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Nourish your WHOLE self
#This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #NourishWhatMatters #CollectiveBias Yes, I am THAT person. The one that says “I was so busy I forgot to eat today”. You wouldn’t think it was possible, but it happens all too often. It’s not hat I’m NOT hungry. But working at home and writing – and being a bit absent-minded, to boot, means that quite often, I’ll write right through a meal. If I’m not writing, I’m trying to catch up on my to do list, and I have a tendency to say “I’ll eat as soon as I finish ___”. AND since…
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My One Word (The 2016 Edition)
In 2015, my One Word was “Thrive”*. It seemed fitting in light of all the adjustments and changes we would be facing as a family in the year ahead, having moved to another state (and nearly two years to the day that we moved the kids back to the US from the UK, at that.) Unfortunately, while I tried to navigate all the changes in front of me, I didn’t really thrive at all. What I really did was embrace mediocrity and double-stuffed Oreos. (Fun fact: my 2014 One Word was “embrace” and I spend half of 2015 thinking that was my focus, so there’s that.) Looking back, I feel like much of what…
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The Christmas Countdown
Well, here we are folks – in the last stretch before Christmas. When the dog woke me up at early o’clock on this fine, chilly Saturday morning, thoughts of the as yet unwrapped Christmas gifts dangerously half-hidden in the guest room cluttered my head, and any chance of going back to sleep slipped out the back door along with my rabbit-hunting canine alarm clock. Christmas Goals You see, each year, I start with one simple goal for my holiday shopping: have it all done by Black Friday. Which quickly gets updated to: Have all it all done (and wrapped) by the kids’ last day of school. The first goal was set while I lived…
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Be Careful With Your Donkey
When you open an email from my Dad, you’re never sure what you’re going to get…. A clever joke? A very off-color joke? Photos of baby animals hugging? A cool video of just about anything? Sometimes, I get something seemingly light-hearted and silly…but one that creeps up on you and makes me think….this is one such joke. Bear with me here… An old man, a boy and a donkey were going to town. The boy rode on the donkey and the old man walked. As they went along, they passed some people who remarked “What a shame, the old man is walking and the boy is riding!” The man and…
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Christmas Novellas and Short Stories
For those of you who tell me “Oh, I’m too busy to read right now”, I say “Bah humbug!” Just for you I have three novellas and a book of six short stories, perfect for reading here and there in between Thanksgiving turkeys, Christmas shopping and office parties (or driving to team practices, tournaments over the holidays, and the like), all which will put you in the Christmas spirit! So much more fun than planning on how to avoid Aunt Mildred’s cheek-pinching fingers and critical relatives reviews of your holiday stuffing recipe! My first pick, Operation White Christmas (An Escape to the Country Novella) by Nicki Edwards, is a romantic and sweet little read, and…
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Holiday Fun at the Perot Museum (+ Giveaways)
Dallas friends, be sure to set aside time over the holiday break to head downtown for a family trip to the Perot Museum of Nature and Science! Yesterday I zipped into the city for Family Blogger Day at the Perot, where we were able to explore the new exhibits and check out the new 3-D films in the theater, and I guarantee, you won’t be disappointed! Dr. Ron Tykoski, a paleontologist and fossil preparator at the Perot Museum, was on hand to talk to us about Ellie May, a Columbian wooly mammoth who was discovered last year outside of Italy, Texas in a gravel pit during excavation. They’ve…
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Two Christmas Romances
I’ll be honest: I could have (and should have) titled this post “Two Christmas Romances featuring Overly Considerate and Infuriating Men” because the main male characters in each spend a lot of the book fighting against their feelings because they want to protect the main female characters from getting their hearts broken – by them. But that title is hell on SEO so I had to keep it short and simple. I enjoyed both of the books, and since I spent most of each wanting to throttle both characters for their thoughtful (and, yes, let’s call a spade a spade) somewhat self-absorbed justification (because really, they could have gotten their hearts broken just as…
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Re-Entry
It’s Thursday evening, and the house is all quiet as everyone is asleep. Except for me. Re-entry to normal life after a week’s holiday in Spain, sans kids, has been more difficult than usual. Jet lag has been more difficult to overcome – I awake each morning and fail to clear the haze that surrounds me. We both came back in less than full health, he with a stomach bug (just what you want to come down with the day you plan to fly) and me with a condition that makes caffeine and sugar bad ideas. Recovering from jet lag without coffee, after a week of caffe con leche several times…
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Holiday Books on the Way!
With Halloween Behind us and Thanksgiving rapidly approaching, it may feel too early for some to be bringing out the Christmas novels and novellas, but if Target can put out their Christmas goodies, well, I can too. It’s never too early for Christmas for me. Well, ok, fine. Before Halloween is too early. And, yes, I’ve already reviewed three Christmas stories already (and you can find them here). But for the next week I’m participating in Caffeinated Book Reviewer and Bookshelfery‘s Ho-Ho-Ho Readathon! So, you guessed it, my blog will be swimming in book reviews this next week (because in addition to the holiday books, I have a few excellent thrillers and a…
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Adios, España!
I currently sit in the business class lounge at the airport in Madrid, courtesy of my ever-traveling husband and the nicer seats we have for this flight. A global symphony surrounds me – Spanish, Italian, French, British and the occasional American. The sights are decidedly and distinctly European – men in skinny jeans with sleek sporty (but non-sport) shoes, sweaters layered with dress shirts, the ever-present “man bag” (which no amount of cajoling could convince my own husband to wear.) Women in equally skinny jeans or sleek leggings, fashionable short boots, scarves perfectly tied as only they can do. Everyone here, it would appear at a casual glance, at least. is…
