Goodness, it's good to be home!

 My, it's good to be home! What? You hadn't noticed I've been gone since 2013? A whole eleven years and you hadn't even noticed?? Well, I guess that's bound to happen when I don't keep up with my correspondence...smh...

Well, I just made a fresh pot of coffee - or would you prefer tea? In the past bunch of years, I've learned how to make a mean chai! Anyway, let's grab a cuppa and go on out to the old back porch and do some catching up! 

Gracious sakes, it's so good to see you!

Oh my goodness! I just reread that and realized something: "smh" hadn't started being used yet, back in 2013 - or it was not in real common use. As a matter of fact, I think chat rooms were still popular and My Space had only just started being replaced by Facebook! I don't even think Instagram was 'a thing' yet.

(...a pause for your response, and a few sips of coffee/tea/chai...)

Back in 2013, iPhones were either still in the future, or were prohibitively expensive for a regular, working Joe (even though, imho, they're still far too costly). The term "mobile phone" has been replaced with "cell phone", cd and mp3 music, and dvd movies have been replaced with streamed entertainment, available for sale and download. And saving data to a cd is nearly obsolete now. Remember how most desktops and laptops always had a CD Drive, where you could slide a cd...or even a dvd, if it was compatible...right into the machine to listen to music or watch a movie? Yeah, they're as hard to find as a wall mounted, rotary phone now.

(...another friendly pause for a comparison of, "OH! and what about...")

And my camera on my phone, now? OMGosh! Even though mine's only average, the difference between it and the one on my first Android is as vast as a Kodak Brownie camera from the '60s, and a professional photographer's setup from the 1990's!

(...another few sips and a long gaze at our view from the old back porch - how about a refill?)

In the past eleven years I've published one book and I have six more in progress - which I've not completed because I also had a stroke in 2016 that caused my brain to act like Swiss cheese and either leak - or misdirect - a good deal of my talent. My kids have been caring for me since then and a couple of years ago, my husband was diagnosed with dementia and is now being cared for by his kids. I now have over 50 grandchildren and around 8 great-grandchildren. I've witnessed my youngest son get married, as well as seeing  my beautiful sister tie the knot at the age of 70. Then, just this year, I celebrated my own 70th birthday!

What a decade+ this old world has had. In the United States alone, joys, tragedies, massive failures, firsts and lasts...especially now, this election year of 2024. Dare I be hopeful?

So. What's you news since 2013?