anniversary — Page 11

Eight Years

February 17, 2016 at 10:05 am by Claudia

2-17 me2

I’ve come out of my hiding place to acknowledge and celebrate the anniversary of this blog. Eight years ago today, I hit publish. That first post, on Blogger, was just some text. The next day I figured out how to add a photo.

Baby steps.

Occasionally, I read posts by bloggers in which they are considering getting rid of older posts that don’t reflect where they are now. I always shake my head at that idea: you wouldn’t be where you are now without the journey you’ve taken. Right? Those older posts of mine, though shorter and somewhat tentative, are just as real and valid as any post I’ve done since.

They stay.

Over the course of this past eight years, I’ve kept to my vision for this blog. It’s a simple one. To share my life in our cottage with you. Until I got a laptop later in that first year, I was unable to share my life on the road with you, but as soon as it was purchased (in Iowa, on a coaching job) – freedom!

Along the way, I played the with idea of trying to get more readers. But the way in which I would have had to do that never felt like the right fit for me. It felt calculating. It felt false. About three years into the process, I started blogging every day, thinking it would help my ad income, but eventually I realized it was a gift to myself. The practice of writing a blog post every morning was grounding. It gave me focus. It kept me honest.

I also discovered a love for photography. What a gift that has been!

I accepted who I am and what this blog is; a daily journal that I share with you, my readers. To be perfectly honest, writing about one thing, one niche, all of the time would drive me nuts. I have a lot of passions and I refuse to limit the blog to just one. That specific focus, by the way, would have been a way to make this blog a money-maker. But it just isn’t me.

So I keep blogging, earning enough money from ads for the blog to pay its way, and that’s just fine.

I started out on Blogger, decided to move to WordPress in 2012, learned enough coding to design a layout and a look that I liked, and here we are today. Yes, there are hassles. Nefarious types are always trying to hack into the blog. Actually, if you blog, they’re always trying to hack into yours as well, I just have the security measures in place that tell me what’s going on at any given moment. Maybe ignorance is bliss? Anyway, it’s annoying and sometimes alarming, but in the big picture, it’s not a big deal. I’ve never regretted my move to WP. I have more control over the look and feel of the blog. It’s a good fit for me.

Along the way, I’ve shared our home with you. I’ve shared my gardening adventures. I’ve shared my on-the-road stories. I’ve shared my handwork. I’ve shared the dollhouse – from its very beginnings to its publication in two magazines. I’ve written about my husband and my dogs and my sister and my parents and my nephews and nieces and my ‘lost’ sister and my friends and colleagues. I’ve written about my work and my love for the theater. I’ve written about things I believe in. I’ve written about animals and animal rights. I’ve written about my longtime vegetarianism. I’ve written about the serious and the silly.

I’ve shared the painful loss of Don’s father, my mother, my father, Riley, and Scout.

I couldn’t have done that without you. Truly. Without you out there reading, commenting and reaching out to me, I probably would have thrown in the towel. One of the best things about the move to WP in 2012 was that it gave me the chance to reply to comments and to let you know, via email, that I had replied. The conversations that have come out of that have been stimulating and moving and funny and sad and everything a good conversation between friends should be.

Thank you. Thank you for being there. Thank you for being there anytime, but especially in those times when I have suffered profound loss. I can never thank you enough for that.

I can’t imagine not blogging, but who knows? Maybe somewhere down the line, I’ll feel it’s time to move on. But not right now. Right now, with your understanding that I will occasionally take a few days away from the blog, as I have been doing since the loss of Scout, I’ll keep on keeping on, as they say.

Thanks. And Happy Wednesday.

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Chatty on Tuesday

October 13, 2015 at 9:11 am by Claudia

10-13 anniversary

• Self-portrait, shot on the porch at Cracker Barrel yesterday. Or should it be Selves-portrait? I’m trying to avoid the use of the word ‘selfie’ if at all possible.

If you follow me on Instagram, you know we went for the big bucks and celebrated at Cracker Barrel. I know, you’re thinking that we really went all out for this anniversary.

Actually, we love Cracker Barrel but go there rarely. We’re low key about celebrations, so when Don suggested CB, I was in. As it was it took us forever to get there because of all the traffic. Thousands and thousands of people head up to our neck of the woods on fall weekends and, inevitably, they have to head back home, causing traffic back-ups for miles. It’s a pain in the you-know-what. But we got there and, of course, had to wait for a table. By the time we sat down, we were starved!

Then we watched the Mets play the Dodgers. (I love the Red Sox, but I also love the Mets.) They won.

10-13 quilt on chair

• The nights are getting very cold. Quilts and throws are making an appearance.

10-13 quilt on bed

This bed cover is very heavy, so I usually stash it on the chair in the summer months. But it’s back on the bed, keeping us snug and warm as we transition to cooler nights.

• Here’s a random thought:

10-13 imperialstormtrooper

Every time I look at my vacuum, I think of the Imperial Stormtroopers from Star Wars.

Is it just me? I’ve thought that since the day it arrived in the mail.

It’s a Shark Navigator, by the way, and it’s fabulous. And far less expensive than the over-priced Dyson. Just as in the theater or film, we Americans seem to be taken in by a British accent.

This vacuum is a especially great with dog hair and we have a lot of it around here.

• My dad is still in the hospital. They’ve found a fracture in his spine which needs to be treated with either injections that might be dangerous for a 92 year old man, or physical therapy. The doctor says he cannot be on his own right now and has recommended physical therapy, so that means he has to move to rehab facility after they’ve finished running tests. We thought he would go to the same rehab facility that both of my parents have spent time in, which is right next to the hospital and just a few miles from my sister.

But no. Medicaid has managed to screw everything up. Their ‘rules’ about things sometimes drive me up the wall. When my dad was admitted to the hospital, it was coded as ‘under observation.’ For some ridiculous reason, that particular code means my father will now be forced to go to one of two facilities, both of which are about 45 minutes to an hour away from home. Don’t ask me why. My sister works long hours at her job and has a four year old to take care of when she’s not at work. Driving that far will make it impossible for her to see dad more than once – maybe twice – a week. I can’t get down there right now. Needless to say, we’re very frustrated. The rehab facility where we thought he would go would have been perfect for him. Everyone knows him there – their presence would make it all so much easier for him.

• For those of you who have found that Don’s CD is temporarily out-of-stock, hang in there. CD Baby only keeps a small amount on hand because, as you can imagine, they stock CDs for thousands of musicians. We’ll be sending them more today and they should be available shortly. I’ll let you know when they’re back in stock.

Okay. Long post.

Thank you so much for the anniversary wishes yesterday. We loved reading them. You are all wonderful, a true blessing in my life.

Happy Tuesday.

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Seventeen

October 12, 2015 at 8:05 am by Claudia

weddingday

And suddenly, we’ve reached 17.

It’s our seventeenth wedding anniversary today, this October 12th, Columbus Day.

Seventeen years ago, when we married, it was also Columbus Day. And it was Don’s day off. He was doing a one-man show, Jeeves Takes Charge, in Nevada City, California. Nevada City is a charming town in the foothills of the Sierra Madre mountains. Since we wanted a small wedding with no hassles, we decided to get married there.

Don did a lot of the footwork since he was already there. He found the site (The National Hotel), the man who officiated, the florist, and the photographer. My sweet sister found my dress for me and gave it to me as a gift.

I didn’t want my family to have to deal with the expenses involved in flying to California for a wedding. Whenever Don and I even started to think of the logistics of the whole thing, we got very stressed. So, with the blessing of our respective families, we did it our way. Don’s brother and sister-in-law were there. Our friends Phil and Clare were there. Phil ran the the theater where Don was performing. And that’s it.

I flew up the day before the wedding, watched a matinee of Don’s show, went to a dinner thrown for us by some friends of the theater. The next day, we got married in the parlor of the historic National Hotel.

Oh, there was one complication. I had a walking cast on my left ankle. I had fallen down our back steps in August and, though I held out hope the cast would be off by our wedding, it wasn’t. I cried and cried at the thought of going through the wedding with a huge cast on my leg, but Don said, “It will be part of our story.”

And it was. Suzie, my sister-in-law, helped me down the long stairway (which functioned like an aisle in a church). I was determined to walk down those stairs! When I saw Don, I started crying. Then Don started crying. Then Suzie, Ron, Phil and Clare joined in.

We were all crying. Through the entire ceremony.

I will say that Don and I were ‘present’ for every moment of that ceremony. I remember everything. There was none of the stress associated with a ‘big’ wedding. Afterward, we drove through the streets of Nevada City in a horse-drawn carriage. Since it was a holiday, lots of people were out and about and everybody waved at us. It was a gorgeous fall day.

It was perfect.

We won’t mention the stain that appeared on my wedding gown as we were eating dinner, when Don, who was eating spare ribs, used his napkin. It turned out he was actually using my gown. Mortified, he confessed, and after my initial shock, we all laughed. In a way, it was also perfect.

Another part of our story.

That, by the way, is my favorite picture of us from that day. It was taken by my sister-in-law.

Happy Anniversary to us.

By the way, my dad is in the hospital. He was admitted yesterday after suffering from severe back pain. There might be some kidney or bladder issues. We’re not sure. He’s in good spirits, perhaps because he was eating chocolate cake and ice cream when I called him. I’ll keep you posted.

Happy Monday.

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Eight Years

Chatty on Tuesday

Seventeen

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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