High: I’m so glad I chose Leicester for my A to Z. It’s reinforced my love of the City.
Low: Mum died halfway through the month. I still expect her to ring me, still go to ring her when something happens. There’s a big gap in my life.
High: I’m pleased with my decision to restrict my A to Z blogs to 40 words. If I’m really honest [and I know you expect nothing less!] when I’m visiting other blogs I often skip the really long ones.
Low: I’ve had very little time to write my regular chatty blogs. I’ve missed my penned outpourings but they will return... soon!
High: I’ve invented a new word. Quadragintal now means a blog of exactly 40 words. I may even put it onto Wikipedia [or should that be Wiktionary? I will investigate.] J
Oh, your mother passed away. My condolences. My mother died at age 97 in 2003. And now my younger sister has passed, a year ago, and then my younger brother almost two months ago. Seems weird being left as I'm the oldest.
ReplyDeleteThen, we do what you're doing. Keep going. Write on the gray days and the sunny days. And do what we have to do in life.
And I skip the really long blog posts too, unless it's one that's incredibly compelling.
BTW, I love the picture of you--you're lovely--that you've posted, sitting at your writing desk with pen in hand. I used to write longhand (this was before computers), but am glad now for computers. My aging hands appreciate them very much!
I hope you're having a sunny Sunday.
Ann Best, Memoir Author
Have only just found your A-Z blog, but wish I'd found it sooner. What a great idea to chose your home city as your blog topic - I was hopig you might mention Richard III and Bow Bridge though! But at least you've given me an idea for next year!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on completing the Challenge, and many condolences on the loss of your mother.
Congrats on completing the A-Z Challenge though it must have been extraordinarily difficult with your loss of your Mum. I love the word you invented and you never know it may eventually establish itself... xx xx
ReplyDeleteI started skipping really long posts too (gulp) It was a great challenge! and I'm glad to have found your blog. Once again so sorry about your mother
ReplyDeleteI'm glad the highs outnumbered the lows.
ReplyDeleteIt'll take some time to fully get over the loss of your mother. I've lost two of my granddads and a grandmother during my lifetime and it is upsetting. My thoughts and prayers will be directed to you and your family.
Love the new word you invented :)
Duncan In Kuantan
I'm so sorry about your Mom. My own Mom passed away on 3/31 and I thought about skipping the A to Z challenge but then decided it could be a good distraction.It was. Love your word - very creative. I differ with you on the post length issue though, after a few days into the challenge, I ended up reading posts that were truly interesting, regardless of length, rather than those that were simply short. SOmetimes the short ones were creative, but other times they were just...short.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry for your loss. My thoughts are with you.
ReplyDelete~~~
My post's got a lengthy but I hoped that since they were broken into sections, people would just read the parts that most interested them.
I'm sorry to learn about your mother passing earlier in the month and hope that you make it through this time surrounded by love and comfort.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on finishing the challenge. I was not able to get around to your blog and am glad I did today for the reflections post.
My blog is probably among those that you would have skipped, then, lol because I tend to write long posts.
I like the way that you chose to blog and especially enjoyed reading your reflections post because it was crisp, short and straight to the point. This is a nice blogging style that you have.
The Madlab Post
I enjoy dropping by your blog Ros, and I recall when you decided to set it up, and how you said you were enjoying it.
ReplyDeleteLong may that continue.
Maria
Oh, Rosalind, I am so sorry. You & your mum were so close. You've had such a rough time lately. I'm so glad you were able to find her a nice place for her last while with you. And she'll be so proud of what you've done for other patients. My deepest condolences. Take care of each other. *hugs*
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to read of the loss of your mother. I don't really have any further words. That loss must be huge. Please take care.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a bit high and low for me too. High, I'm almost there with my latest novel, we are still tweaking and polishing, but it is shinning beaurifully.
ReplyDeleteLows, I've missed your cheery Blogs (excluding your A-Z) and twitters. Take care Ros, sending rainbows and fluffy hugs xx
The loss of a mother does leave such emptiness in our lives. Again my heartfelt sympathy for your loss.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit, I did the same if the post was too long...I moved on. I didn't do as well as you though. My posts rambled into the 200 word range.
Hi Rosalind, thanks for coming by my blog. Losing a mother is just different from everything else, isn't it? It's a time to take good care of yourself. Regarding the children's stories - yes, technology can definitely change a story if its set in current times - especially a mystery type story! The story I'm re-writing is about fairies, so they won't have that problem! It's a sweet story, but I still don't know if it has any market potentail. Guess we'll have to see when I'm done! Hoping you'll do kind things for yourself, and drop by my blog for a cup of tea now and then! Sending you hugs.
ReplyDeleteHi Rosiland,
ReplyDeleteFirst let me say how sorry I am for your loss. I lost my mother thirteen years ago and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of her.
I love that you did 40 word posts. I wish I had the chance to read some of them. The challenge was so time consuming for me. My posts were flash fiction with a twist or riddle. They took me almost four ours a day with the extensive research involved.
I wish I had more time to hop around.....
I am so very sorry for your loss.
ReplyDeleteI'm very sorry for your loss. Hopefully, your writing will be of some comfort in the very long healing process. Julie
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry for your loss.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed learning about Leicester through your blog, this was always one of my favorite stops on the Challenge. Take care!
I'm so sorry for your loss.
ReplyDeleteI skipped many longer posts, too--although I tried to skim those that I could without taking up too much time.
YOU'RE the one who blogged about Leicester for A to Z. I've read about you, blast if I know where at the moment but I just stopped by to say hi as I travel through the Reflections.
ReplyDeleteCongrats for finishing the challenge.
I am so sorry to hear of your mum's passing. It's never easy to lose a loved one but kudos to you for perservering through this challenge despite that low. ...bet she taught you that ;)
Cheers and so very nice to meet you :)
I'm trying to make my way through the Reflections posts, and I'm loving them. I entered one blog and wrote drabbles for the month (100 words) which was fun. the other blog was probably one of the long ones you skipped, but there was method in my madness as my aim was for it to be a resource for targets of workplace bullying. http://traverselife.blogspot.com/2011/05/z-blogging-challenge-reflections.html
ReplyDeleteSorry about that, I got distracted by an extremely loud noise outside and didn't mean to click "post comment". I still miss my mum and dad daily 10 years after their passing, be kind to yourself, it's a tough time. But boy, congratulations on completing the challenge - you're amazing. I look forward to dropping back later on when I have time to catch up with your writing. Sue
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about the loss of you mother. I lost my dad 20 years ago, but my mother is still hanging in there and I try to talk to her a few times each week. I'll be going to visit her next week--she lives about 3000 miles away so I don't get to see her often.
ReplyDeleteThe Quadrigintals were a great idea for the Challenge. Some of the long posts are difficult when you're trying to visit a lot of blogs. Hope you get the word recognized and get credit for it. That would be rather cool.
Thanks for being such a vibrant part of the A to Z Challenge. You helped make it better.
Lee
Tossing It Out
Hi Ros .. caught up with you at last .. for a period of my life I lived with my father at Market Harborough .. didn't really go north .. but it's in your neck of the woods: & I must get back and read your posts.
ReplyDeleteLong posts with no paragraphs, or long ones of those I can't take either .. I really struggle ..
My mother is in the 5th year of being stroked and bed-ridden .. but she can still talk when she feels like it .. so there's still input - but I wait .. and give her what I can in the circumstances. I am really sorry that she has gone .. but perhaps the A - Z Challenge gave you something else to think about ..
I love your word too - Quadringintals .. sounds like a definite that many of us will easily adapt to ..
Look after yourself, rest, be at peace and sent with a hug from Eastbourne now - Hilary
Hi hon, I'm afraid I was away when your mother passed and I missed the news at the time. I'm so terribly sorry for your loss. Thinking of you.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear of your mum's passing. Please accept my prayers and condolences.
ReplyDeleteI love your new word! I'm so totally stealing it. I'm a self-professed word nerd and didn't have one handy for 40 word posts. I'm going to have to come back and read some of those...might learn something useful since my posts are rarely under 500 words, except for my attempts at poetry. This might interest you: Shannon @ The Warrior Muse and I are joining forces in another challenge. We're going to visit and comment at each of the participants, starting with the reflections post. We hope you'll join us!
Tina @ Life is Good