My Thankful List

Today is Thanksgiving, so I want to focus on those things that I am grateful and thankful for. Here are my top ten:

1. I am very thankful for having a supportive husband. Since my diagnosis of fibro, and other chronic illnesses, he has been 100% supportive and caring to me.

2. I am very thankful for the love from my family. I know many people who have fibro, or a chronic illness, receive negativity from their family. I am very grateful I have not experienced that.

3. I am very thankful for the love of my three furbabies. I don't have human children, but my cats melt my heart. I am very grateful to have them in my life.

4. I am very thankful for having wonderful and supportive doctors. Everyone, regardless of a health issue, should have compassionate doctors.

5. I am very thankful for my online support community, specifically on twitter. Since I no longer work, it's become a savior for social outreach.

6. I am very thankful for having a nice apartment with some great amenities. Even before I stopped working, I was a homebody. I much prefer to stay at home and watch a movie or TV shows, than to go to a bar.

7. I am very thankful for living in a city where there are lots of food options, specifically because being a vegan can be challenging. I live within minutes of grocery stores, including Whole Foods.

8. I am very thankful for my hobbies that keep my mind active, including cooking, being the "tv lady", and reading, to name a few.

9. I am very thankful to God for giving me love and strength. God keeps me positive and the closer I am to God, the better I feel about life.

10. I am very thankful for the health that I do have. I tend to not focus on the negative and what's wrong with me. Of course, I have bad days, lots of them, but I could be so much worse. I am very grateful that my illnesses will not kill me, I have much to look forward to in life.

I think we all need to focus on what we are grateful and thankful for every day of the year, not just Thanksgiving. But, it's a great day to focus on that which makes us happy.

Happy Thanksgiving all!

Woodrow, The Love Bug

Woodrow, the Love Bug

9NOV

A week ago today, my sweet 15 year old cat, Woodrow, was diagnosed with lymphoma. He was being very lethargic, losing a lot of weight and overall, not eating or enjoying the things he used to. Woodrow, or as we call him Woody, has been in my life for roughly 13 years now. I was single at the time and wanted to find a black kitten, so I went searching. I finally came to this feline rescue center that had about 15 cats in cages. Woody was at the very end of the aisle and had a blanket draped over his cage, I still don’t understand why. When they removed the curtain, I saw my baby. As you can see, he is not black. He is a pretty shade of orange, almost like a little creamcicle color. He was rubbing the cage with his face and they asked if I wanted to hold him, of course I said yes! He immediately purred and smelled me and I knew he was mine. I quickly realized that Woody was a little love bug, in fact, the vet that the rescue place used nicknamed him as love bug. He grooms not only himself, but other cats and people. The entire night he would lick my leg, although it felt weird, I knew he was just being a sweetheart.

Anyone that meets Woody knows he’s a sweet heart, love bug. Oddly enough, about 3 months after Woody came home with me, we heard a cry at our door and it was a black kitten! He is all black with a little patch of white on his neck, so he’s named Tux. Tux is also a love bug, but very shy. Woody groomed him from the first day he arrived. They have been great brothers since. We also now have Chase, our little adorable tuxedo short hair bully, sigh.

Woody has been taking prednisone for a week now and he’s doing awesome! I admit, when I heard that he had lymphoma, my heart was devastated, it still is. But I told him that if he was in any pain to let go. I don’t want him in pain and staying here just for his mommy. But since he’s been on the pred, he’s back to his old self. He’s purring, playful, and eating much more. I am cautiously optimistic that he is going to stay this way, but I know he’s getting older and my role as a mom is to make his life peaceful and happy.

I love you Woody with all my heart.

*Previously posted on my former wordpress blog. 

Fancy Thanksgiving

Fancy Thanksgiving by theladynicole featuring glitter flats

Vivienne Westwood Anglomania metallic dress
my-wardrobe.com

Faith Connexion peplum jacket
intermixonline.com

RED Valentino glitter flat
net-a-porter.com

Givenchy cuff bracelet
barneys.com

Kate Spade post earrings
nordstrom.com

Lipstick Queen matte lipstick
barneys.com

Fun Saturday with Family

This weekend I visited my family who lives two hours south of where I currently live. I had a great day hanging with my mom, sister, nephews and their girlfriends. I had a rough week prior, so it was nice getting away and visiting. Where I live now, I don't have any family near me. In fact, I don't really have any friends here either. I am pretty isolated since I don't work and rarely get out of my apartment. I see my doctors routinely, but other than that, my husband and I will go out to eat on occasion, otherwise I'm home. It has nothing to do with being agoraphobic or being afraid of crowds; which is farthest from the truth. In fact, Saturday was the annual homecoming parade in my hometown and the girls always get together to watch. If I were afraid of crowds, you certainly wouldn't find me there!

Mississippi River, near the new casino. 

After the parade, we went to lunch and it was delicious! We had mexican, which is probably my favorite food, I had their homemade guacamole and salsa. I could eat that every single day! After lunch we went to several antique and clothing stores. I didn't buy anything, but found a cute window screen that I was going to buy, it was only $5, however the store didn't allow debits under $25, so I didn't get it. I rarely carry cash. After the stores, we drove to where the new casino was being built, in fact, it's going to open next month. We decided that we would all dress up in fancy dresses and have a night on the town and go there. That would be a lot of fun. Afterwards, we returned to my mom's house and looked through some old photos. Overall, it was a great day. The weather and company were just perfect. When the day was over, I told my mom that it was days like this that I really think about moving back home. There is really nothing keeping me where I'm at now. Later that night, my sister texted me saying she wishes I would move back, before I had even mentioned my thoughts to do so. I have to work on my husband to see how he feels. I think, overall, we both would enjoy it. We would have family support and there would be more reason for me to get out of the apartment more. We're currently in a lease until August, so there's plenty of time to make the decision. Like any decision, there are pros and cons to consider. We have lots of time to figure it out.

6 Writing Tips From John Steinbeck - The Atlantic

6 Writing Tips From John Steinbeck - The Atlantic

If this is indeed the year of reading more and writing better, we've been right on course with David Ogilvy's 10 no-bullshit tips, Henry Miller's 11 commandments, and various invaluable advice fromother great writers. Now comes John Steinbeck—Pulitzer Prize-winner, Nobel laureate, love guru—with six tips on writing, culled from his altogether excellent interview it the Fall 1975 issue of The Paris Review.

1. Abandon the idea that you are ever going to finish. Lose track of the 400 pages and write just one page for each day, it helps. Then when it gets finished, you are always surprised.
2. Write freely and as rapidly as possible and throw the whole thing on paper. Never correct or rewrite until the whole thing is down. Rewrite in process is usually found to be an excuse for not going on. It also interferes with flow and rhythm which can only come from a kind of unconscious association with the material.
3. Forget your generalized audience. In the first place, the nameless, faceless audience will scare you to death and in the second place, unlike the theater, it doesn't exist. In writing, your audience is one single reader. I have found that sometimes it helps to pick out one person—a real person you know, or an imagined person and write to that one.
4. If a scene or a section gets the better of you and you still think you want it—bypass it and go on. When you have finished the whole you can come back to it and then you may find that the reason it gave trouble is because it didn't belong there.
5. Beware of a scene that becomes too dear to you, dearer than the rest. It will usually be found that it is out of drawing.
6. If you are using dialogue—say it aloud as you write it. Only then will it have the sound of speech.

But perhaps most paradoxically yet poetically, 12 years prior—in 1963, immediately after receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humour and keen social perception"—Steinbeck issued a thoughtful disclaimer to all such advice:

"If there is a magic in story writing, and I am convinced there is, no one has ever been able to reduce it to a recipe that can be passed from one person to another. The formula seems to lie solely in the aching urge of the writer to convey something he feels important to the reader. If the writer has that urge, he may sometimes, but by no means always, find the way to do it. You must perceive the excellence that makes a good story good or the errors that makes a bad story. For a bad story is only an ineffective story."

If you feel bold enough to discount Steinbeck's anti-advice advice, you can do so with these 9 essential books on more and writing. Find more such gems in this collection of priceless interviewswith literary icons from half a century of The Paris Review archives.

↬ Open Culture

8.13.12 #NaBloPoMo

Today's writing prompt: "Who in your world is made of sugar and spice and everything nice?" 

This is very easy for me to answer, my mom! My mom and I are like best friends. We can share anything with each other and are very similar in our personalities. There is something wonderful about not having to explain yourself or what you mean to others; it's a blessing that she just gets it. There's hardly a day that we don't go without texting each other, she lives nearly two hours away, so we don't see each other really often. But when we do get together, we're often doing fun things, like shopping, getting coffee, eating, or on occasion, gambling. 

I remember growing up, my mom and I had a strained relationship. I think this happens to many mom's and daughter's, as we butt heads. My mom was a hard worker, still is. She always worked and often worked weekends and long hours. She still works two jobs and has always focused on her career. She wanted me to set my goals high and never let me consider not attending and graduating from college. My mom has always believed in me, even when I didn't. 

We all need the support of a mom like I have. She's full of sugar and spice and everything nice! 

Back to School

My favorite time of year is Autumn. I love everything about it, including, the weather, holidays, the clothing, colors and smells. I also feel invigorated during this time of year. My depression seems to improve and overall, I feel more content. I have some ideas on how I’m going to be spending this Fall, which has me pretty excited.

First off, I am going to start taking some online classes. I’m looking at free classes that may be an online seminar or a format where there are questions and answers. The classes I want to take will be in writing, art history, literature and religion. Those are a few of the interests that I have and would love to learn more about; I want to become engrossed in knowledge. It’s odd because I never enjoyed school and certainly not college. However, I now feel a longing for knowledge. I think it has to do with my no longer working, due to disability. I now have all the time in the world to focus on areas of interest.

I’m also a huge TV fan. Yes, I know it’s not cool to watch TV. I watch a ton of TV and I’m not embarrassed to admit it! I find it a great distraction during the day and if you think about it, a writer wrote the episode, so I’m supporting my fellow writers. I’m not sure why watching TV is taboo, at least I’ve heard a few comments related to that. There’s nothing wrong with my TV viewing. I have a laptop with me the entire time and get a lot of writing done while I’m watching TV. I suppose I can multi-task without any issue. Therefore, this Fall, I’m really looking forward to watching some new TV series, including Revolution, Elementary and Nashville. I have a blog devoted strictly to TV, at TheTVLady.

I’m also going to start keeping up with blog reading. I use BlogLovin, which you can find a link to on the right side of this blog.  I faithfully add blogs routinely, well over 40 right now, but I’m not so great at reading them. Some of the bloggers I follow do a great job in updating, therefore, there are 100′s of blog posts that I need to read. Another favorite media format that I’ve become enamored with, are podcasts. I have added several podcasts, including NPR and other varied topic related podcasts.

I’m giving myself time off until “school” starts, so I have some type of routine to my studies and reviews. Please let me know if you are aware of any classes, blogs or podcasts I should be keeping up with!