Good morning. I’m excited about this Monday because it’s my cataract surgery day. Tomorrow may be a bit more difficult as I try to keep busy, since I won’t be allowed on the computer or even watching television, but I’ve got audio books loaded and I’m ready to go. I even bought special headphones to wear lying in bed.
Today, we have one of the less than easy letters. Q starts off a variety of words, including quest. I’ve been on a quest to understand the world around me, to seek wisdom where I can find it, but lately, wisdom and commone sense seem to be lacking.
In my quest for knowledge, I’ve discovered a strange ability in myself. One stray thought can change everything, and I’ll go so far off track that the reason for my quest in the first place gets lost.
Continuing the quest, whose purpose is to make sense of the insanity around me, seems like a hopeless task, and I have to force myself to keep going and ignore the urge to just pack in all in, and succomb to the exhaustionand accept what should never be accepted. That’s when I need to remind myself that quitting is for losers.
Finally, when all is said and done, when I can go no more, I set my quest aside for the moment and focus on what’s truly important– the peace I quiet I find in my own element.
Good morning. Well, the third week of the A to Z Challenge Blog for this year is complete. I’m having a great time just filling the page with random thoughts that happen to suit a particular letter. I’m especially happy to be traveling along with friends I’ve made in Europe, Australia, and the United States. I enjoy all of the posts and the insights, and it’s great to know that others feel the same way. I’ve laughed and I’ve cried over some of the posts. Tomorrow, I’ll be having my cataract surgery at 4:45 in the afternoon. If I don’t check in for a couple of days, it’s because I’m not allowed on the computer, but I have preshechuled three days of posts just in case.
I didn’t get around to purpose yesterday in the letter P, but I wanted to share this meme with you. We all need a purpose in life. Some of us find it early on; the rest of if sort of wait until it finds us. Kind of like a teenager having to decide at 18 what she wants to do with the rest of her life.
I hope you’ve found your purpose.
Today is cold for this late in April, but hopefully that will mitigate another P I didn’t cover. For all of you out there, who suffer as I do, get ready because it’s crying time again. The weeping eyes, the blocked ears, the swollen sinuses. That’s right. Pollen season is here.
Good morning. How is your weekend shaping up? We’re expecting 25 C here today, and maybe it won’t rain the entire day. Unfortunately, we’ll be down to single digits again Sunday and Monday. That’s the way it is these days. I plan to worship every nice day we get this summer, no matter how hot is it. I vow not to complain about the heat–the humidity, maybe–but not the heat! I’ve had it with the cold. But enough of that. Smile! This too shall pass.
Today’s letter is P. Now the letter P starts many great words and some not so great ones like politics, president, or as I like to say, he who should never be named since it feeds his ego, and Prime Minister, as in Carney, the best man for the job right now, althought I don’t envy him. It also starts procrastination, the ability to put things off by filling the gap with things you would rather be doing. As well, it stands for proofreading.
Proofreading is right up there with editing. I not only edit my own work, and I’m really hard on myself, I also edit for a few select others. There are times when I’m working on plot edits when I have to wonder if gremlins got to the story before I did. How could I even consider that? And as for proofreading, I swear ten people can read the same page ten times and miss the one typo. it’s like finding the N in a page full of M’s. Why? Because the brain is programmed–there’s another P word–to assign meaning to what it sees and see what it thinks is there and not what is. Like that meme on overthinking from yesterday. You probably read it even though there wasn’t much there to guide you.
P also stands for my new favorite word. Procaffeinating defines me well. I can’t really get going without my morning boost of caffeine. I usually start with tea and then move on to coffee with breakfast. Somtimes, I’ll add another cup midmorning or a cola on warm days, but unless it’s decaffeinated, never after lunch. Caffeine seems to have a more powerful effect on me after noon than after six in the morning.
I also learned another new word recently. It doesn’t start with P, but it meand perfect butts. It came out of a discussion over Easter dinner when the grandkids were discussing their workout routines, and talking about working their glutes. I never knew that people purposely wanted big butts, not just big ones, but perfect, well-shaped ones. Callipygian! Who knew? And here I’vespent my whole life in pursuit of the flat, nondescript bottom. What a waste!
The next P word I want to discuss is prayer. I’ve always believed in the power of prayer, but these days, I think the Almighty seems to have his hands full. As the meme points out, these days it’s hard to tell the crap from what’s of value. I wonder if God counts on St. Peter to help him divide the good prayers from the bad ones? The prayers that shoukld be answered, and those He might want to pass on–consider the source. There are definitely some people praying for the wrong things, like war. As Pope Leo and all the other people with an ounce of common sense agree, let’s pray for peace and understanding.
My career as an author began with poetry, and I enjoy this tongue in cheek look at getting old.
Another P word I love is partnership. My husband and I have been partners for two thirds of my life. Nothing beats a good partnership!
Let’s talk about the final P word for today Power. there are many differnt kinds of power that have nothing to do with money and politics. Here are a few examples.
Good morning. It’s raining again. Can you believe it? Six days in a row. We’re luckier than some places in the province and even in the city since we live at the top of a hill, but there are more than a few flooded basement around.
It’s hard to stay motivated these days, and just getting out of bed feels like a chore, but coffee in hand, I completed my routine, and I now have a little more get up and go, slowly, but any kind of forward movement is good these days.
I hit a glitch in Cold Heart and have to go back and fix it. Sometimes the characters drag me where I don’t want to go, and we have to talk it through. This is one of those times.
Today’s letter is O. I told you the second half of the challenge was harder. There isn’t a lot to be said for O other than the fact that it’s ocassionally confused with 0, zero. When I print out words and numbers, my O and 0 look exactly the same. They only look different in typed prose, so if I’m including a large number, I have to remember to his 0 and not O.
Actually, O is the first letter in ONE, not just a numeral but occasionally a modifier as in “One day, all of this will make sense, but that day isn’t today.” It also means individual, as in one of a kind. As in this is the only world we have, and we have to take care of it!
Take it one day at a time!
I came across this new to me literary term a few months ago, and I thought I would share it with you. I also found this meme about overthinking which is probably my greatest fault and why my charaters and I are at odds right now!
Are you an overthinker, too? Today’s song is definitely from the nostalgia coffer.
These last few days, I’ve read a lot of blogs that featured Kindness for the letter K, just as I did. It’s obvious that I’m not the only one who feels as if the world needs more of it, so here’s a reminder of what truly matters. Right now, there are people who just see money and being rich as their goals in life, and these people don’t care who gets hurt in their quest to be richer than they already are. Let’s agree not to lose our humanity while they focus on their greed.
Of course, it’s raining again, the temps are up, but that isn’t helping with the achy joints. I’m getting rather crochety these days. I truly need the sun, even if that will just make allergy season worse. I have pills for that.
Today’s letter is N. It’s what I consider the Negative Nelly of the alphabet since it stands for words like NEVER, NO, NOT and of course NEGATIVE. In the movie, Kelly’s Heroes, Donald Sutherland, a Canadian treasure, played the role of Oddball, a tank unit officer who was trying to sit out the war until Kelly offered him the chance to get rich. He was just a little out there, but one of his lines which I use to this day, was “Why don’t you knock it off with them negative waves?” Today, I’m going to focus on making negatives into positives. Maybe, you’ll find something to brighten your day. But first, let’s talk about the Northern Lights, aka, the Aurora Borealis.
In the last few years, there seem to be a lot more solar storms that result in incredible auroras. I use the magical lights as a means of communication between the ancient gods and my main characters in my Listen to the Stones series. While doing research for the latest book in the series, I found an explanation for the colors that was simple and easy to undertsand. And since my story involves ancient monoliths, this is one of my favorite pictures.
Good morning. It’s another rainy day here, but as I got home from the orthopedic surgeon yesterday, I noticed buds on my spring flowers. The matched my mood since I’m good for another year–exercise and physio should be good enough to keep leg number two out of surgery for at least another twelve months. Today’s Wednesday. Some refer to it as midweek. Others call it hump day, as in getting over the hump. No matter what you call it, it’s also the midway mark in this year’s challenge. I used to say that the first half of the challenge was easier than the second half and I’m sure that’ll be the case again this year since my store of memes with the difficult letters is quite low.
The thirteenth letter of the alphabet is M. I took the liberty of highlighting all the M words in my introductory paragraph. There are lots of good M words. The first one that comes to mind is motherhood. Without mothers where would we be? Nowhere. We wouldn’t exist. It’s strange for me to try and understand misogyny, the hatred of the female gender, when without women, the human race wouldn’t exist. But enough about that. Today I’m going to talk about medicine, not the pills, liquid, injections, and creams prescribed by doctors but the other kind of medicine needed to keep your mind and soul healthy. Enjoy!
Look for the things that bring you joyTake care of yourself. You are a fragile flowerMeditate, but do it in a fun wayEnjoy it all!Making life simple is also good medicineLet the magic fill youRemember, laughter is the best medicine
Good morning. Well, today will be a busy day for me. Unfortunately, it’s another rainy day–Noah may have to start work on the ark again. I have an appointment with my orthopedic surgeon today for X-rays and my one-year evaluation of my hip replacement. We’ll be discussing next steps for hip number two. It’s nowhere as bad as the first one was, but I never want to feel that pain again, so, if I can get on the surgery list later this year, that’s a bonus.
Today’s letter is L. Many words come to mind when I look at L. For example LIGHT, which has veveral meanings, LOVE, which again can be applied to a variety of people, places, things, and situations, LISTENING which is a skill I fear many of us have lost, not just in the sense of hearing but of understanding, but the one that comes to mind most this morning is LIFE.
I’m fortunate to come from a family with longevity. My father was 91 when he died as a result of a fall and my mother was 96. She may not have been healthy in mind at the end, but she wasn’t unhappy in her imaginary world either. But who am I to judge? I live in an imaginary world now.
This morning, instead of ruminating on the current conditions all around us that affect our lives in so many different ways, I’m just going to share some of my favorite memes with you, some of the ones I shared with my granddaughter when she realized that the life she’d planned out for herself was no longer the life she wanted. There are no guaranees in life, nor is it without end. Hold on to those you love.
If you’re looking for the A to Z post, it’s the one before this one.
Good morning. I hope everything is working out for you. Spring is still hit or miss here, but winter has to retire sooner or later! This week, the author’s who share their work on Tuesday Tales are writing to the word prompt, SMUG. I looked up the word just for the fun of it–I’m weird that way. Smug is an adjective describing someone excessively self-satisfied, arrogant, or complacent about their achievements or abilities. It suggests an annoying level of pride, often accompanied by a condescending attitude. If that didn’t describe Viktor when Evie met him, I don’t know what would, but the truth and our sleuth have brought him down a peg or two. I’m continuing with The case of the Missing Prince.
“The man we’re searching for disappeared the day of the Bow Glacier Falls landslide. He may have gone off with a woman, a blonde, but we don’t know for certain,” I explained to Hank. Viktor had confirmed that Andreea was blonde, so Al’s discovery could be a major breakthrough. It was still unproven, but unproven didn’t mean wrong. “Now, shall we get going? I want to get settled and start making calls.” I touched Viktor’s shoulder to get his attention. “I thought we’d visit the convalescent home this afternoon to see Janek. Hallie informed them we’d be coming.”
Yesterday, I’d spoken to Emile, and he’d admitted that all of the injured men had been treated using their real names since the Zoboran government had paid their hospital bills and continued to do so for Janek. If anyone had questioned the aliases, it hadn’t been mentioned, but then, in times of stress, the truth was usually the first thing to came out. That made me wonder why they’d kept up the charade for the prince. Despite all of the information the men had shared, something was still missing. The government had flown Janek’s wife to Calgary when the prognosis had been grim and were covering her living costs. She would probably be happy to get home again. I traveled a lot in this business, but more than four months living out of a suitcase in hotel would finish me off.
Viktor no longer looked as smug as he’d had when we first met. He nodded.
“That makes sense. Petrov can speak with his wife, Zoya, and we can find out when he’ll finally be able to return home.”
Hank started the van and headed out onto the road.
Al reached for my hand on the seat. “What time will we go?”
“Around two. That’ll give us time to … unpack and stuff. Hank, if we want to be at the Buffalo Spring Convalescent Home for two o’clock, when will we need to be downstairs to meet you?”
“About half-past one. It’s on the outskirts of the city, but thirty minutes should be plenty of time to get there at that time of day.”
“You heard the gentleman,” I announced, showing that I was in charge.
It’s Monday! For many, it means back to work or school, possibly kicking and crying all the way, for others it’s just the start of another work week.
As a writer who usually works every day of the week, it’s another day to cross off the calendar and realize how close I’m getting to that end of month deadline. Of course, this Monday has extra significance for me since it’s exactly one week until my cataract surgery. Wow! So much to do and so little time to do it.
Today’s letter is K. I could talk about kings–Canadian’s have one, well actually we share one with the UK and the Commonwealth. King Charles III is our official head of state represented in country by a Governor General whom the Prime Minister selects. They have a five year term that can be extended. Enough about kings. I could’ve chosen to write about kisses, the people kind, not the chocolate ones although for those who like chocolate Hershey’s makes the best chocolate kisses.
As for people kisses, well, let’s be honest. Like good days and bad days, you can have good kissers and bed ones. Those early kisses in your teens could be so awkward. Remember braces? And then there were sloppy kissers who left half your face wet, not pleasant at the time, but when those sloppy, messy wet kisses came from grandbabies who kissed with their mouths open, they were quite pleasant.
As a romance writer, I have to use words to describe those perfect kisses, the ones that curl your toes and leave you wanting so much more. Converying the feel and texture, the taste and pressure of tongues sparing isn’t always easy. But, when it comesright down to it, nothing beats a great kiss.
What I’m going to focus on this morning is kindness. Kindness isn’t just a word or an ephemeral attitude. It’s tangible and can be seen in the way we treat everyone around us. The smile we share with a stranger doesn’t cost anything but can make a big difference in their lives.
Being kind isn’t hard. You’ve got a cartful of groceries and the person behind you has two items?Be kind and let them go ahead of you. The few minutes it takes for the cashier to ring up the sale isn’t really going to affect you, but it could help them.
In today’s world, we rarely take the time to consider what someone else’s life is like. People are amazingly good at keeping it all together, but many face all kinds of issues, and financial insecurity, homelessness, health concerns, and family issues are often behind that cold shoulder or snippy comment. We don’t know what kind of issues someone has, so we should always try to be kind.
Kindness doesn’t judge. It just offers that smile, kind gesture to make the day better for everyone. Here are a few famous quotes about Kindness:
“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” — Aesop
“In a world where you can be anything, be kind.” — Unknown
“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” — Mark Twain
“Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.” — Dalai Lama
“Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly, and most underrated agent of human change.” — Bob Kerrey
“A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees.” — Amelia Earhart
“How lovely to think that no one need wait a moment, we can start now, start slowly changing the world!” — Anne Frank
Well, it’s Easter again, or for the first time if you celebrate Orthodox Easter as many do. Our family is lucky in that we often celebrate both. My daughter was married to a Greek. Together, they had four children. While the marriage was a rocky one and didn’t last, the best thing he ever did was give her those wonderful children. He died a few years after they separated, but many of the Greek dishes he cooked remain family favorites–which is why when most people had ham and turkey last week, we had lamb, Greek salad with feta, and lemon, oven roasted potatoes.
So, to all who celebrate Easter today, may you have a wonderful day with friends and family.
The 2026 A to Z Challenge resumes tomorrow, but I thought I would post today anyway. I had many memes that I wasn’t able to use from A to J, but I decided I would share these with you today.
I had planned to talk about feeding your body as well as your soul, but forgot–a curse of advancing age. So here are some cool food pictures.
Living the Dream 