Thanksgiving every day!

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On Thursday we will stuff ourselves with turkey, ham, dressing, etc., and don’t forget the pies.  We need to thank God  for all the bounty that is before us.  Hey, we should do this every day.  How many of us still thank God for our meal?  Do you thank Him when you get the parking place in front of Walmart?  Thanksgiving should not be a one day event.

It is nice to remember the pilgrims and Indians and forests, etc., but what we really need to be thankful for are the lives of our people on the front lines…those who protect us, those who assist us in emergencies, and those who keep our country safe.  Be thankful, too, for your parents and grandparents and all the family that has struggled and have helped you get where you are today.

I am thankful for teachers who took their time with me at school; many times they explained things twice so I could understand.  I am thankful that they set a good example for me and others who followed in their footsteps.  I am thankful that God gave me the gift of teaching and all the other gifts, too.

Be thankful for the little things that we forget are so important to us:  being able to see, to smell, to taste food, to walk, to talk, to write, to read, to comprehend, to make friends, to dance, to love, to forgive, to have fun, to pray, to hug, to kiss, to listen to music, to dream, to have compassion, to smile, to cry, to cheer,  etc. .  As we get older, these things are not always possible,  Be thankful for what you can still do.

I am so thankful to God that He made a way for us to reconcile ourselves to Him,  We do not have to dread our future because Jesus paid for our sins with His death.  I am grateful for the Holy Spirit living within me and getting me through each day.

Having the love of friends  and family is also way up there in the gratitude  department.  Every year during these holidays I look around at all the people near me who have no one left to love them; no family or relatives at all.  What they do have are other people who sit alone at dinner every day…a reminder that we are not alone.  What is sad is the fact that many do have family, but they have no time to visit or to care.

It has been two years since I lost my Frankie.  I am thankful that I met him and we loved each other for 12 years.  What a joy that time was!  I am thankful for the good times and the bad times when I learned a valuable lesson or two.  I am thankful for my children who have given me purpose in life.  I could write a book about what God has done for me.  Oh, wait!  I already wrote that book:  Grace for Gypsy Girls:  A Survival Memoir.

God gave me such wonderful gifts all my life.  I hope I have made him smile and say, “Good job, Annie.  You have made me proud.”

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When a Sister dies…

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When you are in your seventies, all kinds of tragedies happen, including the death of friends and family.  Two weeks ago I sat with my sister as she died from COPD, a horrible disease that not only leaves one breathless but also panicky and depressed.

Violet went to heaven to join other family members, including her son Justin who died when he was 23.  One never expects a sister or a child to die.  She never really recovered from his death, and had a ailment called Broken Heart syndrome. She learned that when she had a heart attack; previously she had experienced a TI, pre-stroke marker.

After those two events she had to have part of her colon removed because of diverticulitis attacks.  Then she broke her foot.  She had end stage COPD and was on oxygen as needed.  With that, she had major panic attacks.  She was troubled with fear of not breathing, which I identify with because I have asthma.  I am glad she let me come and assist her on these occasions.  We could reconnect as sisters who had had similar experiences in life.

All this drama at my age is not good for the soul…or wait…maybe it is.  At least I know what to expect when I get ready to pass into eternity.  I was with my father, my first husband, my mother, my last husband, and now my sister as they died.  It does help me understand that our bodies just give out on us, even when we want to hang around earth a little longer.  My faith is what gets me through these trying events of life.  I know that I will meet up with these loved ones again when I see heaven’s gates.

So, for those of you in my age range…70+…don’t run from the perils of life; being there is love to others and a salve for your soul. There’s nothing frightening about dying.  It is only one more event in our lives.  Ask the Holy Spirit to give you peace and comfort.  He is always waiting to help you.

God Bless.

Writer’s Woes

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Just a word or two today about the difficulty of publishing a book.  In the first place, I wanted to go the regular route of getting an agent and then having the agent present my proposal for a book to several publishing houses; hopefully, one would choose to publish me.

Guess what?  I tried to get an agent and RonnAnn tried also.  No luck.  I have sent an inquiry or two to a publisher, but no luck there either.  So..I had no other recourse but to self-publish.  Little did I know the heart ache and hand ache that this would bring me.  I have arthritis in my hands, neck, and back; I wrote the book and now have to spend more hours online to get the book published?

Yes.  I chose Create Space, a publishing part of Amazon.  It is not hard to do; however, it takes a long time to get to the finish line.  Every time I make a correction, the entire book has to be re-viewed.  This past week, I have worked on three of my books at the same time.

Heaven’s River was published.  Pop-Tops and Smiley Faces was reviewed and 1 copy sent to me for approval.  I received the book, made changes and a page added; now I have to wait until they approve it before I can review it again.  I made an addition to Grace for Gypsy Girls:  A Survival Memoir; I haven’t received the finished copy yet to go over it and approve it.  This may take another week.  When all is said and done, at least I did the work.  I am not good at marketing my work, but I have taken a class or two and at least know more than I did.  I will unload some things for you when I figure out how to do that.

Hope you had some turkey and pie today.

Blessings.

Christmas Is Coming!

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Are you running around not remembering what you are doing?  Well, join the rest of us oldies for the Christmas rush!  I have been wrapping presents, storing items away for later, pulling out decorations from 3 storage units (in building), and making all kinds of jewelry items.

My living room is full of 3-way poster boards decorated for one of my jewelry sales coming up after  Thanksgiving.  That means it is time to put away my crafts until Jan.

Once I get out the decorations and get rid of all my crafting supplies, I will begin to decorate on Thanksgiving Day after the parade.  That parade is on EVERY year, but I still act like a kid when I watch the Rockettes!  I look forward to hearing the bands and watching for high school bands from the schools where I taught.

Last minute jewelry decisions need to be made this weekend.  Of course, whatever I don’t sell at the two craft days I have planned will be available as gifts for my local friends.  I still have to mail everything, too.  I’ve already wrapped all gifts for the family so that is finalized.

The one other high  priority that has me in a tizzy, is completion of books I am revising or uploading as final copy  before publication. I was up until 4 am this morning on Create Space where I publish my books.

This week I published Heaven’s River, a lap book by me (Ann Palmieri).  It is a child’s book that explains heaven in ways youngsters can comprehend.  It is to be used for children who experience a loss.  It’s a unique way to handle death. You can buy it on Amazon.com.

Last night I uploaded my latest mystery for teens and young adults.  The setting is East Tennessee in the 1960’s as the author spins a story about her college life at the time.

I had a glitch and lost all the descriptions that I had input.  Can’t believe I have to do it again.  I am fading fast, however, since I only had 3 hours of sleep last night.  I’ll sign off for now and get back  with you after I put out some fires.

Be blessed!

Marketing Woes of Author

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Just a note tonight about my day of preparing marketing materials to send out about our book promotion: Grace for Gypsy Girls by Ann and RonnAnn Naedele

Yes, that is me..Ann, previous married name.

anyway…I put together a few pieces about the book and would like to share with you if I can figure out how to do it…haha.,.novice at tech. after all these years!

“About the book:  This memoir tells the inspiring story about Ann and RonnAnn’s amazing life in spite of overwhelming and devastating circumstances; they could have become victims but chose to be survivors.  Booker T. Washington said it well, “Success is not measured by the position someone has reached in life, but the obstacles he/she has overcome while trying to succeed.”  Their lives read like a paperback novel, full of drama, life-altering illnesses, rape, domestic abuse, loss of jobs, homes, and children as they survived natural disasters.  Once you begin to read the book, you can’t put it down.”

About the Authors:  This mother/daughter duo is a strong representation of women who win in life.  Ann taught school for 38 years, holding down second jobs along the way.  RonnAnn became a doctor which smashes the myth that children of single parents can’t be successful.

What do you think?  Would that description make you want to read the book?  Any suggestions?

The Author in Me

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I am going to start posting more frequently because I have several new books coming out by the end of the year.  Hopefully, I will be able to share some of them with you in my blog.

First off, I want to entreat you to read the memoir written by my daughter and I over two years ago.  We did not do much marketing because she was beginning a new career and I was caregiver to my dear belated husband Frank.  Now we are really moving on our book and ways to share it with others that need to read it.  If you have read it, we would appreciate your input.  Many books are ranked by their stars on Amazon.com; it would be nice to have more reviews as we begin to do our marketing.  Who knows; we might just use your words for some of our updates!

The book is entitled:  Grace for Gypsy Girls (and the soon-to-be- subtitle will be:   A Survival Memoir….we hope that addition will drive move readers our way.  Any help you can give will be much appreciated.

Grace for Gypsy Girls  by Ann and RonnAnn Naedele

 

More tomorrow about the two books I have written about life on campus in the Tennessee hills during the 1960’s.   Another book in the series is almost done!  I’ll have a freeby for those who want to participate!!

Blessings!

Note:  my readers know me as Ann Palmieri but my writing name changes from time to time:  I have written under Ann Hill, Ann, Ann Naedele, and Ann Palmieri.

 

 

2017 A Message from Ann

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Hello, readers.  I haven’t been on his site since my husband died.  I just didn’t know what to say.  Now I have a few ideas that I need to share.

1.  Our world is in a mess.  Let’s pull together and try to get along, but it is hard to fight evil on a civil basis.  If we have to fire a missile, then stand behind our President and get on with matters.  Better to fire than to be dead.

2.  God is watching us.  We fight the powers of the air.  Evil is sent by Satan and his demons.  Do we stand by and watch them destroy the earth?

any comments?  What does the Bible say?

 

 

 

 

Self-discovery: I have a learning disability!

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After teaching for over 30 years, I was diagnosed with two learning disabilities.  What?  How can that be?  I have two degrees, have written five textbooks, do curriculum work, and teach 20 different subjects.

I was in a class to learn about disabilities and the teacher gave us a little test.  It was a simple test, but it certainly opened my eyes. The test measures the student’s ability to learn in four parameters:  hearing,visually, reading, and tactile.

I scored a 0 in hearing, a 1 in reading, and did evenly in visual and tactile.  I could that be?  I am a major in English language and literature!  I have taken all my master classes at the university and received A’s.

My teacher said usually the best teachers are the ones who had to overcome some obstacle in order to learn.  She was right about that.  I had a tough time in high school and in college.  I could not memorize, I could not just sit and listen to the teacher and learn anything, and when I read, I had to reread, reread, and reread.

Eventually I overcame the disability of hearing and learning and reading and learning by studying the only way I could learn.  I would take copious notes, underline the text, make up quizzes to take, reread, and outline the tough parts.  By doing this, I learned to pass the tests.

It took me longer to learn than anyone else, but in the end, I really knew what I had learned.  I felt stupid and didn’t know why everything was so hard for me.  Somehow, I muddled through high school.

College classes were also difficult because of my disabilities, but no one noticed.  I took many notes, bought used texts that had answers written in the margins or footnotes, reread each assignment several times, made up my own quizzes, etc.  I had roommates who would ask me questions about the work.  That also helped.

I’m writing about this today in hopes that someone out there who is struggling with the learning process understands that not all is lost.  There is hope for you, too.  Over compensate.  Over read.  Take lots of notes, etc.  You can become your own teacher!

If you are a parent, make sure your child can understand what he/she reads.  Also check the hearing and learning by telling the child something to do, put something in order, etc. and see how much he/she struggles with that.  Stand up lecturing is not good for that type of learner.  Unfortunately, many classes are taught in that manner.  See what else is available.

No one caught my two disabilities and I went all the way through graduate school.  Don’t make your child struggle if he/she doesn’t have to do so.  Help with homework.  Question the teacher about your child’s learning style.  There are instruments that test this in our children.

Finally, be an alert parent.  Seek help when needed for your child.  Be informed, and be on top of your child’s progress in school.

Blessings!

Five Ways to Help Your Child Succeed in School

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I taught in public education for over 38 years and have dealt with all kinds of students and parents.  In this blog, I want to share some ideas with you that will help your child succeed in school.

  1.  Always be interested in what your child has done in school.  Look over any papers brought home, any grades written on the papers, etc.  This single ACT of interest will create a bond between you and the child.  Do not criticize the work.  Just acknowledge the work was done and received a grade or a star, etc.  Many of my students have said, “Why try to get better grades!  My parents don’t even look at my work.!”
  2.  Show up at school meetings, introductions, etc.  This shows the teacher that YOU really are concerned In the student’s welfare. It also reassures the child that you ARE interested.
  3. Make a chart (make it attractive) and hang it in child’s room. Every time the child makes a grade better than the last, put it on the chart and add some sticker or star to show it off.  Let the child have pride in doing better…Don’t expect A’s right away, either.  Give the child PRAISE.
  4. Get down on your child’s level.  For elementary school aged children, sit down on the floor with them.  Don’t hover above them.  Older children need you  to sit beside them as you talk and look at their work.  If you had a particular issue in school, tell the child in order to communicate your feelings.  However, don’t let them get discouraged by your failure…tell them it got better!
  5.   Take a determined interest in helping your child LIKE the education process.  Talk about the teacher and the classroom.  Is the child afraid of something? Is he/she being embarrassed by something?  Does your child have an undiagnosed learning disability?  I want you to make sure your child CAN learn.  It may not be as fast as the others, but most children, given enough time and attention can LEARN.  In today’s world, the biggest problem is HOW your child learns.  Perhaps he/she has a reading disability or a hearing disability. Maybe your child cannot see clearly or sits back too far from the teacher and the board.  This is your time to PLAY detective.  Find out with the teacher’s help HOW you can help.

In future blogs, I will be adding some other suggestions.  If you have a question for me, just leave a comment.

God Bless!