J.J. Devine's Blog, page 26

Trying to wake up...

Good morning, everyone!!!

​I'm trying to get my head together enough to call myself awake, however, it is a bit hard this morning for one reason or another. But I'm trying...

​Thursday night at Bug's game it was another edge of your seat sort of game. And they WON!!! I was so thrilled!!! We have another game today and I'm truly hoping this taste of winning helps them to play even better. 

​I work early today and tomorrow. So this hour of getting up is in the cards for a few days. I overslept yesterday morning so thankfully hubby wakes me up on these two days. Because I'm pretty sure I would just roll over and go back to sleep. I do miss the days when I could just roll out of bed, jump into my clothes and be ready to start my day. These days I have to fall out of bed, stumble to the kitchen, blindly make coffee, and pray my eyes will open all the way within the next half hour.

​Getting older sucks sometimes for sure. 

​Ah but it is what it is...

​I'm hoping that shower this morning rejuvenates me and gives me a bit of energy to move through this day. I know once I do get moving I will be fine, it's just getting there :) 

​I've been trying out this dog comb for shedding. It's called the Furminator. OH MY GOODNESS, I've been very impressed with the results. When you have two husky mixed furbies around the house you have a LOT of hair. You can vacuum daily and it still doesn't look like you've vacuumed at all. BUT, since trying this cool device my carpets have managed to stay pretty good. I can't wait until I've managed to completely get all of the hair on Shadow's hind quarters cleaned out. Then I imagine there won't be any clumps of hair left laying around the house. This thing is truly wonderful. Their fur is super soft and the shedding is really cut down tremendously. I highly recommend it. I picked up the one for long haired dogs because Shadow's hair is longer than mine and thicker than mine for sure. Each day after work I change my clothes, then go outside to brush them both. I figure if I get them used to being brushed daily with this then we should never have another horrible shedding issue again. Keep your fingers crossed :)

​Well I'm going to say this is enough senseless chatter for this morning. I should really be hitting the shower.

Everyone have a lovely day!!!

Blessings to all!!!






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I'm pretty sure I'm getting too old for this kind of excitement...

Good morning, everyone!!!

​Oh my word, you all know I am NOT a football fan by any means. In fact, we are almost to the end of the season on this aspect of the little people football games and the only thing I am sure of is when we have the ball it is offense and when they have the ball we're defense. LOL. 

​Our team has yet to win a game. Not for the lack of trying. However, as this season has progressed I can see how much better they are playing. Last night we tied zero to zero which sent us into some extra plays (not sure what the hell those are called). Before that final buzzer went off however, our team had me on the edge of my seat (okay, maybe not my seat, because at that point I was at the rail, willing them everything I had to get across that goal). 

​The excitement in the air was insane and sadly we still lost :( But it was not for the lack of playing a good game. These kids kicked ass and I was so proud of all of them.

​What I didn't like was how the refs ignored some very dangerous aspects one of the other teams players was doing, such as grabbing kids around the neck trying to tackle them, grabbing their arms and not letting go, grabbing face masks. The sort of thing had they done these things to a weaker player could have actually gotten them hurt. 

​I know I know it's football, they can easily get hurt. We've seen enough players get hurt on the field playing the right way. That's one aspect our coaches ensure with our team, is teaching them how to tackle correctly, teaching them to play the game the right way. 

​What I did find funny was even though this kid tried everything under the sun to get our guys down, our guys very rarely went down when he pulled these stupid tactics :) Instead, it just made them more furious. My grandson was one of those players this kid was attacking on the field. And at one point, when my little defensive tackle came off the field, he paced the sidelines like a caged animal ready for attack. LOL. So this grandma knows what my little man knows best, so after the game we had a chat about what he will do the next time he's up against this big bully LOL. The bigger they are the harder they fall, is how I always look at it. And one thing our little defensive tackle knows is how to bring 'em down :)

​I'm not sure who we play tonight, but somehow I do hope it is this team again. Last night was a make up game from River Rally, Ducktail Run, and James Dean weekend when they had to cancel the game due to too much traffic and not being able to get to the high school. This is the only team we play who use such tactics. The other teams seem to play by the rules for the most part. But what excites me is even though this team doesn't always play by the rules and the refs turn a blind eye on a few of those plays, our team still kept them at bay the entire game. :)

​I really also hope our boys at least get the chance to feel what it's like to win. They've been so close so many games, it would be wonderful for them to just taste that victory once this season.

Well that's it for this old lady today...

​Everyone have a lovely day!!!

Blessings to all!!!






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Pushing forward...

Good morning, everyone!!!

​Why is it the easiest things in life are the ones least beneficial to us? And the hardest things in life give us the greatest feelings of accomplishment?

​I'm noticing small changes each day as I push forward with my goals. However, the last few days it took everything I had to push the mark forward and just keep moving.

​I've recently come off of a high energy, just do it, don't think about it, time. It wears you out both physically and mentally. I know from past experience that I have to reenergize and then begin pushing forward, pushing the mark until I'm back on track.

​During these high energy moments in life I tell myself, "Soon you'll have time for this or that." Then it comes around and I'm just worn out from pushing the mark for so long. I have to take a few moments to remember what it's like to be 'normal' again, LOL.

​Now things are starting to slow down again for a few moments. I take that time to breathe, but there is so much catching up from that busy time, that it is almost overwhelming at times. So, I find myself procrastinating more than I should. Putting things off instead of pushing the mark forward. 

​Then out of the blue I give myself a pep talk. Tell myself it isn't doing itself, so get your butt out of the chair and get busy.

​Thankfully, I'm starting to see progress. Which is not only energizing but also exhausting. Since it was a beautiful day yesterday evening, I did manage to just sit and be still for a few moments out on my back porch, on my porch swing, and meditate for a minute. This seemed to help some. I was able to get more checked off my list of things to do, even though there is still so much to do on that blasted list, I still feel accomplished :) As long as progress is being made and things are moving forward, I choose to be happy with the accomplishments. 

​I am one person and can only do so much in the hours provided, such as work, then work at home. Sleep is an important factor when you get to be my age, so the waking up early and the going to bed earlier than I used to, is something I have to get used to. Mornings have always been my best cleaning time, so when I work the day job in the mornings, I have to get used to afternoons being my best cleaning time, LOL. Late nights used to be my best writing time. So now early evenings have got to be my best writing time LOL. Yeah, it's hard to change things around when you've spent years making it happen another way.

​The important thing is I am slowly making it happen. I'm pushing things forward and one day it will just become habit.

​Everyone have a lovely day!!!

Blessings to all!!!






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Moving along...

Good morning, everyone!!!

​First I want to give a shout out to my beautiful and amazing daughter-in-law, Denise!!! Happy Birthday beautiful lady!!! I hope your day begins and ends with all the hopes and dreams you have in your soul. Love you to the moon and back!!!

​I actually was able to manage to move this house work along a bit yesterday. The boss and I had a few things to get done after work yesterday so I didn't get as much accomplished as I wanted to, however, I set a time limit and got done what I could in that time frame. When time was up, well, I told myself to be happy with what I had done and remember tomorrow is another day :)

​So, today I have a few more things to accomplish. I made a list of just household chores and each day I'll give myself a time limit in which I want to have things accomplished and check a few more things off the list of things to do.

​I also managed to get some extra sleep last night which was really helpful :) This morning I do feel a bit more refreshed than yesterday thankfully. 

​Today is truck day and Pepsi delivery day. Fun fun fun!!! So work will be a busy one for certain. So much to do and so little time to do it in (at least that's what it feels like on truck day). 

​Hubby's schedule is switching around here in a few weeks which also means my schedule will be flip flopping. Thankfully, this should be the last time mine flip flops (I hope). I would like to just get into a even balance where my day job is concerned and have a more normal schedule all the time. We're also trying to get all the boss's vacation time in over the course of the next few months. So in a few weeks I will be doing books which means I will be doing the early early early shift :) I don't mind it other than I still have so much to learn on some of the new adjustments we've been making with these new schedules and new programs we've got going on. So I'm hoping to get some of that down in the next couple of weeks.

​After work today and after a few more things on the chore list today, I want to get in some writing. I have a couple of plans on how to get things back on track in a good way and now that all the hoopla is over here in this town, it should be easy enough to get back on track. Winter is coming on and by the time it gets here I want to have my daily routine set in place once again.

​With everyone so down on their writing careers on Saturday, it made me think I need to change something in my writing world. Which is something I've thought about for awhile. 

​Writing stories has always given me pleasure. It's been a long time since I've given myself the pleasure of losing myself completely in a world of my own making :) It's time to take that back on the level I once had it. To feel the excitement flowing through my veins and just write. 

​Something else I'm adding back to my daily routine is a hot meditative bath. I took one of those on Sunday and realized it had been way too long since I'd done this. I used to do it all the time. Nowadays, it seems like I grab a quick shower before work and then don't even think about the benefits a long hot soak can do for the body. So adding this back to my daily routine should also help get things back on track. 

​Since hubby started this run a few years back I got out of my weekly routine of at least one hot soak a week. I really can't say why other than I just quit making time for them. I love a spa day as well. Where I would do a facial, soak in a hot tub, and just relax. Haven't done one of those in awhile either and can't even say why. Guess I just got lazy. 

​So hopefully, I will keep up my momentum and get things back in order as they should be. Wish me luck...

Everyone have a lovely day!!!

​Blessings to all!!!






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Hello Monday...

Good morning, everyone!!!

​I took the day off from life yesterday. I headed out to my sister's house to just get away from everything for a little while. I just needed a moment to just be and I wasn't going to get that sitting here in the house. 

​So, I loaded up, headed to her house, and spent the day hanging out. They've done so much to the property since I was there last. Her hubby and son are making bridges over the creeks and golf cart accessible trails through the 19 acres of woods. Yep, we drove down those trails :)

​So now it is a brand new week. It's time to get new goals going, new outlooks on what I want to see by the end of the week from myself. Our anthology is now out there for sale. Which I am thrilled about :) 

​Now it is time to move forward into one of my next projects. I was at Saturday's writing meeting and so many had the same story in our jeers portion of the meeting. Usually I'm pretty stoked after a meeting, but this month's meeting sorta made me sad. So many were having issues with where things are going in their careers. Which this got me to deep thinking on the topic.

​We're all in the same place with 'is this worth it' sort of thing. Maybe not all in the same exact place but so many of us are in some area of this mode. In some instances, we've lost the fun feeling where it comes to writing. In other instances, we've just gotten into a slump that is hard to get out of. 

​So, for me I believe it is like being buried alive. If I remain in the slump or buried in the ground, I am not going to escape if I don't take action. I will remain there, buried under those mounds of dirt, losing more and more of the air I breathe. 

​So I've decided this week I will begin again. Start with a new goal, a new action so to speak. I will make a game plan and stick with it. First things first, however. After work today I commence to putting things around here back in order. Since I took the day off yesterday there is tons to be done. First line of order is to put my living space back in order. Then from there block out some time each day for just writing. By writing I mean, write until I fall in love again :) 

​It is effecting my entire existence. Zapping my energy for life so to speak. And I can't have that. I want to be energized again. I want to wake up in the morning and be biting at the bit until I can be back at the keyboard pounding away at the next work in progress. 

​So my goal for this week is to put things back in order, both in my normal every day life and my writing world. Yes, I understand this means I may have to force myself to push the mark in some areas, but it will be worth it in the end :)

Everyone have a lovely day!!!

Blessings to all!!!




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Goodbye Friday hello Saturday...

Good morning, everyone!!!

​Yesterday was a fun ride. I was so busy I met myself coming and going :) Did it bother me? Oh heaven's no, I love being busy.

​I worked all day at my normal day job, then from there I went shopping for a few with hubby, then headed out to visit with my family at my sister's house, then headed to the other store to work for a little bit, then ran home, changed into my Steelers shirt and head out to watch the grandson do a mock game at halftime at the high school football (so amazing let me just say), then it was back home to can the apple butter :) Ahhhh, then bedtime.

​Today is going to be a busy one as well. Bug has a football game at 10 this morning, then I have my meeting at noon, then it is off to celebrate our release of The Lake House with dinner and good company :) There will be more sitting down than standing today. More brain work than busy work, and more probably just about as much talking. 

I do like busy days. 

​Tomorrow will be another busy one. I have such a mess to clean up around here from all the canning and then all the laundry needs folded and put away. Oh well, tomorrow is another day....

Everyone have a lovely day!!!

Blessings to all!!!





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It's Friday!!!

Good morning, everyone!!!

​It's been a busy few days off and the next couple of days off don't look any lazier. I'm still waiting on the final review of The Lake House in paperback so I can upload to kindle. I had a minor issue with the paperback that I had to scream for help with at the last minute yesterday. We're hoping it was the easy fix. 

​I did spend part of the day yesterday making applesauce and apple butter. I still have one fourth of a bushel to make into apple butter which I will do this weekend. I canned twelve jars of applesauce last evening and plan to can however many jars the apple butter makes up tonight after work and watching the grandson run some plays during half time of the high school game. I work my store from morning to afternoon then work the Converse store for an hour this evening. 

​The weekend is already chalked full. I have my writing meeting tomorrow morning/afternoon. Then a celebration for our release of The Lake House. We have reservations at The Lake House in Geist at 5 for a celebration dinner and maybe just maybe making a few videos :) We welcome anyone who wishes to come and chat. So if you're in the area of the restaurant Saturday evening feel free to stop in and say hi!!! We'd love to see all of you!!!

​I'm hoping after work tonight and the game that I will be able to get the last bits of uploading done on The Lake House and have that out of the way. Release day is Monday!!!  Then hopefully I'll be able to finish up the canning for the apple butter that is already going in the crockpot. Which shouldn't be too much of a problem considering I can do this while I upload :)

​At some point I want to run back over to the orchard and grab another bushel of apples. So much to do so little time. LOL.

​We've made mounds of progress at the daughter's house. Which is a plus. We want to change out beds on Sunday and hopefully finish up all three bedrooms. Hubby got the new toilets in and the kitchen sink, removed the garbage disposal, and managed to get in the new facet, even though it leaks a tiny bit, he'll have to get to that next time he's home. Daughter and I cleaned the bathrooms and got the new shower head up in Bug's bathroom. He was thrilled :) We've been working on laundry each day as well and I'm pretty sure we'll get that conquered before the end of the weekend :) 

​Life is moving forward for sure. I just need to take a few minutes out and work on my dishes and laundry LOL and vacuum again. It's shedding season and damn, I could make an entire litter out of the hair coming off these dogs each day. I do believe I am going to look into a shedding comb and also shedding shampoo. I'll let you know how that works out LOL.

​Well I guess I should sign off of here and get this day underway.

​Everyone have a lovely day!!!

Blessings to all!!!







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Just a bit of rambling...

Good morning, everyone!!!

​I've been sitting here this morning discussing all the tragedies of late with my favorite millennial. He may look and act like his father most of the time but I will say he got his curiosity from his mother. Neither of us look any situation in the eye and think it is being shown at face value. We both look for the deeper meaning behind it all.

​So as we talked this morning, this blog came to me. Just more of my rambles from looking at the bigger picture. 

​Sure, people on the outside (including me) will look at the recent events in this world and make their own assessments. It's human nature. Some use it for a political agenda and claim it is not a political agenda, even though the words spewing from their keyboard are clearly political.

​However, here is my take on this and these thoughts come from my own life experiences.

​When tragedy strikes a person, they either feel as if God has abandoned them, or they turn to God to get them through. You often hear, "How could God let this happen?"

​No this isn't a religious post but it does have religious undertones. I'm a firm believer in things happen for a reason, even tragedies. There are lessons to be learned in everything and every day.

What I've seen in our world today:

​People dividing from one another. Hate spewing not only from mouths but keyboards on every social media content out there. So many riots, so many shootings, so many forms of hate filling our streets daily. The news media is thrilled to keep things like this going, feeding the insecurities with half truths and nonsense, just to make ratings. What happened to reporters reporting the facts and nothing but the facts? Sad, I chose not to go into journalism because I was too opinionated, LOL. I just knew I wouldn't be able to keep my opinions out of an article.

​So, here I am blogging my mind...

​What happens in this life with such drastic divisions? Tragedy. It's that simple. The Divine Powers that be know we need to be reminded of the fact we can come together in like mind. We can put aside differences to help the greater good come forth.

​With so many tragedies occurring in the last few months, there are stories out there that don't get a lot of media attention, why??? because they show humanity in its purest form. People who the media wants to be divided are coming together regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, ect. They are working side by side to help one another through a time in life where one is not truly sure they will make it through.

​We lean on one another, share with one another something no other person who hasn't been there could truly understand the depth. 

​Sure, it is easy to sit at the kitchen table or on the sofa and read or watch the news and make judgements. Experiencing the tragedy through news media. 

​However, experiencing tragedies through blown up coverage of opinionated reporters is not truly understanding the depth of the tragedy. 

​My heart goes out to those who've lost during the hurricanes and the LV shootings. Just as my heart has gone out to those who've experienced the loss of a child or all of their children in a school shooting. Each experience of these horrible unspeakable tragedies has people focusing their energies in places where the divide becomes greater, objects and politics.

​Where should our energy lie? In my opinion, our energy should be put into humanity. Learning to come together, to rebuild together, to bring our moral fiber back together. We should learn hate is not the answer, look at what the Divine has brought forth to prove this to us.

​There are two emotions in human nature that nurture all other emotions, love and hate. When we focus all our energy into one of these emotions the results are catastrophic. Love being the positive emotion, hate being the negative. Yes, we have to have both to have balance. However, we have to ensure they are balanced. Sadly, the platforms we have today are focusing more on the hate and negative and sorely not enough on the love and the positive.

​I strive daily to ensure my posts are mostly positive, even when life is trying to get the better of me. However, to have some sort of balance, once in awhile, I need to express some things to get them off my chest, that may anger others. Such as my post today.

​People reading this may very well think, wake up, woman, life isn't all sunshine and roses. I agree wholeheartedly. Life is tragic, bitter, and hard. But I choose not to focus the majority of my energy in that direction. I've lived a long time in the bitterness of this world and yes, I've felt hate to it's fullest extent to the point it almost destroyed me.

​I don't care anymore whether your religious or not. I don't care anymore what your sexual orientation is. I don't care if your black, white, red, or yellow (as the song goes). I don't care what your political stance is.

​What I do care about is whether or not your a good person. I do care whether or not I can somehow help you make your day better. I do care that you are human. I do care if I can offer a kind word or a smile to help you get through your day ahead.

​Tragedies in this life are lessons we would rather not exist. I am full well aware of that. Tragedies are something we seek solutions for, but are we truly looking in the right direction? Could it be as simple as finding our humanity once again? Could it be we need to find more love and less hate and surround our lives with positive vibes?

Just some thoughts...


Everyone have a lovely day!!!

Blessings to all!!!





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Well that was one hell of a Monday...

Good morning, everyone!!!

​It was one of those days where anything and everything just seemed to go wrong the entire day. Every time the boss and I turned around something wasn't quite right.

But push through we did and today is a new day.

​I did get the pollen washed off the front of the daughter's house. It warmed up yesterday so it was a good day to do such a thing. :) That aspect went okay, but I did bleach out the shirt I was wearing and also I should have grabbed gloves because the bleach did a number on my hand. I guess you could say my mind just wasn't into yesterday so much.

​So I didn't even attempt to upload to KDP or Kobo yesterday. I didn't think it would be a good idea with how the day had gone already. So that is on my agenda for this evening. 

​Don't you hate when you have one of those days? Man, I sure do. No matter what you do it is as if fate is against you. I call those days testing days. Just to see how you handle them.

​However, just because yesterday was one of those days, I am determined to make today a good day. This is my last day for a few days at the day job. We have a ton of things to do this week and I need to really be focused, so there is no time to allow one bad day to ruin an entire week. 

​In one week The Lake House will make it's grand debut!!! At the end of this post you can find the paperback cover with the blurbs for each story!!! I'm pretty excited about this up and coming group of stories. We've come a long way since we put out The Hope Chest and The Porch Swing :) Our cover artist, Jeana Mann, is not only an amazing cover artist but also a fantastic author!!! She's such an inspiration to me. I've known her since way back before and can honestly say she is still the beautiful wonderful person she was back then.

​I've not been able to find the extra time to sit down and work on my writing this last week. But I can tell you I am itching to get back to getting a few stories ready for publication, so find the time I must in the very near future :) 

​I've opted out of Romance Writers Weekly this week because I didn't have the time to sit down and write a poem about the end of summer. But I encourage you to check out the hop this week and see what the other authors have written!!!

​Well I really should sign off of this blog and prepare for the day ahead. It is truck day and I need to mentally prepare for the insanity, LOL.

Everyone have a lovely day!!!

​Blessings to all!!!








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Who turned off the heat???

Good morning, everyone!!!

Brrrrrr.....

​It's a bit chilly this morning. Rumor has it the weather is supposed to be nice again this week, so this little chill down is temporary before the real stuff knocks us down.

​Sis and I took a break from major things this weekend and just spent some time resting and hanging out at the football field for Bug's game. That little guy seems to love his football :) The opposing team had anywhere from two to three players guarding him whenever he was on the field, and nope, they still didn't take him down LOL. One of the other grandparents was telling my daughter about his amazing tackle the other day at practice. The one I told her about that he did right after she went to watch his sister in her cheerleading performance. It done my heart proud to hear others seeing what I'm seeing in this little man :)

​Today, we begin again. Hubby should be home tonight or tomorrow and we already have a list of things for him to do :) Which of course he seems excited to help out. I think he's got some pent up energy over wanting to help his father, step mother, sister, and brother in Puerto Rico. But he really doesn't know what exactly he can do that would be helpful. So, he'll channel that energy into helping us get some repairs done at the daughter's house this week.

​I still need to work on those apples. Which hopefully I'll find some time today to at least get applesauce made up and maybe a batch of apple butter started :) But that is later today and tomorrow :) 

​This morning it is another work day. Which I have two work days, then off for two days, then work a day, and off two more before I start my long stretch again :) This will be my new normal routine. All my days off in two weeks will be bunched together which isn't so bad really. 

I'm hoping to start a routine here soon where I can start keeping little Zoe some on my day off on Wednesdays. I figure this week we'll be pouring ourselves into getting things done at Sis's but soon that work will be done and I'll be able to get things to a more 'normal for me' way of life.

​I uploaded The Lake House last evening to Createspace. Soon it will be ready for publishing. Today or tomorrow I need to get it uploaded to Kindle and Kobo. Our release day is Monday October 9th!!! So, it is almost time!!! This is volume 3 of our anthologies!!! 

​Well I guess I should sign off of here and get some more work done before I head off to the day job. 

Everyone have a lovely day!!!

Blessings to all!!!







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