Tag: Family

Sunday Sunday Sunday!

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So this weekend I wanted to get a bunch of different writing projects squared away between a surprise party and visiting family.  No problem, right?  Wrong!  Well, I got one of them taken care of, anyway, but a visiting headache kept me from the others.  Our weekends are always so busy, it seems, yet they’re the only time I really have a chance to get caught up on things at home.  So this morning is going to be catch-up time till the family arrives.

In the meantime, I acquired a shiny new DSLR a while back and have been having loads of fun with it.  For your viewing pleasure until I return with a post of more substance, behold, the things with which I’ve been filling my weekend: behind the cut!

Tuesday thoughts

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I’m too tired to come up with much in the way of a post tonight, so I think I’ll just leave you with these pretty pictures instead.  Seymour surprised me with a visit this morning and gave me some pretty lilies before taking me out to lunch.  Then for supper tonight, the kids and I tried our hand at making homemade donuts using Pillsbury biscuits and a deep fryer.  They turned out pretty well, but the kids were wired for the rest of the night.

Pretty flowers from a pretty sweet guy. 🙂
Seymour has good taste. 🙂
Delicious homemade donuts. 🙂

Now if only the sugar had had the same effect on me… 😀

(c) 2013.  All rights reserved.

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Star Trek quilting frenzy!

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In an unusual turn of events, a recent home remodeling project led to a crafty weekend of sorts.  How, you may be asking?  Well, I’ll tell you.  And to keep it from getting boring, I’ve got pictures!

The last weekend of February, Seymour and I loaded up the zoo and took a road trip to visit his parents in the bustling metropolis of Ankeny.  On a quest to find some stencils to use in our bedroom, we headed to Jo Ann Fabrics.  That was a very bad idea.  We left much poorer than we went in, our arms full of fabric.  But oh, was it ever cool fabric!

We left with two types of fabric and two types of projects in mind.  Project number one: Tie blankets.  I’ve made one before, and it was fairly simple.  I felt confident that I could help Seymour’s mom figure it out, especially since Thumper has one in his crib and we were going to make the blankets together (no more doing things long-distance like the time we tried to make a fitted sheet for his cradle mattress).  Project number two: Pillow cases!  Because what good would a new blanket be without a new pillow case to go with it?

Castle of Dreams

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Today I had the pleasure of guest posting over on my good friend Andrea Baker’s blog.  She’s been running a series called Castle of Dreams and I’m delighted to participate in it.  My contribution concerns the palace in Lokana, where my book The Lokana Chronicles and my current WIP are set.  It was a whole lot of fun to write.

I hope you’ll head on over and check it out.  While you’re there, have a look at some of the other entries in the series.  Not all are fictitious entries; there are also posts about very real castles, including Kenilworth Castle, which figures prominently in Andrea’s book, Worlds Apart – Leah, recently published by Taylor Street Publishing.

And now, I’m off to bed.  It’s been a long and busy day, full of work and good food and good friends and great family and fun and I am exhausted!  Happy Friday! 🙂

(c) 2013.  All rights reserved.

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Sweet therapy

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Today has been a day of dashed expectations and…interesting results.  If you follow me on Twitter, then you’ll know that today’s forecasted 30% chance of a trace to an inch of snow turned into yet another raging blizzard.  We’re supposed to get five to nine inches now, we’re in a winter storm warning till noon tomorrow, and the wind has once again been blowing like a banshee.  This time the speeds have been around 20-30 mph with gusts a little higher.  I left work early after hearing how treacherous the roads were; it was a nightmare of a drive that necessitated some cookie therapy.

Once I got the boys up from their much-delayed naps, I started on supper.  Since both the older kids are with their other parents today, I had to leave Cricket and Thumper to their own devices in the living room where they could be contained while I threw some chicken in a pot with some rice and cream of mushroom soup (delish, by the way).  When I came back, I found them sneaking out of my book collection, phone and books in hand, and Thumper pantsless.

Star Trek and books: A Valentine’s Blog Hop

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blog-hop-tag-3001Well, it’s that time of year again: the stores are full of chocolates, red and pink decorations abound, and if you’re not careful, Cupid might get you with his trusty bow and arrow.  That’s right, Valentine’s Day approacheth!  Joleene Naylor, one of the wonderful members of the Ink Slingers League, is hosting a little blog hop celebrating the loveliest of holidays and the loveliest of pastimes, reading!  Here, then, be my entry for the I ♥ Books Blog Hop! 🙂

Valentine’s Day is not the only special February day in the Kauffman house.  February 10 is a pretty special day, too.  February 10 is the anniversary of my first date with Seymour an unbelievable five years ago.  And February 16 is his birthday, so that’s another special day.  I can hear you all now: What the heck does your first date have to do with Star Trek and Valentine’s Day, let alone books?  Well, if you know us, or if you’ve been reading my rambling scribblings here for long enough, you’ll know that it was Star Trek that brought Seymour and me together (among other things, like small-town curiosity (okay, fine, small-town nosiness)).

On our first date at the local pizza joint, we ran into my kindergarten teacher, who stopped to chat.

Lately…

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Lately I’ve been working.  A lot.  I’ve been working a lot at work (Ooh, hello, tax season!).  I’ve been working a lot at home, too (the laundry never. ends.), both on house-type stuff and writing-type stuff.  I have my work cut out for me on the last chapter I wrote; the last third of it needs some serious help.  But that will have to wait.

I’ve also been having some fun.  With what, you ask?  Well, I’ve been messing about on Pinterest quite a lot lately.  You can find boards depicting Lokana, the surrounding area, and the people who live there.  You can also find a few laughs, if you’re so inclined, and maybe a little writerly inspiration.

I’ve also rekindled my photography habit.  Or rather, my photo-editing habit.   Behold, the fruits of my labor. . .behind the cut!

I’m inspiring – Part II

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Hi there, folks!  How’s it going?  I hope you’re all keeping warm.  Iowa is currently back in the deep freeze after a lovely thaw.  I have to admit, that week of 40-degree days was lovely.  I really do live in the wrong state when it comes to winter.

But that’s not what I meant to write about tonight.  In the space of a couple hours earlier today, I was nominated for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award twice!  I was nominated for this award back in August and if you’d like to see what I had to say then, you can find the post here.  I’ve spent the last hour or so trying to decide if I should do it again, but since two people were nice enough to nominate me, I decided, what the heck?  Why not?

VeryInspiringBlogAwardSo, without further ado, many thanks to the lovely Tricia Drammeh and Maegan Provan, who were kind enough to nominate me.  Tricia is a wonderful writer and it is a privilege to know her – if you’re not already following her, you should be!  And Maegan is a new follower here, one I’m sure I will enjoy getting to know.  Thank you for the love, ladies!

And now, without further ado,

Just a quick note

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Hiya! It’s been a while, hasn’t it? I’ve been keeping plenty busy the last week or so and, for the next few days at least, it looks to remain the same. Big things going at the day job have been keeping me tied up from nine to five-ish and my book club’s selection of the month has been keeping me spellbound after hours, in addition to the usual craziness.

So, to sum up: I’m sorry for being so absent! But I plan to share many book thoughts soon (I’ve been collecting them as I read – God, it feels good to be reading age-appropriate material again!). But until then, sweet dreams!

(c) 2013. All rights reserved.

What six looks like

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While perusing my Facebook feed a couple weeks ago (which is actually when I started writing this post, but then life happened), I stumbled across a link to this article on the Huffington Post called “What Six Looks Like.”  Written by Jennifer Rowe Walters, it details her reaction to the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School and a conversation she had with a friend that clarified that reaction.  It’s a very moving post.  If you haven’t seen it yet, you should definitely check it out.

What does six look like?  I think Ms. Walters does a pretty good job of showing us what six looks like.  But what about ten?   What does ten look like? Or nine? Or two? Or one?