Vacation, Anyone?

26 Feb 2023 2 Comments

by shauna in 500 Word Challenge, marriage, Uncategorized, Vacation Tags: , , , ,

My husband and I enjoy traveling and seeing new places. We have been coast to coast over the years, literally. But due to the need to be close to home for possible emergency issues with our aging mothers, and thanks to Covid concerns, one of our bucket list trips had been postponed more than once. Finally we decided 2021 was the year. We requested our time off from work, and I made actual reservations for where we would stay for a few days and explore. I purchased trip cancellation insurance just in case, knowing that my mother in law’s health could turn on a dime. The preceding weeks before the trip were not without stress. But, we managed to escape our daily grind and hit the road.

Those 2 weeks were some of the best of our lives. Hubby and I received some much needed recuperation time, and we were able to reconnect as a couple, just us, no kids or other family on the trip with us. And it made us think—do we want to spend the rest of our healthy middle years working? How do we adjust our time table for retirement? Is this a selfish goal? We had discussed in our early years what we thought our goals should be, knowing that my parents’ health did not allow them to travel in retirement. We took many fun road trips with our daughters in tow while they were growing up , knowing that those years are irretrievable once they are gone.

Riverside Memories

So now both our daughters are married, and my mother in law and several other family members have passed away since 2021. Hubby and I decided to retire the end of last year, and now are debating “where to next?” But I have to laugh. In the next few months we have a road trip planned to take youngest 2 kids to meet family in Galveston for a cruise, and hubby and I are going to do things in the area while they are on the ship. Following that trip our oldest daughter and son in law are going to concerts out of state over a weekend, and instead of having family take turns keeping little infant daughter for them, we are going on the trip too and will babysit while they attend the concerts. I suppose lots of folks think we are odd, but that’s not a new accusation. We do us. And after these trips and some other things are done, we have plans for some sightseeing in areas we haven’t been…because I want more mountain pictures!

Struggling

17 Feb 2014 Leave a comment

by shauna in 500 Word Challenge, Free writing Tags: , ,

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/02/why-writers-are-the-worst-procrastinators/283773/

This article was shared online yesterday by a friend of mine who happens to be a newspaper editor. It really brought home a couple of things to me: one, I have been hanging on to a pipe dream for several years, and two, just as Stephen King has stated, what separates best sellers and natural talent is hard work. (Or something like that.) A major problem I noticed with the article is that she starts with procrastination, but ends with why young adults today come out of college feeling entitled. I am not entirely sure if she is addressing herself (after reading some of the other readers’ comments, I have to wonder), or if she switched gears and didn’t realize it in her effort to make word count for her deadline. At any rate, it still got me to thinking. Yes, I am a procrastinator. But I’ve always thought I procrastinated in writing because by the time I get through dealing with my paying job and household duties as wife and mom, I’m TIRED. What happens when we are tired? Well, for me, my brain and thought pattern are the first things to go. All I want by 10 p.m. is sleep! I am not one of those folks who can function on 4 to 5 hours of sleep, and that pretty much is what will be required if I stick to writing as a true job and not just a pastime. I’m not sure I have the stamina for that. Talent has very little to do with anything anymore it seems. It’s required to get you started, I suppose, but I really have become so accustomed to thinking concisely, to the point, and frequently in incomplete sentences and abbreviations, that writing a full 500 words has become quite a challenge. This post, for instance–I feel as if I have reached the babbling point and how in the world am I going to fill up the rest of the page to make the 500 word challenge (which I have failed miserably at) and still have anything worthwhile to say?

Anyway, I hope if anyone else actually reads this post and finds the link to the article that they will find some enjoyment in it.

New Challenges

07 Jan 2014 Leave a comment

by shauna in Uncategorized Tags: , ,

So, I’ve finished the Apprentice Level in Jerry Jenkins’ Christian Writer’s Guild and followed umpteen blogs about writing. My blog posting has been dismal at best. But the only way to get in the habit of writing is to, well, write, doggone it! So, I am joining the “My 500 words: A Writing Challenge” via Jeff Goins’ blog/writing site. Hoping the free writing and prompts will help jumps tart my creativity. But I don’t think I will do it all on my smartphone – my thumbs will be worn to nubbins! (In between throwing the ball for my poor neglected pooch who hates being alone all day!)