13 Things That Start with "B"

1. Books have always been a major part of my life. I can't remember a time when I didn't treasure them. In fact, I'm still pretty peeved at my mother for selling my Nancy Drew books to buy my brother a set of Hardy Brothers books which he never read. 

2. Book Clubs. I love talking books almost as much as I love reading books. For many years, I was in a book club with several  women I went to high school with plus a few I didn't. I moved away six years ago, so I can't attend that book club anymore, but recently joined one here in Florida. We're currently reading The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. Okay, so I'll admit I haven't started it yet, but I will. Soon. 

3. Brothers. I have one. He's six years younger than me. I also have a terrific brother-in-law. There are so many things I could say about them, I don't even know where to begin. Let's just say that I love them both to the moon and back. 

4. Burnout. What happens to writers when they write too much, too fast. Unfortunately, the creative process has to include time to regenerate creative energy and in the quest to make a living too many of us don't build that recuperative time into our schedules. Sooner or later, it catches up with all of us. Nobody can escape it forever. 

5. Blood Sugar. Because Diabetes doesn't begin with B. A few months ago, I discovered that what I thought was solely burnout (see above) was actually made much more severe by a case of previously un-diagnosed Type 2 Diabetes, so now I'm hyper-aware of my blood sugar count on a daily basis and how awful I feel whenever it gets too high or too low. 

6. Broccoli. Sounds weird, I know, but I've always been a grazer. I feel much better when I don't let a lot of time build up between meals, and it's even more important now that I need to watch my blood sugar. Of all the low-carb, healthy snacks I've seen, read about, or tried, broccoli is my current favorite. 

7. Balance. The thing I am always actively seeking in my life. I try to have a life balanced between family, faith, and work, but I don't always succeed. 

8. Beatles. I'm old enough to remember when they first burst onto the music scene. As a girl, I used to play "Beatles" with my friends. We'd get our mother's brooms and pretend they were guitars and we'd stand out on the street (we lived on a very quiet street) and sing and "play" until grouchy old Mr. Tibesaur came home and tried to run us over for playing in the street. When we weren't actually being the Beatles, we picked boyfriends. Everyone always wanted Paul, but I was a George Harrison gal.

9. Bankruptcy. I spent more than 15 years of my life working in the close-knit world of bankruptcy law. I went from being a legal secretary, to an office administrator, to a judicial assistant at the federal court before I finally quit to become a full-time writer.

10. Barbie Doll. I loved my Barbie because she wasn't like everyone else's Barbie. My Barbie had lovely black hair, so I could always tell her apart when playing with friends. She survived quite nicely until my brother (see above) decided she needed to go swimming in a hole someone dug in the field next door. (I have no conclusive evidence that said brother dug the hole. I only know he took full advantage of it.) He wrapped Barbie in Scotch tape (he claims this was to protect her from the dirty water), tied a string around her waist, and dipped her in the muddy water. The Scotch tape must have worked. I still have her and shes still in my original Barbie case under my bed.

11. Bicycle. Okay, this isn't so much part of my life now, but it once was. My sister and I used to ride our bikes all over the place. This was back in the day that a kid could take off on a bike in the morning (or maybe after lunch) and just be told to be home in time for supper. There was one hill (I think it was Grand Avenue in Billings, MT) where we would zoom down one side and, if we could get going fast enough, coast almost all the way to the top on the other side of the gully. It was awesome! 

12. Band. True confession time. For 9 or 10 years when I was young, I played the keyboard and sang vocals in a band. It was just a local thing, but we were pretty well known in certain circles in our area. Here we are playing ... somewhere. I'm on the far left behind the keyboard. 

13. Beach. I grew up in the west near the mountains, and there are still days when I wake up wanting to take a drive up one of the canyons, but right now I live about 5 minutes away from some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. We have white sand and emerald-green water, and it's beautiful. When my youngest daughter and the grandkids lived near me, and her husband was deployed, we went to the beach every morning. Now that they've moved, I don't spend as much time in the sand as I used to. I probably should get out more.

Scratch that. I definitely should get out more. 

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