Tessie's Creek

                                       

Good cold creek water - Yum!                Ahhhhh - nothing like a good butt rub on the rocks.

We need a new word

Beautiful day in Tahoe - sun is shining, snow is almost totally melted, wind is blowing. Meaning, we were wrapped up this morning for our walk. 

Were we cold? No. And we were Way beyond chilly. Chold? We need a word to fill in that gap. ~ blessings

Happy Birthday, Daughter!

Today is one of my daughter's birthday. She and her family are arriving soon to spend the day and have a birthday lunch. I have been thinking about the year she was 25. We took her out to dinner ~ and as I was looking at the menu, I thought "I want lobster. And I deserve it. I worked really hard 25 years ago today!!" 

That was the first time it had ever occurred to me - and I haven't thought of it much since - that we just might need to celebrate moms on the birth days of their children. After all, we are the ones who . . . I really don't need to finish that sentence for you, do I? If you are a mom, you understand. If you are a dad, you understand. If you think about your own birth mom, you understand. 

So here's to my daughter - Happy Birthday! And here's to me - happy birth day! I done good! ~ blessings

ARCs

Author Review Copies. Authors send these to bookstores, reviewers, anyone they would like to review the book and/or choose to sell it. I have recently learned this term so I was pleased when my local bookstore ran a special: buy a book, choose an ARC for free. I bought two books, chose two ARCs. 

Oh, wow ~ I understand now why anyone receiving an ARC is Pleased when they come across a really well-written, nice to read, brand new book. Especially a first novel (or any other story I am sure). Mine just happen to be novels. One was . . . hmmm - just plain bad? Oh, dear. My author-connected soul aches to say that. And the fact is, I read about 10 pages and put it down. The other was ok ~ and I would have been disappointed to have paid for it given that I have read similar type novels (modern woman connected to her ancestors in exciting and interesting ways) that made the genre work. Still haven't finished this one though. Put it down when two other authors that I love came my way. Maybe I will pick it up again - maybe. 

At first I thought it was just me as I had just finished the entire No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. That is So Well written that few first novels would have a chance. It wasn't just me however. These books just don't hold up. What a shame. Plenty of good ones out there and so I head for my library ~ blessings 

Found Phone

or as I didn't find it, maybe the title should be Phone Found!! 

Thank goodness. Back with my iPhone -- 

And yes, it was in the window seat which I had searched three or four times - nevertheless, it was found and I am pleased to have it back!! 

~ blessings

Spring Thoughts

~ Spring is here!

~ There is a spring in my step.

~ The sofa needs a new spring.

~ The creek runs all year because it is fed from a spring. 

I wonder how they all connect. Is there a spring in our steps because that bounce comes with the season? Do they all sort of bubble up like water from the ground? Or did the water bubble up like the buds in the season? Oh, the dictionary tells us it comes from the Old English springan. And from where did springan spring? Time for me to spring from my chair, shower and get ready for the rest (as in remainder, not sleep) of the day. ~ blessings 

More and final phone

Still no iPhone. However, I did pull out my old cell and have everything rerouted and reestablished so I do have a cell and am available at all times. (wow - do I really Want that?) 

And having reestablished my lifeline to the world, my cell phone dreams faded. However, I want you to know, I did dream about finding it. One night I found it on a shelf at the church I attended as a child. The next night I found it in the couch at my aunt's house where I spent summers as a child. Delightful the way the subconscious works. 

For now I am connected again and happy ~ ah the little things that make us that way. ~ blessings

Waterfalls on our Walk

About 1/2 an hour from the house, the snow-covered creek bed becomes a torrent of cold, clear snow melt. This morning we had already eaten breakfast and sometimes it is lovely to take some food with us and sit on the rocks and listen and watch.

Enjoy the view ~ with blessings

More Spring Thoughts

So you know I have been waiting for spring. Well, it really arrived today. How do I know? Itchy eyes, sneezing, coughing -- allergies are here too. :) I'll take the allergies in order to have Spring! ~ blessings

Spring Thoughts

No, haven't found the phone. Trying to turn frustration into fascination ~ :)

Yesterday was cold and snowy. Dressed for a casual family dinner and for some reason put on make-up and nice shoes and an outfit that was just a little dressier than jeans. Family dinner fell through. I ended up at dinner with Dee and business folks in a Very Nice club that had a dress code for the back room -- and I met the code with make-up as well. :) :) And had The Best hot fudge on the dessert sundae than I have ever had - seriously!!! 

Today is warm and sunny. Morning walk was Lovely!! We walked through a little left over snow. We walked around it too by cutting through the woods and enjoying the re-discovery of the land. Spontaneous lunch with a friend - and singing Happy Birthday to Ernie who was there with his buddies (More than 20 construction workers).

Letters to grandkids are ready to mail. It really feels like Spring ~ with blessings

Frustration

The rather fun and silly previous post has turned into something not so funny nor silly. I want to find my phone. More importantly, I want to find my brain. I feel like there is Something my brain knows and is not producing or I would walk to my phone and find it. *sigh* ~ blessings

Poof

Where is my cell phone?  (Maybe a CW music idol could write a bluesy number, "Where the Hell is my Cell?")

I remember the last time I saw it. I remember when I recognized it wasn't in the charger. In between those two times, I did not leave my house. I stayed pretty much in my usual places - it was a restful Saturday so sat on the window seat and read - in the chair and read - in another chair and watched tv - on the love seat and read and napped. It is in none of those places. 

Carrying Dee's cell through the house calling mine has gotten No response.   ????????

Disappeared in a puff of pale blue powder. I'll let you know when it reappears - blessings

Easter ~ Eostre

Easter, the most sacred day in the Christian liturgical calendar.

Eostre, the name from which Easter comes, the name of the Pagan goddess of springtime and fertility. 

We might not be so quick to criticize or condemn if we would stop to remember how deep and far back go our connected roots.

~ ~ with blessings on this holy day whatever your belief

Complaining, Venting . . .

or just stating the facts?

Truthfully I am not sure. The facts are: 

Family arrived sick.

Family's friend arrived tired, had a bit of altitude sickness and slept for a day and a half.

Family got sicker. 

Tahoe Mom caught family cold. 

Weather uncooperative: cold mixture of rain and snow so the kids had to stay inside

Daughter wrenched back, Really Badly, unable to move without great deal of pain

People eat.

Dishes get dirty.

Dishes need to be washed, put away or back on the table.

Complaining, venting or just stating the facts? ~ I'll let you decide. ~ blessings

Seriously, folks . . .

I Love words and puns and plays on words and different perspectives on the ordinary. Yesterday I flew Southwest for the first time in a while. The first officer stood at the front of the plane, introduced himself and gave us the usual routine announcement until . . .

"So please, sit back, relax and enjoy your flight to Portland. Of course you can always sit forward and be tense . . . but it will still take us an hour and 8 minutes to get there." 

No, I hadn't heard this one and the whole plane laughed. A good beginning to an easy and uneventful flight. May all your flights be the same ~ blessings

"The #1 Ladies' Detective Agency"

I have mentioned my enjoyment of the re-read. This week I have allowed the HBO series of The #1 Ladies' Detective Agency" by Alexander McCall Smith to draw me back to the series. 

The HBO series is Wonderful. Filmed in Botswana, it has the visual feel of the land and the people that Smith evokes so beautifully in his books. The actors are a delightful ensemble. They even have a look that allows you to picture them when you are reading the stories again. 

The books are amazing. Smith has such a feel for women, how we think, how we are, how we relate to men and to others that I was three books into the series before I saw his picture, actually focused on his name, and realized he was male and not female (having thought "Alexandra" had written this wonderful story). 

I highly recommend this read and this see. Enjoy ~ blessings