Wonderful theme. No ideas, but I have been in an emotional state these past several days, so I suspect an idea might kick loose. I know how my mind works.

Gill, my heart is with you on this one. I miss talking to my Dad on the daily so much. Painful and sweet at the same time. My beloved aunt who is 84 just had a knee replacement, followed by a femur break. She’s in poor shape, so I have been talking to her every day (I was bedridden too, when we started), and it is like going back in time, hearing all these old family stories. My Dad used to talk to her every day, and they were close, so I guess I am being a Dad surrogate for her. My voice sounds a lot like my Dad’s, minus that Oklahoma accent.

Got a bit of a tear in my eye, writing that. But Talia is home again, and still sleeping peacefully with one of our cats. And my leg is on the mend. And it’s Christmas season. Peace, everyone.

Coffee please.

I would love some coffee. Seeing the doctor today, after a week and a half of waiting. It is starting to get better all by itself. Welcome to American health care!

Still, I shan’t complain, because Talia is home, and she is driving me to the doc, and it is like coming home again to see her coming home again. I swear I am getting so emotional these days.

Hi to everyone! I will write more when I have more energy

Quote by Molly

Good morning/afternoon! Things have been a bit hectic on my end, same as everyone else's. I hope everyone can take a moment for themselves to relax, breathe, enjoy, some sweets, and perhaps write a little. Perhaps in our new competition. https://www.storiesspace.com/forum/writing-competitions-and-calls-for-submissions/the-sound-of-silence-competition

To get you started on the sweets. This is the only Christmas treat I've had time to make. They are my granny's potato candy or peanut butter pinwheels.

Oooh, a comp! Yay Molly! Writing wheels are turning.

Talia is home today! Yay! I will spend much of the day cleaning and preparing. The cat are all atwitter!

I've never heard of potato candy.

I hope everyone is well. Gill, I am sure you will have a wonderful, if bittersweet, Christmas with your Dad. I'll be thinking of you.

Thanks for the setup Mr. Ape. I'll have a coffee and one of those potato candies.

Man on the Inside is SO GOOD. I binged most of it last night. You know that cliche about how you'll laugh and you'll cry? Well, I definitely did, and within the first episode. Gentle, loving writing on that show. And Ted Danson is a national treasure.

It deals with growing old, and Alzheimer's, so if that's a trigger, then don't. But it handles the subjects beautifully. It triggered me in good ways.

Hey, writergirl, glad to see your face! Get through the workweek and it’s a sprint to Christmas. Looking forward to your story.

My daughter and I are both getting slowly better. Daughter is nauseous from the meds but back at work. I am able to hobble around much better, though I am still limping around. Talia home Tuesday, doctor Wednesday, so help is on the way.

Christmas shopping is nearly done, but Lord do I have a ton of wrapping and card-making to do.

Thanks for setting up Ape and Bear. I’ll have a coffee.

I am not familiar with a great deal of poetry, but those who have affected me are Frost, Whitman, John Berryman, Wallace Stevens, Pablo Neruda, and the late Nikki Giovanni.

So now, not only is my knee out, but my daughter went to the ER last night. Turns out she had...kidney stones! She's fine now, but the meds they gave her make her feel awful, so I am on my own. Except for the cats, of course, but they seem more interested in getting fed than in trying to entertain me. Plus they keep trying to trip me as I'm making my way down the stairs.

Grrr. Coffee would be swell.

Good morning all. Still limping around, but at least I slept well last night, which helps a lot. Calling the ortho doc today I guess.

I will try to write today, but I’m a little out of sorts, don’t know if I can get any good words written. The first step is to hobble downstairs and make some coffee. No fun at all.

I hope everyone is well.

Good morning all.

Yeah, James Paterson seems cool. Over 200 novels, and pretty consistent quality. That was very nice of him.

My knee is still out, I didn't sleep well, and so I am grumpy and missing Talia. Adding insult to my injury, I entered a comp on another site, only to learn I misread the theme. Sigh.

Gonna stay in bed and give this knee a rest. Coffee please!

Good morning, and thanks for the coffee Ape.

Waiting for Urgent Care to open, so I can get old balky knee taken care of. It's been a long weekend. Snow is coming around noon, so I want to get it everything taken care of before it hits.

The Mets signed Soto. Yay!

Seize the carp everyone!

So, my knee went out. It really hurts to put any weight on it. And…Talia is out of town. My daughter got me home yesterday, and I’m going to bribe her to come over and take out my garbage cans tonight. Other than that it is just me, hobbling around, swearing a lot, scaring the cats. I’ve been using my Dad’s cane a lot, which is bittersweet.

So, I’m mostly confined to bed. I’ll get through today and go to an urgent care or the doc on Monday. Today is writing for a comp and playing video games.

Cats are here! Gotta run! Thanks for the coffee Ape!

Sorry about the nasty day, Ape. We are cold but sunny here.

Talk about cat drama! We put a calming collar on our more aggressive cat to hopefully get him to calm down and stop attacking his sister. The second we put the collar on, he leapt into hiding. Worse, every time his sister, the LESS aggressive cat, saw him, she’d freak out and attack him, viciously. She was smelling the pheromones and thinking he was an intruder cat. After two days of hiding punctuated by crazed fights, he finally let me pet him, and I quietly slid the collar off. We are finally back to normal.

Well, maybe not that normal. But as normal as it gets around here.

Peace. A coffee would be swell.

Thanks for the setup everyone!

Your Christmas village is quite cool, Bear. Back in the day, I had big blue bins, all labeled with masking tape, full of decorations. I've passed most of those off to my daughter, who does Christmas pretty big, while we've downsized on Christmas here (Talia is Jewish). My parents, after we left home, decided to be eco-conscious and not kill trees for Christmas, so began decorating a beautiful rocking chair with lights and a few ornaments, and put presents under it. It was a nice tradition. We are doing something similar here.

Sorry you are too worn out to write, Ape. Been there.

Coffee!!! And one of those turkey cupcakes.

Glad to see life is finally returning to normalcy, Gill.

Not much new here. Talia leaves today. Wah. For me, that means playing a lot of videogames, reading more, and not sleeping well.

At least I got no rejection slips today.

Any coffee brewed? A cookie? A slice of pie? A morsel? A crumb?

Crickets. grumble, grumble Okay where did that tin of Costco coffee go? And those delicious Lipton tea bags? Ah, here we go. Coffee and teas await you!

No rejection slips this morning (yet). So, we are already doing better than yesterday.

Talia leaves tomorrow. Wah! I do alone fine, but I have found that when she is gone I do not sleep as well. Something about the animal comfort of her body helps me rest easier.

Not much up today. Going to try writing a horror flash. My last physical therapy session looms today as well.

Enjoy your day!

Woke up to two—count em, two—rejection slips this morning. Sigh. What a way to begin a Monday.

My back is barking after raking a TON of leaves yesterday. I kind of enjoyed it, but my back apparently did not. Ape, you are a lucky man, having a good excuse to avoid it.

That’s all the complaints I have though. It’s looking to be a nice day out. And I think I have an early Christmas present coming today….

All for now. Coffee would be swell.

We just finished watching Say Nothing about Ireland and The Troubles. Excellent show.

Finished Disclaimer too. It held us until it jumped the shark at the very end. Goofy plot choices to add some “action” to a story that didn’t need it.

About to start Bad Sisters season 2.

Quote by Mendalla

Good morning!! December is here!! Advent is underway!! I am obsessed with exclamation marks!! Or maybe had too much tea!!

Anyhow, coffee is Christmas Blend from Murchie's. Teas are Scottish Breakfast and the seasonal Naughty & Spice (basically a Christmas themed chai)

And one of the things I get from Author's Publish is promos for courses they offer. However, given they are a writing site, you would think they would proof their content better than the snip below suggests.

Yeah, I find typos all the time these days. The decline of Western civilization, sigh. You would think a writing site would know better. A cat must have walked across the keyboard. That said, I still commit typos regularly.

Saw a GREAT production of Sense and Sensibility. Really funny, really creative. A great way to start the holidays.

Not much else going on. Leave raking and video games. Talia leaves on Wednesday for a short trip to visit her Mom, and I will miss her.

Coffee! Stat!

Quote by Mendalla

Weirdly, that sounds rather like Boxing Day in my family home back in the day. Guess it is kind of the same thing, too, the day after the big day. Even the shopping element, though Boxing Day was a retail holiday in Ontario until, I think, the late nineties. "Boxing Day" sales actually started on the 27th back then save a few stubborn retailers who tried to fight the law in court.

It does have a similar vibe to Boxing Day - lots of food, few obligations, chill day.

I wish I knew someone who plays No Man’s Sky. It’s SO fun, and really interesting too. I’m a little obsessed with, yes.

Didn’t sleep well, and dragging a little this morning. We are seeing a play tonight, so I will attempt to take it easy.

Coffee please. Seize the carp!

Thanks for the setup Ape.

We are slowly rising from our day of gluttony. Everything came out nice, and I got my ass happily kicked in MarioKart all afternoon by my daughter.

Today? Video games and turkey leftovers. We are off to see a play of Sense and Sensibility tomorrow. The only Jane Austin I have ever read. It’s an early Christmas present for Talia.

Enjoy the weekend everyone, Thanksgiving-flavored or otherwise.

Coffee for me!

Thanks for the setup, Bear, and the lovely desserts, Cora.

Our turkey is ready to goin the oven - it’ll go in about 15 minutes from now. Eat at 3.

It should be a calm, chill, sweet day. I have this turkey thing down cold so not too much stress on the food end. My daughter and her son (my grandson!) are coming over.

Between now and then, relax, watch the parade, play a little No Man’s Sky. Perfect day. A lot to be thankful for.

I hope, whether you are celebrating or not, that you have a fine day, all.

Sorry I keep worry where everyone is, Cora. A deep piece of my psychology right there, that counting heads to make sure everyone is safe. Life can get…tricky. Plus, you make great cookies!

But hey, that’s what Thanksgiving is all about: being thankful for all the good that remains at the end of the year.

Chill day here. It snowed, not a lot. We’ll make a few side dishes but mostly hang out.

Stay safe and warm everyone! I hope you troubles are feeling better and there is much to thankful towards.

Coffee and a cookie please!

Good morning all. Not a lot of traffic in the last 24 hours, huh?

Settling into Thanksgiving, Prepping food slowly today and tomorrow. Turkey is thawing in the fridge.

My fairy story got savaged by my critique group last night. Still, I think figured out a new ending (the third I’ve tried). I will work on that today.

Nothing new today. Too cold to walk, but I am getting lazy with exercising. I need to get back into the game.

Where’s Cora? Where’s everyone?

Coffee please.

Good morning everyone! Thanks for setting up Ape and Bear.

Snowed big last night, but it’s already melting. A fine slushy mess out there right now. Talia is meeting an old colleague for lunch so she has to go out in this. Me, I am not moving.

Thanksgiving shopping is done for our small tight little group. I have the turkey thing down pat, and could do with in my sleep. I am glad, Gill, that your life is returning to normal. I imagine you will sigh heavily several times this Thanksgiving - an exhalation of relief and grief combined. At least that was my experience. Not the same situation of course, but related. Hugs.

Seize the carp!

Good morning everyone.

Sorry for everyone experiencing any rough weather on the West Coast. I hope the FEMA response isn’t politicized, but it’s a brave new world. Sigh.

I slept well at least, and am experiencing that mild euphoria I get when I get an excellent night’s sleep after a poor one.

Wrote a mean little horror story yesterday, just over the length of a flash. I will fine tune it today.

Thanksgiving approaches! Coffwe would be swell.

Good morning everyone. Hope you are all well.

Didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. Taking it easy today, though I should get some writing in.

Coffee please!

Elyse, Jon Bon Jovi is no Tom Petty.

It never snowed yesterday! There is a bomb cyclone, whatever the f that is, in Cali, so snow is expected to come soon.

Same old thang today. Except this: I'm doing a meet the writers thing on another site at 7 pm, Eastern. Show up and ask questions!

I hope everyone is having an excellent day. Coffee please.

Good morning all. I hope everyone is well.

Good news! I just got nominated for a Pushcart Prize for my memoir in Split Lip Magazine. It’s a small press award, and since every small press gets to nominate up to six stories, there are a lot of nominees. Still, it’s very cool - never happened to me before.

Anyway. Same old thang here. It’s snowing, though that may turn to rain. I have no reason to leave the house today, so that’s cool.

Coffee and something sweet please.

Quote by Mendalla

singing

Dance and spin and swing and twirl

Welcome to the new week, world!

stops singing

(So was that too perky or what?)

Maybe you need to cut back on the caffeine a little, Ape.

Good luck on the new writing Elyse.

Didn’t sleep well, still trying to wake up. Grrr. Hopefully coffee will help. I have a critique session tonight and am a little irritable about having to do it on so little sleep. I suspect I will skip my walk.

Haven’t seen Cora around in a few days. Hope you are well, Cora.

Coffee and, if there are any leftover cookies I would love one.