Times are different. Covid to start, but even more so with the times we live in.

Do you remember a time when you would walk to a neighbor’s house, knock on the door just to say hello, maybe even stay for a cup of coffee or tea? If you’re under a certain age, you’re probably thinking, ‘no, I can’t even imagine!’. And you’d be right.

There was a time, way back when, when people would stop by a neighbor’s house just for a cuppa and a chat. I remember when I was a kid and I would go to my grandmother’s house in Brooklyn and if I couldn’t find her, she’d be down the street at AL’s house. They didn’t make plans, it just worked out that way, they’d be hanging out having a cup of something and usually playing cards.

When I lived in my last neighborhood in GA, the one I lived in when you and I started talking, it was that kind of neighborhood. We could walk to each other’s homes without calling first, just to say hello. I remember when it all started…I went on a cruise with some neighbors. We spent 7 days together, eating, drinking, shopping, exploring, touring. Well, they were drinking, I was the ASP, Always Sober Person. I had to know everyone’s cabin number and when the ship was sailing. I enjoyed the responsibility, it was fun and they were funny, win-win.

Same thing when I take a trip with my family. We spend 7-10 days together and then we go our separate ways. What? All that time spent together and now I wake up and no breakfast with my nieces? No lunch with my sister? No dinner with my dad? No more exploring with ACS, LaLa, not fair!

So…what to do? FaceTime? Zoom? Skype? All great options, but not the same. Also…when I took the cruise with my neighbors, there was no Zoom! So, with the family, great options, but with the neighbors, greater option…walk down the street and pop in for a chat and a cuppa.

Well, times being what they are…not so much dropping by. People can’t really invite you in or they won’t, which is completely understandable. We have to let someone know we’re coming and wave from the street. Or you don’t let them know you’re coming and leave something on the porch. Ring the bell and step back? Ring the bell and run away? If it’s a surprise anyway, but…with times being what they are…do you want that kind of surpirse?

These days, gatherings are a little different. We make a date to meet and then hang out in the driveway! If you know the people, maybe the backyard. What’s funny is that we’ve been doing that unintentionally for years! You happen to be outside watching your kids playing and a neighbor comes walking by or comes home from wherever, gets out of the car and walks over to your house. My sister’s neighborhood is like that, they make dates to hang in the front yard or in the driveway.

For Halloween, our neighbor invited us to sit in the driveway, socially distant of course, around a metal fire pit, roast marshmallows, have a bowl of chili and chill. It was a lot of fun! Tonight, a co-worker of PSM’s invited us over so the wives, me being one of them, could meet. They have two small kids, so the kids were playing in the yard, we set up our foldable/portable chairs, brought out the drinks, and stood around and talked for a few hours. The sun started to dip down and it was time for the kids to get some grub.

It was fun. Got to meet some new people, chat, compare stories, and…they actually met on O’ahu when she was in grad school and he was there working for the same company PSM works for. Actually, he had the job PSM took in Hawai’i, before PSM had it. That was the really fun part, talking about O’ahu and someone, or two someone’s, know exactly where you’re talking about! Especially the stuff locals know about, you know, daily life in a city. And…not being from there, working on pronouncing the places we went and saw.

This seems to becoming the new norm, it’s not so bad, we still get to socialize a little, just a little farther apart from each other than normal. We value the relationships we have and that we’re building. I wish there was an easy way for me to do that with my family and friends back in NY and GA.

When things open back up, who knows, I may be knocking on your door for a chat and a cuppa. Ooh, maybe even inside the house! Oh my!

I know, I know, it’s December 21st, duh, it’s almost Christmas JJ. Thank you very little Captain Obvious! HA HA.

It’s chilly here in Missouri, not freezing like some parts of the country, but cold, and slightly confusing at times, 21 degrees in the morning, then 50, even 70, in the afternoon. Huh? I remember days like that when I lived in GA, but that was the South. We’re in the middle, right? I’ve been told that where we are is the middle, but the Southern part of the state, so south middle?

We were also told there is at least one day a month, even in the winter, when we could ride our motorcycles, sounds good to me! I have to say, the weather has been pretty good, even when it’s 21 or 34, the days it’s been sunny, I am down with that, I can take cold weather, as long as it’s sunny.

Enough about the weather! One of my favorite things about the winter holidays are all the light displays people put on their homes, and even in their windows. Admittedly, I was having trouble with people putting up decorations before Thanksgiving, because traditionally, as soon as Thanksgiving is over, it’s time to get set up for Christmas. I am used to, well, not used to, but have accepted, that stores are going to put up their holiday decorations and items for sale by Halloween, sometimes sooner. Hey, it gets earlier and earlier every year, or at least it seems that way.

But…that being said, I realized why so many people were putting up their decorations early, we need that extra bit of cheer right now. 2020 has been such a crap year, not everything, but enough, that we need that extra bit of cheer [sorry for the repeat, it fit] and joy, who’s with me?! Someone even said we should leave them up until all the craziness is over and everyone is healthy and safe. I do love the look of some holiday lights, I’ll give the idea some thought.

After getting some food the other night, we took a tour around our neighborhood to check out the lights and what a sight to see. Not every house is decorated, but what there is, is cheerful and happy and makes me smile, so how bad could it be?

With that, I leave you with a wish for good cheer, joy, and happiness. Enjoy the lights!

Since when did Words with Friends become a pickup joint? So to speak.

I’ve been playing Words with Friends since the game first started, sometime in 2009. I was playing like crazy and then took a break from it. I started playing again, now Words with Friends 2, in 2017 and it was a blast.

Now, all of a sudden in the last few months, it’s become a haven of pick up artists. Now, when I say artists, I mean delusional men, and I say men because I haven’t been approached by any women…who think they’re going to get lucky trying to pick me up through a game.

I wish I had saved some of the chats, I wasn’t thinking…this was one of those times that I wanted to talk with you again, but wasn’t actively blogging, so that opportunity was lost, but I found some photos from other people online who have experienced this same thing! Go figure.

Now…I have chatted with people through Words with Friends, but I was actually friends, or family, with these people, so opening a chat and having a dialog, innocent enough. But then…I get my first invite and I didn’t think anything of it, like someone just wanting to say hello, maybe even chat about the game. It starts innocently enough. “Hi, how are you?”, then where are you from, but when they start throwing in ‘my dear’ among other things, you start to wonder. My favorites “Are you happily married with kids?” “I would like to get to know you better, how about chatting using other means?” “What do you know about What’s App?” Seriously? Does that work?

Granted, I did talk with a few of them until it got stupid. “No, thank you for the offer, but I don’t give out my number to people I don’t know or that I play games with”. “Why? I just want to get to know you better.” “We can be friends.” There were at least 2 that I thought, well, this is innocent enough, but alas…

Then the dilemma comes in…if I resign out of the match, then my standing goes down. What I started to do was ignore their messages, either by muting the chat or just not responding. Eventually, they time out or resign, doesn’t count against my stats, and that’s the point, isn’t it? Ha ha.

I started to wonder if I was alone in this. I asked my dad, he hadn’t gotten any invites on Words with Friends 2, but he has gotten invites when he plays online chess. I didn’t have anyone else to ask, so I started doing a Google search and low-n-behold…I am not alone!

Now, hooking up through an online game is not unheard of. I know people who have met their significant others, had an affair, through online gaming, but that was through the MMORPG (Multi-Media Online Role Playing Games). These are games where you spend hours upon hours gaming with people, sometimes groups of people, teams, you chat, you get to know each other, you’re strategizing how to play the game, kill things, whatever, and one thing leads to another and…I’m not saying that’s everyone. It’s also a great place for families and friends to spend time together. But this is Words with Friends?

If you want someone to play scrabble with rapid fire, back and forth, unless we’re friends and sitting next to each other, I am not the right WWF2 player for you. I make my move, then it might be a few hours or a day before I play my next move, no matter when you sent your last move, I’m not that focused. Don’t get me wrong, I really do like the game, but I’m not that competitive. Well…that’s not entirely true, ha ha. I love to win and I’m frustrated when I lose, but I’m not going to sit and wait for you to make your next move, I play about three games on my phone and WWF2 is one of them, I do a round of each, then come back to it later.

Back to the topic. It’s a game and that’s all I want it to be. I’m not interested in chatting with you, I have great friends. I don’t want to know where you’re from or if you’re happily married, you should have friends to talk to about that, as do I. It’s interesting that only men are inviting me to chat and play, hmmm….the girls have better thing to do apparently.

That being said…I currently have 36 games going. That is a bit much, but I keep getting invites to play. I know, I know, “but JJ, just say no’, I could, but I don’t, that’s my own fault. Out of those 36, eight are women and only one of them has invited me to chat and she is family! I can tell a bunch are about to drop off, 6-9 days waiting for them to make a move…thanks for playing!

Bottom line, this post is not against WWF2, I am going to continue playing, I enjoy it, some of my opponents are definitely challenging, and I appreciate that. I’m against the idiots who think their invites and so-called charming ways are going to work. They can leave me alone. Just don’t mess with my stats! HA HA

Wow, it’s been a long time! Too long by some accounts.

So first, I should probably apologize. I’m sorry for being away so long. It’s been just over two years that we last spoke, way too long and oh my, I have missed you all! Not sure if you’ve missed me, but I sure have missed you!

Based on that statement, you’re asking yourself, well then, why did you stay away so long? Great question! I was enjoying sharing my nothings and everythings with you every day, I really was, but then I got on a project at work that kept me working 12-18 hour days, writing. After writing for 12-18 hours a day, I couldn’t find it in myself to write or talk to you, I failed. Over the last 2 years I’ve written so many posts in my mind, you can’t even imagine! I even started a list of posts that I could write about, but when it came down to it, I just didn’t have it in me.

But…over the last few months, I’ve really thought I wanted to get back into writing/talking with you and well, here I am. I got into another project that had me working 12-18, sometimes more, hours a day and I fell into the same pattern. Some of it was on me, but a lot of it was on the project, we had deadlines and if you knew me, you know I couldn’t just let it slide or miss the deadlines and since I don’t sleep…well, it was easy to do.

Something has changed in the last week+ that has made me take up pen and paper, well, mouse and keyboard to say hello again to you. And do you know what? I am over the moon ecstatic! My amazing husband PSM, oh, I have missed using initials to talk/tell you about people!!! bought me a new laptop to help me with something, isn’t that amazing! Many women are swayed by bling and shiny things, get me a piece of techie equipment and I’m mush! Well, that being said, be bought me this fabulous new laptop that I am using to talk to you.

So…here begins our journey…again! I blogged faithfully for about four years and 1,840 published posts! WOW! Let’s see if we can beat that! Are you with me? I sure hope so, I’ve missed you my friends!

Here’s to the next chapter!