On the Road Again

Today marked my return to driving practice. I'm going to try again to get my license. It took a long time to recover from the failed road test, but I'm back at it.

My sister came up this morning to be my designated passenger. I did alright, although I still have several things to work on, such as: picking out landmarks for deceleration; maintaining speed while changing lanes; watching out for old ladies who come to a complete stop before turning off the main highway; and negotiating the Walmart parking lot.

I managed to find my way around town alright. I found the church, Walmart, and Taco Johns. Then I found my way home again without getting lost. I consider that an accomplishment. That and not being nearly as nervous as I had previously when behind the wheel. Other drivers still make me nervous, but not so much as before.

I think the next time I drive, I'll cruise the residential neighborhoods for places to practice parallel parking and y turns. I got pretty good at the former, but I haven't done it since I failed the road test and stopped driving in town.

All in all, it was a good driving experience, and should make the next excursion that much better.

Year of Reading

Dear Reader, this year, I intend to do a ridiculous amount of reading. I'm off to a fairly good start, having finished the Bible in less than two months. But since I started that back in December, not all of it counts toward this year, I suppose. Still, I've got two more Bibles to read, which will make three within a year. I'm saving the King James Version for last. So far, I much prefer the New American Bible to the New Jerusalem. It's easy to read, yet still somewhat poetic.

I have five fiction books to read, two of which I've already started, and a couple of borrowed nonfiction that I really need to read and get back to my sister. If I get those read in good time, I'm going to attempt to read my old Business Law textbook. I'm already planning to buy some books from Amazon, so it's doubtful I'll get the textbook read.

In the middle of all of this, I'll continue to write, and perhaps find some inspiration in the gazillions of words I'll be taking in over the course of the year.

The Catching of the Shrew

We knew we had mice, or something like them. We heard them at night, and sometimes even saw them scurrying from one major appliance to the next.

One of them was suspiciously slow, and dark in color. We thought it might be a shrew. We had one or two in the house last summer, one of which I squished with a toy box.

I set out a mouse trap: the classic Victor finger-smasher. On night one, we caught a mouse. On night two, the trap was set off, the cheese taken, but the trap was empty.

After a couple of trapless nights that lured the furry one into a false sense of security, we did some research on shrews and set the traps accordingly. Two traps this time. Come morning, one of the traps was gone. No cheese, no animal, no trap. It has vanished. We looked around to see if it had been dragged and discarded under the furniture, but we still haven't found it.

Last night, we finally caught the shrew. I gave it to the cat this morning. There very well could be another one, but I shall still consider this a victory.


Update:

The missing trap has been found. The score is now 3:0.

Goodbye 2008

Dear Reader, this was actually a pretty good year, despite economic difficulties, and being afflicted by chronic writers block from Summer onward. I only had one New Year's resolution for '08(saving money), and I kept working at it. I think I can consider it kept, although December managed to undo all my progress. But what do we save for if not to spend?

It was a good year for gardening, especially for tomatoes. I've got so many tomatoes put up that I shouldn't need to can any for at least the next two years.

I read many books, and started about the same number, which I'm still working on reading.

I completed my first quilt, which turned out alright for a first.

All in all, it was a good year, but I look forward to the next one.

Quilt

Here is my first quilt. One corner is messed up, but it's not too bad.

Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving cooking has officially begun. I made the cranberry-orange relish tonight. Tomorrow I will bake bread and cookies. I'm not sure when I'll make the pumpkin pies because I'm not hosting this year, but it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without them.

The daily writing strategy failed. I got distracted by economic worries and quilting. At least the quilting is going well. The writing is coming along, but very slowly. I've invented a new character.

Quilting

Dear Reader, I have decided to take up quilting. I'm making a nine-patch quilt for the angel, and I'm sewing the patches by hand. It's good practice, and it saves me the trouble of making the sewing machine work on unevenly cut squares. I might use the machine to sew the blocks together, and definitely will for the finished edges.

I took pictures of the two blocks I sewed tonight, but I don't know how to get them off the camera.

Not Not Writing

I swear, I am writing every day, but the little writing I am doing is hardly worth posting. It's mostly work on the fanfic. Today hasn't gone so well, as I've written a total of one word that happened to be missing from a sentence I wrote a week ago.

It's 9:30 pm and I'm waiting for bread to bake, so I'm going to go and write something quickly before I decide to give up and just go to bed. Probably more fanfic, but I will write something post worthy this week.

Excerpt

Yesterday's writing was confined to fanfic, but today I worked on one of my stories. I wanted to write at least 100 words. Here is what I wrote tonight. Consider it an excerpt from a future book.

"Alex sat, unnoticed, in the corner of the ballroom. The guests were leaving by twos and fours, slowly improving his view of the couple in the center of the dance floor. They weren’t dancing. The music had stopped long ago. But they talked and smiled, and seemed oblivious to the people around them.

He slumped in his chair and glared at his brother so hard he felt sure the jerk would feel it. Jealousy was a new experience for Alex, at least where Preston was concerned. He’d always been proud of his brother’s easy success. But not tonight. Not with her."

New Poem

Today's writing project was a poem with two endings. I couldn't find the html code to make a spoiler box, but I did find one for hidden text than can be highlighted.


The Door

As toward the door
I walk once more
Slow apprehension growing
Familiar fears
Of younger years
Old dreams unfinished flowing

A swirling mist
A brand new twist
On a scene once known so well
Will it open now
Be revealed somehow
Or remain an unreachable cell?


Highlight for ending one:

I reach out a hand
The door crumbles to sand
I stand and I stare at the glory
Of angels singing
Their praises ringing
To the author of this age-old story

Walking through light
That banishes fright
I calmly approach the throne
My sins all forgiven
Pain far away driven
I smile, for now I am home



Or ending two:

I draw within feet
Of a strange new retreat
As the door pulls away from my grasp
I try it again
Lest the dream never end
And forward I pitch with a gasp

Floating or falling
One name I am calling
I know he will save me once more
But he can’t get near me
Although he can hear me
From the other side of the door

Writing Exercise

Dear Reader, after an irritatingly long bout with writers block, I am making an effort to really get back to writing. I will try to write something every single day.

I started tonight with a simple writing exercise: write fifty words about a topic. I've just finished, and haven't edited, so it might be a bit rough. The topic is coffee.

"Coffee is the friend whose call is always welcome. The lover you don’t have to hide. Warmth and wakefulness float on ribbons of steam, a comforting contrast to the blaring shock of the alarm clock. Clouds of sleepiness parted rather than broken, bringing a more peaceful start to the day."

Plumber or Archaeologist?

We're having our septic tank replaced. The yard is all dug up, dirt everywhere. But the most interesting thing is the plumber. He may be a plumber, but he looks like an archaeologist, from the perfectly trimmed gray beard to the oddly exotic-looking straw hat. It makes the excavation project much more fun to watch.

God and Grandpa

I have my grandfather's Rosary, which my mother gave to me. It has a unique scent, which I assume smells something like Grandpa. He died when I was two, so I don't remember him, or even if we ever met, but I've always felt connected to him.

When I was four years old, I was sick with a really high fever. My grandpa visited me in a dream. He was wearing a crown, which my mom said means he's in Heaven. Since then, I've thought highly of Grandpa, and I'm honored to have his Rosary.

Whenever I'm feeling really sad or scared, I take out Grandpa's Rosary, and go outside to sit under the stars or take a walk. Sometimes I pray with it, in times of crisis. But usually I'll just hold it, smell it, kiss it, and it's comforting.

Tonight I took a walk in the darkness. No moon tonight, so it was very dark, and the stars were very clear. I walked up this lane that runs out behind the barn and through the west fields to a back road. I walked halfway down, clutching Grandpa's Rosary, talking to God and to myself and some to Grandpa. I didn't really have much to say, but I wanted that connection.

Sometimes I feel very much alone. I talk to myself a lot, but I figure that so long as I'm not talking to invisible people, I'm still sane. :) I have the misfortune of wanting to talk to someone when everyone is busy. So that's when I go outside and talk to God and Grandpa. They always listen, and I know they're there.

Nancy Pelosi

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Harvest Time

Dear Reader, we're in the midst of sweet corn season. I'm going out in a bit to pick eight dozen ears for freezing. I should get about nine quarts out of that many.

After that, I'll be canning the carrots I pulled and cut yesterday. I'm hoping to can 12 pints of carrots, though I'll save some for frozen mixed vegetables.

It was a good year for gardening.

John Jakes Revisited

Dear Reader, I'm still having trouble getting into "Love and War", but I've had a breakthrough with "North and South". Technically, I should have started "North and South" first, but I didn't see it there in the bottom of the bag. I picked it up yesterday, and started reading during commercial breaks from the Olympic coverage. This book is great! It's everything "Love and War" is not. I will finish both books, because I'm too stubborn to let a book defeat me.

New Story

I'm working on a new story. So far, I've written three pages of dialogue. I have a few more scenes and lines to type out before I forget them. I'm considering writing this as a screenplay. I'll have to do some research first, because I don't know much about screenplays. I'll probably write it as a book, too.

Supermom and the Toddler

Toddlers are adorable. Even when they throw fits, they can do it in an adorable way. This afternoon, the angel was upset because her cookie was broken. After several failed attempts to explain that the cookie was still ok to eat, I finally figured out the secret. I gave the cookie a kiss to make it "all better" and that was all that she needed. Snack time was saved!

Right now, the angel is standing next to me singing "Mommy Beluga." :)

A Little Exercise

Dear Reader, I'm having a bad day. So I'm going to try something to make myself feel better. I'm going to make a list of things that could make my day worse.

1. Being kicked in the face
2. Decapitation
3. Uninvited company
4. Invasive surgery
5. Falling down a flight of stairs

Gardens and Storms

My garden is far from weed free, but it's in a lot better shape than last year's was at this time. This afternoon, I weeded the sweet corn and the sunflowers. I was just finishing up when it started to rain. Then the wind came up, with 50+ mph gusts that blew over half the corn, and broke at least one sunflower.

I'll have to go out tomorrow for a closer look. The corn should be alright if it was just bent over.