The Start of Something Good. Kickoff to 2019!

I'm back baby and I'm starting full throttle this year. 

There are enough sayings to make you believe we have the power to redeem ourselves. After all, didn't Christ rise in like three days? (Okay, maybe I shouldn't compare myself to the savior of all mankind. But you get the point.) Some redemption examples: Hit rock bottom and there's no place to go but up! Like a phoenix out of the ashes we rise! 

Whoever tagged these famous pick-me-up lines, I'm using and abusing them this year. I plan never to go back to 2018. It's done and over. Put it in the books as finished. Stuff it in a grave and bless its little soul.  

Many great things happened. I had an interview and a humorous story published in our local paper called Bravo. I was a writer for a diversity art installation that was shown at libraries all along the Fox River Valley. Two of my finished stories will be published in anthologies next year. These are personal accomplishments. My children did many great things too. But the bad...Oh vey! And I'm not even Jewish.

Depression is a MF of a beast. I'll go into it later, maybe. It's hard to admit you are not invincible. It's hard to talk about it when half the nation thinks depression is made up, or it's the blues, or you're just having a bad day. Most of it was situational. It was GO from day one until day 365. For example, this was one week: my husband was traveling, I had to find a car to buy, we were leaving for a Florida vacation that Friday, my daughter had volleyball practice, there was a school event and I had hurt my knee again. I learned to never buy a car when you're tired. The vultures (car salesmen) will prey on your fragile mind. But that's in the past, shall we move on.

I have big things planned. It's a sink or swim year, literally. And I'm not giving my life up for anyone. As my friend mentioned, it's time to FLY, First Love Yourself. Many women forget we are not dynamos. We run until we drop. We put too much value on what others think about us. In the end, 100% we are responsible for our own lives. So we need to pick ourselves up and fight.

I'll get more into what I plan to do with this blog as we troll along. For one, update it! I hope you join me. As I always mention, friend me on Facebook under Debbie Kollar. I'm also starting 365 days of tweets on Twitter starting January 1st. It'll help me to learn to get to the point, save me from depression and hopefully, make you smile. I have a good sense of humor if I do say so myself. They'll be short, inspirational and funny. Honest! (Actually, Twitter requires this, or I would probably push the word limit. I'm sneaky like that.) Here's to 2019!

Another Day Another Year: Update

It's been a few years since I did my blog. As we all know, technology has changed substantially. I primarily post on Facebook. If you like my writing and want to friend me on Facebook feel free to let me know. It's under Debbie Kollar or email me at kollardk@aol.com and put something that will attract my attention in the subject line like: FRIEND ME ON FACEBOOK.  :-)

The past several years have been both good and bad. We've lost all the original crew for our pets. It was a hard road to take.

Emmy, our dog, was the last one to die. She was 16 and had stomach cancer. The vet had said we probably should euthanize her right away. It was a painful way to go if it erupted. To us though, it seemed like she was acting normal. She wasn't ready to go. She lasted another year and boy, did we give her the best life we possibly could with treats, walks, attention and love.

The day after Christmas, it was time and we made the hard decision to euthanize her. She was starting to not know her surroundings. The vet said he had no idea how she had lasted a year based on how big her tumor had grown except that she was waiting for us to be ready. I believe it. Cats and dogs--even people--who have a death sentence with cancer or any other disease always hold out for their loved ones. Love always conquers pain.

Since then we adopted Tweedledee and Tweedledum or Tip and Oreo. My husband had a two week business trip in France and because of the anxiety of doing it all by myself over those two weeks, I decided to add on to it and the kids and I scoured the shelters to adopt two puppies. A definite surprise for my husband when he arrived home.

They are quite the workout. Oreo, a German Pointer mix male, chews on everything. He's chewed up a toy helicopter, several rolls of decorative washi tape, pencils, markers, book covers--I can't even remember everything. Tip, a Terrier mix female, is super smart and super bossy! She has a good heart but with other dogs, they better not try and mount her or that bitch goes off on them. Pardon the expression. They are a work in progress, but I've never given up on pets. That's just who I am. Besides, someone says it takes three years before they are truly out of that puppy or early dog stage.

As for writing, my short stories are now printed in several anthologies. I've also done a profile interview for our local newspaper. I worked really hard. I still need to put more work into sending stuff out to get published. I am my own worst enemy when it comes to succeeding. Not sure if I'm afraid to fail or afraid to succeed. Although I can certainly say, I've grown a ton and for the better with writing.

Our two children are 11 and 6 now. Olivia (6th grade) is in a private volleyball club. She loves volleyball and plays as a setter. She's pretty dang good too. She also loves to draw. Other than occasionally talking back (she's got that preteen phase down pat) she is a good girl. She's super smart, but more importantly, kind and caring with others.

Noah is in Kindergarten. He is as talkative as ever. He once said he didn't like sitting next to a girl on the school bus because she talked too much. He likes to be the center of attention, in a mostly unselfish way. It's his personality. I see him as a comedian, an actor or a race car driver. If he ends up with a desk job I'll be incredibly amazed. He loves to draw, too. On Facebook, he's quite the star with his antics and the stuff he says. His preschool teacher had said, "Noah has a gift for understanding sarcasm. Do you know where he got this?" I told the teacher, probably me. LOL

I guess that's it for now. An update into my world. I'm considering posting on my blog again. Not that anyone reads this, but it's therapeutic and fun. It shows my life in words. I hope everyone is well and remember, if you want to be friends on Facebook go under Debbie Kollar or kollardk@aol.com and put something noticeable in the email heading. I post funny things about life on Facebook. About my family. About me. Some inspiring, some humorous.