May Prompts #5

Here are the next few prompts. I'm still not caught up, but working on it. So many things to do!

23. Write a letter to your 10-year-old self on the last day of school before summer break.

Dear Jo, 

This is going to be one of the best summers ever! Take it all in. Hold it! Remember it! After the loss of your little brother, there will be an extra effort by the adults in your life. Enjoy the love and attention. It's not that they love you differently or more than before, it's just that they realize how fleeting life is. You are headed to California with your grandparents and your little sister, leaving school early! That means Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, Sea World. You get to see the ocean! Ask them to take lots of pictures of you and your sis. You will wish they had. Soak in all the sights at Disneyland. The magic, the colors, the sounds. Hear the laughter of your grandparents, your sis, the Thorntons, and remember. Tuck it all away in your heart and memory as the treasure it is! Live fully! Have fun! 

With love, your much older self, Anita Jo

24. Describe the scene outside your window.

As I glanced out my sliding doors, I see so much green from all the rain we've been blessed with this spring. Today is overcast and colder. The wind is gently blowing the leaves of the Maple tree and the Hollyhocks which are now about 3 feet high. The two potted geraniums are in full bloom. Red and so pretty! Two of the rose bushes on the berm now have blossoms, the red one and the pink one. There are birds at the feeders. Doves in the big one, staying under the cover in case of more rain. The rhubarb has gone crazy! It is so tall and thick and takes command of 1/3 of our garden spot. I am loving the rain, the clouds, and all the blooms and the green! It's a perfect afternoon for writing and reading.

25. Use the word "progress" as your prompt today.

Progress. To move forward. To accomplish a goal. I can feel I've made progress in some areas in the past few months. Much of it due to this class on The Artist's Way. I have written, by hand, three pages most days. I've done many of the book tasks. I've joined in the Zoom classes even on days I wanted to just hide quietly in a book or a movie. That is real progress for me! I tend to avoid things that make me uncomfortable, so to push myself into this new technology (new to me) and share with my instructors and classmates is true progress. I have also made advances in my writing and feel it has opened up my mind to what more I can accomplish. Another area is I've started taking better care of my health with diet changes and exercise. This is all progress for me.

26. What makes you feel insecure in your writing, and why?

I'd like to think I wasn't insecure in my writing but history shines a glaring light on that. I obsess about whether or not I am using proper English, spelling, and puctuation. I worry excessively about how my words will be interpreted. Will I offend anyone? Will they find my writing boring or lacking in substance? If it's a blog post, I worry that my words will be hard to "hear" and that my writing voice might reflect snarkiness when I intended to just be thoughtful and honest. In considering a book, I worry it won't entertain or that I won't be making the point I'm going for. If there are insecurities about writing, I'm sure I have all of them. 

#growmeastory 

© 29MAY2022 ajjahner

Improving My World

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.

~ Anne Frank

I saw this quote while visiting Joni's blog, Morning Coffee today. By the way, Joni has such a heart for people. Take a moment to visit her blog, I know you will be inspired by her.

Before I forget, I added a couple pictures to Nitajos Photos so just click on the name to take a look.

I've had a little project in mind, and this week my husband helped me get it done. I had purchased some flowers for my garden, but was not up to doing the planting. PJ got out the garden tools and said, "Just show me where you want them"... so sweet! My favorite part was having red geraniums planted in one of my little red wagons.

I love the way it turned out. The only thing I'd still like to do is add several more plants. Even without them, it's still a small improvement in my world. Every time I look at them I smile.

What I've Been Up To

I decided it was time to update you on what's been happening around here. I mentioned that our church was having a yard sale. It ended up running Friday and Saturday two weekends in a row. I felt well enough to get stuff over there, and I was able to be there to help for 3 1/2 of those days.

I have to admit that I did a bit of shopping myself. If I ever get a working camera, I'll post some "before" photos of what I bought. I have a lot of fun projects on the back burner now. The best part was, I was physically able to get items over there and to help out. I was pretty run down for a few days after, but I was able to accomplish so much more than I did during the preceding three months!

Today has been an absolutely glorious day! The weather has cooled down, and I am loving it. I got outside this morning and worked in my front flower bed. What a mess! It was full of Morning Glory and Gladiolas.

The Morning Glory has been trouble every summer, and I am so tired of Gladiolas. It was a pleasure to dig it all up. I filled two and a half large garden trash bags! There was also a small tree stump, just the right size for tripping over. I got the water going, to soften the dirt, before digging it out! It was firmly rooted in the hard clay soil and took a lot of time. After digging, pushing, pulling... it finally let go. Boy did that feel great! I had to pace myself to get everything done, so it took about four hours, but was so rewarding.

I still have a lot more to do. I want to add compost, and maybe some sand, to the clay soil. The holly bush has gotten huge and needs a good pruning! Then there will have to be a trip to the garden store. I'll be looking for plants that like partial sun and moist, clay soil. Tulips and Hyacinth have done well and are nice for early spring color. I also want to try something for summer that doesn't attract so many bees and wasps. This bed is right outside our door, in front of our little porch. It hasn't been much fun sitting out there because of the wasps.

Monday and Tuesday were spent going through more stuff in my garage. My sis took four big boxes to sell on eBay... I'm so happy to have it gone! I had two boxes of stuff that she couldn't use, so A.R.C. picked it up! I also made a trip to visit Grandma yesterday. I hadn't been over there for weeks! She saw me walk in the door and hollered to me. She was so happy to have me visit. Grandma looked lovely. She'd just had her hair done that morning. We talked about all kinds of things and took a walk (I pushed her wheelchair) to her room. I helped her look for some stockings and slippers. We visited until I had to pickup Lucky 13 from his first Driver's Education Class. Yikes! I know he's 16, but it just came so fast. Where does the time go?

It has really been a blessing to be able to get some things accomplished. I'm tired, but it's a good tired. After so much time of "MS tired"... which basically means being tired for no apparent reason, this feels wonderful! (Hmmm... how many times can I use the word tired before making people want to tear their hair out... Ok. I'll stop now.)

Tomorrow, I tackle the kitchen, family room and bathrooms. Friday is MJ's birthday and we're having a few family members come by for cake. My dream is for the house to be spotless, but even "near spotless" would be grand!

How Did We Get To July Already?

July is here! Summer has gone by so fast. I haven't even scratched the surface of all the jobs I planned to do.

PJ has been prepping the house for it's new paint job! It's way past time for it to be done. There is a lot of work just to prep. He's removed all the gutters, washed down the dirt and spiders, caulked, nailed... I think the actual painting will be the easiest part.

Our garden and yard is in a sad state of neglect. That's another big to-do item. This fall I plan to redo my front flower beds with all new bulbs. I've grown weary of my iris plants. They have taken over and have not looked very pretty that past two summers. I want more tulips, hyacynth, snap dragons, columbine...

I've only read one book this summer. A light mystery. I have hundreds of books and so little time! Plus, I need to get my new glasses. I have put off getting the bifocals, and my boys laugh when they see me trying to focus on a book or magazine! You get the picture!

I've written a couple more poems. I like the simplicity and complexity of a poem. That sounds like a contradiction, but for me it isn't. Even in the shortest verse, there can be a myriad of messages. Some placed by the writer and some discovered by the reader's own life experiences. I may see it one way, and you another way altogether.

My art projects have been put on hold while we get the "have to dos" done.

Hugs to all...

Memories of Lucy

I've been thinking about my mother-in-law the past couple of days. She passed away about two years ago as a result of Alzheimers. Her birthday was Sunday, June 22nd. Her knickname from childhood was Lucy, so that's how I will refer to her today.


I was blessed to have had this amazing lady in my life. Lucy rarely had a cross word for anyone, and usually found a reason to laugh at most situations. She was an excellent cook and gardener. Many times she bought flowers for my home. There was always a white waxy Begonia in the mix.

She loved to shop and we would always take the time for a shopping trip when we were visiting. One of her favorite parts of shopping was stopping for a bit of something sweet. This usually meant sharing a Mrs. Powell's cinnamon roll.


Lucy loved her family and especially her two grandsons. Whether they were playing a board game, sharing cookies and milk, or walking in her garden, it was always a wonderful time.

I still miss her. We all do. I pray the day will come that Alzheimers will be a thing of the past.

Father's Day Reflections

Well, I made it through another Father's Day. My dad passed 18 years ago but my grandpa, who holds the title of "father" in my heart passed, away just under two years ago.


First dad... He was a funny, warm man who popped in for the occasional birthday or holiday. Sometimes he'd bring my brother with him. That was always a treat! Sis and I loved playing with RR. Dad would usually pick up a guitar at some point and start playing "Keys to the Kingdom". He had a Merle Haggerty kind of country voice. Grandma would often harmonize in her low, low alto/tenor. Good times!


Dad became more of a regular fixture in our lives after the birth of my Sis's first child. The first grandchild... a granddaughter. I remember he brought her a stuffed Garfield the cat for her first birthday party. Two years later, Sis added another granddaughter, and I added his first grandson to the family. Two of my favorite pictures of him are with his first granddaughter and grandson. The final years we spent getting to know him were very special ones, filled with shared stories and laughter.


Grandpa became "father" to me when I was 8 years old... long story to be saved for another day. Anyway, he was the best. A gospel minister who loved to sing in a painfully offkey voice, but the joy that came with that voice was infectious. He drove my sister and I to school every morning and he had made up a little tune that we all sang together. "The sun's gonna shine this morning..." we'd chime in "Yeah, yeah, yeah" (a kind of Beatles after part). It would set us off laughing. Grandpa had a laugh that would lift the heart.

Here I am at Christmas time at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

I just found this photo recently and I love it. Grandpa almost always had that smile on his face! I couldn't find the pictures of my Dad with the grandkids so I'll have to add them at a later time.

My grandpa loved to garden. He tended the vegetables and flowers with equal care. He loved his grapevine and his gooseberry bushes. For years, he mowed the lawn in an old pair of slacks and a white button up shirt... usually long-sleeved. I still remember when he was given a denim jacket and a pair of jeans. He put them on, and he looked so out of character. My whole life I had never seen him in jeans!


My grandpa took special pride in a lilac "tree". He carefully tended one slender lilac branch, pruning away each year until it had thickened into a trunk and grew into a beautiful little tree. There were some who laughed at his little "stick" in the ground that were later amazed at how lovely it turned out to be.

I love the fact that I have so many good memories to dwell on. Sure, there were some hard times, but I have so much joy to remember. I like to think there were lessons learned from the difficulties, but the best lessons came from the love and the laughter that we shared.