…Okay, So…To Continue…
Alright, alright, fine. Yeah okay, so I’m bluffing. As if you could be so easily tricked. But I just thought maybe if I tip-toed in here quietly, brushed of the dust and slid up to my keyboard, no one would be the wiser. But that’s one of the things I love and most missed about you–your Solomon-like wisdom–and the no-way, fat-chance, of you being so easily fooled by a long-time absent buffoon.
Lost In Translation, Wandering the Sahara, Trapped in a Cave
You can bet any of those overwrought glitches strike me as a whole lot easier to surmount than attempts to pick-up the threads of my misplaced blogging mojo. Make no mistake, I’ve been writing some truly genius and unforgettable posts in my head (where all things scream of perfection until they come out and land on paper or blank screen) but, yeah, that doesn’t count for much unless you happen to be the Long Island Medium and you’re sitting next to me on the couch.
Channeling Stella…
and wondering just how she got her groove back.
But, But, But
We live in a world of excuses. Everyone has them, some legit, many most just a pile of baloney. For this reason I’ll spare you mine. They’re not all that intriguing or unusual after all. Just my own stuff. (Cuing Hubby’s voice and one of his favorite hugely annoying when repeated one time to many quotes, “We don’t want excuses, we want results.” Yeah, that.
Damn the Torpedoes, Full Speed Ahead
So minus the excuses and getting straight to the results; the treatment went very well (not mine), the operation was a success and the recovery fairly smooth (again, not mine), college selection nearly confirmed (child #4), grand opening scheduled for March (child #2), the diagnosis allows for a certain amount of confident optimism (you know who you are), and book number 3 is heading into the home stretch (mine) (Spit-shine and polish coming up, thank you and amen for an awesomely answered prayer that goes by the name of, Word Shark, Karen Sanderson!)
Full Plate, Yes–Multi-Tasking Skills, Nada
I know who you are, I see you juggling a half-dozen dramas with one hand, arm tied behind your back, neck in a brace, and one leg in quicksand. I aspire to be you, but when it comes to emotional, personal, real life stuff, I’m still a klutz with the baton. I need seven hands to juggle two pins, and even then there’s a good chance something’s getting dropped.
And All This Time You Were Thinking I Just Ran Out of Stuff To Say
How amusing that you’d ever assume such a thing (or maybe just hoping), but no, my blog motor, though idling for a while, is still running. One of my New Year resolutions was to sweep the cobwebs from my blog and get back on track. January 1– February 19. Not too bad. Considering.
Meanwhile On Your Side of the Fence
So that’s me, but what, pray tell, have you been up to? Would love you to share your milestones, achievements, aspirations, and tidbits. Come on then, toot your horn, we’re all listening.
Barbara Forte Abate 
That’s a fun comeback, Barbara! Great to hear from you. Real life sounds super busy and exciting at your end.
I’m just getting a book ready too. Good luck luck with it all.
Hey Catherine! I admit to feeling a bit like a rusty cog in a cranky engine. Leaving a blog to flounder is foolish and messy–pulling back the covers and turning the light back on–ouch. So thank you for stopping over. I always enjoy your visits.
BIG congratulations on your work in progress, and wishing you smooth sailing. Please keep me abreast of your progress. Your writing is so delightful and I’m going to want your book on my shelf 😀
It’s not smooth sailing at all today, Barbara. I’ve got a lot to learn 🙂
Put on your life-vest and hang tight 😀 This too shall pass!
:0)
Sure have missed your witticisms but spending some alone time is a good thing,(alone as in away from the dreaded evils of the internet). Recharging ones batteries, storing up for the lean years, call it what you will; I call it hibernation and it suits me just fine to put my feet up by the fire and enjoy being covered in dog blankets. Yes, dog blankets,those hair covered fur balls that inhabit my house; as my niece noted, it’s cheap heat and that’s hard to come by! Miss ya!
Forget milk–hibernation–it does a body good! Yes! I’m absolutely adopting your motto, or at the very least, the thought of it.
LOL, I’m smiling my fool face off thinking about you and your “dog blankets!” I’ve never heard it put quite like that before, but you can bet I’ll never forget it.
Thank you for stopping over. You know how much I love seeing you here:-D
Missed you, Barbara! Good to see you back in blogging business. 🙂
Thank you, Ellen! I’ve felt so disconnected being away from my blogging homestead. They say “you can’t go home”, but whoever came up with that obviously didn’t have a blog. I’ve miss the words and definitely the fine company.
(Still having a morning chuckle thinking of your Devil Cat: http://ellenvgregory.com/2014/02/20/diary-of-a-devilcat-canine-invasion/)
First, thanks for the plug! Second, I go through ups and downs with my blog. I started out sporadic, then went to a regular schedule (a lot of blogging with loads of guests), now I’ve settled into every two weeks. I have a bunch of projects going (my own and others’), so every two weeks works for me right now. I also participate on LI and FB. And I work full time. I think if you get your voice out there once in a while, just so people don’t forget all about you, you’re good. I sometimes go through my old blogs to see if I can find inspiration. And with blogging, I think quality is better than quantity.
Hi Karen! Thanks for passing by and weighing in.
I like your schedule, and as a reader of your blog, the arrival of your posts feels just about right on my end. God Bless those bloggers who post daily, or a few times a week, but that’s not my gift. I often struggle to find the time to read blogs I REALLY enjoy, let alone scribbling my own. You know how it goes–just not enough hours in the day.
I think the ideal when it comes to truly enjoying our various online stuff is finding our “happy place,” and well, being happy that we’re there. If we can avoid turning our social activities into a chore-list, there seems less chance of burning out.
Always miss you, Barbara! You are an incredible writer, and one that I enjoy very much. I think I heard the groans between the bricks *mortar terror?* of your day-to-day life and your author life, which includes blogging. It’s a painful thing, and there aren’t any easy answers.
My personal solution to the blogging dilemma until something cracks in my skull is to blog once a month. That sounds terrible, but it has worked for me for NOW. You know our lives can change with the snap of a finger, so who knows? A streak of frightening lightning may flash across my wetware any time now and inspire me to blog daily or weekly or bi-monthly!
My news: Canyon of Doom, Book Two in the Silki series, belched out of the printing presses late December. I have 6,800 followers on Twitter and don’t exactly know what to do about that, and Facebook remains my fav social-media forum.
I’m saddened by the near demise of #wana112, and even Wana112 on Facebook. Wana1011 has emerged as the hottest of the two, with most of our original alumni scattered to the wind. One writes a blog, posts it in wana112 (twitter and facebook) and Triberr and the results are crickets chirping along the lonely night highway. Oh, wait…sometimes a scratchy tumbleweed blows across the road and hangs in your bumper. You get all excited because, gee, a few people from our “olden days of Wana” stops by and says hello. Kind of gloomy, isn’t it…lol?!
Anyway, it’s great to have you back, hon!
Oh, Jodi! You are such a precious sweetheart of a person and I so very much appreciate your thoughtful comments. Blogging is such a unique and wonderful way to keep our footprint in the world, to speak our mind even if no one is listening (though, yes, it’s far more enjoyable if someone is), but best of all is the people we meet 😀
I think what I best love about the lesson to be learned in your blogged schedule–aside from the “subject to change at will,” is that it allows you to keep a foothold, rather than falling of into the dreaded black-hole of bloglessness!
Yes, Facebook is my favorite social-media visiting place too. Anytime of day or night it’s like stepping into a cocktail party, or coffee house, a vacation, or spin down memory lane… I have to think we enjoy it so much because it’s a real genuine connection where we can just be people sharing our people stuff.
WOW, WOW, WOW! Now I really know my head’s been under the covers too long–I actually missed the arrival of Canyon of Doom! You know how much I enjoyed Book #1. Silki is such a great character: fun, scrappy, and such a wonderful voice between the pages. BIG congratulations winging your way. Book #2 is going to look so perfect on my shelf next to #1. Are you already at work on #3?
I run the risk of being ridiculously sad and sentimental over the increasingly vanished Wana112. Such an amazing group of peeps, and I dunno, I just kinda always figured our alumni hearts were engraved in cyber-stone or something. Sitting alone at the lunch table one day would’ve seemed impossible, yet…here we are (awe crap, crickets on the menu again?), just a handful of us and the lunch lady (who bears a striking resemblance to Kristen…and did you notice the “Free Candy” van parked behind the school…weird).
Thanks so much for coming by and leaving your lovely words. It’s always a joy seeing you, Jodi!
You crack me up soooo bad! Yes, you owe it to us and the world to stay present in the ink.
We need you!
“Sitting alone at the lunch table one day would’ve seemed impossible, yet…here we are (awe crap, crickets on the menu again?), just a handful of us and the lunch lady (who bears a striking resemblance to Kristen…and did you notice the “Free Candy” van parked behind the school…weird).”
Priceless.
🙂 🙂 🙂
Welcome back, Barbara! Glad to be reading your fine prose once again. You’ve been missed. Sounds like you’ve had quite a year. Here’s to a calmer, yet prosperous one in 2014. 🙂
Hey Tami! It’s ragingly pitiful how easy it is to fall off the map and loose ones place. One week becomes two, a month, and then another… I find being out of touch almost painful–though maybe there’s a taste of envy in there too, because the world continues to turn and I have the feeling I’m missing the ride 😀
Calm sounds like a good plan–as does prosperity!!! I think I’ll place my order for a full plate and maybe even go for seconds!
Thank you for popping out of your writing cave and coming over for a visit. Wonderful to see you, Tami 😀