And the unboxing ...

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And the unboxing ...

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, #unboxing posts are a given for authors upon receipt of their printed books. And I gotta tell ya, it’s not a thing reserved for first-time authors. The exhilaration of unpacking such a shipment runs just as high for the second book as it did for the first.

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Four books, two reviews: Must-get reads for grands

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Four books, two reviews: Must-get reads for grands

I recently shared reviews of some super story books on Instagram and Facebook that I’d be remiss if I didn’t share on my blog as well. These books are that good (I thought my reviews turned out fairly well, too, the first in large part due to adorable Benjamin).

Take a look:

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Sharing scary stories!

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Sharing scary stories!

Sharing scary stories!

I’ve been blogging for more than 10 years now and have seen a lot of changes in what works and what doesn’t for the medium. One thing I’ve noticed lately, perhaps you have too, is that it seems like more content is being shared beyond blogs than on the actual blogs. Meaning, social media channels have become the primary place for posting, blogs secondary. Which is the opposite of the earlier days of blogging…

Plus…

GRAND Social No. 364 link party for grandparents

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Global Hug Your (grand)Kids Day!

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Global Hug Your (grand)Kids Day!

Global Hug Your (grand)Kids Day!

Today is the third Monday of July which means, of course, that it's Global Hug Your Kids Day!

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Social media success: Cast iron skillet pizza

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Social media success: Cast iron skillet pizza

Sunday dinners at my place usually feature food of a relatively traditional sort. Not massive spreads, by any means, but certainly not pizza.

Usually.

This past Sunday Jim and I were busy all day (messing around on Ancestry.com, I confess) and by the time dinner needed fixin' I didn't feel like fixing it. Yet we've resolved to cut down on our dining — and ordering — out, which meant I had to come up with something on which we could sup.

So I turned to a relatively new addition to my...

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Friday briefs: Squash, cinnamon rolls, and Instagram weirdos

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SQUASH
Many successful gardeners — my daughter Brianna included — recently began seeing the bountiful fruits (and veggies) of their spring and summer labors, picking, pulling and happily harvesting this and that from their yards.

I'm not a successful gardener. I am, though, happily awaiting the right size and right time to pull and prepare the two — count 'em, two! — squash I did manage to grow in my woebegone garden of sorts.

zucchini and summer squash

Woot! I'm celebrating the wee bit of success for this black-thumbed gardener wannabe. (Truth be told: I'm pretty sure they grew only because Brianna started them for me at her house then passed along pots with the babies for me to plant and finish the job.)

 

CINNAMON ROLLS

It has never resonated with me when friends (and strangers and social media connections) mention eating entire containers of ice cream or cookies or bags and boxes of chocolates all on their own, being literally unable to stop themselves. Because I'm not all that in love with sweets. I've never really gotten...

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Snow, buds, and the truth about #SpringtimeInTheRockies

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If you've been on social media a bit lately, you've likely come across the hashtag #SpringtimeInTheRockies here or there. If you live someplace other than the Rocky Mountain region, the hashtag may have conjured romantic visions of some sort or another.

For residents of the Rockies, the hashtag reads #ThatCrazyPsychoBullshitOfSpringtimeInTheRockies, the italicized part an unwritten given for those who know what springtime in the Rockies truly entails.

To wit:

I live in Colorado Springs, Colorado — the Rockies. On Saturday we had snow (which I shared on Facebook):

On Monday, there was sunshine and...

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Twitter titters

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Twitter has been shrouded by a black cloud of sorts the past couple years thanks to it being the primary place our president spreads his hate policies and ponderings. And a top spot for reactions to Trump in general and his terrifying tweets in particular. As well as plenty of news — fake or factual — related to that never-ending nastiness bouncing about hither and yon.

Despite political pap dominating Twitter of late and me being the very least publicly political person I know, I still peruse and post on that particular social network nearly every day. Because there's other stuff there. Inspirational, informational, educational stuff I might miss if I didn't stop by.

And stuff like the following. Which started my yesterday with a smile because it's just so darn cleverly adorable. So much so that I was compelled to share there by retweeting and here by capturing screen shots of the sweet silliness. (Okay, and I shared on my personal Facebook page yesterday, too.)

The tweet* that made me titter:

tweet from People's Daily, China

Accompanied by these...

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Wherein Facebook eases Grandma's eyes

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I haven't seen my grandsons in two months and nine days, give or take an hour or two.

I miss the goofballs, to say the least.

With no visits currently on the calendar — neither them to my place nor me to theirs — a social media share such as this one that Megan posted yesterday on Facebook is a...

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11 men I'd love to hug other than my husband

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As many of you know, about a year and a half ago I was called out of the audience at a national conference by none other than movie star Andy Garcia. He invited me to the front of the stage, in front of hundreds of conference attendees, so he could simply give me a hug. (If you missed that story—or just want to giggle about it again—you can read "On Andy Garcia and me" here.)

Now, when I met (and hugged) Mr. Garcia, I was shocked, surprised, delighted! I never, ever expected such a thing might come of my writing in a movie review of Garcia's latest film that I'd love to give the guy a hug. So if that is all it takes to get a hug from a man I admire—simply putting it down in writing for all the Internet to see—here are eleven other men I'd love to hug...and why:

men to hug

David Sedaris. He doesn't seem the hugging type, so Mr. Sedaris would likely...

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