Memorial Weekend----Or maybe I should call it a memorable weekend? After all the excitement of the past two days, today is an anticlimax.

On Saturday, I was suppose to have two nieces here at 8:30. Their mom had to work and their dad had an open house. Okay--psyched myself up to do this even though I'd rather have gone to my niece, Mariah's Confirmation. At 4 AM, the day hit the skids into "Brace yourself, Houston, we have a problem." My niece, Sarah, had gone to the hospital to have baby #3. Okay. . . so I woke up not to two nieces but two nephews and a niece. At 7 AM. (Is it Monday yet?)

So---due to the unexpected, we had no suitable breakfast in the house. Sent Mom to the store while I took Drew, 2, Kris, 4 and Taylor, 4, next door to jump on the giant trampoline. We were so involved when Miah got up and joined us. The raisin bran arrived and we trooped next door. Wondered, in the space infintisimal seconds when I could think, where the first two nieces were. They arrived about noon so we joined, Stephi, 4 and Sammi, 3 to the mix. (Are we having FUN yet?) Another couple of hours and Mariah, 7, arrived after her big morning. If you are keeping score, that's five kids UNDER five and two over. Before long, Jarrod, finished watching cartoons and came out. We got out the slip and slide--the kids got wet, they got cranky, they ran in eight different directions.

Eventually, I escaped to the store for lunch--chicken nuggets and popsicles. The kids had a nice picnic outside and Drew fell asleep. Josh came by for Stephi and Sammi and the kid count dwindled. Later that evening, we had a mini-party for Mariah's Confirmation--cake, balloons and ice cream cups. Since I got out of shopping for the BIG EVENT on Sunday, I didn't mind.

Except by the time I got to bed I realized the only time I sat down all day was to drive to the store for the chicken nuggets. My feet felt like they'd grown rocks.

Sunday

For weeks we'd been trying to plan a family May crowning (Catholic event to honor God's Mother) and since you have to feed people when they drive all this way---a cookout. After Saturday, all I wanted to do was sit, but it didn't turn out too badly.

I lost count of the people who came but we had a crowd. We'd decided to do most of the socializing next door at Sister #2's house--so all the food, the grills, the MESS, were centered over there. Some of the teenaged cousins did slip over her to play Monopoly at the kitchen table away from the baby element. And I did have one scary moment when someone opened my bedroom door and let my most skiddish cat out! (She's mostly a bedroom, one person cat. Doesn't like people, noise or leaving her comfort zone. Why she left the room is beyond my mental capabilities.)

Later in the day, some of us gravitated over here. The little girl cousins formed a club called "The Pinks." All small boy cousins who wanted to play were given girl names. (I am so not going there! They were quiet!) They wanted to create M and M people on the computer so I let that go on for a bit.

Then we trooped back to the "neighbor's" for a bonfire and s'mores. Miah and Anthony in the picture by the last hurrah of the night. The boys were thrilled to have two cousins over for the night. Mariah got a girl cousin to go home with her.

Monday, After doing two loads of wash and editing a bit, I am sitting in a QUIET, empty house wondering what to do with my holiday. Everyone else went swimming at Sister #3's. I am soooooooooo glad there wasn't room in the car for me! Happy Memorial Day!

TUESDAY
I tried to come up with a classier title for this piece. Graduation goofs. Pomp and circumstances beyond control. But then I decided simple is best - yesterday was Tuesday and it turned out to be a weird day.

We didn't do school because Sister #2 came home early. Instead I spend the morning running errands with Mom. For about a week I'd hoped to get to Brad's, the biggest garden store, to search for herbs. They had some nice plants (owie prices) but I went ahead and splurged on thyme, sage, chocolate mint, spearmint and oregano. I use a lot of sage and oregano.

The vegetable flats were on sale for $10.99, so we got exotic things like red onions, habanero peppers, chocolate beauty peppers, celery, broccoli and beets. The boys grow the peppers to enter in the fair. I'm trying my hand at some container gardening this summer.

Got home and spent the rest of the afternoon working on various writing projects. Then it was time to go to Austin's graduation. For those of you who don't know him, Austin is my great nephew. He's Justi and Tim's son and is five years old. Kindergarden graduation.

There is something "off" about five year old graduating in the first place. I see it as some gigantic conspiracy with the cap and gown industry to get more dollars from what is probably not a best selling item. Not enough people graduating in May and June? Let's start a new trend---let the little people graduate too! Sometimes I wonder where this will lead. Graduating from 1st Grade? Second? Preschool?

The graduation took place an hour away so I left in plenty of time - I thought. (Always a sure indication you haven't left soon enough.) Scrambling though town I searched in vain for a gas station where the gas was less than $3.49 a gallon---angry at myself for not filling up that morning at $3.15.

My directions were to go to the OLD high school which was now the NEW elementary school. It was the high school were several of my nieces and nephews graduated. Okay, I could find it. I thought. The OLD high school was still---well, the OLD high school. I walked in on an Awards Ceremony (what a heck of a place to put a door!) and saw no five year olds. Outside, I grabbed a bystander and asked where the elementary school was located. The other side of town. (It's always the other side of town when you're in a hurry. )

I was already late but since it was a small town (only two stop lights), I managed to find the light, make a turn by the water company and did find the elementary school. The streets--all one way--were clogged with parked cars. I drove around the school twice, looking for somewhere to park and ended up turning illegally down a driveway and shooting across the soccer field to a clear patch of grass. It was a long walk back to the school and was now 7:15.

Figuring I'd missed most of the graduation, I hurried Mom along and we got to the gym. The old fashioned, un-air conditioned, pre-1950's gym and discovered we hadn't missed much but the incoming procession. There were 90! graduates. Being a great grandmother, Mom got to sit on the folding chairs for the elite guests. I stood near the door. I did try to get up on the bleachers but they were packed with wall to wall people and it was HOT! LIke people sweating and fanning themselves with programs hot.

I got there in time for the "musical" part of the program. The kids sang "Three Cheers for the Red, White and Blue," while counting on their fingers. They did a cute version of "The knee bones connected to the. . . ." and two other garbled songs I couldn't understand a word of.

Then came the "diplomas." Each child's name was called and his or her teacher would squat down beside the child for a photo op. Some of the teachers were smarter than others in their clothing choices. Let's put it this way--you can see a LOT when someone is squatting on a stage.

After that they had a slide show---we waited and waited and waited--while the Power Point thing goofed up. Eventually they did get it running and we saw some cute pictures of a year in the life of a kindergarden class. (For sale at $7.00 bucks in the back of the gym.)

Despite the hassles, the little kids were cute in their caps (no gowns) and dress up clothes. The little girls wore their best dresses and some of the boys were in nice shirts, pants and ties. Sniff, they looked all of six or seven! How time flies. . . .

While I'd like to have a picture of Austin on this blog, I can't. When I got there I realized the batteries in my camera had died! The end to an imperfect day! Thankfully, his mom had bought a disposable camera for the ceremony.

I did hear some good news when I got home. My friend, Erica, is a finalist in the Genesis writing contest!!!!! Hooray, for her! I'm sure the competition was stiff so this is a great accomplishment. She won't know if she won the contest until later in the year. Finaling in the first round is a bit like winning the state beauty pageant and now she's going on to nationals---writing wise! Let's keep hoping for more good news!

A Job Well Done

This morning I finished my first ever landscaping job for someone else. Hopefully, the picture does it justice. I had to stand sideways to get a full shot--the yard being very small and my back getting poked by a huge, prickly evergreen bush. The pictures show a slanted/sideways view. When I stood in front of the arbor it all looked straight and matched (even though the space was not a complete circle.)

It took less time than I anticipated. Going to find a Home Depot was the major challenge but once there I got a terrific bargain on the black satin mulch. Even brought home some mulch and flowers to spare for my garden. Guess what I'll be doing once it cools off here a bit?

Can rest tonight with the job behind me and extra cash in my pocket.

Sure will sleep better than last night when I had dreams about the work ahead. Dreamed I arrived and found huge slabs of rock all over the space and I had to clear them away. Got to it and dragged a half a ton of rock into a neat pile by the fence. Then I realized that the slow seepage under the rocks had sprung a giant leak and OH NO...the space under the rocks was a swimming pool sized HOLE filled with water and the ugliest giant carp I'd ever seen. No way could I empty the pool and harm that fish--even if he was scary.

But then, I turned around and found a small circle of dirt and I realized I had way too many flowers! I'm glad the reality came closer to the nice part of the dream. You can't see it all in the photo but there are a LOT of flowers in there--some hadn't bloomed yet. I'd like to see it once all the plants start blooming and spreading out.

As I was planting, a bright yellow butterfly flew in and landed on a purple flower. I can hear him going back to the other butterflies he knows, "Hey, guys, there's a new place to eat in the neighborhood."

Today was HOT! Think middle of summer heat and you'll have an idea. Today also begins the countdown. We now have only TWO MORE DAYS of LOL school before summer break. While there are some things I'll miss--lots of uninterrupted time to write, or read or hide somewhere in the car where NO ONE knows where I am--I will not miss the drive.

It's not an awful drive usually. There is plenty of time to think or sing or pray or listen to the boys chatter. It's just that sometimes it is VERY VERY LONG. LIke the afternoon Miah fell asleep on the way home with the Alabama tape doing repeat on one song, "I'm in a Hurry and Don't Know Why." It played over and over and over --54 times. Why didn't I pull over somewhere and shut the darned thing off? Well, I was in a hurry and don't know why....

Check out www.fandanglemagazine.com to see my article in the May issue, "History without a Book." It's about Greenfield Village and Henry Ford Museum in Michigan. My friend, Maribeth, also has a cool article on George Washington.

Looks like I'm about to succumb to another writing contest. Found out I still have time to enter Smartwriters again. I printed out the entry form tonight.

Recently received my crits back for The Sandy Writing Contest. I sent two chapter of "The Cattle Rustling Catastrophe" and a one page synopsis. Got some great advice from one judge on the synopsis. I hadn't realized I left the ending open ended so it seemed Jenny didn't save the day. I was grateful to know it appeared that way to a reader. It helped to know the synopsis needed to be fixed for the contest AND I had a revelation about the ending. Hadn't quite figured it all out yet. So now I know I have to put the bull named Beau in MORE and SOONER.

After my last post on 8 random facts about me, I realized there was a LOT OF GOOD STUFF I didn't use! Wanted to play again and again and again. I've been driving down the road things--why didn't I write THAT? That's so cool.

Several people have also asked about the fried green tomatoes. Kaye says she gets some at a restaurant and I'd LOVE to try those! Mine are pretty much from scratch---yup, I actually grow the things and pick them off the vine. Some stores in this area do sell green tomatoes once in awhile but not often.

Here is a generic recipe--adjust to your taste.

Green tomatoes,

flour (any kind or corn meal)

oil (I prefer Olive but anything will do.)

Slice the tomatoes, dip them WET into the flour--add a bit of salt and pepper to your flour to taste), fry them in the oil. You can fry until just tender and a golden brown on the edges or do the burnt variety---almost blackened and limp as squash. I like them both.

My favorite food to eat with green tomatoes is cole slaw--they just compliment one another. Now I'm hungry!

Today I got tagged by Erica at onthewritepath.blogspot.com.
Here are the rules to this game. . . .

1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves
2. People who are tagged write a blog post about their own 8 random things and post these rules
3. At the end of your blog you need to tag 8 people and post their names
4. Don't forget to leave them a comment and tell them they're tagged, and to r ead your blog.
Okay, here's my random list.

a. I once got my foot caught in a cable car track at Disneyland.
b. I owe lots of vintage series books that girls read a LONG time ago--like The Little Colonel series and The Camp Fire Girls.
c. I have seen "Gone With The Wind," "The Sound of Music," and various other movies over one hundered times. I counted. I have also seen "101 Dalmations" and "Peter Pan" the original cartoons more than 500 hundred. After that I STOPPED counting.
d. My all time favorite food is fried green tomatoes.
e. One of my favorite things to do is enter sewing, flowers, photography and baked goods in the county and state fairs.
f. I have too many blue, red and white ribbons to count.
g. The first thing I ever had published was a letter to the editor denouncing the ERA.
h. I've made more than seven quilts.

Now I tag (If I KNOW 8 people)
Kitty
Linda
CJ
Maribeth
Patty
Kathi
Gwen
Sherry

Boing, boing, boing----the weather has finally warmed up here. We got up into the 80's today! I was actually HOT.

A few days ago, BIL #2 put up the giant trampoline given to the boys by BIL #1. It took a lot of stretching but they managed to get it attached to all the springs.

Miah and Taylor had fun bouncing up and down until they were dizzy. We put baby, Emma, on for a bit. She loved the motion and got quite brave at running from one side to the other, swaying like a

sailor at sea. MacKenzie, another baby cousin, got a big grin and cried when she had to get off.

Almost wish we still had the giant netting that goes around the trampoline--you could put the babies in there--big and small--and let them play!

School is almost OUT! When did that happen? And where did my lovely, long, hours of working go? Time to fashion a new routine for the summer with lots of porch swinging and ice cream.

We made our second trip to the garden store today. The boys got a flat of annuals to plant in their new gardens. I decided to go minimal and bought two carnations and a sweet scented mini rose named, "Cupcake." It's a pinkish yellow and cute as a baby rose!

The "Cookies and Milk" page is up today at: www.timesgazette.com. I did a craft idea and word scramble this month. The girls and I have decided to allow two to write big articles and one to do some smaller activity. Time to put on my crafting imagination and thing of other crafts. June is Mystery month because everyone loves a good mystery!

Cell Phones of Life

I got a new cell phone today. Well, acutally it is not a NEW new cell phone but one that belonged to BIL2.

Last year, in the interest of consolidating phone bills and taking control of the cell phone monster that threatened to swallow several members of the family, Sister number one decided we would go with Cingular and have a family plan. Surely, four of us could not use over the generous number of minutes provided for in a month. We got four nifty little phones. Because I belong to the bottom end of the cell phone totem pole, it was decided I could have a phone on Wed. and Friday and other times when I would be out driving somewhere. At other times, I was to share the phone with either of the parents who needed to be off driving somewhere. Since we usually didn't all go anywhere together, this worked most of the time.

Last week, the BIL2 (not to be confused with BIL1) happened to run over his cell phone with a pickup truck. The phone worked--with one minor detail--there was no viewing screen to see what number you dialed, or even IF you'd dialed. As BIL2 must have a new phone with minutes, the decision was made to give me the old phone. So--I ended up with a phone of my own without a view screen and my own amount of minutes. Which isn't as bad as it sounds. It works, it rings, it calls out. It doesn't take pictures or anything fancy, but it still has a working clock---one hour behind. Even with math being my worst subject, I can do the addition.

If I had any complaints about a second hand phone it's that it's LOUD, very loud and cannot be turned down. (Being driven over by a pickup does something to one's innards, don't you know?) So anytime it rings everyone within twelve blocks is startled out of whatever their doing by a loud, jubilant "Hallelujah Chorus!" After I got use to the jolting aspect of it, I rather enjoyed the ring tone. It sure got my blood circulating.

Today, it rang a lot. Not many calls were for me. My BIL had forgotten to give anyone his new number--so all the calls were for him. I'm not sure many people quite believed me when I said that I now had his phone. While most people had heard of second hand clothes, they couldn't really wrap their minds around the second hand phone concept. I spent most of the day explaining, yes, this was D's phone but it was now, NOT his phone, but mine. No, I did not know his new number. I wonder if he planned it that way??

Picture on top is of Emma, coloring her first Easter eggs.

Back in the Saddle. . . .

As most of your know (after listening to my complaints for so long), I have had major internet problems for the past few months. Although some of the details are fading from my mind, I figured I'd offer a small recap here for anyone who might make the same mistake I did.

Rule of Life number 1: Never buy a phone service from someone who had a former life as an Elvis impersonator.

Last year, I got roped into what looked like a good deal. Phone and cable with one provider and one bill. DIGITAL phone and cable. Having always wanted the Hallmark channel, I went for the lure of lower priced services and having what I'd craved. It did bother me some that the man I bought the service from had jumped from career to career and never seemed to stay with anything for long. But, always willing to help anyone impove, I thought I'd try it and see.

Rule of Life number 2: Never buy anything over the phone.

Yes, I did. To give him credit he did answer all my questions. (Wrong answers, but hey, he DID answer.) Would my dial up internet work with digital phone? Sure, sure. (No. NO!) Would the bill stay low? Sure, sure. ( NO! No!)

About a week after I signed up, the digital company came and installed everything. They did not however provide any one in the house with anything written. It took us a week to have someone come back to show us how to use the darned remote to watch the digital cable. That we disconnected after a month since we did not buy the DVR option and couldn't tape anything on our video recorders which had to be disconnected to hook up the digital box. We kept the digital phone because it was still cheaper. . . . until the first bill came in.

Heated conversations with the provider gave me the first glimmer of something wrong--they had no package deal THAT cheap. I'd been connned. Okay, get back to the guy who sold it--oh, sure, sure, they had that deal, he'd talk to his boss. I got the first bill lowered to the cutrate price but they were NOT happy.

It went downhill from there. After a couple of months of wondering WHY my internet kept disconnecting every few minutes (and doing everything under creation to FIX my PC), I came to a conclusion. Could it be the digital phone does not work with a dial up provider? Simple question but complex answer. No one seemed to know the RIGHT one. I finally got in touch with someone at Time Warner who said I should have read the disclaimer that dial up and digital do NOT mix. She kindly offered to read it to me over the digital phone which I planned to yank out of the wall at the first opportunity. I declined her offer.

They did send out a tech man to see if he could figure out the problem. Oh, gee, the digital modem was fried. They replaced it. It didn't fix my internet. Called them out again. After calling four of his supervisors, the tech man admitted the awful truth--they could not guarantee that their digital phone would work with dial up and didn't I want the nice, high speed internet?
NO!!

Then began the search to find another phone company that would give me back my dial up and take out the digital. Got another jolt when they said the digital company had to RELEASE the phone number I've had since 1976. Lose my phone number? NO NO NO! In the end, after several agonizing months of sheer frustration, I have my phone number, my MSN and I'm back in the saddle again!

Some people will think it's nutty to want to keep my MSN and dial up. Well, that's what I wanted. Didn't want to have to change my email addresss for the umpteenth time, nor lose the dial up. I LIKE DIAL UP!! Having used road runner (the fast connection at the library), I don't find my internet access that slow at all. It's bad on downloading pictures, true, but not totally horrible.

And so, I'm back. The only time the internet disconnects is if someone calls on the phone----but, there's an easy solution for that. I unplug the phone!

On Syndication, Double Sided tape and Bumpy Cows. . . .





The thought crossed my mind the other day that I hadn't been keeping this blog up very well at all. Another thought crossed my mind that sometimes the layers of my life are downright boring and if I kept up a journal regularly, the pages would yawn.



Patty, Maribeth and Me
Cookies and Milk

But, all is not lost because I do have some super fantastic news! On February 1st, the "Cookies and Milk" ladies (photo on top), found out we are now SYNDICATED. Yup, Mr. Ryan, true to his word, spoke to the other newspapers in the Brown Publishing Group and we got to see our page in two other papers this month. We are still waiting for one county to run the page and another to say, "Yes."





While it's exciting, it also means we have to regroup. We are spread out all over Southwest Ohio, so now we have to figure out contest deadlines to accomadate other papers, if our prizes need revamping and probably a lot of stuff we haven't even thought about. I'm sure Dear Abby had to start somewhere---I'm just not sure if she learned to juggle first. Working for a newspaper requires the skills of a circus juggler--who would have known?





So many things seem to be springing from the page too--like the Laura party. In case you didn't know, Feb. 7 was Laura Ingalls Wilder's 110th birthday. Patty wondered if we couldn't have a program at the library, featuring slides from my trip two years ago to Little House sites. From there it spun out into an actual party which will take place on the 20th. Since I'm the featured narrator, I go between hoping a lot of people show up and hoping that no one other than the kids I'm bringing come. One thing I do know---I refuse to wear my sunbonnet!








We got a BIG SNOW last week. The weather men predicted it with so much glee you'd have thought they owned the market on snow shovels and snow plows. Right before the flakes began to pile up, I headed to Walmart for necessities to see me through the storm. A universal remote since my last remote went to the Island of Lost Things and has never returned. I was getting tired of watching the first Big Valley on my DVD's. There was life past the number one slot and I refused to be snowed in without finding it.





Also ran down the scrapbook aisle for double sided tape. I finally decided my ability to use glue runners was in serious doubt and I'd better look for options. ( Having spent several pleasant hours scrapbooking this past Sunday, I am now certain of one thing. Double sided tape is not any better than a glue runner. When it wasn't stuck to my fingers on one side, it was stuck to whatever it landed on as I struggled to pull a sticky side OFF my fingers and place it down on the page. I've come to a firm conculsion. There's a lot to be said for good old glue sticks.)





Remote, double sided tape, three cans of peas, cat food, bird food, a hot fudge cake mix and a new cartridge for my printer---I was ready to survive the storm. Oh, and I bought four new colors of DMC floss.

The floss is for the Bumpy Cow part of this post. Several years ago, I fell in love with a state fair sampler that I just HAD to do in counted cross stitch. It took me a few years after that to buy the Aida cloth for the project because it had to be measured. Once I had that, it took me a whole summer to finish the roller coaster on top. I was making progress--or so I thought. It didn't take long to discover I'd added an extra upbeam to the roller coaster, throwing the whole project seven squares off. If you've ever done CCS, you can see the tragedy in being even one square off. I put it away and didn't even think about it until this summer. A row of cows were next and I figured if I counted one extra space between the five cows I could somehow come out even. Simple arithmatic. (This is probably not a true statement. If you put me and math in the same sentence, nothing is simple.)

I started the cows full of enthusiam, rejoicing in how well the black thread looked so neat. It wasn't until I began to fill in the white parts of the cows that they started to look, well, bumpy. For some reason I had cows with neat black patches and bumpy white. Then yesterday I discovered that my math had been off and one cow overshoots the space where he's suppose to end. So now I'm going to have to add more grass to the sides of the roller coaster.

My question to myself is this: If one cow overshoots the end of the roller coaster, what's going to happen to the Mason jars of pickles in the next row? Or the row of horses after that? Or the corn cobs? Will any of it end of being symettrical? Or can I make my mistakes look like a pattern?

A gluey situation

I love to scrapbook. Most of the time. Other times, I'd rather toss everything on a huge bonfire and forget the urge. Usually my frustration with scrapbooking happens when my supplies don't work as well as they should. Or maybe it's my total clumsiness with those supplies. Give me a glue stick and I'm a whiz----once the technology gets to a higher level, I need an instruction manual.

Yesterday I made a trip to Wallyworld to buy some glue runners. This was in anticipation of having time to PLAY today. My past history with glue runners hasn't been too great, but I figured if I took my time and tried real hard, it might work. It didn't. Or should I say they didn't.

Figured I had about an hour to scrapbook in my walk in closet. The weather has turned brutally cold and the closet has a slanting roof that's not insulated. Decided I could stand it for about an hour. My first step was to open the new glue runners. Did that okay, took it carefully out of the package and dropped it into the handy holder. It actually snapped shut and looked on the verge of working. I should have known better.

You'd think that if you dropped something straight from the package into the holder it would work. I did. I was wrong. Sloooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwllyyyyyyy, I ran the wheel along the page to be glued. Got a few strands of glue and half a page of my scrapbook ran up into the glue and clogged the back wheel. Okay, a minor setback. . . .

Half an hour of minor setbacks later, I had glue on my fingers, in my hair, a long strand of the white paper the glue is glued on before it comes off where you glue cascading over my table and a LOT of frustration. Figuring I'd given that glue runner a proper chance, I decided to take the second one out of the package and begin again. Maybe I got a faulty one the first time.

Would you believe two faulty glue runners in a package? Neither would I. It kind of tips the laws of probability or something, huh? Which leaves me to only one conclusion---I better go back to glue sticks. It's just those little glue runners look so convenient, so easy. And since these are only the sixth and seventh I've ruined, I just might try again tomorrow.

I ended up gluing one sticker on a page (peel and stick) and a date (prestickied numbers.) The rest of the glue is all over my table, the floor, the wall, my dress, my house shoes, the space heater, Mary, the cat, who jumped up to try to help, and I'm sure I'll discover a bunch of other places I never expected. The package promised me 175 feet of glue. Boy howdy, they sure were right! Too bad they didn't tell me that wouldn't be on my scrapbook pages. . . .

Snow Days. . . .

My friend, Cj, laughed the other day when I told her we were having a 'snow day' from school. I guess the idea of homeschoolers having a snow day is pretty funny. It's not like we have to shovel the driveway--circular and very long--to get out to school. Most days. On Leaves of Learning days, it's another story. We're as normal as anyone else who has to warm the car, get the car moving and get to school on time.

Wednesday, we got a frigid blast of air and snow flurries. No way did I want to be an hour from home. So, we had a snow day in that we didn't go to the school building. To the boy's dismay, I used it to get caught up with work we'd had to let slide Monday and Tuesday.

Miah commemorated the day by drafting a short story on the computer.

Untitled

Too day we are going to play in the snow and throw snowballs because we did not go to school but we are going to do snowballs after schoolwork then we will kill with snowballs.

Clearly the days instruction included a review of punctuation. We raced through the work (three days worth! Hey, I had a fresh snowfall working on my behalf. I took as much advantage of it as I could.) The boys went out and tried snowboarding on their sleds. As far as I know nothing got harmed by their snowballs. Miah made a gigantic snowball and wanted to keep it. Since it was bigger than my entire freezer---the snowball is sitting in the yard. I can imagine spring coming and it slowly mellllllllllllllltttttttttttttiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnng among the Easter egg hunt.

The snow and the cold have lasted until today. Yesterday, Jenny and the boys got out the sleds and had a great time. Grandpa went out and hooked all the sleds to the back of his tractor. He gave them a fun ride through the back fields. They tried standing up, skiing, and when they fell they tumbled like puppies in the snow. Miah had a harder time staying balanced than Jenny or Jarrod, but I did catch a few pictures of them all three upright.

While I don't particularly care for snow, snow days are nice. Last Sunday we got so much I didn't go out of the house all day. The kids and I got out all the snowman mugs and had some hot mocha mix, (thanks CJ!) We played a game of Monopoly Here and Now, (much better than the original game. By the time we quit, I owned the Mall of America, the Golden Gate Bridge and the French Quarter. It doesn't get any better than that. Although Jarrod did have a hotel on Time's Square and we were all headed toward it.) I read three books--okay, two of them were middle grade, and cleaned out my scrapbook bin.

It's fun to go into my scrapbook corner and have stickers in one box, tags or brads in another. Somehow I feel more inspired when I don't have to search for everything I want to use. Spent one of my snow days finishing up some small scrapbook projects. Yesterday I actually FOUND my cousin's wedding announcement from December. Time to make a scrapbook momento of the day. . . .

The weathermen are predicting more snow this weekend. Could I use another snow day or two or three? YES!

ACCUSED!

It had to happen one day. I've been accused of------------hanger theft!

Today was another Leaves of Learning day. Decided to take all my blankets and wash them while the boys were in school. It's a frigid cold day. We even saw some snow flurries this morning. I figured that a laundromat, with all the steam from the washers and dryers, would be the warmest place to wait until dismissal.

Guess half the city had the same idea as it was packed. I managed to find one jumbo washer for the blankets and another small washer. Carried everything in, got the washers going and then made a pit stop to the black laquered ladies room. As I came out, an older lady said something to me in a language I knew not. I was almost sure it was English, but with the crazed washer doing it's dance (not with MY clothes this time), I couldn't hear.

My standard reply in times such as these that require a polite answer are to smile BIG, nod and give a generic response such as, "I know, ha, ha, ha." She gave me an evil glare. My mind went over possible topics of laundromat coversation. Had I violated a remark about the weather? Insulted her children? Not agreed on a pet peeve such as what happens when one must drag the laundry out to the laundromat while a no good husband stayed home?

Hoping she would quit staring at me, I went to sit down. Big mistake. A few minutes later, she stalked over and said, "So, you saw who did it?"

My first reaction was, HUH?

Thankfully, she cleared up the confusion. "You saw who stole my hangers?"

"Your hangers, um, no. Were they taken?" Stupid question considering I'd laughed and told her I knew when she asked me the first time. "I must have misunderstood you." Clever comeback, I thought. "I thought you were talking about the lack of s0ap in the restroom. There is never any soap in there, did you notice?"

She looked at me as if I was clearly as deranged as she'd first thought and entirely capable of hanger theft. "Soap?"

"Yes, there is never any soap in the restroom. I thought that's what you were talking about. You say someone stole your hangers?"

"I had four hangers right here. Took a break with my sons and somebody made off with them."

She kept glaring as I went into details about how I'd JUST THEN ARRIVED and MINDED MY OWN BUSINESS, STARTING MY WASHERS. I lamented her loss. Sympathized that four hangers weren't safe anywhere these days. Still she kept her eye on me as if I planned to snatch her clothes from the dryer.

My only redemption came from the fact that I'm so totally disorganized, I never REMEMBER to bring hangers to the laundromat! Final proof that organization is highly overrated. My lack thereof probably saved me from a criminal record today.

The picture on top is what I want to see out my bedroom window. The top of my forsythia (or as my niece, Cindy, use to call it, 'the for Cynthia bush.') I want SPRING.

On writing, organizing and other things I'd rather not think about - - - -

Today was an odd combination of why I love/hate writing. Early this morning, I went next door to my sister's when she went to work. A couple of days a week, I go, wake up the boys and we get started on our various days. Today I found myself with an unexpected bonus of an hour of free time before anyone had to do anything. Since I came prepared with a notebook, I spent a productive time writing out part of a story in long hand.


In my trusty notebook, I also made a list. I love making lists! One item on the list was to start a first draft for an article that's been swirling in my mind for about a year. Got a good start on an outline AND think it might all be starting to gel.


Later, while still having happy writing thoughts, I decided to send off an article while I was out running errands. WHAMMY! A brown envelope in the post office box. As my friend, Erica, says, a brown envelope is NOT good news for a writer. Mine wasn't. It was no surprise really---considering my success with finding an agent---to have still another send back my proposal with a form letter. It wasn't devestating or enough to send me running somewhere for a good cry. (Been there, done that, too often!) It did give me a day of introspective thought.


What is wrong with my book? Doubt rears it's ugly, warty, bug-eyed head when any kind of rejection comes. I find myself going over and over all the platitudes---someone else will want it, it wasn't meant to go to HER or HIM or THEM, God has a better plan. Somehow, none of those thoughts make me feel a morsel better. I feel---well, dirty darn--rejected!


As I drove home, I went over and over the reasons this particular agent might not have wanted the book. More doubts. Was this the RIGHT book to be writing? How sure was I that this the book I was meant to write and hope to sell at this particular time? It's easy enough to believe God inspires an idea, to write and rewrite and sweat over the manuscript, and be so sure you are on the right path. Then something causes me to stumble and all those doubts and fears
come back to haunt me. Should I keep trying to sell this book? If not, what was the purpose in writing it?


Did I come to any conclusions? Nope. Tonight, I'm still as unsure about the manuscript as I was before. I did ask God to confirm my committment to this particular project. I think I can wait in trust to see what happens.


On the plus side of the rejection, I can honestly say that it didn't stop me. This evening, I wrote over 2000 words on one WIP. The characters are leading me places I never expected and I'm having fun seeing where it will go.


Even better, two of my queries for non-fiction articles got accepted tonight. I just have to spend tomorrow rewriting the articles and email them in. So, love/hate. Joy/disappointment.
Writing is a weird occupation and writers are----well---most of us are a few dips short of an inkwell or we wouldn't put ourselves through this.


On to a better topic---my organization is coming along well. I can walk in BOTH closets, my files are LABELED, my drawers are CLEAN. It doesn't even look like the same bedroom. Now, if I can just get my pictures uncluttered. That will be the real challenge.


On another happy note, I found lots of cool stuff in the 'black hole of calcutta' (my closet.) Found a newspaper on one of the Apollo missions, several books I needed, the manual for my sewing machine and lots of stuff to pitch---moving right along!

No Snow---

Since it's January, I decided we needed a snow picture. This happens to be from last year. Jarrod and Miah hooked their sleds to Grandpa's tractor. Having no hills to sled down, necessity is the mother of invention. It was all the more thrilling when the rope broke and the sled went sailing off on it's own.

I'd actually like snow. . . . if it wasn't so cold.

Had to do a short blog on my "Interesting Morning." It happened yesterday so I can be objective about it now. Even laughed about it last night. I was NOT laughing at 6 a.m. yesterday.

Around then I began to hear the piano play. Knowing our house is NOT haunted, I went to investigate and caught Smokey, tripping the light fantastic across the keys. I shooed him off, decided to lie down on the sofa and catch a bit more sleep before we left for school.

DA DA DA DUM. Tink, tink, tink, tink.

Smokey again. He didn't want to PLAY the piano, nor did he enjoy the sound. He wanted to sleep on the piano keys. Sent him to the floor again. Laid down. Another tune. This time he jumped down before I got into the room with the piano. Laid back down. This went on and on and on until time to get up. THEN, he settled down--right across the piano keys, and went to sleep.

I was out--racing to beat the get to school clock. Went outside to warm up the car. Back inside where I thought I could sit and have a short cup of tea. When I went back out, the car had died and wouldn't restart. Dad happened to notice the problem and came out to give me a jump start. Thankfully, the car started and the boys and I made it to Leaves with ten minutes to spare. Although some days, you wonder why you get out of bed!

Happy Birthday, Jenny!

Yesterday marked Jenny's 14th birthday. This is the real Jenny, my niece, not to be confused with the fictional version. A lot of people ask me if there really IS a Jenny, meaning, of course, the figment of my imagination. Yes and no. She "exists" as the child I wanted to be long ago, but not as a real person. My niece doesn't resemble her in anything but the name.

Not long ago, I let the real Jenny "meet" the fictional Jenny for the first time. Anxious to know what she thought, I asked if she liked it. "I liked seeing my name," she said. When I pressed further, she admitted she liked the names of the ponies in the story.

On a happier note---it is now 11 days into the month and I am making progress on my organization! There is an actual path through my bedroom floor among the boxes, piles of stuff to store, and bags to go out for the Goodwill. My files HAVE LABELS! My Christmas bins have LABELS! The ornaments are organized in BOXES with LABELS! I know where things ARE and can actually put my hands on them without an all out search and rescue mission.

I even--JUMPING FOR JOY---have an address book and it's FILLED in! Only someone who knows my habit of scribbling phone numbers or addresses on any handy scrap of paper and "filing" it in a pile in my drawer, can appreciate this fact. (To be perfectly honest, it's not a real address book. It's a mini-journal--but it has lines, I had a pen and it works!) Although, come to think about it---where did I put that??

My organization also spread over to my writing. I had a rare day off Tuesday. Sister #2 came home sick from work so the boys stayed home. Although I could have written all day, I decided I'd better start cleaning first. Timed myself and every few hours I took a writing break. I managed to do edits to 3 chapters in my mid-grade, make a list of queries I wanted to send out, looked up some magazine info online, AND (drum roll, please), I committed to starting a first draft of "Lost." Managed to get down 2,000 words. Yesterday, I sat at the library and forced myself to plot out the whole thing on 3 x 5 cards. Also made a master list of things I need to research to finish the book. Somehow, it looks a lot less intimidating than it once did. Thanks, Erica!

Happy New Year!

I'm getting a late start in keeping up this blog. Although I made a list of resolutions in my mind, I haven't put them in writing yet. Somehow, if you put them in print it's like they are written in a Sharpie. No erasing!

The two sweet faces in the photo are Mary, my Christmas kitten, and Mama, the orange stray who wandered up to the door too many years ago to count. Mary is about five years old now. I suppose as a good "cat mama", I should have written down the exact date of her birthday. I know it's near Christmas--sometime.

Not knowing Mary's actual birthdate reminds me of a lifelong battle against organization--or in my case, the lack thereof. Oh, I try to organize. I buy all those plastic tubbie things, all the little plastic boxes with slots and handles and spaces to organize. But somehow, my things never seem to fit the slots or spaces.

I watch all those home improvement shows when I can find the time. I've seen how they declutter and reorganize. "Put like objects in ONE bin." (This, of course, can backfire. A case in point are the Christmas lights----still missing, I might add. All except for one mislabeled bin. If the lights had been stored in their usual hodgepodge fashion, I'm sure we'd have found some strands by now.)

"Have a place for everything and let your files make sense." It's good advice in theory. In practice, it somehow never works for me. I can just imagine the utter chaos one of those home improvement gurus would find if they tried to organize my notebooks. Each year I begin with the a firm talk to myself. I WILL NOT use a notebook for more than ONE thing. If a notebook is for non-fiction article ideas---not a scrap of fiction or letters with enter it's blank pages. I WILL NOT use a notebook for everything that pops into my head, sticking post it notes on the pages to remind me where certain articles or stories begin.

Each year, I manage to keep that rule for about a week. Then I get caught out somewhere with the Work in Progress notebook and I'm suddenly overcome with a firm distaste for the WIP. I want to jot down some article ideas instead. Or begin a letter to my friend, Kitty. Or make a list to clean out my closet. Eventually, all my notebooks become like my life--layered with a little bit of everything. Guess as long as I don't run out of post it notes, everything will go along okay.

As January 1st rolled around, I made a firm vow to "Get Organized." I actually began the day with some closet decluttering. Four days later, I FOUND my missing Christmas tree skirt. Since the tree is still up, I'll get a picture to post here soon.

Being able to walk in that closet again gave me a terrific boost on the new year. I figured I was off to a great start! Of course, I later realized that I'd been washing my hair with body wash for the last few days. And, that the lovely blue spitz bottle I thought was window cleaner turned out to be laundry stain cleaner instead. Hey, what can I say---it cleaned picture frames equally well. After this, it all has to be smooth sailing, right?

This new year finds "Cookies and Milk" with our fourth page in print. Maribeth (one of my co-editors) and I both have non-fiction articles in this month's issue of Fandangle online magazine for kids. Check out the page at www.fandangle.com. Click on this month's issue.

Okay, back to the organization--I'm sure if I work hard today I can actually find my bed tonight.

Oh, dear, I closed my eyes!

Christmas 2006

Christmas has come and gone for another year. It's hard after the holiday is passed to remember all the moments---glad, sad or downright hectic---that herald the big day. I thought I'd try to add a few pictures and short memories. The first photo is Trouble, sitting where she isn't allowed on the fireplace mantel. She's taken a shine to Miah's folk art Santa from the Merry Money store at the library.

Later in the week, Mom, the boys and I went to our local Kroger store to hear some Christmas music. Del and Gwen Clark gave us a lovely holiday break with their musical talents on the keyboard and spoons. Gwen writes a column in the Times Gazette, Clark Bar Devotions, and has been a tremendous help to us in beginning our

Cookies and Milk page.

These two wonderful senior citizens have never let age slow them down. They take their music, their bright smiles and cheerful faces into nursing homes every week. I hope someday to aspire to be just like them!

As one of the last people to buy our Christmas tree---a bare week before Christmas Eve, we got a great half price deal at Lowe's. The boys had a super time decorating it. Miah found the cutest garland--it has different colored stockings along it. Hanging among the tree branches it looks like a bunch of little elves have hung their stockings from the limbs. As the nutcracker fan in the family, Miah also found a set of nutcracker ornaments. Jarrod found a set of Star Wars to give it a futuristic touch. We also had ornaments from years past--the tree Jarrod painted as a four year old, Heather's clay finger print, the origami angels all the children made from doilies at the library and several that have been saved from my own childhood. One, a spun sugar looking covered wagon, can't be hung anymore but graced the mantel.

My only regret about this year's Christmas tree is that I haven't been able to find my special Christmas tree skirt. Several years ago, I took a bunch of old family photos from Christmas' past, scanned them onto iron on transfers and put them on a square of white muslin. I sewed a backing of red and green plaid, added a lacy ruffle and a space for the tree stand. With all the babies we've added the last few years, it's outdated. Thankfully, I can always add pictures in the white spaces.

The long week, the conclusion

By now, I'm pretty tired of thinking about the LONG WEEK. Friday turned out to be another hectic, holiday day. The boys had school at Leaves so while they were there, I managed to do several loads of wash. Thankfully, the laundromat was quiet and empty of patrons so I spent a pleasant couple of hours reading and writing. The clothes swished and dryed.

Only one minor glitch marred the otherwise calm setting. One washer set up a crazy dance in place, frenzied by the amount of wash inside. Or so it seemed. Had the same trouble last week with the same trouble. Still laugh at the expression on one older man's face as he noted the washer, looked at me as if to ask, "what are you doing to that POOR machine," and kept darting glances as if I should DO SOMETHING.

After the clothes were clean, I sat in the car and dashed out 1500 words in longhand on a WIP. It was a good feeling. The boys got out of school and we dashed into phase two of the day. Since it was a holy day and we were going to Mass, we had to wait to meet my sister so we could all ride together. The boys and I whiled away the time going to the library and the Dollar Store. We sat in the car, listening to Christmas songs on the radio, until we got our ride.

Going to church at night is always a pleasant ending to the day. We light by candlelight and it's lovely to have the glow shining out the stained glass windows, welcoming us inside.

Saturday started out as another fast paced day. I actually got to WRITE for an hour or so. Then we raced off to a program at the library--making gingerbread houses. We've been doing this for about five years and it never loses it fascination. The library staff spends a week gluing graham crackers into a house shape. The children each get icing and a bag of assorted candies to add to the tiny house. As an early Christmas present to myself, I paid off my library fine and we loaded up on videos and books. Emma waited for us at home with Grandma and we spent a happy evening watching Garfield cartoons. The boys had never seen Garfield's tv show, except for the Christmas special which they know by heart.

The long week---Part Two

Wednesday. Because all the children(remember there were six in the house) put out their shoes for St. Nick the night before, we woke at the bright hour of 6:45. Mostly to the shrieks of the child who did NOT get a mini skateboarder in his shoe. I managed to drag myself downstairs at 7:30 to semi-silence. The two year old had hidden himself in a corner with ALL the mini skateboarders. New gloves and toboggan hats were scattered all over the floor, as were broken pieces of candy cane. There is something truly indecent about stepping on a crunchy candy cane before 8 AM.

With the promise of a wonderful homeschool field trip ahead, we manged to get everyone to eat cereal, find pairs to the new gloves and get dressed warmly. The weather promised us 40 degrees and it did turn out to be a nice day. We were headed for the BEACH. Since Ohio weather prevents actual swimming during December, we were going to enjoy their Holiday Fest. For a reasonable group rate, we were able to ice skate (and yup, I went around twice without falling), a tractor driven hayride (the horses reserved for the paying customers at night,) a merry go round, paddle boat rides and the toboggan slide. Yes, that's me in the picture. I didn't realize until later that my hat was pulled up in a goofy point. None of the children pointed this out to me at the time--so I went around all day looking like something the elves kicked out of the North Pole. (No wonder the guy in the ticket booth said, no, I'll remember you, when I asked if I could go out to the car.)

We had a super good time, it stayed warm and I rushed home in time to go to the singing Christmas tree with a friend.

Thursday---Our guests were gone so we looked forward to a nice, relaxing day of schoolwork. (Some of us more than others.) We got a freak snowstorm so the boys were primed to work fast. The fact that the sun came out, melting some provided further motivation. They managed a skimpy snowman when they stopped to help Grandpa put Christmas lights on the porches.

This brings us to the annual "Lost Christmas Light Fiasco." Never, as long as I can remember have we EVER found the lights before Christmas without a search. Sometimes a long search. Sister #1 had hoped to avoid the annual repetition by buying news lights. Still, those lights were somewhere and by gum, the men in the family were going to find them. They tore up the basement going through about 50 plastic bins. The coat hall was next, then the search moved out to their domain--the garage and paper room.

We call it the paper room because about 20 years ago we use to roll newspapers in it. Now, it's crammed with everything from a piano, old bikes, bins and various cans of nails and rusty screws deemed too valuable to toss away. You can imagine their delight when one bin of Christmas lights marked "summer toys" was unearthed. The fact that only two stands of twenty worked did not diminish their pleasure. THEY WERE RIGHT and we had HIDDEN the lights.

I'm sure it's childish but I shall have my revenge. I KNOW where all the Christmas tree ornaments are!

The long week, Part 3 tomorrow. . . .

A VERY Long Week--Part One

Last week turned into a very long, hectic, holidayish week. To give it full justice, now that I'm semi-recovered, I thought I'd divide it into parts.

Monday--I love Mondays. Usually. It's a chance to begin again, a new start to fix everything that went wrong the week before. That being said, it doesn't always work out that Monday is the best day of the week or the easiest. We began with school, moving along quite well. Things fizzled out of control very quickly when I had to stop to rush on errands in town. This is never good. Rushed to town, rushed home and got the boys moving. They go to the Knights club on Monday afternoon so we needed to leave. We technically had plenty of time to get there on time until we encountered an accident. Okay. We can be patient. We wait. And wait. And wait. Finally we are allowed to proceed on our way. Five minutes later, at another intersection we find another accident. Patience ebbs fast. We wait and wait and wait. We are now in the teeth grinding, we better get there on time or else, mode.

I make it five minutes before Fr. S. arrives. The boys jump out, eager to play games in the freezing cold. I rush to meet my cousin who needs me to pick up her boys. They jump in the car, we rush back to the park, they get out and I wait until I'm sure they have caught up with the group. Rush back to my cousin and we proceed to the Library where I sometimes volunteer with the Girls' group. My cousin and her daughter follow me.

In the interest of scouting up people to enter the December, "Cookies and Milk" contest, I ask if anyone wants a copy of our latest contest. They do. Run into the library from the meeting room and find the copier---the only copier--is OUT OF ORDER. And gee, everything was going so well up to that point!

The girls make Christmas cards. It's a relaxing activity after so much rushing. Later, I pick up the boys and my cousin decides to follow us home. Houseguests! Two of the boys ride with me and we listen to the Christmas music channel on the way home.

TUESDAY---All six children wake up early. Very early. Jarrod and Miah are ecstatic. Company to play with. No school work and a free day. I spend the day visiting, picking up, washing dishes and planning for a field trip the next day. My sanity ebbs fast. In the afternoon, my dear friend, Erica, calls and I'm able to make it through the rest of the night. THANKS! You'll never know how much I appreciated talking to someone over twelve, not crying, yelling or spilling toys.

Tuesday evening was the first night of the Merry Money store at our local library. This year the library decided to "pay" children for every 30 minutes they read during the holiday season. The fake bills--$1 for every 30 minutes--could be spent only on three dates at the library. Until we got there and saw the amount of merchandise, I had no idea it would be so well planned and such a blessing. The idea was for the children to purchase gifts for Mom, Dad, Grandparents, Teachers and siblings. Jarrod and Greg (his cousin), found several teacher gifts for their joint teachers at Leaves of Learning. (Despite several hints that I was his teacher 3 days a week, I don't think any of the nice mugs or sewing kits I pointed out made it into his shopping bag.)

Miah decided to get a nice tiara for Gemma (his cousin) because she hadn't signed up fo the program. He found a folk art Santa made from thread spools he couldn't resist for himself.

My Tuesday ended by going to the laundromat so we'd have warm clothes for our field trip the next day. Which brings me to the end of this post---conclusion in Part Two.