Inside My Head

How about Words on Wednesday?

2012-01-25T20:49:00.002-06:00

Today's Mailbox Candy: A real letter from my Big Sis. It's lovely inside and out... even the envelope is a keeper. Several blogs I read post Wordless Wednesday entries. I was thinking about doing something more of a Writers' Workshop on Wednesday. Or What I'm Writing Wednesday. Or maybe What I'm Not Writing would provide more fodder. Today I got a good old fashioned paper letter in

Timeless Tuesday: Still Growing

2012-01-24T20:01:00.002-06:00

Sometimes when I think about my family, about who I am and who they are, this is where my head goes. I first remember these little people. I think of this adventure into motherhood as a new thing, something I am just starting and learning and figuring out. Then I take a moment to blink, to look around, to pull myself from the sleepy dream-state I am in and I remember that this picture is the

Sunday Book Review: The Jenny Cain Mystery Series

2012-01-22T07:36:00.000-06:00

As my current work-in-progress is a mystery (my first), I’ve found a lot of my leisure reading leaning in that direction, as well. My grandmother and my aunt were big fans of the mystery genre. I remember staying overnight with Grandma and flipping through the pages, at night, of the dozens of Ellery Queen’s that were stacked neatly on her headboard. I’ve found myself less-than-satisfied,

Empty Bookstore

2012-01-19T21:14:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago when the hubs and I were celebrating our anniversary, we walked into the Barnes & Noble store in Wichita. Big bookstores have always been something of a treat for us. All book stores are a treat, actually, but we have long had a tradition of browsing for hours on end at the biggest stores we can find whenever we are on vacation or just needing a date night. The B&N

Sunday Book Review: The Rocking Horse

2012-01-15T08:00:00.001-06:00

Every year at the Kansas Authors Club convention, I make a point of meeting and getting to know someone I’ve never met before. In Coffeyville this year, I was able to share a table at breakfast with new Kansas Authors Club member and new author, Gloria Zachgo, and her husband Ron. Bonus! A new member to add to my writing friend collection and an autographed book. Gloria's first novel, The

I used to be a Cowgirl

2012-01-13T12:55:00.002-06:00

Lousy picture, but this is me -- several lifetimes ago -- on my horse, Peggy (short for Pegasus). I don't know why I've been thinking about horses lately. It's been ages since I've been on a horse. The last time I had the opportunity to ride a horse, I didn't even take it. I stayed on the ground with my camera and watched the kids ride, instead. It's weird how perspective changes. There

Status Update

2012-01-10T21:25:00.000-06:00

“Happy Monday, folks! It’s going to be another good week,” I wrote on my Facebook wall yesterday. Already that morning I’d gone from a less-than-stellar gym visit to fighting with incomprehensible new accounting software and tax return mis-figuring. I needed the break to visit my friends online. I caught up on other’s musings, posted my new status, and returned to my mission of having a

Sunday Book Review – 11 from 2011

2012-01-08T21:06:00.000-06:00

Since I didn’t blog about books at all in 2011, but I did keep my faithful journal detailing everything I’ve read, I thought it would be fun to go back and select the eleven reads I consider most worthy from 2011. These aren’t necessarily books that were published in the last year, just books I managed to get read in 2011. As well, they are in the order I read them, rather than ranked by

There are Dirty Dishes in My Bathtub

2012-01-03T13:13:00.003-06:00

When I was a kid, I picked up a thin paperback book at a scholastic book fair titled, The Man Who Didn't Wash His Dishes. Our school librarian read us the book when I was in the first or second grade and something about it really captured me, so I jumped at the chance to get my own copy when the book fair came around. My mother was also in love with this book. It was a lesson she liked to remind

An Anniversary, A Museum, and the End of 2011

2011-12-31T22:27:00.000-06:00

Please don't think that the flurry of blog entries this past week mean anything more than a greater amount of free time than usual. No resolutions on my agenda this year. Last year I worked myself up for a few, but I guess my heart really wasn't in them. I still can't play Hungarian Rhapsody, but I have played the piano more this year than I have in... many years put together. I may have to

I should invent a coffee cup made of chocolate...

2011-12-29T19:42:00.000-06:00

Oh wait! Someone beat me to it!! Decadent dessert for anniversary celebration... This chocolate cup (dark chocolate on the top, milk chocolate on the bottom, was filled with a wonderful devil's food cupcake and topped with a chocolate/coffee flavored cream. Twenty-one years and the hubby still knows how to thrill me.

The Accountant Poet

2011-12-28T17:52:00.000-06:00

I've dedicated most of the last three days to numbers. Spent a day wrapping up year-end numbers for the farmers market (more days needed, but I got a great start). Spent part of a day wrapping up year-end numbers for home stuff. Then spent another day wrapping up year-end numbers for the hubby's law practice. First year on his own; I've been keeping the books, but have been looking forward to

The Anti Anti-Holiday-Letter Rant

2011-12-25T07:09:00.000-06:00

Dear Friend, As someone who has been sending them for nearly 20 years, I’ve earned the right to speak up in support of those who take the time to share their family happenings and yearly highlights each holiday season – via email or snail mail – matters not to me. I want you to know that when your letter comes to my mailbox, I am always delighted with the contents. Please don’t apologize for

Tethers

2011-11-13T11:03:00.019-06:00

I was embracing this wonderful weather and free weekend with a long walk this morning -- up around the University (because it's got a pretty great, steep hill) and back home again -- and I found myself thinking about the things that tether me... the psychological places I return to again and again. My life certainly has consistent themes. I was thinking of those themes as tethers, the things

Belated Public Birthday Wishes

2011-11-11T17:31:00.001-06:00

Little Boy Munchkin turned 11 earlier this month. We still have some celebration plans upcoming, but the date has officially passed. He made a great strawberry cake with cream cheese frosting for the big event. Obligatory photo slide show (with music) including his 11th birthday photo, which we took early, or at the same time as his sister's 13th birthday photo, which we took late this year. It

Trick or Treat!

2011-10-30T18:28:00.001-05:00

Munchkin #1 went away for the weekend and we kept three other kids here in return. I love these kids and the energy they bring into our home. I love the laughter and the singing and the way four pizzas and a bowl of macaroni disappear in the blink of an eye. I love the way they roam from indoors to outdoors to in again. Had our now-annual Halloween party last night. I'm so glad I've found a

Where the road takes me...

2011-10-14T09:29:00.001-05:00

I heard a piece on NPR about the new iPhone. Apparently it talks to you... While I am a bit taken by the thought, I am also a bit appalled. I pictured myself driving down the road alone having conversations with my phone. Not someone on the other end of my phone, but the phone itself! Is that better or worse than having conversations with myself? Then it occurred to me that my best blogging

A Vegetarian is Not an Alien Being

2011-10-05T21:18:00.001-05:00

Forgive me for a little mini-rant. I've been sitting on this a couple of days and am having trouble shaking it. People who choose NOT to eat meat are not freaks. They are not any more difficult to have as guests in your home than any other person. I don't understand the panic and dramatics of otherwise perfectly pleasant people. "Oh my god! A vegetarian at my table!! What am I going to do??"

Feels Like Star Trek, Only Not So Much

2011-09-28T21:10:00.001-05:00

Sometimes I save ideas for entries as drafts with the expectation that the title will spark my memory enough to come back later and fill in the blanks. I honestly can't remember what I was thinking when I typed the above, but I do know that I expected to find this photo when I opened the post this evening. The photo wasn't there, of course, so I had to go find it. I had to bump people off

Morning Companions

2011-09-21T12:10:00.000-05:00

Morning coffee and morning pages with these three in the great state of Illinois. Unexpected places bring unexpected treats. Quote beside my sister's keyboard; a message from cousin Brent: May today there be peace within. May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in yourself and others.

Today is a Writing Day

2011-09-11T15:54:00.000-05:00

Today is a writing day... a me, me, me day, though I started early with work (writing) for the farmers market and kitchen cleaning and even managed meal planning and shopping/date with the hubby. In the last several days I have found myself reading recollections of 9/11, but purposefully avoiding any television coverage and actual video replay of the day. It's somehow easier to take in words at

A Happy 13th Birthday

2011-08-31T15:14:00.002-05:00

Miss Middle Munchkin enters teen-hood today. Her dad told her this morning that it was weird she was turning 13 because he'd been thinking of her as 13 for so long now. She said, "Me, too. Since about the beginning of August." Of course, we've always been about spreading out the celebrations, so the first gift arrived a few weeks back and we will have additional "parties" when

Friends, Freunden, Amigos, Amis

2011-08-27T22:12:00.000-05:00

About two or three years out of college I remember having the thought that I would possibly never have another new friend. I was friendly with several of my co-workers. I maintained a lot of friendships from my past, but for some reason, at that point in my life, I felt like new relationships were going to be limited... at least on a deeper, most meaningful level of exchange where a person is

Catching Up; Sharing Pictures

2011-08-24T21:09:00.000-05:00

It would be a little bit of what we've been up to if I had been better at documenting with pictures. Here are a few from the last month or month and a half. Fun and busy. Feels like the 4-H fair and now record books have taken up a lot of our time. Others are going back to school. We are looking forward to trying out some new routines, as well. I guess this is the last midnight Harry

I'll be in my cave.

2011-08-14T16:53:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago I found my son under the desk with the keyboard in his lap. Why under? He had a perfectly reasonable explanation. He was feeling, apparently, that the instant feedback about his writing (auto correct "fixing" words for him and spell check letting him know when he had typed something of questionable spelling) was getting in the way of his flow. Never mind the fact that his

Motivational Issue

2011-08-12T16:23:00.000-05:00

I crawled into bed last night thinking, "I'm just not going to get up tomorrow. I'll stay in bed all day. I'll sleep. I'll stay there, disgusted with myself all the day long. I'll pull the covers up over my eyes and just pretend I don't have anything to do. I didn't, of course. I got up early. Got in a bit of exercise. (It's a forced habit. My heart isn't in it, and I can't specifically say

Here My Mind Wanders

2011-08-07T23:06:00.000-05:00

It was a very full and satisfying week, topped by a very empty (as in unscheduled) and satisfying Sunday. I slept in. Crawled back in bed a bit later with a book and eventually slept some more. Then spent several hours working on my story which, amazingly, is still effortlessly flowing. Today, I may have even met the character that will become the feature in the next story I write. We went to

A Friday Evening

2011-07-29T21:57:00.001-05:00

3,000 words added to my work-in-progress. A clean kitchen, even after a wonderful meal. (It was Taco Bar this evening! - Fresh pico from homegrown tomatoes, lean beef with fresh and local veggie crumbles for the carnivores, and my specialty -- refried black beans...) Card night with the in-laws. ____________________ Overheard: Munchkin Boy to Middle Munchkin: "Wanna do something?" M.M. to

A Friday Morning

2011-07-29T08:25:00.001-05:00

The house has a bit of a blue feel to it -- blue as in soothing rather than depressed. It's the clouds outside, combined with the fact that there is not an artificial light on in the place. The only sound is of the fan moving the air. The kids were up early running football drills with their dad. Now the girls are back in bed. Munchkin Boy is sleeping on the couch. I'm looking forward to a day

Step into the Unknown, Dwell There, See where it takes you...

2011-07-24T21:30:00.000-05:00

This is something Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg said at the retreat I went to a few weekends ago. It really stuck with me and I've been writing daily since. Trying new things. Trying to shrug off this editor in my head who has been demanding productive time rather than creative time. I started by making a list of things unknown to me. The list is still in progress; I've been adding to it nearly every

How I Know They are Listening

2011-07-21T05:38:00.000-05:00

Munchkin #1 enjoys baking. Cookies, pies and other delectable treats are among her favorite things to make. This is good for me. The only thing better than having homemade goodies in the house is having homemade goodies in the house that someone else makes for you. Over the past couple of years, Munchkin #1 has experimented with things like dipping her treats in chocolate and occasionally

Watering

2011-07-20T09:28:00.000-05:00

Looking at the bright side of this summer heat. No mowing! The grass is looking rather southwest Kansan-ish. Not bright green. Not growing. And I keep looking out into the back yard and thinking, "At least we don't need to mow." The front yard, actually, could use a trim. The timing wasn't quite right with this heat wave so it's full of weedy type things. Looking rather shaggy and long. What I

Oh, Well... Never Mind

2011-07-19T18:19:00.000-05:00

Munchkin Boy was spending some time at my office recently and he dusted off an old computer, found all the proper plugs, and turned it on. The beast -- circa 2002, we deduced from its contents -- sounded like an old Model T sputtering to life. He ended up having to explore the thing sans mouse since none of our leftovers seemed to want to work. That was fine. I taught him the old ctrl+tab and Alt

Paint and Carpet

2011-07-04T07:16:00.000-05:00

June marked our 5th anniversary in this house and in this town. On Friday morning I sat at the kitchen table looking at our stairwell. It had this nasty old carpet that was frayed. On a couple of steps it had come off altogether. The off-white paint was chipped and dirty. I realized how much I hated the way that stairwell looked and thought it probably made me just a little bit depressed each

Unexpected Free Time

2011-06-23T16:21:00.000-05:00

We had a 4-H meeting this afternoon which didn't last quite as long as I had anticipated, so I am sitting here with an unexpected block of free time, trying to decide what to do with myself. My mind tells me to move forward on tomorrow's list; my body says it would be just fine if I sat here and did nothing for a while. Actually, it could be that my mind is also voting for something less than

Bonus... He's a Great Dad, Too

2011-06-19T18:11:00.000-05:00

Way back when I was dating this man and things were getting serious, I never once wondered what kind of dad he would be. It wasn't something I thought about because children really weren't something I thought about. If I thought about them at all, I thought I didn't want them. Many people are surprised to hear that, but at the age of twenty, children seemed like more responsibility and

It's June...

2011-06-17T19:57:00.000-05:00

Camps are over and we are on our way to 4-H fair season. I just brought Middle Munchkin home today. She was the last of the three to go this year. Feels a little strange to be in that place already where they are going in three different directions. Sometimes I just turn in circles and ask, "When did it happen? When did they grow so tall and get so old and do they really need me anymore at all?

After the Storm

2011-06-01T07:18:00.000-05:00

No entry from me, but I wanted to point you in the direction of my friend Cheryl's piece on the Reading tornado. "May our compassion and good will for Reading residents be visible and tangible. May we all share in the aid and assistance for this Lyon County town, helping in whatever ways we are able. This is our community." ~ Cheryl Unruh

All Quiet at Our Home

2011-05-22T20:52:00.000-05:00

Some pretty serious weather events north of here last night, but we just saw rain and listened to the tornado sirens. Felt like they went on and on for a long time. The town of Reading was hit pretty hard. 200 homes destroyed. One man died. In other news, hubby has been practicing for a 3-day, 200 mile bike ride. This morning we rode together. I'm not going to tell you how long it took, but

From Game Maker to Game Tester

2011-05-18T09:27:00.000-05:00

Several years ago Munchkin Boy and I downloaded a game making program. This was one of those things that he really wanted to do and I did my best to be supportive. He wasn't reading yet, so his making games required me reading the directions. It was a slow process and I was easily confused, but we did end up successfully creating a couple of basic games. His interest in game making passed to

How Not to Cook a Radish

2011-05-15T19:02:00.001-05:00

I woke up this morning to the sound of the fire alarm going off in the kitchen. I wasn't terribly concerned. I could hear that someone was moving about it there, and the fire alarm, in our house, is often simply kind of a really annoying meal-time bell. I was kind of hoping that I had awaken to pancakes in the making, but when I walked into the room, Munchkin Boy said, "Mom! I've discovered two

Here we are in the Merry Month of May

2011-05-13T19:58:00.001-05:00

Not only May, but nearly half-way through! Whoosh. This will be a whoosh blog entry, too. Just to get that last depressing note off the screen. Since I last checked in I've attended a comedy club show featuring a dear friend, the wedding of another dear friend, and a birthday party. Seems like we are simply moving from one full week to the next. Does the story ever change? My forever friend,

Win Some, Lose Some

2011-04-21T22:02:00.001-05:00

I had the opportunity to speak about the market this evening at the meeting of a local social club. Sometimes I walk away from these types of events feeling pretty much satisfied with myself. Public speaking may not be my thing, but I can generally muddle through it. At the very least, I can write myself a pretty darned good script and if I remember to stay on script, I do okay. This was not one

Leeks and Rutabagas

2011-04-14T16:40:00.003-05:00

It's become clear to me that I've made a terrible, tremendous parenting mistake. I don't think it's undoable, either. My kids are extremely comfortable in the kitchen, you see. They plan meals, they make meals, they... experiment with foods and... encourage me try new things. I can't say why they do this. I never made them sit at the table until they cleaned a plate. I never forced veggies. I

Great Aunt Edna

2011-04-10T22:32:00.001-05:00

It's been several years since I've seen my Great Aunt Edna. When her sister, my Great Aunt Evelyn, passed away I was able to take the day and drive west to visit with friends and family. I sat beside Edna after the funeral and we got to chat. She was having problems with her memory by that time, but on the day I saw her it seemed to be only short term memory that was an issue. She knew exactly

Fantabulous

2011-04-09T21:38:00.001-05:00

This morning started a bit rough with the cat waking me at 4am. She does her little bite, bite (very gentle bites) on my chin and my fingers if I try to push her away. This means she wants something. She thinks she NEEDS something. And it is my job to get up and figure out what the heck it is. I was tempted this morning to just lock her in the bathroom.... We had the last indoor market of the

I've been mulling over a number of things...

2011-04-08T15:14:00.000-05:00

... such as... Why do the last six blog entries I've written, or tried to write, remain in draft mode? Why am I so reluctant to give up blogging altogether? It's not as if "my voice" is getting exercise here. I'm not interacting with peers here anymore. No unschooling conversations. Few writing conversations. Even my most faithful few readers are probably taking their morning coffee elsewhere

Waiting for the Sun to Shine

2011-04-01T09:01:00.000-05:00

I gave myself a vacation this week. Sometimes I forget that I can do that; take time away from the to-do lists and the meetings and the preparing for the next market. My job(s) are such that I am the one setting the schedule. I have orchestrated this work life by design and I have to remind myself, sometimes, that I am still in charge of the orchestrating... it is not in charge of me. Aside from

A Doings Report

2011-03-13T22:27:00.000-05:00

I keep thinking an activities update would be a good entry, but then sit down and am at a loss for what to write. It's not that life is just filled with the same-ole'-same, but the rhythm and routine of things is feeling rather smooth and, therefore, I guess, not newsworthy. I thought maybe some photos would be helpful reminders, but what I'm seeing is that I've not been very good at my photo

5 Minute Blog Entry

2011-03-07T17:15:00.000-06:00

Spring must be here because I can't stop thinking about working on my house again... will I never learn my lesson? In my mind, I have already refinished my kitchen table, all our old wooden chairs, and completed the trim work in our project room. I'm aching to tear our kitchen apart! I'd be crazy to tear our kitchen apart right now, but that's where I find my head wandering. If I could just tear

Longing

2011-03-02T20:23:00.001-06:00

For the past five years I've been marveling over how much I enjoy living in town. Just a few blocks from the grocery store. The library is within walking distance. I can bike (not that I always do) literally anywhere in this town. It's extremely convenient, mostly because of its size. I never felt this convenience in Topeka. It was big enough it was still a bit of a hassle to get places. I

A Hole in the Yard

2011-02-21T21:31:00.001-06:00

My son is digging a hole in the back yard. I've never seen him happier, and it is contagious. His sister joined him about mid-way through the day and now this hole in the back yard has become a project between the two of them. It's a deep hole. Good sized. Out of the way of utilities (I'm pretty sure -- I had them marked when we moved here and I sent him to a space I remember as clear.) Hubby

It's About Time

2011-02-15T22:06:00.001-06:00

I've been known to scrawl "busy" on blank days on the calendar so that when people ask me to check my schedule I can honestly say, "my calendar says I'm busy." I sometimes have availability issues. I have a tendency to make myself too available, which means I quickly become unavailable, because I'm going here and there and everywhere accommodating other people's schedules and interests. There

Bring on the Arctic!

2011-02-09T11:29:00.000-06:00

Middle Munchkin said to me the other day, "I forget, is life about the journey or the destination?" It's the journey, let me tell you. Most definitely the journey. When hubby says to me this morning, "Why are you so happy?" I answer, "What is the alternative?" So the furnace goes out on a night that it is snowing when we are expecting a series of insanely cold days. I could get angry and let

Here we snow again.

2011-02-08T17:50:00.000-06:00

I peeked out the window at a quarter till 4 this morning (thanks, cat) and saw that there was no (new) snow on the ground. Sigh. Maybe they were wrong. At 5:15, it was snowing pretty good. By the time we left the gym this morning, it was pretty clear that the weathermen had called it correctly. Snow. Snow. Snow. Snow. Snow. Tomorrow we get to shovel. That's okay... shoveling is good exercise.

Snow Days

2011-02-03T17:16:00.001-06:00

Our 6 (or was it 8?) measly inches of snow seem like nothing when looking at the news and snow photos from elsewhere. It was enough, however, to give us two lovely "snow days." I don't even have children in public school and I can appreciate a snow day. On Tuesday, I worked from home and had an incredibly productive day. Caught up on a number of to-do list items, got some writing in just for the

Might have been a little overly optimistic...

2011-01-23T16:57:00.000-06:00

I can sort of play the right hand alone through the first two pages (mostly) of Hungary Rapsodie Mignonne. I decided I needed to hear it played, so went to YouTube for some inspiration. Wow! This may be a project that takes longer than a year...

Done... Perhaps

2011-01-21T22:42:00.000-06:00

The sixth anniversary of my blog is coming up in February. I looked back a few weeks ago and saw that my very first entry was about “finishing” a novel… 30,000 words of “polished” rewrite. It’s funny how memory works. I didn’t have any idea what rewriting was six years ago. I was a draft it and be done kind of girl. Now I wonder if I’ve perfected the act of rewrite so completely that I’m simply

9 to 5

2011-01-11T20:45:00.000-06:00

The last couple of days I have had a refresher course on why I don't do 9 to 5. Actually, it was a course on food handling -- good information for a Farmers Market Manager (or anyone, really) to have and part of getting the ball rolling for our community's incubator kitchen effort. My butt hurts from all the sitting. The first day was good in a something new to think about sort of way. The

A Quick Doings Report

2011-01-06T20:43:00.000-06:00

So the "recovered" novel is still in motion. Very busy week and I'm managing just a few pages a day. Fixing little bits here and there. Have highlighted a couple of chapters I'm contemplating throwing out all together. Still feeling mostly like it's done... but not quite ready to declare it. This is also the time of year for the Kansas Authors Club yearbook. It is very nearly done, as well.

Yep, Resolutions Shared

2011-01-04T20:34:00.000-06:00

Well it's a good thing daily blogging wasn't on my resolutions list. I would hate to be one of those people who drops the ball by day three! Last year I developed a rather grinchy attitude and blew off the resolutions even though I tend to have pretty good luck with them. I've always found the new year a good excuse to align my focus. Of course, I find the change of season a good excuse, as well

Day 2: Wherein the Computer Gods Smile on Me

2011-01-02T19:45:00.000-06:00

You can breathe a sigh of relief... I've stepped down off the ledge. After a day of moping cleaning house... folding laundry is cathartic... a clean sink just makes me feel good... I finally gathered the courage to push the button on my antiquated laptop and it said.... "Windows is loading..." I haven't reviewed the damage. but I've backed up the rescued copy of my novel, as well as

Day 1: Wherein the Words Kill Me

2011-01-01T22:38:00.001-06:00

When my friends toasted the New Year this morning they all kept claiming it was going to be a very good year. I raised my glass... okay, actually it was a small Styrofoam cup... but I raised it, none-the-less and cheered and agreed. What I have learned so far this year is this: I will likely never make a living as a novelist. It may very well be the novel, in fact, that kills me. Perhaps a

20 Years

2010-12-28T19:07:00.000-06:00

December 29, 1990 I married my best friend. 20 years later, and still my favorite thing in the world to do is to just hang out with this man. On Monday, we went to Southmoreland on the Plaza, an urban inn. It's a little bed and breakfast in Kansas City... just a little get-away because it felt like we ought to do something extravagant to celebrate 20 years. We've had a history of being so

Moon Watching

2010-12-21T20:29:00.002-06:00

My photos of the Eclipse of the Solstice Moon

Here my mind wanders...

2010-12-01T08:56:00.000-06:00

I spent the month of November posting daily gratitudes on Facebook. Except for yesterday, when I guess the redundancy of the effort started to wear on me enough I didn't care anymore. I'm a grateful person. I tend not to dwell on the negative... at least not on the outside, where anyone can see. It's not my place to weigh down the world with further burdens, and while some people seem to find

Happy 10th Birthday to My Munchkin Boy

2010-11-05T05:50:00.000-05:00

Ten years ago today the longest pregnancy ever (I'm pretty certain) ended in the shortest delivery (he was in a hurry to join us) and this fabulous little man became part of my life. I am one lucky Momma.

In Memory

2010-11-01T12:56:00.000-05:00

Brent Howard Lee September 6, 1954-October 30, 2010 My cousin, Brent, passed away on Saturday. He's the first of my generation to go. It was not unexpected. He's been ill and in hospice for quite a while now. I've been trying to decide what this death means to me -- how to mark the passing of someone who was part of my life, but not on a daily or even regular basis. These are the words

Happy Halloween

2010-10-30T22:30:00.000-05:00

Third black dress I looked at in the thrift shop was this witchy gem. Matched my old stand-by witch hat and I added a few accessories to make it sparkle. My mom would have been proud. Had an entire day of celebrating, starting with the last farmers market of the regular season this morning. I invited vendors to dress up and a few of them did! Want to know how to know how to become one

Randomness... from a Facebook Tag

2010-10-22T23:13:00.000-05:00

Because why not -- I'm always up for a bit of randomness. Consider yourself tagged if you want to. 1) I will be celebrating my 20th wedding anniversary this December. 2) I am dressing up as a sexy witch for Halloween. 3) It makes me sad when people say kids

From a tired but content mind...

2010-10-22T20:54:00.000-05:00

I'm feeling warm and fuzzy about life this evening after having spent the day with good friends and watching my kids have a fantastic afternoon with the kids of those friends. Warm and fuzzy, yet a little bit sad at the same time. Thinking a lot about the past and other friends I don't see these days as much as it seems I ought to. Thinking a lot about the passing of time and getting older and

Where we've been...

2010-10-11T21:41:00.000-05:00

Hubby is schooling the kids on 1980s music. It seems like they do this a couple of times a year. Dad gets nostalgic for some song from his youth and pretty soon he is taking the kids on a YouTube tour of the music of his teen years and they are adding old movies to our Netflix que. I should be ashamed to admit that all three of my kids would kick my butt in an 80s music trivia game. I simply was

A Weekend With Writers

2010-10-04T22:03:00.001-05:00

Last weekend was the annual Kansas Authors Club Convention and Writing Conference. We met in Lawrence this year and I have to take a moment to report that I had a great time. I don't have a lot of spare moments for extracurricular writing these days, but maybe this step back is just what I need to get things going again. My friend, Shala, joined us for the workshops and she reported "Artists, no

Kansas State Fair

2010-09-27T07:07:00.000-05:00

I am surprised by the number of people (Kansans!) who tell me they've never been to the state fair. I remember going as a kid. My friend Mandy and I would roam the fairgrounds for hours, checking out every animal in the 4-H livestock section and collecting every free pencil we could get our hands on in the commercial exhibits. Saltwater taffy was always a highlight of the trip, as was the Ye Old

Sunday--Long Overdue--Book Review: Flyover People

2010-09-25T21:04:00.000-05:00

I had the privilege of being a pre-publication reader of my friend Cheryl Unruh's book, Flyover People: Life on the Ground in a Rectangular State and I was going to tell you all about it at the time, but then she posted her cover and I thought how nice it would be to post a review on the eve of publication. I could go on and on talking all about me, of course, and the dozens of reasons this

Hardtack for Lunch

2010-09-22T22:23:00.001-05:00

Each day I tell myself I'm going to take/make the time for a blog post. Then I sit to do so and stumble over what I want to say. A dozen "drafts" sit unpublished. Time to just let it all hang out, I guess. Forget edits. Forget rewording till the words flow. I haven't written that way in ages anyway. Munchkin Boy made hardtack for lunch the other day. It was surprisingly tasty. He made a plain

Kansas, The "Weed" State

2010-08-25T10:29:00.000-05:00

What I heard... "Mom. Will wheat grow in Kansas?" How have I failed my children? How can they not know that Kansas is the wheat state? How have they missed the fields of gold, the fall harvesting of the wheat, the pictures on the license plates of our vehicles? "Of course!" I answered. "It grows everywhere in Kansas. We are famous for it. We are the wheat state!" Munchkin Boy's eyes grow

Snippets

2010-08-13T09:21:00.001-05:00

I thought after fair that things would slow down considerably... and they have. Only I keep finding my to-do list longer than my arm. I'm keeping checklists again to maintain my sanity. It's the only way to sleep without constantly waking to ask myself what I missed. I'm okay with it. Checklists have always been my way of keeping a forward momentum. But it occurs to me that part of the reason it

One Degree from Bart & Nadia

2010-08-01T07:08:00.001-05:00

Once upon a time I was going to name my children Bartholomew Kurtis and Nadia fill-in-the-blank. I was all over the place on middle names for my daughter. Nadia Olga just didn’t have much of a ring to it. Nadia Talavera was seriously contemplated (I couldn’t name her Nadia Tracee for obvious reasons), as was Nadia Julianne and Nadia Kathleen. I had no idea if Kathy Johnson’s proper

Bob

2010-07-28T21:14:00.002-05:00

This past weekend I was able to spend time with my childhood friend, Mandy, and her family. Also with some old neighbors – people who were the center of my world throughout childhood. Mandy’s mom has a birthday coming up and her daughters decided to throw a surprise party. I’d been looking forward to it for months. My dad was there, my sister, Mandy’s children (one of whom I hadn’t yet met!),

18 Hour Break from To-do List at the Lilith Fair in KC

2010-07-17T23:57:00.002-05:00

So my friend Magoo frequently invites me to concerts and I generally turn her down. I like music as much as the next person, but I'm generally more of a coffee house type listener or an ear buds on my own while taking a solitary walk type listener. However, a few months ago she mentioned the Lilith Fair tour and I surprised her by saying why the heck not. Actually, I looked at the artists

It's the most colorful time of the year...

2010-07-15T08:05:00.000-05:00

kohlrabi from Shepherd's Valley CSA The CSA deliveries each week have found their way to the table before I even think to get a picture. This week, I remembered. It was a full box of lovelies. I adore not gardening and yet getting to eat this way. Here's what was in our box this week. That doesn't include the eggs. We get an egg share weekly from the CSA and often buy another dozen

Found on the Camera

2010-07-11T07:00:00.001-05:00

It's always interesting to see what shows up on my camera when I finally get around to downloading pictures. Inevitably, one of the kids has taken photos of something. I think these are all the work of Munchkin #1.

Down Side to Perfect

2010-07-10T17:14:00.000-05:00

So after extolling the virtues of my small town, the kids and I took advantage of hubby's time at work to get a little shopping done for his birthday. He gets home and says, "Hey! I saw you were at the bike shop! What'd ya' get?" I suppose the surprise has been narrowed down a bit.

Eggplant Blossom and Other Stuff

2010-07-09T07:50:00.001-05:00

Eggplant Blossom -- This was in the yard a week or two ago. Received a text from Munchkin #1 last night saying the beach was cold, but fun. She's going for a ride on a boat today, and will get to eat crab. She's never been much of a seafood eater, but landlocked Kansas is probably not the best place to try seafood. I'm really looking forward to all the stories she has to tell. I have

Sir Ken Robinson: Bring on the learning revolution! | Video on TED.com

2010-07-07T08:58:00.000-05:00

Sir Ken Robinson: Bring on the learning revolution! | Video on TED.com

A Post without Pretties

2010-07-05T21:11:00.000-05:00

I've been taking flower pictures with the intention of sharing them. We had a lovely purple blossom on the eggplant. I've never grown eggplant before, but my friend gave me a start and I stuck it in the ground and it is growing. At least, it gave us a lovely bloom which I will share one day when I get the right camera hooked up to the right computer. Sent Munckin #1 off on her first plane ride

Quickie Update

2010-07-02T07:13:00.000-05:00

Where to start.... Lots of stuff going on around here and I'm in that rolling with it frame of mind. So all is good. Two youngest munchkins are away at camp. Every once in a while I experience a little ache -- I hope they are having a wonderful time. They always do. I don't know why I ever worry otherwise. One of our goals this past month was to get all the 4-H projects ready to go before camp.

Joshilyn

2010-06-24T07:24:00.003-05:00

Judge for yourself. Do I look calm, cool and collected? Or do I look like a kid who has just met their rock star hero? Me and Joshilyn Jackson Joshilyn Jackson was in Wichita last night reading and signing copies of her latest book, Backseat Saints. When my friend, Cheryl, alerted me that Joshilyn would be coming to Kansas, I dropped everything and... well, marked my calendar.

Tied and Dyed

2010-06-23T05:05:00.033-05:00

... and because Middle Munchkin was working with dye, the rest of us got in on the fun, too. We also invited Flyover Friend, Cheryl, to join the fun. She was faster at getting her pictures up than I was. Here are our results: TIED He had a little voodoo doll type thing going on here. I was trying to mimic a shirt Munchkin Boy dyed a few years ago. Munchkin #1's shirt all tied up.

Fair Prep

2010-06-22T17:03:00.000-05:00

The kids have their master fair project list going and are busy checking off projects as they complete them. Miss Middle Munchkin made a shirt this year for clothing construction and I love it so much I'm thinking I'll beg her to make me one. I probably won't dye mine yellow/orange, but the color looks great on her!

Happy Father's Day

2010-06-20T20:18:00.000-05:00

... to all the father's out there, but especially to my favorite King Goober, as we dubbed him today.

Wildcrafting Adventure Trek, part II

2010-06-15T05:47:00.001-05:00

If you missed Part I We found a Kansas Banana tree -- also know as the Paw Paw. This is one of the most fascinating plants we came across, and I had never heard of it before. It is called a Compass Plant. As you can see, the leaves line up in a north/south line. They appear to be more reliable than moss on a tree. Heading on down the trail. These trails are former

Wildcrafting Adventure Trek

2010-06-14T12:00:00.002-05:00

Farmer John, of Shepherd's Valley CSA, took the kids and I on a wildcrafting adventure on Saturday. There was a pause in the rain and we had a beautiful day for it. Even got a bit sunny towards the end. Went armed with camera and pen and paper for taking notes. (If I've misidentified anything in the pictures, feel free to let me know. I'm still learning!) Thought I'd share a little of the

Whittling Away Words

2010-06-13T16:30:00.000-05:00

I'm working on entries for the Kansas Authors Club contest, which are due postmarked on Tuesday. I've got a handful of pieces I've been working on for a few months now, but the problem is that all of them are way over word count. I seem to be in the rambling, generative phase of my writing process rather than the tidying, making things readable phase. I've spent much of today on a piece that was

Monster in the Back Yard

2010-06-10T08:08:00.000-05:00

We recently figured out that we have poison ivy in the back yard... along the fence line. Not just a little bit, but a lot. Much of that huge tall greenery, in fact, that I've credited for being a bit of a buffer between us and the sounds of the train through the summer, is actually poison ivy. I don't know why it took me so long to figure out. I've always known the "leaves of three" caution,

The Internet Means Never Having to Say Goodbye

2010-06-03T08:52:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago I drove a couple of hours to say goodbye to my friend Justine. Only, it wasn't really saying goodbye. We more-or-less met online, through an email group and then our blogs, and because she had ended up in Kansas not too awfully far away, we were able to get together in person. We met at a few homeschool playgroups over the years and managed to work out a couple of road

Today it's my birthday...

2010-05-31T18:41:00.004-05:00

Contemplations 40x40 With many thanks to the Facebook friends who responded to my request for 40 words. Moments I find peace; my son takes my hand as we are walking, my daughter leans her head against me as we snuggle on the couch, my husband touches my cheek with his hand as we drift off to sleep. When my heart and soul need a pick-me-up, I buy whole milk. I like it best straight from the

New Toy Tool

2010-05-29T11:54:00.001-05:00

Opa, now known as World's Most Awesome Opa, hooked us up with a big red riding mower. I think this is supposed to be the hubby's birthday present, but judging from the reaction of the kids... I'm not so sure. Look at this photo! She wouldn't even pretend to cut grass. Of course, you all must remember that our children have experience mowing our big bad yard with one of these...

A Fabulous Time of Year to be Eating

2010-05-28T10:53:00.001-05:00

Time in the kitchen; time in the yard. That seems to be where my focus is these days. We've expanded our "yard garden" this year to include many tomato plants, a couple of bell pepper plants, one eggplant, and some broccoli. I'm not sure that the plants are looking quite as healthy and full as they did last year, but most of the tomato plants already have little tiny tomatoes on them. Those that