nature at its best

sitting on my porch, watching the chicken that my daughter has…(she’s cleaning up it’s cage) and it is letting her opinion of my porch be known…well if it wasn’t pouring rain we would be walking around the yard…

The trouble with Spring

So aside from the terrible allergies that I suffer every year…the trouble with Spring is the weather is actually nice enough to get the yard cleaned up. That is for me in the form of hiring people who are able to do the work I cannot.

well I have to supervise and direct. So I am staying busy today. Add in the first of the month errands and I am likely to be super busy all week. I will try to post some interesting stuff as permitted by my schedule.

today I am posting from my phone while I am waiting for my kid to come back out of the gas station.

Each life is a book

This week I have been sharing some of the stories of my book. A lifetime of stories lived. Some of the stories I have lived will never be shared – for various reasons…some because they are not my story to tell(I am a mother after all) Some because the trauma prevents. So many lives are books stuck on dusty shelves. Never shared for various reasons. I need to share my stories. As a survivor of childhood sex abuse I felt like my voice was taken from me. For me, telling my stories is empowering. For others it is not. I would never try to force the telling of a life.

However, I also want to be clear. I am always willing to hear the story of the lives you have lived. I devour books like the dragon I am…and if you choose to present me with more to read I will revel in it.

Thank you for allowing me to share the stories this week. For me, it is the best form of immortality. I when I am gone will remain due to the book written by my words.

18 Years ago…

Today my youngest turns 18. The first picture was of her at around 6 months, the second at 16. (She still looks much the same) I was given the gift of a lifetime in her. I am grateful. Happy Birthday Gabrielle, and may you enjoy many more.

Pip, woofs again.

Many years ago, my first kids book was Pip the pup. I illustrated it with my own drawings and clip art. One of my young readers – Dante, asked for more of Pip’s story.

I couldn’t refuse him. Releasing December fourth is the next chapter of pip’s adventure… Done in the same style. My own drawings and clip art to illustrate what I hope will be a good continuation of a cute story.

And with characters I plan on writing more of.

Links to come… Soon. (I swear)

Tuesday Tunes

A day for me to discuss music

Lyrics –
[Verse 1]
Thought I’d bite my tongue
Just this once, maybe twice, but the harder I bite
Now it’s drawing blood
There’s a trace on my lips, leaves a taste when we kiss
Try to cover up
All of the lies and all of the lines that I
Bottle up
To keep you safe and sound

[Pre-Chorus]
But echoes of warnings
Like whispers of morning, like
It creeping through cracks in my memory
It’d make me lose my mind

[Chorus]
But every time I close my eyes
It’s calling in like a siren
Threatening to comе alive
Unless I pay the pricе, yeah
But if my heart is right this time
And I can finally bear my secrets
Maybe you won’t run and hide
But love the monster inside me

[Verse 2]
Maybe all the love
Is a switch that we flip when we’re losing our grip
And it’s close enough
Taking good with the pain, go a little insane
All we really want
Is someone to hold until we grow old
And no matter what (No matter)
Can’t be scared away

[Pre-Chorus]
Echoes of warnings
Like whispers of morning, like
It creeping through cracks in my memory
It’d make me lose my mind

[Chorus]
But every time I close my eyes
It’s calling in like a siren
Threatening to come alive
Unless I pay the price, yeah
But if my heart is right this time
And I can finally bear my secrets
Maybe you won’t run and hide
But love the monster inside me
[Bridge]
Beauty in the chaos, all that’s left to save us
Now
Beauty in the chaos, all that’s left to save us
Now
Beauty in the chaos, all that’s left to save us
Now
Echoes of warnings like
Beauty in the chaos, all that’s left to save us now
Echoes of warnings like
Beauty in the chaos, all that’s left to save us now

[Chorus]
But every time I close my eyes
It’s calling in like a siren
Threatening to come alive
Unless I pay the price, yeah
But every time I close my eyes
It’s calling in like a siren
Threatening to come alive
Unless I pay the price, yeah
But if my heart is right this time
And I can finally bear my secrets
Maybe you won’t run and hide
But love the monster inside me

My 2 Cents –
I have always fought the stigma of my mental health. I am a survivor. That being said, sometimes the labels are easier to fight than others. Now I am trying to help my teenager fight them. She wants to write horror. She is into the creepy and dark. When she told her therapist that (New therapist) the therapist tried to claim that she was homicidal. She doesn’t want to hurt anyone. She is a gentle soul with a rich imagination. She wants to write dark stories so she is apparently Homicidal. I raised all kinds of hell with the office. The supervisor talked to my daughter and agreed that the therapist was way off base. So I am left with a wonderful beginning writer who is struggling because of labels. Seems to me that the world wants to label madness too easily and the monsters that truly exist are allowed too much leeway. so today at least I think I love the monster inside me and will revel in the beauty in chaos.

Vacation and then what

Those who follow me probably noticed that I have been awol for a few days – nearly two weeks… That is because I went on a vacation. I visited my parents, my brother, and my son and his youngest son. The poem in the picture is one that I wrote as a child and my dad held onto. Next week I will be back to posting, and I am hoping to be back on track… But I wanted to enjoy the family time, as it is a rare beast.

Tuesday Tunes

A day for me to discuss music

Lyrics –
I haven’t always been this way
I wasn’t born a renegade
I felt alone, still feel afraid
I stumble through it anyway
I wish someone would’ve told me that this life is ours to choose
No one’s handing you the keys or a book with all the rules
The little that I know I’ll tell to you
When they dress you up in lies and you’re left naked with the truth
You throw your head back
And you spit in the wind
Let the walls crack
‘Cause it lets the light in
Let ’em drag you through hell
They can’t tell you to change who you are
(That’s all I know so far)
And when the storm’s out
You’ll run in the rain
Put your sword down
Dive right into the pain
Stay unfiltered and loud
You’ll be proud of that skin full of scars
That’s all I know so far
That’s all I know so far
So you might give yourself away, yeah
And pay full price for each mistake
But when the candy coating hides the razor blade
You can cut yourself loose and use that rage
I wish someone would’ve told me that this darkness comes and goes
People will pretend but, baby girl, nobody knows
And even I can’t teach you how to fly
But I can show you how to live like your life is on the line
You throw your head back
And you spit in the wind
Let the walls crack
‘Cause it lets the light in
Let ’em drag you through hell
They can’t tell you to change who you are
(That’s all I know so far)
And when the storm’s out
You’ll run in the rain
Put your sword down
Dive right into the pain
Stay unfiltered and loud
You’ll be proud of that skin full of scars
That’s all I know so far
That’s all I know, that’s all I know so far
That’s all I know, that’s all I know so far
That’s all I know, that’s all I know so far
That’s all I know, that’s all I know so far
I will be with you ’til the world blows up, yes
Up and down and through ’til the world blows up, yeah
When it’s right or it’s all fucked up
‘Til the world blows up, ’til the world blows up
And we will be enough
And until the world blows up
Just throw your head back
And spit in the wind
Let the walls crack
‘Cause it lets the light in
Let ’em drag you through hell
They can’t tell you to change who you are
And when the storm’s out
You’ll run in the rain
Put your sword down
Dive right into the pain
Stay unfiltered and loud
You’ll be proud of that skin full of scars
That’s all I know so far
That’s all I know, that’s all I know so far
That’s all I know, that’s all I know so far
That’s all I know, that’s all I know so far
That’s all I know, that’s all I know so far
I will be with you ’til the world blows up, hm

My 2 cents – This speaks wonders about being a parent. My relationship with my mom has never been real close. She was busy working and I was busy fighting. So we never really clicked. I wanted better. So when my daughter was born I was determined to have better. I didn’t want a mini me. Mom kept telling me I was so much like her. I hated that because I felt so misunderstood. I did not want to make my baby feel like she had to be me. I wanted to let her make her own mistakes in life. I guided her and told her the truth about the mistakes I made. I stood with tears in my eyes watching the mistakes that she could have avoided. And She tells me that she is so much like me. I stand at her back and she is the best person she can be…and I will be there for her until my world ends.

Pad #6

Sorry for the lazy graphics. Too much to do today.

Monday poetry pad #5

Today the prompt was The First (Blank)