Sorry I’ve been missing for so long. This move has been a major adjustment. I hoped to find a second family but, instead, found myself in the middle of a bunch of great people with whom I have very little in common. I won’t bore you with everything, good and bad, that happened. We’ve all suffered through the pandemic and I’d rather do my best to live up to my new retirement goal … to make at least one someone smile every day. I hope to be more prolific here from now on.

The best thing that happened since the last time I wrote is the arrival of a supportive writing group into my life. I sent out a plaintive message on FB asking if there were any other writers out in this area. I was thrilled to have a creative life line sent to me in the form of two excellent writers and people extraordinaire Carolynn Breckenridge and her husband, Jim Ezell. They, in turn, invited me to join TWIG, Tuscaloosa Writers and Illustrators Group. This has been a massive life saver for me. I’ve met a bunch of interesting writers in the group … more about them later.

Now, on to the “fun” stuff … yesterday, after getting great news, MSB and I drove to town to pick up his car. We took the adorable little dog we rescued five years ago with us. Shaggy Maggie looks so sweet in the picture which was the one that made me go to the Humane Society to get her. She’d been a puppy mill baby. Never learned to be a real dog, scared to death of everything, doesn’t understand playing or being a lap dog.

Five years later, she still cowers when we go to pick her up, still hides behind the chair for most of the day, only shows up when it’s time to mooch extras and still won’t eat from her dish until we leave the area. We celebrate things that any other dog would be ignored for … like coming out from behind the chair, wagging her tail when she sees us, barking. (She rarely does.) She has recently begun to sleep with us. Can I pick her up and put her on the bed? No-o-o-o-o-o-o!! Only MSB can!

Anyway, Maggie adores MSB (my husband, my sweet baboo – no N unless I’m mad at him ?). She tolerates me. When we got to his car, MSB decided Maggie should ride with me so he could stop and do some shopping. I agreed. Maggie sulked. Since I so rarely leave the house these days, I decided to stop by Dairy Queen and let them contribute a chocolate blizzard to the delinquency of my diet. Like any responsible dog owner who knows chocolate is not good for dogs, I bought a small cup of vanilla ice cream for our girl. She looked at me, sniffed the ice cream and promptly, complete with her nose in the air, snubbed me to go back to the window looking for her hero. I threw her cup in the trash, ate about half of my blizzard planning to finish the treat on the way home and got back on the road.

I usually drive with my right arm at 2 o’clock on the steering wheel. This pretty much blocks my view of the passenger seat. I could see that Maggie had lain down. I kept on driving. I stopped at a red light and put my arm down. Imagine my surprise when I saw Shaggy Maggie, eyes blissfully closed. She had one paw on each side of my blizzard cup. She had tipped the paper holder sideways enough to get her tongue inside. The look on her face was nearly orgasmic! There was chocolate ice cream all over her chin and dripping onto the console. I took the forbidden sweet away from her and, without raising my voice, chastised her. She turned her back on me for the rest of the ride home.

When we arrived, she refused to get out of the car. If I opened the driver’s side, she plastered herself up against the other door. If I walked around, she jumped in the back seat. Ten minutes later, I opened the windows and left her sitting inside the car in the carport. Yes, I was a bit miffed!

So MSB gets home. He walks up to the car, opens the door and her ladyship jumps into his arms. She wiggled frantically and licked his face. Then she turned and cast a look over her shoulder that put me firmly in my place in this pack! I love that dog… whether she likes it or not!

There you have it … check out the new books I have published on Amazon and be sure to leave a review. A good review is wonderful and encourages me to keep on going. A bad review, if kindly written and constructive, helps me “hone my craft”.  There are three more novels in the wings and a short story waiting in a competition. I’ve missed you all very much and promise to be back more often.