Thursday Thoughts ~ June 26, 2025

It’s Thursday at the newly painted Casa Carter!

Took a quick trip to Knott’s Berry Farm today. Did I mention that The Husband worked there as a performer for 39 years, recently retired, and we have lifetime passes with free parking? It’s about a half hour away, so it’s an easy drive. We sometimes go straight to the bakery and get turkey and cheese croissants. Yum! Then we walk the perimeter of the park to get in 6000 to 7000 steps. Along the way, we always run into friends and guests who want to say Hi to Cannonball (his stage name).

Here’s The Husband, being silly.

Me, with Snoopy and Charlie Brown.  Isn’t this the cutest image of Snoopy you’ve ever seen?!

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Thursday Thoughts ~ June 19, 2025

Welcome to another Thursday at Casa Carter!

Saturday, the 14th, was our 45th wedding anniversary! I wrote about it here. I wanted to devote a separate blog to our Day.

Before our anniversary celebration, though, I attended the No Kings Day protest in Chino Hills, CA. Hundreds showed up to take advantage of their first amendment right to gather and express their outrage over our current presidential administration. Certainly because of the military presence in Los Angeles, many people were extra inspired to come out and speak out. Here are some of the folks and some great signs.

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Thursday Thoughts ~ June 12, 2025

It’s Thursday again! Time flies, whether you’re having fun or not.

On Saturday, The Husband and I went to our monthly California Writers Club meeting at the picturesque Anaheim Packing House. It reminds me of my years with The Bead Society of Orange County – meeting in a beautiful place, with socializing, a few minutes of club business, then a speaker of interest. This month’s guest was Daniel Weizmann, author of the Pacific Coast Highway Mystery series, talking about his W.H.O.C.A.R.E.S writing method. I took a lot of good notes and also got his excellent PDF to work from.

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Thursday Thoughts ~ June 5, 2025

Oh boy, this wasn’t the week I’d anticipated…

Friday, I was sitting in the car, waiting for The Husband, who was dropping off something to a friend at the Knott’s Berry Farm employee entrance. Naturally, I was reading 😊 When my nose starting running, I wiped it to find bright red blood! I don’t think I’ve had a nose bleed since I was a kid and this one was a doozy. I put my head back but I didn’t realize I should be pinching to create a clot, so by the time The Husband got back, I was in a panic. He took me back to the guard station, where they called their Knott’s EMT’s, who came out and helped stem the flow. Everyone was so nice and helped calm me down.

I have continual congestion because in California, there’s always something in bloom. I’d woken up extra congested that morning, so we’re thinking it was just a combination of allergies and what seemed to be a sinus infection. By Friday evening, I had a temperature of 101. We were supposed to participate in the Moving Day Parkinson’s Disease fundraiser walk and activities but I was like a dishrag on Saturday – no energy, off and on fever, and another nose bleed – no way I could have gone. So disappointing. But we did raise money for the cause, so thanks to all who contributed!!

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Thursday Thoughts ~ May 29, 2025

Hope everybody had a good Memorial Day. I kept thinking it was Sunday… We put out our trash on Monday nights, so we had to scramble on Tuesday morning to get the cans out… Then found out they’d be a day behind on pickup, which hasn’t happened all year with the other Monday holidays… Hauled them back in, only to bring them back out Wednesday morning… How was your Memorial Day??!!

Spent some time binging The Four Seasons on Netflix. I purposely didn’t rewatch the original Alan Alda/Carol Burnett movie from the 80’s, because I wanted to see the series with fresh eyes. I enjoyed it, especially since it updated the story with one of the couples being gay. I just read a not-so-hot review, saying the writers used too many clichés and didn’t build the characters very deeply. Honestly, I don’t expect a lot of deep introspection from a sit-com. There were some lovely moments, however, especially from Kerri Kenney, who plays a betrayed wife. I will admit, though, that the Tina Fey and Will Forte characters in the last two episodes were annoying as hell. After a bombshell ending, unsurprisingly, there will be another “season” at some point.

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Thursday Thoughts ~ May 22, 2025

I need to make better use of this blog. Besides the fact that I pay for it every year, I’m gearing up to publish my first book (!), a cozy mystery, and 1) I need to stay accountable and 2) I want to take you along on my self-publishing journey. There’ll be challenges, learning curves and it’ll probably get pretty sweary!

So, every Thursday, like I did three years ago… I’m going to write about what I’m enjoying, progress I’m making on my cozy mystery, maybe a rant or two… Just whatever life’s throwing at me and what I’m throwing back.

Here goes:

Our Evil HOA is making us paint our house. The cost is heart-thuddingly high but since we may be (or may not be, who can tell what the future holds…) aging in place here, we have to do the upkeep according to the bylaws. My advice—never NEVER live in a place with a Home Owners Association.

Last Saturday was my late mom’s birthday. Every year, we celebrate her day by having lunch at an Italian restaurant, Graziano’s in Yorba Linda. It’s a family run place with authentic tasting food. So good! Chef’s kiss!

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Hands Off Protest April 5, 2025

This is not a political post. Hands Off was meant to be a bipartisan day of protest for the policies being currently enacted by the American government. This post is only about my participation in the rally.

I missed the protests of the 1960’s, since I was only in junior high by the end of the decade. My parents weren’t activists, so I never had the experience of marching for the causes so vital in those times, like civil rights, and an end to the Vietnam War. I certainly remember those chaotic years, but only from the safety of my living room.

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The Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit

The Husband really wanted to see The Dead Sea Scrolls at the Reagan Library (thrilled to see something older than us 😊). They have a very versatile exhibition space that garners impressive museum-quality presentations from around the world. In years past, we would drive to Simi (it’s about 1 ½ hours north of us) and stay overnight for a relaxing couple of days. But now, our cat Patchwork’s diabetes prohibits overnight jaunts. So, we made a quick day of it, taking the scenic route through downtown LA by mistake – LOL!

Going to a Republican Presidential Library gave me pause but I never heard any mention of The President Who Shall Not Be Named, so that was good. And, I admit, I wore as much blue as I could, including my nail color!

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Fave Books by Black Authors

In honor of Black History Month, I’ve compiled a list of books I’ve enjoyed, written by black authors. If I try to give a description of each one, I’ll never get it done. I’ve been trying to do an LGBTQ+ book list with full descriptions but for some reason, it’s been daunting. Probably because I’ve tried to keep my writing focus on the edits of my first book, a cozy mystery, which I plan to publish sometime this year. Believe it or not, when I do a blog post, it takes plenty of time and research to make sure I’ve got all the details right. Plus, there’s lots of personal and political stuff taking up a bunch of my attention, too.

So, if any of these authors/titles pique your interest, please check them out at your favorite booksellers or at the library. Or pick up the middle grade and YA for your young readers (and yourself, of course. Great stories come in all age categories!)

And give these authors some social media love, too!

If you have some recommendations, I’d love to hear them in the comments. C’mon, share!

Happy Reading!

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I Just Wanna Scream!

I was weaned on soap operas. I watched with The Mom from the time I could sit up on my own. When I’d come home from first grade, I’d demand the story lines from that day’s episodes of Guiding Light, Secret Storm, As the World Turns, and the eternal General Hospital. I watched into my high school years, but when Love is a Many Splendored Thing went off the air in 1973, I took that as a sign to move on from soaps.

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