I have survived Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and the Iron Bowl, and even Cyber Monday. Whew!

I have to confess that I do not do Black Friday, Football, or much online shopping. In fact, most years I’d already been finished shopping by now. But we had a very hot fall, and the holiday season just sort of sneaked up on me. So, I have most of my shopping done, and will probably finish it before the week is out. Then I can wrap.

My tree is up, but not decorated except with the lights that came on it. Oh the joys of a pre-lit tree! I’ve promised my grandgirlies that they can help decorate, so it will be Friday before the ornaments go on, but I can still enjoy the lights.

So anyway, now that most of the Christmas stuff is well under way, I can get back to plotting the next book.

Seems like no matter how hard I try to plan ahead for my Thanksgiving dinner, I always end up having to run out at the last minute for something. This morning, it’s milk and dark Karo syrup. Never mind that I have three unopened bottles of light Karo, I need dark. (Haven’t made pecan pie in awhile and apparently you need dark Karo. Who remembers?)

Otherwise, my holiday plans are coming along apace. After I get back from the store, I will make the aforementioned pecan pie and a pan of cornbread for my stuffing. My mouth is already watering when I think of the goodies to come.

So, from my house to yours … Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is my birthday. I’m somewhere in the neighborhood of 112 years old. Not really, but I feel that old some days, especially when it comes to technology. Still don’t get it. And I’m not even sure I’m doing Facebook right most of the time.But I try.

I learned to type on an ancient manual typewriter. The good news is that I can type with all my fingers. The bad news is now that I’m 112, my thumbs hurt so much, that I cannot text proficiently. Even with one finger. Not my favorite method of communication.

However, one thing I started doing about 45 years ago (in real time) is exercising. At first, it was for purely vanity reasons. I wanted to fit into my clothes. Later on I included health among my reasons. Now I pretty much exercise for health only, because no matter how much I do exercise, my clothes still don’t fit me the way they once did. The good news is that I’m in pretty good health.

So, my advice to you is that if you want to live a long, happy life, don’t ignore your heath.

Yes, I usually post on Tuesdays, but today being Veterans’ Day, it was on my mind.

I am from a military family. My father served in World War II and retired after 20 years of service. My husband served in Vietnam and retired after 25 years. Our son served in the Gulf War and retired after 21 years. That’s 66 years of military service.
So today is a pretty somber day. Two of those special people are no longer with me, but of course, I remember them today and every day.

I may not have served myself, but I know what it’s like to love a military man. So, today like everybody else does, I remember our veterans, not just the ones I loved and love, but all of them.

Thank you for your service.

Today I heard on the tv news that it is the 50th anniversary of the internet. Funny how we that it has always been here, but I actually remember back in the olden days when it wasn’t even a twinkle in some scientist’s eye.

In October of 1969 I was at Troy State University college and I was working in the computer department as my student job. The computer was the size of a Volkswagen Bug and we fed it cards that had space for about 100 characters on them. Needless to say getting it to do anything was slower than slow. Still, it was faster than doing it the hard way.

I guess I’m showing my age when I can remember my parents getting a Sears catalog and filling out a form, calculating the weight, and then writing a check for what we hoped was the right amount and putting in the mail. Then it might be a month before we received what they ordered. Of course, we were a military family and living in Germany at the time. Patience wasn’t just a virtue back then, it was just the way it was.Anyway, Happy Birthday, Internet. In many ways you have made life easier for people, but in others, not so much.

HERE IT IS, the news we’ve all been waiting for.

I HAVE FINISHED THE FIRST DRAFT OF THE BOOK. 😂

That’s the good news. Of course, I may have months of revising and polishing, but the hard work is done. I had planned on taking some time off to do other silly things like fall cleaning and yard work, but I’ve been so involved with the story that I couldn’t wait to revisit it again.

My friend Carla Swafford challenged me to write five things about my current WIP.

So here goes:

1. I’m within about a week or two of finishing. of course, then there will be weeks, if not months of polishing.
2.My heroine is a former beauty queen.
3.The hero is a widower with three children.
4. There’s a subplot with a teenage romance.
5. When it makes it to print, it will be my 25th book.

A real cold front finally came through. Though it’s not as cold as I would hope, it’s a great deal cooler than four days in the past week with temperatures around 100, and that was without the heat index. Now maybe I can get something done.

I’m actually wearing leggings and a big shirt rather than shorts and a tee shirt. I have been sooo ready to get out of the tee shirts and into something that has something that resembles style.

Coming down to the final chapters of the book in progress. Still hoping to get to THE END by November 1. Of course, there will still be revisions and polishing and edits before anything serious can happen.

It’s still hot and it’s October and still not feeling very fall-like.

However, one thing remains the same. It’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and I am very aware of breast cancer as I am a 18 1/2 year survivor.

Something I always ask people who confess they have a lump and are afraid to get it checked out or don’t see their gynecologist regularly is WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

The longer you wait, the more time it has to grow, It is so much easier to deal with when it’s still small. And the advances that have been made in cancer treatment are phenomenal. No longer does it mean mastectomy, chemo, and radiation as it did for me. The earlier you catch the tumor, the smaller it will be, and less treatment is necessary. Yes, I survived both cancer and the treatment, but you can too. I will be the first to tell you that back then the treatment was terrible, but I got through it. You can to,

So if you think something is there, please get it checked out.

And if you want to know what treatment was like 18 years ago when I was dealing with it, read my book, A DIFFERENT KIND OF BEAUTIFUL.

It’s available on Amazon in both print and e-format, and it’s a fictional telling of what I went through. Not only does it tell you about dealing with treatment, but living with it.

Here’s the link to check it out. I will be donating a portion of my sales in October to breast cancer charities.

https://www.amazon.com/Different-kind-Beautiful-Bonnie-Gardner-ebook/dp/B00ODBV16Y/

 

Still at least a couple more weeks before we see anything that resembles fall. I guess I’ll have to live with it.

I have been been pretty busy on the book in progress. Finally starting to add pages again after going back and taking some things out. I’ll put some of it back in again, but later on in the book. One thing I can say, it is so much easier to cut and paste on a computer than it is the old-fashioned way. (Yes, I actually remember having to do that in college. That was a real pain in the posterior. Maybe that’s one of the reasons why I didn’t like writing papers.)

Tomorrow I will be visiting the Cupid’s Cafe Book Club for lunch and talking about my books. I’m sure that will be fun, and any time I don’t have to prepare my own lunch is a win win.