Screenshot of “Odds Are” lyrics by Barenaked Ladies
I heard this song recently.
Yes, it’s old, but it was new to me.
And it gave me hope.
The song is “Odds Are” by Barenaked Ladies.
In honor of World Introvert Day (Jan 2), and January being NAPO’s Get Organized & Be Productive (GO) Month, I’m organizing all my introverted blog posts here in one place for you.
Why are we celebrating introverts? Here’s an easy-to-read, not-very-long Psychology Today article I like about that: 12 Reasons to Celebrate Introverts. Take a look — some of the reasons may surprise you and make you appreciate the introverts in your life more. If you are an introvert it may even make you appreciate yourself more!
I would love to know who took this photo of the luminarias at Mt. Calvary, the cemetery next door to Sunset Memorial.
(This story originally appeared in a Facebook Note on December 24, 2012.)
Luminarias are a New Mexican Christmas Eve tradition with religious origins. (Scroll down to learn more.)
They are also one of my favorite family holiday traditions.
But… in the cemetery? Let me explain.
Someone asked me for a list of gifts for family historians.
They had in mind gadgets and other tangible things you could wrap up with a bow. But I thought, “Most of the things I want don’t cost money and can’t be wrapped.”
UPDATE: Mystery solved! (scroll down)
What do you think happened when I offered my mom’s good silverware to my niece, Vinca, as a wedding present?
One never knows what will happen when you pass a family keepsake on to the next generation. Will they love it? Or, not so much? There’s only one way to find out….if your kids are adults now, ask them!
(Originally published Jan. 2016. Updated Oct. 2021.)
I recently (in Jan. 2016) spoke at a business networking luncheon attended by 80 women. My topic was “Who Will Check My Email When I Die?”
I worried that no one would want to come hear me talking about death, especially when it started snowing that morning. But they did! And they loved it. I could tell because they nodded, and laughed, and told me later that they had started conversations with their loved ones about virtual wills and such as a result. Mission accomplished!
Here are some of the ways people reacted to my topic before-hand: (more…)
This post is about how to use the free, interactive, social, memorial platform We Remember, by Ancestry.
So, my dad died recently. It was somewhat unexpected — I mean, he wasn’t in the best of health at age 88, but he was in remission from lymphoma. And I can only hope to go as peacefully as he did, in my sleep, when it’s my turn.
If you knew him, and if this is the first time you’re hearing the news, I’m so sorry! I invite and encourage you to click over to Dad’s memorial page and post a photo or a memory. Well, maybe wait until you’ve finished reading this page. His ashes will be inurned, at some point, at Santa Fe National Cemetery, in a private family ceremony. There will be no traditional (or Zoom) funeral. His choice of a place to donate, if you so wish, appears at the end of his obituary (farewell letter), which he wrote himself and would want you to read.
I’ve learned a few things while creating and moderating his We Remember memorial page that I want to share with all of you — whether you knew him or not. I hope to make it easier for you to use the platform as a guest, as a registered member, or as the potential moderator of your own loved one’s memorial page.
The missing photo album (white binder next to pink binder)
I thought this phrase — If you can’t find something, clean up — was a well-known adage. But random people I’ve queried have never heard it. So, I Googled it. Turns out it’s one of Gretchen Rubin’s many Secrets of Adulthood, which she introduced in her bestselling book The Happiness Project. I guess it made so much sense to me when I read it (years ago) that I thought I’d always known it!
Writing a book is a prolonged exercise in perfectionism. One must strive for quality while resisting the urge to make it perfect. Why? Because perfection, which is highly subjective in this case, falls somewhere between unlikely and impossible to achieve. And perfectionism can lead to procrastination, writer’s block, stress, and the inability to finish one’s manuscript. Ugh!
If you don’t consider yourself to be a writer, perfectionism can prevent you from even trying to tell your story. My advice for you is to consider it a first draft that you never have to show anyone if you don’t want to. Even “real writers” start with a first draft! It won’t be perfect, but it’ll be a good start.
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