Once upon a time, in the middle of July, a writer girl hopped on a train in her purple chucks and went to a big city with her husband to celebrate her birthday.
First, they entered a grand place called Union Station, a small city unto itself. Then they boarded a train, which was a particular treat for the writer girl since she had never traveled by train before. (more…)
It was an ordinary morning. That’s always how the best stories start. With ordinary. Normal. Even mundane.
Until.
Until a giant crash from my closet intruded on my ordinary morning.
I should have gone running to look. I imagine that’s what most normal humans would do. But the thing is, it was a Monday morning. Which meant I was tired. And I’m a homeowner. Which means I’m used to things going crash and delaying discovering the reason. So it was about 5 minutes before I turned my attention to my closet. (And that was mostly because a towel isn’t considered work appropriate attire.) (more…)
I adore coffee.
Try to control your shock.
My husband thinks it’s gross. (Now you can be shocked.) He doesn’t even like the smell of it.
It’s funny to me, having grown up in a house of non-coffee-drinkers that I would be so delighted by it. The smell of the beans, the sound of it brewing. It makes me smile before I’ve even had a sip. What first drew me to the bold, potent concoction?
Maybe it reminds me of my grandparents, the first coffee-drinkers in my life. (more…)
Today is a special day. On this day, in 1932, one of my favorite people entered the world. I would not be the same without him. (You can read more about him here.)
Here’s a big happy birthday to one of the best people I know and the person who believes I’m capable of just about anything: my grandfather.
Thank you for imparting your sense of humor to me, along with your love of coffee. The world would seem so dull without them. And the world would seem so dull without you. Thank you for understanding me in a way no one else could.
As you can no doubt tell, I’ve been a bit busy lately.
What have I been up to? Well, there’s work — that outside-the-house, 45 hours a week type of job — and then there’s the whole revising a novel thing and preparing for a writer’s conference (ordering new business cards and whatnot). And then there’s our house, what with the painting and cleaning it needs.
Here’s one house thing I’ve been working on: an old desk of mine. Used to be a basic wooden desk. Here’s what it used to look like (not the best angle, but you get the idea):
I got tired of the sad, worn-down desk. I mean, it’s a pretty shade of wood, but not really my style. So I went at it with some spray paint. And more spray paint. And ended up with spray paint all over my arms and legs, because, well, I’m a whole-hearted refinisher. If I’m going to invest my time in something, it’s not gonna be a half-hearted effort.
So after several weekends of being covered in spray paint and getting polyurethane all over my fingers, I ended up with… (more…)