Tag: family

Brunch

Tom and I had a great time cooking, eating, and socializing today with Rhonda, Lindsey, and Timothy. (Debby wasn’t able to join, so Jack and even Delta hung out with her and Stewie for a bit, and we sent her a plate of goodies and dessert.) Lots of cooking happened, like some Millennium Falcon waffles from Tom.

Pretty sure Pepper was hoping for a handout.

We also had pancakes from Rhonda and a quiche from Lindsey. I baked Jim’s popular egg casserole, and we had lots of fresh fruit and bacon. It was good to be together and catch up, because it’s been way too long.

Also, we were celebrating Lindsey’s birthday, so of course there was cake!

She got the unicorn decoration to keep. I didn’t want any chocolate frosting staining those hooves, and if you’ve been around a while, you might recognize the unicorn’s “platform” from several stories about the lime slice coasters through the years.

Full Wolf Moon in Leo

I found the quote below from Elle magazine’s online site about this month’s full moon.

A cosmic shot of courage is coming our way on January 25, and we have the first full moon of 2024 to thank for it. The full wolf moon, as January’s lunation has been dubbed, is a nod to the brave packs that howl at this time of year. There’s no better full moon for finding or establishing your public voice.

The full moon is in Leo, and here’s a link to the article if you want to know how this moon affects your sign.

As I read the article, I remembered a story Marika shared with me in August of 2022. August was her birth month, and she was very proud of being a Leo. But there was another identity she embraced as well. She was drawn to the wolves in fiction and fairy tales. We had fun during the Twilight times discussing wolf versus vampire. It was Anne Rice who made me a vampire fan, and this is a lenticular print Marika sent me that changes between Twilight’s Jacob Black (wolf) and Edward Cullen (vampire) as you shift it.

I’m very glad to still have her real-life story she shared in my text messages so I can retell it. Marika worked in a big box retail store, and I’ve only lightly edited what she texted me (she wouldn’t mind–she always asked for my edits).

A little girl came in and had her face painted like a dog and I asked if she were a dog and she shook her head and said, loud and proud, “I’m a werewolf!” And I said I was a werewolf, too, and it was very important [to answer] when she heard our tribe’s call. I waited until she was in the fruit section, and I howled. And without missing a beat, she tossed back her head and howled. I howled again, and so did she.

My boss was standing behind me and said, “I didn’t know you were a werewolf.”

So when they checked out, she came running to me and whispered, “I’m glad you’re a werewolf, too,” and that’s when I told her, “In a world of unicorns, be a werewolf.” And I told her I hadn’t been really happy in a long time…but she changed that, and she was tickled. Her mother came up, and she turned around and howled again, so I did, too.

I dedicate today’s Full Wolf Moon to the Leo Marika and her reminder that whenever we need it, we can find our inner wolf strength, raise our voices to tell our stories, and call out to our pack in solidarity.

Wolf sculpture gift of Tom’s mother in the 1990s.

They got a name for the winners in the world


Delta, side-eyeing me and speaking for the pack: “We will not be moving from the heater or taking questions at this time.” I think Delta has recently been reading over my shoulder while I was writing.

Below is my writing playlist for the day, and Steely Dan had me so mellow that I might as well have been stoned. Gwen Stefani got me back to the manuscript! The Steely Dan shown here is a collection, but I’m very sure that a million years later, if someone brought in the albums Can’t Buy A Thrill or Aja, I’d be able to sing along, every word to every song. Music memory’s a funny thing.


Smashing Pumpkins, 2-CD set, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness; Steely Dan, The Definitive Collection; Gwen Stefani, Love, Angel, Music, Baby.

So much good music, but school loyalty mandates that I link to the tune I’ve chosen. Roll Tide, and we’ll miss you, Coach Saban. I was there for some of the Bear Bryant years, and you, too, became a coaching legend. Tip of the houndstooth hat to you.

Then there was Thursday

Several errands/appointments accomplished today, and though it was overcast, it was nice to be out in temperatures that aren’t brutal, especially when reading messages from family all over the country who’ve been getting it so much worse than we have in Texas (like in Colorado, Wisconsin, Utah–though the snowboarder likes it–and New Jersey) .

Speaking of New Jersey…

I’ll go ahead and put this here as the music I’ve been listening to for the last few days of writing that may continue into my first crack at the manuscript tomorrow (tomorrow’s photo is reserved for whatever theme Photo Friday throws at us).


All Bruce Springsteen: Born to Run; Darkness on the Edge of Town; Human Touch; Lucky Town; Greatest Hits; The Ghost of Tom Joad; The Rising; Magic; Working On a Dream; and Western Stars.

This doesn’t include my drowned albums Nebraska, Dancing In The Dark, The River, and Born In The USA, all of which WILL need to come back to me in some format. Bruce always feels uniquely mine in a way few other artists do. I found him at the beginning of his recording career on my own, no recommendations or friend influences, thanks to Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J., and I believed in his gifts long before anyone I knew got on board. The time when The River was new and I listened to it nonstop included an ex I’d rather forget, with whom I also saw Bruce in concert. Bruce is way more powerful than bad memories and poor judgment.

One time when I was at Half Acre Wood, I discovered that Lynne has a great live set on vinyl that I’ll find used at a sane price some day. I was dazzled when I wrote to it on one of my visits.

There’s nobody like Bruce.

A fun dedication between characters: “Let’s Be Friends.”

ETA on 1/19: After finishing up my Bruce collection, I just hit “Place Order Now.” I’ll soon have the Bruce Springsteen I lost and several I never owned. Art that brings me this kind of joy and comfort is so worth it.

Midweek

Nothing clever to say, no anecdotes, no reminiscences. Very little writing done, but I tried. Replaced a couple of small broken kitchen appliances. Was VERY happy our frozen hot water line thawed with no damages that Tom can find. The cold has abated somewhat.

Dogs just wanna get warm.

Or watch TV with Tom.

Happy birthday to somebody I still like to think about and remember. Something you once said to me is engraved on my heart in a way that will always delight me. Also, you had a nickname for me, and I may let one of my characters use it for another character.

Button Sunday

Today is Old Rock Day, which as you can read at that link, isn’t about old rock stars (though I’m equally willing to celebrate those, too). It is, as they point out, “the day that geologists and amateur rock enthusiasts take it upon themselves to show their appreciation of all things fossilized and stony.”


Here are some stones, rocks, and crystals that stay close to me every day. The pendulum at the bottom is Smoky (once nicknamed “Stony” by Jim). Smoky helps me with all my smudging and space clearing work.


Above, on the right, is a beautiful incense burner Tim gave me at Christmas. Right now, I’m burning Nag Champa (the original), and he also gave me a variety of new-to-me scents to try. So far, they’re all wonderful.

Sometimes, I also like to use Heritage Store’s Aura Smudge™ spray. I think I haven’t been doing enough of these energy rituals. Though I don’t make resolutions every year, I do try to list things I hope to work on, and as I always say, to do better, be better.

Speaking of those other rock stars, though, so that I don’t neglect them: These are the CDs that played during my recent writing efforts and reflections. Even some Stones in the mix. =)


Zero Church by Suzzy and Maggie Roche, of the Roches, which consists of songs they created from prayers; 11:11, a collection of acoustic guitar duets by Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero; The Rolling Stones, Voodoo Lounge and Stripped, the latter including some of my favorite Rolling Stones recordings; and The Very Best of the Ronettes, full of great songs.


Living In the USA; Prisoner in Disguise; Feels Like Home; ‘Round Midnight; Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind; and Greatest Hits I and II, all from the incomparable Linda Ronstadt, who I first got to see live when I was in high school and my brother took me to a Neil Young concert in Birmingham. Linda opened for Neil. I saw her again in Tuscaloosa on one of her solo tours. It’s heartbreaking that her health issues have robbed her of her beautiful voice. I haven’t replaced all of her albums that I lost in the Harvey flood, though I started by buying a couple of these used, but they aren’t in pristine shape. Sooner or later, I’ll have all that music again. She is a MUST SING ALONG for me.

Happy Caturday!


I don’t have cats, but in solidarity with those who do, I thought I’d dedicate part of today’s post to cats. Mainly because Debby gave me this cool Haunted Cat Tarot deck for Christmas. Any particular card you’d like to see?

When I took her to an appointment earlier in the week, I took this coloring book with me.

I’d already torn a page out of it at some point, and I decided to color that one. But I wasn’t sure how to color it, so I looked up various wild cats and found this one to inspire me.

Here’s how it turned out.

What I do have is dogs. The other day, after a frantic round of digging, which she isn’t supposed to do, Delta apparently found somebody’s last marble.

It’s all cleaned up and put with the other marbles now.


Meanwhile, Anime had dental surgery yesterday morning, and she’s had a miserable two days. She started drinking water again sometime around noon today, and this evening, she took some meatballs (canned dog food rolled around her regular meds and her pain med). She’s finally stopped dripping blood from her mouth and is overall a lot more comfortable tonight. Through it all, she’s been very sweet and stoic, so clearly it wasn’t her last marble Delta found.


The tree has been stripped and all the ornaments and decorations have been put away.

Except we have to find the bin that has the box that my vintage Holt Howard angel goes in. Meanwhile, I posed her with an appropriate old Southern novel that I haven’t read in decades and probably should read again.

Sometimes when I get really busy, I forget to eat. When tonight’s light meal of a BLT, half an apple, and some potato chips seemed ridiculously good, it occurred to me that I’d only eaten yogurt with the water and coffee I drank today. It was a good sandwich, though.