Fired Up, Feels Good

Hey Good Looking,

How was your day? Hopefully more on the Wednesday-ish side rather than the Monday-ish side of Tuesday.

My day was pretty great. I actually fell asleep last night with out plugging in my phone, and God woke me up this morning at 5:55. Thank goodness, because I had several things to do before my babies got here.  It’s also been a little too muggy for my liking, but still good!

After being sick and taking it easy this weekend, dang was I ready to start working out again!! That’s a sentence I didn’t think I’d say! But it’s true, once you start, and you like what you’re doing, it’s like a high, and you feel weird if you don’t do it.

I told you a few posts ago about how I came home from my nieces house, and just decided at 2:00 am to start working out. That’s pretty much all that happened. I decided to do something, and actually followed through.

This workout probably won’t win me any fitness competitions, but here is what I do (I so had to look these names up, because I had no idea what they are called. I did find this handy guide though):

20 Bicep curls (5 lb weights in each hand)

20 Standing lateral raises

20 Not sure what they are called. I put the weights behind my head, and raise them up to the ceiling.

20 Squats

20 Bicycle crunches

2 Planks

1-3 miles of walking a day

I’m pretty sure that there is something I should be doing more or less of, but this is what has worked for me. Until I played the theme from Rocky, and added 10 more reps to everything :).

The weight loss is a motivator, though not the main one. Having energy during the day is huge!! Although looking down and seeing less stomach, and putting a previously tight t-shirt on and it being loose, are also great!

Music also plays a major  part in my workout. I walk to music, usually Neil Byrne’s Pale Blu Jak, or Keith Harkin’s On Mercy Street I usually shave off a couple of minutes listening to Neil though. Hmm… I also workout to music. The most important thing thing when choosing your workout playlist, is that it has to have a beat to it. It’s hard to do squats to Chopin, although I’m sure you could.

I wanted to share a few music videos with ya’ll tonight, before I batten down the hatches and brace for another round of Texas storms.

#1. Here is the Celtic Thunder (of course) song that got me up and going in the first place:

#2. Gonna Fly – The Theme From Rocky. Of course you’ll get stronger, it’s Rocky!!!

#3. And last but certainly not least, The Theme from The Unit. This is probably my favorite song to work out to. Plus, as a Texan, I love how he says Fired up ;). This version is a bit slow, the one you find on ITunes is faster.

I hope I have given you a little motivation to get started working out, and “moving” to a healthier you. Remember to check with your Dr first, and only do as many reps as you can. Then when you reach the point that you can’t do anymore, do just one more.

Tweet your girl!  Or Facebook Moi!

Well, save me a Diet Coke friend! Blessings and peace!

Helen

For Beginners

Howdy,

How was your weekend? All ready to get ‘r’ done today, are we? Alrighty then!

This weekend, I found out that the flu really likes my family. It just moved all in, put it’s feet up on the coffee table, and took over the TV. So the past few days have been filled with waaayy too many Hallmark movies, and an over abundance of sleeping/laying on the couch. I’m so ready to start working out and writing again today. Woohoo!!

On Sunday, since I missed my local church service, I got to watch one of my favorite pastors Pete Wilson of Cross Point church in Nashville TN. He spoke on the subject of following the dreams God has put on your heart. I don’t think I have ever heard a pastor speak on a subject like that before. Please take the time to watch his message.

When I was a little kid, I would pretend that I was writing on my mom’s typewriter box (pre-laptops, son). I always wanted to be the secretary instead of the boss, when I played office, because she got to write. Notebooks were my favorite gifts.

Later on in my teens, I kept a yellow legal pad with me, and wrote stories on it all the time. I’m not entirely sure what happened between then and now. Like pastor Pete says, I think creativity gets un-learned.

I remember someone very close to me asking in my 20’s, what I wanted to do with my life. I told them that I wanted to be a writer. “You know, I just don’t see you as a writer,” they said.

Now, I have ghost written articles and was paid for them, and penned four Christmas plays that people rehearsed, performed, and came to see year after year. But I still remember that conversation word for word.

They say that it takes 1 negative comment to cancel 6 compliments. But I think that’s giving the negative words way too much power in our minds. I can’t for sure tell you that that what took me so long to start writing again. Because a lot for me was also fear and laziness. I have to own my responsibilities, and mistakes too.

Thing is, any and all of us are capable of doing something truly great. We just choose not to. And at the end of our lives, we won’t have the luxury of excuses. Fear, negative words, hurt feeling, and low expectations will all fade away. We will just be asked to explain what we did with the talent our Maker gave us. I plan to have an answer.

Mondays are for starting. Mondays are for new beginners.

“I’ve been scared to death of failing, scared that I’d look like a fool. And I’d rather quit than risk that I could lose. Now I’m not proud of that position, but it’s the hand that I’ve been dealt. And as far as I’m concerned that hand can go to hell. 

Chase me down outside of Georgia, I was sure that I was done. Something in me would not turn around and run. Heard the Lord in California, I remember who I was and I learned to dance with the fear that I’d been running from.” –Ben Rector 

Save me a Diet Coke friend. Blessings and peace!

Helen

Music, Love And A Whole Lot Of Jesus

Hello,

I sincerely hope you are having a great day! For some reason on Thursday evenings, I get all excited thinking it’s Friday. And then I have to remind myself, nope, you have one more day. Uno mas dia. Bet you didn’t know this was an educational bilingual blog, did ya? Well me either, because that’s all I’ve got, lol.

Once again, I listened to Neil Byrne’s Pale Blue Jak album last night. On it he does a cover of Bruno Mars ‘Grenade.’ He truly does a great job with it. The classical music styling and  strings behind his smooth voice are beautiful.  Now as a writer, I usually have a word, phrase, or  lyric that bounces around in my head for a day or two. Today’s head phrase came from that song.

Neil sings this line:”Tell the devil I said ‘hey’ when you get back where you are from.” And I thought, “yes!” What a perfect insult!! I have a few people in mind to whom I would love to walk up and say that.

About a year and a half ago, someone I am really close to started dealing with nasty rumors that had been started by people we all used to be friends with. Close friends. And it pissed me off. And in my head, I ran down every scenario that I could think of to cause those other people pain. And that line would be perfect. But I can’t say it to them.

No, not because I’m religious. But yes, because I follow Jesus. If I’m going to claim Him, then I absolutely should have something in my life to back that up. You see, I’m not even remotely a nice person without Jesus. Most people have that slight degree of goodness that stops them from being too horrible. You can ask my family, they’ll tell you. I’m not a good person. I do serve a good Savior.

One of my favorite singers-speakers Rich Mullins has a quote that says:

“Tonight, not only do I find this world frightening. I am frightened of myself. I am frightened of the evil that I am capable of. I am frightened of that which You (I believe) would deliver me from, and yet I will won’t let go. Help me to let go, Lord. ‘Deliver us from evil…’ You taught us to pray. Maybe this fear is part of the lesson. Deliver us from evil – from moral duplicity and weakness, from laziness and spiritual complacency, from those lies we tell ourselves from our fear of facing the truth. I think, Lord, that we’re all afraid of werewolves -not afraid of being destroyed by one – afraid of being one.” — Rich Mullins

The fact is that Jesus IS love. The fact also is that I am not. However, Jesus is love like we think of love though, as a currency to only be spent on those we deem worthy. But true love. The love that would make Him look down from a cross, see people mocking Him, and still ask God to forgive them. I have a hard time forgiving someone who’s been rude to me.

I’m not even close to being near where Jesus is in love. I could sit here and fake it though. See, you only see the face I want to show you. I can be a great pretender. Or I can pull off the mask, and tell you that I don’t have this life figured out yet, either. I never want to be one of those people who won’t listen to anyone. Because that’s when you get into trouble.

I also believe that Jesus loves me too much to just leave me in my junk. I believe He came to save me out of my own crap. The rules I place on myself, the right living I try to carry out in my own power, can’t hold a candle to His righteousness.

 Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him. Romans 5:6-8

Now, you can believe in Him or not. He still loves you. I still love Him. I’ll still keep trying to show that love that He showed me. I can’t treat this relationship with Him as a game. I can’t just drop Him, and pick Him up at will. He shows me unimaginable love. I have to pay that forward!!

(Also as a bonus, after getting distracted by his and Ryan Kelly’s latest tour’s Q&As’, I found the video of Neil singing Grenade.)

You got me all a Twitter or you can Like It Like That.

Well, save me a Diet Coke my friend. I’ll bring the peanut M&Ms. I’ll see you on the flip side,

Helen

God, Celtic Thunder, and Me

 

Hello There Good Lookin’,

Hope you had a great day! I know this post is late. I had planned to write this post earlier today, but my nieces and nephew came over today, and took over the laptop to watch Netflix. As you can see, they have left me a few precious momentos of their visit.

Then I went to church, because you have to take care of your spirit,  and to get some yummy Mexican food. And now I am going to tell you the story of how I get off my butt, and decided to do something with my life. Warning!! This will be a long post.

First, The Backstory.

I had been having problems sleeping at night, and trouble staying awake during the day for a while.Which is bad when you’re a babysitter. Now, in all fairness, I only fell asleep when the babies were sleeping as well. I would sit and watch episode after episode of I Love Lucy and Unsolved Mysteries, getting a weird sense of satisfaction when my DVR folder was clear.

There was a persistent pressure in my chest, like someone hand their hand pushing down on my heart. I felt like crying most of the time, and had already begun to plan my funeral.

God and Celtic Thunder.

I knew I was supposed to be writing. I feel that God has called me to that. People have told me that’s what I am supposed to be doing. My family kept getting on to me for not writing. But I kept ignoring all that. Until God showed up with cute boys and gorgeous accents.

After a busy day of babysitting, I went and bought a Subway sandwhich, and came home to rest. On a “fluke”, because the kids had been watching PBS during the day, I started watching a special on Burt Bacharach. And then as I had been goofing around, and playing Criminal Case on it, my phone died.

The PBS lineup told me that Celtic Thunder Legacy would be on next. Great, I thought. Expecting to see guys in Jerry Seinfield-esque white ruffle shirts and green pants tap dancing, I went ahead into the kitchen, turned my back to the TV, and plugged in my phone. I turned back around though, when I heard Keith Harkin singing. Intrigued I sat down to watch.

There was no tap dancing, no weird shirts. They were great singers,  funny,  adorable, and oh yeah, did I mention the accents? I recorded the special when it came on again that Sunday. And watched it several times all that next week.

Easter Weekend 2016

By that next week I pretty much knew all of their names, and had followed most of the Celtic Thunder (CT) guys on Twitter and Facebook. On the Thursday before Easter, I was scrolling through Emmett O’Hanlon’s Instagram. He was the newest member of CT, so I wanted to check him out. He was of course an equal mixture of funny, goofy, and inspirational. But what really, really got to me was when I came across this image in his feed:

Crap!! I had always though of myself as a mature person, and here I was making excuses for just about everything in my life!! So right after I reposted that picture, I did 3 things.

I called my doctor, and made the appointment my mom had been asking me to make for the pain in my chest.

I messaged a friend of mine who is a hairstylist, and asked her about cutting and styling my hair. Something I had been wanting to do for about 5 months!

I did what I asked you to do yesterday. I opened Open Office, and started “throw up” writing.

I went to babysit for my niece until the next day, Good Friday. When I got home that night, I was a bit wired. So after listening to another CT album, I grabbed my forgotten weights, and started working out at around 2:00 am. The next day, I went and got my hair cut. I also started walking to loose weight that day. The next Wednesday, after a little over 5 months of not blogging, I started writing every day, except the weekend.

Look at these two pictures. One is what I recorded on my walking app this past year, and the other is this past month. Notice the difference when you finally decide to do something?

 

So What? 

We all have dreams. Perhaps yours is not to be a writer, but to be a painter, dancer, or a lawyer. Start doing something about it now. But I’m too old, young, slow, overweight, skinny, depressed, under-qualified to do X now, you say. I say, oh yeah?!

Well there was a five year old that saved her dad by calling 9-1-1, an 105 lady that threw out a pitch. Do you think they thought about their qualifications, or just did something? King Josiah was 8 years old when he started to reign. Lucille Ball was approaching 40 when she started I Love Lucy. I have an 18 year old friend named Hunter, who is serving in the U.S. Navy, living out his dream.

So no matter what you want to do in this life, get on it. Quit waiting. Get your butt in gear!! And then tell me about it!

Tweet Me Up or Face the Book with me.

Save me a Diet Coke friend, I’ll bring the ice. I’ll see you on the flip side,

Helen

 

Untitled Work

Howdy!

I feel like a young John Cusack, like making big mistakes. I feel like for the first time in a long time I am not afraid. I feel like a kid, never thought it’d feel like this. — Ben Rector 

Okay it’s almost Wednesday of this week guys, so I hope you’re well on your way to shaking things up, and making a difference in your life. You don’t have to wait until you get off of work on Friday, or 5:00 am on Monday morning. You can start now.

I’ve been doing a lot of reading on this subject. And all of the experts in this area agree on one thing. I’m going to tell you what that is, okay? Here it is, the big secret, el grande burrito (okay that one doesn’t really make sense), YOU JUST HAVE TO START!!

Tomorrow I’ll share my story on how this happened to me. Also known as how I got off my hiney, and started doing something with my life. But today I just wanted to give you an idea. It’s not mine originally, and I probably won’t be the only one to tell you about this. It is however, what worked for moi.

Grab a notebook, or open up a note or text document on your phone or computer. And start writing about whatever. I call them my ‘throw up (gross)” writing pages. Because I just basically vomit whatever is in my head at that time on to a page. Whether it’s the fact that I need to watch less TV to a new Dr’s appointment I had made, it’s on those pages.

This following is one such paragraph that I had written in one of my “throw up”pages. I left the misspellings, so you could see that it’s pretty much anything goes:

 “Ever lovin’. That’s my new not a cuss word, cuss word. It used to be graham crackers, but that has had it’s run. Baby food is gross. I tried to eat some once, okay today. But it seems flavorless, or one dimensional flavored. Like spaghettios. They taste very tomatoe-y. Babies need flavors too. Why arent more people protesting this?”

As you can see, besides the fact that my writing needs quite a bit of editing, my mind definitely wanders. And that’s perfectly fine. No one else is going to see those pages, unless you want them to. It’s just you getting your muddled thoughts down on paper.

This is different from journaling. It’s not at all edited. You can write your favorite song lyrics, a story tittle, or a pargarph.  You can even write your grocery list down. This is just an exercise to get your creative juices (again gross) going.

Well, that is the first physical step that I took to change, and turn my life around. I hope it helps you too!! Let me know if it does, okay?

Save me a Diet Coke my friend, and I’ll see you on the flip side,

Helen

Tweet at your girl, or follow me (but not in a creepy way) on FB.

1 and 1 Make 2 They Say, Or Maybe That Was 4

“One and one make two they say, or maybe that was four. I’m so confused about everything, I don’t know anymore.”– Ryan Kelly

Good morning! I hope you had a great weekend!

It’s raining here in the metropolis, and I find that I am very much a pluviophile. This weather also makes me want to take a nap, but I have found that it’s harder to get work done while you’re sleeping.

I have to share this with you! This Saturday, I got to see my sweet niece get engaged!! Our entire family has known that this proposal was coming for about a month now, and it’s been so hard to not say anything in front of her. Argh! I can keep my mouth shut when I need to, but man, this one was hard!!

On Sunday morning, I had one of my children’s church kids call me out on a mistake I made in teaching the Bible lesson. We had just finished a series on the prophets Elijah and Elisha. On Easter, of course, we started the story of Jesus going to the cross. But because it was so crazy then, we were only able to do about five minutes of our lesson.

Anyways, yesterday I was talking about the mount of transfiguration, and how Peter, James, and John were the only ones that got to see Moses and Elijah come back from the dead, and talk to Jesus. One of my little students pops up immediately and says “well actually Elijah didn’t die, God took him to heaven. I was thinking, “dang it, he’s right.”

I love that he was listening, and I love the fact that he felt sure enough in what he knew to call me on it. I love, love, love that we are raising kid now a days who are comfortable with questioning things. Not in a disrespectful way, but they just know what they know, or  want to know why things are so.

Having been one of those kids, I hated getting the standard “because I said so” answer from my mom. I understand it now though, because my parents are from a completely different generation. When they were kids, you didn’t question anything. An adult told you to do something, or a person in authority told you a thing was a certain way, and that’s just the way it was. But somewhere in the late 50’s, that dynamic started to change. And I’m sure it must have looked like mass rebellion to parents.

We are born with with that inherent curiosity, a need to find out things for ourselves. To gather all of the facts available, and make our own plans and decisions. I’ve seen young  people led astray by blindly following someone else and doing what they say, instead of forming their own opinions.

Whether it’s a belief system, or a important decision, I’d rather it be my choice, and it be cemented in my heart, than basing my convictions on what so and so said we were supposed to do. To me, it’s not about mistrust in an authority figure, it’s just I need to know that I know that I know. That’s why I choose to believe in Jesus. It’s my faith, and I can explain it to you myself, without needing my pastor beside me coaching me on what to say.

One of my main goals in regard to this next generation, is to always explain the why’s to them. Someday when we’re not around anymore, they will need to be able to stand on their own two feet anyways, and they will need to know the reasons for why they do what they do.

For example, in my family, I love to watch when my twenty two year old nephew comes over to help my parents with their never ending (they’ve been working on it for almost 2 years) barn project. It’s so cool to see him come up with ideas and plans of his own, and to see my parents listen to him, and take his advice. Sometimes when they learn and figure things out for themselves, the kids’ are alright ;).

Well save me a Diet Coke my friend, and I’ll see you on the flip side,

Helen

 

I Wish That I Could Get Over You

Hey There,

It’s Friday, y’all. Does it seem to any one else that this week has crawled by? This year is flying by, but not this week! Good gravy!!

**Small disclaimer before I start this post. Today, I’m going to talk about a serious subject, depression. I’m not a doctor, psychiatrist, or therapist, nor do I play one on TV. Therefore, you don’t have to listen to me, or even read this post (but I wish you would).

Here are a few important numbers to remember:

The Boys Town National Hotline: 1-800-448-3000

Focus On The Family: 1-800-232-6459

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255

These are just my experiences and opinions. Okay then, here goes.

Remember when you were a kid, and you would come home all excited about something. Be it a part in the school play, or a game of soccer that your team had just won. And instead of the person you told that news to being excited with you, they just rolled their eyes and walked away. Depression is like that. Ever been swimming and had the water pull you under, and felt like you couldn’t get your head above water to breathe? Depression is like that. Ever had a kid yell out “I hate you” when they were super ticked at you? Yeah, depression is like that too. And so much more.

My first run in with depression, that I remember clearly was when I was 15. I felt totally unwanted and worthless. I remember standing in my Mom’s kitchen by myself, holding a knife, thinking about taking my own life. And then feeling entirely disgusted with myself because I was too scared to go through with it.

As an adult now, I look back on that time, and honestly it scares me. I think of all that I would have missed if I had hurt myself. Like meeting my nieces and nephews, or watching my little brother grow up, or have the friends I have now. But depression constantly tries to make me forget the good stuff. It only whispers the bad things that could happen. It highlights your deepest insecurities. It only sees the worst. Depression to me, is not a bad day, a sad moment, or grief. It’s a living, breathing liar.

There are good days and bad days. Yesterday was not a good day. I felt angry and heartbroken, and had no real reason to feel that way. I watched some funny clips on Youtube, and felt better. But then guilt settles in because what right do I have to be happy when things are so sucky in this world? I have friends going through major things, health problems, legal battles, and I’m going to feel happy because I watched a cute video? Yeah, depression whispers that lie to me too.

Many people think depression isn’t something to be talked about. I mean I’m a Christian, I should be able to handle this, or pray it away, right? If we read the Bible, we’ll find that no one was ever depressed in it. Haha, totally kidding! Because there was Elijah, Moses, Job, Jonah, King Saul, and my personal hero King David, that in my opinion, all suffered from a form depression at one time or another. Ahem, the following is one example of King David, which makes me think he wasn’t all rainbows and butterflies all of the time:

“The cuts in my flesh stink and grow maggots because I’ve lived so badly. And now I’m flat on my face, feeling sorry for myself morning to night. All my insides are on fire, my body is a wreck. I’m on my last legs; I’ve had it—my life is a vomit of groans.  Lord, my longings are sitting in plain sight, my groans an old story to you. My heart’s about to break; I’m a burned-out case. Cataracts blind me to God and good; old friends avoid me like the plague. My cousins never visit, my neighbors stab me in the back. My competitors blacken my name, devoutly they pray for my ruin.

But I’m deaf and mute to it all, ears shut, mouth shut. I don’t hear a word they say, don’t speak a word in response. What I do, God, is wait for you, wait for my Lord, my God—you will answer! I wait and pray so they won’t laugh me off, won’t smugly strut off when I stumble. I’m on the edge of losing it— the pain in my gut keeps burning. I’m ready to tell my story of failure, I’m no longer smug in my sin. My enemies are alive and in action a lynch mob after my neck. I give out good and get back evil from God-haters who can’t stand a God-lover.” Psalms 38:5-20

I have prayed many times, and I personally feel that when I hurt the most is when God pulls me closer to Him. Just a little before that last passage in Psalms, King David also wrote:

“Is anyone crying for help? God is listening, ready to rescue you. If your heart is broken, you’ll find God right there; if you’re kicked in the gut, He’ll help you catch your breath. Disciples so often get into trouble, still, God is there every time.” Psalms 34:17-19

There are days when I feel like I can’t deal with getting up, and facing the day. There are days when I don’t feel like I can handle people, even talking to them. There are days when I want to crumple on the the floor and just cry. There are days when I’m pissed off at the world. There are even still days when I think I could go ahead and take myself out, and no one would care.

But I know I have a family that loves me. I know I have friends I can call. I know I have a God that I can call out to. I know that I might not ever overcome this, or I might have more bad days than good ones, but I know that in the end, I will be okay.

As I conclude this post, please, please, please know if you are feeling depressed, there are people you can reach out to. Trust me, your family would rather hear from you on this, than plan a funeral, or waiting it out in hospital.

If you feel like you can’t talk to a friend or family member, here, once again are the numbers for:

Boystown National Hotline: 1-800-448-3000.

Focus On The Family: 1-800-232-6459.

 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255.

You are very important my friend, and you’re here for a reason. I hope you know that.

Well, I’ll see you on the flip side,

Helen

This Is The Moment. Or It Might Be The Next One.

Good Morning!

Well how are you today? Did you sleep well? Great! Who knew there even was an 9:30 in the morning? Just kidding of course, my first baby gets here around 7:10. But I usually write at night. Something about the evening/night just makes my brain start working better (here is where most writers would insert a clever comment about getting your brain juices flowing, but that just sounds disgusting!!), or at least I start getting more creative.

I’m sitting here on the couch, writing this post, because my little niece has commandeered my laptop to watch one of the 1,000 Air Bud movies. And what ever baby wants, right? She’s adorable though! She spent the night with me yesterday. While I love having her with me, I realized that it messed with my nightly routine. And that in turn messed with me.

I’ve never thought of my self as a routine person, I’m more go with the flow. But as I get older, the desire for things to stay safe and comfortable is something I have to fight. Because there’s a difference between security and dormancy.

Usually, I walk a couple of miles down my road in the evening, then I come in and write for a while. At some point , either right before I power down for the night or when I need to move, I workout. That’s how it works.

Last night though, that was not how it worked. I live in a small camper trailer, which is perfect for me and my two dogs. A little after I moved in, I tore out the GIANT queen size bed in the bedroom. Now there’s a twin size in there, and the bedroom is actually a bedroom. Anyways, when my nieces and nephews spend the night, we drag my mattress off of my bed, and sleep in the living room, in front of the TV. It pretty much takes over my small living room.

So guess what? I skipped my work out. Haha, no. That’s what I wanted to do, but I haven’t been listening to the discouraging part of me lately. I worked with my weights over by the door. And if you follow me on Twitter, you might have seen this last night:

The point is, even if the way you usually do things gets messed up, keep going anyways! If you’re driving down the road, and a large tree is lying in your path, are you going to simply abandon your vehicle, or sit there and die? Or are you going to find another way around the obstacle?

Too many of us are working along on our goal or dream, only to be derailed when things aren’t happening like we think they should. Stay on your goals, you can always get back on your routine later. But you can’t gain back time that you wasted. One of my new favorite quotes from Dale Partridge is: “This isn’t a rehearsal, this is your life.”

We’re always told to seize the moment. Well get to it! But if that moment gets messed up, reach out and seize the next one. And the next, and the next, and the next, and the….
Well, save me a Diet Coke (one of those mini cans will do), and I’ll see you on the flip side,

Helen

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Listening to: Auld Lang Syne by Keith Harkin.

A Pizza, A Partridge, And A Story

Howdy,

Some days, I think  Christians need cuss words, and not the little “darn it” variety. And yes, I have actually had this conversation with my pastor. Although he seems to view the topic in an entirely different way.

Alright, so it’s been a pretty semi decent day. I just haven’t been feeling well, and since I was babysitting for my sweet little nieces and nephews until late, I didn’t get to go walking, which makes my day feel undone . Not to mention that since I still have my oldest little niece, we got a good size pizza for dinner, and let’s just say she only ate one piece. Just keeping it real here, folks.

Today I listened to a webinar from Dale Partridge . He was talking about how to start a business and market a product. I don’t know about all that, but I do know that I want to market my writing. He did give me some ideas as far as making sure that your blog is designed well, and looks professional. I know how to write for a website, I just don’t have all of the design skills to make it look pretty. I’m  looking at Solo Pine designs, I really like their themes. Dale also reminded me of an idea that I had, so I’ll be looking into how to implement that. A little cliff hanger to keep you hooked ;).

Also, I wanted to leave you with a few lines from a short story that I started in, believe it or not, 2012. Wow!! You can tell how inconsistent I used to be with my writing. It’s a story that I had been mulling over writing since my dad had passed away. Here is a snippet.

*** The Picture

The morning sun shone through the large opened window. The light wind blew open the lace curtains, and the air smelled faintly of the roses in full bloom in the garden. All of this was lost on Mrs Kends, as she sat is her straight backed chair. After a few moments, she stood, her bones creaking in protest. As she had done at least a million times before, she crossed the tidy room, and picked up the picture off of the fireplace mantle. She held it in her hands for a few moments, and then hugged it to her chest as if she couldn’t bear to let it go. 

Soon the frame was sprinkled with her tears, she sighed as she sat it back on the mantle and wiped her eyes. “It wouldn’t do to have my boys see me like this,” she thought. They never liked to see her cry, or even upset. They had tried to keep her happy, and they had succeeded. 

She picked up her purse to go to the store, and started out her front door. Suddenly  as if remembering something, she walked back into the house, picked up the picture frame, and placed a kiss on each of the three faces. As she walked away, she smiled thinking of her three boys. Her husband standing by a small boat, and two teenage boys standing, smiling, beside him. 

The store was close enough that she could walk to it. She had always loved to walk even when she was younger. She would wave at her neighbors, dream her dreams, make her plans, and talk to her God. Today, she was lost in thought. She thought of how Tom had just turned fourteen. He had said he didn’t want a party, he wanted a family camping trip.That was for her benefit she knew, she was always saying that they didn’t spend enough time together.

She had packed their clothes, made a picnic lunch for the road, and loaded it all into their 1952 Ford. The telephone rang just as they were about to leave. It was her friend Muriel, her daughter Becky was in trouble again, and would she come over to help? She didn’t want to disappoint her boys, but she was the only one that Becky had been listening to lately. 

She came up with the perfect plan. The boys would go on ahead, and she would have Muriel drive her to the camp grounds later. At first they had balked at the idea, but after a little wheedling and pleading she convinced them to go. Kissing her boys goodbye, she headed to her friend’s home. Driving past her they yelled out their love, making her blush. She smiled at the memory. 

A few minutes at her friend’s house had turned into several hours. She decided to run home to get a few things that she had forgotten for Tom’s birthday, before they left for the campgrounds. A strange man was at her house. She noticed that he wore the uniform of their counties’ sheriffs’ office. ****

I hope that you enjoyed the excerpt from The Picture. I plan on having the entire story available for you soon.

Well, save me a Diet Coke (because seriously I need to get to the store!), and I’ll see you on the flip side,                                                                                                                                              Helen

Listening to Sadie Jones and I by Neil Byrne.

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Get My Rest In Another Lifetime

“I’ve a heart that’s in a million pieces, got a soul and he’s threatening to leave me, he said he’s on a runaway train from me. I’ll get my rest in another lifetime, and make it up to him. My feet are runnin’ a million miles ahead of me…” Keith Harkin 

Hola,

Well how are you today? It was a very pretty day here in the Metropolis. The kind song writers talk about meeting their sweethearts on, and story writers can’t wait to write a storm into. I got up this morning fully intending to write after my babies laid down for their morning nap.  But…. the yard was dirty. And the mowers are coming in around nine days, so obviously the yard needed cleaned today!!

While outside, I got to dismantle a box springs. Which was fun, because I felt all HGTV-ish (I’m available to help you out with demo, Chip and Joanna!) and also because I kinda like tearing crap up. We have two loads ready to go to the scrap yard and the trash dump.

 

After clearing the yard, and helping with the never ending barn project, I came into the Heard Camper to relax. I’m not going to lie here, I seriously thought about taking the night off. I thought I could just lie there, watching I Love Lucy for the rest of the night, and no one would be the wiser. And a while ago, like around last month, that would have worked on me. I would have given in and agreed that since I had walked for the last week, I deserved a day of rest. I would have been wrong.

You see, that kind of thinking is what has gotten a lot of us into the situations we are in now. We think we can stop working for dream or goals just because we “deserve” some time off, or we worked at it yesterday. But the truth is that we will not achieve anything without consistency. We know this truth, we read this truth, but it doesn’t sink in.

That writer we admire, the one that has sold thousands of books, started at a blank page. That movie star we want to be like, the one who can pack a theater on his name alone, was  turned down for the first few jobs for which he auditioned. That rock star, the one we can’t get enough of, has been singing and playing the guitar since he was seven.

The one main characteristic we see in truly successful people, not posers, but the ones who will leave a lasting legacy,  is their perseverance. They keep going even when life get’s hard. That doesn’t mean they don’t take the time to rest, grieve, or cry for a bit. But they don’t let it keep them down. They don’t allow themselves to be sidetracked by minor details.

Sometimes we get discouraged going it alone, and just need a friend to come along and say hey, you’re doing great!! Keep going! Well consider me that friend! I don’t know exaclty what you’re going through, but I know if you have a dream, you should go after it. You only get this one life, you know. You also have The Best Friend ever who is waiting to hear from you tonight, and He wants to cheer you on.

Speaking of encouraging people, I absolutely love this from Neil Byrne’s Pale Blue Jak blog post (I’m a bit obsessed with this album right now!!). His manager told him that he should write an album that year, even when he was incredibly busy with rehearsals, a CT cruise, a show to record, and promotions to do. He thought that his manager would just let him off the hook, but….“instead, what he said was “you can do it, you will do it and it will be the best you have ever done”. 

Never give up guys. Never stop dreaming, never stop achieving. Do you really want to be near the end of your life, and wonder what would have been? The answer to that is no. So go, get on it. Get started now and keep going.

Survival can be summed up in three words – never give up. That’s the heart of it really. Just keep trying. — Bear Grylls

Save me a Diet Coke (because I’m almost out and caffeine is fuel, y’all!), and I’ll see you on the flip side.

Helen