Category: A DAY IN MY LIFE…SNIPPETS OF ME

DAY 14, JANUARY 15, 2023, A DAY IN MY LIFE…SNIPPETS OF ME By Pat Garcia @pat_garcia @RRBC_ORG @RRBC_RWISA @Tweets4RWISA #RWISA #RRBC #RRBC_Community #ADayinMyLife

DAY 14, JANUARY 15, 2023

Today is January 15, the Year 2023, Time 17:55.

My day has been full of joy. I like my Sabbath Sunday because it gives me time to retrospect on who I am becoming. That has nothing to do with vanity but a desire to be authentic with me. If I refuse to face my vulnerabilities, I become a falsity and would tumble at first sight of a storm. Like the man who built his house on sand, when the rain came, his house collapsed, so is it by anyone who refuses to face their true selves. 

Thus, I started my Sunday off with my church family, and afterward, I had coffee in our cafe and sat and listened to the people around me. I also made it a point to greet new people attending our church for the first time. 

Today was special. One of my besties had a birthday last week, and I took her out to dinner after we left the church. We are both extremely busy women. She is a city councilwoman/tax consultant, and I am a writer. To say that we enjoyed our time together is an understatement. We took the time to be authentic with each other. Here are two pictures of us at the restaurant The East. 

  1. I have a letter to write. I had decided to wait until after the Challenge, but my gut is telling me to do it now, which is what I will do. 
  2. Answering emails and text messages, Daily
  3. Attend my writing classes and do my homework,
  4. Catch up on blog comments,
  5.  Do the accounting books for the Romantic Women Fiction Chapter of the RWA.

Have a lovely Sunday.

Shalom aleichem,

Pat Garcia

DAY 13, JANUARY 14, 2023, A DAY IN MY LIFE…SNIPPETS OF ME By Pat Garcia @pat_garcia @RRBC_ORG @RRBC_RWISA @Tweets4RWISA #RWISA #RRBC_Community #RRBC #ADayinMyLife

DAY 13, JANUARY 14, 2023

I wouldn’t say I like cold weather. Neither does the liquid sunshine that regularly falls here in my part of the country please me, and let me not wake up in the winter and see beautiful dandruff covering my windows.

Dandruff, the snowflakes relaxing on window, vex me, especially. That was until I learned how to Alpine Ski in Austria. If someone had told me that I would have fallen in love with the sport after the first week of a ski trip, I would have said, “you’re crazy.” 

I looked to see if I still had my photo with me in my yellow ski suit. Unfortunately, I don’t. My office flooded twice in one year a few years ago, and some of my pictures did not outlive the flood. 

I stopped skiing after my husband, and some of our friends went skiing on a very high mountain, and Hans, my husband, returned with six broken ribs. They had wanted me to come with them and give the mountain a try. But I said no because I knew my skills were not advanced enough to go down those slopes. Like I said before in one of my posts, I’ve learned to choose my battles regardless of what kind of battles they may be. 

People get insulted and speak words that will hurt you when you do that, but I stick to what I’ve said. Thus, I’m thankful I always have takeaways from my past mistakes.

After his accident, Hans didn’t want to ski anymore. I found that out the following year when planning our ski trip.

Still, I’m not too fond of snow, but I have a heart for those in Europe who look forward to skiing. 

It has been a long morning for me. After my routine, I have already completed two new items I have put on my list. 

Therefore, my list for today is as follows:

  1. I am revising the first 10K of my new novel. It usually takes me at least four to six days to fix 10K. I like to send her what I call my final draft so that she understands the direction I’m moving in.
  2. I have a letter to write. I had decided to wait until after the Challenge, but my gut is telling me to do it now, which is what I will do. 
  3. Answering emails and text messages, Daily
  4. Attend my writing classes and do my homework,
  5. Updated Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel on my Mac. (Completed)
  6. Schedule a Zoom meeting for later. (Completed)
  7.  Do the accounting books for the Romantic Women Fiction Chapter of the RWA.
  8. Buy gas for my car.
  9. Go to the drugstore.

Have a lovely Saturday.

Shalom aleichem,

Pat Garcia

DAY 12, JANUARY 13, 2023, A DAY IN MY LIFE…SNIPPETS OF ME, By Pat Garcia @pat_garcia @RRBC_ORG @RRBC_RWISA @Tweets4RWISA #RRBC #RWISA #RRBC_Community #ADayinMyLife

Day 12, January 13, 2023

Let’s go back and examine a pivotal point in my life.

After being academically expelled from my university, I discovered that my area’s African American community had counted on me to make a difference for their boys and girls. In other words, they were pointing at me, encouraging them to do what I was supposed to be doing.

My mom and dad were greatly disappointed, and I sank into a deep hole of desolation. I found out that skipping classes to play cards and not concentrating on what I knew I could do, brought unnecessary pain to others and myself. I got a job working for Gracewood State School and Hospital for the mentally ill. There, I slowly found my way back to God by doing things God’s way and not my own. 

A year later, I was back at the university. In the very first quarter, after returning, I started making the Dean’s List, which is a recognition of those students who maintain an A average throughout the quarter. You might wonder what happened. 

I discovered the speeches of the former coach of the Green Bay Packers, Vincent Lombardi, a Christian that lived what he preached on the field with his team and off the field with his family. 

One of his quotes kicked me hard in my gut, and I changed it so that it would fit me, and I practically learned it by memory. Here is his quote that I altered to fit myself. 

In order to succeed, I will need a singleness of purpose, a dedication, and I will have to convince all of the people I encounter that can help me along the way of my willingness to sacrifice. 

With that quote buried in my heart, I was always on Dean’s list during my last two years of college. And I have lived to see some kids who know me make a difference in their lives. 

I am still working on my list. The two most significant projects I plan to complete between today and Monday.

My Continuing List consists of the following:

  1. I am revising the first 10K of my new novel. It usually takes me at least four to six days to fix 10K. I like to send her what I call my final draft so that she understands the direction I’m moving in.
  2. I have a letter to write. I had decided to wait until after the Challenge, but my gut is telling me to do it now, which is what I will do. 
  3. Answering emails and text messages, Daily
  4. Attend my writing classes and do my homework,
  5. Go to the bakery (Completed this morning before I went to my office.)
  6. Pick up fresh fruits (Completed this morning)
  7.  Do the accounting books for the Romantic Women Fiction Chapter of the RWA.

Have a lovely day.

Shalom aleichem,

Pat Garcia

DAY 11, JANUARY 12, 2023, A DAY IN MY LIFE…SNIPPETS OF ME By Pat Garcia @pat_garcia @RRBC_ORG @RRBC_RWISA @Tweets4RWISA #RWISA #RRBC_Community #RRBC #ADayinMyLife

DAY 11, JANUARY 12, 2023

My morning started with bangs! I woke up to rain. While dressing, I heard the waste disposal workers picking up the yellow bags we use to dispose of our plastic trash. They come once every two weeks and usually come around eight a.m. The fact that they arrived early had a consequence for me. I packed my bag the evening before but decided to wash my dishes before taking my yellow bag out to the sidewalk to be picked up. I decided to do it when I went downstairs in the early morning. Well, surprise! the workers came early, and now I have to store my plastic trash bag away and wait for the next pick-up in two weeks.  

It was still very dark when I went downstairs, but I could see a tiny bit of light breaking through clouds. One of my high points is watching the daylight peek into full daybreak. I can feel the earth turning. 

An hour later, I reached into my fridge for the butter that sat on one of my favorite glass dishes I keep in the refrigerator to use whenever I need to store something. Pang!!! It went as it fell to the floor. Broken glass and splitters everywhere. I said thank you that it didn’t fall on my feet, and I got my broom to sweep up the chaos. 

I got my coffee, ate breakfast, and read three chapters of an audiobook I am reading. I read non-fiction when I have breakfast. It is incredible to me how writers of non-fiction catch my mind and bring me into their world. Like being in a classroom, I absorb what they are saying and learn much. 

Now I’m sitting at my Mac, and I’m chuckling. I look forward to the rest of my day. Do you remember me mentioning that my hairdresser was ill and had to postpone my appointment? It was on my to-do list from the first week of the Challenge. Yesterday, I got a WhatsApp message that I could come today. So, where will I be in the afternoon? I will be spoiling myself, YEAH!

Congratulations to all of you participating in the Challenge, A DAY IN MY LIFE! We made the ten-day mark yesterday. HURRAH!!! I’m cheering for us all to make it to the finish line.  Here’s my certificate. I know you received yours.

I’m going to follow Ms. Nonnie’s leading, the woman responsible for this Challenge, and close with one of my favorite quotes on my whiteboard, right next to my desk, by one of my mentors, Vincent Lombardi, who passed away some years ago. 

THE DESIRE FOR THE REWARD OVERWHELMS THE HUMAN INSTINCT TO QUIT AND COMPROMISE, TO TAKE THE SAFE ROUTE.

Have a lovely day.

Shalom aleichem

Pat Garcia

DAY 10, JANUARY 11, 2023, A DAY IN MY LIFE…SNIPPETS OF ME By Pat Garcia @pat_garcia @RRBC_ORG @RRBC_RWISA @Tweets4RWISA #RWISA #RRBC #RRBC_COMMUNITY #ADayinMyLife

DAY 10, JANUARY 11, 2023,

It was raining when I woke up this morning. The clouds were in a cluster formation but were darker than they usually are. 

After going through my morning routine, I came downstairs to make coffee.

Today is my knitting day. Yes, I have been learning how to knit for four years, and I do mean learning. I discovered a knitting group in the post office right in my village that consists of little old ladies that knit like professionals. I asked if a beginner who knew nothing about knitting could join them and learn, and they welcomed me. Since then, it has taken me over four years to learn how to knit beanies and two scarves. I also started on a pair of socks four years ago, but socks are way over my head. You knit socks with four needles, and I have my problems with two needles. So one-fourth of a knitted sock is still in my knitting basket. 

What I like about these women is that they know I am a writer, and sometimes I can’t attend because of things that come up; yet, I’m a welcome part of the group and feel at home. 

None of them speak English, so I had to learn how to knit in German. Sure, I make mistakes, but I have learned to take the stitches out and start back over. The ladies I knit with insist that I know how to knit correctly.

I had planned to start on a sweater this month. I have the material already, and you can believe me when I say the ladies’ eyes are sparkling because they look forward to passing on what they know to me. Unfortunately, I had to postpone it this morning until February. 

They’re a highly talented group of ladies who knit, crochet, and make all kinds of puppets and curiosities that you have to buy in stores for a lot of money. 

I have completed some items on my list, and removed them, and included my knitting group. 

  1. Revise the first 10K of my new novel. It usually takes me at least four to six days to revise 10K. I like to send her what I call my final draft so that she understands the direction I’m moving in.
  2. I have a letter to write. I had decided to wait until after the Challenge, but my gut is telling me to do it now, which is what I will do. 
  3. Answering emails and text messages, Daily
  4. Attend my writing classes and do my homework,
  5.  Do the accounting books for the Romantic Women Fiction Chapter of the RWA,
  6. Visit each blog in the Days 8 and 9 Challenge of A DAY IN MY LIFE.
  7. Knitting Group in the Post.

Have a lovely day.

Shalom aleichem,

Pat Garcia

DAY 9, January 10, 2023, A DAY IN MY LIFE…SUBTITLE: SNIPPETS OF ME By Pat Garcia @pat_garcia @RRBC_ORG @RRBC_RWISA @Tweets4RWISA #RWISA #RRBC_Community #RRBC #ADayinMyLife

DAY 9, JANUARY 10,2023,

I do my best not to get involved in other peoples’ affairs. If I do, I find myself going down a dark rabbit hole that is mostly not good. That doesn’t mean that I close my eyes to the world, but I choose very carefully the battles I want to fight, even though I may feel justified to say something, especially when someone treats me unjustly. I have learned and am still learning how to talk it out with the Silent Guide that walks beside me. 

Thus, by not saying anything, I have saved myself lots of energy that I can invest into people that give me much joy. I confess this was a hard lesson to learn.

Yesterday, I listed the things I want to accomplish this week. My list is ongoing. It isn’t written in stone because new things come up each day when I wake up and open myself to the still inner voice within me, like two of my besties’ birthdays and a lovely Sanddorn tea and a Holunder tea that I picked up before going to my office. Drinking a hot cup of one of those teas makes my day when I take a break. So my list has grown.

This week, I will do the following:

  1. Revise the first 10K of my new novel. It usually takes me at least four to six days to revise 10K. I like to send her what I call my final draft so that she understands the direction I’m moving in.
  2. I have a letter to write. I had decided to wait until after the Challenge, but my gut is telling me to do it now, which is what I will do. 
  3. Answering emails and text messages, Daily
  4. Attend my writing classes and do my homework,
  5. Go to the bakery,
  6. Pick up fresh fruits,
  7.  Do the accounting books for the Romantic Women Fiction Chapter of the RWA,
  8. Visit each blog in the Day 8 Challenge of A DAY IN MY LIFE.
  9. Sent out two birthday cards
  10. Picked up Sanddorn Tea and Holunder Tea

Have a lovely day.

Shalom aleichem,

Pat Garcia

DAY 8, JANUARY 9, 2023, A DAY IN MY LIFE…SNIPPETS OF ME By Pat Garcia @pat_garcia @RRBC_ORG @RRBC_RWISA @Tweets4RWISA #RWISA #RRBC #RRBC_Community #ADayinMyLife

DAY 8, JANUARY 9, 2023

I woke up this morning to baby birds chirping outside my skylight window, and I sat on the side of my bed and listened to them. Smiling, I thanked God for the ability to hear such sounds early in the morning.

The first week of the year has never ended. Although, in my mind, I know it has. I’m missing my Sunday off.

My week is full, and I have already started making decisions that will determine my outcome at the end of the week. I learned this when I read The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and First Things First by Stephen Covey, an author who wrote many planning books. I have read both books several times, and based on what I have read, I developed the organization of my life according to what I consider essential. 

So I will look in my journal, assess what I didn’t do, and make a note, not about a new time to do it but a note about why I didn’t do it. That’s important for me. It could be that it was not the right time to do it or to say something because it would have come across as heartless. I make mistakes when I react to situations too quickly. I am not infallible. I thank God that I am not perfect or even semi-perfect. I am VULNERABLE because I want to relate to people and not be found self-righteous. 

This week, I will do the following:

  1. Revise the first 10K of my new novel. It usually takes me at least four to six days to revise 10K. I like to send her what I call my final draft so that she understands the direction I’m moving in.
  2. I have a letter to write. I had decided to wait until after the Challenge, but my gut is telling me to do it now, which is what I will do. 
  3. Get in touch with the person who donated the prize I won for my WEP win. 
  4. Answering emails and text messages,
  5. Attend my writing classes and do my homework,
  6. Go to the bakery,
  7. Pick up fresh fruits,
  8.  Do the accounting books for the Romantic Women Fiction Chapter of the RWA,
  9. Visit each blog in the Challenge.

I wish all of you a good start in the week.

Shalom aleichem

Pat Garcia

DAY 7, JANUARY 8, 2023, A DAY IN MY LIFE…SUBTITLE: SNIPPETS OF ME By Pat Garcia @pat_garcia @RRBC_ORG @RRBC_RWISA @Tweets4RWISA #RWISA #RRBC #RRBC_Community #ADayinMyLife

DAY 7, JANUARY 8, 2023

Today is the Sabbath. However, I have learned from the Spirit that lives within me that I am the Lord of the Sabbath. 

That the Sabbath doesn’t keep me from keeping my word or prohibit me from doing good is something I processed some time ago. But processes won at one point in life come back to be modified and strengthened at another level.  

Thus, I am sitting at my computer typing out an article. The fact that I’d rather be in my home instead of downstairs in my office was quite evident by how I entered it. It was a struggle, a challenge to a rule I had established that had to be re-examined.

I searched for rigidity. Sure, I have routines that are precious to me, but (and here is the crux of the matter) I don’t want these routines to rule me. I am the Lord over them and not them over me. 

My list for today is short:

  1. To read the blog posts from Day 6. I read the posts the day after. I am in Europe, and there is a time difference between us, depending on where you live in the USA and Canada. For some, it could be eight or nine hours. So far, I have commented on every blog where I can post. If I could not post, I have started leaving the comment in the Members’ Chat. If you see that I have tweeted your post and you don’t see a comment from me, something needs to be fixed because I only tweet your post if I have read it and left a comment. So, please let me know if you need one in the members’ chat box. 
  2. When I have completed task number one, I will go into my much loved Sabbath and enjoy it. 

Have a lovely Sunday.

Shalom aleichem

Pat Garcia

DAY 6, JANUARY 7,2023, A DAY IN MY LIFE: SNIPPETS OF ME By Pat Garcia @pat_garcia @RRBC_ORG @RRBC_RWISA @Tweets4RWISA #RWISA #RRBC #RRBC_Community #ADayinMyLife

DAY 6, JANUARY 7, 2023

It is 1:17 in the afternoon, and I’m satisfied with my morning. Groceries are in the house, water too, wood is in the wood carrier, and I even managed to get by the two pharmacies and pick up my vitamins. 

This year I’m on a new level and must reestablish my routine. Some things and people may have to go. Not because I don’t like them but because I’ve taken a turn in the bend, and we are no longer walking on the same path. 

Everything must change; nothing remains the same. That’s a song by Nina Simone, and it is one of my favorites. 

When I finished my three-year contract with the United States Army, I took a European out and decided to stay in Europe, specifically Germany. I realized I learned only about the PX and the commissaries in the different locations in Germany where the Americans lived. I wanted to know more, so I decided to get a job here. I had a Bachelor’s degree with a major and a double minor and was completing my Master’s degree and thought I could get a job with the Americans. But that was not so. My status had changed; according to NATO (North American Treaty Organization), I was a tourist traveling in the country. After four months of hearing, “Yes, we would love to hire you, but…” I knew I had to decide: either learn German and get a job in the German economy or go back to America. I made the decision and decided to stay, and that is when doors started opening. German is a complex language, but I learned it thoroughly because of a German Professor that hung over my shoulders.

I used to think the man hated me. I had all kinds of excuses for him treating me as he did; the first one was that I was Black. We had to read two weekly newspapers, in German, of course. And each week, he would single me first. He always spoke to the class in German, and we had to answer him in German. He was also an ex-soldier in the German army, and I hated that man. I had five German courses, and he was my instructor in each class. It was him against me and me against him. I tried to drop out of my fifth German course because I saw him sitting at the instructor’s desk when I walked into the class on the first evening.

I told myself, “I’m not going through this a fifth time.” I waited until our evening class ended and told him I would be dropping his course. He said, “No, you’re not. I won’t approve it.” I remember shaking my head as I asked him why. He looked at me as if he were looking through me and told me, “Pat, you are a black American woman living in a country that will be hostile toward you. I have seen this happen to other females from other countries, and they are lost. That’s why they don’t go anywhere alone. They move around in groups. I am hard on you because I want to see you go anywhere you want to go and read everything, whether it’s government policies or whatever, so that you comprehend the system and move forward. I have nothing against you being a black woman. I’m proud to be able to help you. I want you to excel; to excel means comprehending the language of the country where you live.”

This man, whom I hated, I learned to love because of his strictness. He took me under his arms, and I learned to write, speak, and read German fluently, and I am thankful.

The rest of my day:

  1. Two Zoom meetings – one at three pm and one at six pm
  2. I will eat something between those two meetings.
  3. The grocery store I went to had alcohol-free champagne. I love to pour it over frozen fruit and sit back and watch the fire.
  4. I will visit the blogs from Day 5.

Have a lovely Saturday.

Shalom aleichem

Pat Garcia

A DAY IN MY LIFE…SUBTITLE: SNIPPETS OF ME By Pat Garcia @pat_garcia @RRBC_ORG @RRBC_RWISA @Tweets4RWISA #RWISA #RRBC_Community #RRBC #ADayinMyLife

DAY 5, JANUARY 6, 2023

Good Morning,

I ended my day well yesterday. I’m always happy when I can break a mold of rigidity that has secretly formed in my life and is unknowingly keeping me from who I am. Vulnerability is a trait I desire. It is not something you acquire only once because it consists of different processes. Once you open yourself to vulnerability, you have committed to change whenever you feel stagnation in your routine. 

I smiled as I looked at my list of things to do this morning. I have two more important things to do, and I put them at the top of my list. 

  1. Get in touch with the person who donated the prize I won for my WEP win.
  2. Do my grocery shopping and go to the bakery. 
  3. I’ve changed my journal back to DAY One, and I want to transfer my journal notes from Evernote to DAY One.
  4. Bring in enough wood that will last me until Tuesday for my fireplace. 
  5. I’ve already communicated with my developmental coach and will send her the first 10K for the second novel in my series. She is a godsend because I get wild in my writing. I first met her in a class. She was instructing a writing class on Deep Point of View. My first assignment was one I’ll always remember. Oh, did I come away with hurt feelings and pained feet. She had stepped on my toes, but I forced myself to stay in the class. Little did I know that this woman would become a dear friend. Nor did I know then that she was responding to me from a bank as I stood in the middle of a river trying to find my true self in my writing. I see it now, but I didn’t see it then. She was standing there saying let me help you get to where you want to go with your writing. She’s a tough person but has a big heart, and as I look back, I’m thankful I stayed in her class. Thus, today, I’m going to pop two or three bowls of popcorn and continue writing the first draft of my second novel. 
  6. Close my day out with some gooseberries and a glass (maybe even two glasses) of dry, red wine from Southern Italy, and look at my fire as my mind roam freely, putting this past week in containers so I can close up shop Saturday evening. 

Happy Friday, everyone. Have a good one. 

Shalom aleichem

Pat Garcia