In spite of having 3 or 4 movie streaming platforms in addition to cable t.v., my husband and I (who are movie buffs), find it hard to find good movies to watch.

I like a few series that he’s not into (Succession, for instance), but we occasionally find a 90-minute Netflix movie we like.

The last move we went to was “Banshees of Inishirin,” which we both hated. I got the connection between lonely and bitter people living on an island off the coast of Ireland, and the civil war going on in Ireland. But, to me the “comedy” was mean and pointless.

And, a donkey dies (I hope you didn’t see it yet–or hope you never see it).

I read a writing forum where the subject of the day was: “Can I kill a dog in the first few pages of my novel.”

The consensus was, “not unless you’re writing sci-fi or horror.”

Mostly, the writing forum consists of mystery writers, many of whom are cozy mystery writers, who will tolerate murder and mayhem as long as it’s not a child or animal. I agree–I expect there to be a murder or other crime against presumably–a person and not an animal or child.

I also expect it to be resolved in the in. Justice, and all that.

Anyway, the only thing on at the movies right now is another John Wick move (12 or 14?) I’m done with too much violence in a movie, and if any movies qualify, it’s John Wick movies.

Keanu, can you do something else please?

Love this group and the website. WWW.WomenWritingtheWest.org

I have at least 10 books downloaded on Kindle. I usually take this on vaca with me, but our vaca has been thwarted by Covid (hubby) once again. Luckily he tested before we packed for our trip, but just barely.

I have several books in the queue ready to read. I like physical books because it reminds me that they are there to read (as in, turn off the t.v. and read).

Here’s my list:

Death in the off Season (Francine Matthews) mystery

Will Trent mystery (because I’m also watching the series)

Valley Fever (Katherine Taylor) (forgot why I bought this)

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner (for book club)

Lessons in Chemistry (to see if I could recommend to book club)

Secret Life of Bees (because I’ve never read it)

The Maid (because it’s on the bestseller list)

These books should last me for 6 months

Lately, George Santos is in the news. He’s the guy that lied–well, about almost everything and still became a member of the House of Representatives.

Talking with people, I’m hearing, “Everybody lies or embellishes their resumes.”

Do they? I grew up Catholic (now lapsed), but I was taught that lying was one of the more serious sins. That part of my childhood has stuck with me. Not to say I’ve never lied. Do white lies count? I remember being taught that “lies of omission” are a sin. I now believe some things shouldn’t be said either to protect the innocent or the guilty.

When I got my first “career” job out of college (hate to admit that I didn’t graduate college until almost 29 years old), I “lied” on my resume that I had a degree. I got the job. I DID get the degree about 1 month later (I had 1 more class to finish). I stayed awake at night fearing that I would be found out.

Nobody fact checked me obviously. I went on to have a long career (ending with delightfully, a pension), and also got a Master’s Degree while employed at the same organization.

Not that everyone should have truth beaten into them from a very young age (it causes a degree of OCD), but truth and trustworthiness should count for something.

With fact-checking so easy these days, who would lie and make up stories?

Lots of people, I guess.

Honestly!

Voting takes time. You have to research a little to vote. Colorado has made it easier than ever to vote. Unlike some states, we have mail-in ballots, which have proven to be quite legit.

I was recently on a neighborhood blog site (you might know the one). People were complaining about the cost of eggs, especially in Colorado Compared to other states.

Seems like in 2020, we Coloradans passed a bill stating that by 2023 we would have 100% cage-free eggs.

Well, it’s now 2023, and coincidentally with outbreaks of bird flu, it’s expensive to make an omelette or cake these days.

We all want the chickens to be healthy and happy, don’t we? I think I voted yes on that very bill (being an animal rights enthusiast–I fall short of being an activist), but maybe there were cost-effective ways of giving chickens a free range life. Maybe if we wanted happy chickens, we should have thrown in some government funding.

This got me thinking; how many voters did or did not vote for this bill? I’m guessing many people complaining about the price of eggs, didn’t vote, didn’t read anything about the bill, or didn’t care until the price of eggs hit them in their pocketbooks.

Colorado makes it easy to be informed as voters. We get numerous booklets describing the bills and who is running for what office. They give us pros and cons of each.

None of us knows the unintended consequences of how a certain bill will play out, but we can at least inform ourselves–and vote.

I think a lot about wasting time, mostly because I think I waste a lot of my own time. My time-wasters are television (especially so-called reality shows, and blood-pressure destroying news shows). I’ve successfully cut down on both, but I realize I’ve still got an addictive personality for both types of shows and Internet feeds. I find if I just don’t start watching a certain show (one comes to mind: Real Housewives of anywhere new), the I don’t get hooked and it doesn’t bother me not to watch.

It’s a procrastination technique (or flaw) for me.

I remember I did it during the 9/11 attacks. I glued myself to the television 18 hours a day, watching the same video over and over again until those same images of planes crashing into and destroying two landmark buildings and killing thousands, are burned into my head. I wasted probably two months on those. Well, not wasted–I think I needed to understand what was happening and why. But, in the end, did I?

The most recent example is the Pandemic (COVID 2020 and 2021). I had two years in which I could have written a book or two and gotten them published, learned a foreign language, volunteered hours and hours of time, learned to bake break or whatever ….

I remember reading once that somebody was saying they couldn’t go back to school for that long-desired degree, because they’d be fifty by the time they were done. But they’d be fifty anyway. Just fifty with that long-desired degree.

The thing is, looking back, we didn’t know we had two years. We thought it would be over in weeks. None of us knew really. Except maybe Dr. Fauci. He warned us, didn’t he?

So, should I retrain myself to think that “this time of having extra time could go on forever?”

I know what I need to do: treat time as if it’s my most precious commodity. Because it is.

Now, excuse me, but I need to watch Little People, Big World.

Dialysis is one of those things that all of us hope we never have to endure. Recently, a friend told me that she almost had to go on dialysis due to kidney failure after a rough bout with COVID.

Kidney failure can happen for any number of reasons, but almost always because the body needs to reserve its energy to heal other parts of the body; the heart, the lungs, the nervous system.

I wrote the attached article years ago after helping my aunt through dialysis (mostly by giving her rides & emotional support). I did this for almost ten years until she passed away.

During that time, I learned a lot about the hows and whys of dialysis. I learned about the people (they’re just like me and you), and about how dialysis is “big business.” I won’t touch on the “big business” issue–well maybe just a little: some people are forced onto dialysis when they are only in border-line kidney failure. This is more likely to happen if they have good insurance (if you know what I mean). Once they’re on though, they most likely won’t come off.

Here’s my tribute to my aunts.

I grew up in a very modest ranching family in Western Colorado. I mean, less than 20 head of cattle, a couple of sheep, that kind of ranching, just like a lot of the ranches in Colorado and most western states.

This Cinderella story isn’t about me, but about my daughter, who came along with me for my long strange ride.

Long story somewhat short, she worked very hard to get through the University of Colorado, then start a career in journalism. She started working for a company that published quilting and crafting magazines. She did that for many years, working her way up the corporate ladders that deal with journalism and advertising.

Naturally, that led her to — becoming the first woman general manager of a the first ever PBR bull-riding team series. What?

I don’t entirely understand it myself–had to google it, but I know that through connections and networking, she wanted the opportunity and “took it by the horns,” so to speak.

The story took a slight dark turn when her team (one of 8), came in consistently last during the PBR team series.

Then, they went to Vegas. They won the championship.

The Nashville Stampede became the first ever champions of the PBR Team Series in Las Vegas. They won a giant belt buckle, individual buckles, hopes and dreams fulfilled, oh, and some money.

They called it a true Cinderella story.

https://pbr.com/news/2022/11/nashville-stampede-crowned-the-inaugural-pbr-team-series-champion

That’s my daughter, Tina Battock (to the left under the belt buckle)

Today is Election day (Midterms 2022), and it’s crazy out there.

I have been a news “addict” since i was a teenager, caused by two things: I was called a dumb blonde because of my quietness and my also being blonde; I loved reading (being an introvert).

So, I read everything I could in the newspaper from the front page to the middle pages to the financial pages, and saved the comics for last.

Recently I realized that watching news makes my heart beat faster, gives me anxiety and sometimes a migraine. I’ve had to curtail my reading of news online (which news is real and which is garbage?)

I worked hard to convince myself that I was smart, and I now believe it. I believe that I can discern fact from fiction in most cases. I can tell if I’m being gaslighted (is it “lit” or “lighted?”) and I can do my own research and decide what’s true and what’s not. I can certainly tell that most of the conspiracy theories are garbage at best and at worst hurt people and sometimes get them killed.

So, I’m ordinarily a positive person (some have called me a Pollyanna–including my own mother and my aunt).

This is about as negative as I get.

But, I voted. That’s all I can do.

Get out and vote. Do your research first. Sign your ballot.

Be safe out there

The world has changed so dramatically since I was young, that I hardly recognize it. Better in many ways, worse in others, and much scarier.

One thing I never imagined was having the money or motivation to go on a cruise. Now, thanks to improved travel (everyone travels now) and better and more accessibility to vacations, my husband and I have been on several.

The fact that I and my family are fortunate and lucky (and also hard-working), isn’t wasted on me. I’m grateful for every day, for every event, crisis and happy and otherwise, that has brought me (us) to this point.

It is with humility and gratitude that I post these cruise pictures, remembering each day to give to others, to pass on wisdom if I should ever have any, and to hug my loved ones.