Hello everyone. I hope all is well with you. I’m back today with another Slice of Life Post. I was busy last week and unable to write a Slice so it’s been a couple of weeks since my last one.
I’d like to talk about an awesome time I had with friends this last weekend. My friend Winnifred (names have been changed to protect the innocent) is an artist. I love her work and we got to chatting on social media. I wanted to see her studio so she invited me out and then the whole thing snowballed into a painting party.
Yes. Me. Involved in a Painting party. The only painting I’ve ever done is bedrooms and living rooms. So, I was interested to see what I’d come up with.
Winnifred decided that we’d paint wine glasses. Let me tell you, it’s not as easy as it looks. She illustrated a few basic strokes for us, we were all newbies, and then let us run with it.
Below is a photo of my work. 🙂
I know. I know. I’ve got to practice more! LOL!
It was a fun day of some feminine bonding where we discussed the world’s problems and even how to solve a few of them. Who knows, maybe our little painting party will turn out some great ideas that will untangle this mess we’ve created in our country. 🙂
We plan on getting together once a month to paint and give it our best shot. I’ll keep you posted on our progress. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by and reading my Slice of Life Post. To read other Posts, click here.
Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’m back today with another Slice of Life Post. I fear this last weekend is going to be our last weekend of nice weather. It has turned windy and chilly here in Michigan and I’m anticipating cold weather in the days to come.
I’m glad we took advantage of our nice weather and got out onto the hiking trail. We went as a family and it was nice creating a memory with the kidlets. We went in the early evening before dinner. The sun rested, near the horizon, a fiery orange ball in the clear sky. We traveled along the path enjoying the peacefulness of the forest.
There was no humidity and very few bugs. A perfect time for a hike. We stepped along the sandy trail planning one of our trips for next summer. There were a few mountain bikers whizzing past, but for the most part we were undisturbed.
It was a nice way to end the weekend.
My boys gave me a hard time, though, claiming they didn’t want to go on the hike. They wanted to play their video games, but I insisted. We needed some family time, and they enjoyed our walk even though they’ll never admit it to me. How do I know?
They laughed and giggled as they climbed the trees along the path.
They also asked for a bedtime story that night. They haven’t asked for one of those in a long time, not since they were little. Sniff. Maybe they’re not in such a hurry to grow up after all. 🙂
It was a great weekend of memories and I look forward to making more. 🙂 How about you? Did you make any memories this weekend? Please share! I’d love to hear from you.
Thanks for stopping by and reading my post. If you’d like to check out other Slice of Life Posts click here.
Hello everyone. I hope all is well with you. I’m back today with another Slice of Life Post and I wanted to share with you my inspiration for writing. It’s the kids. Last week I had an Author visit at a local school. I presented to a fourth grade class, and they were so excited to learn about writing and what it takes to write a book.
I wasn’t there long before I was infected by their boundless enthusiasm. Their hands waved frantically as they squirmed, waiting for me to call on them.They had so many questions.
How many books had I written?
Which book was my first one?
Which one was my favorite?
Who was my favorite character?
On and on it went. I loved their enthusiasm. They were so sweet and they asked such good questions.
The kids are the reason I keep writing. I love hearing stories about how my books have turned a reluctant reader on to reading. It warms my heart and it’s incredible to be able to reach these kids in such a positive way. These kids also inspire me. Their enthusiasm and ability to believe that all things are possible is infectious.I needed a big dose of that last week.
Below is a pic with me and the kids. Look at those happy faces!
Me and all those awesome fourth graders!
Not only did I have an awesome day during my author visit, but the next day I received all of these Thank you cards (see the pic below). So, this one event had a positive effect on two whole days and that positive feeling extended throughout the week. It has become a wonderful memory for me. 🙂
Thanks for letting me share my author visit with all of you. This event was the highlight of my week and I enjoyed it immensely. If you’d like to read other Slice of Life Posts click here.
If you’d like to check out the books these smiling faces were so excited about, click here. (It was the Super Spies series we were talking about. 🙂 ).
What was your favorite day last week? What occurred that made you smile? Leave a comment! I’d love to hear from you!
Hello everyone. I hope all is well with you! I’m back with another Slice of Life Post, and today I’m talking about Paronychia. I’ve never heard of this condition until last week, but let me tell you it is not fun.
I’ve been trying to get back into shape this summer, so I’ve been running. I started out running three miles and then adding more each week. I was up to five miles when Paronychia struck.
This is not my toe, but my toe did look similar to this.
I had just completed an awesome five mile run. I had that runner’s high that you get when you’re done. I could have run another five miles that’s how good I felt. But I didn’t because I didn’t want to overdo it. This summer has been very hot and humid, and it’d be real easy for me to give myself heat stroke or something.
This is me after my five mile run, doing the Bolt move. I can’t quite pull it off like he was able to. 🙂
After my run, I came home and cleaned up. When I finally sat down, I noticed the nail on my big toe seemed bent at a weird angle. I got out the clippers and prepared to cut it.That’s when I noticed that it was a little swollen and tender. Something wasn’t right.
I continued clipping my nail and when I was done, I sat back and examined my toe. That’s when I noticed a clear liquid oozing out from under my nail. This threw me for a loop. I kept pressing on the nail until the clear liquid stopped flowing out. Then I went to bed. I figured a good night sleep would cure it.
It didn’t. I woke up with a swollen toe and more oozing. That’s when my hubby got involved. He took a look at it and claimed I had Paronychia, and my toe had to be amputated. When he left the bathroom to get the meat cleaver, I took the opportunity to jump in the shower.
He returned with the cleaver in hand, I told him I had to get to work so the amputation would have to wait until later that night. He bought that excuse, put the cleaver down, and went to work. I know he was getting the cleaver out of love…but maybe he didn’t need to love me so much… you know. 🙂
On a side note: I did ask my hubby if Misery was his favorite movie. He’s always saying he’s my Number One Fan. (Bites nails) But it isn’t, so we’re all good. 🙂 He is a Stephen King fan, though…. (chews nails and paces).
After my shower, I got dressed for work and quickly hid the meat cleaver. There was going to be no amputation because of a little toe infection, and that’s what it was. An infection of the cuticle around my toe.
I’ve never had this before, and my toe swelled up so I couldn’t wear shoes. I had to drain it each day.(I also soaked my toe in hydrogen peroxide) That clear fluid never turned to pus like the hubs said it would, though. This is important because he thinks he’s right about everything. And he usually is, which is an annoying idiosyncrasy. But hey, we’ve all got them, right. 🙂
It took about a week, but the swelling has finally gone down and the oozing has stopped. The nail looks a little bruised, but for the most part it’s fine.
Why am I sharing this with all of you? To let you know if your hubby says you have Paronychia and wants to perform an amputation. It is NOT necessary. You can save your toe. You just have to wait it out, or go to the doctor and get some antibiotics. This has been a PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT. 🙂
So, has your husband ever wanted to perform emergency surgery for you? Leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you!
Hello everyone. I hope all is well with you. I’m back with another Slice of Life Post, and today I’m sharing a poem about friendship. I went to a Memorial Service for a friend of mine over the weekend. Her husband passed away and she wanted to celebrate his life, and his celebration brought a good portion of our old gang back together.
It was great seeing everyone even though it was under such sad circumstances. We met when we were teenagers and here we are in our fifties. Boy time sure flies, doesn’t it?
Hello everyone! I hope all is well with you. I’m back today with another Slice of Life post. I have one more week before I have to go back to work, and I’m sad my summer is almost over. It went by way too fast.
I’ve been watching the Olympics. It’s amazing to see these young people achieving their dreams. It inspires me to believe that I can achieve mine if I work hard enough.:)
I’m encouraging my youngest to watch the events as well. I’m hoping they’ll inspire him, too. He’s quite agile. I can see great talent in him. He’s already doing front and back flips on the trampoline. He’s got that gymnast build, too.
He also has the drive. He sticks with something until he masters it. I remember when he was just a wee lad, how he’d get these transformers and work so hard at getting them to transform. Some of them were quite difficult. Tears of frustration would run down his face, but he wouldn’t give up.
I think it’s the same drive many of these athletes have. Who knows? Maybe I’ll be watching my little guy at the Olympics someday.
I have to be careful though. I have to make sure that I’m not pushing my dream for him onto my little guy. I want him to choose his own dream. I don’t want him to look back on his life and have any regrets.
Living without regret is an awesome thing, and I want that for both my boys. I think that old saying is true. “We only regret the things we didn’t do.” These are very wise words. How about you. Are you living without regret? Is there something you wanted to go for, but didn’t? Maybe the timing wasn’t right? Now might be the time to do it! Leave a comment! I love hearing from you!
Hello everyone. I hope all is well with you. I’m back today with another Slice of Life Post, and I’m talking about how Reading just might save our species.
What the heck are you talking about?
I know that’s what you all are thinking, but stay tuned and I’ll explain.
There are 7.4 billion people on our planet today. Keep in mind we only have one planet. According to experts, our planet’s capacity is 9 billion people. We’re living longer and still reproducing. We need to do something fast. The earth is getting crowded. So what can we do?
First of all, we need to teach our kids empathy for our fellow man. Why? Because our planet is getting crowded and we all have to learn to get along. How do we teach empathy? Get your kids hooked on reading. Reading for pleasure teaches children empathy. Without compassion we’re totally sunk as a species.
How do we get our kids hooked on books? By having access to a wide variety of them. There’s millions of books available to our kids, making these books easy to access is where we’re going to make strides in creating a better world for all of us, because reading for pleasure teaches empathy. I know I keep saying that, but it’s true. It’ been proven. I’ve written a whole article on it. Just click here to read it.
It’s important to remember that in order for our kids to become hooked on reading they must choose reading all on their own. Therefore, they must choose the books they read. So, we as parents have to accept and encourage whatever their choices are. Even if we don’t see the value in the stories they’re reading. So, if your child wants to read graphic novels so be it. It’s better than not reading at all.
So how do we as parents foster this love of reading? It’s easy. Start reading to them when they’re young. Model reading for them. That means, you as a parent must spend time reading for pleasure. We have to make time for it. I have my boys read twenty minutes a day. Most days, I read right along with them. Make reading a lifelong habit. It’s a great way to deal with stress.
I use it as a coping mechanism, when I have a bad day. I lose myself in a book for at least a half an hour. When I emerge from the story, my stress level is lower and I’m in a better frame of mind. (Another benefit of reading)
I have a great solution for road rage. Pull these people over and make them read for half an hour. Just think what that would do. It’d lower the rager’s stress level and teach them empathy at the same time. I like it. 🙂
So you see, Reading can solve a wide range of problems for our society, and I don’t think I’m far off the mark by saying it can go a long way to save our species. So, Read. Read as if your life depended on it! Yes. I’m being melodramatic, but at the same time I make a very good point. 😉
Thanks for reading my post. I appreciate it. What are your thoughts on reading, do you think it’ll save society? I’d love to hear what you think! Leave a comment!
This week i learned that two of my Twitter pals were being bullied on Twitter. (They don’t follow each other or know each other). It upset me. Why would anyone take the time to harass someone on social media? It doesn’t make sense.
One of my friends received personal attacks, taunting her. Telling her she was fat and she should kill herself. This blows my mind and makes me angry. This is all because she doesn’t support Trump. Is this what our political process has become?
If someone voices an opinion that you don’t agree with, then ignore them. Why do people feel the need to engage in such a hateful manner? What are they trying to accomplish?
The awesome thing about social media is that you can engage with people from around the world. It’s a great tool. It’s not to be used as a way to bully people. My friend happens to be strong and was able to handle this negative crap. But what if she were emotionally fragile at the time these tweets started coming her way? What if she really did try to kill herself?
My other friend has someone who’s spreading lies about her. Who has time for this? And what is their motive? This girl is an up and coming author, she isn’t a threat in any way. The only thing she can do is ignore these tweets and report this behavior to Twitter.
In our public school system we’re trying to teach anti-bullying tactics. How are our kids supposed to learn these behaviors if they see adults behaving this way?
Now more than ever we need to be kind to each other. This type of behavior is getting way out of hand. Let’s start a ripple effect in the direction of kindness. Let’s see if we can be the change we want to see in the world.
Hello everyone! I hope all is well with you. I’ve been busy with family events this last weekend. My cousin got married! Yea! It was a beautiful ceremony, filled with tears and laughter. Aren’t those the best kind? So today, for my Slice of Life Post, I thought I’d share a poem with you. Something fun and quick that makes me think of the writing process.. I didn’t write this poem and I’m not sure who did, but it does hit the nail on the head! 😉 Pun intended!
It keeps its head.
It doesn’t fly off the handle.
It keeps pounding away.
It finds the point,
then drives it home.
It looks at the other side, too,
and thus often clinches the matter.
It makes mistakes, but when it does,
it starts all over.
It is the only knocker in the world
That does any good.
Thanks for stopping by and reading my post.If you’d like to read other Slice of Life Posts, click here.
Hello everyone. I hope all is well with you. I’m back today with another Slice of Life Post. We have just returned from our vacation on Torch Lake. So as I’m writing this, I’m also doing a boat load of laundry. 🙂
Sunset on Torch Lake with the fam!
We stayed at the cottage most of the time because the days were hot and it’s so nice to walk out our back door and jump in the water. I love Michigan summers. The humid days and the hot steamy nights. I love lying awake and listening to the waves lap the shore. And the sunsets! Oh, the sunsets are the most amazing thing. The yolk of the sun winking at us as it slides past the horizon, turning the sky gold and fuchsia while sinking further below the skyline.
Sunset on Torch Lake (It was windy!)
Then there’s looking at the moon and sometimes you can see Mars if the sky is clear enough. Our earth is such an exceptional place and so many of us don’t appreciate it. We’re locked in our little lives, dealing with our day to day hassles and irritations that we forget to look at the sunset, or listen to the rain, or watch lightning streak across the sky.
We all need to stop and take a breath and look and LISTEN. Listen to the birds chirping in the trees, listen to the water breaking on the shore, listen to the night as we settle down for sleep. It brings such a sense of peace and we realize our problems don’t need to consume us. We can let go of them for a little while and just appreciate being here.
I love the wonder of nature and all its beauty don’t you? I hope I’m fostering a love of nature in my boys. I’m always pulling them outside to look at the moon and Mars. They see me taking pictures of the sunset. They look, but I don’t think they truly see. Well. Maybe they do. They just don’t see at the same time I do. 🙂
This is my youngest’s contribution to my sunset photos. 🙂 He’s a photobomber!
Thanks for stopping by and reading my post. If you’d like to read other Slice of Life Posts, click here..
