726.

Well everyone, it's after midnight so it's officially March 31.

I was doing quite well until I checked my e-mail a few minutes ago.

A dear friend had sent me an e-mail on March 26 saying her mom died last week.

I loved my friend's mom. She was a tiny funny and formidable woman from Peru. She spoke very little English. Her native tongue was Quechua.

We called her Mamita.

She and I communicated with hugs, smiles, and my broken Spanish. I met her in the early 90s. So long ago...

Mamita was almost 110. Her health had been fragile for many years but somehow it seemed she would outlive us all.

I can't stop crying. 

725.

Good evening folks. I hope everyone is doing well.

I am and I'm thankful.

Yesterday's (Thursday's) date was pleasant.

We had lunch at a popular venue in the Big City. After lunch, we walked the mall and window shopped. Next he took me to run a few errands. I was able to get the eggs I forgot the other day as well as some needed storage items. There was also a visit to the hardware store for a filter for my shower head.

All in all, a good day. 😁

Amen.

724.

Oh my goodness y'all!

I just saw Detective Ed Green take one to the chest on Law & Order's Tombstone episode.

It was so shocking (but not totally unexpected) that I let out an expletive and screamed. I literally had to put my hand over my mouth because my windows are open.

Yes, it was a repeat but an episode I'd never seen before.

I was so freaked that I had to do some research because I thought he was gonna die and my heart couldn't take it.

Thankfully (even though the series ended years ago), I learned that the actor (Jesse L. Martin) just needed some time off to do something else.

Why did they scare me like that?  😩

It's bad enough Lenny Briscoe retired recently. Now this. 😞

Oh well... It's the next episode and Fontana already has a new partner.

So on to real life events.  😁

I had a really good day today and I'm thankful. 🎉🎉🎉

The one smelly was not being able to remember my dreams when I woke up but que sera, sera y'all.

After I awoke and collected myself sufficiently enough, I hit the streets.

My first stop was TJMaxx, to return one of the items I bought last week. Next was Dollar Tree, to find seatbelt covers (none) and metal file holders (because there was a video on Facebook... but none were found).

WalMart was third on my list. I wanted Meyer lemons, which were there but they were all covered in a weird white residue and every bag had at least one lemon that was too soft.  😞

No worries. I bought two regular lemons, a pair of black Capri pants, kale, four bottles of my favorite Kevita flavor, two eight-quart bags of potting mix, one window planter, oranges, bananas, one sweet potato.

Grrr! I forgot eggs.  😭  No deviled eggs until I buy a dozen.

Big Lots was also on my list for returns.

My final stop was Aldi.

Yes, I was there last week. Today I bought stuff I didn't get last week: salsa, blue corn chips, tuna (pole-fished skipjack), and probably something else I don't recall at the moment.

Everything fit in one bag today.

I hightailed it home on the rush hour-packed highway (just a few exits) so Baby Bliss could help me unload the car before she headed back to work for her second shift.

And now, there's Dating News.

As in, I have a date Thursday afternoon at 1 p.m. It's the same guy from Sunday. We've talked and texted many times since then and today (Wednesday, so actually it was yesterday in this time zone) he invited me to lunch.

Cool.

So I'm off to bed because I don't want to be late and I'm sleepy.

Sweet dreams everyone.  💋

723.

Hello, hello, hello everyone!

It's an overcast, threatening-to-rain kinda day here is my neighborhood. The sun peeked out a few times but the cloud cover has thickened so it's a struggle.

I'll say there are moments of intense brightness.

Right now it's still cool in here. I have the ceiling fans going in every room and it feels good. Almost too cool but not quite.

The forecast is for 76 degrees and the humidity is on the high end -- 69 percent.

I'm hoping it doesn't start to feel like high humidity because I don't like high humidity. I prefer drier, which is why I miss living in the desert.

Although I still have a whole lot of filing to finish, I'm taking a break to watch Women's List: American Masters.

It's enlightening and empowering. Of course it's also bringing the tears. These women are phenomenal. There's a pilot, a comedian, an actor, a scientist, a fashion designer, a former secretary of state...

Check it out y'all.

So I had a date yesterday. More like a meet-and-greet. We went walking and talking. Good conversation and a good walk.

Nice enough guy. Our political and spiritual philosophies align. Our daily schedules, not so much. Although his schedule is flexible like mine, he's an early bird and I'm definitely a night owl.

Que sera, sera...

In other news, Baby Bliss is coming home between shifts. We're going to run some errands which will hopefully include lunch. It depends on what time her first shift ends.

My vote is for "soon". It's afternoon and I'm hungry.

Later folks!

722.

Good afternoon and Happy Saturday y'all.

Power to the people! ✊🏽✊🏿✊🏻✊

I'm thankful to be in a jolly mood today. No tears yet.

Today is a busy day for me: re-packaging the meats for the freezer, laundry, filing, a bit of cleaning, taking out the trash, tightening my locs...

Yesterday was busy too. I did about a month's worth of shopping in a few days: my local healthy goods store, Aldi, TJMaxx, Ross, Dollar Tree, lunch at Chipotle.

I spent a couple of hundred bucks, excluding lunch. Most of it was spent on groceries; some was spent on one small gift for each of my grand dogs.

The babies: one girl (top) and one boy (bottom).

I no longer like pets in my living space because fur, parasites, fleas, vet visits, cleaning up the poop of another living being... No thank you.

Growing up and into my early 20s, I had cats. I adored them; they loved me too, in their own way. (You cat people out there know what I mean.)

But once Baby Bliss was born, I lost the desire to have breathing balls of fluff laying about the house.

Call me a bad parent if you must but the only pet Baby Bliss ever had was a tetra named Sylvia. Sylvia lasted a few weeks with us. She died because Mr. Bliss kept turning the heat down despite it being a cold winter and me telling him the living room was too cold at night for Sylvia

Ah well...

However I did allow Baby Bliss to pet sit one weekend, to earn a Girl Scout badge. She was also allowed to pet sit for family friends at their homes, under my supervision. We also have family members with pets and she's spent lots of time with those critters as well.

So yes, a well-rounded childhood.

Any who, the real reason for this post has yet to be divulged.

Let me get to it.

This morning's last dream featured the author John Grisham. (Click the hyperlink if you aren't familiar with his work.)

He had come to visit at my friend's house. I don't know why.

(The friend in the dream is a former friend in waking life. She and I were friends from ninth grade until we parted company around age 33. The details of said parting are not to be divulged at the present moment.

In addition, why was it John Grisham and not Stephen King? I've read a Grisham or two in my life. I was even an extra in one of the movies made from one of his books. But King is one of my favorite writers. If we look at it in terms of how much of his writing I've read, King is my favorite author.

Grisham, who I've never met in person, didn't look like his photos at all. I guess he was the dream Grisham so what he looked like probably doesn't matter. And maybe he was just there as a representative of writing itself.

Okay so I'll take it that Grisham was the latter. Maybe Stephen King would have been too much for me, even in a dream. Yeah...)

So Mr. Grisham was at her house as was I. The exact wording of our conversation escapes me but I recall him offering to read some of my work and encouraging me to write more.

When I awoke, I had a renewed sense of purpose and I'm thankful.

I was starting to feel ambivalent about my writing. Not the aspect of it that I do for clients. Rather the writing that I'm supposed to be getting (back) to, with the goal of getting it out to the world via one or two online portals that will allow me to do so.

Other than this one of course.

Not that I don't appreciate the audience I have here. I do, I do!

I appreciate how each and every one of you takes time from your schedule to drop in here and have a read. Even if you don't comment, keep coming back. Hopefully there's something here that you find useful or entertaining.

What ever the reason, don't stop.

And when I get settled at one or two of those other places, I hope you will all join me.

Stay tuned for the invite.

Well folks, I hate to leave y'all but I'm hungry.

Gotta eat!

Toodles.

p.s. 

721.

Hello folks.

It's me.

I was wondering if any of you were wondering where I am and how I'm doing.

Yes?

Me too.

Some of you may already know that March is an emotionally difficult time for me.

It's the month Mr. Bliss went into hospital, then hospice; on the last day of the month, he took his final breath and traveled to the other side with my uncle.

Why do I say "with my uncle", you ask?

It's because one day when he was in hospital, we were having a conversation and he began talking about a man he'd been seeing.

When I questioned him (who, when, where), he said my uncle's name. My uncle, one of my father's many brothers, has been dead for many many years and Mr. Bliss had never met him. Perhaps he had heard me talk about my uncle but I can't be sure.

I don't recall talking about my uncle much at all. In fact, he might have died before I met Mr. Bliss.

Regardless, I was shocked when my husband called my uncle's name. I think that's when I really believed Mr. Bliss was dying.

He told me some things about my uncle that I later called to ask my dad about. Eerie when it was all true.

So now I believe my uncle was the person (or maybe one of the people) who came to help Mr. Bliss with his transition.

My dad and I have talked about this occasionally over the past several years.

I don't like to be as sad and weepy as I have been over the past couple of weeks. But it's like the events leading up to Mr. Bliss's death have embedded themselves in my psyche and every March 1, they begin to slowly spill forth.

This year is year five.

In previous years I've sometimes felt like I've actually relived the events, day by day. This year I'm just sad and weepy. Everything remotely sad that comes into my awareness makes me cry.

There are a lot of things I don't want to see on telly, some songs I don't want to listen to on the radio, some things I don't want to see on social media...

But I remain thankful for my resilience. I cry then move on to the next thing. When I'm overwhelmed with sadness, I cry again. And again, I move to the next thing after.

Although I love and miss him as much as I ever have, I don't feel as bad as I has been in previous years.

For that, I'm thankful as well.

Today is March 25. Six more days to go.

I'll make it.

Amen.