Celebrate the Small Things: Gathering Together

--Christmas Dinner at the Community Center last evening. A drawing, some good jokes, conversation, shared food, and bring your own wine. What's not to like? We are about five minutes away from the center. With a population under 5000, no one has far to travel. The Community Center is unofficially the Senior Center (according to some). Members are in their fifties on up, but we are all young at heart, so we downplay the "senior" part.

--Exercise Group. We meet twice a week for stretching, aerobic dance (hey, I'm John Trivolta!), and weight lifting. We follow Jane Fonda's Fit and Firm videos. Boy do I ever sweat. I have exercised on my own all my life, but it's more fun as a group. We recently topped it off, by going out to lunch together.

--Blog gatherings where you encourage me and boost my self-esteem as a writer, and I try to do the same for you. What would I do without your kind words when I need them most?

--Book Club next week at my home.  We are discussing The Midnight Plan of the Repo Man by W. Bruce Cameron. Suspense, romance and humor all tied into one. I highly recommend this novel. I can't seem to put it down, it's that good. It's been a fun break from the YA and Middle grade books I'm reading. As a writer, I am enjoying the author's humorous language and character development. Attention Dog lovers: this one's for you!

--Cozy Comforts, a group that meets to make blankets for the needy. I recently pulled out my crochet needles, tired of saying "someday" when I have time again. I can always find time in the evening when Vince and I watch TV. Why wait?

--Bible Study: we are studying the book of Ephesians, one of my favorite books. We pray for each other and share our life stories.

--Church on Sunday. Small is the key word with churches in Desert Aire, although I run into attendees everywhere I go. Attendance varies (we do our best). I consider myself a Christian first and a Lutheran at heart. I come from a long line of German and Norwegian Lutherans. One German ancestor (a great uncle) evangelized half the state of Missouri in the late 1800s.  

--Finally, a family gathering for Christmas dinner on Christmas day. There will be eleven of us this year. Prime rib, last I heard.

What are some of your 

favorite gatherings?

Celebrate the Small Things: To join, visit Lexa's Blog for the rules. We post every Friday about something we are grateful for that week. It can be about writing, family, school, general life or whatever. Originated by VikLit, co-hosts are: L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge and Katie @ TheCyborgMom

Sharon M. Himsl

Writer/Author. Blogging since 2011. 
Published with Evernight Teen: 
~~The Shells of Mersing

Happy New Year 2014

Hi. Just wanted to wish everyone a wonderful 2014......in all your pursuits, whether it's writing goals, improved relationships, or some personal quest. We all deserve a fresh start. 2014 is the year!

Some of my accomplishments in 2013:

--The blog. Last year was a huge learning curve for me as a blogger, debuting with the A-Z in April and deciding what I wanted to do with my blogger life hence forth. It is still a work in progress, but for now I am zeroing in on what drew me to blogging in the first place, my fascination with American culture and a desire to establish a web presence for when I finished my novel. I wandered about but have returned to these two goals, so progress there.

--The novel. I wish I could say I have a completed novel. I DO have a polished draft, with the exception of the first and last chapters. I realized at some point that these two chapters needed to reflect each other, so I have been working on linking the two. I have written an action-adventure with elements of mystery and romance, so I have had tons of plot details to check as well.

--Gardening pursuits. Gardening and landscaping a new yard (5 years now) has been ongoing. I'm excited to finally have an apple tree, and a vine maple. Brick edging was also installed and ten shrubs planted. I do most of the work, but my husband is always willing to help with the heavy work. 

--Exercise and weight. Since August I have lost 17 pounds thanks to my treadmill and Weight Watchers. I credit WW a lot, but I have never belonged to this organization, except to use their cookbooks and calculators--all available on line for purchase. I also designed a table for my husband and me to record our daily points and weekly weight. My husband has also lost 17 pounds, but on his own had lost 13 pounds since January, totally a whopping 30 pounds. With results like that, we are committed now. We also use Wii Fit Plus, mostly to weigh in and see our progress on the Wii graph. It's really instructive, and also a fun way to exercise. When the weather improves we'll start biking again.

Peace of Mind. I have been working on several issues, mainly where to live in retirement and what to do about my lovely family who lives all over the U.S. We have decided to stay put for at least a year. We both work part-time at the university and since our insurance health policy is good, why rock a sound boat? Meanwhile, I am working on using the telephone more, open to using Skype (connection is poor right now), and connecting more on Facebook. Facebook is NOT my favorite form of communication but so many people love it. I have prayed about all this, and on a spiritual level, I am in a much better place. I seem to be on the right path.

Goals for 2014:
(In general, more of the same, but I do have a few specifics).

--Finish edits and submit novel this month (I will drop off the grid for a while if necessary). 

--Start a new novel.

--Research other places to submit my writing (ones that actually pay something). An article, a short story? Not sure about this one, as I'm not sure this market exists anymore. So many people write for free these days. The goal would be to submit once a month. Any comments?

--Read one book a week.

--Attend Master Gardener's class and obtain certification. I'll be in class once a week, January through mid-April.

--I also add being a little kinder to those around me. In my busyness, I know I sometimes neglect the moment. So I share the following quote:

Do it that very moment.
Don't put it off--don't wait.
There's no use in doing a kindness
If you do it a day too late.
(--Kingsley)

That's it for me. I hope your goals are firming up and giving you new direction. Thank you for supporting my blog efforts. You mean a lot to me.

All the best in 2014!!

 

Copyright 2013 © Sharon Himsl

Celebrate the Small Things: This and That

Oops. Celebrating the small things a day late here, but didn't want to miss the final posting. I have enjoyed this blog hop a lot.  The small things in life make our world spin and color everything we

do. They give us pause and meaning, when the big things overtake and overwhelm. Thanks Viklit for making this blog hop possible.  

Some very small (but important) things below . . .

--Made the best ham dinner ever on Christmas day. Just the two of us was fine, and now we have some great left-overs. Dinner was complete with special table linens, holiday plates and tableware.....candles burning everywhere.

--Reconnected with my baby sister by phone after a long, long time. I don't know why it took so long to communicate, but life got too busy for the two of us. We must have talked an hour and half. Love you, sis!! Do you ever put off calling family when you know you should?  

--Exercised 45 minutes a day all week long on my new treadmill set-up. The flat panel TV with Netflix is working out great. Watching a series called Heartland, and it's all about horses, horses, horses. Getting into the mood for the next novel.


--Admission I have been procrastining the completion of my current novel. New Year's resolution: finish next month and submit somewhere....contest, agent, publisher....SOMEWHERE.

Happy Weekend!!

Copyright 2013 © Sharon Himsl

Winter Entertainment: TV, Exercise & Popcorn

Well, winter is upon us and television viewing just went up a notch in  my home. It's cheap entertainment and with down streaming we can watch a commercial-free series on our schedule, and many of us are on Christmas vacation right now. I love what writers and actors do in these series. You can learn so much about character development and scenes. But mostly I watch for pleasure or to relax, and also for daily exercise. At around forty-five minutes an episode, you can get a good workout on the treadmill.



So replace the TV remote's batteries, lower the shades, add a large bowl of low fat popcorn and sparkling water, pull out the ottoman for your feet or jump on the treadmill and go! Here are the series I watch and recommend.

Currently watching: (update 12/23/13)

Heartland 

Continuum

Once

Alphas

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Dollhouse

Saving Grace
Lilyhammer
H20 Just Add Water
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones
Glee

1/3 cup popcorn, 1 TB peanut oil in
popper. Season with (fine) popcorn
 salt. Servings: 2 large bowls.
(WW 2.5 points)
Sparkling water (selser) 0 points

Waiting for a new season

Hart of Dixie
The Lying Game

Doc Martin 

The Walking Dead

Downton Abbey

Warehouse 13

Dance Academy

Watched in the past:

Flying Wild Alaska

Life Unexpected

A Gifted Man

Bramwell

Star Trek: Enterprise

Star Trek: Voyager

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Heroes

Eureka

Jericho

Survivors

Lost

So what do you watch in your spare time? Also, do you have a favorite Christmas movie you like to watch? My husband and I happen to like While You Were Sleeping with Sandra Bullock, Bill Pullman and Peter Gallagher.

Or maybe . . . you are one of those 'rare birds' who never succumbed to watching television (or even movies). Can you recommend a good book instead, or another activity?

Years ago, when first married, I suggested to Vince that we never buy a television and take advantage of the local library instead. I fantasized reading my heart out and wandering through tall aisles of books like a kid in a candy store. His fantasies were a bit different from mine back then, to say the least. His mouth dropped . . . he was speechless beyond compare. Who was this 19-year old girl he had just married? Had he missed something? We laugh about it now, and you can see who won the argument . . . but no regrets. If not for television (and favorite movies), our dialogue today would lack a certain spark. We can quote lines from  movies and TV series that sometimes only resonate with us. It happens when you have been married thirty plus years.  

Copyright 2013 © Sharon Himsl