you, reminding you that even in the darkest times, there are still tiny glimmers of light that make holding on worth it. Life may never be as easy as we hope, and its challenges…

Resolve to Write 2024 #331

I finished Spare! I finished Spare!!! It’s a sad little life I lead when that’s my biggest news. I didn’t sleep for squat last night and I was up past one trying to write the review on Goodreads. I typically include any passages that speak to me, or any favorite lines in my reviews. Imagine my surprise that my character count was almost DOUBLE what I was allowed. So I spent half the night and most of today whittling it down. That was hard!!! I left all the sad rhinoceros stories. Those are important. Emily read it just after I posted it and gave me her stamp of approval. She said she was so glad I read it so she wouldn’t have to; she feels that I hit all the pertinent points. It looks like I should share it here because I really can’t think of anything else to write about…. I’m gonna read The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post next. It looks intriguing. The cereal heiress. I don’t know that I’ve ever had Grape Nuts. I need to try them. I like crunchy stuff, and I like grapes…. Tuesdays are typically the best for getting around town. Traffic is minimal, tourists have either gone from the weekend, came in on Monday to spend the week, or haven’t arrived yet. Today it was atrocious. I don’t know WHAT…

Resolve to Write 2024 #330

The word prompt for today is ā€œwho are your most favorite people?ā€ Well. I wonā€™t be delving into that. One is dead, one I divorced, one I have written off, and one will never be mine, so what good are favorites? So. What are yā€™all doing? Iā€™m suffering through the last few pages of Spare. Itā€™s horrendous. Harry is pretty cute, but thatā€™s about the extent of his charms as far as Iā€™m concerned. Iā€™ve had this book borrowed three times now, due to my inability to slog through it. That alone should tell you how galling it is. Iā€™ve got The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post lined up next; surely it will be better. I was talking to a friend today about the hair appointment I have coming up. Just not soon enough, since I have a party to attend prior to. My gray is getting harder and harder to cover up for any length of time. Just like my fine lines and wrinkles. And what do I care? I earned them. I donā€™t want to look 21. But Iā€™d rather not look like a 70 year old, either. Sigh. I stumbled across this on Facebook yesterday. It spoke to me. Donā€™t fall in love with a woman who reads, a woman who feels too much, a woman who writesā€¦ Donā€™t fall in love with an educated, magical, delusional, crazy woman. Donā€™t fall in love with…

Resolve to Write 2024 #329

Cowboy beans day!I mean, Lindseyā€™s birthday šŸ˜ I woke up to a heavy frost, in heavy frosty fog. It just looked frigid. Once again, I’m thankful for creature comforts, that I don’t have to carry in wood to have heat, or boil water over a fire to take a bath. I just would not make it in a pioneer life. I’m too lazy. Forget hunting for meat, it’s about too taxing to even go to the grocery store anymore. It’s not the trip, it’s the people you have to contend with, oblivious to the world around them. JA called and we discussed all the aspects of roping practice yesterday. It’s like most men with hunting, you don’t need to go and watch, you’re gonna relive it every step of the way the next day. He tried to talk me into coming over again today, they were gonna rope at noon. I once again reminded him I had plans to eat mountains of beans. “Oh, that’s right,” which is what he always says, whether I’ve told him of my plans or not. He wants to act like he listens, at least. “I mean, if you’d buy me a helicopter, I could be both places at nearly once.”“Well, the problem is, where you gonna land it here?”“We&#8217…