Jude Stringfellow's Blog, page 19

Spoiling Myself a Little.

 I'm not actually writing a chapter tonight; I decided to take a break and let the creative tidbits that I've been overworking take a little time off to rejuvenate so that I'm ready to spring back into action either tomorrow evening or Sunday. I'll travel on Saturday and visit my other kid in Tulsa while taking in the Comic Con. I've never been to one, so it will be fun.

    My bestie is coming with us, and she's been talking to Laura about what she should wear. I'm going the very simple route, only donning a pair of loose-fitting summer joggers with a "Go Dog Go" tee shirt and some barefoot shoes. I've really been cutting back on the whole dress-for-success theory. In fact, if what I wear these days covers me and keeps me out of jail, I'm good.  I don't even put on jeans anymore, not if I don't have to. It's really funny - - but some would say sad. Nope...not me. I feel so relaxed and so not going anywhere - - that's how I feel.

    The one thing I did decide to do to make my life that much easier, is to buy another monitor for my home office. This one, a 27" curved 4K Spectre monitor, is the same size as my other 27" monitor, but this one is curved, not flat. The only, and I do many ONLY, reason I'm doing it is so I can watch my Law & Orders (and Perry Mason) on the new monitor while I'm writing - - I'll write on the flat one, and watch my shows on the curved one. If anyone picks up one of my murder books and reads a relatively familiar scene from, say....1963 Los Angeles...just let me live like I wrote the thing myself.  (LOL...if you know me, you know I'm rolling about now.)

    The monitor is a needed treat, and I think I've actually earned it after the many years I've watched shows in my office while writing. Currently, I have a 27" screen to my right and my 24" flat on the left...the one I'm writing on now. Tomorrow that all changes; Amazon is my friend. They have promised me fast delivery. Tomorrow, I'll have the 27" flat on my left and the curved on the right - - and Perry and Della Street will be working late, I'm sure.

    I have every Perry Mason episode there is to have - - and I think I've memorized them by now. I will soon have the entire 24+ seasons of Law & Order. I don't think I'll buy the SVU, but I may end up watching Law & Order UK...that could happen. I'm sort of a purist, I still have a hard time forcing myself to watch Law & Order Organized Crime. It's not the same...it is just not the same...but good.

    When I go to Sam's, and I do, I look at monitors and think to myself maybe I'll do that. Maybe I'll buy another monitor. When I get into trading Forex on a realistic basis in March, I'll need at least three screens - - but that's down the road, and I'll need to practice my skills a little longer before taking the plunge into reality trading. I'm pretty good at "Monopoly" money, but giving up my own could be another story. I'm teaching myself to be emotionless and not to care if I don't win. It's not always about winning; sometimes it's about learning. I would rather (of course) win more than I learn -- LOL.

    Oh, and since I was at Sam's, I decided to buy another canister of dark chocolate caramel sea salt candy. You can't leave it on the shelf at $10 a canister! Nope...that would be a tort. I'm almost pretty sure of it. I could look it up.

Photo Credit:  Sam's Club

FOUR!! (Yes, I Know, You Don't Spell it THAT Way!)

     Chapter Four is in the can! Yes, yes, it is. It was a relatively easy chapter to write; I didn't have to do too much thinking. I described the housing authority projects and the types of people that Leigh, Mathew, and others will encounter. That and Leigh was given a crash exam by the city's brave and handsome fire Chief, Doug Dempsey, who has, for the past quarter century, been putting out fires all over Sarasota, Florida.

    Dempsey will be instrumental in bringing peace and awareness to the people of the housing projects when it comes to dealing with the cops, and he'll be sure to put in a good word for one of the local boys who is about to graduate high school and wants to do more with his life than simply join the military. He feels he can put his wits and strength to good use on the fire force - - if he can get past the requirements of having at least an associate's degree to apply. It didn't seem fair, but it is what it is.

    When it comes to understanding those less fortunate, Leigh has had little firsthand experience, but her heart has always been in the right place. Though she wasn't born with a silver spoon to suck on, she was born among a group of solid salt-of-the-earth types whose idea of inclusion meant allowing the Hatfields and the McCoys to come to the Sunday picnic now and again. When Leigh's grandmother, a faithful and devout Christian woman, refused her little black friend inside the house for ice cream once, it wasn't her friend who felt the jolt of racism; it was Leigh. She couldn't believe her own kin would be so backward; she had a lot to learn about living in the South.

    Chapter Four is about understanding ground zero of the most economically challenged people in the state and what it will feel like, look like, smell like, and be like to be among them for several hours and to try to not only not stick out like a sore thumb, but to be useful, helpful, understanding, and giving without any type of judgment no matter what she saw,  heard, smelled or felt. Chapter Four is the beginning of the book in some ways; it gets the characters set and ready to rumble.

Photo Credit: Pinterest.com

More Done -- Chapter 3!!

     I don't always write one chapter a night, but when I do, I'm pretty happy about it.  If I could just do this one a consistent basis. I would write 360 chapters, or roughly 12 books a year if I could manage it. Something tells me that's not going to happen. I don't know about you, but I feel that the pressure to do something like that would somehow be too demanding.

    Today, however, this evening, I did manage to write Chapter 3 of the new book. Just think, in 27 more chapters, I'll stop calling it the new book and tell you what the title is -- how exciting is that? The real title!! It's a secret for now, but maybe I've already let the cat out of that proverbial bag. To the best of my knowledge, cats have never really liked hanging out in closed bags for much longer than a few minutes.

    The book's third chapter finds Charlie, Leigh, and Mathew enjoying a good and hearty Thai lunch; Leigh's treat! They talked a bit about Mathew's past, and we were able to find out a little about his anxiety and how it affects him when he remembers certain things at certain times. He's not ready to let just anyone into his world, and that includes Charlie. He loves Charlie, and he even trusts him, but he's still a bit too closed to be able to let the new friend in on much more than what she may have been able to glean from his social media accounts from yesteryear - - nothing is really deleted, is it?

    Leigh remembers she's not in Kansas anymore - - then again, DeQueen, Arkansas isn't exactly Kansas. Leigh has uprooted herself a couple of times, the most recent being a decision to move to Florida and not sulk around her hometown for too long. She enjoyed the month's reprieve while she licked her professional wounds, having been ousted from a very prestigious position in the finance world. She's living alone in the Sunshine State, on the beach, and fully capable of going anywhere, doing anything, and being anyone she dreams of being. It's just her and her grandfather's old...we'll say "vintage" Ford truck.

    I'm using Grammarly heavily in this book. I'm also relying on the suggestions and workability of the AI program my daughter hooked me up with. This way, I can remember to be thoughtful and thought-provoking and include all the right tidbits of interesting things I think I'm adding. However, I do actually forget to add cool words until I realize the AI has remembered to remind me. I love that. I really do love that.

    I also keep Thesaurus.com open at all times when I write. I like changing up ordinary words for a little more interesting words—it makes me feel all smart and cozy. In one of the chapters, I'll be using the word "tendril" because Laura suggested it—it's a good word. I promise it's a good word, and you'll start using it, too. You can thank me later.

 

Photo Credit: FreePik.com 

Chapter Two!! Done and Doner....

 It's true, true facts...I'm not lying; I have written Chapter Two of the new book. I worked out the outline yesterday, so I know exactly what I'm going to do from one chapter to the next, but the fun part is telling the characters where to stand and then shouting "Action!". You really don't know what they're going to do or what they're going to say. I mean, it's not all that surprising to me, but it is - - I find myself changing my mind right in the middle of a thought. If I like it or where it's going, I keep it.

    Today, I decided to take the three characters for Thai food since Charlie really likes Thai food, and there's a great little restaurant two or three doors from the church in the strip mall where he preaches. Leigh and Mathew went too...actually, Leigh paid for their lunches. She told Charlie and Mathew about her "hobby" or interest in studying criminals whose lives impacted their communities and the whole nation (even the world). She explained that the "seen" are often nasty, arrogant, pompous, and worse. She noted that not all people who are criminals are extroverted to the point of celebrity, but no one can say "Chicago Mobster" without thinking of Al Capone. 

    Once they dine and find themselves better acquainted, Leigh will head back up the shoreline to her new condominium and get situated. She'll live in the American Suites hotels for a minute while the maintenance crew gives her unit the once-over for its make-ready. The hurricane pushed everyone's schedule a bit behind. In the next chapter, Mathew Conner will have his words memorized for my future reading audience. We'll learn a little about his story, background, pet peeves, and what drives him to the point of seclusion -- he is one who won't be seen. It's strange how very different we all are.

    Somewhere in the book, I'll go over the Myers-Briggs tests and the 16 different types of personalities there are in the human world - - it makes me wonder if dogs have more or less personalities to be boxed into. Who knows?  Maybe I'll discuss that too. I will discuss just about anything else I want to. Knowing that Chapter Two is written feels good. It means I'm on the way -- running into the woods before I end up in the middle of it and find myself running out of it. What will we see, what will we hear, what will we know, or what do we think we know? That's the beauty of the journey I take every time I write a book. 

    With the second chapter written, I know I have 28 to go. I know I have completed 4568 words of the 86,000-89,000 words I'll end up with. I'll never delete those words, but I may add to them, tweak them, take a few of them away, and build something new inside of them. I know that at the end of the writing, I'll go back through the entire book and add adjectives, sensory experiences, and moments of movement and thought. I will try to bring the characters to life, trying to make them relatable. It's the tweaking, the fluffing, and the stuffing that really makes me happy. Love that part of the process.

    Well, we'll see how tomorrow goes. If I can write one chapter a day, the book will be finished by the end of August. I won't write this Saturday, maybe later in the evening, but I'm driving to Tulsa that day with the kid and my bestie to see the other kid, my son-in-law and my grands. Another good friend is watching my place while we take off and explore. I didn't even have to twist her arm—she found out we were going, and she volunteered! You have to love that...and I do.  Oh, one thing I did was purchase Grammarly Premium (again). I do that when I write -- it really makes things so much smoother. You just thought I was all that - - I'm not. I'm just smart enough to get Grammarly!!

Photo Credit: Etsy.com

The New Book - Outlined.

     Gosh darn, I'm so excited about this book -- I've just sat down and written out all the chapter outlines tonight. It's not that easy really, because I want it to be good, and I want it to be entertaining as well as informative and interesting. I think of ways to bring in the audience, to relate to them, or to have them be able to relate to my characters. I'm trying to jump way outside of my own comfort zone for this one. In doing so I'm taking a bit of a risk. I'm about to express myself through literary license and say things I don't personally believe or adhere to. Not everything I say in the book will be different from what I believe, but I'm allowing my characters to be more liberal-minded than I am - - and in some ways that's actually a good thing. 

    What I won't do is compromise. I won't say or have my characters do things I would never want to see done - that's not going to happen, but I will have one or two of them create for themselves, and for others, a means of which to reach the edges of the audience that may or may not feel that my style of writing is within their wheelhouse when it comes to what they choose to read. I want people to read the story and to catch the underlying meaning(s) that I think the world needs to feel and know.

    It's not about religion, though this book will have a centralized base of morality and one of the main characters is my own pastor! He's a real person living in the present, but in my book, he's the same guy living in that present. Most of the stories about him will be true, but he may have to help me to put some of the pieces together so I'm not overstepping - - I do say he's spent years tearing open coconuts with his hands and cracking them on the concrete! He really is barefoot most of the time, and he really does climb into the mango trees in his own yard and pick the ripe fruits to sell to have money for the church! 

    There will be about 30 chapters and I have lined them up as best I can. I'm going to have flashbacks, and chapters or paragraphs where I go completely off into left field to make a point. One chapter will be a story I (Jude Stringfellow) wrote a few years back - - yes, Jude Stringfellow will make an appearance in the book - - my book -- that's pretty cool, right? The lead character will be a mix of me and others - - she's not me. I'm not her, but she is one of my distant cousins -- we determine that. That's how she, Leigh Madsen, finds out about Charlie Garrett in the first place. Jude Stringfellow writes about him and in her DNA searching, Leigh finds Jude and they talk - - Jude shares with Leigh a story she wrote, and the story is in the book - - again, pretty cool.

    The book takes place now, in the present time, and very recent events will be mentioned in the book to bring to light that it is in the present and not something written of yesteryear.  There is enough fiction to go around too, fiction like the name of a hurricane that never existed, the name of a student from Tulane who never existed, and the name of a town in Missouri that never existed - - it's fun being a writer. I wouldn't change it for anything. I say what I want when I want, and no one can stop me - - well, you know, no one has to buy the damn things either, but I still write them! Mathew Conner, my lead male character felt the same way about his profession too - - he was forced out of the profession, but the passion remains. He may not be a television chef now, but he still cooks! He still has it! No one can take that from him! 

    OK, enough about the outline - it's done. I'll start on Chapter 2 tomorrow, and maybe get it and Chapter 3 written after work. If I can keep up that pace the book will be written faster than most, but again, I don't want to push myself -- I want to be sure I say what I want to say. I could probably make the book 700 pages but I know no one would want to buy something that lengthy...maybe 350. We'll go with 350. That's a good number. I can bring it down to that. We can make this happen! (By "we" I do mean me. Yep...me.)  See you on the other side!!

Photo Credit: Freepik.com 

Chapter One - - is Done!!

     I feel as if I've been here before! I'm just glowing at the fact that if nothing else happens, I've finished Chapter One of the new book! I need to continue of course, and finish all of the chapters - this one is bound to be around 30 chapters long I suppose. I tend to do things in a very methodical way - - why change what isn't broken?  You do realize that every successful series on television has the same basic storyline, they just change up the characters and the places.  The same could be said for me I guess, I'm thinking ahead of what I want for my characters in this book, but my mind keeps pulling up what I did for the characters in my other books!

    Well, this one is a present-day drama novel. It isn't a romance book, but there will be a bit of fantasizing. There will be a kiss, I can assure you of that, even if it's just a sweet exchange of a man with his wife of over 38 years somewhere down there in the Sarasota, Florida sunshine. I'm pretty sure you'll hear, see, and witness Charlie Garrett kissing on his wife Hideko! Charlie was sweet enough to let me use his real name, his real image, and to mention his wife, family, dogs, church, etc. I'll be ever so respectful of course -- it is a great honor to have that gift given to me. (Look Steph, I asked permission!)

    Chapter One is done. I'm about to sit down with myself and write out what I think should happen in all the subsequent chapters. I do this in order to have an outline, guideline, and such so I know where I'm going! It's helpful to have the AI writing with me too; and believe me, this book will be AI-partnered. I may even give credit to my AI, but then again, I may not since I'm not required to, and want to take absolute credit for everything - - right? Well, I'll mention the AI in the book -- not by name. I don't want to get that personal.

    At least now that I'm writing the book I know where I will be, and what I will be doing after work and on the weekends. Geez, it only took me two months to get out of the funk of not writing and back into it. I'm not upset about taking the break. I needed it. I couldn't do too many things at once. The writing was always going to be there - but I needed to move from my apartment to my house. I also wanted to pour myself into my job for a minute to be sure I was doing it well enough to say it's a keeper - - it is a keeper!! (and those Law & Orders were not going to watch themselves, you know.) 

    The book I'm writing now is a serious book in some ways. It deals with the systems we use and believe in, and the way some of those systems have routinely caused inequality in too many ways. It deals with those who are purposely ignored and those who don't want to be seen. It deals with the abused, the hurt, the pushed back, and those who are too shy or introverted to stand up for themselves. Some of those people manage and survive, but some do not. The book discusses the people unseen, unwanted, unheralded, and deemed unfit by those who brazenly step over and on top of those they see as less worthy.

    The book is not a how-to book, and it isn't a whining sort of book that cries out for justice. It's more or less a means for me to acknowledge that I was in some ways, guilty of being the hurtful one, and over time and through many experiences, I've chosen to find ways to acknowledge people for who they are and to sing their praises even when they don't believe they need to be praised. I understand there are those who fervently do not want attention brought to themselves for any reason; it was hard for me to grasp that behavior because of my overt extroverted mannerisms. I have learned to be a lot more respectful of others than I once was.

    The book is about starting over, making choices to get out from under the comfort zones, and to forge a new way. It's about trusting others who you may not have been able to trust before, but are willing to be lenient with yourself -- it's about the people who are the people in our lives and the people we are ourselves. There is a common thread and I'll discuss it in the book, but I won't say much about it in my blogs -- not until the last week of course, when the book is up for publication. I will shout it from the rooftops at that point - - believe me.

    Chapter One is done! Today, I will meet out the chapters in chronological order and decide who says what, who does what, who ends up changing, and who helps others change for the better - - it's a process for everyone. I hope it goes well. I hope it goes really well. This is a deep and thoughtful book. I want it to reflect my personal journey as well as the journeys others have chosen for themselves.

Photo Credit:  Charlie Garrett of Sarasota, Florida

    

I Met My Boss in Person!!

 It's 2024 -- we don't always have the privilege and honor of meeting the actual people who we work with; sometimes they are miles and miles away.  My good friend Lorna is in Texas, and I probably won't meet her in person. I'll have to wait until we both get to Heaven. She'll be there - and they may even let her have a little height when she crosses the threshold of the gates. I can't imagine God making her stay tiny for eternity!  (She and I knew each other virtually for over 6 months before she sprang it on me that she's just over 5 feet tall! WHAT?

    Today, and I guess it started yesterday, I decided since I actually do live really close to my one of my actual bosses, I would meet him in person.  I talked to him about it yesterday, and told him I'd swing by his house with a couple of my books so he could read them and figure out who the heck it was that he hired! He was all for it, so that's what I did.

    When I interviewed with him for the job he asked me what I did for fun or outside of work and I let him know I was an author. I directed him to Amazon so he could see it for himself. He found me, and found the 14-16 books that are for sale and he really was impressed by it. He wanted to know if I was so talented and why it was that I wanted to work for the company in the first place. Listen, just because you're talented and can write books doesn't mean they sell!

    He has been a real help to me in the journey I'm taking with this new company. The company isn't new, my journey with it is. The company has been around for about 40 years or so. I worked for them a very long time ago; but in a different capacity. This time around, I'm a licensed adjuster, and I do subrogation work for many (various) clients who want what is due to them when someone damages or destroys their power or communication facilities. I'd throw names of our clients out there, but I'm not going to do that. Suffice it to say they are all big big names in the power industry and communications.

    Meeting your boss in person is fun if they're worth their salt and this one is. I won't give his name, but he looks like and sounds like one of my oldest and dearest friends from church from about 30 years ago.  I told him so, I think maybe the two men are related. They have to be. The resemblance and the voice...it's too much.  He was super happy to take my two books and to introduce me to his elderly dog - a little fawn-colored fat pug that I just adored to the hilt. I had to give the dog a kiss, I couldn't stand myself if I didn't.

    It's really really, and I do mean REALLY good that I work from home and don't have to get up, get dressed, put make-up on, fight traffic to get to work, fight personalities once I get there, or put up with office politics. I will NOT leave this company. I will not, they'll have to pry me off the payroll. It is just too wonderful. The pay is good, the benefits are acceptable, but the people are over the top great. We don't have any bad eggs really - - when we have scuffles, which every company will have, we have an amazing HR that actually does their job. They don't side with the manager - - they listen to both sides and make good decisions.

    Meeting my boss was really fun, really cool, and now, after he reads my first blog book - - and one of the romance novels, he'll understand who it is that is behind the work monitor in Teams meetings making fun of him! He takes a joke as well as he gives, and that's too important in the world we live in where we don't see one another often.  I wouldn't argue if several of us got together now and again, but there are so many who work out of state and couldn't come to anything we planned.

    If you can, get to know the people who work with you. It makes a huge difference in the way you end up treating them, and the way they end up treating you -- I told the man he wasn't allowed to hate me for my opinions that he reads in the books  - he promised.

Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com

Something's Gotta Give (Watch Me)!

     Literally four years ago, less one day, I woke up (Aug. 3, 2020) and said to myself, "Jude, you're out of shape, something's gotta give". I weighed more than I wanted to, and I wasn't feeling happy about it. I wasn't really feeling that happy about a lot of things. If you remember, we were all locked down so tightly we couldn't move about freely without taking slack from the morons who actually believed we needed to be locked down, and because of all the political nonsense going on, most of the world felt defeated or at least deflated. I wasn't an exception - - that is until I made up my mind to do something about it.

    On August 3, 2020, I decided to stop wearing masks no matter where I went and decided to tell people the truth; that the masks were making me sick. I couldn't breathe correctly. Since I was working out more, walking more, eating better, and drinking a boatload of water every day, I needed all the breathing I could get - free of distractions, and free of restrictions of any kind. I wasn't popular, but I was right! 

    Now, four years later, I've gained back nearly all of the 48 pounds I lost in 2020 from August 3 to December 31. I went on to lose another 10-11 pounds from January 2021 to about March, but staying fit didn't last as long as I wanted it to. I can't pinpoint it, but I just sort of stopped really making a conscious effort to eat correctly, exercise, drink the water, lose the sugar and the salt, and be the glowing and often radiantly sarcastic person that I know I could be. I slipped back into the comfort zone in 2023; I can pinpoint that much.

    In 2023 I lost a job that kept the bills paid. It wasn't a good job, but I wasn't stressing either. I couldn't be bothered with diet, exercise, and being healthy, I had to find work, but the problem was, there was no work to be found. I found myself losing more than hope about it too. I found myself about to accept defeat when I put all of that negative energy into one big ball of concentrated effort and decided to live off my savings, what I could squeeze from the government legally, and let my kid pay her way and part of my way for a while. It was my turn. I decided to write! 

    When I decided to write, it was the same as when I had decided to diet. I put all of everything into it, and the result was way over-the-top productive. In 2023 I wrote and/or produced six books - - did you hear me? I wrote and/or produced six entirely new books that hadn't been written before. I created them out of thin air -- except for the 2nd Jude's Almost Daily Blog Book - - it had been written but not put together. I put it together, designed the cover, and published it...making it one of the books I produced in 2023.

    That makes my decision to lose weight and become healthy again all that much easier because I know what I'm capable of when I set my mind to it. This past month I moved from one place to the next, and it was done so over three days in scorching heat and muggy humidity. We actually clocked 68% humidity here in Oklahoma City that day, when our average is 35% or lower. It was about 90-95 degrees but felt so much hotter - - we did have a few breezes and I do thank God for that.  I walked more than 5 or 6 miles each day and climbed the stairs more than 20 times each of those three days. I was spent.

    I realized that my stubbornness to continue was stronger than my will to stop and rest. I nearly collapsed a couple of times, and my right knee did finally give it up; refusing to allow me to subject myself to more of it. Could it be that I just don't want to grow old? I have this thing about feeling younger inside my head therefore I must be younger, right? Nope...no, I am not. I am on the cusp of being considered old. If I get any older I may have to concede that I am actually getting older, but until then, I will cling to my dwindling hope. 

    Today, just about an hour or so ago, I took my new dog Kiah for a quick spin around to the apartment side of the complex to see folks I hadn't seen in almost two weeks. To say they were happy to see me would be an understatement! We had a wonderful reunion, but my heart hurt. My actual chest was hurting from the strain of holding the dog back, pacing myself, and doing so in 99-degree muggy weather! It was 6:50 p.m. and nearly 100 degrees outside  (the humidity today is hovering around 42%), making the heat index jump another six to eight degrees. I must be crazy!

    It's on. Tomorrow is the new August 3, 2020....only it's August 2, 2024. I'll work out slowly, do my stretching, eat correctly, drink water, keep most if not all sugars and salts out of reach, and I'll do what I can to stay cool and get the rest my body needs. I have about 40 of those pounds to lose and I will lose it. I also have two more books to write in 2024 - - and I will. I have written two this year and published both. I've also produced two books, from print to ebook, so that they can be read on tablets and phones. I don't think I'll do more than two more this year, both dramas, not the crime books. The two books I wrote this year are both Nick Posh Thrillers. I wrote "1211" and "Mesa". 

    When I say "go" I mean "go", and I'm the only one I have to impress. There isn't anyone else who comes to mind who I would do this for - - just me. I am the only me I'll ever have, and I'm going to treat myself as if I was the best version of myself already -- it's a game I play with my own head and heart to get my body to follow my orders when I need it to. Something's gotta give -- and it will. I know it will. 

Photo Credit: IStock.com

The Southern Belle in Me.

 A good now and again (excuse me, that was rather Southern of me) I say something rather Southern, and when I do, my friends from overseas tend to giggle just a little. They know this woman is from the Southwestern region of these United States. From time to time, whenever I'm asked, I will always tell a person that I'm from the Great State of Oklahoma.  Most of the time, however, depending on how they ask, I may say, "I'm from a place where we don't use prepositions at the end of our sentences"; however, that would be a lie. Oklahomans do, most certainly, use prepositions at the end of their sentences. Just so you know.

    Today, like just about any other day, when someone I'm speaking to, gets my goat up (another Southern idiom), I will go full South in my mouth! You'll hear it. You'll know it too. When a Southern woman speaks with intensity she tends to squint the corners of her eyes and draw her mouth up at the corners to bring in a bit of forced cordiality before...well, you know...before she tells you exactly what she's thinkin'. If she doesn't tell you exactly what she's thinkin' you may not live long enough to find a way to appease her and the whole situation.

    Today, while on the phone with a "damager", which is what we call folks in our business who go around damaging other folks' commercial property, I had to use a few breathing techniques to subdue my tongue long enough to force kinder than I wanted to use words. I wanted to let the whoop out of the can but decided my job meant a lot more to me than anything or anyone on the other end of the line. I had to remind myself I wasn't speaking to anyone with any common sense. I was talking to a man who had purposely and repeatedly chosen to not call 8-1-1 before he dug and you know what he did. I don't even have to tell you -- you already know.

    Now, before I say too much, I won't tell anyone who I work for. I won't say too many specifics about it, but what I do is adjust the liability factors when our clients bring a claim to our company seeking subrogation (third-party recovery) for said claim and for said liability.  John D'Nothing, the man on the other side of the line, had the gull to say that folks in "that part of the world" meaning the Southern states, wouldn't know how to read the laws let alone be expected to understand them or adjudicate terms of liability to him - - he was what my mother would call a "know-it-all" and what my daddy would call a "prick". You know my daddy didn't want me tellin' my mama what he said about people, you know that.

    As the boy continued to dig a hole too deep to crawl out of, I nearly asked him if he'd had the smarts to call 8-1-1 for that as well. He was digging and digging aimlessly, wantonly, and apparently with complete abandonment because there was just enough grace left in me by the time he finished wringing what was left of my last nerve, that I all but went dead silent on the man. The damn fool had no idea what that would mean, of course, he probably thought it meant he had the upper hand in the matter.

    Well, I paused, like I said, not saying a thing. I asked him politely if he was finished. He laughed and said he was. I then, in the sweetest drawl I could muster, told the gentleman that I had heard and recorded every word he had said; that most of what he was saying over the lines was both illegal and would be turned over to the legal department for review, but not only that, I had fully intended to make a copy of the recording for his employer (a major insurance carrier) allowing them to understand why it was that I would be bringing abuse charges against the man for his hostility toward me, and his false accusations of my person, not to mention the discriminatory remarks he chose to hide behind involving my race, gender, and age.

    When he exploded and told me I had no right to record him, I reminded him that the laws of the state of Oklahoma are not the same as the laws in the state of New York, (thank God) and that I was fully within my rights to expose him to his employer for who and what he was. I then, in the sweetest of Southern language, stated that I would be willing to negotiate with him regarding the potential charges if he would take another look at the damage report I had emailed him a week or two before; the one with supporting documents to prove my point...points.

    It was right about that time that the man on the other end of the phone became quite quiet...you could have heard his heart beating if you listened closely enough. I took that to mean I had the upper hand in the matter, so I politely closed the conversation with the following statement: "Living here in the South has its privileges. We may not be as sophisticated as you folks up that way, but we do know a good game of football, and we have the best BBQ to boot. You have yourself a good evening now and don't forget to call me next week when you've come to your senses about this claim. Good night now, and remember to kiss your mama when you see her!"

    I thank God EVERY DAY for the Great State of Oklahoma, and everything it ever meant to me.

Photo Credit: Way.com

Sore but Happy!

     Because Laura's bed hasn't arrived yet (Monday is only 2 days away) I have been sleeping with all three dogs on my full-sized bed. It's not that I'm complaining (much) but I can't turn over without disturbing at least one of them. If you know the rules you know the rules, and if you break the rules...well, it's not a good thing in our house. I wake up with dogs too -- usually before my alarm because one of them has decided to stick their nose into my eye socket. It's not Ginger. Ginger knows the rules. I don't disturb them, and they don't wake me up before the alarm!

    This makes a full week that we've slept in the house! We are simply too happy to be here. I downsized from a Queen to a Full and I love that fact. I'm sleeping on the same 17-18" that I had with the Queen, but for obvious reasons, it is now in the middle of the bed so that the two puppies (about 20 pounds each) can slumber quietly on either side of me, and my Ginger dog can trap my legs; holding me in place at all costs.

    When I woke up this morning I knew I didn't have to do anything regarding the move. We are 100% in our house and out of the apartment, but I also knew that sooner or later I'd have to tackle the unboxing. We knew this day would come, but it's nowhere near as daunting of a task or chore as it was last week when we were packing the same boxes and hauling them down the stairs, into the car, out of the car, and into the appropriate rooms of the house.  It is SO much easier to just reach into them, pull stuff out, and put it up or put it away. Let me just say I am grateful for the slowness of it all, and the stresslessness of it all. 

    I finally got the part of the kitchen unpacked and put away that has the coffee machine, coffee, and something for breakfast. Climbing over and around boxes was annoying, but when your body screams at you -- you have to listen. I wasn't about to unpack or unbox during the same week we were moving and cleaning the old place. We just had to live with the cardboard cubicles for a little longer, that's all. Now, and thank God, we can find the coffee!

    I still take the same two ibuprofen that I took all last week in the morning because I knew I'd be pushing the body a little bit, but that new shower is a miracle worker! I never knew I would be so happy to have a big walk-in shower. I really thought I'd be OK with the shower in the tub, but nope...I'm a new fan! I will single the endless praises of a good showerhead in a big stone shower with good water pressure and endless hot water -- we have a tankless system now. It's the first time I've ever seen one.  There is no tank, the water just runs through it and heats. In theory, I could stay in the shower all day, but I'm not going to try that; not yet.

    The ceilings in the house are over 9 feet high. They are something like 9 feet 2 inches. All of the windows are larger than the ones I had in the apartment so none of my curtains will fit. I'll need to donate those and get new ones. With the pretty framed boxes around each window, I may end up just leaving them bare in the office; the blinds are enough, but I will end up buying new wooden blinds soon...and the really good thing is, the maintenance guys will install them for me. This is good. I think I'm still pinching myself over this move.

    Today, we received fence liners that go around the areas of the fence that are over 2 inches off the ground. They stick into the ground and stop Ginger from rooting her way out of the fence. She hasn't had a backyard for 8.5 years (she's 10.5 years old).  She's beside herself with glee -- I can tell.  The puppies have no clue how much and how long Ginger has suffered. They have no idea that I took her downstairs 6-8 times a day to do her business and to walk her around a bit. Here, she can run, skip, hop, rest, root, and make as much noise as she wants. She's taking full advantage of it!

    Yes, I'm sore, but I'm happy. I'm willing to think about putting things away, which means I'll get around to it. I'll do one room a day, this way it will only take about a week to get it all done. I'll buy storage shelves for the storage room to get everything we decided to store up off the ground. Just knowing we won't trip over the things trying to get to our beds at night can make my dreams that much sweeter.

I think it's time to thank God, just one more time.

Photo Credit:  DZ Moving