tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-249573842024-03-16T17:47:22.107-05:00MIDDLE GIRLMiddle Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334580430376973159noreply@blogger.comBlogger1121125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24957384.post-78001896684453313952024-03-12T22:32:00.000-05:002024-03-12T22:32:00.413-05:00Snack HappyRecently I celebrated my tenth anniversary with my current employer. Please note that the folks who hired me are no longer with the firm (due to an amicable merger and eventual resignations due to other factors) but the spirit and the nature of the larger company still exist, most days. :-) Soon this space will celebrate an anniversary as well. (March 29, 2006, was the first Middle Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334580430376973159noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24957384.post-27243637021873703712024-02-25T16:34:00.001-06:002024-02-25T16:34:29.087-06:00It is When I snapped this photo it was early in the month and now the month is nearly over. Wow. I haven't started using the charcoals yet but am starting to get back into my daily sketch practice. I haven't sketched "daily" in recent weeks but certainly more than in the weeks preceding the first new sketch in several weeks; nine in the last month. Woot. &Middle Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334580430376973159noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24957384.post-29948343176613889792024-01-11T20:29:00.003-06:002024-01-11T20:29:55.502-06:00twenty twenty fourWe are now twelve days into this new year. Twelve days of . . . well, honestly, same old stuff. I didn't set any specific intentions for the new year other than continuing on the path of better...everything; eating, walking, working, playing, thinking, laughing, loving, writing, sketching, and maybe even some painting. Actually, there is a specific intention... I was giftedMiddle Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334580430376973159noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24957384.post-23552831582475280952023-12-10T20:11:00.003-06:002023-12-10T20:11:59.906-06:00Photograph and Memory This is my third grade class. I left this school after third grade so most of the folks pictured I never saw again. This class photo is but one of two I have throughout my years in elementary school. The other is a photo from kindergarten. I'm sure (mostly) that there were photos taken but I don't have them. they were either lost in one of our many moves or...&Middle Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334580430376973159noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24957384.post-64213360454692805572023-11-18T20:50:00.000-06:002023-11-18T20:50:00.664-06:00Two Years Some years ago a couple of FB friends introduced a game(?). If you commented on their post indicating you wanted to participate, they give you a year and you post a memory. I'm 37 Year 1997: What I remember: Upheavals In the workplace, CEO of parent company died; beginning of a period of uncertainty which lasted over two years. In the home, marriage Middle Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334580430376973159noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24957384.post-66686281447063563262023-09-04T17:09:00.002-05:002023-09-04T17:09:58.002-05:00September ? ! ? ! Do you rememberThe 21st night of September?Love was changing the minds of pretendersWhile chasing the clouds away*My son mentioned in conversation the other day, "we're coming up on my favorite months...the 'ber months; September, October, November, December!" He went on to say why, though I already knew. I love how my son speaks to me as though I didn't give birth to him Middle Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334580430376973159noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24957384.post-41584374561413831332023-06-20T21:43:00.003-05:002023-06-20T21:43:27.933-05:00And Just Like That (Again) An entire season gone and no posts. Wow. That certainly was not the plan, but here we are. And to be frank, this isn't a post inasmuch as it is a, "hey, I'm still here" notice. So, I'm here. Still sketching (though, there too, lapses. Oy) Still haven't cut my hair though I do think it is thinning some. Que sera sera. Middle Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334580430376973159noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24957384.post-26871808927170782322023-04-01T21:26:00.003-05:002023-04-01T21:40:07.275-05:00Fiction (from a prompt) She is cold. There is a barely there light filtering through the window. The cold and the sliver of light are enough to awaken Nina's body. Her mind is slow to follow; too busy manifesting a way to get warm and perhaps lure her body back to sleep is all the mind can handle. Somewhere between asleep and the opposite; Nina heard a noise. Middle Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334580430376973159noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24957384.post-68057284824230421532023-02-22T21:27:00.006-06:002023-02-22T21:27:40.913-06:00Ten Yearsten years ago last saturday my mom drew her last breath. the moment is forever (at least so far) etched in my memory, forever written on my aura. yet i try not to dwell on the pain of the loss, endeavoring to churn energies toward the joy of the being. the existence, her existence in my life, the fact of my life. if not for her, i wouldn't be here. i Middle Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334580430376973159noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24957384.post-82930986665707484022023-01-20T22:03:00.004-06:002023-01-20T22:03:56.628-06:00Two for Twenty-three Some days ago my phone died. No warning. No precursor. No forward. Just, one second on and the next, blank. Frustration ensued. A new phone was acquired in relatively short order thanks to insurance. The new device is mostly set-up. Familiar and regular virtual destinations are Middle Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334580430376973159noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24957384.post-35751729226284529792023-01-01T21:18:00.000-06:002023-01-01T21:18:08.221-06:00And Just Like That The holiday season is officially (or unofficially, depending on who you ask) over. There were precious few viewings of holiday movies (no "Love, Actually" though I did try--once I couldn't, the thrill *such as it was* for most anything was squashed). There was a marked avoidance of all holiday specials and except for promos, no holiday music. There were no Christmas cookie Middle Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334580430376973159noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24957384.post-62704287616601884162022-11-30T06:00:00.001-06:002022-11-30T06:00:00.204-06:00Last Day of November Autumn Sky Why have one snow figure when two will do?I am sitting here, doing my Spanish lessons, listening with half an year to a special on the film, "Love Actually." to commemorate the film turning twenty years old (next year). And just this moment realizing that while the file has been on my, "to watch" list for a few years I have not (yet) seen the film from beginning Middle Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334580430376973159noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24957384.post-79760782508866492412022-11-12T19:52:00.003-06:002022-11-12T19:52:42.789-06:00This Is November I know, already? Yes, already. And speaking of ready, who is? For anything? Everything? The few retail outlets I've visited in recent days are nearly 100% outfitted for the December holidays (let's face it, mostly Christmas), the holiday movies have hit the airwaves and the 24-7 holiday music programming has begun. Ready or not, here it is. Of Middle Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334580430376973159noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24957384.post-373290440043220182022-10-21T21:46:00.004-05:002022-10-21T21:46:57.777-05:00Claire Claire and her friends are the reason I cut my hair off oh so many years ago. The Claires (as I call them) proved themselves unruly and mostly unmanageable. And as more of them appeared the bigger the management issue became. So, they had to go. Well, be clipped to a more manageable length. And then I had a change of heart. I started growing my hair out a couple of Middle Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334580430376973159noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24957384.post-80467172869056635802022-09-27T19:56:00.000-05:002022-09-27T19:56:01.117-05:00Daily PracticeSitting. Thinking. Trying to draft..... something. Nothing but everything is coming to mind. When in flux, do a list: My dad died ten years ago (on the 6th). I feel the loss but moreover it is a reminder that coming in February is the tenth anniversary of my mom's death. It still feels kind of unreal. My daughter and I haveMiddle Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334580430376973159noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24957384.post-53404605183864590372022-09-04T19:31:00.002-05:002022-09-04T19:31:40.865-05:00Happy September Prompt: starts with R (Ribbon)Prompt: Starts with R: reach Starts with R: resting Is it wrong that I'm already thinking about the end of this month; that something in me wants to steamroll through September? That is the situation today. Tomorrow I could be complaining about how fast the time is passing. The prompt for one of the art groups for the coming week is, "Middle Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334580430376973159noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24957384.post-22099445557745959982022-08-20T21:25:00.000-05:002022-08-20T21:25:38.479-05:00And, So Throwback / Flashback 1978*There are two recipes, written on yellow index cards, affixed to my refrigerator with magnets. The intent was to entice my daughter (the professional cook) to prepare one or the other or better, both of these recipes. They are: Cajun Deviled Eggs and Apple Cinnamon Chimichangas. Both have manageable ingredients lists and steps. Both Middle Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334580430376973159noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24957384.post-56320802788843259332022-07-23T22:34:00.002-05:002022-07-23T22:34:25.919-05:00So Much Time It was not, is is not ever the intent to stay away for so long. Every day a topic wiggles its way into my head, the first sentence wrangles a way out of my fingertips and then . . . . . . as they say, "crickets." The G assistant machine alerts that my birthday is just around the corner which reminds me that I am needing to stop and think a little bit about simple Middle Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334580430376973159noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24957384.post-80868723603292892492022-05-21T23:33:00.002-05:002022-05-21T23:33:18.458-05:00Middle When I started this post it was precisely the middle of the month (hence the title) and I was stuck with what to talk/write about. Now, it is well beyond that and I'm a little less stuck, thanks to a shoehorn. ::smile:: Some days ago my shoehorn broke. The shoehorn was beloved, note because it was a shoehorn but more because it was gifted to me years ago by my mom. And it Middle Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334580430376973159noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24957384.post-2554271101025392032022-04-24T21:46:00.000-05:002022-04-24T21:46:15.471-05:00Times Gone ByThe first few years of my childhood, my mother dressed us in our finest for holidays; Easter being among the largest and the dressiest of those. Our wardrobe was selected weeks before, set aside and then prepared the morning of, we were primped an preened until we glistened. Once perfection was achieved, a photo was snapped. Usually. Then we headed off to church Middle Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334580430376973159noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24957384.post-8395067059357049942022-03-27T21:50:00.000-05:002022-03-27T21:50:02.541-05:00feliz aniversario Tuesday, March 29th marks the 15th anniversary for this space. Two days ago I had precisely what I wanted to post to commemorate the momentous occasion but I didn't write (or type) it down so, it is gone. Lost within the recesses of my mind. Oh, well. In the spirit of, "winging it" I shall revert to the time honored blog tradition of listing stuff.&Middle Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334580430376973159noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24957384.post-41652973030068153212022-02-27T21:10:00.000-06:002022-02-27T21:10:21.838-06:00This Day, That Day, One Day Well, here we are at the end of February; cold, grey, and wet February. February has been motivationally and inspirationally challenging for me; thinking or acting with intenttoward anything creative has been like fighting a four alarm fire with the garden hose. I attended an event with co-workers on Friday. In conversation with one of them helped me see that I Middle Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334580430376973159noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24957384.post-53886966278328296812022-01-29T18:28:00.000-06:002022-01-29T18:28:10.328-06:00January Twenty Twenty-two And just like that it is the end of January, Twenty Twenty-two. My January consisted (in part) of leaving the tree up the entirety of the month; mostly due to not have a suitable storage tote in which to store the additional items purchased for the new tree. This is the first tree since moving to this apartment February, 2019. And we hadn't had a tree at the old place Middle Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334580430376973159noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24957384.post-74528370151125022342022-01-02T19:14:00.003-06:002022-01-02T19:14:25.749-06:00Christmas Just Ain't Christmas This was going to be about Christmas. But now, Christmas 2021 is but a distant memory except to say I didn't have the kind of experience that many others seem to have had; mine was precisely as envisioned, as designed. The holiday had been scaled back a wee bit, year-by-year since my mother died in February of 2013. Well, truth be told, Christmas 2012 was pretty basic since my dad had Middle Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334580430376973159noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24957384.post-50482031853382567462021-11-26T15:39:00.001-06:002021-11-26T15:39:21.236-06:00Soon Ah Very Soon A blast from the past. Once upon a time, responding to the one and done, the threes of me, and other types of memes what's your favorite this or that, what's the last television show you watched, if you were forced to eat the last thing you eat from now on, what would that be..etc., was the order of the day, these things were are a popular method to build traffic for a web pages. Middle Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334580430376973159noreply@blogger.com4