random hump day post

Managing a day when Mercury goes into retrograde…

When I woke up and was about to take a shower, I noticed for who-knows-how-many times that a button was missing off my pajama pants. (I have a tendency to call procrastination “don’t sweat the small stuff.”) This time, I did something about it before my shower.

I found this coloring book recently, and as it was within my sight, I looked through it.

Most of the pages are pretty detailed, and this one appealed to me. It makes me think of my fictional Texas town, Coventry.

Then I was all NO! You need to get ready to write. So I grabbed the yellow book that has all the notes for the first chapters of the seventh book. And that’s the CD I ordered and will be listening to next of various artists performing John Prine’s songs.

I had to make a decision. Start writing, in which I would get lost for the day and into the night, or do some of the holiday things that need to be done soon (mostly mailing things out).

I spent a few hours in the kitchen pre-cooking tonight’s dinner and prepping the dough for cheese straws, some of which will be shipped.

Little dough balls for the cheese straws for Tom later to season with pepper and form into larger dough balls for pressing through the cookie presser.

They look like this pre-baked.

And then like this.

Sometime during the day I ran a shopping errand and an impulse item I grabbed was this little metal tray.

So that I could make the dining room table more festive and NOT a catchall place for the stuff I’m trying to get done.

I filled the tray with unshelled pecans, and I usually put those with Hersheys Miniatures as a snack for anyone who’ll sit with me and shell pecans. Since I had no Miniatures, I dropped in Kisses. (Shelling pecans is a zen activity in that it relaxes me and makes me reminisce about good times when I was growing up.)

There are picks and nutcrackers in that cup. That beautiful maple bowl is one made by Tom’s father and gifted to us. The table runner is a gift from Lynne (the reverse side has a fall theme).


Added an older dish to the other end of the table.

For the time being, it has the favorite candies of Tom, Tim, and Debby in it. This will change at Christmas.

Throughout the day, I worked on addressing Christmas cards. I’ve been sending them out in groups every other day. Now I have a few more and a package ready to go out, as well as contents for seven packages that I’ll box and ship tomorrow.

And…no writing got done, but a lot of other things did, and we had a good home-cooked meal, so it was time well spent.

Tiny Tuesday!

Today is the New Moon in Sagittarius. Here’s a link to a video from Kevin at Houston’s Body Mind and Soul if this interests you. You can also Google for lots more information on any of that, including this year specifically.

I like to focus on setting an intention (sometimes more than one) when it’s a New Moon. These were my little helpers: sandalwood incense, a quartz wand to help me direct my intention, a garnet and ruby, mentioned as helpful by Kevin, and a tiger eye pendulum that seemed to want to come along and help me clear the stones before working with them.

I’m not affiliated with any particular dogma or study. I don’t do these things to affect other people or even outcomes. I do them when I need to feel more at peace with myself and the world; when I start feeling bogged down and want to be clear of those things I think negatively impact me; and when I hope to direct my own positive actions.

Also, Mercury goes retrograde Wednesday (tomorrow, December 13), and I see it as a good time to reflect and seek clarity. In a season as busy as this one, carving out some stillness is good for… well, body, mind, and soul.

Button Sunday

December 10 is Human Rights Day.
Human Rights Day was established to commemorate The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) that was created in 1948.

The creation of this document was a shout across the world by the leading countries in the world, stating loud and clear that no matter where we live, what we believe, or how we love, we are each individually deserving of the most basic fundamentals of human needs.

You can learn more about Human Rights Day on the United Nations website.

Old Texas

I’ve tried in vain to find information online for this utility box mini mural on Bunker Hill Road. It’s an often-used image in Texas art: a longhorn in a field of bluebonnets.

I remember on long road trips when I was a kid that my sister used to sing this song as part of her car songs repertoire. Never dreamed back then we’d both one day live in the Lone Star State.

Hump Day

Wednesday, and the writing is slow, but it is happening. This has been the writing playlist.


Prince: Purple Rain; 1999; and The Very Best of Prince.

And one of my favorite songwriters of always.

John Prine: John Prine and The Missing Years. The third CD, Broken Hearts and Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine, Vol. 2, is a tribute compilation with other artists singing his songs. Because he died at the very beginning of the pandemic in 2020, they couldn’t gather and reminisce and mourn him as they wanted. So they did this instead.

“I Remember Everything” – Brandi Carlile
“Pretty Good” – Nathaniel Rateliff
“Saddle in the Rain” – Amanda Shires
“Yes I Guess They Oughta Name A Drink After You” – Tyler Childers
“Sweet Revenge” – Margo Price
“Summer’s End” – Valerie June
“Souvenirs” – Jason Isbell
“Angel from Montgomery” – Bonnie Raitt
“Sam Stone” – John Paul White
“One Red Rose” – Iris DeMent
“Hello in There” – Emmylou Harris
“Paradise” – Sturgill Simpson

And looking at this, I realized it’s Vol 2, so now I’ve ordered Vol 1 to add to my collection. Overall, I just need more of John Prine’s music. It’s on my list.

I first heard that song on an 8-track tape belonging to my college roommate Debbie, though it came out before we were in college. The artist was Bette Midler; the album, The Divine Miss M. Made me sad the first time I heard it and still makes me sad.