Tag Archives: New Year

2020 Resolutions, Predictions, and Parenting

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For years I’d write New Year Predictions on a slip of paper and seal them up in an envelope on January 31. The following January 31 I’d open the envelope and see if any of them would come true.

My long lists would consist of things that I had no control over. I would write wild things about weather, politics, friends finding true love, fame, fortune, dream jobs, to name a few.

The odd thing was that every year about half of the predictions came true.

The things that came true were never huge global events like major earthquakes, wars, or floods.

The events that came true were either minor events, or extremely personal events in the lives of people I knew.

These were so random that nobody every thought any of these events could or would happen. But they did happen.

In my sealed envelope were predictions that friends would find love. They did indeed find love. They found the kind of love that swept them off of their feet. Unfortunately they were swept right into a flaming dumpster fire. One spent years and years in an abusive relationship. The other was with a chronic cheater.

Dream jobs happened but turned into nightmares. Fame was of the infamous kind, true love was anything but true.

When I got married I stopped my decades of predictions. I had no desire to risk burdening unhappiness upon anyone.

I know it was all coincidental, but one never knows. More than anything, it just wasn’t fun anymore.

As for resolutions, I don’t do those either. Resolutions are never fun and honestly I never know what each day will bring. I’ve learned that life likes to surprise me way too often. What works in January might be great but by March the list is added to and enhanced and revised, or even lost and forgotten.

That is just me. I’ve spend the past 160 years being fairly disorganized, transitional, unplanned, and completely spontaneous. On the other hand for the past two decades I’ve been a mom. That pretty much sums it up.

I’m fantastic at parenting. My kids are great. Yes, I will stand up and take a bow. It wasn’t easy but it was well worth it.

One thing I’ve learned, as most parents know, is that you can’t predict who your children will be, what they will like, what directions they’ll go in, or just about everything else about them.

What you can is control is how much you talk with them, how much you listen, how much you love, how much you care, how involved you are, and how much you let go of.

If resolutions and predictions make you feel fun, happy, or help you out then do it. You have my blessing.

I’ll tell you a secret – I’m kind of a flake and don’t do most things I say I’m going to do. Or at least I won’t do them in a quick timely manner. That’s all. Maybe the new year should be a true confessions time. Or maybe not. Maybe not might be the best answer.

No matter what, I wish everyone a wonderful 2020. May it be the best for all of my readers and blogging friends.

~ Juliette aka Vampire Maman

 

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What? I’m sorry I wasn’t listening. Thoughts on a New Year.

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Happy New Year. I’m watching the 2019 Rose Parade, drinking coffee, and sitting with my cat. One of the cats at least. The other one went screaming upstairs and the dog followed him. The husband is still asleep. The children are elsewhere with friends.

The Ghost was out standing by my back fence this morning. He turned, giving me a neutral look then vanished. Not so much as a wave. He didn’t even flip me off.

I don’t have any resolutions this year, just thoughts and suggestions for everyone who reads this.

Write more.

Create art

Tell WordPress that the new “block” editor sucks. Programmers aren’t writers. Yes, I did hear all about it at the local WordCamp. I was even a speaker there but I had no idea they’d just add another level of hell to my blog. I can’t even easily choose categories anymore to lure unsuspecting readers to my blog.

  • I just looked it up. I have to designate this as a “list block” from yet another menu. I know, I’m a smart cookie and will get the hang of it. I should be more positive about change, but I’m an old Vampire.
  • My children (now 19 and 22) keep me young and current.
  • Stay current. Don’t be an old fart.
  • Stop listening to the news or talking about politics for at least five days each week. Nothing, aside from becoming a Vampire, will add more years to your life span.
  • Be positive and stop complaining about software upgrades the don’t make any sense (see above about politics.)
  • Watch birds. Watch them.
  • Cats
  • Dogs
  • Listen to your kids
  • Talk with your kids (not at them)
  • Plan to play.

I’m stopping here to talk about PLAY. We all need to play. Play helps children develop into decent human beings. It helps adults unwind. We need play. So do something this year. Go to a zoo. Play Cards Against Humanity and laugh yourself silly. Go to an art museum. Never say you don’t like museums. Put on some music and dance. Go for a walk. Write a blog. Fly a kite. Be silly. Stop being so serious all the time.

That is it for now. I have a Ghost to go hassle.

Happy New Year everyone.

~ Juliette aka Vampire Maman

Reflections on 2018 and the Year to Come

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The first installment of Vlad’s Vampire Diary was on December 26, 2014.

Of course I distance myself from Vlad and his cohorts. It’s complicated. I hate that expression, it’s complicated, but in this case it is. Sort of.

I help a lot of new Vampires adjust. I also watch old ones adjust. Sometimes I help. Sometimes I leave that job to others.

2018 was a different kind of year. I have high hopes for 2019. New beginnings along with the ancient. Not being in the possession of a crystal ball I can’t tell the future. But like all of us I can make the future and/or at least influence it.

Outside of my small circle, out in the greater world there are mysteries I can’t predict. I can’t even find spoilers on the Internet. Like will the find if anything is in the Chapel Vault on Oak Island. Is anything on that island except a lot of really cool equipment? Will my dog start coming when I call her? She is now three years old and is the only dog I’ve ever met who ponders the meaning of the word come every time she hears it. Will anyone I know be awarded a MacArthur Fellowship? Will yet another person ask me to turn them into a Vampire? Will my daughter get into the school of her choice? Will my son and his friend Randy continue to be baffled by adulthood? Will people in politics get their heads out of their asses or their asses out of town and let someone else do the job? Will I speak anywhere for large groups of people? I can’t answer most of those questions and right now don’t have the energy to even speculate.

The next year WILL bring posts about art, empty nests, old cemeteries, old photos, Short Story Sunday, and of course Vampires and their complicated lives (which are complicated just like everyone else’s lives.)

The Burning Questions will come to a finish (at least for weekly questions.)

I will continue to work on training my dog. I will work on this blog. I will try not to drive my husband completely crazy. OK I can’t guarantee the last point here. I will no doubt drive him nuts but it is up to him on how to react to my eccentricities.

I’m just sort of pondering and musing here right now. That is all.

Baby New Year will soon come tumbling along, hopefully without projective vomiting, nasty butt rashes, or too many scraped knees. You know how kids are. And with any hope by next December old man 2019 won’t be so worn out that he can’t remember what the Hell just happened during the past twelve months.

I’ll write more resolutions later, maybe. Years ago I used to write predictions on New Year’s Eve and put them in an envelope and seal them up. The envelope would be opened a year later. It was always fun and funny to see what would happen. Of course it was all crazy stuff like who might meet the love of their life, or find a whale in their backyard, or see a space alien, or go to the South Pole. And I would always be surprised to see that a lot of those things would come true. Maybe I should start doing it again.

Christmas is over and the New Year is to come. And in-between we still have the holiday season. Let’s all enjoy it. Let’s all enjoy every season.

By the way, I had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends. I never know how many people will be over but my door is always open with good cheer. Blood doesn’t always make family – good cheer and shared time does. Believe me when I say that. We are all family.

Thanks for dropping by. Now think about what you’ll write down to seal in that envelope.

~ Juliette aka Vampire Maman

Vampire Hunters, Parenting, and 2017

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This December was a season of parties for us. While at one I ran into Austin Durant. Professor Doctor Durant to some. Austin Durant sometimes Asshole Vampire Hunter to me. OK, he is usually a good guy. He only goes after those nasty soulless types who lurk around like something out of a B horror movie. I’ve helped him out a few times. Sometimes it takes a Vampire to rid a building of Vampires.

He asked what I was up to. I mentioned that my kids talked me into taking a yoga class with them.

Austin looked surprised. “Vampires do yoga?”

I was a little insulted by his response. “I’m not one of those shadow creeping Vampires who crawls around in rafters and under floor boards waiting to drag home prey for their nasty dark lord and master. Think about that next time you want me to crawl under a house for you. Come on Austin, I need to stretch and relax just like everyone else. Everyone normal else. You need to stretch your imagination a little bit Austin.”

2016 brought all sorts of ugly things. I don’t even want to think of it anymore. Luckily I can usually get over stuff. I can put things behind me. When one is my age (157), one must learn to put things behind and let them go, or you might as well crawl under the floor boards.

So what will be above the floor boards in 2017? I don’t know. I started sharing my parenting thoughts, and stories about my kids when the youngest was in seventh grade, and the oldest was in high school. Now the youngest is a senior in high school, and the oldest is in his third year of college. That said, I will always be the mom. I will always be here for my kids. I’ll always be here for my readers seeking thoughts on parenting. I’ve done a pretty good job if I may say so myself.

The kids are getting older and so are the seniors in my life. The ancient Vampires still need help and love, and watching after… just in case, if you know what I mean.

I promise more short stories and tall tales. I’ll keep giving out advice – both solicited and unsolicited. I’ll keep you posted on all of the Vampire activities in my neck of the woods. That also includes Werewolves, Ghosts, and God knows what else (for example Zombies.)

So Austin fills up our wine glasses and asks, “Why do you help me? I’m a Vampire Hunter.”

I smiled, showing just a bit of fang in the room lit only by Christmas lights. “First of all you’re a piss poor Vampire Hunter. Secondly, you only go after nasty husks of Vampires who lack souls or purpose. You only go after those who can’t feel love, or empathy, or joy of any kind. That my friend is why. You do our dirty work for us. You know we don’t want those nasty creatures around anymore than you do.”

Then I downed my glass of wine and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Then just for fun I kissed his neck, with just a tiny nip. Austin laughed uncomfortably and said, “I love you too Juliette.”

Happy New Year everyone. My best advice would be to turn off the news, only read fiction, and fight for your right to be who you are.

xoxoxo

~ Juliette aka Vampire Maman

 

P.S. Click here for more about Austin Durant who is usually just around for Short Story Sunday. 

 

 

Vampire Diary: Resolutions

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Dear Diary,

The diamond earrings went over well today. My Gillian is a happy Vampire. If Gillian is happy then I am happy. A Merry Christmas to me.

~ Vlad

 

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Dear Diary,

What is all of this end of the year commotion? It is as if humanity wishes to forget the mistakes of the previous year and try to wash themselves clean. What strange rituals they will perform on midnight January 1st I do not know. Six hundred years ago I would have been able to tell you but now… now anything is possible.

~ Vlad

 

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Dear Diary,

Tonight I walked along the streets past bars and clubs watching the people who stood in the doorways and sidewalks. Women and men smiled at me. I smiled back. The thrill of the hunt is almost as good as that first taste of blood on my tongue. Unlike the cat who uses her claws, I seduce my prey like a lover.

A young woman with a round face and long eyelashes asked me in a pretty voice what my New Year’s Resolutions were going to be?

Resolutions? This must be like a vow knights would take to keep their honor for the year. Honor. There is little of that among Vampires or most men for that matter.

There is nothing I could change or imagine doing better. It is the world that needs to become better.

She said she lived near by and invited me to walk her home. I could see in her eyes that she was nervous and excited. She told me her name was Samantha, not Sam. She told me that she thought I was cute. Of course she did. They always say I am cute. I just smiled and did not ask her what she meant by cute.

The apartment was upstairs in a home that had once been a grand mansion, now divided into four separate living quarters.

It was odd, the juxtaposed sadness from Samantha and the cheery apartment decorated with flowers and the colors of sunshine and blue skies.

She poured wine then asked, “Why would a guy who looks like you come home with a girl who looks like me?”

“You’re cute.” She reminded me of her cat with her bright eyes and round face. Cats are cute. Her hair was glossy and moved with her. “Where I come from no woman has hair as beautiful as yours. No woman lives alone in a place as lovely as this. Do you think you’re not worthy of the company of a man like me?”

A tear came down her cheek. “Maybe you should go.”

Suddenly something inside of me became colder than usual. “Sit down Samantha. Let us talk.”

So she talked of her hopes and dreams. She spoke of a man who had left her for another girl. She spoke of a man who ignored her. She spoke of being alone.

I looked into her big blue eyes and put her into a trance. Her neck was warm and her blood was hot. When I was done I let her sleep. But I did not go. I stayed. I do not know why.

An hour later she opened her eyes and looked at me, surprised I was still there.

“Did we?” She asked me.

“Did we what?” I asked back.

“Never mind. You’re still dressed. I’m still dressed.”

It was then I realized what she had asked. She spoke first. “Why are you still here Vlad?”

“I have nothing else to do tonight,” I told her. It was true.

She smiled and the sadness came over her again. I could feel it like a great greedy troll looming in the room. Then she went to the bathroom.

While she was gone I looked on her desk and saw a paper where she had written her “resolutions.”

I will feel beautiful.

I will feel loved.

I will run every morning.

I will

Then I heard the click of the door lock. Then the sound of a body falling.

I stared at the nob of the door and made it unlock. As I stepped forward pills crunched underneath my feet. Inside the small room I found Samantha barely breathing, almost at Death’s door. I could feel the icy chill of a phantom waiting outside to take her soul. Given any other night I would have left her to die, but tonight I had to stay.  No deathly phantom would take her if I could help it. My actions were not out of love. It was something else. I do not know what. Maybe it was the Vampire King in me wanting to protect my people. It was justice for a girl who had been wronged. I wanted to rip the throats out of the men who had hurt her.

I had two choices. I could bring her back with my blood or I could call 911. Giving her MY blood was not an option. Not tonight. Not with Samantha. I had never called 911 before, but that was what I had been told to do if humans were near death.

At the hospital I waited on uncomfortable chairs in a room full of quiet people.

Gillian came and sat with me until a woman who said she was a doctor said Samantha wanted to talk to me.

Samantha lay in a bed with needles and tubes in her arm. It was as if a mad lunatic was experimenting on her.

“You saved my life,” she said.

“Of course I did. I ripped the beating heart out of a man after almost draining his body of blood after he had raped a child. I am not without feeling,” I told her.

As soon as the words came out of my mouth I realized I had said the wrong thing. “You are worth saving. You are worth being alive Samantha. You are loved by many. You are talented beyond compare. Listen to me. Make your resolution to love yourself. Make your resolution to thrive. That will be your best revenge against those imbeciles who scorned you. You are beautiful. Believe me. Samantha, you are beautiful.”

I kissed her on her forehead and she tried to smile and touched my face with her tube infused hand.

I left Samantha with her best friend and her parents. Gillian and I went home.

~ Vlad

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Dear Diary,

I do not know what is wrong with me.

I used to be so delightfully cold and uncaring.

I do not know who I am anymore.

~ Vlad

 

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Dear Diary,

I am not writing any resolutions. Neither are my cats. We shall all remain cute. LOL. That is supposed to mean I wrote something humorous. I know what WTF means. WTF. WTF. WTF.

I suppose I will try to make sense of this modern world. Maybe not.

~ Vlad

 

 

Good things between the cracks…

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It was a year when

Resolutions were forgotten

And other things

Happened.

 

A lot of good things happened in between the cracks. There were those times with friends both old and new. There were good books. There were teenagers. There was a sense of community. There was creativity and thought… and there was love.

And in the middle of this odd houred musings the cats are suddenly alert to what sounds like a mountain lion purring but it is I think it is snoring. The calico cat snores. I can’t imagine who it could be. It sounds like loud snoring from a man. It can’t be that. But now the dog is growling at the sliding glass door that goes out to where the wild animals are before the sun comes up. I guess that goes to show that things are not always what they seem.

I refused to let the dog out to rumble with wild life and the calico cat has started to snore… again, as she always does.

 

~ Juliette aka Vampire Maman

 

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