Lessons Learned

To all those on the East Coast affected (however slightly) by Hurricane Irene, our thoughts and prayers are with you...

Six years ago today, I was sitting in a home in Picayune, Mississippi with my boss and her husband, watching Katrina in all her glory uproot pine trees that were over a hundred years old as if they were saplings.  We lost power and were unable to clear roads for several days--but we lived through the destruction.  I'm alive today in great part because folks who did not know me well insisted I evacuate with them rather than stay alone in my New Orleans apartment.  Many in New Orleans Parish and other areas of the Gulf Coast were not so Blessed.

It was interesting to me as I watched the various government agencies react to this weekend's weather.  As Catherine Aird once said, "If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to serve as a horrible warning."  We all saw (especially in hindsight) many mistakes before, during and after Katrina six years ago this very weekend.  Some things worked back then (the good examples) and other simply became horrible warnings...

I was pleasantly surprised to see FEMA and local and state officials show they learned lessons from Katrina:

1. Mandatory (and early) evacuations of low-lying areas prior to the closing of mass transit
2. Early deployment of National Guard and other emergency personnel to ensure as rapid a response to emergency that weather would allow
3. Shelters set up in advance with supplies available to house evacuees
4. Coordination of every level of government to allow each level to handle its own responsibility with the knowledge that the next level up is already prepared to step in and take over if necessary

The hindsight pundits that today are saying this weekend was "much ado about nothing" are entitled to their opinion.  Frankly, though, I would rather see a coordinated, timely, forewarned response than the devastation in lives and property that occurs when we simply sit back and hope for the best and then scramble to react after the fact.

To those of you experiencing the horrific flooding, stay strong.  It may not look like you will recover now, but recovery is possible.  Things can be replaced.  The quotation on my desk calendar today is from Buddha and seems most appropriate:

"Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful."

I've Extended my Camping Trip

July's version of Camp NaNo kinda sucked...it started well, but the Texas heat plus my day job doing data entry made it very difficult for my right wrist/elbow/shoulder to allow extensive additional typing.  A series of surgeries over a decade ago left weaknesses in my right arm and while it usually causes me more trouble in extreme cold, this summer's extreme heat (today was--I believe--the 30th day in a row of 100 degree days; the second longest streak of consecutive days Dallas has seen) has totally worn out my arm.  (Extra weather trivia--the longest streak was in 1980; I was pregnant that summer with my youngest son, and pregnancy in this type of heat was no walk in the park either LOL.)

Okay--so little writing got done.  Not to be defeated permanently, I have changed tactics.  I'm allowing technology to help me for the August camp session.  I've loaded Dragon Naturally Speaking 11.5 onto both my personal computers, so I will be dictating "Louisiana Lightning" and hopefully be much more successful in "writing" 50K in 31 days.

I will confess that I did read a bit in July, and this past Thursday made time to see Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, Part 2.  I'll be adding the books I read to my challenge lists, and perhaps write reviews later.  The movie will receive its own review here soon.  Suffice it to say--I loved it!!  Thank heavens they split the last book...

July also started the new Stampin' Up! year and the new Idea Book & Catalog is the best I've ever seen!  Our Summer Mini catalog will end August 31, and the Holiday Mini will begin September 1 (I'll be able to post links then).  So, I'd love to be stamping and having fun--I miss my card challenges tremendously--and if the dictation works like I believe it will, my arm may allow some creating soon (I hope).

Stay as cool as you can, and I appreciate all my followers being so patient with me as I try to work thru health issues and get back to sharing online on a more regular basis.

Alan Bradley--the Flavia de Luce Series

Mystery Fanfare's current contest is to win a copy of Alan Bradley's third Flavia book, "A Red Herring Without Mustard".  Flavia de Luce is an eleven year old girl in 1950 London, and Mr. Bradley won the Macavity Award for the best first novel at the 2010 Boucheron with "Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie."

I'm a big fan of Mr. Bradley as he was 70 when "Sweetness" was published which makes me hopeful for publication, since I'm only 55 LOL!  One of my best friends read "Sweetness" last year and has passed it to me saying that it is a "must-read", so I'm moving it up the TBR mountain (she also claims it is a quick read--we'll see...my reading time is so limited with this snow.  You would think snow would mean snuggling in front of a roaring fire with a good book, right?  Not if you work from home---grrrr--but I digress LOL)

Now, I need you to vote--do books set in 1950 count as historicals?  After all, that was over fifty years ago...heck it was even before I was born ;-) 

What do you think?  Historical or not?  Whichever you believe, pop over to Mystery Fanfare and enter the contest...

Not MIA yet...But Close (AKA Why I May NOT be Posting Much This Week)

We have snow and ice--it's 19 degrees right now, with a wind chill factor making it 9 degrees.  I've teased with a few folks this week that we are doing this on purpose here in North Texas so the Packers fans and Steelers fans will feel more at home next weekend for the big game; after all, it was sunny and 76 degrees here Sunday LOL.

As usual, weather like this keeps people from coming to work.  That's probably a good thing in some cases, since many folks here don't really understand the concept of "drive slowly and carefully in ice" and many more don't believe in "do NOT tailgate the driver in front of you". 

So, our already shorthanded office is limping along without our two closers until the weather clears.  When I finish this post, I will be going back to work (i.e., walking into the back room and logging back in) and will work by myself the last few hours we are open.  No craft projects made today and no reading done towards my challenges and no research done for my novel.  Oh, well.  Things could be much worse--I have said this before, LOL--I have a job I enjoy and the world's shortest commute (approximately 20 steps, depending on whether I'm leaving my kitchen, my living room, or my bedroom).

But, if I don't post for a day or two, I've not fallen off the face of the earth--I'm just doin' the day job that pays for the fun stuff LOL.  I'll be back as soon as I can--and until then, y'all stay warm, dry, and safe, won't you?

A Ray of Sunshine ends a Cloudy Week

This has not been one of my best weeks of 2010.  I am trying quite hard to get well after being exposed to several sick people last weekend (one had strep throat) and so have muddled through in spite of the aches, upset stomach and sinus headaches.  No cards made; minimal writing done on TGAN; bare bones cleaning and cooking; no laundry...the best part (until now) of my week has been that I continued my perfect attendance streak at work by not calling in even though my body said "stay in bed".  The weather hasn't helped as it has been dreary, cold and wet much of the week.

Then, I open up my blog to post a review of Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol and what do I find?

I got this really cool award from my friend Beverly over at GottHeartArt!  I feel a bit like I won the lottery!  She and I met shortly after Hurricane Katrina sent me back home to D/FW from New Orleans.  The stamping group we met through is now defunct, but we clicked from almost the first day we met--and I feel Blessed to call her a friend.  Thanks for my first blog award, Beverly!

If I understand how this works (and if I get it wrong, blame the headache LOL), I am to list ten of my favorite things and then pass the award to five people who inspire me...

1)    Chocolate--tied for #1 with coffee (there's a reason my avatar has a coffee cup LOL)

2)    Reading--my TBR mountain has over 500 very eclectic titles

3)    Writing--even if it sometimes slogs along at a snail's pace, I can no longer imagine life without writing

4)    Cardmaking and stamping--and crafting in general, especially eco-crafting

5)    Mexican food--I love food in general, but Tex-Mex has my heart ;-)

6)    Research--sounds crazy, but I must have been a librarian in at least one former life

7)    "Green" living--not as green as I want to be, but hope springs eternal; it is a passion

8)    The History Channel/History International--that's what reality TV means to me

9)    Star Wars--tied with Lord of the Rings; I have probably 75% of the movies' dialogue memorized

10)  Vintage 40's (before me, but not by much LOL) and 50's decor (see #7 above); ADORE thrift stores

And now to my Awardees (in alphabetical order)...these ladies' blogs are awesomely inspiring to me as a writer, as a reader, as a crafter, as a "greenie"--I wish I could award more ;-)

• Christi
• Julia
• Michele
• Susan
• Taylor

Writing Prompt Wednesdays

Michelle over at Southern City Mysteries has started this great Wednesday Writing Prompt.  Her prompt for today is "How the tides came crashing..." and here is what came to mind from that:

The ground was still soggy as Epps tried to gather fallen limbs.  The fast tide in this small creek made it obvious even to his young eyes they'd lived through no ordinary storm.  "Well," he thought,  "Mom and that Charles fella are saying we've gone back in time.  That sure means we were lucky not to have drowned.  How they expect to make a fire out of this wet stuff I don't know, but I better not go any further upstream.  If this really is around Bayou St. John, I could walk into swamp and be a goner for sure."

Well, it's a rough idea of one of my character's thoughts at the moment.  I promise it will read better in the finished novel ;-)

Merry White Christmas!

It's snowing here in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, and in some sections of the Metroplex, it is actually sticking!  I'm as giddy as a schoolgirl--I love snow!  And there is nothing more fun than watching "White Christmas" on Christmas Eve with it snowing outside LOL!

Of course, I've rescheduled my Christmas plans with friends due to the weather; I may love snow but it puts a crimp in traveling, even with public transportation.  No youngsters are involved with our plans, so we can see "Sherlock Holmes" on Sunday after the weather clears.  I also can watch a "Star Wars" marathon on Spike TV if I tire of AMC and "White Christmas".  I have food in the house and am off work tonight and tomorrow.  What else could someone ask for at Christmas?  (Well, I could ask for a lot actually--like world peace and increased participation in green living and better treatment for the mentally ill among us and increased literacy in Appalachia and other depressed areas of our country and the world, and--well, I am sure you get the drift LOL).

The gist of it all I guess wraps around the fact that I can ask for nothing more for Christmas than I already have--good friends, a home, food, my health, a job--and the ability to make healthy decisions in my life today.  Some folks don't have those things.  I am truly Blessed.

So again, to all you reading this--Have a Merry Christmas and may you be surrounded this holiday season by all you hold dear...

Timely Tidbits and To-Do's

It's raining cats and dogs...I asked for this day off several months ago in the hopes that it would be not only a mental health day, but also a day to run the errands necessary to prepare for the upcoming NaNoWriMo month of November (badges and links to appear on my sidebar soon, as well as a complete post).

So, with the rain, and not having gotten my flu shot yet, I am choosing to stay home and do the indoor putzing around to get ready--let's see what's on the list:

1)  I need to sign a new lease, so I've let the office know I'll come up there if it ever slows up to a sprinkle (thank heavens the rent will not increase through December 2010).

2)  Labeling files and notebooks and sorting papers--recycling (AKA dumping) what I can and paying the "mini bills" that I sometimes procrastinate on--the magazine renewals for instance.  I also need to close out an auto-ship on classical music and reset my auto-ship coffee order (BTW, Boca Java is super stuff!).

3)  Making sure all of my writing aids and research materials are sorted in a fashion that allows me to "pre-plan" as much of the 50,000 word plot as I can...

4)  Realizing the my Stampin' Up! inks are not the ones closest at hand, I have decided to move some things around...I'm not willing to Freecycle (or even E-bay) all the crafting supplies I accumulated prior to selling SU! and will use them for Operation Write Home or other organizations as I make cards for donation, but if I want to build my SU! business, I need to post my crafted items here and they need to be SU! exclusive, so...those items that are not SU! will be moved to the less-accessible places in my studio...

5)  Playtime for a bit (after all, this IS supposed to be a vacation day LOL); I made an autumn card last night and may make a few bookmarks today if time permits...I am also vegging out with the laptop in front of Clean House while writing this post.

6)  My dining room doesn't work for me..I don't have company and I never have enough room for books and research; I also hate my table and chairs LOL!  I took pictures and will Freecycle the glass and metal set and have found a desk that can also serve (with the help of a tablecloth) as a dining table if I ever should need one..it'll be ordered from Target as soon as I can afford it or when I get my next perfect attendance award at work (whichever comes first).

7)  Finally, my blog header is driving me crazy!  I love the picture (it is my back porch view and it is gorgeous), but I cannot find a font color that is readable over the photo.  I'll be looking through all my clip art and image software programs and will find something that matches my vision...since the back porch photo will be leaving, here it is again  (I do love this view even if it is rain-soaked today LOL)...

Weather Weary and A Case of the "Shoulds"

It has begun--summer in Texas. Freak thunderstorms this week followed by muggy and warm (I don't dare use the term "hot" yet; we have not hit 100 degrees).

Rubenesque women like me usually don't handle heat well, especially in the "change" years. I also don't like electric bills over $100, so setting the air conditioning below 80-82 is not an option. Fans help. So does the fact that by working from home, I can work in shorts and t-shirts. I seldom use the oven--summer brings lots of salads and meals cooked in the microwave. Grilling is out (our apartment complex does not allow a grill on your patio).

Lethargy sets in when it is hot. I now have hours of daylight when I get off work, which "should" help me accomplish many things in the evening. Of course, late afternoon is the hottest part of the day. These are days to write or research or craft, not days to take my too-fair, easily sunburned skin out into the heat--yet I feel I "should" be doing so much more.

I "should" walk to the library to return my books, but I pull up the website and renew them (again). I "should" walk across the street to buy the big bag of clear-tasting ice, but I pull out the old ice trays and fill them with tap water. I "should" take the books I need to mail for Paperback Swap up to the apartment office so they can go out today, but I print the postage for tomorrow's date because I can get a ride to the post office.

It is just June (and not even the Solstice for heaven's sake) so I cannot allow the summer heat to annihilate my plans. One day at a time and one step at a time, I will accomplish many small feats these next 3 months.

Let's see--what's on the To-Do list that can be done on the laptop in front of the fan?????