I’m still cold. Today’s high temperature hovered around fifty degrees, much below normal. And it rained. *** It’s early morning when I get a message from a friend that our regularly scheduled recreational pickleball game is being canceled due to a lack of a “quorum.” I think, “That’s an odd way to put it.” Nevertheless, […]
Miscellaneous
We Just Keep Rolling Along
It’s been a “cold” few weeks here in Central Florida. But it’s all relative as they say. A friend that lives in Minnesota recently posted that it was minus 44 in her neck of the nation, but felt like minus 33. At the time it was 45 degrees in my area of Central Florida at […]
Where Is Dad
Each year since Tony died, I have taken the kids on a vacation the week between Christmas and New Years. We’ve been to Disney World, Jamaica, Mexico, and this year I took the boys on their first ever cruise. I find myself counting these vacations to remember how many holidays he’s missed. Traveling over the […]
A Write-ous Birthweek
The other day during a Zoom meeting, a colleague noted that most people stop reading at the third paragraph of articles and blog posts. I think about that as we adjust to a new year. I find myself reimagining ways to improve my writing approach and practice to increase focus and clarity. With so much […]
Route 66 and a Trip Around the Sun
The first week of any new year can bring an unsettling mix of relief, new direction and incentive, angst, apathy and procrastination. Even if your holiday season was emotionally challenging with some bouts of nostalgic melancholy, the quiet inertia of the post-holiday season can be a let down when the world asks us to […]
My Spirit Team Six
I hope you all got through the Christmas holiday alright. I know this time of year can be especially difficult for many, whether your loss occured last week, or several years ago. The shadow of that loss can dim even the brightest of holiday lights. On Christmas Eve morning, I spent some time on the […]
The Essentials
Kind of glad this Christmas came and went without a lot of fanfare. It’s the first Christmas since my dad’s passing and that is, of course, going to take some getting used to. Shortly, I’m going to be coming up on 4 years since Mario passed away as well. As the years roll on, it’s […]
Winter Break
2024 is rapidly coming to a close. It’s been a difficult one and usually around this time I start reflecting on the year and looking forward to the next one. I also often take a break during the holidays to work on my own business and get some end-of-the-year downtime. Today, I’ll be driving Mario’s […]
The Long Trail Forward
The past week found me entrenched in preparing gift baskets for a Silent Auction that was held last night. Despite some weather challenges and logistical matters, I’m happy to report it was a successful event. Floridians do not like colder temps. This “Yule Be Home for Christmas and Happy Mew Year” themed event was held […]
A Place in The Sun
Happy Birthday Jackson! Yesterday, Jackson, our local hound-lab mix rescue, turned the Big One according to his adoption records. He was one of a litter of nine brought to the shelter as they struggled to live, slowly nursed back to health. I met Jackson and his littemates when they were already 3 months-old while touring […]
Sometimes you choose them and sometimes they choose you.
More than once in the past week I’ve said to myself, Mario would totally laugh if he would see FOUR cats in the house. I remember when we adopted Hathor and Juno (we gave them those names, their shelter names were not fitting at all) and Mario said something along the lines of, our limit […]
No More Mr. Nice Guy
For the second year, I am a volunteer tutor. By agreement of all involved, once more I am tutoring Zoey, who has advanced to the sixth grade. Her new middle school curriculum in our tutoring program still focuses on math, reading, and developing social skills. However, this year Zoey’s family, especially her father and older […]