Norma's Wanderings around a small section of Montana |
I have trouble sleeping, but a sleep study told the doctor I slept just fine. Whatever. I know I wake up sometimes every hour at night. It's hard to be creative, to function normally, to be yourself, when you are sleep-deprived. Then after a time, you begin to wonder if this is the new you, the new normal. Yikes! So the question is, what do you do when your new normal is so drastically different from what you always perceived? I always thought one needed to go to bed at a decent time. Hubby claims that is 8 PM. But you now find yourself in a situation where that has now changed. I go to bed at 11 PM most nights. That is better than when I first came from a consult about a sleep study. Back almost a year ago, I was told to stay awake until 2 AM. Then get up at 7 AM. Gracious. And not to take naps, as that would disrupt your sleep at night. So from that nadir, I have worked back to 11 PM as bedtime. I still wake at least one or two times during the night. I got to thinking about this again after reading a post on the newsfeed. Be glad if you don't have sleep problems. Believe me, there is nothing worse some nights than lying awake and watching the time slip away as you lie there, unable to go back to dreamland. I think they use sleep deprivation as a torture technique. Sure is working on me. I'm just not sure who is holding me captive. |
It's day 7 of the 30DBC. Interesting prompt for today, about praise and criticism. I watched a movie last night, I'm sure lots have already seen it. "Rocketman", about Elton John. And this biographical take on the rock star's tumultuous life is about praise, lots of it from his fans. And criticism, lots of it from his family. I kept talking to his father, 'Touch him. Hug him. Tell him you love him!" If only the father had seen the amazing child he was - a piano prodigy - what different way would he have taken? Would we have not had that flamboyant superstar? Then the praise from all the hangers-on, the fans, the world. If he hadn't been such a superstar, would he have fallen into that drug and alcohol-fueled lifestyle? The balance of praise and criticism is critical to everyone. It's a fine line. Too much praise, you get too inured to anyone trying to help you. Too much criticism, and you decide nothing you do is worth anything. |
The 30 Day Blogging Challenge is rolling along nicely. Such interesting and unusual prompts lead to some equally interesting and unusual blog entries. What a great way to spend November! Things here in Roundup are quiet. Still no rain or snow. Just dry and very windy yesterday. Usually around these parts, wind means a storm will come on its tail. There may be some rain tonight, winter storm warning over toward Livingston and Bozeman. But those parts are near the mountains, so they'll probably get some snow. Us? I'll be surprised if any rain comes. We are planning to go again to Big Timber for Thanksgiving. We don't have family here. So we'll go back to an old hotel there. It's an old cowboy hotel that has an excellent restaurant. It was built in 1890 and is on the historic register. Wondeful old place. Plus nearby are the Crazy Mountains so we can get a hike or two in. Tonight we turn back the clocks. I hate this time of year when the sun decreases. I need the light. I always thank God when the winter solstice comes in December and we swing back toward light again. |
So today the journey for November 30 DBC begins. I love the entries so far. The constants I note from virtually everyone are home and computer. Then throw in a few different ideas such as library cards, Murano glass, iPods. Oh of course there are cars. I think the most 5 important items in my life are: 1. a home - for the first time in my life I actually own my home, paid for in full 2. a car - for the first time in my life I actually own my car, hubby is a frugal always pay cash kind of person 3. a computer, an essential for a writer these days - it's a Mac air 4. my wedding ring - because after a few disasters I finally found a good man 5. books - I love books But all belongs to God, after all. He gives us out of His generosity. We are here on this earth just a short time. What we have will go to someone else when we die. Perhaps what we need to have more of is kindness, love and peace. |
So it's almost November, tomorrow starts the 30 Day Blogging Challenge. I'm a guest judge. Thanks to my friend Kåre Enga in Montana , there are, as of this writing, 22 enrolled in the challenge. Terrific! Can't wait to read all the entries. Today is also the last day for the OctoPrep Challenge. With any luck at all, 45 challengers will complete the month-long preparation for the NaNoWriMo marathon novel writing contest. A few folks still are waiting to finish. I pray they get their assignments in before midnight. Tonight was trick or treat in town. There is always a parade, then a hotdog feed at the Catholic church, then the goblins leave to beg for treats. My house is one block west of the church. Usually I have an endless parade of beggars. This year, it is like they don't even see my house. Strange. I'll have candy left over. But that is the good thing about hard candy, it will keep until next year. Last night we were supposed to see the aurora borealis from a G3 magnetic storm. I was so ready, that will be wonderful. I've never seen the Northern Lights. But you guessed it, total cloud cover. Darn. Nothing. Right now I'm watching the original 'Alien'. I totally forgot the tagline. 'No one can hear you scream in outer space.' Creepy. Since there is nothing worth watching on TV, I am staring to watch the Alien series. I found the 5 set VHS at the thrift store. And yes, I still have a VHS player. This movie was made in 1979. Amazing. That is over 40 years ago. A lifetime ago. |
Can you believe it's already the 21st of October? How time flies. And we still don't have any rain or snow to speak of. There was a bit of a storm eight days ago. But not a drop of snow or rain since then. Too weird and too dry. I got sad news a few days ago. The husband of the woman we worked for in Gardiner passed away. The motel we managed was a family-owned affair, the wife of this man was in charge. Dennis worked in Yellowstone, retired some time ago from his job there. He'd been in bad health for a few years, but this was a heart attack and very unexpected. Sad news for us. He was a good person. We put the garden to bed a few days ago. The potatoes were still in the ground. We dug out 37# of potatoes. That's after 50# of butternut squash. So pleased by that. And the squash came from just two plants! Amazing. I guess they really liked the hot spell we had in July. The OctoPrep Challenge is rolling right along. Everyone is seeing the end. Only a little more than a week to go. I just pray I was a help in keeping everyone on track, making sure people didn't get disqualified for running into that 72 hour time limit. Pray for us that we get some rain or snow. |
I'm a busy person. OctoPrep is really cooking right now. People are winning, people are dropping off. I keep track the old fashioned way, with a pen and paper. But it works for me. I am having a lot of fun sending little 'love' notes to folks reminding them of time, get back on track, you have a great idea... We finally got a bit of rain/snow here. And it was a bit. About 1/4 inch of moisture. It's funny, that's what it's called. Not rain, not snow. Moisture. We measure 'moisture'. A big topic came up today, seems there have been children arriving at school lately without shoes, without clean clothes on, hair unbrushed, dirty, and even with wet pants. Now how does this happen? we wonder. How do you send your child off to school for the day without shoes? In dirty clothes? no coat? And then, they wet their pants on the way there? The poor secretary at the elementary school is a bit troubled by this trend, as she should be. So a few rallied, we gathered up some shoes, some underwear, some socks, some coats, and made arrangements to get these to the school for folks to give to children in need. No small feat in a town with limited retail. But then there is the talk 'I just hate that some people get to thinking that everything is just given to them'. Yes, but, is it right for a child to suffer, especially in the climate we have here, because a parent cannot or will not, take care in the morning to wake up, get up, for whatever reason, to get that child off to school in decent clothes and shoes? I really worry about some people, I gotta tell you. There was a time when I was a single mom, and my kids didn't have much, but by golly they never had dirty clothes and they always went to school with shoes and they were clean. Okay, well, enough of the ugly facts of life. After our little taste of winter, it is now to be in the 60's again in a few days. Go figure. And the barking dogs that were on the corner, the ones that barked 12 hours a day? Well, they up and moved one night. Ha! A blessing for sure. So life goes on. We do the best we can. Now I'm off to judge the week one OctoPrep entries. Wish me luck. |
I am deep into OctoPrep. The cheerleading job is fun. I do so enjoy exhorting, encouraging, convincing, cajoling. It is a good exercise in creativity to respond to forum posts, send little notes to folks. Life here in Montana is busy, as usual. Volunteering, getting ready for the cold weather we know will be here soon. We were able to get the tomatoes out of the garden before a hard frost. Butternut squash came next. From 2 plants, we harvested over 50# of squash. Amazing. There are still potatoes in the ground, but they are safe and sound for a little while longer. There is talk of snow and rain in the next few days. Right, rumors. I've heard of rain. It supposedly is water that falls from the sky. I feel like the folks when Noah was preaching. He warned of rain and flood. The people had never seen rain before. The water always came up from the ground to water the earth. It had never fallen from the sky. We'll see if the weatherman is right. |
Is it really the end of September? How can that be true? It seems just yesterday I was bemoaning the fact it was over 100° for days on end. Now it is below 40° in the mornings. The trees are losing leaves, and the leaves are changing colors. The garden is going bad, the tomatoes are done. The squash is ripening, and probably ready to pick. The potatoes are safe underground, but ready to dig up. We turned off the irrigation to the garden and to the ornamental plants around the house. Then hubby used the air compressor to blow out the water to winterize the lines. Today we did an overdue shopping trip to Billings. I don't enjoy the day-long shopping anymore. Stop here, stop there. Multiple errands, haircut, groceries, cleaner, this and that. We arrive home exhausted. The only perk is lunch out. There are no decent restaurants in Roundup, so we do enjoy a nice lunch for a change. Tomorrow we start the OctoPrep contest. This should be fun. I did cheerleading last year and enjoyed it immensely. We sure do have an abundance of talent, but then, most everyone that is active on the site already knows that. I cannot wait to read what everyone has to present this year! For those that didn't see the image I shared with some of the participants, here you go: |