I’m beginning a clean sweep with 2018! Out with the old and in with the new.
I was working diligently clearing out some dishes I no longer need in the kitchen, when the doorbell rang. I live on the outskirts of Enid and we have rural mail delivery. On my bench near the front door sat a box along with some mail. AND MY FIRST BOX OF STONES OF SANDHILL ISLAND HAD ARRIVED! Like most writers I was so excited to hold in my hand the results of a year-long (or longer) project. It was beautiful – better than I’d imagined. And in my excited state I gave the first copy to my husband, aka final proofreader. He is my biggest fan and supports me in my efforts, so, he always gets the first copy. And he sees mistakes others don’t.
I made a place in the spare bedroom for the new arrivals and went back to planning the release party. The book will be officially released on January 24, 2018, but can be pre-ordered on The Wild Rose Press site at https://catalog.thewildrosepress.com/search?controller=search&orderby=position&orderway=desc&search_query=peggy+chambers&submit_search= or Amazon where the Kindle version is currently available for preorder https://www.amazon.com/Stones-Sandhill-Island-Book-ebook/dp/B078JYFSHN/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1515334460&sr=8-2&keywords=peggy+chambers. You’re all invited to the release party sometime after January 24!
But despite the excitement, I’m still clearing my life both physically and mentally. I got rid of the giant Christmas tree yesterday when a friend who still has kids at home, and a big house, took it. I also cleared out a spare crock pot, some Christmas mugs that no longer had a place in the kitchen, and some children’s books. I will take them to a local thrift shop where someone who needs them will have access to them. That is the theme; I don’t need them anymore and maybe some one else does. 
Here’s to new beginnings, clearing out the old and replacing it with the new. I’m also going to the gym today to try to revitalize the old body. Twice a week isn’t enough. I’m going to make it more often. After all, I’m retired and writing books. I can make more time for the gym.
What did you accomplish this week to make room for the new? Clearing my life!
I’m a day early but decided to go ahead and begin the 2018 blogs. Clearing your life will be the theme this year, because I need it! I’ve recently been looking at things in the cabinets, closets and even in the living room that I can do without. Maybe someone else can use them, but I know I don’t need them anymore. And along with the cleaning out, I plan to repaint my white woodwork after cleaning it, and clear each and every drawer, cabinet, and closet. It will be a trip down memory lane and a chance to clear out my life – and my mind.
I’ve been at this Christmas thing for a while now. I grew up in a family with two sisters and two parents and I remember one pair of cowboy boots handed down to whoever fit them that year. They were polished on Christmas Eve, and morning would find them full of nuts and fruit. No one thought about the stinky feet that had been there before the fruit, or the fact that Santa Claus brought fruit and nuts for three kids with one pair of boots. My dad would crack the nuts for us and we’d eat them and oranges for breakfast while the turkey roasted. Of course, we got dolls, what girl didn’t back then, and Mom made Christmas dresses for all of us.
Today I am hosting Caroline Giammanco, non-fiction author, and teacher, on my blog. Caroline hails from Missouri where she is a classroom English teacher at the local high school.
My guest blogger today is the uber-talented author, Peggy Jaeger. We’ve agreed there aren’t enough Peggy’s in literature and it was a good way for us to begin talking. Both of us writing for The Wild Rose Press, we sometimes get in each other’s way on the Tuesday night chat room when called on. Which Peggy?
My husband came down with a cold at Thanksgiving after a week of sitting in a deer stand. The cold weather made his body vulnerable to the rhinovirus that causes the common cold. When you have a cold it doesn’t feel very common, but they are everywhere. So far mankind has not found a cure for the common cold and every doctor will say, “it’s a virus and it has to run its course.” I read somewhere once that skin cancer had been cured by injecting it with the rhinovirus. That might be an urban legend, but then again, maybe there is a reason why we cannot, or should not, eradicate the common cold. 
Books make great Christmas presents. I know because I read them, and others do to. I grew up happy in the library. My sisters and I would walk the few blocks to the old Carnegie library in Enid during the summer and load up with as many books as our arms could hold (or the library would let us check out at one time). There was just something about the smell of ink on paper and the book in my hand that made me happy. I was transported to another world.
Check out the website of Shelley Workinger’s Foodfic blog! But what are they eating? We discuss food after the apocalypse.
I’m not getting any younger. I don’t know who is, but it is becoming obvious that life is getting shorter and not longer. No, I’m not sick, but my house is cluttered with things I don’t use and maybe never needed. I cleaned out my parent’s house when they died, and I know what a chore it is. My children will someday be faced with the same thing. With that in mind, I’m beginning to clear out the clutter. My house is large and that only makes the problem bigger. I can and do stuff things in closets, attic and garage that are no longer needed.
