Truman Homecoming

He made it! Back on U.S. soil, now to get his land legs back. More later.

Sailor Son's homecoming sort of...

Only one week to go! Shh, loose lips sink ships. More later. xxoo Mona

Vacation!

Well after I end my work day I am officially on vacation. Will have the weekend and Monday to get organized then off to Southern Oregon for our house sitting gig for our friends Cheryl and Harry. Hope the weather stays decent, don't like driving in snow. So Happy Thanksgiving everyone and don't forget my birthday next Friday. xxoo Mona

Birthday Month

Not so much in meltdown mode now. Have Dave all set with his plane tickets and hotel res. for heading to Norfolk to watch Sailor Son's ship come home in the middle of December. Tiff has me more calm now since she was able to share that Dan will get to be home to California sometime right after New Years so I will take my vacation time then and have him share all his adventure stories. So now I'll just remind you, don't forget to shop for my birthday gift. Even though I'll be away house sitting you can mail it to my house and it will be waiting for me when I get home. Have a great November. Hugs all around.

And the month started so good...

Some of you might have seen the bits up on facebook about the fashion show on Oct. 1st as a benefit for breast cancer, SAVE THE TATAS! What a great day hanging out with the gals from M.O.M.S, our escorts being handsome servicemembers. Then back to work the following Monday to a job that is getting to me so badly that most of the time I feel like I'm sleepwalking with the only good part of the day is when it comes time to clock out. Well, now I'm not only sleep walking but I'm also crying. I've been informed that the week I need off in December to see my sailor son's ship come in out at Norfolk Virginia is being denied by the powers that be. Other's with more senority like to have the week before Xmas off so tough shit Mona. Not to worry, sailor son will have his dad there to see him return from his first deployment and then his darling wife will also be there probably by Xmas eve to spend the holidays with him. So guess I'll buck up and quit whining, daughter in law informs me that Dan's leave will comense in late Jan. or early Feb. and he will get to come home alas to help Tiff get ready for their move out to VA. Who wants to go to back east in Dec. anyway, I'll now have the excuse to the kids that I'll need to come out later next year and see where they've settled. Yeah I guess things eventually all even out. In the mean time, I'll just keep taking my homeopathic tranquilizers to get through my shitty days at the office. Will keep you posted.

Book Titles

Is it ok to have a title for your second book even if the first book hasn't been published yet? Well I have a title for the second collection of my stories so I better get cracking hadn't I? Watch for the two volume set of my stories "The Fridge Magnet Chronicles" & " An Envelope of Random Things" coming soon to a bookstore near you...

Another new background

Ok, will live with this for awhile.

No new background...

Well the new background I tried to change to didn't stick. Will probably need help from my inhouse techy Tiff. Watch to see what transpires...

New background again

Look Laura, I did it all by myself! I kind of knew that the cupcakes would just be a bit too cutesy for me. This is way more my style. Chatted on fb with sailor for almost half hour Sunday morning. Now it's just too hot to even think.

Presto chango

Ahh, yes the maroon makes it much prettier. Just wish there were a way to change the cupcakes according to the seasons. More later. Oh one thing, did hear that the latest with sailor boy is that they love him in the WMR (welfare, moral amd recreation) department and will stay there for the rest of the deployment. Just call him Cruise Director!

New blog background

Ok well, I've decided that the new blog background is a bit too much pastel for me to look at every day. Need to change it so watch to see what might transpire out of the mind of Mona...

New Blog Background

Like the new blog background? It's just too darn cute for words! Thanks Laura, although I did get another template that I like for the typed out part. Now I guess I have to make post more often. See you later.

Visit Oregon...

Thank goodness my sister fixed my blog.. !!!!

Blog background

Hey what happened to my background? Laura, help!

Losing someone dear

Well, I did survive saying goodbye to my dear friend Lynn at her memorial service. It was touch and go there for awhile, cried until my face turned red and luckily Vicki had tissues in her purse to share. We knew each other for 30 years and in all that time we laughed and cried and partied. She met Tim and got to have her boys, they built a wonderful life together. The 3 or so years that she was battling cancer were tough on that little body of hers so I think like people say we should be grateful that she is no longer in pain. So Lynn, watch for letters to heaven that I'll be writing you. And watch your boys become the great men that you always meant them to grow up to be. You will be forever in my heart. RIP Lynn...

Sleepless summer so far...

Saw summer solstice come along and finally some warm weather. So here's the latest. The sailor boy is somewhere near the Arabian Sea, I can only let that spill because the Navy tells everyone all over the whole internet so I'm not going to bother worrying about loose lips. Although the month of June has been a very sleepless one between my menopausal hot flashes and the sailor boy calling in the middle of the night. Nothing you can do about the midnight calls since he's 12 hours ahead but guess I should go shopping at the health food aisle for a homeopathic help for the night sweats. Stay safe and sane on this 4th weekend. Future posting regarding sailor boy and life in general to come.

Sailor Boy sees France

Update time. Tiff and Ash made it home safe and sound after crossing the US with the nice car Dan bought back in VA. They hit every kind of weather you can imagine, the worst being in Nebraska when the town tornado warning horn kept going off. Then last week the Sailor called to let us know how jazzed he was about going through the Straits of Gibralter and seeing two continents at the same time. Now the latest news is that the Truman is in port in Mersaille (or however that's spelled) on the Mediteranean coast of France. He's looking forward to trying to get liberty and heading off to visit the countryside and trying some local wines. Will keep you posted.

Sailor Boy @ Sea

Well, the sailor boy has deployed as of May 21st. Can't tell you where he's headed though, loose lips sink ships. And Mrs. Sailor and her sis new Mrs. Sailor (Ash and Andy got married last Monday!) are heading home from VA, dodging tornados and thunders storms as they go. Will keep you posted as time allows.

Happy Birthday Dan and Tiff

Happy birthday to two people I love more than anything. Have a wonderful day D and T! And I don't know why but I get the feeling that Dan might be thinking of getting a tattoo as his present. Well, that is fine as long as he follows in his grandpa Roger's footsteps and get's a heart with his wifes name in it. More to follow on Sailor boy and his Mrs.

Dreary day in May

What an ugly, shitty day in May this is. It reminds me of the day I took Danny home from the hospital a few days after giving birth on Mother's Day 25 years ago. That shot the shit out of any future mother's day's for me but what could I have asked for as a better present on my first mom's day than to get my wonderful son. Watch for posting in a couple days for me to give a shout out to him and his beautiful wife, May 12th will be their birthdays.

Happy Birthday Hubby and Happy Anniversary D and T

Just sending a shout out to the husband for his birthday and to D and T for their 1st anniversary. It's also National Poem in Your Pocket day. Told Dave that since he always has a small notebook in his pocket with poems written down that he should consider this his holiday! From now until forever in lew of the birthday Dave has proclaimed he will only celebrate National Poem in Your Pocket day on April 29th! Presentation of poems to be announced later...

Sock Monkey Birthday

SHHH... Don't tell my little sis that when I get to Oregon next week for a visit and a belated birthday celebration for her, it will be Sockmonkey heaven! Will be heading to the fabric store today hoping to find some Sockmonkey material. After all she might want to make herself and Sockmonkey matching outfits. Will perues other stores for Sockmonkey accessories. Wish me luck.

April 1st.

Hey guess what! I get to retire, my sister won the lottery and is going to support me. Oh and the sailor boy just got back in to port but there has been a emergency recall of all the sailors on board so they will be deploying in 72 hours and he'll get back to me in December. Gosh that will be a long time to go without hearing from him. Wait a minute, do you think those were April Fools jokes? Have a great April and a Happy Easter.

Ides of March

Holy Crap! It's been a whole month since I have blog posted, so shame on me. How I let that much time go by I cannot account for, so sorry if you've missed me. Although I did manage to send two short story submissions, one to the Sitting Room and one to Vintage Voices. And then there was the arrival of Mr. and Mrs. Sailor who were on the premises for two weeks, (well at least their stuff was, seeing them was hit and miss). Now Sailor boy has reported for duty to the USS Truman in Norfolk VA and Mrs. Sailor is waiting to know how his deployment schedule goes as to when to move herself, her sis and grand-dog Juno. So enjoy what's out there blooming with the wonderful soon to be season of Spring and happy St. Patrick's day if I don't make it back again for another month. Stay tuned for future postings regarding the Sailor boy etc. Oh and since I'm sure you'll all agree that March has come in like a lion, well somewhat so may it go out like a lamb...

Ground Hog Day

So I guess my SADD will be still in gear for another 6 weeks, but as long as a few sunny days find their way to Sonoma County I should be fine. I certainly have been remiss in my postings but the fact is life gets in the way, hmm... I will share that even though I don't write much fiction, this winter I've been mulling around a couple characters in my brain. It started when I thought I would do NANOWRIMO, but didn't put anything out there for Junie and Wynn as a storyline. I just started telling some friends about my new "playmates". Even got a couple romantics out there to give me some spicy stuff about J and W's back story. She runs a bed and breakfast with each room the theme of a famous novel, he is a pilot for a back country hiking company. That's all so far, oh except for this line from a friend who's a diehard romantic, Given the proper kindling a fire could rage. What do you think he meant by that? Well, thanks for stopping in to make sure I am still alive and well. Have a great week and if I don't get back right away, Happy Valentine's Day also!

Nothing new in the New Year

I can't believe that half the month of January has already gone by. Well, nothing too new to post, just a waiting game to hear where the kids will be stationed. They'll probably be done in Florida by end of February then head home and after that long drive, move to home base. On the days that work and asthma don't get me down I have been trying to edit a couple of my short memoir stories for upcoming submissions. So the afternoon wheezing has begun, close for now. Take care and have a great rest of January.