Tag: NaBloPoMo2019

Writer’s Workshop for 11.07.2019 on 11.08.2019

(NaBloPoMo Day 5)

It’s been a pretty hectic week. Felt bad on Monday, was sick on Tuesday, worked the double shift Wednesday, pretty much passed out after work because I was still sick, and now here I am. I’m bringing my Mama Kat’s Pretty Much World Famous Writer’s Workshop post to the table a day late, partly because I wanted to post about my son’s birthday yesterday, but mostly because I am unprepared and was too tired to pull anything together at the 11th hour Wednesday night.

The prompt I chose this week was “Create a list of activities you’d like to accomplish this fall.”

I’m all about lists, so let’s have at it:

  • Get my aunt’s home sold. This blog is just basically about me getting my aunt’s estate settled now. What am I going to write about once that’s all done?
  • Return to Memphis when the moon is full, and go take more pics at The Lookout at the Pyramid. But first, maybe I ought to share all my photos from my first trip to the Pyramid.
  • Start my kitchen-to-eat-in-kitchen and dining-room-to-office/workroom transformations. But Oh. Em. GEEEEEEE, there’s so much cleaning and purging to do! Cleaning off my desk/work table. Relocating it to the dining room. Relocating the dining table to the kitchen. Cleaning out and relocating the vintage desk, which currently serves as a kitchen island of sorts. Moving other furniture around. And that’s just to get the projects started.
  • Publish an updated thrift list. I like to make lists of the items I want/need from thrift stores, yard sales, etc., since I really don’t like mainstream home shopping too much.
  • Make the rest of my homemade cleaners. Remember when I posted my cleaning vinegar recipe, and how I used a repurposed liquor bottle to store it? Well, I’m making more cleaners, planning on posting more recipes for them, and using more repurposed liquor bottles and other vintage containers to hold them, and have what I think is a pretty neat display idea to put together once I’ve amassed a few different ones. I’m keeping the idea hush-hush for now. It’s not ground-breaking or anything, but I still don’t want to give it away before its time.
  • Keep to my NaBloPoMo goal. I only committed to weekdays, and I’m trying my best.
  • Finishing AT LEAST one book and reviewing it. I love to read, but tend to only read when trying to fall asleep at night. As a result, it takes me a while to get anything read. However, I love book blogging, so I am reading books for review here on the blog and over at GoodReads.
  • A few hikes with the family before the weather gets too cold. Because even though I am in the south and the winters are quite mild, it’s still too cold for me most of the fall/winter.
  • Keep purging the things I no longer need/want! This one is so, so important. I’m bringing family heirlooms home from my aunt’s as well as some projects to put together. I need to get rid of stuff ASAP, so I am getting things ready to donate, and if I’m lucky, re-opening my Etsy Shop and selling off some of my treasures.

But if we’re being completely honest? I’ll be so happy just to get all my various email accounts marked as “all read” and my downloads folder cleared out.

Which activities do YOU hope to accomplish this fall?

Featured image courtesy Olichel on Pixabay

Taking my small victories where I can

(NaBloPoMo Day 3)

On Monday, I felt queasy and gross and “off” all day long. Tuesday morning I woke up with a headache, swollen throat, fever, and a slightly bloody nose. I don’t know what was going on. It could have been viral, or it could have been a side effect of getting used to the cooler temperatures and having heat on in the house. But seeing as Wednesday is my double shift, and I can NOT call out for my double shifts, I called out Tuesday in the hopes of beating this illness back with rest, OTC meds, orange juice, and the book I’ve been trying to finish for a while now.

As it turns out, that is a good time to reflect on all the good things – the small victories – I’ve been fortunate enough to have here lately:

  • I am inching ever closer to the date I can let my aunt’s house go.
  • My water-drinking game is still on point. I never thought I’d see the day when I preferred water to all else, but here I am! And I hope those days are here to stay.
  • I’ve found two new shows I love: See and The Morning Show. I know the latter has been getting some pretty brutal reviews, but obviously I love it.
  • I have FINALLY – after fifteen years of living here – decided how to best utilize my home’s layout! I can’t wait to get to work to make it all come together, as this really has seemed a lot like a temporary residence for most of these fifteen years. That’s all a story for another post, though….and that post may have to help me meet my NaBloPoMo goal at some point.
  • My credit score is still holding steady – and should be set to improve here soon, as I’m about to make my third on-time car payment. I will never take good credit for granted again.
  • I was waiting in line at CVS the other day to have my Advair prescription refilled, when they told me that there is now a generic for Advair (Wixela), and my insurance covered it 100%. I have been waiting a dozen years for a generic alternative to Advair!
  • Aristotle, our 70 pound pit bull, decided he did not like the neighbor’s dogs barking at him, and ran so hard he snapped out of his collar to meet them at their fence. It took me a while, but I was finally able to wrestle him back to our porch. In work clothes and on a full bladder, natch! And the strain of it surprisingly didn’t cause me empty it. Not even a little bit, y’all! And my work clothes remained clean. If that’s not a win, then I don’t know what is!

It’s too easy to get overwhelmed by the stressful things in life, so yes, I do think I’ll take my small victories when and wherever they happen.

What small victories are YOU thankful for these days?

Featured image courtesy Shad0wfall on Pixabay

It’s Day Two of NaBloPoMo

(NaBloPoMo Day 2)

…for me, anyway, as I only committed to weekdays. And can you believe I already feel like tapping out? I bet you can.

This one’s going to be short and sweet, as I don’t have much to say at this moment. I felt queasy most of the day, then came home and made homemade dog food, which I forgot to photograph for a post. I looked for one from before so that I could share the recipe, but came up empty-handed.

I’ll remember next time – I’ll be making more homemade dog food this weekend, and will be sure to photograph it then.

In the meantime? Behold this small collection of really rad postcards I got from the U.S. Space & Rocket Center a few years ago to send out with my Etsy orders:

Music Monday for 11.04.2019 – Some Firsts

(NaBloPoMo Day 1)

Howdy!

It’s the first Music Monday of November, my first NaBloPoMo post (see my post about NaBloPoMo here.), and since this is a freebie week for Monday’s Music Moves Me, I thought I’d post a small playlist of first songs released by some bands I love. Keep in mind that these are not necessarily their first commercially successful singles, though.

R.E.M. – “Gardening At Night”

Thirty Seconds To Mars – “Capricorn (A Brand New Name)”

The Black Crowes – “Jealous Again”

Nine Inch Nails – “Down In It”

Alice In Chains – “We Die Young”

What are YOU listening to this first weekend in November?

Featured image courtesy ponce_photography on Pixabay

Hello, NaBloPoMo 2019!

Here is my obligatory first post for NaBloPoMo 2019, where I tell you once again that I’m going to try really hard to do all thirty days, but am only committing to weekdays and in 2018 I bailed before even accomplishing that. I may also throw some posts up on weekends, too, but let me not get ahead of myself here.

I’ve been doing this a few years with various blogs of mine, and it has always been a struggle. Last year (I think) I decided to only commit to weekdays. I did bail last year, but I feel like committing to weekdays is still a good goal. I do have more to say this year, and I will probably also may re-issue some of my posts from past blogs (especially The ReInVintaged Life) in order to get posts I don’t want gone forever on this blog.

Can I do it? Will I do it? Who knows? But I’d like to try. For the first time in several years, I find my thoughts and words coming more freely. They may not always be funny, entertaining, informational, or significant, but they will always be authentic.

This post from ashadornfest.com pretty much sums up why I’m hoping more people will start blogging again, and she made this really cool graphic to promote posts:

Are YOU participating in NaBloPoMo this year?

If you are, grab the graphic from Asha’s site, leave your link, read and comment on the other participants’s posts, and spread your own on social media with hashtag #NaBloPoMo2019! Also, I am thinking about compiling a list of participants – if you want your blog shared here and on the Storms and Stardust FB Page, leave your link and a short description of your blog or your niche, or whatever you’d want readers to know about it, and I will share!

Happy NaBloPoMo-ing! #NaBloPoMo2019