Hello It's me, Again!

 2/26/25 - It's been a while since I last posted.  Lots of life issues.  Lost my husband, changed jobs four times and tried to retire and am working again.  I am trying to get back into the habit of writing regularly and this is a good place to start.  I am also working on moving out of the house I have lived in for over 25 years.  I sold it at a reduced price to my son.  I wanted to help him and to share some generational wealth.  It was a significant sacrifice if you only look at the dollars.  But that was not the most important thing in this situation.   He now has something he can build upon and pass down to his son.  It's amazing to me how many people of color have not been trained/schooled/taught about generational wealth and passing things on to your children.  I know, many of us have not had the ability to pass anything on but many of us do and don't do it. And I guess some of that may have to do with the fact that you know your children and what they can and cannot manage well.  Anyway, I didn't get on here to rant and rave about that issue.  I just want to say I am back trying to write more consistently.  I thought I was going to have a lot of time on my hands until I took a job that was supposed to be 10 hours a week.  Since I started, I have not worked less than 20 hours a week.  Part of the issue is learning a new accounting system.  That learning curve has added hours and another thing that added to this situation is the fact that the transition from one system to the other happened in the middle of the month.  So, for me it has now become a challenge to learn it well and produce a working manual to help the person who comes in behind me.  In my last job we had an accounting survival guide that was very useful for training others. That's one of my goals for this position.  That's all I'll say about that.  In addition to that, I am working on getting my hand made greeting business off the ground.   I will be using several styles of cardmaking but the majority of it is based on recycling the designs that are in the inside of security envelopes.  Rather than buying DSP (Designer Series Paper), I am using the insides of envelopes.  I am calling my card line, I'M A REC (Recycled Envelope Cards).  I'm excited about it and am working on a logo that says it all.  As a side note one of the jobs I recently took and quick after only a month was being a tutor at an elementary school.  I can't say much because this may end up being a book I write!  Okay, thanks for listening.  I'm off to bible study.  Be blessed until next time.

Alta Abbott

Sunday Scribblings
Prompt:  Myth

Many
Years
Thinking
Half-truths

I've been living this thing!

Sunday Scribbling from Alta

Prompt:  SPARK

They say it only takes a spark
to get a fire going
but I say sparks can be extinguished quite easily if you're not careful
Right now I want my heart and my mind to be a roaring fire
an endless flame
even if it has to start out a little smaller
I'll be a spark just for today

Here I am again, trying to get some consistency in this writing thing.  Well my daughter is going off to college in a few weeks and her friend who has been with us for a year is leaving as well.  So we will be empty nesters of sorts.  Won't that create more time to write?  I sure hope so.

On another note, I am ruminating on the idea that it's easier to make friends than it is to keep them!  What say you?

If you have any thoughts or experiences on this issue I'd love to hear from you.  I want to write about it but I need some input from others before I can get started.

Thanks for reading and hope to hear from you soon.

Down on Myself

A friend at work had to put her dog in the cone of shame. Well I've felt like I've been in the cone of shame since last Friday evening. That's when I found out I made a stupid mistake on my job and had to try to fix it on Saturday. I fixed it but I have been kicking myself since then. Now tonight my daughter wants to lose her mind so that's irritating me as well. Not to mention that my eye doctor keeps talking to me about glaucoma. I don't want to lose my eyesight so I hope we can get this handled as soon as possible. So I'm down on myself! I've been here plenty of times before so I know I can shake it but it's gonna take a few days. I really need to spend much more time in the bible and praying. I know that will help me cause it always does and many times I'm in the funk because I haven't been spending the time I should. So I'm gonna get off here right now and go read and pray!

Oh How Long Between the Postings

So, I tried again with the NANO Write in November 2011 and I didn't finish but it's fun and it gets me to write a little more than I normally do. I lack motivation even though once I get going I don't want to stop. I use the excuse that my life gets in the way but somehow, I know it's not so much the outward distractions as the inward ones. I'm my own worst enemy...isn't that what Whitney Houston said. And why is it that we are our own worst enemy. Don't we like ourselves. I feel like I like me...I guess I don't know that for sure. I'm a likable person. I get along with most everyone...I have my struggles at times but hey, that's human right? One of my biggest issues is procrastination...but wait...as I think about this...my biggest distraction is lack of sleep. Since my husband was diagnosed with and operated on for brain cancer...I have not had a lot of concentrated sleep...when he was at his worse I hardly slept at all. Now that he's much better and on the mend...CANCER FREE... and all that good stuff...five years later I still can't seem to get a good night's sleep! What the what? I have had lots of people giving me lots of advice about what I need to do to be able to sleep from sleeping pills to separate bedrooms. None of these remedies interest me. And it's not that I can't get to sleep because I do, but I sleep so lightly that just about anything, including my husband getting to bed anywhere from midnight to 3 am in the morning always wakes me up and then I can't seem to just fall back to sleep. My doctor told me to do this thing where I literally tell each part of my body from head to toe to go to sleep. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I also find that when I wear socks and can keep them on my feet (I usually kick them off halfway through the night), I notice that I can usually stay asleep longer. I just can't seem to keep the socks on for the whole night. My daughter tells me I don't think about myself enough...that I'm always worrying and doing for others and don't do for myself. I didn't think I was that bad but maybe I am. I do things for myself but I'm a giver at heart so doing and giving to others just makes more sense to me. There are times when I want to be more selfish and self centered and then something happens where I really can't be that person so I figure why even bother. There are also times when I think maybe because of my birth order...5 of 7...somehow it has caused me to be the person I am. Sort of a pleaser I guess...one of those kids who is called a goodie two shoes...a suck up...following all the rules...trying to do the right thing...not thang...so that I can get the love and attention I need. Well, this isn't what I signed on to talk about, but that's where the conversation is going. Yes conversation cause I think even if no one else reads this, I'm talking to me...you talking to me...yes I'm talking to me! I make myself laugh talking like that but it's okay if I can't laugh at myself then who will! Did that comment make any sense? Okay, I can see that I'm getting tired...maybe there's something to this writing on a blog for me...maybe it'll make me just sleepy enough to get a good night's sleep tonight...I'll let you know...thanks for reading! By the way, I thought I had lost all this but I had just forgotten to push publish post...

Just a quick update...

Well, I didn't finish the November Novel Writing challenge, but I tried. I am going to try again this year.

I am also going to be doing some free online writing courses to keep myself busy and hopefully get motivated to get something done before the end of the year.

Hope to get something done soon.