Life in progress

Category Archives: Life


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#JusJoJan 2019 Daily Prompt – Jan. 23rd, and One-Liner Wednesday

Found in my doctor’s office:

Photo depicts a cartoon of a man in a doctor’s office. The doctor is pointing at an ex-ray hanging on the wall, saying, “I’m also concerned about that other thingy growing next to your whatchamacallit.” The caption reads: The second opinion was even worse than the first.

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!


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Curiosity – #JusJoJan 2019 Jot #22

Well, for a birthday, it’s been one unexpected thing after another. Let me tell you about it.

It started out with the school buses not running, but I knew that ahead of time. Because Alex was starting to go stir crazy yesterday, and because he had an appointment with a speech and language pathologist at lunch time at the school, I’d decided to drive him in anyway. So I began my day by shoveling my car out of the driveway. Turned out I didn’t need to do it first thing, because my best friend, John, came to my rescue and took Alex to school.

I still needed to be there for the appointment, however, so I had a shower–my birthday present to me–and drove to the school where I met the speech pathologist. Lo and behold, she’s fluent in sign language. Wonderful! What a lovely surprise that was!

After that, I came home and tried to get as caught up on my social media and all the kind birthday wishes, as well as try to promote my book sale. Then I had to drive back to the school to get Alex, because no buses.

I got home and we had pizza for dinner–no cooking!–and I got back to my laptop for some more catching up. Then my mother called to say she spent the day in bed, she was very sweaty, and the nurse had been talking about sending her to the hospital today. But my mum had no idea why. So I put in a call to the nurse at the retirement home. Apparently–wait for it–a few of the residents have had pneumonia, and my mother hasn’t been doing so well. They’ll keep an eye on her tonight, and if they have to send her by ambulance, they will. I explained I can’t get away–I have Alex to look after.

Just as I was putting Alex to bed, I got a call from his brother. His bus didn’t show up. So off I went to drive him to work for 11pm.

Meanwhile, we’re expecting freezing rain tomorrow, so probably no buses. And I doubt I’ll want to drive either. There’s about six inches of snow on my street, and if that freezes over, it’s going to be an ice rink out there.

What does all this have to do with curiosity?

I’m not the slightest bit curious about how my day tomorrow is going to go.

I’m happy and content to spend the rest of my birthday oblivious to what might await me.

Just livin’ in the moment.

Thank you so much to everyone for their wonderful birthday wishes today! They really helped me get through what was an otherwise trying day. And it’s entirely possible that they kept it from being worse! ❤

“Curiosity” is the prompt word for today, brought to us by Pamela. Thanks, Pamela! Click here to find her signature daily quip post for today. And say hi while you’re there!

 

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/2019/01/22/jusjojan-2019-daily-prompt-jan-22nd/


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Serendipity – #JusJoJan 2019 Jot #20

I’ve written about serendipity a couple of times on this blog already. The last two times I wrote about phenomenal events. We all have those serendipitous moments occasionally. Once in a while they’re life-changing, but mostly they’re the little things that come to us. Unexpected good things.

Sometimes, it seems, the universe gives us things we don’t even know that we need. Like the money I received from the government a week before I dropped my laptop. It turned out to be the exact amount my new laptop cost. Yes, I could have used that money to pay for the things I’d already spent it on, but the situation also could have been worse.

And sometimes the motes of serendipity appear as things seemingly sent just to put a smile on our faces. A song that comes on the radio that lifts us when we’re down, or items we give significance to as a sign of hope.

Serendipity can be mind-blowing.

Or it can just help us get through the day.

 

The prompt word, “serendipity,” for today’s post is brought to you by Jill! Thanks, Jill! To find her “serendipity” post, click here. And say hi while you’re there!

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/2019/01/20/jusjojan-2019-daily-prompt-jan-20th/


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TV memories – #SoCS & #JusJoJan Jot #19

Let me start by saying I rarely watch TV anymore. I remember the first black and white we had–probably not my parents’ first one, but the first one I remember. It was a floor model, on four legs, and there was a circular plastic hard film through which you could see what station the TV was on. I couldn’t leave it alone. It was just so much fun to poke, until I broke it and my mum got mad at me.

We got our first colour TV in the 70s. It was amazeballs. You couldn’t tear me away from it.

But one of the things most etched into my mind from back then was cuddling up to my dad on the chesterfield while we watched either “Bewitched” or “M*A*S*H.” We both loved “M*A*S*H”–never missed an episode. All I can really remember about “Bewitched” as it relates to my dad is saying “Soool Saks!” every time we saw the screenwriter’s name in the credits. No idea why we did it. I’ve never been able to forget good ol’ Sol Saks. Even though I had no idea what he looked like until I Googled him five minutes ago.

I cuddled up with my dad on the couch right up until the week he died. Ah, but we laughed a lot. That’s the most important memory of all.

This post is part of Just Jot it January and Stream of Consciousness Saturday! If you’d like to take part or read the posts by the other participants, click the following link: https://lindaghill.com/2019/01/18/the-friday-reminder-for-socs-jusjojan-2019-daily-prompt-jan-19th/

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


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Companionship – #JusJoJan Jot #18

It’s been a long day. My companion for the day was Alex–he didn’t go to school. His cough was bad enough this morning that I decided to wait and see if sitting up would help. It did, but then he slept most of the morning.

He lazed around for most of the rest of the day, only really getting up to build some Lego with my best friend, John.

He’s sleeping again now–the worry isn’t over.

I look forward to going back to this not being the only thing on my mind.

“Companionship” is the prompt word for today, brought to us by Di. Thanks, Di! Click here to find her JusJoJan post for today. And say hi while you’re there!

 

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/2019/01/18/jusjojan-2019-daily-prompt-jan-18th/

 


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Inch – #JusJoJan Jot #18

Inch is one of those words that, if I look at it too long, it stops making sense.

Inches are the only thing that make sense to me when I’m measuring height. Of course, if I don’t want to do math, feet are important too.

I just realized why my 12 times tables were so important in school. Are they still? In countries other than the U.S., that is.

I’d rather measure snow in inches–four inches sounds much better than ten centimetres.

Inches are about as far away I am from going to bed after a very busy day.

Inch is the prompt word for today, brought to us by John Holton. Thanks, John! Here’s the link to his “inch” post. Drop by and say hi to him, if you haven’t already!

 

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/2019/01/17/jusjojan-2019-daily-prompt-jan-17th/


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Update – Alex is home!

He finally slept last night, and now that he’s off the IV antibiotics, they decided to release Alex from the hospital. He’s still coughing, but hopefully that’ll go away by the time the oral antibiotics are done this time.

Of course, as soon as he sat on the couch at home he fell asleep. I hope his nap doesn’t mean he’ll be up half the night.

In other news, he has an appointment with his cardiologist tomorrow. I’ll schedule the post requesting the prompt words for the rest of the month tomorrow afternoon when I think I’ll be home. In case I’m not, I’ll be counting on you to read the rules! Watch out for that at 1pm EST.


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#JusJoJan 2019 Daily Prompt – Jan. 16th, and One-Liner Wednesday

Dedication:

“Can I get you anything at all? A piece of toast? Coffee? Tea?”

Offers to me from nurses in the emergency room and while I sat in Alex’s room in the hospital.

To all the nurses out there who take care of patients and their families, thank you.

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!


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Quick update on Alex

He’s still in hospital. He had two hours of sleep last night and one more hour when I arrived at the hospital this morning at 4:00am, because I made him lay down.

He’s still on his feet.

Total sleep since Sunday (01/13) morning: four hours. It is now Tuesday, 9:40pm.

Hoping he’ll come home tomorrow. It’s boring enough here to allow him to doze off.

Thanks to all who commented on my last post. I appreciate the good thoughts and prayers, more than you know.


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Paris – #JusJoJan Jot #15

My trip to Paris was, for the most part, a waste.

I was fourteen years old and bored with everything, not least of all, traveling with my mother. I do have pictures somewhere … I don’t think I’m in any of them because what bored teeny-bopper wants to have their picture taken with their mom? What I do remember about the trip:

My very first croissant. And boy, was I in love.

My first bidet. No, I didn’t try it, because ewww!! (I was fourteen.)

Stairs.

Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower through the window of a tour bus.

Dog poop.

Sacré-Cœur.

Stairs.

Crazy drivers.

Being driven to our hotel with a woman cab driver who had her German Shepard in the front seat with her.

Being the only one who knew how to speak French out of myself, my mom, and her friend who we were traveling with.

Did I mention stairs?

Were I to go now, as an adult, I’m positive I’d colossally appreciate it.

As for the stairs? I’ve been to Japan. It can’t be worse for stairs than that. Can it?

The prompt word, “Paris,” for today’s post is brought to you by Kelli! Thanks, Kelli! To find her “Paris” post, click here. And say hi while you’re there!

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/2019/01/15/jusjojan-2019-daily-prompt-jan-15th/