The word “Soon” has always intrigued me. Like most words in the dictionary, it is one of the words I cannot pinpoint to one particular meaning. I know how to conjugate it as an adverb, soon, sooner, soonest, but I have never been able to nail it and define it.
But saying he is coming soon doesn’t tell me if I should expect him in twenty minutes, two days, or even two years.
Picture courtesy of Amanda Jones, Unsplash
Thus, when the person I expected showed up two weeks later, and I asked him where he was, he said, ” I told you I would be here soon. But he didn’t tell me how soon. I should have asked, but I didn’t.
It could have been that I was making tiramisu and expecting him to walk in the door so we could sit together and have coffee and cake when he arrived.
Thus, I love wordplay. It is perplexing, and it takes my mind for a spin, forcing me to expand my sentences and give them depth like physical exercise does for the muscles in our bodies, and so is wordplay for my mind.
I am a writer, and becoming aware of what is happening in my plots while writing is a significant and fundamental need for me. I must develop an inner connection to my surroundings and the characters I write about. If I don’t do that, my book is just like meaningless words scrambled on paper. The story may be good, but it is missing something important, and that is life. Whatever I write, I want it to breathe.
TURN THE LIGHT ON
I write mainly romance stories. I know many people say oh, romance and they block out that category of genre writing because when they hear romantic, they immediately think erotic. Romance stories have an element of love, but intimacy is a fact of life. I don’t think any of us got here on our own, and there was only one person who was born of a virgin.
JANIE B
However, because we want to avoid facing that part of life, authors have developed categories in the romance field. Now we have sweet romance, which avoids the bedroom, and romance, which doesn’t.
I don’t write sweet romances. I write realistic romance stories encouraging people to live responsible lives and take ownership of their responsibilities.
Contemplations of a Woman Turning 65
There are all kinds of people in my books. My characters are wounded, or disabled, or healthy. The heroines are usually plus-sized women with short natural hair or full-sized afro, older and successful. I’m not going to apologize about the heroines in my books being women from different races. Since we all belong to the human race and live in a world that is full of color, I refuse to write a book that is not diverse, multicultural, and with a philosophy that is based on my faith in God.
Let His Banner Over Me Be Love
I’m not going to apologize for the topics that I write either. In my book, LET HIS BANNER OVER ME BE LOVE, I discovered that the Scriptures I wrote the story around were unknown to many of my readers. One lady whose name I will not mention here admitted having to return and read the Song of Songs herself. She didn’t know how candid the Song of Songs was in the Bible. I had to applaud her. I liked her honesty.
Late Bloomer
Other than that, I do my best to write flawlessly. I desire to present a book that a reader can sit back and read without flinching at each grammar mistake or trying to guess what word I wanted to write when they find a word left out. To achieve this, I have an independent editing team that reads through my work. I treasure them greatly. Yes, they cost, but I would rather pay for excellent editing than have to take a book off the market because it is poorly edited. I have made that mistake once and don’t intend to repeat it.
Although many of you went to Daylight Savings Time (DST) on March 10, 2024, the European Union will change on March 30, 2024. Usually, the difference between the changes is one week. However, it is longer this time, confusing many of us here in Germany. For example, when it is 3 PM EST in the USA, it is 8 PM GMT +1 here in Germany because the East Coast is now five hours behind us instead of its regular six hours. Adjusting the time to five instead of six hours can be mind-boggling. That’s why I am looking forward to time syncing to the regular rhythm of 6 hours.
Let me show you an example of what I mean. The sun shone brightly this morning when I went to my living room at nine AM. It is now 11:45 AM, and it is still beaming. Isn’t the way the sunlight falls in my living room beautiful?
But, yesterday at 6 PM, twilight had already set, and I was sitting in my living room enjoying my fireplace.
Yes, it was still cold enough to heat the living room for Hadassah, my baby palm tree, and me.
Observing such changes amazes me. It proves my viewpoint that everything changes and that these changes affect us. Our lives are no longer the same.
When I looked at Day 24 this morning, I jumped for joy. We have seven days before the Challenge ends, and I am grateful. It’s not that I am not enjoying the Challenge; I have learned a lot about my consistency, persistence, and perseverance. As I reached the halfway point, I had to push harder, use more energy to rethink my sentence stying, and give more time to reading my posts before I put them on my blog. I am genuinely thankful that I could do that.
I also had to increase my sleep. My brain refused to let me override my tiredness and continue working. Instead, when I am tired, I have had to stop, rest, and do nothing.
Thus, this ability to stay consistent and persist has become more potent. It is true that the more you practice your weaknesses, the stronger you become because your weaknesses become strengths. To grasp this principle fills my heart with gratitude.
This Challenge has helped me stay consistent and authentic to myself and others, persisting forward as I persevere toward my goal of finishing it.
Therefore, I am thankful for the 2nd RRBC “A DAY IN MY LIFE” 30-Day Blogging Challenge. We have approached the last seven days, and on DAY 30, I hope to be one of those who have reached the finish line. Truly, I am thankful.
I leave you with a short peep into one of my concerts. Most of these are cover songs or songs I have written that follow me through my life. If you have noticed on these blog posts for the Challenge, I always say a poem, a quote, a reading, or a song follows me. These things suddenly spring up and help me make the right life choices whenever necessary. Each one of the songs I cover onstage I have been singing for years. Whatever I do in life, I take full responsibility to live the way I choose by being as authentic as possible.
Truly, I Am Thankful- A short peep into my concerts with the Jan Masuhr
Shopping has always been a challenging task for me because I don’t like it. Regardless of whether it is to the grocery store, an apparel shop for women’s clothing, or shopping for something that is needed in the house. I see it as a waste of time, but I like eating. 😋
Since I have gotten used to cooking and eating fresh foods instead of canned or frozen foods, shopping is a must. I go shopping three or four times a week, as I said in one of my blog posts, and that takes care of my exercise. Looking at my fridge below, you can see why I often go to the grocery store. When I first moved here, the giant USA refrigerators sold in the USA were only in the Housing areas where soldiers and their families were living.
The bottom part is the fridge. The top part over it is my freezer.
For women’s clothing, I use the internet. That gives me flexibility, and I shop when I can no longer put it off. It is different with grocery shopping, though. Our stores open between seven and eight in the morning and close between eight and nine-thirty in the evenings. But that depends on the stores. Stores for household goods are included in these times.
Good old Aldi Süd
Netto, which is right across the street from Aldi
However, pharmacies have stable but irregular hours that Americans are not used to. They close on Saturdays between twelve-thirty and one P.M. Also, pharmacies close at twelve-thirty and open back up at two-thirty or three PM during the week.
Therefore, I left my home earlier today because I needed to pick something up from the pharmacy before it closed, and I also decided to take a couple of pictures of some of the stores I visited.
I love the pictures of the cherry trees across from the pharmacy.
I hope the pictures delight all of you who have lived in Germany. You would be amazed how much this country has changed.
I opened my eyelids, and the brightest sky with Stratus clouds smiled. There is something special about having a sky window on the right side of where I sleep. Thoughts of gratitude flooded my mind.
Today, we are eight or nine days from the end of the 2nd RRBC “A DAY IN MY LIFE” Blogging Challenge. Since I have shown you my garden, I want to show you a few things that always bring a smile to my face.
The town next to my village is Hanau-Grossauheim. I drive there primarily when I have to go to the Pharmacy, which is called Apotheke in German. Across from the Pharmacy is the Catholic Church. Although I am not Catholic, I enjoy attending Taize on Friday evenings. We sing songs, A Cappella, and I am a fan of people who can sing a song well without being accompanied by a musical instrument. I consider the voice to be the first musical instrument before mankind began creating instruments.
What I like most about this church is the cherry trees. They have started blooming, and I love standing before the church to admire them.
I have lots to do today, but before I close this post, I want to leave you one of my favorite quotes. This is one of those quotes that follows me. I have posted it below. Vince Lombardi spoke these words to his team, the Green Bay Packers. He was also the first coach to win Super Bowl 1 in 1967, and the Super Bowl Trophy is named after him.
DAY 21, MARCH 21, 2024, HAPPY NATIONAL FRENCH BREAD DAY!
Good Morning, Everyone,
It is funny now, but I didn’t eat much bread as a child. I thought it was an unnecessary item on the table. In our home, cornbread and biscuits were the bread items offered with our meals. Both breads, cornbread, and biscuits were made from scratch.
My father used to love to eat bread. I didn’t understand that, and at every meal, he expected bread to be on the table. I didn’t know at that age that moving to Europe would challenge my taste buds and change my opinion on bread.
The Europeans bake excellent bread. Each country has its specialties. Today, I am focusing on breads that come out of France.
Courtesy of Sergio Arze –A loaf of fresh French bread
The French loaf of bread that is bought from the bakeries tastes fantastic with Jam. One can cut it into big slices, warm it in the oven or toaster, spread it with butter, and eat it as it is. You have a meal if you want to spread Jam or cream cheese on it.
Courtesy of Kavita-Joshi-Rai – French Croissants
Who hasn’t heard of the French Croissants? Thinking about them right now makes me hungry. One can buy them plain or filled with chocolate, Jam, or cheese inside them. They are delicious for a snack. However, many French people eat their croissants plain. Croissants are delicious, and the best way to eat them is the way you want them.
Courtesy of Sergio Arze – French baguettes
Another French bread that I have fallen in love with is the baguette. I love to buy it fresh from the bakery and then slice it into pieces, spread butter over the slices, and freshly grated garlic. If you desire, pan-fry some fresh shrimp and make a green salad; it makes an outstanding evening meal. I must admit that I sometimes eat a baguette with only butter and garlic. It’s yummy! I add a glass of Pinot Noir, my favorite wine, and sit back and relax.
Remember that at the beginning, I said I wasn’t a bread person. Well… now, a meal without some fresh bread is unthinkable—my, how I have changed.
Happy National French Bread Day! Go out and buy some French bread and celebrate this day.
DAY 20, MARCH 20, 2024, HAPPY INTERNATIONAL HAPPINESS DAY!
Good Morning, Everyone,
Yesterday afternoon, my Mac wasn’t performing as it should. No matter what I did i.e. checking different online forums, everything stayed the same. So, I stopped working at 8:30 PM.
I sat and contemplated all of the steps I had been taking. Contemplation helps me in every area of my life. It chases the agitation away; I find peace with the fact that I wasn’t successful in solving the problem, but I had done all of the background work I needed to do to sleep well. And I did sleep well.
When I awoke to a beautiful blue sky winking at me through my window this morning, I knew I would have a lovely day.
My sky window in my bedroom
I went downstairs, made coffee, and meditated before I brought up my Mac. Last night, I chose International Happiness Day as the topic to write about. My Mac wasn’t working as it should. But I believe happiness is a choice I make.
Then it happened. An idea sprang before my eyes, and a tiny whisper said, “Try to do the task (I needed to scan a document) with your iPhone.”
I had never done that before. I laid the document on my printer and pulled my printer software up on my iPhone. Guess what? I learned to scan a document with my iPhone and save it to the files on my Mac. Voila! It worked!
When I looked on my Mac, I saw my file sitting among my documents. I have a smile of contentment on my face. I learned something new.
These little moments where I move from where I don’t know how and learn something new make me happy.
Have a HAPPY INTERNATIONAL HAPPINESS DAY, everyone, and do something to make you happy.
When I first came to Europe as a United States Army soldier, I thought the world revolved around the United States. Imagine my surprise when I found it didn’t. The Europeans are different. Their differences lie in treasuring their time off from work, the public holidays they celebrate, and their summer vacations.
If you visit Europe in June, July, and August and maybe the first two weeks in September, you will find few Federal offices open. Some stores, doctors’ offices, and other medical facilities are closed too. People are on vacation or at home working in their backyards, and if they don’t have a house with a backyard, they have gardens and can apply to the city municipal office, where they are put on a list to rent one.
This is my shed where wood for the winter is kept. When you walk out of my front entrance, it is on the right, going into my backyard. It is already filled with wood that is drying.
Our space in Europe is small; we live close to one another, which I had to get used to. I have a home, so my backyard is my garden.
I am blessed with a patio that goes from one side of my house to the other. At the moment, you can see images of things I’m decluttering. They will be picked up in April.We’re still on our way to the backyard.
Let me put a disclaimer here: I am not a gardener, but I like being in one. I am thankful that I have a couple who are very close to me, like a sister and brother. My brother does the heavy garden work, and his wife helps me at home while I write. I have committed to a few responsibilities that no one else can do, but I and I’m happy that God has sent me dear friends to help lighten my load.
We’re now in the backyard and in the corner is Lydia. She is a plumb tree. The green trees behind her are outside the fence, but they don’t scare Lydia. She gives up beautiful plumbs every year.
My brother, sister, and I looked at my garden last Sunday afternoon when they dropped by and decided it was time to clean it up sometime next week so I could enjoy the glass patio and look at my trees.
This is the bottom half of Moses, the walnut tree I planted myself. It was only a small tiny baby branch. People told me it wouldn’t live but look at him now!I want to show you how tall and stately he is.
Isn’t he a doll? Wait until he blooms. Then, Moses is magnificent.
It has been freezing here, so my cherry, apple, and walnut trees have not started blooming yet.
Here is Daniel, the cherry tree, standing by Moses.
I think they will bloom in April, and they will be gorgeous when that happens.
I gave each of them a name when I planted them and have written a caption with their name, like a name tag you get when you go to a conference. I took the photos this morning.
We’re now on the other side of the garden, and you can see a tree I haven’t named yet. I’m thinking about calling him Joshua.
Finally, we’re leaving my backyard from the other side, where my car is parked. The balcony belongs to my room, where I sometimes lie down and nap.
My backyard is looking forward to spring just as much as I am. I hope you enjoyed the visit.
DAY 18, MARCH 18, 2024, HAPPY NATIONAL AWKWARD MOMENTS DAY!
Strange situations happen where there are no explanations. They are so incomprehensible that you believe you have been in the Twilight Zone.
I experienced such an incident ten years ago when my husband was living; we took a bus tour of fourteen days to the United Kingdom, Scotland, and Ireland. I was looking forward to the trip because I wanted to discover which part of Africa I came from. I thought I could find some records in York.
We decided to go with friends from his Law Enforcement club. We were twenty-five couples, and we met up at Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof (Frankfurt’s Main Train Station) at four o’clock in the morning to get on our tour bus and be driven to Bremerhaven, Germany, where we would take an overnight ferry across the English Channel. I had never been on a ferry before. My very first time. Whenever I went to the UK, I bought a flight ticket and flew with an airplane. I am not a swimmer. I can paddle the water, but a swimmer, I am not.
Thus, I avoid cruises. They are not my cup of tea. I didn’t know that the tour bus would also be loaded on the ferry and that the ferry would arrive at our destination the following day around nine AM. The tour bus would be unloaded, and we would get back on and start our trip.
Being self-employed, I had been working very hard before we left Grosskrotzenburg, and I was looking forward to finally getting on the ferry and then to our cabin.
We had a nice outside cabin. The ship’s kitchen was excellent. The chief cook and his crew served us well for the evening meal as we crossed and for breakfast. After the evening meal, we retired to our cabin, and I went to bed immediately; my husband said he might go to the deck and look around and talk with a few friends, and I mumbled goodnight. According to my husband, I slept like a log.
In the morning, I woke up, stretching my arms out after having a delightful sleep, and my husband was sitting up, already dressed, with a scared look on his face. I asked him what was wrong. I thought I had snored too loud. That was when he looked at me and said, “Now you wake up. Didn’t you hear that the ship was going under? The buses, cars, and trucks parked underground in the belly of the ferry crashed and shoved into each other like someone in the underground terminal was throwing them around.”
Shocked, I said No. The awkwardness of this moment was that everyone heard the alert from the captain over the PA system and was standing by, and I was the only one sleeping. I still laugh about this moment. In fact, I am laughing now. 😊
Let me say the ship wasn’t going under, but someone had forgotten to park his giant truck safely so it wouldn’t roll. Cars and motorbikes were severely damaged, but no one was hurt, and no one slept that night but me.😴
The couples who toured with us kept asking me afterward how I could sleep. All of them thought the ferry was sinking and their lives were over, and I was the only one who had the best sleep of her life going across the English Channel.
