Janet's Blog

I'm not going to lie. November has never been my favorite month. I just don't like the abrupt, visual change from fall to winter, from vibrant greens and golds and oranges, to dull, lifeless browns. I prefer balmy days to bitter, cold ones. I would rather walk outside when the breezes blow gently, instead of forcing myself to trudge down the sidewalk into a blustery gale. Long shadows appear early, after Daylight Savings Time ends in November. November is supposed to be a month of thankfulness, so I must talk myself into being grateful, even now. I look for interesting textures in the fading landscape. I relish the beautiful sunsets. I enjoy the time spent with family, when we celebrate November birthdays and Thanksgiving. I even find myself looking forward to approaching blizzards, just because the dazzling, white snow provides an excellent contrast to the normally overwhelming, brown terrain. Celebrating November birthdays turns a dreary day into a happy one. Ev...

I passed a padiddle today. It's a real word, you know, a satisfying word that bursts from my mouth at just the right time-- padiddle , a North American slang word for a vehicle with a burned out headlight. Bill introduced me to padiddles before we were married, loudly shouting out the word as we drove, startling me enough that I jumped in my seat and croaked, "What???" He enlightened me right away, wondering aloud why I had never before heard of a padiddle. Then, he took his explanation a step further, as he outlined the finer points of the road game that has evolved, with points being tallied as passengers compete to see who can spy the most padiddles on a road trip. It's inevitable that all drivers will encounter their fair share of padiddles as they drive at night. Cars that are forced to navigate with only one working headlight become driving hazards, sometimes mistaken for motorcycles, or missed altogether, until they are close enough to reveal their true ide...

October really flew by this year, but some days, it seemed as though life was just creeping along. Either way, I have been having a hard time keeping up. Bill and I spent a few, fabulous days in New Orleans at the beginning of the month; then I had oral surgery, two-and-a-half hours away from home, in Fort Collins, which has meant three car trips back and forth, so far, and some unexpected, coexisting, health issues. I was just beginning to recover when our 13-year-old cat, Charlie, had to stay at the animal hospital three different times, before we made the hard decision to end his suffering. In the midst of it all, I was excited when my new children's book, Grandma, Whatcha Doing?  was published and became available for purchase on Amazon.com and  BarnesandNoble.com .  All of a sudden, I had to scramble to put together an author webpage, which can be found at  https://grandmajanetk.wordpress.com/ , and set up author pages on Amazon and Goodreads . ...