For the Love of Books

Why do I love books? Oh, let me tell you.

My earliest memories are of my mother reading to me. Everything she read, she read aloud, from scripture to The Exodus or The Silver Chalice. I’m surprised I still remember the names of those books. I couldn’t have been more than four when she was reading them to me. Curled up in bed, she’d already read my favorite story, “Dory and the Weather Box,” and I was sleepily imagining pink clouds and purple lightning as my mother opened her own book to read. She would sit in the room with my brothers and I until we were completely asleep.

Random Acts of Kindness

The winter storm Gandalf hit last night. (Yes, some wise-guy named the storm Gandalf. I'm totally serious.) There are a lot of people in my neighborhood who walk, whether to the bus or to work or to the store, there is a lot of foot traffic in front of my house on a daily basis.

Since today was considered a snow day and my kids had the day off, we went out and tackled the foot of snow that had fallen. And then tackled the snow on the sidewalks in front of our neighbors houses, too, because people were walking in the street.

Kudo's to my kids who cheerfully pitched in to help make life easier for those who life around us. Mina did the walk in front of one neighbor's house all by herself while I worked on the walk in front of ours. And then we tackled the other neighbor all the way to the road crossing together.

We're drinking hot chocolate now and watching more snow fall. It was a good morning full of good deeds.

SuperBetter

Today I successfully completed the following quests: Serve A Neighbor, Write Sprint, and 10 Minute Cleaning Spree. This earned me 3 physical points, 5 mental points, and 2 social points. While doing those quests, I successfully fought the Guilt Monster, avoided the Procrastination Station, and the Sticky Chair. However, the Sleepy Face monster totally got me this morning, and I slept in again (after getting the kids off to school.)

I know I posted about playing the game of Domestic Goddess … like, what, a year ago? Well, someone actually made it a game. It’s called SuperBetter, and for a gaming addict like me, it’s totally awesome. I get points and skill-ups for things I do all the time. My goals are small and reachable, and my friends (allies) can send me personalized quests and awards. It’s pretty awesome. It’s not a time sucker; I don’t spend all day on the web site, I just log in once every couple hours when I’m checking facebook and twitter and update quests and bad guys.

First Drafts

Oh my goodness, I'm going to do it again. Another post about writing, and writing groups. I couldn't help it, though. Robison Wells (@robisonwells) tweeted this gem this morning: "In the first draft, the ghosts just visit Bob Cratchit; tell him he's had a wonderful life." And all of a sudden I could hear all of the various responses in the voices of people in my writing groups.

A Christmas Scavenger Hunt

This year as self-therapy to learn how to enjoy Christmas, my two oldest daughters helped me set it up so the kids would wake up to something different. Something fun, something more than a pile of presents under a tree. Something that required teamwork, sillies, and a sense of adventure.

Happy Holidays!

Christmas is not normally my favorite time of year. In fact, I tend to try to avoid all holidays, not just ones with a guy in a suit who invades my house. It's not really possible to avoid, what with there being six kids and a husband around who seem to think these things are a big deal.

Writing Groups

Pretend for a moment that you want to be an author. To do that, you need to have written something. And for that thing you've written to get polished and pretty and understandable, it needs to be seen by someone other than you. That way you can fix the things you don't know are broken. One of the ways to do this is to join a writing group where you chop your newly written precious into chapter sized chunks and then submit them for critiques one week at a time.

Fear

Fear is a funny thing. It’s just an emotion. It’s that voice inside our heads, sometimes not even a voice. It’s a whisper. A niggling doubt. But sometimes it is claws twisting our insides into knots until we stop functioning. It can be paralyzing and completely destructive.

Playing with Fire

Today I looked at my manuscript, of which I have all of six chapters left to write to finish, and I couldn't make myself write. There are many other things playing through my mind right now. I want to figure out how to enjoy this upcoming Christmas season, I want to let go of things from childhood that haunt me every year come this time, I want to feel the magic. All kinds of things completely unrelated to a slave girl lost in space.

So, when I sat down at my computer today, I decided I wanted to play with fire. I pulled out my tablet, looked through the pictures my daughter has taken for yearbook, and sorted through some background patterns I downloaded from pareeerica and after a couple of hours messing with various brushes and tools in Photoshop, managed to create this.

Yeah, I won't be quitting my day job any time soon. I'm so out of practice, I don't even know what to say. But I had an itch, so I scratched it. (I'm not even sure why I'm sharing this picture... It's unfinished and un-something.)

Winner!!

 Awwww yeah! I did that right there. I can't even begin to describe my exploding sense of accomplishment. I did it! I set a goal and I actually did it! I wrote 50,000 words in a month.

I wrote through sinus infections and flu and kids being sick, and some major back pain. So, you know, I'm sure that those 50,000 words need LOTS of editing. But the fact that they were there, that my 19 year old daughter came over and wrote with me nearly every morning, and that we accomplished something... I mean, WOW!

I'm not just a stay-at-home mom who has a few Footzone clients. I wrote a sizeable chunk of something. I am on that journey of self-discovery, and I'm enjoying the process. How cool is that???

So here's my wish that whatever journey you're on is just as fabulous. That the downs don't last as long as the ups, and that you finish what you start, whatever it is, so long as you love it! :)