Camping !!!????

John loved to go fishing and camping, spending the night in the great outdoors.  You know roughing it.

I love to rough it in a motel 6 or going out for the day for a picnic and returning home at night.

Hmmm, so I was able to beg my way out of this UNTIL John bought a camper.  He said he bought it for me, so I could enjoy camping and fishing.  Sure, and we have unicorns in the back yard.

Let me tell you I was not a HAPPY camper.

I didn't like feeling dirty all the time and I didn't like cooking over campfires.  John wouldn't let me cook on the stove inside the camper because it would make it too hot to sleep in there during the night.  The camper didn't have air conditioning.  Once again this was before someone decided to add air conditioning to these things.  Deep down inside I figured I was brought along as the chief cook and bottle washer.   Hmmm,did I mention  I was not a HAPPY camper.

I hope your not getting the wrong idea.  I was not a city kid, I was raised in the small town of Elfrida just like my husband.  I could kill bugs, spiders with the best of them and not throw a fit.   Shoot snakes with my eyes closed.  But I really wasn't into the camping thing like he was. 

I just found it hard to sit for hours around a lake waiting for a fish to bite and then have to GUT it.  UGH!!!

Tuna in a can was up my alley and not too often.  I didn't really like fish.  Mom would fix us fish sticks ever so often and we would put plenty of catchup on them.  I was a meat and potato kind of person.  Beef is what I was raised on.  Give me a break.

So any way here we are with a camper (an old ford pick up with a camper on the back, it wasn't the shell kind.  It was a hulking big camper with an itty bitty kitchen) and five kids now.  The baby was a girl still in diapers with four older brothers.  I know you are feeling sorry for her, but she could hold her own with her brothers when she learned to walk.

Our first trip in the camper was to a lake near us to fish for the weekend.

I didn't get much sleep that first night, I jumped at every sound and there is a lot of noise in the forest at night.  So when day break finally came I sighed with relief.  I could crawl out of the bed that I thought of as a torture chamber and make some coffee.  But first I would have to get the fire outside going and make a trip to the bathroom.  Yah, you know the kind they build in the camping areas of the lakes.  Some are non flush you know.   It took a while to get that stupid fire going.

While drinking a cup of coffee, I noticed some fishermen heading down to the lake and I remembered hearing the best time to catch fish was early in the morning.

I climb back into the camper and shake John's shoulder.  "Are you suppose to fish early in the morning if you want to catch fish?  I saw some fishermen heading down to the lake."

John rolls over and gives me a dirty look, "I never fish at this time of morning.  It's the weekend and I can sleep in.  Go away!"

I thought it over for a few minutes and shook his shoulder again, "Do you think this is why you never get any fish?  I remember your brother mentioning when he goes fishing he goes out early and he catches fish."

"Look at this way honey.  If I don't catch fish you don't have to cook and eat them."  John winked and rolled back over.  Soon his snores fill the camper.  I look at him grumpily, envying the way he can sleep any where.

The boys woke up and I fixed breakfast outside for them.  Feed the baby and got her dressed for the day.

John finally crawls out of bed about ten and I fix him something to eat.  I tell him the kids and I had gone for a walk and we found a little cove where we could play in the water.

Needless to say John is a little upset I woke him up this morning and that the kids had been noisy while he was trying to sleep.  He wasn't able to sleep as much as he wanted.

Soooo, things are a little strained.   Well, we lasted the weekend and on Sunday I am helping John load the camper  to head home.  I am all smiles and trying to push everyone to move faster, so we can leave.

The fishing poles John had brought  keep getting in the way and John puts them on the roof of the camper to get them out of the way while we get ready to head home.

By this time I am a sleep deprived crazed woman.  I can hardly wait to get home to take a shower and sleep in a comfortable bed.

I'm pushing for us to leave and John just wants me to be quiet.

I tell him I will not speak to him ever again and I climb into the cab of the pick up with the baby in my arms.

John has to finish loading by himself and soon he crawls into the cab to start the pick up and we take off.

I was so proud of my self for not talking to him.  But of course as usual during the trip home I forget I wasn't talking to John and I am talking away when I notice a sparkle of laughter in his eyes.  I look at him and demand to know what he is finding so funny.

He laughs telling me I never last very long not talking to him.   I give him a narrow eye look and turn away thinking in my mind  I WILL NOT TALK TO HIM FOR THE REST OF THE TRIP and I have a secret.  A wicked smile curves my lips.   It didn't last long, before I knew it I am pointing out something and talking away.

We arrive home and John is unloading the camper and he comes in to ask where are the fishing poles.

I look at him calmly, "You mean the ones you put on top of the camper?"

John's eyes narrow and through gritted teeth he says, "Why didn't you remind me they were up there?"

I look at him and smile sweetly, "I wasn't talking to you, remember."

John mumbles something under his breath and walks back outside.

I turn back to feeding the baby and figured I have proof now, I can stop talking a little while.

Don't worry John had more fishing poles before he went fishing again.  John decided he and the boys would go camping by themselves and I would stay home with the baby.   If I felt like it, I would drive up to the lake for the day and have my picnic with them and then baby and I would return home that evening.  Ah, heaven!

I find the arrangement great.  I hate camping!!!!

Do you like to camp?  Do you share the chores around the campsite?

Let me know about some of your camping horror stories.

How Deep is the Water

I'm late, I'm late, according to the white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland.  Boy is he right.

We will continue the saga of my life.  As I have told you I am a tiny bit night blind and directional challenged.  I drive by landmarks, not street or road names.

My husband John would look at me sometimes and ask, "Why aren't you blond?"  I don't mean any disrespect to blonds out there, but you have to remember this was years ago and blonds at that time were shown as clueless.  I was a brunette with brown eyes.  But I was also clueless half the time unfortunately.  Do you know how hard that makes life for the person who is clueless?  It's a good thing I was also a sieve brain, that way I didn't remember half  the bad. LOL

My husband had a lot in common with my parents.  He loved to prospect for gold. What is it with gold fever?

We never found any, but none the less he dragged the kids and I out to prospect.  He loved finding site where old towns use to be.  One of those places was Charleston.

To get to Charleston we had to cross the San Pedro river.  By cross I mean, drive through the water, but this is Arizona and we didn't really need to worry about the depth of the water that much.

This particular weekend.we have the boys loaded in our 1967 Mercury Comet and it had rained earlier in the day.

The Mercury didn't have air conditioning and yet we made a lot of trips to California and Texas in this car.

Air conditioning in the car at this time was a luxury and it would cost you a pretty penny.  Amazing what you can do without if you hadn't ever experienced it.  I wouldn't think of driving around Arizona now without air conditioning in my car.  Guess I have become soft.  Ha!

We get to the area where we drive across the San Pedro to Charleston.  The river is running fast from the rain, (let's face it, it was flooded) but a little more water doesn't stop John.  In he drives, going slowly and I wonder how deep the water is.  I ask John and he says he doesn't really know.

John also had moments of being clueless and he says, "Since we are moving slowly, open the door and find out."
I look at him smiling and agree.  I open the door and in comes the water.  John yells shut the door and I finally get the door closed, but by then the inside of the car has water in it.  HMMMM

The boys are all excited about there being water in the car now.  John turns to me, winks and say, "I didn't think the water was that deep."

I agree and we continue on to Charleston to picnic on boloney sandwiches, chips and water.

We made a lot of trips to Charleston that year and wound up having to have the u joint replaced on the car twice.  Come to find out sand and water seems to damage that part of the car.  Oh well.  After paying for the first replacement by a shop, John carried an extra u joint and replaced it himself when it needed it.

Charleston was an old mining town located between Sierra Vista and Tombstone.  When the mines played out the town was torn down and moved to another booming spot for miners.  At the time there were a few crumbling adobe walls left of the town to mark it had ever existed.  I imagine by now they are gone also.  They fenced the San Pedro off and you can't get down into the areas we used to visit.  It was beautiful there with the white oak trees lining the river and grasses growing like crazy.

Do you have memories of times long ago when you were surrounded with the people you love? 

Liana Brooks had an interesting blog yesterday on how to reach the inner child energy.  Check it out.
http://lianabrooks.blogspot.com/

Let Go of My Steering Wheel!!

The boys are growing and now there are four and they have come to enjoy trips with mom.  We live in the small town of Elfrida, about thirty to thirty five miles away from Douglas.  We do all our shopping in Douglas and back then you were lucky if you saw more than five cars on the road going and coming.

The baby would start crying or the boys would be boys and cause a ruckus in the back seat.  I would turn while driving to take care of the problem.  Ya you know this woman would forget she was driving.  I did and generally speaking I would feel the car go off the road and I would turn back to guide the car back on the road with out a change of speed.  I mean really why would I take my foot off the gas?  I was trying to get somewhere.

If it was dark I would wind up turning into ditches looking for the turn off for our home.  So as you can see the ditches and I had a relationship going.  LOL

This time on our trip to Douglas John my husband was riding as a passenger.  He was suppose to be taking care of the baby and the other boys in the back seat.  The problem was John would drift off to sleep the minute he sat down in the car.

Soooo, the baby starts crying, I look and see John is asleep and turn to take care of the baby.  Handing him his bottle and I feel the car drift into the ditch.  I turn back around to guide the car back on the road when suddenly out of no where, John's hands are on the steering wheel keeping me in the ditch.  I begin slapping his hands and telling him to let go of my steering wheel.

He tells me I can't get back on the road this way, I will shoot across the highway to the otherside.

I tell him to let go of my wheel and I would be able to stay on my own side of the road.

Now while all this is going on, you would think I would take my foot off the gas.  I think back and wonder why I never took my foot off the gas. I am still barreling down the ditch at 55 mph.

Was it because my dad told me to control the car with the gas pedal and not the break?  The break would get you in trouble is what he hammered into my head.  Dad drove a big semi truck hauling rock to the smelter.

Here I am fighting over my steering wheel doing fifty five and I am in a ditch with speed limit sign coming up.

I hear my oldest son in the back seat say, "Dad, mom can do it let go of the steering wheel.  She does it all the time."

John lets go of the steering wheel and I pull the car back onto the road and I stay in my lane.

I point at the sign and tell John "You almost made me hit a sign."

John gives me that look of  (is she for real).

So John never grabbed my steering wheel again especially after the boys told him stories of how we seem to wind up in a ditch off and on.

Ya, I know, you are wondering why that man ever let me behind the wheel.  To tell you the truth I always wondered that myself.  He would never tell me.  He would grin and shake his head giving me that look.

I lowered the price of my first book "Second Chance" to $1.99  at Smashwords and Amazon.
I find it easier to do and find things on Smashwords.
Amazon takes me foreverrrrr and then it always says it will be twenty four hours before the changes are made.  Really !!! 
I really wish Amazon would look up how Smashwords had the desk top set up for authors.

Do you find Amazon easier or harder to use than Smashwords?

Let me know.   But then again you never know it could just be me.  LOL

Smashwords:                 

Second Chance                  http://smashwords.com/books/view/87120  

Fainting Damsel                    http://smashwords.com/books/view/93185     






Amazon:


Second Chance:                   http://www.amazon.com/dp/Boo50TI84A

Fainting Damsel                           http://amazon.com/dp/B005RFGJD0 

He Thought it was Safe

We traveled often to Playsa New Mexico to visit one of John's brothers and his family.  Generally John always did the driving.

This time was different.  John was worn out from running around with his brother doing brotherly things and decided since it was daylight, I could drive us home and he and the boys promptly fell asleep.

As luck would have it I come to a fork in the road and I sat there for a few minutes trying to figure out which one I was suppose to take.  I had never paid attention to the land marks be passed when John was driving and I use land marks to bet from point A to point B.  I look at John and he is sleeping so soundly he hadn't noticed the car had stopped.  I figured he must really be worn out.  Soooo I figured I would take the part of the fork that was straight instead of the curvy one.

I drive along looking at the scenery and hunting for a sign saying Douglas this way.  Douglas is in Arizona and it usually can be found on any map, so I should find a road sign.

I found a small road sign pointing toward the mountains that said Douglas was that way.  I take the turn and continue traveling positive I would find Douglas.  The paved road soon changed to a dirt road and I continue.  It never entered my head to turn around and go back to the fork in the road.  I think one reason I was afraid of becoming even more lost than I already was.

Now I am in the mountains surrounded by forest and a dirt road that hadn't seen a grader in a long time.  It is beautiful scenery and I am enjoying it.  I keep glancing at John every time I hit a rough spot wondering when he would wake up.  I wanted to share this beautiful scenery with him.

I don't know how long I have been driving, but it is beginning to seem forever.  John sits up after a nasty rough spot in the road and looks around.  With that look on his face,( is this woman for real), he looks at me and asks, "Where are we?"

I smile and wave my hand toward the scenery, "Isn't it beautiful?  Look there is water running in that stream."

"You don't know where we are, do you?"

I look at John and shake my head no.  "You see there was a fork in the road and I couldn't remember which one I was suppose to take.  I really think they should have more signs out telling in which direction something is.  Oh, look!  There's a deer."

"You expect me to get us out of this mess?  This time you need to figure it out."  John sat back, crossed his arms and looked out the window on his side of the car.

Our oldest son woke up, looked around and leaned over the seat, "Where are we?"

"Your mother has found the scenic route.  We don't know where we are."

"Oh, okay.  Do we have anything to eat?"

"Afraid not son.  Have some water."  John passed back the large jug of water we always carried.

Needless to say an eternity later we are heading down the other side of the mountain and in the distance I can see a thin ribbon of highway.  I feel elated to see a paved road.  I was beginning to think I would never get out of the forest.

I finally reached that ribbon of highway and stop.  There isn't one  sign any where to tell me what lies in either direction.  Really you would think at the end of every road they would give you some information of what lies farther down the road, so you could make an educated choice.

"Mom, turn left," says a small voice from the back seat and I turn to look at my second son.

I look at John with a raised eyebrow and he sits there grinning like an idiot.  I turn left and head down the highway.  The tension in my back eases as I follow the road around another mountain and I see the small cafe/bar/store of Silver Creek.  Finally, a landmark I remember, and I know I am headed to Douglas.

From the back seat I hear my oldest son whispering to his brother, "I don't know why dad let's mom drive.  It always takes  longer to get there when she does."

John mumbles something under his breath I can't hear.  Then he says in his defense, "It was daylight.  I didn't think she would get lost in the daylight."

The boys in the back seat laughed and I look at John with a smile on my face.

"Think how boring life would be without these little adventures."

John mumbles something under his breath I can't hear.

All I have to say the man never learns.

My Books

Amazon

Second Chance         http://www.amazon.com/dp/Boo50TI84A

Fainting Damsel           http://amazon.com/dp/B005RFGJD0 

Smashwords

Second Chance          http://smashwords.com/books/view/87120

Fainting Damsel          http://smashwords.com/books/view/93185

                 

Drive Through Oklahoma

Okay, we are on another road trip in a small Datsun Sports wagon.  John my husband, and three sons, one still in diapers.  We have been to Illinois to visit with one of John's old army buddies.  Had a great time.

It was dark and John is falling asleep at the wheel.  He pulls over and says (you guessed it) your turn to drive.
Okay, it is dark (night blind) I have never been on this freeway before (direction challenge).  I slip under the wheel, and all the BOYS are sleeeping.

It is almost daylight and I am now in Oklahoma.  I keep reading signs for buffalo farms and I'm thinking to myself, "The boys need to see a buffalo up close."  I take the next exit and follow the signs to the buffalo farm and unfortunately the gate is close.  John wakes up when the car stops, "Where are we?"

I look at him smiling brightly.  "I thought the boys should see some buffaloes up close.  They will love it."
"Ah, honey they aren't open yet."  John looks around and then pointedly looks at the boys asleep in the back.
"That's okay," I answer calling the boys awake to gaze at the buffaloes in the field.  Rubbing sleep from their eyes they say great mom and lay back down to go to sleep.

John looks at me with an eyebrow raised and says, "You do know the freeway we were on was a tole road?"
I look at him with a blank face, "Tole road?  You mean a ogre lives under the bridge?"

John laughs and shakes his head, "No, I mean you now have to pay to get back on the freeway.  Honey you have got to stop taking these side trips."  He mumbles something under his breath and I can't make out what he says.

I smile and say okay.  Turning the car I'm heading down the road, when a thought occurs, "John, how much will the tole be and do you have any money?"  Without opening his eyes John digs out his wallet and hands it over.

I tried not to take side trips, but sometimes I just have to see what is down a ramp.

Read some great blogs today.  Be sure to visit'
Lipstick Chronicles/Big Girl Panties/Amy Hatvary (I hope I spelled her last name right)  She talks about traveling alone and becoming lost at the airport.  Of course I had to let her know she wasn't alone.  Every time I go to the airport I have to ask for help.  Sometimes I am at the entrance of the wrong airline and they help me to find the right one which is across the terminal.

My youngest son always takes me to the airport and picks me up no matter how inconvenient it is.  His reasoning is he would rather not have to drive down really bad neighborhoods looking for his mother at midnight.  LOL

...then she writes/HL Windmiller/ Friday Mash - up.   She gives you links to other sites and today there were some cool funny ones.  I really enjoyed them.

Remember my books are for sale at Amazon and Smashwords.

Second Chance (it has a different cover for Amazon and Smashwords.  Mobi didn't like the size of the orginal and I couldn't make it see it when I increased the size.  Go figure)

Fainting Damsel  (same cover for both sites)


Coming out soon will be my third ebook, "Charlie"

Happy Reading!!!!

Another Road Trip

Sorry about getting this blog up so late, but life happens.

We were living in Paramount Calif., and my parents lived in southeaster Az.  We traveled back for Christmas and had a great time.  Of course we didn't leave Az., when we should have and wound up traveling back late in the night.  John had to be at work  early the next morning.

As I told you before John would forget (1) I am night blind  ( 2) I am directionally challenged and it is dark, it is late and we would soon be reaching San Diego.  He pulls over and tells me to drive, since the baby is asleep and he needs to get some shut eye for work.

I hop over into the driver seat without a word thinking I can do this.  Just stay on the freeway and drive.

In San Diego they detour me off the freeway because of some construction work was being done on it.  I wasn't worried, I thought it would be easy to follow the signs and get back onto the freeway.  Hmm you are yelling "Oh No!"   I spent hours trying to find that dang freeway.  The only problem is, I never saw any signs directing me toward the freeway.

It is now three in the morning and we should have been home by now.  John sits up in the seat, looks around and asks, "Where in the hell are we?"

I glance at him with a big smile, shrug my shoulders and chirps, "I don't know, but I have found the scenic route."  At which point, I point to the small sign next to the road.  "I wish it was daylight so I could see it."

John gives me that look that tells me he wonders if I am for real.  "How did we wind up here?"

"Well, you see they detoured me off the freeway and I haven't been able to find it again.  But I found the scenic route."

John rubs his face with his hands mumbling something I couldn't hear and then says, "Pull over, I will drive."

It took that man only a few minutes to fine that dang freeway and he drove us home.  He had enough time to unload the car, kiss me and the baby and he was off to work.

The man never learned!  LOL

Found some interesting blogs today.  Enjoy reading.

Confession of a bookaholic; interview with Sara Shepard wrote the book Everything we ever wanted to know about hazing and bulling

Interesting post by Janet Reid, Literary Agent about why she had turned down two books lately.  It wasn’t because the authors couldn’t write.  Interesting and make some of the rejection slips more promising than I thought.

Liana Banks has a great recipe for sourdough pretzels.  Hmmm need to make some.

Paperback writer reminded the authors NaNoWriteMo is coming soon and asking for suggestions how she could help.  I voted for fun stuff.  An author needs a little time to rest and laugh.

Loved Lipstick Chronicles today about sneaking out to Target and I enjoyed reading all the comments. 

Terry’s Place had a great corn casserole bake recipe today.  Love it!

Girlfriend book club Susan McBride wrote about if we had a crystal ball.  Yeah knowing me I would have forgot what it showed me and went alone my merry way making the choices I shouldn’t. LOL

…then she writes by Heidi Windmiller about how it can drive you crazy taking a break from writing.  Totally agreed!  Thousand voices in my head trying to be heard, telling me their stories.  It is hard to drive in heavy traffic with all this going on.  OHMYGODWEAREGINGTODIE!!!!

The Stiletto Gang had a great personal gem of history.  I am a history buff and enjoyed it immensely.  Maggie thank you for sharing a piece of your past and of Bart’s part in it.

A little about me

I thought with today's blog; I would tell you something, a story about me and it will be the funny parts of my life with my children and husband.

Both my husband and I were raised in a small farming community in southeast AZ.

John my husband had seen some of the world. He had lived in Calif. for a time. He was drafted into the army and stationed in Germany. This was in the 60s. I never had the chance to travel around the world, much less out of state.

My husband was eleven years older than me and sometimes he would look at me as if he didn't think I could be real.

We had been married a few weeks and he decided we needed to move to California. He had lived out there before and liked it. He was sure his old boss would hire him again.

We packed up our 1956 Ford Fairlane Convertible. We put the top down and I sat as close as I could to my honey. The car had bench seats, no seat belts and there wasn't a law about them.

I was to be the navigator. (bad choice, I get lost) John didn't realize that yet.

Anyway we are driving along and I see this sign with an arrow pointing down a road we are coming up to say San Diego this way. I point and tell John the signs says that way, he gives me a quick kiss and takes the road I am pointing at.

I don't know how long we had been driving, we were newlyweds and life was wonderful. I see a sign that says San Diego that way. I point and tell John the sign says San Diego that way. John gives me a quick kiss and we sing along with the radio as John makes the turn down the road.

Time passes and I say; "The sign says San Diego that way." I point at the road and John slows down, looks at me saying, "Doesn't this look familiar to you?" I look around, give him a sweet kiss and a big smile, chirping, "No, I don't think I've been here before."

John grins shakes his head, "We have been down that road twice and it circles around bringing us back to this same spot."

I look around totally mystified, "Oh okay." John stays on the right road and we continue our trip.

The amazing thing was John would forget and let me navigate once in a while and drive while he slept. He was a very brave (crazy) man sometimes.

I thought I would write on my blog on Monday, Wed., and Fri. and of course, you never know I could write more.

Yesterday I read what John Steinbeck wrote, "Advice For Beginning Writers." It was interesting and is as true today as it was back then. This can be found on the Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing on facebook.

I enjoyed Kate Wood's blog. She had a lot of different blogs you could visit from her site.

Heidi Windmiller on her blob ...then she writes wrote about establishing voice in your story. She had some great advice and examples.

Liana Brooks' blog was "Failure Is an Option". It was very interesting and I agreed with what she had to say. Of course I added my two cents in the comment section.

See you around the block.

Charlie Insists

As I have written before I have a parrot in the book I am writing now. I told you he was mouthy and he still hasn't shut up.
He has now decided he needs more voice and the reader should be able to share his thoughts. This bird is driving me crazy.
He says he is four hundred years old and I told him to drop dead. He didn't.
I told him this is a mystery not paranormal. He doesn't care, he insists he is four hundred years old.
I told him this would completely change the story and he insists it wouldn't. I wasn't planning to write a sequel to this book. He insists he needs to become a household word. I told him to get real. He gave a very wicked chuckle.
I've had bossy characters before, but this book seems to have more than it's fair share. They all want their side of the story told. I told them to drop dead. They didn't.
This book will never be finished if this keeps up.
Charlie sits there giving me a bird grin. He does have intelligent eyes. Should I listen to him?
Charlie likes to dance and of course he thinks he is better than everyone. He thinks humans are dumb and only puts up with them because they are entertaining. He's better than a watch dog, especially since he has it down pat how to bark like the biggest, baddest dog on earth. Thinking about that bark gives me chills. Charlie also has definite ideas how Wendy should dress. He insists through his four hundred years he has met many fashion smart people. The ladies in court adored him for his advice on how to attract a man's attention. Ya right...
I think I need an asprin, I am getting a headache. The bird will not shut up!
Drop dead Charlie and leave me alone.
I need more coffee!
Damn, this bird is following me everywhere. Next thing I know he will be telling me how to dress. I tell him a cold day in hell.
While I wrestle with this parrot, trying to get him to get back in the story my way. Happy reading.

See you around the block