2019 the Year of Yes

This is my year of yes. I am saying yes to ME. For those who have not read, The Year of Yes, by Shonda Rhimes, you should. It will help you to be your own person. 

There have been big changes in my life in 2018. Some good, some not so good. I am still trying to find the new "normal." Not sure there ever was a "normal" in my life, but there sure isn't one anymore. 

Finding my forever home was a dream come true. I have tons of unpacking and sorting yet to do. I still have walls to paint and paintings to hang. I have an alcove to create, an office to put together and then there is work outside. Because I am not a hedge person. I am tearing out hedges at the end of my driveway and along the road to plant lilacs. At the beginning of the driveway I am repurposing an old tractor tire in the yard to make a flower bed. I am having a sign painted for the post out front. I am tearing out the hedge in front of the house and planting a three season flower bed. I am planting lily of the valley. I am moving my passion plant so it can grow and climb, but not onto my deck where it will get crushed.  My fire pit is in the wrong place and will be moved. I have dead and downed trees to cut up for fire pit wood. I am creating an arts and crafts room in my barn. Can't wait. My kiln is just waiting for me to do some glass fusing. 

But I have a couple of New Year's Resolutions. They are quite simple. 1) I am going to reinstate the art of letter writing. I love to write letters and I love to receive them. So, watch your mail boxes. You never know when one might appear. 2) I am focusing on my two businesses. I am sitting with my publisher to make a five year plan for my books. Those waiting for Macy book 4 have a year more to wait. Anything I write in 2019 will not see publication before 2020. It's all good. I am also writing a five year plan for my coaching business. It will include mastering landing pages and setting up an on-line store. There is much more, but I have to start somewhere. I am also looking for more speaking/book signing events. 

Those are resolutions which work themselves into my year of yes. My first signing could come as soon as early April in Florida. You will see things happening on this blog. You will see things happening on Facebook, Periscope, and YouTube. Don't be surprised to see me doing telesumits. Where I have someone else on my live streams. Keep your eye tuned here for the action.

I also have awesome family events this year. I will be a great grandmother in March. My youngest grandson will graduate in June and leave for Eastern Michigan University in the fall. He will be in the honors program studying education, math and social science. For those who don't know EMU is my alma mater. My Bachelor's Degree is from there. My granddaughter is thinking of coming to spend part of her spring break with me. 

Life is moving in the right direction. So, state tuned for updates. They will come more frequently than in the past. 

Happy New Year everyone. May 2019 bring you peace, joy, happiness, and prosperity.

TTFN

Finally some Progress

I have been frustrated by the lack of progress on the new house. Today I am jumping for joy. I have ordered the doors. Woohoo!!! We are looking at about nine weeks out for getting them in, but they are ordered.

 The fridge has found its permanent home. Just needs to be hooked up to water.

My office floor is done. Small bedroom will be next with the same flooring.

 This is looking out the window at the front of the house.

This is looking from the window toward the back of the room.

It's finally starting to look like a home. They are working on the guest room next. The master bedroom carpet is gone and staples are coming up. 

I love progress. I need good weather tomorrow so the roof project can begin.

TTFN

Buying a House and Getting Ready for the Move

Let's start out by saying I bought this house 'as is.' This means there were some things needing to be done. So, I lined up an electrician, plumber, HVAC person, roofer, and a general contractor. 

Monday HVAC guys were here and did what they needed to. Plumber was here but needed to come back after the general contractor did some work. Electrician came out and did what they had to. They moved a couple of light fixtures, took down the massive, ugly medicine cabinet, and changed some light bulbs out for me. Called general contractor when he was not here at 10am, because he told me to. Said he'd run over on his lunch to find out what needed to be done. Called again at 3pm he was going to come after work about 6pm. I told him that didn't work as I had to drive to Lexington. He showed up about 4pm. Took measurements and told me he would be here on Thursday because it was going to rain and he didn't work outside when it rained. Waited until after 4pm for him to show up on Thursday, then drove to Somerset to do some things needed to do before 6pm. 

Roofers came today took off part of roof and it started misting. Put roof back on and had to go talk to Big Boss, as the house needs a new roof and that is not what we had planned. Still no general contractor and no call. I am looking for a new general contractor. I'm not chasing this guy down. I don't have time for this. 

The friend doing my flooring will be here the 7th-9th. I cannot ask him to stay longer he has a job and other obligations. Hopefully the painter can start next Saturday. Hope I can get the plumber in next Wednesday. 

Lowe's loves me. They always ask me if I have a Lowe's customer card. I tell them no, but they never offer to sign me up. Don't know what it's good for, but I've been spending big bucks there. My flooring and all the underlay came from Lowe's. My new refrigerator came from Lowe's. My two toilets and paint will come from Lowe's. 

Love the house and the neighbors have been great. There are five kids who live on Easy St. Three boys and two girls. Not one of them came to the door for Halloween. Which is fine by me. Not a holiday I partake in.

I love this house. Here is one of the reasons:

This is one wall in my living room. Even in the rain I have a great view. I have two other windows in this room. I love the natural light. All the rooms are like this. 

As I search for a general contractor who actually wants to work. I have Anderson Windows coming on Wednesday as I need an estimate on three French doors with screen doors. I don't think they are going in just yet, but it will be nice to have the estimate. 

On an up note,  my first piece of furniture is arriving tomorrow. I have decided I am too old for air mattresses. Which is the blue in the picture. The sleeping bag I am using. 

Hope to be moved in just after Thanksgiving. We shall see.

TTFN

Diabetes-Life Struggle

I have been a diabetic for twenty years. When I was first diagnosed, I was sent to a nutritionist. The person was a complete waste of $75. He did not listen to the fact I have food allergies. He insisted I MUST eat 2000 calories a day (I had never eaten 2000 calories a day in my life). He also insisted I MUST eat foods I was allergic to.

My doctor put me on the maximum dose of Metformin...a drug which will ruin your kidneys. Hello, I already have diabetes, do we need to incapacitate me, too???? Why not the lowest dose?

I attempted to eat healthy, but found myself steadily gaining weight. No one told me the diabetes meds would cause weight gain. Ugh. So, I am supposed to lose weight and you put me on meds causing me to gain weight. Makes sense...to no one with a working brain.

Over the years we played with different kinds of diabetes meds. Some I couldn't take due to reactions. Others didn't seem to work. I was frustrated, so I ate. I would try dieting them found myself binge eating. It was a vicious cycle.

Finally, in 2002 I started Weight Watchers. I lost fifteen pounds. I felt better. 2003 brought a job transfer, stress, and elevated blood sugars. Doubled the weight I had lost. Saw an endocrinologist who was sure I had Hashi Moto Syndrome, too. She put me on Byeta. What a nightmare. Since I didn't have Hashi Moto's. She passed me off to her PA. First, I detest PAs and won't see them if I can avoid it. Second, the Byeta gave me nausea after every meal. I couldn't take it. We parted ways.

Then a dear friend and mentor died of diabetic complications. She was fifty-eight, the age I planned to retire. It was my wake up call. I had to take control.

I started by making a fist. Your fist is the size your stomach is supposed to be. I used salad plates for my meals, pushed all the food to the center of the plate, made a fist, took my knife and went around my fist. Everything on the outside went into a container for the next meal. I did this in restaurants, too. Then took a doggy bag home.

The first year, I lost twenty-five pounds just using portion control. I can't begin to tell you how much better I felt.

Year two, I started watching what I ate. No more junk food. No fried foods. I was still doing portion control. More vegetables were added to my diet. The result at the end of the year was another twenty-five pounds lost.

So, with the help of a friend, year three, I added thirty minutes of walking five days a week. It was amazing. I was still doing everything from years one and two. I bought a pedometer which played classical music when I walked. It was not loud, just enough so you knew it was there. By the end of the year I was down another twenty-five pounds.

So for all you math folks, I was losing 2.08 pounds a month. I'd lost a total of seventy-five pounds. It was staying off.

Then, something unexpected happened. I retired. A full two years before I planned to retire. Determined not to sit around and gain weight, I spent three months of winter in south Texas. Where I walked, swam, and continued the previous years good habits. I bought the book The 30 Day Diabetes Cure and started following it.

You guessed it. I was down another twenty-five pounds. My sugar levels were dropping. I no longer needed my rescue inhalant for my asthma.

Still, I needed to lose thirty-five pounds. I learned I binge eat when I am stressed. Yet, I was healthier than I had been in years. People noticed. A friend didn't recognize me one day when I stopped into the school for a visit.

I got rid of my "fat" clothes. They were just taking up space in my closet and dresser. My house got a make over and I sold it in March, 2015.

I moved to Johns Island, SC in April, 2015. Living in an apartment was a trip. I forgot how thin the walls could be. After six months, I bought a house. It was cute and full of charm, but was not meant to be my forever home.

My blood sugars were out of control. There was no place safe to walk. I played with a five to ten pound gain/loss. I knew I could not take Lantus insulin. Levemir worked for two years before causing nausea after every shot.

I was trying desperately to control my sugars and nothing was working. My stress level was out-of-sight. One night my sugar was so high before dinner, I called a friend and asked her to take me to the ER. After four and a half hours I was put on Novaflex.

It worked wonderfully for about three weeks, then I broke out in a rash. Guess who is allergic to insulin?? Yep, me.

I'm struggling. I moved back to Michigan at the end of 2017. Saw an endocrinologist and refused to return. He prescribed Lantus, which I knew I was allergic to. My regular doctor wanted me to take Lipitor for cholesterol. Lipitor causes diabetes in some women. Imagine what it does to someone who is already a diabetic. Picture me in search of a new doctor.

Then a friend found an all natural med which took her A1c from 8.9 to 6.9 in six weeks. I ordered the seven day trial and thought I was onto something. So, I ordered it. Surprise, surprise. Guess seven days wasn't enough to discover I am allergic to it.

I called the company today. They took all my information and symptoms. Someone is supposed to call me. back.

My current plan is to go lean meat, low carb. Add walking back in. We'll see if it makes a difference. I am pretty much ready to give up.

TTFN

What Inspired You to Write?

It was the question of the day. The answer is always complicated. I don't think it was any one thing.
For years I was called a daydreamer. I could be in class and not hear a word said. I'd be looking out a window and not see the playground or the front of the building, but far away places. Lands of knights, damsels in distress, fairies, elves, witches and more.

It wasn't until I was ten, I wrote something for my reading class and the teacher told me with my imagination, he'd see me in books some day. I believed him. My parents did nothing to discourage my belief.

We moved to a new town the year I started seventh grade. It was a traumatic move for me. I started writing poetry to express what I was feeling. I got good at writing poetry. I tried short stories, but just couldn't seem to make characters who were real. I didn't know how and no one who could have helped me seemed interested.

I took all the writing classes I could in college. Even my narrative writing professor told me I had talent, but she didn't know how to help me develop it. I started reading books on writing.

Being an avid reader I read two to three novels a week. Mostly mystery. I liked trying to figure out who did it before it was revealed by the author. I got pretty good at it. Every once in a while I slip up.
I just finished The Burial Hour by Jeffrey Deavers. I was clueless until the end.

I stumbled onto National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in 2003. I was eight days late starting. I had a day with no power, yet I finished my first novel in 21 days. No, it was not ready for publication. It was 2004 before the novel made it to print. I was surprised to know it sold 160 copies. Not bad for a first book. Not great, but not bad. The book is now in its second edition.

Since then I have written nine other books, two workbooks for writing classes I teach and three $0.99 ebooks. It was just the beginning.

I continue to write, not because my teacher told me I could, but because I have stories to tell. If I don't write them, I will go crazy.

So, what inspired me to write? Maybe it was Mrs. Snell telling the story of the Jungle Book and having us look outside her window to the forest there. Maybe it was Mr. Ireland telling me, I had an imagination. Maybe it was always what I was supposed to do.

TTFN

It's Been a Month

Dad,

  It's been a month since you left us. Mom is doing well. We are taking her to dinner at Gracie's on Friday for her birthday. 

  Megan is still in Florida on vacation. Jason is having his first sitting for his senior pictures. Diane and Kim are preparing to start another year at school. 

  Mike had a window ledge give out on him at work and fell into a 4 foot window well. He was home for two days with that injury. Did some soft tissue damage and comes home limping every night. 

  Finally sold my house. We closed on July 31st as planned. Money is in the bank with the exception of the CMU student loan for Megan I paid off. Still have three for MSU. But we're working on them. 

  Secrets was re-released today. I'm hoping it sells well. The cover looks awesome and it is in normal type now. Only the poetry book to redo. I have a mystery box series coming out for 12 months. If it goes over well, I will look at a second one. Hoping to finish Macy book 4 this month.  My class again only has one student, but I'll take one every time. 

  I'm looking at three new authors for Lilac Publishing. Not something I planned, just something which fell into my lap. Nothing from any of them until next year. 

  Cut off my hair. It was just too hot to keep it long. Mike says I look like Peter Pan. I like it and it's easy to maintain.

  Dean has been up again to spend time with Mom. Had to go home early to take care of an air conditioner problem causing a leak in the bathroom. 

   Savannah is getting ready for her first year of college. She's going to be a smashing success. And she already has friends who are there. 

   I have found something natural to take for my blood sugar. The goal is to be off the Metformin by the end of the year. Cannot use all the products the company makes, but can use the important ones. A bit pricy, but living is pricy.

   Paying the final light bill in South Carolina today. Going to get my Michigan driver's license. Then hopefully I can get insurance for the car so I can go get plates tomorrow. Working with MEEMIC again. 

   Went to a wedding last weekend in Rose City. It was the marriage of one of my first students 28 years ago when I started teaching up there. Very nice service. I was pleased to be invited. Saw some old friends and former students. Going up later this month for another wedding. Mike and I are going to stay at Diane's that weekend. Looking forward to it.

   Well, if I am going to accomplish anything today, I need to get busy. 

Miss you every day. 

Love,

Becky

   

My List of Favorite Children's Classics

This is my list. Again in no particular order.

1) The Biggest Bear by Lynn Ward

2) Calico Captive by Elizabeth George Speare

3) The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame

4) The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

5) The BFG by Roald Dahl

6) Where the Wild Things Are by Mauice Sendak

7) A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle

8) Dorrie and the Blue Witch by Patricia Coombs

9) Matilda by Roald Dahl

10) Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt

11) A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein

12) Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

And for my daughter, Jamie

13) The Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe by CS Lewis

14) The Last of the Great Wangdoodles by Julie Andrews

15) Any Beatrix Potter book

16) Never Talk to Strangers by Irma Joyce


I know there should be more on this. If I have missed your favorite, please put it in the comments.

The Question Was: What Are Your Top 10 Favorite Classic Books

So, I have compiled a list of my 10 favorite classics. They are in no particular order.

1) Little Women by Louisa M. Alcott

2) Silas Marner by George Eliot

3) A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickins

4) Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

5) Beowolf author unknown

6) Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

7) Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

8) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

9) North and South by John Jakes

10) Paradise Lost by John Donne

I know this list is endless, so if you have a favorite I didn't list, please put it in the comments.

TTFN

Finding Normal

If there ever was such a thing, I've never found normal. But the normal I knew got turned upside down on July 2nd. I'm finding it hard to balance what I knew with what is now. So, I'm just going to add some photos.

2001 the first time we had been together in a very long time. 17 years ago. This was my family. 

Papa with Megan. Hard to believe she was his first great grandchild.

Grampa with Jason and Ryan. Thanksgiving a long time ago.

Papa & Jason at Christmas, just before Papa put Jason's hat on him and covered his face.

Her biggest fans Macamaw & Papa with Megan & Jason.

With Casey, October 2011.

Mom & Dad October, 2011.

October 29, 2011 with Karen and Anthony

Jamie's college graduation.

Christmas 2011 I think.

Thanksgiving with the great grandkids 2015

Dad with his beloved 1925 Flint.

Three generations on both sides.

Not even sure when this was taken.

Miss you, Dad. Love you always.

News From Somewhere

May seems to have slipped by and I find myself in June. I am not sure I even know where to begin.

First, you will find my blog address has changed. It is now https://penadream.blogspot.com. The change came with my new website. https://iamrebeckaviguswritingcoach.com

Still trying to sell the house. It has been under contract twice. Once the loan for the buyers fell through and the second, the buyer walked away. It's being shown about twice a week. I know there is someone out there who wants it.

I have finished my Marketing on a Budget class and my Start Your Novel class ends next week. I am gearing up for a FREE webinar on June 12th at 8pm EST.  Then, a class Dive into Writing in July. So, I'm keeping busy.

Writing, when I can to finish Macy book 4 and get it to the publisher. I am ready to be done and start book 5.  I need Macy on hiatus so, I can work on some other things which have been neglected.

It's nice being closer to family. I see more of them than I have seen in two years. While we are still looking for a retirement home in Kentucky.

I will endeavor to put together a decent blog when I am more alert.

TTFN

Wow!

It's been a while since I've blogged here. When I last blogged my home in South Carolina was under contract. 

I am disappointed to report the buyer's loan fell through so it went back on the market. The end of April I put it under contract again. This time the buyer walked away. So, it is once again back on the market.

Things have been picking up for me. My coaching business is slowly starting to grow. I have a class for those who want to start a novel. It has one person, who is really going to set the world on fire. I also have a budget marketing class with one person. She says she wishes I had offered this a year ago. I have a beginning writing class Dive into Writing beginning in July. I'm looking forward to it and am hoping I have more people who will be in it.

The classes are all virtual. Which means you can do them from the comfort of your home. All you need to start is your laptop. For all the information on these classes go to: http://iamrebeckaviguswritingcoach.com/

In other news, Secrets my very first novel is being re-released after being off the shelf for years. It will be out August 15th. I will reveal the cover when it becomes available. 

I am plugging away at Macy book 4. Look for her in 2019. I have my publisher looking at making Moonbeams into a coloring book. Hoping to have it out for Christmas.  I am putting together a book of my short stories and am working on more children's reading material.

Never a dull moment. Keep reading and writing.

TTFN