It's That Time Again

It's time for Holidailies again, when a group of bloggers try to write an entry a day through the month of December.  This is the 17th year that this project has been running and I have participated in most of them.  Since I update daily any day, it's no stretch to try to update daily throughout December.

Holidailies draws participants from all over the world, from a variety of ages and walks of life, covering a wide range of interests. Some participants share stories about their daily life, others write in themed blogs about everything from hiking to homeschooling, from knitting to alternative lifestyles. Some write about Christmas, some about Hanukkah, and some about ways to avoid the holidays as much as possible.

I sometimes write on a Holidailies theme, but mostly I just write the kind of entry I would write anyway, discussing the highs and lows, the good and bad, the frustrations and satisfactions of our everyday life.

What I love about Holidailies is that universality and checking other bloggers each day to read their thoughts, often finding good writers I had not encountered before and I often add that blog to those that I regularly check.  I learn things from other bloggers, sometimes information I never knew, sometimes a new way at looking at things, sometimes I am inspired by the writing of a particularly talented blogger.

I am always inspired by good writing.  John Steinbeck always affected my writing when I was reading him.  Pat Conroy held my interest in a way that few other authors can do.  Erma Bombeck was my heroine and I still aspire to be a latter day Erma, but have discovered over 6,093 entries in the past 16 years that it's more difficult to be Erma than it would seem.  There are bloggers out there who inspire me the way these authors do and I look forward to finding them on the Holidailies links throughout the month.

It's traditional to post an introduction in your first Holidailies post, which is totally unnecessary for my loyal readers who are here every day, but for those who are new to Funny the World, here is a little bit about me...

I'm 73 years old, retired medical office manager working part time as theater critic for two local newspapers.  I was born and raised in San Francisco but now live in Davis, California, a university town 80 miles east of San Francisco.

Walt and I have been married 51 years.  We raised five children.  We have two lovely granddaughters and two obnoxious dogs whom I have started referring to as my "pet" peeves.  Lizzie in particular is our dishwasher's "pre-wash cycle."

My 97 year old mother has dementia and takes a lot of my time.  She lives in her own apartment in a senior facility, but I visit her almost every day and she has lots of doctors' appointments lately, though she is healthy as a horse (just this little fainting problem they are trying to identify).

I am an avid reader, though lately have not had time to read anything and I miss it very much.  I am also a TV addict and watch a lot of crime dramas (like NCIS and Criminal Minds) and dramas like Designated Survivor, Scandal, and pretty much any medical drama.  I also watch a lot of the Food Network, which has helped my cooking techniques immensely.

Walt and I have been fortunate to do quite a bit of international travel in the past several years, but I'm reluctant to leave my mother alone for too long now.  Also, the world is too unsettled right now and I'm content to stay at home for now.

I started this journal in March of 2000 and have written 6093 entries as of today.  It is very rare that I do not post an entry a day.

I write an annual Christmas letter, which I have been working on now for two days.  You'd think it would be easy, but the computer has been giving me fits.  I finally got it finished and am starting to send the link out to friends and am also posting the link here, for anyone who likes Christmas letters (I do), or who just wants more information about the family and our past year.

Looking forward to reading more good bloggers this December!