Using the Noodle

As if life wasn’t already showing me clearly just how old I’m getting, my high school class is about to celebrate the 40th anniversary of our graduation!

WHAT?

How could time have gone by that quickly???

Wasn’t it just yesterday that this was what I saw in the mirror?

Now, mind you, back then we started school at two or three years old, so I graduated high school at fifteen, but still! Ugh…

The Queen’s High School crest. The school was established in 1953, and named in honor of Queen Elizabeth’s ascension to the throne the previous year. The motto translates to: May she Flourish in Wisdom and Virtue. Clearly I didn’t live up to that, but the school gave me an excellent academic base nonetheless!

And I’ve found myself even more than ever doing ‘old people’ things, like walking into a room and standing there, wondering why I went there in the first place. And leaving things in places, then forgetting where on earth I put them. Even starting this post, stopping to look something up, and then suddenly remembering I needed to finish it, ten minutes later! So, I decided to start doing a few little things to keep my brain a little sharper.

Strange as it is, I’ve never been terribly good at word games. Long ago I used to do The Times cryptic crosswords with my father, and enjoyed them. I got good enough that we would both do it individually during the day, and compare notes at night, often completing each other’s copy. But because they depend a lot on popular references, I haven’t found a US equivalent that pulls me in the same way.

Jumbles would frustrate me, because I took so long to solve them, and the occasional time I can solve the Spelling Bee pangram is more a source of amazement than anything else.

Then, I noticed people talking about ‘Wordle’ online, and tried it. Now I’m hooked, both on it and on Quordle, which is where you have nine tries to figure out four separate words. Have they really helped stave off my forgetfulness? I don’t know, but I hope so, because I’m going to keep on doing them.

Do any of you have any suggestions for games or puzzles that will help keep my noodle working well? Drop them in the comments, if you do!

And, because I’m so excited about my upcoming release One Night Fling in Positano, I thought I’d share the cover and blurb again.

I love this cover soooo much!

Can one night of passion… 

…change her whole life? Nurse Kendra lives a jet-set life. Who needs a home and family when they only let you down? So when meeting gorgeous Massimo in Positano results in one unforgettable night, Kendra has no regrets—until he turns out to be her new boss! Continuing their fling is risky, but also irresistible… Under the red-hot Mediterranean sun, will Kendra realize it’s not her fling that’s at risk but her no-strings-attached relationship rule?