Rabecca Reads - An Honest Review, from a darling Book Reviewer!

Isn't she just adorable?  I don't know Becca personally, we've never met, and I was terrified when I found out she would be reading and reviewing Dead in A Ditch.  Ok, not totally terrified, more like 40% super excited, and 60% terrified.  To my relief, and delight, she liked it!

So thankful for Becca for taking a chance on an indie author like me!

If you want someone to give you really good book recommendations, look her up on your YouTube channel and subscribe, like and follow!!

Rabecca Reads - YouTube

As a thank you for taking a chance on me, I sent her "The Ordeal"...HOPEFULLY she will like it as much!  *fingers crossed* 

I'll likely have heartburn and insomnia between now and whenever she has time to pull The Ordeal off her TBR pile, but well, that's just now neurotic writers are when they know someone's about to read their work!  

We are THE bravest (FOR WRITING) & most ridiculously insecure (WHEN IT COMES TO LETTING SOMEONE READ WHAT WE WROTE) souls to ever walk the earth!  Please bear with us during this difficult time! 

*winks*

I just love her!  

Look at that face!

I mean, C'mon!  Follow her already!  

You know you want to!

Your next book might be one of her recommendations.

EXCITING NEWS: THE WAIT IS JUST ABOUT OVER! NEW BOOK COMING SOON!

 

Ok, so let me start by saying, the bad news first:  It's not the third book in the Vivienne Taylor Series.  I know, I know, but I'll share news about that series later/soon....(aka, I'm working on it)

For those of you who follow me, you know I've been working on a new project and I'm happy to announce that the manuscript is done, it's in the editing phase, and I hope to have it available by the end of summer, that's my current goal/timeline.

This new Book is unlike anything I've written before, as it takes place over the course of the main characters 30+ years, and that was quite the undertaking in and of itself.  How much do you put in when spanning someone's near entire life?  How much is too much?  How much is too little?  In writing such a tale, I learned quickly it's a fine line and delicate balance in attempting to write such a tale.  I did enjoy the challenge though, writing something completely out of my wheelhouse was kind of refreshing.

It's been so long since I've dedicated myself wholeheartedly to writing, and I cannot begin to tell you just how therapeutic it has been to dive back into this creative endeavor.  There was a time when I thought I just didn't have any stories left in me.  There was a time when I seriously doubted I'd ever write anything worthwhile again.  As a person who writes, and has done so for most of their lives, not having something to write to say to create, it feels like something inside you has died.  A part of me, I think did, for a time.

I've been busy being a "grown-up", working, paying bills, doing the dishes, but I'm no longer allowing that to be all I do.  I've been reading like a woman on fire and surrounding myself with other creative types who inspire me, who have quite literally fanned the flames of what has always been inside of me, and for those people, I'm forever indebted to you!  You know who you are!  I won't name you and make it weird! *winks*

So, just wanted to write you a little something, to let you in on the news, if you haven't heard already, A new book is on the horizon, and for those of you who've stuck by me, get ready for something brand new!

Here's a little blurb to get you interested:  

Soooooooo....what do you think?  Intrigued?

Cannot wait to share this new story with you all!

All my love,

~Heather Lynn~

TikTok

     As a woman in her 40's, in an ever evolving world of technology, one has to try to keep up, in order to stay visible in the sea of millions upon millions of books out there to read, and author's out there wanting to be your new favorite, one must try new approaches in order to keep yourself in the mix of options when deciding what to read next.  INSERT introduction to TIKTOK here.

    My friend Jessica said, you have to get on TikTok, and as a writer and with the phenomenon known as BookTok, I thought, sure, what's ONE MORE social media platform to try out and remember a log-in and password for.  Sometimes I can't remember why I walked to the kitchen, but sure, why not add on another thing I need to remember to check, to friend or not to friend, to like/comment on, the clicking never stops, however I am a curious soul, and I find "experiments" fascinating, so I took to TikTok and just wanted to see if it would stir up some new book sales.  I mean, why not right?  I'm not out anything if none are had.

    So I've been diligent, I've posted videos, I've commented on people's stuff, and added people and followed others, and so far, I have to say, it's pretty underwhelming, unless you count the non-stop barrage of people popping into my DM's asking me to read their book, to let me let them create cover art, and last but not oddly enough, "how old are you?"  Um, is that because I'm about to be propositioned for sex, or because they want to see if I'm old enough to enter into a binding contract of some sort?

    Maybe I'm just too old for TikTok, I gave it a go, but I'm just not sure its for me.

    Other writers/friends/book lovers out there, what do you think, should I stay or should I go? 

Yours,

~Heather Lynn~

Tell me I was dreaming

Edgar Allen Poe wrote:

Lately, since all of the madness has truly set in with COVID-19 and the closures and the mandates and the fear....I wake up every day and I pause and think to myself, was it just a dream, are things really this way...or did I dream it?  And then I realize that it wasn't a dream and these are the times we live in.  People wearing masks, people scared to be near anyone....yet each day, when I wake up, I have to remind myself that I didn't just have a bad dream, and that this is our new reality...and will be so for who knows how long.

I find it fascinating how in a world that can't seem to look up from their phones long enough to walk next door to visit a neighbor, to watch the sun set, hell, even to watch a tv show without multitasking, juggling Facebook and Instagram while trying to binge watch an entire Netflix show, is the new normal....yet, how quickly we miss face to face interaction when it's taken away from us.  COVID-19 came in and just put life for most of us on HOLD, while it takes the lives of others.  I wonder how differently my outlook and perspective would be if I were immune compromised, if I were elderly...if I found myself in my home all alone.

I've heard the conspiracy theories, that this is all a ruse, and this is just population control.  I've heard that we're one thin line away from Martial Law, and military patrolling the streets...but I refuse to give in to those kind of mindsets.  I can't....I cannot see my loved ones as germ carriers, I cannot STOP missing my newly born niece, and I will not allow the hysteria of the times, take away my optimistic outlook on life.  No matter how dire the times may be.  

Lately I keep wishing that Narnia was a real place and I could just pop in the ole wardrobe and go to another world to ride this whole thing out, a place where viruses aren't out to get you, only ice witches!

Being cooped up in the house with nowhere to go and nothing to do is trying, I won't say it isn't....I'm pretty sure I've gained 12 pounds and my ass is growing substantially bigger by the day!  Quarantine has not been kind to my waistline, but when the only thing you have to look forward to is what you're going to have to eat at any given time, well, it's sure to have an affect.

The sunshine is out today....and as the days pass, and we get closer to warmer temps and weather that permits outdoor activity, it will be that much more difficult to stay away from our loved ones!  I just want to hug my mom, ya know...like really hug her tight....and I just want to hold babies in my arms and stop sanitizing from head to toe!

For the first time since my husband and I have been together...he's laid off.  That's an adjustment.  I'm going to work while my husband and step-son are at home.  I no longer complain about going to work, now I'm "lucky" to have a job.  I'm "lucky" if I find toilet paper on a shelf.  I'm "lucky" I'm not sick.  Funny how priorities change and suddenly you're Lucky if you have things you once took for granted as a given.

A month ago, the Hubs was getting ready to put up a shop up on our lot across the street.  Building permit granted, loan from the bank completed..money in hand.  Contractor ready to start...then boom.  He gets laid off from work!  Funny how something like a virus can totally derail all your plans.  All the concerts we have tickets to and were planning on going to....changed, cancelled, postponed.  The only thing I DO kind of still hold out hope for is to go for some motorcycle rides.  As far as I know we're still allowed to do that.

I worry A LOT about my sister Angie who works in health care.  And I worry about her family, and their possible exposure to everything she's being exposed to.  I cannot begin to imagine what each and every nurse, doctor, medical personnel goes through each day when they head off to this new age "war zone" of viruses and death...each wondering if today's the day that they are exposed and infected.  I pray a lot for everyone out there fighting the good fight and taking care of the sick and the suffering.

I'm also so thankful for those who are stocking shelves, and bravely going out to their jobs at grocery stores and Walmart and the like who do not get paid a super-hero's salary, yet they put their imaginary cape on each day and go to work, so the rest of us can eat and wipe our butts and watch stupid amounts of Netflix while laying around riding out this Viral Storm.  Strangely enough, I'm really looking forward to mowing the grass!  I might have to fight the Hubs for the right to, but my butt's 12 pounds heavier than it was before, I might be able to sit on him until he gives up and lets me.

What I wouldn't give to wake up and realize that this was all just a bad dream, that our new reality was just imaginary....but alas, each day, I wake up to this new reality, and I wonder....what the world will be like when this is over?  The thing about viruses is, they take the rich or the poor, the old and the young, it doesn't care about the color of your skin, nor the size of your home...we are all just hosts, and are a respiratory droplet away from being it's next victim.

I have a tattoo on my wrist that says "Faith"...for various reasons, first and foremost I wanted it to remember and cherish Baby Faith (my niece) who came into this world only to leave it forever changed.  But I also got it because Faith is what gets you through to the other side of all things.  Whatever comes, Faith holds you together.  And Faith is also a promise, that no matter the outcome, in this world or the next...it's ok.  It's not that scary to die if you have faith in where you go after.

So....in conclusion, if you need me, i'll either be at work, or at home.  But no matter where I am, I'm looking forward to "the after"...which is a magical place, where we can go back to hugging loved ones, and hopefully, the forever changed...to never take it for granted again.  Ya'll look out, when this IS over, I'm hugging the shit out of each and every one of you!  You've been warned!

Love,*HeatherLynn*

Tell me I was Dreaming

Irony and Old Books!

As a follow up to yesterday's post, I'll post this:

It's interesting that THIS was my daily read after yesterday's dilemma.

Not bad for a free book from the thrift store huh?

Sometimes the answers you seek are in the most obscure places!

I'd like to thank Ms. Gertrude Hall or her descendants for donating it to good will so that it would find it's way to me.

Happy Tuesday ya'll!

~Heather Lynn~

Kindness at a cost?

So ya'll know that one of my favorite places in the world (or at least in my neck of the world) is Schoonover park.  It's where Jerimy and I got married, it's where I go and walk/run around the lake there on nice days on my lunch hour....it's where I've gone when I'm sad, or just need to hear the birds chirp...its my own personal slice of heaven. 

Today, I went out as usual for my walk, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping, the water glistening....it was lovely.  I loved every minute of my walk around the lake and had decidedly wanted to go around a second time, however, I had to pee really bad, and I just thought I had better just do one time around today, and shoot for two next time.  So I jumped in my car, drove up the little drive to the park's restroom facility and upon arrival found a man standing in front of my car where I parked it, him being between myself and my car and the entrance to the ladies side of the restroom.  He was a middle aged man, Probably between 45 and 55 years of age.  African American, wearing several layers of clothes even though it's nearly 70 degrees outside.  Average height, average weight.  Nothing in particular about him seemed alarming.  Once out of the car, He put his hands in the air and said, "Stop, don't shoot!  I'll give you everything I have.  Don't hurt me" in a joking manner, I smiled at him and said, "You don't have to worry about me hurting you!" as I walked around him towards the restroom. 

"What's your name" he said as I walked nearer to him.  "Heather" I said politely as I briskly kept walking.  "Hello Heather!" he said in response.  "Don't you worry miss heather, I'm not going to let nobody get in there past me!  I've got your back!" he said as I rounded the corner and into the entrance.  "Not Nobody!  Not Donald Trump, not Bill Clinton, not even Barack Obama, Ain't nobody getting past me Heather!" I heard him say from outside.  I peed quickly, washed my hands and emerged unscathed by any past or present United States Presidents that might be roaming around Lima for no particular reason.

"Miss Heather, can I bother you for a ride to Lima Senior?"  Lima Senior High School being not too awful far from where we stood.  "I got a bad hip you see and I work at UNOH cleaning out the dorms and I'm all messed up from working so hard over there.  I checked my gut to see what it was telling me about this strange man asking me for a favor.  Normally I get a really good feeling about situations like these, and my gut's never the strong silent type, my gut is always giving me it's opinion on things solicited and unsolicited.

I was on the spot, I had to make a decision.  Do I give this stranger a ride, or do I make something up and leave him where I found him.  I yell at Jerimy all the time for picking up hitchhikers....he's done it many times since we've been together....and here I was faced with the same situation as I tell him to avoid.

I surprised myself when I found myself saying yes.  I was really torn though, because one side of me was like, "HEATHER!  ARE YOU INSANE!!??!!" there was another side of me that said "SHOW THIS MAN A KINDNESS!  YOU HAVE THE TIME.  SHOW HIM THAT THE COLOR OF HIS SKIN DOESN'T MAKE YOU AFRAID OF HIM!  DO SOMETHING GOOD FOR SOMEONE IN NEED"  It was that voice in my head that had me saying ok.

I cleaned off the seat for him and he climbed in.  And we were off.  I could smell alcohol on his breath and my gut said, "YOU IDIOT!  YOU'RE GOING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED BEING KIND!".....but I reassured myself that it was broad daylight on a Monday, he PROBABLY wouldn't kill me.  But I've watched so many crime shows, I always stay aware of my surroundings, I carry my key like a weapon when I walk/run alone, I don't wear earbuds so I'm not distracted and unaware of someone coming up on me....yet here I was giving a strange man a ride, and nobody knew where I was, who I was with, or that I had just put myself into a compromising situation on a random Monday in April.

"Are you single, divorced, Married?" he asked.  "Married" I replied.  "turn here" he said.  I turned.  "So you wanting to leave him?  He ever tell you you can't have no money or he tell you not to be cashing his checks?"  I replied with "No, me and my husband have separate accounts.  He doesn't tell me how to spend my money and I don't tell him how to spend his" and he threw his hands up, clapped and smiled big and said "Oh Miss Heather, I need to find me a woman like you!"

"Turn here" he said as we then headed east towards the school.

"Turn here?" I asked as we approached the first driveway for the school."

"Nope, keep going"  he said  "You've got to let me take you to dinner!"

"Noooooo, my husband wouldn't appreciate that" I replied.

"This Drive?"  I asked as we approached the second drive.

"Nope, keep going!" he instructed.

"This is where he drives you off somewhere to kill you" my gut said in a near shouting voice now!

And it was then that I got nervous.  We were now passed the school and heading into a residential area.  Ok, turn here he said as we were then heading south.

I'm looking down this street, pretty sure it was a dead end street.  My palms were sweating, my heart was really pounding....."what was I thinking letting a strange man into my car!?!?!"

"Heather, you wouldn't happen to have five dollars would you?"  He asked with a smile.

"I don't have five dollars" I quickly said in return.

"Turn here!" he said, and magically we were on a side street that headed right into the heart of the school's campus.  "See that yellow house there, just go ahead and pull up front there and I'm going to get out" he said.

I did as he instructed, and he tried really hard to get me to give him my phone number....to which I reminded him I was very happily married.  He then grabbed my hand, pulled it upward and caressed it, kissed it and said "There's just something special about you Heather, I suspect you are as beautiful on the inside as you are on the outside!" and with that, he exited my car and I tried really hard not to squeal my tires as I drove off a little too quickly for someone who wasn't afraid of picking up random strangers outside of women's restrooms in nearly abandoned parks.

My spidey senses were in FULL alarm mode by this time and my hands felt shaky on the steering wheel and I had that rush of adrenaline you feel like when you just narrowly avoid a head on car collision with a Semi at 70 miles an hour.  "Why had I just did that?  TO what... prove I wasn't a racist?  Prove that it's ok to pick up hitchhikers? 

All I kept coming back to though was that I had really really wanted to do something kind for a stranger, and somehow be the change I wanted to see in the world.  I wanted so badly to be good in a bad world, that I nearly put myself into a situation were the outcome could have been a whole lot different just to prove a point to myself?  Just to tempt fate?!  I don't know.....I'm still kind of at a loss as to whether what I did was kind or just plain reckless!

In the moment I felt that I was supposed to be the type of person to be generous of spirit and GIVE to my fellow man, but after I did it, I couldn't help but feel like while it was a kind gesture, that really was not well thought out....and there's other ways to show kindness to my fellow man.  Yet, I'm still torn, is it in these situations that we are to make these small differences...not on a grand scale, but on a one on one basis on the people we meet in the streets and alleys?  Does God want us to show kindness in the face of danger and trust that he's got your back?!  .....OR....did I open myself up to my own possible demise?  Will being kind get me killed someday?

My book 'Dead in a Ditch' was titled so because my real life father used to tell me all the time, that they would find me dead in a ditch someday because I was too trusting, too stupid and didn't have a healthy fear of people.  He told me so many times that one day, being trusting would get me killed!

I don't want to live in a world where I have to be afraid of my fellow man.  I don't want to live in a world where being kind is the most dangerous thing a person can do.

So you guys tell me, was it kind?  was it stupid?  or was it both? Would you have done it?

And just so it's out there....let me just say, that there are two things that I do that are dangerous....I ride a motorcycle without a helmet, and apparently I show kindness to strangers and open myself up to possibly being murdered in the process.  But I want anyone reading this to know.....If I die riding my motorcycle, please know that I knew the dangers, don't feel like a terrible injustice has been done should I die while doing it.  I knew the risks, I took them!  I know that every time I get on my bike, it could be my last time.  But I am not going to stop riding.  And if I get killed in some freak "showing kindness" situation, if they do IN FACT find me dead in a ditch someday, know that I knew there was risk in whatever I did to get myself there.  AND KNOW that I did it out of love of life, and LOVE of my fellow man that I risked my own safety to put some kindness into the world.  If I die being kind to someone, I guess there are worse ways to go.

Luv,

~Heather Lynn~

40 year Old Wishes and Husbands that Amaze

When my husband asked me "So what does a 40 year old woman want for her birthday"....I realized that I was about to turn 40 years old, and also that my husband was rubbing it in by choosing to ask me in such a fashion.

So I told him the first thing that came to mind:

I want to go out for all you can eat crab legs, and then wake up on a beach and watch the sunrise!

He said:

No Really?

I said:

No!  Really!

And to my absolute astonishment, two weeks later my husband blew me away when he told me that he couldn't take me to our favorite crab leg eating establishment on my birthday, because we'd be on the beach on my birthday!

 

I was in shock at first, and then, THEN I was beaming!!

I cannot begin to tell you how absolutely wonderful it was to go away with my luv, and enjoy some down time.  Aside from a trip to Wisconsin (visiting family), Chicago (Field's Museum Tour) and Indianapolis (for some 4-wheel jamboree thing) we've never really been on vacation together before.  Certainly never in a swanky resort on a beach!!

We'd never drove all night to see a sunset.  Certainly never had a birthday wish granted, and then received a cake, and got to blow out my birthday candles on an actual beach while watching a beautiful sunrise!

What a life affirming trip.

I can't thank my husband enough for such a special trip....making my 40th birthday THE BEST birthday Yet!

This is the hubs, and I really really love him!

<3 <3 <3

~HeatherLynn~

I've been having a bad week:

So I've been having a really bad week....and I've been pretty down in the dumps, so bad in fact that the majority of country songs make me "ugly" cry....(This morning it was "Fancy" by Reba McIntyre"  What can I say, I'm just outta sorts.

I like to watch a lil TV before I go to bed when I want to get my mind off things that are bothering me, and this week, I turned on the TV and it was the discovery channel and it was all about the "Great Barrier Reef".  I find watching fishies and the lovely blues of the water to be soothing, so I laid the remote down and began my nightly bedtime ritual.  Brushed my teeth, took off my make up, took my liver vitamins and such, slid into my jammies, I climbed into bed and at that moment, on my TV, it was showing a sea cucumber going about it's business on the sea bottom.

They are strange creatures.  So Sea Cucumbers go along the sea bottom and basically serve as a sand filter.  They suck up the sand and whatever it contains and they take out anything that is edible out of the sand, and then poops out the rest.  

I thought about that and was like.....I feel like that somedays, like I'm just crawling along, sucking up whatever's there (drama, death in the family, chores, etc., "just suck it up" I tell myself....so I, like the sea cucumber, suck the up the dirty sand, hoping to find something good in it.

....but then it gets worse.  Then comes the pearl fish.  The pearl fish likes to use sea cucumbers.  They are just like whatever's bothering you.  The Pearl Fish swims up and into the Sea Cucumber's ANUS, and hides out there to avoid predators!  let me repeat that, this FISH, SWIMS UP A SEA CUCUMBER'S ASSHOLE and makes it his home.  Leaves me wondering, what on earth did the sea cucumber ever do to deserve to be anally taken advantage of like that?

So, there I was, sitting in bed, my boy George" curled up along my side snoring, in shock and horror as this pearl fish pokes it's head outta the sea cucumbers bum....and think...."Things could be worse Heather.  You could have a fish swim up your butthole and LIVE there!"

GROSS!!!!!

So folks, the moral of the story is:  Don't let your troubles take up residency inside of you....you aren't a sea cucumber!  Your ass is NO SAFE HAVEN for your troubles.  Let that "shit" go!  The sooner the better!!

Luvin the Discovery Channel for it's brutal wisdom brought directly from the Animal Kingdom,

~HeatherLynn~

PS - Kind of gives new meaning to the ole expression of "Oh Blow it out your butt!" doesn't it?

Thou Shalt Not Litter...& Uncle Dan

I have an ex boyfriend.....we shall call him CC.  Now CC was 10 years older than myself at the time we were dating.  So you know, at 28, he was considered an adult.

One night after he came to see me at my mom and dad's place (where I was living at the time), apparently he stopped on the side of the road to "take a piss", and while he was doing that, he saw some boxes and some misc. garbage in the bed of his truck and like the litter bug he was, he tossed them out on the roadside where he stood and peed.

When he called me later that evening, he was really wound up, and he told me the tale of how he had stopped to piss, and then he was chased by this crazy man who chased him at high speeds all the way to Kalida!  He said this insane man gave chase, and was relentless in his pursuit.  CC was like....Heather this man wasn't going to give up, so finally, I stopped my truck and jumped out into the roadway, threw my hands in the air and said "WHAT!?!??!"  The man then proceeded to give him a lecture about "mother earth" and how littering is lazy, and something worthless people do.  THEN he proceeded to escort CC back to the scene of his littering crime and made him pick his trash back up, put it back in his truck and then and only then did he allow him to go on his way.

I listened to the story intently.  At "mother earth" I thought I heard something a little "Osting" about it.  But I didn't say anything.

He went on to tell me he thought the guy was going to kill him, etc.  I said, what was he driving?

He said:  "This great big ole brown bronco, the kind that the window rolled down in the back"...

I giggled, and then laughed and he was like "WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING ABOUT!??!  I COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED!!"

I stopped laughing and said, "Congrats, you've officially met, and PISSED OFF my Uncle Dan!  Christmas should be fun if you come!"

He was like "WHAT?!?!  HEATHER THAT GUY IS CRAZY!!"

{although, Barb's looking a little crazier in this picture!}

And I said, "yeah, well, you're lucky he just made you go back and pick it up!"

Uncle Dan lived by his own set of standards.  He was absolute in his conservation of land, water and air (ok so maybe not air, as he smoked like a chimney).  He loved things NATURAL...the way they are supposed to be.  He loved the outdoors.  

He and my Uncle Ben are the ones who taught me how to goose hunt!  So many hours spent in a duck blind with those two in the wee morning hours were some of my favorite times with them.  They had a way of investing in you.  If you are even taken in under the wing of an Osting....you feel like you're pretty special!  I'm not sure why, or what it is, but it's almost like you can see their pride FOR you in their eyes.  They will also rib you endlessly if you screw something up....and pretty much reserve the right to embarrass you with said stories until you die....or in this case, until they die.

If you've never watched Second Hand Lions, do so!  And you tell me if Robert Duvall's character doesn't just just remind you of Dan right outta the gate!

Dan liked things simple.  He could have bought a new truck, but he liked driving his old one, no matter the shape it was in.  He sports a pair of shorts he wore before I was born, and he see's no reason why he wouldn't.  That's just who he was, he didn't have to have the newest of everything, and he enjoyed quality over quantity...anything worth doing, is worth doing right.  Osting's believe that, as I've heard it from all of them my whole life.

When you were with Dan, he always wanted to make sure YOU had what you needed.  Be it a drink, something to eat, a comfy chair.....he was always concerned with his guests over himself.

He was pretty rough on Aaron.....and I hated that, because I saw so much of Uncle Dan IN Aaron, it seemed ludicrous to me why he was so hard on him when he was doing everything pretty much the way Dan taught him to.  And though he didn't say it like he should have, I KNOW, the only reason he was hard on Aaron like he was; was because he wanted Aaron to not be LIKE him, he wanted Aaron to be BETTER than him.  Dan wouldn't have found that statement to be mean or insulting because he knew who he was, he was a man with talents and lived by a set of standards he could be and was proud of I'm sure....but he was the type of man who wanted this children to be successful and have everything they needed to be happy.  He would have walked over hot coals for his grandson Cody....as he was so paramount in Cody's upbringing.  He would light up when Cody and his grandson Ethan were staying the weekend.  Relationships with people were so important to him, but he didn't DEMAND your company to prove your affection like some people do, he just simply ENJOYED any company that came for a visit.

He was as stubborn as a mule sometimes....ok, most of the time....
I think he considered it part of his "charm"...

In helping Aaron with some funeral arrangements, and the unimaginable task and things one has to do in order to plan and arrange a funeral, we've spoke collectively as a family about our "dysfunctional family"....and Uncle Ben said the other day, you know, for a dysfunctional family, we're actually pretty alright!  We still...regardless of time and space, things said, feelings hurt, we at the end of the day, we show up, Osting's SHOW up for each other.  Always have, and we always will.
It will be complete and udder chaos, naturally....but we show up.

At the end of the day, I couldn't be happier to be an Osting, to be a part of this big crazy family of characters and trouble makers, story tellers and hard working honest folk.

If Dan were here to read this, he'd tell me to shut the hell up and I better NOT EVEN be putting this on Facebook.  For a man who didn't know what the hell Facebook even was, he sure hated it!!!

Truly,

Heather Lynn "OSTING" Siefker

Daniel Osting Obit

Too Short.....LIFE IS.....Too short!

Many of you know....some of you might not know yet, but my Uncle Dan was killed in a tragic house fire Thursday night/Friday morning.  And I could tell you the tragic story, I could tell you how horrific it was as we stood there, watching them carry his body out of the home after the flames were put out.  The tears that were cried, the grief we've felt....but right now I don't want to do that.  I want to tell you a story about my uncle that is one of my favorites!

Growing up on an exotic animal farm we had a couple hay fields that we would use to feed our menagerie of animals.....so as a kid, summers were often spent bailing hay, raking hay, putting hay into the hay mound...you get the picture.

Well, one of our hay fields was right next to my Uncle Dan's house.  My dad wanted me to go and rake the hay, so I rode my bike down there, parked it at my Uncle's and then got on the tractor that my dad had parked down there and I went about my business raking the hay.

While on a tractor, before ipods, and when you were too poor to own a "walkman"....you would find ways to entertain yourself.  One of the main ways of doing that was singing.  I like to sing.  And my older sister Angie (who we all know was a really bad influence on me) had recently introduced me to "Too Short", more specifically his 1989 hit, "Don't fight the feeling"....which is pretty much THE most vulgar, downright crude rap song I ever liked.  I'm not going to lie, I still kinda like this song.  The girl parts in this song are so entertaining....anyway, back to the story, so there I was singing my lungs out, driving the tractor, raking the hay, and I was completely in my own little world.  When I'd thoroughly finished raking, i parked the tractor, hopped down and headed for my bicycle.

Uncle Dan emerged from his garage where he'd been working on something, and called over to me, "Hey you, come here for a second"....and of course, I minded my elders and I walked over to him to see what he wanted.  Dan was very gruff, and when Dan said "Hey come here a second"....you would be about as scared as you would be curious about what you had done to warrant a talking to.

He looks me up and down with this look on his face I couldn't quite pin point and he says "What's a guy gotta do to get a channel change", confused I said "What?"  and he says, Well i was listening to you sing out there and I was wondering how I go about getting a channel change.  Didn't much care for that last one you sang."

I immediately was MORTIFIED as I recalled what song I was singing last.  TOO SHORT....Me, Jr. high schooler, white girl with NO rapping skills, a ginger to boot....and my Uncle heard every word?!?!??!  EVERY VULGAR CURSE/Word!

"You heard me?"

"Yes"

my cheeks blazed red, my heart was beating fast, my mouth dry....I couldn't find the words to try and explain my song choice.....or my filthy curse filled mouth.  Was he going to tell on me, rat me out to my dad, was an ass beating in my near future???  So many questions ran through my mind!

He just smiled and said, "Maybe something country next time....easy listening?....not a big fan of...what do you call that crap?  ....Rap??"  He turned around without saying another word and walked away to his garage.  I jumped on my banana seat huffy bike and tore outta there as fast as my legs could pedal.

Uncle Dan was a man of few words MOST of the time, and then every once in a great while, you'd catch him in a chatty mood and he'd talk your ear off! lol

Not too long ago, I came out to visit him, and he was watching some Clint Eastwood marathon on tv.  Not sure which movie it was, but I told him I'd never seen it, and then he began asking me things like "You've never seen this movie?  What were you, living under a rock your whole life, HOW have you never seen this?  I was like, "This movie came out before I was even born, how the hell should I know?!"  He liked to pick!  He liked to get a rise out of people he liked.  I'd like to think he liked me.  He was gruff, and rough around the edges, but he was soft and sweet when nobody was looking.

My Uncle Dan had THE SAME green terry cloth shorts he wore in the 70's...and sometimes you'd catch him in them (present day)....and you'd wonder how a garment could have that kind of lifespan.

After his 4-wheeler accident, he sat in his chair and watched CNN like it was his job, he was always "in the know" and would always ask:  "Did you see......[insert whatever the big news story was at the time]?  He was genuinely concerned for others, for our country, and about the world his grandkids would grow up in.

He was a private man, he never felt the need to fill silence with a bunch of chatter, and he once described croutons as a SENSELESS food.  He got offended by croutons, yet could listen to a pre-teen sing TOO SHORT at the top of her lungs and find it amusing!  He was really something.  I wish he were still with us.  I cry every time I think about him not being there, the hard times he's not going to give me anymore....

In closing, I'm going to leave you with the lyrics to "TOO SHORT" so you can truly appreciate what it must have been like for him to hear his 12 year old niece who normally would seem pretty sweet and mildly still innocent...spewing profanities and vulgarity!

This one's for you Uncle Snuggles!
I love you, I miss you and I'll never forget you!

1952 - 2017

{do not read below this line if you are easily offended by profanity and vulgarity! lol}
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Don't Fight The Feeling:

[Intro: Too Short]
Say ho
Yeah you
Can I ask you a question?
You like to fuck?
Oh, you don’t want me to talk to you like that?
Would you like to make love?

[Verse 1: Too $hort]
I saw you walking down the street, and I had to stop
Turn up the radio and drop the top
I see you look so good, and you’re so fine
Young tender, would you be mine
I get you in my car, drive you to my house
Cuz I’m a mack, I cold turn you out
I won't ask, and I sure won’t beg
Reach right over and rub your leg
I let my hand slide between your miniskirt
Slip a finger in your panties, straight go to work
What time is it? Don’t watch the clock
Lay back baby doll and I’ll rock the cock
Funky Fresh I am, and I always can, Freak Nasty
I’m the man
I take you out to the finest restaurant
Buy you any damn thing that you want
You want flowers? I’ll buy your ass a rose
But later on you’re coming off with them pantyhose
You want gold, girl what’s next
Its me and you, doing the sex
So now you know I’m just a freak
Give it up baby, I can’t wait two weeks
I want it all, Don’t say I won't
Get it girl, now I’m telling you don’t

[Verse 2: Entice and Barbie of The Danger Zone]
Nigga please, you provoke no feeling
You must of forgot, the girls of whom you're dealing
We haven't the urge, to get busy
Like those dizy lizys, who used to dance for you, your through
I can't put it more blunt, your vocab is restricted
You're addicted, to the words you inflicted
Time after time, line after line
Talking bout the bitches that are on your mind
Do they call you $hort because of your height or your width?
Diss me boy, I'll hang your balls from a cliff
Wrapped around a slinky, your a dinky
It's an easy task, to the corner cause the curb didn't want your ass
Your name is yuck mouth, you don't brush
Gotta cover your mouth like this
They call you yuck mouth
You refuse to brush, no sweetheart you can keep that kiss
Your a freak with no tale
You have no ass, class,you can't pass, your simply trash
Your a typical nigga, the kind you don't take home
This is Entyce and Barbie from the Danger Zone
Like a short dogg that carries fleas
You make my ass itch, twitch, don't you wish you could scratch it
And grab it like you want it
The name fits cause your all up on it...

[Verse 3: Too $hort]
Get mad if you want, I won't front
When it's time to hump, won't be no punk
Roll your ass over and tap the butt
Too $hort baby all in them guts
I'm not your ABC, from the alphabet
Every letter I'll write'll get your pussy wet
It's just a freaky note, from me to you
At the bottom I signed it Playboy II
I'm a player, bitch, I thought you knew
Like every other nigga in my crew
I bump hoes, now it's your turn
Tell me young tender when will you learn
I cold mack like pimps you know
Won't sell you dope or sell you blow
Just your average everyday straight bump up bitch
My gold rings come from spitz
Look baby, You know what I want
Your acting like it's that time of the month
Are you bleeding, can't think about sex
Irritated by your Kotex
We don't need to kiss, we don't have to fuck
I'll pull out my dick bitch, you can suck
Now here, don't say I won't
Get it girl, now I'm telling you don't...