A Good Enough Life

My family on  a hike  near Mt. Vernon, Iowa. Circa 2015  Hi Winter, I see you. Heck, how can I not. I've done my best, but it's time to admit something really, really scary. You're bigger than me, you're meaner than me, though on a day like today when the added gob-smacking of sleep deprivation (Auntie Menny- as in Menapause missed the memo that she could skip her visit this week) and well, time to face facts.   I just cannot deal. You see I used to  be able to tough it out. The photo depicts me doing just that. On an impossibly cold day here I am behind 4  out of 5 of my family members, plus Chuckles our dog. Missing  that day was our oldest son. It was the kind of cold that cuts to the  bone, most days here in January, February do just that.  I agreed to  go for this "hike" with our family during Christmas break, my mom guilt hovering steady in the "make sure there are good memories" pressuring myself. Our oldest and only...

Good morning and Happy Divine Mercy Sunday.  Today is April 16, 2023 and I am sitting at my desk in our still-new-to-us home in the quaint town of Robins, Iowa.  It's gonna be crap weather today, thank you fake Midwest spring. We had a week of teasing, "see this is how to be normal" spring weather, with a summer heat wave inserted. I broke out shorts, flip flops. We even started running the a/c.  And today, the high will be 38. Good grief Iowa, just when I think I can "accept" you, you turn on me.   Yesterday  was an entirely different deal. Sunny, warm, and also "Opening Day" for the lawn mower. That's like, a seriously big deal when you live in the Midwest. You get to put the snow blower in the most rear-location in the garage, and say "buh bye," for the season.  Then you hope the the lawn mower start, which is not an easy thing after sitting idle for a long winter.  My dear husband succeeded, however, in getting it started and he disap...

What else should we "redefine" for the sake of equality?   The marriage debate continues on in the United States, we will hear this June how the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the matter, possibly overriding the state of California's passage of Prop. 8, which defines marriage as one man and one woman. Infertility is also in the baby steps of being re-defined. California is introducing legislation, AB 460, that would mandate insurance coverage for same-sex couples who wish to undergo fertility treatments to conceive a child of their own. Check out http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/04/08/CA-legislation-insurance-gay-infertility . Birth certificates , specifically the terms "mother" and "father" are also being redefined.  I first heard about this going on in France, my husband's native country, and figured "that can't happen here". I was wrong. Iowa is looking at doing the same.   http://thegazette.com/2013/05/03/iow...

Good Morning Writers! If you're like me you fall into a rut sometimes with writing - I have had that same problem for the past couple of days, for some reason the "thrill" is gone and writing feels just like a chore. It has not stopped me from being productive. For example, today on Demandstudios.com, a website where approved writers can select assignments and write for pay, I took on "fentanyl citrate" and did just a 30 word blurb. This was helpful because it was a small, doable assignment and allowed me to feel like I was accomplishing something. Fentanyl citrate btw is an anesthetic used on for pain management in cancer patients, and also as a general anesthesia in operating rooms, or at least I think that's right. In any case - I posted the finished piece and am waiting for approval. Then I went on to "where is Godiva chocolate manufactured?" Food? Yes ! So I then went on to do the research - never as easy or as straight forward, Google or no ...

Today the mojo had drained. I didn't want to kill myself researching and writing an article "SCUBA resorts in the Florida Keys", and man the editor sent it back to me with more red ink than imaginable. He/she could have just rejected it - I got lucky that way, as these are spec jobs and if it's no good then you've just worked for nothing. I guess I got greedy wanting to stick with my goal of writing two pieces a day, so I skated through it hoping they wouldn't notice the flaws. I was wrong. Then again, my friend Mary today said that I had been worried too much about perfectionism. She's right. Tonight I made my beloved pork roast again with apricot glaze and cranberry shallot sauce. Devine with mashed potatoes now made hands free in the new electric mixer my father the great chef du jour gave me for Christmas . I'm now on the prowl for the right appetizer to feed a group at church this Friday night. Don't want to over do it, but it is tempting......

Well today was a day of learned lessons. Writers are typically writing lessons, and today I had to learn about perseverance. My computer was dragging all morning, then I lost a document as it was almost ready to send to the editor. I spent over an hour redoing it, but it was accepted and to date, I am doing pretty good with demandstudios.com in submissions vs. rejections. I have found my articles archived after they get posted on the various websites. One I've been writing for a lot is www.ehow.com so check out my list at http://www.ehow.com/members/ds_bda9bd95-f50a-4b75-88e0-65116a3b4201.html It's like a mother showing off her children. Speaking of - off to pick up mine. It's not even zero outside. Brrrr. Today I wrote "Motels in Quesada, Costa Rica" and "Motels in Sunbury, PA". Still want to hear back about that more permanent travel writing position. That would be amazing...... Writers- the more you get discouraged, the more you have to write, write,...