One Good Thing I am now three weeks into my four-week "intro to swordfighting" class. I'm enjoying it an immense amount, although the traffic-clogged drive makes it unlikely that I continue beyond this course. So why am I driving an hour each way on my Sunday to sweat while swinging around a…

One Good Thing Between my Beloved going to his annual work conference and being short-handed at work, it was a crazy week of intense work, followed by an extra shift at home. I usually plan all sorts of things for that week - I'll finish the last season of Hacks and watch Sandman and paint fall…

One Good Thing Always remember that joy is armor. There are, sad to say, people in the world who view open and obvious female joy as unseemly. They will look disapprovingly at you when you are what they view as "too much." Smile brightly at them and go your own way. Yesterday, on the spur of the…

One Good Thing Oh, Divas, I just love October! And today was a great start - after several days of gloomy, wet, overcast days, we had that gorgeous bright blue October sky with just a touch of nip in the morning air. I'll start getting the fall decorations out, but for today, I settled for my cozy…

Bloom 11 – Ripples in the Water A year ago, Hurricane Helene tore through western North Carolina, causing widespread destruction and devastation on a level you don't want to see, much less experience. A year later, there is still a lot of work to do - this was a life-changing event for the small…

One Good Thing Yesterday, I officiated a wedding. I've done a few of those over the years - sometimes, for all sorts of reasons, people don't want a traditional church-type wedding. I enjoy working with couples to help them craft a meaningful ceremony that allows them to express their devotion and…

One Good Thing The other day, I kept a promise to myself and went to the opening of an art exhibit hosted by the Cherokee County Alliance of Visual Arts ("CAVA") at the Visitors Center in Gaffney after my workday ended. This was a different sort of exhibit for me, as it featured tattoos as art. In…

Rest in dreamful peace, Robert Redford. There will never be another like you.

One Good Thing Sometimes, things just come together in totally unexpected, yet joyful, ways. For instance, I have a very good friend named Joyce. For fifteen years - quite possibly longer - she has worked in journalism. Oh, the stories she's told me - and I've been involved in at least one of…

One Good Thing I finally decided it was time - we have a house full of beautiful and loving (in their own way) cats, and I don’t plan on getting a dog anytime soon. I’ve had tremendously good dogs, but when Chance passed . . . well. So I priced the large kennel run, insulated doghouse, and…

One Good Thing Oddly enough, it's World Coconut Day. 🥥🌴 And just yesterday, to get some practice with mixing greens and working with lettering, I painted this coconut. Serendipity - there's a Good Thing!

One Good Thing Actually, two good things for today. First off, I've updated the 2025 Paintings tab - even in the very middle of the Tilt-a-Whirl that was the end of Pyrite U, I continued to paint and I've crossed the halfway mark on my goal of creating 100 paintings this year. Go check it out,…

One Good Thing My work town is  home to a Carnegie library, one of the 2,500-plus libraries partially funded by industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. Now, Carnegie may well have been an anti-union robber baron trying to get into heaven, but there's no denying the impact these buildings…

Bloom 10 – Change of Seasons I've been enjoying creating my frequent "One Good Thing" posts so much that I didn't realize how long it had been since I'd done a longer "Bloom" post. No time like the present, I suppose. The last "Bloom" post was back in June, just before I began my new employment.…

One Good Thing I continue to learn new things about the town where I work. For example, after work ended today, I met with  a friend who knows an awful lot of what is going on downtown. We visited a few shops and I got to meet and listen to some of the owners. There really are some cool places in…

One Good Thing Tonight, my Beloved and I met two friends at a pop-up in a local boutique that was celebrating Box Turtle Books, an independent bookstore set to open on the town square in November. The pop-up was designed to let people know that Box Turtle is coming and to cross-market with another…

One Good Thing Baseball. A championship game played on a Southern summer night when the heat has broken and the humidity is low. Taking a tram at breakneck speed from the high school parking lot to the front gate and walking in for free (final game is always free). And staying til the lights come…

One Good Thing Baseball. A championship game played on a Southern summer night when the heat has broken and the humidity is low. Taking a tram at breakneck speed from the high school parking lot to the front gate and walking in for free (final game is always free). And staying til the lights come…

One Good Thing Rescuing a teensy kitty deserves cupcakes. Ashe is doing well and - with a couple of days of fresh water, plentiful food, and a safe place to sleep - his personality is coming out. He's a snuggly climber. I pass this little bakery when I drive to my hairdresser's - she's another…

One Good Thing On the way to dinner with friends last night, I spied a scrap of a shadow by the curb of a parking lot. Since both I and my Beloved are suckers,we pulled into the parking lot and gently fished a six-week-old kitten out from under a car. Clearly, our dinner plans changed. After a…

One Good Thing Two months at the new job and I've got the wardrobe to prove it!!

One Good Thing It's taken me far too long, but I have learned to not work for titles. Academia loves titles - are you a full professor? An executive vice president? A success coach with oak cluster? You are generally expected to work hard for a new card, even if it comes with no increase in…

One Good Thing A quick return to cool things around downtown Gaffney. Today, I visited the Gaffney family cemetery, which is a peaceful spot a couple of blocks from my office at City Hall. It's a small cemetery, with weathered gravestones that are difficult to read - a true sign of the implacable…

One Good Thing Going home from vacation, stuffed to the gills with Good Things. For instance -- A Red Sox sweatshirt gifted by a good friend to go with the Red Sox hat gifted by another. ⚾ Hugs that you feel deep down in your bones. Sassy red cowboy boots. 👢 The memory of David Bowie's music…

One Good Thing Glacier National Park. It's majestic, gorgeous, and awe-inspiring. You should visit. Yes, it will be crowded at some overlooks. Yes, some behavior you see will make you roll your eyes. Go anyway.

Several Good Things In the heart of vacation-and-reunion, I wanted to stop to mention four Very Good Things. Cards Against Humanity. Played with a group of friends who have known me since before I had wisdom teeth, this game is raunchy, blasphemous, and side-splittingly funny. Plus, it's the only…

One Good Thing My Beloved and I have arrived at our vacation destination - two time zones away from home and surrounded by people who love us. While today is sunny and warm, yesterday on the lake was grey, gloomy, cold, and rainy. So we stayed inside, read, napped, watched all (I think; I was…

One Good Thing My Beloved and I are technically on vacation, although we don't fly out til Sunday afternoon. But we are definitely on vacation! I had to postpone my hair appointment a few weeks ago and was downright unkempt when Sizzle (the pseudonym of my fantabulous stylist) saw me. She was the…

One Good Thing Today's One Good Thing is from the library in Gaffney. Plenty of libraries have "Friends of the Library" groups that run occasional book sales to support the library, but Gaffney's is extra. It's housed in a separate cozy building next to the library - think of a small house that is…

One Good Thing Today's One Good Thing - getting home from work and spending a few quiet minutes deadheading the geraniums and watering the plants on the porch. Also, seeing the basil's progress. Just a few growing things, but it's relaxing to have them.

One Good Thing Today's One Good Thing was lunch with friends!

One Good Thing Taking time to paint without getting all precious about getting it "right" and just enjoying the way watercolor does its thing. This also makes me want window boxes . . .

One Good Thing There's a lot to choose from for today's One Good Thing - I left work behind to spend the weekend with my Dad, and it's Free Slurpee Day (since it's 7/11, get it? 😀) but I think I'll choose this. Gaffney is home to the South Carolina Peach Festival and it is a DEAL! The party…

One Good Thing Today's One Good Thing was getting out of a busybusy day at the office and walking a couple of block to get a bakery-made lemon cupcake, which I then carefully brought back to the office for a midday meditation. With cake. I highly recommend this.

One Good Thing Today's One Good Thing - the log cabin of town founder and namesake Michael Gaffney, located less than two blocks from my office. The little cabin is pretty nifty - a number of the logs are original to the cabin. The town grew up around his "tavern and lodging house" located at what…

One Good Thing One Good Thing for today - feeling valued at work. And new business cards. 🥰

One Good Thing Today, my One Good Thing was figuring out that I work at a place where people bring in home-grown tomatoes to share! Oh, let's make it two today! I also discovered another small park - John Q. Little Park is about a half-mile from my old office. I always meant to walk there and…

One Good Thing During the long July 4th weekend, I have planned to do some home caring tasks and some self-care. I'm still adjusting to this new work schedule and finding my footing in the job itself. And those efforts are bearing fruit. For years, I've tried to live by the idea that self-care…

One Good Thing I've spent a great deal of work time on a few projects this week. One of those is assembling a comparison of how different municipalities approach some things. To do that, I needed to research the policies, then do a LOT of data entry and organization so we can begin a deep analysis…

One Good Thing Despite the summer heat and humidity, I really enjoy the fact that my position requires me to have boots and hiking pants on hand in my office for a quick change. I even have sunscreen and bug spray tucked away in the filing cabinet. I need a little more time experience before I go…

One Good Thing With my Beloved away on a work trip for a couple of days, I have planned my weekend to involve time spent with good friends, good food, and some lovely down time. This got off to a good start yesterday as a friend and I met for a long-overdue catch-up session at a nail salon. Hers…

One Good Thing Today's One Good Thing comes from walking down an alley in uptown Gaffney. It's nice to stumble across these little unexpected gems. Uptown is full of murals, small parks, and historic markers. Pretty cool!

One Good Thing Right at this very moment, I'm home from work, sitting on my front porch, listening to some brave birdies chirp while what promises to be a strong summer thunderstorm rolls in. It's already spattered a little and the wind has picked up, driving away some of the strangling heat and…

One Good Thing The Summer Solstice weekend is an excellent time to go outside and get your hands dirty - lots and lots of sunlight gives a Diva plenty of time to bring some plans into focus. The yard of my Beloved and me needs work. The grass is kept trimmed and when we recently had a few young…

One Good Thing I'm beginning to settle into my new work schedule, which includes a half-day on Friday. That extra time, especially when coupled with not needing to routinely bring work home, is just lovely. For a very long time, I've wanted my work life to be a part of my life; not the whole…

One Good Thing My office is a pleasant room on the second floor of the City Hall building in Gaffney's historic downtown district. Just to the side of City Hall is a lovely, tiny park with benches, flower beds, and a fountain. Apparently, it's been a popular site for over a century. I bet that…

One Good Thing I'm enjoying my new position with the City of Gaffney - there is much to learn, and quite a bit of work to be done, but I'm making time for a short stroll on the sunny days as part of my lunch break. Yesterday, I walked to Spencer & Co., a small bookstore/coffee shop with near…

One Good Thing Today's One Good Thing is brought to you by Press Coffee Lounge in uptown Shelby. Press is still new, having only opened in the last couple of months. Located at the back of the Wine Collective, Press is NOT your average cup of Joe, so please don't go in expecting it to be what it…

One Good Thing Today's One Good Thing was a date night with my Beloved to celebrate the new job and turning 23. 🔵 While we both enjoy good television and a wide range of movies, it had been quite a while since we saw a film on the big screen. Having heard good things about the new Ryan Coogler…

One Good Thing Today's One Good Thing was discovering a tiny memorial park/garden a few blocks from my office. Named for a prominent African-American citizen, Glymph Memorial Garden recognizes the "Black Business District" of Gaffney. It's a peaceful, beautiful space that has been very…