March is for Kite Flying Fun!
March 1st, was one of my favorite days as a child, it meant spring was right around the corner with warmer days. Traditionally, March is a windy month, perfect for flying Kites. Cutting the diamond shapes 
out of colorful construction paper, adding yarn tails was also part of the fun. We taped the kites to the classroom windows making our environment brighter.
Funny how those nostalgic memories stay with you. This morning I woke up with the wind whistling around the house and an urge to cut out kite shapes and adhere them to the windows of my home.
A kite is traditionally a tethered heavier-than-air craft with wing surfaces catch the wind to create life and drag. The flying creation consists of winds, 
tethers, pulleys, and anchors. In other words, you attach your string to the bridle of your kite and run like the devil until it catches a gust, release it and you watch it bounce, dance and tug on the air currents, higher and higher until it becomes a tiny speck in the bright blue spring sky. Or it takes a nose dive into the ground. Hopefully doesn’t happen to often.
As children we also made kites out of newspapers and tore up rags to make tails those flew pretty good. Nothing compared to the kites now days.
I’m still enamored with kites and own a box kite, dragon kite, a couple stunt kites. March is the month to fly them. Well, mostly. I have to admit that I’ve lost or crashed a couple kites due to strong wind gusts or stronger sustained 
winds of over 30 mph. No, it wasn’t blowing like that when I started, but the kite was high in the sky, the wind picked up snapping the line, and the kite was never seen again. I’ve also had a baffle kite pick me off my feet and transport me across the field or park I was flying it in. Dangers of flying a kite in Colorado! LOL
Do you fly kites? Tell me about your experience in the comments. Looking to purchase a kite click here. Happy flying!
Next week, Where did the saying “In like a lion out like a lamb” and other weather related sayings. Don’t miss it!
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Posted in My Say What Blog by Tena Stetler with comments disabled.
Death Clean – A Warning For Everyone!
Boy do I have a tale to tell. Death Clean is a phrase that may not be familiar to you. First the sad part, a loved one passed away the end of January. His journey was a tough one, a few months ago his cancer returned 
with a vengeance! So at least now he is in a better place, pain-free where he can look down on the love of his life for over 60 years. She won’t miss him as she has Alzheimer’s and it broke his heart when he was living. Cancer may have been the cause of death, but we know he died of a broken heart having to put her in a memory care facility for her own protection and best interests. Alzheimers is an insidious disease.
That being said, I want to bring your attention to what may be a jarring phrase to many of you, “death cleaning.” It’s about getting rid of excess rather than leaving the situation for your heirs to sort out. I want to apply this to homes, vehicles, as well as, finances. Searching through mounds of paperwork, clothing, a lifetime of knick-nacks, and treasured keepsakes is not a fun task, especially when you have only a limited time and budget. A lost vehicle title, keys to a safe deposit box, missing deed to a home make the necessary decisions tough at a time when your heart is just not in it. Make it easier on everyone.
Death clean your possessions. Throw out what you don’t need. A life time of stuff is difficult for someone else to deal with, not to mention dispose of.
Death Clean your finances. Organizing and simplifying our financial lives can make things easier for us while we’re alive and lessen the burden for our survivors when we’re not. Believe me hunting for accounts, whether bank accounts or credit cards is an arduous task, to say the least, when you are not familiar with the town or the individual’s day to day routine or habits. Without the proper paperwork allowing access, expensive attorney fees can be accrued as you try to settle an estate. Don’t put your loved one’s through this.
Consolidate accounts. It’s easier to monitor for suspicious transactions and overlapping investments, plus it could save you money as you age. When you are no longer on this earth, it’s much easier for heirs to collect and close out accounts without fear of having some hanging out there ripe for fraud after your death.
Automatic payments – lapses in memory can lead to missed payments, late fees and credit score damage when you are alive. It’s so much easier for your heirs to follow your financial trail, ensuring that things like real estate taxes, utilities, and credit cards are current. Having a list of these items also makes it easier to shut down accounts.
Set up a watchdog (trusted person). Identify whom you want making decisions for you if you’re incapacitated or upon your death. Keep it up dated. This way should circumstances change, necessary adjustments can be made prior to it becoming an urgent matter. Verify the information that you are giving that person is correct.
I can’t emphasize enough the importance of having an “in case of emergency” file and letting your trusted person know where this is located. Included in this file should
be:
Your will or living trust,
Medical directives, powers of attorney, living wills,
Birth, death and marriage certificates,
Military records,
Social Security cards,
Car titles, property deeds and other ownership papers,
Insurance policies,
List of your financial accounts, and
Information where to find your attorney, tax pro, financial adviser and insurance agent.
Warning: keeping these items in a safe deposit box may not be the best course of action. Your trusted person may need access to these documents outside of bank hours or may have trouble accessing the box at first. An alternative is a fireproof safe or locking file cabinet. Make sure to share with your trusted person the combination or key.
I hope this post is helpful and saves others from going through what my family has experienced. If you have additional suggestions, please feel free to comment!
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Posted in My Say What Blog and tagged Alzheimers, death, Death Clean, estate, financial, incapacitated, trusts, Warning by Tena Stetler with 3 comments.
Make Today So Awesome Yesterday Gets Jealous!
Today, one hopes that with age comes wisdom, maybe a gentler nature and understanding. This year my Mantra is Stay Positive, Believe in Yourself and Stay Motivated. A lot of people seem to be headed in the same direction, which to my thinking is a good thing!
A facebook post by Jacqueline Jayne, really hit home. I copied part of it and thought I’d save it, but alas, I am unable to find the original post which went something like this. To all my female friends of “age”…
Most of us are going through the next stage of our lives. We are at that age where we see the wrinkles, gray hair, extra pounds. We see the pretty 25-year-olds and sigh. But we were once 25 too, just like they will one day be our age. What they bring to the table with their youth and zest for life, we bring with our wisdom, experience and good hearts. For all we’ve been through earning each gray hair… raising kids, bills and ills and whatever else life brought you/us over the 30s, 40’s, 50’s, we are survivors… we are warriors… we are women. We’re like a classic car or fine wine — while our exterior may not be what it once was, it is traded for our spirit, our courage, and our strength to enter this chapter of our lives with grace and pride for all we’ve been through, accomplished and yet to accomplish!
Never feel bad about aging. It is a privilege denied to many. We are still here, we can make a difference.
I say way to go girl!
Today be Positive – First off, I gotta quit reading and watching the news. LOL Next, I can’t let negative thought or feelings drain my energy. Finally, it’s better to focus on all the good in my life, letting it guild my thoughts, feelings and words. In my thinking, if we all do our best to banish negativity to the outer edges of the universe, that should leave more room in the world for positivity. Don’t you think?
Today Believe in Yourself – Dare to Dream! These three words are written on the top of my pink laptop computer. This is why I am where I am today. I didn’t give up, rose to the challenge to become a published author. In this industry or just about any industry, it’s tough to maintain belief in yourself, especially when some are intent in tearing you down, but I’m determined to do it. How about you?
Today Stay Motivated. This was never a problem for me. I am a determined, motivated person with a very competitive spirit. Recently, I discovered that it’s all well and good, IF you don’t let it turn negative when you don’t get what you were after. Learn to roll with the punches, get up dust yourself off and say “I did my best” and be happy about it. This is my challenge. What is yours?
Remember you really only have three choices in life: Give up, give in, or give it all you got! I’m going to give it all I got. What will you do?
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Posted in My Say What Blog and tagged Believe in Yourself, Stay Motivated, Stay Positive by Tena Stetler with 3 comments.
New Year’s Resolutions – Make Them or Not?
Happy New Year!! New Year Resolutions?
Now there’s a dilemma. In 2017 I made what I thought was attainable resolutions, as I normally do. However, toward the end of the year due to a family member’s unexpected ongoing illness, making those goals was tough. I barely made my 50,000 words in November for Novel Writing Month. NaNoWriMo. I did muddle through making my word counts, deadlines and projects as planned, but it was tough.
I guess I’ve been lucky in that I am a planner and the plans I set in stone happen as expected. Toward the end of 2017, for the first time, I learned that setting long term plans and goals can be fraught with problems. Life throws curve balls that you cannot imagine until it happens.
Ever the optimist, I did make reservations for 2018 camping trips, with the knowledge that cancelling them is a possibility. The alternative of no camping reservations is unthinkable.
I have discovered that I don’t work well with the unknown. I like to have it nailed down and know where I’m going and how I’m going to get there. Which is probably why I’ve usually created my new year’s resolutions with an eye to my plans for the entire new year. Yeah, going to back that off a bit.
So here it goes. My 2018 resolutions:
Write 5,000 to 7,000 words each week.
Finish the edits for fourth book in A Demon’s Witch Series in time for a springtime release.
Finish the fifth book in A Demon’s Witch Series and the complete the sequel to Charm Me.
Finish a rough draft of my romantic suspense – book one. There will be three books in this series.
Take more time for myself and my companion animals. I did pretty good on that goal last year, but going to do better this year.
Read and enjoy more books than last year.
Think before I blurt out statements that are better left unsaid, making me a kinder, gentler person.
Clean out the closets and give away the clothes we don’t wear anymore. It’s time. LOL
Spend more time actually talking to people rather than letting my fingers do the talking. (More verbal communication and less electronic) LOL
Exercise more! This is a tough one for me that’s why I’m not setting a specific goal trying for 3 times a week.
How about you? What resolutions will you make for 2018? Did you make your 2017 goals? Or if you don’t make resolutions, why not. Leave your answers in the comments, please. Welcome to 2018, what I wild ride it may be!
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Posted in My Say What Blog and tagged 2018 goals, Authors, Long Term Goals, New Year, Resolutions, Word Count, writing by Tena Stetler with 4 comments.
