After Labor Day Ramblings- Friendship, Illness & Bargain Shopping

(Image by lemar- morgueFile)

Today is a quiet Tuesday with Taryn, as I opted not to schedule anyone so close to the holiday, knowing that the traffic to the site might be down due to families spending time together for Labor Day weekend.

We had a quiet one ourselves. One of my best friends, her husband and their two little girls came down on Saturday to visit. The hubbies watched TV, the girls played dress-up and Barbies and spent a lot of time outside. My friend and I sat at the kitchen table, talked, played Scrabble and just really enjoyed ourselves and she really enjoyed the chocolate cream cheese drop cookies I made. I made round steak supreme with mushrooms, cheesy bacon potatoes and peas for lunch and that went over very well. By the time they left, my friend and I were in tears. We'll see each other in a month if my plans go well for a visit during fall break for my kids, but sometimes even a month feels like forever.

Of course, since our oldest went to the doctor last week, first thinking he might have strep, but then it turned out to be sinus and allergy related symptoms, I've not felt well myself. Maybe just because it coincided with the weather, I don't know. I've spent the better part of a week nursing myself with my own home remedies to try to knock it out. I've heated vinegar and slowly inhaled the steam (careful there if you attempt that to clear your sinuses and stuffy nose...it does burn eyes, nose and throat if you inhale too much at a time.) I've taken sinus medicine for the headache and pressure, allergy medicine for the 1/2 runny-1/2 stuffy nose. (not all at once) Used vapor rub on my feet- yes, my feet- wearing socks over them to bed does help clear chest congestion and helps you breath a little easier to get some rest, and it softens your feet because of the petroleum jelly in it.

When it all boiled down to it, what worked best for me this time? Alka-Seltzer Cold. Yes...plop plop, fizz fizz. Who would have thought. {rolling my eyes} It was, of course, the last thing I tried and it seems to be the one thing that helped more than anything to clear my head, my congestion, etc. I've also had the itchy watery eyes that burn like fire, too, so I had my husband pick up some Visine-Allergy for that.

After my friend and her family left Saturday, we went to Goodwill to look for Girly-Girl some new tops. I went through her clothes the other day only to discover the majority of what she had was nearly 2 sizes too small. Kids, I tell you! They grow like weeds. We came out of there with 13 tops, 12 of which did actually fit her and one I sized wrong by looking at it- it was too snug and it also had a long button down V-neck collar that, when buttoned, wouldn't stay closed. All in all though it was for just over $20, so I'm not going to complain. You can't shake a stick at that!

Sunday we lay around watching television most the day and I made homemade chicken noodle soup. That probably helped clear me up, as well. Yesterday my husband had to work but I had Girly home with me all day, her brother didn't get home from his mom's till later in the afternoon, shortly before supper.

So, here I am on a quiet Tuesday morning, getting back into a somewhat normal routine. Got laundry going in the kitchen, the window open in here and enjoying the fall-like atmosphere outside. There are birds and bugs chittering away on this gloomy morning. I'm definitely feeling Autumn in the air more as the days pass. The humidity is starting to build though, so the window will go down before too long and I'll have to crank the fan back up to circulate the muggy air in here, but for now, I'll enjoy it.

Hope you're having a wonderful Tuesday on this "shortened" week. Would love to hear how you're doing as well if you would like to leave your thoughts. Did you do anything cool for Labor Day weekend? Have you recently found any great bargains, too?

I'm off to finish up read-through edits on Love by Design while my vision isn't impaired by itchy watery eyes. Have a great day!

#MemoryLane Mondays- Make Those Moments Count

Life and death are on my mind right now and I keep thinking about how to make moments count in my own life as I'm growing older and beginning to lose loved ones close to me. I understand that death comes to us all, but some deaths hit harder and closer to home than others. Growing up I lost a great-grandmother, two grandfathers, a grandmother, my aunt by marriage and an uncle. I've lost distant relatives and close friends and that loss still hurts because I keep those who are gone close in my heart at all times. They might be gone, but they are not forgotten. I know of course that, inevitably, I will lose others as well who are closer to me, but I don't relish the idea and try not to dwell on it. We are all given just so much time and this matter really makes me stop and think about how wisely I'm using mine.

So often, I believe that we forget to make moments count as we live them. We don't intentionally take it for granted, but as we go about life, there are things that fill us with joy or sorrow and we carry it with us and remember it with fondness or regret later. There isn't always a a camera to freeze-frame the Kodak moments, there isn't always video, other than what plays out in our minds.

Life is such a precious gift. The relationships and people we encounter who have been blessings as well as curses. The ones who shaped who we are or taught us lessons that helped us move forward into becoming the person we're meant to be, or inspire us to be more than we think we are.

When we encounter those who shape us, mold us, inspire us- those who love us, it's hard to be reminded of our mortality and it's something most of us refuse to face- that someday that person might be gone- gone from our lives or perhaps gone from this world. And yet there is the hope that we will encounter them again in some distant future or space in time.

Remember to tell those you love how much you love them. Now. Share with them the things you don't want to go left unsaid. Hug them and kiss them and remind them that they have a friend in you and that you love them in return. We're not alone in this world, so show your kindness- share your heart and try to make those moments count.

This post was slightly inspired by one of the new songs from Ben Taylor's Listening Album, but also because of the failing health of a few people I know and care about who may not be long for this ol' world. Be a blessing to those around you. Love them deeply and never let them forget it!

#TuesdayswithTaryn with Sylvia May, Author of The Unraveling of Abby Settel

Tuesdays with Taryn

Sylvia May

Please help me in welcoming fellow Turquoise Morning Press author, Sylvia May to Tuesdays with Taryn~

What book(s) most influenced you as a writer?

It’s difficult for me to identify one book that has most influenced me. Every book that I read informs my writing in some way, whether it is the way the story unfolds, or the characters, or an interesting plot device. I read various genres and have done so since I was a child. As for my early reading, Lucy Maud Montgomery showed me that stories can be made out of ordinary lives; Phyllis A. Whtiney introduced me to the idea of mystery and adventure. In adulthood, books by Jane Urquhart, Jodi Picoult, Peter Robinson, Rohinton Mistry, Isabel Huggan, Louise Penny, Elizabeth Berg, Alice Munro…ach there are too many to mention.

What book do you read over and over again?

Who has time to read a book over and over again? There are just too many books and too little time. But I will say that if I absolutely love a book, it becomes a “keeper,” meaning I retain possession of it rather than passing it on. I have shelves full of “keepers” that, perhaps when I’m old and stuck in an armchair, I may just read again.

Tuesday Trio-

1)      Movie- The Mask of Zorro with Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones

2)      Music- Dancing in the Moonlight performed by Van Morrison (it’s my ringtone)

3)      Decadent Dessert- Anything with chocolate or lemon or real cream (I am a dessert addict!)

What’s the most interesting or bizarre bit of trivia you’ve learned from researching for a novel?

Rather than a bit of trivia, this shocking story comes immediately to mind. Recently, while researching poison for the cozy mystery series that I coauthor (as Lucy Arlington), I happened upon a news report where fifth-grade students put rat poison in their teacher’s coffee and cupcake frosting. What is the world coming to when elementary school students try to poison their teachers?

Novel on your Nightstand:

Who/what are you currently reading?

            At present I’m reading a book that I never would have picked up if a friend hadn’t given it to me, since “horror” is a genre I don’t read (till now, lol). It is Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King, a collection of four novellas. Surprisingly to me, I was hooked from the first couple of pages.

Whom would you cast as your Hero & Heroine if your book became a movie?

This is a tough question since I don’t watch a lot of movies and thus am not familiar with many actors. However, I recently saw a TV show with a mature Ashley Judd, and I think she’d make a great Abby. If not her, then Sandra Bullock. And I think Kevin Spacey would be a good Peter, or perhaps Scott Bakula.

THE UNRAVELING OF ABBY SETTEL

Abby's well-ordered life is falling apart. Her son’s behavior is worrying, her aging parents are deteriorating, and her husband loses his job.  His new position compels them to move hundreds of miles away, where Abby is plagued by guilt and loneliness. When she discovers a group of women facing the similar challenges, together they seek a way out of their unhappiness. This is a story of mid-life reinvention, letting go to embrace the present, and the importance of friends.

            The Unraveling of Abby Settel received an Honorable Mention from the  2011 Reader Views Literary Awards.

 (click book cover image to the left to purchase from Amazon)

You can find out more about Sylvia at her

Website

Blog

AND

You can also find The Unraveling of Abby Settel at

Turquoise Morning Press

Barnes and Noble

Smashwords

#MemoryLane Monday- Memories Lost Along the Way

Well, there you have it. For this week, while I'm visiting my family I was going to share a picture I took of the tree in the backyard where I grew up- the one that has my initials carved into it and talk about touching base with my roots. Seems I won't be doing that. Well, not sharing that photo, that is, unless I remember to snap a photo after I get up there and load it up and add it to the post, but not sure I'll get around to it before it posts on Monday)

After viewing a disk the other day that had that VERY image on it, I can't get it to open at all, not on my laptop and not on my desktop computer either. It's showing that there is space that's been "used" on it and says I have more space I can use, but the files? Those Kodak folders? It's like they've vanished...

All I can figure is that I accidentally reformatted the disk before I ejected it from my laptop or something. It won't read it, can't find the files and my heart is broken. There were photos from April 2011 through January of this year. I had copied them to disk so I could free up some space on my laptop. Dummy me- I didn't make an additional copy. What was I thinking?

I only remember a few of the pictures that were taken, so hopefully it won't worm through my mind that I flubbed up so badly. I still can't figure out how I did that except that it's a rewritable disk. I just don't remember "rewriting" it, cause normally a person remembers doing those sort of things.

Instead, I'll post some pictures I have from coming into town and the view of the park from the gazebo (which is no longer in the park- they replaced it with a different one or something). Was still a VERY pretty view.

My friends and I spent a lot of time in that park. Usually we walked through or rode our bikes through to go to the West Park Shopping Center to go to Wal-Mart to buy cassette tapes or cassette singles, or clothes, makeup, earrings- you name it. Or we'd go by IGA or Rite-Aid for candy or soda pop from the outdoor vending machines. Hot summer days were always a good excuse to take some change to go out there and we'd foolishly buy our drinks and sit on the bench near the payphone, watching the bag boys pushing customers' groceries out or watch for anyone we might know to go cruisin' through the parking lot. Sometimes we'd walk over to McDonald's and buy lunch and take it back to the park to eat at the covered pavilion and just hang out talking and reading the vandalism on the wooden picnic tables.

I truly miss those days. It was hot and you had to contend with wasps and flies around the tables where people had spilled their soda or thrown food in the big barrel garbage cans. You'd be hot and sticky with sweat, but a quick spin on your bike around the path would help take the edge off. Later we'd all collapse on a blanket in my front yard, with the old Magnavox with the broken antenna plugged up to an orange electric cord that was plugged in on the porch so we could jam out to our cassettes listening to New Kids on the Block and Debbie Gibson or Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam. Yeah, I'm an 80's dork.

But back in that park, as well as in our yards, there was solitude though, when it seemed like being a grown up was a million years away even though we wanted it so bad we could taste it. And the smell of fresh cut grass and the fumes from gas mowers scented the air. The splashing and screaming of kids at the local pool or the teenage boys pounding the pavement at the basketball courts was the only important sounds you heard, save perhaps the ice cream truck's tinkling little ditty.

Of course, as a teenager girl, nothing sounded as good as the thumping bass coming from some car three streets over, and you'd wait with bated breath for them to round the corner onto your street and then you'd get to see if it was some cute guy in his little truck. You know the one with the tinted windows and fluorescent doohickeys on the windshield wipers or the ground lights and custom details- cruisin' slow through the neighborhoods. Sometimes if you were lucky, they'd give you a slight acknowledgement of a wave or the nod of their head, looking cool in their sunglasses with the windows down, an arm hanging out the driver's side with one hand on the steering wheel and some song blaring from the speakers, and you'd fall into a heap of giggling as soon as they were up the road and out of sight.

Those were the days.

Of course, I don't have pictures from all those times, and I guess I don't need them, because images capture a lot of great cheesy poses, but your brain and your heart capture the emotions and sights and sounds in a way photography can't.

Hope everyone had a great Easter and I hope you have a great start to your week!
Happy Monday!

Memory Lane Monday- My Baby Sister

Yeah, my baby sister would probably kill me for posting this image of her from back in the day, but Shhh...she'll never know seeing as how she NEVER gets online anymore these days and even if she did, she wouldn't pop over here to check my blog. LOL

This is the baby sister, ONLY sister, I remember holding on that drive home from the hospital when I was 3, sitting in the front seat between my parents. Same baby sister who was the bane of my existence when I started kindergarten because, even though my Momma promised to keep her OUT of my Barbies while I went 1/2 day to school, I still came home to naked headless dolls scattered all over our bedroom floor.

It goes without saying that we didn't always love each other- we "tolerated" each other as best we could. I mean, sure we had fun rolling down the hallway in the big cardboard barrel that usually stayed in our shared closet and housed all our bits and pieces of toys. Or when we lined the hallway with pillows and "hopped" or "rolled" our way across them. Hard telling how many sets of dirty footprints my Mom painted over by the time we got old enough to stop doing that! LOL Or how we used our set of encyclopedias more for Barbie's staircase than for research. They made an awesome spiral staircase to the second floor of the "Barbie Bookcase Townhouse" though. ;)

We were rowdy, now that I think back on it. We'd take the mattress off the bed and tilt it so we could use it as a slide, flip the living room chair over so we could sit in it and pretend to drive it like a car. I wonder if she still remembers that weird green "rocking" chair we had. It was a funky 60's or 70's vinyl floral pattern and silvery button tacking that was so popular. I've tried to find an image, but can't find one of the specific chair, though I'm thinking it would have been something along the lines of a vinyl upholstered swivel lounge chair. It didn't have normal chair legs but those ones that look like a plus sign and if we rocked it just right it would tilt. Our mom HATED that.

There did come a point where sharing a room became such a hair-pulling experience, my mom allowed me to take her sewing room and turn it into my bedroom. This came about when I was a 11, shortly after the numerous Barbie pages I so lovingly colored and hung up on the wall got ripped down by my sister. It was the final straw. I moved out- and across the hall. She didn't want me to at first, but after a while, I think we both saw that it was a better option than having to share our space.

Of course, having my own room didn't put an end to her snooping. She'd still seek out my diary/journal with the nose of a blood-hound and read it- then tease me endlessly over things she read. Of course, I gave her a hard time of things too when she wouldn't leave me alone, and I was probably a lot more vicious in my attacks, but I guess those little squabbles are forgiven after all these years. Here's hoping.

The best times were always chasing fireflies after dark or riding our bikes to the park, early Christmas mornings when we'd get up way before light to sit in front of the sparkling tree and try to figure out what we'd gotten in each gift-wrapped box. The many nights we sat up watching cheesy old B movies or Kids in the Hall or making up song parodies and laughing hysterically till we cried. Much as we fought, I believe we make up for it by the good times we have when we can now just sit and reminisce about growing up, about heartaches we've each had and knowing we do have each other, even if we DO still get under each others skin from time to time.

Having a sister is like having a best friend you can't get rid of. You know whatever you do, they'll still be there. ~Amy Li
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If you don't understand how a woman could both love her sister dearly and want to wring her neck at the same time, then you were probably an only child. ~Linda Sunshine
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I'm smiling because I am your sister & laughing because there is nothing you can do about it.
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MY sister, has the BEST sister in the WORLD!

Have a wonderful Monday and if you have a sister or sisters, let them know how much you love them today and have a few good laughs about the old days.