Eight days ago, I gained another year, but today is a much more meaningful day. This is my wife's birthday, the day that the woman I have spent 33 years with now was born. I love her with all my heart, and I thank God for her each and every day.
Lol; this year is all about elevens for me. I got married at twenty-two years old, I've been married for thirty-three years, and turned (sigh) fifty-five this year.
I was thinking this morning (definitely cause for concern) and was wondering if I had anything in my arsenal that could maybe be converted to a contest entry.
Originally, I was thinking about my unposted things, but then, on review of the rules, I didn't see any prohibition on previously posted works. Turning my attention to those works, I discovered that I do in fact have a wonderful story for the contest!
This is interesting. Next Saturday is the fictional date of Darry and Marcia's wedding in book 3, and AF 2 is scheduled to come out on Kindle just about now. what a nice wedding present for the two.
As I said in my blog before, I have some lovely pain in my left hand. Needless to say, this makes it tough to type. Of course, the left thumb isn't used in 10 key typing, but the pain likes to remind me that it's them anyway.
I've discovered a good way to write regardless. I'm using a stylus on my tablet. Quite literally the latest chapters of Arctic Fox and the Letters are handwritten. It's really not much slower than typing. And wonderfully, the tablet usually can read my writing. As a matter of fact, I don't have the general problem of my drunk spell checker!
To all my friends and family on this site, Happy Easter! Ressurection Sunday!
I know many of us don't celebrate the ressurection of Christ. Many of us don't believe in Him. I don't intend this blog post to offend anyone, so l hope you don't take it as offensive. My beliefs are such that I do believe, and I know some here believe as well. To those of us who believe its a celebration, I want to celebrate with you!
Late in 2022, I started to get pain in my hands. I went and had an x-ray done, and there was some arthritis forming. Well, at my age, that's kinda normal, so I wasn't REALLY worried about it.
The problem was, the pain in one of my thumbs got worse and worse. Unfortunately, it's the thumb that supports my trumpet when I play, and it's used in the piano quite a bit, as well as guitar, accordian, you name it. It's used. I don't play guitar very much, but I do need my left thumb to help me grip the neck when I'm making a chord, or even when playing the bass guitar.
Sorry I haven't been producing any chapters right now.
We've had a lot of cold, snowy weather in Eastern Washington lately. As a result, my thumb with an old bullet would has been aggravated as well as my back, keeping me from doing much on a computer or a piano.
I hate arthritis!
I promise the moment I can type proficiently again, I will be doing so.
It's Thanksgiving in the US, and still 5 AM in the Northwest, so I'm laying in bed, thinking of all I have to be thankful for.
So many things are good! Even when things look bleak, I find that when I turn them around and examine them from all angles there's something good there. Even the death of my dad earlier this year got my sister and me working together, something we hadn't done for a long time.
I know I've already posted on my Dad, but these are some different thoughts on the topic.
I went to Phoenix (the Arizona one) August 29th. My Dad was unconscious when I got there. I talked to him and he seemed to respond. 5 hours after I got there, he died. My mom and sister had finally gone to sleep, and my aunt (Dad's sister) was resting. I was holding Dad's hand and stroking his hair as he passed away.
So last night, at 10:55PM, while I was holding my Dad's hand, he passed away. He had been gasping for breath all day. I arrived from Spokane at about 5. Mom tells me she thinks he was waiting for me to arrive before he stopped fighting.
I sobbed several times as I talked to him. He wasn't responsive in a normal way, but as I spoke, his breathing became easier.
I haven't been on BCTS for awhile. We recently found out that my Dad has cancer. It's developed into stage 4, which is not a good thing. Really need prayers and hugs.
Well, a little while back, I went to get an MRI on my brain. The site of the tumor I had removed about 3 years ago.
Talked to my neurosurgeon yesterday, and there's no new growth of the remain of the tumor. Just a little bit of thickening in the dura (the membrane that surrounds the brain) where the tumor was.
I hate having to get an MRI. A cat scan is fine, but the tube you go into in an MRI is so stinking tiny! Ugh!
So I updated the chapter in question, here on BCTS.
I just realized, however, that the evidence in question wasn't discussed. At least not out loud. Bill and Sylvia had copied everything they had found and presumably highlighted certain sections.
Interestingly, one of the two in the office revealed something unexpected to me while I was writing the update, forcing me to update the next chapter as well. Sigh. This is what I get for letting my characters have a certain amount of autonomy, I suppose.
Norma and I were married May 4th, 1991 in BC, Canada, long before May 4th became a Star Wars thing. LOL. So, for those who don't like math, today is our 31st anniversary. LOL!
Well! I've said some things about what's been happening, but it's been moving so quickly I'm really not sure of it all myself!
We've had a few last gasps of a dying winter here in the Pacific Northwest, but during the last few convulsions, I was in Phoenix, spending time with my parents and my sister, and ended up with a sunburn. Ah, the feeling of freezing while the top layer of epidermis peels off your arms and shoulders. Such bliss!
Saturday morning, Norma and I were woke up by one of our sons knocking on our door and saying there was water pouring into his room. His room is directly below our en-suite bathroom, and as i ascended from sleep, I heard water spraying. We wondered if someone was showering in the main bathroom (right beside ours) and the answer was no. I opened the door to our bathroom to find water running across the floor. A fitting underneath the sink had broke during the night, and water was spraying all over under the sink.
It's amazing, interesting... idk. Strange, anyway, when you realize that something you haven't thought of since you were much younger... something that happened when you were about 5 years old, has had a profound effect on your personality almost 50 years later (48, but who's counting?).
I've discovered that something that was done to me when I was a child has affected me more than I ever thought... leaving some profound trauma in its wake.
Well, this has been an interesting couple of months!
Of course, at the end of November, we had Thanksgiving in the US. This was not unexpected, nor was the sudden explosion of colorful, twinkling lights in the Spokane, Washington area following the holiday. In fact, it was rather pleasant.
Well, for those of you following The Arctic Fox, or any of my other stories, it's going to be kinda slow getting the chapters up for a bit. This is a rather busy time of year for me, although COVID has slowed things down from how it usually is.
Anyway, please bear with me. The chapters will be posted. Just might take a bit more time.
Lots happened this last week. My two favorite uncles were named Tom. My dad's brother Tom, died about 6 or 7 years ago, and I miss him a lot. This last week, my dad's brother-in-law, also named Tom, died after a long time of struggling with his back and other things.
My dad also lost another sister, who I don't remember ever meeting, but then Dad found out he has a blockage in the back of his heart and will need it removed. sigh.
I find it fascinating how much people get messed up, and then report it as the truth.
I got an email about "watching out for public records being released, and what they may say about you." So, just for kicks, I looked myself up online to see what it says.
The result? Whitepages isn't making a good impression with me They have 2 wrong aliases and 3 incorrect places I used to live. "Uh.... No, I don't think I really want to pay for your services. You don't seem to know much about your 'subjects'."
I was working on a couple of stories, hoping to get ahead on them, and my muse decided to shift gears and change direction on me. It seemed as though she doesn't know how to use a clutch or speed shift very well either, It was a very jerky shift as she downshifted so we could make a sharp turn. I'm trying to keep her from accelerating, but it seems like it may be a hopeless cause. I'm hoping we come to a crossroad that will take us back to our original highway.
So I finished the blog entry on my Dad and his heart this morning, and I leaned back in my office chair. I guess I must have, somehow, entered unknowingly into a wager saying the day couldn't be worse. Thus, my office chair decided it no longer liked me, so it leaned all the way back, depositing me in a rather undignified manner onto the floor behind it.
I was just finishing my games of scrabble with my parents and sister at around 3:30 this morning, when I saw a notification come through my phone saying my mom was in the ER with my dad because he had chest pain. I talked to Mom for a bit, then spent the rest of the night sleepless. Finally got to a very fitful sleep about 6:30 AM.
The hospital says it's something serious with his heart, but not a heart attack.
I recently had an MRI (that's not the relief! I HATE those things!). They wanted to see if there's anything in my head. Wait a minute... That didn't come out right!
Anyway. It's a bit over 2 years since I had the surgery removing the meningioma (which was a benign tumor), and it shows no sign of growing now. YAY!
Checks can be made out & sent to:
Joyce Melton
1001 Third St.
Space 80
Calimesa, CA 92320
USA
Note: $6000 is the operating, maintenance and upgrade budget. Amounts received in excess of the $6000 will be applied to long term debt accrued over the last 19 years.
