I began writing for free for a mental health magazine years ago. I was happy to touch so many lives, but felt I was putting so much time into writing and not getting the return I deserved. Years ago my mom tried to tell me to write a book with my blogs. She is not a writer so what on earth did she know? LOL Then my dear friend Rena suggested it again. I finally had enough writing to try to piece it together and try to put the entire puzzle together. I worked diligently all of las summer to make changes to the blogs by adding things and taking things out. I think one of the hardest things has been that in each blog I started over so there was so much repetition. I couldn’t figure out the flow. I was getting so frustrated and wanted draft 1 done by the end of the summer. In fact I wanted the book published by the beginning of 2025. Well the end of the summer came and there proved to be so much work that needed to be done. The school year began in Aug. and there went my time. I am the freshest in the morning. Bye-bye mornings. The beginning of the year is flat out exhausting. So I decided to print out what I had. I also made the mistake of trying to change the format and order of the blogs. You can’t do all of that at once I learned. So I began paper editing. I took a long break from the book. My brain was still working on the book. A picture of the cover came to me. The person I want to do the art work came into my brain and even the cover color. Then on New Year’s Day I got an email from the magazine . The mental health magazine mentioned positive quotes to ponder. That’s it. I am a big inspirational quotes girl so I have decided to start each chapter with a quote from people I admire. This should help with my roadblock. Now if I could just find more mornings to do my writing. I just pray I get the chance to keep working on it in the few weekends I have. Also on the days off. Wish me luck! It’s not a sprint it’s a marathon. Slow and steady wins the race. Good things take time .
Year In Review 2024
I would day overall 2024 was a good year. Sterling our Siberian cat grew up to be a big teenager and turned one year old. He has definitely slowed down in energy. No more energy bursts in the middle of the night now that he is 13 lbs. and still growing. I would say he is now 4 sizes bigger then when we brought him home. He continues to bring us joy beyond measure. We love him as much as anyone could love an animal and more. He is so social and loves to boss me around by howling at the top of his lungs. Sterling is healthy and the heart of the family. In the spring my husband and I made two trips to the new Sphere . It is a big huge place to watch concerts and movies. It has the world’s largest hi-def screen, the films are in 18k resolution, it has the world’s most advanced audio system and the seats make you feel everything. In the lobby there are interactive robots. It is a bit scary to see the questions the robots can answer. We saw the movie Postcard From Earth. Our seats were low for that movie. I was blown away when the elephants walked and my seat shook. My friend saw it and said it had so much AI in it. The truth was a lot of it did not. In the spring we went back to the Sphere and saw The Grateful Dead. I had to take Lozrapam an anti-anxiety pill because the seats were so high they have a tranquility room if you get too scared. I had sweaty psalms at first then I was ok and my meds kicked in. The show was remarkable to say the least. An experience I will never forget. We are lucky to have opportunities like that living in Las Vegas. We were able to do a staycation at The Fontainebleau. We had an incredible view of the Sphere. The outside changes all the time. I liked the smiley face. I was able to get away from my annual silent retreat in April. It was in Alhambra ,CA at the Sacred Heart Retreat House with the Carmelite Nuns. I brought a new friend this year and she is hooked. We didn’t talk and found peace the world can not give. The school year was a good one. We were lucky to return to our happy place at the beach in Southern CA. When we returned we hit a horrible heat advisory It was an unbearable summer. We barely got rain. It was heat advisory after heat advisory. By Oct. my goddaughter Hannah and I found ourselves picking pumpkins in nearly 90 degrees. I pray to God I never have to live through temperatures in 120 degrees for an extended amount of time again. I could have baked Chocolate Chip Cookies outside. It was a week before my birthday that I experienced a painful and shattering loss. My editor and friend since 2015 Rena Winters passed away due to cancer. Rena had been with me on my writing/publishing journey. We had participated in many book signings together. Every month especially for birthday celebrations we would get together and celebrate life. Another friend Jackie also met with us. I always bounced ideas off of her. She was my accountability partner. She encouraged me and made me a better person. She carried me through some dark days. She wanted no life celebration. I struggled to find closure, but she had written a beautiful book of inspirations so I find comfort in that . Her daughter came to Vegas when her house sold. I had the chance to meet Rena’s beautiful daughter who has so many of her characteristics. Her daughter happens to live in WA right near my husband’s hometown. My friend calls that a God wink. We struck up a pen pal friendship and I hope to see her again one day when we go for a visit. The legacy of Rena lives on :). I also had to say goodbye to another dear friend who moved back to her home state of ID. Temple also carried me through some horrible days. She encourages me still, but I can’t reach out and give her a hug or eat lunch with her. It makes me sad sometimes and happy that we share a beautiful friendship no matter where we live. I also had to say goodbye to another author friend Vicki-Ann . Back in the day we did many book signings. She is a phone call away and I know she will continue to be there for me. Gary has been working hard at finishing his medical coding program. It has taken much longer then expected. There is light at the end of the tunnel. So I just pray that he will pass the test and find a job quickly. My mom and dad are still living independently at their senior living place in an independent apartment. I am grateful they have not had to go to the hospital and get to enjoy being social at dinner in the dining room daily. So what does God have in store for 2025? I have no clue, but I can bet he will bless my husband and I beyond our wildest dreams because he has in the past and surely will once again. Happy 2025 wishing you all the best of everything.
A Wrap Up My Life in 2023
It was rough year at the beginning of 2023. I had such hope for the year until our beloved Siberian 16 year old cat had kidney failure. She lived through the holiday of 2022, but on Jan. 4th we made the difficult decision to put her down. We loved her, but I know she loved us more back. She had suffered liver failure and we promised that she wouldn’t live one day in pain. We kept to the promise. I was beyond a hot mess. My husband was also having a milestone birthday on Jan. 8th. Talk about bad timing. I found myself wailing and screaming as I entered the empty house. I looked for her and she wasn’t there. I wrote a poem which was published in our local pet magazine to ease the pain. Since my husband is allergic to cats we had to stick to the Siberian breed. We reached out to the same breeder and low and behold he was still breeding. Just as we were grieving God sent a beautiful new kitten into the world. We named him Sterling Eugene after our father’s middle names ( that is what people without kids do lol.) We had to wait and wait until April 19th to bring him home. So we prepared like a family prepares for a newborn baby :). It was a fun time. Then Sterling came home and our broken hearts were mended. The rest is history. Sterling is already bigger then Angel-Ann when she was full grown. He is perfect cat. Gentle, affectionate, handsome and a fireball at times. He likes time out in his stroller in the backyard ( dad thinks I was nuts for getting him a stroller) which he loves. He especially loves watching the hummingbirds at the feeder we have hanging. For fun his favorite thing is playing with a feather wand in his tunnels. I happen to be the number one playmate. I have to schedule my whole life around him :). It’s just like having a baby, well not quite. We have our routine which we both need. Another event happened out of the blue. Our beloved principal of 13ish years. She was a woman of faith and felt that God told her to “move.” She was married to a remarkable man and her husband got a great job opportunity. The change came out of the blue. It hit hard. She was so much more than a principal to me. When I had issues with my parent’s health she shared her faith. That was exactly what I needed at that moment. She was a Godsend. The day she left was a hard one. If only you could see the tear marks on her grey sweatshirts. They were the tears that so many had cried on her shoulders. She cared about every child, teacher and worker in the school. She took the time to learn names. She could run the school with her eyes closed. So I wrote a little inspirational quote : “ Change is inevitable, Change can be scary, Change can be sad, Change can bring tears and change can bring heartache. The one thing is with change we can miss out on the surprises that God has in store for us.” Our new principal began late in the school year of 2023. Things have definitely changed ,but overall I feel very supported at work. I celebrated 16 years at the same school and in the same school district in Dec. Another exciting thing happened early last summer. The Golden Knights, our beloved hockey team, won the Stanley Cup. The whole town went nuts. The parade was huge. I knew many people who when, but there was no way I was going without knowing where the nearest bathroom was located ( I have a bladder the size of a mustard seed.) I also am not a big fan of crowds. We took a nice trip to the beach with my mom and dad to Port Hueneme. We saw beautiful sunsets. We also visited a dear family friend. I found our Aug 30th that I needed a minor out patient women’s surgery. That is where the anxiety set in. I had to wait until the end of Aug. until Dec. 7th to have the surgery. Beforehand I worried about every detail. That was my first time being put under anesthesia. I worried about every detail. I talked to many women who had it done. It was suggested that the anesthesiologist give me antinausea just incase I got sick. I took the anxiety pills my psychiatrist has prescribed about a week before. I stressed about every detail. Would my mouth get too dry? You can’t drink before. I went to confession with a priest and he gave me a Bible verse to mediate on. Suddenly things didn’t seem as scary anymore. Psalm 91:11 “ For he (the Lord) will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all of your ways. On their hands they will bear you up.” I said the verse over and over and soon it became my mantra. It was finally the day of my procedure. I prepared before hand in every way possible. I took a few days off of work. I took my antianxiety pill at 3 in the morning. I didn’t feel nervous. I was lucky I was the first surgery of the morning. I had no problems with the IV. My amazing doctor came in and said hi to my husband and I. The anesthesiologist came and met me. I asked for antinausea and he said he couldn’t promise anything since the surgery was located in my stomach and lady’s parts. Everything I worried about didn’t happen. The surgery was a success and I don’t have cancer. Praise God!! The holidays came and went. They were very peaceful. We ate a lot of Gary’s excellent food and I put a few pounds on. Sterling loved the holidays and he can’t wait until next year. He is growing like a weed . He is huge and weighs close to 12 lbs. I have felt a calling from the Holy Spirit to become the assistant coordinator for a new ladies' ministry called the Magnificat starting in Las Vegas. It is helping me grow stronger in faith. Visit www.magnificat-minstry.net.I am on the service team and we are busy planning our fist meal. We will be bringing in a priest to speak, have a meal at a local casino, praise and worship music, and a raffle. It will be a good time. My husband is taking a big leap of faith with his job in a few weeks. In all my extra free time I am trying to change my blogs that I have written to a short book . I would like to submit to a publisher. Who knows when that will happen. It will take time. My friends remind me slow and steady and when the time is right and not before. I hope you and yours have an amazing 2024. filled with health, peace and joy.