Still Walkin' On Sunshine

What an excellent writing day I had today!  All four thousand words, my quota, just seemed to spill out onto the computer screen--I watched the action unfold in my imagination and then simply wrote down what I saw.

Bernicie and I had two walks, one in the morning and one this afternoon, when I'd finished my pages.  The weather is cold but otherwise completely glorious, and the walks have turned into my prayer time. 

I plan to spend at least some of the evening downstairs, in my craft room, which no longer looks like a blurb for "Hoarding: Buried Alive", thanks to Debbie Korrell, Nicole Clark and Chris, who tries his best to keep chaos in check.  :)

Mom and I enjoyed a birthday lunch on Saturday, at Red Lobster, which is one of our very faves.  I set aside the D.I.E.T. and had some of those amazing cheese biscuits.  Yum.  Mom looked mighty snazzy, all dressed up in her red coat and red shoes, and the wait staff gathered around to sing a round of Happy Birthday.  I conducted, instead of singing.  :)

Wendy had a nice birthday yesterday--she and Jeremy were planning to whip up a special sea food dinner at home.  What a lucky woman I am, to have her for a daughter.

And that's the news.

More tomorrow, though whether I'll blog in the morning or the afternoon is anybody's guess.  Either way, I hope you'll stop by.

The Best Day of My Life

February 6 is the anniversary of the very best day of my life--the day I gave birth to my (okay, 'our', but her dad and I have been divorced for years)--daughter, Wendy Diane.

Wendy is: smart, funny, beautiful and amazingly talented as both a writer and a singer.  Her screenplay, "Truth Below", was shown on MTV last year and of course that makes me proud, but there are many more "ordinary" reasons to be proud of Wens, too.  Her deeply gentle love for animals, for instance, goes back to earliest childhood--how well I remember how she sobbed at her hamster's funeral.  (He was buried in a Ziploc.)  

I hear tell that adult children don't like to have stories told about them on blogs, so I will desist.  :)

Suffice it to say, I won the daughter lottery on February 6, 19--, and I won in a big way.

I love you, Weniki.

Another Good Writing Day!

YES!  I'm rollin', ladies and gentlemen.  "Big Sky Mountain" is flowing like a river.

Looks like I won't be going to France for that art workshop in September, though.  It was cancelled, and I figure this must be one of those times when God has a better idea.  :)  (This happens a lot, obviously.)

This weekend, I'll be taking Mom out to lunch, as I've already mentioned, and doing some art work.  No matter how tight the deadline, I seem to need those two days to let the engines idle. 

Bernice and I will probably be going out for our walk in a few minutes--I washed my hair this morning we all know what awful things can happen if we got out into the cold with wet heads.  :)  So, lest I wind up with a rose in my teeth, murmuring my last words in the pnuemonia ward, I'll wait.  (See, Mom, I did listen.  Mostly.)

I'm thinking of having my house Feng Shui-ed.  Have any of you ever done that?  What were your results?

Hope you have a good weekend, my friends.

I'll see you on Monday.

Intermittent Sunshine

And I'll take any sunshine I can get!  :)

Yesterday was SUCH a good writing day--I can hardly wait to get back to the book.  I won't pretend it's been easy to get this one rolling, but the story touches me very deeply, and I hope it will touch you as well.  It's called "Big Sky Mountain" and it's the second book in my Parable, Montana series, following "Big Sky Country."

Mom and I are going out to lunch on Saturday--a belated celebration for her birthday.  We always have a good time together, and I'm looking forward to the visit.

The gardening catalogs are starting to arrive, and I'm getting the itch to raise another container garden on my deck.  I skipped it last year, but it's time to try again.

I'm listening to a great book recommended by my friend Debbie Macomber--it's called "The Circle Maker", by Mark Batterson, and the subject is the power of prayer.  Very good material.

Not much time for art these days, but I've got some backgrounds ready for two new batches of artist trading cards. 

Lastly, my new website will be up soon.  Very cool.

And that, for today, is the news from the Triple L.

Happy Birthday, Edith

Your card is in the mail.  No, really.  :)

It's a rainy Wednesday morning here in old Spokaloo, as we locals affectionately refer to the place.  Just the right kind of day for writing.

I had a great writing day yesterday, and Bernicie and I managed a good walk.  We spotted moose tracks in the snow, huge ones, but fortunately did not encounter Bullwinkle 'in person'.  :)  What am I thinking?  I had a fierce Yorkie along to defend me--just ask her.  She's always chasing off wild turkeys, lest they storm the house and take us all captive.

Still listening to the Daily Audio Bible on iTunes.  Brian reads from a different translation of the Bible each week, and I enjoy his messages and powerful prayers after the reading.  The app is free, if you think you might be interested.  If you're not interested :), that's okay, too.  I like to pass on things I enjoy.

On the art front, I found something cool, Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plates.  You smear them with acrylic paint and then press paper onto them and lift, so the color stays behind, the idea being to use layers, different paints and textures, etc.  I haven't had time to try them out yet, but you can bet I will soon.  Art is my therapy--I use it to decompress.

At the end of May I'll be attending the CREATE Retreat, in Irvine, California, and I'm so excited.  Finally, I get to take classes from Laurie Mika, polymer clay artist extraordinaire.  I simply LOVE her work.  Looking forward to that and hustling to get plenty of writing done beforehand, so I can concentrate in the workshops.  September will find me in Durfort, France, studying with Lynne Perrella and Lisa Renning.  If I've already regaled you with all this, forgive me, please.  I'm just YEEHAW excited!

More tomorrow.  Be well and, as always, be kind.  Folks are having a tough time out there, and a smile and a warm word can make all the difference.