I am very pleased to share that I have recently received the wonderful news that my essay, “My Mother and Her Pain,” published in the 2022 Story Circle Network anthology, Real Women Write: Seeing Through Their Eyes, has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. I am one of six nominees from Real Women Write whose…
Storyworth Preparation
Sarah and her family gave me the gift last Christmas of Storyworth, which is a company that has you send in stories that you write and they make them into a book. I am in the unique position of having over 2500 posts on my blog, with at least a couple of hundred posts being…
A Highly Recommended Mystery Series
Ray and I have been watching Stay Close, an excellent limited mystery series on Netflix based on the novel by Harlan Coben. The story is complicated enough to pull you in and the characters are developed well enough that you feel as if you have a good understanding of what makes them tick. There’s also…
Our Family Thanksgiving Today
Today we gathered for our family’s Thanksgiving. We usually celebrate on the Friday after Thanksgiving so our kids can be with their other families on Thanksgiving Day. We had the pleasure of also having Gregorio’s mom from Ensenada with us this year along with a few members of his family who live in Los Angeles….
Happy Thanksgiving
Ray and I spent our Thanksgiving at Cindy Betty’s home with Cindy, our daughter Liz, her husband, Ron Betty, and Litte Baby Betty, who was safely tucked in Mommy’s tummy. We visited with Cindy, Liz, Ron, two of Ron’s uncles, a first cousin, and Cindy’s close friend. We also ate delicious food and did a…
A Family Favorite: Honey and Maple Sugar Baklava
My grown-up great-nephew and niece, Eli and Sophie, each wrote me separately recently asking for the honey-sweetened baklava recipe that we have used for the many Thanksgivings they came and visited with their parents when they were younger. This was a fun holiday cooking project that the three of us enjoyed. I am delighted to…
Ojai Tonight
We are at the orange grove this evening and are listening to KUSC, which is the classical music station that broadcasts from the University of Southern California. The vaporizer is spouting out a column of white steam, which is needed since the humidity here was 10% when we arrived this afternoon. Now our handy-dandy humidity…
Ray’s Delectable Cranberry Sauce Recipe
Today, Rachael and I made what we think of as “Ray’s” cranberry sauce. Ray came up with the recipe and made it all by himself for many years. Today he was sitting in the other room available for questions on proportions and cooking time. Rachael peeled and chopped the apples while I rinsed the cranberries…
Stutz: A Netflix Film Worth Watching
Today I watched a film on Netflix called Stutz, which was directed by Jonah Hill. This is a documentary of Jonah and his relationship with his therapist, Dr. Phil Stutz, who has provided Jonah and other patients with some key tools to navigate through life. In fact, these tools ended up being helpful enough that…
Assisi
Written October 2022 I walked into the Romanesque Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi this morning and was instantly transfixed by the low arched ceilings, the predominate blue and gold colors, and the intricate beauty of the Biblical scenes depicted on the ceiling and walls. Signs read, “Silencio, Grazie” as we entered so there were…
20 Minutes a Day 