Trippin' with Susan Straley

Hello, I hope your are doing well with your new routines. A Morning Walk This morning the birds were singing.  It was a lovely 52 degrees when I stepped out for my walk, my face-mask tucked into my pants pocket, my binoculars tucked under my arm.  The trail that runs past our neighborhood is a state park and therefore is closed.  I have read it is scheduled to re-open on May 15th.  Breaking the rules, I walked down the trail because I had seen a nest of large white fluffy birds there the other day and I wanted to get a closer look with the binoculars. I was alone on the trail and as I approached the lakes that boarder both sides of the trail in this area I was awed once more by the beauty.  A light swirling mist was rising up from the waters. I suddenly missed George deeply.  I talked to him and told him so.  I also told him I was often glad he was gone.  At the same time I was appreciating the beauty I began to cry.  I told George I know how much he would also enjoy this

STUCK IN THE WHINE I want to warn you, this first part may sound whiney.  I have a little kid that sits on my shoulder and whines on and on and on. "I don't want to," she whines. But before I talk about that and lose your interest, please vote!  No, this isn't a political plea.  My book cover was nominated for cover-of-the-month.  And I need folks to vote for THE JOURNEY CONTINUES.  Click here and vote .   I think we only have a few more days to vote, so do it now. Ok, now back to my indecisiveness and the whiner on my shoulder... Decisions sometimes come hard.  I was talking with a fellow Dementia Diva Widow and she said she is lost, she just doesn't know who she is or what or where she wants to be.  I could relate.  I heard in her voice the echo of my whine. This feeling is very familiar to me. Some people try something in sixth grade and know that thing is what they want to do for their career.  For George it was Drafting Class in High Scho

December 3, 2019 Good Morning! Brrrr, it is a cold one here in central Florida!  Freezing in parts of Citrus County. Only ONE MORE DAY to the launch of the second book, THE JOURNEY CONTINUES! The 6th Annual Coping with Dementia Conference is January 22nd.  If you are a caregiver or know someone with dementia, this is a great resource to learn more about the illness and the resources available in Citrus County and beyond. Launch Celebrations 

November 30, 2019 Good Morning! Yesterday I was going to ride down to feed the goats, but I felt low in energy.  So I got as far as Floral City and decided to go feed the Zebra and Donkeys instead. I have been wondering lately why I am doing this. I spend a lot of time trying to promote the book. And the needle isn't moving much at all. I feel like a dung beetle pushing a big ball of manure up a hill. I have advertisements up on Amazon. Do you know, when you search for an item and it pops up at the top of your list that you can look around it to see the word "sponsored". If you click on that ad, the seller gets charged for that click. But if you scroll down the natural algorithms have it there again without the sponsored. Then the seller doesn't get charged for your ad. The more I work with Amazon I am amazed at their technological savvy AND how they have an army of millions of "wanna be" folks out there advertising and paying not o

November 11, 2019 Hello! It is Black Friday!  And the Kindle version of The Journey Continues - Alzheimer's Trippin' with George is on sale until December 4, 2019 for only $2.99.  Who do you know that could use a little inspiration, lift, fun? Thanksgiving was wonderful, thanks to the folks that joined me and sent greetings. Someone somewhere created this cool image.  Who does it belong to?  I would like to give credit where credit is due... or get permission to post it. Thanks to the artist and the owner.  It is pretty cool.  I got it from Jim Cook an Ohio Trike-rider.  He doesn't remember which trike site he found it. Here is my Count-down video.  Only 5 more days to the launch! It is another gorgeous day in our area of Florida. I am going to ride my trike down to feed the goats (about 16 miles down the trail). I have stored my vegetable and fruit scraps from a couple weeks to share with them. Then, if I get back in time, some friends are meeting at

Happy Thanksgiving! Preventing Alzheimer's A fellow former caregiver told me this week that he thinks those who have cared for someone with dementia tend to worry more about getting the symptoms. I don't know if that is true, but I was comforted by an article I read recently. The Alzheimer's Association put out a magazine this fall that has a great article in about genetic testing. In the article it talked about the RESEARCH and the nature vs nurture, genes vs environment. I will post what they said further down in this post... but right now I have to post.... COUNT DOWN TO LAUNCH Well, the kindle pre-orders are still sitting at six (6).  Sigh.  It is what it is!  The thing is, it sure does keep me busy, promoting the books... video, Facebook, Twitter, events, emails.    After the launch I may send out my resume to places in Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota.  I want to find a seasonal job near a bike trail.  I think it will be good... but it is sca

November 27, 2019 This is so exciting! Only seven more days to the launch on ebook/kindle of THE JOURNEY CONTINUES! I am doing a series of videos as I count down to launch.  Just me, talking about the books and the process and life this week. Let me know what you would like to see in an up-coming countdown video. Who do you know that would enjoy our journey, or benefit from the positive out-look and caregiving information within it?  Share this post and this link to the book . Thanks for watching and joining me on this journey!

Hello, It is Wednesday, November 20, 2019 Today I was interviewed on our local TV station.  They were nice enough to share the program with me.  I added the captions to clarify what we were talking about.  It is about nine minutes. How do you like that cover picture?  Ha ha, what does it look like?  Leave a comment and let me know.  The big thing was I offered the first 20 people who sign up to Join the fun here on this blog a FREE download of the Audio Book of Alzheimer's Trippin' with George.  If you don't get email alerts to let you know I have posted, then you need to click the "Join the Fun" tab above and enter you email. So... first about the books and then about the rest of life... THE JOURNEY CONTINUES Some of you have been asking when book two THE JOURNEY CONTINUES will be out on ebook.   You have been anxiously awaiting. December 4th it launches!   And guess what!  You can pre-order the ebook now and it will download on Wednesday,

Hi. I got back from my mini solo tour gone awry.  I was feeling ok about not going to Wisconsin.  I was already planning another trip to visit my sister and my son in September.  I had a wedding to attend so I had already had it on my calendar.  No big deal. But -- I came home.  Most of my friends had left town.  Even those that don't go north for the Summer were gone for a few weeks.   I went a whole week without a social dinner... well, almost a whole week.  And for me that is something.  I felt funny.  I started questioning all my life choices. Do I want to move? Do I want to get a trailer and travel the country? Do I still want to write and publish books? Am I really any good or are my friends just being nice? Maybe I should get a REAL job with a pay check. If so, then I will have to move, right? Since there are no jobs that pay in Citrus County, Florida. Maybe I need a house-mate to share this big space with me. Wa wa wa... I felt tears in me, wanting to get out.

Good morning!  Only 3 days to the launch of the first Trippin' book, Alzheimer's Trippin' with George, Diagnosis to Discovery in 10,000 Miles. I am up REAL early again this morning.  Too much excitement.  That's ok, I can get this post launched before heading over to the clubhouse for exercise and yoga. Here is the link to the Laidback Bike Report .  The audio for me was awful!  I need a new computer.  Something I will have to invest in after the launch and all the activity after the launch.  I am afraid of switching right now.  But maybe I should just for these kinds of opportunities... on-line interviews. A few months ago I arranged to have a service notify bloggers about the book launch.  They will be calling for interviews and posting about the book the week after the launch.  My former neighbors are hosting an event in celebration of the book launch on Thursday morning at their clubhouse.  And later in the day my friends Kiersten and Denis will be arrivi