Reconnecting

Ah summer!

A trip to Coronado w/ Hotel Del Coronado in back.

Who doesn't love the days of summer?  As a kid I couldn't wait to be out of school and free for 3 months.  Time to hang with my friends, play at the pool and read non-stop.  Now, especially since I live in sunny California, it doesn't hold as much meaning to me as it used to.  I get plenty of sunshine, can read whenever I please and live not too far from the ocean.  I think I may be a bit jaded.  

This summer gave me a special treat though.  I have been able to reconnect with three of my girlfriends from high school.  Can you hear the girly squeals and giggles in your head?  You should, because we did.

It was a great time to reminisce and catch up on what's going on in their lives now.  Two have married and have kids.  You may notice one lady (besides me) is in these photos.  That's because she lives here as well.  

So we made sure to tell people where to visit.  I took one girlfriend to Coronado beach to see the gold sparkling sand, live sand dollars and the Hotel Del Coronado.  We met up and had drinks later that night with our other friend.

Armor up!  It's gonna be a rough day.

Another girlfriend met up with us to tour the USS Gabby Gifford.    She's the newest LCS (Littoral Combat Ship) in the navy and is the type of ship my hubby is attached to.

And an outing with us is not complete if we can't be goofy together.

I've missed these ladies and I hope it's not another twenty something years before I see them again.

Although, I think they want me to come to them next time.

Hmm....

Forget Valentine's Day

This is what I'm celebrating!

Transitions

I realize it's been quite some time since my last blog and if anyone out there reads this, I'm sorry.

I have no excuse really.  Other than I just didn't make myself sit down and write a blog.  All I can say is that it's taking time to adjust to life in California.  I don't mean that in a bad way at all.

It's just I've gone from one way of doing things to an almost completely opposite way of doing things.  I need time to regroup and find my support network.  Those spouses who won't think I'm a nut and can tolerate my quirks.  Tall order I know!  I need to find my rhythm.

A Day In The Life: Adventures At Hampton Roads Naval Museum

USS WISCONSIN 

Volunteering.  We all say it's a wonderful thing, but how many of us actually do it?  I mean honestly spend more than two to three hours a month doing something that doesn't pay us.

I volunteer at the Hampton Roads Naval Museum in Norfolk, VA.  I know it's not feeding the homeless, but it's something that I enjoy.  I know kinda selfish, but I digress.  Normally I do administrative work, but that's dull so I'm going to focus on a single event in this post.

Every year in August the museum spends time with the Chief Selectees and gives them a bit of naval history on chiefs. It's called CPO Heritage.  I've been fortunate enough to help in four of these.  My first day of the first year I actually followed a group around and took photos.  What an experience!  The second day had me selling raffle tickets.

Color Me Baffled

As you may or may not know, I'm about to move to the west coast.  You read a few of the previous posts right?  So this really isn't news to you.

So this entails getting renters for our current home (Done!), finding a new place to live (still searching), packing up our place (currently happening) and then moving (soon).   Granted I don't physically move until the end of September, but this is the way that it's happening.

Oh and did I mention that my dear sweet husband isn't even home to keep me sane?  Or at least a semblance of sane.  Insert a sly grin here my friends.  The navy has other plans for him and that's okay.

I can do this!  And if I say it enough times I will eventually believe it!

Inevitable

Isn't that an odd title for a blog post?

If you read my 'bio', you'll know that I'm a navy wife.  And in military life, you always know that inevitably you will be moving.  See, I've just explained the title.

We've been fortunate enough to stay in the Norfolk area for 8 years straight.  Shocking to many people, I know.  We've been here off and on since 1994 and have honestly come to think of it as home.

However, that streak is about to be broken.  In mere months we will be moving to the west coast.

So my summer has been filled with painting and prepping the house for renters.  Now the house has to stay in a constant viewing stage.  Which, I guess is good because it's a much cleaner state than normal.

Now it's time to make sure I do those last things that I've always wanted to do in the area.  I've been here 8 years, why didn't I do it before?  Probably because there wasn't a sense of urgency.  So now I need to make that bucket list for the summer and start checking things off!

I promise to post more as our crazy adventures continue.

Enjoy the rest of your summer!  I know I will.

Interview

The count down begins to the launch of the book.  However, that's not what this post is about.  I realize that I haven't done a lot with the blog lately.  Sorry about that.

But if you're interested, you can go here to the By The Bay: East Beach Stories and check out my interview.

Each author of the book submitted a question and was then asked to answer them all.  It can prove to be interesting.

Go check it out.

What's In A Name?

Most authors write under a nom de plume, also known as a pen name.  That way they can keep their anonymity.  Not a bad idea.  Sometimes you just don't want what you write to interfere with your day to day life.

So when I started this journey this came up.  I know now you're wondering if this is my real name.  It is!  So no worries there.

I turned to my husband to see what he thought.  He's the one I always turn to when I've got a big decision and need some input.  We're a team and this would affect him as well.

He said that I should use my real name.  How else could he prove that his wife's a writer.  We had a great chuckle over that.

So be it your real name or a nom de plume, wear it with pride!

Where To Begin

Probably with the how did this come about part.

I've always enjoyed writing.  At some point in time I'm sure I thought I would be a published author, but life seemed to get in the way.

I would always wander back for short periods of time.  Mostly joining in with friends to write fan fiction.  Yes, you read that right.  I did write fan fiction.

Until recently I'd completely stopped writing.  And then a friend, who is also a published author, asked me if I'd ever thought about writing.  We were in book club together.  I said I had, but had stopped.

She then invited me to join a writer's group.  And I did.  

And now I've submitted a short story for publication.  More on that later.

So thank you Jayne Ormerod for taking me by the hand and helping me out!