Category: Writing

Adventures in Blogging

Apologies if my website and blogging have seemed a little haphazard lately. I walked away from blogging earlier in the year. Chase, our diabetic kitty got sick.

I don’t regret working from home during the covid panic because I got to spend his last few months here with him. If I had been at work, I wouldn’t have had that time with him. We had a really big scare with him where his blood sugar was down to 38. I had to rush him to the emergency vet. The next week we’d go to our regular vet and hear the awful words “there’s a mass”. We heard that just over a year ago with Ginger, then this year it happened with Chase.

I was so distraught after we said goodbye to him that I had no desire to write or post. I was deeply saddened to see that fellow bloggers had also lost pets while I was away. I have to give you all kudos. I don’t know how you kept positing. I just couldn’t do it.

Four months passed, and when I finally felt like I could post something again, it was to discover that everything was now under the dreaded block editor. My first post was a disaster. I worked hard on it, and I thought I had selected classic editor only to find that my post was an empty one. NO text anywhere to be seen. I think I re-did that post two or three times.

Then I decided I wanted a fresh start. I cleaned up my header and decided to go with a new theme and a logo only. Several posts in, I found out the (useless) theme I had chosen had no option for reader’s comments.

Another re-think and re-design this morning, and I now think I’m where I want to be. I edited my header to use an actual image of my husband’s truck. I also wanted to add my bass guitar since that is also a big part of who I am now.

This post is primarily a test post. I’m hoping it doesn’t come out blank, and I’m hoping this new theme includes a comments button. Please? (fingers crossed).

It’s good to be back.

Solitary Preoccupations

I’ve been trying to keep busy as my work life invades my home space, and I spend most days indoors in self-isolation. In my spare time, I’ve been binge watching the Slow Mo Guys on YouTube. If you haven’t seen them before, I highly recommend their videos. Their slow motion clips are short, usually awe-inspiring, educational and funny.

In addition to watching TV, I’ve been writing. I’m also learning Swedish using Duolingo because I have the time. When I’m not doing all that, I play my bass.


I’m taking vocal lessons now (as part of my bass lesson) since we were supposed to be recording a Christmas music CD on April 26th. That has since been postponed, of course. Still I’m practicing both bass and singing.

Even with all of this added learning, activity, and practicing, it’s hard not to get stressed out and fed up. I’m actually taking a vacation (ha ha ha) day tomorrow. I need a break from staring at the tiny 6″ x 10″ Chromebook screen I’m using to remote in to work. When we make it through this nightmare, I hope none of us ever takes the blessing and routine of a normal life for granted.

Facebook And Why I Deleted My Account

I’m done with Facebook and here’s why:

  1. It’s run its course. I truly believe Facebook has become passé. It’s old and dated and a major waste of time. I used to spend hours every week scrolling through to see who posted what. Frankly, who cares what Sally had for lunch at an expensive restaurant?
  2. I never used it anymore. See reason number one. I hadn’t logged into it in months. I deleted the app from my phone to see if I’d miss it, and surprise, surprise, I didn’t even notice that it was gone. I found other things to do.
  3. The content was distressing. It had become far too political. If it wasn’t someone screaming insanely over bullshit governmental issues that don’t affect my day-to-day existence one iota, it was some jackass posting nightmare images of abused animals to get me to support their cause of the week. All my pets have been rescue pets. I’m sorry, but I can’t save them all. I don’t need that kind of crap to give me nightmares and keep me up at night.
  4. It makes people ugly. See reason number three. Fighting with family or friends on Facebook is such a childish thing to do. Fighting with or verbally attacking strangers online is somehow much worse to me. It brings out the ugly side of normally nice people.
  5. I wanted to get off of Facebook for privacy reasons. For the same reason I’ve deleted other online accounts (LinkedIn, Yahoo, Snapchat, Google+, Tumblr, CafeMom, About.me), I just don’t want my content out there everywhere anymore. Yahoo and now Facebook have major security issues, and I was sexually harassed on Snapchat (sorry former friend of mine, I don’t need your juvenile young son sending me images of his penis, and when I emailed you to politely tell you what he was doing, I didn’t even get an apology). While it was fun at first on Facebook connecting with old friends and making new ones, I feel much safer trying to limit who sees what.
  6. I remain semi-active for now on Twitter, Goodreads, Pinterest, Instagram and WordPress. And that’s enough for me.

 

Image courtesy of Pinterest

Thoughtful Thursday #1

Regrets. I have a few. There are, of course, more serious things that I’ve done wrong over the course of my life, things that I won’t share here. It’s enough that I know I did them. I tried to learn from them at the time and not ever repeat them.

Less serious regrets? Yes, I have a few.

I wish I’d stayed more active and physically fit.

I wish I’d spent more time on the floor playing with my boys when they were little. (I wish I’d held them and kissed them more, too.)

I wish I’d made more time for hubby when we were younger.

I wish I’d had fun more and worried less and worked less.

I wish I’d told people who are no longer here that I loved them more often.

I wish I’d gotten tattoos sooner.

I wish I’d kept the dolls that I had instead of leaving them in my mother’s house when I left home.

I wish I’d hung onto several of the cars I had and loved instead of trading them in so quickly.

I wish I’d had the courage to be who I am now twenty (or thirty) years ago.

Still, all in all, I am happy with what I have and who I am today. It’s not too late to do some of the things on my “list” (getting active, hugging and kissing my sons more, having fun, spending time with hubby, and getting more tattoos). I try not to dwell on the past and focus on living in the moment. Today is all I have. I can’t recapture the past, and worrying about the future is a waste of time.

I do believe that we are where we are meant to be. Things have worked out the way that they did for a reason, and I am happy with my place in the universe. It is mine, and I am content with it.