UPDATE: The winner is…Charlene Whitehouse!
*~*~*

It’s Saturday! I chose today’s image at random and thought it would make a good conversation starter.

It’s not something I’ve ever done, although I almost did when I was in ROTC. They decided they couldn’t waste a slot on a girl… Huh.

Anyways, solve the puzzle. Then let me know if you’ve ever or would ever do this. Or perhaps tell us about some other risky thing you’ve done for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

Open Contests

Enter these contests while there’s still time!

1. Storm’s coming… (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
2. Saturday Puzzle Contest! — Win an Amazon gift card!
3. Word Search: Things I love about Thanksgiving! (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
4. Genevive Chamblee: Memory Keeping (Contest & Giveaway) — Win a mystery stationary gift!

This is just a shout-out to fellow veterans to thank you for your service. They include my sister, Elle James (Air Force/Army), my brother Steve (Air Force), and my father (Air Force), who’s no longer with us. I was Army all the way.

UPDATE: The winner is…Mary Preston!
*~*~*

For many, November marks the beginning of the holiday season… for better or for worse. I believe most people would agree that the holidays are very polarizing. For a great number of people, it is a time of joy. They tend to get into a tizzy grocery shopping, cooking, decorating, and whipping up holiday delights in the kitchen (or at the bar). This time of year is often one of reflection, being thankful for our many blessings, and extending kindness and generosity to those less fortunate.

For others, the holidays may be a struggle emotionally, financially, or both. It is a time of great sadness and anxiety. Although they outwardly may put on a stoic smile and brave front, they may be fighting many internal demons and turmoil. Sometimes, their distress is a result of not having the financial means to provide gifts for their families and loved ones. Seeing the commercialization of the holidays is hard to ignore. Not having the basic needs of food, clothing, and shelter may be accentuated with media images of people who have an abundance of these things. It may be difficult to see blessings when one has so little. Still, for others, their depression may stem from loneliness—not having family or friends to spend time together.

The Bible verse Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8 (which was popularized in The Byrds’ 1965 song Turn! Turn! Turn!) states, “To everything, there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” The holidays should be a season of joy, but for the ones who it is a season of misery, it should be an objective for others to bring some type of peace or, at least, make the attempt.

What does any of this have to do with memory keeping? Regardless of what the holiday brings, many people are so caught up in the moment and rushing that they fail to give it the proper attention that stores it as a memory. Think back. How many Thanksgivings and Christmases (Hanukkahs, Kwanzaas, etc.) do you remember? Who was present at each? What gifts did you receive and give? What did you eat? What did the decorations look like? When pondering these questions, many people will have some answers but not all. Some people will recall more memories, and some memories may be more vivid than others. When holidays become a struggle, may be difficult to remember a time when they weren’t. Memory keeping during the holidays is a way to preserve the good season and a reason to search for any good in seasons not so joyous.

So, what are some ways to memory keep?

1. Photos/videos. This is likely the most obvious and is self-explanatory.
2. Scrapbooking. Again, this is self-explanatory.
3. Journaling. This is a very inexpensive and effective way to keep holiday document holiday memories.
4. Keepsakes. There is no minimum or maximum number of keepsakes that one may elect to collect. And the best feature about keepsakes is that they could be anything. A friend kept the label from a bottle of wine that was used to make a toast. Another friend made a blanket from the matching Christmas pajamas she and her family had worn throughout the years. Another friend has an album of received holiday cards.
5. Time capsules. Before packing everything away to store for another year, take an item that holds a special memory from each year and store them together. A common item would be a Christmas ornament, but it doesn’t have to be. When her youngest child turned eighteen, a coworker decided that she was done decorating for Christmas. She donated her tree and all the ornaments. Thus, having ornaments in a time capsule for her wouldn’t serve much of a purpose.
6. Music playlist. Create a playlist of songs that will remind you of the Christmas cheer.
7. This one is dear to my heart. Each Christmas, my father used to bake “fruit cakes” from scratch for family members. I use the term “fruit cake” loosely because many of them didn’t contain any fruit and the ones that did were nothing like those horrid things sold in the grocery stores. Without getting into an extended explanation, these cakes were a great delight to family members and brought about many laughs (e.g., cake stealing/ cake wars). Each cake was different—the ingredients depended on the receiver. Once he passed away, this tradition ended. The first Christmas without him, I made a few cakes following his top-secret recipe. (One year, he’d suffered a broken leg from a freak accident and couldn’t stand for long periods of time. As a result, he drafted his youngest—me—to help him make the cakes. And that is how the recipe was passed to me.) However, without him, it wasn’t the same, and the cakes didn’t bring about the joy that they once had. Yet, I missed this tradition. Some years later, my daughter who was a Harry Potter fan wanted to have butter beer on Christmas Eve while we snuggled and watched holiday movies. Well… when I tell you I managed to concoct one of the nastiest “potions” ever tasted, it’s not an understatement. I don’t know what went wrong. The next year, I attempted to redeem myself with a different butter beer recipe and managed to somehow render something even fouler. It’s now become a tradition of trying new recipes each year—not just for butter beer but for cookies, candies, punches, and pies. We write them on the front of recipe cards. On the back, we write our opinion and give it a rating. Now, we could easily store these on a computer, but we elect to handwrite them because one day we each will pass away. The ones left behind will have that handwritten memory.

That does it. What did you think? What is your take on the subject? Do you agree or disagree? Did you find this information helpful or informative? Did you learn anything new, or did it change your opinion? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section. Also, let me know if you would like me to cover more of these types of topics or dive deeper into this one. If you like this post, please click the like button and share it. Your feedback allows me to know the content that you want to read. If you’re not following me on the Creole Bayou blog, what are you waiting for? There’s always room at the bayou.

Get ready. It’s almost time to hit the ice again. Future Goals Coming soon.

Future Goals

When a college hockey player needs the help of an attractive older attorney, he gets more than he bargained for when trying to sort out the troubles in his career. Falling in love was never part of either man’s plan, especially as Corrigan’s and Sacha’s lives should never have collided. Now they’re left questioning if they’re standing in the way of the other’s future goals, or if there’s room for redirection.

Preorder your copy at:
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3RjPYb9
Other booksellers: https://bit.ly/3CI8d5W

Missed the first four books in my hockey romance series? No frets.

Out of the Penalty Box (book #1), where it is one minute in the box or a lifetime out, is available at https://amzn.to/2Bhnngw. It also can be ordered on iTunes, Nook, or Kobo. For more links on where to purchase or to read the blurb, please visit https://bit.ly/2i9SqpH.

Defending the Net (book #2) can be ordered at https://amzn.to/2N7fj8q or www.books2read.com/defending. Crossing the line could cost the game.

Ice Gladiators (book #3) is the third book in my Locker Room Love series. When the gloves come off, the games begin. Available at https://amzn.to/2TGFsyD or www.books2read.com/icegladiators.

Penalty Kill (book #4) takes the ice again. Get a copy at https://amzn.to/3ex0N9p or https://amzn.to/3ex0N9p and let the pucker begin.

***CONTEST & GIVEAWAY***

Would you like a FREE mystery stationary gift? It’s simple. Leave a comment telling me what how you plan to memory keep this holiday season or your favorite holiday memory. It’s that easy. A winner will be selected at random. Contest will remain open until 11/25/22 at 12:00 AM CST.

For more of my stories, shenanigans, giveaways, and more, check out my blog, Creole Bayou, www.genevivechambleeconnect.wordpress.com. New posts are made on Wednesdays, and everything is raw and unscathed. Climb on in a pirogue and join me on the bayou.

If you have any questions or suggestions about this post or any others, feel free to comment below or tweet me at @dolynesaidso. You also can follow me on Instagram at genevivechambleeauthor or search for me on Goodreads or Amazon Authors or BookBub or TikTok.

NEWSLETTER! Want to get the latest information and updates about my writing projects, giveaways, contests, and reveals first? Click https://genevivechambleeconnect.wordpress.com/newsletter/ and signup today.

Until next time, happy reading and much romance. Laissez le bon temps rouler.

UPDATE: The winner is…Beth!
*~*~*

We’re starting to pick up ingredients for the Thanksgiving meal from the grocery store. Last year, who’d have thought premade stuffing would be so hard to find? Or turkeys?!

We’re looking forward to the kids having time off from school. The time from Halloween onward always feels like a march to the New Year, doesn’t it? Celebrations every few weeks. We love the season and my dd has become quite the Thanksgiving dinner cook. I’m the dishwasher, since no one wants what I can cook.

Anyways, Thanksgiving is on my mind today, so I thought I’d put it in your brain, too. Solve the word search then tell me what things you’d add to my list of “Things I love about Thanksgiving” for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

I’m posting late today! Which would’ve been disappointing. I haven’t missed posting a single day this year, so far. Today was hard because I’ve been on the go since early this morning.

First, I had to get kids out the door to school, then the adults in the house hit our polling place to vote. I was the first voter on the list! I hate election days. I always start with such hope then the day drags on and on… I hope you all did your civic duty, too!

After voting, I headed to the Art Center because I was on tap to open the doors and be there if anyone wanted to see our current exhibit. No takers, but I did a little editing until friends showed up and then there was conversation—mostly about what we’re doing for a holiday display. After they left, a writer friend called and we talked about “writerly” things until I closed the doors. I’m usually such a hermit, so today just wiped me out. Introverts get drained by human interaction, if you didn’t know. Still, it’s good for me to get out in the world every now and then.

Back at home, I stayed glued to the news as long as I could stand it. I promised myself I wouldn’t let whatever happens affect me, but it’s sooooo hard. Too many important issues are on the line to be complacent. World-altering things. Enough. I have to push it out of my mind. I did my part.

Tomorrow, I’ll be back at my desk. Tons of edits to plow through. A book to start. A rabbit cage to clean. Poor old Oreo needs fresh bedding and clean quarters! Maybe I’ll tackle the catbox, too. See? My life is exciting. 🙂

Sleep well, friends.

P.S. The 13-year-old saw my blog and decided I needed to share Oreo’s picture. And she wants credit for the photo! That’s my girl!

Do you feel fabulous? I’m not sure I can, in all honesty, answer, “Yes,” to that question. But man, I’d sure like to! I would love to skate into the holidays like the cat in the picture, or more appropriately like Lizzo coming on stage.

But. I live in the world of day jobs, and night writing, and homecaring, and sleep, and anxiety, and stress, and worry about society in the wake of a major pandemic and upcoming elections (and that’s not to mention the fact that winter is coming on fast and that means darker days and longer nights).

Usually, when I think of the holidays, I think of things like:

• Focus on gratitude (inspired by Thanksgiving)
• Focus on the people in my life (inspired by the myths of Christmas)
• Focus on Samhain and Yule (part of my personal spiritual traditions)
• Focus on community (part of Kwanzaa celebrations and learning other cultural traditions)

This year, though, I’m thinking of something different. I want to go into the holidays feeling at peace with myself and my daily round. It’s a tall order, especially in 2022 in the U.S. (and really, anywhere in the world with the geopolitical situation as it is). So I have two tools I’m using:

Flylady

This is not a new tool, but it’s a time-tested and, if you believe it, fun tool for getting on top of the process of homecaring. If you haven’t come across it before, check out the website https://www.flylady.net/. I downloaded the free app (available on Apple and Android devices) and have fallen in love with “shining my sink” (which you can look up on the site).

The reason I’m bringing it up here, though, is that she has a system for a stress-free Christmas — AND you get everything done by December 1^st (not Midnight-thirty on December 25^th, not that I’m saying I’ve done that ~innocent~). What’s more, you do it by baby steps: fifteen minutes a day, not marathon, monster sessions that leave you grouchy, tired, and burned out.

The Highlight Reel

This tool is thanks to Dr. Mia Rose, author and CEO of Soulwoman (https://www.soulwomancollective.com/). It’s easy to do:

• Grab your phone
• Go to your photos
• Pick out your favorites from the past six months or year – or do it from January to now.
• Put them together in your favorite photo app for a “highlight reel” of your life over the last six to twelve months.
• I did mine in Adobe Bridge, and created a pdf document. You could do it in any photo software, or even find a collage maker online and make a large collage for yourself.

This taught me I have so much for which to be grateful, even over the last few months that have felt so fraught with wildfires, pandemic, job changes, and political upheaval.

What about you, Dear Reader? What are your favorite tools to survive the “Holidaze?”

—

“My own experience has taught me this: if you wait for the perfect moment when all is safe and assured it may never arrive.”
~ Maurice Chevalier

acatherinenoon.com | noonandwilder.com | writerzengarden.com | knoontimeknitting.com

There was no escaping this card today. When I shuffled the deck, it fell off the bottom, so I quickly stuffed it back into the stack, reshuffled, cut the cards, then fanned them out before selecting a card—and wouldn’t you know it? This is the one I was meant to pick.

My question while I shuffled was, What will this week bring?

Now, Death doesn’t necessarily mean an actual death. It represents the end of something that you acknowledge—just like the supplicants in Hell offering gifts to Hades as they acknowledge his power over them. The Death card definitely indicates the end of something, but also the beginning of something else.

I’m not a Debbie Downer. Folks who know me think I’m more like Pollyanna—always sunny and optimistic. Trying to see the good in most people. I also don’t sweat the small shit.

What was foremost on my mind for the coming week? Well, my dd and I had just discussed our plan to hit the voting center on Tuesday, so maybe this card has something to do with that. Me being Pollyanna, I have to hope it means the outcome will not be…not sure of the word I should use here…catastrophic? Maybe I should use my own personal definition of the Death card—a change that has to be acknowledged before moving on to a new beginning.

There. Done. I rarely pull that card, but to have it happen twice this morning—I had to acknowledge it. I’m a little superstitious that way.

Here’s hoping you all have a less portentous week then it looks like I will have!

So, do you own a deck of tarot cards? Have you ever had your fortune told?

Oh, and just a note. I like the hills and the sun in the background of this card. I need to think about them when I pull out my paints…