Category: blogging

Right Place, Right Time

Two round trips: between Phoenix and Orlando. Sometimes it is apparent you are in the right place at the right time.

We were scheduled to leave Phoenix, our departure time 5:55pm, however, to our dismay, the flight was delayed to an 8:15pm departure. This meant an arrival in Florida of 2:00am! We were not the only group of inconvenienced passengers. There were 22 who had a delayed flight from San Diego into Phoenix so they missed their connection. Consequently they were put on our flight.

One of the passengers from San Diego was Paul. He was a nice man, very interesting and as he told us of his travels around the world I found myself thinking of another very interesting man I met years ago while I worked at the Retail Center at the University of Arizona – John Peterman.

J. Peterman

Now some of you might remember this name if you watched Seinfeld years back. Not this man but an actor played the character. The real J. Peterman was fascinating, just like Paul. When we arrived in Orlando I gave him my card and hoped to hear from him since his farewell included a “come to SD and stay at my place at the beach” OK.

We had an outstanding visit with my son, his wife and our

Three generations

handsome, brilliant and fantastic youngest grandson.

Our flight back was Orlando to Chicago to Phoenix. The Orlando to Chicago-Midway flight was packed and there were at least a dozen kids – I didn’t know what to expect but to my surprise it was a calm flight. The Chicago to Phoenix trip included another fortuitous human connection – Max.

Max was 85 years old, with a gorgeous white goatee and a full head of white hair. He was right out of a movie – a very handsome man (wish I had gotten a photo.) He was traveling alone.

Max was having a bit of a cough, he seemed uncomfortable so I grabbed a cough drop I had in my bag and gave it to him, he was glad to take it and I assured him it was sugar free and he responded “That’s good for my diabetes,” and smiled at me. I went back to the movie I was watching on my phone. After a while I noticed he was clearing his through and coughing (differently than the first) so I asked him if he was okay. He said he just needed a drink. I had an empty plastic cup and we had a bottle of water so I filled it and handed it to him. Again a thankful smile and he took a drink. He told me the cough drop had cleared his head a bit.

He started to talk. About the lights in the darkness outside, his family, his house in Buckeye AZ, that he travels between Chicago and Phoenix by himself since his wife didn’t travel, and he always traveled Southwest Airlines. One more fill of water and by the time the flight was over he was relaxed and I felt like we were meant to sit with him.

Max, I hope you are doing well.

Cheers!

-N

My Boys

I’m sitting here at my desk looking at the screen of my phone which has a picture of my two grandsons. Sometimes I cannot believe how much I love theses two boys. They both were two  months old, the first time I met them and I can say my affection was instantaneous for both.

The circumstances of their appearance in our family is as follows.

Charlie is seven and was a foster to adopt situation for my daughter. In our family there is a culture of adoption. Truly when someone was adopted they were immediately merged into us. By the time Charlie was adopted he was so ingrained into the family there was no question he was one of us. My sister Mary said “He’s the Charlie that got the golden ticket!” I thought that was perfect. When we were in the California court for the adoption I was recording it for my son and daughter-in-law who were in Florida. You can hear me crying in the video. I was so overjoyed that Charlie now belonged to me 💖

Now Jackson was a different situation. My son and his wife had been trying for a while with no success, had even talked about adoption which was cool. During this process her OB found some issues which were corrected but still no success. The OB suggested trying IUI and it took! He came in late 2021. Now we have the gorgeous little man who has filled us with such love. It’s hard since he is in Florida but we plan to make trips every few months out there. Jackson has made my daughter an aunt and Charlie has his very own cousin.

So…here are my little men at 2 months old.

Jackson
Charlie

My boys.

Cheers,

-N

Spring Cleaning (I Live on a Dirt Road)

Yesterday I spent a sweaty day getting my house together after the short winter season in Southern Arizona. Cleaning behind, under, and in all the furniture. I wiped surfaces and straightened cluttered areas; sorting and putting things in their places.

I’m very lucky because my home is in Catalina AZ which is north of Tucson, and when we came out in 1991 it felt very rural. We bought an unimproved acre and I love to say that every tree, but two mesquites were planted by hubby. Also the roses, and honeysuckle were his work as well.

Thanks to my German ‘Shedder’ Millie contributing to the dustiness the dirt road deposits in my house, every surface gets a coating of fine dust. When the wind blows the doors are closed to help keep the dust down. Also her fur collects in corners and under the coffee table. One swipe through the house with the dust broom and it looks like I skinned a small animal.

Spring cleaning is all well and good, all that work is worth it, except in my case the dusting. One day later and I’ve noticed surfaces are already starting to get covered and I’ve picked up handfuls of fur.

Arrggh!

So the dust cloth is out, and even after spring cleaning I still have to dust every few days.

Cheers!

-N

Expanding My Skills

I thought I had a remote job writing copy for a health and wellness magazine. A very exciting direction, and a challenge I was looking forward to, especially the prospect of research and writing.

However, once the man doing the hiring understood my writing experience was with my blog and my fiction writing – well his enthusiasm for my skills waned considerably and he said they wanted someone with actual copywriting experience.

As someone who loves words, enjoys writing and research, I was confident I could gel with this project. Perhaps my age factored into it as does happen often.

Question: Any of you fine readers out there do copywriting? If so how to you get into it and any suggestions on understanding the process? I won’t stop my other writing outlets, but I would definitely like to try this avenue.

Cheers!

-N

That’s a bummer!

I have discovered, to my dismay, I have probably developed an allergy to incense. No! I love incense and I am pretty particular about what I burn.

I usually use incense in concert with candles creating a nice welcoming vibe. 🕯

Saturday after hubby left for work (he works night shift) I lit two candles and burned a stick my most favorite incense. I’d made a yummy fish dinner and you know how the fish smell  hangs out, so I figured some candle flames and the gentle incense would freshen the rooms. The ceiling fans were moving the air so I did the dishes and settled into the evening to watch the University of Arizona Wildcats beat yUCLA in basketball.

With in a couple of hours I noticed some congestion building, and I was starting to cough – things got worse.

By the time I got in bed I was having typical allergy symptoms: running nose, watery eyes, cough, sneezing, it was awful. I ruled out the candles since I had been using them nearly every day, but the incense was the difference.

So now what? My body got busy clearing it out by pumping my head with histamines, and my sinuses have been overflowing with the yucky mucous stuff. Oh man it’s a drag. No headache, fever or sore throat, thank goodness. Tonight is a Navage before bed and cough medicine with a decongestant.

Anyone need some incense?

Cheers!

-N

Just shut up

People who have no real knowledge of what the regular hardworking population deal with, vomit their opinions about what a paycheck to paycheck worker can do to improve their lifestyle and tell people how to have success.

Shut it!

If paying off a $200,000 mortgage doesn’t make a big dent in your bank account, then you have no business representing me.

$100 extra a month can influence what I spend on groceries and gas. I spend time every day looking, unsuccessfully, for work from home opportunities to supplement my Social Security check. If hubby and I want to make major home improvements, take a trip to Orlando to see my new grandson, get car/truck repairs done or a myriad of other pricy things we either don’t or we go into debt.

We are not unique.

There are multitudes who are in the same boat. My problem is with the individuals who “represent” us who have no idea what we truly deal with. It’s obvious. Also, as part of the aging population my value as a worker is disregarded by a younger work population. My skills, experience, knowledge and desire carry no weight.

So just shut up.

-N

Christmas Cheer

My hubby and I had to make a quick run to the Fry’s grocery in Oro Valley to get some tamale supplies, and as we were leaving we heard the bell ringer out front along with another sound, the sound of brass instruments warming up.

I told hubby to go ahead and take the bags to the car while I investigated.

Bell ringer

I took this pic of our bell ringer who, despite the mask, was joyful and full of cheer as she greeted me.

Across from her sat this group of fine gentlemen musicians warming up and preparing to bring cheer to the harried shoppers.

Musicians

They are a group called Dulce and this is what their name means:

Dulce

As hubby and I got into our vehicle we heard the cheery sound of four brass instruments filling the air with “Joy To the World.”

Cheers!

-N

Christmas Decorations and Cooking

I’m not decorating for the holidays as I have in the past. It’s not because I have lost my Christmas spirit, but because it will be just hubby and I here, and our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day will be spent at my daughter’s place in Phoenix. Our grandson is there and the celebrating will go on in her house.

My son and his wife are in Florida so they are also doing their own thing as they wait for the arrival of my second grandson.

“A Christmas Carol”

If we were going to host a gathering I would jump on the decorating bandwagon, but it’s just not worth it to me. I have a few special things I love that I will set up: my Byers Choice “A Christmas Carol” carolers. I asked hubby to put up a few lights around the front porch, and I put out my holiday dishware and serving ware.

The Family Tree

Since I wrote the previous, my husband found a few boxes of Christmas decorations that belonged to his parents. After their passing we went to Reno and cleared out a storage area of things of theirs. This Christmas tree and these decorations were part of it. We now have a precious little tree decorated with ornaments gathered over their 50+ year marriage.

An important part of the holidays of southern Arizona is the making of tamales. One thing to note about Mexican food is the food is distinct to the region. It is my personal opinion – but there is no better Mexican food than Sonoran. You may have a different opinion but you are wrong.

REAL food doesn’t have orange cheese, it is only white crumbled cows cheese that comes from Sonora, Mexico. It is always fresh, and the ingredients blend well, not disguised by cumin and chili powder! Also our Christmas tamales have a green pimento olive inside that represent the baby Jesus.

So, when you enter a grocery store anywhere in southern Arizona at Christmas you will find a display like this:

Cheers!

-N

 

Debt and a book update

I told my husband I was going to email Bill Gates and tell him if he wrote me a check for $150k it would get us out of debt. On our own it will be years before that happens and I figured Gates wouldn’t even notice the cash was gone.

Consider: $150,000 vs $136,500,000,000.

My biggest problem is finding a way to contact him directly. Any of you know his email or cell phone number for a text? I hear he is philanthropic.

I  have an update on my contemporary fiction “Anchor Bay”. I reached a stopping point, where my research and information, leaning heavily toward law enforcement details (I have a wonderful friend, a retired Lieutenant in the Tucson Police Department who provides information,) where things stalled. I needed that scene, the pivotal scene, the driver that would push the plot forward.

To my joy, I found it in my notes from months ago. A random interaction described as a possible scene, which worked perfect  in this place. A strong plot and character development scene. WOO HOO!!

Cheers!

-N