-
Rediscovering the Girly Me
I’ve rediscovered dresses. Okay, so not fancy, like-we-use-to-wear-to-church dresses. You remember those? They required ironing and pantyhose? No, not those dresses. I’ve found sundresses. Cute, knit ones that have an empire waist and come in fun vibrant colors and patterns. This is news only because I haven’t worn a dress in ages. It isn’t that I’m not perfectly feminine, I totally am. I’m into all things girly. But when you work at home, it’s hard to motivate yourself to dress up much. My “go to work” clothes are pretty much the same every day—yoga pants, a tank top, and a hoodie. The only thing that changes is the length of…
-
Father’s Day Musings
For many years, Father’s day was an…uncomfortable holiday for me. My dad left our family when I was 6 years old, and was never really in my childhood, except for the occasional times of us going to where he worked to pick up the few dollars he was willing to give us. He rarely paid support and my mom worked her tail off going to school full time to get her nursing degree in addition to being a cashier at a grocery store to keep food on the table. I honestly don’t know how she did it. The woman didn’t sleep for over two years. Mother’s Day was huge, but Father’s…
-
Today, It’s All About the Awesome…
…that is being a new grandparent. Our grandson, the little jumping bean, arrived in the world last night to the strains of the Rolling Stones’ Street Fighting Man, the song Son tells me was playing on the iPod as the kid was born. I’m going to hope this is a premonition of his ability to handle himself in tough situations—let’s go with that. Anyway, in spite of being almost two weeks early, he’s healthy and strong. DIL was incredible, delivering him in 11.25 hours without any pain meds. How impressive is that? She’s my new hero. Son is still in awe—there was no way his dad could tell him what…
-
The Two-House Dilemma
Is it menopausal memory loss or is it…simply what happens when you have two homes? Summer may not be official yet, but for us, it is summer and lake life has truly begun. We’re here early this week–came down on Wednesday to work on the boat lift. It’s done and gorgeous and ready to go back into our slip, thanks to our lake buddies, Ron and Rich–thanks, guys!! You are the best! There are many bottles of terrific wine in your futures! But there’s nothing better than the mid-week anticipation. Wednesday is “it’s only three days ’til we go to the lake!” Thursday is a rush of laundry and list-making,…
-
Random Lack of Motivation…
I’m very unmotivated today. After a busy weekend and Monday spent finishing a rush job for my favorite client, I’m not in the least motivated to do much that is productive. So far this morning (it’s almost 9 am), I’ve checked my email, read a couple of blogs—including a great one from my friend, Roben about how words create pictures —and played around on Amazon, com. I ordered a new book for my Kindle and lent one of my Kindle books to a friend who’s going on a Rhine River cruise in a few days. Have fun, Patt! I’m so jealous!! It’s not like I don’t have plenty to do.…
-
Naming Grandma
I’m going to be a grandmother and probably sooner than later at this point since DIL is home on rest and quiet after yesterday’s checkup with the obstetrician. We’re sending all kinds of “stay put, kid!” energy to the little jumping bean because he needs just a couple more weeks in the oven. So, if you’ve got some good energy to spare, send it out to DIL, okay? Thanks! The naming thing has been on my mind. The writer in me objects to being called just plain “Grandma.” I know that’s probably bratty. Grandma is a perfectly acceptable moniker and there’s no reason why our little JB can’t call both…
-
If a Tree Falls…
So, it’s Monday morning and I have a book launch meeting in an hour and half, but I’m trying to commit to one blog a week at the very least. Blogging everyday is hard. For one thing, time is often my enemy and for another, I’m just not sure my life and thoughts are quite fascinating enough to record on a daily basis. Actually, my life is quite ordinary and my thoughts…well, some of them don’t need to be immortalized on the Web. Also, it’s Monday…and in my heart, I’m still at the lake, even though we made the drive back home last night. We are deep into lake season…
-
Summer’s Coming
I know this because our catalpa tree is flowering and that’s a sign that June is close. The tree is currently a riot of snowy blossoms and it sits right at the end of our driveway. I can hear the cars slowing out on the road; I’m sure they’re admiring our ancient catalpa. When we first built our house, a man stopped by one day and asked if he could check the tree for catalpa worms—apparently, they’re great for fishing. Who knew? Catalpas are indigenous to our state, so you see them around a lot. We don’t know how old ours is, but we think it’s pretty old because it’s…
-
Mother’s Day at the Lake
It’s our third weekend at the lake and this morning, we enjoyed breakfast on the deck listening to the sounds that are so much a part of being at the lake–birds singing, the breeze rustling the trees, boats on the bay, maybe the occasional whoop from a fisherman who caught a big one. Pretty soon, golf carts will start to appear and neighbors will be by to say good morning and catch up on the week’s news. Not much going on here this weekend—the park really hasn’t started its summer dance of barefoot kids running up and down the road, boat motors buzzing, the splash of swimmers in the clear…
-
Rethinking the Writer in Me
I’ve been rediscovering Nan, the writer, this week. Editing work has slowed some and I’ve been able to concentrate more on my own writing. Plus, last week, I had a wonderful critique/session with Lani Diane Rich from StoryWonk. She helped me see that I’d fallen into writing to a formula. I have really terrific stories to tell, but I’d been trying to write to the market rather than simply writing what’s in my heart. Also, Lani showed me how important it is to start in the present with the action, to show, don’t tell, and to avoid overwhelming my reader with too much back story. Confession? I’m an info dumper.…