10 Years

I started this blog on July 20, 2005. Things...weren't good. Which is part of why I started this blog.

By July the following year, I was living in Worcester, Nemeria had gotten married, I had met someone worth chatting with, and Crow's ex had died. All of those things were an adjustment, apparently.

July 20, 2007 was a double post day. A scary thought and the return of a friend.

By 2008, I was writing books full-time ~ and coming out of crunch time.

July 20, 2009, Pauline had a guest post. It was very exciting (I obviously didn't erase the link, either {and no, it's no longer live}).

Yet in 2010, living up in Alaska, I totally revamped the 3rd novel.

Come 2011, we had left Alaska and signed a lease in New Orleans.

And oh, in 2012, the noir-ish romance of the city was still with us.

In 2013, I reconnected with Starbuck, my badass Starbuck.

Then it was sad in 2014, as I learned the ugly side of being able to find just about anybody online, and learned my suitor from when we were young had died.

And now... Ten years, people. God, you've seen me through so much. From really not good to better than I ever could have secretly dreamed of, let alone believed possible.

Here's the thing ~ the thought of shutting Pobble Thoughts down completely makes me sad. Just the other day, Lithus and I needed to remember a date, so I looked it up here. It's a record of my world like no other.

But. But I'm not writing nearly as much as I used to and ~ and here's the kicker ~ I don't miss it. Oh, when I'm in the shower, I compose a post every now and then. Or something will happen and I'll think "that will make a great blog!" But I don't get back here to write it, and find that's okay with me.

And I can't bring myself to let it become another one of those blogs that just...stops. Where the person simply doesn't come back.

Yet the thought of shutting it down makes me sad... What's a Pobble to do?

I've decided that, here in a few days, I'm going to turn off my comments; no one leaves them any longer anyway. If you've been lurking, drop me a line to say goodbye. I'd love that.

And I'll turn off my stat counter, too, because in the 9 3/4 years since I first got readers, I have yet to have a day when no one stopped by, and I can't bear to see that day come.

Maybe I'll write again. Maybe this will be the catalyst that brings this blog back full force. Maybe I'll revisit during the holiday. Maybe I'll post occasionally for myself. Or maybe this is the last one. It's been ten years, after all.

I'm home again. I am loved and I love ~ both beyond word and measure. I have a job that pays better than any I've ever held before, and I can do it in my pajamas. Even things with my biofamily are the best they have ever been. I'm healthy, happy, and deliciously well.

Thank you for being here through it all.

I think maybe it's time to go do something else now.




Those, my dear friends, are Pobble Thoughts. That and a buck fifty will get you coffee. As always.

NOW I'm Back

I've spent an afternoon with Muppet and his Peaches. Another with Cam and Mrs. Pike. Dinner with the FE is on the calendar, and an evening with the Blackbelts is in the works. We even have a key to Dr. B's place.

I'm home wherever Lithus is. But I can settle back in and believe I live in New England again now that these people are back in my regular life.

And it's good to be back.

Those are Pobble Thoughts. That and a buck fifty will get you coffee.

Fine Tooth Comb

Want to feel weird? Go over your spending habits with a fine tooth comb. Actually, have someone else do it.

Over the weekend, we had both of our debit cards and one of Lithus' credit cards declined because we triggered security alerts. We had plenty of cash in the bank account, plenty of room on the credit card, but.

So on July 3rd, we sat out in the parking lot of the farmers' market and had the following conversation:

Them: "The account has been accessed at three separate farmers' markets."
Us: "Yes."
Them: "Three, really?"
Us: "Yep. We like our U-pick farms up here in Massachusetts."
Them: "And Alaska Airlines, and Delta Airlines, both yesterday,"
Us: "Yep."
Them: "From different cities."
Us; "Yes, he came from Fairbanks, she came from Medford."
Them: "Yeah...that's what our records show."
Us: "As well they should."
Them: "Okay, thank you very much. We've released your account."

Then July 5th, in a Home Depot parking lot:

Them: "Did you just buy (these appliances) in Rhode Island?"
Us: "We did!"
Them: "Just to confirm (this, and this, and this, and this)?"
Us: "That's correct."
Them: "Okay, thank you very much, We've released your account."

Both customer service reps were professional, respectful, and polite. They didn't make us feel weird for our farmers' market habits or needing three small appliances and one large one, or even traveling on two separate airlines from different states. 

It was, however, weird to look that closely. Kind of like looking in one's pantry or medicine cabinet and wondering what other people would consider "normal" and if having seven bags of 3 different kinds of coffee would make you unusual.

And why did those trigger security alerts when other purchases ~ like a freaking car ~ didn't? Who knows. Not us, and not the nice people on the other end of the phone.

Honestly, I'd rather have them catch something legitimate than let something illicit slide, so I'm even okay with it. But the fine tooth comb was...interesting...to say the least.

Those are Pobble Thoughts. That and a buck fifty will get you coffee.

4th of July PSA

This one's easy, folks. Don't set shit on fire. Someone I love, someone you love, is a first responder.

Whatever you need to cook, grill, blow up, sparkle ~ I don't care. Go for it. Enjoy it. We, too, will be cooking, grilling, and sparkling (we leave the blowing up for the city). Just dear lord, people, do it safely. Don't set shit on fire.

It's really not that hard....

Those are Pobble Thoughts. That and a buck fifty will get you coffee.