Just five things…

 

5 things

 

What you don’t know about me (and probably don’t honestly give a hoot about!)

  1.  I attended General Motors Training School years ago.  Received certification in Engine Rebuilding, Carburetion, Ignition Systems and Air Conditioning.  (Can I work on any present-day automobile with said credentials?  Sadly, no.)
  2. I did a fair amount of drag racing back in the day.  (Loved it and wish I had the opportunity to do it again.)
  3. Thanks to a huge collection of cookbooks I’ve amassed over the years, I am a self-taught cook.  Not a chef, mind you, but I can hold my own in the culinary field. (From Julia Child’s Kitchen was my first)
  4. Type A Personality?  Yup, that would be me.  (I aggravate myself on a daily basis)
  5. First impressions mean very little to me.  I have a tendency to see beyond who and what I come face-to-face with.  (Judgmental, moi?  Not at all, I gravitate towards honest people and have little time for anyone overly full of themselves.)

5 things I’m knowledgeable about (you won’t give a hoot about this either, trust me!)

  1. Writing.  (Simple enough.  I am here, on my own website and still attempting to finish my first book.  I think that qualifies me.)
  2. Scleroderma.  Nothing humorous here.  Both my father and mother-in-law suffered with and passed-away from complications of this  chronic connective tissue disease which is generally classified as one of the autoimmune rheumatic diseases.  Research indicates that there is a susceptibility gene, which raises the likelihood of getting scleroderma, but by itself does not cause the disease. (Research being what it is, this is a disease not listed with high priority on the list of any big fund-raising conglomerate.  It affects so many individuals and is often mis-diagnosed for Lupus or Fibromyalgia.)
  3. Intuitive feelings.  (This probably goes along with the whole “first impressions” deal but I firmly believe in going with any thought that pushes me toward…or away…from either a person or situation.)
  4. Tom Petty.  His words, his music. 
  5. Finding everything my husband misplaces.  E v e r y single day.  (Trust me, when he doesn’t misplace something, I worry)

5 things I know nothing about (only 5? )

  1. Nuclear Physics
  2. The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System
  3. Where Jimmy Hoffa is. (Maybe someone should check #2)
  4. Hunting
  5. Pokemon

5 things I believe (As is often said, one has to believe in something.)

  1. God.  I was educated in a parochial school system and live with the fear instilled in me about not believing.  So I do.
  2. Human Nature.  People will behave at their worst sometimes more often than their best.  This is pretty evident on a daily basis where politics are concerned.  None of us will change the world based on our opinions but to turn on each other over the right to express same is asinine.  Underneath it all, I need to feel that most of us are decent and caring.  (Regardless of any chosen political affiliation.)
  3. The world is round.  Definitely believe that. (Can you believe there is a “Flat Earth Community” who believe that that the Earth is not a globe, as most of us think, but some kind of plane, with edges?  Reminds me of lyrics from Hal Ketchum’s “Small Town Saturday Night”.)
  4. Miracles.  They do happen.  In small ways that we don’t even realize and in much larger fashion.  Give them a chance.
  5. Santa Claus.  Of course I believe, don’t you?  (I’m no dummy, less than one month before Christmas.  Call it my need to hold onto the magic of the season!)

My choice of Writing Prompts from Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop this week and a re-post of what I shared back in 2018.  Five Things. List 5 things we don’t know about you, 5 things you’re knowledgeable about, 5 things you know nothing about, and 5 things you believe.

So, there you have it.  Gave this prompt my best shot given that writing about oneself can be taken in various ways.   I mean, who really cares?  Mostly, it’s more information that anyone needs but, hey, it’s light reading and probably far more interesting than all the malarkey shared by the hapless mainstream media.

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The gone me.

I miss…being me. 

Somehow, in the past two years, while dealing with the virus pandemic and its continuing aftermath, I’ve lost my edge, whatever that was. 

Who hasn’t? 

Okay, okay, not everyone feels like me but, I’ll bet that if you dig down, deep inside, not everything about the image looking back at you in the mirror is the same. Yes, we’re all older, not necessarily wiser, but damn road-weary of the tumultuous ride life’s taken us on since 2020. 

As much as I enjoy getting out, either to work on my still-limited schedule or just to be part of the mostly unmasked civilization in the stores or restaurants…I’m happier to return home and jump into my pandemic loungewear. Think about it. In some ways, we’ve made it through what I call the “virus gauntlet”, even though the variants continue to threaten everyone. But, either through the vaccination process, or the benefit of any natural immunity incurred from getting Covid or one of its offsprings, we’ve become a lot more resilient and less impacted by all the previous virus hysteria of the past two years.

But just as we were all ready to pick up life’s virus-shattered pieces, along comes a political/financial type of influenza…full-blown inflation and skyrocketing gas prices which our fearless leader attributes to the Russian assault on Ukraine.  C’mon man!! I won’t go into some exhaustive diatribe on this issue even though my inner, sarcastic, child is throwing a tantrum in my head. That…is a rant for another day. Sadly, more and more of such days are heading our way. 

I long to get back to the me who embraced each new day and whatever it brought my way. I laughed more and enjoyed life’s simple pleasures. Maybe I took too much for granted, maybe I ignored mortality staring back at me in the mirror, like it does now. For all of us. 

I miss the me who didn’t give a rat’s ass about matters out of my control. I miss the me who can usually rise to most occasions and take charge. And some people in my life have chosen to be distant, for a myriad of reasons, both personal and likely political, I miss the interactions with them. The current state of our world and its issues has brought so much divisiveness between us all. We need to realize that life is just too damn short to spend time hiding in some corner of our existence on this angry planet.

From Mama Kat’s Writers Workshop…Write a blog post about something you miss.

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Our “Breakfast Club”

Years ago, when I started writing and joined the blogging community, the subject matter was so much more…lighthearted. For the most part. When I developed my own website, it wrapped itself around my unfinished book which is a collection of memories of dealing with my later mother’s battle with dementia. 

That…has come full circle. 

Writing, to me, is about growth, about not marginalizing oneself into focusing on a single topic, day in and day out. Let’s face it, we all have opinions and so much more to say…about everything. Blogging provides that platform, almost a stage where we perform through what we write. 

Within the past two, or more years, my overall “tone” has developed an edge of sorts. Chalk it up to the pandemic, just like everyone else does, it seems. And now, with the current world turmoil, and all that goes along with that touchy subject, it’s quite difficult to sit down and put together some rambling words that spout sunshine, rainbows and lollipops. 

But then a good friend tagged me in a Facebook post, and it made me stop and think about good times, and friendships. And breakfasts on Sunday mornings. 

It all started well over one year ago with friends from a club The Husband and I belong to here where we live. Outside of that domain, several of us have gathered for long walks and meet just about every week at a great spot here in Carmel for breakfast. We call ourselves the Breakfast Club (of course) and we have our own spot in the upstairs part of George’s where at least ten or more of us sit in the same seats, week after week. We share and vent about life’s injustices from the days before or those ahead of us. From one end of the huge table to the other, idiotic YouTube videos and Memes are shared while we talk politics on all levels. Of course, there’s a bit of gossip to be had and we laugh like hell, sometimes so loud that our waitress, Karen, shuts the upstairs level door so we don’t disturb others. (Some of us, no names mentioned, can be a tad…loud.)

Positive friendships have blossomed and, in that, a respect for our differences along with support for the personal or family medical issues some have on their plate. And, speaking of plates…each week the breakfast orders range from oatmeal with blueberries, eggs over easy with a side of hash browns, stacks of pancakes, cheese omelets over corned beef hash (with a side of rye toast), waffles smothered with apples and whipped cream and… coffee, lots and lots of coffee.   Did I mention…” please pass the hot sauce”? Yup, that and ketchup. 

Each Sunday morning ends with gentle hugs outside the restaurant and we make our way into one more week. And we smile and wave as each of us drives away, knowing we’ll get to do it all over again in just a few more days. 

From Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop…
Write about what you miss most about your early days of blogging. 
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