Life in progress


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#JusJoJan 2019 Daily Prompt – Jan. 11th

It’s the Just Jot it January prompt! Imagine that! Today we have a guest prompter who, I’m sad to say, I don’t know the name of. Now don’t get me wrong–everyone is entitled to their privacy. Problem in this case is I’m not even sure of M. Oniker’s gender. I’ve always assumed she was a woman. If I’m wrong, M, I’m so sorry.

If you’d like a peek at the upcoming prompts, check the “Rules” post HERE. The list is at the bottom of the post. I’ll have the rest of the spaces on the list filled after the next prompt post, January 17th. Watch out for it! Meanwhile, here’s your prompt for Just Jot it January, Friday January 11th:

Your prompt for JusJoJan 2019, January 11th is brought to you by M! Click here to find her last SoCS post and say hi while you’re there! M’s word for our prompt today is in SoCS style: “flew/flu/flue.” Use one, use them all, use them anywhere in your post or make one or all the theme of your post. Have fun!

Here are the rules:

1. Please be sure to link back to THIS POST for January 11th, 2019.

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. 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: The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section.

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

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. 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. Remember, you don’t have to use the prompts. Please write whatever inspires you. NOTE: Please state either in your title or very early on in your post if it’s NSFW.

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

8. Have fun!


32 Comments

Sunrise – #JusJoJan Jot #10

I’m going out on a bit of a limb with today’s prompt in that I’m stretching to use it.

It was brought to mind by a comment on Facebook concerning my misstep and my broken laptop of the last time I was carrying something precious and I did the same thing. What actually happened, both last night and that last time was I thought I was on the last step but I still had two to go. So when I took that last step, I realized I’d stepped out too far, thinking I was stepping onto the floor. I could have caught the edge of the bottom stair, but I made the conscious decision in that split second to try to take both. Catching the edge of the last stair would have caused me to fall, but I might have saved the laptop. As it was, I decided to save myself instead. All in that split second.

The brain’s ability to make such decisions in that much time is even more astounding than my mad Paint skillz.

I know you’re still wondering what all this has to do with a sunrise. I’m getting there.

The last time this happened to me, I was carrying this guy.

Except at the time, he was only a couple of months old. That time, again I had the presence of mind to make a decision: fall and save what I was holding, or save myself.

I ended up in the emergency room, he didn’t even wake up.

But he did live to see another sunrise.


The prompt word, “sunrise,” for today’s post is brought to you by Toortsie! Thanks, Toortsie! To find her “sunrise” post, click here.

It’s never too late to participate in Just Jot it January! Click the following link to find out how, and see all the other participants’ links in the comment section. It’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2019/01/10/jusjojan-2019-daily-prompt-jan-10th/


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#JusJoJan 2019 Daily Prompt – Jan. 10th

Hey there! We’re back to our regularly scheduled program for the Just Jot it January prompts. Today features our very first guest prompt from a blogger whose native language isn’t English, though she does sometimes post in English. To read some of her posts in Afrikaans, just Google “Google Translate.” You can copy sections of her posts and paste them into the space on the left, and it’ll translate beautifully. So exciting!

If you’d like a peek at the upcoming prompts, check the “Rules” post HERE. The list is at the bottom of the post. I’ll have the rest of the spaces on the list filled in soon. Meanwhile, here’s your prompt for Just Jot it January, Thursday January 10th:

Your prompt for JusJoJan 2019, January 10th is brought to you by Toortsie! Click here to find her last post and say hi while you’re there! Toortsie’s word for our prompt today is “sunrise.” Use it anywhere in your post or make it the theme of your post. Have fun!

Here are the rules:

1. Please be sure to link back to THIS POST for January 10th, 2019.

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. 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: The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section.

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

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. 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. Remember, you don’t have to use the prompts. Please write whatever inspires you. NOTE: Please state either in your title or very early on in your post if it’s NSFW.

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

8. Have fun!


26 Comments

Damn it – #JusJoJan Jot #9

I missed the last couple of steps coming down the stairs tonight with my laptop balanced on one arm and Alex’s feeding pump in the other hand. Guess what went flying?

I’m actually flabbergasted that it still works. The hinges are broken–it’s pushed almost flat–and the screen has come away from the case … I have a picture.

I’ll take it to Best Buy tomorrow to see if they can snap everything back into place, but I’m not holding my breath. So if you don’t see me around, you’ll know where I am …

This very sad post is brought to you by Just Jot it January. Join in! It’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2019/01/09/jusjojan-2019-daily-prompt-jan-9th-and-one-liner-wednesday/

 


57 Comments

#JusJoJan 2019 Daily Prompt – Jan. 9th, and One-Liner Wednesday

I have a lady in a puffy sleeveless dress and a spiffy hat, made unintentionally from a poorly peeled-off sticker, on the side of my recycling box.


Here are the general rules to follow for Just Jot it January:

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 the daily prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5), every day except for Saturday’s Stream of Consciousness (SoCS) prompt–you’ll find that one on Friday morning at 9:30am. That daily post (i.e. this one) will be where you leave your link for others to find in the comment section. There will be a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday.

2a. Since today is Wednesday, I challenge you to make your JusJoJan post a one-liner. If you don’t care to, or if you’ve already written your post, no problem. Remember, with One-Liner Wednesday you can write anything – it’s only a prompt to write one line, not necessarily to keep to the same theme as mine. The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:

(i) Make it one sentence.

(ii) Make it either funny or inspirational.

(iii) Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.

(iv) Enjoy yourself!

(v) Use our One-Liner Wednesday badge.

#1linerWeds badge by Cheryl, at dreamingreality646941880.wordpress.com/

3. As long as your blog is on WordPress, you’ll be able to link via pingback. To execute a pingback, 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! If you’re participating from another blogging host, just drop a link into the comment section. Note: The newest pingbacks and comments will appear at the top.

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

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. The prompts are here both to remind you and to inspire you to write. However, you don’t have to use the prompt word of the day. You can link any kind of jot back here. Note: If it’s 18+ content, please say so in a comment with your link or close to your pingback.

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

8. Have fun!


25 Comments

Self – #JusJoJan Jot #8

Gah! I hate trying to write about myself. Which is strange, considering that’s basically what this blog is about.

But that’s not entirely true. The bulk of what makes up this blog is how I react to things that happen around me. How I feel about things doesn’t necessarily state directly who I am, though it gives insight into who I am. It would be so much easier to write a bio if all I had to do was write about how I dealt with someone who was rude to me. Or how I managed to get through a day with my kids.

The question “who are you?” is difficult to answer because none of us are just one thing. “Self” is a complex entity, always changing, always growing. Who we are depends on what we experience and how we age. What we do with our “self” depends on circumstances both of our own choosing and of completely random situations and also, where we come from.

Putting all that in a single biography, on a blog or on the cover of a book, isn’t easy.

That took a bit of a philosophical turn, didn’t it?


The prompt word, “self,” for today’s post is brought to you by the fabulous Ritu! Thanks, Ritu! To find her bio, click here. It’s a good one!

It’s never too late to participate in Just Jot it January! Click the following link to find out how, and see all the other participants’ links in the comment section. It’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2019/01/08/jusjojan-2019-daily-prompt-jan-8th/


37 Comments

#JusJoJan 2019 Daily Prompt – Jan. 8th

Hello again, and welcome to your daily Just Jot it January prompt. I’ve had a lovely, quiet Monday and I’m looking forward to the same for the rest of the week–if only we don’t have a snow day. Freezing rain in the forcast!

If you’d like a peek at the upcoming prompts, check the “Rules” post HERE. The list is at the bottom of the post. I’ll have the rest of the spaces on the list filled in soon. Meanwhile, here’s your prompt for Just Jot it January, Tuesday, January 8th:

Your prompt for JusJoJan 2019, January 8th is brought to you by Ritu! Click here to find her last post and say hi while you’re there! Ritu’s word for our prompt today is “self.” Use it anywhere in your post or make it the theme of your post. Have fun!

Here are the rules:

1. Please be sure to link back to THIS POST for January 8th, 2019.

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. 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: The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section.

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

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. 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. Remember, you don’t have to use the prompts. Please write whatever inspires you. NOTE: Please state either in your title or very early on in your post if it’s NSFW.

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

8. Have fun!


15 Comments

Memento – #JusJoJan Jot #7

Mementos come in all shapes and sizes, don’t they?

In fact, some of them don’t come in physical form at all. Some are memories, whether shared or intensely personal. Some are music …

I am so insanely happy that Bohemian Rhapsody won at the Golden Globes last night. From the 70s when I first heard the song on the radio, to buying the album (which I still have, so I suppose I do have a memento) and listening to it in my parents’ basement over and over again, all the way to Wayne’s World and the new era of the song, it’s been part of my life almost since my age hit double digits.

I had the immense pleasure of singing “Love of My Life” not once, but twice, to Brian May’s accompaniment at concerts, and though I never saw Freddie, he was there in spirit, I’m sure.

My true mementos are my memories of this. And I’m so glad that the world hasn’t forgotten either.

The movie is amazing, even though they took a few liberties with the timelines for artistic purposes. That Brian and Roger have approved it is good enough for me. If you haven’t seen it, do. If you can, see it at the theatre. It’s well worth the money.

Rami Malek’s acceptance speech last night brought a tear to my eye. Watch it here.


Our prompt, “memento,” was brought to us by Tara. Thanks, Tara! You can find her Just Jot it January post here: https://daisysmileyface.com/2019/01/07/memento-and-more/

If you’d like to join us in Just Jot it January, it’s not too late! Click the following link to find all the participants’ post links in the comments and write your own. It’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2019/01/07/jusjojan-2019-daily-prompt-jan-7th/


37 Comments

#JusJoJan 2019 Daily Prompt – Jan. 7th

Good Monday morning and welcome to your Just Jot it January prompt! I don’t know about you, but today marks the first day of our regular routine for the year. Alex is back at school (or should be, as I write this Sunday night), and all is well.

If you’d like a peek at the upcoming prompts, check the “Rules” post HERE. The list is at the bottom of the post. I’ll have the rest of the spaces on the list filled in soon. Meanwhile, here’s your prompt for Just Jot it January, Monday, January 7th:

Your prompt for JusJoJan 2019, January 7th is brought to you by Tara! Click here to find her last post and say hi while you’re there! Tara’s word for our prompt today is “memento.” Use it anywhere in your post or make it the theme of your post. Have fun!

Here are the rules:

1. Please be sure to link back to THIS POST for January 7th, 2019.

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. 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: The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section.

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

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. 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. Remember, you don’t have to use the prompts. Please write whatever inspires you. NOTE: Please state either in your title or very early on in your post if it’s NSFW.

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

8. Have fun!


29 Comments

Master – #JusJoJan Jot #6

I am not master of my domain.

No, I’m not talking about in the Seinfeld sense, so you can please just wipe that idea from your brain right away. I’m talking about my house. My home. The place that rather than hang my hat, I usually toss it on a piece of furniture because there’s some crisis or another taking shape the second I walk in the door.

Someone once said to me that a perfect house in which children live is a house with miserable children. I’m not sure that’s true–maybe there are parents who are just that organized. If so, and if you’re out there, tips are welcome.

Or maybe I just really need a hat rack.


This very short, very late post was brought to you by the prompt word “master,” given us today by Sadje! Click here to find her Just Jot it January post and say hi!

To see how you, too, can join in, click the following link. You’ll find all the other participants’ links in the comment section. Try it–it’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2019/01/06/jusjojan-2019-daily-prompt-jan-6th/