I'm Back In The Zone

     I really need to apologize to all of you.  I didn't mean to give the impression that I was sad.  I wasn't able to get on my computer yesterday, so I didn't get to read the responses until this morning.  All of you have been so kind in your words of encouragement.  I wish I could've responded sooner.  No, I wasn't sad; just sort of, oh, I dunno'... Middle of the Road.  That's the only way I know to describe it.  Maybe it would best be described as Somewhere in the Middle; not the high of Happiness and not the low of Sad.

     After looking up the meaning of the word Melancholy, I realize that I borrowed the wrong word for the purpose.  So sorry.

     I'm happy to report that, whatever it was that was hovering over me, is now gone and I am feeling a little giddy at some of the current goings-on.  I sent an article to the paper this morning that will be published tomorrow.  That's always a great Pick-Me-Up.  I also sent pictures and an article that will soon be published and I have several puzzles that will go out tomorrow for publication within the next month.  Life is good.

     Yesterday, quite unexpectedly, we had a sudden run out of town.  haha.  No, I didn't say We were run out of town.  We just hadda' go take care of something that developed into an urgency, before we were ready for it to.  So, into the car we hurried and drove... and drove... and drove.  I didn't think we would EVER stop driving.  Over 300 miles.  EGADS!!!  We just kept going and going and going.

     Finally, when we got back home, my good hubby-buddy stopped at the house long enough for me to get out.  Then he started driving in the complete opposite direction on accounta' he had a meeting 30 miles in the other direction.  *Whew*  It made for a very interesting day.  'Course, when I got into the house, I collapsed 'cause any kind of a road trip just wears me out.  I wonder why that is?  I sleep about half the trip, anyway.  Then, at the end of any trip, I'm tired.  hmmmm.  Go figure.

     All told, I think my good hubby-buddy drove almost 400 miles, yesterday.  I dunno' how he does it.  I'm sure glad its him who does the driving.  I'm afraid that if I were driving, we might wind up in the Land of La.  And it might be a pretty bumpy ride, at that.  LOL

     I hope I've been able to explain about my recent mood.  And again, I'm awfully sorry to have made you all think I was sad.  I should've understood the true meaning of the word Melancholy, before using it.  I sometimes forget that some words take strange turns in my brain, before coming to rest in one of my many odd results.  I'll try not to create such a stir, again.

     I do wanna' thank you all for your concern, though.  It was nice to learn that so many of you cared about me.  Believe me, the feeling is mutual.  I am so thankful to have found such friendships in Bloglandia.  Like I said, life is really good.  Until the next time, keep a hug on.

 ~ Yaya

My Happiness Is Hiding Out...

     I'm feeling a bit of nostalgia or something this morning.  Actually, I don't know if you would really call it nostalgia.  Prob'ly falls more into the category of melancholy.  Don't wanna' do this.  Don't feel much like doing that.  Should prob'ly take care of that over there; don't really feel in the mood, though, ya' know?

     You ever feel like that?  Just not feelin' like applying your whole heart to ANYTHING that really ought to be taken care of?  Agh!  I hate those kinds of feelings.  Its kinda' like that nasty taste that crosses your tongue when you try a new food that looked really good... just BEFORE it touched your tongue.

     Trouble is, I have many projects that I'm excited to jump into.  That is, until this awful Moooooood struck me with such force.  I don't often have these kinds of moods, actually.  Most of the time, I think I have my head very comfortably tucked into the clouds, where I can pretend that life is all roses and buttercups, ya' know?  I like the cloud that was invented for that very purpose.  It just makes sense to me.

     Now, if you were to ask me what triggered this moment I'm having, I'd hafta' say that I honestly don't know.  Contrary to this feeling I can't seem to shake, everything is going very well in my life.  My good hubby-buddy is treating me like the princess I'd like to become.  I love my home.  I'm being published and paid on a regular basis.  Everyone in the family treats me with the utmost love and respect and I have just finished watching the movie Nine for prob'ly the ninth time.  As you can see, I have the world in the palm of my hands and I cannot even imagine any more perfect life than I am having.  Life is just good.

     Do you ever have days like that?  Just, well... Bleh?  I hope not.  I sincerely hope not.  I do hope you'll return on one of my better days, when the joy is more apt to spill out over the edges.  I think I might be just a little more fun on those days.  And I hope you are having an outstanding day.  Until the next time, keep a hug on.

 ~ Yaya

A Blogmania Round-Up

     Last night, I found a new and exciting game to play; Blogmania.  If you haven't tried this, you just may wanna' watch for the next game day, coming in September.  For 24 hours, 122 or 123 (I never was certain about the final number, although I also never found out which blog number 123 was) blog owners offered hundreds of prizes to thousands of people who ran around competing for attention.  It was a regular Round-up of Bloggers.

     When I first started entering to win the many different prizes, I went about it in my usual, "I'll remember which drawings I entered," attitude.  It didn't take me long to realize that I might be good at remembering how to spell and remembering phone numbers, but this was a whole new ball-game.

     Twenty minutes into the excitement, I stopped long enough to make a chart and gain some sort of order so I could enter as many giveaways as possible.  I'm sure glad I did 'cause I never would've been able to check all forty giveaways that I entered to see if I had won.  Some of the results aren't in, yet, so there's still hope.

     Were you among the throng who played along?  If so, I surely hope you won something you wanted.  As for me, I can hardly wait for that kind of a Rush, again.  You just wouldn't imagine anything could be that much fun.  Until the next time, keep a hug on.

 ~ Yaya

A Mother's Gentle Touch

     I stepped out onto the front porch this evening and was met with the most beautiful sound.  A gentle breeze seemed to add to that which played Mother Nature's music just for me.  I'm sure you know what I'm talking about; rain.  Beautiful, gentle, sweet-smellling rain.

     We've been having so much wind lately that I alost forgot how amazing it is to just be able to stand still and listen... to the quiet.  There's something about being able to listen, without the intrusion of loud noises.  I feel as if it really is a little piece of Heaven.

     Do you ever feel that way?  Does the rain bring out special emotions that you can only feel when the gentle droplets are falling?  I always feel as if Mother Nature is paying me a special visit, just me, when the rain and wind are so soft upon the leaves and grass.  I can feel the touch of her gentle hug.  I hope she knows how much I appreciate these visits.

     Its as though she is seeking a place to sit and be quiet for awhile.  Well, she's always welcome to come and sit with me.  Until the next time, keep a hug on.

 ~ Yaya

Traveling Through Life On His Head

     I like kids. Do you like kids? Don't you just love the way they can go into a group of other children and, just as natural as you please, start talking? Gone are the inhibitions that they'll develop later on. Oh, yeah. You know the ones; too shy to speak, worry that someone might think this or that, does my shirt have milk on it?

     I wonder why it is that we learn those fears as we grow older? I've pondered this subject quite a bit, actually and I think it just may have something to do with the years of trying to find our places in life. It seems that at about fifth grade, things begin to change. At least, that's about when they started changing for me.

     Maybe everyone has a nemesis in their lives, just like that girl I told you about yesterday?  I hope not, but there must be some reason why so many of us begin to shrink inside ourselves.
 
     I have one grandie who is a true and natural comic.  You never know what he's gonna' come up with.  The other day, he sort of tumbled down the stairs and when he reached the bottom, he just bounced up and grinned sheepishly, saying, "I wasn't watching where I was going!"
 
     Another time, while playing air-shooting with Mama and big brother, he suddenly announced that he had been shot in the bum.  One of his most interesting habits, in my opinion, is spending most of his time on his head.  Yep!  He watches TV on his head, visits with others while on his head and does way more things on his head than a lot of people can do in an upright position.
 
     He also has a funny little habit of going up the stairs doing somersaults.  You heard me right.  He goes UP the stairs that way.  I used to hang upside-down a lot when I was growing up.  Maybe I affected him, even before he was a thought in Mama or Daddy's minds?  At any rate, he makes it look like so much fun that I even wanna' play.  I hate to tell you what the results of THAT would be.  *sigh*
 
     Oh, to be a child, again.  Until the next time, keep a hug on.
 
 ~ Yaya

Two Volcanic Explosions

     When I was in Kindergarten (I sort of hate that word.  It just always feels wrong, somehow, ya' know?), I lived in Alaska, before Alaska was a state.  While I was there, we were blessed with a middle-of-the-day volcano, prompting those in charge to hustle everyone home as quickly as possible.

     There we were, just before noon, and the sky was as black as midnight.  Everywhere, mama's hung out of doors, calling for their offspring.  And children of all sizes ran from this new and frightening terror which we had no previous experience with and no emotion which we could reference for recall.

     After a year or so, we moved away from Alaska, the proud owners of a full jar of volcanic ash.  That was my personal badge of honor; my shining star.  No matter where I lived after that, I was the only person in my next class who had lived in Alaska.  And as my crowning jewel, I had experienced something that no one else in any of my classes could even comprehend; a volcano.

     Its amazing how much mileage I got out of that little jar of Proof.  Volcanic Ash, carried in a jar, creates the most remarkable sense of prestige.  At least, it did in my mind.  I was oh, so important, when I told my story of unbelievable fear and danger.  As far as I was concerned, no one else was as important as I was.

     Then came the day when my bubble burst.  Fifth grade and I was the new kid.  Being the new kid was something of a way of life for me.  Ours was a military family and that's the way things were; transfers.  Since I was almost always the new kid, I had grown rather accustomed to the notoriety of my position.  That is, until that awful day when it all started to come down around my ears.

     Just two days earlier, wearing my brother's hand-me-down blue jeans, I had given a report which included the horrors of surviving a volcano, as told by a very creative fifth-grader.  I was in my element.  Other students still viewed me as the new kid and I had the added benefit of being very nearly as famous and brave as Superman, himself.  Yep!  My very active imagination had created a real super-hero.

     Then came a knock at the classroom door and the school principal walked in.  With him was one of the prettiest, prissiest, blonde-haired girls I had ever seen.  She wore many crinolines under her showcase skirt and the way she held her arms, bent at the elbows, with her hands hanging limp, told me she wouldn't know what to do if someone handed her a bucket and told her to play in the dirt.

     Did I mention that I had blonde hair at that age?  Yeah, that was previous to the red hair that started showing up about a year later.  And as if that wasn't enough, she was being introduced as the new girl.  But the nightmare didn't end there.  Nope!  It just kept getting better all the time.
     My traitorous teacher, whom I had adored only moments earlier, was introducing this intruder with MY NAME.  My WHOLE name.  How dare she!  And wouldn't you know it?  She was coming to us from that beautiful land up north... Alaska.

     What I found interesting was that the teacher kept looking at me and smiling, as though she thought this was wonderful news.  She seemed to feel that I should be charmed by this total intrusion into my world.  What was she... NUTS?!?

     Just as the volcano had erupted, years earlier, so began my temper.  By recess, there was a full-blown explosion.

     You'll be proud to learn that in my entire school career, I was never in a fight with anyone.  Well, except for that one time when a very pretty, prissy girl moved into MY school, using MY name and stealing MY personal Land of Fame.  I don't think I have ever gotten over that treacherous act.  I wonder what ever became of that girl?

     Until the next time, keep a hug on.

 ~ Yaya

Hippity-Hoppin' 'Cross Kansas

     Have you been following Donna Aviles on her blog while she's hippity-hoppin' 'cross Kansas?  What a time she's having.  I had to chuckle the other night when I read about possible tornadoes and baseball-sized hail.  Coming from Delaware, that must be quite a shock to her.

     Donna does seem to be enjoying her time in Kansas, though.  The stories and pictures she has posted on her blog have been a lot of fun to read.  I especially enjoyed the fact that, after years of visiting schools and sharing her knowledge of Orphan Trains and Baby Trains, she met a young man named Eli who was able to answer a question that no one has ever been able to answer, before.  Sounds to me as if Eli is a pretty smart kid.  Go, Eli!

     After reading all the fun posts from her first week in Kansas, I'm looking forward to learning what other kinds of fun Donna can find.  For sure, she's gonna' wanna' have a nice, loooooooong rest, when she gets back home.  She'll certainly deserve it, after all the hard work and effort of this trip.  Hang in there, Donna.  You're doin' a great job.

     If you haven't found your way to Donna's Orphan Train History site, already, I do hope you'll take a few minutes to run on over there and check it out and become a follower.  Its well-worth the reading time.  Until the next time, keep a hug on.

~ Yaya