Adios Podunk

            I’m writing this a little early, although you won’t be able to tell. Usually I’m pressed for time, so I write blogs the night before they are published. This one though is being written early so I will have it done and ready. Because chances are we will have no electricity Wednesday. That’s right, my peeps. I’ve moved even further south and I still am going to get hit with an ice storm.

            Ta da! Finally the blog I’ve been promising. J

            The Charmed One and I got the rug pulled out from under us nine days before Christmas, when Charm’s employer decided it was no longer necessary to employ Charmed. It came out of the clear blue and left us shell shocked, to say the least. Even though we kept busy the next couple weeks the weary feeling stuck with us. Part of the reason for that weariness was because we had just signed the papers on a condo in Savannah. Suddenly we were toting the note on two homes.

            All of our Christmas decorations and presents were in Savannah, so we headed there for the holidays and hit the job searches hard. That was difficult because during the Christmas/New Year’s holidays a lot of the powers that be in business are on vacation. It just so happened that Charmed did get a couple of interviews, and even little ole me got one.

            We headed back to Podunk to start packing and preparing to leave. We figured we would have until at least February before there was any action on the house. Shortly after New Year’s our realtor notified us that she had an interested party. Long story short it all went through and we had to be out as soon as possible. That made for the most hectic two weeks of our lives that I don’t ever want to have to deal with again.

            You see, we downsized. A lot. And there was only two of us to handle the whole move. I think we did awesome. I cannot tell you the amount of trips we made to Goodwill. We were on a first name basis with the employees there! And, the dump too. Not on a first name basis with them. :/

            This whole development has been such a learning process. One thing I learned is that I’m happy with a smaller place. I cannot tell you the amount of food that I threw out because it was outdated, everything from oatmeal to pasta. I nearly got sick to my stomach when I realized how much was bad. One good thing about having a smaller place is that we don’t have room for all that food, so we won’t be wasting as much.

            We liquidated nearly everything in a two to three week period. I had to say goodbye to my lawnmowers, weed eaters, and a side business. I said goodbye to plants, containers, and birdfeeders. We said goodbye to our SUV, Big Bessie. (Yes, we name our vehicles. No, I don’t want to hear about it!) We said goodbye to many things that were with us for many years. We just couldn’t use them here. Besides it being a learning process it also deemed to be very bittersweet. 

            If you follow along regularly you know we tried moving earlier last year. It didn’t go through. This time we did it a little differently, and it almost ended up a disaster. At times we almost lost faith, but we persevered. Like I said, it was a learning experience. I learned that things probably do happen for a reason. Before Christmas we were almost two lost souls. Now we are where we want to be, getting settled in and starting new jobs. The Podunk chapters of this book of my life are past. Now it is time to start new. We start our Savannah lives.

            Possibly in the dark.

            Because of a freak winter storm.

            Because Kelly is here now.

            Finally. J

Have you ever downsized? When is the last time you moved, or have you been in one place for a long time? Is this whacky winter weather driving you crazy?

W.P.I. - My new job is at a local garden center. I’m excited to start and learn some new-to-me plants. Charmed and I joke about my interview lasting 15 minutes. Charmed had seven interviews with one company before being hired. My orientation lasted 15 minutes. Charmed’s orientation lasts 15 days. In another state. I’ll take the plant life any day! We are now living in planting Zone 9. Stay tuned and I’ll give planting information on Palm trees! J

P.S. - I will still continue revising, writing, and submitting queries. That is my true love! 

In My Opinion

PLEASE!

      I know I promised you all a rant about what has been happening over the last month. And I know last week I told you it would be this week. It will be, but not today. :) I need a few more days to process and recover. So please, stick with me. I promise you Thursday's rant will be all about my crazy life. Thanks for being patient with me!

      Being a writer I will blog about books every once in a while. I don't do it all the time because I'm not a fast reader. Or writer. :) Especially of late. As a matter of fact I'm still reading a book that I started a few weeks ago. That is why I'm going to turn the topic around here. 

      Let's talk about music, shall we? Yes, music. As I write this the Grammy's are only an hour away. Usually I'm not into music awards. There seems to be too many of them now-a-days. That's only my opinion. I'm watching tonight though. I've been more into music this past year. There are a few popular songs that I've used with writing my stories. I'll be interested to see if any of them win. I will also be pulling for anything going against the song Blurred Lines. That over popular, over played, over hyped, one hit wonder of a song needed to go away before it even started. Again, just my opinion. Hope I didn't lose anyone there. :)

      I guess I'm just full of opinions lately. Some of my friends think its the northerner in me. Some think its the Irish. Who knows? All I know is I hope some peeps that I like win. Like Lorde. I love when someone new comes onto the scene and blows people away with their voice. And she's so young! I love it.

      Of course, I also love Pink. 

      And I like Imagine Dragons. 

      All of the singers nominated are so crazy talented. I think there really are no losers. Well, with the exception of that one... hehe.

      Do you watch music awards? What kind of music do you listen to? What is one song you absolutely cannot stand? :)

For the Love of...

   

      Especially craft beer. I have found a liking for trying new beers from near and far. Beer with fruit. Beer with lemon grass. Or a good stout brewed with chai. 

      Being a die hard New York Yankees fan for many years I want to say THANK YOU to Major League Baseball for getting rid of the joke known as Alex Rodriguez. The problems with the sport didn't start with him, and they won't end with him, but it will be an easier game to watch without him in it. I might even start cheering for those Yanks again.

      Do I really need to say any more???   :)

      My parents taught me everything I know about birds. I love feeding them, watching them, and listening to them. They offer a calm to this normally stressful life. I believe it has given me a closer bond with my parents because of them. It is something we can always talk about.

      What is one thing that you bond with your children/parents about? What do you have a love of? 

W.P.I. - For plants I have a love of echinacea, or purple coneflower. One reason is that 

echinacea strengthens your immune system by stimulating the production of T-cells. It also increases the ability of your white cells to fend off pathogenic invaders. Pretty good, huh?

You can also find me at:
http://facebook.com/kellyryanwatson

or
http://pinterest.com/kellyryanwatson

Picturing an Escape

      Please forgive me here. It's crunch time with the move, and I'm writing this at eleven o'clock at night. I'm not complaining though. I just feel like I've been cheating you lately. I just think I've given you a lot of pictures and not a lot of talk. Maybe you like that, I don't know. Hmm. Well, I'm going to give you one more like that. So I apologize in advance if you don't like that, but I promise I will get back to a more normal rant next week. 

      For now though I want to share my latest escape. Trust me, I've needed it. The last month has been one heck of a ride. I need some escapism. If you read my last blog you know the book I'm reading isn't really supplying me with that escape. 

      The following has though...

      It has supplied me with a great escape. I mean, how could it not?

I could picture us living here.

      Have you figured out where this might be yet? 

      C'mon, all that green should tell you something, right? I'll give you a hint, the above picture involves the word Beara.

      I especially like the above picture because it reminds me of a great vacation I took to Maine. Those lobster pots bring back memories. Do you know my escape destination yet???

      Okay, if you haven't figured it out yet I'll tell you that this botanical garden is located in...

Dublin.

      That's right. Ireland has been my reality escape lately. And believe me when I tell you that it has worked wonders. It has renewed my vigor to visit the Emerald Isle. It has taken my hectic life and relaxed me with dreams of what hopefully will be one day. It may sound weird, but just a few minutes of perusing pictures of Ireland relaxes me. It makes my mind wander to the life there. It makes me think of a future vacation.

      It.Just.Takes.Me.Away. 

      In a time when I really need it.

      Did you know where the pics were from? What provides your escape? Where would you visit if you could? Do you like blogs that are long, or short?

About Reading

      Right now I am reading When Snow Falls, by Brenda Novak. I've been at it for nearly a week now and I'm only on page 104. It is a good book, but I'm not into-it into-it. Ya know what I mean? Plus I've been busy lately so my nighttime reading hasn't lasted long before I fall asleep. Even with that being said I am not a fast reader. I never have been.

      Well, maybe I was at one time. When I was a kid I read fast, but didn't remember anything I read. Now I read slow and still only remember certain parts. :/ That can be a pain. But enough about me. 

      Sometimes I visit blogs where people say they read four or five books a week. A week! I will admit that sometimes I read 2 a week. I couldn't imagine having enough free time to read that much in a week. Maybe these people are retired... or... or... Idk. How does one get enough time to read that much in a week?

      Anywho... 

      Sometimes I think it depends on what genre I'm reading. Or if it is a go to author for me. Y'all know I'm the romance girl, right? I like about all genres of romance. Some romantic suspense I read goes very fast, others are more detailed and I have to read slower. My favorite, contemporary romance, I usually read fast. You wouldn't know that with my opening paragraph, but I digress. Like I said, I'm not totally into this one yet. Another favorite, New Adult, I usually read fast. There tends to be a lot of angst in those books, so I try to get through the angst-y parts quickly. 

      I guess it all depends on the book for me. No matter what though, I never read more than two books in a week. That's just me! 

      What are you reading at the moment? Do you find yourself reading faster or slower according to genre? What is the most books you read in a week?

W.P.I.- Did you know that Iris means "rainbow" in Greek, and Iris was goddess of the rainbow in Greek mythology. Wormwood (Artemisia) was named after the goddess Artemis, milkweed (Asclepias) after the god Asclepius, and Hebe after the Greek goddess Hebe.
   

Another Writing Contest

      If you tuned in to my last rant then you know I am in the middle of a move. Things happened so fast it will take a while for my head to stop spinning. In a nutshell we have two weeks. That is a very short time to do many, many things. 

      One of those things included getting my niece one last time before we move. We got her this past weekend, and even though we were busy trying to wrap breakables and sell an item or two we made it work. There was something else happening this weekend, a 24-hour writing competition. Yeah. I wasn't even going to try it, but it was hurting my heart not to. The Charmed One told me I had to. So yesterday at one o'clock eastern time the subject was emailed to me. Finally at nearly ten o'clock at night I was able to sit down and write. Was it too late? Probably. Did I enjoy it? More than you would believe. 

      I am going to give you the topic now. I kind of want to see where you would take this story. You can use some of the topic or all of it, or alter it. This time I chose to use nearly all of it. 

      He walked among the market stalls, pretending to ignore
the whispering and giggling women. His relaxed demeanor,
handsome features, and ready smile meant no female in
the town missed his weekly sermons and the church's
coffers were overflowing of late.

Feeling a touch on his sleeve, he turned and his smile disappeared. Looking first left and right, he angrily spat, "I told you to never speak to me again!"

She blinked, her long lashes brushing her cheeks, and said, "But, I need to talk to you." Leaning closer, she paused, and lowered her voice. "You see, I'm..."

      With it being only a 24 hour competition there was an 875 word count. When I quit for the night I was at 1150. Haha. Sunday morning I got up and revised, and revised, and revised until I got it to 873 words. I like the direction I took with it, and overall I was very happy. That surprised me considering the late start I got on it. 

      Who knows. In competitions past I thought I had awesome stories, but they never placed. I know one day I will. Maybe this is the one! ;)

      What would you have the the woman tell him? Do you have a time of day you feel your clarity is at its greatest? When is the last time you moved?

Photobombing Dog

      If you follow along you are aware that one of my dogs is a rescue. She is a rescue with a severe case of separation anxiety. Now, this is a self-diagnosis, if you will. But when she is in a sound sleep, and the Charmed One gets up, that dog is wide awake. She is only inches from the Charmed One at all times. I am second fiddle until the Charmed One is nowhere around. We kid and say she has some sort of nervous dog disorder, but we wouldn't have her any other way.

      With that being said she appears sometimes. Kind of freakishly. Like the time I wanted to have a picture taken of my new tattoo. As soon as I saw the picture I had to laugh. I cropped it a little to take out the image of the tat. 

Yeah, we call her the Freak!

      See what I mean? After I saw that picture I had no choice but to take the tat away. It couldn't compete with that face!

      My life has been a little crazy lately, which I will be talking about in a couple of weeks, if not before. Needless to say I am in the midst of a move. It kinda all happened within a few weeks, and our life has gone from high to low, and is on the way back up to high. Within this time we have been trying to sell some items. After this was posted I realized someone had made their way into this picture too.

      Uh huh. Her name is Savannah. She shows up at the oddest times. We shouldn't be surprised to see her in the pictures, but we are. As always, she makes us laugh.

      Are you into photobombing? Do you have a pet that is always underfoot? Want to buy a table??? :)

W.P.I. - I received my first seed catalog in the mail today! I love to see any new plants available to the market. It is also nice to be thinking of growing plants while most of us are dealing with super frigid temperatures. Do you start plants from seeds? Or do you buy plants already established? 

Happy Trees and an Invincible Moose

      The holidays are finally over and slowly we are getting back to our routines. At least I hope. My view counts have been dismal, peeps! I'm chalking it up to the time of year, and hoping that's all it is. Anywho, no worries. We keep plugging away, right? Well, with that being said I'm bringing back an oldie but goody. I've found some signs that have me both shaking my head and grinning. So without further ado... 

      Let's start off with this special sign...

      I'm glad they are happy. Can you imagine mad trees? I imagine swinging branches and leaves or pine needles falling. Occasionally a whole tree will throw itself to the ground in a fit. :) 

      Okay, the trees are happy, but the Pigeon's aren't...

      Jeesh. You'd think they'd be happy to get a piece of food. I didn't realize pigeon's were carnivores!

      I really don't have a lot of words for this next one...

      Do you???

      And finally I have this. Beware of the invincible moose!

      I picture a moose running down a car and causing destruction like what is pictured above.                                   Don't they know that only Superman is invincible???

Are you recovered from the holidays? Have you seen any good signs lately? What is your favorite one from above? I hope it at least brought a smile to your face! :)

 

Getting Out of Bed

      I was almost late writing this blog. It seems I've been having a hard time getting out of bed. 

      No, thankfully nothing is holding me down. Its just I bought a new mattress. And it sucks... 

      Me in.

      It conforms to my body and keeps me warm (sometimes too warm). I wake up and sometimes just lie there. 

      For a long, long, long time.

      I really didn't think we needed a new mattress, but after being on this one- Oh. My. Goodness. This is a hybrid mattress with both coils and foam. Believe me when I tell you that you sink in. There are not any spaces unfilled between you and the mattress.

      On a recent trip to the chiropractor I told him I thought that my problem was I had slept on three different mattresses over the past couple weeks. (Don't ask, that's for another blog!) He agreed that that could be the cause of my seeking him out. I also told him though that we had splurged on a really good mattress that I would soon be sleeping on full time. He stated that was wonderful news. (I wondered because he had a fit when I told him I bought a down pillow.) He told me you spend one-third of your life in bed, and that a good mattress is a great thing to spend money on. I had never thought of it like that.

      Maybe more people realize this. That can be the only explanation for all of the mattress stores. It seems like here in NC there is at least one mattress store in every strip mall. Then usually one across the road somewhere to give competition. I've never understood the reason for all these stores. I still don't. We bought ours in a furniture store. :)

And it was on sale!!!

      I think I heard one time that you should replace your mattress every ten years. Hmm. If this mattress stays this comfortable for ten years I may have a hard time keeping a job. And friends. Or a life outside of this house! 

      When is the last time you bought a mattress? Does your area have an abundance of mattress stores?  What is the last item you haven't regretted paying more for?

W.P.I.- Do you have house plants? Are you aware that studies have shown that having plants in your living environment can lower blood pressure, reduce headaches, and can even lessen illness. Also, house plants tend to lower the amount of toxins in the home.