Be Present, Not Perfect by Laura Hunsaker

 This past year and a half has been hard in so many ways, and this year, with Christmas just having past, feels like it's driving in the point of how much I missed.

I feel like I've procrastinated so many things I normally wouldn't, and I've missed out on things I typically wouldn't. I was feeling pretty down this year. I mean, I didn't even send out Christmas cards! First time in almost 20 years that I didn't send out Christmas cards!

I was setting up my planner for the week, getting ready for the New Year, when I came across as sticker that said, "Be Present, Not Perfect." That one really hit home for me. I don't need it to be perfect, I need to be present in my life, in my family's lives. But it doesn't have to be perfect. I think this is my new motto.

I know it's not quite New Year's Day yet, but I think that my New Year's Resolution is to be present, not perfect.

How about you? Are you a New Year's resolution type person? Do you set them and forget them? 

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The small town was supposed to be safe...

Kate Landry is tired of running. Thinking she's safe, she settles in the small logging town of Chester, California to manage a cafe. She may be keeping a low profile, but she's hoping to return to a normal life.
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With danger lurking around every corner, her safe haven isn't as safe as she'd thought. Kate will finally have to trust someone enough to tell him her secrets. Secrets that may just get them killed...

Making It Easy on Myself

Hi everyone.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Due to travel and scheduling issues, we won't be opening gifts and having family time until tonight, but better late than never, right?

And now we are approaching another new year. Wow, 2019. Seems like the time is flying by so fast everything is a blur. Whatever happened to 2018? I'm not sure where it went. All I know is that it could have been more productive for me.

Which leads me to the age-old topic of resolutions. You know, those promises we make to ourselves on January 1st to lose weight, be kinder, get more done, meditate, and anything else to keep us happy. All those promises are great and should have meaning for us. The only problem is we rarely fulfill them. I always say I'm going to lose weight. Never happens. I say I'm going to be kinder and nicer to people until my patience runs thin with silliness. Oops, not so nice. I also make a pact with myself to write more and fritter away my time less. That one seems to sneak out the door real fast. I am determined to go to the gym and get in better shape, yet will look for any excuse not to do so.

And then there's social media. Now this is a real time suck. Last year I kind of promised to spend less time on Facebook, Twitter, and Gab. Up until a few weeks ago, this resolution had tanked, too. Since learning of the shenanigans going on with Facebook and Twitter, I've cut back my participation a lot. But that's another blog for another time. Maybe next month. At any rate, these arbitrary promises are generally doomed from the start. Do we really need to promise ourselves to nice? Or productive? Or healthy? I mean, nobody wants to be nasty, lazy, or sick, do we? Unfortunately, I feel guilty by not making them.

I may have written on this subject before, but this time I've come up with some resolutions I think I can keep. I'll be honest. I found them as a posting on Facebook. I laughed until I realized, there was a grain of truth in them. They certainly are realistic. And I love making things easy for myself.

So here goes:

1. EAT TOO MUCH. This one is a cincherino! I can do this every day of the week with no regrets until I go to the doctor and he gives me "the look."

2. DRINK TOO MUCH. My comment on this is how much is too much? Kind of a shady, gray area, so keeping it won't be a hardship.

3. DON'T GO TO THE GYM. I'd love to keep this one, but know even the twice-a-week workout is good for me so I force myself into becoming an aficionado of torture. That thigh machine is a killer.

4. BUY MORE SHOES. No problemo. Just steer me toward the nearest DSW and I'm good.

5. DON'T TRY TO SLEEP ALL NIGHT. I've been doing this for years, so I might as well continue.

6. MISPLACE THINGS. Now, where the hell did I put that grocery list? Moving on...

7. WEAR PJs OFTEN. Do beach cover-ups come under this category? If so, I'm golden in the summer.

8. DON'T LOSE WEIGHT. This is in direct correlation to #1. So, if I follow the first rule, I'll be in good shape--or bad shape depending on how I look at it.

That's it. Resolutions I can live with and actually enjoy.

Whether 2018 was terrific or horrendous, I hope this has made you smile. Here's wishing you all a wonderful new year. See you next month.

Suzanne

Starting the New Year Right by Suzanne Rossi

Hi everyone.

It is now officially 2017. Can't say that it feels any different from 2016, at least, not yet. I'm looking at the same gray, gloomy skies, chilly temperatures, and frequent rain as I did in December. But then, that's winter in Memphis, Tennessee.

I'm not a big fan of making New Year's resolutions. In fact, I gave it up years ago. I found that by the time the end of the year rolled around, I hadn't kept many--okay, make that any. Zip. Zero. Nada. I finally came to the conclusion that if I didn't make resolutions, I would achieve my goal by December 31st. Made sense to me.

However, that doesn't mean I don't have things I want to get done in 2017.

First off, I need to get back to actually writing--not critiquing, not editing, not revising--but real writing with new stories, new plots, and new characters. The past six months has seen my routine in upheaval. We sold the house in Fort Lauderdale in July, moved to Germantown in August, and have spent the better portion of the fall and winter unpacking and getting used to the climate again. Somehow, writing fell by the wayside. Not only do I have problems finding a decent storyline, but my mind flits from one thing to another like a nervous butterfly.

And then, there are the renovations I want to do to the kitchen along with a room addition onto the back of the house. But that will be another blog on down the road.

I was also determined that my husband and I who are both pushing seventy (he's there, I will be in November) need to get in shape. Writing is not conducive to exercise, and since he retired a couple of years ago, the hubster has also taken to a sedentary lifestyle. That's one reason why I pushed for a house with a pool. At least in the summer we'd get some activity going. Also, our bedroom is upstairs. We haven't climbed stairs in over twenty years. I huffed and puffed like the big, bad wolf. So when a brochure for the Germantown Athletic Club came in the mail, we hustled over and took a tour.

The Club is up to date on the latest of everything. All those machines were intimidating, but the shallow pool, the forty foot regular pool, and the hot tub looked inviting. They also have personal trainers for the truly serious (not us) and numerous group activities like Zumba, water aerobics, and all types of yoga. I may check out some of those later, but for now, we've agreed to take it slowly. We'll go two days a week at first. That should give us time to recover from what I'm sure will be crippling muscle aches before tackling those machines again. When we no longer hurt, we'll increase to three days.

We signed up yesterday, and decided our first experience will be Friday. I'm looking forward to it. We even went out and bought some proper workout clothes. After all, image is everything, right? And speaking of images, I can see me tripping over my own two feet on the treadmill, falling face down, and flying feet first into the aisle where I will cause some little old lady walking by to tumble head over heels and break her hip. Since modern technology is everywhere these days, I'm certain someone will catch all this on their cell phone. So, look for me to become famous on the Internet.

I hope you all are having a good start to the new year. Take care, and since February is a short month, I'll be back in March.

Suzanne Rossi