#TenThingsofThankful

Sunday, 1st or last day of the Week? Neither. It’s TToT Day!

Posted on by GirlieOnTheEdge

Good morning everyone and welcome to my humble abode, GirlieOnTheEdge. Seems I don’t quite have a handle on the time thing yet. Thankfully, both the Six Sentence Stories and Ten Things of Thankful blog hops allow for those who oversleep and such. Thank you and thank you Josie! she who is on vacation at….the beach.

Jealous I am of Ms. Two Shoes as the beach is like the air to me. I’ve been suffocating a long time but luckily I have some tanks filled with other, substitute like things, that keep me going 🙂 So, in no particular order of happening or priority, forward ho!

TToT  I am most thankful that I am not bedridden. I am thankful that I have acknowledged the wake up call and confident I will act upon it. As a clark, all things are of the future. Oh, we mean well and all and we can be quite spontaneous and in the moment but….there is a tendency to indulge a tad too much in the concept of our own mortality. See, being forever young, we often forget that there is an end date. An end date unknown. That unknown date must be remembered.

TToT  You ask about the bedridden? Friday, as I was putting on my jeans (thank goodness it was casual Friday at the office), the spring located in the lower lumbar region of my back (is there a lower lumbar region? or is it all the lumbar region?) broke, popped, and otherwise put me on my knees. Dammit! I’ll be late to work.

TToT  I’m thankful that yesterday was so beautiful. Was booked from morning to early afternoon. Hair appointment, lunch with a friend and former co-worker.

TToT  Speaking of hair. I’m pretty fortunate my hair stylist is a clark. Sometimes she’s chatty, sometimes I am and sometimes we’re both pretty quiet. Yesterday? Yesterday, we both had our secondary scottian aspects flailing about the salon. I guess I don’t have to tell you that my hair came out a little…different lol

TToT  Small, kind gestures from strangers. The gestures of which I speak occurred in the same location, in 2 consecutive weeks. I buy my fruits and vegetables from a Korean market not far from where I live. Most of the folks who patronize this particular market speak English as a second language or not at all. Korean and Spanish are their first languages. Why is this important? Because it’s a reminder that gestures transcend words, language. (damn, here’s another long assed thankful. did you grab a beverage? good) In both instances, I was standing in front of the apple bins having just taken a plastic bag off the roll so I could fill it with Fuji and Honey Crisp goodness. Well, the bag would not separate at the top! I tried rubbing it between my palms – nothing. I tried and tried, standing semi-patiently but knowing in retrospect my face was telling a different story. Totally oblivious to my surroundings, I looked up to see one of the store workers who had been across the aisle unloading a pallet of bananas, standing in front of me, hand outstretched, a plastic bag open and at the ready. No words except a smile and thank you from me. The following week, same damn thing in the same place only this time? I was well aware of frowning and may even have been muttering to myself lol. A few minutes earlier, I had noticed a couple and their son who I guessed to be about 20 shopping together. They were speaking Spanish.  It’s kind of a cramped market, not a lot of room in the aisles so I smiled and squeezed by them to get to the apples. Once again, oblivious to the world around me, focusing solely on getting a stupid plastic bag open so I could load it with said apples, I look up to see the young man. He’d come around from the other side of the bins. He stood there silently, smiling, holding an open plastic bag for me. I returned his smile and thanked him. Kindness. It doesn’t need translation.

TToT  That I’ve found a suitable spot to place my laptop to that I may type standing up. You who’ve had the back thing know – it’s either standing, walking or lying flat on the floor, however it takes to feel better. I’m typing tall today, people 😀

TToT  the Wakefield Doctrine.

TToT  While an oft cited thankful, I’m very thankful for the internet, for having a laptop, for having access to so much more of the world than I could ever imagine.

TToT  For you all.

TToT  This day. Another opportunity… my challenge. 

 

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Welcome to the Thursday Six Sentence Story Bloghop!

Posted on by GirlieOnTheEdge

Welcome everyone to GirlieOnTheEdge and another edition of Six Sentence Stories. It’s a fun blohop, cool people, excellent writing. I hope you’ll join in this week! Cue word this week is:  WAKE.

Hop rules are as follows:
Write 6 sentences. No more. No less.
Use the week’s cue word.
Genre is writer’s choice, as is form – story, poem, prose..whatever your muse feeds you!
Link up via Blue Frog Man below and begin your journey.

Don’t worry about linking the first day. Take it from me, you’re not late until 11:00 pm US EST next Tuesday! Have fun everyone! I’ll see you on the circuit 🙂

“If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.”
—Elmore Leonard

 

 

 

 

 

 

Holy smokers! I have more time…. for a TToT

Posted on by GirlieOnTheEdge

Yo people! It’s me, Girlie. It’s Sunday and I’m going to post a Ten Things of Thankful post. That’s right. I may be showing up days after opening day but hey, Josie leaves the door open for any stragglers who still want to join in. Thank you Josie!

Here’s the funny thing. And, a thankful that will show up on this list today. No wait. Am I getting ahead of myself? How shall I explain? Oh, never mind. Let’s start at the beginning. Feeling a bit long winded today. Perhaps, it is autosuggestion from the howling that is going on outside my window 😀

I used to write “morning words” and they were just that. Each and every day. Somewhere along, oh, months ago, I stopped. The practice turned into more or less a “weekend day, maybe both days words”. The reasons are varied. One of the less consequential (or not) reasons is that the file for those words remains on “the original laptop”. The laptop I often refer to as “lapbaby”. Sure, I can transfer everything over to my new laptop but somehow, I feel that a betrayal. And now, today, more than ever, I will not betray lapbaby by even thinking about transferring that file to the “other place”.

I posted a Six Sentence Story today. The link for that hop is still open and, while it opened last Wednesday night for opening day Thursday, I still posted. Better late than never, yeah? Consider my 1st TToT.

A certain thankful supreme today is the illusion of time. Being lost in…incorrect time. Found out only after the fact. So. Time is first, a concept? Or is that more properly, a construct? What is the advantage of knowing the correct time? In the practical world there are valid, useful reasons for knowing the correct time, the time by which everyone in your timezone adheres. But in the, shall we say magical realm, time is what we believe it is and so all else shall follow. Explanation to follow. Consider my 2nd TToT.

Electronics. Vexing at times. Frustrating. I posit that what at first appears as frustration can reveal itself as gift, given the proper frame of mind. I was able to find the path that led from frustration to gift. Consider my 3rd TToT.

Better grab a beverage or snack for this one. Going to be a long one lol
I am surely thankful for my new laptop. As an individual who historically has difficulty letting go of objects of sentimentality, I did not hesitate turning on lapbaby this morning. As I mentioned in my intro, lapbaby is accessed 1x, maybe 2x a weekend. Functionality has been spotty, hence the new ‘top. Yesterday morning, I noticed that lapbaby was showing the incorrect time. And so I made the adjustment. I thought it odd, but hey, no biggie. This morning, as I wrote morning words, I happened to notice that the date was incorrect. It was still showing yesterday’s date. I tried to make the adjustment. I was convinced I was completing the proper steps and yet it kept giving me an error message. I switched to fixing the time. Kinda the same thing. Aha! I told myself that I was being distracted unnecessarily and that it wasn’t important to fix these things right this very moment. I proceeded with the morning. Consider this my 4th TToT.

As I went about my morning, I would glance at the time and see that I must be working quicker than I thought as it was still early. I even prepared breakfast, the one I used to eat during the weekdays once upon a time. It was good. It was healthy. The sun was shining and I thought, alright…I’m going to the gym next! Consider that my 5th TToT (at that moment)

When oatmeal delight was finished, and I’d replied to a couple of texts, I decided to check the time and see how I was doing. Lots to do today and only so many hours in which to do it. Sure. Maybe there’s as much time as we need but for our own self-limitation. But no! I looked down at lapbaby and the time was showing….barely after 8. Damn. I’m cruising today. And I believed that. Consider my TToT #6.

I had decided yesterday, that beside posting a 6, I would also post at Josie’s TToT. I mean. Why not? I seemed to have gotten on a tiny roll-ette this morning so no use stemming that tide. But first, I thought I’d get ready to go to the gym (my next destination) and then before heading out see if I actually had a TToT in me. I gathered my stuff, glanced at the clock on the wall and….you saw this coming right ‘cuz I sure didn’t lol. I looked at the clock and instead of still being a little after 8:00 it was 10:10! I had forgotten that lapbaby’s time had been incorrect and that I had decided not to bother trying to fix it lest I get distracted away from my task, my enjoyment of writing this morning. Consider this TToT #7.

Like a hockey puck slamming into the side of my face, I reeled at the notion that I was happy in the illusion of time that didn’t exist, as I was able to proceed through it, enjoy what I was doing and not stress that I wouldn’t have enough of it. Time that is. What a gift I was given today. Consider TToT #8.

I usually state this in the number 10 spot but today, let’s switch it up a bit.
Consider my #9. I am grateful, I am thankful to wake up today. Why not? The sun returned, there is howling outside my window. I managed to write some words. I got lost in the morning and hey! wouldja look at that. It’s still only 8:20 am 🙂

Consider last, but never least, my TToT #10. The opportunity to venture out into the day regardless of the time, actual or otherwise. To engage, participate, share and be present.

Today is Easter. What better day to post a TToT.

Posted on by GirlieOnTheEdge

Greetings TToT’ers and non-Ts alike! Welcome to GirlieOnTheEdge. One of my thankfuls today goes to Josie 2 Shoes. As a neophyte in the world of blog hop hosting, I have quickly come to realize there’s a tad more to this hosting gig than I ever imagined. And therein lies both the challenge and the fun!

My many hats go off to Josie, Zoe (for her longstanding gift of hostessing’ing) and veteran writers like Kristi Campbell of Finding Ninee fame and her co-hostess Kenya G. Johnson over the Sporadically Yours. These woman, along with many other persons (I’m sure there’s a man out there donning the hostess hat) serve as conduits of community and sharing, friendship and information, entertainment and sounding board.

Whatdya say? Let’s do this thing 😀

  1. Josie for bringing us the TToT every week.
  2. Yesterday’s weather. Gorgeous.
  3. The gradual blooming of the trees, the daffodils now standing, heads bowed to the coming spring.
  4. the Wakefield Doctrine.
  5. Every day I give thanks for my my health and the ability to walk and enjoy my environs.
  6. Jack and Meg 🙂
  7. I’m truly grateful for the wonderful examples of writing I read each week. You guys are a huge inspiration to me. Because of you, I won’t give up (entirely) the writing thing.
  8. Gary Moore.
  9. Unexpected bargains! Went looking for new clothes for work yesterday, specifically slacks. Didn’t find any but out of the blue (no, really lol) I spotted a pair of red jeans (we all need something red in our wardrobe, am I right?!) regularly $40 in the clearance rack for $12. Not bad 😀
  10. Today. My only day. My gift. My responsibility.

Hey, it’s never too late to join in the thanks! Here’s the link!

 

Six Sentence Story Sunday Cue Up!

Posted on by GirlieOnTheEdge

Hello! and welcome to GirlieOnTheEdge. My apologies for late posting. One of the benefits of daylight savings time here in the US is also somewhat of a negative. You have the sense that it’s not as late as you think it is. But then, you look at the clock and wham! What?? How can it be 8:30 at night!!

So without further ado, I’d like to give you the cue word for this coming week’s Six Sentence Story. Many of you know the rules of the hop but in case we have some new folks, let’s run over them again:

Write a story, poem (good one Zoe!), or vignette in 6 sentences. No more. No less.
Use the cue word in any form, tense, variation, however it works for you.
Link up here on Thursday and let the fun begin 🙂

CUE WORD:  VENT

“You never have to change anything you got up in the middle of the night to write.”
― Saul Bellow

 

Of Bass Amps and Marshalls? Maybe. For now it’s a TToT.

Posted on by GirlieOnTheEdge

Friday night. Welcome to GirlieOnTheEdge. Damn. Was too late so now, being Saturday morning, I’ll tell you about last night… after wandering around a bit in the ‘sphere, I plugged in the headset to listen to today’s vid. Nothing like music in the earbuds, close to the brain, totally inside yo head. (I mean it is Friday night) Of course, not all the time (buds in the ears, that is).  No, imo, music is more properly listened to through acceptable stereo equipment. Audiophiles, you know of what I speak 😀

Sometimes Autoplay at the Tube is totally awesome. Like now “next YouTube selection from Screaming Trees”. Yes. It’s one of those nights. Late (now 11:15 pm). End of a week. Challenging week or 2. My point: “just be glad it’s all over“. (heads up! another favorite and life marker band cued up. Next? Alice in Chains anyone? Yes, please).

…Ahem, shall we return to real time this Saturday morning? Alright. Time for some retrospectivating…..

Thursday marked the debut of Six Sentence Stories under the auspices of yours truly. (seems weird linking to myself. Can I do that? Should I do that? Will I look like a self aggrandizing jerk? Whoah! Where in sam hill did that come from? Yo, Girlie! Get a grip!)

I have new appreciation for our former hostess and guide zoe. Indeed, she tops the list ‘o Ten Things of Thankful. Josie? Here goes nothing…..

First TToT:  Zoe. For her tireless devotion bringing us the SSS every Thursday for so many years. For her confidence in me to take the conn. I won’t let you down!

Second TToT:  Josie of the 2 Shoes for her incredibly positive attitude. All of the time. For her support during the SSS transition.

Third TToT:  Everyone who participates in the Six Sentence Story bloghop whether you posted this week or not. To writers thinking about posting and then did, in spite of uncertainties 🙂  (hey! that’s you Viola Blue, glad you made it!) It is through all of you, by your example, that I will learn to write better. This week’s was an amazing collection of stories. Write on people. Write on.

Fourth TToT:  That Wednesday’s “illness” did not cause me grief the following day, which was my birthday and first day hosting the SSS. It was a pretty good day made even better by all the lovely birthday wishes and cards (thanks sis!).

Fifth TToT: I’m very thankful my phone has returned to sanity! Had about a week of the battery draining excessively fast. Seems to be more “normal” now, although it may be getting about time to get a new one.

Sixth TToT:   I am not displeased with myself (so, thankful I guess) that I’m adapting, albeit slowly, to my new laptop. All in good time, right? 😀

Seventh TToT:  No snow!

Eight TToT:  I am daily, thankful for my apparent good health, my memory (most of the time!), my job, my wonderful blue car that is, at times, a marvelous escape hatch.

Ninth TToT:  Hm. Had to think a little on this one. How to convey the thankful for getting better at “letting go“. I remind myself it is a process. Not to be mistaken for closure, it nonetheless is life altering.

Tenth TToT:  As always. Now. This moment. Today. There is no other day.

 



 

 

Yippee Ki Yay! It’s a Ten Things of Thankful!

Posted on by GirlieOnTheEdge

I know! It’s Sunday! And I’m only now getting to writing a TToT let alone finish reading last week’s TToTs! (Dyanne?, Kerry? I can do this right? lol) I’ve always loved to read and now that we’ve got extra time on our hands (don’t burst my bubble, guys) it’ll be a piece of cake 🙂

Welcome to GirlieOnTheEdge. I need to pre-empt my “formal” thankfuls by saying how much I appreciate Zoe passing the honor of hosting the Six Sentence Bloghop to me (um, Zoe? We totally expect to be seeing more of you in the future 😀)  And thank you guys for being so enthusiastic to keep the hop going! I’m really excited. The SSS has been instrumental in getting me back to wanting to write again. And that circles round again to all of you 🙂

Alright! Lots of thankfuls to get to… where to begin, where to be….

  1. Daylight Savings Time!!!! What more need I say to that one folks. Love it!

2. New laptop. While I haven’t quite adapted to it yet, I will embrace the challenge of different. All I’ll say right now lol

3. Terminator 6. That’s right folks. I’m excited. Whether you liked all the movies in the series or not, if you loved the first one, how can you not embrace this next one 😀 Why should you? ‘Cuz they’re bringin’ back the original “band”  😀

4. This is one of those hypo grats turned grat. A week ago Friday, the storm that blew in to so many states causing damage and power outages, blew out my cpu at work. I’m still waiting for it to be fixed which means I’m still down the hall utilizing an “extra”, not quite updated computer. But hey, at least there’s one for me to use, right? During the week, I’ve had to use yet, other computers to complete certain work. Yesterday, I went into the office for a few hours. This time sitting at our law clerk’s desk so that I could do some processing and scanning. His programs, scanner were different than mine. Can’t say I’m an expert when it comes to Adobe and pdfs and the whole edit docs thing but when working with my programs at my (now broken) computer, well, easy peasy! Yesterday, did not initially go as planned as the scanner was different, the adobe program/reader was different. I can’t remember the last time I had to do a drag and drop! But yesterday, yesterday I was in that special place that allowed me to figure things out and do a whole bunch of stuff without, seemingly much effort. Cool.

5. Roger (yes, that roger) over to the Secessionist Rag published a post. He, like myself in recent years, has wallowed now and then in the where do I find time and I’m not feeling all that creative anyway place. I’ve always enjoyed his writing whatever the topic as he has a style and ease we have dubbed “armchair easy”. Anyway, head on over and say hey! encourage him to write. Tell him Girlie sent you 🙂

6. Sinus medicine.

7. Epiphanies. Self-revelation. Cutting the blinders. Letting go. The point at which your body supercedes your brain and allows a feeling of….relinquishment. You fill in the blank. I’m feeling lighter this weekend.

8. Music. Music. Music. Movies. Movies. Movie. 🙂 🙂 🙂

9. The sounds of Spring even if the temperatures are not exactly Springlike.

10. This day. Opportunity. Challenge. Self-challenge. New beginnings.