# 575 - First Blogging, then BOOKS! What have I done?

Before I add my usual blog post, I want to let everyone know that I've been blogging for ages and will continue doing so...it's in my blood, but I've also enjoyed a long career that's included writing, but I'm now holding my own reins by publishing creative fiction books.

I've got several eBooks set for release, a novella series is the first on the schedule, and Book I was released a couple of days ago. It's a scary, spooky story balanced with humor, faith, and love. You can read it on any device...iPhone, iPad, Computer, Mac, or Kindle. You don't have to own a Kindle to read it! When you order, there will be a choice of where you want to have the eBook sent, and it's magic...it sends it to you with ease!

The button for choosing the place for the story to land will appear just below the purchase button on Amazon. It's easy and allows us to enjoy additional reading choices. You can read the eBook on the device you're using right now to read this latest blog post, it's super simple.

And here's summary of this first book...

Shelby, an energetic teenager, has recently returned from Scotland to America after living abroad with her family for a couple of years. They find a home in the Greater Houston area, close to her father's job and next door to a church, but Shelby doesn't like the house. From the moment she steps beyond the threshold of living room, into the heart of the home, she notices a dark presence, but she's the only one who senses it.

After moving in and experiencing terrifying encounters with an indescribable entity, she starts to question if her mind is the culprit. Perhaps her imagination is the source of terror...maybe her eyes are playing tricks on her, but she can't deny the blood. Circumstances spiral out of her control, preventing her from rationalizing all that she hears and sees. She can't escape the shadowed presence that targets her, but she'll find a way to fight back.

She won't give up or give in as she searches for a way to protect her family and herself from what lies in the middle.

Shelby's family includes a disabled mother, a workaholic father, and two siblings...Brother and Dovey. Brother keeps the humor coming as Shelby utilizes faith and bravery to accumulate useful knowledge to battle dark spirits, and she searches for a way to survive the necessity of sharing a home with a terrorizing presence. She refuses to live in terror, not in her own home, but how can she live with and battle the dark shadow that lurks around the corner from her bedroom, just beyond the threshold?

***

I hope you're able to gather the bravery to read this character-driven storyline of relatable people confronting irregular hurdles. This is the first book of the series titled "What Lies in the Middle."

I hope to discuss a few topics inspired by the book along with some personal experiences of my readers. I've made posts in the past of eerie experiences and reader-comments revealed many of us have experienced discomforting things that can't be explained. And even though this book is a fictionalized storyline, I know a lot of people have tried to explore strange happenings that might never find rational answers.

And to clear up any confusion...we decided to combine the book's title with a subtitle that is also the name of the series, rooting the two together; that's only for this first book. I'll let you know when the next book is due for pre-release with a definitive launch date.

There's a new Group on Facebook that I'd love for my blog buddies to join, and that link is at the bottom of this post

If you join the group, please let me know you're from our blog-sphere. And if you buy the eBook, especially let me know so I can thank you!

Just as I've written my blog and enjoyed a long-lasting fantastic interaction with my readers and fellow bloggers, I intend to maintain the same path with readers of my books, whether they are in the form of an eBook or paperback print...I want to stay in touch with you, give you behind-the-scenes details, and get your feedback along the way...hopefully you guys will be some of the first readers of this series.

***

As for building the never-ending farmhouse...it's still under construction. The long-time blog readers already know that we are slug-slow with finishing our house. We've had rains for months that have made the land a mucky mess. It can get quite depressing to be surrounded by mud, but I'm thankful we've not flooded. So many family and friends this last year were devastated by flooding in the Greater Houston area.

Despite the dreariness of the weather, we managed to work on the laundry room. I'll write a separate post about that experience. I LOVE my laundry room!

We used leftover tile to create a nice design in the floor, and I gave the bead-board a "weathered barn" paint treatment that I concocted on my own, which took me three days to paint.

The room is quite nice...mostly finished, but it still requires finishing touches, such as the trim around the windows and a window ledge for my little plants. I'll write a post about the laundry room because it deserves its own shining spot on the blog!

What can I say? I'm a thrilling woman who enjoys a great laundry room. After we finished this room to a certain point, I stood inside it to re-enact that scene from the Sound of Music as she spins around at the top of a pastured mountaintop with joy...yeah, that was me.

Of course, I wasn't escaping Nazis with a pack of children in tow; regardless, I spun around while surrounded by dirty clothes and stinky dog towels, and it was beautiful.

Aside from my laundry-room-moment, our family has also had some difficult and exciting things happening, which I'll share in my next few posts. With my new laptop, getting back to blogging is easier than sitting at my desktop. I don't know why, but for me, sitting at the desktop is a little claustrophobic. Blah.

Meanwhile, I'll enjoy my laundry room while wrapping up the second book to this series, so if anyone reads "BEYOND the THRESHOLD: What lies in the middle?" by Lana R. Black, then be sure to let me know, then get prepared for Part II of the series! The novella takes about two hours to read...it's an easy-read of about 100 pages, so it's an enjoyable commitment. Feel free to go onto the given Amazon link and stay in close touch by FOLLOWING my author page...there's a button below the book info on Amazon to follow the author. Please give me a review on Amazon after reading and be sure to use the highlight feature that Amazon gives its customers while reading an eBook...then share your favorite parts with me.

***
I've included the Amazon link that takes you to the first couple of chapters, then it will prompt you to buy it for $3.99 --- and that's cheaper than coffee! Isn't that the old line?

https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B07MYTBL9B&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_-JwsCb7GFYWPT

Facebook Group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/768805986830396/

As always, I'll be reading your comments. Happy reading to my blog-buddies!

# 544 - Bathtub Blues

Today, I am feeling as if this process of moving from the greater metropolitan Houston area to our rural country acreage is now approaching the end of my patience because of extensive bathtub withdrawal.

As we moved from the city to the country, I did not have any unrealistic expectations, I knew this would be a difficult process. It has taken longer than expected, which was really expected. I had suspected the process would take a minimum of a year, but I had always told my clients that anything real estate related WILL take three times more money and three times more time than expected. Believe me, from Day One, those true words of advice have become my personal experience, yet again. So, I have known this process would likely be more expensive, more challenging and would likely take more time than initially imagined.

However, this week is one of the times I've most missed a bathtub. I long to enjoy sore muscles and aching bones feel the deep relief that comes the weightless glory of a lengthy soak in hot water. I miss my master bath garden tub.

In the old house, you know, the one that had actual bathtubs...we also had an upstairs bathroom that we made into a spa-like setting and it had a jetted tub. The jets on the feet felt especially great on days I had too much to do. But, to tell the truth, I prefer a regular tub without jets. The ability to soak in hot water is all that is really needed to feel the luxury of a tub.

The funny thing is, I would love to take a long hot bath to have a moment to escape from the process of building this house, but I won't get another tub unless I move forward with the process...one of those cycles that doesn't feel so great at  this particular moment.

Today, again, I will have to accept that a long, hot shower will wash away those aches, pains and frustrations, but it just isn't the same as a tub of hot water with a good book and a washrag to scrub away the layers of dirt that I feel cannot be washed away with a shower and a washrag. As for washrags, I prefer those cheap Walmart washrags because they are abrasive enough to truly scrub the skin...the fluffy rags are sudsy beautiful kind of rags, but not worth a darn for scrubbing purposes.

Yea, I sure do miss my bathtubs this week and that's a bit nuts, but it is the way I feel. I am positive there is a layer of dirt beneath the skin that is being missed. It's there! It might not be visible to the naked eye but there is a speck of bodily dirt somewhere that would not be survivable if I had a bathtub!!!

Yes, my OCD tendencies are rearing their ugly head this week.

We had someone suggest buying an old cast-iron tub off Craigslist and setting it up outside near the water hose with some logs underneath it for a small fire to slowly build a nice warm tub of water. A few patio stones with the water hose at the side of the tub to wash off the feet before getting inside is another good idea.

If we have too many more construction delays, I might start surfing our local Craigslist because my need for a soak in the tub is one that is near toddler-tantrum level.

Oh well, for now, it's time to go get my cheap washrag and sing the blues in the shower about missing my bathtubs!

# 466 - Moutain Biking

For most of my life, I have hiked and biked. Well, I encountered some serious health problems that began a few years back, which included a broken neck in 2009, so all of my "in the wild" explorations on foot and bike slowed down. SLOWED DOWN people...they haven't stopped, not by a long shot!

The great thing about that kind of active life during our years of raising our children was that my entire family participated. My husband, me, and the kids spent many, many, many days of our lives hiking through forests, canyons, deserts and biking all over the place.

My daughters, Heather & Stefie with their bikes
years ago...as they looked while riding through
our neighborhood. As you can see with
Stefie's protective gear...she
takes after her mother in the clumsy trait.

Especially during the Spring and Summer months, me and the kids would bike all through our neighborhood. One fun goal was to go down every street and find water sprinklers, then we'd bike through them. In Texas, that was an excellent way to have fun and stay cool at the same time. Sometimes, we'd find a really good sprinkler and we would bike in circles through the falling water, over and over, laughing about the home-owners possibly running out to say, "GET OUT OF MY WATER SPRINKLER!"

We were such rebels.

Lately, I have been feeling the effects of aging. BLAH. That's not something that anyone gets excited about. But, HEY, I have a different perspective on aging...I'm thankful to be here; every day that I get to see the sunshine and the sunset, I am grateful because I've teetered on the brink of the big "In Between" a few too many times. After those kinds of experiences, you welcome the wrinkles.

So, this past week when I took a bad fall down the deck steps as I held a heavy load in my arms, I hit the hard edge of the bottom step extremely hard, against my lower spine and back. In fact, right there next to that slab of wood, my rear sat in the dirt as I laughed in a demented way, then the laughs turned into little cries as I realized I WAS HURT!

New stairs I fell on. I stepped half on and half off
the temporary landing board. Needless to say, I
got busy with laying pavers and adequate stepping
stones at the base of the steps over the past
couple of days.

Those of you who know my two daughters are now grown, you also know my two dogs are my babies today. As I sat in the dirt, both dogs ran to my side. Howdy was clearly distressed. As a "working dog" he actually tried to nuzzle me off the ground and when I couldn't budge, he ran up the stairs to the RV door and began barking and scratching in a frenzy to get Sgt. Dave's attention. At least Howdy's rescue-Lassie-style response gave me good reason to be distracted from my pain and prompt me to get back up the stairs and inside to wail a little at my predicament.

Most of my regular readers know my middle name is "clumsy" so this contributed to my fall. With my arms full, I was not holding onto the railing, which is a required for me and stairs to peacefully coexist. However, I must have severely bruised my left hip bone because I could not sit or lie on that side for two days. Even now, I have trouble with certain motions involving my left leg, such as walking. Hardy har har. No, actually, I now have trouble with simply stepping OVER something.

However, within ten minutes of my fall and realizing I had indeed hurt myself, I soon decided to go back outside for a walk through the forest. It hurt like hell. I had hit a hard line along my lower back so hard that the edge of the step made a raised impression of a white line straight across my back to the other side of my spine that continued with a line of broken skin.

I walked and walked and whimpered.

But, in my mind, when I am hurt, I feel as if I must at least try to walk it off. Every day since my injury, I go for at least three separate walks. Finally, days after the fall, I now feel limber enough to do a bit of landscaping each evening.

My sister and I were joking about my need to alternate between lying down with complete immobility, then I would get up and get into motion, as if I could work out the pain --- my sister and I laughed about how we were raised to believe you can WALK OFF ANYTHING!

She referred to my belief in activity as "Motion is Lotion."

Isn't that true? Once we start to become more sedentary, things begin to rust, freeze up, become less agile. But, we sometimes have to stop doing so much because things are rusting, freezing up and becoming less agile.

Hmmm...

Therefore, since my fall, I have wondered why my clumsiness was completely absent when biking? On a bike, I have perfect balance...go figure.

Since I do believe that Motion is Lotion, I have decided to work toward getting back into mountain biking. Heck, there are INCREDIBLE mountain biking trails nearby that are begging for me to explore them. One particular trial is 18 miles round-trip and slices straight through an eco-system that will have me wondering if I am in Heaven.

This trail is closed October 1 - September 1, for hunting season. This trail is considered to be moderate to difficult. Since it is both a mountain biking and horse riding trail, it should be interesting. There are nine miles of trail into the preserve and nine miles heading out.

Of course, I will bring my temporary pet-bug case with me on each biking trip. Plus, our land is big enough for me to ride around on a bike, especially after we get our trails cleared again.

First, I will need a new mountain bike, so I will start looking. I'm thinking inexpensive, to make sure this body can handle the sport again. However, I am determined and anyone who knows me also knows that I am persistent.

A mountain bike with good shocks will work for my system. I can go for as long of a ride or for as short as a ride as I desire. My muscles, especially my legs, will get a good workout. And my cardiovascular system will get a pump of activity that will serve it well. Plus, my eyes and spirit needs the movement and the scenery that the biking scenes will provide, not to mention that it's probably safer for me to do than walking.

And I have already found one at Walmart that I am obsessing about.

As you can imagine, Sgt. Dave is extremely excited about my desire to return to mountain biking; he's jumping with joy, so elated. I guess I need to remind him to be glad that it's not still a motorcycle that I'm ready to buy...I'm making strides in my aging years.

# 404 - A Rainy Day and Old Skills Kept Alive

It's Monday. It's President Day. It's been raining. The humidity is heavy in the Texas air.

Our neighbors across the street sold their house and have officially moved out, so that means new neighbors will be moving in. Eek!

We had someone new want to put a contract on our house, but they needed to put a Contingency Contract in place that says they will follow through with buying our house once they've sold their house...big problem...they didn't even have their house up for sale yet. Answer from us...Come back once your house is on the market and you have a serious buyer.

But, I am still enjoying my roses that my husband gave me for Valentine's Day.

This evening, we have more buyers coming to look at the house. So, I've been doing laundry, dusting and preparing. However, I need that buyer who wants a big house. Then, I can move out of this big house.

Along with hoping the house sells, I am celebrating the gift of life every day because my oldest daughter, Heather, is expecting her first child. Heather and Henry are going to have such fun being parents.

I am going to be very happy to be a grandmother. It's weird to me that I am going to have a grand-baby; it doesn't seem that I'm already hitting this phase in life, but I'm about to be 45 years old.

Me...this week. Hello to my Blog Buddies!

It's a good age to be a first-time grandma.

Then, I realize, one day, most likely, both my daughters will be mothers, and this means I'll have more wonderful grand-children to spoil!

While she was growing up, my youngest daughter, Stefie, would always say that she wanted ten children. I remember negotiating with her, trying to get the number reduced to a manageable level. However, I must say, I think she'd be a great mom of one child or of ten children.

She might find two or three kids fairly manageable.

As for me, having a grandbaby on the way is pulling me back into certain things I enjoyed as a mother of younger children, things such as sewing. In preparation for being a grandparent, I've been drawn back into the magical world of Hancock Fabrics.

I have to provide some back-story...as a mother to young daughters, I was constantly sewing. Mostly, I sewed to create adorable outfits for my daughters because my husband and I produced children who were super skinny and extremely long-legged, which made it difficult to find certain outfits at a department store.

In the photo below, my daughters are getting to walk around in the dresses I made for them as they have fun beneath their little umbrella during a light rain.

Stefie and Heather wearing dresses I sewed.
They had so many clothes sewn by me through
the years. Soon, sewing
became a family project.

One of the most fun parts of sewing for my daughters had been the creativity they enjoyed by their involvement in selecting favorite fabrics for their new outfit. They also got to pick out patterns they preferred. Later, as they grew into teenagers and wanted to shop in department stores for their clothes, they would still want something sewn for them every now and then. However, they graduated in the creative process to the point of drawing out their own design instead of using a pattern, selecting their fabric, then HELPING to sew their outfit.

These two girls literally grew up around a needle and thread. I even purchased tags that said, "Lovingly Sewn by Mother" to put into their clothes. Sometimes, their friends wouldn't believe that their outfit was custom-made, so they'd have to show the tag.

Part of our sewing committee.

Well, now I'm drawn to sewing again. Perhaps not the same things, but I am being pulled toward making some very unique things for my grandbaby that is on the way...things that can be enjoyed whether the baby is a boy or girl, items that will be one-of-a-kind. It's important to me.

Deputy Dave is very supportive; he goes with me to Hancock Fabrics and he's well versed in how to search for certain items in a pattern book. He's the BEST at knowing exactly what I'm looking for...often, he finds it before I do and he knows precisely how to go to the pattern drawers to retrieve the pattern I'm ready to buy. I think that's awesome. Not many husbands would know how to do such things, but he is sharp, and he cares about this part of my creative side because he enjoys it as well. He likes to help and to be part of the process.

As for sewing, my Nanny, my great-grandmother (pictured below) was a professional seamstress.

She and her husband owned an upholstery shop in Madisonville, Texas for many, many years. I grew up with much of our furnishing custom-upholstered by my great-grandmother. She helped me develop a love for sewing. Often, she'd make a few articles of clothing with left-over fabrics that were suitable for clothes. She'd make the drapes in our house from remnants. To this day, I always have an urge to re-cover certain pieces of furniture because it's in my blood to have this urge; I grew up with this kind of craft being utilized as a profession.

So, I feel very at home in a fabric store. I could be happy there for hours. In fact, for our grandbaby-to-be, I have gone several times over the past few weeks to pick out fabric, and Deputy Dave was on task, helping to find perfect fabrics and materials for my projects. He may not want to handle a needle and thread nor does he want to put a pair of scissors to fabric because he could not cut a straight line if his life depended on it, but he helps in various other ways that are important.

So, this week, I will be spending time conducting a comfortable, timeless skill that I learned from my great-grandmother, my grandmother, my mother, and that I helped to further teach myself.

Perhaps the tradition will continue as the grandbabies arrive; there is no doubt that I will do my part to maintain family appreciation for the needle and thread.

# 388 - Kitchens and The Woods!

I keep spying kitchens on commercials that I love! I sit there thinking, "What are those strangers doing in my kitchen?" Actually, I WISH they were my kitchens!

Let me clarify, I wish these were my kitchens in my country home in the woods. Make sense? I'm still in the city house, but the For Sale sign is still in the yard, buyers are not that frequent in today's market, but we had another interested buyer come by this past weekend. We'll see what comes of it.

As for my dream kitchens, this past week I've seen two of my kitchens in commercials. I guess I'm a sucker for white cabinets because all of my claimed kitchens seem to have some white cabinetry in them.

The first one is a Target commercial. I love the ceiling, the cabinetry, the island, the windows over the sink and the way the kitchen joins the living area. However, since this is a set, there are major pieces of a kitchen missing...such as the refrigerator, etc., but the general layout of the kitchen is my kind of style. Thanks for the nice scene Target!

Of course, I love the wood floors. I don't think I'd have wood floors with such heavy high-gloss polyurethane as I now have in my current house because I rather like the real bare wood that gets scraped up, gouged and worn looking. As long as it is kept clean and polished, it is great. 

I also like the combination of the woodwork painted white with the natural woodwork. A winner in my book. 

Then, there was another commercial, I think it was for life insurance. That kitchen was a real beauty. The cabinets looked straight-forward and without much flair, but they are clean-lined and nice looking. I love the position of the stove/oven and the sink with the large window to the side, the pot-depth sink at the island which is warmed up with bead-board. Then, there are the double doors with solid glass to the side of the kitchen, just as I have laid out in my own country house plans, my doors will lead to an outdoor kitchen. 

In particular, I like the position of these kitchens, in the way that they are open to an adjoining dining area and family room. Just exactly what I envision for my country home. No more huge home that is spread far apart and with spare rooms that are constantly needing to be cleaned. Less is best. 

I continually hope to have this country house in my near future, one way or another. I'm young enough to savor living in such a home for many, many, many years...I hope. Actually, I hope to be like my grandmother and be living into old age, independently. She's in her mid-80's and loves living alone. She actually lived on an acre of land, by herself, for about thirty years. She is my inspiration!

I've grown up knowing that happiness must be first found within yourself. If your environment is not conducive to your happiness and contentment, then make a change. Don't let fear stop you from breaking away from whatever holds you back from enjoying the best life has to offer. For me, my soul is aching to get out of the city and into the woods. Since my grandmother had done the same exact thing, at about my age, in her forties, it's pretty amazing to look back at how happy she was in her little corner of the world.

Until then, I'm hanging in there and trying my best to keep working toward giving this industrial town the Disney-Wave goodbye.

One day soon...I hope...

# 382 - The Life-Microscope

Back in 2001, I found myself fighting for my life as I lay in a hospital, so ill that I coded. Thank God I was being monitored on the cardiac floor and had all kinds of equipment attached to me because it caught the code. The hospital floor intercom system went off, voices boomed all around, then my room filled with people as my ability to focus faded.

As you know, I made it!

Due to one fabulous doctor, I was finally diagnosed with a rare disease that had been overlooked numerous times because the test to identify it was so specialized.

But, one of the ramifications of my body coding, at the start of Fall 2001, was for me to rethink my typical New Year's resolutions. Before that life-changing phase in my life, I'd always made a yearly resolution list in detail. As an OCD person, I had three sections of goals...the first was my ten top goals for the year, the next was an updated five-year plan, lastly, I'd make a ten-year-plus (long-term) plan. Needless to say, I had been extremely goal oriented and thrived on an energy level that was sky high. I met many of my personal goals.

However, as 2001 came to an end, suddenly, my body became like a ragdoll that didn't want to cooperate with me. My yearly lists of goals were no longer feasible...heck, I couldn't even walk across the house without my body crashing due to plummeting blood pressure that the doctors found extremely difficult to stabilize, even after my diagnosis. When your blood pressure drops and continues to drop, your body cannot stay horizontal, no matter how strong your resolve. It's as if your body is deflating or melting as your brain tries to give pep talks that are unheard.

By the time New Year's Eve came around for 2001, I had battled so much to hang in this world and I had faced the fact, with rebellion against my doctors, that my condition was not something that would fade away like a bad cold. Still, I kept hoping the doctors were wrong and had misdiagnosed me or that my body would surprise everyone with some kind of miracle healing...I kept waiting and hoping.

This is about a year after I coded in the hospital. I'm able to do things
that make life more meaningful; life is full of possibilities and full
of moments to savor...so many to savor.

My day to day life changed from working approximately eight to ten hours per day, at least six days per week, to barely being able to walk. There was even a period of time when I could not sit without passing out from the lack of blood pressure and lack of blood flow to my brain. When trying to accomplish the simplest of physical tasks, my body would shake violently from extreme weakness, my heart pounded at aerobic rate, even while sleeping. With this rare disease came the fact that my body now lacked the ability to naturally control cardio-vascular functions without medication and my hard-earned dreams were slipping from my weakened grasp.

I no longer had the same fun on New Year's Eve with writing out my hyped-up, over-drive goals because I now understood that my body was trying to check out. You know...a person needs their body to be reliable and functional to do certain things, especially the things on my lists. I'd always been a hard, diligent worker, so this physical weakness took me completely off guard.



Nine years after coding in that hospital, I'm back in another for a
very serious cervical spine reconstruction following my neck
collapsing. A side-effect of the medication for my rare disease as
it tries to erode my bones. But, I fought back. Double-sided
surgery and I still keep doing.

Things were different. My typical tradition of making so many hard goals morphed into just hoping that I'd be able to fight my medical condition and remain alive to finish raising my daughters, after all, I was only 33 years old. I NEVER expected to be knocked off my feet at such a young age.

So, I sat with my journal, ready to write out my goals and I realized that I might not even make it until the next week much less the next year. The idea of making New Year's resolutions suddenly became a silly task for me to tackle because I had BIGGER concerns. My old resolutions of wanting to lose ten pounds, to expand my business, to volunteer more often, and to organize that office closet gave way to a simple, yet profound idea of just wanting to enjoy each day as it came.

My Uncle Bo, myself and my two girls...getting close to the time
when my body would be shocking me with a crash.

  

I could not bring myself to write anything regarding future goals; it was too psychologically painful. I had faced the prospect of immediate death on so many occasions that I no longer felt comfortable with thinking too much about tomorrow. TODAY became my focus. Actually, the hard truth is...I focused on any given 24-hour time frame in three parts...the early part of the day, the remainder of the day and making it through the night. Each time I made it through a part of the day, I had a mini celebration. Going beyond a day was no longer so important because my MOMENTS were such a struggle and triumph.

After my ten year anniversary of being diagnosed, I had been through the wringer, but I felt stronger within myself. I found, by involuntary choice, that my resolve to survive and to thrive was more than I could ever imagine it to be. Also, the amazing revelation that our bodies can indeed come back from the brink of disaster, so many times, had been an education about life that opened my eyes. Yes, some people slip away in a blink, but my body kept going through horrendous tribulations and surgeries no one would want to think about being forced to have, but, again, I made it!

 

Heather and Henry (my oldest daughter and son-in-law) on
their recent Honeymoon. Making this mom so proud that they are
living it up, enjoying this world to the best of their ability!

 

I learned the importance of making each good day count while trying to maintain your strength for days of hard battles. Often, I marveled, along with my doctors, that I was still a living, breathing, smiling human being full of MORE life! Sometimes, I even felt guilty that it seemed I had cheated death so many times. I don't know why, but I have been given many reprieves. I am thankful.

 

Even so, after that first year of falling so ill for an extended period of time, to the point of being a Code Blue woman, I still felt the need to discard any ideas about the old tradition of making new year resolutions. Surprisingly, I felt pretty happy about letting it go. I no longer had unfulfilled New Year resolutions to look back upon with disappointment, especially as those mounting pounds stayed with me! This doesn't mean that I didn't strive for the best I could give every day, it just meant that I quit dangling ridiculous demands over my day to day existence, demands that really didn't add substance to my life. Living day-by-day became my priority.

For a few years, a small part of me wanted to make a list of resolutions, but I began to feel as if making that list would jinx my coming days. So far, my chosen path of abandoning the tradition has been working for me; I didn't want to rock the boat. Even so, I eventually began to set achievable short-term goals for myself and those goals are in constant revision; however, I don't really do an official New Year's resolutions. Finally, I allowed myself to start making more long-term plans, but it's still hard for me to do because I know, on a highly personal level from traumatic experiences, that our tomorrows are not guaranteed. Things can change. I learned this at a fairly young age and the experiences I had will never leave me.

That being said, there is a sense of renewal that comes with a new year. Of course, my body is more medically stable, so it is easier to think about the past year and to consider any changes that I might want to incorporate. And, it's nice to be well enough to again be physically able to be more proactive with my future. I do expect to have a great future.

Me and Stefie during a midnight trip to Walmart.
Mother and daughter silliness with bicycle helmets.

So, I decided this year to make some plans. On New Year's Eve, I made quite a few plans and set a few goals, all with flexibility, unlike my younger days of cracking the whip round on myself. I plan to continue with my avid readership, at least one book per week. Part of that goal is to also read books out of my comfort zones so I can expand my knowledge and break out of any genre that feels like "home." Additionally, I've really enjoyed watching many great movies this past year, so I am adding the goal of watching three movies per week and those will include new and old movies alike, again, all genres...sci-fi, romance, action, historical...you name it.

Books from my grandmother and from Half Price Books.
All kinds of books, for the young and old, no particular genre.

There's no doubt that this year will be a life-alteration for me. I am ready. Beginning New Year's Eve, I allowed myself to take an especially microscopic inventory of my personal circumstances and I studied the existence of certain events and people in my life while it dawned on me that I need to take some more of those little steps to lead me away from an unhealthy environment. My life is definitely headed in another direction, and I feel at peace. I feel determined, even if nervous about the unknown future; it's perhaps even a bit thrilling. I guess it depends on your perspective. For me, I need the shift in direction; I've needed it for far too long.

So, the start of this New Year could have been better, but I took what I had been given and made some hard decisions based on my circumstances. I guess the unfortunate circumstances helped to serve as a rocket booster, launching me out of the status quo and into another state of mind so that I can follow through with what I've long known needs to be done. The difference now is that I am getting it done. Re-shaping my future is scary, but not impossible; it's a challenge, but one that I now welcome whole-heartily. So, this New Year has great purpose for me...it's the first phase of my changing life.

I'll always remember this New Year's Eve of 2013, even if I don't have detailed lists to check off all year long, I do have more important things to focus on, such as living well and being the BEST person I can be as I move forward into unknown territory. It's a big world out there and I'm glad to savor my part of it.

I have a feeling that things will initially be difficult, eventually it will be awesome ---- I am focused on that day in the near future when I will find myself more vibrant than ever because I will be out of an oppressive environment. I can't wait!

# 366 - POT RACKS & PEG BOARDS

Here is a yahoo.com photo of a Bob Villa kitchen highlight that I find attractive. It's the first kitchen. I don't like being enclosed into a kitchen, but I do like the corrugated metal against the bar wall and the short depth shelves that are stacked enough to actually be useful. And the window over the sink. And, and, and...I like all of it.

 

The country cabin design will incorporate a hanging pot rack of some sort or another. If there is one thing I detest, it is having to stoop down to dig through the various pots and pans we have stacked organized in the lower cabinets, yet the task of wanting a skillet six deep is not always so convenient. The pot rack in the country cabin will be placed in an area where the hanging, clanging metal is within easy reach of this short gal. No more kitchen problems with important items being out of my reach.

 

Short people...you know what I'm talking about!

 

Much thought is going toward the kitchen and mud-room design. Much. It might be rather unconventional, but it will certainly be practical and enjoyable when it comes to preparing a meal.

This is the GREAT part about planning to build a cabin that is far from the cookie-cutter home ideal of mass production. I'm living in one of those houses right now. Not bad, but not great either.

 

Of course, for the kitchen, I am looking for a sturdy pot rack that is classic and large enough to handle lots of pots and pans. 

 



I love the sheetmetal on the bar wall. No need to worry about
feet scuffing the metal! This is the height of practicality!
Actually, I LOVE this kitchen.

  

A wall of French pot racks would be very useful, This one holds the pots with the lids slid over the handle of the pot for each pairing. The colanders hang at the end and the large pots are within easy reach. This kind of arrangement is multipurpose and can be within easy reach for me or anyone else ready to cook.



 

 

With creativity, a home-made version of a french pot rack can be fashioned. I'd rather have decorative hooks that are permanently installed than have hooks that come loose too easily.

 

 

Maybe a version of these shelves would be nice, but with a cabinet on top that has an area below for hooks to hang pots and larger utensils.

Let's not even get started on peg-boards. I'm a Julia Child fan from childhood. Her peg-board with the outline of each pot, pan and utensil, made by her husband, had brought me immense happiness. Ah, the joy of a peg-board.

Home-made pot-racks and peg-boards...I'm thinking about it...smiling...smiling...
 

# 324 - Blogger Picture Quota Loophole!

First of all, I'd like to thank Kat at www.crochetinmotorcyclegranny.blogspot.com for being the latest official Follower for my blog! She makes the 100th person who has chosen to sign-up to follow this blog of an ordinary Texas woman who sometimes lives a strange kind of life. From the city to the country, I am comfortable. One week I may be in downtown Houston for an event of city glitz, then I am also happy to sit among my chickens and eagerly await the next fresh egg. I have many awesome readers who are not officially signed up, but I appreciate every single person who goes along with me in this new-age of social-media, which I refer to as "Reality Writing," also known as "Blogging."

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Now onto my topic for the day...photo storage capacity limits for Bloggers.

If you get to the point where Blogger is advising that you cannot upload any more pictures from your files because you've reached your storage capacity and you must now purchase a storage plan, then this piece of information is for you.

Well! Let me tell you a few ways to get around the attempt to bill us for photo storage.

If you pay attention to my instructions, you can learn to put pictures into your blog without having to upload through Blogger and you won't have to worry about these pictures being stored by Blogger and their associates.

The below photo is one I scanned and uploaded onto Facebook for an "oldies" file I set up for the family to enjoy.

Getting Heather ready for a choir performance, I
believe...needless to say, she's not being very
cooperative. However, I loved these moments too!

It starts with knowing how to Cut and Paste, but WAIT, THERE'S MORE TO IT THAN SIMPLE CUT AND PASTE TECHNIQUES for it to work right in Blogger. However, I've figured it out and want to pass it along. Once you learn the steps, it will be easy for you to do as well.

First of all, to "copy" a photo, you place the cursor over the photo, then right click your mouse or laptop pad button and select "copy." However, if your photo program on your computer won't allow you to copy a photo directly from the program itself, then go to Microsoft Word or to some other program you use regularly in your computer program, open a blank document, and then simply choose the command in the program to "Insert" photos into the document. From there, you can "copy" the photo. You will be required to go through your photo files to select a photo to insert, but the search is similar to that of uploading from Blogger, only you are doing it from your own program on your computer. To begin with, I open a document to be specifically used for this purpose and I'll even name it, "Blogging Photos" and start inserting as many photos from your photo program as you'd like to use while blogging.

Open your Blogger account, start writing a new post. I usually hit enter several times to create hard spaces to make it easier to manuever around in the document if I've not yet started writing. Before pasting the photo, I will put the cursor about mid-way through the empty Blogger document or place the cursor in the position between the text I desire, THEN I right click and choose "paste" to get the photo through magical cyber space.

WAIT --- IMPORTANT DETAILS ARE STILL NEEDED. You are not finished because Blogger's program makes pasted photos harder to manipulate.



Stefie taking swimming lessons at about three years old, to include
learning to go off the diving board. She wasn't having such a great time
right here. As a mom, these moments BREAK YOUR HEART!

Okay, this is where you need to pay attention. You won't be able to manipulate the pasted photo until you put paste it into your Blogger document and then click on the photo which will cause the little pop-up photo menu-bar to appear. To be able to adjust the size of the photo, you must FIRST select "Original Size" and I know it will likely BLOW UP the photo, but don't freak out. This is just a necessary step to be able to resize the photo as you'd like. After you select ORIGINAL SIZE, you will THEN be ALLOWED by the program to adjust the photo down to your preferred size.

If you don't select "original size" first, then you probably won't be able to manipulate the photo size to your preference because it will be frozen as pasted. After selecting Original Size, I usually change it to Large or Medium size for my blog posting. Then, you can go to the regular editing toolbar and center the photo in the entry, if you wish.

Not to worry, Stefie is all smiles for the most part when in the water!

Now she's happy to jump off the board; she adored the cute
swim instructor who told her he'd LOVE to jump WITH her.
OKAY - LET'S GO!!!

Even easier, I also can take photos from Facebook in the same manner; it's more direct. I scan through my Facebook photos or through those of a family or friend who gives me permission to use their photos and I place the cursor over the photo, right click and select "copy." Then, I go back to my Blogger document that I'm working on and paste the photo directly to the blogger post I am writing.

Pasting the photos in my stories for Blogger means I no longer have to worry about uploading problems through Blogger or worry about photo storage issues. As long as I can get that photo onto my computer in a method that allows me to "Copy" it, I can take it to my blog.

Like I said, I don't want Blogger and their associates uploading my photos via a search through my computer files for an upload and I REALLY DON'T WANT THEM storing my personal photos...it's not necessary and none of their business to do so. I'd rather cut and paste all day long. It's easier than uploading through Blogger anyway. I don't want to pay another entity to store something I already have, most likely, stored on my computer.

Heather and her beautiful hair that
was always her trademark. I think she
was in her Senior year of High School in this shot
I took of her in the front yard of our house.

I'm so happy to be finding ways around Blogger and its associates trying to find a way to charge us, especially when there are multiple blogging media out there to select from. There are ways to avoid it and I hope you will do the same once that uploading warning of being out of photo storage space comes your way with storage plans offered, different storage capacities have different fees. Forget it.

Cut and Paste and avoid storage fees! Keep photos on your own computer and out of third party hands! I wish I would've started out doing this with my first blog entry. Live and learn!

# 289 - Country Road Consideration

First off the bat, an update on the sale of our home...we are having showings just about daily right now. We had some good buyers come through the house yesterday they seemed liked potential new residents. I could picture them here in this house. AND, they weren't afraid of the chickens or the dogs. How about that?

I love it when I meet fellow country-loving people here in the suburbs. We have another showing appointment set for this afternoon...it's staying busy and the National Associaion of Realtor statistics have shown a marked increase in real estate sales for our area, the best stats since 2008. That's reason to celebrate! I guess the market is indeed picking up, but I'm not clear if it's for houses at our price-point. Regardless, I can see it happening and am doing EVERYTHING I can to not have to turn away a potential buyer. In the end, I leave it in God's hands. I guess we're doing our part and He'll do the rest...He'll be behind-the-scenes orchestrating all that I ask him to guide us in. I must keep faith that everything will be in His perfect timing and remind myself to remain patient. For me, that's a TALL order.

Who knows? Maybe one of these potential buyers will be moving us outta here very soon!

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A major concern and a hefty expense for acreage owners is their need to put in roads and driveways. Trying to decide upon the kind of materials you need for your acreage, your climate, conditions and for your land purpose is a challenge. Personally, I'd like to lessen the side-effects that a world of concrete brings to those having to live around it. It is not permeable, so runoff from concrete must go somewhere and having too much hard surface means a lot of water is having to flow off the hardened surface to find a ground surface to absorb it. Sometimes that puts a lot of absorption stress on natural areas surrounding concrete zones.

Going into our property, toward the location where
we set up camp. During the Spring and Summer, it
is luxurious and full of greenery.

Often, you see people in the country using crushed rock as a driveway product or they might be using remnants of recycled tires, which offers a low-impact driveway that looks good and supposedly is affordable in bulk, others might have a driveway with crushed limestone; then crushed seashell is another option we see frequently in our area. On our land, there will definitely be areas where we will need to have a concrete surface for our vehicles since a solid surface is needed for vehicle maintenance and for ease of cleaning vehicles so we can make sure it rains the next day.



Here is our country road when it needs a good mowing and
we can see that someone has trespassed during wet
weather to leave us deep rivets that we'll
need to shovel flat. The same road is below,
after it is mowed.

I think I've ruled out having a road surface that would simply transfer more dirt and dust back onto the vehicle. That probably leaves me with crushed shell and recycled tire material. We have many friends who have crushed limestone and crushed rock for their private road, we've often seen them wet down the road so the dust won't kick up so bad as they're driving down it. Nope, I don't want to be forced to wet down my road to avoid dust for incoming company --- I can think of other things I'd rather be doing. However, I don't want to get recycled tire material only to discover that it absorbs heat more readily than all other surfaces.

Then again, our acreage has this awesome benefit called "shade" from a multitude of beautiful trees. In our current area, we don't really have any area near us with such heavily wooded zones because we are a coastal town. Many seafaring communities aren't exactly forested due to coastal storms, regular strong coastal winds, and hurricanes that blow down more trees than can be replaced.

Deputy Dave walking toward the front
of our property, on our country road, toward
the front entrance with the trellis.

I don't want to create the problem of having increased runoff on our land trying to find its way to our ditches and creek. I'd rather have large permeable road surfaces play a part in absorption than playing a part in creating issues with runoff.

This is an entrance lacking a culvert, but the dip to
get onto the property is minimal. However, you
can see the country road ahead on our property.
It's grass and dirt with some limestone material
mixed in from a few years back. However, it's
still unstable during the winter months.

Our property has two sections with two entrances. That means we will have to maintain two entrances. At our 2nd entrance, there is already a new culvert, built about two years ago, and it is very nice. I'm thinking we'll build another just like it at the other entrance.



Having a solid culvert that is wide enough to take on the Dodge
is nice. It is appealing as well, looks solid and long-lasting.
I'd like to put one of these in on the other side of the
property, at the other entrance to our land.

Our frontage is narrow and the land opens up HUGELY, which I love. From
the position I am standing to take this photo, we will need to put in front
fencing and run it all the way to our culvert, which is nearly 400 feet away.
Frontage fencing with gates will need to be addressed rather quickly.

The picture below shows how beautiful the land is during the growing season. You can barely see the truck for all of the branches heavy with leaves.

However, in the winter months, the land can almost seem eerie with barren trees. A few conifers give some evergreen beauty, but winter months definitely make it seem like the wilderness has been stripped of life. The good side of this equation is that winter months on acreage will mean that we get a huge break in maintaining the property because there will be much less to cut and nothing will be growing out of control. It is cool, peaceful and will be time for us to handle other things that can't be done in the hottest summer months, such as building structures and fences.

You can see the growth or the lack of growth by gauging the electrical pole as your landmark.

We will only be able to do one thing at a time on our land, but I have a feeling we'll do what we always do...try to fit in taking care of 15 things at one time.

But, I also remember the words of one of my best-friends, "If you do too much at one time, you end up doing everything half-ass."

Yep, that's what I'd like to avoid, but I doubt it will be avoidable, at least in the beginning years of us living in the country. Once we're living on site, it will be so wonderful to finally start doing all the things we've wanted to do out there. But, today I'm doing more research on road materials. Non-dusty road materials, permeable road materials, long-lasting road materials.

If I had to decide upon a hard surfaced road for our property, I do think I'd go with asphalt. It's not as harsh looking as concrete and it is rather inexpensive to have put in, to patch and to repair. I'm still weighing the options for this big undertaking. Gotta have the ability to drive to the barn and to the cabin, even in the soggy winter months.

For anyone with details or opinions on this matter --- also, if you have experience with any of these road surfaces, please pass on what you think with the pros and cons. Don't be short and sweet, be clear and take as much room as you need to let me know what you think about road surfacing materials for this acreage.

Maybe, sometime this year, Deputy Dave and I will have roads on our property that will be more than dirt, a bit of limestone and grass. It sure would be nice to not have to mow the long driveway and to not worry about getting bogged down in the muck!

# 198 - Humorous Romantic Dinner is the BEST

Last night we celebrated Deputy Dave's 47th birthday. He's quite the young man still, but I wanted to celebrate with him in a special way. First, I must mention that for the first time in our marriage, I am officially a full-fledged "Hausfrau."

What does this mean? It means...I'm a House-Wife and no longer the business woman that I'd enjoyed being for most of our marriage. Things have definitely changed around here over the past couple of years..So, instead of going out to a five-star restaurant in Houston, we do things differently for most celebrations...we often celebrate at home.

Since we're putting our house on the market this week so that we can be moved to the country, and actively "working" toward an early retirement, this goal requires significant cut backs right now. However, I have great news that comes with a challenge. Cutting back does not mean that your quality of life must suffer. To the contrary, with creativeness and a lot fewer dollars, you can have richer experiences.

I making sure to add the spice mixture all under the skin and
then I'm rubbing it all over the outer parts of the chicken for a good coating.

 
For this birthday celebration, I decided to do something from the heart, something surprising and nice.

What does Deputy Dave like most? I thought about it. And fishing came to mind. Fishing and kayaking, but that is besides the point. Truly, he's a well-rounded kind of guy and likes many things, but he always loves a good home-cooked meal. And, this sounds sweeter than I thought it would to my own ears, but he loves it when I do "wifey" things.

He's a modern, sophisticated man, yet has an old-fashioned Southern soft spot to him that perks up when I fold his laundry, cook his dinner or polish the furniture. He sees value in me doing these things, not only because it means HE doesn't have to do them, it's because those things also hold non-verbal significance that I enjoy my life with him, and that I actually love doing things for him. Even mundane things. After all, it truly is the small things in life that matter most.

I'm happy, content and glad to make a nice home with my man. A kind-hearted man with a tender side shown to his wife can surely make her feel like a fulfilled woman. I am excited to celebrate my husband's 47th birthday with him because we've both chilled out significantly through the years. We've learned to slow down and to appreciate the importance of being excessively kind to each other. Sweet love can't be beat.

As I prepare dinner, Deputy Dave is cleaning the
windows I don't dare touch.

To be honest, ten years ago, I would have cringed at the thought of being a Hausfrau, but it's no longer all drudgery, as I had imagined it to be. Dedicating my focus and time to my home, to my relationships, to domesticated purposes, I am finding that I am challenged in a new way. And I like a challenge, but not challenges like the one in the picture below...now he's onto the outside working on the blasted sky-high windows at the foyer. Thank Goodness that I have a husband who handles these difficult tasks. I'd be able to climb the ladder, but then I'd be frozen and not be able to come back down. Yes, it's happened.

For me, a main challenge has always been cooking. Don't get me wrong, I can definitely cook several show-stopping meals, but it's sometimes hit and miss. I'm not one of those people who can just throw a delicious meal together. I do have to put in a lot of work toward understanding what I will be tackling before I get going. So, for this birthday dinner, I skimmed part of my menu from watching an early morning news show with an interesting cooking segment. The Chef was cooking a whole chicken, after it had been split and cooked face down in a large iron skillet after being rubbed generously with herbs. I thought...I CAN DO THAT!

Two foil wrapped bricks set down on top of the chicken pressed the chicken fully into the pan so that the most of the surface of the chicken could be cooking and roasting for that crispy, caramelized chicken skin that is so delectable. Yes, I'll try a variation of that cooking method, but with half a chicken, and I won't use the bricks; I used a sheet of foil and placed another heavy iron skillet on top of the chicken while it cooked on the stovetop.


 
The chicken sizzled in the iron skillet that had a light brushing of olive oil with spices covering the chicken thoroughly. Adding slices of carrots and quarter cuts of onion into the skillet with the chicken brought the kitchen smells to delightful heights.

After cooking the chicken on the cooktop for about 20 minutes, I then finished it off in the oven at about 375 degrees for another 17-20 minutes with a foil cover while making green beans, then pasta shells in white cheddar with home-made garlic toast. 



We had a feast.

Skillet/Oven roasted herb chicken with caramelized onions and carrots.
Well worth the trouble...it was delicious.

 For dessert, I made Chocolate Molten Lava Cake...sinful.

Earlier in the day, as Deputy Dave worked in Houston I decided to go the extra mile and set the cozy kitchen table for two for a romantic dinner. I left the two chairs at either end and removed the other two chairs out of sight. I took quite a bit of time selecting a proper tablecloth, no, not a curtain, but an authentic tablecloth, and I settled upon one in my collection that is known for standing the test of time.

This antique lace tablecloth had belonged to my great-grandmother, my grandmother and my mother; it has a few blemishes and tears, which only add to its allure. Many tables have been graced with this particular tablecloth and I felt it a high honor for it to lay across my humble table. 

Then, I began to set out the China to only change my mind and go for a different "daily" China set. Authentic sterling silverware added to the simple elegance of our table setting, along with the use of  antique napkins trimmed in lace.

Upon his return home from work Deputy Dave walked through the door and once he saw the decked-out table with the lace, the China, the sterling silverware and the candles, he made no secret about how pleased he felt about it, the shock showed on his face as he said, "This is probably the nicest thing I've had anyone do for me on my birthday."

 

Yes, I've done similar things such as this in the past, but now, it's just the two of us...things grow finer with time. It's the wonderful part of maturity and growing older...we finally slow down enough to appreciate life on a new level. Our senses seem to be sharpened.

Then, he looked at me to see that I was actually wearing a dress! Of course, with flip flops! Regardless, I was wearing a dress. Not my regular house dress used for cleaning, but a nicer dress. He could see that I was going through loving efforts to show him how much he means to me, especially on his birthday.
 
I must say, the candelabra added a touch of softness and romance to the table after we lit each candle. We bought this thing for our youngest after she fell in love with Phantom of the Opera. It came in handy for this special night.

It's a birthday dinner, no candles in a cake, but these will work!

As I finished up the last of dinner and we were nearing serving time, Deputy Dave had run to take a shower and he came out dressed up, sort of, and my heart was touched like it's never been touched before.

At this moment, I'm ready to live out one of my romance
novel scenes and just let the dang dinner get cold!! Hubba Hubba.

Here we were, just the two of us, our kids our grown and gone...we could be sitting on our joint love-seat recliner for another night of watching some television, but this was very special. We turned the television off and the music on.

I looked at him and found him to be more handsome than ever, at 47 years of age. And, I've known him since he was 14 years old. But, in that dress shirt, overalls and tie, he knocked me off my feet.

It was the sweetest gesture he could've made to show me that the dinner did mean something special to him and we were indeed having more fun than our kids could imagine. Yes, the little things do matter.
 
I love this guy. He makes me laugh.

Don't worry, the tea still smells like...tea.

He gave me two beautiful daughters. He brings excitement to our world about the tedious process of getting moved to our acreage. Even with all the unknowns, he exudes confidence and great ideas about living on our land. I get scared and worried, then he comforts and assures me that everything will work out, because we are determined, because we have each other and we're not afraid of new beginnings.

And even though I don't think life could hardly get any better than this evening together, we look forward to many more sit-downs in the country, just like this, on the front porch of our cabin in the woods.

Living on a tight budget and working with what you've got can indeed be a thrill. Yes, I'm thrilled.