Military Romance Author
by Kimberly A. Cook
Gave up making resolutions years ago. I work with goals and try to fool myself. For those of us who did make resolutions and they are broken, blame it on the cat.
Check out how Simon’s cat is helping with resolutions.
Happy Quirky Friday everybody! Have a great, safe, long weekend.
by Kimberly A. Cook
At the end of each year my friend Carol and I say, “Next year we’re getting organized.” We’ve been saying that for more than thirty years now. I don’t think it’s taken. Not for lack of trying mind you. It comes down to stuff and paper. No matter how I try, eventually one day I’m overwhelmed. Today could be that day.
It’s a constant battle. Stuff I can rotate and control to some degree; I purge clothes and books on a regular basis. Kitchen items and towels are a little harder. But paper really takes the cake.
One of the hazards of being a writer is clipping newspaper articles, hoarding books, keeping travel handouts and collecting office supplies. When you have a Scrat brain, every handout, business card and coupon can spark an idea.
Going digital hasn’t helped. The number of bookmark folders on my Samsung tablet alone are mind boggling. So I keep trying.
Add to the mix my Mom’s recent move and all kinds of interesting stuff ended up in my house to process. Of course, that has forced me to get rid of the leftover garage sale items to Goodwill so Subie can actually open her doors inside the garage.
Now, truth be told, if I hadn’t dragged home the wooden park bench from my Mom’s backyard that needs refinishing, the garage would have been okay. Kinda. But once I sand it, scrub it and paint it pink, it will make a fabulous addition to the fairy rock garden this summer. My name is Kim and I’m a project-aholic.
But paper. Yuck. Almost finished sorting the receipts for taxes. Now that is a land speed record for me to have that done in January. Go me.
But, it’s raining and dark outside. A new box of jewelry goodies I ordered has been open for two weeks and I haven’t been able to play with it yet. Its siren song is calling me across the office. Then I have a bunch of Hallmark holiday movies still clogging my DVR.
Plus those Christmas cookies never got baked and the ingredients are still waiting on the kitchen counter. Playing with jewelry parts, watching a movie and eating fresh baked cookies. Forget the paperwork for today.
I’m sure I’ll need to follow Spec Ops Cat’s lead and take a nap too.
Tomorrow I’m going to get organized! How about you?
by Kimberly A. Cook
If you’ve got boxes left over from the holidays and want to make your cat happy, how about making this giant ball pit? With the NFL playoff games this weekend, it will seem like you’re doing something while watching tv. Making the cat happy? Priceless.
Cole and Marmalade show how to get aerobic with this new contraption. I think Cole has some killer pool shark moves.
Hope your first week of the new year was good and you didn’t freeze your giblets off. Totally cold in the old USA right now. We are at a balmy 40 degrees with rain expected in Oregon, so we’re having a heat wave compared to everybody else.
Keep warm, make toys for your cats and have a great weekend. Happy Quirky Friday!
by Kimberly A. Cook
The 2018 brand new clean slate is here. It’s like putting on a new dress for the first time, all expectations and perfect fit. To top off the start of the new year, we had a full Wolf Moon last night and we get another one the end of this month, an official Blue Moon. A two-fer!
The daylight is getting longer by a whopping seven minutes and I couldn’t be happier. Dreams of Fairy Rock Garden plans and lawn swing lazy days are just around the corner. Even for Pennsylvania. The daffodils will rise again. The crocuses are peaking their pointy heads out right now. At least in Oregon.
Resolutions are not my thing, I make goals. So when I transferred to my 2018 calendar I laughed when I noticed my 2017 goals would be my 2018 goals too. Not sure if that is efficient or unrealistic. Big goals? Get healthy, write and play. Then I have four smaller goals for the three big goals.
I worked on the smaller goals in 2017, but did not complete any. No matter what plans we make, life happens. So recycling 2017 goals is not a bad thing; it keeps me moving forward.
Reading the book “Transitions – Making Sense of Life’s Changes (Second Edition)” by William Bridges right now, recommended by a friend. Really enjoying it. Bridges talks about the three phases of transition:
I’ve always found that phase two confusion and distress period annoying. I liken it to that time right before I make a big decision; it feels like I’ve thrown chum into shark infested waters and I can’t figure out what to do while swimming with the frenzied sharks – very stressful.
Two questions Bridges asks at the end of Chapter Four really have me thinking.
Great questions right? This book has been out for years and you can find it in the library, but I like to have my own reference copy. Pink highlighter is a way of life for me and they frown on that in library books.
So looking ahead to 2018, how will you answer questions one and two above? I like them because while we may not have figured out where we’re going, we can consider what to shed and what might be sitting next to us as options.
So when we feel like we’re floating around with feeding sharks, it’s nice to know other folks are out their bobbing along with us. Nobody has this all figured out.
Life evolves, whether we choose the transition or not. So, here’s to a great 2018 for all of us. Transitions Ho!
by Kimberly A. Cook
It has been a really nutty year. Many times I felt like we were in a squirrel rodeo combined with a rat race and a bad SciFi movie. Imagine my delight to find out we are not alone, even the squirrels have wacko race events.
While we kick 2017 to the curb to start a shiny New Year on Monday, let’s practice the Golden Rule, be kind to others and help each other out. We’ve got work to do to save the polar bears and each other in 2018.
But this weekend it is chips and dip time. Regroup and gear up.
Happy New Year and Happy Quirky Friday! Hugs to you all!
by Kimberly A. Cook
Happy Boxing Day! It’s a balmy 28 degrees here in Oregon and the ice and leftover snow are still on the roofs in my neighborhood. The unexpected freezing rain on Christmas Eve turned into fluffy snow in the late afternoon.
Geared up with crampons on my boots and cookies and eggnog in my backpack, I hoofed it over to my Mom’s house at 2:30 p.m. for Christmas Eve eggnog and cookies. Walked carefully since one does not want to fall on their eggnog. The Army did teach me to find my feet on the ice. The walk back home through fluffy white snow and the quiet that only a holiday with a blanket of white can bring was magical.
An emergency run for take-and-bake pizza on Christmas Eve morning by my sister worked out well to pre-position food for the holiday. We went with super easy Christmas dinner this year. Christmas pizza a first for us. It was wonderful with eggnog and cookies, plus some salad thrown in for good measure. Plus dark chocolate. ALWAYS dark chocolate.
So I played with my camera and thought I’d share some pics from our little weather event. Forecast for more freezing rain, snow, sleet, locusts tonight. Something like that. So here are pics from a lazy photographer who basically stands on the front or back porch and takes photos. I blame the pizza and eggnog.
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