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Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024

9:36am EST

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PORCH PONDERINGS

by QueenNormaJean maybesnow?!

Rated: 13+ · Book · Biographical · #2198921

Norma's Wanderings around a small section of Montana

Well, hey there!
Welcome to Roundup, Montana! If it's a nice day, we'll sit a spell on my porch and talk awhile.

"All the resources we need are in the mind.” Theodore Roosevelt, our 26th President of the United States of America.

I am the Captain of my ship.
God is my co-pilot.
Often I sail stormy seas,
Am flung onto rocky shores.

What's on your mind today?

Signature for use by anyone nominated for a Quill Award in 2020

Signature for nominees of the 2019 Quill Awards

Show Recent Comments

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

Kåre เลียม Enga

Nov 12, 2024 at 2:07am
In response to "Crazy Talk"

I'm too focused on my trip. Reservations and aisle seats on the plane. Buttttt... I did find my other pair of shoes.

1 Like

Cubby

Nov 11, 2024 at 10:51pm
In response to "Crazy Talk"

I've been trying to distract myself, too, by watching feel-good holiday movies on Netflix. It's all a bit scary!

2 Like

AnotherDreamer

Nov 10, 2024 at 2:46pm
In response to "So much Drama..."

I acknowledge the fact that you need to consider your health and sanity. Is there a backup plan for the people who you were servicing and who will no longer get service? Can some other local charity be notified and asked to step in temporarily? Will another organization replace the one that is left high and dry. I am just wondering about the clients. No judgement here.

Kåre เลียม Enga

Nov 10, 2024 at 2:14pm
In response to "So much Drama..."

Meals on Wheels is a great program. My neighbor is on it (they deliver up three flights of stairs). Yes, the food is fine... but she needs visitors... as do many on the program.

I only have 10 dazed days to avoid the drama at God's Waiting Room. I may do take out and greet friends as I come and go.

Kåre เลียม Enga

Nov 3, 2024 at 2:36pm
In response to "Update"

I don't celebrate Halloween. I don't do parties and the American version is silly imho. Samhain is different. I don't mind real witches and ghosts (hope to meet a ghost someday... but not too soon). If goblins existed I'd probably chat with them.

I did go to the Day of the Dead and the parade. Took photos and video. Honoring/remembering the dead is okay imho.

Odd how events "work" or don't. Call me crazy but... the churches have been there a looooong time. How could one NOT know. Same with you and Halloween... they don't know you by now?

I don't join groups because I can't deal with the drama.

Kåre เลียม Enga

Oct 28, 2024 at 1:33pm
In response to "Ducks in a row"

Yep. The only cure to falling is not falling in the first place.

Kåre เลียม Enga

Oct 19, 2024 at 4:14pm
In response to "Catching Up"

It helps to have the time and focus to do Octoprep or Nano. This year I have neither. No excuses and I shouldn't feel guilty. I did sign up for "13" but we'll see... so much depends...

...on the white rain on the black chickens...

We did have snow on the mountains. Today is gloomy.

Kåre เลียม Enga

Oct 4, 2024 at 4:16pm
In response to "Equinox Storm"

Our Senior Center goes through cycles of drama. Right now the kitchen is fine. Today's meal was good.

Kåre เลียม Enga

Oct 4, 2024 at 4:13pm
In response to "Chico"

We have various hot springs in our area but busses don't go there.

Will you have fish for dinner or is it catch and release?

I decided to not do Octo-Prep. I have an idea and I started a folder to keep my chapters. That seems to work best for me. I have a basic timeline and theme. I'll just start in one place and go from there (literally, like in my IRL travels) to the next stop and the next lesson my character (me) has to learn. Since the conflict is "discovery" instead of an action-driven arch... I should be fine as long as they logically flow from one to another.

I'll have to return to Thailand and spend time in each location.

QueenNormaJean maybesnow?!

Sep 12, 2024 at 11:20pm
In response to "School Drama"

Fear is contagious. Fear spreads just like wildfire, one spark from a fearful person and the whole town is crazed.

Drama is preferred these days. Who can get the most views on their page, who can garner the most interesting story to present to the world. Truth is irrelevant it seems. Just the drama is important.

You do assume correctly that the school handled it better, in my opinion. They threw the flame resistant blanket over the problem and extinguished the fire. For now. Until the next crisis. Which will be when all these crazed parents withdraw their students and claim they are now 'homeschooling' them. I see this happening - people threatened to do this.

And don't get me started on the whole homeschooling trend. Some parents do a good job. Great. But others don't and kids suffer. There is no real policing in Montana for homeschoolers. Sad but true.

November 11, 2024 at 10:19pm

#1079827

Crazy Talk

There is lots of uncertainty right now in the world. We discussed this after our lunch today. My hubby and I talked of theocracy, monarchy, autocrats, dictators, a Republic. Then we morphed into remembering what we knew of Lenin, Stalin, Mussolini, Chairman Mao, Czar Nicholas who was related to Kaiser Wilhelm, even Hitler. Somehow we talked about Rasputin. Remember him?

Strange talk. Guess I've been watching too much internet news.

All this took place over root beer floats. Such an innocent treat. Then we started to think, how secure is our food supply? We're not preppers in any real sense of the word. We don't have a year's supply of food in the basement. But we do know how to hunt. We do know how to garden. Just the other day we finally harvested this year's potato crop. There's about 25# now in the cold basement storage, along with 10 spaghetti squash.

So tonight I decided to distract myself from all this gloom and doom. So I'm watching some favorite old shows while I knit. Project Runway Allstars.

Now that is some drama. Sew a ball gown in 8 hours.

4 Like • Comment • View 2 comments

November 10, 2024 at 2:08pm

#1079769

So much Drama...

Silly me, I thought drama in my life was over. OctoPrep finished and it did well.

But no! Now it's the Roundup Christmas Stroll that is consuming energy. Gee whiz. You would think people would cooperate. Is it so hard to make sure things get done in a timely, orderly manner? Seems like it is.

There is a charge for vendors for this event. Crafters pay $25 per table to show their wares. The $25 is due now. I won't consider any vendor as paid until I get their payment and the payment is in the Chamber of Commerce bank account. I am the treasurer for the Chamber. The leader of the event is now holding on to some payments. Why? Who knows. So people are telling me, "I've paid - my mother gave the check to my aunt who gave the check to...." You get the problem.

This same thing happened last year. Another person led the event for a time, and held on to monies for a few weeks. Then she insisted that because she had the payments in hand on a certain date, those vendors got to be first in line. She got upset and quit the whole event when I told her, "No, that is unfair to others who followed the rules."

The current leader of the Stroll is notorious for not contacting people, not following up with people. So annoying. It's becoming a real 'cluster ****' So much so that I am now going to resign as treasurer for the Chamber after this is all over. I don't need the aggravation of this volunteer job.

When you have been taught that when you do a job, no matter how small, you do it to the best of your ability, but others you have to work with don't share that ethos, it is hard to proceed. It makes life so difficult.

Another change we did recently is resign from volunteering for the meals on wheels program. There is again, so much drama going on. The head of the program is not doing her job, and has had so many complaints about her performance. Not to mention a legal case against her now, plus a bad background check come back. And I do stress the 'bad'. Why she got hired I have not a clue. But perhaps it is because she is a good friend of the chairman of that board of directors. Again, drama I don't need in my life. So we discussed this for a few weeks and decided to quit this volunteer job. And we are not alone. Many others have also quit.

Ah life. Fun and games.

2 Like • Comment • View 2 comments

November 3, 2024 at 11:50am

#1079441

Update

It's over! OctoPrep is finished, and it went well, I think. My records show 31 writers finished within the time limit, plus 4 went over the time limit but finished the assignments. So 35 writers did all the work and are now on to NaNoWriMo and are busy with their novel writing projects, I pray.

There were some good ideas and I hope they develop into viable books.

Things here in Roundup are relatively quiet. Halloween is always a big deal, but not for me. I think it's a waste of time and money on my part, not to mention my faith doesn't think kindly of the witches and goblins, but that's my belief. Lots of folks don't worry about that, and that is their decision. The paper wanted me to cover the Halloween parade, the 'trunk and treat' thing, which is now some kind of big deal. When did that come to be so hot? Well, anyway, she was a little miffed when I said, no, I wouldn't do that. I didn't even hand out treats this year. I will do just about anything else, but not Halloween.

So now the emphasis shifts to the annual Christmas Stroll. The town gets vendors lined up for one night of shopping and events along Main Street. This year the organizer has grand plans. She wants shopping to start at noon and run til 9 PM. I argued the case that it's too long, and people sometimes have to drive at least an hour home. So, fine, we changed it to 8 PM stop. Then she wanted people to start organizing their booths at 8 AM. Well, another problem. The Catholic Church is a venue and they have a Mass that day plus confession and are busy til 11 AM. Another venue, the Baptist church, has an event each Saturday morning til at least 11 AM. So, that isn't available till after that time.

Her grand plans of a 'Hallmark holiday' night are slowly being crushed back to the way it has always been done. Tradition is something you don't want to mess with sometimes. Now I am, as treasurer, having to deal with people all wanting to be in one location. Not paying their booth fees. Not giving me their information. Not getting up-to-date information from the event leader.

Gracious sakes. It will all work out. Somehow it always does. But come January, I have already decided I will no longer be treasurer for the chamber. Enough is enough.

3 Like • Comment • View 1 comment

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