7,6,5,4,3,2,1 A to Z, Day 2Z

Zero Negativity!

7,6,5,4,3,2,1 A to Z, Day 3Y

You are awesome!

7,6,5,4,3,2,1 A to Z, Day 3X

Xenodochial I am

Xenodochial is an adjective describing something – such as a person, place or software application -- that is friendly to strangers. “Xenos” is a Greek word for “strangers;" according to the Oxford English Dictionary,xenodochial means "hospitable."

7,6,5,4,3,2,1 A to Z, Day 3W

Wisdom is learned

7,6,5,4,3,2,1 A to Z, Day 4V

Viciousness is not okay

7,6,5,4,3,2,1 A to Z, Day 4U

Ugliness is all perspective

Bruces Story - Chapter 26

October 5, 1963 Amanda went to her first high school football game. She had told Cindy earlier in the week that she would be going, but the reaction from the popular girl was lukewarm. Amanda’s inner fear could not and would not over power the anticipation. This was the first time anyone had noticed and invited her anywhere in a very long time. It didn’t seem to bother her that Cindy had not really spoken another work to her since the day she introduced herself; in fact, she basically pretended she didn’t exist.

After school on that special day Amanda headed for the football field. She scanned the bleachers looking for her new friend, but did not see her anywhere.  She noticed the stands filling up and decided to take a seat in the front row which would enable her to see Cindy arrive.

Cindy, along with six other girls arrived right before the game was supposed to start and she immediately noticed Amanda in the front row. “Hey Amanda,” She greeted her, “Thanks for saving us seats.”

The seven girls all started to fit into the little span of space that was available on the row when one of them turned towards Amanda and said, “Can you leave please? There is not enough room for you.”

Shocked, Amanda stood up and went to look for another seat. Glancing back towards the girls she saw them all giggling. She was sure they were making fun of her.  She found another front row seat, but it was right behind the goal post and it turned out to be the opposite teams goal post. She sat through the whole game and really had no idea what she was watching, but didn’t really want to make a spectacle of herself by standing up and leaving.

She got home a little before 7:00 and tried to make some sort of a dinner. Her head hurt, her stomach hurt and she was clearly upset. Emily never said a word or asked where she’d been or what was wrong.

Monday morning came around and Amanda forced herself to get up and go to school. She was determined not to let Cindy fool her again. It was a cold morning and it seemed like it took extra long to get to school. She barely made it to her locker before the morning bell rang.  Spinning around quickly she didn’t notice there was a boy behind her. She ran smack into him and her books scattered everywhere.

Embarrassed, she gathered her books together without making eye contact and murmured a soft, “Sorry.”

“It’s no problem. I always like to run into pretty girls first thing on a Monday morning. Starts my week off perfectly!”

Amanda looked up and was face to face with a boy with green eyes and a perfect smile. “My name is Sam, Sam Patterson. I noticed you at the football game last week, and I think we have a couple of classes together.”

Amanda simply said, “Oh.”

Sam said, “Ok, I’ll see you around.”

Amanda went to class in a sort of haze. Home room was first and after fifteen minutes she was  back in the hall going to English. Suddenly Sam appeared next to her and said, “Can I carry your books for you? We are both going the same way.”

She handed over her books and asked, “We have the same English class?”

“Yes we do.”

After class Sam again asked to walk her to her next class.  Amanda asked, “Why are you doing this? I don’t even know you.”

Sam smiled and said, “Let’s just say I really didn’t like the way you were treated last Friday.”

At the end of the day Amanda was by her locker and Cindy walked up. “Hi Amanda, what happened to you at the game? I looked for you when it was over to see if you wanted to go to the pop shop but you were gone.”

Amanda glared at Cindy and said, “Oh really! How nice of you.”

Shocked, Cindy asked, “What was that supposed to mean?”

“Cindy, I don’t know what your game is, and I don’t have a lot of friends, but honestly you are the last person I will ever call a friend.” Amanda slammed her locker shut only to discover that Sam had been listening to the whole thing. Her face turned bright red.

“Amanda, is this loser giving you trouble?” Sam asked.

Wide eyed Cindy looked at Amanda and asked, “You know Sam Patterson?”

Unbeknownst to Amanda, Sam Patterson was the dreamy quarterback Cindy had been referring to. Cindy’s crush for Sam dated back to Junior High School. She had tried to become the most popular girl in school so that he would notice her. Unfortunately for her, Sam had noticed her and had witnessed what happened at the game when Cindy used Amanda.  He had been watching Amanda from afar and had noticed her metamorphosis over the past twelve months. He liked the fact that she kept to herself, did not stir up any trouble and was beautiful. He noticed her arrive at the game and used it as an excuse to talk to her.

When Cindy asked the question it was Sam that answered. “Yes, Cindy, Amanda knows me and unfortunately for you, I know who and what you are.”

Sunday Journal 4/24/16

First let me say - I can't believe we are 1/3 of the way through 2016 and I have managed to stay consistent with journals and positivity......YES that is my arm breaking to pat myself on the back !

Work life is slowly reaching a rhythm that is tolerable - I go in early, I leave early, I get my work done.

I got a flat tire on the way to work one morning and let me just say - that put a major kink in the day but I handled it, got over it, and moved on.

Home front has been quiet = no kids living here this week and it was really nice to leave a house in one condition and come home after work and it was still in the same condition!

Hope you all have a great week!

7,6,5,4,3,2,1 A to Z, Day 4T

Truth is the answer

7,6,5,4,3,2,1 A to Z, Day 4S

Stay true to yourself

7,6,5,4,3,2,1 A to Z, Day 5R

RoryBore is like a sister!

7,6,5,4,3,2,1 A to Z, Day 5Q

Quietly leave a positive trail

7,6,5,4,3,2,1 A to Z, Day 5P

Positive outlooks change the world

7,6,5,4,3,2,1 A to Z, Day 5O

Open up for all possibilities

Sunday Journal 4/17/16

Can we say disaster at work???
I was in charge of two big program changes this week - one went in last Sunday and the other one went in on Thursday night.  Let's just say they have both been removed and it caused an awful lot of extra work for people!

Everyone was really understanding - after all we had thoroughly tested everything and sometimes these things happen. But the perfectionist inside of me is very disappointed in myself.  That is going to be my next major positivity challenge - learning to accept mistakes might not be my own and move forward.

Have a great week

Bruce's Story - Chapter 25

Amanda Stevens was born into a lower income family in the middle of Nebraska's heartland. She was the fifth child of Joseph and Emily Stevens.  Joseph took work wherever and whenever he could, but he had born with a bad spine and that made farming a challenge.  Emily had not finished school when she was sent out to be a maid at one of the local hovels.  The Great Depression was raging all around them and getting food on the table every night was a challenge at best.  Amanda arrived into this world on  March 1, 1948 just as the world was trying to recover.

Emily had not expected to give birth to a healthy child as she had lost three of her babies earlier.  But Amanda was healthy.  She was also inquisitive, precocious and cute as a button. When she was five years old she was selected to be Nebraska's toddler of the year.  Unbeknownst to her parents, she had been spotted by one of the officials of the contest and he felt she was the perfect child. Life was never the same after that.

Amanda was recognized by everyone. People would stop her family on the street just to get near her. Strangers bought her clothes, and sent food to her house. Her home town of Florida, Nebraska made an official day for her - the Amanda Stevens day and people from all around the state came to see her.

Amanda's life then became a whirlwind of pageants and contents, with her winning every one of them and all the proceeds went to the family.  This was great while it lasted, but it cost Amanda an early education and by the time she turned thirteen her babyish good looks had vanished and she entered the awkward stage of puberty.  Pageants didn't want to have anything to do with her; the contest money dried up.

Joseph, never really a happy man, became agitated and hostile. He'd had eight years of free money coming in to take care of his family and he'd grown fat and slovenly. On July 4, 1961 he told Emily he was going out for cigarettes and he never came home. Emily completely fell apart. It wasn't so much that she loved, or even cared, for Joseph, but they had been married twenty two years and she had never been on her own. Amanda did the best she could to take care or her family, but her older brother Riley had enlisted in the Army right after high school and was not even home when Joseph disappeared.

Amanda would get up in the morning, make sure her mother was okay and then walk four miles to school. She did not get good grades and really didn't have any friends, but she didn't want to end up being a housemaid like her mother had been and thought that if she at least finished high school she would have a chance at a better life.  She'd come home at the end of the day and make whatever dinner she could from what little they had.  There were many nights neither one of them ate.

In September 1963, the then fifteen year old Amanda, began her first day at Florida High School as a Junior.  Her awkward puberty stage was almost gone and she had turned into a beautiful teenager.  Heads turned as she walked down the hallway of the school that day. People she had been going to school with for years suddenly noticed her. All of a sudden everyone wanted to be her friend. She had no idea how to handle that so she closed all the walls around her and stuck to herself.

Rarely speaking with anyone in class or in the halls she was stunned when someone said, "Hey Amanda, can I talk to you?"  She spun around to see a girl that she recognized as the most popular girl in the class, but had no idea what she wanted.

Responding she murmured, "I guess so."

"My name's Cindy and I know we've never spoken before, but I was wondering if you were doing anything after school tomorrow. A bunch of us are going to go the football game and we just thought it would be fun if you joined us."

Before she could think, "Why?" popped out of her mouth.

Cindy was shocked, but took it in stride, "Because I've noticed you don't have many friends and I'd like to change that."

"Oh, OK," Amanda accepted that response.  "I'm not sure I can tomorrow. I need to check with my mom first."

"No problem, we try to go every week. The quarterback is dreamy!"

7,6,5,4,3,2,1 A to Z, Day 5N

Negativity is a downward spiral

7,6,5,4,3,2,1 A to Z Day 6M

Make the most of every day

7,6,5,4,3,2,1 A to Z Day 6L

Live each day as your last

7,6,5,4,3,2,1 A to Z Day 6K

Kindness does not have a price

7,6,5,4,3,2,1, A to Z Day 6J

Josie 2 Shoes is my friend!!

7,6,5,4,3,2,1, A to Z Day 6I

I should always come before we

Sunday Journal 4/10/16

What a week!!!
Let me start by saying that it was probably one of the best weeks of this year so far. There are so many different things going on right now I feel like I am juggling eggs in the air (and why do I think that is a new thing?)

Work has taken a totally different turn as I now have no emotions there and it is just a job. That is not saying I don't give 110% because I do, and it is not saying that I am not cultivating friendships there, because I do. But when I walk out of the door at the end of the day it is over.  I no longer bring it home with me.

Blogging this week has been extremely fun as I am able to maintain my positivity through two different challenges.  The first one is A to Z and I obviously misinterpreted the meaning. I thought the post had to start with that specific letter, so that is what I have been doing and along the way I am following my own challenge of 7,6,5,4,3,2,1 - - It has been really fun!

And then of course there is my reacquaintance with my old buddy Bruce Patterson - so a riveting story!  I am only hoping that the second half is worthy of the first.

Hope you all have a wonderful week ahead . . . and just one thought to get you through:

Sunday fiction - Chapter 24 Bruce's Story

Dear Readers,

It has been an extreme pleasure for me to go back and revisit Bruce and his turmoils.  As I read the previous chapters I noticed at least two discrepancies and multiple typos.  Do any of you know what they are? If so, you can become my official editor on the other two books that are in process.

Please enjoy Chapter 24!


Bruce went back to his room to gather all of his thoughts and put together a concise picture in his mind of what he was going to ask.  In order to do that he had to determine what he knew.

1.  He knew that they were not in the Atlantic Ocean
2.  He knew that Jack told him that they were
3.  He found journals dating back to the time his family left for their trip
4.  Everyone was being paid extremely well.
5.  Joe had a family back home but was not in a rush to get back there.

What he didn't know:

1.  What the purpose of this floating laboratory really was
2.  Who Monica was and why was she in charge
3.  Had this 'mission' been going on for 7 years?

Entering the room for dinner Bruce felt nervous for the first time in quite a while. He sat down and looked around the room trying to determine who was honest and who was not; who had motives and who did not.  He was pretty sure that Matt, Carl and Stuart were innocent of any wrongdoing. Joe was a bit of a mystery only because he was on a long trip with a family waiting for him. Steve had told him he would answer any questions - but would he really?

Figuring he had nothing to lose he loudly asked Monica, "Monica, why are we going up the Amazon when you told me we were in the Atlantic Ocean?"

Every voice went silent, it was as if a vacuum arrived and sucked out all the air and noise from that room. Monica smiled, looked at Bruce and said, "We can discuss this after dinner. It's about time that you knew the truth."

Bruce hadn't realized he'd been holding his breath, but that exhale felt like it'd been waiting for a very long time.

Everyone resumed eating and by the time dessert was served the noise level had risen above normal. Monica stood up to leave and Bruce immediately followed suit. They walked in a direction Bruce had not anticipated and had not explored. Monica opened one of the many doors and led Bruce into an office with walls lined with pictures. Bruce let out an audible gasp as he looked from picture to picture to picture. They were pictures of his father, mother, sister and himself dating all the way back to the 70s.

He stepped closer to the wall surveying the pictures and was struck immediately by how much he missed his sister. There she was, alive and well on this wall, when in fact she was dead and buried in an unforgiving ocean.

He turned towards Monica and simply asked, "What is all this?"

"Bruce, have a seat," she said and pointed towards the couch on the other end of the room. "There are so many things we need to discuss."

She sat across from him on the couch and started, "First of all, we were not hired to chart unmapped islands, even though that would be great fun.  We were hired to find your family and the ship you chartered. We started out on this adventure at the beginning of 1994 when no one had heard from any of you."

"Who hired you?" Bruce asked.

"My mother," she responded. "She has a great personal stake in this venture."

"Who is your mother?"

"Your father's wife."

Bruce was dumbfounded. "His wife? But that was my mother. They can't possibly be the same person!"

Monica shook her head slowly and answered, "No they are definitely not the same person Bruce.  My mother's name is Amanda Patterson and she married the love her life, Sam Patterson on March 1, 1965."

"Ok, that's fine. My father's name was Nicholas Patterson, not Sam, so there must be some sort of mistaken identity going on here."

"I really wish that was the truth Bruce, but it is not. Sam Patterson and Nicholas Patterson are the exact same person.  Our father had two families."

The words 'our father' made Bruce's head snap back. "How can that be?" He asked.

"I can tell all as much as I know. Maybe you can fill in some of my blanks and I can fill in some of yours."

7,6,5,4,3,2,1 A to Z Day 6H

Help others as often as possible

7,6,5,4,3,2,1 A to Z Day 7G

Geraniums make the world that much prettier

7,6,5,4,3,2,1 A to Z Day 7F

Freely open your heart to new opportunities

7,6,5,4,3,2,1 A to Z Day 7E

Ever Wonder what other people think?  Don't

7,6,5,4,3,2,1, A to Z, Day 7D

Dogs are the greastest friends  to have

7,6,5,4,3,2,1, A to Z, Day 7C

Continue to be a great role model

Sunday Journal 4/3/16

Happy Spring to all!!!

I have spent the last two weekends trying to get my front yard to look more like 'me' and less like the developers plan for a yard. Here are some pictures - kind of hard to figure out what's going on, just understand that wherever there is color now - there wasn't!

And YES those are alligators trying to get to my pelicans --- hey what's the point of having a front yard if you can't make it your own and make a statement to the neighbors (not 100% sure what the statement is ... but it's pretty funny!)

I also started participating in AtoZ along with my 7,6,5,4,3,2.1 theme for the month of April  -- so far so good.

Hope you all had a good week!

Bruce's Story - Recap

As some of you know, and others don't, I started writing my tenth novel on line last year and then the world went awry. I am glad to say that Chapter 22 was published last March (2015) and this novel will be completed by the end of this year, with you, my readers having input to the outcome and adventures.

I will begin publishing a chapter a week again starting on April 10, 2016, but thought it would be a great opportunity for you to catch up and have some new readers join along.

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22

7,6,5,4,3,2,1 A to Z Day 7B

Being positive affects the way you feel

7,6,5,4,3,2,1 A to Z - Day 7A

A positive attitude changes your entire life!