What do you do?

 

by Diana McCollum 

I wrote this in the month of July. When the subject matter was what you liked best snowy, days or hot days. I will tell you how to pass the time on a cold blustery, snowy day or hot summer day, and every day in between. How to improve a skill and your mental attitude.

 

Do you want more happiness and satisfaction in your life?

 

If the answer is yes keep reading.

 

Hobbies or crafts or other interests outside of daily routines and work, help us grow by helping us to learn something new and gives us a sense of accomplishment.

 

By taking up a new hobby that you go to class to learn gives the extra benefit of socializing. Connecting with people who have the same interests.

 

Do you find you need a break from the daily grind? Work, home, sleep, repeat? Between work stress and whatever is going on in our personal lives we all need a chance to relax, recharge and refresh. Who knew that a hobby could renew our spirit and get our mojo back? But it can!

 

Hobbies are the antidote for boredom by increasing your happiness and satisfaction with life. Your hobby is something just for you, not for your children, husband, boyfriend, aunt, mom or grandma.

Baby blanket I'm crocheting for Granddaughter who wanted these "calming colors".

So you see hobbies have huge benefits. Trying something new even if we suck at it is empowering, and with time and practice we may be really good or decide to try something else. Give yourself a chance to discover that you are good at different things, not just work and home life.

 

Here is a list of a few hobbies that are not expensive to do. 

1) Blogging

    You can do it from home to express your thoughts on a subject.

2) Reading

    Grab a book and enter someone else's world for a while.

 

3) Paint class

    I joined an acrylic paint class last year. Not only have I learned a new skill, I've met some amazing new friends.

(work in progress)

4) Dancing or playing an instrument

    YouTube has lots of free lessons or join a class. My daughter's friend learned how to dance with a firey torch that she then puts out with her mouth! Not my first choice.

5) Yoga

Take a class and socialize or YouTube has many, many exercise and yoga videos.

6) Handicraft

    Knitting, embroidery, cross-stitch, quilting and crochet, woodturning, clay work etc. Our Barnes and Noble lets the knitting group meet to knit and have coffee (socializing!)

 

 7) Gardening

For me I garden a little, but my husband's hobby is gardening. He's outdoors all the times. And when it is 103 like today, he catches up on reading or movies he's recorded.

Plate size Dahlia's my husband grew

8) Adult league

    bowling, baseball, soccer, pickle ball, golf etc.

 

I have included pictures I have painted or am working on as painting is my favorite hobby.

 

(9) Thrift shopping is a hobby too. I find things now and then for the house or yard. I'm including a picture of a  Eskimo statue that I'm going to paint a picture of, as soon as I know his story. I've been thinking about it.

I'm going to write a story and paint a picture of this Eskimo.

(10) Not just reading-but reading a non-fiction book to learn about something or someone! Right now I'm reading a biography of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, fascinating reading. I always have one non-fiction book which I read for one hour after lunch, and one fiction which I read at bedtime.

 

I like to sew now and then. During the pandemic I made masks and bookmarks which I sent to grandkids.

Apron I'm making for my one daughter.

 

There are 1,000 s of different hobbies or crafts. There is one out there for you too.

 

 

 

 

 (She only has the Christmas apron I made for her 10 years ago, this one is a surprise)

Do you have a hobby, craft or interest you can share with us?

Finding a Writing Path!

by Diana McCollum

 

First let me say my writing career has been on hiatus. 2019, Like many of you the pandemic stopped me in my tracks. I couldn’t seem to get a grip on what I should be doing, and I let things slide and my writing went nowhere.

 

2021, still dealing with the pandemic, sanitizing like crazy, wiping down groceries with sanitizer, washing masks, and avoiding people. Then in April of 2021, my husband and I took a trip to CA to have our first visit in 18 months with family. On that trip we decided to move back to CA to be closer to family. 

We put our house up for sale May 3^rd and it sold by May 25^th .  Then back to CA to find a home to move to. So the summer was all about moving and getting settled.

 

This year 2022, we are pretty much settled. I am taking the path to publication.

 I have committed to taking writing classes from POV Authors, restarting my newsletter, blogging for Romancing the Genres and Windtree Press. I’ve blocked out time each week to write on my work in progress. I also plan on venturing out of the romance genre and writing a short murder mystery to be included in an anthology Windtree Press is producing in the fall.

I’m pulling out an unfinished MS “The Rose Witch” and intend to finish that novel this year.

 

I am excited to finally be excited to write again. My desk in clean, papers have been filed or discarded, and calendar has been filled out with dates for classes etc.

 

Most of all, I’d love to attend a conference in person. There is nothing quite like being around other authors. The excitement, the good vibes and the networking, all good.

 

Are you looking forward to in person conferences and meetings?

Happy Holidays!

 

 

School Daze Revisited

By Robin Weaver

For those of you who know me, I’m sure my school-day antics will come as no surprise. For the rest of you, I promise the following events are completely true. Well, mostly true...

First Grade, Day One:  Not having gone to kindergarten, I had no idea what to expect, do, or say. I certainly had no idea where I should sit.  Solution: I spotted two other girls with short-curly hair just like mine. That had to be my table. On day two, the teacher separated us because we talked too much. ☹

Second Grade: Michael Kessler proposed. (Spoiler Alert: Although I initially said “yes,” we called off the wedding).

Third: My third-cousin stole my lunch money—a crime that went unpunished due to lack of proof (even though my lunchbox-totin’ cuz never had spending money before or after that particular day). Probably why I became a mystery writer, don’t ya think? My cousin did, however, buy me two ice creams and a Coke.

Fourth:  We moved and I was the new kid. Yikes! And my teacher had a moustache! Only she was female. The most interesting character trait to-date and I wasn’t allowed to talk about it. TUT!

Fifth: My younger brother and I were the last kids to get home on our bus route. After the next to last students got off the bus, it typically took another fifteen minutes to get to my house. Yep, it was that rural. Anyway, my little bro—a third grader—decided the driver was taking too long. He decided he could help out by stepping on the accelerator.  (I swear, this is a true, non-fiction story.)

What happened next had to be the inspiration for the flying car in the Harry Potter novels. Poor old Walter, the driver and a family friend, never fully recovered from his adrenaline rush.

Sixth: I got to represent my school in the County Spelling Bee. YEAH! I practiced and practiced. Only a few of us remained after round three and I was so super-psyched to get a word I knew how to spell—gnat. Only in my excitement I blurted K-N-A-T.  Everyone laughed  when I subsequently slapped my hands over my head. It’s been “knawing” at me ever since.

Seventh: My entire English class got a zero for talking too loud, which totally wrecked my semester average. So not fair since the teacher was late. I still can’t convince my mom “I” wasn’t talking. 😊

Eighth: While horseback riding on a narrow pathway with my youngest brother (aged three), the saddle girth became loose and the saddle slid underneath the mare's belly, depositing us riders on the ground. The mare walked over us--so did the three horses behind us and not one stepped on us. We were so lucky. I know this has nothing to do with school, but I couldn't remember a single thing about the eighth grade.

Ninth: Five of us decided to skip class. Only some busybody who lived near the school saw us and called the principal. The woman said we were too far away so she didn't know who it was, but one of the kids was a redhead. Only one of us--the only redhead (aka me) got caught. sigh. 

Tenth: We were playing the Blue Devils in basketball (arch rivals) so the other cheerleaders and I made a huge banner that said, “Fork the Devils.”  I seriously didn’t understand why we got in trouble. Seriously. 😊

Eleventh: My brother (The flying bus pilot, not the walked-over-by-horses one) won a snooker tournament. Got his picture in the paper and everything.  One little problem. The tournament was on a school day, during school hours. Only he didn’t get in nearly as much trouble as I did about the devil fork. So not fair.

Twelfth: I drove an old Simca (with no brakes) to school so I could go straight to work after classes.; this car was the economy forerunner of the Mini Cooper and made today's "skate" cars look big.

One particular day, I rushed down the hall, only to stop in my tracks. Was that my… 

I whirled, only losing one of my books.

YES. It was. My little Simca sat inside the school hallway. Near the entrance, but above about 20 steps.

What the heck was I going to do? After a little screech, I decided I’d just drive the darn thing down the stairs. They did it on television, right? Only not having brakes was not conducive to driving downhill—even with stairs. Maybe especially with stairs.

Then I noticed the principle standing next to the door. Smirking. I didn’t see the humor myself. He got on the PA system and got some guys from the Ag class to lift the frontend and push from the back. 

I wasn’t even late for work.

What does all this mean? I have no idea, but I think my early academics might have contributed to my writing fiction. 

Have an awesome autumn!

Robin