Category: Random Musings

Posted on

This is 28 Years

My current view

This year for our 28th Wedding Anniversary, we did something different. We went to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and stayed at the Westgate Smokey Mountain Resort.

And while the views are beautiful, we both learned that we prefer the roar of ocean waters instead of navigating mountain roads.

Here are eight things I learned after being married for twenty-eight years (cause no one has time for a list of twenty-eight things):

  1. It’s possible to love someone in several ways
  2. You will discover new things you didn’t know about your spouse
  3. Laughing with your spouse is the best medicine
  4. Be willing to compromise
  5. It’s okay to go to bed angry. Sometimes you need a moment to cool off
  6. Your spouse should be your biggest cheerleader, but they don’t have to cheer for everything you do
  7. Working toward a common goal makes the journey easier
  8. Falling in love may happen by chance, but staying in love is a choice

Let’s hear from you. What are some things you’ve learned about marriage?

Posted on

So Snow, Happened!

Already starting to melt.

Here in the South, we don’t get much snow. In fact, it rarely snows here in winter. That’s why Friday night it was exciting to witness flakes fall from the sky.

Sure, it was gone by mid-day on Saturday but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

It was a perfect day to nestle in on the couch with a blanket and a good book. What’s your favorite activity to do on a snow day?

Winter wonderland in the backyard
Posted on

What I’m Reading This Week – Freefall by Jessica Barry

Want to know what I’m reading? Let me tell you about it.

Freefall synopsis:

They say your daughter is dead.

You know they’re wrong.

When her fiancé’s private plane crashes in the Colorado Rockies, everyone assumes Allison Carpenter is dead.

But Maggie, Allison’s mother back home in Owl Creek, Maine, refuses to believe them. Maggie knows her daughter – or she used to, anyway. For the past two years, the two women have been estranged, and while Maggie doesn’t know anything about Ally’s life now – not even why she was on a private plane to begin with – she still believes in her girl’s strength, and in their love for each other.

As Allison struggles across the treacherous mountain wilderness, Maggie embarks on a desperate search for answers about the world Allison has been involved in. What was she running from? And can Maggie uncover the truth in time to save her?

Told from the perspectives of a mother and daughter separated by distance but united by an unbreakable bond, Freefall is a heart-stopping, propulsive thriller about two tenacious women overcoming unimaginable obstacles to protect themselves and the ones they love.

I was drawn into this story from the beginning. The cat and mouse thriller is my favorite type of book to read. Told in alternating viewpoints between mother and daughter makes both characters authentic and fully formed. This was a page turner that read like a movie.

Rated: 5 stars

Posted on

This Takes Me Back

During the drive home yesterday, a song came across my Spotify that took me all the way back to Heyward Gibbes Middle School. The year was 1982. My biggest worries were homework, getting out of dressing out for gym class and the school dance.

The school dance was a major source of stress. Would the boy I like ask me to dance? What would my friends and I wear? Would my mother even allow me to go?

Can’t really recall the details of the dance but I remember this song. Cutie Pie by One Way. Listening to this song transported me back to that dusty gym with the raggedy basketball nets. And the secret area behind the gym where you went to kiss the boy you were crushing on for weeks.

Do you have any songs that take you back? Let me know in the comments.

Posted on

The Obligatory What I’m Thankful For Post – 2019

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

There are certain things that can be expected this time of year.  Football,  turkey dinners, family get-togethers, Black Friday sales followed by Cyber Monday sales. And a bombardment of “thankful” lists.  

These lists are from various people bragging about how great their lives are and we should all applaud them for recognizing it.  I have resisted the urge to add to this phenomenon but I couldn’t think of anything else to blog about so here goes.

Things I am “thankful” for (in no particular order):

  • My family (Okay, if you don’t put that first people will talk about you.)
  • To be gainfully employed (I need money to pay bills, buy scratch-off lotto tickets so I can stop working, buy food and books.  Lots of books. So many books.)
  • Google (What did we do before it was so easy to look up random facts like “How much money does an NFL practice squad player make?”  Seriously, as a writer I love Google.  It saves time on research.  I mean, what did people do before when they wanted to know something?  Actually talk to people?  The horror.)
  • Friends that get me and love me unconditionally. (Thank you for the material.  Oh, you didn’t realize that I’ve based a character in my book from your adventures?  Pay no attention to this list.)
  • Therapy. I found an excellent therapist this year. What? You think I don’t have to work on being this normal.
  • That my Lakers are finally a good team again. I was still rooting for them but it was hard to watch.
  • Music – I love music. The ’80s and ’90s were the golden eras. Fight me!
  • How to Get Away With Murder.  I can’t wait for the final six episodes! Although making us wait until April is cruel. And unnecessary.
  • And the big one, health.  (You can’t put a price on good health.)

These things can go on and on but I’ll stop there.

This Thanksgiving season, what are you thankful for?

Posted on

Stay Afraid, but Do It Anyway

One of my favorites quotes goes like this:

Stay afraid, but do it anyway. What’s important is the action. Just do it and the confidence will follow. – Carrie Fisher

Photo by Sammie Vasquez on Unsplash

Every day I’m working on being this version of myself. A person unafraid to think and do things outside of my comfort zone. I hold on to the above quote when I feel self-doubt or that churning in my stomach. It’s okay to be afraid, just do it anyway.

And every time I’ve done this, I’ve come out unscathed on the other side.

#livemorefearless