Another lovely Friday night Happy Hour with people I love. Harv, Betty, Marisol, Bill and Vivian. Happy is the people you're spending your hours with - happy isn't what you're having to drink.

If you read my facebook sayings today you caught my first posted photo of my dog. He loved sleeping on my husband's head. This photo was taken when he was a little pup.

Now - just think - he's grown-up enough to be my title character, "The Peanut Butter Dog" in my upcoming book. Finally, we're getting much closer to publication and lots of unexpected tricks.

We've always given our dogs their pills rolled up in spoonfuls of PNB. It has never failed to work. Try it, your dog will like it

I already know my characters from "The Perils of the Peanut Butter Kid" but now I am getting to know them through the eyes and mind of their family dog.

Funny things happen. Of course, they all seem so much bigger to me.

Do you other writers feel the same about the grown-ups who people your books?

Perils of the Peanut Butter Dog & Press Club at The Gatesworth

Another crispy cold day in St. Louis. A good day to get some writing done. Plan to work on paging my book, "The Perils of the Peanut Butter Dog and deciding where to place my illustrations. In my previous book, "Perils of the Peanut Butter Kid" my designer did this for me. So it's an exciting adventure to learn how to do something new.

I believe I will be publishing through Amazon's Create Space and hope the book will be out in 3-4 months. It is a sequel to Peanut Butter Kid. Same family. Same big peanut butter jar. But now Pappy the dog is the main character.

I'll keep you up-to-date.

I am having so much fun working with The Gatesworth's amazing Kathy Davis. Planning monthly programs featuring members of The Press Club of
Metropolitan St. Louis.

Claire Applewhite, a local mystery writer spoke at our first program. I predict a starry future for Claire. She has written 6 books that scream out to become a TV series. She writes music, too, Sorry if you missed her.

Next month, on Thursday evening, February 21 we will be celebrating Black History Month. Barbara Washington from Matthews-Dickey Boys and Girls Club will lead the program. Mark your calendar. More about this program later. ALL

I feel the flu coming on.

Like all of you I don't have time for it. My husband is trying to adjust to the loss of his roommate and friend. Sometimes you just can't be sick.

Hopefully a good night's sleep will perform it's miracles.

We are all trying to adjust to the sudden death of our friend. He has been my husband's roommate for 11 months at Extended Care.

Though the unexpected aspect is so difficult for those of us left behind, we are grateful for the ease with which he passed between worlds. He didn't suffer. He never lost the quality of his life. May all of us be so lucky as to take a nap and just not awaken.

Death can often be so brutal. His death left him with the dignity he displayed throughout his life. And that in itself is beautiful.

A Friend Dies

Just like that. He was gone. Two nights ago we all listened to music together and smiled. Then suddenly a virus appeared. A deadly virus that put him to sleep and now he is gone.

All of us were a family with partners in extended care. We knew that life was tenuous but we expected more of a warning. Of all the people there, he was the last you'd pick to die. The virus attacked and just like that he was no longer alive.

He was such a gentle man. We will all miss his elegance. His presence. His wife's presence. She is gone, too. No longer having to be there to care for him. Our chosen family just got smaller. What do we do?

Harvey was here

I love the days when Harvey visits from extended care. It's our new kind of dating. Holding hands. Watching TV. Talking about life. Petting the dog. Even now life can be so satisfying.

Peanut Butter and Getting Old are both Inspiring

Happy New Year to all you peanut butter lovers from infants to those of you enjoying the 100s. Peanut Butter always is a treat.

A new year. A new time. A time for me to keep creating. Hopefully my second children's book, The Perils of the Peanut Butter Dog will start barking its way off the bookshelves. But first? Have to get the book in print.

But so much more than print to share with all of you. So many headings in my life.

How about 37-year survival from breast cancer? I thank G-d that I am so lucky.

How about a wonderful husband now in extended care who manages to keep a beautiful smile on his face? His Parkinsons attitude keeps those of us around him filled with hope.

How about being surrounded by a board of brilliant, talented people at St. Louis  Press Club? People who care about Enterprize journalism. People who want you to know both sides of every story.Yes. There are djournalists out there who feel we need the whole story before we draw conclusions.

How about the joy of being surroundd by inspiring seniors at St. Louis' Gatesworth. So many stories to share. Upliftig people who continue to thrive intellectually and emotionally even as the years tick by

.So much to blog about.,What's your cancer story? How yjoung is old age making you? What are your special accomplishments? Share with me as I share with you.

Keep watching for my little Peanut Butter Dog called Pappy. Share his lust for the gooey, tasty stuff.

Lets take a ride through the future together.

Happy New Years. Many happy New Years.