No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on January 1, 2019

I am declaring this year the year of creativity for me.

This includes crafty endeavors and more writing.

Apple added to its products a new thing where your various Apple products tell you how much you have been doing what. I just let record for a month without trying to reign myself in to see what I was doing both online and with apps.

The picture was not pretty. The phrase I would use is time sink.

Knowing this, I have to change my behavior and get off the devices. I have to recognize when I am not researching  but noodling around on the Internet.

I am giving myself an hour a day to do that in the morning and evening.

The rest of the day I am going to try to do other things that need to be done.

And I am giving myself at least an hour a day to be creative if not more.

I know this is going to be hard to achieve but I need to do it. I have to change my habits and try not to fall back into the ones that have chewed up my time with nothing to really show for it.

I want make things and write things this year.

Let’s see what I can do.

I am grateful for things that inform me how I am using my time.

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Posted By Kathleen David on December 31, 2018

I managed to get some of the computer set up but am still having some issues that I am working through.

Sort of like the past year. I had a number of issues that I had to work through.

But now having done that and gotten things set up, I need to move forward from where I am.

As I write this it is raining outside and our local dropping of the ball in the village was cancelled. I don’t think this is going to deter anyone in Time Square but they are not going to be comfortable between the wind and the rain.

New Year’s Eve this year feels like a bit of a pause in anticipation of a next year. Most New Year’s Eve(s) feel like that to me. This day is out with the old and in with the new including that calendar swap. Easier than the time change.

My plan for next year, because I refuse to call it a resolution, is to work on some creative endeavor each and every day. Whether it is writing or sculpting or sewing, I will do something in the creative arts. Get into a habit as it were.

The gym is going to be a nightmare for about a month or so as everyone comes back for a while and then either sticks with it or wanders elsewhere. But I plan to stick to my schedule.

I am going to take 2019 by the horns and make it my own.

Hope the new year is good to y’all.

Let’s be kind to each other and treat everyone as we would like to be treated.

I am grateful for tech that works.

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Posted By Kathleen David on December 30, 2018

One thing I notice is that I blogged less than I have in other years. Not a good or bad thing just an observation. I think I am going to try to write on my web log with a little more consistency next year.

Another thing I noticed having flipped through a years worth of blog entries, I have lost a lot of friends and acquaintances to death this past year. The really big body blow was Harlan. The second was Stan. Then there were the little hits that just kept coming all year long.

I saw a number of good films over the year. The Marvel selection was marvelous. This was the year of Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity Wars, and Spider-man into the Spider-verse. Peter was thanked at the end of Aquaman in the credits. There were other films that I enjoyed including the Green Book, Ralph breaks the Internet, Crimes of Grindwald, and RBG.

I read not as many books as I have in previous years and most of them were non-fiction. I did edit an anthology this year with Peter and had a story in it. I have a few things that might be published next year. I guess I am now a professional writer. Well I have been for years but I think I feel comfortable acknowledging the title.

I got a lot of puppets to a lot of people this year. Some had been requested and others I did and just gave them. Reactions have been good with lots of thank you’s and complimenting my art work. 

Six years ago we told the world that Peter had a stroke. He’s still here and recovered from that and some other health issues that he had had to deal with over the years many of them originating from that dark time. The specter of that day six years ago does still hover over us. 

Medically this year was a bit of a roller coaster for me. One thing led to another to creating a Magical Medical Mystery Tour that ended with ‘Not Cancer’, which was a big relief off of my mind. I did learn the consequences of not using the correct safety equipment when working with particular matter. Also I never want to do cardiac catheterization again. It feels like bees moving through your body.

Did I get everything done that I wanted to this year? No. But name a year where that did happen. I did get a lot done and next year I am hoping to get more done.

I am grateful that Peter is still here and still Peter.

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Posted By Kathleen David on December 25, 2018

Presents have been opened. Eggs Benedict has been eaten. Rituals have been performed.

All that is left on the list is this evening’s Roast Beast and visiting my friends J & A then it will be another Christmas in the books.

It has been a quiet day, which is a nice change of pace.

I have been doing a lot of thinking while mindlessly playing some games on my iPad. 

I have come to some decisions that will effect what I do in the New Year. I have the beginnings of a plan and a way of executing it. Now let’s see how my follow through is.

Caroline received many nice gifts including a plexiglass dagger from her Uncle. For those of you who remember Sean’s plexiglass art, this one is probably over 30 years old from when we were in the dealer’s room selling them. She also received many useful gifts to help her with her creative endeavors.

I will be getting my gift after I get back home.

I find myself thinking of Christmas past and various memories bubble up in my brain. Most of them very pleasant. There is a warmth to this day in my mind. 

I am sitting in what we called ‘the west wing’ of my parent’s house. Everyone else in the room is reading something either physical book, newspaper, or e-book. The quiet is nice as the afternoon shadows start to lengthen across the room. I can remember previous Christmas Days were this same activity happened as we got new books to read. It is a comfortable feeling.

I hope your holiday season has been a good one to you and for you.

Now we all move onto the next year. May it be better for us than the current one.

I am grateful for the quiet enjoyment of everyone’s company.

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Posted By Kathleen David on December 24, 2018

Caroline and I made the drive from Long Island to Atlanta with a pit stop in North Carolina to visit with Ariel, Anthony, and A.J. Peter had some things happen that made the trip not a good idea for him. So he is at home working on various projects and overseeing the cats.

We were doing fine until we hit the Delaware boarder where our GPS informed us there were four hours of delays on our route and would we like to save three and half hours. We said yes and ended up on the 301 taking the Bay Bridge across and on down to DC where we used our Easy Pass to get around about another hour to two hours worth of traffic heading to Richmond. Then lost an hour and a half in traffic that was going at a top speed of twenty miles an hour but usually hovering around five miles.

I have no idea what happened to Delaware but the state turned into a parking lot on I-95.

Eventually we made it to Ariel’s neck of the woods after thirteen and a half hour drive which should take about nine hours in decent traffic.

We spend Sunday morning and afternoon with Ariel, A.J, and Anthony. A.J. had to show me his toys and how he cleans up his room to get ready for bed. We had a good visit with them and left for Atlanta.

That leg of the trip was, for the most part, problem free. There was a downpour that was over about a quickly as it arrived but it dumped a lot of water in a short time making the drive a little tricky for a while.

We arrived at my parents about 9:30 pm. We were fed and went to bed.

This morning has been rather quiet which is nice. We are listening to ‘A Festival of Nine Carols and Lessons’ as we have done for many years.

This evening the family gathers for our Christmas Eve dinner that is more important to us than the Christmas dinner. There is comfort in ritual repeated through the years. We will go to midnight mass today.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas to those who celebrate the holiday.

I wish everyone a Happy Holiday and hope that you get what you need in your life.

I am grateful that we arrived safely.

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