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Gemini Rising

by StephBee

Rated: 18+ · Book · Personal · #1051691

Life, Adventure, Family, Writing what else is there? Random thoughts.

WELCOME TO:

GEMINI RISING

UPDATED INTRO 30 JUNE 2025:

Just a little about me. I've been married for 33 years this past NOV and currently live in Southern California, but I grew up in New Hampshire.

Me visiting Space Camp 1993

me in my 20's

I've got 2 boys who are young adults.

The family waits in line to get on next to the Ship.

I work as a 911 dispatcher for LAPD. I enjoy my job a lot. Still. If you can believe that.

I love to write. Thankfully both of my boys achieved Eagle Scout. My Scouting days are over and I'm back to focusing on my writing.

I like to get out in nature, drink coffee and watch football.

Here's a little bio about my zodiac.

GEMINI: Gemini, the sign of the Twins, is dual-natured, elusive, complex and contradictory. On the one hand it produces the virtue of versatility, and on the other the vices of two-facedness and flightiness. The sign is linked with Mercury, the planet of childhood and youth, and its subjects tend to have the graces and faults of the young. When they are good, they are very attractive; when they are bad they are more the worse for being the charmers they are. Like children they are lively, and happy, if circumstances are right for them, or egocentric, imaginative and restless.

Their good qualities are attractive and come easily to them. They are affectionate, courteous, kind, generous, and thoughtful towards the poor and suffering - provided none of the activities resulting from expressing these traits interferes too greatly with their own lives and comforts.

Geminians can be successful in many walks of life though their general characteristics tend to make them unreliable. They are often skilled manipulators of language, in speech and writing, and may be: debaters, diplomats (though in politics they are more interested in theory than practice), orators, preachers (brilliant rather than profound), teachers, authors, poets, journalists, or lawyers.

BLOG ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

DECEMBER 2025:

I participated in:

FORUM

12 Poetic Days of Yuletide (E)

12 different Poetry styles beginning December 21st- January 1st.

#2329171 by Witchy Yule Woman

this was a great challenge and I would highly recommend it if comes up again for next year. The blog earned the following merit badge:

SEPTEMBER 2025:

FORUM

It's WDC- 25th Birthday (E)

7 day Challenge to celebrate 25 years of this successful writer's haven.

#2343390 by Witchy Yule Woman

Merit Badges collected and earned:

Awardicon earned: The blog earned the Green 50K Awardicon for 1st Place.

SEPTEMBER 2025:

FORUM

Earn the Badge - CLOSED (E)

You want it? Earn it. How? Complete these simple tasks and the badge is yours!

#2133333 by Purple Princess

Merit Badges collected and earned from "Earn the Badge 2025"

SUMMER 2025:

FORUM

BCoF 's Virtual 50 State Bucket List (18+)

We're going to explore one unique place in each of the 50 states in alphabetical order.

#2342653 by Witchy Yule Woman

Merit Badges Collected from Virtual Blogging &Virtual Blogging Friends:

SEPTEMBER 2024:

I participated in the

FORUM

Blog Week Birthday Bastion 2025 (E)

Blogging event from September 1-7, 2025. CLOSED

#2277665 by WakeUpAndLive~lifestyle change

which was a big challenge for me due to my schedule, but I hunkered down and got it done. There's some great entries for the contest and the blog earned the following:

Merit Badge in Nonfiction
[Click For More Info]

Congrats on your Honorable Mention in Blog Week Birthday Bastion 2024

Big thanks to WakeUpAndLive~lifestyle change

for hosting the contest!

OCTOBER 2024 & 2025 :

I participated in the

FORUM

13 Poetic Days of Halloween Contest 2025 (E)

Let your spooky poetry shine. Oct. 13th 12:01 am WDC time. - closes 11:59 pm WDC Oct 25th

#2328177 by Witchy Yule Woman

in 2024 which honestly was a big challenge for me considering my schedule, and again I hunkered down and did it! Update October 2025: I had so much participating in the challenge last year, I did it again for 2025 and successfully completed it. There's some great spooky poetry to be found in October and the blog earned the following merit badges:

Big Thanks to Witchy Yule Woman

for hosting the contest!

NOVEMBER 2025 :

from Tiggy

Find me at:

WEBSITE:
http://www.stephanieburkhart.com

FACEBOOK:
https://www.facebook.com/StephanieBurkhartAuthor

GOOD READS:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4031660.Stephanie_Burkhart

YOU TUBE CHANNEL:
http://www.youtube.com/user/botrina?feature=mhee

WARNING

I intend to be open, honest, and forthright. No topic is off limits from religion to you name it, I'm going there. If you think you might be offended...back up now - this blog isn't for you. For those who "dare" check out the "Gemini Rising..."

Another Signature

Comments ·

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

Winter Wonderin' Wanderin'

about 8 hours ago
In response to "Spring Training at Dodgerville "

I sense you are a devoted fan.

Lazy Writer est 4/24/2008

about 9 hours ago
In response to "Spring Training at Dodgerville "

Glad you enjoyed the game.

Ichabod Crane

about 12 hours ago
In response to "Spring Training at Dodgerville "

I watch those games all the time. I probably saw you guys when they pan the camera's around! That would be an awesome trip for sure.

🍀Krista☘️

a day ago
In response to "Farmer's Market "

What a great day!

1 Like

StephBee

Mar 7, 2026 at 10:39am
In response to "Every Day Things keeping me Busy "

Guys, $68.00 isn't a bad guess, but no, sadly, the damage was: $77.00 without tip!!

The tap water doesn't taste good. Why? Aging pipes led to contamination things like lead, arsenic and nitrate kinda bleed into the water altering the taste. Our water infrastructure is about 100 years old and there's been very little upgrades to it. I always buy spring water, but even Arrowhead is questionable. It doesn't taste as good as Crystal Geyser. IF I have to, I'll buy purified water, but I'd prefer not to.

References:
https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2023-09-27/californias-strug gle-for-clean-water-is-getting-harder
https://calmatters.org/environment/water/2024/09/ca lifornia-drinking-water-contamination/
https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/california-dr inking-water/127527/

1 Like

Jellyfish -STOP THE WAR!✌️

Mar 6, 2026 at 4:14pm
In response to "Every Day Things keeping me Busy "

Okay I am going to go for 68 dollars which is about 50 pounds - you didn't have any alcohol it sounds like but I know that tax and tip in US us about 1/4 of the bill! And, you have said the water was 10 dollars which is about 8 pounds.

I am interested as to why you say you don't drink the water in California. In the UK you can drink tap water, I mean, it is safe and won't kill you, but in a lot of the South of England the water is so hard that it tastes awful and may give you a tummy ache. So, I only actually drink bottled water here, I have a filter kettle and I use that for water for cooking and hot drinks.

Do you earn money for recycling??

1 Like

StephBee

Mar 6, 2026 at 11:04am
In response to "Every Day Things keeping me Busy "

I'll share the total later on today. Hoping for a few more guesses!

Humming Bird

Mar 6, 2026 at 8:42am
In response to "Every Day Things keeping me Busy "

You made me miss my PCC (Pasadena City College) days. I'd guess you spent around 68 dollars for lunch.

1 Like

StephBee

Mar 5, 2026 at 11:29pm
In response to "Every Day Things keeping me Busy "

Soldier_Mike

Trust me, it went better than that!!

Soldier_Mike

Mar 5, 2026 at 11:24pm
In response to "Every Day Things keeping me Busy "

Helped your Joey with his French, eh? I'll bet it went better than this... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mw9W2s6L2WM

1 Like

March 9, 2026 at 7:48pm

#1110267

Spring Training at Dodgerville

It's Spring Training for baseball and the family and I went to Arizona to see a Dodger Spring Training game. Spring Training is where baseball players tune up their "game" so to speak so their ready for when the season starts.

Mind you, Dodger Spring Training is a BIG deal since they won back-to-back World Series titles. The Dodgers hold their Spring Training in Glendale, Arizona. Glendale is a city just north of Phoenix. My retired co-worker/friend who lives in Arizona lives in Goodyear, which is a city just west of Phoenix.

Anyhoo... after the Farmer's Market the Fam got all decked out in our Dodger gear and headed off to the training facility in Glendale. It's really impressive there are like 6 baseball fields, and the Dodgers share the training facility with the White Sox. There are like 10-15 teams in this area (Arizona) and they call the Spring Training experience the Cactus league.

The stadium is like a minor league stadium. Just a field level, but they sell seats to sit on the grass area just outside of the outfield. Of course I bought souvenirs - pins for Andy and a ball for Joey. I got a Cactus League day pack. I wanted more !! lol!! I'll have to go back and buy more at the online store.

We saw the following Dodgers play: Freddie Freeman (my favorite) Mookie Betts, Max Muncy, Teoscar Hernandez (another favorite) and Andy Pages. Then their was the players that are considered minor league players trying to make the team.

The temps were good in the 70's. The food was okay - I got a dodger dogs but the onions were sparse. Joey flatbread pizza could have been cooked longer. Then I got popcorn for Joey in the 6th inning and Dippin Dots for me, Andy & Brent.

Sadly, the Dodgers lost to the Rockies. What was nice: Lots of hits and the new "strike checker" was cool, too. The game moved faster as the pitcher's on a timer.

The tickets, IMHO were pricey for spring training, but hey, it's the Dodgers. the seats were 60 bucks each and if you throw in fees closer to 70.00 and we were sitting in an outfield section on the 3rd base side. Still, I liked the coziness of the stadium.

If you follow me on facebook you'll see my pics of the game.

All in all, it was a great time and we enjoyed our little trip to Arizona.
They drive is a haul, though. If I didn't have the boys, I'd fly.

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