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 Life, Adventure, Family, Writing what else is there? Random thoughts. |
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WELCOME TO: GEMINI RISING   UPDATED INTRO 30 JUNE 2025: Just a little about me. I've been married for 33 years this past NOV and currently live in Southern California, but I grew up in New Hampshire. I've got 2 boys who are young adults. I work as a 911 dispatcher for LAPD. I enjoy my job a lot. Still. If you can believe that. I love to write. Thankfully both of my boys achieved Eagle Scout. My Scouting days are over and I'm back to focusing on my writing. I like to get out in nature, drink coffee and watch football. Here's a little bio about my zodiac. GEMINI: Gemini, the sign of the Twins, is dual-natured, elusive, complex and contradictory. On the one hand it produces the virtue of versatility, and on the other the vices of two-facedness and flightiness. The sign is linked with Mercury, the planet of childhood and youth, and its subjects tend to have the graces and faults of the young. When they are good, they are very attractive; when they are bad they are more the worse for being the charmers they are. Like children they are lively, and happy, if circumstances are right for them, or egocentric, imaginative and restless. Their good qualities are attractive and come easily to them. They are affectionate, courteous, kind, generous, and thoughtful towards the poor and suffering - provided none of the activities resulting from expressing these traits interferes too greatly with their own lives and comforts. Geminians can be successful in many walks of life though their general characteristics tend to make them unreliable. They are often skilled manipulators of language, in speech and writing, and may be: debaters, diplomats (though in politics they are more interested in theory than practice), orators, preachers (brilliant rather than profound), teachers, authors, poets, journalists, or lawyers. BLOG ACCOMPLISHMENTS: SEPTEMBER 2025:
SEPTEMBER 2025:
Merit Badges collected and earned from "Earn the Badge 2025" ![Merit Badge in WdC Supportive Friend
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Thank you for participating in [Link To Item #2133333] . Congratulations on completing the September
2nd Daily Task.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/community-WdC_Supportive_Friend.gif) ![Merit Badge in Earn the Badge
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Thank you for your donation to [Link To Item #2133333] - from Purple Princess.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Earn_the_Badge-2093257_1.gif){kind=icon} ![Merit Badge in Music
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Thank you for participating in [Link To Item #2133333] . Congratulations on completing the September
3rd Daily Task.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/genre-Music-1050.gif) ![Merit Badge in Contests
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Thank you for participating in [Link To Item #2133333] . Congratulations on completing the September 1st daily task.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/genre-Contests-235.gif) ![Merit Badge in Growth
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Good job earning the Growth Merit Badge in [Link To Item #2133333]](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Growth-1150.gif) ![Merit Badge in Word Searches
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Great job participating in [Link To Item #2133333] and completing the September 5th task.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/type-Word_Searches-19000.gif) ![Merit Badge in Teamwork
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Great job for picking a teammate and completing the September 6th Task at [Link To Item #2133333]](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Teamwork-210.gif) SUMMER 2025:
Merit Badges Collected from Virtual Blogging &Virtual Blogging Friends: ![Merit Badge in Let Dreams Take Wing
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To my upcoming virtual traveling blog companion. Dream big and fly high!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Let_Dreams_Take_Wing-2335469_1.gif) ![Merit Badge in Normal Is Boring
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here's to another week of creating adventures!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/Kudos-Normal_Is_Boring.gif) ![Merit Badge in Blog Camping
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Thanks for completing [Link To User elusive4lyn] July 2025 blogging vacation!! Great job!!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Blog_Camping-1788309_13.gif) ![Merit Badge in Travel
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Woohoo! We’re halfway through!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/genre-Travel-1975.gif) ![Merit Badge in BCoF 2
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Thank you for your participation in BCoF's 50 States Virtual Blogging adventure.
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51 days of blogging takes commitment, and you rocked it.
*^*Heart*^* Lyn](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Endurance.gif) SEPTEMBER 2024: I participated in the
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Congrats on your Honorable Mention in Blog Week Birthday Bastion 2024](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/type-Nonfiction.gif) Big thanks to WakeUpAndLive~NOV Word Monger   for hosting the contest! OCTOBER 2024 & 2025 : I participated in the
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You rose to the poetry challenges in 12 Poetic Days of Halloween in grand style.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Determination-2500.gif) ![Merit Badge in Ghost
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Thank you for your successful completion of 13 Poetic Days of Halloween *^*Heart*^* Lyn](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/genre-Ghost-700.gif) Big Thanks to A Warped Witch I Be  for hosting the contest!Find me at: WEBSITE: http://www.stephanieburkhart.com FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/StephanieBurkhartAuthor GOOD READS: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4031660.Stephanie_Burkhart YOU TUBE CHANNEL: http://www.youtube.com/user/botrina?feature=mhee  WARNING I intend to be open, honest, and forthright. No topic is off limits from religion to you name it, I'm going there. If you think you might be offended...back up now - this blog isn't for you. For those who "dare"  check out the "Gemini Rising..." 
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Maid of the Mist Most Macabre  said there was NO WAY she was driving the Party Bus in New York City because she heard the traffic was so crazy, so she parked it in New Jersey and we took a bus taxi to downtown New York. The first place we went to was the 9/11 Memorial. I think we all remember what we were doing that day. I was supposed to go to training at the “Museum of Tolerance” in Westwood (Los Angeles) but it was canceled so I stayed home and watched TV, 3 month preggers with Andy. I’ll never forget the sights and sounds and the heroism displayed that day and I’ll forever remember Rudy Giuliani running toward the destruction and not away from it – a hero. To be honest, I am a Republican, which is not an easy political class to be in the state of California, and I don’t necessarily want to make this blog about politics, but I have always leaned conservative. I joined the Army in 1986 because Regan really instilled a sense of patriotism in the country at the time and when I registered to vote in the US, I registered Republican. Through the years, I have voted for both democrat and republican candidates. That said, I am fine with Donald Trump being the president of the United States. I am a moderate republican and I totally respect anyone’s desire to support whoever they want when it comes to politics and I would hope others would respect where I come from. – And for that, I thank you. That said, I don’t think it matters what political party you affiliate with when it comes to the 9-11 memorial. It still hits you in the gut, as Giant Phantom Jelly  reflected. I was very somber walking around the reflecting the pools where the buildings stood. We were all quiet as we toured the museum and visited the wall where the victims’ name was placed. After that somber visit, we all decided to go Italian and have lunch. Šuŋgmánitu Tȟáŋka  took us to this nice, authentic Italian restaurant in Little Italy and the food was outstanding. I enjoyed the spaghetti and meatballs, being the foodie I am. Krista ate her New York style pizza folded and A Warped Witch I Be enjoyed the chicken marsala. That afternoon the daredevils went to lean outside of a skyscraper. I’m not one to do something so exciting as that so I watched Princess Megan Snow Rose   as she leaned out and yelled, “I’m the Queen of the World.” Šuŋgmánitu Tȟáŋka , A Warped Witch I Be and AmyJo-Zombie hours also leaned out. You could see the adrenaline rush all over their faces.After all that excitement, then it was time to shop until you drop in Times Square. Princess Megan Snow Rose and I went hog wild in the Kate Spade store and even got Maid of the Mist Most Macabre to buy one. Giant Phantom Jelly wanted to see the Statue of Liberty so we eeked out an extra hour and took the ferry over. Krista took a TON of pictures for her Instagram. A Warped Witch I Be suggested we take a night tour with a horse and buggy and we had a blast. We sang “New York, New York,” while enjoying tea and cookies becoming one with the City that Never sleeps. |
| The Party Bus was chugging right along through Alamogordo, New Mexico. Maid of the Mist Most Macabre stopped at 7-11 to gas up and recharge her 64 oz Big Gulp. My son, Andy, came along for the day and got a Big Gulp himself. A Warped Witch I Be encouraged a 5.00 buy in and got us all sunscreen, sunglasses, hats, water bottles, and balaclavas for when we went riding the sand dunes. When we got to White Sands National Park we were ready. Everyone put on their dri-fit clothing, sunscreen, sunglasses, balaclavas and rented sand tubes. Andy and Krista shared a Sand Tube and had a blast. Me and Princess Megan Snow Rose shared a sand tube. We had to wax them down so they slide faster down the dunes. Šuŋgmánitu Tȟáŋka and Giant Phantom Jelly shared a tube that went flying when it hit a rock. They didn’t go far and they landed right side up so that was good. A Warped Witch I Be flew down the sands with Maid of the Mist Most Macabre who is a secret adrenaline junkie. Even Sprout and Peyton went sand tubing. Everyone enjoyed the need for speed! They sold the sledding/tugging blocks in an hour and 30 minutes increments so the tubing went quick. When we were done, everyone still had some sand in places they shouldn’t so A Warped Witch I Be took us to where the showers were and we all enjoyed a good shower. While we were tubing, WakeUpAndLive~NOV Word Monger , and AmyJo-Zombie hours took a couple of the hikes around the sand dunes. They finished about the same we did. The sun is very bright on the sand and it hurts the eyes after awhile, even with good sunglasses. After lunch at a local Mexican cantina, we were off to the New Mexico Museum of Space History. I could not wait as I LOVE everything having to do with space and rockets. At the Museum, we caught up with Fivesixer  who said he’d hang with us for a bit on our travels. Outside the museum there were plenty of rocket exhibits liken there was in Alabama. Inside, you start at the 5th floor and work your way down. The 2nd floor is totally dedicated to Gene Rodenberry and Star Trek. I loved Star Trek. Princess Megan Snow Rose did too. She was a big Spock fan. When we finished, WakeUpAndLive~NOV Word Monger said there was a show at the planetarium so we rushed over to catch it. We saw the “Astronauts, Oceans to Orbit” about how astronauts use the ocean to train for orbit.Krista took plenty of picks of the White sand dunes from the museum as you could see them from there. After the day was done, we went to the AirBnB to rest, relax, and take an extra shower! |
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