My husband Ray always teases me about my “goodbye” etiquette based on my Texas upbringing. He is fond of pointing out that I am often the last person to leave a gathering, including a funeral where I might start a conversation with the men just about to fill in the grave after everyone has driven…
Four Words for 2024: Breakthrough, Change, Health, and Heal
Today, I came across one of those Facebook games that is a square with what looks like a couple of hundred random letters. It read, “The first four words you see will define 2024 for you.” Those words, which were not quick in coming, by the way, were breakthrough, change, health, and heal. While I…
#55 – Something That Makes Me Happy – Reflecting on My Life in 2023
I want to spend my writing time this evening reflecting on the positive aspects of my life that were present in 2023. I think that would be a suitable ending for the year on New Year’s Eve. This list will certainly not be all-inclusive or in any particular order since I am relying on my…
#54 – Something That Makes Me Happy – Going to the Circus!
When I was growing up, the circus coming to my small Texas town was a cause for celebration. There was a big parade around the town square with music, colorfully painted circus wagons, wild animals, and exotically attired performers. Also, when the troupe traveled to an empty field north of town, many local people gathered…
#53 – Something That Makes Me Happy – My Grandmother’s Lamp
Across from me right now is a stained glass lamp that came from my grandmother, Winnie Waugh. It is a Bradley and Hubbard – a good quality arts and crafts lamp – and it is my favorite single item that we own. It has a green and red shade, bronze inlays, and a bronze stand….
#52 – Something That Makes Me Happy – A Little Alone Time
I have always liked small dark places where I could hide: closets mainly, but when I was little I didn’t mind under the bed or in a cardboard box with the lid slightly shut. I even had a secret hiding place behind a long drawer in my bathroom when I was nine or ten where…
#51 – Something That Makes Me Happy – Witnessing the Birth of 7 Babies, Not Counting My Own
I have had the rare honor of being present for the births of my three nieces (daughters of brother George and sister-in-law Sandra) and also all four of my grandkids (well, not Nico since he was an emergency C-section, but I was there before and then immediately after his birth.) Today, just a few years…
#50 – Something That Makes Me Happy – “The Artful Dodger” Series on Hulu
This eight-part series takes the young pickpocket Jack Dawkins, aka “Artful Dodger,” and his unscrupulous mentor Fagin from Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens and puts them in Australia, “the colony,” in the mid-1850s. However, at this point “Dodger” (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) has given up thievery (almost) for surgery, having been trained by a ship’s surgeon during…
#49 – Something That Makes Me Happy – Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Photos
Here are photos from my last 27 hours. A wonderful celebration at our church and also with our family in two locations. I feel very blessed. St. Thomas the Apostle, Hollywood, for Midnight Mass Ron’s Mom’s House for Christmas Morning Sarah and her Crew at Church Yesterday Afternoon in South Pasadena This afternoon with Sarah’s family…
#48 – Something That Makes Me Happy – Husband Ray’s Semiannual Haircut
Don’t get me wrong. I love long flowing hair. I even love my husband Ray’s mass of curly locks around three months post-haircut. At that point, his hair has just the right combination of freewheeling curls and length. That perfect period can even stretch out to a month if there’s enough moisture in the air…
20 Minutes a Day 