Grief is a Funny Thing, Parts 1 & 2

Grief is a Funny Thing, Part 1

It’s not about me. Somewhere in the mid-1990s, the contemporary Christian group DC Talk had a hit called In the Light. If you’ll allow me to paraphrase some of the lyrics from that song, I am the queen of excuses. I’ve got one for everything I do – or in this case, everything I don’t do. And I use them. A lot. Thus begins the litany of the “reasons” I haven’t been writing, REALLY writing, for over three years.

I keep trying to convince you (and perhaps myself) that it goes back to my mother’s death in the summer of 2015. But here’s the thing. It does, and it doesn’t.

Always Have a Book

So much for sleeping in, Saturday. It's always my goal to stay in bed a little later on Saturday mornings than I have to get up during the week to go to the day job. Sometimes I don't always achieve that goal. This morning, for instance. I woke up somewhere in the vicinity of 5:30 a.m. and could not for the life of me get my brain to shut off. I have quite the extensive to-do list today, and of course the minute I woke up I started thinking about everything I want/need to do and ... well, here we are. I decided to make good use of the time between the-sun-hasn't-come-up-yet and gotta-leave-for-the-office by putting to paper (er, screen) the things that have been on my mind - and the nightstand.

When Life Happens

Lemons, baseball, and other analogies. I learned to make lemonade a very long time ago, and it's really a good thing I did, because life has handed me a lot of lemons over the years. I've always been a glass-half-full kinda gal, anyway. Indomitable spirit and all that (thank You, LORD).

There have been times, however, when life has piled a rotten bunch of lemons on me so mountainous that it's been a little harder to claw my way back to the top. Hence my absence from the blogiverse these past 13 months.

I was about as close to the bottom of the ninth, three men on, two men out and full count as a person could get. No, I didn't hit a grand slam. By the grace of God, that last pitch came in "juuuust a bit outside" and I've been walking toward home ever since.

I know, the analogies are corny. It's kinda my thing.

New Year / New Goals

Seasons of change. Since my last post in 2015, there have been a few major changes in my personal life which, in turn, affected my writing life. In June that year, the WGH made a job/career change that forced us to take a step back and re-evaluate our household budget. We addressed the possibility of leaving what we thought was going to be our forever home. I accepted the idea that I might have to return to work full-time. On the heels of that upheaval, my mother was diagnosed with stage IV adenocarcinoma of the lung and passed away less than two weeks later.

As you can imagine - and I hope understand - I shut down. For quite some time.

Fortunately, by the grace of God, things worked out

Speaking of books ...

Self-Promotion Saturday. Today through Wednesday, my first two ebooks, No Evil Lost and Whisper of Darkness, are part of Amazon's Kindle Countdown Deals--today they are 99 cents each. Prices go up by $1.00 each day until Thursday, when they return to their regular $9.99 price. If I've done this correctly, clicking on the titles below the covers should take you to the site listings.

No Evil Lost

Whisper of Darkness

Bargains. I am all about sales. You must not, however, confuse this concept with being all about shopping. I despise shopping. Loathe it. Cannot think of words strong enough to describe how I feel about "shopping". Unless, of course, you turn me loose in either a) a bookstore; or b) Hobby Lobby. This is where I start giggling like a fiend and rub my hands together in glee.

So, shopping. When we're talking about shopping online, for books? Oh, yeah, baby. Now I'm good. Last Christmas I bought books for everyone on our gift list. Boy, was that fun. I just might have to do that again, as a matter of fact (spoiler alert for you family members out there). But I digress.

The Nightstand Revisited

I have recently discovered that through no fault of my own, I have somehow missed the entire first quarter of 2015. I guess that old expression "time flies when you're having fun" is true, although the past three months seem to have flown by in such a blur that I'm not sure whether I was having fun or not.

In glancing back over the last few posts my beleaguered brain has figured out that I neglected to recap the second half of my June Writing Challenge, thereby leaving unfulfilled the promise I made to expound on the benefits said challenge brought me. It has also figured out that there are definitely those times of the year when I function at a higher level than others.

JB's June Writing Challenge: X is for ... Xanax

There's a funny story behind the topic of tonight's post, but I'm not sure you'd get it if you don't work in health care. Suffice to say that after the week we had at the day job, all of us were seriously considering asking the nurse practitioners for a prescription.

JB's June Writing Challenge: W is for ... Weddings

I decided to go with the "wedding" suggestion (as opposed to the "waterslide") because as many of you may know, The Boy (our 23-year-old son) is getting married in October.

Weddings
The WGH and I have had to do very little in preparation for this wedding. The Boy and his fiancée have been planning and prepping since he proposed last May.

JB's June Writing Challenge: V is for ... Variety

Today has been nothing short of insane. But it has had one very bright spot, in that my request for "V" topic suggestions garnered the biggest response of all to date. I'm choosing to call this one variety because of the long list of varied topic suggestions, all of which I shall list and comment upon herewith.

Variety
Following is the list of topics, and my observations/comments:

JB's June Writing Challenge: S is for ... Sweetheart

Another Facebook friend suggested the topic for tonight ... which could very well have been a number of other things, like: storms (which knocked out our electricity for a good 3 hours while the CEMC crew repaired a pole on the main road by our subdivision); sabbatical (which I felt like taking because of the power outage); Saturday (which would have been way too easy); Sonic (where the WGH and I went for dinner because of the power outage); and Seuss (which is a very long story).

But the suggestion sparked something that I thought would be nice to share with you.

JB's June Writing Challenge: M is for ... Menagerie

Admittedly, I received some quality suggestions for "M" today--magnificent, mind games, murder mystery, mustache. I even considered migraine, because I've had one for three days now. But as a foot-square spot on our bed is currently being guarded carefully by our youngest pet, I decided menagerie would be the most appropriate subject for me to explore tonight. As in, since my bio includes the fact that the WGH and I share our home with a "small menagerie of cats and dogs", may I introduce you to ours? If you're not a pet person, you have my permission to stop reading. The rest of you will, I'm sure, understand a mummy's pride.

In order from oldest to youngest, our menagerie consists of:

JB's June Writing Challenge: L is for ... Laughter

"The most wasted of all days is one without laughter."
-e.e. cummings, US poet (1894 - 1962)

Laughter
Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard the phrase, "Laughter is the best medicine." This is another concept in which I believe with all my heart. Not only that, it's a scientific fact! Laughter produces endorphins, and endorphins make you feel better. A workplace without laughter is a dull, oppressive, gloomy place. We laugh a lot at the day job--and we're a doctor's office, so we're spreading healthy karma.

JB's June Writing Challenge: F is for ... Fun

Fun
Two of my illustrious coworkers at the day job decided that my topic today should be "fun". I'm not sure this isn't too broad a subject for a 200-300 word essay, but it's a concept with which I hope we are all acquainted. We seem to be keeping to a theme here in the Brooks on Books Library: distractions = entertainment = fun ...

JB's June Writing Challenge: D is for ... Distractions

I started this post in the car, on my smartphone, as the WGH and I sat at Sonic waiting for our milkshakes, after having procrastinated making a decision about what we wanted for dinner. It's been that kind of a day. Which gives me the perfect topic for the 'D' post: Distractions.

I've been distracted all day. The storms that blasted through the area last night woke us at midnight with the genuine fear that the nearly 300-year-old oak tree in our front yard had been struck by lightning. It hadn't, fortunately, but the strike itself, wherever it landed, was loud enough to rouse the dead.

SAD Like Me

Today I am sitting in my newly de-cluttered and reorganized study. I can actually see the tops of both desks (AND the carpet!). My laptop is in its proper place, center stage on the writing desk. I can actually walk from one wall to its opposite (a distance of about 12 feet) without tripping over something. The WGH actually complimented me on a bit of décor I've employed to hold some of the books that are overflowing from the two barrister bookcases (aren't they adorable?):

What inspired this sudden urge to get my little life back in order? Sunshine and a guilty conscience.

The Saturday Shelf

Nothing to do but ...
All week I've been looking forward to today, with this notion in my head of, "I have nothing to do but ..." well, as it turns out, lots of things. In this day and age of the hurry-up-get-it-done-yesterday, be-on-the-go-24/7, brainwashed mindset, I don't think I will live another day that I truly have nothing I have to do.*

My sometimes misguided, always optimistic brain finished the original thought above with "... work on the book." Reality finishes the thought with

To think or not to think ...

No need to think. There's a line in the film version of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix that's not in the book (given: one of many); after Professor Umbridge instructs the students that there will be no need to talk while they read their lesson, Hermione mutters under her breath, "No need to think's more like it."

No need to think. How great would it be if we could get away with that, if only for a few hours at a time? No need to think. No need to dwell on the pressures of our daily lives, the stressors, the worries -

For Book Lovers Only

It's an unusually sunny January Saturday here in the mid-state ... we've had so much drear the past few weeks that I actually forgot what sunshine looked like. Cold, still - it is January, after all - but a lovely day to lounge and read. Especially since the WGH did all the laundry yesterday and I don't have to do anything today but go grocery shopping. And that's a maybe.

According to Goodreads, I'm 2 books behind on my 2013 Reading Challenge, so I'm off to the recliner for some quality time with Jamie and Claire. I'll leave you with some reading material to peruse from some of my favorite literary peeps ...

(Cracked) Reflections on A Year in the Life

It's either apologies or homage I must pay to my good friend Robin, who writes a blog called Cracked Reflections on a(n) (ab)Normal Life. I'm stealing her theme here for just a moment ...

Year in Review. I write an annual "update letter" to send out with our Christmas cards. This year I started it with the following disclaimer:

Getting There

I have a couple of whiteboards in my study, on which I write various and sundry things meant to inspire me. It's not there any more, but I'd once written the following quote:

Success is a journey, not a destination.

I didn't have the attribution for it, but according to The Quotations Page where I looked today, Arthur Ashe said it.

The quote brings to mind the old saying, "Getting there is half the fun." Lately my journey hasn't been nearly as much fun as I'd hoped.