Journal: forest inspiration

As I wrote Glamour, I imagined my Naturals scampering about in this area. When I shared this tidbit with my Inklings at our writing retreat, one of them said that she'd imagined this place as she read it. Two others said that they used the spot in their own writing, too.

Journal: Go ahead. Find inspiration in the woods. What happens here?

Happy 40th, Brett the Brat

My creative, big brother knew a plethora of ways to torment me. He convinced me I was discovered on the side of the road, I was part dog, and that my teeth were bucky as a beaver's. The only way I could retaliate was to call him Brett the Brat.

Yeah, clever, I know.

But we survived. He's forty today!

Journal: funeral

This week, we buried my husband's father.

Don was a retired Marine and a retired pilot. He possessed a kind heart combined with a strong personality (that probably prepared his son to better deal with me).

With each shot of the 21 gun salute, I grew more in awe of the young men in uniform before me. Although Don was in his late seventies, I imagined him as a proud young man guarding President Kennedy or being asked to be the youngest D.I. of his time. And I tried not to imagine the horrors he must have witnessed in Korea and Vietnam. As the handsome young Marine offered the flag to my mother-in-law, I realized that the sacrifices the young men and women in uniform make aren't only during their youth.

Rest in peace, Don, and thank you.

Journal: Write about a funeral.

Inklings Retreat

Woohoo!

Our annual lake retreat is finally here.

And this year we have hats!

I'd show you pictures of the amazing weekend, but the other Inklings threatened me. Apparently, they're afraid you won't think the pictures are amusing as I do. Then again, they probably know you will.

Journal: Festival

I grew up in a town that was in the Guiness Book of World Records and Trivial Pursuit.

Why?

Pecan pie.

As a kid, I attended Okmulgee's annual Pecan Festival. Every year, an enormous pie plate blocked main street. Yes, the entire street. The sun, a giant pan and foil combined to cook--more or less--the world's largest pecan pie each year. Lots of people claimed that once they took home their glob of pie and cooked it a little while that it tasted really good. I've never been a pecan pie fan, so I took their word for it.

Still, I love the excitement of small town festivals. Aside from going to Walmart, it's the one chance you have of running into old friends in a small town.

Journal: Write about a festival.

Journal: Cooking Cousins

My cousin and her family visited. We put the kids to work in the kitchen.
They made less of a mess than I usually do. They were more productive, too.

Journal: Write about cousins.

Independence Day

I thought I'd prepare for the holiday by making a patriotic pie...
Maybe decorate a little down at the lake...
Max had other plans for Independence Day...

He escaped his crib! (And brought me my iPhone. Is this what he associates with me first thing in the morning?) I pretended I wasn't in shock and urged him to return to bed. He climbed up beside me and towered above me and announced, "Done." Yep, that is one way to exert your independence.

We purchased a big boy bed for him, and I was shocked by his excitement. Before it was even put together, he tried to make his bed. Note the blur of enthusiasm in the pic below.

We could not have expected the euphoria we caused by getting him a big boy bed, but it was definitely a welcome moment of parental bliss.
Keeping him in the bed will be another adventure, I'm sure.

Happy 4th of July, everyone!

Journal: Re-read worthy?

My friend Ange read Stephen King's The Stand every year for well over a decade.

My friend Jenni read every Harry Potter book again before watching each movie.

Few books have enticed me to read them again. When I taught, I re-read books that I'd first encountered as a youth: Great Expectations, Jane Eyre, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Good Earth, Cold Sassy Tree. All great books that I didn't mind reading again.

I will confess here and now that I tried reading The Hobbit three different times in my life. The first time I was seven. The last time was a few years ago. I never could get through it. It was a great way to get me to fall asleep, though.

A few books I've re-read because I wanted to see how they struck me as an adult as opposed to when I read them as a kid. Rebecca, Celia Garth, Gone With the Wind, The Long Winter, Pride and Prejudice, The Stand. I read The Count of Monte Cristo one day during the summer between my junior and senior years. I'd like to read it again, but am half-afraid I won't love it as much the second time around.

And, of course, I've definitely re-read Glamour.

Journal: What books have you re-read or would like to read again? What makes a book worthy of this honor? Make a list of the traits. If you're currently working on a piece, examine it to see if those traits apply. If not, how can you make it so?

Learning to see again

After 10 years of Lasik bliss, I discovered I needed new glasses in December. My major clue was when I skipped a dear friend's birthday party because...get this...I was afraid to drive at night.

I know. I sound ancient.

Nope. Just blind.

Another clue that I might have needed an optometrist was that for the last year or so a recurring dream haunted me. I stood in front of a mirror trying to remove a contact. Then I'd freak out and think, Stop pulling at your eye or you'll tear off your retina. You had Lasik, silly. You're eyes are great.

Wrong. So wrong.

I assumed it was some sort of symbolic dream where I needed to take a closer look at my life or something. Nope. Just my subconscious telling me to get glasses.

So I did.

But I lasted about as long with glasses this time around as I did the first time. Even though I tried to be stylish and purchased several different styles, I really didn't like exercising in glasses that slipped down my nose.

In the fifth grade, a sweaty nose was a slip and slide for pesky glasses while I played football or took ballet. I tried on my first pair of lenses and was hooked. When I tried contacts again for the first time in a decade, it felt great. The soft lenses are so much more comfy than those hard gas permeable contacts I wore. And I can do yoga and Pilates without fogging up my glasses.

So, I still wear my trendy glasses, but I can also do the contact thing.

I like options.