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Sharing fiction fearlessly – well almost fearlessly!
Finally, 2020 is coming to a close. Just a few more days left. Vaccines are in the offing, so there is a reasonable chance that 2021 will be better. I’m counting on it. Way back in March, when the world went crazy, I sadly – and a bit angrily – slammed the lid back on the box of my sabbatical writing plans and turn my attention back to corporate writing and communications. That worked for a while, as we were insanely busy through until at least September. But recently, the seal of that box seems to be failing. Ideas keep…
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Masks and (peri)menopause don’t mix
We’re getting closer to putting 2020 behind us. Good riddance to bad rubbish, as my mother might say. Life everyone else, I’m sick and tired of COVID-19. It has ruined plans, taken people from us, delayed travel, interrupted educations and disrupted the economy. Depending on where we live, it may have locked us in our houses, and wherever we live, it’s made us hoard toilet paper, hand sanitizer and wipes. We started baking bread, leaving flour and yeast I even heard that popcorn was in short supply as we hunkered down to see if we could watch all of Netflix. Really early on, before we… Read more…
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Twitchy eyes
My eye started twitching a little over a week ago. It’s not like it hasn’t happened before. In times of stress, it’s not unusual for one or the other of my eyes to flutter. It’s annoying, but I understand why it’s happening. I know what the stressor is and I know when things settle, it will go away. This time is a bit different. I have no idea why this annoying spasm is happening. There’s no one particular thing that has put me over the edge. And yet my eye is twitching. I listened with disappointment on Friday when the Premier of… Read more…
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Virtually giving thanks
It’s been a strange Thanksgiving weekend. There was no family gathering, no turkey, no stuffing and no cranberry sauce. Without the festivities to keep me occupied, I put the garden to bed and covered the patio furniture. These are things that remind me we’re about to be shut in our houses, with cold weather coming. It usually reminds me of gatherings in front of fire places, red wine shared and the promise of Christmas coming faster than I want to admit. But this year, there’s a depressing painting spreading out in front of me. The global coronavirus, and our inability… Read more…
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A plan without a plan
A few days ago, a friend of mine posted a quote on FaceBook from Mandy Hale that struck me. “You don’t always need a plan,” the blogger turned author wrote. Sometimes you need to just breathe, trust, and see what happens.” It seems particularly appropriate this week, as I’ve got “Sabbatical 2.0” as I’m calling it, papered over at work. While it clearly wasn’t meant to happen in 2020, 2021 is my year – one way or another. At this time last year, I was almost vibrating with excitement. I had my plane ticket booked and my flat booked. I’d told old… Read more…
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Back to work(place)
I felt quite unbalanced last weekend. I was back home from a short getaway on the lake, and while the weather hadn’t cooperated, I did catch up on much lost sleep and made my way through several books. Just what the doctor ordered after six months of an insane pace at work, thanks to COVID-19. So it puzzled me that I was feeling “off”. My stomach was queasy and my head heart. It wasn’t until I started to get ready for bed, having readied a lunch for the next day and laid out my work clothes that it dawned on… Read more…
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Melting
I’m melting. Full-on puddle of sweat on the living room floor. We’ve been in the middle of a heatwave. I thought I had it all planned. My air conditioner had never worked well since buying this house a few years ago. And original furnaces often grind to a halt in houses of this age. So, in an organized and responsible fashion, as soon as I figured these people were working, I had quotes on replacing them both. I chose a contractor and I scheduled replacement. Piece of cake! I’m not one to turn on the A/C early or often. I’d rather… Read more…
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COVID Blessings
There have been so many grumblings about what COVID-19 has brought us – mine included – that I thought it was time to reflect on some of the good. Here are ten of the better things that I’ve enjoyed during this pandemic. The spring migration. I’ve so enjoyed watching the birds return, grow into their summer plumage and build nests, with the melodious accompaniment of their song. The daily changes in my garden – and the fact that it’s finally just about warm enough to see if I can do my work meetings from the back patio (shh, don’t tell… Read more…
