Life in progress

Tag Archives: humour


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Just Jot It Jan 6 – Tangible

I rarely spend money on myself, but when I do, I usually spend it on things that are intangible. I’d rather go to my favourite restaurant than buy clothes–which may have something to do with the fact that I eat too much to fit into the clothes I wish I could wear. Or is that the other way around? Whatever. And yes, I know that food is tangible, but it’s not the feeling of it I like. It’s the taste. And the experience of eating off someone else’s plates… someone who will wash them.

I’d rather go on trips than buy myself something expensive, like a new computer or cabinets for my kitchen. Again, I enjoy the experience and the memories a trip gives me. As well as the opportunity to get out of the house and away from all the responsibilities I have. And my ugly 1950s kitchen cabinets… But it’s not just that. The cabinets work still, and I can’t justify spending money to get rid of something useful just because it’s old and olive green and shiny. I’m talking about my kitchen counter now, but really, the whole kitchen needs redoing.

My money also goes on my education, which isn’t tangible. But it’s an investment, right? If I spend enough money taking courses so that I can MAKE money, it’s all worthwhile in the end. Especially if I can spend my money on some delicious tangible sushi. In Japan. Away from my kitchen.

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Thank you to Prajakta for giving us our prompt for today – “Tangible.” Please click on this link and go say hi to her! https://anarmchairperfectionist.wordpress.com/2017/01/06/tangible-jotting/

And a very special thank you once again to Rosemary for hosting Just Jot It January today! Her post for this prompt can be found here: https://rosemarycarlson.com/2017/01/06/tangible/

Just Jot It January is a fun, month-long community challenge that you can join any time! Go here for details! https://lindaghill.com/2017/01/06/jusjojan-daily-prompt-jan-617/


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Just Jot It Jan 5 – Spangly

I’ve always loved bright, spangly things. It’s one of the few facets of me that makes me girly. I used to figure skate, once upon a time, and one of my favourite things about that was being able to wear sequins in our annual show. My mother was one of the “sewing mom’s,” and I remember hours of helping her, just sewing on sequins.

There’s not much spangly about being a stay-at-home mom. Lately, since Alex has been getting on and off the bus by himself, there have been days when I haven’t even changed out of my pyjamas. Hey, staying in them saves me money since I don’t go out in them. Not even to Walmart.

It’s amazing what one can get accomplished in one’s pj’s, if one is determined. I can go to school, find a job (and work at it), and write and publish a book all without putting on pants. I can even exercise if I could be bothered getting the Wii balance board out.

Yeah, I need to get out more. Not to whine about it, but I can’t wait for Alex to go back to school. I’ve spent the week in my pyjamas colouring, playing video games, and separating the kid and the dog before one of them gets bitten. The bad news is if it’s the kid who gets bitten, the dog goes bye-bye. The good news is if it’s the dog, the teeth marks probably won’t show through his hair.

Ah, for the days when to be sequined or not to be sequined was the hardest thing in my life.

A boy and his puppy

A boy and his puppy

Thanks so much to Judy at “Edwina’s Episodes” for our prompt today, “Spangly.” You can visit her daily JusJoJan post by clicking here: http://www.edwinasepisodes.com/jusjojan-january-4th-spangly/

And a special thank you to Rosemary for hosting today’s Just Jot It January!! Please visit her and read her “spangly” post here: https://rosemarycarlson.com/2017/01/05/dressed-for-a-party/

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Just Jot It January is a fun way to keep that resolution to write more! Click the link and check it out: https://lindaghill.com/2017/01/05/jusjojan-daily-prompt-jan-5th17/


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One-Liner Wednesday & #JusJoJan 4/17 Prompt – Pro Tip

When choosing a ring-tone for your ex, pick your favourite song. When you don’t want to answer, you’ll be happy to just listen, and if your ex ever finds out, you can say you chose that song because of how “special” he or she is.

Note: This pro tip also works for your workplace and collection agencies.

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The rules for Just Jot It January are as follows:

1. 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. The prompts will be posted every day at 2am my time (GMT -5). You don’t have to follow the prompt word, but this will be where you leave your link for others to see. Make sure you link your post to the correct day’s prompt. There will be a post like this every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday, and Saturday, when you’ll find the prompt on my usual Friday Reminder post for Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS).

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) Have fun!

(v) Use our One-Liner Wednesday badge!

#1linerWeds badge by nearlywes.com

#1linerWeds badge by nearlywes.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 be 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. Even your shopping list. Note: If it’s 18+ content, please say so in a comment with your link.

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

8. Have fun!

If you’d like to look ahead to see the upcoming prompt words, click this link: https://lindaghill.com/2016/12/31/just-jot-it-january-2017-rules/ You can always write your post ahead of time and schedule it to come out on the appropriate day.

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One-Liner Wednesday – One of Those Days

There are days when I feel there’s nothing I can’t do, and there are days when I feel I can do nothing. Today is one of those.

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If you would like to participate, 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 ping back, 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 ping back 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 very cool badge to your post for extra exposure!

5. Have fun!

#1linerWeds badge by nearlywes.com

#1linerWeds badge by nearlywes.com


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One-Liner Wednesday – Hiding? Or Trapped?

How do you know when you have an elephant hiding in your fridge?

…
…
Footprints in the butter.

Or there might be a note…

help-me

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If you would like to participate, 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 ping back, 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 ping back 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 very cool badge to your post for extra exposure!

5. Have fun!


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The Elephant on the Cover

I can’t stay quiet any longer. There’s an elephant in the Cover Wars room that needs to be addressed.

The wonderful people at Author Shout who host the Cover Wars contest have pitted me against a good friend. Two good friends, in fact. One wrote a book of poetry and the other designed her cover. The first is the lovely Judy E. Martin, of Rhymes of the Times fame, and the second is Chris Graham, aka The Story-Reading Ape.

If I wasn’t competing this week, I would totally be supporting Judy and Chris every step of the way. But alas, this can’t be so. War is war, after all, and one must stick up for oneself.

Having said all that, the main point of Cover Wars, for me anyway, is exposure for my novelette, All Good Stories. I’m sure Judy is thinking the same thing. So while you’re there today voting for my cover ( 😀 ), please also check out Judy’s. Each cover, when clicked, will take you to the book’s Amazon page. Why don’t you click on over and buy Judy’s book?! I haven’t read it yet, but if I know Judy, it’s awesome! Here’s the link to Author Shout, Cover Wars for the vote:  http://authorshout.com/cover-wars/ You can cast your vote once every 24 hours.

This is my beautiful cover, (drawn with love by the ever-talented Belinda Borradaile) for you to vote on:
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And here’s Judy’s! You can click on it here to go directly to its Amazon page, too.

RotT eBook Cover JPG

Thanks so much!


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The Perfect Place to Live

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We’re having a snow day. It’s the third one since school started in September. I swear, all there has to be is the slightest whiff of the white stuff and the school buses are canceled. So I’m home with Alex today, doing my best to keep him entertained instead of doing what I need to do. For instance, getting out of my pyjamas. …okay, maybe I don’t really need to do that, but you get the picture.

For many of us in Canada, snow and cold weather is something to be dreaded. Reasons vary; some of us northern dwellers only hate snow because it’s a pain the ass to drive in, some can’t stand it when they walk outside and their nose hairs freeze with the first breath (okay, most of us hate that), and some, like me, simply don’t like having cold feet all the time. But we Canadians live with it because overall, Canada is a great place to live.

Earthquakes, tornadoes, and extreme heat are just a few things that make Canada and other places on earth unpleasant at times. Yet they are, in most cases, worth suffering through to stay where we are. Is there any such thing as the perfect place to live? I mean, we all have something where we live that makes life unpleasant, or even downright terrifying at times, don’t we? .

What forces of nature make your country/state/province/island a great and yet not-so-great place to live?

After you comment, please head over to vote in Cover Wars for my book cover. You can vote once every 24 hours. Here’s the link: http://authorshout.com/cover-wars/ Both Belinda, my lovely cover artist, and I appreciate it! We’re way behind and we’ve gotta catch up!

img_1918


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#SoCS – ‘Tis the season

Shopping. I hate it. So it’s no wonder this is my least favourite time of year. And it’s prolonged by the fact that my kids were born in September, October and November, my best friend in January and my mother in February.

Don’t get me wrong – I love the giving part. I just can’t stand having to decide what everyone else might want. And then there’s that other dreaded question – what would I like for Christmas or my birthday? (Which is in January, the day before my best friend’s.) Um… let’s see… a car? A new house? Just pay off my bills? Oh, okay. Socks will do. (No, seriously. I always need socks. Maybe I subconsciously named this whole prompt “SoCS” in order to give people hints on what to buy me for Christmas.)

I always leave my Christmas shopping to the last minute. My excuse is I don’t want to buy something and then the recipient gets it in the interim, and then I’ll have to take it back. AND come up with another idea. So I wait until everything I can think of has been bought by everyone who got their shopping done early and then I wander around aimlessly until, finally, I buy everyone a mug. Or socks. (Maybe in hopes that I’ll get them back? I don’t know…) The dog is NOT going to like his present this year if I can’t find anything better than socks. But I will take pictures before he eats them if that’s what he ends up with.

Alex wants to put the tree up this weekend. There’s another thing I dread. Untangling the lights and finding out which ones work, because I never manage to throw out the ones that don’t the year before. Hanging up all the old (some broken) ornaments from when the kids were small. Seriously, I’d like to throw a lot of them out and just keep the good ones. But the kids like them, so we end up with a tree that looks like the floor of a toddler’s room after they’ve trashed it. If the kids ever move out, I’ll buy all new decorations. Or decorate my tree with socks.

Ha! Who am I kidding. I’ll keep the lot of them and sob over them… even the broken ones.

socsbadge2016-17

This socky post was brought to you by SoCS, or Stream of Consciousness Saturday if you like. You can join in the fun, or just read more posts when you click here: https://lindaghill.com/2016/12/02/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-dec-316/


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New Random Update

Redundancies. I’m studying them in my new-but-almost-finished Stylistic Editing course. I’ve decided to make the decision to get them all out of my system in this post I’m writing right now.

Edit: I’ve decided to edit all the redundancies from the remainder of this post because it’s been bothering me since I published it yesterday.

Sadly, James Justin, the scam artist nice man from Windows didn’t call me back. I had some great suggestions on what to say/do to him; you can read the hilarity in the comments here: https://lindaghill.com/2016/11/26/okay-i-need-your-help/ if you haven’t already. Since I told him my power was off when he called the first time, I was going to inform him that I never turn my computer off so I had no idea how to turn it on. This scenario is getting funnier by the day, since if he does call now, I can say, “THANK GOD YOU CALLED! I HAVEN’T HAD A COMPUTER SINCE SATURDAY!!” Of course it will take 15 minutes to boot, during which time I’ll have lots of opportunity to take advantage of the awesome suggestions on the other post. Then, after I go through all the steps he meticulously explains in order for him to hack my computer and steal all my money, I’ll ask, “What’s an ‘internet’?” Brilliant, no?

My One-Liner Wednesday today had more to do with real life than I wish it had. I was passing out last night when I should have been scheduling the post, then I woke up at 7:10 this morning – an hour and a half late – so I had to drive the kid to school before I could get around to the prompt. Needless to say, it’s been a rough one. However, this is a good opportunity to let you know that if I’m ever AWOL, you check my Twitter feed in the right-hand column, just over there —> somewhere. If possible, I’ll leave a note to let you know what’s happened to me.

I’m almost finished the final edit of my first book in the series, The Great Dagmaru. The actual title for Book 1 is yet to be determined. Book 2 is written and I’m three-quarters of the way through writing Book 3. Unfortunately my plan to get it published this year will not be met. I’m hoping to do so in February.

Between the craziness of the above and spending the day at the hospital in Kingston for a consultation, I’ve been shamefully negligent in responding to comments.  I hope to get back to you all soon!

 


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Okay, I need your help

This has the potential to be fun. I just had a nice man call me from Microsoft. He introduced himself as “James,” a lovely East Indian name to be sure, to let me know my computer is sometimes “not responsive” because of a serious problem with Windows. James can fix it for me, but I have to be in front of my computer.

I explained to him that, unfortunately, I don’t have any electricity right now (a blatant lie) but he said that’s no problem, he can call me back later and we can fix this thing! He confirmed his name, “Justin,” and said he’d call tonight.

SO! How can I have the most fun with “James Justin” tonight? Suggestions, please!!