Happy Wednesday Everyone! The weekly Tuesday post is a day late BUT it's posted. I didn't even turn my computer on yesterday and it felt good. I enjoyed some quiet time before school then time with family and friends after school. Life is good...

It might be Halloween BUT it's also a great time to get some of those Christmas gifts ahead of time so you can enjoy the Christmas season and avoid the chaos. What better gift can you give then a book or two? If you want to share hope, organization, and a smile with your friends and family, you can find me in a couple locations in November, and one in December, for signed copies of my books.

How often do you hear TGIF? In case you aren't familiar with it, TGIF stands for Thank Goodness It's Friday. I'm sure I've said it before after a tough week but as I thought about this concept earlier in the week, I realized something. I'm wishing five days away for two. These are not good odds, right? Why miss opportunities and blessings of five days because one is so focused on the two day weekend. 

Sometimes it's in the mundane and most exhausting days that God might reveal an A-Ha or wrap His loving arms around us. The next time I'm tempted to say, "I can't wait for Friday" or "TGIF", I want to change my attitude and outlook. Instead I'll say, "Thank you for being with me God" or "Lord, I need your strength, courage, or endurance for this week, please be with me." and when the weekend arrives, let us say, "Thank you for another weekend to recharge."

What do you think? What if we all had this mindset shift? Imagine!

A couple months ago I started to receive emails and communications about an "upcoming" changes and merging of my current (or should I say, previous, lol) publisher. If you can't tell by my tone, I wasn't too diligent in researching and preparing for this transition.

I logged into my previous publisher's account to check on a couple things and start formatting a new book to realize I needed to "merge/transfer" my current books to the new publisher. I'm pleased to say this was not only quick, it was easy. The publishers spent a lot of time planning and prepping for a smooth transition. It surprised me at the ease then I tried to find my books, ugh.

After watching a few videos on the publishers website, I was on my way to figuring out this new navigational portal and venue. It is clean and I think once I adjust to the differences, publishing will ebb and flow a bit smoother. I won't say smooth because anyone who has published a book understands it is a complicated, busy, hectic, and wonderful process all at the same time. 

The good news, as I move forward with this next book and prepare the behind-the-scenes parts of the publishing world, it's exciting to know my next book will be a new adventure in the publication world.

Stay tuned because the inspiration is flowing...yippee...let the writing and writing and writing begin. The editing and revision will come soon enough but for now...I write!

Happy Saturday to one and all!

It has been a fabulous week of blessings and things to be thankful for. Some might seem small and insignificant yet I've found in life that often the small things are really the things that can make the most difference in our life and outlook.


A few of the things I'm thankful for:

• Electricity to run the space heaters while we wait to move up on the waiting list to have our new heating system installed
• Amazing friends and family who are always there
• The love of a fur baby when we need it
• A loving husband who tries to help and ease my load
• A daughter who still calls home everyday and lets me know when she is in for the night
• A dad who is always there and reminds me how much he loves me
• Green grass and cool breezes as the season transitions
• SUNY Oswego Hockey STARTS TONIGHT!!!
• For a teachers' union that looks for ways to give back to the kiddos and the staff throughout the year and plans fun fellowship activities
• Color Street Nails to highlight my hockey spirit
• A new opportunity and love for makeup with Avon
• Owning a lot of blankets to stay warm
• A working washing machine and dryer so we can do laundry at home
• For finding new shoes that (hopefully) won't pinch my toes at school
• For the ability to laugh when the hanging light arrives in the mail after waiting two weeks, only to find I ordered the wrong one
• For all of you
• For those listening to Livin' With Lisa: Keeping It Real each day
• For the Bible who helps me to know who God says I am

Earlier this week, Monday afternoon to be exact, I captured this photo of the leaves blowing off the tree. It was beautiful! The wind was wild and strong, the dying leaves had no choice but to succumb to the wind's forceful gesture. The light rain transitioned to harder pellets yet I stood there, in awe of the beautiful change. A bountiful tree of green transformed into a naked resemblance of winter's nap.

I was unaware of the chill my bones felt until I entered the house. The girl I tutor said, "Mrs. Buske you are very wet. What happened?" I  told her it's raining so of course I got wet. I didn't want to tell her I stood in her driveway watching the leaves blow off the tree, enjoying the beautiful transformation of her tree. It's these little things we often miss, I'm thankful for the opportunity to catch a glimpse and have the time to stop and take it all in.

All to often we rush from here to there and miss the glorious things happening around us. I encourage you to slow down and watch the leaves fall, the clouds move, or listen to the birds sing. You'll be calmer, happier, and a lot more relaxed. Enjoy!

If you are familiar with my blog then Elaine isn't a stranger to you. She's been a guest blogger in the past, reviewed my book on her blog, and can be seen leaving comments now and again. I'm blessed to know Elaine as an author and even more by her friendship, mentoring, and faith.

Elaine's recent cancer diagnosis could have knocked her off her feet but instead of puddling and signing a woe is me song, she stepped up, strapped on the armor of God with joy in her heart because she knew it would be a journey and one God was leading the way through. Her new book, "A Hopeful Response to a Hard Reality: Praise the Lord and Pass the Chemo" is available now!!

The first thing I'm thankful for this weekend is that I slept until 2:04 p.m. on Saturday morning! Yup, you read that correctly, 2:04.

Let's look at other things that stood out to me this past week:

• ​Participating in the mission & vision work for our school district
• A fun and memorable field trip with the kiddos at school
• A clean house
• Time with hubby
• Time writing and helping a friend develop her one-page
• Time writing and organizing a booklet for a project at church
• Crossing items off the to-do-list in leaps and bounds
• For the ability to ignore the list and relax
• Running water
• Food in the cupboard
• Our loan was approved so we'll have heat within a few weeks - hopefully before it gets too cold or snowing 
• Time with good friends
• A career I love and enjoy
• For Internet
• Sunshine amidst the rain and clouds
• Anticipation of things yet to come
• For the breath in my lungs
• For the hope I have of life in Heaven with my Mom and sister
• For all of you...you encourage me!

In an attempt to achieve the goal set during the summer, I dedicated a few hours of my long Columbus-Day-Weekend writing blogs and scheduling them to post for this week and next. If you listen to my podcast, Livin' with Lisa: Keeping it Real, then you know I set goals for this school year.

In an attempt to maintain podcasts during the week, my blog, working on the next book, leading Bible Study, volunteering, working, and the joy of being a wife, mother & daughter...goal setting and scheduling was. and is, a MUST.

More than three weeks into the school year and I realize my balancing act isn't going so well. My good intentions of goal setting and scheduling aren't working as well as they did in mind or on paper in August. This is life though, isn't it. Sometimes the best plans need adjusting and modifications.

After a moment I realized it's possible to keep these goals if I manage my evening and weekend times better. Instead of sleeping until ten I need to get up earlier to complete the daily tasks and allow time to blog ahead of time for the week. Since you are reading this blog, it was a success.

Have you ever set a goal and adjusted to achieve it? This is life, whether you are a task master or running in the hamster wheel...sometimes we need to slow down and take another look at the plans and adjust. Adjustment is a life necessity. 

Happy Tuesday Everyone! How are you doing? It’s great to here from you. Some of you post in the Facebook comment attached to this blog, others send a private message, and then there are those who send an email or comment on the actual blog. Regardless of how you reach out and respond, there is a new avenue coming for those wishing to “CALL IN”.

You can call me at (315) 288-6962 to leave a message that may be shared on a future podcast.

* NOTE: This new option isn’t necessarily for those who only follow the blog but if you want to call into my podcast and leave a message, you now have an option. If you are a blog follower and want to leave a message for me to share on my podcast, you can call too and your message will encourage and reach even more people now. *

If you call in and don’t wish to have your message aired on the podcast or shared with those reading the blog, simply say, “Private Message – Not for Sharing” in your message when you call so I know. Messages will be screened, and administration reserve the right to play, or not play any messages left using this number.

The hope for this number is to allow podcast listeners (and you if this sounds interesting) an opportunity to leave positive and uplifting messages for the other listeners of the Livin’ with Lisa: Keeping It Real podcast. Click here for a direct link to the podcast via Anchor.

Thank you in advance for taking time to call in to the podcast, as long as you don’t say “Private Message – Not for Sharing”, by leaving a message, you are granting me permission to share this message publicly. 

A few items I'm thankful for this week:

• Good time with family and friends
• A weekend with our daughter
• Celebrating 80 years of life with our aunt
• Time & Memory-Making with family from Fl and NJ
• Food in the cupboards
• The heater repair/replacement man came two weeks earlier than expected
• A husband who loves and stands up for me, claiming me as HIS wife
• ​Fabulous and fun co-workers
• A career I love and enjoy
• Quiet in the morning
• Audibles so I can can get some reading (listening) in during the week
• Owning an umbrella and raincoat since it's duck weather
• To have a great relationship with my Dad
• Beating levels on Candy Crush
• Inspiration to write
• Ideas for a new book
• The ability to type with my fingers
• For each of you and my listeners, you encourage me
• Fur baby lovins - they are members of the family