B is for Blogging

Welcome to day two of the A to Z Blogging Challenge! 

I have been blogging for almost 4 years! I started my blog to chronicle the beginning of my retirement since so many people were asking me what I was going to do with my time! But I continue blogging because I LOVE it! I love the writing and the interaction with my readers and other bloggers!

Some have checked out my blog thinking I would share some words of wisdom about how to prepare for retirement but in fact, I simply share what is going on in my life while being retired! We didn't actually put any thought into my retirement. Because of my health, the decision to retire was made about six months before I officially retired! Thankfully hubby is still working so maybe we can plan his retirement:)

My hubby does not get my blogging at all! He can't believe that I have written over 600 blog posts in almost 4 years--What do I write about in all those posts? The part he really can't understand is that my blog has had almost 40,000 page views during that time--why would people want to read it??? I am not sure how to get him to understand what I do or how important it is in my life. Any ideas? I could suggest he read my blog but I think he would be bored to tears because it's not current events or "news"!

Writing has been a huge part of my life since I was very young! I started journaling in grade school; wrote poetry for many years; have toyed with writing a book at different times of my life. Blogging keeps me writing!

I am thankful for each and every one of you who visit often and especially to those of you who comment:) I need to get better about commenting on blogs I read as I know how fun it is to see that someone has actually taken the time and effort to leave a comment. 

I hope you are enjoying the A to Z Challenge! Can you guess what I will be writing about for the letter C???

Kat

Five Things Friday

Today I am a little bit scattered and maybe a bit discombobulated! Not sure why, just one of those days! I call these my ADD days! Just bouncing from one thing to the next but not finishing anything! Let's see if I can finish this post!

We have had thunderstorms the last couple of days so turned our internet off Wednesday night and yesterday to avoid a hit. A couple months ago we got a hit and it took out one of our phones and the internet. Fortunately, hubby was able to plug the internet into another port on the board and we were back up. We didn't turn it on until last night when I wanted to download the next book in Louis L'Amour's Sackett series, Treasure Mountain. Only three books left to go in this series of 17 books. 

When I saw that Carla at My 1/2 Dozen Daily was doing Five Things Friday, I thought I would play along! Sooo...

1. Cardmaking...This week I made and mailed off one Thank You card to hubby's client plus made and delivered 9 cards to my Stampin' Up! customers. I have my "stepped-up" card completed but still need to make 3 more for my wonderful downline! Hope to get those mailed off on Monday. I need to make 4 downline cards and 8 customer thank you cards for last month when I wasn't feeling up to making cards at all. Sunday and Monday I will be getting ready for my Happy Stampers Club that's meeting on Wednesday--a full week early because I be visiting my DD and DGD the following week!

2. Garden...We are enjoying the very last of our peaches:( But the grapes are on and producing great! I can't seem to get enough of them!!! We also have LOTS of raspberries that I need to quit eating and put in the freezer:) The tomatoes are producing slowly...lots of green ones! Cucumbers, oh so yummy! We don't have as much in the garden this year but what we have is delicious!!!

3. Knitting...I am working on my sock but am at a place where I need to tear out a bit. I got messed up on the gusset so will tear back to the end of the heel flap and see if I can figure out where I went wrong. However, if I can't figure it out I have a wonderful friend (Barb) who can help me out of my jam:) I am hoping I will have two sock finished here soon!

4. Reading...Well, a couple weeks ago I went to the Library and saw an audio book by Nora Roberts called The Perfect Home. But discovered this was book 3 of The Inn Boonsboro Trilogy. Well, the library didn't have book 1 on audio but had it in book form which I prefer anyway. So I got book 1 and 2, read them and picked up book 3 this week and finished it up this morning. I hadn't read Nora Roberts before and probably won't again but this was an interesting read--obviously as I read 3 books in less than 3 weeks! Nora Roberts is one of my daughter's favorite authors. Now, I can settle down and finish The Iodine Crisis by Lynne Farrow to be followed by The Magnesium Miracle by Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D. As I said above, we are still working through Louis L'Amour's Sackett series for our read aloud most evenings.

5. Cooking...When it's hot I don't cook much; we mainly eat raw or quick and easy. However, last night I was in the mood for Garbanzo Oat Burgers and wasn't disappointed! Yummy! Today I am going to have some with baked sweet potatoes and a salad! I need to make a big batch of Granola so may mix up a batch today to bake tonight. It turns out perfect when I let it bake at a low temperature overnight--no need for stirring!

6. Blogging...I know it's supposed to five things but I just wanted to add one more! Some people might think that when a blogger doesn't blog it's because they don't have anything to share and that might be the case with some. However, for me that will NEVER be the case as I have sooo many things I want to share! Some of my readers have commented to me privately or asked me if something was wrong as over the last couple of months, even when I did blog, it wasn't with the same enthusiasm as I normally have. Depression set in for me just before my birthday in July (no, it wasn't age related) and didn't leave until just recently. I felt guilty because I have sooo much to be thankful for and no reason to be depressed but that didn't help either. Well, the crisis has passed. Thank you to all who realized something was wrong and were praying for me. Sometimes it's hard to ask for help in the midst of the storm.

Well, I think I have sufficiently told you more than you care to know so I will be off to get this messy house cleaned and some cooking done!

Have a great weekend and I will be back Sunday night for the Sunday Night Chit-Chat! 

Kat

A Little Overwhelmed

Some of my dear friends have been concerned because I haven't blogged lately. I am so sorry! I have been a bit overwhelmed since the beginning of the month. Could it be that I was anticipating turning 59?!!! Just kidding! However, I did just turn 59 years old on Monday! 

This month so far has been busy with more activity than I am used to. I function better with less busyness!  

So, for those who are concerned, bless you:) I am fine, just need to have a little down-time to re-group! 

I had to postpone my Happy Stampers Club; just wasn't up to it this week. By next week I will be ready to step back into my life again.

I have been working on a post about what it's like for me to live with Fibromyalgia. Hopefully it will help you understand your family and friends who have it and you will better understand my life. I will try to have it ready next week.

Again, thank you for your concern. I love blogging and I love those I have met through the blogosphere! You are the best!!!

Kat

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses

So, where have I been and what have I been doing? I obviously haven't been blogging!

Well, it all started last Tuesday when we left for a three-day holiday at the coast. We stayed in a very nice Worldmark timeshare courtesy of family. It was wonderful to spend three days with them in this beautiful location. The only drawback (in my mind anyway) was to either have to pay to have internet in the room or to use the Business Center. Hubby decided to use the Business Center every morning to respond to his business emails but I thought it cumbersome to try to blog from one of their computers. So, unplugged I was for three days. I don't have email on my phone so just had to trust that if it was important, I would get a call. I have some pictures to share but can't seem to get them from iPhoto to blog post...hmmm!

My SIL came down with a nasty bug on Thursday:( By the time we got home Friday evening, Hubby had it! Saturday he had a temperature of 102.4 (F) with a bad cough! Today is the third day for me with headache, scratchy throat, cough and low-grade fever. Needless to say I haven't felt like trying to put words together.

So, that's what I have been up to in my absence. 

I hope you are having a good day where you are! Me, I will most likely take a few naps today trying to get over this bug.

Kat