The Nobody Loves You When You're Down & Out Meme

Click the pic to play along.

Monday Madness: The Nobody Loves You When You're Down & Out Questions:

1. When did you last feel down and out?

I feel blue sometimes. Papa was a Smurf.

  (Please forgive the ultra silly. I soooo need silly right now.)

2. What do you do to feel sexy? 

Since the virus began, I'm just struggling to wear matching socks in the house. We'll start there.

3. If you could be somewhere else, where would you be and why?
     On the beach with Judd

4. What have you always wanted to do?

    Match my socks...

5.  What do you appreciate the most about your life at this time? 

Everything. You can't go through a pandemic and not think about gratitude. 

6. If you could be someone else, who would you be and why?

I wouldn't want to be anyone else. I have enough trouble keeping up with me. 

7. Have you ever made a fool of yourself? If yes, spill. 

    Too many times to count. I have a penchant for falling into pencil skirt trouble. Have you read my blog???!  I can't think of a time when I unexpectedly felt like a fool.  But I've stepped into some foolery on purpose and in good faith from time to time. Have you read my blog???

8. What have you always wanted to do but haven't?  Find my socks

9. What do you think about the talk about traveling to Mars?  I would go to Mars, the Moon, the Sun, Jupiter, Transylvania, Pittsburgh, the North Pole...anywhere to get away from this evil floating virus. 

10.  If you could bring back someone who has passed, who would it be? 

My grandfather.  I have eons of delicate questions to ask him. He reads my blog!

He'd help straighten out my foolery.

 

Thanks for playing! We will see you see you next Monday. 

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The Gratitude Meme

Hosted by Bev Sykes of Funny The World  Click the logo & play along

1. A person I’m glad to have in my life. 

   I can't narrow it down to one, so I'll say...my three best friends. 

They all know where the bodies are buried.

2. Something I find comfort in. 

    Walking in nature

3. My favorite part of the morning 

     My quiet time on the porch

4. My favorite memory 

    My son's little league baseball years 

5. An accomplishment I’m proud of 

    My degree 

6. An opportunity I’m grateful for 

    more publishing 

    

7. My favorite song (and why)

   Songs that evoke memories

 8. A future event I’m excited about. 

     November

9. My favorite area in my home. 

    The music room

10. Something beautiful I saw today.

     A hummingbird outside the kitchen window

 11. My guilty pleasure. 

       Chocolate

12. Something I love about a family member.

      My granddaughter has the most adorable giggle. She just turned one.

 13. A compliment that made me feel good 

      "I really love the chicken dish you make."

14. The item I treasure the most. 

      My piano

15. My favorite part about nature 

      Changing leaves. Solitude

16. A book I loved reading 

      Marianne Williamson's A Return to Love

17. A freedom I’m grateful for 

      Freedom of Speech

18. My favorite part of the evening.

      Sleeping is underrated

 19. One good thing that happened today. 

       I finished some online work

20. How I show gratitude for my friends.

      I've learned that a simple and genuine "thank you" will do. 

Nobody wants me to bake them a cake. 

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Calling All Peace Bloggers ~ November 4, 2020 is BlogBlast For Peace (Blog4Peace)

  We are a global peace community in the throes of a global pandemic!

This is going to be the deepest dive into finding peace that this movement has ever seen.

This year's theme is Peace in the Time of Quarantine

 Whatever your beliefs, background, culture, race, politics or persuasion, YOU are invited to join us for BlogBlaST For Peace on November 4, 2020. 

Blog4Peace participants come from every continent and 214 countries/territories. For fifteen years we've been raising our voices for the cause of peace across the world. We have been speaking "Dona nobis Pacem" (Grant us peace)  together on the same day all across the globe. It's awesome and inspiring. 

Why? Today, humanity is upside down. Social unrest and political turmoil are not new challenges; but when you add a lethal contagious virus, mandatory lockdowns, one million people dead and 28 million cases causing enormous economic uncertainty and fear, we shouldn't be surprised to see people struggling to find balance and calmness. That's precisely WHY we must continue to be powerful voices of rest and substance. Your words give life to the world. 

When the world stopped we were locked down and restricted physically, but this did not chain our souls or our voices. 

Unity is in short supply these days. This is something we can all agree on. 

Who doesn't want peace? 

Post this image NOV4 on your own blog or social media page. It's that simple. You can decorate the template, add pics or quotes...whatever inspires you.

 Go HERE for an entire gallery viewing of past peace globes and the blogs and places they hail from. You will get tons of ideas. 

Choose from lots of different cool templates HERE.

HOW to Blog4Peace 

HOW to Blog4Peace on Facebook & Social Media

Please share this post wherever you can. See you soon!

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Monday Mimisms ~ Meme Madness

Sometimes I like to step away from my serious side and kick up a little silliness. Let's start with a new meme in the blogosphere called Monday Madness. Aren't we all feeling just a tad bit insane these days?  Click here to play along!

1. You are at a party in a very bad mood. There is an obnoxious guest with a camera snapping pictures of everyone in sight. Do you allow the photographs or ask them to stop?

I am the photographer. I've been thrown out of more than one store for doing just that. 

I have learned my lesson. Read the sad tale here.

2. You are on your way to a formal affair and running late. You are the guest speaker at this event and everyone is waiting for you. A police officer pulls you over for speeding. Do you make up a wild excuse or truthfully tell him where you are going and try to talk your way out of the citation? Tell us your tall tale!

**batting big brown eyes** "Officer, I beg your pardon. I'm on my way to speak at the International Society of Law Enforcement Bloggers convention. They told me to bring my camera and....."Oh, so YOU'RE the crazy bookstore lady with the camera. Go on your way. There's a room full of handcuffs waiting..."

The truth will not set you free. 

3. When you drive down memory lane for the last two years of your life and look in the rear-view mirror, do you see a happy journey or a bumpy ride?

I see moments of happiness, but overall more stress than tranquility.  This is not how life should be. This is NOT OK.  I'm working on that. How? By not "working" at happiness. By learning to BE. By surrendering more often and being fully present in the moment. Just BE. Just BE! Just BE!! The only fully alive place is the here and now. 

4.  Who makes you laugh when no one else can?

       I laugh and then I get mad because he made me laugh. I wanted to wallow. Damn him! 

5. What are your superpowers?   Twirling my hair  

6. What is the last thing you memorized?  A license plate number. Don't ask.

7. Tell us something you once took that you wish you could give back?

That bookstore picture

8. The iPhone just gave birth to the next generation of phones. What would you name them? 

      The iLOVEATTENTIONGENERATION

9.  How much mystery should be in a relationship? Is it a good thing or not?

    Keep the mystery, keep the spark

10. What is your weekend blogging routine? 

      I didn't have one until recently. I like being in that groove again. Happy Monday!

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Peace in the Time of Quarantine ~ Announcing Blog 4 Peace NOV 4, 2020

It's time to announce the 2020 upcoming launch of Blog4Peace

Welcome to the 15th year of peace blogging!

Our 2020 theme is Peace in the Time of Quarantine 

Wherever you find your peace during this time....

share it with others. It's time to Blog4Peace. November 4th is the day.

I still find my own peace in the sanctuary of silence, meditation, nature

 and prayer. Living in the days of a global pandemic calls for more and more of whatever brings you to the place you call peace. Where do you find yours?

Music can take me there. I love Natalie Grant's honest emotional performances. Those strings!  That choir!  Recorded with The London Studio Orchestra earlier this year, I was shocked and inspired to see that one of the cellists looks exactly like my Papa, my grandfather, the marble-giver, the one who set my life on a path of discovering peace. Coincidence? Or is it a wink and a nod from Heaven....Papa always leaves me clues. I think this is no different.

  YOU are invited to join us on this inspiring day. People from all over the world will be right there with you. Write about your experiences during the coronavirus pandemic, create and fly a peace globe (like those found HERE) and post on social media, your blog, Twitter, Instagram, wherever you are online.   

We Blog 4 Peace November 4, 2020. Wherever you find your solace in this year of upside-down humanity, please prepare to share it with us. The world needs peace like never before. 

 Peace in the Time of Quarantine

What will your story be? 

Get Your Own Peace Globe

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Our Facebook Page

The Official Gallery of Peace Globes

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#blog4peace #NOV4

 It's a launch!  Dona nobis pacem in the blogosphere has begun.

Email  blog4peace@yahoo.com if you have questions. 

Please join us!! 

Join us for BlogBlast For Peace Nov 4 Like Our Facebook Page ~ Peace Store How To Get Your Own Peace Globe"

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July 4, 2020 ~ Which Flag Will You Wave?

What's important isn't important anymore. This is how I feel in the land of Covid-19.  On this July 4, 2020 we are not the land of the free - not today. Let me just speak for myself. I'm tired of the phrase "We're all in this together" by now. Because we're not. The all part isn't working anymore. Nice try, but it never did. When millions of individual families on planet earth are facing this kind of economic and personal uncertainty, we are fragmented by default and circumstance. This virus is 911 on steroids.  There are two kinds of fear I am seeing so clearly - fear of the virus and fear of each other.
 If you are trying to feed your family and keep them protected in the midst of this hell, then you are on an island of fear all by yourself. Where IS that together part? We can look around and see our neighbors suffering, try to help the best we can, but right now we all have our own oar to row. 
 If you are offended because you're afraid someone is going to take away your liberties by trying to keep you safe, then you are the one living in fear, not the other way around.  You won't make coronavirus go away by pretending you don't see it. The virus won't magically pass you by because you refuse to respect its peculiar DNA.   And if you piggyback your political agenda and your hatefulness to this already sobering event, you're even more of the problem. It's what bullies do.  It's a thirst for power covered in fear.  Fear of anything is still fear.  Feel strong now?
It's important in this time to mitigate fear as well. I have a healthy respect for what the scientists and doctors are saying. I have a healthy respect for this virus. But you have to do that with common sense action, not reaction to every little trigger word your opinion wants to jump on. Me?  I want to jump on this virus and I'll support any scientific protocol that gives me the best chance of doing that. Do I have opinions about all the other noise I hear right now? Of course I do.  But now is not the time. Not the time. Not the time. I'm not feeling free or happy today. I feel like we're obliviously waving at a cunning enemy as it floats on by with a wink and a nod while we're waving this flag and that flag and his flag and her flag. Where is our flag?   And for those of you who feel that 50,000 new cases a day in the United States is not enough for you to believe in the reality of this monster, then I ask you to say that to the 525 million families of those who have died alone without comfort or hope. Say that to the coffins stacked up in morgues and left on Rikers Island until further review. Because doctors and nurses don't have time to sort out your opinions before they try to save your life. Your beliefs don't matter when they're gently wrapping your body in a white flag of final surrender. Ask them how real it is.    I  I am an American and I love my country. This is my home. But on this day I see more division than I've ever seen. Why? Because we're not taking care of each other. The only thing at this moment we should be unified in is stopping this virus. But we can't. We're too busy waving flags of opinion to see the devil at our door.  The only flag I am waving today is the white flag of surrender - laying down my fightin' words in this moment of crisis, saving my opinions for a better day and taking up the common sense God gave me. It's been in short supply in the world lately.  We need a huge double dose right now. When this is contained and over, I'm going to throw a big 'ole party with the people I love, those I'm missing right now who are breaking my heart, those I haven't touched or hugged or kissed in months. When the masks come off, I'll gather them anew with mountains of food and music in a yard full of laughing kids with lemonade and baseball. There will be new things to celebrate and we will fly the stars and stripes. But today is not that day. First, I have to focus on surviving.  I can't speak for you, but I'm waving a flag for humanity too.  That we will SEE what's important so that we can finally cross this bridge whole and in one piece - truly free. It starts with me. Wearing my mask. Washing my hands. Staying home. Listening to doctors and scientists. Doing my own research. Listening to my healthcare team. Being careful. Doing my best.  Loving my neighbor as myself. 

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Sunday Stealing: Spooning with Dumplings

This meme was featured on the site meme-stealing site Sunday Stealing today (June 2020).  Here are my original answers from 2009 when it was written.

Welcome back to the 3rd edition of The Queen's Meme. Each week the type of meme will change; sometimes silly, sometimes serious, but always fun! Enjoy your time in the castle.
And remember, don't end up in the dungeon.

The Cooking Meme (What Is The Meaning of Thyme and Other Deep Questions) Please join us.

Contrary to popular belief, the Queen has been known to accidentally cook something edible. Although I've given the gift of food poisoning to a boyfriend or two in the past, I actually made the food you see here. Don't ask me how 'cause I could never do it again. I made up the recipe and lived to tell it. Welcome to my Kitchen of Culinary Delights! Dinner is at eight.

1. If you could put thyme in a bottle, what is the first thing that you'd like to do?

Only thyme will tell.

2. Do eggs really crack or do they merely have a nervous breakdown?

I sent mine to the laboratories of Schuster and Scheister for a thorough embryonic cell research analysis. The diagnosis was appalling! They told me that the first six in any dozen are usually crack babies - they, unfortunately, really crack. The others just go to Six-Step Programs
Who knew?!

3. Why are you whipping the butter? What did it ever do to you?

You were sent by the PETA (People For Equal Treament of Margarine and Oleo Association) weren't you?




4. Do your spoons spoon in the drawer? Have you ever noticed? And more importantly, if wooden spoons spoon do they get splinters?


**Mimi girl, you really have an overactive imagination. Maybe you should take a pill for that.** Wait wait......My spoons are special. They met on a dating site. Are they little spoons or big spoons? Size matters in the spoon world. Is this a first date? Is the drawer open or closed? Has there been an exchange of phone numbers? Is alcohol involved?! I need more information if I'm going to counsel my virgin spoons on the fine art of mating. We don't just spoon with anyone here ya know.


5. You hear: "Dumpling, my Dumpling, come hither." The candles are lit, the fondue is dipping, the Godiva is pouring, the scallions are steaming and the music is playing.....but wait, the windows are open.
Why did you close them?

I didn't want the neighbors to see me stir the dumpling.



6. Do you need a recipe to cook or are you a bohemian chef? Show us your reckless and wild side in the kitchen. Don't have one? Here's a recipe I made just for you: You will need a spatula, a whisk, a gallon of Chardonnay, a banana and a rump roast. What is the name of your dish?



Her name was Rhonda Rump. She helped me with my recipe called The Queen's Royal Truffle. After gently seasoning the beef with a Chardonnay-dipped spatula and whisking the banana into a smashed frenzy of mush - I drank the rest of the wine and asked Rhonda if I could borrow her shoes. (If I drank it first I'd pass out and never get any cookin' done ya see)

Am I wearing a cute little chef's hat too?



7. After dinner, the dishes are so dirty that the dishwasher refuses to wash them. What did they say to get in hot water? They cursed the Queen for writing this horrid meme.

8. Is your pot black? My pots are black. My pans are white. We are an interracial kitchen.

9. What is the sexiest spice or condiment in your cabinet?

What makes it so? They're all pretty scandalous but I'm partial to the Virgin Olive Oil. Is that a spice?

I soak my hair in it once a month. Seriously. Want shiny hair? It's fabulous!

10. How much crock is really in your crock pot?

You can never have enough crock when writing a blog.

My crock over-floweth.

See what I mean?

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