A Two Parter – What’s Going On? and POS

I have mentioned in my previous posts that I am planning a move to Florida from California. So I feel very much in limbo. I am waiting for my house to sell, so

Image by FABIANNE SIBBIO from Pixabay

every time I have something to plan, I say . . .”If I am still here by then…”  Actually I thought I would be gone by now, but my house hasn’t sold. I haven’t gotten anything done on my latest book, but I have kept up this blog post (…neither rain nor sleet…) and my social media postings and the little marketing I do.

My house is getting  emptier and emptier. I sent 95% of my stuff to Florida two months ago on a truck with my daughter and son-in-law’s things. I am lucky that I don’t have to time a sale and a purchase; I can stay at my daughter and son-in-law’s house when I get to Florida. In fact, they tour for work and will hardly ever be there, so they are happy to have a “house sitter,” even though we all thought I would be there long before now.

So, my closet is nearly empty, actually making clothing choices so much easier every day!  I am sleeping on my old mattress on the floor (having sent the rest of the bed to Florida), and that is getting old. And I am getting too old to be able to get up from it. The dog is happy because she can jump onto the bed now; before, it was too high.

For some reason I packed my silverware, which could easily have been replaced with new stuff for not much money. When my daughter was here, right before the truck left with our stuff, she was making herself an English muffin. She asked me,”Where are the knives? I need to spread the butter.” Oh, well, I thought I would do OK with plastic forks and three spoons. 

I didn’t send most of my furniture because I am going to sell or donate it. However, I sold my three bookcases to a friend, so those are gone. 

Frankly, I love the feeling of a very uncluttered house; I was never a clutterer anyway. I don’t like a lot of stuff around. But this minimalistic look suits me just fine!

So that is where I am right now! I think about moving out and going to Florida before the house sells, but I think, “Who will water the outside plants every day?” They need to be done by hand. And I still would have to pay the mortgage. Bummer!

So here I sit.

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Among other things, POS stands for parts of speech. This summer I will be doing a series about the parts of speech. Not just what they are — that would be boring — but what some of the major issues with them are. 

We all learned about the parts of speech in elementary school. Can you name the eight of them? (I say there are eight. Not everyone agrees) Scroll down for the answers:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

noun – person, place, thing, or idea (Joe, children, ice, sky, air, truck, sincerity)
verb – action word or state of being (am, runs, flies, becomes, justifies, thinks)
pronoun – stands in for a noun (he, she, they, myself, them, who, which, everyone)
adjective – modifies or describes a noun or pronoun (pretty, those, five, blue, anxious, the)
adverb – modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb (slowly, very, now, then, extremely, happily)
preposition – begins a phrase that puts something in a time or place (in, out, above, up, beyond, inside)
conjunction – joins words, phrases, sentences (and, but, or, nor, so, for, yet, although, because)
interjection – conveys emotion (oh, well, gee, darn, rats, OMG)

Quiz of the week: Can you write a sentence using every part of speech only once? An eight-word sentence?

Here is mine. Maybe I could do better if I thought about it longer. I am sure you can do better!

Yikes, and she jumped quickly over the box. (interjection, conjunction, pronoun, verb, adverb, preposition, adjective, noun)

 

Next Week: An Introduction to Nouns