What Day Is It?

Posted on February 2, 2024 by Silver James

Did you ever wake up and have no clue what day of the week it was? 🙋🏼‍♀️ Yeah that’s pretty much been me since this whole thing started. It’s Groundhog Day. That means it’s February 2nd. LG put the trash out for pickup which means it’s Friday. Would you believe that I didn’t put up my new 2024 wolf calendar up until today? Goes to show how little time I’ve spent in my office this past month and days.

Anyway, an update. I’m having more good days than bad days but I haven’t reached the point where I get up, do my regular morning stuff, go to the office to sit at the computer and do my usual daily stuff. I do get up at my usual sixish time to feed the cat critters and let Jake out and back in. Then I’m usually back to bed to rest. Some days I just stay there. Other days, I manage to get up and do some things. I made a trip to Wallyworld this week. LG went along and helped. I’m also cleared to drive and did that the other day–a short trip to Ace Hardware for bird seed. The nice folks there loaded up my cart then my car because I’m still on a 10 lb. lifting restriction. I had to go back to bed after each of those excursions.

In other news, the taste buds are finally starting to return to normal. That’s a yay. I’m also trying to fix dinner again. There for awhile, I wasn’t eating much of anything and LG was scrounging. Tonight, I’m doing a Cajun “boil” (which is actually done in the oven and is easy) with shrimp, corn, potatoes, and smoked sausage. I’m really trying to watch what I eat. While I’m probably too thin after losing 40 lbs., I don’t want to put that 40 back on.

Not up to working yet. I can sit at the keyboard for about 30 minutes at a time and then I need to lay down. All the rearranging in my middle hasn’t quite settled into place yet. Still beats the alternative! And on that note, I’ll end here. I need to do a couple of things before I can grab my morning nap. Then it’s lunch, afternoon nap, and dinner. Life is so exciting around here. 🙄 Have a great weekend. 🤞🏼 I get back on a more regulart track next week. I miss y’all.

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Benign Intervention

Posted on January 18, 2024 by Silver James

Prayers work! Thank you for all of yours! Quick update because energy is at a premium but I wanted to share the news. Surgery went off without a hitch but for the “alien baby.” More about that in a minute. Good news is that all pathology came back negative. NO cancer! I’m on the road to recovering from the surgery which seems like it should be easier that it is. LOL I’m on the laptop which is being squirrely so forgive any typos. Anyway, I have a big ol’ gnafly scar with stitches and staples (which come out a week from tomorrow–YAY) and I’ve lost 30+ pounds (which creates its own set of problems. LOL). Part of the weight loss is due to inability to eat, loss of taste due to general anestesia, and shrinkage of stomach. Sadly, I have no “pants” that fit other than my pjs and I can’t wear them to the doctor appointments I have next week. Ah well. The other part is due to the “alien baby.” If you are squeamish, stop after my moment of begging. If you are curious, keep reading.

Begging. I’m not good at this and it makes me really uncomfortable but I’m basically getting by on SSA benefits. Medicare won’t cover everything and I’ve already put the 4-figure deductible on my credit card. Please go buy one of my books. If you already own them all, buy one and gift a friend who might enjoy it. If everyone who follows me on social media did this, I’d be in the black with maybe enough left over to buy a new pair of jeans. LOL Jiminy but asking that leaves a bad taste in my mouthl. Moving on…

Alien baby. The tumor on my right ovary was 14x16x24 centimeters and weighed 10 POUNDS. Yes, you read that right. TEN FREAKING POUNDS! The doc took pictures. It was gnarly and took two hands to hold. The nurses told me that it wouldn’t fit in the specimen bucket they send to the pathology lab. One of them had to get a placenta bucket and it still spilled over. Yeah, yeah. TMI but I find that hysterically funny and things to laugh about have been few and far between so far this year.

Wow. It took me an hour to type this. I need a nap now. Again, HUGE thanks for all the prayers, healing thoughs, and good vibes sent my way. Y’all are the very, VERY best! I’ll touch base as energy allows. One last thing, I’m blessed that LG is my life partner. He’s been a rock star! ❤ you all!

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Life Happens

Posted on January 9, 2024 by Silver James

I didn’t plan on disppareaing but life happens when you least expect it or are prepared for it. Quick update before I head back to bed because enenrgy is at a premium at the moment.

On December 27, I woke up, started my day feeling fine. Within an hour, I was doubled over with the worst abdominal pain I’ve ever exprienced. LG got me to the ER at a nearby community satillite hospital. After two different kinds of CT scan (a stand-up like an X-ray and then the maching thingy laying down), the doc came in to say that I had–her words–“A tumor over mu right ovary about 16×14 centimeters in size. There is a possibility it is ovarian cancer.”

She referred me to a specialist in the same hospital system and his staff got me in on January 5th–something of a miracle that it was so quick over the holidays. I spent the intervening days in pain and trying to eat and drink water. This “alien” has played havoc with my digestive system and I’ve lost 15 pounds. Hellava way to get down to a weight I haven’t seen in almost 20 years. Anyway, I really like the new doc. He was very hopeful and thinks the mass might be too large to be cancer but won’t know for sure until after pathology tests are run. I’m scheduled for major surgery for this Thursday morning. He’s yanking out the mass and a bunch of “out-of-warranty” parts I don’t need at my age. Tests will be run on those parts and then we’ll see what the plan is. In the meantimes, I’m conserving what little energy I have, trying to get what sleep I can, enjoying the few pain-free moments.

I’ll be in hospital a couple of days and then mostly out of commission for 6-8 weeks. LG has been an absolute rock during all this stuff and I’m lucky to have him. Not sure when I’ll sit down at the computer again to write but I will try to check in as I can. Thank you all for sticking with me. Getting back to writing is a main goal because I don’t want to disappoint y’all–or my charachters. LOL Anyway, prayers and good thoughts appreciated. ❤

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Friday Free-For-All

Posted on December 29, 2023 by Silver James

Have a safe and sane New Year’s “weekend” and especially on New Year’s Eve. I’d like to keep y’all around in the new year. Yeah?

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Thursday Thoughts: Quitting Time

Posted on December 28, 2023 by Silver James

Occasionally, I have deep thoughts. Thoughts that must be pondered. It’s Thursday. Thoughts. I have them. What are your thinking today?

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Wednesday Words: Got Dragons?

Posted on December 27, 2023 by Silver James

Y’all know I write romanace–in some form or another. Or should that be some genre or another? Or would that be sub-genre? I write romance. Usually with at least a touch of the paranormal and often a smidge of magic. And what’s more magically delicious than dragons? Am I right?

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Tuesday Treats & Titles: Book Shopping & Pie

Posted on December 26, 2023 by Silver James

It’s Tuesday. Time for treats and titles–unless you are one of those day-after-Christmas bargain hunters. If you are, good luck out there. What Christmas goodie leftover are you treating on today? Turkey sandwich and pecan pie for me. And who got a new book for Christmas? What’s the title? I didn’t but we gave two books to Stormy: THE BEAST, THE QUEEN, AND THE LOST KNIGHT by Alexandria Rogers and SKANDAR AND THE PHANTOM RIDER by A.F. Steadman. Both are awesome entries into YA fantasy series. I am currently reading Kerry Anne King/Kerry Schafer’s RELOCATING CHRISTMAS: a Nickle and Hawk Christmas mystery novella. It’s fun, though I’m having to take my time because it’s on my Kindle. Stupid eyes. Anyway, that’s it for Tuesday. 😉

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Merry Christmas Monday

Posted on December 25, 2023 by Silver James

Santa is a man after my own heart…

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Friday Sinema: Midnight Clear Space Rangers

Posted on December 22, 2023 by Silver James

So, waaay back in 1989, when MTV was really starting to be a thing, so did music videos that were more than just concert footage. They were little mini-movies. Also, waaay back then, production processes weren’t as high tech as they are now. Anyway, Kenny Rogers recorded this song and I LOVED it! At the time, I mentioned to LG that Kenny should turn it into a made-for-TV movie, along the lines of his “The Gambler.” Fast forward a few years. I heard the song again and decided I’d write my own screenplay based on it. I was playing around with various writing “forms” at the time. I wrote the story of a current-day Texas Ranger who needed some help and got it in the form of space rangers from the planet Texas. It went into the bottom of a file drawer and sat for about ten years. During a cleaning spree, I found that box, and decided I could turn that screenplay into a book. Or, at least a novella. I started it, got about 10K words into it and a different project caught my attention. Skip ahead at least ten more years. While looking for another project, which was lost in my digital files this time, I tumbled across the WIP based on “Planet Texas.” Iffy, my Muse, magically appeared, demanded I finish the thing as a Christmas novella and gave me a deadline of December 15 to have it finished, polished, and released. It was a crazy week and an a half, but I did it. And so MIDNIGHT CLEAR came about and was set loose in the wild. I thought I’d give y’all a gander at the song and video that started it all. Remember what I said about the production values back in the old days. Those processes didn’t age well but you can get the gist of the story. And if you read my version of it, please give me a Christmas present by leaving a review either on Amazon or Goodreads. Please and thank you and enjoy!

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Thursday Thoughts: Universal Wonder

Posted on December 21, 2023 by Silver James

Today is the Winter Solstice, the shortest day and the longest night of the year. From now until midsummer, the light slowly comes back into the world, shrinking the dark by seconds and minutes. There’s a reason the liturgical calendar also celebrates the birth of Christ this time of year. He, too, brought light back into the world. And then we have Santa Claus, who brings magic and wonder into the world. Yes, I still believe in the jolly old elf. And I especially believe in the wonder and magic of season.

I’ll also admit that sometimes, I lose the feeling of the season. The hustle and bustle. Life. Stress. Time running short. This. That. Whatever. And then I stop. Take a moment. And I see a child standing in line to whisper to Santa their most fervant wish for Christmas. Or I glimpse them behind the window of a car as their parents drive through a wonderland of lights and decorations. Or I help my grandson place shining ornaments on the tree and when the time is right, the lights are off as we wait in the dark on this longest of nights, and flip the switch. Light returns, from the star on the top to the twinlking lights twining through the branches, glittering ornaments gleaming. Yeah…the Universe agrees.

Laced throughout every day of your life, Silver, are hidden highways of opportunity, invisible crossroads of time, and avenues for great personal transformation that, if only traveled upon, would reveal the extraordinary, the sublime, and the unexpected.

Yet most slip by undetected until there is first a childlike wonder at the ordinary, the routine, and the expected.

Hot diggity-dog,
The Universe
©www.tut.com 

P.S. After all, it’s usually a dirt road, Silver, that leads to the diamond mine.

In addition to the whole believing in Santa Claus, I’m an advocate for taking the way less traveled. Sometimes, when you come to a fork in the road, you should just take it. That’s according to Yogi Berra. He also said, “You can observe a lot just by watching.” I have the feeling Yogi and the Big U sit around up there and chat from time to time. Anyway, when Life wears you down, look at the ordinary, the routine, and the expected through the eyes of a child. And when you find childlike wonder, go drive down a dirt road. Who knows? You might just find a diamond…

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