Blog on the Run

 WWWWWWHAT happened  to the three pieces Fio wrote this morning? Well, looks like she's starting all over again....

Fiorella has made more progress on the cute little front room. She's been edging heavy bookcases around  and trying different settings to make everything as nice and inviting as possible. The piano, which won't arrive till next week, will be the center of attraction, with a set of tall shelves on both sides of it which will  hold stacks of music on the bottom and family lovelies on the top. Of course, there have been changes along the way--and still will be more--but the basic plan is in place. Can hardly wait till the piano arrives!

Oh, Fio should have added that she moved the rest of the furniture around too so that now there is a banked seat and smaller chest against the front window--and yes, HOORAY--your girl figured out a way to get a full-length mirror opposite the front window so that she can check if she looks presentable before she goes out anywhere.

Oh, Fiorella forgot to tell you that she moved a big desk (complete with top that looks like a church window*) into a corner so that anybody who needs to pay bills or whatever can have a place to sit down and look over his finances. 

All in all, Fio is having a great time. She's not only creating a lovely scene, but a sensible arrangements of the furniture that has served her family well through the years. May it give us comfort and good service for many years to come.

*I'll probably remember the name of it as soon as I post.

AAAAAAAND the forgotten word was S E C R E T A R Y !

From the Parlor Project to a Possible New Pal

 Fiorella confesses all--she is a rubber band hoarder. Yes, any rubber band that comes into her hands--from the grocery store, the newspaper delivery, or whatever--is put into a little box your girl has in the drawer on the right hand side of her bed. After all, she never knows when she might need one.

Regarding the parlor project, Fio is still working like a dog. Yesterday evening, she moved more furniture around, and today, she measured out the space for the piano--which may and may not still work because it's electronic and has been packed away for about two years. Now she has to not only figure out the rest of the floor plan but how to display her mother's treasures, some of them quite valuable.

Fiorella's traveling nurse, Becky, came when your girl was working on the parlor, and while Fio liked hearing that her blood is doing whatever it's supposed to do, but she was over the moon when Becky complimented her on her placing of so many of her mother's geegaws.

Going through old pictures is interesting and, at the same time, heartbreaking when one thinks about the losses of various types through the years. Love, laughter, and tears--it's the way of the world.

Your girl got acquainted with the man who lives across the street when she was coming down from picking up her mail at the communal post box and, as it turned out, his daughter is a writer too. Hope we'll get together sometime.😃

 

From Baptism to Piano

 More treasures--Fiorella was sifting through the goodies brought in from her latest visit to the Pflugerville units and, on looking through her bounty, discovered her mother's baptismal certificate, painted and framed. Interestingly enough, Mom was baptized as Ileen rather than Eileen (which she lived by and swore by.) Did the pastor's secretary get it wrong, or did Mom decide at some point that Eileen had a classier ring to it?

Wow--memories of Fio's younger years! Pony tails are in fashion again so guess who dropped by the store yesterday to pick up a set of twisted plastic bands--black, auburn, brown, gold, white, and a snake design?

Yes, Fiorella has been weeping....with joy. It had been a bad day, and then she saw the little girls who were visiting Granddaughter wandering down the hall toward Fio's studio--even though B tried to get them to steer clear. However, instead of shooing the girls off, Fiorella stepped out of her bedroom and supervised the show--they would point to the pictures of Fio's various of friends and relatives, and she would tell them their relationship to her, which the little girls seemed interested in.  💗😁😁😁

Ho hum....Son sat down on the corner of Fiorella's ancient bed, the one that's survived about three generations, and cracked a big board that now hangs lower than the other ones. Fio can still sleep on the bed--or at least one side of it--but she's made it clear that Son is the one who has to get it repaired.

Your girl has pretty much gotten her bedroom and studio in place and she should have have the parlor habitable in about a week, although who knows when the piano can be moved in--or if it will still be working. Whatever, be assured that FIORELLA WILL HAVE A PIANO!

 

 

 

 

 

From Weep to Weep

 Yes, Fiorella is weeping again. She's been thinking a lot about her parents lately, about what good people they were, and wondering why they had to die. Wouldn't it be better if truly good people could live forever while nasty, bad people would go through death after death until they've finally seen the error of their ways and become good people?

Wow, it's actually cold outside! Fio started the day wearing black slacks, a nice printed top, and a dark tee overlaid with a three-quarter arm stylish-looking shirt, but when she went out with Son L to pick up  groceries and a prescription, she had to grab Husband's old zippered rain jacket to fend off the cold. Ah...so much for glamor....

Your girl knows that we still a while more till December, but she's aching to start decorating, partly because she loves the joy of the Christmas season and partly because she wants to make sure all her carefully wrapped ornaments have survived the move. The twenty-some year old fake Japanese tree didn't, as you remember. 😓

Texas has been guaranteed snow this year, but the big question is what kind. A dainty pitter-patter that's burned up by afternoon? A more robust fall that that can produce enough of the white stuff that children will try to build snowmen? A horrendous downfall like last year, when Fiorella was frozen out of her house and had to seek shelter with Son L's wife's family?

Going through more of the items Fiorella brought back from the last trip to the Pfugerville storage units, she found her mother's beautifully illustrated certificate of baptism and, of course, spent the rest of the afternoon weeping.

 

 

 

Treasures

 Fio is going through the storage items that she and Son L brought back to the house, and your girl has found some wonderful personal treasures, like leftovers of Christmas cards she's designed through the years, some very nice clothes she'd forgotten she had, commendations from writing contests she'd participated in, poems she'd thought she'd lost, and a couple of her music compositions. Now--gulp--to figure out where to display everything in the new house, which was not built to contain an ego as bloated as Fiorella's. 

Interestingly enough, even as Fio accumulates evidences of herself, she's somehow been able to clear out some of the file cabinets in her studio. Whoopee!

You may remember how your girl put so much time and energy into packing her mother's treasures a year ago--well,  she's putting the same amount--if not more--into unpacking them, and hasn't even started getting any of them settled into place. Some will be sold, of course, but Yours Truly hopes she can station others in the offsprings' houses.

While going through Mom's papers, Fio found a framed blue ribbon she had never seen before. It was for the Summit County Elementary Spelling Contest way back when, and, interestingly enough, although Fiorella knew about the win, she had never seen the ribbon before, on the wall or anywhere else. Why not? Had her mother put it in a drawer and forgotten about it or had she tucked it away as old hat? Whatever, Fio's heart was touched by the rediscovery. It was like getting a message from heaven.

And to think, there are still two and a half storage units to go. 💗

 

 

Thanksgiving 2021

 Yes, your girl had a lovely, loving Thanksgiving with her daughter and beau at their new house. The turkey of the day was salmon, which, as you remember, is one of Fio's favorites, and it was cooked to perfection--which means Daughter has inherited her cooking skills from her grandmothers, not her mother. (In case, you haven't figured it out on your own, Fiorella is more of an eater than a cooker.)

While Fio was dragging out all the boxes holding the family Haviland--used only on Christmas--Son L, wife, and daughter were at Daughter-in-Law's family's annual Thanksgiving party, which usually involves about four days in and out, and which, in this case, will give your girl a lot of solitary time not only to unleash her Christmas frenzy, but maybe work off the calories she gulped down while at Daughter's table.

Hmm...your girl is here alone, and no one would know if she ate up all the the sweet treats that the neighbors sent over when they saw that lights were on in the house.😁

Of course, everyone in Texas is probably wondering if the winter this year will be as bad as last year's when, as you will remember, your Fiorella was iced in, lost her electricity, and wouldn't be alive today if Son L hadn't known a friend who had a truck that could brave the weather. Hope the power grid (whatever that is) will hold this year, but whatever, Fio has an idea we'll all be more prepared this time around.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Putting Everything Together

 Fiorella, the lumber jack! Well, it hasn't gotten that bad, but she's been working like a dog all day--all inside. Earlier, she was flitting around her bedroom and studio, putting them into shape, but now, she's pulling together the "parlor" of the house, a well-lit little room right inside the front door that was probably used as the sales office. 

Almost all of your girl's treasures are boxed and labeled "FRAGILE in bright red letters--Haviland, my dear, and Fio doesn't want her generation to be the end of it. 

Fiorella also had a wonderful long-distance call from a friend in England whom she used to teach, sing, and hang out with, then made a long-distance business call to Colorado in regard to one of her late Husband's business interests. All of the above sound don't sound like too much on paper, but somehow, it took Fio a whole day and dusk to tend to them--with more of the same to finish off tomorrow.

One of the negative aspects of Fio's clean-outs and rearrangement is that she always find things that she'd thought she'd lost--which means she now has to find a lovely--and loving--place for them.

Going through the storage yesterday, Fiorella found her college degrees, the ones that Husband had gussied up and hung in the den to show your girl off a couple of years back. Fio admits that she doesn't like to smash people in the face with her degrees, but she does like to look at them herself and remember when.

Happy Almost Thanksgiving and Happy Almost Christmas to All!

 

 

Art and Family

 So far today, your girl has spent most of her time in the car . Yes--another trip to the remaining storage units, but this time, she and Son L rescued only a few paintings--most of their labor went into dealing with bedding instead--and they didn't even stop for an ice cream cone. Of course, when they finally did got everything home, some sorting had to be in order.😢

Fiorella will be spending the rest of the day continuing to work on a mystery major prop that Son L will be using at his mother-in-law's family talent show. Whoopee! A star is born!

One of the paintings that Fio brought back from storage is of her mother-in-law as an older woman, and your girl is determined to find a place to hang it. No, it's not one something that your girl painted, but it is a darn good picture--and just the sort of decoration and inspiration that Fiorella likes to have on her wall. (She did paint a couple of pictures of her father-in-law, both from pictures. One of them hangs on her wall and she gave the other painting to Son K. In it, she had joined her father-in-law, husband, and Son K together in a pose.

 EEK!  Fiorella hasn't even thought about getting her giant cloth sandwich out of the car. Don't laugh--giant food was very stylish for a moment or two way back when.

 

 

On and On

 Whaddya know? Fiorella discovered that her cell phone hasn't been working for who knows how long because the box in front of the ultimate power source had edged semi-loose from its moorings. Wow--a typewriter never did that. (Is your girl showing her age?) 

Fio spent about two hours this afternoon on one of her favorite sports--working on a jigsaw puzzle. It was slow going, of course, but every time your girl decided to call it quits for the day, she suddenly had a run of good luck. Hmm...maybe she should go to a casino and see what happens.

Two phone calls in one day--this morning, one from her friend in England, and, this afternoon, one from Son K in Minnesota. Happy days! 

Guess who spent her whole evening finishing off Son L's front part of his puppet theater featuring Kermit the Frog? Needless to say, she could have done a better job if she'd had a couple more days to work on it, but Son isn't complaining.

Tomorrow, Fio will have to get back to work on Lolly again--after she's cleaned up the total mess she made of her studio when she was working on Son L's puppet theater.

 

 

 

 

 

Family, Closet, Lolly, Neighbors, Blogs

 What a wonderful family get-together! Fiorella's brother and his wife invited us over to their place for Thanksgiving and a premature celebration of brother's birthday, and, as Mother would have said, "a good time was had by all." Your girl, who grew up in Texas with no kin in sight, loves these get-togethers. 

Three cheers for Fio! As soon as she came home from Brother's house, Fiorella started on her laundry and the shaping up her child-sized clothes closet so that when the carpenter shows, he'll be able to tell her what he can do to give her more room. In case he doesn't have any ideas, Fio, clever girl that she is, has written down all her needs and Scotch Taped it to the outside of the closet door. 

Sometimes Fio isn't as smart as she thinks she is--she nearly lost the first chapter of Lolly's story yesterday because she started messing with it rather that working toward the end of the book. Repeat after me, Fiorella: I will only move forward with the story today, not look backwards--which can wait till after the lead characters have all had their happy ending

Hooray! Your girl walked across the street to return a pink balloon and get acquainted with the neighbors, who were outside with their kids. Baby steps, but Fio feels like she climbed a mountain. Maybe she'll make friends here after all.

In case you're wondering, Fiorella still hasn't gotten all her blogs printed out, but they're on the radar now. Moving is a laborious process.

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Trying to get Back to "Normal"

 Thanks for bearing with Fio. She was knocked cold by that "trial" and hopes there will be a back door that a hero, probably a lawyer, can crash through. In the meantime, your girl has been trying to move onward with Lolly's story, but she may have mortally wounded it because she was really in no condition to work on a romance today.... but she did.

Tomorrow should be a good day for your girl--it's an early birthday celebration for her brother because his "born birthday" is so close to Thanksgiving. Whatever, Fiorella wants to testify that her brother is the best brother in the whole wide world--and she still remembers the whole neighborhood showing up to greet Mom and him when the ambulance drove them home from the hospital way back when.

Isn't it odd how things from long ago suddenly pop into your mind? No doubt because of her remembrance of Brother's homecoming in style, Fio also remembered Dr. Etne, the family doctor years and years agowhen her family lived in Ohio. She can even picture his luxurious homes/office. 

Your girl likes to end her day with a little TV before she goes to bed, but she seems to have run out of good shows. When, oh when, will Doc Martin come back on? Would also like to have more of The Indian Doctor and shows like Dr. Thorne.  Er...is Fio seeing a pattern here?

What Fio doesn't want to see more of is cops and robbers shows. Yep, her fascination with Bosch is over, partly because it's hard for her to make out what everyone is saying and partly because she's afraid that his "daughter," who's working with him now, will get killed off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ANGER!

 NOT OLD ENOUGH FOR A DRIVER'S LICENSE, 

BUT OLD  ENOUGH TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER! 

And that's all Fiorella has to say today.

Exclamation Points and Explanations

 

 Egad! We're sinking into a swamp of analysis. Everything we once thought of as interesting traits are now psychological diagnoses.

Fiorella now understands the shock in her mother's face when she first saw the house Dad had bought for the family when we moved to Waco. But she also remembers what Mom made of that house through the years....although your girl still doesn't understand why the bushes out front and, in their turn, the trees out back, got cut down. Probably some Home and Garden thing.

Whoopee! Full steam ahead! Son has invited Fio to participate in his latest art project!!!

 Another whoopee! Fiorella's traveling nurse has confirmed that, after three scary days, Fio's blood thinner is exactly where it should be. Whew!

Your girl is in a quandary about Thanksgiving.  She thought she'd be spending it at the new house with her immediate family, but it turns out that Son L and his wife have already committed to attending the larger--and longer--celebration at at Daughter-in-law's parents' home. Still being uncomfortable in crowds, especially one in which she is a stranger, Fio is not sure what to do. 

 

Odds and Ends

Most of last night, Fio had nightmares revolving around the medications she is taking. Then, in the sweet rays of morning, her credit card was rejected when Son L went out to gas up the car, which made for an extra trip to the bank to make sure all was well in Fiorella's finances. Then, she went shopping at H-E-B and piled on the milk, nuts, meat, fruit, and sweets. Then, she came home and exchanged her cute jeans and long-armed maroon top for shorts and even cuter shorts. Viva la winter in Texas!

Your girl is hoping her Christmas decorations will be out of storage by Christmas. We'll see.... 

 Thanks to Son L's teaching her again on how to operate the printer, Fio is moving right along on Lolly's story. But please, God--don't let anyone invent an even more advanced printer while Fiorella is still  nervous about this one.

Your girl is hypnotized by a television show that uses language Fio wouldn't stay in the same room with, kills off people right and left, has violent sex with anything that wanders in, and is willing to bend all the "rules." The name of the show and the hero is BOSCH, and this is NOT an advertisement...although Fiorella  can't quit watching it. Maybe it's because it's filmed in the US rather than overseas. 

Oops! Fio forgot to post this blog yesterday.

 

 

 

 

 

Melancholy

 Okay, Fio will admit it--she needs a friend, someone she can talk to, but in this day of Covid around every corner, friends are hard to get, especially since your girl still isn't driving. 

Wow! Fiorella's mood sure has changed from this morning, mostly because of the work she put in during  the afternoon and evening, with Son Ls' help. Lordy, Lordy, how different things are now! Your girl used to write on a cardboard table, and now, it's computer all the way. But no matter what, her books and whatevers still have the same ring to them--love, love, love and "good' winning out over bad.

If you're wondering, Fio seems to have come to no harm from her recent warfarin mix-up, and she promises to be more careful in the future--once scared, twice on guard! Although your girl did have a great time with Nurse B when she came to save the day, it would have been better if yours truly hadn't messed them up the first place.

 

 To Sonia Dog:

Wherever you are

I know that your star

Shines brightly

 So I search the sky

As the moon rides high

 Nightly 💗

Yes, it still comes as a surprise to Fiorella that when she wakes up, Doggie isn't there....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Onward, Onward, Onward!

Hurray for Fio's traveling nurse! She got your girl reset on her coumadin regimen and now all's right with the world--or at least Fiorella is. Your girl still has more to to do regarding her studio and her writing--and then there's all the stuff still in storage to take care of, but, with luck, she'll finally be settled in by February or March.

One good thing came out of Fiorella's coumadin scare--she was so totally energized by fear that she ran around  gathering up all her Lolly chapters--each of which has about five different semi-versions--stacked them according to their page numbers, and laid them out on floor beside her bed so she could work the story into a whole. 

Fio mailed a package of family pictures, etc., to Son K this afternoon. Hope he enjoys the memories.

It can be nerve-racking when you start working on a book you didn't finish a couple of years back, but Fiorella heaved a sigh of relief when she read through Lolly's story again. It's just as quick and centered as it was when your girl wrote it it four years ago.😁

And again, Fio misses Sonia dog. 💗

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday Evening

 WHAT? Did your girl really miss reporting in yesterday? And she had such a nice time--Son L escorted Fio and B to a local art-and-crafts fair on a nearby playground and all three of them had a really good time. Son got acquainted with everyone in sight, Fio talked with her artsy neighbors, and Granddaughter interacted not only with the kindergartners, but also, sweetly, with a young'n who couldn't quite walk yet 💗

 Fiorella started working on Lolly's story again and, following the story line instead of worrying over every word, was elated at how well it read💗 

Maybe it's the way your girl was brought up, but to her, a house is not a home until there's piano on the premises: HINT, HINT, HINT!💖💗

Okay, Fio will confess. She thought Saturday was Sunday and accidentally double-dosed herself with her warfarin prescription, a big no-no, but all will be well. Your girl immediately looked up ways to counter her mistake and confessed her stupidity to the  traveling nurse who drops by every Monday morning to check Fio out. (Your tax dollars at work--THANKS💗) 

Now, if you will excuse her, Fiorella needs to get back to Lolly, who has just been rescued from her dastardly uncle by the hero--but now that he has rescued her, what can he do with her? 💗

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How Time Passes in Fio's World

(1) Late morning: Fiorella planned to recover three simple, important responsibilities--learn how to post pictures on FaceBook again, clean up the mess on the top of her chest of drawers (which, as a child, she heard as "chesterdrawers" and always wondered what kind of wood "chester" was), and work on Lolly's story.

(2) Home: The clean-up lasted longer than your girl thought it because she got involved in everything she was thinking of throwing away.

(3) Out and about: Fixing her watch and plowing on, Fio accompanied Son L and her granddaughter on a jaunt to the kiddie park that ended in a bowl of ice cream for each of them 😁.

(4) Back at the house: Fiorella had to wait till Son was available to get instructions on how to transfer a photo to FB (again.)

5) Evening: All told, your girl didn't even start working on Lolly's story till seven. Where did all the time go???????

Life Is How It Is

Fiorella is on the move. Yesterday, she arranged for someone to come look at her closet in hopes of renovating it, and today, she spent the whole day working on getting a painting of hers (the one of Husband as a child that had fallen off the wall about three months ago) back into its proper place--and yah, it took that long to come up with a workable solution because the portrait had been transferred into about five different households through the years, making it difficult to use the usual methods of hanging a frame. 

Believe it or not, your girl has lost a some weight and is having to roll the top of her jeans and slacks over so they don't embarrass her in public by slipping down to her ankles. Hello, shopping trip!

 Fiorella has just composed a new and more informative page to keep track of her numerous prescriptions, Hmm...maybe she should copyright it.

If you're wondering, yes, Fio is still in mourning for Sonja Dog--it's always a surprise to her when she wakes up each morning and Doggie isn't sleeping by her side. And yes, during the day, your girl keeps looking around to keep tabs on her baby who isn't there😢

 

 

 

 

Christmas on My Mind

 TODAY WAS THE DAY! After about a month's worth of procrastinating, your girl called ABC Home and Commercial Services and asked them to send someone out to see if they could renovate her child-like clothes closet. No one was available until till early December, but Fio can wait. It will be her Christmas present. 😁

Now, whatever other mountains can Fiorella climb today? During the rest of the afternoon, she'll probably continue with her deep read of Lolly's story--not the whole story, but she'll least cover a couple of chapters.

Last weeks' journey to Pflugerville to pick up more of Fio's storage fell through, but there's always this weekend. Your girl is praying to come back home on Sunday with not only her precious Christmas decorations, but also with her electric piano....intact.

One thing Fiorella is going to do during the holiday season is get herself some new clothes. She's lost enough weight during the past year that she has to roll her jeans over at the belt line to keep them up from taking an embarrassing slide down her legs. 

 As she combs through her family's bags and bags of photographs, Fio bemoans the unidentifiable pictures --the shots of people who are probably in her bloodline or had a certain importance to her family. ALWAYS LABEL YOUR SHOTS!

 

 

 

Moving Forward, but Looking Back

 At last, your girl is working--really and truly WORKING--on Lolly's story. She has all the chapters spread out on the floor of her studio and is at present going through each of them to make sure that they not only move the story along, but give it backbone. (She'll also be getting rid of the extras so they won't lead her astray.) This marks a giant step in her recovery from the horrors of her recent past. Watch out world! Fiorella's gearing up her engine and planning to seize her part of the world, her part of LIFE!

It's not just Lolly who is benefiting from Fio's renewed energy, but Fio herself--she's going to call around to find someone who will renovate her clothes closet and maybe even work on the bathroom she shares with her granddaughter.

Sorry that so many of your girl's posts have been totally self-centered lately, but juicy topics like Trump planning another attack on the capitol are old hat and the pandemic has kept Fio from hanging out with long-time friends or making new ones. In fact, it seems like the only people she sees on a steady basis are her immediate family and her medical crew. Don't get her wrong--she values her family and her doctors, but she'd like a little more variety.

Fiorella is having a hard time digesting the idea that Christmas is almost upon us, probably because all of her beloved decorations are still in storage and she's not sure if they'd be appreciated even if they are available. It's hard to blend family traditions and practices. but let's hope for the best. 

Your girl finally cured the croak in her throat, and all it took was a cheap, over-the-counter antihistamine tablet! WAHOO!

 

 

 

 

From Numbers to Vampires

 True to form, whenever another shock wave hits her, Fio loses her numbers. Not that she's ever been that good with math, but the waves have gotten stronger and more frequent lately, which means that your girl has to spend far too much time each day staring at her watch to find out what time it is.

This has been Fiorella's lucky day--two visitors so far, both of them nurses who have become friends. Hmm--none of this would have happened if it weren't for the pandemic driving us all outdoors.  

And, if you're wondering, Fio is medically in topnotch shape--except that she needs more human contact. Again, she asks, how can she buy a friend?

Completely off subject, Fiorella's hair, which falls about four inches below her neck, has started to curl into ringlets--not that she objects, but she's never had this happen before without--uh--assistance.

Please excuse Fio for now. She's needs to work on Lolly's story again. After all, she has a vampire story in the wings.

Sunday/ Domingo

MORNING: You'll remember that Fiorella and her brother are lactos persistent, a heritage from their father's Carpathian-Rusyn blood line, but what you may not know--and Fio herself didn't until she did some research--is that the ability to digest cow milk past childhood is a relatively recent development for humanity...and a good one too, because it provides us with another easy food source.

EARLY AFTERNOON: Fio was totally despondent and angry with the world in general.

LATE AFTERNOON: Son L, in his knightly armor, invited Fio to go shopping at Walmart with him and you can bet she grabbed her mask and ran for the car. Sox and Scotch Tape were on her list, as well as getting out of the house.

HOME AGAIN: She's feeling much better except for a slight headache. As soon as that clears, maybe she'll take up where she took off in knitting together Lolly's story.

EVENING: Can't sleep. Worrying about everything. Thinking of Sonia Dog.

 

 

 

Winter Weather and a Yapping Doggy

 It must be winter--Fio is wearing a long-sleeved shirt and has had to turn off her air conditioning. On the other hand, this is Texas, and the afternoon might turn into a scorcher.

Saturday, Saturday, Saturday--maybe your girl's neighbors will come out in force and make some friends. Yeah, like that's ever going to happen! Fiorella has lived in this neighborhood for eight months and doubts if anyone but her immediate family even knows her name. 

HOW-SO-EVER, the minute,  Fiorella stepped outside the door to walk up to the mailbox to deposit bill payments, her adventures began. First, she encountered a friendly brown dog and a gentlemanly young man, who actually spoke to her, then a small white dog, which kept circling and yapping angrily at her feet. Now, having been a dog owner for m-a-n-y years, Fio wasn't fazed...until she realized the little dog, still yapping, had followed her all the way back to the house. 

Who was its owner? Your girl checked in with the next-door-neighbors to the right, who didn't own the dog but told her who did--the neighbors on their right. So, your girl led the desperate dog in that direction, where it was claimed (somewhat reluctantly?) by its owners.

It was an interesting way to begin the day. What next?

 

 

 

Hope, Plan, Excitement, Information, Disappointment

 At last, Fiorella's sniffles are abating, which probably means she had an allergy all along and could have healed herself by buying an over-the-counter pill or two. Ah, well--at least your girl will know better next time. 

Fio has her Lolly chapters spread out from one end of her studio to the other, and what she wants to do at this point is make sure everything connects, which means she has to control herself and ignore the bumps along the way. The frosting can come later.

Oh-oh, from what your girl can figure out regarding a morning phone call, two home nursing services are fighting over your Fiorella.  Will keep you in the loop. Could be interesting....

In Fio's early days, boys wore jeans that zipped down the front while girls wore slacks that zipped or buttoned down the side. Tuck that away in your trivia box.

At the end of the day, Fiorella realizes that she hasn't gotten too much done  and it's all her fault. Instead of making sure everything connected, she started revamping the story, page by page, which was a BIG mistake.

 

From Keenexes to Covid

Uh, the glamorous life of a romance writer is overblown. Fiorella is currently trying to separate Lolly's twelve chapters with folded Kleenexes because she didn't do so when writing.

Your girl watched a wonderful TV show about the history of native Americans, then gathered together some photographs and items that she thought Minnesota son would enjoy seeing again and prepared them for mailing, then worked with one of her therapists, then gathered together her many versions of Lolly's story as she waited for Daughter to come pick her up for a visit. Ah, for the days when Fio was driving.

Like it usually does at this time of year, the weather has turned, and Fiorella has had to drag a couple of long-sleeved shirts out of the back of her closet, which means she'd better get going on her plan for renovating that rabbit hole.

Son L and Fiorella are planning to make a trip to Pflugerville this weekend and will probably hire a team to help them--that piano can't walk back to Austin on its own. (Any volunteers?) 

Hey, this is great--your girl will be getting yet another nurse tomorrow to check her out. All in all, it's quite impressive how the local medical establishment has adjusted to the Time of Covid.

 

 

 

Everything is part of me/ And I am part of immortality....

Fio's Voice

 Had a nice call from Brother today. Not only does Fio enjoy talking to him, but it's good practice for your girl who's voice went numb during the snowstorm and who is still suffering from it. (Luckily, she can still think and write.)

The rest of the family is out today so Fiorella has the house to herself and--oops...she started to say "Sonia Dog," but that solace has been ripped from her forever.

Reading through her first published romance, Fio doesn't like the final chapter, the wedding scene, which as she remembers, was called for by the publishers. Your girl wanted it to end it all with Laurel and Jase flying off to her Hollywood hometown to meet her family, then getting married there, and, earlier in the story, she would have liked to have kept in her her references to teen age drug problems in small towns, something she heard about all the time when she was teaching. 

Of course, with self-publishing now being the rage, things may have changed, and as soon as Fiorella completes this blog, she'll start working on Lolly again. And if Lolly doesn't make it, there are plenty more old scripts for Fio to look over. And if none of them work out, your girl will gather all--ALL--of her poetry together for publication!

FIORELLA'S VOICE WILL BE HEARD, NO MATTER WHAT!

 

 

 

Complete Accounting

 (1) Daybreak, and your girl is up early, thanks to a rare insomnia--or maybe excitement. Oh well, she'll make up for it by dozing all afternoon when she gets home from voting.

(2) Mid-morning, and Fiorella has cast her votes regarding local legalities and feels so goooood. Yep, voting turns her on!

(3) Back at the house, Fio spends a couple of hours sitting on the floor of her studio and going through a bag of old photographs. She treasures each and every one of those pictures but knows she can't keep all of them so she's putting aside photos that are her favorites and sending the rest off the to the kids so they can remember old times.

(4) At the end of the day, Daughter drives Fiorella to Walgreens to get her booster shot from a very nice young man. And, as with her first two shots, your girl hardly felt it. Try it--you'll like it!😀

(5) Sleep well, my friends!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Beauty Preps to a Halloween Poem

At present, Fio's doesn't have a place in the house where she can sit down to comb her hair and put on her make up, but she's a-lookin' and a-thinkin'....

Your girl found one of her old Christmas cards and was totally impressed---a  poem on the horizontal line with the first letters of each perpendicular line spelling out "Merry Christmas."  WOW! Wonder if she could pull off something like that this year? Hmm....

Fiorella seems to have lost her bats, the ones she decorated the front hall with, and please don't tell her they flew away at midnight😕

Speaking of Halloween, there wasn't much of a show in Fio's neighborhood, probably because most of the kids are young'ns. Apparently, there were some adult gatherings, though, which she will be  on the lookout for next year 😁

It's morning after Halloween

And not a beggar to be seen

They've packed away their morbid gear

To keep it safe until next year 😃

 

Our children are our joy and sorrow, just as we were to our own parents.