Kimberly A. Cook

Military Romance Author

Kimberly A Cook

Sorting, Winter Projects And Too Many T-Shirts?

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by Kimberly A. Cook                (Twitter@  WarriorTales)

Spent part of Halloween weekend sorting my clothes closet for trash and treasure. Found some of both. What started this adventure was tight jeans. Some fit, some don’t, so I did the grand jean try-on rodeo. Once that was done, then I sorted shoes, sweaters, workout pants and things snowballed.

Bead treasures to sort. Bring on the rains. Okay, not all the rain in one day.
Bead treasures to sort. Bring on the rains. Okay, not all the rain in one day.

One of the excesses I came across were t-shirts. How many does one person need? Add the fact I only wear them for yard work or gardening and I have way too many. Some oldies but goodies I’ve worn so much they’re rags, so those might become a pillow. Or not.

It was a trip down memory lane looking at the different sayings, symbols and jokes on the shirts. Not parting with the Harley t-shirts. Not yet. I used to buy these shirts travelling, but I’ve moved on to refrigerator magnets and now even those are out of hand. I have to rotate the stock on the frig.

My reward for all of this sorting and cleaning was to escape into my office/craft room and play with my latest bead and yarn purchases. Turns out I hadn’t sorted the last batch of goodies from the July bead show. Finished that since the bead show is here again this month. Bead therapy, that‘s what I call it.

Geode tragedy. Special glue and determination will get me through. And leftover Halloween candy.
Geode tragedy. Special glue and determination will get me through. And leftover Halloween candy.

I also girded myself to assess the casualty from my thunderegg trip. I’d bought my largest geode pair yet at the Richardson Rock Ranch. I fell in love with it.

Unfortunately, I was carrying several bags when unpacking and of the two small bags slipped and hit the floor. The geode missed the carpet and landed on the kitchen floor. Argh! One half broke apart, a tiny ding in the other.

The special rock glue is here now and it’s time to try and figure out this puzzle project. Not today, but this winter. Plenty of time for indoor craft projects now that the dark and stormy nights have arrived.

Got winter projects? Too many t-shirts? Sort away all!

Spec Ops Cat kept trying to find a quiet spot to sleep while IO was sorting, cleaning and vacuuming. The indignity of it all.
Spec Ops Cat kept trying to find a quiet spot to sleep while I was sorting, cleaning and vacuuming. You can tell from his expression he’s not happy about the indignity of it all.

Candy, Scary Weather And Ghostbusters!

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by Kimberly A. Cook                  (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Walking across the quad at the day job yesterday I happened upon a Ghostbuster. Full outfit. Not something I normally see on the job, but later I ran into him again at a retirement party. You never know when you might need to call one.

Big wet weather weekend, scary wind and Halloween make for the perfect time to stay in and watch movies. I’m not a fan of horror, so this 80s classic movie is much more my style. The only challenge with watching with today’s generation is going to be trying to explain a library card catalog!

Turn up the volume and dance around the house. It’s Ghostbusters time!

Have a great weekend and Happy Halloween Eve Quirky Friday!

Curiosity Begets Creativity?

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by Kimberly A. Cook                 (Twitter@  WarriorTales)

A couple Sundays ago I dragged, er invited my author buddy Cindy Hiday to go see author Elizabeth Gilbert talk abut her new book “Big Magic – Creative Living Beyond Fear” on her book tour.

My reading copy on the left, I take the dust cover off. My autographed copy on the right which lives on the special signed first editions keeper shelf in my office. Very "Big Magic" indeed.
My reading copy on the left, I take the dust cover off. My autographed copy on the right which lives on the special signed first editions keeper shelf in my office. Very “Big Magic” indeed.

I was so excited to attend even on a Sunday night in downtown Portland. On our way into the theater I saw piles of books. We were each given one. Seventh heaven. I’d already bought the book and had been reading it using pink highlighter and flag tags, but this one was autographed. Yeah!

Listened to Liz read from “Big Magic” and then she answered questions from a huge stack of audience question cards. It was a fun and brilliant evening which ended with everyone singing “Country Roads” with the help of John Denver piped into the theater. Perfect.

It’s so nice to hear an accomplished author speak about creativity as a good thing which everybody has and not some burden guaranteed to drive us all nuts. Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book so far.

“(because in the end, creativity is a gift to the creator, not just a gift to the audience).”

“You do not need anybody’s permission to live a creative life.”

“Possessing a creative mind, after all, is something like having a border collie for a pet: It needs to work, or else it will cause you an outrageous amount of trouble.”  

‘If you’re alive, you’re a creative person.”

“I’m talking about living a life that is driven more strongly by curiosity than by fear.”

That last one really hit me in the brain. Wow. I am a very curious person and I’m never more happy than following some research topic or article down the rabbit hole in search of something new. The act of discovery through curiosity is better than chocolate.

Plus fear sucks, so let’s all bypass it with curiosity. Liz Gilbert rocks! I am reading her book in little bits each night before bed, savoring it like a pint of Rocky Road ice cream. If you’re looking for a good book about the joy of creativity, this book is for you.

“Big Magic” is divided into six parts; Courage, Enchantment, Permission, Persistence, Trust and Divinity. There are topics ranging from road trips to fairy dust. Who can argue with fairy dust? Put it on your wish list for Santa or snap it up now for yourself.

Got curiosity? You’re creative!

Pumpkin Hockey For Big Cats?

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by Kimberly A. Cook            (Twitter@  WarriorTales)

The holidays are almost upon us with Halloween rushing up first. What better way to consider how to prepare your pumpkins than to watch what the Big Cats do with them. Lots of pumpkin hockey going on at Big Cat Rescue in Florida this time of year.

Take a look at the big kitty hijinks and see if you local in-house domestic tiger might enjoy the same fun. Time to get carving people!

Have a great weekend and Happy Quirky Friday!

Skulls, Halloween Candy And Tiaras?

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by Kimberly A. Cook          (Twitter@  WarriorTales)

This year is flying by and I realized I don’t have any Halloween decorations up at home. My last luncheon visit to my favorite antique store I stumbled upon this snappy skull dressed with a tiara. Now I’m not that thrilled with skulls, but I’m a big fan of tiaras so I had to take a pic. Decorating idea. In my case the tiara would be on a pumpkin. A baby pumpkin.

Skull with tiara. I was not kidding!
Skull with tiara. I was not kidding.

I won a pumpkin decorating contest at the day job one year with a miniature pumpkin decked out in a mini Santa hat and sunglasses. No carving even. I’m lazy. It’s all in the presentation folks.

Organizing the candy shelf at home this past weekend, it used to be a bowl but it grew, I unearthed some leftover candy from last Halloween. Not sure how that happened, but miracles do occur during the holidays.

The sunrises and sunsets are getting closer together now and all I want to do is hunker down with a book, bottle and blankie. My bottle would be filled with chocolate milk. I’m a wild one! With the urge to hibernate coming on, I focus on the holidays to distract me from the short dark days. Plus I look forward to staying inside and reading.

A member of my writer group mentioned there might be another pumpkin shortage. I went straight to the store and loaded up on Libby’s canned pumpkin and Carnation evaporated milk. Safe for another year. I may still have some pumpkin leftover from the last shortage scare. Might this be a marketing ploy at some point?

I also picked up a new pumpkin spice muffin mix I saw at the grocery store. Plus I’m on the hunt for my special pumpkin chips I can buy only at this time of the year. Which is another reason why the repair person will be installing a new motor in my treadmill in a week; I actually killed the motor. Heaven knows I cannot go into the holidays without a working treadmill. It’s the calorie grazing season!

Hope you all are enjoying your pre-Halloween test candy so we can all go out and buy the real Halloween candy for the treaters.

Happy Snacking? Got candy? Run for the pumpkin products too!

Star Wars Jedi Chipmunks Anyone?

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by Kimberly A. Cook          (Twitter@  WarriorTales)

I’m in such an alpaca mood this week I wanted to continue the theme and post that fabulous alpaca Star Wars video I used before, but thought I’d see if anything else caught my fancy. Star Wars Jedi Chipmunks!

These little furry fellas are really going for it in this battle. I hope everything worked out okay and no Jedi chipmunks were hurt during the filming. I’ve really got to go to film school and learn how to do this. May the Farce be with you!

Have a great weekend and Happy Quirky Friday!

https://youtu.be/fu-jyoBGsUU