* WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES - PART ONE *

I love the song, "What a Difference a Day Makes." The lyrics are powerful and when sung by Dinah Washington, pure gold. It popped into my mind the other day when I was thinking about my life last year at this time and how different it is now.

 

 

 

 

The Ronald and I moved last spring which was a huge change and yet thinking back on it, went rather smoothly. I didn't write much of anything for quite a while except blog posts. (Do they count as "writing?!") My mind was a jumbled mess, but hey....that's nothin' new for me, is it?

 

As we unpacked and I began to get settled in, I mentally searched for answers concerning my memoir. At the time, I still wasn't finished with it! The chapters were complete, but not in any kind of order. I hadn't written a forward or acknowledgments, either. And I was still trying to decide how to publish it.

 

Another thing that was happening was I'd made up my mind to lose weight. I don't think I blogged about it because usually when I make "the big announcement" about being on a diet, I immediately lose all will power. The day we moved, I made up my mind then and there, to begin the following day. And I did. And I stuck to it. And over the summer I lost 25 lbs. (Don't start applauding, yet, though!) I walked a lot, did a few simple floor exercises, and practically went Cold Turkey as far as eating was concerned. I ate tiny servings of food, no matter what it was. I didn't give up anything, but I also lived on less than 1000 calories a day. I did not suffer. I loved it and it felt so good to fit into smaller sizes of clothing. (It was easy! It reminded me of when I quit smoking, Cold Turkey, about 30 years ago. It was just the Right Time for each accomplishment, I guess, since I began and quit smoking and dieting zillions of times.)

 

I made my publication decisions. I completed my memoir. And I self-published it with Createspace in November. All in all, it was quite a year.

 

Stay tuned for the next installment of "What a difference a year makes." Hope to see you there! (I changed the color on five important words above!.....)

 

~~~

 

P.S. Sometimes when I leave to go on errands, I turn the TV to a music channel for Vern to listen to while I'm gone! Yes, I really do! He likes Golden Oldies and Classic Country the best, so yesterday it was Classic Country. You won't believe what song was playing when I walked in the door..... Charlie Rich's "Rollin' With the Flow." True! (see blog post from June 27th.) Ahhh, another one of my Twilight Zoney, Cosmic moments.

 

 

"The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance." ~Alan W. Watts 





* NOSTALGIC SUNDAY *

It's Time Again for Another Nostalgic Sunday

My mind has been racing around in figure-eights and zig-zags, and miles way up high, and then swirling, floating down below with thoughts as many and as unique as the miracle of snowflakes. 

And because of all that, it's been almost impossible to choose which memories I want to include in today's Nostalgic Sunday post. So, I've decided to post random snippets of my memoir.

.....Some of my best memories are the times Dad and I watched TV together. It was more than just sitting, side by side, on our scratchy couch.(What was that material?)

I loved watching him as he watched TV. It was a show all by itself, an interactive one, and I was mesmerized every time...........

Dad would be so busy trying to watch TV while peering over his newspaper and holding his cigarette that he’d be lost to the world. It was as if he were daydreaming. Trying to get his attention during those times was next to impossible. I would watch the long ash of his cigarette hanging on for dear life, slowly bending down farther and farther, until it was the size of a gray wooly worm. Not being able to stand it a second longer, I’d finally yell, “Dad! Your ashes are falling!” I’d usually grab the ashtray and catch them just in the nick of time. He’d nonchalantly glance my way, as if he’d forgotten I was even there. He’d let out a chuckle and thank me for being so watchful. Afterwards, he’d go back to doing it all over again.

~~~

.......“Do you know what this note says?” she asked.

I already knew it wasn’t something good from her face and her tone. “No, ma’am.”

“Miss Mary Ann says you cheated during the times table test today! Rebecca Anne, is that right? Did you cheat?”

 Oh my gosh. I know I’m in big trouble when I’m called Rebecca!

“Uh…well, I uh—”

“I can’t believe this! You know better than to do something like this. You know it’s wrong to cheat. And it’s a sin!”

There it was—the dreaded guilt of sin being laid on me. I’d never seen my mother so upset, about anyone or anything, and here she was angry with me. I guess I was going to go to Hell. Attending a Catholic school Monday through Friday and Mass every Sunday, I knew all about Heaven and Hell and sins. But what I did should only be a venial sin, shouldn’t it? Not the horrible, mortal kind.I started to explain about the paper hanging out of someone’s desk, and how I thought I could do something like that.......

~~~

I hope y'all enjoyed reading those little tidbits of my young life! What else might have happened when I watched TV? What punishment did I receive for my gosh, I'm gullible sin?

*Welcome to my newest follower, Living a Dream. I hope you'll stop by often and always enjoy what you read and see! Thank you so much! *

"Back on its golden hinges, the gate of memory swings. And my heart goes into the garden and walks with the olden things." --  Ella Wheeler Wilcox

* It Could Only Happen To Me *

One of the chapters in my memoir is titled, "I Was Born with Klutz Genes," where I relate stories of my various trips and falls, stumbles and sprawls, missteps and spills.

This morning a goofy, klutzy thing happened to me. The Ronald drove me to downtown St. Louis so I could drop off copies of my memoir along with press releases, at a couple of places. There was a curb right at the radio station's front door, so it was easy to grab my purse and brief case and walk right in.

Not so easy at the next stop. Of course not. There wasn't anywhere to park, so about a block away from the building, The Ronald just kind of pulled over and stopped. The plan again, was for me to jump out of the car, so he could drive off, but as we know, plans don't always go the way they are ....well....planned!

As I stepped out of the car, my right hand held onto my briefcase, and my lightweight suit jacket was thrown over the crook of my left arm. AND, as I reached down to get my purse from the floorboard, my foot had already gotten tangled up with the purse handle, and I almost fell. The wind was blowing like crazy and as I stumbled, somehow I dropped my jacket onto the street, and the wind blew it right under The Ronald's car! In split seconds, I thought....Well, there goes that jacket. Good thing it was a "cheapie." I kept looking on the street in front of the car, because surely it should've been blown that far, but no....nothing. I peaked under the car and didn't see anything there, either. Finally I told The Ronald to back up slightly, and there it lay....right in a little "oil puddle." I grabbed it, threw it back over my arm, snatched my purse from the floor, and practically skidded across the sidewalk, as the wind blew me along.

To be continued......tomorrow!



* Welcome to my newest follower Brenda, @ It's A Beautiful Life. I hope you'll stop by often and always enjoy what you read and see! Thank you so much! *

* BLOG BREAK! *

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Be back sometime soon!


Addendum Monday, September 9th

Y'all are so thoughtful! I'm fine....just taking a break from blogging, to get some much-needed things accomplished!

* NOSTALGIC SUNDAY *

It's Time for Another Nostalgic Sunday

This morning I've been thinking of other famous "aunts" in addition to Aunt Bee, in the world of TV and literature. Here's a few I've come up with:

Aunt Polly -- Tom Sawyer

Aunt Pittypat -- Gone With the  Wind

Aunt Clara -- Bewitched

Auntie Mame -- Mame

Auntie Em -- The Wizard of Oz

How about you? What famous aunts have I forgotten? To fit in my nostalgic category, they can't be current. 

 *Welcome to my newest follower, Janet at Creative Writing in the Blackberry Patch. I hope you'll stop by often and always enjoy what you read and see! * 

P.S. Don't forget to leave a comment for my give-away before Midnight CDT, tonight! You must leave it at this blog post: http://beckypovich.blogspot.com/2013/07/give-away-books more.html
Good luck to all!

"But in the east the sky was pale and through the gray woods came lanterns with wagons and horses, bringing Grandpa and Grandma and aunts and uncles and cousins." -- Laura Ingalls Wilder

* STORYTELLERS *

Are you one of the fortunate TV viewers who has VH1 included in your cable or satellite package? Have you ever watched the program "Storytellers"? 

A few days ago, I noticed Jason Mraz would be the featured artist on a particular day and time, so I set my DVR to record the show. This morning I poured myself a cup of coffee and sat down to watch, and more importantly to listen to it.  (*I included the link to Jason's show. Just mute the stupid commercial that comes on first!)

I've loved Jason Mraz's music ever since he began, but even more so after watching this show. Since it is called "Storytellers," he also shared the hows and whys he wrote certain songs and he talked about keeping a journal ever since he was a teenager. 

He explained that his hit song,"Remedy (I Won't Worry)," was written for a friend who had cancer and it became an anthem for those who fight cancer and also of course the cancer survivors. 

He passionately shared the significance of writing "I Won't Give Up" and "Love For a Child," expressing how the song writes itself many times. The words just come to him and the strumming of his guitar reverberates and it all just happens. 

That's how my writing happens....sometimes. The words just flow and when that happens, it's magical. But most of the time it's very hard work. 

I am always amazed by the beautiful words and music that singer/songwriters write! They not only tell a tale with memorable words, but also compose the music that fits so perfectly. And because of that, they have so much more talent in their pinky-fingers than I do in my entire body.

And that's okay! Thank goodness for them, and for all the people who have discovered their passion, because they continue to fill our lives with beauty, whether it's with words, music, art, photography, etc.  





"...And it takes no time to fall in love
But it takes you years to know what love is." -- Jason Mraz - "Life is Wonderful"

Saturday Centus - Football

 

It's Saturday Centus time, via Jenny Matlock's blog. I haven't participated in Jenny's meme for such a long time and today seems like the perfect day to begin again. Why? Because it's September 1st and the prompt is: "Are You Ready For Some Football?"

WORD COUNT -  Not to exceed 106
STYLE OF WRITING - Any
PICTURES - Any Additional 

For more rules and more 100 word writings using the prompt go to 

http://jennymatlock.blogspot.com/2012/09/saturday-centus-are-you-ready-for.html 

Below is my entry:

Poised Excitement

Are you ready for some football? You bet your sweet patootie I am! Being such a klutz, though, and a possible danger to myself and others, it's best for me to stay home and watch games on television.

One time I attended a local college game, and as I moseyed along a concrete walkway, I tripped and fell, scraping my hands and knees while soda, ice, and a warm pretzel went flying through the air. The force of my fall caused a slight lack of bladder control, thus causing way more embarrassment than any physical pain.

Hooray for Big Screen TV and a nearby bathroom!

PERSON OF INTEREST - CBS

I've been planning a blog post about my favorite TV drama show, Person of Interest for quite a while and just never got around to it. BUT, after seeing the prestigious Emmy nominations this morning, I couldn't wait any longer. 


The Emmys used to be exciting. The Emmys used to nominate actors and shows that the majority of us watched and liked. Why did they make the decision a few years ago to include shows that are only on the pay cable channels, such as HBO? The entire country does not receive those channels.


This year's nominations include more of those shows than the ones on "regular" network channels: ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX.


This year's nominations was a Deja Vu of previous years, with only a few exceptions....and all were pretty bad in my opinion. 


I was so sure that Person of Interest would be nominated for Best Drama, and the two main actors would also be nominated, as I've listed below ---- (And remember, these are just MY ideas, none of these are real nominations)


                                                                          Michael Emerson
Jim Caviezel

Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series: Jim Caviezel


Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: Michael Emerson


If you've never watched this show, you are missing a fantastic, keep you on the edge of your seat, don't miss a single moment drama. It's so unique and the acting is superb.  


Maybe next year, and for now....there's always The People's Choice Awards.

** Don't forget my Book Give Away.

 Click here for all the info.**

 "Honesty isn't enough for me. That becomes very boring. If you can convince people what you're doing is real and it's also bigger than life -- that's exciting." ~ Gene Hackman

* Finding My Bliss *

This evening I needed a break from my usual activities of watching TV with The Ronald, blogging, e-mailing, and more recently trying to force a story out of my head that just wasn't happening. In fact, earlier this afternoon, I got a migraine headache, probably due to the stress I've been putting on myself. I decided it was time for a change in my routine, so here's what I did to reclaim my bliss.

Remember the beautiful flowers and "birthday cake" The Ronald gave me for my birthday on January 6th? I finally got around to baking that cake and he said it was delicious! (Don't worry, I'm sure I'll be having a slice or two.)

Then I took some pictures of a salt and pepper set I bought at Hobby Lobby last night. I "sort of" collect them, which means I don't have many. These just shouted at me to buy them and they were 50% off, so what could I do?! Just looking at them makes me smile from ear to ear.

Aren't they just adorable?? So cute and funny, and with beautiful spring colors! They remind me of cartoon characters from long ago.

And The Ronald and I played Scrabble this evening, which we haven't done in ages. I had all the weird letters: Q, Z, V, and Z. I trounced him, too, which hardly ever happens.☺

It was a very good evening, recapturing my bliss!

"Who could be so lucky? Who comes to a lake for water and sees the reflection of the moon." -- Rumi