Holiday Wishes

Kwanza

Christmas

                                                                  Chanukah
 Whichever holiday you celebrate, may you find peace and joy on these sacred days and may you enjoy a happy, healthy stress-free 2023.

Books of November

 Signal Fires. An emotional family story about an unspoken secret that affects the lives of each famly member.  Highly recommended.

Spelling Bee for Grown-ups

West University Senior Spelling Bee, November 23, 2022

As soon as my daughter saw this event on the West U schedule, she called and offered to sign me up.  I said okay. I figured I was a shoo-in.  After all, I've been writing for years and I can spell any word included in Harlequin romance novels.

 The contest was scheduled at 12:30 on the day before Thanksgiving.  I imagine this was because seniors leave the cooking to their children, so they aren't very busy and this gives us something to do while everyone else is preparing the next day's meal.

Alas, I bombed out on my first word:  "bouillon."  Who knows how to spell that?

Luckily, there were two more rounds and I won the second with such words as 
?hiatus," "pneumonia," "cliche" (Any romance writer would know that one.) and "municipality." Not to brag, but I could spell everyone else's words, too.\

If I knew how to transfer a picture from my phone to my computer, I would include the one of the sash and crown I received as well as a prize--a book of stamps.  

The bee was great fun and after it was over, I took my daughter to lunch.  I plan to compete again next year.

I think a spelling bee at Brazos Towers would be a good idea for 2023.

Kindness (Coninued)

Two more examples of kindness:

I recently received a message from a parent whose son I worked with some years ago, letting me know how well he was doing in school.  She said she wasn't sure I'd remember him, but I did.  (I remember almost all of the children I saw for speech therapy...and that's a lot of kids.)O
 

I am often asked to visit with speech pathology majors or recent graduates.  I'm always happy to meet with them.  Occasionally I'm also asked to talk to aspiring writers, and I enjoy doing that as well.

Books of October

 The Marriage Portrait.  My favorite book so far this year.  Inspired by Robert Browning's poem "My Last Duchess" and bolstered by extensive research, Maggie O'Farrell, author of Hamnet, has created a story about the young duchess married to a ruthless duke, who only wants a wife to give birth to an heir.

Hidden Pictures.  A recovering addict is given a chance a redemption when she gets a job a nanny to five-year-old Teddy who loves to draw.  When his pictures become frightening, she wonders if his drawings are inspired by the ghost of a woman who died in the guest house where the nanny is living.  You would really have to suspend your disbelief to "get" this story.  C+

Kindness Project (continued)

Two more examples of kindness I have experienced:

Gayle, who managed our office at Associated Speech and Language Services was one of the kindest people I've known..  She always made clients and their kids feel welcome and became friends with many of the parents.  She was willing to listen, both to clients and to me.  Whenever a deadline of some sort came up, she'd always say gently, "I'm reminding you that..."  She drove me home once when I had an attack of diverticulitis and even made a trip back to the office late one evening from her home near Galveston to return my car keys she'd accidentally picked up.  I always enjoyed our birthday dinners at the Saltgrass Steakhouse and miss her now that she's moved back home to Seattle.

A few weeks ago I was at the checkout counter at Kroger's paying for a 14 pound box of cat litter when the woman behind me said that she and her daughters would be happy to help me load my groceries into my car.  Not only that, but they offered to follow me home and carry the groceries inside.  What a good deed!
 

Kindness Project (continued)

 Continuation of acts of kindness I have received, given or observed:

After my husband died, Michelle Lynn, a speech pathologist colleague, sent me a book titled "Healing After Loss"  that contained daily readings to comfort someone grieving a loss.  I read each day's entry and found it so comforting that I've sent copies of the book to family or friends who have suffered a loss of someone dear.  I will never forget Michelle's act of kindness.

Coffee ice cream is my comfort food.  When I mentioned to my doctor during the pandemic that HEB was out of it and of course, I couldn't go out to other stores to look for any, she stopped by on her way to run errands with two pints of Hagen Daz coffee.  That made my day!