Tag: dogs

Every morning…

…I play games. It began with one game, Spelling Bee, in my news feed. I didn’t play it the way other people played it. I had a single goal (there can be several with this game), and I waited until the next day to learn if I’d accomplished my goal (you can get immediate online solutions from many sources, but for me, waiting was a deliberate exercise in patience). I thought of the game as my mental acuity test: How well is my brain working this morning?

Through my same newsfeed, I started checking out Connections, and I was surprisingly good at it and got even better over time. Occasionally, I only correctly guess all four groups because the fourth is made up of my leftover choices, but once I see the answer, it makes sense, and I realized I sometimes have to put my logic aside and try to guess the game creators’ logic.

When the online game Wordle took off in 2022, I briefly glanced at it, but it didn’t grab me at the time. I knew several people who played, including Tom, Jim, and Timmy. Then, for whatever reason, Jim, Timothy, and I began talking about Wordle since Jim played it, and the next thing that happened was that both Tim and I began playing, and he, Jim, and I began sharing our game results in our ongoing text thread.

Online games are a slippery slope. Among the three of us, we are now playing and sharing our scores for:

And those include daily and weekly Quordle, and daily and deluxe Waffle. Other than Framed, all of them are word games (none of us, as far as I know, has interest in Sudoku, which is Tom’s numbers game, and so far, we haven’t ventured into any online crosswords games). We each have our games we’re strongest at, and let me assure you, Framed, in which you get six chances to identify a film based on six still photos from that film, is NOT my strong game. To entertain myself despite my abysmal ignorance of so many movies, I make up titles or choose actual movie titles that are so far from the actual movie that I have a secret hope the game creators have some kind of algorithm that provides them with the worst/silliest guesses.


However, it’s possible Framed has had a different impact on me. I’ve become aware of a lot of movies I might enjoy, and as a result. I’ve decided the summer months, when Houston’s heat is so daunting, will officially be  Ethan Hawke Summer. When I need a mid-afternoon writing break, and I want some passive entertainment, I’ve started a list of Ethan Hawke movies the dogs and I can watch together.

As long as Ethan doesn’t interfere with my morning games (they take about fifteen minutes total to play) and my daily writing/research or cause me to burn things in the kitchen, this should work out (and possibly save me from some of the trauma of election season).

Saturday’s Belated Birthday Brunch


Rhonda, Lindsey, and Pepper joined Tom, Debby, Timothy, me, and the hounds for a brunch celebrating my March birthday. There was food, conversation, cake, present-opening (The Brides brought gifts for all the birthdays missed in December, February, and the upcoming May birthday because they won’t be here), and then there were games and more conversations.

Timothy, Lindsey wearing her houndstooth Chucks, Rhonda, Tom, and Debby enduring me taking another photo when they just wanted to eat.

A really fun and much needed day with friends that I appreciated so much!

Song Challenge: Day 20

First off, happy birthday to our friend Steve C. When Tom, Tim, and I played cards with Jim last night, we reminisced about several other visits we’ve shared since we met in 1997, including one in which Jim, Tim, and Steve were all in Houston. A photo we mentioned was one in which Steve wanted to pose with our dachshunds Pete and Stevie to duplicate a photo we took of them with Tom’s brother Jeff once. Why? Because Pete had a tendency to dislike and nip strangers, but he was always fine with Jeff. Steve wanted to prove that Pete would be fine with him, too. It worked, and he got his photo.

But my favorite photo is one in which I asked them to pose like the Valley of the Dolls publicity shot. The original:

And Valley of the Dolls: Becky’s Version.

Today’s song challenge is “a song that has many meanings to you.” Dionne Warwick’s “(Theme From) Valley of the Dolls” does have many meanings to me. It’s in my iTunes library and I hear it a lot in my car.

Button Sunday and Song Challenge, Day 10

Hope everyone remembered to set their clocks forward last night before bed. Today’s song challenge is “a song that makes you sad.” For me, “Time in a Bottle” is a song many people call romantic, but I’ve always heard it as sad, so that’s how it makes me feel.


Yesterday, we had to say goodbye to Debby’s Stewie, who just a few days ago celebrated his seventeenth birthday. He’s had health issues the last few months and among other things, struggled with his appetite. Today, the staff at Gulf Coast offered him a little feast of birthday cake and ice cream, among other goodies, and he loved the bacon. It was already gone from his tray in this photo! He also enjoyed a bit of the birthday cake and ice cream and ate all the Cheetos before his gentle, loving goodbye. Debby’s going to miss the dog she called “the little Frenchman” so much.

Stewie was originally her grandchildren’s dog. When they had to give him up, she invited him to live with her. He and her big black lab Harley became good friends. Harley died in 2019, also on March 9. Now they’re together again.


We may not be able to save time in a bottle, but it has no power over the bonds of love.

Song Challenge: Day 2

Delta and Anime are waiting for a call from the 1980s.

An ear worm has been on my mind for a few days, since I used the music on an Instagram post with that photo and caption. From 1982, when phone calls were still a dime, I bring you Tommy Tutone.

Here are all 30 days of challenges if you want to play along somewhere or in my comments with a song title containing numbers.

Late but sweet

Yes, it’s been two weeks since Valentine’s Day. Yes, I understand the perspective that it’s a manufactured holiday meant to make people spend money on flowers and candy and jewelry and dining out and trips, etc. And it makes some people feel lonely and alone, or resentful for being expected to feel lonely and alone, when they are actually quite content with their lives. So here’s a message from the bottom of my heart–or the bottom of my Hershey’s Kisses.

Love is love. Celebrate it any day or every day with friends, family members, family pets, and romantic partners. Or just celebrate because Snoopy was created, and he’s amazing.

Photo Friday, No. 896

Current Photo Friday theme: Pandemic

On the Photo Friday site, when they gave the theme, they asked these questions: What subjects captivated your attention? Did the pandemic influence your photography?

Below is why I chose a current “selfie” as my photo.

The pandemic made my world smaller. Prior to the shutdown, I had a career that kept me busy 10 to 14 hours a day. Part of my volunteer work for that organization involved shooting photos of rescued dogs, cats, the occasional pig, and a few other surprising creatures, three times a week. I had plans to transition out of my volunteer photography for them so I could travel more in 2020. But early in the year, the organization laid off a majority of the staff, including me, because of the pandemic. Like many others, I quarantined. I didn’t travel. I adjusted to life without the income from the paying part of my job and without the coworkers who inspired me. My world became what was around me, so that’s what I photographed: my home, family who lives on the same property, and our dogs. I found ways to photograph my hobbies (collecting dolls, listening to music, reading, journaling, painting, homemaking, blogging), and my passion: writing fiction.

When the pandemic shifted in 2021 and the world began opening up, other than seeing more friends, not a lot changed because I decided to retire. I still don’t travel. I haven’t been bothered by the slow march of lines up and down and across my face. I didn’t care when my hair, that for twenty years had its roots colored brunette, and later to strands of brunette and blonde, became gray and white during the pandemic. I’m grateful to be here and for all that I have. I try to adapt to and deal with the challenges. I still mostly photograph what’s around me.

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.