Family Life: Merry Christmas

Life is like a box of Chocolates

Merry Christmas to one and all. I have time to breath now. My final is over, the Christmas shopping is done, except for the out of town folks, who will receive their gifts after Christmas and friends who will be dropping by during the holidays. Okay, so Christmas shopping isn’t done. Look’s like I’ll be braving it with the rest of the folks at Borders this afternoon, before grocery shopping. We have closed the shop and Father is off through Wednesday for a well deserved break.

Yesterday, we drove up to Los Altos and had an early Christmas celebration with part of Father’s family. We had a delightful time and Father had fun instigating a round of who can take the best close up picture of nostrils. James cousin came in first. The joy of digital cameras. Grandma M is a wonderful cook and we feasted on beef tenderloin, scalloped potatoes and ginger carrots and english pudding. James and his cousin had fun and she introduced him to webkinz. I’ll be taking a tour of the site later and see if it is something I want to sign him up for. I’m always leery of any site that includes chat for children and tend to steer far away from it as possible.

The fall reading challenge is over and I will be posting a final report about my successes and failures a little later. I was waylaid by Nanowrimo, then working on the 2nd draft of my story, and discovering Romance novels again. I hadn’t read a regular romance novel in years and decided that if my story is going to include some romance, well then I better do some research. I have fallen in love with Nora Roberts. She is an excellent writer and I am taking numerous notes and enjoying her books. Father is also enjoying the fact that I am reading romance novels for some inexplicable reason.

Christmas has been a little more laid back this year and our court hasn't been too crazy with cars. B's wife - our next door neighbor had twins and they really didn't have time to put out a whole lot of lights. E across the street has been dealing with a family emergency. His mother had a heart attack when they took her to the airport to go home and put out nothing. We just got waylaid by life and put out enough lights to cover our front patio fence. Such is life, but I don't mind not having wall to wall cars to deal with.

More later - life beckons

Family Life: Hey! Where did the time go?

Hey! Where did the time go?

Wow, it's two weeks before Christmas and I have accomplished ----- nothing. We did managed to go out last night and buy a Christmas Tree. That was quite an experience. The two places we normally go are no longer there and we ended up going to a local nursery. Beautiful tree - which you'll see after its decorated, but one of the most expensive we have ever bought. Now I just have to figure out how to keep Luna from climbing in it.

James is anxious to go Christmas shopping and I am starting on my lists of what to get people, figuring out what to buy before we hit the stores. Otherwise we will be wandering aimlessly and buying for ourselves. Amazon.com is my friend.

Christmas Cards? Hah! Bah Humbug!

What have we been doing? you ask.

We cleaned out the garage in anticipation of getting the new garage door only to find that because we want a brown one, it is special order. The door guy said they would need 7 feet of clearance into the garage. So we cleaned it out and put stuff in the side yard. Of course, the day after it rained - murphy's law don't you know.

In the process, Father got into a cleaning mode and started throwing out a lot of stuff. When he gets in that mood, I don't stop him. We were able to reach my boxes of books and pulled them all down. I opened one box and recognized nary a book, so this will be fun getting lost in book land for a while. Now I just need a few more bookshelves. Squealing with delight and rubbing my hands together in anticipation - we've had our eyes on a nice set of teak shelves for the living room.

So, it rained. And Sears called. The door is special order because we want brown, so it will be three weeks before they can install. Poor Father spent an afternoon in the rain, putting everything back in the garage. BUT, we have a clean garage and killed about a dozen black widows in the process.

I just finished writing a short term paper of 2000 words or more for my Science and Religion class about
the similarities and differences between scientific models and religious myths and the paper had to include the similarities and differences between the function (purpose, use, value, importance) of models for scientists, and the function (purpose, use, value, importance) of religious myths for adherents. The paper had to include one example of a scientific model and one example of a religious myth. Hey, I thought, this will be easy. I was writing 2000 words or more a day for nanowrimo, I can do this quickly. Silly me. But it is done and submitted. My final is this week and I will be done with this class. Probably will get a B in this class, will be very surprised if I get an A.

We are beginning our two - maybe three week Christmas Vacation from lessons. James is quite delighted.

I continue to work on "Floating on the Surface." 30 days of writing and I have lots of words. Luna is continuing to make sure I get up by 7:00 a.m, so that gives me some time to write before James gets up at 8:00. Now am fleshing out the story, giving my characters more substance and adding detail to the story. The book is not ready for editing or reading by other parties as of yet. I have been doing research on writing and characters and plot and of course, it leads to buying more books about writing and romance and..... its all quite fascinating. Where are those bookshelves?

Well, this just may be the beginning of a 2nd career. Who knew?

Time to put on my favorite Christmas DVD - White Christmas and decorate the tree.





Family Life: Garbage on Fire

This morning's excitement!

"Hey mom, why is the trash in the street? James asks from the living room. Huh! I say, from the kitchen, deep in the middle of writing. He repeats twice and I go to look. Through the morning glories I see a pile o trash. We go outside to this sight. The garbage man is no where to be seen, but one of the neighbors suggest we move the car. Someone from down the street and around the corner had placed fire place ashes in the trash this morning. According to the county guy who got there pretty quickly, the driver is supposed to pull off a main thorough fair and into a side street. Ours was the closest. Lucky us.





















































































They dumped the whole thing in the court, spray and sifted, made sure the fire was out. Reminder to self: Never stand downwind of a burnt garbage truck and smelly garbage.

The county guy said they would send someone out tomorrow to pick up our trash. Neighbor reminded him that our court has jillions of cars driving through to look at christmas lights. Our trash was picked up within the hour, the smiling garbage man managing to maneuver around the pile of trash in the middle of the court.
They sent a scooper to pick it up and a sweeper truck to clean the street.

Now ask me how much we have managed to accomplish in the way of lessons or anything else.



Fun Monday - Post Redux



is hosting this week's fun monday

and it is a redux of our favorite posts.


Since most of us participated in Nablopomo and we are exhausted, I wanted to make this one easy. Since it’s December and most of us are starting to decorate and make things colorful, I too wanted to make things colorful. And lastly, because we are bloggers and consider what we post to be down right hilarious or informative or brainy and we like to showcase ourselves, I wanted to let you do just that!
Take a moment in this last month of 2007 to reflect on the past year. Okay? Done? Now…
In honor of exhaustion, color and self-love, I present you with this week’s assignment. I want you to dig through your blog files and show us your best effort. Why you consider it your best is up to you. C’mon, you know you have a favorite - show it to me one more time.



All I can say is Thank you for something easy after just completing nanowrimo. I lied and can't leave my story alone. I keep adding to it, not ready to edit and remove all those wonderful words I wrote. So a continuing work in progress among lessons, class work, cleaning out the garage, etc. etc. etc.

Favorite posts this year would have to be:
Mom, who is the Easter Bunny
Luna, then

Cookie Monster

That's it for now.....




Writing Life - NaNoWriMo Complete


I DID IT!

I am finished.






I wrote 102,208 words in 30 days and have a complete story. Father was a great influence in telling me I had to get to at least a 100,000 words today and had so many hours before midnight. I was bound and determined, worked all day and finished it just moments ago.

So, now I set it aside for a week or two, to take a break, work on class projects, pay some attention to attention deprived James and Father, before I go back, reread and start to edit. I never imagined in a jillion years that I would accomplish writing a story, a novel in 30 days. So, celebrate with me, have a glass of wine (virtually or real) and do a happy dance.

Fun Monday: Unfinished Projects

Blue Momma from Life in the Fishbowl

is hosting this week and wants to

Unfinished Projects
I want you to show me your......projects. More to the point, I want to see your unfinished projects. I have so many that I really need some reassurance that I'm not the only one. Home improvement projects are what I have in mind, but it you don't have any of those show me any kind of project - needlework, cooking, scrapbooking, etc. You can even show me your spouse if they qualify as a work in process.

And please, I WANT PICTURES!!!! You can talk if you want, but you don't have to. I know since you are all bloggers talk is bound to happen, but I most definitely want to see photos of those unfinished projects.

Gack. Just a few minutes ago, I remembered signing up for this and rushed about. What unfinished projects do I want to share. I have a list as long as my arm, but don't we all. Bathrooms that have been tiled, but the cove forgotten. Walls that need to be repainted.

My husband and son qualify as unfinished projects but they didn't want to cooperate I am an unfinished project: Nanowrimo is over as of november 30th and I am almost finished with the story. I keep wanting to type the final "I LOVE YOU" madly passionate ending and have done so 3 times, but that means skipping the last 1/3 of the story. My dad asked for some excitement in the story, besides all the lovely dovey, finding yourself, discovering God stuff. So, Dad - just for you, I am going to blow something up. You'll just have to wait til I'm done writing the story to find out what it is. You sparked my imagination literally. :)

Household unfinished projects:













Horrors: the garage door for which my parents gave us a big check 2 or 3 years ago to replace. We will be having it done soon. Father and I looked at each other this weekend while putting up Christmas Lights on the fence and said together: It's time, lets call Sears.











What's inside the garage door. Hey at least I have a pathway up the middle. Half the stuff came out of Father's office when we redid it last year and didn't make it back in.








Boxes o' books from my pre - marriage days, that are still waiting to be unpacked and shelved. I miss my books and have forgotten what most are. Once the boxes are opened, I won't have to go to the bookstore for another year or be embarrassed by multiple UPS deliveries in one week from Amazon. Maybe!











Christmas Lights. No choice. They must be up by December 1st or the neighbors will form a firing squad and attack. We have one of THOSE neighborhoods.





Last but not least, I have to share a finished project. We redid Father's office a while back. It was left to festered and things piled up, once again. Anything Father's went in and didn't come out. The piles got higher and the mess got messier. He decided it was time and attacked! He finished it just prior to Thanksgiving. I am very proud of him. A very clean, functional office. Now he can get back to drawing schematics, soldering circuit boards and testing whatever electronics things you test.




Family Life: Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving

The last few days have been quite busy. Wednesday was my 48th birthday. Father came home early and cooked a lovely lamb dinner. Father and James gave me Mary Poppins Movie, The Mary Poppins Companion book (which James picked out all by himself) and Father gave me the new Mercedes Lackey book. He really does know me. He saw it in the store and he said "that the one to get her." I had not mentioned I wanted the book, and I guess all the Mercedes Lackey books in my bookshelves stirred a memory. I was quite surprised. My parents gave me a very generous check and my sister gave me Scarlet by Lawhead and Self Editing for Fiction Writers.

I got myself in trouble as soon as I started to read Self Editing. I began editing my words as worked on "floating on the surface. " I slowed down to think about the structure, instead of the story. Slapped myself across the face a few times and reminded myself "NO EDITING. YET!" Things flowed a little better. The story is coming along and I have given myself the goal to finish it by November 30th. Then I will go back edit, flesh out the story some more and polish it up. Father wants me to submit it to at least three publishers and even if I get a reject letter, I would have accomplished writing a novel.

So, back to Wednesday night. Father stayed up late brining the turkey. I forgot to buy some bottled water and he spent the majority of time filtering water through the brita which took up a lot of time. The turkey turned out to be delicious. We had a quiet thanksgiving with just the three of us. I was able to work on my book, James played on the computer doing flight simulator and John finally finished his office. He threw out a lot of old equipment that had been gathering dust in the garage and cleaned up his office. It's usefull now, instead of being a catchall. Yeah!

Father's brother and his family came by for a visit Friday night. A fun time was had by all and we enjoyed getting together.

This weekend we will be working on putting up the christmas lights, I will be working on my story some more, planning next weeks lessons, and working on my class work.


Excerpt from Floating on the Surface

“Shall we say Grace?” he said reaching for her hand. She held his hand and bowed her head as he said a prayer over the food “Lord, thank you for this food and may it nourish our bodies, help Samantha feel better and give us both strength. Amen” Benjamin started to eat and Samantha just had to ask a question because she was dying of curiosity.
She looked at him “With as much” she stopped feeling herself blushing again, “um, passion as you seem to have for” she hesitated because she was going to say me but decide to be safe “for life, how on earth did you ever think of becoming a priest? I can just imagine the poor ladies in the congregation having to go to confession weekly because they would be lusting after you in mass.”
Benjamin cracked up laughing and Samantha started to eat, trying to ignore the butterflies in her stomach. “Oh, this is delicious” she said after taking a bite. Benjamin agreed and they concentrated on eating. After a few minutes Benjamin spoke “So, you really think the ladies would have been lusting after me in the pulpit?”
Samantha had just taken a drink and nearly spit out the soda all over the table. She started coughing and he patted her on the back. When she had recovered, she looked at him incredulous “Have you not looked in a mirror lately?”
“Yes, but..” He looked truly perplexed and she couldn’t help but smile."

Family Life - Luna Report

Luna has been growing and she is now 6 1/2 months old.

Then at 2 months














Now - One relaxed cat.





Homeschool and NaNoWriMo

God is my muse !

This week we did formal lessons on Monday and Tuesday, then took the rest of the week off. In the scheme of things, this week falls on my 3 weeks on / 1 week off schedule, however since we are off next week for my birthday and the thanksgiving holiday, I decided to power through and do lesson. I had planned for the whole week but didn't accomplish that. Why not? you ask. Well, ideas for the story I am writing bloomed and I wrote pretty much non stop for a couple days. Oh, we stopped for meals and Mom, I need attention breaks.

I have a Fall season picture on my desktop from unityonline that is of a road leading into the countryside and it is lined with trees, the leaves have all turned color and leaves are strewn all over the place. The saying is " divine guidance directs me on my path. I am wise with the wisdom of spirit. I read that saying every day and every time I get onto my computer. I have to say God is my muse! Divine guidance is leading me and hopefully that will be reflected in the story.

I have meet the 50000 word mark - YEEHAW! But, am only halfway through the story. The goal of the story is to convert Samantha to Catholic and and a couple days ago I only had her about 15% of the way there. After thinking about it for a while, I realized she needed to be a lot closer in order for the story to progress and include much richer content, rather than her angst about where is going and what is she going to do. So instead of sending her to several different churches, there are backflashes of her telling about experiences she has had at different churches. So, I went back and fleshed out a bit more of the story, bringing her up to 75% of the way there, and the story made more sense.

Without giving away the whole story, suffice it so say, the two main characters are falling in love, but don't realize it yet. Have strong passionate feelings for each other, but won't be acting upon those feelings. He has made it clear they can not act on their passion outside of marriage and he can't marry anyone who isn't catholic. So, no pressure on her, right? LOL! The male lead made a choice between becoming a priest or doing he feels loves the most - sculpting.

My imagination has taken flight and I am really enjoying this. Luna has taken it upon herself to by my alarm clock and waking me up every morning at 6:30. So I am getting a lot done.

Excerpt from Floating on the Surface:

"First Kellie tells me about Proverbs, then Dad. Then, here’s an even more weird coincidence. I went with a couple friends over to the Episcopalian church and their priest, pastor, whatever they are called, comes to me after mass and says God wants you to read Proverbs.” Benjamin laughed and shook his head as she continued “If I hadn’t had the dream and Dad hadn’t said anything, I would have just taken him for a kook. But I couldn’t. I hadn’t read proverbs in forever, so had completely forgotten what it said. We went back to their house and read the first part about proverbs which explains it is for the instruction of wisdom. I felt like I was being hit in the middle of head with a two by four. So, what do you make of all this?” She asked.

“Well, number one, I think you need to study proverbs and I guess that is where I come in. There is something you should know.” He stood up and crouched before her taking both her hands in his. Resting his elbows on the bench he took a deep breath, hesitating. She looked at him, her eyes searching his face, perplexed. “What?” Suddenly she realized what he was going to say “Oh, don’t tell me. Do you have a message for me about proverbs as well?” He looked at her very intently, his eyes probing hers with great intensity. “You tell me. My theology dissertation…was an in depth study of the Books of Wisdom which includes Proverbs.”

Samantha’s jaw dropped and she drew in a ragged breath. She felt like she had just been punched in the stomach and tried to pull away her hands, but he was holding them firmly in his and wouldn’t let go, preventing her from moving.


She closed her eyes tightly and took several deep breaths. “Oh, for crying out loud, this is just, just… ” She could feel herself getting upset and felt like she was babbling and tried to form a coherent sentence. She absolutely hated being out of control and she was not in control of this, whatever it was.


“Samantha.” He shook one of her hands. “Samantha, look at me.”


She looked at him questioningly and shook her head, flustered and frowned “Why this? I just……”


“Shh. Shh. Take a deep breath and listen to me! Samantha looked at him and he was studying her very intently, still holding her hands tightly. “You are as white as a ghost, so just sit there and listen to me. This must have been what Kellie meant when she said you were searching. I thought she meant something else entirely,” he said sheepishly, as if he were trying to distract her. “But seriously, you asked for wisdom, prayed for wisdom and God is answering your prayers. What’s the saying ‘you better be careful what you pray for, because you will get it. Your prayers might not be answered in the way you expected and you have to be open to whatever answer God gives us.

The Holy Spirit moves in mysterious ways and it is not up to us to question, but to follow and learn. You are used to leading, being in control. Now it is God’s turn and He is impressing on your heart in a big way. However much you want to control this. You can’t.” His voice become more husky with the intensity of his words. “this, you, me, God, must be the reason he called me home. You asked for wisdom, baby, well HE is damn sure you are going to get it. While I was in France, I prayed to God for wisdom and asked Him to open my eyes to his will, to use me for his will! It says in Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpeneth iron, so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

I am here now because God wanted me to be here, In this place, at this time. He stopped, looking down a moment, took a deep breath and looked back up at her as if he had just realized something “I asked Him to use me,” he whispered and paused; then said “use me.”

Family Life - Morning Glory

Morning Glory

We were snug in our bed when Luna gave us a stinky wake up call around 6:30. I moved the litter box out of the room, sprayed with room deodorizer and left my husband trying to go back to sleep. I sleepily puttered about the kitchen preparing my breakfast. When I sat down to eat, glanced out to the window to see:




Thank you God for early wake up calls that allow me to witness the glory of the sun rising and the beautiful picture you painted just for me.



Writing Life - NaNoWriMo Update - 33,000 words!

Nanowrimo update: 33,000 words and counting !!!!!!

SmileyCentral.com

I started writing this morning and just couldn't stop. I typed 5000 words today and put my main character through the emotional wringer. Finally introduced her to Benjamin and he just makes her heart beat so much faster and he is such an intense person. He fit in to the coincidences of God telling her to study Proverbs and sent the poor girl into a tail spin. I had so much fun writing today. Of course, I did take time out to do lessons with James, make and have lunch and dinner. Hubby didn't get home until 8:00 and james was content and amusing himself. Tomorrow is another day.







Fun Monday: Mother May I

Fun Monday is being hosted by rooten, tooten,






MOTHER MAY I

Now before we begin, here are the directions from "Mother Anni"--
[Hope no one thought you were crazy enough to put you in "the suit", or a rubber room while experimenting with this! :o)]

- 30 GIANT STEPS - IN ANY direction. You may have to make a few turns and pivots so you won't run into any walls or such...don't want any injuries today! WARNING: Avoid any obstacles in the way- if there's a door...open it & continue, if there is a wall...pivot AROUND it. You may end up outdoors! Or perhaps if a small apartment....down the hallway....who knows?!! :::thinking::: "Oh gawd, if there's a pool at the end of your thirty steps, I sure as H E double L hope you can swim!!!!"

After the 30 giant steps, Stop!
TAKE A PHOTO AND/OR NOTE WHAT YOU'RE SEEING!!
Then, take 15 baby steps back.
After the 15 baby steps, Stop!
TAKE A PHOTO AND/OR NOTE WHAT YOU'RE SEEING
LOOK in any direction -to your right, left, up [more than likely, not down ---that'd be your feet!!]. What you see is what we get!!
Stop!
It's all about your first glance after the giant/baby steps!!! [You will have two photos/stories for us- the 30 giant steps then, the 15 baby steps going back]


While dear Father was at work and James was absorbed in a television show, I performed Hootin's Annie's request. Starting from my desktop computer in the kitchen I took about 5 giant steps forward, turned right into the hallway and ended up on step 15 in my master bedroom, by the patio door. We have a small house. I opened up the door and stepped out - into the rain. Well, drizzle actually. Turning left, 15 more giant steps took me from the patio, down our back sidewalk where I ended up in the middle of the backyard.

Before me:


behind me:


the white dots, by the way, rain on my camera lens!

Then, 15 baby steps back:

Before me:


and behind me:



I stood in silence for a few minutes, rain drops failing on my face. Then tromped back inside through my bedroom patio door, trailing wonderful bits of leaves and dirt and realized the hem of my sweat pants where soaked, I was cold and now I needed to vacuum the carpet. But, for those few moments, It all became worth the extra work. Thank you, Hootin' Anni for helping me to appreciate my backyard, rather than taking it for granted. It thanks you and I thank you.







Homeschool Weekly Report




We are doing school light for the month of November while I am doing Nanowrimo. For more info on nano, scroll down below this post. This week we accomplished everything on our list, plus James enjoyed doing Iknowthat.com on the internet. Wonderful educational sight and he is improving his math skills with the Leon Math Stories.

Devotions: discussed love, wrote and memorized 1 Corinthian 13:8 Love Never Fails.

Lord Teach Me to Pray: Finished the section on Pledging our Allegiance and discussing the 2nd line in the Our Father.

English: Completed Lessons 17 and 18 Writing our Answers and Changing word order in making sentences.

Spelling: Completed Lesson 17 and learned all about Syllables. Besides completing the work book, on Daddy day had Father test him by having James write all the words and circle which ones had two syllables.

Math: He is in Unit 4 and working on basic facts, sums through 10

How to Write A Story: All about being creative and looking at pictures and seeing how many things you can think of when you look at a picture. Also modification, which was just basically doodling, which James never does. The task was to take a specific doodle shape out of the book and modify it. James created a feather out one doodle and in the process created some new brain cells. He had never doodled before and didn't think he could do it. He was quite pleased with himself.

Energy, Forces and Motion: he and Father read all about Nuclear Power and discussed it.

F.I.A.R: James and Father read Wee Gillis together and discussed. They looked up Scotland in the Encyclopedia. They also got into Blah,Blah,Blah conversations. In the story, it shows the adults in the story talking to other people, besides Wee Gillis but didn't include the conversations in the story. So Father decided to turn it into blah,blah,blah conversations. When I got home from work Thursday, instead of words, they were blah, blah,blahing with a lot of gestures. It was silly and fun


Writing Life: Story progress

I have been diligently getting up every morning between 6:30 to 7:00 and working on the story until 10:00. Characters and story lines keep changing as the writing proceeds. Initially the love interest, Adam was going to be a 4th grade teacher, new to the area. He has morphed into a sculptor and the brother of Father Andrew and Sister Mary Margaret. Father thinks I should change his name. I need a good name that reflects a sculptor - and matches the picture of his character.

My imaginary curriculum has changed to real classical since I discovered several real catholic churches and especially one in Texas who are actually used Well Trained Mind and all its recommendations including story of the world to teach the students. I will actually base the class on that and might change the titles, I don't know. They say, write what you know.

I finally finished the first day in my characters story and tomorrow, we will see what that brings. It is the week before school and has meetings with all the parents of her kids. I was thinking about it on the way home and this is really going to turn into a long term project. I may have 50000 words by the end of November, but doubt I will be near the end of the story. Have never considered myself a writer, but guess what - I'm writing a novel. Not just a story, a novel. I'm have surprised myself, Father too. He has enjoyed reading what I have written so far and has been giving helpful feedback and descriptions when I am at a loss on how to write something.

Another Excerpt from "Floating on the Surface:

At the end of the service, Father Johnson made a few announcements, then made what Samantha thought were puzzling statements. “I have some messages that I have been asked, practically pestered about” he said with a smile, “that I need to pass on. He was quite insistent about it and very nearly distracted me from my sermon. Henrietta? Where are you?
A young woman who looked to be in her late twenties stood up. “Here I am Father, what is it? She asked with a puzzled expression.
“The answer – He says not yet, be patient. It will happen.”
The girl looked at him a moment or two. Then something suddenly dawned on her and she said “OH!” in a surprised voice. “You mean! Uh! Okay! Thank you,” and quickly sat down, red faced. Samantha saw her mouth I’ll tell you later to the man sitting next to her. “Samantha!
Samantha was very surprised to hear her name called and thought is was someone else in the service, who had the same name. It couldn’t possibly be her. She looked at Sandy and Danni and the boys started giggling. “Does he mean me?” she asked.
“Samantha? She must be a visitor because I don’t recall knowing any Samantha’s. I hope you are here. Would you please stand up?
Sandi made a gesture with her hand motioning for her to stand up. “He does mean you! Stand up” she whispered. Samantha stood up slowly, very perplexed and the people around her stifled laughter at her expression.
“Um, Hello Father, I’m Samantha.”
“Oh, there you are. Thank goodness. Come see me after the service, dear.” The parishioners let out a collective groan as they were all quite curious what message Father had for her and now weren’t going to get to know.
She said “yes, sir” and sat down. “Do you have any idea what that is about? she asked the two ladies. Sandi and Danni both shrugged their shoulders, while the boys continued to giggle and whispered a chant “You got a message, You got a message.” Sandi gave the boys a stern look and told them to be quiet and said “Don’t have a clue, but we’ll find out in a few minutes.”
The closing song began and Samantha recognized it right away. It was On Eagles wings. I love this song, she thought as she sang the words to the refrain
‘and He will raise you up on eagle’s wings, bear you on the breath of dawn, make you to shine line the son, and hold you in the palm of his hand.’
The song suddenly took on a whole new meaning after her dream. Once father Johnson exited the church and the song ended, they filed out of the pew and went outside. Dannie introduced Samantha to Father Johnson.
“Ah, yes my dear. So nice to meet you. Proverbs! then just stood there silently look at her with an smile as if expecting her to completely understand.


Writing Life: NaNoWriMo Progress - 13562 Words

NaNoWriMO

The story is actually progressing quite well and I have managed to write 13562 words and am still in my character's first day. I have taken her from waking up at 6:30 in the morning to just about to eat dinner. Who knew I could be so verbose. LOL! I have gone back a couple times and expanded some scenes, but need to concentrate on turning off my internal editor and write instead. I can edit as much as I want when this is over. Here is another snippet of the story

Background: Samantha's dad is a baptist preacher and every Sunday he emails her with a copy of his sermon for the day.

EXCERPT:


“Hi honey, hope you are having a restful Sunday. This is the sermon I gave today and it seemed to make several people squirm. I have a habit of doing that – making people uncomfortable, getting under their skin and making them think.
Yesterday evening while I was sitting down on the dock by the lake fishing, I saw a bald eagle fly high overhead kiting on the wind currents. It descended gracefully and gradually, but seemed to be getting faster as it circled the lake. I sat quietly and very still watching as the eagle swooped down, caught a fish in its talons and flew off. Did you know that the eagle’s eye sight is so sharp, it can see a fish swimming in the water or a rabbit in a field, from 2 miles away? It was one of the largest eagles I had ever seen, so beautiful and majestic. The eagle has always been a symbol of power and majesty and there are many verses in the bible that reflect that.
I thought of a couple passages:
Deuteronomy 32:11-13
“11 As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:
12 So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him. 13 He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock”
And Exodus 19:4 says “Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and
how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.

I thought about how an eagle’s nest is usually set up very high in a rocky outcropping or a tree where no other animals may reach it. When the baby eagles are born they are basically helpless relying 100% on the mother for sustenance for the first fifty to one hundred days or so. They first learn to fly by hovering over their nest and then, the mother eagle encourages them to fly beyond the reach of the nest by dangling food just outside their reach. If the eaglets won’t leave the nest, the mother will actually push them out of the nest, but will fly below them and catch them should they falter.
As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings”
Isn’t that powerful imagery? God cares for us much like the eagle: feeding, caring and leading us. He gives us the strength and wisdom to live our lives. Then he pushes us out of the nest, giving us the freedom to fly, yet we know he will be there to catch us. You. Me. Everyone. Allowing us to rest within his arms, his wings so to speak, bearing us up if we should fall. We only have to trust him, same as the eaglets trusting the mother eagle to take care of them and provide all their food, teach them to fly and catch them if they fall.
I’ll be honest with you. There have been times when I have walked away from God, knowingly or unknowingly, I am not sure. I just know that I didn’t feel his presence anymore and wondered why he left me. I realized how comfortable I had become in our relationship and started taking him for granted. I didn’t talk to him as often as I should or didn’t rely on his wisdom and strength in a moment of crisis. I took the yoke upon myself and thought I could fly on my own. Life seemed to get harder, difficult. I wasn’t as happy and found myself getting irritated with people and things that happened in everyday life. I was discontent.
I can see several of you nodding your heads in agreement and even a few of you squirming. You know what I am talking about. He never left me. I left him. And He quietly sat back and watched, waiting to see what would happen. Waiting, patiently. Like a mother or father who has to step back and let their children make their own mistakes. Why do we let our children make their own mistakes instead of preventing it? They have to learn. But, just like parents, He knows when to step in to provide guidance and correction. You may feel a prickle at the back of your mind of something you have forgotten and need to remember what it is. You may suddenly have an encounter with another person, who mentions a bible verse or song. You may have a dream that is so vivid, so real; it could only be telling you something. You may have an experience where you see something amazing. What I call God Moments! A moment in which God speaks to your heart and impresses upon you something he wants you to know. I had a God moment yesterday evening while watching the eagle. I had written a much different sermon a couple days ago but watching the eagle and the thoughts it provoked caused me to rewrite it.
It is in those moments, that you begin the journey back to him. Flying back to rest on his wings, his strength, his wisdom. I will leave you with this thought from Isaiah 40:31
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
After the service, I had several people come up to thank me for and let me know I had really spoke to their hearts. I reminded them that it was God speaking through me and he was talking to their hearts. I asked them to consider if this was a God Moment for them. The Morrisey’s came to me and acknowledged that they had heard my words and it gave them a kick in the seat of the pants. They asked what they should do to strengthen their bond with God. I thought of several passages from proverbs
3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. I reminded them to trust god and remember to let him be in charge and he will show you the way.
16:3 Commit your works to the Lord and your thoughts will be established. I assured them that if they let God be in charge of anything they did, then their plans would work out for good.
16:9 A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.
I told them that according to that they could make all the plans they wanted, but God is the one who decides what we will do. They really took that to heart and thanked me. I offered to pray with them, but they felt uncomfortable with that and weren’t really ready to discuss what was bothering them.
I had one of those strong God moments this morning from the Holy Spirit and wouldn’t go away. It was about you. The thought was that you need to reread proverbs, plus read Psalm 1. Don’t know why and I have stopped questioning the holy spirits intent when He impresses such a strong need on me to tell someone something. So, study proverbs and you just may learn something new and see what Psalm 1 means to you now. It is time for me to sign off. Your mother is sending you an email about family happenings and you should be getting it sometime today. We are off to play Golf with the Jaspers. Love ya. Dad."


Writing Life: National Novel Writing Month

National Novel Writing Month

Wednesday night I hardly slept. All night I was writing the story in my head and just couldn't wait until morning came. I finally fell asleep and woke up around 7:15, lay there a few minutes and climbed out of bed about 7:30. Got dressed and went into the kitchen to make breakfast. James heard me clinking about and got up. "What are you doing up, its not 8:00 yet" he asks. I have the kid well trained not to come into my room before 8:00 a.m. in the morning, so he doesn't expect me to be up before then. 

 I told him (again) about nanowri and that would be working on the story in the mornings and I planned on getting up earlier to do that. We had breakfast, got him settled with a movie in the living room and started typing. Because I had already thought out much of what I wanted to say, didn't need to write it down. I found the story flowing and inventing itself as I typed. I managed to complete 2000 words before Father got up for the day. It was my day to work and knew wouldn't have the opportunity to work on the story at the shop. It was very hectic yesterday at the shop with a million phone calls and customers picking up their units.

This morning, I was awake and ready to get up at 7:00 a.m. Hmmm! Hopefully James will still be fast asleep and I will have a few peaceful minutes to myself in which to write. I grabbed Luna, got dressed and went out to the kitchen. While fixing breakfast, Father suddenly appears. He NEVER gets up before 9:30. "What are you doing up?" I ask.

"I woke up and you weren't there" he says and gives me a hopeful smile. I tell him for the umpteenth time that I will be getting up earlier so I can write in peace. Kissed him and told him to go back to bed. I finish my breakfast and start writing. Find after a few minutes that know what want to say so switch to typing the story. It flows well and around 8:30 realize that James hasn't gotten up yet. Get him up and make his breakfast.

"Aren't you eating" he asks.

"I already ate, honey, I have been up since 7:00"

"You aren't supposed to have breakfast without me. That isn't fair."

I go back to my story and he finishes breakfast. He gets on the desktop computer to amuse himself until Father gets up. By the time Father gets up I have completed another 2100 words - Yeah! So far I have 4147 and have only gotten through half of my characters first day. It is taking me 2 to 3 hours to write 2000 words so I think this is going to work well. Now, I just need to get my guys with the program. I think you can tell they definitely are not used to changes in our routine and it takes a few times of telling them for it to sink through.

Husbandly concerns:

Father doesn't have any problem with it as long as "it doesn't take up any of our together time" He was grumbling about my getting up so early this morning and taking time away from him. I told him to get used to it and I wasn't taking any time away from him because he is SLEEPING.

The other concern: "what about your school work." Told him no problem, I have got it all scheduled.

Still concerned: "who or what are you going to be shorting on to do this?" You would have thought he would have voiced all these concerns before I started this, right!!!

I assured him that no one was going to get shorted on and the only THINGS I was giving up was TV and limited my time on the internet. It is very easy to get lost in blogland for several hours if you aren't careful.


I changed the title of the story to: Floating on the surface. I will only be blogging excerpts of the story, If you put the whole story on the blog, that is tantamount to publishing the story. So, if I ever hope to or choose to get the story looked at for publishing, will have a chance. The post below has the first excerpt.

Writing Life: Excerpt from WIP One

Excerpt from  WIP-1

"The sunlight filtered through the curtains, chasing away the shadows in the room. Samantha’s 6 month old kitten watched the dust motes floating in the stream of sunlight with interest. After a couple minutes, she started swatting at the dust. When she grew weary of playing with the dust motes, she climbed up to the pillow and gently prodded at Samantha’s head which was barely showing beneath the covers.
Samantha burrowed into the comforter, deep asleep in the midst of a dream. Chloe curled up beside her and went back to sleep.
In her dream, she watched as colorful leaves of yellow, orange, purple and brown swirled through the air, the trees rustling in the wind. One multiple colored leaf came in to view as it floated on the currents of the wind, back and forth until it landed in a fast moving stream. The stream carrying the leaf, bobbing up and down in the water, flowing here and there with the currents. The leaf went over a mini waterfall into a pond, pushed by the currents to the middle of the pond where the water was still. The leaf bobbed gently up and down in the water before coming to a complete stop. It floated in the middle of the pond, the still water holding it in a watery embrace for a long time, floating on the surface. Suddenly, a rock was thrown into the water by an unseen force; whether a bird dropped it or a person threw it, she couldn’t tell. The ripples of the water moved the leaf over near the other side of the pond. A hand reached down and picked up the leaf, cupping it in the palm and watching as it dried. The leaf was lifted and thrown back up into the air and caught by the currents of the wind. It flew higher and higher disappearing into the sun filled sky. A voice said “I will catch you when you fall.”

Homeschool Weekly Report





Studied James 4:8
Come Close to God. Then he will come close to you.











Pledging our Allegiance. Studying in depth the second sentence in the OUR FATHER.

"Your Kingdom Come"

and what allegiance means.








Finished Unit 3
Minuends through 10
Yeah!










Completed Lesson 16
Adding ing















Completed Unit 1
Lesson 16 and 17














James and Father read about Radioactivity and discussed.










On Wednesday, lessons didn't get done because Tuesday night the check engine light went on in my car. I took in it at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday and sat around the waiting room for almost two and half hours until they came out to tell me the O2 sensor was bad and needed to be replaced to the tune of $300.00 This just happened to be something that was missed a month ago when I had almost $2000.00 worth of work done on the car because the radiator sprung a leak and numerous other maintenance issues - all legitimate had to be dealt with. So I waited another 1 1/2 hours while they did the work. Fortunately I had brought "Hood" by Stephen Lawhead with me and enjoyed reading, while waiting. I got home about 1:45 and Father took off for work at 2:00. I cleaned out two pumpkins and carved faces in them. We had an early dinner and waited for it to get dark so James could go out trick or treating. Father arrived home at 7:30 and out we went.




James dressed as Superman and every one got a big kick out of outfit. We went to the houses we knew in the neighbor and were done in about an hour. Returned home and watched "It's a Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" while handing out candy to trick or treaters. They stopped coming around 8:30 and we blew out the candles in the pumkins, closed the gate and turned off the lights. Finally got James into bed around 9:30, but of course, he was wired from all the excitement. I'm not quite sure when he fell asleep, but I dropped into bed around 11:30.

News of the Day: Daylight Savings Pushed Back One Week

Surprise! Daylight Saving Pushed

Back One Week by 2005 Energy Conservation Act

If you turned your clocks back one hour one hour Sunday morning thinking it was the annual move back to Standard Time, all you succeeded in doing was moving into a new time zone.
The move from Daylight Saving Time to Standard Time doesn't happen this year until the first Sunday in November, instead of the usual last Sunday in October.
That means computer software, cellphones and other electronic equipment that is programmed to automatically change will have to be manually reset Monday morning back to Daylight Saving Time, then changed back one hour next Sunday.
President Bush in 2005 signed the Energy Conservation Act, which pushed back the time change in an effort to squeeze just a little more daylight — and a bit of energy savings — into the daily lives of Americans.
The legislation also changed the "spring forward" to Daylight Saving Time, which next year will be on March 9.
Government estimates place the overall energy savings at just over 1 percent.

I was aware of this and didn't change my clocks. My laptop adjusted the time and confused me for all of an hour before realizing what the problem was.

However, my body and mind which has been programmed these past 40 years to the time change, felt like the time had changed. I was having that jet lag feeling you get with the time change and we were all so tired yesterday. It really felt like we had already changed the clocks.

How weird is that!

Fun Monday: Security Blankets

Fun Monday #39

hosted by Candid Karina
“I want to see your security blankets. No, not the kind Linus carries around with him in the Charlie Brown cartoons, although, if you have one of those, by all means share it. What I want to see are the items you just cannot leave home without. What is it that if you leave your house without, you feel naked, incomplete, not quite right? This can be one thing or many things. And since most of us don't live in a clothing optional society, lets just assume we all leave the house fully dressed...I want to hear about those other things...the extras. The things that make women's purses so heavy and men's pockets so messy (I'm going to get grief for this one, aren't I?) What can't you leave home without? Show us pictures, tell us stories...have fun!”


Well, of course I can’t leave the house without my purse, but you don't need to see a picture of that. Would feel naked without it, plus has all the essentials of life that keep you from getting arrested such as a driver’s license and insurance card.
What is in that purse that is essential to me and can’t leave home without?
Well now that I am over 40 and suffer from the eyes are going, hands are dried out and lips feel like a prune syndrome, must have the “cheaters”, Aveeno hand lotion and Vaseline (get your mind out of the gutter). The phone is for emergencies only, but feel naked without it. Money is always important to have and yes, I still carry cash. Of course, the keys – can’t go anywhere at all without them. The rest is unremarkable or non mentionable.


Book Reviews: Fall Into Reading Challenge

The fall into reading challenge is progressing and a little more than 1/3 over. Have finished half of the books planned and have been making adjustments along the way, adding and deleting books. I did read the whole Twilight Trilogy based on other challengers reviews and suggestions but decided not to do reviews on them.

I recently started reading Terry Brooks Genesis of Shannara: The Elves of Cintra and discovered that just couldn't get into it; too dark and bleak and depressing. So, setting it aside and will read it another time. (Maybe) Also going to set aside Bodie Thoene's A River Runs Free and the non fiction book The Other Parent.

Found 3 interesting books at Berean's and decided to add them to the challenge. I seem to be veering toward and enjoying reading books by Christian authors lately.

A new one by young adult author Wayne Thomas Batson called Isle of Swords. He is the author of the The Door Within Trilogy which totally captivated me and I enjoy his writing. The description according to Christianbooks.com: "Swashbuckling drama on the high seas! When a young boy awakens on an island, alone and injured with no memory of his past, his adventure is only beginning. What will he face next? Ruthless pirates, raging battles, a rumbling volcano, and sea creature slithering in the deep! "

Stephen Lawhead's Hood, book 1 of the King Raven Trilogy looks quite interesting. Lawhead redoes the story of Robin Hood . According to Christianbooks.com: "An epic of Robin Hood, the "prince of thieves"! Lawhead spins the tale of the merry outlaw---in this telling, he's from Wales, not England's Sherwood Forest---in a far more earthy, eerie, and elemental way than ever before."


And more of a light hearted read by Cathy Marie Hake; Bittersweet which is described by Christianbooks.com as "Laney McCain believes that all of her years of pining after Galen O'Sullivan might finally pay off as he starts to notice the woman that she's become. Squatters on Galen's land divert his attention from Laney's wooing, however. Galen shows mercy to siblings Ishmael and Ivy Grubb, allowing them to stay on the land in return for help around the farm, despite their crass language and behavior and uneducated ways. The arrival of the Grubbs disrupts more than Laney's plans, throwing life as she knows it into turmoil, but allowing for Christian grace and forgiveness to enter into lives that need it the most."
I am almost finished with "What the Bleep do we Know" and will have a review done before November 1st. Also started reading "Holy Yoga" but that is one that will take some time to read and absorb. Really need to get back into doing the treadmill and Yoga, so will have to work that into my schedule.