A Small Catch-Up

Refreshingly spring-like outside the past few days.  

Wonderful breathable degrees.  

Oh, how I am dreading the encroaching summertime!  

This week there will be a couple of days near 90°. 

It's way too soon for that kind of heat - April should not be that hot.  
And there's absolutely no rain forecast in the forseeable future.  Where are the April showers?

I hope it isn't a preview of an extreme heat summertime.
With impending long heat- and sun-filled days, my mood is likely going to plummet.

Because of the nightmare stressful winter we had, I forgot all about needing to have my hair trimmed (as you can see from the left picture below).

Confession: I haven't had a professional haircut in years.  

I used to go to someone for many years and she knew not to ever take off too much or I would beat her up.

She seriously knew that one inch meant one actual inch, not how many hair stylists think one inch equals four inches ("but your hair needed that much off!").  

I trusted my girl completely which was rare and wonderful. Sadly, she got sick and retired and that was that for me and haircuts.  I have very long, one length hair so, in truth, there's no real need for "real" haircuts at a salon.  
Instead I go outside to the deck or, as I did yesterday, to the garage (because it was windy out which makes cutting long hair very difficult when one is outside).
There, my very talented husband trims my hair to perfection.

Here's the proof (don't judge the left pic; it's been a traumatic few months):

We've been talking about taking quick trips here and there. I'm a serious homebody but I'm aware that I have to step out of my comfort zone + I miss going new places.
But there are a couple of problems (of course).

For one, hotels skeeve me. Massive phobia of bedbugs and other bugs. Sleeping in beds that countless others have slept in.  You get the drift.
I am, however, aware that zillions of other people stay in hotels and so I'm mentally working on getting over my fears and ick.
The second problem is the bigger hurdle to a life filled with adventures that require a hotel stay:

we would have to take Luna with us because we don't have anyone to watch her currently and we don't board her or trust her with strangers like dog sitters. 

 
Traveling with her is really not a big deal, although it would hinder activities like being able to dine in restaurants, swim in pools, shop together in stores. 
Traveling with Luna means that we would need to secure a pet friendly hotel which isn't a real problem because there are many pet friendly hotels (even though they charge crazy pet fees).  

The giant problem - or conundrum - is that I am allergic to dogs that are not deemed hypoallergenic*. 
The last time we booked a pet friendly hotel was a few months back. Kevin had just had his car accident, Sherb was home alone and dealing with him being in ICU, and a massive snowstorm was about to hit.  We didn't want her to be alone with all of that going on so we booked a hotel room near her apartment in NJ.  Within 15 minutes of being in the room I started to not be able to breathe very well, my eyes went crazy with tearing and that sandpaper feeling, and my voice went completely raspy.  It was obvious that I couldn't stay there so I wound up on Sherb's couch and JP wound up staying in the hotel.  
You can see the problem here.  We have to book pet-friendly hotel rooms because we're traveling with a dog but I will run the risk of having an allergic/asthmatic reaction to the room and not being able to stay in it.  

I guess we'll just stick with day trips.

*I am aware that no dog is truly hypoallergenic and that dogs with that label are just less likely to cause problems for allergy sufferers. You do not have to come at me to tell me this.

Makes No Scents

Earlier today I spent some time shopping online for a particular expensive fragrant candle that used to be a favorite of mine.  I had forgotten all about this brand and when I remembered it I jumped online to look for it.

Shopping for expensive candles this morning was kind of an odd behavior that I really can't explain considering that I lost my sense of smell (anosmia) in 2009 and can't smell a single thing.  It's almost like I forget that I can't smell...and it's always quite the shock to the system when the realization hits that I will never smell anything ever again.

Seventeen years later and it seems that I still haven't accepted that.

Needless to say, I didn't buy any of the expensive candles this morning.  I exited the candle website and then cried a little bit in that weird grief way that happens whenever I remember I can't smell anything anymore.  Which happens frequently.  Like, every single day.

I'll still buy candles, though, because I love them...but I'll have to stick with buying the cheap ones or the ones that are on clearance.  😐

Loss of smell has changed my life in more ways that I can express; it's kind of like going from a full color life to one that is black and white.

Please do not take your ability to smell for granted.

What My March 2026 Looked Like

I'm Not Sure What Happened But Here We Are

The last time I wrote anything of substance here (or elsewhere) was November.

Truth is that November was the last time I did much of anything that involved creativity.

I think I went into a seasonal depression of the winter kind once October ended even though my seasonal depression is diagnosed as the summer kind.  Strange for me as I usually enjoy winter but this one was brutal in more ways than one. Bitter cold with none of those sporadic mild days that give a reprieve - just the kind of relentless cold that settles into your bones and stays there.

And then the most terrible thing: my daughter's fiancé got into a horrible car accident in January that left him broken up, in ICU, several surgeries and an extended stay in the physical rehabilitation facility that he's still in which has been a very extended endurance test for him as he heals. All the while watching Sherb maneuver his doctors, insurance, and every other thing that got thrown at her was heart-wrenching. Life as they knew it might not return in the way they were used to but they're getting through it.

As for me, it's hard to go off and be whimsical and creative with the level of stress that came with all that going on.  But we've rounded the corner, healing is happening, and it's time to exhale and get back to living. 

One of my greatest passions involves anything having to do with a camera - picture and video taking.
Taking photos of old houses and barns was, afterall, the basis of my photo art for Land O' Make Believe.
I also love making videos and back in the day when I was really active with my photo art business, I

3.13.26

My February 2026

My January 2026

Delaware As The Frozen Tundra

Greetings from the frozen tundra of Delaware! I sincerely hope you're keeping warm if you're in the middle of this freezing weather.

January was quite the month - my future son-in-law was in a terrible car accident and has been in ICU healing amidst the multiple surgeries he's had to have. A genuine nightmare situation but I think we're past the worst of it and, as I write this on February 2nd, we've got one more surgery to get through and then on to the recovery/rehabilitation stage.  Thank God.  

Then there is the weather situation.
A massive snowstorm came through the east coast on 1/25. We went up to NJ to stay with my daughter so she wasn't alone through it since her fiance is in the hospital. 
I don't usually mind snow too much. I like when it snows a couple of inches, just enough to make things pretty. 
This was not that kind of snowstorm.
It wasn't the pretty kind, it was the scary kind.  For one, it was bitter cold. For two, it snowed heavily and then changed to freezing rain.  Hours of freezing rain.  My anxiety went through the roof because I'm severely claustrophobic and being stuck in an apartment with no chance of leaving badly triggers my need to escape.  For example, I once left the house and drove off in the middle of a tornado on the ground very close by because I was afraid of the house being hit and getting trapped inside.  I am aware of how foolish that was. Phobias mean the absence of logical thinking. 

My December

My November 2025

Thanksgiving With The Ghosts Of Estrangement, Indifference & Distance

Yesterday was Thanksgiving.

The day started out okay. Normal stuff for me - up at 5:30, coffee in the bedroom as I start the day slowly, morning toast.

By 8am I had the turkey all dressed up and in the oven.

By 8:30am I realized I was in the middle of a bona fide anxiety attack.
No explanation for that while it was happening, it just came up out of nowhere.  It was just going to be the two of us so it wasn't like I was panicking about the details that come with having company.  I've cooked turkeys and Thanksgiving meals dozens of time so it wasn't that either.  Weird.  Later in the day I would understand why this happened.

Eventually the anxiety attack passed and the rest of the morning was spent doing just a bit more meal prep (I'd cooked most of everything the day before) and playing around with artwork.  At some point I mentioned to JP that I didn't want either of us to dwell on not having family or friends to share the day with as we often tend to lament about on special days.  Sort of like: "This food is great, the house looks beautiful. Too bad we don't have people to share it with."  That's the sort of thing that always gets said on every birthday, holiday, Arbor Day, Groundhog Day, etc.

But the truth is, even if one of us isn't saying it, we are both definitely thinking it.

For a little bit I had the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on the television which brought back a flood of memories for me:  being a little kid and going to the parade with my father, freezing to death until he bought me hot pretzels from the street cart man and a steamy hot chocolate with tons of whipped cream on top; taking Sherb to the parade when she was little, bundling her up in twelve layers of clothing.  
Moving on from the parade memories to remembering my mother getting mad if you didn't want to eat a particular Thanksgiving food that she thought you should be eating (I used to not like sweet potatoes which bothered her as if it were something personal) and also her annual attempt at making stuffing which everyone referred to as "wet bread".  Thinking about the corny joke that we still laugh about that my beloved and estranged nephew made on Thanksgiving about geting more turnips on his "next turn up" to get a second helping.

You know, the bittersweet kind of memories.

11.26.25