Memorial Day

Memorial Day is one of my favorite holidays. First off, I salute all the troops for fighting for our country and freedom. My father was a LT. Commander in the Navy and fought bravely in The Battle of Leyte Gulf. His ship was bombed and he was able to get his crew out to safety. If not, I wouldn't be here today. I love you and miss you, Dad!

Second of all, its the start of summer! After a long cold winter, I look forward to the days of summer. Of course, I try not to think of the Texas 100 plus degrees that will soon come.

It's a three day weekend and fortunately, we have been blessed with friends who have invited us to pool parties and BBQ's. We have been emailing or messaging on Facebook most of the winter, so it's good to see them in person.

It's also time for my brain to take a breather from my writing. On Thursday and Friday, my characters in my current book are not talking to me. Friday, I just sat and stared at a blank page with my hands poised over the keyboard. Nothing! You know what it is? I think they started the holiday early and didn't tell me about it! They better come back to work on Tuesday or there will be some words!

Garage Sales

Spring cleaning at our house brought out lots of stuff we have, we don't need anymore. When we moved five years ago, we really cleaned out before our move. We had lived in our home in Pennsylvania for fourteen years and the junk we had? Well, way too much. We realized the house in Texas had smaller rooms and we eliminated a lot of furniture.

Our neighborhood here in Texas always has an annual garage sale, so this year we decided to participate. I will insert here, my parents grew up during the depression and they became hoarders. When they died, they left behind a five bedroom home filled with over 3000 antique clocks and watches and junk like you wouldn't believe. We sold the clocks to an auctioneer which took over three semis to haul away. Then, there were four dumpsters used before the house was empty. I refuse to live that way. I shy away from any garage sales or auctions which my parents would go to all the time.

My husband grew up differently. His parents threw out everything when they no longer needed it. His mother loved garage sales and worked the circuit. He embraced our participation in the garage sale to the point where I was ready to kill him. He called me several times a day to make sure we had everything we could sell. I told him I would check when I could because I too was working. He made an Excel spreadsheet of our items and the suggested price. (He's a salesman by trade). We even went to his office to borrow tables to display our items. He took off Friday afternoon and the two of us cleaned out the garage; gathered and priced everything. Bring on Saturday!

We all got up at six on Saturday and placed everything to enhance their appeal. First customers came at 7:45 and quickly left. More of the same. After about an hour, we learned what we had for sale wasn't what people wanted. We had no children's clothes, toys, or games. People didn't want VHS tapes, nor did they want bookcases. They didn't want a set of drinking glasses or bar stools. We even tried "Manager's Special' buy these items for only three dollars! No go. By eleven, we had only sold $90 dollars worth of stuff of what we had priced out would've been at least $200.

We hauled our unwanted stuff back into the house and have called a local charity to schedule a pick up. Was the experience worth it? Nope! Guess we are not garage sale folks!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day! I miss my mom who died six years ago. After my father died, she was a very unhappy woman who had no wish to live without the love of her life. She died exactly six months to the day of my father's death.

Estelle was a true New Yorker who had a lot of spit and fire in her younger days. I remember when we moved to Chicago when I was young, poor Chicago had no idea who they were dealing with. She was not afraid to go in the worst part of the city by herself. Hell, she was from New York and had seen everything. And could she pick fights. The family will remember her when she tracked down the waitress in the restaurant after we had been seated. It was my father's birthday and we had selected a restaurant that overlooked the Fox River in St. Charles, IL. Us sisters and grandchildren went in first while my parents parked the car. My mother instructed us to ask for a table that overlooked the river. The waitress seated us elsewhere. We just took it because we knew we were a large party. When my mother came in and saw where we were, she demanded to speak to the manager and sure enough we were given the proper table!

Estelle was also a fighter in the grocery store parking lots. If she wanted that space, she was bound and determined to get it. She got into many arguments and one lady even slapped her!

I could go on about her and my sisters and I like to say, oh my God. I sounded just like Estelle! But she always was a fighter but not at the end. She just gave up. I'd say, Mom? What about your daughters and grandchildren? She would just shake her head and not answer me. She stopped eating and taking her medicine. She even bit the caregiver! I am crushed she gave up on me.

Still Writing!

On Monday, I submitted my next manuscript, Not Just an Act to my editor/publisher. There are some transitions going on there and I hope who ever reads it, likes it! I'm saying my prayers! I can't thank them enough for believing in me and all of their help with my writing career!

I started to plot and research for my next sports romance and it has to do with the world of golf, which I know very well. My husband's mistress is golf. I can't play as well as he, and get very discouraged by some of the courses he chooses to play on. They are way too hard for me! Not to mention my run ins with wildlife such as snakes, alligators and water in general. I have relegated my role to driving the cart and handing out positive suggestions.

However, to become a professional golfer, there's a lot of work involved. The more I read up on it, the more I admire these athletes. At the Golf Galaxy in Grapevine, TX, I had a chance to meet young LPGA golfer, Lexi Thompson. What a composed, older than her years, 19 year old woman. I asked her questions which she dutifully answered. She has been on the circuit since she was then years old. Amazing!