Life in progress

Author Archives: Linda G. Hill


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JusJoJan25 the 5th – Frustration nightmare

This post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt word, “frustration,” is brought to us by Barbara. Check out her blog here!

Warning: If you’re claustrophobic, you might want to skip this post.

Wait ’til I tell you about my nightmare last night. This is the perfect prompt for it!

I had to write this out first thing in the morning while I still remember it. Not that I want to relive it, but wow! Was it a doozy.

Okay, so in my dream, I had a bunch of people—about a dozen, of all ages—come over to my house. I have no idea who they were, but they had to be there.

They were all squeezed into the part of my kitchen where the fridge and stove are, not at the table for some reason. I didn’t have enough chairs, so some were standing and some were sitting on the floor. The atmosphere was crowded and too warm. So uncomfortable for everyone involved, but especially me because everyone was staring as though they were waiting for me to act like the perfect hostess.

I stood where they could all see me and asked who wanted tea, coffee, or water. That’s generally all I have in my kitchen.

The first little girl I focused on said she wanted milk. It took me three tries to understand what she was saying.

Fine, I thought. I have some left over from Christmas.

Then I asked if anyone wanted coffee. I could put a pot on right away.

Crickets. So no coffee. Great.

The next three people I asked wanted tea, all with different things in it of course, so I moved past the bodies in my kitchen and went to the stove to put the kettle on. Then I reached into the fridge for the milk and found a big container of almond milk that someone must have brought. Wonderful! I asked the girl if she wanted that and she said yes.

Next, I went to the cupboard to get a glass. It took a while to find one, but when I did, I got it out and found a tiny space for it on the counter—it was covered in dirty dishes. There was someone beside me washing dishes in the sink (no idea who), but my task was clear. I had to concentrate on pouring almond milk into a clean glass. I pulled a dirty bowl toward me and caught myself just in time before I poured the milk into it, but while I was congratulating myself for not doing that, I poured it into a different dirty bowl.

I watched myself continue to pour, filling it up to where it was impossible to tell that there was chocolate lining the inside, then I pulled the dirty spoon out of the bowl … and decided I shouldn’t give it to the girl after all.

So I filled up the glass to the rim with milk, so much that I couldn’t lift it.

All this time, no one was talking. I could feel them watching me, blank expressions on their faces. It was all kinds of Children of the Corn creepy.

Meanwhile, the kettle was boiling, so I abandoned the milk and went to the kettle … and emptied the water into a different dirty bowl so I could pour it from there into cups 😒.

Ahhh!!!

I filled the kettle again and moved through the throng and back to my guests to see what they wanted in their tea because by then, I’d forgotten. To say I was frustrated with myself is an understatement.

Thank goodness I woke up at that point.

… only to have a dream in which I was driving on an unfamiliar snowy highway, unable to see the lines on the road. Which I’ve done in real life, but this was somehow much worse because apparently I didn’t know how to drive at all.

Am I worried about the upcoming year? That would certainly explain my nightmares.

Am I worried in particular about having people in my house? I do have to call an electrician. The circuit that runs my treadmill blew yesterday, and the breaker won’t turn back on. The same circuit also runs my thermostat. Battery is holding out so far, though.

Grrr! So frustrating!

 

This frustrated post is part of Just Jot it January! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link. It’s fun!

Thanks again to Barbara for the prompt!


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Daily Prompt – JusJoJan the 5th, 2025

Hi there! We’re back for our fifth prompt for Just Jot it January 2025. Today, the prompt is courtesy of the lovely Barbara. Thank you, Barbara! Please be sure to visit Barbara’s blog to read her posts and say hello. And follow her while you’re there if you’re not already.

Your prompt for JusJoJan January 5th, 2025 is “frustration.” Use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!

If you’d like to see what I have so far on your prompt list and what’s to come, you can find the list HERE.

Here are the rules:

1. Please be sure to put your link in the comments on THIS POST for Sunday, January 5th, 2025.

2. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list), counts as a “jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!

3. I’ll post prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5). You don’t have to follow the prompt every day, but that will be where you leave your link for others to see. You’ll get a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday and on Saturday, when your prompt will be the Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS, which will appear at about 9:30am Friday. Each prompt post will include the rules.

4. Please ping back or link to the daily prompt. To ping back, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! Note: A) The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section. B) Ping backs only work if you’re blogging on WordPress. Everyone else must paste a link manually.

5. Tag your post JusJoJan25 and/or #JusJoJan25.

6. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!

7. The prompts will appear every day that’s neither a Wednesday nor a Saturday–Saturday’s JusJoJan prompt will be Stream of Consciousness Saturday. You’ll find the list of prompts below as they come in, which means I’ll be updating this post. Remember, you don’t have to use the prompts. Please write whatever inspires you. NOTE: If your post is NSFW, do not ping back. Please leave your link in the comments with a warning.

8. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge so that others can find your post more easily.

9. Have fun!


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JusJoJan25 & #SoCS the 4th – Sticking to it

This post is part of Just Jot it January and my weekly prompt, Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Find the prompt and see how you can join in HERE.

Every day, I write out two to-do lists for myself.

One is the stuff I need to get done “today,” things like edit this, write that, read a book, post for Just Jot it January … stuff I know I need to do without making a list, but it’s nice to be able to cross off the easy stuff.

The second list is stuff I need to get done in the near future—update my editing site, update my author site, get covers for my new series, etc. Some of the things on this list have been there for years.

Procrastination is a thing, and apparently so is self-sabotage. But I digress.

Every day, I see the things I need to do—the things in front of me.

But I only go back to see what I’ve accomplished—the things behind me—once a year.

Maybe I’d be less down on myself for not getting things done if I looked back more often and saw that there are things on my second list that I have accomplished.

This contemplative post is part of Just Jot it January and SoCS! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link. It’s fun!

2019-2020 SoCS Badge by Shelley! https://www.quaintrevival.com/

 


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JusJoJan25 the 3rd – Meandering through

This post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt word, “meander,” is courtesy of Kaye. Check out her blog here!

Being a stay-at-home mom and running a business that holds no one accountable but myself lends itself to a bit of a meandering existence.

Not that I can meander far from home. In fact, I go nowhere but the grocery store most weeks.

No, I meander more like a stream. Always running, yet staying in the same place.

On the treadmill of life.

Which reminds me that I need to get on the treadmill.

Wow. I’m really philosophical this year.

This meandering post is part of Just Jot it January! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link. It’s fun!

Thanks again to Kaye for the prompt!


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The Friday Reminder for #SoCS & #JusJoJan 2025 Daily Prompt for Jan. 4th

It’s Friday, and it’s our first combination Daily 2025 Just Jot it January Prompt and Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. This one is for SATURDAY, JANUARY 4th. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to handle JusJoJan this year, but it’s been smooth sailing so far. Here’s to taking the plunge!

For those of you joining SoCS for the first time, it’s a little different than the other prompts in that it’s not always a whole or single word. If you’re joining in from JusJoJan and don’t want to write stream of consciousness style, no worries. It’s up to you. If you do want to try it, please check out the rules below. It’s fun! Here’s your Saturday prompt:

Your prompt for #JusJoJan the 4th and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “in front/behind.” Use “in front,” use “behind,” or use them both in your post for bonus points! Enjoy!

After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here at this week’s prompt page and check to make sure it’s here in the comments so others can find it and see your awesome post. Anyone can join in!

To make your post more visible, use our SoCS badge! Just paste it in your Saturday post so people browsing the reader will immediately know your post is stream of consciousness and/or pin it as a widget to your site to show you’re a participant. Wear it with pride!!

2019-2020 SoCS Badge by Shelley! https://www.quaintrevival.com/

You can also use the Just Jot it January badge! To find the rules for Just Jot it January, click here.

Here are the rules for SoCS:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The’,” or simply a single word to get your started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!


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Daily Prompt – JusJoJan the 3rd, 2025

Welcome back! I’m here with our third prompt for Just Jot it January 2025. Today, our prompt comes from the great mind of Kaye. Thank you, Kaye! Please be sure to visit Kaye’s blog to read her posts and say hello. And follow her while you’re there if you’re not already.

Your prompt for JusJoJan January 3rd, 2025 is “meander.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

If you’d like to see what I have so far on your prompt list and what’s to come, you can find the list HERE.

Here are the rules:

1. Please be sure to put your link in the comments on THIS POST for Friday, January 3rd, 2025.

2. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list), counts as a “jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!

3. I’ll post prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5). You don’t have to follow the prompt every day, but that will be where you leave your link for others to see. You’ll get a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday and on Saturday, when your prompt will be the Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS, which will appear at about 9:30am Friday. Each prompt post will include the rules.

4. Please ping back or link to the daily prompt. To ping back, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! Note: A) The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section. B) Ping backs only work if you’re blogging on WordPress. Everyone else must paste a link manually.

5. Tag your post JusJoJan25 and/or #JusJoJan25.

6. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!

7. The prompts will appear every day that’s neither a Wednesday nor a Saturday–Saturday’s JusJoJan prompt will be Stream of Consciousness Saturday. You’ll find the list of prompts below as they come in, which means I’ll be updating this post. Remember, you don’t have to use the prompts. Please write whatever inspires you. NOTE: If your post is NSFW, do not ping back. Please leave your link in the comments with a warning.

8. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge so that others can find your post more easily.

9. Have fun!


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JusJoJan25 the 2nd – Slingshot theory

This post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt word, “slingshot,” is courtesy of Liz. Check out her blog here!

Okay, this one is a bit of a stretch, but stay with me here.

Procrastination:

It’s like holding a slingshot backwards.

The longer you stretch it, the harder it hits you in the face.

Please, hold your applause.

…

…

Okay, don’t.

See? Now your applause is even better.

It makes sense, right? Right?

This stretchy post is part of Just Jot it January! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link. It’s fun!

Thanks again to Liz for the prompt!


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Daily Prompt – JusJoJan the 2nd, 2025

Hello! And welcome to our second prompt for Just Jot it January 2025. Today’s prompt comes to us courtesy of Liz. Many thanks, Liz! Please be sure to visit Liz’s blog to read her posts and say hello. And follow her while you’re there if you’re not already.

Your prompt for JusJoJan January 2nd, 2025 is “slingshot.” Use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!

If you’d like to see what I have so far on your prompt list and what’s to come, you can find the list HERE.

Here are the rules:

1. Please be sure to put your link in the comments on THIS POST for Thursday, January 2nd, 2025.

2. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list), counts as a “jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!

3. I’ll post prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5). You don’t have to follow the prompt every day, but that will be where you leave your link for others to see. You’ll get a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday and on Saturday, when your prompt will be the Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS, which will appear at about 9:30am Friday. Each prompt post will include the rules.

4. Please ping back or link to the daily prompt. To ping back, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! Note: A) The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section. B) Ping backs only work if you’re blogging on WordPress. Everyone else must paste a link manually.

5. Tag your post JusJoJan25 and/or #JusJoJan25.

6. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!

7. The prompts will appear every day that’s neither a Wednesday nor a Saturday–Saturday’s JusJoJan prompt will be Stream of Consciousness Saturday. You’ll find the list of prompts below as they come in, which means I’ll be updating this post. Remember, you don’t have to use the prompts. Please write whatever inspires you. NOTE: If your post is NSFW, do not ping back. Please leave your link in the comments with a warning.

8. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge so that others can find your post more easily.

9. Have fun!


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One-Liner Wednesday & #JusJoJan25 the 1st – Happy new year!

Let’s start this year off right. 😀 Who wants a coffee?

Photo: My fridge magnet that depicts a pot and two cups of coffee and reads “no coffee, no workee.”

If you would like to participate in this prompt, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do, you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure.

Here are the simple JusJoJan Rules:

1. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list), counts as a “jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!

2. I’ll post prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5). The prompt will be the word in quotation marks in the title of my 2am post. You don’t have to follow the prompt every day, but that will be where you leave your link for others to see. You’ll get a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday and on Saturday, when your prompt will be the Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS, which will appear at about 9:30am Friday. Each prompt post will include the rules.

2 a) The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:

1. Make it one sentence.

2. Try to make it either funny or inspirational.

3. Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.

4. Add our lovely badge to your post for extra exposure!

5. Have fun!

Badge by Laura @ riddlefromthemiddle.com

3. Please ping back or link to the daily prompt. To ping back, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! Note: A) The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section. B) Ping backs only work if you’re blogging on WordPress. Everyone else must paste a link manually.

4. Tag your post JusJoJan25 and/or #JusJoJan25.

5. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!

6. If your post is NSFW, do not ping back. Please leave your link in the comments with a warning.

7. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge so that others can find your post more easily.

8. Have fun!


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Prompt Me Part 1 of 2 – #JusJoJan 2025

First half of the month – January 2 – 17, 2025

I’m looking for prompt words for Just Jot it January! This is your chance to inspire other people and have your blog linked to the Daily Prompt post.

I’ve decided to do this in two parts again this year—Jan. 2-17, and Jan 19-31. I only need 12 prompt words today, so if you miss getting your word in on this post, you’ll have another chance on Saturday, January 18th. Something different this year (thanks to Joanne Corey for the idea!): if I don’t get prompts for every day from you all, I may leave the prompt as a free for all/choose your own. We’ll see what happens!

Read the rules carefully! I need 12 single words to use in the Just Jot It January challenge, for January 2nd through to the 17th. This is how you can be included:

  • I’m looking for a single word, plus a link to your blog, plus the name you wish me to use when I post your prompt (your name or the name you blog by). So for example, mine would be “antidisestablishmentarianism lindaghill.com Linda”
  • If you write more than what I’m asking for in your comment, for example, “My word is antidisestablishmentarianism, and my link is (this) and my name is (my given name or the name I blog by),” I’ll tell you to try again. Same thing if you try to slip in two prompts, even in two different comments—I’ll only accept the first. If I get the same word twice, I’ll only accept the first person who got to it. If you’re the second, I’ll let you know so you can try again. And please, remember this is a relatively G-rated blog, so nothing too risque.
  • The first 12 comments on this post that include a single word (plus link and name) will be the prompts for the first half of January.
  • These prompts will go up on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 2am EST. I’ll take care of One-Liner Wednesday and Stream of Consciousness Saturday myself.
  • I’ll link back to the blog of whomever gives me a prompt on the day I use it.
  • Make sure you get your comment in early. You don’t want to miss out!
  • Please don’t bother entering a prompt if your blog is inactive or if it exists only to sell things. If you haven’t posted in over a month and you’re only looking for clicks, your prompt word will be rejected. If, on the other hand, you’re planning to use JusJoJan to inspire you to get back into the swing of things, let me know immediately in a second comment — NOT the one you give your prompt word in. Remember, that’s ONE word plus your link and your name only. If I can’t find a reasonable number of posts written in the last month that aren’t trying to sell a product, your prompt word will be rejected.
  • Be positive!! I’ve found over the years that prompt words that are negative in nature don’t get as much participation as more positive words. I don’t want to limit you, but please keep in mind that if your word is on the controversial, sadder, or angrier side, your prompt may not get as many responses.
  • If you provide a prompt, I encourage you to join in as much as possible throughout the month.
  • Only one prompt per person for the month. If you get in this time, don’t try again next time.
  • NOTE: Please count the number of correctly formatted comments ahead of yours. If there are already 12, save yours for January 18th!

Please see the “Rules” post for a complete list of the prompt words. I’ll populate it as the words come in. Here’s the link in case you missed it: https://lindaghill.com/2024/12/31/just-jot-it-january-2025-the-rules/

Okay. Are you ready? Aaaaand … prompt! One word, one link, one name!