Category: Birds

Miscellaneous Fun Stuff

3/8/2014

Look at that group! It must be trouble! No seriously, that's my family. Dad retired last week, and they had his retirement party yesterday. This is the first picture of the whole family since Rick and I got married, and that will be 16 years ago this may! Seated left to right is Rick, me, Mom & Dad. Standing left to right is my sister-in-law, Nicole, and my brother, Stephen (he looks serious because he's a CPA). We're really happy for Dad. If anybody deserves a good retirement, it's him. He's worked since he was 12 years old, and has spent at least my entire lifetime building his business. He's the perfect example of self discipline. I tell you, those three guys in that picture are the hardest working, most dedicated, and most self-disciplined people I know. They inspire people, no doubt. It's why I'm plugging on with my dream of being an independent author even with a full time job - because I've seen that good things happen when you work hard and don't give up!

On the other hand, I also feel for the employees left behind. It's tough when the boss leaves. Things always change. I've been to a lot of retirement parties, but it was so obvious that those guys were sad to see him go. I could tell they were genuine in their praise and well wishes, and that they miss him. But they're in good hands. Great hands, really, because Dad's partner is every bit the hard worker and has the dedication to keep it going well. They're a great group and I know they'll do well.

In other news, my writing exploded this week. No, my laptop didn't spontaneously combust! I mean, the inspiration and ideas blew up and I accomplished a lot - probably more this week than in the previous month! My story for the Writer's Co-op Anthology, Nonstop to Nowhere, is finally in a form that I'm happy with, and I did some great revisions on it this week. I plan to have it ready for professional editing by April, but I want to do some more work on that between now and then. In other words, I'm not done tinkering with it yet! For now, take a look at this great promotional cover they released recently! I'm excited about this project and will keep you updated on the progress.

My other writing project, the sequel to Move titled Rearview Mirror, really took off this week. I wrote 4 chapters, and planned out the rest of the plot. God willing, if creeks don't rise, with luck, knock on wood, I hope to have the rough draft done by the end of March. It's finally taking off and moving in a direction I like. I've been a little frustrated with this one, because it's only been coming to me in bits and pieces since I started it on New Year's Day, but thank the Lord, I finally had the breakthrough to see the bigger picture and get it together this week! So far, so good. I'm running with it while I can. And, of course, I'll keep you posted.

If you've been on Facebook, then you probably noticed that this picture of Zack and Chloe was the profile picture at the Feathered Friends page. They're the birds of the week and are entered in a monthly contest for Parrots magazine. I'm so proud of my little winners! I put them on the steering wheel of my parents golf cart so they'd stand close enough together for me to take it. In reality, these guys have "personal space" issues - as in, they usually stay at least 2 inches apart. They do chatter back and forth a lot. Who can explain it! But I am happy they won that. It was a good pick-me-up after losing their baby brother last week. They've done good, except they've been a lot more clingy lately. But then again, we cling to them too, so it's kind of a "chicken or the egg" situation.

So that's it - the miscellaneous fun stuff that was my week. Maybe not as interesting and photogenic as my Misc Fun Stuff board on Pintrest but meh, that's life for you. Maybe this silly video from days gone by will make it all more interesting.

That's all today. I hope you have a great rest of the weekend and an excellent start to the new week.

Bye!

The Big Question - And An Answer

3/1/2014

I’d like to address a question that’s often asked when you lose a pet. For those of you catching up, Rick and I had to have our budgie, Oliver (Ollie) put to sleep on Thursday. What we thought was nerve inflammation actually turned out to be a spinal tumor. So naturally, many people are asking:

Will we get another parakeet?

Short answer: not now.

Expanded answer: I have no doubt we’ll have avian companions for the rest of our lives. That being said, there’s a high likelihood that another budgie (perhaps more than one) will grace our home. For this reason, we didn’t get rid of Ollie’s cage. I have a strong feeling we’re going to need it in the future.

Dissertation: One big concern Rick and I had was whether Ollie got the time and attention he deserved. Parakeets aren’t very demanding, and with 2 sun conures in the house, he often got “drowned out” by their increased need for human interaction. While others assured us that we were good to Ollie and that he seemed very happy in our home, I wondered if they didn’t quietly harbor the same concerns. We couldn’t help but notice that visitors often made a point to spend time speaking to and interacting with Ollie; even more so than they did with Zack and Chloe. In fact, we encouraged this. We always felt that he needed special attention away from the bigger birds, and appreciated family, friends, and visitors taking the time to do this.

Another concern was his level of interaction with Zack and Chloe. Ollie got bolder as time went by, and he didn’t like to be separated from them. Often, he’d jump after one of them, or leap on their playgym, or fly to their cages. He even chased them a few times. There was more than once instance where they tried to “play back” and we had close calls with bites, falls, and accidents. We tried to keep them separated, but he didn’t seem to understand that he wasn’t one of the “big birds” and could get hurt doing that. Add the concern about making sure we interacted with him sufficiently, and you can see how we were often walking a tightrope to make sure they all had their social needs met.

Right now, life is very active for us. Both of our immediate families are still alive, we have full time jobs and “side ventures,” (Rick does website design and I’m an independent author), and we both volunteer at church. I think that, at this season in life, 2 is the most we can realistically handle. Zack and Chloe are great companions, and I feel confident that we can attend to their needs as we should.

I won’t lie – Ollie’s loss has left a huge hole in our hearts, in our home, and in our lives. But I don’t believe getting another budgie will fill that hole. His absence is something we have to learn to live with, day by day. And so we shall. We choose to focus on what we have and move on with it.

For now. But that doesn’t mean that it won’t change later. Life is always in motion, and you never know.

So there’s the long and short of the “are you getting another bird” question.

That’s all today. Take care and have a great weekend.

Bye!

What I Learned on My Christmas Break

1/6/2014

It's amazing what you learn about yourself after a couple of weeks off work. I really didn't think much of it until I returned to work today, but it turns out that I learned quite a few things about myself over the past couple of weeks. For example:

1. We can nurse a sick parakeet. Ollie had us worried with that nerve inflammation and groin strain. His mobility is very limited. But somehow, the Lord rose us to it. We got his cage reconfigured, and he's improved a lot in the past couple of weeks. The groin strain seems to be healing - he's gaining strength in his right foot, he's eating better, his energy is increasing, and he's gained 4 grams over the past couple of weeks. Thank you, Lord. Keep him healing. Keep us equipped to help in his healing. And go Ollie!

2. I can write a sequel. And I'm doing it. I always said that writing a sequel wasn't my thing, because my characters couldn't take any more once I was done with them. But the idea for a sequel to my last mystery novel, Move, came to me right before I got off for work, and it's taken off from there. So far, I've written 2 chapters, and it keeps flowing. I'm interested to see where this goes.

3. We can not leave the house for 2-3 days, and it doesn't bother us. Rick and the birds are pretty good company. And it's very nice to be home!

4. There are some silly commercials on TV. As if the Farmer's Only commercial isn't an annoying ear bug, the flying Nissan and the Dr. Pepper one with the bear rowing the guy in the boat is just all kinds of crazy. It seems silly is the way to go.

5. I can read 3 books in 2 weeks. I wondered if that was even possible, because I do good to finish reading a book in a month when I'm at work.

6. It's good to have your afternoons to do chores and errands so you can relax and watch TV at night. So that's how retirees and stay at homes spend their days. Secret revealed.

7. You can get a flu shot and still get the flu. That wasn't a good thing to learn - no more than learning that my thermometer threatens to spontaneously combust if your temperature is over 100 degrees, or that the swab they use to test you must go up your nose until it hits your brain. But I did learn that Tamiflu works, especially if you catch it within the first 24 hours of getting symptoms.

8. We're the cleanest people in the world. We must be, because I can't believe how much trash we took to the dump while we were off. We throw everything away.

9. Getting up early isn't even for the birds. Zack, Chloe, and Ollie didn't wake us up a single time while we off. In fact, they seemed to like sleeping past sunrise. Then again, they have human servants, so why should they worry about getting a worm - especially when they don't eat worms.

10. Working takes a lot of energy. Maybe the flu took more out of me than I realized. Maybe I got lazy. Maybe it's a combination of both, but I was exhausted today! You don't realize how much energy it takes to remain active and alert all day long until you get away from it for a while. Whew!

Well, how about that. It seems there were some things about myself that I didn't know. I guess that's what they mean when they say "live and learn." And amazingly, you can learn as much from a break as you can from work. Now is it useful? We shall see ...

That's all today. Take care, and have a great week.

Bye!

Contrary to Popular Opinion

8/20/2013

First, I’d like to announce that tomorrow is my husband, Rick’s, birthday. Have a great day, Rick! The birds and I love you! We’re one happy flock!

And now on to the regularly scheduled entry:

I’m a radical non-conformist. That’s one thing about me that hasn’t changed in the 16 years since college graduation (or the 20 years from high school graduation). Ask anybody, and they’ll tell you that they don’t know what beat I march to, but it’s not any drum they can hear. Make the opinion a “popular” one, and I’m more likely to reject it – or at least put it under fierce scrutiny to see if it’s logical or makes sense. If there’s one thing I’ve always been proud of, it’s my authenticity. For example:

·        When I was buying a new car in 2006, I immediately dismissed the Toyota Camry as an option based on a commercial. It was store security store camera where the announcer said “attention shoppers, a Toyota Camry has it’s lights on in the parking
lot” and everybody left the store. They prided themselves on having the most popular car in America. And I said hell no, I don’t want to drive the same car that everybody else drives. I refused to even stop to look at a Toyota lot because of that stupid commercial.

·      Everybody loves San Francisco, and I’ll agree that it’s an intriguing place. I’d love to take Rick there someday. But frankly, it was too cold for my liking. 55 degrees in early September darn near sent me into shock. My sinuses didn’t care for it too much either, as I got the worse nosebleed I’ve ever had the day after I arrived. A lot of people tell me that’s their favorite place in the world. To each their own. It was interesting, but frankly it was a city that was a bit too crowded for me. I was more impressed with the nature, sunshine, and wide, open spaces of Arizona.

·       I don’t care for high heel shoes. At 5’1” I could wear stilts and still not fool anyone. It won’t help, so why bother with the sore legs and achy knees. No thanks. In fact, I refuse to wear shoes with more than a 2 inch heel. It’s a compromise (but not one I make often).

·        I refuse to color my hair (at this point in my life). People keep telling me I should get my hair highlighted, but I like my hair darker. I used to get natural highlights when I was in marching band in high school and college and I hated it. It might
have looked good to others, but it was dried out and frizzy, and I fought it and hated the color every day. Until I go grey, no color. And then, no blonde. I accept what the Lord gave me, so the rest of the world can darn well get over it.

·     I don’t own a flat iron. I don’t need one. My hair is straighter than pine straw. And it won’t hold a curl either, so I gave up on that too.

·        I don’t like the telephone. Frankly, I think it’s the most abused invention ever. People pick it up to ask stupid questions that they could answer themselves if they put their brain on it for 2 minutes. Or worse yet, to jabber about pointless things and waste inordinate amounts of time. Seriously, people use the telephone as a “surrogate brain.” Progress, my butt. That invention has kicked us down a couple of notches on the evolutionary scale. I pray computers and the Internet can pull us back up by the bootstraps before too much deterioration sets in.

·        I don’t think that print media will ever die. And believe it or not, it’s not because of the absurd “paper holdouts” that gripe about the evils of technology. Rather, there’s just too much already out there in the way of books, magazines and newspapers. The world can go more digital, but I don’t see a day where we’ll do away with all paper forever. Frankly, I think we’d already be there if that were a real trend. I believe digital print will take over a majority market share, and will certainly transition to the preferred method of print media. But no, books, magazines and newspapers won’t go away. They might go the way of cassette
tapes – rare, but not extinct.

·        Dogs might be man’s best friend, but this woman’s best friends have always been birds. I’ve never had a dog. It’s always been birds for me, because they’re more sociable, they’re happy, and they live longer. Much longer. Case in point: our oldest sun conure, Zack, is 13 years old, and he’s outlived 3 of my parents’ cats.

·        My laptop is pink. So is the mouse. And my phone case. And my work ID is on a lanyard with pink beads. Hey, everybody else has black, white or silver everything. There’s no question which stuff is mine!

I could go on for quite a while but I think one thing is already clear – I make up my own mind about what I like and appreciate in life. And if it’s contrary to popular opinion, so much the better. I don’t have a problem with being unique. In fact, I prefer it that way. How can you be authentic if you’re just like everybody else?

That’s all today. Take care and have a great rest of the week.

Bye!

Lighter Fare and Random Trivia

7/12/2013

The last few entries have been so serious. But it's Friday, and I think it's a great time to lighten up! So here's some fun stuff about me.

Remember a while back when I started this blog and did my "List of Second Favorites?" I did it at my previous blog on Writing.com and it was quite popular, so I copied it here when I started this blog. Well, I thought about doing a list of third favorites but frankly, I didn't come up with much. Here's what I got:

Color - Green (after pink and yellow)
TV Show - Breaking Bad (after Supernatural and Arrow)
Day of Week - Sunday (after Friday and Saturday)
Genre - Fantasy (after Sci-Fi and Mystery)
Hobby - Counted Cross Stitching. And here's where I tripped myself up, because I said it was third behind writing and reading. Then I realized oh yea, I'm an independent author. I believe the writing has elevated way above hobby phase. So that would put reading at my favorite hobby and cross stitching at second, with no time for a third at all in my life right now.

So that fun list fizzled out. And frankly, you're getting into the "who gives a crap" zone. So here's a few other things about me that perhaps you didn't know.

Did you know I'm a failed Christian writer? It's true. My first book, Battleground Earth - Living by Faith in a Pagan World, was published in 2004. It did okay for a little while, then flopped. I know, it's pretty pitiful to fail at THAT, but after a few years of failing to get real traction in that area, I took a short break and realized that I really like fiction and decided to try that. And the rest is, well, in progress. But so far, it's picked up faster and is rolling along better. And frankly, I enjoy writing fiction more. I don't count out inspirational forever, but the truth is that I have a few too many rough edges to be accepted as a Christian writer. It's fine. There are plenty of other things to write. The mystery is rolling along and I'm excited to be delving into sci-fi (which is my dream!) now. Who knows? Maybe I'll enter National Novel Writing Month someday. I'd certainly like to. It's just a matter of having the right ideas at the right time - which hasn't happened since 2010 when I wrote Splinter.

You know I like college football, especially the Southeastern Conference. I also like baseball.

I'm a lousy cook, which in the south is like missing a major limb or organ. Women around here LOVE to cook and experiment with recipes, but I just can't seem to do really well in the kitchen. I've tried, but after a while I realized that's why there are so many restaurants around. A lot of people don't believe it and say "well, you just don't LIKE to cook so you don't INVEST time to get better at it." No, that's not it. I really do suck. They don't understand that telling me "a sprinkle of this and a dash of that and cook it until it's done" is like me telling you that to write a novel you start at the beginning and write until you get to the end. We all have things we're bad at, and I'm afraid that's it for me. I can cook well enough for us to get by fine. And as for the holidays and covered dish functions, I'm happy to let the women graced with culinary skills take over and show me how it's done. So I'll have the cleanest house and office in the world, and let others take the cooking honors.

I used to like fishing. I actually took a course on how to fish through my previous department, and I did enjoy it. The problem is limited time and opportunities, and, much like cooking, I wasn't particularly good at it. It's been at least 5 years since I last did it. And frankly, that was also the time they took us to the range and taught us how to fire shotguns and some basic archery, and I liked both of those better than fishing.

I eat popcorn almost every day. I love the stuff! The birds love it too. We enjoy our "popcorn parties."

Speaking of our feathered friends, you know I love them. I get that from my granddaddy, who also loved birds. We were alone in this passion - most of the people in my family are cat people. In fact, my parents and my in-laws feed the feral cats around here. It's probably why their numbers keep growing and growing, and why my birds are getting used to watching cats walk through the yard all the time. But they don't venture too far, because the neighbors on the other side of us have 3 horses. Life outside of city limits is interesting. And as an additional note (that nobody believes), I've never had a dog. Ever. It's always been birds and cats for me.

I've never traveled outside of the continental United States. Of course, I had never gotten on an airplane until 2 years ago, so that could very well change in time. And speaking of my travels: I loved Arizona, I liked San Francisco, and I hated Miami. Arizona was red rock, blue sky, and beautiful weather in late winter. San Francisco was new and different. But Miami was too chaotic and the food was WAY too spicy and weird.

Okay folks, I think that's enough for one day. I hope this has been a good break from the fluff of fiction and the chaos of reality. Have a Happy Friday and a great weekend.

Bye!

Big Week!

5/17/2013

Hi all, I hope you've had a good week. It's been quite a week for me - but a good one! So far this week, I've celebrated an anniversary, finished a draft of a writing project, and had my brain blown three times. Here's a rundown of the week:

1. Rick and I celebrated our 15th anniversary yesterday! Yep, that's a picture of us on the big day. It's hard to believe it's been that long, or that we're old enough to have been married that long! But we have, and we've come a long way even if we don't have kids. We've built a home, built careers, are building our personal endeavors (his website design and my writing), have our 3 birds, and are lucky that both of our families are still alive and nearby. It's been a great journey and we look forward to many more years. And as part of celebrating our anniversary ...

2. We saw Star Trek Into Darkness today. Wow. Completely unbelievable and definitely outdid the last movie. A must see. At the risk of being lambasted, I'll be bold enough to say it's better than Iron Man 3. I completely trust J.J. Abrams with Star Wars now. Mine = blow. I don't want to give anything away, but I'll give you this advice if you haven't seen it yet: see Star Trek II - The Wrath of Kahn if you haven't recently. Yea, there are "references." It's amazing how they can change the history of that franchise the way they did and things are the same, and yet not. It was beyond phenomenal. Go see it. On the big screen. Now.

3. I ask for your prayers. An opportunity has opened up to me, and I ask that you pray for the Lord to give me favor in achieving it. It would be a tremendous blessing for me and Rick. I can't say too much about it now, but if it works out then you'll hear all about it. It may be a while before we know, but hey, we can use all the prayer power we can get!

4. Time for my season finale roundup! The season finales of Arrow and Supernatural ran Wednesday night and again, mind = blow. They were amazing. Here's a short recap of my impression of each season:

Arrow - If you aren't watching this show, you should be. They hit the ground running and never let up. No dull character development episodes in this season - it's all action, and the combat scenes are amazing. Then again, Oliver Queen better be able to throw it down, because it takes a lot of guts to go against people with guns (especially one with the nickname "Deadshot") with a bow and arrow - yet he does, and holds his own impressively. For all of you that thought The Green Arrow was a "minor" DC Character, I can assure you that he can hold his own and proves it well through this series. The finale was no exception, and in fact had it's share of surprises that shouldn't have been surprises, but they signs that these "red herrings" were planted were very subtle. Kudos to the writers, producers, cast, crew, and everybody involved for making this a "must see" show in my home and many others every week. I'll even go so far as to say that I like Arrow better than I liked Smallville. Yea, it's that good.

Supernatural - I was glad to see the Winchesters get back to angels and demons this season. That whole thing with the leviathans and monsters just - wasn't as good. They're okay in bits and pieces throughout the season, but I didn't care for it as a central focus. Thankfully, they got back to basics this season and it was good to see. They definitely upped the ante with the demon tablet and the whole "closing the gates of hell" theme. Then an angel tablet pops up and that adds a dimension that has this show back to what it's meant to be. I did miss Bobby this season, but I think they forged on in his absence quite well, all things considered (and I thought Garth taking Bobby's place was weirdly appropriate. I wish we had seen more of that. He's goofy, but I think his character is a good balance to Sam and Dean's kicking a** and taking names approach - I mean, somebody needs to take the brainiac approach to the whole demon hunting thing, right? Anyway, well done and glad to see them getting back to basics, although that cliffhanger - wow! OMG. What a mess. Can't wait to see how they get out of THIS one.

So now it's all about summer reruns. Good for folks that need to for catching up. And I guess I have plenty to keep me busy because ...

5. I finished the rough draft of Incursion, my sci-fi novella-in-progress, Monday night. No joke, folks, I wrote 12 chapters plus a prologue and epilogue in 13 days. I accomplished this feat because I kept waking up in the middle of the night with ideas for it, and this progressed into insomnia. Yea, the fun of being a writer, especially one with a full time job. I wrote on lunch hours. I wrote at night. I wrote on weekends. And I got the draft done in record time because I do need to sleep occasionally. So this summer's project will be getting that novella shaped up and ready to self publish, hopefully this fall. I'll keep you updated on the progress.

6. We managed to get our satellite bill down and upgraded our Internet speed. Because we realized that we're online much more than we are behind the boob tube, so to speak, and how we spend our $$$ needs to reflect that.

7. I don't know now many of you are familiar with Disco the Parakeet, but he was on the Take Two segment on The Today Show this morning at 9 a.m. Go Disco! Bird to your mother! What an awesome keet. He's the same age as Ollie and we love him here. Look up Miss Jumpin Jude on You Tube for his videos. You'll love it. He's one great avian talent!

8. And finally, we're gearing up for a birthday here. Chloe's birthday will be Monday, May 20th! Actually, we celebrate it then because that's the date we "adopted" her (or as our bird friends like to say on Twitter, it's her "Gotcha Day"). She's 10, but it'll be three years since we adopted her. What a sweet little hen! We love you, Chloe! Hen power!

So it's been a busy week, but all in a good way. I'll take it. I hope you've had a great week as well. Happy Friday to you, and I hope you have a great weekend.

Bye!

Day Off

4/5/2013

Sometimes, you just need to take a day off to escape the day to day grind. I did that today to spend some time with Rick on his last day off for Spring Break. I'm glad I did it. Sure, we had to get up to take the birds to the vet for their annual checkup. They got a clean bill of health, and wing and nail trims too, by the way (check out their take on it over at Conure Corner). But after that, it was free time. Nothing major really - we went to Olive Garden for lunch, bought the birds some "consolation toys" and other supplies, and took a walk on Riverfront Park. But sometimes, it's good to have a slow day. I forgot what it was like to be bored. It's a feeling I don't often have.

You can see pictures from our walk along the Riverfront Park in Columbia, SC on Flickr. That is a nifty website. I've really enjoyed it since creating the account during our trip to Arizona last month. I've never been one that was big on pictures, but between getting an iPhone and creating that account, I find myself taking more of them. It's easy to take them on the phone, and to organize them through the website. Everybody can be a photographer these days. Well, not everybody. Truthfully, I get lucky every now and then and get a really good shot but otherwise, my pictures are okay. The delete button makes me look better at it than I really am.

Anyway, it was good to have a Friday off to slow down the pace. Holidays and vacations are nice, but sometimes you need to have a "time out" to just be at home and exist.

That's all today. Happy Friday to you. Have a great weekend.

Bye!

Bleed it Out - Part 2

1/30/2013

Hi everybody! I wanted to let you know that Feathered Frenzy - A Quick Guide to Adapting Birds into Your Life was published through Smashwords and KindleDirect today. Go me!

If you know anybody that's new to bird ownership, or is just looking for a good overview of information, this is their book. I give advice, tips, tricks, and general knowledge I've gathered over 25 years of being a "bird mommy" that can help to make life with birds in your home easier, less stressful, and more enjoyable.

And look at that cover. Aww! It's Zack and Chloe! (I sure wish Ollie would have gotten in that picture like we asked but NO, he doesn't like having his picture taken ...)

So go check it out! It's available on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Feathered-Frenzy-Quick-Adapting-ebook/dp/B00B85EJYO/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1359588239&sr=8-6&keywords=Feathered+Frenzy and on Smashwords at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/280462 .

I'm so excited to publish another book! Thanks to all of you for your support and encouragement with my writing and in all I do.

That's all today. More later.

Bye!

The Holiday Wazzup Letter!

12/23/2012

Dear Friends:

We hope this digital letter finds you safe, healthy, happy, and enjoying a wonderful holiday season. In the spirit of the annual holiday letter, I thought it would be fun to share some of the highlights of the past year with you.

I know, this is a blog. You've been keeping up. But for the sake of those that don't like to log in twice a week for my ramblings, well, here's a summary:

Rick just wrapped up a 3 year term on church council at Mt. Tabor. He was heading up the IT committee and did a great job updating the website (which was his major project for his first year on council) and with keeping up staff technology needs. It did get to be a bit of a challenge this year, though. We lost both of our pastors this year - the head pastor left for a higher position with the Synod in March, and the associate pastor left to head up a congregation in Charleston, which is where he's from. It was tough losing them - and then major changes at Rick's job drastically altared his work situation, which has required more overtime work and made serving a bit more challenging. But he stuck in there and was determined to see his term through. We're very proud of him for hanging in there despite the challenges of the past few months, and for all he's done for the church. You can check out the church website that he designed at www.mttaborlutheran.org .

Unfortunately, I had to quit both of my church committees. I had always planned to step down from the IT committee when Rick's term ended, but major changes in my own work situation and my writing picking up cut significantly into my spare time for volunteer activities. There are some things and events that I do hope to continue participating in, but right now being on a standing committee isn't something that's practical for me. It's a shame, too, because I enjoyed it and hated to give it up. Maybe in another season of life.

My work has picked up with additional duties. I'm now working with 4 licensure programs, and recent staff shortages have put more of a burden on remaining staff. I do finally have a window office, which is good (although I got the workload that came with it), and I'm also required to travel twice a year for the landscape architect program. Last year I attended the spring meeting in late February in Miami, and the national meeting in September in San Francisco. That trip to Miami was the first time I've ever flown! It's not bad, either. And while I'm not a big fan of travel, well, I'm hanging in there to see how it works out. The next meeting up is the regional meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona in March. We'll see. That's all I can say for now. Overall the job is good, although it has been very stressful lately. Our workload usually peaks in December (exam deadlines, plus people in a rush to get licensed to get projects in the new year), and being down a person has been hard. Hopefully, we'll fill that open position soon and things will level out. I'm off work until January 2, so hopefully some time with family, friends, and at home with Rick and the birds will do me some good.

My writing is also making progress. I published my second fiction novel, Anywhere But Here, through Whiskey Creek Press in April. They offered me a contract for my third fiction novel, a sci-fi apocolyptic novel titled Splinter, last summer. I'm already working on two writing projects now that I hope to wrap up in the spring. One is another mystery novel titled Move. It's about a young woman that unknowingly makes a deal with a djinn (genie), but unfortunately his help is rather radical and leads to more problems than solutions. The other is a non-fiction book titled Feathered Frenzy. It's basically a "quick reference guide" to give people tips on making their home and lifestyle bird-friendly. And believe it or not, I ALREADY have an idea for my next project. That one is still in a very early brainstorming stage. I'm not even considering working on that one more until I get my two current projects finished. I'm building an audience and working on many promotional things for my published novels. It's slow work, but worth it. I enjoy writing and I think going the "independent author" route was the right choice - especially with the traditional route going into decline as e-publishing picks up. I hope I hit the e-book wave at just the right time!

The birds are doing well. They'll be doing their own Christmas letter to you on their blog over at http://conurecorner.weebly.com soon. Santa has big plans for them and I think we're going to have three very happy birdies in a couple of days!

Our families are doing well. Mom and Dad are staying busy, as usual. Mom had surgery for carpral tunnel last summer and I tell you, that's the fastest surgery recovery I've ever seen! She was back up and running in no time! Dad is still working. Retirement talk comes up from time to time, but no definite plans or timeline yet. I tell you, those design professionals - they love their work and don't like to retire! Stephen and Nicole are doing well too. Stephen's still keeping them straight as a department head at Public Safety, and Nicole is working at home in medical transcription. She graduated from a medical management program in the spring, but unfortunately she had to have surgery for diverticulitis shortly after graduation, so that was an unexpected hiccup in her life. But she's doing fine now and moving forward again.

Rick's parents are also doing ok. You know his father has dementia, so there are good days and bad days - that's just how it goes with that. They joined the Methodist church up the road last month. Our nieces and Rick's sister and brother-in-law are also doing well. We just got back from our Christmas visit with them in Greenville this morning. They stay busy with work, school, and activities - much like all of us.

And yes, in case any of you are wondering, I did complete my New Year's resolution of reading through The Bible again this year. I actually finished it in September!

Well, that's pretty much it. We are truly blessed and thank God every day for all that He has done for us and allowed us to do for others. We hope all of you are doing well and that life is being good to you. You know that everybody is welcome to visit this website and blog. I strive to update it at least twice a week. Some people have themes for their blogs and while the theme of this website is my writing, the blog isn't limited to that. In fact, I believe all of life inspires my writing, and this blog is open to anything and everything happening in life. Feel free to read, share, and pass it along to anybody interested, whether it's family, friends, readers, other writers, or anybody that's interested in how one writer's life inspires her tales!

Merry Christmas everybody! I hope you have a safe and happy holiday season and that your new year is filled with joy, peace and prosperity.

God bless and best wishes,

Rick and Sherri

The Truth About Childless People (A Politically Incorrect Post)

11/6/2012

I know it would be prudent to post an entry this Election Day about the sacred right to vote, but you know what? You guys get it. And frankly, I'm sick of politics. I'll be glad when this madness is over. So let's ponder on more thought provoking things.

I mentioned in a previous blog entry that there are some crazy assumptions about people that don’t have kids. I’m not sure where people get some of the ideas from. I can’t personally speak for every childless person/couple, but I can say that some of the things people think are just crazy. For example, people believe that if you don’t have kids then:

1.       You don’t like children. I find it interesting that people make this leap that not having = hate, and yet they don’t do it in other areas. I’m not a good cook, and yet not a single person has ever accused me of hating food. I can’t explain it. I won’t deny that I’m ignorant in this area. Heck, I didn’t even know that diapers came in sizes until a few years ago, and I admit that walking into a Babies ‘R Us store is the fastest way to induce an anxiety attack in me. But no, I don’t hate kids and would help one in need without a second thought. It might not be graceful or “proper” but I’d do my best. I can’t speak for all childless people and certainly it’s possible that there are some people that don’t like kids, but this is a conclusion it’s not wise to jump to. Having children is a personal decision and the reasons for not having them (at the present time or ever, depending on the circumstances) can be more complex than the reasons for having them.

Do you want to know what I don’t like? Sushi. It’s nasty and I can’t understand how it can be considered refined or high class to eat raw fish like Gollum in The Lord of the Rings. I know many would say it’s not the same, but I don’t follow the reasoning so just call it a crazy “me” idea. But no, I don’t hate kids.

2.       You’re rich. People think that Rick and I must be loaded because we both work and have no children, but the truth is that the cost of living is astronomical whether you have a household of 1, 2, or 10. Everything’s expensive and the cost of living is rising much higher than salaries are. While it’s true that we might have more discretionary income, we do have to watch our finances and make sure to live within our means.
I wish this stereotype were true because it would thrill me to no end – but alas, it is not.

3.       We have no family. The truth is that all of our parents are alive. Likewise, I have a brother that’s married, Rick has a sister that’s married and has our 2 nieces, and this isn’t counting aunts, uncles, and cousins. Somehow, though, it seems that doesn’t count because people raise an eyebrow when we say we have family functions or visits. But go ahead – tell them all that they don’t count as “family” since we haven’t reproduced. I’d be greatly amused to see how it goes.

4.       We have nothing to do once we get home from work. Folks, this is another one I wish were true. I’d love it if I could come home at the end of the work day, retire to my recliner behind the TV, and that was my life – but it’s not. See, while we’re at work, nothing gets done at home. This fact remains whether you have kids or not. That means that supper has to be prepared, consumed, and cleaned up. Dishes must be washed. Laundry must be done. Birds must be fed and cages cleaned. Bills must be paid. Trash must be taken out. Kitchens and bathrooms must be cleaned, furniture must be dusted and polished, floors must be swept and mopped, and the grass must be cut on a regular basis. This all has to happen after work or on weekends – and that doesn’t include the time I need for my writing, the time Rick needs for his website work, church activities, visiting that family we supposedly don’t have and trying to squeeze in time to spend together. And all of that doesn’t factor in time with friends, repairs and maintenance on home and car, or spending time doing things we like on our own. *Gasp!* I’m lucky to have an hour a night to spend to myself. In fact, I only watch 2 TV shows, both come on back to back on Wednesday nights, and often I have to move Heaven and earth to MAKE time for that.
The truth is that the older you get, the more life tends to fill up. I get up by an alarm clock 6 days a week and my iPhone calendar looks like it needs ProActive (or a measles shot). Frankly, I don’ t know how people with kids keep up with it all. You guys must be heroes because I barely keep it together sometimes. Now if that rumor of being rich were true then I could hire out our housework but alas, the falsity of that lends to the falsity of this.

5.       We think having pets is the same as having kids. I’ve never presumed to say, compare, or even think that having three birds is the equivalent to having three children. It’s not and I know it, so don’t even try to project that insanity on me. Have you ever noticed that when I talk about our birds, I refer to us as mommy and daddy with no capitalization? That’s on purpose because I don’t want people to make the mistake of thinking that I’m trying to equate Zack, Chloe, and Ollie with children. They’re birds. And birds are, obviously, very different from humans. I know. Remember, I worked in day care during my college days, before graduation and switching to being an office drone.

That being said, I do love my birdy-babies. Humanity was given dominion over animals and it’s our responsibility to give our pets the best life possible because they are entrusted to our care. An animal is just as alive as a child and deserves respect. In fact, it’s my personal belief that only the lowest of the low human beings would harm a child or animal. The penalties for animal abuse should be equivalent to the penalties for human abuse because it’s disrespect of the sanctity of life and taking advantage of those that can’t defend themselves. People that would harm a child or animal are a waste of existence if you ask me. I dare them to pick on somebody their own size. That would clean their clock faster than Zack can bust out of his cage when the door latch is loose.

I’m not sure where these ideas come from about childless people, but I hope you see what a good chuckle we get out of them. It’s silly, really, isn’t it? And thankfully, now you know that. Our lives may be different, but is it easier? I don’t know. I think it would be most accurate to say that we all face challenges in life. I don’t know if anybody has an “easy” life. I think it all boils down to being thankful for what you have and doing the best you can with it. Not every life follows the same “socially acceptable” progressive pattern. Life isn’t a puzzle, after all. But if you do the best with what you have then you have fullness of life – whether the pieces seem to fit or not.

That’s all today. Take care.

Bye!

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