From the Shadows to the Page

Transitions

2011-09-27T11:20:00.000-07:00

Something has bothered me about this blog for awhile, and that is the fact that I rush through my posts. I want to write thoughtful, longer posts, reflections about things that catch my attention or interest me, but since I began blogging a few years ago I have been in the habit of keeping my posts short. Everyone's rushing around like mad on the internet trying to get to as many blogs as possible and short just seems more suitable to the blog culture.

But I believe I've come to a satisfactory conclusion to this dilemma. I set up a website where I can post the way I like, but do it infrequently, like once a month or so. I can take the time to write a longer post that goes into more depth and isn't rushed. In fact, the first post I wrote on the website is taken from one I wrote here about Time and Money. I'll probably do more of that.

I appreciate everyone who has followed and commented and supported me here, and I do hope you will visit me at the new website, karenjonesgowen.com. If you would like to subscribe, you can click the button on the top right of the sidebar and whenever I write a new post you'll get an email with a link to it. As I said, I'll be posting infrequently so don't worry about getting swamped with emails from my website.

I'll continue blogging at Coming Down the Mountain about writing, editing and publishing issues, that won't change. But From the Shadows to the Page will be transitioning to my new website, and I hope to see you there!

And thanks to everyone who voted on my picture, you'll see the one I chose at my new website as well! (P.S. To those who said #1 and #4 were the same-- you know who you are-- you were right.)

Photo shoot

2011-09-22T11:41:00.000-07:00

Getting my picture taken is stressful. I had planned on going to a professional photographer then decided to let my husband do the honors. Nearly every photo of me that I love has been taken by him, so clearly he knows how to get the best out of a bad situation.

We tried a few poses and settings. What do you think of our informal photo shoot? And please feel free to vote for your favorite :) I am having a hard time deciding. (Keep in mind that he is going to take out the hose and part of the chair that is distracting so don't mind that)

The Story of an Average Man

2011-09-08T17:13:00.000-07:00

My youngest son is a huge soccer fan. When the Real soccer team here in Salt Lake offered free tickets and all you had to do was write an email he was on it. His email--

This is my story.

I am just a man, my arms and legs are nothing special, I cannot run quickly or jump very high. I have an average job, with average pay, that gives me less than average satisfaction in life. I live in an average house, with average people. I have never lived in a castle, fought a dragon, or saved a princess.

Although...

I am going on a date with a very cute girl, who is like a princess. We are going to the game in the fortress, which is like a castle, playing the Philidelphia Union who is like a dragon.

For an average person, this is my dream, to get the field level tickets to the game on Saturday.

Sincerely, Forrest the average man

And guess what? He won!! Front row seats, right on the field, and a catered meal before the game-- he was in heaven. And I'm sure his date was very impressed too! Nothing average about this kid of mine LOL.

Family Lovin'

2011-08-31T09:31:00.000-07:00

It's not a family photo but it's a family. At least a few of them *smile* and it illustrates why I generally try not to take the family pictures.

August Shenanigans

2011-08-20T18:52:00.000-07:00

As August comes round the bend to its close, I am feeling very reflective about this summer. The month of August itself was monumental, with our second to youngest marrying the girl of his dreams. And what was really fun about the wedding/weekend was that all ten of our children were here, along with (not all) but many of their spouses and/or children.

It was just a delightful time. One of our daughters-in-law had a new camera that she was eager to use, so we got the added benefit of a lot of amazing photos, both informal and formal, of the events. I learned an important fact a decade ago when our oldest was married: Parents and siblings of the bride and groom must not be assigned as photographers because it just won't happen! There is so much else to concern them that pictures end up being the last thing on their minds. I've been fortunate to have daughters-in-law who take excellent pictures, or sisters who are right there to get the best shots, or in one case, a son-in-law who took nonstop video that is priceless.

My husband and I celebrated our anniversary (August 13) two days after the wedding. It was such a nice day to just get away, the two of us, and do whatever we felt like. We took a drive in the mountains, we took pictures of each other, we went out to eat, we went to a movie: all the activities we enjoy, nothing really special or fantastic, just having fun together.

Now our youngest is preparing to leave on a two-year mission for our church to-- ta-da!-- Oregon. He is pretty excited. "I've always wanted to live in Oregon," he says. He leaves on September 28.

Another son and his wife are expecting a baby next spring. Life goes on, and it is wonderful. I enjoyed being a mom when my kids were all at home (despite what my journals say, yes I really did enjoy it), and I enjoy this phase as well. I only had two girls, but as my boys marry, I get wonderful daughters-in-law who are like daughters to me.

Besides these big events, this year saw us move from our home of 13 years, and there was my mom's passing on New Year's Day. I should have known when that happened, that 2011 would be a momentous year.

Now I feel like things are winding down, just like the summer is, and that perhaps there will be a few restful weeks ahead before the holiday activities begin.

Impressed by Dogs

2011-08-06T20:40:00.000-07:00

The other day a little girl at our house made a cute noise while jumping down the front stairs. A kind of wo-wo-wo- sound. From far away, across the park, came a returning sound, echoing this-- a dog barking in almost exact replica wo-wo-wo.

And then tonight there was another interesting experience involving dogs. My husband and I watched the movie "Babe" about the pig who thinks it's a sheep dog. The movie has Australian sheep dogs herding sheep, barking, and sounds of the sheep baa-ing. We finish the movie, and he opens the front door to look at the sprinklers going off in our yard. Guess what is standing right there on our front sidewalk, staring at our front door?

It is an Australian sheep dog, waiting expectantly. Presumably for sheep to herd? My husband is petting the dog when the owner comes by, looking for him. Someone had opened the door at their house, and the dog just ran out for no apparent reason.

From two blocks away, inside his house, this Australian sheep dog heard fellow sheep dogs barking and the sheep baaing on our TV, and as soon as he got a chance he escaped to come join the fun.

Now that's impressive.

It's Either Time or Money

2011-07-28T10:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had a conversation with a son who needed to get something and I was telling him a less-expensive place to purchase it. He said, "It's not the money, it's just finding the time to go make the purchase."

This got me to thinking about the excuses we all make. With some people, it's time, others it is money.

Larry H. Miller was one of the wealthiest businessmen in Salt Lake, owner of the Utah Jazz and numerous car dealerships. Yet a few years ago he died in his fifties of complications of diabetes. People who knew him said, "He never took the time to take care of himself." He had plenty of money for medical care, but neglected getting it due to being too busy. Diabetes is one of those illnesses where you MUST take proper care of yourself, with diet, exercise and regular medical care or it will kill you.

Think of all the joys in life we neglect because of "no time" or "no money." I have learned that those are nothing more than convenient excuses. There are ways and means to accomplish goals without an abundance of either. Sometimes it takes creative thinking, sometimes asking for help from others, sometimes just focus and determination.

Your comments on my last post about Simple Pleasures shared many ways to be happy, and most of them did not require much time or money. Anyone who thinks they don't have enough time or money for whatever should go back and read those comments.

Simple Pleasures

2011-07-21T13:47:00.000-07:00

Today I am thinking about simple pleasures, those activities that aren't necessary to keep life functioning, but that are essential for daily happiness. When we moved from California to Utah 21 years ago, I missed the simple pleasures of taking my kids to the parks and to the beaches. People said, "Oh, the mountains are awesome." But it just didn't feel the same.

Now we have moved again (still in Utah but down the road a ways) and I am missing the simple pleasures of my life in our old neighborhood. Good friends, our backyard garden oasis, fruit trees, the sound of birds waking us up and putting us to sleep at night. On top of that, my mom died this year and I miss the simple pleasure of our weekly phone calls. My husband and I are on a strict diet essential for our health and I miss the joy of drinking massive quantities of diet Coke while I write. Silly, isn't it? I have everything I need, but I am looking for some new simple pleasures to replace the ones that I've lost.

Got any ideas for me? What simple pleasures do you most enjoy?

Use it up, Wear it Out, Make it Do, or Do Without

2011-07-09T06:47:00.000-07:00

In my novel Uncut Diamonds, the main characters, Marcie and Shawn McGill, experience some rough times. It is the seventies, when the U.S. had one of the worst recessions since the Great Depression. Marcie has to get resourceful to make ends meet, and she gets ideas and motivation from the writings of her grandmother, who was a farm wife in Nebraska during the Great Depression.

Many people talk about the poor economy right now, but believe me, it isn't anything like what we experienced in the seventies. *I sound so old when I say that* Still, along with many currently trying to spend less is the recycle, reuse, going green-type mentality that brings back some of the frugal practices of days past.

Like this awesome dress my friend made out of two T-shirts:

She took a red and a blue T-shirt, cut and sewed and came up with a cute jersey dress to wear to our Fourth of July BBQ.

The T-shirts were given to her, she gets a lot of them from her job and so snip/snip voila!

Cute dress: Cost $00.00

Enjoying Summer

2011-07-02T08:30:00.000-07:00

Summer is finally here in the Rocky Mountain West. We are settled into our new home, which I love because there are pathways, parks and even a lake, making it very inviting for a reluctant walker such as myself.

My husband and I are following the HCG diet plan, that's our huge project for the summer-- to get ourselves back in shape. So far he has lost 15 lbs, and I've lost 8, after the first three weeks on the plan. Today I even got him to walk a little ways with me. We stalled this week because it turns out that some things we thought were okay actually had sugar in them.

I'm also writing a lot as well as editing. My blogging activities are really taking a hit. But I think that's happening with a lot of people. Summer is time for being outdoors, holding barbecues, traveling someplace new, planting flowers, and just chillin' by the open window feeling the cool morning breeze. I love summer.

Fathers and Mothers

2011-06-19T07:31:00.000-07:00

I come from a family of women. One mother, one father, three sisters, eleven cousins (all girls). One grandfather died before I knew him, the other was so scary I didn't want to know him, so two grandmothers. As a result, I grew up with completely erroneous ideas about boys. When I was in grade school, I defined them as either ugly or cute (most of them very cute imho). I learned at a very young age like first grade maybe? that they would be smitten if I looked at them with my big eyes and then straightened something on their shirts.

Fortunately I made it through my high school and college years without attracting the wrong sort. Oh wait, there were a couple of the wrong sort in college, but I escaped before anything bad happened. Then I joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (became a Mormon, upon which my parents breathed a huge sigh of relief even though they were Methodists), and after a few false starts, I was blessed beyond measure to meet and marry a young man who turned out to be a gem, an uncut diamond, oh look at that, wouldn't that make a good title of a book about our early life together, and we proceeded to build our house of diamonds what do you know, there's another one.

We had eight boys and two girls. I had a LOT to learn about the nature of the male psyche, the differences between boys and girls, men and women, mothers and fathers. One thing I learned is that a father is not meant to be the male version of a mother. And it's a good thing, too, because then kids can benefit from both sides.

Just to illustrate in this excerpt from Uncut Diamonds--

"He picked up Jeff, Elizabeth, Alex and Eric one by one, until he had four laughing, twisting children hanging from his six foot frame in a wriggling, breathing, noisy sculpture of family life."

Now how many moms can do that?

Happy Father's Day to all of you dads out there. I hope your family pampers you a little today, because you deserve it!

The Park Across the Street

2011-06-11T06:01:00.000-07:00

Now that warm weather is here, I keep the window open in our bedroom, the window that looks out on the park across the street.

In the morning, as the sun rises and wakes me up, I see elderly people walking their excited little dogs along the pathways. I see middle-aged couples power-walking to burn off the fat.

Mid-day, it is moms, and sometimes dads, who inhabit the park with their small children.

In the afternoon, school kids of all ages walk past on their way home.

It is in the evening, when I am winding down for the day that the park is the noisiest, occupied by giggly, squealing teenage girls and overly-attentive teen boys.

In the course of one day, the circle of life is captured in the park across the street.

Seeking the Perfect Purse

2011-06-07T14:17:00.000-07:00

I see it in the store. It looks AT LAST as though I have FOUND the perfect purse. Not too big, not too small, pleasing shape and design, trendy color, pockets and zippers enough to hold all my pursely possessions. I must have it!!

But I don't need another purse, do I? I already have so many good ones. Ah, but they are not perfect. There is indeed something wrong with each and every one of them. See above list. This new one will most certainly be perfect. It looks, smells, feels so wonderful. A brand, new wonderful purse! I must have it! However, being the disciplined, frugal person I am, I don't buy it. I leave the store and go home, resisting temptation. What do I need a new purse for? Pshaw! Silly me!

Although I do keep thinking about it....and thinking....and thinking. In fact, I cannot forget about it. How could I have left behind the perfect purse? What a fool I am!

I look at my other bags which all pale in comparison and look like garbage. The only thing to do is go back and buy the perfect one before someone else gets to it first. That's it. I must go back to the store, and I must hurry before my prized possession gets away. Because after all, since it is perfect I will never again need to buy another one. So really it's a huge savings to spend the money right now, that way I won't have to spend it later. This is the only sensible course of action.

I rush back to the store and there it is! Yes, it is perfect! I was not mistaken, I shall buy it. So I do. And I get it home, with my things tucked inside, everything at home inside the fresh, new promising environment. Now at last I will be organized. I and all my outfits will look amazing and fashionable with this marvelous accessory. Aha, the perfect purse!

Except. . . the next time I am in the store, I see tables full of quite lovely purses, each one better than the one I just recently bought. But I look away. I am committed now. This one will have to do. At least until my birthday comes around again. Or Christmas. Or there is a once-in-a-lifetime clearance sale. Or I run across the most perfect purse ever.

Goal-setting and Goal-keeping

2011-06-02T06:38:00.000-07:00

Nearing the half-way point of the year, how many of you like to review where you are on goals? Like the ones set on New Year's Day? I'm an obsessive goal-setter. It's like if I write it down, I'm half-way there.

Today I looked at my New Year's Resolutions and decided to chuck the whole lot. Because they just make me feel bad about myself. I did read the 50 books. I read them all in about three months time. The writing and the walking resolutions? Don't even ask!

But, in my defense, Universe, in case you are listening and keeping score: my mom died, my husband and I had a major move from our home of 13 years, uh...uh...uh....excuses?....excuses?.....Okay, those are the only two big events, but they work, I think, as pretty good ~~excuses~~ reasons to get stalled.

Okay, now it's time to move on and set some new goals, because today is the first day of the rest of my life!

Writing the Memoir

2011-05-24T18:50:00.000-07:00

I recently read Ann Best's memoir In the Mirror, A Memoir of Shattered Secrets. I just added it to my Shelfari shelf of memoir-type books I have read.

What makes a good memoir? First, the cover. This is a wonderful cover because you can stare at it at length wondering about the people before you even crack open the book. Then while you're reading, you can flip back to it and recall how Ann and Larry looked on their wedding day. And you can ponder this photo with their children and think about how things are not always as happy as it seems when a family gathers for a smiling group shot.

Which brings me to another important element of memoir-- story! There needs to be a beginning, middle and end; conflict; memorable, identifiable characters; resolution of conflict; real life situations that the reader can connect with; and don't forget-- good writing!!

There's the autobiography someone might write for family and posterity with particulars and photos from one's life. These have a place in personal and family history and kudos to anyone who is able to write one. And then there's the publishable memoir such as Ann wrote-- something that connects with a large demographic of readers who will pay for the privilege of reading her story.

I like to think the genre is called "memoir" because it's "memorable." Not simply a collection of "memories" but a story that stays in your heart and mind long after. That's the kind of memoir that Ann Best wrote. Not an easy task. I hope on her blog that she will delve into what, why and how she managed to write her book.

What Motivates You?

2011-05-22T12:11:00.000-07:00

This might seem like an easy question but it's not really. Because I have no idea half the time why I do what I do. Does anyone?

Like, what motivates me to sulk instead of speak? What on earth does sulking accomplish? Yet there I go, sulking again instead of communicating in a proper way.

What motivates a woman toward health and fitness? And another towards a lifetime of sedentary behavior while overdosing on candy and potato chips?

What makes someone a workaholic and someone else a call-in-sick-whenever-possible kind of guy?

Why do some people like cats and others prefer dogs?

Why does one man love going to church and another avoid it like the plague?

My mom used to say that I would stare at people and analyze them endlessly. (Like there's something wrong with that?) What is more fascinating in this whole wide world than people?

Interview with a Wanna be Genealogist

2011-05-18T08:39:00.000-07:00

My husband is really really interested in genealogy and all aspects of family history. As he puts it: "A wanna-be family history pictures and archivist." Here's what he has to say-- (and thank you, darling husband, for the interview and photos and information on scanning)--

Technology today makes preserving records easier than ever. And easier to share original documents with anyone at no additional cost. The opportunity to look into the face of an ancestor in a photograph and realize that they are connected to you is remarkable.

With the advent of scanning technology this is made easier and more accessible. I take old photos and scan the entire photo, even if there's damage to it. I can also just scan the faces, which are the most important part of the individuals in our history. I like to see the settings that they're in, I like to think about what they may be doing the day that they posed for this picture.

I have a treasured photograph of one young couple recently married, right before he went off to fight in the Civil War and never came home.

That is Smith Banta and his wife, Mary Jane London, my great-great grandparents. They had two children. Later, she remarried and had eight more children.

Documents such as marriage licenses, birth certificates, wills, letters and anything that might give information about family members can also be scanned and emailed to those interested. Scanning is a simple and inexpensive process for photos and documents. No more running to the copy store, or even worse--loaning an original valued document and worrying that you might never get it back.

The Quiet House

2011-05-16T09:05:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago we moved and right now, for the first time ever, the house is relatively still. Our two boys left early for a work project, and the phone guy was only here for long enough to fix the bad outlet (maybe 20 minutes). Our regular visitors are the phone and internet repairmen and technicians. I think they have the phone lines all working now. Internet is fine as long as I'm plugged in-- no wireless yet.

The dishwasher and washing machine are running but that's lovely white noise that means cleaning is happening while I'm busy elsewhere.

A major move like this is hectic, exhausting, expensive, and loud. Once all the activity dies down I can stop stressing and begin to think and get my groove back. So maybe this is the week. It's starting off well with a nice quiet house. I should be cleaning after the hectic weekend. But first I just want to relish the peaceful feeling of a quiet Monday. Ahhhh!

Happy Birthday to my Quiet Blog

2011-05-15T11:13:00.000-07:00

It was a year ago that I began this blog as an experiment. Well, not exactly a year. My first post was actually on March 31. I wanted to see what would happen if I posted about subjects that interested me-- memoir, personal and family history, family, nature, and of course myself hehe-- without doing anything else to get followers or views. No tricks or gimmicks-- just plain ol' everyday writing on the blog.

It's been fun because it's no pressure blogging. I'm not really trying to do anything special or even have a platform--it's simply a forum for random posting. Because I'm a compulsive writer who will write anywhere, anytime on any subject. Ask my kids who have carried dozens of boxes of massive journals from house to house.

Happy birthday to my quiet blog. Many thanks to those who follow me here and take the time to read and comment on my posts. I appreciate it so much!

A Walk into Heaven

2011-05-14T10:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday it was 78 and sunny. I thumbed my nose at broken Blogger and messed up internet at the new house and went for a long walk. There's a lake about 15 min. from my house so I headed there to explore what paths would take me where. I avoided the areas closest to the road and parking areas-- too much noise and activity-- and headed to the other side of the lake, which seemed almost like a wilderness area.

It was so still and empty of activity. I only passed two other walkers in an hour, but enjoyed the company of a couple of geese far out on the water. They came soaring in with their long necks and wide wing span, and in tandem they slid and skated along the water surface, barely making a ripple. Geese are annoying up close, especially if they've decided they own the area, but from a distance they are enchanting.

Up ahead, I saw a bench in the shade, just waiting for me. I sat and looked out over the lake and the mountains beyond. It was peaceful, solitary and beautiful. I felt like I was in heaven. Of course I wouldn't always want to be alone, either in this life or the next, but at that moment it was exactly what my heart craved. Solace. Beauty. Solitude.

Being Homeschooled

2011-05-08T18:10:00.001-07:00

Homeschooling is a great option for educating one's children when the school system isn't doing its job. I have utilized homeschooling myself. Usually only for a short time and then back into the public schools they go. Sometimes people will homeshool for their children for the entire education. I'm not saying it is good or bad, but it's nice to have the option. But then there's that question that comes when people are talking about someone with no social skills-- "Were they homeschooled?"

(I apologize in advance to anyone who might be offended by this post.)

Z is for Z

2011-04-30T05:50:00.000-07:00

Z, the last letter in the alphabet, signifies the end of things. It just so happens that today is the Big Moving Day, the last day in our home of 13 years, the last day in the neighborhood where we have lived for 21 years.

Two days ago I cooked the last meal in said home and said neighborhood. It was baked fish, and fried rice with vegetables. *yummy* Since then we have eaten leftovers out of the fridge and sandwiches, trying to use up available food before the move. So yes, today I am thinking about the end of things. The end of the A to Z Challenge *whew* and the end of our long life in this lovely place where our family has lived for so long.

What's exciting about the end of things is the anticipation for new beginnings. Which reminds me that life isn't like the alphabet, with a beginning and an end, but it is like a circle. Eternal. Endings and Beginnings together, flowing into one another. One eternal round.

Y is for Yes, I did it!

2011-04-29T06:26:00.000-07:00

Yes, I did it! I walked an hour and ten minutes yesterday despite many ~~valid~~ ~~reasons~~ typical ridiculous excuses not to. So that makes six days in a row that I have overcome my resistance and just walked out that door. Because I am NOT A QUITTER. HOO RAH! Semper Fi and all that inspiring Marine talk I get from my son. HOO RAH!

X Marks the Spot

2011-04-28T05:49:00.000-07:00

Do you remember that Steven Spielberg movie The Goonies? A group of kids find a treasure map in the attic and follow it to find a fortune so they can save their homes from evil developers. It sounds like a lame premise, but never underestimate Steven Spielberg or the fantastical charm of those four words-- X marks the spot.

Besides, what kid hasn't dreamed of doing this very thing? I know I did. I would fantasize about finding an ancient pirate treasure map with that magical X showing where to dig for the buried treasure. I even had my wish list of what I would do with all that money:

Buy all the candy in the world. I still love candy. Have my very own horse. I always wanted a horse and never did get one, cursed deprived childhood. Fill my room with every stuffed animal, doll, puppet, book, paper doll set, tea set, electric train, squirt gun and cap gun and real gun that I ever wanted. I was a girl of varied interests.

Now I'm an adult, and I still long for some kind of magical X to mark the spot, the end of the rainbow, the buried treasure, the ship coming in. On The Goonies, there was an actual ship that came in at the end-- floating into the bay as the parents watched in awe.

What would I do with all that money? Pay off my mortgage and the mortgages of all my sisters and children. (Again, similar to The Goonies-- getting money to save the family home.) Buy my husband a truck. Get new carpet in my home, tile, and repaint the entire place. Rebuild the pond. Er, I mean pay someone to do it. Buy my son and his fiancee a new car to start their wedded life. Buy my daughter an economical but safe car so she could drive down every day to my house and go for hour-long walks with me.

Okay, I need to stop now. This list is building steam as I go. Do you think there's ever a time in one's life where we are so satisfied that we don't have even one tiny little desire to find the buried treasure?

W is for Walking (and not quitting)

2011-04-27T09:06:00.000-07:00

As I see the end of the A to Z Challenge in sight, I balk every day about writing one more post and I just want to quit. Which is really stupid, because I've made it this far and it's not even that hard compared to all the hard things I have done and am still doing in my life.

Same with walking. I set a goal to walk 30 minutes a day. I'm finally getting around to starting, and have enjoyed it so much that most days I walk an hour or more. But do you know how easy it is to just quit? I keep making excuses for myself to either not step outside or to cut my walk short.

The weather. My mood. Fatigue. Too much else to do. My clothes. My shoes aren't right. Traffic bothers me. Too many people out. Dogs barking at me.Thirsty. Hungry. Tired. Bored. Need a kleenex.

Okay, I'll stop now, I'm sure nobody wants to hear the my list of excuses. As my mother-in-law used to say, "Excuses are like armpits. Everybody has them and they all stink." Another W word that inspires quitting is Writing. I make excuses for not doing that, too. Don't worry, I won't list them here, I've told you enough already about my inner dark side.

I am not a quitter! I will keep walking! And writing! And finishing the A to Z Challenge! So there. W is for Walking and doing all that other stuff and NOT QUITTING.

V is for Very Tired of Blogging

2011-04-26T04:12:00.000-07:00

Hey, after thirty days and two blogs, posting daily, who wouldn't be? Still, I have enjoyed the A to Z Challenge and don't regret participating double. On Coming Down the Mountain, I had a theme and scheduled my posts so it was fairly stress-free. On this one, I just came up with something for the word of the day. It's been fun doing daily seat of the pants posting here, but in May I'll go back to my once a week posts, more or less. And posting 2 or 3 times a week on my other blog.

Blogging should work for one's own purposes imho. If you try to fit into someone else's idea of what it should be, you'll get frustrated and give up. It should be about your interests, time frame, routine, and style. It has to be fun, yet still a responsible task that has a purpose.

So I'm not actually very tired of blogging. I joined the A to Z Challenge to help me define my two blogs, and I think I accomplished that personal goal. But can I just say I'll be very glad when this month is over?

U is for Uncle Forrest

2011-04-25T06:40:00.000-07:00

Often in a large family, the younger children will become aunts and uncles while still kids themselves. Forrest, our youngest boy, became an uncle at age 10. As my grandchildren grew, they of course bonded with Forrest who was closest to their age and liked to play with them. He was their favorite, (altho they never really called him Uncle Forrest.)

One of my little grandsons called his other grandma Grandma and he called me "Forrest's mom." Or "the grandma who lives in Forrest's house."

T is for Thirty Day Blogfests are Too Long

2011-04-23T12:17:00.000-07:00

Okay, I know I'm a host of the A to Z Challenge and all, but that's really my other persona-- old KarenG over at Coming Down the Mountain. This Karen cannot believe it's another day and I have to write yet another post. What the---? Thank heavens tomorrow is Sunday, and we get a break, and the next week is the last week of this thirty day challenge. Whew!! April 30 is also our last day in our home of 13 years-- (hey thirteen, another T word!)-- which means the packing and sorting and moving is done. So I am really really really looking forward to April 30.

S is for Sunshine

2011-04-22T17:51:00.000-07:00

I can't even tell you how many women have told me their doctors said they had Vitamin D deficiency. I used to spend hours outdoors everyday, year round. Walking, working in the yard, being outside with the kids. Then I somehow got away from it and became this big hermit. I guess I had so much work to do inside I couldn't spare the time for the sun.

The sun powers our lives. People need to be outside in the sunshine. It's rejuvenating and healing for mind, soul and body. When I was young, I heard that all the time from grown-ups: "Get outside in the fresh air and sunshine. Go play outside. You haven't been outside yet today. You'll feel better when you go outside and get some sun." Sound familiar? Well, maybe not if you are under forty. Because somewhere along the way came this idea that the sun's rays are harmful and cause skin cancer. What the heck? Why is it that everything causes cancer? Do people even know what causes cancer anyway?

So people started avoiding the sun, covering up, staying in and now it's Vitamin D deficiency from not enough sunshine. Lately I've been going outdoors for long walks in the sun-- and I can't tell you how much better I feel. It's not just the exercise either because I can be busy in the house, actively running up and down stairs, vacuuming, doing whatever for 6 or 7 hours on my feet and not feel as good as I do after an hour in the sun.

R is for Randolf

2011-04-21T06:56:00.000-07:00

I got to thinking about how certain names go out of fashion and you just know they will never come back. Like Randolf, or Randolph, or Randy. It may work fine on those born in the forties or fifties, or even earlier, but can you imagine anyone naming their baby boy that now? Except as a middle name, named after a grandfather or whatever.

Since I read a lot of classic literature I run into these kinds of names a lot. Believe it or not, there was a time when Gertrude was considered a classy name for a woman. So was Gladys and Edith. Really can't see these three coming back into vogue. Then there are the older names now making a comeback-- like Beatrice, Emily, Annabelle.

Then you have the stock boy names that never seem to go out of style, like John, James, Matthew, Thomas. Edward is making a comeback, I wonder why LOL?

Q is for Quiver

2011-04-20T11:39:00.000-07:00

Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them. (Psalm 127: 3-5)

I went out to breakfast this morning with four of those ~~arrows~~ in my quiver. Yes, I feel truly blessed that my husband and I had such a full household. And especially now that they are older and they just talk and laugh and eat together without fighting. Ever. They did plenty of fighting when they were kids living at home. I guess they got it all out of their systems.

P is for People Dead or Alive

2011-04-19T13:28:00.000-07:00

A man said that there are no dead people. And I suppose that's true if one believes in life after death, which I do. When I wrote Farm Girl, I could feel my Grandmother Marker's presence and interest in this book. I was very aware of the presence of those who had gone before and whose stories were recorded there.

This is my favorite photo from Farm Girl, showing young Lucille on the fence around her family's farm. To me, it seems like she is looking back and forward at the same time. Back at all those who came before and sacrificed so their children could have a better life, and forward to those to come.

O is for Obesity

2011-04-18T11:08:00.000-07:00

When we got married, my husband and I were skinny. I weighed 110, he weighed 170. I won't tell you what we weigh now but "obese" would probably describe the two of us. Anyway, my husband just started an eating plan where he eats 1/2 cup every 2 hours. It's working great, because it keeps his blood sugar stabilized, so he doesn't get hungry even on such small amounts. He likes the plan and has lost 8 lbs. in 3 weeks.

I am so proud of him and hope and pray he stays on this until he is slim and healthy again. Obesity is horrible. Even if it doesn't kill you, it makes you feel like crap. I have a plan as well, but I don't like telling people because that's bad luck.

N is for Nothing

2011-04-16T09:34:00.000-07:00

Do you ever feel like "I got nothing." Drained, burned out, too tired to keep at it? I've been a maniac on social media this year. My writing/editing/publishing blog is almost to 800 followers, my Twitter account is over 1400, I have nearly 300 Facebook friends, most of them writers. Despite my hatred and avoidance of all things Facebook. Except for Mark Zuckerberg-- I like him. I am online daily blogging or commenting on blogs, Tweeting like a crazy person. And I wonder, Why? Why am I doing this again?

Mostly I've kept at it because it is fun. The second it stops being fun I'm in trouble. This week it stopped being fun. Maybe it's because I have other stuff on my mind and I see all the online activity as a "have to do" that interrupts my real life, or maybe I just got burned out with the A to Z Challenge. I'm not sure. Maybe I took on too much while trying to pack up a 4000 sq. foot house we have lived in for 13 years. Maybe I have an addiction that needs to be cured. Whatever.

Anyway, I have the rest of my posts scheduled on the KarenG blog for the month. I'm done looking at Twitter for awhile *ha, famous last words* No, I really really mean it. I'll keep posting here for the rest of the ~~alphabet~~ month because this is my quiet, no pressure blog. And if I got NOTHING here, no one seems to mind. I'm not chasing anything here so it doesn't drain my energy. Here I am just me being me. Not that I'm fake elsewhere, but you know what I mean.

Peace Out.

M is for Miserable Dust Mites

2011-04-15T10:01:00.000-07:00

So with all this sorting and moving and emptying of closets and clearing out of spaces untouched for the past 10 years (it's a really big home we are leaving), the dust has been flying through the air. There must be zillions of dust mites disturbed and now looking for new hiding places (do they fly? or crawl? or just cling to things?)

Anyway, my husband and son are suffering for it. The sneezing and sinus issues around here have become epidemic. Strangely enough, it's not bothering me. What bothers me is thinking of all those dust mites who have been lurking in the corners, clinging to our stuff. I swear, my hew house is going to stay clean!

L is for Lucille

2011-04-14T05:43:00.000-07:00

Lucille Marker Jones, my mother, died early on New Year's Day of this year. I didn't think I would recover from the loss of this wonderful woman who has been such great influence on me and as essential to my life as breathing. January was awful. Things are better now but every so often I just have to say, "Mom, I still can't believe you are gone."

K is for Karen

2011-04-13T07:26:00.000-07:00

Yes that's right. My name. I am named for my mother's Norwegian grandmother, Karen Walstad. I came to know her through writing Farm Girl. From Chapter One: The Walstads--

My grandfather Hans Walstad lived alone in a dugout near Farmer's Creek, back when cottonwood, elm and ash trees crowded the banks. Lots of fruit grew near that creek-- grapes, plums, chokecherries, berries. Indians would come by his dugout and want tobacco and sugar, and he'd trade with them for buffalo meat and furs. Somehow they communicated, by signs I suppose, because he spoke only Norwegian. He was one of the first settlers to stake a claim in this part of Nebraska.

Hans would have stayed forever as a single man in his dugout because the girl he had loved back in Norway had married another man. Her name was Sofie Maren Stav, and she chose to marry Andre Pederson rather than him. So Hans decided to come to America and homestead in western Nebraska and live by himself in this dugout. He was happy here and had everything he needed. Soon his parents, one brother and three sisters came to the area and settled nearby, so he wasn't at all lonely.

His parents, Jakob and Karen Walstad, left Norway when Karen was 72 and Jakob 67, to be with their children in America. The older couple wanted a log house like they had in Norway rather than a sod house, so they cut logs from the trees along Farmer's Creek and built a house across the draw from Hans.

Before Farm Girl, Karen Walstad was just a name on a genealogy sheet, a name I heard occasionally in passing from my mother. It wasn't until I got her story written, at least in part, that she became real to me.

J is for the Juice that makes you smarter and more attractive

2011-04-12T09:13:00.000-07:00

We have a pear tree, and one year it was exploding with fruit. I ran a lot of it through my juicer while the family sat around waiting to see what it tasted like. Let me tell you, it was nothing like the so-called "pear juice" one buys in the store or that comes inside a can of pears.

It looked very brown and thick but tasted like nectar of the gods. And not only that, but after drinking it we found fatigue evaporated, our conversation became more intelligent and clever, we stood straighter and generally felt like we could do anything. We all felt incredibly attractive and cured of any ailments. Healing, restorative powers-- that's what this pear juice had.

So it's become a traditional saying in our home now. When someone has finals coming up or a job interview, we say, "Drink pear juice." We don't have the real good stuff anymore, but I figure eating pears will have a similar effect, even if somewhat watered down.

I is for Industrious

2011-04-11T13:06:00.000-07:00

Industrious is what I am not being today. Industrious would be cleaning the kitchen, returning library books a month overdue, going to get more boxes for packing, packing said boxes I don't yet have, getting a shower....

Instead I am Twittering, blogging, daydreaming, and in between my major social media activities, telling my son how to pack the books because seriously I just can't face that task. He is being very industrious today, which is good, because I'm not. Peace Out. Time to at least get the shower.

H is for Hugs

2011-04-09T06:39:00.000-07:00

Some people like and need hugs, others avoid them. I'm somewhere in the middle. Mostly I avoid them but there are times when a hug is just the thing. Other times I would prefer some good solid assistance, like with the dishes, or picking up your garbage you leave everywhere, or bringing me food.

I have a son who used to say to me when I was crabby, "Aw, someone needs a hug." No, I don't need a hug, I need this kitchen floor mopped now get out of my way.

It's not that I am anti-hug. That would be like being anti-teddy bear or anti-cute adorable baby. But there are times when a hug just gets in the way of what really needs to happen. You know what I mean?

G is for Gowen Fam

2011-04-08T08:34:00.000-07:00

We are the Gowens. We are 12 strong, without counting son and daughter-in-laws and grandchildren. There are my husband and me, eight sons and two daughters. If we were in politics and had money, we'd be the Kennedys. If we were musical and ambitious, we'd be the Osmonds.

My semi-autobiographical novel, Uncut Diamonds, is about the beginning of our family-- it begins with Marcie and Shawn McGill and their four young children. By the time the novel ends, they have six. In House of Diamonds, due out this year, the McGills have seven. My count could be wrong, I cut down the number of children the McGills have because I didn't want the books to just be Marcie always pregnant. But yeah, my husband and me have created a dynasty. The Gowens are known far and wide. I can't believe Oprah hasn't called yet. I can't even count how many people have said to me, "I wish I were a Gowen." Excuse my bragging but it is a G day and so I'm entitled.

This is one of my favorite photos of a few of the Gowen boys. No daughters are pictured, and two boys are missing, as one was in Air Force basic training and another in South Africa on a mission. So it's me and 6 of my boys. I love this picture, it gives an informal glimpse into who we are. It shows that the Gowens are a force to be reckoned with. Don't mess with me cuz I got a bunch of six foot sons. And one's a Marine.

ummm FRUIT, yum!

2011-04-07T08:22:00.000-07:00

This post is inspired by an F is for Fruit post here. I wrote a long comment about fruit and decided to make it a post, it was so long! Yes I know, I need to be more brief when blogging.

I always loved fruit as a kid, what kid doesn't? My mom would portion it out like it was priceless jewels. Six grapes-- there you go, enjoy. Four blueberries-- that's all there is, make it last. I never got enough fruit! I always craved it, which might be why I ended up with such a sweet fix for candy of all kinds. Candy, the easy to get but bad for you fruit substitute.

Then I married my husband who was raised on a fruit orchard in the Santa Clara Valley. The week before we got married, I roamed through the orchards while he was at work gorging myself on fresh prunes (fyi they are called prunes not plums, he is very clear on that subject), fresh cherries and apricots and peaches right from the tree. I was in heaven. Fruit heaven. It's all I ate. Then we got married and went back to college and were on a strict budget. Back to the fruitless life of the poverty-stricken.

I remember an episode of Mad About You, where Helen Hunt has $10 squirreled away. Her husband asks what's that for, he needs the money for something important. She says, "No, it's for an emergency." He says, "But this is an emergency, why can't we use it?" And she says "It's for a fruit emergency." LOL, I could totally identify with that!!

E is for Extraction

2011-04-06T07:32:00.000-07:00

Last week I had a tooth pulled-- the front one on the bottom. Right there where everyone can see. When I first went in, the dentist told me the bone was decayed and I needed an extraction, a bone graft and an implant but first an extraction.

He said, "After the extraction and bone graft, it will take about 5 months to heal before we can put in the implant."

Long thoughtful pause from me. "So I'll have no tooth right there in front?"

He hurried to say, "No one leaves this office without a tooth. You will have a temporary replacement fitted to your mouth."

So all went well, and I have a lovely false tooth attached to a retainer that I put in and out of my mouth. But the best part of this whole process was the Valium. He prescribed two pills the night before, and two the morning of the procedure. My normal anxiety (about everything not just dental work) completely evaporated. I can see why women of the Fifties and Sixties went nuts over Valium. Good thing it's no longer readily prescribed by family doctors or I would be hooked for sure.

D is for Done

2011-04-05T09:29:00.000-07:00

Being done is an interesting thing. Sometimes I know I'm done, and it's up to me. Like when I worked at Costco. I could have stayed there as long as I wanted, I'd been there 5 years, but one day I knew it was time to move on. Sometimes it isn't up to the individual. When my father-in-law died, my mother-in-law was devastated. A 58- year-old widow, she was done with life. She couldn't understand what more she had to do, and she wanted out. It took 15 more years before God determined she was done, even though she had determined it well before hand.

Recently my husband's business of 20 years was done. It was determined by the economy. He had been a mortgage broker and the mortgage industry changed so drastically three years ago that his business was essentially done. It dried up. So that was a decision based on economic factors as well as his own judgment of where things stood. He knew he was done.

There are a few things I will never be done with by choice: my marriage, my kids, my life. It was the same with my mother. She didn't have the happiest marriage in the world, but she stayed with my dad through all the hard times, and in later years they worked out their problems and were very happy. She fought for life after having two strokes, wanting to eat, to talk, to go back to her apartment. She never gave up until the very end, and even then she didn't give up-- she just went when her time came. A nurse came in and brushed her hair. Mom opened her eyes, and was gone. As my husband says, "Her hair was combed, she was now ready." She was never done as a mom or a grandmother. She cared for everyone until the end. She had money set aside for everyone so each grandchild would get a little something from her.

Sometimes it takes courage to say, "Yes, I am now done." Sometimes it takes courage to keep fighting and not give up. I could write so much about being done. There is just so much to say about it. But, I am now done with this post.

C is for Celery Tree and for Concept

2011-04-04T07:31:00.000-07:00

Celerytree.com is a coming website for authors that I founded along with my daughter, L.A. DeVaul, and a few other super awesome and talented people. Liesel (L.A.) and I currently maintain a blog, Celery Tree, to provide information about the website prior to launch. She is participating in the A to Z Challenge as well. So that makes all three of my blogs taking part in this Challenge in April! Thank you Liesel for taking care of it on the Celery Tree blog!

I posted about Celerytree.com on my other blog as well for the C word. So if you are intrigued you can go here and read more about it! I can tell you one thing-- having a concept and actually getting all the parts and pieces together in a way that works effectively are two entirely different processes. I'm an idea person and getting concepts comes easy to me. Then there's the work involved in making that concept a reality. In creating a website, that means you need a designer, a developer, a programmer, a business head, a marketing team-- a lot of different people with talents that can be utilized to make the concept work.

And it takes time to do it right. Liesel and I, two impatient ideas people, are very eager for the site to launch. I can't wait for the day to come when I can officially announce the launch date. Hopefully very soon. We have some fabulous authors on board, we currently are not taking more, but once it is live, we hope that new memberships soar!

Fantasy author, N.R. Williams is also blogging about Celery Tree for her C word.

B is for Boxes

2011-04-02T07:38:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am certifiably insane. I signed my second blog up for the A to Z Challenge. Gah!@!! Oh well it will take my mind off the stress of moving, and so my B word is BOXES.

When you are moving, boxes is all you can think about. I need boxes. Where can I get boxes? Hey, can I have that box? Does it have flaps? It's the perfect size, I must have it! Give me ten.

Then once you're in, the love affair with boxes is over. You can't get rid of them fast enough. I'm now in the please I need more boxes phase. Really, do you have boxes? Because I need them. Bad.

One Crazy Blogfest

2011-04-02T07:30:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, I have another blog persona, KarenG at Coming Down the Mountain. As KarenG, I was asked to be a host for the A to Z Challenge in April. I didn't sign up with this blog because well, that's just insane! It's insane anyway, because over 1000 bloggers have now signed up for this. I believe they're leaving it open until April 4 then cutting off the sign up links.

So if you don't see me posting much here in April, that is why! I'm out there visiting hundreds of new blogs and following as KarenG. Are you involved with the A to Z Challenge? I remember last year I didn't do it, but it was fun to see what so many came up with for their letter a day posts. And then I was glad when April ended and blogs got back to "normal" posting schedules. I'm sure I'll feel the same way this year! Whew, what a ride!

hey, I just got a crazy idea! What if I sign up as this blog, too? How crazy would that be? K bye.

Moving Day: April 30

2011-03-26T18:08:00.000-07:00

So we have lived in this house for the past 13 years, and in this very same neighborhood for 20. Our youngest three boys grew up here. Now they and their friends have all moved on, and they are fine with the move. #8 son just got back from the Marines and is preparing for a two-year mission. #7 son just proposed today to his girlfriend and is planning on an August wedding. #6 son got married last year and is graduating college next month. Those are our youngest sons, I won't take up the whole post telling you what all the rest are doing. But these are the boys who grew up here and I'm rather nostalgic about the idea of leaving this home even if they aren't.

I'm also realistic about the huge amount of STUFF we have accumulated, and I do not want to take it to a new house! So every day I sort and pack, sort and pack, throw out, give away, sort and pack. Think I can be done by moving day? Think I am getting stressed about it? Yes, very!

So after packing 3 huge boxes of kitchen stuff that didn't even seem to make a dent in my kitchen cabinet space, I deserve a break. I'm going to bed to read the L is for Lawless by Sue Grafton. G'night, all!

A Bad Hair Decade

2011-03-19T07:02:00.000-07:00

Have you ever looked at old pictures and gaped at the hair? What was I thinking??? As I've been sorting through family photos I've run across a few of those. Like my hair in the '80's? Yikes, that's all I can say. I've always worn my hair long and straight-ish for a reason. Short and fluffy is just not me. It makes me look ridiculous. Yet for some inexplicable reason I went with the short, fluffy permed hair for most of the 1980's. Does anyone remember why the put your finger in a socket look was supposedly attractive?

Well, that finally grew out and then for some reason a decade later I decided I was getting too old for my straight, long-ish hair and got it cut short. Really, really short. And then highlighted. Really, really highlighted. It came out yellow. So there I was dealing with a mid-life crisis with super short, yellow hair. Call that hideous.

And no I am not posting pictures.

My Confused Blog or is it Eclectic?

2011-03-14T11:56:00.000-07:00

Truthfully, I really have no clue what I'm doing here. As I'm on my streamlining binge, I wonder if I should streamline blogs and forget about this confused little blog over here. It's a mishmash of everything-- recipes, wedding pictures, weather reports, snippets of letters old and new-- yet when I started it, I intended it to have a 'writing your history' theme. Instead it has become a 'Karen writes about her day' theme.

I really believe a blog should have a platform, no matter how loose or widespread. It needs some theme to unify it, so that people know what to expect when they stop by. But where this blog is concerned, I'm a total hypocrite, not practicing what I preach. I've tried establishing a sort of platform, then I forget about it and post something about my neighbor's cat or whatever.

In fact there are people who don't know I am KarenG of Coming Down the Mountain. I've heard that more than once: 'I didn't even know you were the same person!' LOL. So I'm either bipolar or as I said, just really confused about what I'm doing over here at this blog! Ok, so I guess I'll think about it and get back to you.

Meanwhile, for those who have been kind enough to follow me here for awhile, what kind of posts have you enjoyed the most? If you don't mind my asking.

Sometimes Junk is not only Stuff

2011-03-13T15:27:00.000-07:00

I posted about toxic people on my other blog, and unfortunately this kind of people can be part of the junk in one's life. Getting rid of stuff in my environment motivates me to get rid of other useless things-- like those 50 extra pounds-- ugly clothes that have taken residence in my closet-- toxic relationships whether in business or personal life (I fortunately only have one of these now bothering me and it's in business not my personal life, soon to be discarded).

I now find myself looking around wondering what else I can get rid of? Don't worry my darling husband, even tho I'm looking right at you, I'm not considering getting rid of you EVER. But all that stuff cluttering your side of the closet? *shudder* Soon to be history. And I know you'll never miss it.

Clearing Out the Junk in Life

2011-03-09T12:28:00.000-08:00

Oh wait, this post is really about clearing out the junk in my house. But something quite freeing happens inside myself when I begin to see open spaces in my home where clutter once was. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a clutter-type person. You won't see piles of miscellaneous stuff stacked up on surfaces or in corners in any room except for closets. I like to keep stuff cleared away.

But even so, it's been awhile since I took a good long look at what we own and provide space for. After awhile, you don't even see the stains and rips on the beloved chair, you only see the chair you and your daughter like to sit on squeezed in together. My son, home on Spring break, took one look at said piece of furniture: "Mom, this is looking really bad. Why do we still have this broken down chair? Want me to take it out for you?"

So far the chair has disappeared, a huge dresser I've had since 1972 (which was used when I got it), old toys from when my kids were little, zillions of books nobody wants anymore, clothes that have seen better days. It's all hauled off to the Deseret Industries. They take everything, how wonderful. Some of it they sell locally in their stores, some of it gets tossed right into the dumpster, a lot of it is shipped overseas to third world countries.

I'm on a roll. It feels great to get rid of all this stuff I won't miss. Every day I look around and think, "What can I get rid of today?" It's awesome. Today I'll be sorting through my own clothes, getting rid of anything that no longer makes me feel attractive. That will be my criteria-- does this make me feel attractive? yes or no. I'm pretty sure I'll get rid of more than I keep. And then it will be time to go shopping. Ha!

No, you can't have it all

2011-03-04T16:16:00.000-08:00

I've spent nearly my entire life observing people. And this one thing I've learned: you can't have it all. Nobody does. Someone with wealth might have poor health or kids who hate them. Someone with a loving, happy marriage may be childless or penniless. That woman you envy with the perfect body, the perfect hair and beautiful home? She may be desolate in her loneliness. Who knows? Or her heart may be breaking because her childhood dreams have been shattered.

No one can see behind the closed doors of other people's lives. Why burden oneself with envy, ingratitude, or the unhappiness that comes with broken dreams and heartaches? Instead, my desire is to be thankful every moment for the privilege of life in all its pain and all its glory. And that's enough for me.

Farm Girl Special

2011-02-25T11:53:00.000-08:00

Farm Girl is now on sale, for the first time since it was released in 2007! Anyone who wants to take advantage of this price go to the WiDo website and scroll down until you see the Farm Girl cover. The sale price of $5.95 is available through Paypal.

And while you are waiting for your copy to arrive in the mail, you can get the tone and feel of the book by watching the Farm Girl You Tube video, featuring the music of Johnny Cash and Fiona Apple. And if you like it, I do hope you will leave a comment on the You Tube site :)

Enjoy!

The Six Hour Salad of Deliciousness

2011-02-21T17:00:00.000-08:00

My mother in law had a Mexican Salad that she always made when visiting our home. Our kids loved loved loved it. So in honor of a special son's special birthday yesterday I wanted to make the Super Mexican Salad. As bad luck would have it, I went in and bought ingredients the day after produce prices shot through the roof. Never in my life have I bought a head of iceberg lettuce for $2.69. But I bought three of them this time because this son has been through some rough patches and I wanted to make this birthday dinner memorable.

This salad takes about six hours of preparation, most of which is in preparing the produce. Washing, cutting, chopping, peeling, yadayadayada. Are you just dying to know what's in it?

Grandma Gowen's Mexican Salad

1-2 lb. ground beef prepared with taco seasoning. Let cool while you mix up the vegetables, etc.

Iceberg lettuce, broken into pieces
purple cabbage, sliced fine
grape or cherry tomatoes
red onion slices,
black and green olives, whole
artichoke hearts
fresh sliced mushrooms
grated carrots
avocados, cut into rough pieces
red kidney beans
black beans
grated cheddar cheese
other options: baby corn or kerneled corn, sprouts, jicama, or anything else you think will go with it

Toss all these ingredients together. Right before serving add 1-2 bags Spicy Nacho Dorito chips, smashed in the bag into bite size pieces. Toss and pour in a bottle of Wishbone Italian dressing, amount to taste. I made a huge amount of salad for 12 adults, with 2 lbs. ground beef, 3 heads lettuce, 6 cans beans (you get the picture), 2 bags chips. I only used one bottle of dressing and wished I had used two.

Although everyone said it was delicious and snarfed it down fast. And the birthday boy had a smile on his face.

Just a little hint?

2011-02-16T12:26:00.000-08:00

Looking through some paperwork from my mom's I came across this email she had printed up and saved. It was written back in Dec. 15, 1997 by my then eleven year old son. (I left in his original grammar and spelling)--

Dear grand parents,

how are you?

Mom and dad are trying to make us guess the Christmas presant you sent do you want to give me a little hint?

I hope you are having a good time in illinois. I like it there, do you?

Love,

sean

p.s. just a little hint

Scanning Old Photos into the Computer

2011-02-12T09:14:00.000-08:00

You see the "swimming pool" photo from the previous post? This was taken from a tiny Brownie camera shot, a little 3 x 4 photo of the kind that goes into photo albums. It scanned beautifully and looks better than the original. Same with the picture at the top of my blog.

Currently my husband and his sister are on a scanning binge. She and her husband have brought boxes and piles of old family photos over to our house so that the three of them can spend all day in my husband's office scanning them into the computer. It's time-consuming but the results are pretty cool. With the click of a mouse, original photographs can be shared among those interested.

When Farm Girl was being put together, century-old photos were scanned in and became part of the published book. I've included a few on my sidebar here. They look good displayed like this, but the originals are much smaller and somewhat shabby after years of being saved in boxes. Being able to scan them preserves them for the ages. And it's a simple matter to then download them to a thumb drive and take them to Walgreens or Costco to get new prints made.

Just one more way that computer technology enriches our lives!

Backyard Swimming Pool of the Fifties

2011-02-06T14:42:00.000-08:00

Three blonde bombshells lounging by the pool

Journal Writing as Psychotherapy

2011-02-02T08:28:00.000-08:00

January was a mess. Crazy. I gained six pounds. But that's all over now because February is my new January. I will move forward with the year, working on my goals and aspirations with top of the list being to lose that six pounds!

Sometimes one's balancing act gets tipsy. It may be a dramatic change in routine, or a tragic event, or a series of stressful occurences that end up overwhelming and upsetting the equilibrium. When that happens, people react in different ways. I wish that my way were to clean out closets and run five miles every day. Wouldn't that be nice? But I'm a writer, so I write and write and write until it all becomes clear. Without time to write in my journal, the muddiness lasts longer.

I know people say to save our journals for posterity but I don't think posterity wants the mess that are my journals of the past decade or longer. Back when I was going through the bound, purchased journals in 3 months, I decided our budget needed me to change tactics. Now I fill binders with paper that's blank on one side. Being in love with paper, I save it and have stacks of it, more than enough to feed my writing addiction. I punch holes in this "scratch paper," fill a fat, three-ring binder and voila-- a new journal!

I save these journals in boxes, on shelves, stacked on desks. My current one of course is right next to my writing chair. Sometimes if I wake up early with a troubled mind, I'll spend a few hours before I start my day figuring it all out in my journal. It works like magic. On my other blog I said I didn't know where I would be without books. I could add journals to that. I can't imagine life without them. Not for posterity, for me! Well, and for the people who have to live with me. I'd be so messed up without my journal writing.

What is your personal form of psychotherapy? If you say cleaning out closets and jogging five miles, we can still be friends but I will be very jealous.

Family Sagas

2011-01-27T20:01:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy, a family saga based in the South. It's about shrimping, parenting, marriage, poetry, football, war, love, hate. It's set in the South Carolina low country and Manhattan. It took my breath away with the brilliance of the writing, the depth of characterizations, the masterly plotting, the truth of relationships, the compelling dialogue. Am I gushing? This is a very gush-worthy novel.

I read a lot of all kinds of books, many are enjoyable and entertaining or I wouldn't finish them. Not too many stay with me for days afterward and impact my life so that I feel changed in some significant way after the experience. Family sagas are one of my favorite genre but since many are written as historical fiction and romance, often light and fast-moving, I haven't come across a really good one to savor in a very long time. Until now.

Then there is Conroy's writing. Here are his opening two paragraphs:

My wound is geography. It is also my anchorage, my port of call.

I grew up slowly beside the tides and marshes of Colleton; my arms were tawny and strong from working long days on the shrimp boat in the blazing South Carolina heat. Because I was a Wingo, I worked as soon as I could walk; I could pick a blue crab clean when I was five. I had killed my first deer by the age of seven, and at nine I was regularly putting meat on my family's table. I was born and raised on a Carolina sea island and I carried the sunshine of the lowcountry, inked in dark gold, on my back and shoulders. As a boy, I was happy above the channels, navigating a small boat between the sandbars with their quiet nation of oysters exposed on the brown flats at the low watermark. I knew every shrimper by name, and they knew me and sounded their horns when they passed me fishing in the river.

This book is one I will go back to again and again. I read a library copy, now I want my own. Conroy didn't write a memoir, although he bases a lot of his characters and stories on real people and incidents, much like Willa Cather did with her Nebraska novels.

Clearing out old energy drains

2011-01-23T16:13:00.000-08:00

That's how my sister put it when I told her we were moving from our home of 12 years and I was doing a major clear out and streamline. Because I really don't want to move all the old stuff to a new house. She said, "Good! You successfully raised four boys in that house, it's time to move on and get rid of the old energy drains."

Of course she didn't mean any remnants of my beloved sons LOL, but I knew just what she meant. Old broken down stuff that we are so accustomed to that we look right past it. This is a huge home, there has been room in it for accumulating and for storing, and isn't it always easier to store than it is to sort?

But now I'm sorting and does it ever feel good! I am examining, choosing, tossing, cleaning, boxing. Only what we truly value will go with us to the new house. And whatever makes the cut has to be cleaned and in good repair. That's my husband's and my agreement. If we don't care enough about an item to clean it and/or fix it, then we won't take it.

It's amazing how easy it is to part with things under those terms.

Book Review: "True Miracles with Genealogy, Help from Beyond the Veil"

2011-01-20T16:14:00.000-08:00

My husband was reading this little book and kept saying, "Oh, listen to this chapter." And this is how I "read" the book, True Miracles with Genealogy, Help from Beyond the Veil.

We all know what genealogy is, we know what miracles are, let me define the term "beyond the veil." It means beyond this life--in the spirit world, where souls dwell who pass on. Author Anne Bradshaw has compiled true stories from people who searched for the records of their ancestors, and found them with otherworldly help from those on the other side who wanted to be found.

From the book:

"Sometimes we forget how close Heaven is to Earth--- just a whisper away--"

From the back cover blurb:

"Personal story after story rivets your attention. This book is a powerhouse of inspiration, an absolute must-read to keep on your nightstand."

It certainly was in my husband's case. Every night he looked forward to reading another chapter, and I looked forward to having him interrupt whatever book I was reading to share it with me. Anyone interested in genealogy, or in life after death, will want to read this book!

And I'm not giving you the link to buy it online, because it's one that will be for sale on the new website for authors celerytree.com. So if you are interested in an astounding book about how those who have passed on can communicate with us here, then put it on your list to buy at Celery Tree, not from Amazon.

Ninety years ago, before texting and Twitter...

2011-01-18T06:17:00.000-08:00

Today my mom would have turned 94. Here is a postcard that was sent to her on the occasion of her third birthday. Which makes this postcard over 90 years old! It was sent from her Aunt Elizabeth, who lived in Lincoln, Nebraska.

In case you can't see the inscription on the front, it says,

A Happy Birthday

Dance and play the livelong day

And startle the air with a song.

And keep just as happy as you can

Till the next one comes along.

And on the back is a message written in pencil!! Here is what it says:

Right, I don't really expect you to be able to read this. So I'll transcribe it for you. It's addressed to Lucille Marker, Inavale, Nebr. c/o J. Marker (her dad John Marker). The message says,

My Dear Girlie--

I believe a little girl is three years old now. Do you miss Aunt Bernice, it is nice for me to have her in Lincoln. Hope Mama bakes "her little girl" a cake if she is a good girl.

Auntie Elizabeth

What a delightful message from the past to discover on my mother's birthday!

The Grieving Process

2011-01-15T15:12:00.000-08:00

I finished final edits on my novel House of Diamonds, feeling a bit empty and at loss now with what to do with my time. There is a character in the novel who experiences tragedy and goes through the grieving process. Strangely enough, I am also editing a manuscript, a memoir, about a woman who loses her husband.

Mom has been gone now for 2 weeks and her birthday is approaching. Facebook announced it to me, and I wrote a birthday message on her wall. Yes, definitely feeling a bit empty now, missing her.

My cute Marine son (he's the one in the middle) is leaving in 2 days for Camp Pendleton, to do his 8 week infantry training. Feeling that loss creeping up on me.

It just seems that everywhere I turn, I'm face to face with the idea of loss and the grieving process. Tomorrow is church and I'm wondering how to get out of it. I suppose some people grieve by wanting to be around people, but me? I just want to be left alone, stay in my pajamas and eat food that's bad for me. Sugar-- it's what's for dinner.

OORAH!

2011-01-10T17:02:00.000-08:00

At my son's graduation in San Diego, I learned that is the celebratory shout of the Marines. What else I learned--

Recruits never see their drill instructors eat, sleep, sneeze, blow their noses, or go to the bathroom. Yet these men are with them constantly, especially during the first phase. The drill instructors are like semi-gods. They are the most fit human beings on the planet. Many of them are very short. My son at 5' 10" towered over most of them, yet still felt small in comparison.

You send a kind of dorky, geeky, sometimes angry kid lacking in confidence off to MCRD at San Diego, and three months later you pick up a disciplined, well-spoken, confident young man who moves faster, stands taller, is more polite and obedient, and cares about his dress even when on leave. "A Marine doesn't wear pajama pants in public. A Marine only wears work out clothes when doing PT," he says. (PT is physical training) And he won't wear anything wrinkled, raggedy or the least bit dirty.

Three months ago he argued and balked whenever asked to do anything. Now he says, "Let's clean this house, Mom. It's heinous. I'll help." And he does. He used to have all kinds of reasons why he couldn't fulfill a reasonable request. Now he says, "Adapt and overcome," and finds a way.

This is why they say that parents call Marine drill instructors "miracle workers." I thought my kid was pretty great before boot camp. Now he's amazing. And that's why I say "OORAH!" Mothers of America, don't be afraid or upset when your son comes home one day and tells you he wants to be a Marine. Thank God he made that choice and support him all the way.

(By the proud parent of a United States Marine)

In Memory of Lucille Marker Jones, the Nebraska Farm Girl

2011-01-02T05:53:00.000-08:00

My dear mother, who was born January 18, 1917, saw the dawning of 2011. And then she passed away peacefully early on New Year's Day. I had hoped she might make it to her birthday, but at least she made it to 1/1/11. I congratulate her on a life well-lived. I feel very fortunate to have been her daughter.

Now she is once again with my dad who died 8 years ago, and with her parents, grandparents and many other loved ones on the other side.

This is Mother and me on the signing and speaking tour for Farm Girl in Nebraska, two years ago.

Lucille and Bill Jones, together again.

Little Lucille

She loved Christmas her whole life and always made it special.

Lucille on the fence that surrounded the family farm.

She adored her dad, who died when she was only 30. What a joyous reunion it must have been with so many loved ones welcoming her home.

Until we meet again, farewell to my beloved mother of infinite grace and beauty.

New Year's Resolutions Then & Now

2011-01-01T05:33:00.000-08:00

These have been my resolutions for the past 4 decades:

Lose weight

Exercise more

Eat less sugar

Clean out the closets

Random other goals that have to do with whatever work or hobbies I'm involved with at the moment.

So this year I won't do resolutions or goals, but simply set up these Three Challenges:

1. Write 30 minutes Mon-Fri.

2. Walk 30 - 60 minutes 5x a week.

3. Read 50 books.

I've already started on the walking and the reading. I'm clearing up a lot of minor tasks that are taking excessive amounts of time and energy to prepare for the writing challenge.

So forget Resolutions. This year it is Challenges. Wish me luck! (And do you realize today is 1/1/11. Can't wait for 1/11/11 in 10 days!)

I am now a Geneablog, I have the badge!

2010-12-14T17:39:00.000-08:00

When I started this particular blog, I thought I'd like to connect with other family history buffs, but didn't really know where to find them. I figured eventually they would find me LOL. And eventually they did! Which is just so exciting!

All you writers out there working so hard on social media, I figure this is a sign that it really does work. Those people who share the same interests will find each other. So welcome to my new followers, and I'll try not to post so much about making donuts, eating too much fast food or my new year's challenges, and stick a bit more to the topic and purpose I meant this blog to be in the first place: writing from life. Writing your story. Or the stories of those you love.

And despite that new badge I put on my sidebar, I really can't call myself a genealogist. I don't walk the walk so I better not talk the talk. I love to write from life, love to read stories that other people write about themselves and their families. But I don't research names and dates. My husband does a little bit of that, when he has the time. And right now we are involved with some start-up businesses so there isn't much time.

Now I leave you with a Christmas image from the past-- my mother as a child in Nebraska, reminding us once again that Christmas is timeless. And seen through a child's eyes is magical, even when times are hard, the tree is small, and the gifts are simple.

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

See you next year!

Genealogy Bloggers

2010-12-11T08:22:00.000-08:00

Welcome to new followers! I couldn't figure out what I had done to attract so many new followers in such a short time, surely it wasn't my recent post about my challenges for the new year LOL? So I did some checking on blogger comments and found this comment on my very first post:

Hello there!

You’ve got a great genealogy blog and we’ve added it to the list of over 1,500 genealogy blogs at GeneaBloggers (http://www.geneabloggers.com).

We will announce your blog in our weekly New Genealogy Blogs on Saturday, December 11, 2010. In the meantime, please visit the About (http://www.geneabloggers.com/about/) section at GeneaBloggers to learn how you can display your GeneaBloggers badge on your blog and also how you can participate in activities such as the Daily Blogging Themes.

If you need technical assistance, please check out Bootcamp for GeneaBloggers (http://fbbootcamp.blogspot.com).

Cheers

Isn't that just so cool??? So I'll for sure check out this awesome site, get the badge and have fun with following some new blogs myself. Hooray for family history! Hooray for writing from life!

Challenging Myself for 2011

2010-12-10T10:59:00.000-08:00

I was recently freed from a responsibility I've had for the past three years that took up a great deal of my time and energy. So I'm feeling somewhat giddy with the freedom. There are three major things I want to take on for 2011:

MORE WRITING, MORE READING, MORE WALKING

Of course I'll have to work it into my schedule but I think I can do it! For reading, it will be to read one book a week, or let's round down to 50 books for the year. I'll count them down on my blog and let you know what I'm reading. (Reviews as always will show up on Goodreads.) For writing, it will be to write every day for a minimum one hour. And not journaling or blogging but real, creative, writing. The hard stuff. The stuff that books are made of. I have never done this. It's about time I set this challenge and do it. Walking is easy, since I already have started but I want to keep it up. Walk 30 minutes a day. (I'll let you know if I'm losing any weight!)

So there you go, my challenges for 2011. Not New Year's resolutions, because I never keep those. These are challenges. With no excuses allowed. I'm going to start practicing from now until January 1st, to see how it will all work into my schedule. Maybe clean my closets ahead of time to feel organized, then I'll be ready to go! What new challenges do you want to take on for the new year?

The Latest from Camp Pendleton

2010-12-07T15:45:00.000-08:00

In honor of Pearl Harbor Day, which also happens to by my young Marine's birthday, here is the latest from Camp Pendleton, from his recent letter, written on Thanksgiving Day:

"Here is my day so far. Wake up, make racks, get dressed, clean house. These were all part of our every day routine, then we went to chow and ate the usual breakfast of scrambled eggs, potatoes and other foods. Here comes the good part-- we are having church today because we skipped it on Sunday and at church (which is where I am right now) we got Costco pumpkin pie, cinnamon rolls, brownies, M & M's, hot chocolate and apple cider. It was the greatest thing in the world, but I am feeling kinda sick because I haven't had food like this for almost 2 months."

"We have been shooting all week and we had qual day yesterday. I qualified with expert, which is the best possible qual. I can hit a human-sized target from 500 yards with plain iron sights and no scope with my MIGA4 rifle."

"People in boot camp wouldn't be so miserable if they didn't tell themselves that everything they do is horrible; and if they didn't have a bad attitude about everything."

"You know an energy drink is good when it is called Xyience and pronounced 'science.'"

"True love is writing a love note to your girl.... in the porta john."

"Birds don't poop on recruits' heads because we are wearing camoflauge and they can't see us."

Happy 19th birthday, Recruit Gowen.

The Frugal Christmas Tree

2010-12-04T10:08:00.000-08:00

Last year we topped off a pair of huge, outrageously growing pine trees in front of our house. They literally block the entire front porch. The plan is to cut them down eventually, as they were meant to be decorative and have gotten completely out of control. What are they feeding on anyway?

Anyway, one of the tops made a pretty awesome Christmas tree. This year we cut down a spreading branch that is the size of a tree with a trunk that fit nicely in our tree stand. (I know this all sounds bizarre, and I really need photos to show you, but maybe later, since I'm unable to put anything new on my computer right now.)

But let it be said, that I love this tree! You can't even tell where it was cut from! It's all set up and decorated in our front hall, smells all piney and fresh, and looks amazing. When I see artificial trees all decorated in the stores selling for hundreds of dollars, I come home and happily gaze upon my frugal Christmas tree.

SNOW and Service

2010-11-30T19:58:00.000-08:00

A few days before Thanksgiving we got SNOW. Lots and lots of it. Then more, and more and more. Now there's probably 2 feet, and another 3 or 4 feet drifted. And it is COLD!! I'm spending way too much time on the computer simply because I like the warmth on my lap.

Yesterday morning my husband went out to shovel. We live on a corner lot which means a lot of sidewalk, not to mention driveway. You get the picture. So here's the poor guy out there with his bad knees, all hunched over doing his manly duty for our home and property, when two little neighbor boys from across the street came over with their snow shovels. They are two brothers, one 12, the other 7.

They pitched right in and worked with my husband until the job was done. When they finished, he thanked them, gave them some cookies and they ran home. This morning their mom called to thank me for the cookies, and to thank me for giving her sons the opportunity to learn service. (I know, this is the kind of neighborhood we live in. It's a little bit of heaven on earth & we love it.)

Her older son had said, "Mom, I'm so glad we went over to help Mr. Gowen. He never could have shoveled all that snow by himself. He needed our help, and I have such a good feeling about what we did." She said he had a smile on his face all day, lingering from the joy of serving someone who really needed it.

Homemade Maple Bars and Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-24T12:28:00.000-08:00

Last night was a birthday celebration-- a pizza building party. And for dessert the birthday boy's favorite food of all time-- maple bars. But not just any maple bars, these were made from scratch, dough rising, cut in shapes, then fried, iced while hot, made in my own kitchen by my daughter and me maple bars. She wanted to double the recipe so I was frying for an hour and a half, and we ended up with about 4 cookie sheets of maple bars. And this after eating pizza? omigosh, no wonder my husband and me are so danged fat.

Well, it turned out that he and I didn't get the opportunity to overeat, because all the six foot boys in our family (as well as the future son in law birthday boy) pretty well demolished all of it. Two huge pizzas with pepperoni, sausage and 4 lbs. of cheese, and nearly 4 trays of maple bars. Alright, we aren't quite such pigs, to be truthful, a lot of it was divided up and taken to various homes. And there were fifteen people for dinner.

That was our pre Thanksgiving hog fest.Eating turkey tomorrow will feel like a diet. But seeing all that food disappear got me to thinking. What is it about this upcoming holiday season that makes us feel like overindulging and consuming more than our share? It seems to begin at Halloween and then by Jan 2, we are all stuffed, broke, in debt and planning our New Year's resolutions to remedy the situation. It's not just food and overeating, it's all the spending and the shopping and the conspicuous consumption. We've all done it, and most of us don't like it, but we get sucked in just the same. I could blame the media, but they don't force us into the stores to open our wallets.

This year, I would love to have a simpler holiday, with less indulgence, more heart and less cash, with service instead of selfishness. Do you think that's even possible in this cultural environment? And in case you're interested, here's the recipe for the maple bars:

MAPLE BARS
----------
1 1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. shortening
4 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. salt
2 yeast cakes
4 tbsp. warm water
4 3/4 c. flour
3 eggs, beaten well
Frosting (recipe follows)

Bring milk to boiling point and pour over shortening, sugar
and salt in a large bowl. Cool to lukewarm. Dissolve yeast
in warm water and add to lukewarm mixture in bowl along
with flour and eggs; mix well.
Grease bowl and add dough, turning to grease top. Cover and
let rise in a warm place until doubled. Turn out onto a
well floured board and roll 1/2" thick. Cut into 2"x4"
pieces. Let rise again in warm place until double.
Deep fry in oil heated to 375 degrees in deep skillet or
fryer until golden on all sides. Remove to paper towels to
drain. Make Frosting and frost bars while still warm.

FROSTING:
2 c. confectioners' sugar
3 tbsp. butter, softened
1/4 c. milk
1/4 c. maple syrup
1/2 tsp. maple flavoring

Blend butter into sugar, add milk a tablespoon at a time until right consistency. Should be smooth and spreadable. Add more powdered sugar if mixture is too runny, and more milk and/or syrup if it's too stiff.
Enjoy!

Tucking in the Garden

2010-11-20T13:45:00.000-08:00

When I moved out West from Illinois 30 years ago, I remember being surprised to hear people with lawns bashing trees. "I don't like trees on my property. They kill the grass, plus there's all those leaves to rake in the fall."

Huh? Grass is nice and all but nothing that special. Once settled into our home, my husband and I set about to plant trees everywhere we could, first at one home then the next one, where we live now. It had about 6 or 8 trees on the property; we planted another 10 or 12.

As for having to rake the leaves, well, yes that's part of it. In fact, we spent two hours today doing just that. It was nice. Raking the leaves is the last loving act one performs for their yard. Then we gathered them up and lay them over the garden like a warm blanket, to cover it all winter. After months of rain and snow, the leaves will break down into the soil, enriching it for spring planting.

I noticed that the trees, now barren of their leaves, had many dried pears, apples or edible berries still hanging on the branches like Christmas ornaments. These will feed the birds that winter over. How can anyone not love a tree? Now the trees, the garden, the yard and the birds are all ready for winter. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

Figuring out the Blogs (Again, sigh)

2010-11-18T11:19:00.000-08:00

So I'm involved with a lot of stuff right now. Two start-ups-- the cookie business and the website for authors-- plus I'm doing more with WiDo Publishing. I have a couple of editing projects, my own novel to revise by the end of the year, and now they have asked me to help them get more of a presence on social media. One of the editors does Twitter but isn't a fan. WiDo doesn't have a blog. There's a Facebook account which thankfully I will not work on (can't stand fb, but that's just me).

I'm thinking maybe after the holidays I will morph my writing/editing blog into one for WiDo Publishing, thus doing their blog while still keeping my own voice. And this quiet blog will become my new "author blog," since it's all about me anyway LOL. I like having an author blog, but right now I have two of them, really is that necessary? That way I can blog for WiDo, and blog here, and still keep it down to two.

What do you think? Does that make sense?

The Cookie House

2010-11-13T20:17:00.000-08:00

Here's an excerpt from a book I wrote for a class assignment (unpublished). Oh, first a word of explanation. The assignment was to collect stories on a particular theme from a group of people who had something in common. I chose the theme of Food, and the group of people was my family, largely my children. This excerpt is from one of my daughters, and it proves to me that children writing from life is the most charming, honest kind of writing ever:

THE COOKIE HOUSE
I was walking home from kindergarten in the fall, and it was windy and kind of cold outside. When I finally got home I went in through the back door that went straight into the kitchen. Every surface of the kitchen was covered in cookies, hundreds of cookies, of all different kinds--not just chocolate chip, but mint chocolate chip, chocolate chocolate chip, butterscotch cookies, cinnamon cookies. I wanted to try one of each kind. The house smelled so good, it was like it was made of cookies. And it was warm and so nice. My mom let me eat all the cookies I wanted and I wanted to try one of each, but I got too full. I liked the mint chocolate chip because mint has always been my favorite flavor. Some of the older kids would come in all excited and say, "Did you try this one yet? Did you try this one? This one's my favorite." I wanted to stay in that kitchen forever.

Saving Precious Memories

2010-11-08T13:41:00.000-08:00

I started this blog as a means of encouraging people to save and record their personal and family histories, although I mostly just ramble on about my soup, my walks, my basement, my dogs....

My 93-year-old mom, the subject of Farm Girl, suffered a stroke two weeks ago, and I thank God every day that she and I were able to put this book together back when she was in full health. This was at age 90, mind you.

A lady who heard me speak at a library, said regretfully, "I thought I'd have more time." I am so grateful that I don't have those regrets, but if Mother hadn't lived such a long, active life, I might be saying the same thing: "I thought I'd have more time."

What's the best way to record our own, our parents or grandparents' stories? Just make it a priority and do it. There is no right or wrong method, no secret formula. However, it's one of those things that too easily gets procrastinated regardless of the best intentions. Don't put it off until it's too late-- record those precious memories that will be treasured by many.

Autumn Walk

2010-11-06T09:17:00.000-07:00

Today we walked almost two hours, from our house straight west, up the big hill where we could turn back and look out over the valley. Then on to the lake, with a couple stops in to tour the model homes. One was the most light-filled, spacious small house I have ever seen-- on 3 levels, and positively inviting. Decorated by Ikea. We even sat on the front porch for a bit to imagine what it would be like to live there and decided our front porch is better.

Then on to the lake, which was as still and smooth as glass, with the wavy reflection of the houses making the water surface look like an impressionist painting. Still a few ducks on the water, although most have gone South by now. We would have enjoyed sauntering further along the lake, but we were getting tired, and it was still forty minutes back home. A beautiful, mild November day, perfect for a long walk.

The Lost Art of Writing Letters

2010-10-28T21:23:00.000-07:00

Let's say you want to write a memoir for publication, or a personal history for family use. One of the best sources of material is LETTERS. Too bad letter-writing is such a lost art. Hopefully, you have saved your letters and those of your family members.

I have postcards written by my grandmother in the early 1900's. The handwriting is a bit difficult to decipher but worth the trouble, as it gives a clue to what mattered to her. Who visited, what gifts she received at Christmas, what was served at a special dinner. These are the kinds of details that are precious gems when writing from life. Because our memories can't be trusted. But letters, diary entries, and photographs can keep the accurate record of daily activities. Even a grocery list from 50 years ago can be a valuable resource.

Gone are the days when people communicated via letter. Unless you have a son or daughter at boot camp, that is. So this topic gives me an excuse to share some precious letters that arrived at my house this week. They're from my 18 year old son who's been at Marine boot camp in San Diego for 3 weeks. Each segment tells a little story:

Dear Mom and Dad,

"I have only wondered why I am here a few times, and only on certain hours of really bad days. Overall it isn't super duper bad. Today we got haircuts, and the barbers are super angry Italians who have no idea how hard they are pressing that razor against the heads of recruits."

"Today we practiced drill with rifles and it was pretty sweet, but holding an 8 pound gun right in front of you for an hour is super exhausting."

"I have yet to be IT'd, which is where a drill instructor takes you aside and makes you do pushups/situps/jumping jacks and running in place while he is yelling at you and making you shout things."

"DI's hate whistling more than Mom does. Getting caught whistling is like condemning yourself to only eating steamed carrots for time and all eternity."

"The one thing I will look forward to when I get home other than the lack of swearing, abundance of females, no more group showers and eating a Snickers, is taking my time while eating and not getting shouted at while eating."

From these letters, I'm getting a picture of what it's like for him at Camp Pendleton. Sometimes I wish email and cell phones had never been invented. It's convenient and cheap sure, but it has turned letter-writing into a rare thing indeed.

Another letter came today! Here are more excerpts from Recruit Gowen:

Dear Mom and Dad,

"Who would have guessed that drill instructors say 'heinous'. I don't even know how to spell that word." (Yes, he did spell it correctly!)

"Grandma's house is great and I love it here. (When he was preparing to leave, I couldn't say 'boot camp' so I said he was leaving for 'Grandma's house.') I get to drink apple juice every day and I get pudding almost every day. I sure wish that I had eaten a Snickers before I left because I have wanted one since Day 1, so don't forget to bring one to my graduation."

"I decided that my last letter lacked stories and adventure, so I will tell you about my adventures today. I spit up blood, did push ups on a red ant hill, learned about Marine Corps history, ate pudding and did drills. One of the best times was when a few of us recruits were cleaning outside, then a DI jumped through an open window to tell us that we were moving too slow."

I'll admit I had tons of anxiety about my youngest boy going to Marine Boot Camp (which is why I called it 'Grandma's house') but after getting these letters, I am comforted and even entertained. I know he's doing well. And the letters he gets from home will keep him going strong.

This post brought to you by the proud parent of a U.S. Marine

Soup

2010-10-27T14:03:00.000-07:00

It is cold in the house today. I made soup yesterday, and it is so yummy. Last night I took the pot over to a neighbor who broke a leg or something, but she never answered the door, and today I don't want to go out, or call anyone or do anything but think about stuff and eat the soup.

Sorry neighbor, I tried.

Goodbye Summer. I will miss you.

2010-10-25T20:01:00.000-07:00

We turned on our furnace yesterday, so it's official. Summer is over. Even though the lawn is still very green and lush, when the leaves turn colors and fall off, it can't be denied. End of summer.

Some years I am so sick and tired of summer that I'm thrilled to see it end, but not this year. Spring was cool and wet, and by June I wanted it to be hot, hot, hot. I love the dry oven heat of Utah--90 degrees is perfect summer weather here. So July and August were great. Now it's cold again, and I'm sad.

Goodbye garden. Goodbye my hungry pond fish with your busy lives--soon you'll be still at the deepest corner of the pond, waiting out winter. Goodbye my flower beds that I ignored all season, too late now. Goodbye afternoon read-ins under the fan in the living room.Goodbye falling asleep at night to crickets chirping. Goodbye to the smell of fresh-mowed grass. Goodbye grass.

Goodbye, Summer. I will miss you. And it will be so long before you come round again. Sigh.

Painting the Basement

2010-10-22T07:57:00.000-07:00

We have lived in this house for ten years with the finished basement being the second home for many of our boys' friends.

Sleepovers, Dance Dance parties, birthday parties, playing pool and/or ping pong, watching the Sponge Bob Movie about 80 million times, Nintendo, X Box, Wii-- whatever new game system comes out to be added to all the games and systems already collected, pizza, donuts, Tropical Smash, popcorn, bowls of candy, bags of chips, the death couch. Oh, the stories I could tell about that basement. One Saturday morning I came down to do laundry and found about 10 boys laying all over the place, in and among 4 tv sets that had been moved in to have some kind of electronic gaming marathon.

And then as the boys grew older they would occasionally clean up the pigsty and make it suitable for girls on dates--turning on the Scentsy warmer, opening windows to air out the "Basement of Stench," fluffing up the love sac, neatly organizing the afghans, pillows, DVD's, and electronic games, cords, and devices.

My husband and I have completely avoided the basement, except for the routine trips to the laundry room (me, not him), the food storage room and the freezer. Oh, and the occasional peek-in during parties. We dwell upstairs, and when the boys entertain in the basement, the farther upstairs we get the better we like it.

But now the basement is being repainted, the damaged white walls full of dart holes are being patched, sanded and painted mango. It will be beautiful. The carpet also begs to be replaced. But then what about the love sac, the death couch, the Dance Dance pads and the millions of cords and controllers? This basement needs a lot more than fresh paint before it is inhabitable for normal human life beyond that of adolescent boys and young men.

When that time comes, I will wander down there and see the mango walls, the new carpet, the updated furniture and decorating touches, and I will sit down on my new leather couch and cry my eyes out.

Writing Exercises for Family History

2010-10-18T07:23:00.000-07:00

The Story and The Person:

   When sharing family history, there are two elements of the utmost importance: The Story, and The Person.

   Everyone loves a story. Children who roll their eyes and say, “Oh no, not again,” when parents and grandparents try to tell them a moral or lesson learned based on their own lives, will listen eagerly and learn readily when the lesson is clothed in the robes of the story.

   Stories have a beginning, a middle and an end. Stories have characters- people or animals that others can relate to. They connect the storyteller and the listener through shared emotion. Sometimes they are sad, sometimes suspenseful, sometimes funny. But always a story will cause us to feel something, and to be a better person for the experience. We improve our storytelling skills, either spoken or written, through practice.

   The other important element is the Person. When I put my mother’s stories together, I noticed the sound of the young Nebraska farm girl. I could hear her voice. When my kids read the book, they said, “It sounds just like Grandma. It is like knowing Grandma as a little girl.”

   Family history stories shared with our children can help them to see their grandparents in a whole new light. We could always see pictures of my mother as a young girl in the 1920's, but now we have her voice. We hear her talking about her mom and her dad, the country school she attended through 8th grade, her description of the dust bowl days, how she felt about the changes brought to that area by the Great Depression.

   It was important for me to keep that voice true in the narrative, so I kept it in first person, and I kept her way of talking. She wanted me to correct some of the grammar, or to rewrite certain phrases, and I said, “No, Mom, this sounds like a Nebraska farm girl. We don’t want it to sound like an English teacher.”

   And she said, “Oh, who would want to read about that silly little girl.”

   Lots of people, because that silly little girl came alive in the book. The reader can hear her voice, and gets insight into her personality and character, and the fact that she is kind of spoiled and flighty endears her to us. Because if I had portrayed her as a perfect little girl, she wouldn’t seem real, since no one is perfect.

Values of Preserving Memories through Writing:

    Writing preserves the life and the memories of the person’s history, and then it becomes a time traveling experience to the reader.

    It allows you to know and to learn from someone you’ve never met.

    When we look up from our lives and want to treasure the moment, writing preserves these moments to be treasured and relived by you and your posterity and others as well.

Writing Exercises that Awaken Creativity and Preserve Memories:
    You have to start somewhere, and that might be just sitting down and writing for five minutes on any given topic. Perhaps a word you find in the headline of a newspaper, like airplanes, economy, France, peace, soldiers. This exercise will open doors to creativity, stimulate ideas, and get you over your fear of writing.

    They can also work for children, giving them one word topics and having them write for 2-5 minutes, then have them read what they wrote without criticism. Try words like animals, purple, fuzzy, pumpkins, feet, or have them come up with their own choices. There are certain rules to this exercise.

#1. NO COMMENTS OR CRITICISM! Even comments can be damaging, as one child’s work might elicit enthusiastic praise and the response to another, less enjoyable piece of writing might be “Oh, that’s good, too.” Kids can see through the comments, so better to not say anything.

    #2. The writing can take any form they desire, such as a song, a poem, or just a list of words, or a little short story. The idea is to stimulate creativity, not to stifle it.

    How do we go from these simple writing exercises to preserving memories? One woman wanted to write her memories of her mother. She set the goal of one page, but once she got going, she ended up with three typed pages. Her sister read the pages, and they both cried together, remembering their mom who had passed on. Setting small goals can get us started on the path to preserving our precious memories before they fade away.

84 Grams of Fat in One Meal

2010-10-12T17:15:00.000-07:00

I've posted about the simple things for awhile, now it's time to go to the other side. The other side of hell that is. I just read about the worst hamburgers in America, and I feel ashamed to live in a country where people eat more calories in one meal than a family in Namibia might get for an entire week. And I am not making that up about Namibia. My son spent nine months there and I heard about it firsthand. Well, secondhand. He and his companion found a starving man behind a trash bin. The man was skin and bones, covered in garbage. They wouldn't have noticed him except he moved a bit and it caught my son's eye. They took him to the hospital, but it was too late to save him and he died several days later.

Here's the hamburger link but don't read it on an empty stomach or it will make you nauseous. I sit here blogging and checking my email and come across this on Yahoo. Before breakfast. And yes, I am quite nauseous right now just reading about these hamburgers. Okay, I admit that I despise excessive and habitual reliance on fast food. It's on my list of What Destroys Families and Makes Americans Fat. We have kitchens in our homes and supermarkets around the corner, why not cook real food? Why not make a simple sandwich and take it to work? Or if you're a construction worker who uses 8000 calories a day, how about two sandwiches, two bananas, some peanut butter cookies, and a handful of almonds? What is the attraction of the fast food? It's disgusting, expensive, and unhealthy. And it's an abomination to eat 84 grams of fat in one hamburger.

In my church, the members are encouraged to fast once a month, to abstain from food and drink for two consecutive meals and then donate the money saved (and to be generous in the donation) for the welfare of the poor and the needy. I love this. Think of what our world could be like if every person did this. Once a month. Give, give, give--that's what makes our world a better place. Not consuming as much food, fuel, stuff as fast as we can.

Okay, I am done with my rant, sorry if I offended anyone. I like a hamburger occasionally. And hot dogs, and fries. But please, a little moderation is called for! Okay, I'm done for real now. Peace Out.

Nature is Scary

2010-10-07T05:10:00.000-07:00

I live surrounded by mountains. They're beautiful but dangerous. Every year people get killed there doing all the seasonal mountain sports--hiking, rafting, skiing, snowboarding. One year a mother and daughter just disappeared while hiking. Several years later their bodies were found. Sometimes someone will disappear and never be found. That happened to a little boy on a hike with a Scout troop. No one ever knew what happened to him. It's the saddest thing to hear about these things.

See my two boys over there? They hiked Angel's Peak, one of the supposedly most dangerous hikes at Zions, where hikers are killed each year. In fact there had been a death there already that summer, and there was another one after our visit. I was scared, and they laughed at my fears. (As you can see.)

I was talking to my mom about this and she said, "The same thing happens here (Minnesota), only it's on the water since we have all the lakes. Boating accidents, drownings while swimming--every year we hear of several deaths out on the lakes."

When my son was in Namibia, he looked out upon the wilderness just off the road and thought about parking the car and heading out. Not that he would, since he's under strict obligation to not go "exploring". He asked his African companion, "What would happen if I took off out there and just started walking?"

His companion laughed and said, "You would never get back alive." Instead, he just took a picture of this giraffe by the road.

What kind of dangerous environment do you face where you live?

If Money were no object

2010-10-03T00:19:00.000-07:00

If money were no object I would:

Hire a housecleaner

Get new carpet

Fix up the whole rundown house (Er--I mean pay to have someone else do it)

Go buy new clothes NOW

Travel but not too much

Buy my husband a new car

Be thin (I know they're not related but I just figure if I was rich I would also be thin)

Many other things too numerous to mention

What would you do?

I'm Going to be a Marine Mom

2010-09-30T04:59:00.000-07:00

Not yet ready to add the !!!! to that statement. Maybe when he graduates from basic training in December? I have a son who signed up last spring. Since then he is walking tall and proud, setting up his exercise program to be ready for basic in October, and feeling very good about his decision. One of his older brothers has joined the Air Force and goes to Basic in April. Out of 8 boys, that's two going into the military. I couldn't be more proud of their decision and their commitment.

We watched a DVD yesterday designed to inform parents and help put our minds at ease (if that's even possible at this point!) One of the moms on the DVD said when her son came home and went out somewhere in his dress blues, people came up to him and thanked him for his service to our country.

This took me and my husband back to the days after the Vietnam War, when our fighting boys who came home got garbage thrown at them and were spit on by passersby. They never wanted to wear the uniform because of the way the public treated them. This took recovery a lot longer for the battle-weary. Many of our Vietnam vets became psychologically unstable and homeless. So very sad.

War will always be with us, sorry to say but it's a fact of life. Like death, taxes, illness, divorce, poverty, hunger and natural disasters. My son is proud that he has taken the oath to be a Marine. The day he graduates from Basic will be a wonderful moment for all of us. I personally am so thankful that the citizens of this great nation now show respect and gratitude to their fighting men and women, rather than taking out their hatred of war on those who fight for freedom.

Who doesn't hate war? I pray my son will not have to fight, but he'll be preparing for it, just in case.

Wasting Money is Stupid

2010-09-27T17:05:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a sales meeting where a new guy talked about a company he worked for once that was on the verge of getting a huge contract. The boss said, "If this goes through, we'll all be sitting on the beach in Hawaii throwing hundred dollar bills in the air."

Of course, this image, which is meant to be a powerful motivator simply puzzles me. Why would you throw the money in the air?

Why not go shopping with it? There must be some fabulous restaurants in Hawaii where you could enjoy lobster, and all the amenities for that hundred dollars. Or go buy some great shoes, purses, and make up. Get a spa treatment.

Or is the idea that you have so much money that you can do all these things and still have enough to throw away?

If that's the case, then how about giving it to homeless people? Or better yet, find a nice catholic nun (aka Whoopi Goldberg in Ghost) and give those hundred dollar bills to her instead of throwing them in the air.

Is it possible to have so much money that ever wasting it like that makes any sense whatsoever?

A Lovely Day Involving Pie

2010-09-24T07:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we picked 4 boxes of gala apples from our tree. They weren't quite ready but I got overzealous so there they are-- not as wonderful as they should have been but still nice, large, slightly tart apples. Of course everyone wanted pie. When they all want pie, it's fairly easy to get help in the kitchen. So my youngest son, a high school senior, made the crust for two 9 in. apple pies while I cut up the apples.

He said: Mom, remember last year when we had Pie Week?

I said: Yes, that was so nice. You learned how to make crust and every day after school we made a new kind of pie. Pie Week was fun.

(There was apple, peach, and something involving pudding and whipped cream I think, but I can't remember all the kinds of pie. I only remember how delightful it was that my teen-age son wanted to be in the kitchen with me making pie. That doesn't happen often. In fact, only then. And today.)

He said: I was telling my friend Megan about Pie Week and she said when they make pie at her home, she makes the crust while her mom does the filling, and when they're done they roll out the bits of dough and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top and bake it. I thought it was weird that we did the exact same thing.

I said: My mom used to do that too, but I didn't help her much with anything. She and I didn't cook together like we're doing now. Shall we have Pie Week again? We can make more pies than this. You can come home from school everyday this week, and we'll make pie again.

He said: No, let's just do this one. What did you do that was wild when you were young? Did you toilet paper anyone's house?

I said: I never heard of that when I was a kid. But once a friend and I wrote nasty things about another friend on a bathroom wall. And I used to smoke straws. You light the end of a straw and smoke it.

He laughed.

Anyway, we had a lovely afternoon, and the apple pie was delicious.

Is This a Crush?

2010-09-20T07:22:00.000-07:00

Conversation at dinner table:

18 year old son (high school senior): So this girl comes up to me at breakfast and says, 'Hey, can I have a drink of your juice?' And I say, 'Sure.' So she takes the cup and SHE DRINKS THE ENTIRE THING! I was so mad. So then her friend comes over and starts eating my cinnamon roll. Just picking away at it until it's GONE!

Me (highly knowledgeable mom and a girl with 3 sisters): She has a crush on you. They like you.

Son: No, they don't.

Me: Yes, they do. That's a girl's way of saying 'I want you to take care of me and feed me for the rest of my life.'

Son: No, it isn't. Just because they come up and annoy me and eat my food doesn't mean they want to marry me and live with me forever.

Me: Of course not. It's all subconscious. But yes, underneath that is what they're saying, although they don't realize it. Believe me, I know how girls think. One or both of them have a crush on you.

Son: (scoffingly) No, they don't.

What do you think, people? Is this a crush or not?

Sometimes I miss our dogs

2010-09-16T11:09:00.000-07:00

We had a Doberman named Lugosi and a Bassett Hound named Tara. Lugosi died first, just a few years ago, and Tara followed the next summer. I am truly surprised she waited that long. They were the same age, had grown up together and were as bonded as a brother and sister--the kind who never fight, who do everything together, laugh and get in trouble together and play jokes on other people.

Tara & Lugosi used to work together to destroy the back fence. He would pull on boards with his teeth, she would dig out dirt underneath with her big paws, to give him more biting room. They'd keep at it until there was broken boards and splinters all around, and a hole big enough for them to squeeze through. Then they would be free to run around the neighborhood. They never went too far. And they were always together.

Neighbors would see them and phone us, "Your dogs are out." Lugosi looked scary. After all, he was a large Doberman with cropped ears and tail, at attention, ready to attack. But of course he never did. He just looked like that. Can a dog help the way he looks? Tara flopped around, following Lugosi everywhere. She somehow made him look cuter and more innocent, probably due to her Bassett hound cuteness.

Tara wasn't very bright. One time an upstairs window was open without a screen. Tara saw something go past on the front yard, probably a cat, and decided to chase it. By going through the window. My mom and I were in the living room and saw Tara fly through the air in front of our picture window, her big ears flapping. She fell on the grass, tumbled back up and went chasing after the cat.

Yes, sometimes I miss our dogs.

Here's a good idea-- take the kids to see a film about the end of the world

2010-09-13T10:50:00.000-07:00

One night awhile back my husband and I went to see the film 2012. And behind us was a family complete with soda cans rolling around the floor, who knows what other snacks they brought into the theater in mom's big purse, and a couple young kids. Just a fun, family outing to see Hollywood's version of what happens when the earth's core heats up and destroys the world.

This is a pretty good movie, my husband and I thoroughly enjoyed it. But not what you'd want children to see. Aren't kids prone to nightmares anyway, without help from the latest Hollywood disaster film?

So how about it folks. Take your little ones to see a film where California is completely destroyed in about 5 minutes of awesome computer graphics. No, that won't give them nightmares. How about where a dad tries to rescue his two boys and dies in the attempt with the boys watching and screaming? Sure, why not! It's all fake after all. The kids know that, right?

The Day our Nation was Attacked

2010-09-11T08:06:00.000-07:00

There will be a lot of remembrances about this day 9-11. Each one of us remembers where we were when we heard the news, and the shock of seeing the planes hitting first one then the other tower.

This week I talked to my 93 year old mother on the phone, and she mentioned how back in 1936 or around there, she felt so worried all the time. She isn't normally a worrier, usually very positive and filled with faith about things. So I asked her, "What were you worried about?" She said, "Oh, all the news coming from Europe." Then last night I was watching a documentary on Churchill, and it struck me once again how scary these times must have been for our nation as well as all of Europe.

Looking back, we all know the outcome of WW II; and even though it was frightening and horrible to think back on, and so many people died, we have hindsight, knowing the Allies won, Hitler died, the concentration camps were set free, Jews gathered to Israel, Japan surrendered.

Our 9-11 was one shocking day, followed by weeks and weeks of analysis, the eventual war in Afghanistan and Iraq, and a whole lot of political fallout. Back in the pre WW II and then those dark years of the war in Europe, finally Japan's attack on us at Pearl Harbor that convinced the US to get involved, and then the years after with all the major nations at war.... I can't even imagine how frightening this must have been to those who lived through it. And not just the fighting men, but especially for those back home, the wives, mothers, children....never knowing what would happen. They didn't know the outcome. And it went for a decade. The news started coming in the mid 1930's and it wasn't over until 1945. That is a long time to live with fear.

It is so vital to remember and honor those who fight for freedom and for peace in the world The power hungry and the evil will not be appeased. They tried to appease Hitler back in the '30's, to give him what he wanted, and he just got stronger. I am not a warmonger, but when I look back at those times, it is clear that the US had to get involved for the sake of freedom and peace. I don't know what the answer should have been for our 9-11, but I do know that we cannot ignore the lessons of the past.

Canning Tomatoes

2010-09-08T20:21:00.000-07:00

Speaking of the end of summer, does anyone have any tomatoes in their gardens? We put in a dozen or more plants and have barely had enough to eat let alone can. I was resigned to not having canned tomatoes for the winter and then something weird happened.

Someone gave me four boxes of canning jars, about six dozen altogether. Not that I needed them, I have plenty but who can turn down free canning jars? Before they were even unloaded from my van, someone offered my husband 85 pounds of fresh, ready to can tomatoes. About six boxes. I don't know how they knew it was 85 pounds, did they weigh them? 85 lbs sounds like an obscene amount of tomatoes to bring home to your wife who had a bad day due to a really annoying book review.

Being the considerate husband that he is, he called me first and asked if I would want to can tomatoes. What do I say? First all the jars appear, followed by all the tomatoes. Obviously, someone is trying to tell me something. Is there going to be a famine in the land? Will I be so busy with my happy, successful life this winter that I won't have time to go to the grocery store? Will the economy collapse? Will our family economy collapse?

Who knows why it is so important for me to can tomatoes, but clearly it is. I say Yes. Bring home the 85 lbs of tomatoes and let's see what we can do.

Eight hours later. That is eight hours straight of me in the kitchen on my feet preparing and canning tomatoes. Hello world out there, I just want to say hi. Now I'm going to bed.

Stupid Things I attach Value to

2010-09-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

Things I attach value to that have gotten out of control:

Plastic bags of all sizes (Yes, I know! What idiot saves these? And I wasn't alive during the Great Depression either.)

Purses and canvas bags (What is it with my obsession with having stuff to carry stuff?!)

Empty water bottles (I like to refill them and drink water out of bottles instead of glasses. Go figure.)

Oh, wait that's not all-- empty soda bottles of a certain shape, for use as water bottles (Is it because I live in the desert?)

Paper, any and all kinds, including the sheets that still have one good side ( I could write a novel a year until I die and still not use all this paper!)

Gallon size Ziploc bags (these at least make sense. Rinsed out & dried they're quite reusable, but not if they had meat. Then I throw them out.)

Books. (You've heard of cat ladies? I'm the book lady. Every room in my house has a stack somewhere. The least I could do is put them away, right?)

DVD's. (Stupid to buy them since I only watch most movies once or twice.)

I could go on, but these are the worst offenders. I'm not a saver. Actually, I do quite well at decluttering and tossing or giving away, but this list is my toughest challenge. What's on your stupid save list?

Bringing in posts from my original blog-- Has anyone ever heard of Vox?

2010-09-03T12:07:00.000-07:00

Vox is where I started blogging. I did a lot there until I discovered Blogger. Goodbye Vox. I visited now and then and wrote the occasional post. Now they are shutting down, and I'll lose my posts by Sept. 30. Since most of them were daily life type of stuff, I'm going to transfer a few of them to here. This one was when it was mid-summer, and dang I still miss summer!!

Today I watered the front lawn-- the dry spots--timing the sprinkler 30 minutes on each area. I know Utah is a desert, but I don't want to hear about growing native plants yadayadayada. I've eliminated over half the grass that was here when we first moved to this house, and what's left I like to keep green thank you very much. Which takes water, especially in July and August.

Meanwhile, while moving the sprinkler around all afternoon, I also did laundry and edited a manuscript. Heated up some lasagna from the freezer for the fam, and went back to sitting, watering and editing. Under the ceiling fan in the living room, of course, which is the only tolerable spot in our house from about noon to 9 p.m.

Tomorrow is a family party so I just finished making a HUGE batch of caramel corn. Why don't I learn to be conservative in my food prep? Because I'm a creative cook and add a little of this, and more of that, and try this, and oh yes two cans of evaporated milk how will that be? It's not getting to soft ball stage, I need to add the rest of that bag of brown sugar. Until I have a huge pan of caramel. Better make more popcorn, I don't like it too sweet. And four giant pans later I sit down under the fan again to write about what I did.

If I did photos, I'd take pictures to show you. But I like to draw pictures with words. It's good practice for my writing skills. Not that you folks get much in the way of my writing skills on this blog. I pretty much just blather away about whatever's on my mind.

Haha, nothing's changed there. I still use my blog to blather about whatever's on my mind.Only now I do it here instead of on Vox.

Shooting the TV

2010-09-03T07:49:00.000-07:00

I want to shoot the TV like Elvis used to do. Good thing there are no guns in the house or that TV would be history. We haven't had cable for years. We were so happy with our old-fashioned antenna wires hooked through the attic, getting all the local channels. Plenty for us, since the major network channels provided what we like-- PBS, Law & Order, Criminal Minds and sometimes House. 24 Hours when it's on. When I'm by myself, I like to watch American Idol and America's Next Top Model. Those are our TV shows, and we watch erratically, not caring if we miss anything. No tivoing or anything like that. We are very 20th century TV watchers.

Then came the digital age, and we were forced to buy that little box if we wanted to continue watching our TV. So we took the $40 coupon and bought our digital box. It works half the time. Some channels don't even come in. And sometimes when we're in the middle of a show, it starts sizzling and blacking out.

It's like the old days, the Fifties--when you would have to go bang on the TV to get a good picture. Only I don't want to bang on it, I want to shoot it and put it out of its misery.

How Do People Do Stuff?

2010-08-29T13:10:00.000-07:00

I've had these questions lately. Like, how does anyone find this blog when I do nothing to promote it and don't follow anyone with this link? Yet 53 people have found me here. Latest is the awesome Elana Johnson *waves to Elana* and so this brings me to other questions.

Like, how do 62 year-old unemployed men with broken knees find suitable jobs? Men like my husband who were in the mortgage business for 25 years and saw their livelihoods disappear with the economic, mortgage-related crash three years ago. He had his own business and we thought he was set for retirement and could work into old age doing what he loved-- helping people with less than perfect credit get home loans. Not any more.

And, how does one woman have a dream about vampires, write a book and become a millionaire? Yet other writers labor for years over much better books and never find a publisher let alone become independently wealthy. How do you hit the jackpot like that? There's no way anyone can plan to make such a thing happen. It's like winning the lottery.

Do you ever wonder how some people have amazingly happy and successful marriages and others struggle to find one single, satisfying relationship? I'm one of those lucky ones and I for the life of me can't tell you the secret to this one. Same with kids. I have 10 awesome, talented and wonderful children, who are growing to adulthood and making me and their dad proud. How did we do this? Don't know, can't tell you.

How do some people stay thin their whole lives,and others struggle to lose even five pounds? Are the thin people more disciplined, or just have better genetic makeup? What's the secret to being thin and healthy? And don't say diet and exercise, because I know skinny minnies who eat candy and watch TV every night. While others are dieting and exercising constantly but can't lose ten pounds.

So is it just me, or does anyone else wonder how people do stuff? If so, what kinds of things do you wonder about?

What is Your Passion? And Can you Make a Living at it?

2010-08-23T14:37:00.000-07:00

I had a conversation today with my son who's preparing to go back to college after two years in South Africa. Originally, his plan was to earn money through music-- as a teacher, playing in orchestras, and giving private lessons. His major is music education and his instrument is the viola. But now that he's back in the States, and the talk is about the economy, he's wondering if he should go into science rather than the arts, for more financial stability.

He enjoys science, gets good grades and could do something in that field, yet music is his passion, and he wants to make a living at it. He says, "I can't imagine anything more wonderful than getting paid for playing music."

Meanwhile, I'm reading a blog today and find this quote by Dan Wells, award-winning author of I am Not a Serial Killer:

"Anyone can make a living as an artist. If you put as much time and energy as a doctor does in building a career, you can be just as successful. Unfortunately there are not programs designed to guide an author step by step into the industry as there are in other fields but if you consider yourself a writer and work everyday toward making it a career, you can't lose."

What do you think? In spite of economic issues, do you think it's possible to support a family by pursuing one's passion? Or should artsy people like writers, musicians and actors stick with the sensible majors where high-paying jobs are waiting?