Staying Fit While Staying Home

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

Here we are at week three (or is it four for us?)  of sheltering-in-place. It hasn’t been that bad for us. Especially for me. Even though I’m an extrovert of the highest order, I’m still a homebody. I love being at home. For one, I’m not like some of you, I don’t get up with the chickens, walk two miles, shower, put on a full face, and fix my hair. I know. My poor husband.

While I do shower daily, I definitely do not fix my hair or put on makeup. At my age, it hardly matters anyway. The freedom that comes with not having to do those things is priceless to me. Now, you must understand this about me. I hate being dressed. If Hubby and I are going out, if only to the grocery store (an odd occurrence these days, huh?), I get up,  put on a full face, and I wash and dry and fix my hair. I even wear earrings and a necklace. And my good shoes. I think it's a Southern thing. Women simply don't go out without being all dolled up. It's ingrained in us from birth.

As soon as we walk in the door, it’s straight to our bedroom where I remove the nice clothes I wore to the store, and I don the most comfortable things I have—grubbies. Sweats in the winter, and usually yoga pants in the summer. I don’t do shorts. Period. And I’ve never done the first day of yoga. But, those pants are so comfy.

One, Two, Three, Kick

Today, we began an exercise routine. I think this old gal overdid it a bit. Now, don’t do what I did. I was keeping up with the forty-something-thing taking us through the routine. It wasn’t that difficult. Besides, it was aimed at seniors like Hubby and me.

Tonight, I’m feeling every one of those leg lifts, and bends, and squats, and grapevines, and whatever. Recently, I’ve had trouble with pain in my left leg. My doctor says its iliotibial something. I’ve overused the tendon and muscles that attach your backside to your hip to your knee area. It hurts. I’m so sore that day one may have to be days done for a while. So, y’all don’t do that! Be sensible. If you do such a routine, don’t go thinking you’re still the age of the gal leading you. I passed that a long time ago. 

New Hobby and a Book

Hubby and I have managed to stay sane through all this. He has his new hobby, genealogy and I’m in my office working on the launch of Grave Consequences. I’m also doing edits on book two, titled Grave Decisions. The cover of Grave Consequences was released yesterday. If you saw it, what did you think?

If any of you reading this would like to join my launch team, contact me by my email available on the site here. I’ll send you an application form. It’s simple. Just your name, email, birthdate (no year, I wouldn’t ask that of anyone older than 20), and your mailing address, for goodies in case your name is drawn in  a give-away.

This is going to be short this week. I’m worn out from that exercise routine. And I need to go rub some good stuff on it. My poor leg flat-out hurts. Hope I didn’t do major damage. Stay tuned for how that works out, pun intended.  

Have you been doing exercises at home? I hope you’ve been a lot smarter than I about that. If you have a good routine for seniors (these days, they say that’s anyone 60 and up, good grief), share a link with us. I think the one we chose was a bit brisk. Y’all stay safe.

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Days in Isolation but Not Alone

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

The COVID-19 has left all of us with a sense of displacement. We’re so accustomed to our busy lives in which we hurry here and there. While I’m sure that God didn’t bring this, not even to get our attention and tell us we all need to slow down and rest—smell the roses, or the coffee, whichever you prefer—the end result is that we are all finding ourselves with time on our hands we hadn’t expected just a few days or weeks ago. 

And, we may be feeling just a bit alone.

The question is: What are we going to do with that time?

For my husband and me, we're staying connected. We’ve spent a lot more time talking with our four grown sons and our sisters. Checking on one another and learning that for now, we are all okay, is a huge relief. We worry most about my husband’s sister who lives in Greece. She and her husband are doing well and have been confined in their home for about three weeks. They plan to stick to that plan.

 Amazon, Genealogy, and Cooking

Amazon has always been one of my best friends, but in the past week or so, we have a new-found relationship. I’ve never ordered food or items for long-term survival from them. Mostly, I order books. Books I understand. Buying the things purchased in the past week is almost surreal. You may certainly call me crazy, but I’ve purchased seeds for planting and jars for canning. Of course, I had to buy books that told me how to utilize the jars for canning. If I don’t need them, great. But I will have them should something even worse than this arise. But if I do need them, I’ve got them. A win-win.

Now, y’all know I’m a huge genealogy buff. I’ve traced both my husband’s and my sides of the family. It’s a work in progress and any genealogist worth his salt will tell you, you are never finished. There’s always something new to learn about our ancestors. This week, hubby delved into his mother’s side of the family. I had all manner of files and records. They were mostly organized, but he spent some time making them better. And he looked for photographs, labeled the ones he could, and sent that info to a new-found cousin. So, this may be something you’ve put off, but now you have extra time to spend on such. Warning. Genealogy is addictive.

I spent two days cooking, something I haven’t done a lot of lately. But we have food enough for about a month, at least. All cooked and stored away in the freezer. This is giving me time to do those things I still need to do for my website and time to finish things related to my book launch.

Other than being stuck inside, our lives have changed only slightly. My husband has a new hobby (maybe), he’s happy because I’ve cooked a lot, and I’ve managed to get things done in addition to cooking. In other words, the time has been good, and we’re not worried. 

Clinging to Promises

We’ve clung to God’s promise of sheltering us beneath his wings. We trust Him with our lives. We’ve prayed Psalm 91 over us and our family. If you’ve not done that, or you are unfamiliar with that Psalm, go do a search and read it. But don’t just read it, pray it. I know it will bring you comfort in these uncertain days.

My friends, you all are in our prayers. As Joyce Meyer frequently tells her followers, cast your cares. Believe in that blessed assurance that God is still on His throne. You are not alone. Hebrews 13:5.

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Grave Consequences Has a Cover

By Debra DuPree Williams

I want to thank all of you for faithfully reading my posts. I can’t tell you how much that means to me. In the publishing world, it’s all about the numbers. Sad, but true. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s just the way it is.

If you’ve read my posts for a while, you know that I’ve shared with you many things about my writing journey. One of those things was about the birth of a book and how long a process it is. I feel fortunate. I haven’t had to wait that long. Believe me when I tell you that was by the grace of God alone. 

Better Than Cussin' - The Colorful Language of the South -

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

Did the title grab your attention? I’m sure it did as you likely never thought you’d see such from me. Let me be clear, I’m not speaking of those words, the ones we simply do not use in polite society. I’m talking about Southern slang. Those phrases we use in place of the words which may, or may not have, come to mind.

Having been reared in south Alabama, I heard my share of both categories. Of course, that was back in the day when, if children used those words, out came the bar of soap. In our household, that meant the big, brown, scary bar of Octagon soap. 

Let Your Voice be Heard

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

Greetings to all my friends. I want to thank you for so faithfully reading my blog posts. Words cannot express how deeply I appreciate each one of you.

I didn’t enter this writing world lightly. I began writing when I was a child. I poured over Childcraft books and tried my hand at poetry from the time I could write. When I was in the seventh grade, I wrote my first novel. But then, life took over. I went away to college, got married, had kids and didn’t really write during those later years until those kids went to school.

Grave Consequences Has an Expected Date of Birth

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

I’m so excited to finally have a tentative date for publication of my first novel. The thing is, it isn’t carved in stone so I can’t share it with you yet. If you’d like to be one of the first to hear the date and if you’d like to be on my launch team, sign up for my newsletter and you’ll be among the first to know.

Don’t know what a launch team is? Some authors call it their street team or their dream team. These are people who agree to help you get out word about an upcoming book or event, such as a book signing. For the most part, I’ll be doing all the work, you agree to share memes I’ll be making with everyone you reach, spread word any way you can. Plus, I would greatly appreciate it if you’d pray for me and for this book. If you can do nothing but pray, believe me, that is huge. This book isn’t going anywhere without God there to guide it.

Giving Thanks--Generation to Generation

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

Y’all know that one of my favorite things is genealogy. Finding my ancestors has become not just a hobby, but a life-long quest for my sister and me.

Sis and I talk every day, first thing in the morning, which for us is usually somewhere between eight and nine. I am not an early morning person unless I have to be. Of course, we always talk about our kids and our grandkids, and in her case, her soon-to-be eight great-grands. Wow!

Another thing you know about me is that this November, for the first time, I am participating in NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, the object of which is to get fifty-thousand words written—a good start for a novel. I got a bit of a late start, but I’ve managed to have somewhere around forty-thousand words in book two of my Charlotte Graves series, when you add my NaNo words to my already-written words.

But, while I’ve been writing a novel, many of you have been writing about things you are thankful for. I’ve really enjoyed reading your posts. Among those of you doing this is my niece, Shelly Foshee. She is my sister’s daughter-in-love. Shelly is an amazing woman, one whom I wish all of you could know. She is daughter, wife, mother, and now, Nana. Add to those, student, nurse, teacher, mentor, intercessor, prayer-warrior. You get the picture. Busy.

Latest Genealogy-DNA News

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

I spent a bit of time this week looking into the latest information in the field of genetic genealogy. Tracing my family’s roots and my husband’s family’s roots has become a passion of mine. I became interested when I was in my teens, but I had no clue where to begin. It wasn’t until the 1990s that I immersed myself into figuring out our roots. I try to stay in touch with the latest innovations available for my searches.

Two of my ancestors had done an excellent job of tracing my Daddy’s DuPree side and his mother’s Burdeshaw side. Let me tell you, I admire these women more than I can say as their research was done years ago, back in the 1960s, perhaps some of the work on the Burdeshaw line, in the 1950s. This meant trips to libraries or to track down relatives unfamiliar to them. Emimae Pritchard Langley compiled the two-volume set of books titled, The DuPre Trail, and Rhoda Burdeshaw, missionary to China, wrote the genealogies of my Burdeshaw relatives.