Life in progress

Category Archives: Life


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#SoCS – Strainer Inherited

Oh hi!

It’s me again.

I’m starting to feel like the chaser. You know, the part that comes after the main bit. The P.S. at the end of the SoCS day.

Dessert.

Speaking of dessert, I’ve been stealing the two-bite brownies I bought for Mother’s Day. They have pink, blue, and white butter icing and sprinkles on top. They call them Unicorn two-bite brownies and they’re delicious. They go well with red wine …

Can I make a confession? Promise you won’t tell anyone?

I eat my two-bite brownies in three bites.

I’m such a rebel.

Oooh, I just had a sip of wine. The fumes went up into my sinuses. Does that mean it’s good?

Anyway, where was I?

My pasta strainer. The one I inherited. It has to be at least 45 years old–my mother had it forever. I bought one myself when I moved in by myself years ago, but I never really liked the new one. The holes were both too small and they weren’t close enough to the edges of the base of the bowl, so I’d end up with wet noodles every time I tried to drain them.

So when my mother moved in to the retirement home, instead of getting rid of the strainer with everything else, I kept it. It used to have three little legs on it, but they all fell off. But I still love it. It’s my Charlie Brown Christmas tree of strainers. It’s sad, but it has a lot of heart. And it works, which is probably the most important thing.

Know what else is important? Breakfast in bed tomorrow morning. That’s what I’ve been promised.

Gonna be interesting.

Maybe I’d better leave some of those brownies …

SoCS badge by Pamela, at https://achronicalofhope.com/

This yummy, dessert-y post is brought to you by Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Click the following link to find all the other posts in the comment section and join in. Become the dessert-dessert! It’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2019/05/10/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-may-11-19/


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#SoCS – Rain

If it rained cats and dogs, would they fight on the way down?

If it rained men, how long would the line-ups be in emergency waiting rooms for people needing casts?

Would we run out of plaster?

I’ve always loved the sound of rain (real rain, not living, breathing rain). I felt safe sleeping in my attic room until the winds started increasing and tornadoes became more frequent in my area. Now I have a huge tree that worries me. If it fell the wrong way … Let’s just say I’m considering asking the city to take it down. Even though its shade keeps my house cool in the summer, I’m not sure it’s worth the risk.

But the gentle rain, when it hits the roof over my head is soothing. I can hear squirrels when they run across my roof–that’s how close it is.

I’m rambling.

It’s late.

This post is brought to you by Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Click the following link to find all the other participants’ posts in the comment section and see how you, too, can join in. It’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2019/05/03/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-may-4-19/


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Yikes!

Yikes! It’s late.

I slept in this morning.

Forgot to fix my alarm to include Monday after the holiday last week.

Because Alex is back home from the hospital (as of yesterday) and he went back to school today.

But the doctor told me it’s probably a good idea to feed him more slowly, because it’s possible the issue with his respiratory system could be bronchitis. And that could be due to coughing up little bits of formula when he’s sleeping through his morning tube feed.

So I have to get up early now. Five am instead of 5:30.

Yee-haw!

It’s fun to be me.

Oh, and yellow. Because I had to say it.

Finally! I need “Z” words for tomorrow’s illegal A-Z post. One word per person, please, and keep it clean. Note that the oldest comments are at the bottom.

Thank you to the three lovely ladies who gave me today’s words. You’ll find under the words “yikes,” “yee-haw,” and “yellow.”


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#SoCS – Expletive

I uttered an expletive tonight.

When I poured myself a rare beer

In a beer glass.

It had the perfect head upon it

And my mouth was verily watering

After a day of work, and visiting the hospital

And more work

(And a bit of learning thrown in for good measure.)

And so I lifted my beer glass from the kitchen counter

My beer, cold

The glass not yet forming condensation

And I got my glass about a foot off the counter and toward myself

Readying to carry it back to the living room

To my laptop

To write this post …

And the bottom dropped cleanly off the glass

Not a shard

Not a splinter to be found

A smooth cut straight off the bottom

As though it had been cut by a master craftsman

(One who obviously hates me)

And so not a drop

Was left in my glass

And now the dog is suffering with beer farts

(Or should I say I am suffering with the dog’s beer farts?)

And I am one glass

(and one beer)

Short of a six pack.

I suppose it could have been worse …

The glass could have lasted until it was hovering over my laptop …

I’ll need suggestions for “Y” words for Monday’s less-than-above-board A-Z post. One word per person, please, and keep it clean. Note that the oldest comments are at the bottom.

SoCS badge by Pamela, at https://achronicalofhope.com/

This s***ty post is part of Stream of Consciousness Saturday! Click the following link to find all the awesome posts in the comments, and join in … It’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2019/04/26/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-april-27-19/


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What happened to Linda?

Let’s play “What happened to Linda? This morning’s edition,” shall we?

I started writing this post–read: that first sentence–before I had a nap. When it took me a full minute to decide whether the word should be “edition” or “addition,” I knew finishing the post wasn’t worth risking my career as an editor.

Even after a three-hour nap, it’s an iffy prospect. I sincerely hope I’m making sense.

Where was I? Oh, yeah.

I put my darling son Alex to bed at just after 10 last night. He fell asleep after begging me to take him to the hospital. Now, you have to realize that the hospital is one of his favourite places in the world, so I take most of his pleas with a grain of salt. Last night, though, his breathing started sounding more horrible than it has all week.

At midnight, I finally said yes. By 1am, the decision had been made by the doctor to admit him for a couple of days. He has pneumonia again.

But, of course, it couldn’t possibly be that easy. Alex’s ultimate goal was to get out of emergency and up onto the floor, where he could hang out with the nurses. For the next thirteen hours he sat in anticipation of being admitted, asking me every fifteen seconds, When are we going upstairs?

I got home at 3pm.

So that’s “What happened to Linda,” and why I was thinking I should be posting the SoCS prompt at 9:30 this morning, too far away from my laptop to do it. And, backing up, why I was thinking I should be posting my illegal-A-Z-Challenge for the letter “V” at midnight last night as I drove to my local hospital.

Where Alex is now, happily wandering the halls, chasing nurses, because his obsession with the hospital far surpasses the actual science that tells the doctors he’s too sick to stay home.

Thank you to the bloggers who volunteered their “V” suggestions for yesterday’s post that’s not going to happen. I need sleep. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.


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Über-Unkempt Upheaval

Ah, am I ever über–unkempt. (See the cool accent-y things I put in there? I’m fancy with my words at least.)

Having Alex home from school does that to me. He was extra-demanding today. This is what I get for having a weekend off, apparently.

Can’t decide if it’s a man-cold or if he actually needs the hospital.

I’ll keep an eye on him.

It’s all caused more of an upheaval in my schedule.

My amazing timetable in which I do all the things on time is now untimely.

Timeless.

Stricken.

It’s a stricken schedule.

Strike that.

It’s just mush. Yes, it’s a mushy puddle of timetable.

An icky itinerary.

A gooey guide to my bedraggled bookings.

It’s unkempt! That’s what it is!

Yeah, I’ll get caught up. Coz that’s what I do.

Thank you to the three lovely ladies who gave me today’s words. You can find out who they are by clicking the links under “über,” “unkempt,” and “upheaval.”

I’ll need suggestions for “V” words for tomorrow’s less-than-above-board A-Z post. One word per person, please, and keep it clean. Note that the oldest comments are at the bottom.


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A Twitchy Troika of Truffles

I’m totally twitchy today. Alex was home–he’s really sick. I hope it’s just a cold since he doesn’t have a fever, but he can’t stop coughing. He’s in bed trying to sleep now and he’s still at it. I won’t bother even trying to get him up to catch the school troika … I mean the school bus tomorrow.

So, why am I twitchy? There were SO many awesome things I was going to accomplish this week! I have a deal going on on Kobo … here’s a screen shot:

and here’s the link if you want to pick up my book for free: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/p/free-ebooks

I was planning to advertise this every which way ’til Sunday. Literally–the deal’s on until Sunday. But I have Alex at home.

Oh, and that appointment I had to get my mother’s staples out of her head this morning? Dragged her all the way to the doctor’s office and found out the retirement home had taken them out a week ago. So we went there for nothing.

Why, oh why can’t anything go smoothly this year?

Because seriously, if they would, I’d stop complaining in your ears. :/

Where are the truffles? I need chocolate!

I also need suggestions for “U” words for tomorrow’s illegal A-Z post. One word per person, please, and keep it clean. Note that the oldest comments are at the bottom.

Thank you to today’s accomplices, whose links you’ll find under the words “twitchy,” “troika,” and “truffles.”


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Sweep it under the rug

I’m writing this off the top of my head tonight because (surprise!) I’m once again very tired. I’ll call this Stream of Consciousness Smonday. Totally a word.

I’ve swept a couple of things under the rug in the past couple of days, one of which was my promise to ask for “S” words. Sorry about that. My intentions were good, but my body was weak. And still is.

The good news? I’m caught up with my work to where I hoped to be by this time today. The bad news? I think I might be coming down with a cold. Alex has one. I hope he’ll go to school tomorrow, but it’s not looking good. And I have to take my mother to an appointment in the morning to get the staples out of her head from where she fell two weeks ago and split it open.

So back to real life it is. No more sweeping stuff under the rug.

In real life, I don’t even have a rug, so there you go. 😛

I need suggestions for “T” words for tomorrow’s illegal A-Z post. There’s actually a method to my madness: if anyone asks, it’s you guys’ fault for encouraging me! HaHa! One word per person, please, and keep it clean. Note that the oldest comments are at the bottom. Thanks!


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#SoCS – A dig in the ribs

Eyes ribbed raw (typo intentional) by blinking eyes and sandpaper eyelids, I type this with my eyes closed tonight. Unable to look at the screen anymore.

Working too hard, I need a dig in the ribs to make me stop. To rest.

I forget what it’s like to take a day off. But I can’t. Not now. Maybe in a few weeks.

No link tonight. You know where to find the SoCS prompt.

Good night.

 

 

SoCS badge by Pamela, at https://achronicalofhope.com/

 

 

 


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Qwerty makes Quasimodo (and other long words) Quicker

First, thank you to Ritu for helping me find the title of this post. I don’t think I could have done it without you.

That said, what want to talk about has nothing to do with the title. Which is nothing new, so let’s carry on, shall we?

The day Notre Dame burned, Alex came home from school and asked me why I was sad. Having no way, with my limited vocabulary in sign language, to tell him what had happened, my first thought was of Disney’s “Hunchback of Notre Dame.” So I showed him a picture of the movie, and of Quasimodo at the top of the spire. When he saw it fall in the videos online, he understood.

I’ve been in so many grand cathedrals over the years–Canterbury, St. Pauls and Westminster Abbey in London, Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal, and yes, Notre Dame in Paris, among others–that it’s difficult to remember many specific details of any of them. But the sense of awe when stepping into such a church, of being surrounded by its history, leaves an indelible mark on the soul. When I saw Notre Dame burning, I went quickly from shock to denial and then to grief.

Notre Dame Basilica, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

When all is said and done, Notre Dame is an object. No lives were lost–not even the bees on the roof–which is a miracle all by itself. Still, one can’t help but think we’ve lost so much more than a material thing. Places like that are alive with the spirits of everyone who has walked through their doors.

On a lighter note …

My middle son, Christopher, who is autistic, didn’t start talking until he was four years old. In order to help him out, we bought him computer games to play. There was one, featuring Elmo, that had a mini-game in it to aid kids in learning the alphabet. And it worked! Chris began mimicking Elmo’s voice. For a long while he refused to put sentences together himself–everything he spoke was a line out of a game or a movie. But I distinctly remember one of the first questions he answered independently was, “What is the alphabet?”

Chris quickly answered, “Q W E R T Y U I O P A …” all the way to M. Because he learned the alphabet at the keyboard.

Fascinating how the autistic mind works.

Thanks to the three lovely ladies who gave me my three “Q” words for today’s not-A-Z post. You’ll find their links under the words “Quasimodo,” “quick,” and “QWERTY.”

I don’t need any suggestions for “R” words for tomorrow’s post, because I’ll use SoCS to fulfill my non-duty of writing a non-A-Z post. Watch out for my request for “S” suggestions tomorrow!