This Perfectly Imperfect Life

For those of y'all who don't know: I love Love LOVE yarn. A little too much at times! Especially shades of autumn orange, and pinks. So on this hazy-hot-and- humid Tuesday, I'm sharing with y'all a knitting WIP (work in progress) I returned to last week when a new crochet project just wasn't working out no matter how many times I restarted it!! I switch back & forth between knit & crochet because I enjoy both, but often I go with what's easiest on my arthritic hands. This yarn is one of my favorites. It reminds me of late Autumn, when there's still some oranges & yellows in the landscape, but they're past peak, and everything is starting to turn more brown... Are you a fellow #yarnlover?

I finished The Huntress by Kate Quinn on June 9th and this passage at the end of the book was one I couldn't not share because it is eerily, and unfortunately, timely.

Happy Pub Day to @ahoffmanwriter whose #PracticalMagic turned 25 today! (25th anniversary edition not pictured) I came to Practical Magic the movie long before Practical Magic the book. For some reason I didn't read the book until 2010 while I was recovering from a sepsis infection that nearly caused me to lose my left kidney, with a fever was so high it damaged my heart. Both ate away my muscle mass. I was a mere "hours away from dying" by the time I arrived at the ER that July 5th. (And it was my husband The Marine who saved my life that morning without a doubt). I had followup surgeries that fall. My total recovery time was a year & a half to make sure the hole in my kidney healed fully and both heart and kidney functions returned to as normal as possible. During that time, while I couldn't do anything physical except the bare minimum, I was in an emotional and mental state of shock, not to mention physical pain. The only book I read during that time was Practi...

"Roll The Stone Away is the true story that influenced the award-winning" Black Mountain Series by beloved friend and writing confidant Ann Hite. It's out in the world Tuesday 5/12. Ann's storytelling is pure magic! Ghost On Black Mountain and Where The Souls Go are my favorites from the Black Mountain books, though I've been known to recommend them all! One of my favorite memories from the #ReadSavannah event hosted by She Reads With Friends in 2016 was getting to meet Ann in person & chat with her for a while, and then there was the summer we spent working our way through The Artists Way by Julia Cameron, emailing weekly. She's (Ann) creative inspiration and creative support wrapped up in a generous, beautiful soul. I'm already deeply struck by these words from the back cover: "...they have a better understanding of what it takes to survive one's history and own it without shame." This is something I've been wrestling with since Mom...

Just ten days after the year anniversary of my brother-in-law W's passing, and just 13 days before the year anniversary of my brother-in-law V's passing, my mother passed away at home of a stroke last weekend. Despite our painfully complicated lifelong relationship, I am devastated. I love her. I always have. Often it is said about someone who's passed is that they're in a better place, and often you can see the doubt in loved ones faces. It's been awful watching my mother deteriorate, especially in these last four years; she was tired, she was ready, and so in her case, it's true. She's is in a better place; she's finally no longer suffering, and I pray she is finally at peace in the place where she wanted to be for so many years now. But while I knew in my heart this was coming, and had started to prepare, it was so completely unexpected when it happened, and to find her already gone like that... They say no one should have to outlive their own chil...

May your day be magical no matter the weather! And for a look back at a Halloween-ish article from my old blog, This Perfectly Imperfect Life, please click  here to read Late To The Party.

Happy Friday! I just finished up this magical book, The Girl Who Chased The Moon, by Sarah Addison Allen via my library and Overdrive 5 stars.  Next up is The Christmas Boutique by Jennifer Chiaverini. What are you reading during this last weekend of October?