A Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts

A SCRAPBOOK OF CHRISTMAS FIRSTS

 

(Leafwood Publishers, October 2008)

 

A wonderful new gift book, A Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts, is available in October for Christmas giving. Today, I’ve invited the six coauthors to share their unique story of how they came together to publish this exciting book full of stories, recipes, tips for simplifying the holidays and so much more (click on bookcover to see the trailer!).

 

First, let me introduce Cathy Messecar, Leslie Wilson, Brenda Nixon, Trish Berg, Terra Hangen and Karen Robbins. Thank you for being here today, ladies.

 

Karen: Thank you for the invitation.

 

You are from three different areas of the country—Texas, California, and Ohio. How did you all meet?

Terra: We all six joined The Writers View, an online group for professional Christian writers. Trish and Brenda met in person in 2004 for lunch, I understand, and on 9/18/04, after reading a post Brenda sent to TWV, I sent an email to Brenda, asking if she would like to join with me and walk alongside each other, as a Barnabas group. Brenda said yes that same day, and suggested Trish too. Very quickly Cathy, Leslie and Karen joined in and our stalwart band of six was formed. Living in California, I was so happy to find 5 Barnabas writers in other states so we could bring together a wealth of different viewpoints and expertise

 

Brenda: Actually, We haven’t met. We’re all great colleagues and friends via the internet. Four years ago Terra and I formed a dyad to support each other as Christians who write in the secular markets. Along came Trish, Cathy, Karen, and Leslie (not necessarily in that order) and we formed a close knit bond of support, creative energy, and professional accountability.

Karen: I met Trish through an online forum called The Writers View and she invited me to join the group.

 

Trish: Although we belong to the same Yahoo writing group, we met one by one online. Eventually, the six of us decided that since we all write as Christians for a secular market through magazine articles and newspaper columns, we could support and encourage one another.

 

Leslie: Though we met virtually through The Writers View, I have been blessed to give and get hugs from Trish (at a MOPS conference), Cathy (in the area on business) and Karen (in town for a writers' conference). I can’t wait to meet Terra and Brenda face-to-face, though I feel as though I already know them!

 

How did you come up with the idea to do a book together?

Brenda: The book is Cathy’s brainchild. She mentioned the concept of telling stories of events that happened for the first time at Christmas and sharing holiday historical tidbits and recipes and each said, “If you need any help, let me know.” That offer morphed into each of us equally contributing and co-authoring A Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts.

 

Trish: Yep, Cathy came up with the idea and the title, and asked us if we wanted to join her on this project. Of course, we said Yes!

 

Terra: Cathy mentioned the idea for a Christmas book to the group, and someone (I think it was Leslie) suggested that maybe our group could all write the book together. Cathy agreed to lead the way on the project. The earliest email I have on this is from 9/7/05, which shows that this has been a three year collaboration from idea to publication.

 

Karen: (Chuckling) Terra is a librarian and keeps our historical records by saving our e-mails.

Leslie: Actually, Terra, I wrote that comment (in a group e-mail) kind of tongue-in-cheek. Cathy, the ultra-sweet person she is, took my joking at face value and here we are. However, I believe God prompted the passion and ideas we all bring to the project and that He will do mighty things as a result of our collaboration!

 

Why did you decide on a Christmas theme?

 

Brenda: It was Cathy’s concept to write a book centering on Christmas.

 

Cathy: For several years, I’d been thinking about Christmas as a threshold to introduce Jesus to folks who aren’t familiar with him, and I love a simpler Christmas with the emphasis on family, friends and doing for others. I knew of some families who had experienced “firsts” at Christmas—reunions, losses, special surprises—and I wanted to collect those stories.

 

Terra: Cathy’s idea immediately resonated with me because Christmas books are “a way past watchful dragons,” as C. S. Lewis wrote. Many people won’t buy a book about being a Christian, but will buy a holiday and family fun book, thus the “past watchful dragons.” People who want to grow in their faith, and people who have no faith but celebrate Christmas will buy our book and hopefully be led to put the focus back on Christ for the holiday, and for their lives.

 

Leslie: Though Cathy birthed the idea, the rest of us quickly hopped on board. Not only is Christmas special to me—especially now that I have a family of my own—but also that particular holiday cries out to be simplified, to return to the meaningful aspects of celebration, and to lose some of the hype and commercialism.

 

Tell me a little about what is in A Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts? What is your favorite part?

Cathy: I like that you can read one chapter in about 15 minutes and, with all the different suggestions, it feels like Christmas Eve. Makes you want to set up the nativity! Many of the suggestions for family activities can be adapted for any family get-together.

 

Karen: There are heartwarming stories about things that happened for the first time at Christmas. For instance, one of my stories is about the first Christmas with our adopted children. And the book is pretty. When I first saw the colorful pages and drawings, I fell in love with the illustrator’s work.

 

Brenda: I don’t have a favorite part – I love it all!

 

Terra: I like the way the parts are woven into a seamless whole, like a patchwork quilt, that is stronger and more beautiful than the parts.

 

Trish: It’s like everything you ever wanted to know about Christmas, all the best tips and recipes, and neat stories all wrapped up in this perfect little package.

 

Leslie: I love reading the special stories, hints, recipes—whatever—and imagining the precious family time that precipitated each moment. Plus, the book is gorgeous, beautifully printed, truly something to be proud of. And we are.

 

I’ve heard that the book is really a nice gift book; can you tell me a little about the format?

Cathy: Yes, it’s a hardbound book, full color interior. The layout makes it easy to read. It has a definite scrapbooky look on the interior. Different logos identify sections, such as an oilcloth-look Christmas stocking appears beside the “Stocking Stuffer Tradition” (help for connecting family members), and the “Cookie Canister” recipes are on a recipe card, and the back ground of “A Gift For You” is a gift box with bow. It’s a classy gift that they can be placed on a coffee table or in a guest bedroom during the holiday season.

 

Brenda: I like to describe it as a Starbuck’s sorta gift book. It’s high quality, crisp, and practical.

 

With six different personalities and areas of ministry, how did you manage to put this all together and still remain friends?

 

Karen: We pray a lot for each other and it helps that none of us have an over-inflated ego.

 

Cathy: There were no squabbles. Surely, we had differing opinions, but we knew that any of us could suggest an idea for this book and that each idea would get fair reviews from others. We actually voted on some aspects—everyone in favor say, “Aye.” If you’ve ever watched women at a Dutch treat luncheon when they divide up a meal ticket, it can be intense as they split the ticket down to the penny. As the project came together, I was in awe of my gracious coauthors, unselfish women who respect each other.

For some decisions, we did a round robin—things like book title and chapter titles and what categories to put into the book. Then, as compiler, I’d send out a list of needs to The Word Quilters, that’s what we call ourselves. For instance in a section we call “Peppermints for Little Ones” (hints for children’s activities), I’d put out a call, and the WQs sent in their hints, and then I put them into appropriate chapters.

 

Brenda: (Smiling) Are we still friends? Seriously, we each have our own platform, ministry, and family life, and those interests kept this project in perspective – it was important but not the only thing on our plates. No one was so enmeshed in this project that she campaigned for her own way. We never had a bitter disagreement or insistence to be “right.”

 

Terra: We are each other’s biggest cheerleaders.We offer support and ideas for our separate writing projects and for personal prayer requests. I love these ladies, and I have only met one of them in person. So far, Karen is the only one who has met each of us, and one day we hope to meet in person, in a circle of friendship and love.

 

Trish: I think we are all very flexible and forgiving. We do have a variety of personalities here, but God has worked amazing things through our little group.

 

Leslie: Though I have seven non-fiction projects in various stages of completion, I could not be more thankful that this is the one to reach publication first. I am truly blessed to have worked with these women, learned from them, watched as they’ve poured heart and soul into crafting a product that will impact lives for the Lord.

 

Where can my readers get a copy of SOCF?

Cathy: The coauthors will all have a supply, plus our publisher, Leafwood Publishers, will have plenty of copies and discounts for buying five or more. Or they can be ordered at most online stores or by your local bookstore.

 

Karen: And anyone who leaves a comment here can be entered in a drawing for a free book and a gift basket worth $200! For a list of its contents, check our blog, A Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts. And while you're there, leave another comment and increase your chances of winning!

 

Tell me more about your blog.

 

Karen: We started our blog in July and it is accumulating a wealth of information about Christmas. Each of us posts one day a week following the theme for that week. Watch for new recipes, tips, ways to simplify, stories, etc., similar to what is in our book.

 

Leslie: Ooh, ooh, let me answer this one. I’m probably the newest to blogging among the group, but I LOVE it. I’ve enjoyed posting and receiving comments back from readers. What an amazing adventure having an online voice can be! This blog will focus on a different theme each week—anything from tips to avoid overeating during the holidays to how to give a guest room special touches—and expand on the material in the book. I think readers will get to know the authors’ individual personalities and connect on a more personal level. Plus, they get that many more ideas, information, inspiration (!) at no additional cost.

 

WQs: As an added bonus for inviting us to your blog, we’d like to pass along this Christmas tidbit to you and your readers:

Enjoy a blessed Christmas this year! And thanks for inviting us to share our book, A Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts, with you.

 

 

A Real Book

Thanks to my dear, tenacious friend Leslie Wilson, today I hold my very own copy of a book with my name in it. No, not a novel. Not even a book with my name on the cover. Or even in the “acknowledgements” section, although such books have been very special to me. 

In this book, on page 107 to be exact, my reworked article “Let it Snow,” along with my name, appears in the newly released gift book A Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts. (Check back Monday for an interview post with the authors!)

 It’s my first time to be published in a real book. (Okay, so one flash fiction piece got added to the contest’s anthology, but who buys those? No one. At least, no one except the people who have stories in them!) And what a beautiful book to debut in! It is full of color, scrapbook-style pages relating heartwarming stories, mouth-watering recipes, and holiday tips and traditions for making the Christmas season memorable. 

I’m so excited I can hardly stand it! Is it time to put up the tree yet?

ACFW 2008

For me, this year’s ACFW Conference was all about relationships: my relationship with God, my relationships with others, and my pitching relationships to agents and editors. I hardly remember going to classes, though I know I attended a few. My most memorable times were spent in conversation. Not just how-are-you, what-do-you-write conversations, but deeper communication, the relating of our lives and how God is working in them. In the prayer room, I poured my heart out to the Lord both in joy and disappointment and was answered on both occasions with the hugs and prayers of two very wonderful authors. And for the first time in my life, I felt like I pitched my book well. My words came easily and I felt comfortable sitting and talking with editors and agents with whom I had meetings. All in all, it was a great conference! 

Here are some pictures of friends old and new.

 Me and Lisa Buffaloe at the Saturday night banquet. Every time we meet face to face we connect more deeply as people and writers. 

Heather roomed with me and won the Genesis contest for Women's Fiction! Woo-hoo Heather! Gina Hernandez, a wonderful writer from Florida, completed the trio that turned Friday night dinner into a 7 hour gab session, covering every topic from marriage and kids to theology and writing!

Me with Susan Meissner at the Mall of America booksigning event. I will tell you more about Susan's book in the coming days.

Funny lady Katy McKenna. I love this woman! We met at the end of last year's conference and regretted not getting to know each other better then. This year we were able to spend a bit more time together. She is such an encourgement to me!

As I process through all that happened over the weekend, I'm sure you'll hear more about it. For now, I am content knowing I was where God wanted me to be this weekend. And I'm energized to take up the journey of writing once again.

Oh, the Desire to Spend!

Most women encounter the temptation to spend when they see a dazzling pair of shoes or a trendy outfit. Not me. My closet will attest to the fact that I am overly frugal when it comes to my appearance. But let me walk into a office supply or stationary store and—look out! My wallet seems to jump into my hands and beg me to open it wide.
 
Today I salivated over the zip-up binders that hold a legal pad and oh, so much more. Do you know what these things run? I was thinking $10 or $15. Boy, was I wrong! One cute red leather one even had handles so it looked like a purse. And don’t even get me started on the computer bags!
 
But it isn’t just the higher end items that get me going. I could try a new pen every week. Or stapler. Or file folders. Highlighters. Post-it notes. Cute paper to print out all those holiday letters I never get around to writing. The list goes on and on.
 
This is not new, of course. I remember when I was a young mom and our MOPS leadership group, of which I was a part, had a retreat. We were given a “get to know you” sheet to fill out. One of the questions was “Where is your favorite place to shop?” Now this MOPS group met at a large church in a very affluent part of town, so answers mostly centered around the upscale malls. My answer? Half-price books. Ok, so that’s not “office supplies,” but books fall into the “paper” category. Paper and bags and all that go with them would, I guess, be a more accurate description of my fetish. So I’ll never be a fashion plate, but if my file folders match my computer bag, I’ll be happy.

Thomas Hardy

I’ve read two Thomas Hardy novels in the past few months: The Mayor of Casterbridge and Tess of the D’Ubervilles. I have to say, I love Hardy’s use of language—his descriptions, his metaphors, his way of describing a look or a feeling. Absolutely lovely!
 
But the stories themselves can be a bit depressing. Not in an “all is woe” kind of a way, but because one of the major characters usually comes to a point where he/she has to make a decision about how to respond to a person or circumstance. In both books, I grieved the character choosing to respond in a self-serving way. The decision always resulted in disaster, whether for that character or for another character.
 
I can deal with these kinds of “darker” stories because the entire they show s a visible, tangible picture of what kinds of things can happen when you make decisions based on emotion or selfishness or a desire to conceal the truth (all of which could be argued to be the same thing!)
 
These are the kinds of stories I take my inspiration from, the kind of stories I want to write—although I’d like to show the effects of good decisions, too. I want my stories to make people think, consider, change. And I want them to stand the test of time.
 
Impossible? Probably. But a worthy goal, I think.

Tastes Great vs. More Filling

As a writer, I look for conflict—or potential for conflict—in big and little situations. I draw on such things for my characters. Tonight I noticed an interesting one: foodie vs. teenage boys.
 
Elizabeth’s culinary delights don’t exactly thrill her brothers. It isn’t just that she uses ingredients that they are convinced they don’t like, or that she likes to plate the food in interesting ways. Many times it comes down to the amount of food allotted to each person.
 
She made salmon cakes tonight. She never makes them the same way twice. Tonight, they had an Asian flair. There were two for each person. The boys actually like these. They were happy. Until about 15 minutes after they’d finished their dinner. Next thing I knew, they were cooking one of the cheap-o pizzas I keep in the freezer for those occasions when everyone is on their own for dinner.
 
Ah, well. Either she’ll find a husband who appreciates her efforts to please his palette or she’ll learn that a man—or a teenaged boy—mostly wants something to fill his stomach. And if it tastes good? That’s a bonus.
 
 

Ten Days and Counting

In ten days I will board a plane (at a ridiculously early hour of the morning, thanks to the cancellation of my original flight!) and head to Minneapolis, MN, where I will have the privilege of participating in the ACFW Annual conference for the third year in a row.

Four days of talking to writers, worshipping with writers, praying with writers, laughing with writers, even crying with writers. Four days of learning and pitching and volunteering and reconnecting with old friends and making new ones.

Can you tell I’m excited? It will be a much-needed break from all things football, although I will hate missing one of the few JV games on our schedule.

Branching Out

To all my friends and family that tune in to keep up with what my children are doing: I’ve created a new blog just for you! 

Keepin’ Up With the Kids is up and running. I promise to keep it updated with fun stuff, including pictures, just for those of you too far away to enjoy the craziness of our lives! 

I will continue to blog regularly about life and relationships and writing and all that good stuff at Five Bazillion and One. But now my friends and regular readers won’t have to wade through the “proud mom” posts to get to the other parts of me!

Morning and Evening

I ran across this verse not long ago and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. (I’m adding verse 1 for context.)
 
Psalm 92:1, 2
 
It is good to give thanks to the Lord and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; to declare Your lovingkindness in the morning and Your faithfulness by night.

At the beginning of each new day, I can tend to worry: will the Lord really be faithful today? After considering this verse, I see that is the wrong approach.
 
In the morning, before the day has begun, all I can truly declare about that day is God’s lovingkindness toward me. His steadfast, loyal love is present with me in that moment. I can know and declare it. I can trust that everything that comes to me throughout the day will be filtered through that love.
 
But at night, as I reflect back on my day, I can declare His faithfulness. In little and big ways, He meets me throughout the day, giving strength or conviction or discipline or self-control or joy or just a sense of His presence. His faithfulness is evident at the end of each day. In the mornings, I have faith in His faithfulness. At night, I can declare it as a certainty.
 
So now as I wake each morning, I remember His lovingkindness. And as I lay down each night, I recount His faithfulness. I can’t think of a better way to bookend my days.
 

Indulge Me!

Forgive me for bragging a bit more, but so many of my readers are far-away family! So here’s my latest in sports reporting:
 
Not to be outdone by big brother, Nathan played a crucial role in the middle school victory yesterday. He quarterbacked the team, throwing one touchdown pass. He played defense, with several tackles and one QB sack. And he did all the kicking, making 3 of 3 extra point attempts, despite Gustav’s gusting.
 
Should be a great season for them both. And I promise I won’t spend my blog words with a play-by-play of every game!
 
 
 

All Organized!

This summer I’ve had a goal: clean out and organize the parts of my house that hide behind cabinet and closet doors and in scary drawers. Throughout June, July, and August, I systematically worked from room to room, in between running kids and finishing my book. I wanted to have everything in order by September 1^st. 

And yesterday, I finished! The rest of my house may be a mess, but I can open all the doors and drawers and find exactly what I’m looking for. 

At least for now.

Are You Ready for some Football?

Being a Texas girl, I live and breathe football in the fall. And for a football fan and mom, Friday night and Saturday were AWESOME!
 
Aaron got his first chance to kick at the varsity level on Friday night. It’s six-man football, so field goals are rarely attempted, but he made 5 of 7 extra point attempts. That was pretty exciting. At least I thought so until this morning.
 
JV played their first game today and, frankly, our jv players are small and slow compared to most teams. But we didn’t count on the largeness of their hearts! They were down the entire game, but hung in there. When the center was hurt, Aaron stepped in and handled it. Our jv quarterback was battling a bad headache, so the backup QB stepped in and did beautifully. With 4 minutes left in the game they had the other team backed nearly to the end zone. Aaron made a hit, caused a fumble. We recovered and scored, putting us ahead by four! Of course, there was still time left and we had to stop them. They marched past mid-field. Their QB launched the ball into the air just as the buzzer sounded to end the game. AND MY AARON INTERCEPTED IT AT THE 10 YARD LINE!!!!
 
Game over. We win.
 
Amazing!

Meeting God at Every Turn

I read an incredibly wonderful book the other day—Catherine Marshall’s Meeting God at Every Turn. I’ve been wanting to read it for awhile, but I think the Lord saved it as an exclamation point to the weekend I spent finishing my book.
 
Catherine Marshall, in case the name rings a bell but you can’t quite place it, wrote the novel Christy, as well as the story of her husband, preacher Peter Marshall, A Man Called Peter. She wrote other books as well, a dozen or so, all told. Most were books on Christian living, and, I confess, I haven’t read any others of those. Just her two fiction works. Until now.
 
Meeting God at Every Turn was written just a few years before Catherine went to be with the Lord. It is the story of her life, but not just the events of that life. It is also the story of her spiritual journey. She talks about herself with such honesty, reveling her own shortcomings, her own wrong patterns of thought, and how God met her at each place, nurtured her into a deeper relationship with Him through the often painful twists and turns of life.
 
Besides challenging and convicting me, her words gave me a longing to strive every day to know God more fully, listen to Him more completely, and display Him more boldly.

Cover Story

Although two or three of my stories have found their way to the cover of NeighborsGo, the local magazine insert in The Dallas Morning News, I still get excited when it happens. 

Today I awoke to find my story about the Mission HCA trip to Ghana, focused on the kids presenting school supplies to a village school. To me, having my story make the cover means I’ve found a noteworthy event to cover. That makes me feel good as a writer. And when it is an event so close to my heart, that’s even more fun. 

But this particular cover stunned me: the picture they used was this one of Elizabeth! 

To see the cover and read the piece, click here and scroll down to the "my stories" section.

The Last First Day

And so it’s over: Elizabeth’s last First Day of School.
 
The pictures didn’t turn out.
 
She came home and slept.
 
Kind of anti-climactic, huh?
 
But whether it comes in with a bang or a gentle whisper, the Senior year has officially begun.
 
 

Squashing the Olympic Dream

My fifteen-year-old son has the driest wit. We’ve been watching the Olympics, where, of course, there are often athletes competing that are close to his age. Here’s our conversation from the other day:
 
“Mom, you squashed my Olympic dream,” he said.
 
“I did what?”
 
“You squashed my Olympic dream.”
 
“How’s that?” I asked.

He shook his head slowly. “You wouldn’t buy me a ping-pong table or a badminton set. Now I’ll never win a gold medal.”
 
We have laughed about that for days now.

Return of the Runaway

This has been a crazy-busy summer. Between “normal” teenager stuff (social life, appointments, sports, work, etc, etc.) times 3, trying to get my house organized, dealing with a boatload of responsibility at my kids’ school that got dumped in my lap, and putting the finishing spit and polish on my novel, I’ve teetered on the edge of sanity! So last Thursday I ran away—with the permission of my family, of course!
 
I spent two and a half days ALONE in a cabin, with nothing but my computer, my Bible and my ipod. It was glorious. I spent some uninterrupted time with the Lord. I worked through the last edits on my book, readying it to send to an agent. I slept. I even watched a movie. And I reveled in the silence.
 
I came home refreshed in body, mind, and spirit. My book will go in the mail on Wednesday. Now I’m ready to concentrate on school and football and college decisions and catching up with friends and getting ready for my trip to the ACFW conference. And I’m ready to keep up with my blog again!

Not That!

Last year I took on a volunteer role at school that I didn’t want to do. It required two things—organization and coordinating people. I can organize, but I don’t particularly like to lead, or even organize, people. So at the end of last school year I purposefully took on a different job, one in which the duties involved organization alone. No dealing with other people.
 
Or so I thought.
 
Suddenly I find myself thrust into the same position I hated, but on a larger scale, and in addition to the job I so smugly assumed was my protection against the other. Yesterday I was ready to scream and cry and throw a bit fit. But after looking again and again at the other options (of which there weren’t any), a thought suddenly struck me: maybe the Lord allowed this. Maybe He wants me to learn how to deal with people.
 
Not a happy thought, let me tell you. I don’t like it. I don’t do it well. It frustrates me to tell people what needs to be done and have them ignore or dismiss me. And yet, in spite of finagling my life to avoid such a thing, here it is again. So I am accepting this as the hand of the Lord. Teaching me. Stretching me. Again. Continually. It never stops. Even when I feel like protesting that I’m as grown up as I want to be. It all goes back to that word the Lord spoke to my heart so many years ago: I love you so much I have to grow you up.
 
It’s one small lesson amidst a lifetime of others. Maybe I can get it one right this time. Or at least more right than I got it last year.

Summer's Waning Days

I’ve been quiet lately. No, not because I’ve been sitting around a pool, book in hand, cool drink by my side. I only wish! Alas, I’ve been busy with too many other things—cleaning out my house, writing, grocery shopping, laundry, piano lessons, etc.
 
Today, I took my kids to get their sports physicals. My son, my 10th grader, came in at 5’8” tall, 108 pounds. I had to laugh. Those were my stats the day I married! I told him he could fit in my wedding dress (almost)! (He didn’t seem to appreciate that.) Anyway, it makes it official. He is as tall as I am. And my youngest son is just a couple of inches behind. Yikes!
 
So football two-a-days kick off on Monday, which means summer is officially over. Kind of. Two and a half weeks until classes actually start. In between are orthodontist appointments, dentist appointments, piano lessons, and, of course, football practices. My kids may bemoan the fact that their days of freedom are nearly at an end, but I have to say: I’m so ready for a regular routine!

Images of Days Gone By

My daughter, who is co-editor of the yearbook at school, pulled out all our old yearbooks this weekend. She wanted to see “how far yearbooks had come.” You know, since the olden days.
 
Back when, I explained to her, the yearbook staff took their pictures with real film and even, in some cases, developed those pictures themselves in dark rooms on the school campus. No weeding through thousands of digital pictures for that perfect one to splash on the yearbook page. No, “archaic” yearbook staffs had to make do with the pictures they took, never knowing until well after the event how they had turned out.
 
But beyond the scrutiny of the yearbooks’ layout and content, my kids got a kick out of the “senior awards” in both my husband’s and my senior yearbook. In his, he was voted “Mostly Likely to Make a Million.” Over the course of eighteen years as a lawyer, he probably has. I, on the other hand, was given the “Nervous, Klutz, Reckless Driver” award.
 
Of course, to make counteract such an auspicious award, I held up my final high school transcript, which happened to fall from the pages of that yearbook. My ACT score was quite respectable, as was my GPA. So while I may not have garnered much respect socially, I was stellar in the classroom.
 
The trip down memory lane was fun, though. I can’t believe we are embarking on her last year of high school. It has gone so fast. But she is excited to know that the memories to be made in this milestone year will find their way into a yearbook created by her direction. That will be an accomplishment she can cherish for years to come.

Kristy Dykes

I never imagined someone I’d never met could touch my heart so deeply. Since last November, I’ve been following the journey of Kristy Dykes, writer and ACFW member, and her unexpected diagnosis of a brain tumor. Her husband Milton kept up her blog at her request. I feel I’ve come to know not only this fellow writer, but this family. And what I’ve come to know has blessed me beyond words.
 
Kristy’s and Milton’s deep, strong faith came shining through the blog, but so did their understanding of life in the here and now. Humor and grief marched side-by-side through their harrowing ordeal. Their fierce love for each other, in spite of their admitted flaws, challenged me in my own relationships.
 
Kristy went to be with Jesus yesterday. I wept this morning as I read the words. But her story is not over. Kristy’s words and Milton’s words about Kristy will continue to affect the lives of others for a long time to come.

Pound By Pound

Is it any wonder I’m gaining weight? It would be impossible to spend enough hours at the gym to counteract my daughter’s culinary experiments. This morning it was homemade donuts. We tried to make things healthier. She made whole wheat ones for my husband and I. And we had a fresh fruit salad on the side. But whole wheat donuts are still donuts, in all their fried and sugar-coated glory.
 

New York City--Boy Style

A Yankee game from the lower deck—thanks to one of my husband’s clients.
 
Pizza. And more pizza. And more pizza. And burgers. And more pizza. And desserts.
 
Central Park.
 
Times Square.
 
Niketown.
 
We did make them go to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. And they finally okayed the American Museum of Natural History since it was across the street from our hotel. But overall, quite a different trip from the ones I’ve taken before. I will say this—never again will I have to do the overview tour bus. I’ve now done it with all of my children!
 
But New York is New York. The city energizes me somehow. I’m sure it wouldn’t be the same if I lived there, but when I visit, I wake up ready for the adventure of each new day and I fall asleep without effort.
 
Now I’m home to my crazy yet mundane life.

The Storm Before the Calm

Vacation is great. I love getting away from my normal four walls and my normal routine. Whether it be to visit family or sightsee or sit on a beach or ski down a slope, I always enjoy it—when I’m there.
 
It’s the getting ready to go that nearly undoes me.
 
I’m in that mode at the moment. Suitcases litter the house. The washing machine runs non-stop. Lists beget lists.
 
It truly is the storm before the calm. I know once we get out the door I will breathe a sigh of relief. Then vacation begins.

Cars

Since last Tuesday (June 17):

My daughter's car has been inspected, had the oil changed, and received two new tires.

My SUV has had new brakes--twice, the first parts proving defective--been inspected, had the tires rotated, and received a new battery.

My husband's car has been involved in an accident (while I was driving--not my fault) and is awaiting repairs to the front fender, bumper, and door. Of course this is after I spent time with the other guy's insurance adjuster and recounted the accident to two different insurance representatives.

The only expected things in this list were the state inspections. Everything else was a surprise. I'm so ready for all my cars to just need gas. As painful as it is to fill up, it's much better than being on a first name basis with the guys at the garage!

Anniversary Surprise

I heard my husband’s footsteps yesterday afternoon. At least they sounded like his. But it was only 2 pm. Why was he home? I’d just spoken with him on the phone 15 minutes earlier and he seemed busy, not inclined to just take the afternoon off.
 
“Honey? Is that you?” I left my study and headed toward the living room. There he stood, hands behind his back.
 
“Happy Anniversary!” he said. (Our 21st anniversary is Friday.)  He pulled a thin, rectangular box with an Apple logo on it from behind his back. A Macbook!!! I couldn’t believe it! It was especially timely since this weekend, on top of all its other problems, my laptop decided it didn’t want to stay powered on more than 5 or 10 minutes at a time.
 
So I’ve been happily switching all my files and learning how to navigate this new system. The best thing is I can take it on vacation next week and actually use plane and train travel time to get some work done!!
 
So Happy Anniversary to me. Isn’t my Honey great?

Minneapolis, Here I Come!

I just finished all my registration for the ACFW Conference in September in Minneapolis! Woo-hoo! It will be my 5th major conference to attend since I started seriously writing seven years ago. And it will be a very different experience from the previous four.

Why? Because I’m going it alone. That’s right, neither of my critique partners and dear friends will be there. On the one hand, I’m sad. We’ve had so much fun rooming together, talking through our encounters and classes each day while we are lying in bed. We’ve laughed and cried and encouraged each other. I will miss them terribly! But on the other hand, it’s a good thing. Suddenly I will have no one to hide behind, no one to shadow in a room full of hundreds of people. I will have to step out and make friends. Oh, there will be people there I know. Just not ones I know as well as I know Mary and Leslie!

I would still really like to find a roommate for the conference, but I’m leaving that in the hands of the Lord. I’m excited to see who He will bring along to share the room I’ve reserved. And I’m excited to see the fruit of my growing confidence over the past few years. It will be hard to go it alone. And yet I know I won’t be alone. I will have the strength and encouragement of my God, the prayers of my friends and family, and a whole new passel of friends yet to be met.

You're Gonna Miss This

It’s been a crazy few days getting my daughter ready for her Ghana trip and my son back to the campground where he is working day camps for refugee children. I’ve wanted to pull my hair out, been frustrated at my to-do list that gets longer instead of shorter. But all this morning as we readied to leave for the airport, the chorus of the new Trace Atkins song kept running through my mind.

Have you heard this song? It follows a girl from her teenaged years through being a new bride and a young mother. At the end of each chorus, an older person gives her some advice (the chorus.) Now, I’m not overly sentimental about my kids growing up and leaving home. I’ve always looked forward to an empty nest. And yet I find myself singing these words and tearing up:

You’re gonna miss this.
You’re gonna want this back.
You’re gonna wish these days, hadn’t gone by so fast.
These are some good times. So take a good look around,
You may not know it now—but you’re gonna miss this.

And for anyone interested, my daughter’s mission team has a blog they will be updating throughout their trip. You can read it here.

Caddying

I have never—I repeat, NEVER—watched golf on TV. Until yesterday. Yesterday I was captivated by the playoff between Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate, captured by the intense drama of a 45-year-old man ranked 158th in the world playing 18 holes with arguably the best golfer ever and hanging in there, until the final stroke of the sudden death hole.

But you know what else I noticed as I watched? The caddies. These guys are dedicated to golf. They follow around the guys who play the game (and make the big bucks) with the bag of clubs slung over their back day after day after day. They help the golfer chose the right club for the right shot. Tiger’s caddy even stopped him just before a shot and asked him to reconsider his approach. “That was a brave thing to do,” said one of the TV commentators. And yet, it just seemed right. After all, the caddy wanted his guy to play well. Thus, his last minute questioning of the shot.

As I watched the support and the camaraderie between the caddies and the golfers, it occurred to me that some of us are called to a “caddying” role in our lives. The caddy has his golfer’s success as his goal. He understands the game in minute detail and advises and encourages the one actually doing the golfing. His is not the place in the spotlight. It’s behind the golfer, mostly out of the view of the cameras. It’s a sweaty, back-breaking job. And yet, for those called to do it, it appears to be immensely rewarding.

Are you “caddying” for someone in your life right now? Perhaps someone is “caddying” for you. Either way, remember that the person doing the thankless job of carrying the clubs and giving advice and support is often more valuable than the winning purse at the end.

Summer Whine

I can’t think of anything to write.

My daughter leaves for Ghana in 3 days—and works every day until then.

Two of our cars need to go to the shop for inspections and repairs.

My novel is sooooo close to being finished, but chunks of writing time elude me.

I need to call insurance companies with questions about my coverage/policies.

Most of my closets and cabinets are begging to be cleaned out and reorganized.

And I’m fighting either a cold or allergies.

The bank. The grocery store. Laundry.

Summer is supposed to be fun and relaxing. I’m supposed to have time to write, too. And that begins when?

Two Quirky Stories

So I was in Wal-mart the other day and I saw the most unusual (read: creepy) tattoo. I passed behind a woman wearing a spaghetti-strap top. On her back, between her shoulder blades, were two eyes. Women’s eyes, with eyebrows and just the top of the nose. I’ve heard of wanting eyes in the back of your head, but this went a bit too far!

***********************

My husband’s father often sends us tidbits from their small-town’s newspaper. One from this week announced found property: a bag of marijuana. It said the owner, with proof of ownership, could pick it up at the police station. The thing is, someone will probably try to claim it!

Short on Shorts

Ah, summertime.

Ok, so the first week of summer has been way too busy, but still. It’s here. And one of the necessities of summertime is . . . shorts.

My boys (15 and 13) informed me they had 1 pair of shorts each. I made them accompany me to the local department store to buy 2 more pair each. They groaned. Some things never change.

Now these are two lanky creatures, so we’re still shopping in the boys department in order that their shorts don’t fall down around their ankles. Still, I thought we’d have upped the sizes from the past couple of years. After all, their pants sizes have changed as their legs have stretched longer.

Not so with the shorts. Still well below moving up into young mens’ sizes. But the most frustrating thing about this rite of summer was leaving the store with four pairs of shorts ALL THE SAME SIZE! My boys are 19 months apart in age, but I might as well be buying for twins! The good news: they have plenty of shorts to choose from now. The bad news: there will be no “passing down” of outgrown sizes.

A Little R&R

My crazy month of May came to a screeching halt on Saturday. When the school was swept clean from the graduation reception, my duties for the school year ended. So we skedaddled for the country, for twenty-four hours of R&R.

Our friends have a small house/barn on several acres of land southeast of Dallas. We went there and did NOTHING. And I do mean nothing. No TV. No phone calls. No computers (at least, none of ours). Yes, we got email on our cell phones, but we just checked for anything urgent—and nothing was. Nowhere nearby to drive to. No fancy meals to cook or clean up after. Just good friends and empty space. I didn’t even read a book!!!

We laughed, we talked, we slept, we just sat still, sometimes, watching and listening to our almost grown-up children, wondering where the years went. By the time we left there and returned to the real world, my body and spirit had the refreshment it needed to finish out this week of finals and head into summer—into finishing my book and organizing my house. Oh yeah, and chauffeuring my boys to football, friends’ houses, and various other activities while my driver-daughter works!

I’m so happy to have had a respite at the end of a long school year. It’s amazing what a little R&R will do.

The Center of a Tootsie Pop (Or the End of a Tube of Lipstick)

Remember the old Tootsie Roll Pop commercial with the owl in the tree and the boy asking how many licks it takes to get to the center? The owl takes three licks, loses patience, and bites in.

I think tubes of lipstick are the same.

Don’t see the connection? Here’s my question: how long does it take to get to the end of a tube of lipstick? No one ever knows because it so rarely happens. We get impatient and change color or brand, abandoning half-used tubes, never reaching the very bottom. At least I have done so. Until now.

Yes, I reached the end of a tube of lipstick. How long have I had it? Seven, eight years? I can’t remember. I only know I liked the color and it was expensive, so I didn’t want to throw it away. Now I’m not one to reapply my lipstick all day. Just one swipe in the morning if I’m going out of the house. Maybe once in the evening if it’s a social event. Even so, I’ve reached the end. Yes, I have other lipstick in other colors, but this seems like such a significant small event. The end of a tube of lipstick. Like reaching the center of a Tootsie Pop, I never thought I’d get there.

Cranford

I normally hate movie renditions of books that change the story, but I found myself captivated by Masterpiece Classics version of Cranford that concluded on Sunday evening. I confess, before watching the first part of Cranford, I had never heard of the book of the same name by Elizabeth Gaskell. But after watching part two of this Masterpiece production, I knew I had to read it.

So I did. Before part three debuted across the airwaves.

It’s a short book, written as a series of vignettes of small town life in 19th century England. It is a lovely work of characterization, where one knows the people one is reading about. They come to be friends. But there is no overarching “plot.”

The screenwriters of Cranford decided to add a plot framework around which to structure this movie about a year in the life of a small town. And they did it superbly. The new characters and story lines fit in as if they’d been there all the time. And even while adding new elements to the story, the writers maintained the charm of the original characters and included most, if not all, of the heartwarming elements of the book, even if in slightly different forms.

Of course part of the success of the film version, in my mind, was the absolutely superior ensemble of cast members, led by such names as Judi Dench, Imelda Staunton, Michael Gambon, Greg Wise, and so many more. While the names may not be familiar, I assure you that any fan of classic British literature will recognize faces from productions of Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Miss Marple movies, and so many other BBC and Hollywood films.

In the end, Miss Matty Jenkyns has become one of my most favorite characters in literature; through she will remain eternally intertwined with Dame Judi Dench in my mind. I heartily recommend both book and movie—just don’t expect one to follow the other in exact measure. Enjoy them each for their own uniqueness.

The Power of Truth in Fiction

I always forget how much I enjoy the Chronicles of Narnia books until I read one again. In anticipation of the coming movie, I picked up Prince Caspian this week. It’s a quick read. And, frankly, not a super exciting one. Not like The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe or The Silver Chair. But as I came toward the climax of the story I remembered why I love these books: they convey Truth.

About 2/3 of the way through the book, Lucy meets with Aslan again. It’s been a year in our time, thousands of years in Narnia time.

“Aslan,” said Lucy. “You’re bigger.”
“That is because you are older, little one,” answered he.
“Not because you are?”
“I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger.”

Knowing that Aslan is a picture of Jesus, isn’t that so true? As we grow, as we see the work the Lord does in our lives, in the lives of those around us, in the world at large, don’t we grasp just a little more with each passing day of the bigness of God? I know I do. And in the context of the story this truth just leaps off the page and imbeds itself in my heart.

How about this one, a few pages later, after Susan has said ugly, sarcastic things of Lucy?

Lucy went first, biting her lip and trying not to say all the things she thought of saying to Susan. But she forgot them when she fixed her eyes on Aslan.

That’s the power of Truth in fiction.

An Encouraging Word

My friend Robin has joined the blogosphere. She swears she isn’t a writer, but after reading her few posts, I beg to differ. Anyway, yesterday she wrote a wonderful post encouraging and cautioning those of us who consistently put pen to paper (or our fingers to a keyboard) to be careful of our words, of how they will affect our readers. It was a blessing to me. I thought it would be for you, too.

Check it out here.

And you might want to check back with her regularly. She has incredible insight into many matters pertaining to life and godliness.

The Past Comes Back

It’s nice to know that after almost 30 years people can forget the awful things you’ve said to them. Especially if you were the student and the other person was the teacher/administrator.

I ran into such a person tonight. It was at a reception at my children’s school. She is the head of the accreditation team coming to evaluate the school. I was at the reception because my husband is president of our school’s Board of Trustee’s.

So there we were. I could have let it go, never mentioned the old connection. But I’ve spent my life desiring, for myself and others, that we not hide the hard or ugly things—past or present. Here, I realized, was a moment in which I could practice what I preached. I introduced myself. Told her my maiden name and waited for the look of horror on her face.

It didn’t happen. Instead she hugged me. She was so excited to see me. She either didn’t remember my angry junior high words or she was gracious enough not to mention them. Instead, we talked and laughed and left each other with a hug.

It’s nice to know that 30 years can change people. And it’s nice to know that others’ memories of us don’t last as long as our own.

Crazy May

I contend, as usual, that the final 6 weeks of school are busier than the same period of time from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day.

So that’s my excuse for not blogging lately. I have been (and will be) insanely busy with kid/school stuff and trying to get my book finished (I’m making significant progress). But all that leaves little time for blogging. Before I know it, a week has passed with no new post. However, my son’s last baseball game should be Thursday (unless they play as well as they played last night), and that will help. But it still leaves the SAT, an art competition, three AP tests, Fine Arts Night, Spring Sports Banquet, Academic Awards, Graduations and finals (plus normal, daily life) to get through before the end of May. Whew! I’m tired already!

My writing here may be spotty until June, but I haven’t abandoned it yet!

Character Sighting!

WARNING: All you non-writers out there will probably scratch your head and think I’ve lost my mind, but I assure you, it’s simply a side-effect of a being a novelist.

I went with my husband on a business-type engagement Saturday night. It wasn’t where I wanted to go, but I went. And with good grace, I might add. But I prayed earlier that day that the Lord would give me something in the course of the evening to make it worthwhile.

In my mind, that something was a conversation about spiritual things in which I could encourage or be encouraged or some insight into my own character or that of my husband or friends. Aren’t those the kinds of things God does when we pray such a prayer?

The evening turned out much more enjoyable than I imagined, but even beyond that, the Lord gave me an incredible gift. He let me see one of my characters!

I’ve had lots of strange “writer” experiences, but this is the first time I’ve run into a live person—a stranger—who IS my character personified. It isn’t a character in my current book. No, this one has flitted around my head for a couple of years now and I think, perhaps, may be the book I write next. Especially now.

I saw her twice in the course of the evening. I didn’t speak with her. In fact, I only saw her from behind. But I knew in an instant who she was. Not only did I write down some of her physical characteristics, but I knew that even where I’d seen her was part of who she is as a person (ok, as a character.)

It was quite exciting. It did, indeed, make the whole evening worthwhile. And it confirmed to me, yet again, that God is the author of my life and my desire to write is not dismissed as unimportant by Him. Nor should it be by me.

Driver's Ed

My son starts driver’s ed on Monday. Now that I’ve been through this once, I at least know what to expect over the next year, until he turns 16:

A year of “Can I drive?”
A year of gripping the door handle without appearing to.
A year of biting my tongue almost every time I want to shout “Look out!”
A year of it taking longer to get places when he drives.
A year of him critiquing my driving.

But the rewards are oh so great. By the time my daughter leaves for college, he will be on his own—with his brother in tow—and my days as chauffeur will be coming to an end.

A Wild Weekend

Whew! We survived quite a weekend—well, Friday through Monday. Here’s the scoop:

Friday I accompanied my youngest son to ACSI Math Olympics. He loves math. He loves the competition of Math Olympics. But it is very hard to place in the top 5 in each category. The competition consists of a series of timed tests, the first of which is the REAL test, the next six are tie-breaker tests. Way back in 3rd grade, he placed. Since then, nothing. Until now. Here is he, proud as punch, with his 4th place ribbon in 7th grade Computation.

















Saturday brought all the hullabaloo of Prom. Not only did we have the “normal” chaos of such a day, the juniors GIVE the prom, so we had to help with setup and tear down as well. She went with a group of her guy friends who didn’t ask specific dates, so she was quite the princess arriving, eating and dancing with three guys instead of one! And the cherry on top? She was head of the “food” committee and may have wrangled a job in the kitchen of the new hotel where the Prom was held. (The head chef gave her a kitchen tour and interviewed her as we were decorating!)



After a bit of a respite on Sunday (thank you, Lord!), but we were off Monday mid-morning on a two hour journey to the District Track Meet.
My 9th grade son competed in two events.
He took 2nd in the 3200 meters (2 miles) and
3rd in the 1600 meters (1 mile.) He qualified for the Regional Track Meet (Thursday) in both events. We didn’t get home until after 10 last night!



Whew! No wonder I’ve been such a bad blogger lately! But oh how much fun the past four days have been!

Shoe Shopping

I have a love/hate relationship with shoes. I love shoes. But I hate shoe manufacturers.

Here’s the problem: AAA

Yup. Super skinny feet. It’s bad enough with “regular” shoes, but sandals? Nearly impossible. (Unless, of course, you are willing to spend $100 on a pair of shoes, which I’m not!) For the past three summers I’ve been on the hunt. I do have a great pair of dressy off-white sandals. Other than that, it’s been flip-flops. Not any flip-flops, mind you, but the rare find of ones that my feet don’t slide out of before I even take a full step.

One pair lasted two years. I finally found another pair last year, which are great. But there are (many) times I want sandals, not flip-flops. So I went on the hunt yet again. I decided if I began in April instead of June, perhaps something that fit me would be left in the stores. I found myself out shopping unexpectedly today, so I decided to bring my rounds on sandals to an end. I looked at a big discount shoe store. I looked at an upscale department store.

Nothing.

On a last-ditch effort, I decided to check the new JCPenney in our town. I’ve never found shoes that fit me there before, but I wanted to be truthful when I claimed “no sandals anywhere around here fit me.” So in I went.

Imagine my surprise when I walked out of there with not one, but THREE pair of sandals! I was giddy! I found a pair of fun silver t-strap sandals, a pair of light brown leather flip-flop type sandals, and a dressier pair of white leather Clark sandals. All three for less than the price of a pair of AAA sandals from a high-end store or catalog!

If only my impromptu shopping trip hadn’t happened because my laptop power cord died. Sigh.

The Simple Rule of Addition

I’m not very good at math, but I do know that little things add up. It’s a lesson I am constantly learning; a truth I constantly preach to my children. It applies to money and time, food and exercise, discipline and idleness. It also applies to words on the page (or, rather, on the computer screen.)

I’ve been a bit downcast through February and March. I haven’t made the amount of progress I wanted to on my current novel. But I’ve also written other things—articles for my kids’ school and blog posts being the majority of “other.” But this woeful feeling is why I began keeping a spreadsheet of my daily writing activities a couple of years ago, charting words written and pages edited, books read and writers groups attended. And guess what? I looked back today and realized I haven’t done as badly as I’d imagined! No, I’m not where I want to be on my novel. But I have been writing. Tens of thousands of new words. Hundreds of edited pages for myself and my critique partners.

So little things really do add up. Sometimes I just need to see it in black and white to believe it.

Printers, Printers Everywhere--But Not a Drop of Ink on the Page!

Most days I can sing with Kip from Napoleon Dynamite: I love technology!

Today was not one of those days. Today I wanted to walk down the block and toss the lot into the lake!

Actually, it started last night. My son needed to print a paper for school. Now understand—we have two computers and two printers in the house. He tried to print from his computer to his printer. No go. Out of ink. So he emailed his paper to me.

No problem. My laser printer is never out of ink. And it still isn’t. But try as I might, the print job failed every time. Even though I’d printed an email just a couple of hours earlier without a hitch. Nothing had changed since then. Nothing. But even after disconnecting the printer from the wireless print server and attaching it directly to my laptop, the same, frustrating message popped up—and no page printed.

Finally, this afternoon, I determined to find the problem. An hour and a half later, it works. The problem? One number in the IP address had changed. How, I ask you? I didn’t do it. I didn’t change a thing from the last time I’d printed. Go figure.

So my printer is working again. I guess to be on the safe side I’d better go buy new ink cartridges for the other printer!

Seventeen

My firstborn is 17 today. Where have the years gone? I confess, I don’t want to relive many of them. She was quite a handful for her first, oh, 16 years! I never imagined she’d be such a delightful young lady (although we’re still working on the “lady” part) at 17.

Why does 17 seem so much older than 16? Is it because 18 and independence are only a year away? I don’t know. But as I thought about it this morning, I realized how many things happened the year I was 17.

At 17, I ended my junior year of high school, started my senior year, got accepted to college, had my first boyfriend and my first date to Homecoming. My first job outside of retail came the summer I was 17—answering phones for an insurance agent, although mostly I read book after book in between calls! I also had my first taste of death when a childhood friend (and my first elementary school crush) died in a car accident that same summer. I remember feeling so grown up that year, making plans for the future, feeling secure in my place at school and with my friends yet looking forward to new experiences and new friendships on the horizon.

My daughter’s going out for dinner tonight with five of her girl friends. It’s been hard on her daddy that she didn’t want us along. But I understand. I remember. And I pray that 17 will be a year full of wonderful things for her.

A Complete Turn Around

Over the past few years, I’ve used writing as a reward in order to get other things done—things I hate to do, like clean the house, wash the clothes, buy the groceries. You get the idea. But I wanted so badly to write that I would work hard to get through the “have to” list in order to be able to do my “want to” list.

Today I realized I’ve done a complete turn around. Here’s what happened:

When we moved nearly 2 years ago, we gave up a whole room dedicated as our library. It had been the formal living room, but we wrapped floor to ceiling bookshelves around two walls, added two comfy chairs with a small table between and a couple of bright lamps. We LOVED that room! My husband and I spent many evenings in there reading or talking.

In the new house, we lost that space. Our bookshelves were regulated to the small “office” room. It was a bit claustrophobic in there. Soon after we moved in I suggested nixing the formal dining room and redoing our library. My husband balked. I let the idea drop. Last month he came in with a “great idea”—turning the formal dining room (which we’ve used twice in two years) into the library. I immediately began making plans.

The room has been empty for a couple of weeks now, but I haven’t had time to move the books and shelves and create our much loved space. I’m hoping it will happen this weekend, but a big precursor is unloading the bookcases. However, I haven’t let myself touch them—until today.

Why today? Because I’ve met my word count on my book for two out of the past three days! All of a sudden, I’m using other things as a reward for persevering with my writing! It’s a very exciting thing. It isn’t that I now see writing as work, as a “have to”, but instead that I have finally given myself permission to declare my writing work has value and worth in and of itself. It’s a big day for me. And with my revamped library and office space, I hope I’ll be even more productive in the days and weeks to come.

My Tuesday

Articles drafted: 1
Novel pages revised: 12
New novel words written: 2118
Watching my son come to the mound, top of the 6th, bases loaded, two outs and striking out the batter in three pitches: priceless

Ski Trip Update

I haven’t had much time at my computer this week, which, on a family vacation, is a good thing. But for those of you (mostly family, I guess) looking for an update, here are some highlights of the trip so far (pictures to follow when we get home):

Saturday morning: My husband woke us all up after he woke up—a little after 4 am! We were on the road by 5. Needless to say, this significantly affected my planned “writing time” as we drove since it was dark for the first almost four hours and, having been forced awake at such an unnatural hour, it took me until lunch time to be fully awake! The positive: we were in Colorado Springs less than 12 hours later and had a relaxing evening.

Johnson & Wales University: the tour was very impressive. Denver seems to be a nice city. Now she just has to decide between the two schools. Each has a very different style and its own pros and cons.

Skiing: Great—not too cold, not too snowy, but not icy, either. I’m in better shape than when we went two years ago and had forgotten how enjoyable it is to swoosh down a wide, not too steep, not too mogully mountain trail. Yesterday, my youngest son’s binding come off his ski—a fluky thing which the ski shop said they’d never seen happen. The fun part was he got to ride down on the ski patrol snowmobile.

We’re going tubing this afternoon, then skiing again tomorrow. We’ve had wonderfully relaxing evenings of movies and games (and now basketball, since the NCAA tournaments starts today.) By Saturday morning, I think we’ll all be ready to head home, but I think we’ve all enjoyed this respite from our busy lives.

Spring Break

From mid-eighties today to below freezing tomorrow. Yes, we are leaving sunny Texas (have we lost our minds? Um—yes!) for snowy Colorado. First we visit Johnson and Wales University in Denver. Then we head off to the slopes for a few days. I don’t know what kind of internet accessibility I’ll have but I’ll try to post some pictures this week.

Most of all I’m hoping to get some good writing done on the drive up and back and some good reading done in the condo in front of the fire. Since my ideal ski day is hit the slopes at 10:00, eat lunch at 11:30, end the day at 2:00, I should have lots of time to lose myself in few books (assuming my kids ski from can til can’t.)

Hope your Spring Break is restful and full of memory-making.

We Love You, Miss Hannigan!

“Your daughter makes a great drunk.”

I heart that comment over and over again on Friday. No, my 16 year old hadn’t been hitting the bottle. She’d been playing Miss Hannigan, the mean and nasty mistress of the orphanage that tried to repress the optimism of red-headed Annie. She’s not the best singer in the world, but boy can she nail a character! I think she scared some of the little girls in the audience!

She’s gotten more comfortable with the singing part, too, adding dancing (which she’s never really done) for this particular role. She worked so hard and had so much fun. It’s been amazing to watch her confidence grow since her freshman year when she landed the role of Bloody Mary in South Pacific in spite of her hesitancy to sing. Now she takes the stage with the same energy and excitement we see in her on the basketball court.

She has no theatrical aspirations beyond high school, but what she has learned from her years in drama will be invaluable in whatever her future holds. And we’ve had so much fun watching her transformation!

Is It Already Morning?

I don't know about you, but it takes me at least a week to adjust to Daylight Savings Time. Why do the same seven hours of sleep seem like so much less?

Fine Results in Fine Arts

Long ago, when I was in the 4th grade, I got a B (or a C, I don’t remember) on an art project. Mostly I remember it wasn’t an A and I told the teacher I’d tried so hard and she told me it didn’t matter how hard I tried, that my art wasn’t good enough to get an A. I decided then and there I wasn’t artistic. Which I’m not. But I assumed this extended to my children. Which apparently it doesn’t.

In our school’s district art competition, my daughter took home two 2nd place medals—mixed media and watercolors—and my son took 1st place in pen and ink drawing! WOW! I was floored! So we will take those pieces on to the state competition next month.

My drama queen daughter (and yes, she gets it from me) also garnered 2nd place in solo acting with her Fantine monologue from Les Miserables.

I guess you could say our family had a good day. Two kids. Four events. Three 2nd place medals. One 1st place medal.

I guess you can tell I’m not a proud mama or anything!

Gaining Momentum

Four of the past six days have been 2000 word days. Woo-hoo! That is nothing short of miraculous given all that is going on with school/kids activities these days--track meets, piano competitions, musical dress rehearsals, academic and art competitions. The best part is I see that I've learned over these past several years of writing how to better manage my time and how to pace myself so I can be more productive--and more sane--in all areas of my life.

Now if I can only maintain through the craziness of spring . . .

Back to work!

The Women of Troy Hill

One of the things I love most about used book stores is the possibility of unearthing a jewel. Sometimes a jewel is a book I’ve been searching for and haven’t been able to find. Suddenly it’s there, glittering like a diamond. I snatch it up before someone else sees. But even more exciting are the hidden jewels, the books I’ve never heard of but that catch my eye and capture my interest. At the time of purchase, they are simply an interesting rock. But sometimes the reading of them chips away at the unknown and leaves a valuable gem I am glad I didn’t miss.

Such is the case with a book I recently found. The Women of Troy Hill: The Back-Fence Virtues of Faith and Friendship is a book I will cherish. Clare Ansberry, the Pittsburgh bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal wrote this book eight years ago. It is the story of a Pittsburgh neighborhood, Troy Hill, and the women who live there—some of whose families have lived on Troy Hill for three or four generations. It is a story of ordinary women’s lives, and yet, none of their stories seemed ordinary. It is stories of family ties and of friendships strengthened over the course of decades, not just years. It is the story of faith that is lived daily, practically, not just on Sundays. It is a reminiscence of earlier eras, of daily life as our mothers and grandmothers experienced it. It is a celebration of lives well lived. And it is a challenge to raise our sights and standards to encompass some of what we have lost.

Oh—and the bonus? My current novel is set in Pennsylvania, my husband’s home state. This book happened to have a couple of tidbits of information that actually helped with my characters, given that my characters, too, are long time Pennsylvanians of German descent!

This beautifully written tribute to women who spent their lives loving their God, their families, and their friends, will always remain on my library shelf.

Ready for a Change

I love winter. I really do. But by this time of year I’m ready for a change. Winter feels like a houseguest that has overstayed his welcome.

Yesterday I thought spring had arrived for good. For two or three weeks now the birds have been chirping me awake and flitting from tree to bush all day long. Usually that’s the first indication. Then yesterday the sun burst out in all its springtime brilliance and warmed us to 83 degrees! It was glorious!

But by the time we exited the Mavericks game last night (thanks to friends who invited us to sit in some awesome seats!), we were shivering again. Yup. Another cold front. Spring may be nudging its way in, but it hasn’t bested winter yet.

Fahrenheit 451

Somewhere in my education I missed Fahrenheit 451. I corrected that this past week. Have you read this book? It was fascinating and terrifying all at once! I kept looking back at the original copyright date because it bore a freakish similarity to direction of our culture. Everything going fast, fast, fast. The people bombarded with images and sound. No time to think. No reason to read. A stupefied population walking blankly through their days talking about nothing, thinking about less.

If you are a writer—or a reader—and you haven’t read this book, or haven’t read it in a long time, run, don’t walk, to your nearest bookstore and pick up a copy. It will energize you to continue to do what you to, to continue to value thoughts and ideas and words. And if you get a chance to buy the 50th Anniversary edition—get it. It includes a fascinating interview with the author!

Leslie's New Website!

Want to see a great new website? My friend and critique partner Leslie Wilson is a very funny lady, whether writing or speaking. She’s also very practical. She writes and talks about her two favorite subjects: being a wife and being a mom. She calls her ministry "Reality Motherhood." Her website reflects the whimsical and the practical in her. Check it out here! She’s started a blog, too, as well as a weekly ezine full of tips and stories. And don’t miss the “store” on her site, where you can buy CDs of her speeches and her famous “tip” sheets—reusable, laminated lists of all kinds of different things, from chore charts to beach vacation packing for your family to birthday party planning, formulated to help keep moms organized and sane.

Ministering With My Kids

I spent the morning at the North Texas Food Bank with a group of ninth and tenth graders. We took food donated by individuals through local grocery stores during Super Bowl week and packed it in boxes to be distributed to food pantries and other ministries in the North Texas Area. The North Texas Food Bank distributed 3 million pounds of food last month alone.

We did this through our school’s mission program, instituted three years ago. I love going on these quarterly mission days with our middle school and high school students. Today I realized why.

Not only do these days give me a time and place to do something “others” focused, but working alongside my children and their friends gives us a shared experience. It’s not like a regular field trip where the moms cluster together and talk while the kids do whatever the activity is. On mission days, the parents work with the kids, often letting them take the lead role. And as we work together, we see each other as people instead of as “adults” and “teenagers.”

I like, too, that our mission days give the kids—and adults—the opportunity to experience different kinds of ministry work. Some prefer the opportunities to minister directly to people by feeding the homeless, interacting with refugees, taking meals to shut-ins, while others (like me) prefer task oriented ministry—doing a more “menial” task that is but one cog in a large wheel of ministering to a persons’ needs, like organizing donated clothes or packing boxes of donated food. We all have a place, and a gift. And I like that we help the kids discover what fits the way God made them.

We will go out again on a Friday in April. I can’t wait to see what opportunities await us!

Another Season Ends

The books are closed on another basketball season. The final game—last night—was a playoff tiebreaker game against an archrival to see who got the final playoff spot. We lost. But the boys played hard.

It was a wonderful season in many respects. Our daughter matured so much, learning to keep her cool on the court, learning to enjoy the game and her teammates whether winning or losing (and mostly losing!) My middle school son learned how to lose graciously and he learned a lot about the game of basketball from a young coach who played at the college level.

But one of the greatest joys of this season has been watching my ninth grade son. He is an athlete, though and through, but he is small and not particularly fast. He is sports-smart, however, understanding the complexities of the game, and he hustles. As one of two freshmen, he knew he’d sit the bench all season, like he did in football (small school, not enough kids for a JV team.) That frustrates him, because he loves to play. But he did it anyway, working hard in practice, taking care of the boys who played in games by having water and an encouraging word ready when they came out of the game, just like he did in football.

The coach noticed. What I think started as an effort to reward his hard work prior to district play became a habit and then an official proclamation: my son was given the duties of captain of the team. He even got to play several times, sometimes even for a few minutes in a close game.

Last night was an example of what he’s done all season. After getting the water and encouraging the guys during time outs, coach put him in the game in the fourth quarter for about three minutes. He hustled, had a couple of assists and a couple of rebounds. Plenty of glory for a teenaged boy. He went back to the bench—and back to getting the water. A servant leader if I’ve ever seen one. I wish I could say we taught him that, either by words or example. But I think not. I think if I boast I must boast in the Lord, for He made my son that way. What most of us spend a lifetime learning, He gave to this child as a gift. And it humbles me to watch it.

So our lives will slow a bit now—but just a bit, mind you! The school musical is in three weeks, with my daughter playing a major role. Middle school baseball starts up soon. The yearbook deadline looms, as do academic and art competitions. A small school keeps everybody busy. But when it affords me the chance to watch my children grow and change, becoming more and more like Christ, and gives then opportunities to discover and develop talents and abilities bestowed on them by God that they had no idea they possessed, it’s worth the effort and the busyness.

The Exact Perfect Gift

It’s been a technologically frustrating 2008 for me. First, after months of having the colors on my laptop screen skew at random, I tweaked it too much and cracked the screen. Now, besides the black line across one corner, everything on my screen is tinted blue. Makes it hard to see things in red, such as anything done in the Track Changes mode of Word.

On top of that, my wonderful laser printer informed me that it needed a new drum. No problem. I ordered and installed one. So now every few lines are faded. Makes each page a bit hard to read. My poor critique group has endured this for several weeks.

Add to that a bit of a money crunch at our house and I have been left to endure. I’m not complaining, mind you. I’m not even throwing a fit. I know how insignificant these things really are. They are just annoying. So fellow Life Sentence-ers Mary DeMuth and Leslie Wilson conspired to give me a boost for my birthday. They gave me a gift card to Office Max to help remedy whatever it could.

Simple, right?

Never!

Backstory: Apparently when they went to get the gift card, they were out. Completely out of gift cards! Go figure! So they had to buy something and then return it to get a Merchandise Credit card. Okay. No big deal. But in doing so, it made an odd amount, because of tax.

After much consideration, I went to Office Max to buy a new printer, one that was on sale and, with my “merchandise credit” and a coupon, would cost me $5 or so. Again, never as simple as it seems. The first store was out of the desired printer. Today I went across town to another Office Max. No printers on the shelf, but a wonderful guy found one in the back. I took it to the register, handed the man my coupon and my card, and waited, cash in hand, to hear what I owed.

The man looked at me, incredulously. “It’s the same amount.”

“What do you mean?”

“The card.” He looked back at his register. “It’s exactly the same amount as the printer. To the penny.”

I just laughed. God is so good. He let my friends give me the EXACT perfect gift for my birthday! So here’s to happy printing, where all the words come through on the page. Thanks Mary and Leslie!

Cheering Them On

A local high school is performing Les Miserables this weekend. As that is a favorite at our house, my daughter and I went last night. They did a great job. No, it wasn’t Broadway caliber, but for a group of 16, 17, and 18 year-olds, it was fantastic.

I loved the music and the story, as usual, but most of all I loved watching high school students take on such an enormous challenge. It’s what I love about watching high school sports, too. And seeing high school art pieces. And observing high school leadership in areas of school government or service projects. It’s seeing young people learn to overcome obstacles, to persevere, to become disciplined, to encounter adversity, to be humble in success. To grow up. We are given a glimpse into who God made them to be and how He is shaping them to be it.

Some years, it happens through success, through accolades and awards. Some years, character is forged in the fires of failure, of hard choices, of unfairness. But none of it is wasted.

When it is my own kids (and sometimes their friends), I get the added responsibility of talking through the situations, helping them process their course of action or their feelings, helping them recognize God’s hand in every situation. But in every situation, such as by standing and clapping at the end of the production last night, I get to encourage, to cheer on these young people striving to become adults. And in that, I find great joy.