A Novel Creation www.WatersWords.com

We have certainly “turned the corner.” We can   begin   to meet   with others who are vaccinated . With warm weather providing a backdrop for outdoor gatherings, it’s time to get together with family and friends. It’s time to put our hospitality hats on and take our masks off to share a meal.     We may still observe a bit of social distancing, but we can still gather.    Eat. Talk. Laugh.   A couple of weeks ago I posted a  breakfast  menu to wow your guests, be kind to your wallet, and give you the time to enjoy your company. I’ve always been a fan of the simple life. If you missed the “breakfast pizza” post,  CLICK HERE .     The next week I offered an “easy-peasy” lunch menu. Both were intended to be simple and fun and appealing to the eye as well as the taste buds. To find the lunch menu post,  CLICK HERE .   That brings us to this week. For the dinner menu I considered a grilling out menu, a pasta dish or o...

  So What’s For Lunch?   Last week I proposed we are entering a time when we can start thinking about entertaining once again. It may be outside or we may able to share a meal in our dining room with a small group of family or friends who have been vaccinated.    Personally, I miss having people over for a meal. Any meal. I shared a popular, no fuss menu last week for breakfast. This week I am sharing an even easier to prep lunch menu. I don’t want to spend all my time in the kitchen. I want to spend time with my guests. Again, I’m including an  appetizer, main course, and dessert .    Lunch Appetizer:  Veggies   Choose the veggies you like. I chose carrots and celery drizzled with ranch dressing. I served them in individual small cups. I bought a bag of baby carrots and a bag of celery. Of course, you can purchase the celery already cut into small pieces, but cleaning and cutting it is no big deal.   Don’t like carrots and celery? How a...

I enjoy having people in my home for a meal, a visit, and perhaps a game. I know many who like to entertain, but feel it is simply too much work. I get it. As a young bride I found having people over to be overflowing with stress. That was before I learned the secret.    I wrote a story that appeared in two editions of  Chicken Soup for the Soul    called “The Secret to Being a Good Hostess.” The latest  is in the Magic of Moms. It featured wise words my mother once gave me.    “Treat your family like company and your company like family.”   As more of my family and friends are getting the COVID vaccine and the weather is warming where we can gather outside, I decided to share some of my favorite easy meals for entertaining. Each has an  appetizer, a main course, and a dessert . We’re starting with breakfast.   The focus is on simple, fun, relaxing, entertaining, and affordable. Ready?   Appetizer:  Our breakfast appe...

  What a difference a year makes.    This time last year, we were all getting our sea legs so to speak, as we navigated the uncertain waters of quarantine. My oldest daughter delivered my groceries and I washed every item before putting it away. I wore gloves and scoured each and every surface with disinfectant.    We hadn’t learned the language of COVID-19 yet nor the protocols. We were learning as we lived through it. We made masks out of anything and everything. I even tried the “sock” mask before breaking out the sewing machine and stitching masks for myself as well as my family.    We muddled through. Remember? Rumors about the whole thing ending when the weather warmed gave us hope. Then growing numbers of those infected and the many succumbing to the virus dashed those ideas.    I don’t need to relive it. We were there.    And now we are here.    Easter 2020, my youngest daughter hid eggs in my backyard for her own ...

Here we are a quarter of the year behind us. I’ve spent most of that time (11 weeks to be exact) addressing our thinking. I looked at how we can improve our brainpower and how the way we think about ourselves is shaped by everything from the movies we watch to the music we enjoy.   But that first week of 2021, I encouraged my readers to choose a word for the year. It’s time to check in.    I chose the word “BE.” I described it as “small,” “inconsequential,” and “weak.”   I was wrong. I don’t have all the answers yet and I’m certain I will learn more as the year progresses, but any word that can give you a true and abiding sense of peace is anything but weak, and certainly not one to describe as inconsequential.    I revisited my word on a recent trip to the grocery. I stopped at the bank first. The screen at the drive through advertised a number of services the bank offered. Then a screen came up with the “word of the day.” The word was “idyllic.” It was po...

  Music. We connect events and emotions to music. Music signals us to sing, stand, dance, cheer, or cry. Music is probably the most lasting of influences in our lives.     We learn through music. We remember words set to catchy tunes. No? You’re thinking you’re one of those who can’t remember the words of songs. Maybe. But you remember the tune. And consider this one: the Alphabet Song. I still hear people zip their way through that song when looking something up in the dictionary. Phooey, I’ve done it. (Even though as a child, I thought “elemeno” was a letter.)   Music is a power tool for the brain.   My maternal grandmother loved what we often refer to as “the old hymns.” She would sing them as she cooked or quilted. She sang them as she worked the garden and while she milked the cow. As Grandma aged, dementia began slowly creeping into her mind. The disease was taking over, bit by bit. Grandma would sit on the sidelines of life in her silent, isolated world....

  When we first retired, my husband and I bought a small truck camper. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law had a very nice fifth-wheel camper fitted with all the luxuries of home. We enjoyed a few camping trips together. I treasure those memories.     Once, while we were camping, my great nephew, Kyle, came with us. He wasn’t yet four-years-old and loved to travel with his grandma and grandpa. Kyle was curious about the camper piggybacked on the back of our pickup truck. I took him inside to see the tiny sink and stove, the table that could make a small bed, and the larger bed situated above the cab of the truck.   Kyle took it all in, studying every corner. Finally, he looked up at me with those big eyes and asked, “Uncle Becky, where’s your television?”    It isn’t the fact he called me Uncle Becky that surprised me. He always called me Uncle Becky. What I find interesting is that the one thing he noticed was what was  not  there. A television....