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   Shi Blogs Too: from out of the mountains where I live. I will now be keeping a journal. This is something new for me. I have no idea what I am doing, just that I am diving in. This should be an interesting journey for me. Mainly because I consider myself to be a semi-private person. I live with my fiance and our two kitties, in what I have come to recognize as a small community in a somewhat remote area. Retirement has it's own life style and livelihood. Far away from the norm.       ![Merit Badge in Blog Camping
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Sorry for outbidding you in the [Link To Item #2113623] ...I'm not a fan of bidding wars and feel bad about it. I know this isn't the same thing as the package itself, but it's the least I could do. *^*Smile*^*](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Blog_Camping-1788309_13.gif) If you want to find out more about me...read my Author Bio ~
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I have been working very hard on getting my Narrative Poetry Workshop ready for the week February 17th-24th. I've put a lot of time and effort into making this workshop a success. I think that I have succeeded so far in making this an interesting, informative, and eye pleasing workshop. Today I received numerous reviews on the workshop from my fellow Winter Festival of Weeklong Workshop leaders! These reviews meant so very much to me. They were very supportive and encouraging reviews. Down right wonderful ones at that! Thank you all so very much. You know who you are! I can hardly wait for my workshop week now. I feel I am fully prepared to lead this class. I can't thank Gabriella enough for asking me to participate in her Festival! THANK YOU GABRIELLA AND THANK YOU FOR THIS VALENTINE ALSO! ** Image ID #1386305 Unavailable ** |
Most of my day today was spent on the telephone. A real rarity for me; as I don't like to spend too much time talking on the phone. I got a message from a good friend from Kentucky, while we were out yesterday, though. Her husband had passed away due to bone cancer all of a sudden. He was just 61 years old. I called her this morning and we talked for quite some time. She was holding up pretty good and her daughter was able to come and stay with her through all the funeral arrangements. She will be moving back to New York she said. Her oldest son lives there and she will be staying with him until she settles into her own place. I wished her the best of luck and sent her my hugs. Today is my younger brother Jim's birthday. He turned 61 years old. I called him and we talked for quite some time also. My sister-in-law Linda answered the phone there. She told me "the old fart is in the bathroom right now". Ha, she's the same age as he is and she still calls him that! Our sister Ellie and her husband Jim were there also for the birthday "boy". One of his daughters too. Brother Jim told me I sounded older on the phone this time. I reminded him that I am older now....64 years to be exact. I told him that some of my fondest memories were of him and I dancing on ice skates when we were young and twirling around on the ice! He said "Yes I used to ice skate well" and "I never ice skate anymore. I should try it again" Then he asked if we had skated the river back then. He lives right on the Flint River in Montrose Michigan. In the exact same home that we lived in when we were kids there. He bought the home after he married years ago. I told him no that our Dad would never let us on the river unless there was a foot of ice frozen over solid. He said that the river freezes over but not smoothly anymore. I told him how the Skagit river here never freezes over like that. Of course it's not as cold as back there either all winter long. Then he would pause between sentences and say" Shirley, I can't believe it's you" "I can't believe I'm talking to you right now". I have called him on his birthday many times through the years. Could it be that he is getting sentimental in his older age? Ha. The last I saw him in person was when I made the trip to Michigan in 1992, however. It was then that he wanted me to go with him to the tavern at the bottom of the hill there on Seymour Rd. where we grew up. He wanted to drink a beer and shoot some pool. It was called Fynn's Inn then. Our father's second home away from home! I declined the offer because my older sister Lorraine would soon be coming to his house to pick me up and take me to her home for a visit. Which she did do within the hour there. I shall forever regret that I did not go with my Lil Brother that day to shoot pool and drink beer! What a meaningful time together I missed! "HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR BROTHER JIM" |
Ron was able to capture a beautiful photo of Sauk Mountain just as the sun was beginning to set on it. He took this just yesterday. He walked across the road and shot it through the tree's so that the power lines would not show up in the photo. It is very breathtakingly beautiful. I still gaze at it everyday and thank God that I have the opportunity to live amongst these awesome mountains in the Great Northwest! ** Image ID #1383971 Unavailable ** |
My son Pat called me today to tell me that his daughter Sierra is in Florida at Disney World with her drill team from the Jr.High School. I know that she is having the time of her life! I got to sponsor her for this trip and it makes me so happy that she was able to go and compete with all the other teams there. Yeah! Sierra! Grandma is rooting for you. You go girl!  |
Hey everybody I reached a landmark! 100 blog entries!! I never even noticed it untill Nada pointed it out. Thank you dear blogger Nada. Got a real nice review from kansaspoet today. He liked my poem "Inspiration" so much when he read it in his campfire that he came over to my port and reviewed it for me! Such a great guy, he really is you know, one of the best poets on the site! It has been so much fun being a part of his Turnberry Street Campfire. The poems in there are so awesome. The writers are really doing a fantastic job of keeping the campfire full of quality verse. I feel privileged to be in this campfire with this special group of poets. The campfire ends in May. It will be sad to leave it I'm sure. Poker tonight at nine with Ron's sister Pat. Hope we don't get dunked.  |
We awoke this morning to snowfalling in big huge flakes! There was already around eight inches of snow on the ground. It looked like a winter wonderland again. Ron was able to make it down to the store to pick up some ingredients for cabbage patch soup, before the snow got any deeper. We have a four wheel drive so it makes it easer to get around if needed though. The soup turned out great and we didn't even lose our power here. You just never know about that living in these mountains when the snow flies! Last winter we lost our power four times due to the weather conditions. The snow sure is pretty while it lasts that's for sure. It is raining lightly now. Some of the snow has melted already. We have been playing poker online two nights in a row now. We play with Ron's sister who lives at Moses Lake. We all go into the same table there at Poker Stars and have a lot of fun. We only play the Play Money games of course. No big gambling involved! Sometimes we do just great and sometime we get junked! No matter what we have the best time doing it. ** Image ID #1381988 Unavailable ** |
Been awhile since I came in here. Figured I better stay long enough to make some sort of statement...ha. How's this for a quote: Great Men ========== Great men are they who see that the spiritual is stronger than any material force. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson~ I love it! I have been feeling somewhat down. Doing my best to pick myself back up again. I've got my workshop, and forum all set up now. I've even gotten emails from a couple of the registrants who will be attending the workshop in February. Oh, guess I should explain what the workshop is! It is one of the Winter Festival Of Weeklong Workshops that the Rising Stars are putting on from January through the month of March. Mine is called Shi's Narrative Poetry Workshop. It runs from February 17-24. The workshop has filled up already! I'm looking forward to leading this workshop for one week only. Who knows perhaps this will be something that truly suits me.  |
Instead of writing about my personal thoughts today I will leave you with this little diddy for the day.~ So Much ======== There is so much good in the worst of us, and so much bad in the best of us, that it hardly becomes any one of us to talk about the rest of us. ~Author Unknown~ |
| Well I'm finally back to blogging again. I'm feeling much better. I was able to stay on the site longer today and get some reviews done. Gosh, I even got around to taking our little artificial white Christmas tree down yesterday! I must admit I could have left it up all year to stare at though. It always takes me forever to put away all the pretty decorations after the New Year. I seem to drag it out longer with every passing year. Comes with older age I think. Hang on those those memories dear! Every bulb and every snowman has a special meaning to me now. It's just so hard to put them all back in those brown boxes and hide them in dark closets for another year! January is always such a 'downer' for me now anyways. It's the month that my son Christopher was born in 42 years ago, and died in 11 years ago. It's just a hard month to get through for me still. But....I do.  |
We took my granddaughter down to Edmonds this morning so she could catch the ferry back home. We brought her home with us the day after Christmas . We had a great visit with her here. She is a joy to have around. She is fourteen already and a real beauty. She gets good grades and enjoys playing Basketball and is on the Drill Team at her school. Now the house is so much quieter. We will have to get used to it again. Of course now I have my computer to myself. She is so good about sharing it though every time she comes to stay. It snowed every day or night while she was here. She loves to come and stay with us in the mountains, but this was her first winter visit here. She played out in the snow at night even! She even built us a snowman in spite of the fact that there wasn't more than an inch of snow at the time. Christmas with the kids and grandkids was such fun. It snowed all the way down to Kitsap County on Christmas Day! Like a big blizzard...and we drove all the way in it! Luckly we have a four wheel drive vehicle. Dinner at my daughters was so yummy. She fixed a turkey and prime rib. Plus all the trimmings and pies. They all sledded the hill next to her house while waiting for dinner. What fun to watch! I had taken my camera but...you guessed it the batteries were low! So I couldn't take pictures. She took some with her camera though. Hope your Christmas was as much fun as mine...and may your New Year be filled with Blessings. Sierra in the snow. ** Image ID #1367938 Unavailable ** |
Christmas in The Dust ====================== I had no Christmas spirit when I breathed a weary sigh, And looked across the table where the bills were piled too high. The laundry wasn't finished and the car I had to fix, My stocks were down another point, the Dolphins lost by six. And so with only minutes till my son got home from school I gave up on the drudgery and grabbed a wooden stool. The burdens that I carried were about all that I could take, And so I flipped the TV on to catch a little break. I came upon a desert scene in shades of tan and rust, No snowflakes hung upon the wind, just clouds of swirling dust. And where the reindeer should have stood before a laden sleigh, Eight Hummers ran a column right behind an M1A. A group of boys walked past the tank, not one was past his teens. Their eyes were hard as polished flint, their faces drawn and lean. They walked the street in armor with their rifles shouldered tight, Their dearest wish for Christmas, just to have a silent night. Other soldiers gathered, hunkered down against the wind, To share a scrap of mail and dreams of going home again. There wasn't much at all to put their lonely hearts at ease, They had no Christmas turkey, just a pack of MREs. They didn't have a garland or a stocking I could see, They didn't need an ornament they lacked a Christmas Tree. They didn't have a present even though it was tradition, the only boxes I could see were labeled "ammunition." I felt a little tug and found my son now by my side, He asked me what it was I feared, and why it was I cried. I swept him up into my arms and held him oh so near and kissed him on the forehead as I whispered in his ear. There's nothing wrong my little son, for safe we sleep tonight, Our heroes stand on foreign land to give us all the right, To worry on the things in life that mean nothing at all, Instead of wondering if we will be the next to fall. He looked at me as children do and said it's always right, to thank the ones who help us and perhaps that we should write. And so we pushed aside the bills and sat to draft a note, to thank the many far from home, and this is what we wrote: God Bless You all and keep you safe, and speed your way back home. Remember that we love you so, and that you're not alone. The gift you give you share with all, a present every day, You give the gift of liberty and that we can't repay. ~Author Unknown~ God Bless our Troops!!!  |
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ONE AND ALL!!! |
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ONE AND ALL!!! |
Well, I'm back to blogging today. Seems like the Holidays are so busy right now and I don't find the time or maybe take the time to blog. Somehow I think I may not be the only one. Today has been a mild and clear day. That's a reprieve from all the rain. Ron is even out on the motorcycle today. He went into town to The Sportsmans Warehouse. A fun place to go. We have all of our Christmas shopping done. Another party to go to next weekend then Christmas in Port Orchard will wrap it all up nicely. I finished my Turnberry Street campfire creative and entered it already. Glad to get that one out of the way. With so much going on I can't seem to enjoy writing right now. I'm not too proud of that entry...I just think I could have done better. I haven't been on here as much as I normally am. Sorry if I haven't been visiting your blogs lately. I'm sure that will change once the Holidays are over! I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!!! |
 Here's a little Christmas Poem that came in my email as a forward:Twas the month before Christmas when all through our land, Not a Christian was praying nor taking a stand. Why the PC Police had taken away, The reason for Christmas - no one could say. The children were told by their schools not to sing, About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things. It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say December 25th is just a ' Holiday '. Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it! CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod Something was changing, something quite odd! Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda. As Targets are hanging their trees upside down At Lowe's the word Christmas - was no where to be found. At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears. Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver- si -ty Are words that were used to intimidate me. Now Edwards, Now Obama, Now Guilliani, Wolf Blitzen On Gore, on Pelosi, on Kerry, on Clinton ! At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter. And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded The reason for the season, stopped before it started. So as you celebrate 'Winter Break' under your 'DreamTree' Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me. Choose your words carefully, choose what you say Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS, not Happy Holiday Author Unknown |
I finished decorating the house and put the little white Christmas tree up today. It looks real festive. I think little Bentley kitty is scared of the tree...that could be a good thing!  We are not putting the bulbs on the tree until tomorrow. We want to see if he leaves the tree alone tonight. Then if he does, we will decorate it tomorrow. A little strategy going here. We're afraid that he may attack the bulbs while we are sleeping if we do it all at once! Beyonca, well, she just leaves it all alone anymore. She's a big girl now.We have been pretty busy lately and it's about to get even busier. I doubt that I will be blogging as much when it does. We'll see about that. We are supposed to get a few snow flakes tomorrow. Nothing like last weekend though. Then Monday we have a get together with Ron's kids. His oldest son is here from Minnesota so we are all going out to eat in Lynnwood. That should be fun. Christmas is coming fast this year. It won't be long now will it? |
I have to admit I have succumbed to the addiction powers of poker. Poker on my computer anyhow! Not online poker though...just World Poker Championship 2 DVD! I play Texas Hold'em and love it. It is so much fun. The graphics in the game are so neat. It's always fun to create a different looking player to play myself. I can make me skinny, heavy, blond, redhead, teenager, mature, you name it...whatever I want to look like. That is part of the fun of it. So with not that much going on on WDC at the moment....I think I'll go play poker. |
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