Life in progress

Tag Archives: family


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#SoCS – Cheeky Bugger

Is it Saturday? Oh. No. It’s Sunday already. And I’m late again for my own party.

I remember my mother calling me (and many other people) a cheeky bugger often. I was very cheeky indeed when I was younger. And when my mum was younger, too.

We took her out today to a restaurant to celebrate her 90th birthday. She only remembered when someone mentioned it. And she can’t remember how old she is. I can tell her and she’ll forget again in under a minute. Under 30 seconds, even.

But she’s still smoking. Her breathing sounds horrible–the nurse at the home asked me if I wanted to send her to the hospital tonight, but I can’t be there with her, so the nurse said they’ll keep an eye on her. She has a puffer. My mum, that is. I don’t know if the nurse has one.

It’s rotten, getting old.

My mother never gets involved in conversations. Can’t make decisions. The simplest things confuse her, like whether or not she should have two creams in her coffee or one. In that case, it’s not that she can’t decide, it’s that she doesn’t understand the concept.

But, she still knows she wants to smoke.

Perhaps it’s the only thing that keeps her alert.

A photo of my mum and Alex, signing “friend” together. Taken about 8 years ago.

Not sure how I got from “cheeky” to here. Ah well. Such is stream of consciousness writing.

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

This post is brought to you by Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Click the following link to find the other participants’ posts in the comment section and see how you, too, can join in! It’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2020/02/14/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-feb-15-2020/


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One-Liner Wednesday – I’ll Be Back

Yesterday morning, as my eldest son was leaving for the store, he stood in the doorway to go outside and said to me, “In the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger …”

He paused for so long, I finished the sentence for him: “‘I’m going to kill you last.'”

“‘I lied,'” he replied and went out the door, laughing.

I love my kids.

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. To execute a pingback, just copy the URL in the address bar on this post, and paste it somewhere in the body of your post. Your link will show up in the comments below. Please ensure that the One-Liner Wednesday you’re pinging back to is this week’s! Otherwise, no one will likely see it but me.

NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, like Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS), if you see a pingback from someone else in my comment section, click and have a read. It’s bound to be short and sweet.

Unlike SoCS, this is not a prompt so there’s no need to stick to the same “theme.”

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


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#JusJoJan 31/20 – Chaos

Parenting. Yep, I’m back to talking about that. Alex had a day off school today, and he was all set to go out with his respite worker for a fun day of bowling and the library. He’d been looking forward to it all week.

So what happened when it was time to get dressed to go?

The same thing that happens every time.

He didn’t want to go. I asked Alex a dozen times, and no. He wanted to stay home.

I knew it was a temporary decision. I knew he really wanted to go. But I’ve had enough of fighting to get him out the door every time he actually wants to go.

So I texted the respite worker and told her not to come.

And what happened as soon as I texted the respite worker?

He wanted to go.

So I put my foot down and said no. He’d made his decision. He no longer had a choice.

I’ve done this before, but I’ve let it slide since. It’s time to put an end to it.

The chaos of Alex’s decision making is driving me nuts. It prevents me from being able to work when he’s home, and if I need to go anywhere–really need to go, like I had to today to get groceries–I can’t go. I’m stuck at home with a 19-year-old who’s acting like a baby for no reason except that he enjoys pushing my buttons.

My buttons will no longer be pushed.

Because if I don’t do anything about this now, then when he finishes school for good in a year and a half, I’m going to end up being nothing but a babysitter for my adult son for the rest of my life. And the fact is, I need to work. I can’t keep us in the manner to which we’ve grown accustomed without it.

So this is less a matter of whining and more a public statement that I’ll change my ways. And Alex’s.

Wish us luck.

 

This proclamatory post is brought to you by Just Jot it January! Click the following link and join in! It’s the last day! https://lindaghill.com/2020/01/31/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-31st-2020/

Love quickens beneath the moonlight …

Get your free copy of The Magician’s Sire: A Paranormal Romance → Click here


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One-Liner Wednesday/JusJoJan the 29th, 2020 – Doggy Boo-Boo

Winston is rocking the pink bandage the vet put on him today after pulling out an ingrown dew claw.

Winston, the beagle-Basset, laying on the couch looking pretty miserable, actually.

 

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). 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 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 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.

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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One-Liner Wednesday/JusJoJan the 15th, 2020 – Aesthetic

I swear he poses on purpose when he sees me coming.

Photo: Black cat, Casper, sitting on my wooden kitchen table with a white bud vase containing two dying red roses. White cafe curtains cover the bottom half of the sunshine-filled windows surrounding the table.

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). 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 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 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.

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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#JusJoJan 19/20 – Not Buyin’ It

Before I write anything else, I’d like to thank Jim for our prompt word, “gobbledygook.” Thank you, Jim! You can find his Just Jot it January post here. Go visit him and say hi, and give him a follow!

Today was a tough one at home with Alex. He woke up with a sore throat and spent most of the day complaining that he was so sick, he needed to go to the hospital. If he was to be believed, he was dying. Dying, I tell you! But no. It simply wasn’t true–he just loves the hospital that much.

Sounds like gobbledygook, but that’s Alex. He tried everything to convince me to take him to the emergency, just so he could sit there and people-watch and flirt with nurses. He made himself cough until his throat probably really was raw.

But I saw through the deception. He was happy and smiling whenever he thought I couldn’t see him. He sang in his own way (he’s Deaf and can’t hear himself, but I know his singing) when I wasn’t in the room, but the moment he saw me, he pretended to be hoarse and in agony.

Still, he did look a bit sick today, so I’ll keep him home from school tomorrow unless he’s bouncing off the walls. A sure sign he’s faking it.

Wish me luck.

 

This gobbledygookish post is brought to you by Just Jot it January! Click the following link and join in! It’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2020/01/19/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-19th-2020/

Love quickens beneath the moonlight …

Get your free copy of The Magician’s Sire: A Paranormal Romance → Click here


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One-Liner Wednesday/JusJoJan the 15th, 2020 – A Door

When one door closes, another opens. Just don’t be standing in front of it. It’s a heavy door.

(Part of the above is a quote from Alexander Graham Bell. The rest is all mine.)

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). 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 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 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.

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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#JusJoJan 10/20 – My dogs

As always, to start off, I’d like to say thank you to our guest-prompter! Today it’s Di with her word, “dogs.” You can find her Just Jot it January post here. Go visit her and say hi, and follow her while you’re there!

Being the grammar and word nerd I am, I had to look up the word “dogs” as they relate to feet. Did you know the expression comes from 1913, from the rhyming slang for “dog’s meat”? No? Me neither. I’m assuming it’s Cockney, but I could be wrong.

This is an excellent site for looking up where words come from: https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=dogs If you’re anything like me, you’ll be fascinated.

On real dogs, I’m terribly glad my kids are no longer afraid of them. Most of them, I should say. They’ll still give a dog walking on the sidewalk with its owner a wide berth, but at least they won’t run into traffic, screaming, if a dog comes near.

It was kinda touch and go when I brought this guy home

Winston

He’s quite a bit bigger than a shoe now, but I imagine it was his smallness that convinced the kids to allow him in the house.

I wish, sometimes, they could stay puppies. It’s almost as hard as having your kids grow up.

 

This doggedly not-on-point post is brought to you by Just Jot it January! Click the following link and join in! It’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2020/01/10/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-10th-2020/

Love quickens beneath the moonlight …

Get your free copy of The Magician’s Sire: A Paranormal Romance → Click here


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One-Liner Wednesday/JusJoJan the 8th, 2020 – Happiness

“Happiness is a warm puppy.”
― Charles M. Schulz


 
I repeat this quote often.

Pictured is my beagle/basset hound cross, Winston, laying his head on my lap, first with his eyes open, second photo he’s sleeping. I’m wearing my office uniform–pajamas.

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). 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 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 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.

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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#JusJoJan 7/20 – Toss it into the Mix

Much appreciation to John Holton for our prompt word today! You can find his Just Jot it January post here. Check it out, say hi, and go ahead and follow him!

I really need to apologize for not showing up for my own prompts in a timely manner.

I’m doing a paid edit on someone’s novel and I’m on a deadline, so that has to take precedence over everything else. In a close second are the writing of my own book, the editing of two of my other books, my blog, the kids, the animals, the housework, the groceries, exchanging Christmas gifts that don’t fit, paying bills, dealing with everything that Alex being in the school play next week entails, and appeasing my mother who will perish if she doesn’t get a pack of cigarettes soon.

Is it any wonder that I just got distracted by the cat who’s laying beside me on the couch snoring?

Better than Facebook, I suppose.

Oh hell, why not just toss that into the mix too. It’s always good for a few lost hours.

 

This sorry post is brought to you by Just Jot it January! Click the following link and join in! It’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2020/01/07/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-7th-2020/

Love quickens beneath the moonlight …

Get your free copy of The Magician’s Sire: A Paranormal Romance → Click here