The Moral of the Story is…

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A woman cheats on her husband after years of happy marriage.

Realizing her mistake, she starts praying to God, “Lord, I know what I did was wrong, but my marriage is the only thing that gives my life purpose and joy. Please, don’t let my husband find out.”

Suddenly, she hears a voice from above. “Okay my child, it will be, but on one condition: years from now, you will die by drowning.”

The woman hesitates at first but then responds, “Alright Lord, if it means he’ll never find out, then so be it.”

The next years of her life are happy and wonderful. She starts a successful business and lives in comfort with her husband, however, she continues to cheat on him many times, having forgotten her conversation with God.

One day, she decides to book herself a vacation on a cruise ship. A few days into the voyage, a loud BOOM rocks the cruise ship, and it starts to sink. Suddenly remembering her agreement with God, she is stuck with grief and begins praying frantically to God again:

“God, you’re not gonna drown an entire cruise ship full of people because of me, right?”

She hears a familiar voice. “Are you kidding me? I’ve been working to gather all you cheaters here for years!”

BOOM! It may take years but it all comes back eventually and HOW!!!

A Million Dollar Giveaway

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Some of these questions do give my brain a workout not that it needs that much stimulation! It does alright on its own as it is.

Anyway, if I had a million dollars to give away, I would not give it out to one person. I’ve always wanted to set up a soup kitchen of sorts for people down on their luck so that’s something I would look into. Also, I would set up a place where people can sleep for the night or nights when the weather is unbearable outside. I think a million dollars would do much in that respect.

Last year, I met a young man in the supermarket parking lot and he had his hand out for some help. I gave him 5 euros. It wasn’t much and he was more than thankful. He told me that he had been sleeping at the train station and was looking to find his way back home. True? I don’t know but he looked rough. That chance meeting stayed on my mind. The next day I returned hoping to find him and to give him more money and some warm clothes but I never saw him again. I hope he made it home safely.

A million dollars? It would open up a whole world of new possibilities for some people and in a good way.

Daily writing prompt
If you had a million dollars to give away, who would you give it to?

MY BOOK

The Excellent Adventures of Honey and Hubie by T. J. Mueller

 children’s books

About the Book

In The Excellent Adventures of Honey and Hubie, author T. J. Mueller takes young readers on a wild and colorful journey into a world full of imagination and wonder.

Honey and Hubie set off on an exciting adventure together, exploring the unknown and discovering that the greatest treasure of all is friendship. Along the way, they meet magical characters, face challenges, and learn what it truly takes to hold onto the bonds that matter most.

This enchanting tale blends fun storytelling with a heartfelt message, making it a perfect read for children who love make-believe worlds and meaningful lessons.

📖 Available now → Buy on Amazon

Why Kids (and Parents) Will Love It

✨ Magical adventure â€“ A journey into a whimsical world full of colorful characters
✨ Friendship at its heart â€“ Teaches kids what it takes to build and keep strong friendships
✨ Captures imagination â€“ Encourages creativity and wonder in young readers
✨ Engaging message â€“ Fun storytelling with a positive lesson woven in

About the Author – T. J. Mueller

T. J. Mueller is an author who masterfully combines fun, imaginative storytelling with heartfelt messages for children. With The Excellent Adventures of Honey and Hubie, Mueller brings young readers into a magical world of make-believe while reminding them of the very real importance of friendship.

Get Your Copy

📕 Paperback Edition â†’ Order on Amazon

Final Thoughts

If your child loves fantasy adventures filled with magical characters and meaningful lessonsThe Excellent Adventures of Honey and Hubie is a must-read.

Perfect for bedtime reading, classroom storytime, or family fun, this book captures the imagination while sharing a timeless message: friendship makes every adventure better.

A No Fail Guarantee?

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Wow! I would attempt a lot of things. That guarantee could open up many doors, ones I have steered away from.

Let’s see. Sky diving is one thing I would definitely attempt. I’ve always wanted to fly like a bird and the next best thing to that is to jump out of a plane knowing that I can have my cake and eat it too!

Next in line. I would definitely attempt hiking the Himalayas. Tibet is one place I would like to see and experience but it is dangerous territory and there are no guarantees that you’ll make it out alive. If it’s not the rock slides, earthquakes and or the dangers of a woman hiking alone, I would definitely attempt it.

Hmm…next on the list would be the Amazon rainforest. Lovely place but filled with dangers that could swallow you whole! So if I had a guarantee of success, I would definitely attempt it!

You get the picture. I would try all of the above and more but without a ” no fail guarantee” it’s a no go. Guess I’ll go to my grave dreaming of those places!

Daily writing prompt
What’s something you would attempt if you were guaranteed not to fail.

Unrest

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“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” Anne Lamott

Exactly what I need today! I need to unplug and let the restlessness go for a while at least. I have this heavy feeling I’m carrying around and I know why. What to do about it is the question and I have no clear-cut answers. I don’t want to make a mountain out of a molehill but what if it is not a molehill?

Perhaps, the restlessness arises from three days of not sleeping like I should. I kept tossing and turning and was up at around 2 in the morning and stayed awake listening to the sounds outside and with my eyes wide open! Chachi, the cat doesn’t understand it but he knows something is up. He’s not called Einstein for nothing! Chachi usually wakes me up in the mornings but now he waits in his bed and doesn’t budge even when I head downstairs. The poor guy still refuses to go in the kitchen. This morning I left to go get some things done and left him in his bed by the window in the kitchen. I came back to find him exactly where I had left him and when I picked him up and brought him out of the kitchen, he shot upstairs. Since then, he has been staying on the first floor. Something is up.

It could just be my imagination and I have a tendency to let things bug me. Fear is my companion and it doesn’t make the situation any better. To make matters worse, the weather has taken a turn for the worse and it is drizzly and gray. I decided to get out and head for the fields. There was nothing much going on out there and it was quiet and still. I needed that. Walking out there for 30 minutes gave me the “unplugging” I needed to calm my mind and to soothe my restless spirit.

I still have no answers to my problem. However, I’m sure it will sort itself out one way or another. I hope it blows away and peace returns. Sooner than later!

This Thing Called Love (5) Archives

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There was a darkness within her,

A storm behind her eyes,

She was complicated,

But simple,

Brave,

But terrified.

She had the heart of a mighty lion,

But deep inside she cried,

Her face was full of beauty,

Her head was full of lies,

And although the outside was pretty,

She was dead and empty inside.

Julie Addicott

Recognize her? I do. I was like her, one of the “walking dead.” We walk the earth as living, breathing human beings but inside, we are dead as a doornail. We are the ones who can’t let go and the ones who hold on to a past that had us in its grip in more ways than one. The ones who believed that love was forever and when it broke apart, we died inside.

I was that person. My eyes smiled but the inside was a cold and barren place. There was an iciness that no fire could thaw and no love could set ablaze. It was done and I moved slowly taking each day as it came, the guardian of a heart that no longer beat even though it was alive.

It took some time, a long time before I felt the thaw. Life was slowly being breathed back into me again. I don’t know what changed, I only know that I wasn’t afraid to embrace the unknown and I was ready to move forward, slowly but surely.

Then he walked in. We clicked immediately. My insides screamed that I knew him and I knew him well. I put it down to the similar experiences we had shared. He was a world traveler and we could talk for hours about a lot of things. Or could it be the gentle way he looked at me or even the way his hand would reach for mine when I wasn’t expecting it. Sometimes he would reach out and stroke my cheek or even the way we could sit for hours side by side without saying a word but feeling at home there. There was something about him that tugged at my heart. Could it be that he was hiding secrets my heart didn’t see? It was a dance of getting close, and moving apart. It was lovely, chaotic and beautiful all rolled into one. Those feelings I had left behind were front and center again and after having been in the desert of nothingness, I was coming alive with him by my side.

Then one day, he said those words. The ones that made my heart skip a beat. “I LOVE YOU.” It wasn’t said in haste or as an afterthought and it seemed genuine enough but the next day, I would know why he had seemed familiar. He was one of the “walking dead.” When he realized that the feelings he had let die was now taking hold, he ran. I was ready but he wasn’t. We would carry on this dance of reaching out and pulling back, of wanting more but we knew that it was a fire that could sear if we let it burn. We went our separate ways only to return time after time. “We always keep coming back to each other and you’ve always been the one.” Those were his words.

A few weeks ago, he called and we talked, strangers once again. “I need to figure this out,” he said, his voice tinged with confusion. I understood it well. I had been there not too long ago. When he uttered those three little words, I knew that it would be just a matter of time before he would run in a different direction, one that didn’t involve feelings, this much thinking and one that wouldn’t include me. Love is scary when you’ve experienced the destruction it can bring.

I have a tendency to excuse bad behavior and this was more than that. He was unavailable and instead of staying in his lane, he crossed over. Luckily, I had been on my journey of self-discovery for some time and even though it hurt, it didn’t destroy me because I was emerging as a much stronger person than where I had started from.

This thing called love wears many faces and sometimes it hurts like hell. It is also not a, “one size fits all” kind of thing. It has its quirks, it has its ways and sometimes just when you think you’ve found what you’re looking for, it pulls the rug from under you. There’s no rhyme or reason for why this happens and there are no guarantees. Perhaps, it’s because some of us love too hard and go all in only to find that when love leaves with no goodbyes, we die a sudden death, one that leaves you breathing but dead inside.

Sad but this too is a thing called love.

The Journey

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I think that the hardest personal goal I’ve set for myself is to decide that I want “better” and to do something about it. I call it “the journey.”

It has been a hard one and progress has been slow and at times it seems like I’m standing still at one spot and not moving at all. At other times, I think I keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again. Out of the corner of my eye, I see some improvement but it’s not enough. Yes, that is impatience showing up and thumping its nose at me! Honestly, there has been improvements.

I’m at a point where I can say “no” to things I don’t want. I move when I see something unsavory reaching out for me and I no longer let sympathy take over and say, “Give the poor guy a chance.” I used to and that was a big mistake right there. These days, I walk and don’t look back.

This journey has been hard but I won’t give up until I make it to the other side of here. I’ll know when I get there. The thing is to get back on trek after taking a break and to keep on moving. This one is going to test my patience, my peace of mind, my strength and most of all my resilience. It is ongoing so let’s see what happens.

Daily writing prompt
What was the hardest personal goal you’ve set for yourself?

This is Scary! (Update)

Three sleepless nights later and he is back at it again! Today I received a message that started out with, “Fear is….” I didn’t bother to go in and look at the rest. Chachi, the cat is still afraid to go to the kitchen area. I’m not sure why. It’s as if he senses something and is afraid. A friend, a German, told me that it is the same here as it is stateside, the police won’t do anything until something happens! I hope this guy, whoever he is, gives up and leaves me alone!

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It started two days ago. A message popped up on my phone and I listened to it. It was a guy reciting a love letter. I didn’t pay it mind as I thought he had sent the message to the wrong person. On the same day, I got several other messages all in the same vein.

It was time to get a little nervous. There was no name but there was a pic, darkened and I couldn’t make out his features. The day after, I got a few more messages all talking about love. Now, all kinds of “stuff” started showing up in my head. I had been a victim of a stalker many years ago and that guy kept me captive psychologically and the after-effects are still felt today in the way I react to the world around me. The thing is, I am across the pond so it couldn’t be the same guy.

Anyway, yesterday I received a message in the morning that said, “Hi Tia, LOVE OF MY LIFE!” I froze. Who is this person? So I answered, “What?!!! Who are you?” No answer. Then silence. Later in the day, I got this, “This is goodbye, this is the last message.” It had a broken heart emoji attached to it.

Wow! He got my attention and how! I double-locked the doors, made sure all the shatters were down and everything was in a shutdown mode! Then I locked the bedroom door and placed something behind it. As you can imagine, I didn’t sleep well at all and every little noise had me jumping. To make matters worse, Chachi, the cat, came down this morning and refused to go into the kitchen. He kept sniffing at a corner. I looked around but there was nothing that looked different. Nothing from the guy until a few minutes ago. It said, “Hi Tia, cheating is hurtful and only people of low intelligence do that.”

I agreed with him but then it dawned on me that the message was aimed at me! What is he going on about?!! I looked outside my front door but there was nothing. I did a walk around the house outside and no signs of any tampering.

However, this is scary stuff. What am I going to do about it? I really don’t know. I’ll have to see how this progresses but tonight I will do the same. Make sure everything is locked down and have the phone close to me just in case!

One other thing, the messages were all in German!

My Favorite Artists?

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I have so many of them, however, I will go with the ones I listen to the most right now.

Kathy Melua

I love her brand of music, it is soft and easy to listen to. Her voice is one of a kind and I often listen to her when I’m relaxing. Here are some of my favorites.

The Closest Thing to Crazy

Nine Million Bicycles

Wonderful Life

Country Music

Luke Combs (Crazy Beautiful)

Darius Rucker (If I Told You)

Thomas Rhett (Angels Don’t Always Have Wings)

Coldplay

Fix You

Something Just Like This

I can come up with so many more but these are my favorite artists and I listen to them all the time. Oops, I forgot one more.

Teddy Swims

I like his voice a lot and his albums are great to listen to as well.

There you have it. My favorite picks.

Moving on…..

Daily writing prompt
Who are your favorite artists?

Book Trailer (3)

I find that this book trailer is a lot better than the last one. The review below says that the book, “generally receives positive reviews,” so that is alright I guess. How is the book really doing? I don’t have a clue! Whoever is doing the reviews, thank you and keep it coming!

“The Excellent Adventures of Honey and Hubie,” generally receives positive reviews, with customers highlighting its teaching of friendship and the capture of young imaginations through a magical world. The book is described as a “wild ride into a magical world of colorful characters” that is especially appealing to young readers.