It’s been a heck of a long week already, and I’m really feeling it mentally. So on that note, here’s another baby picture from this past weekend:
Here’s hoping I’m feeling a little more with it tomorrow. Have a great Tuesday, everybody! 🙂
(c) 2015. All rights reserved.
We had company this weekend in the form of an adorable baby. Seymour’s cousin and her family came for Miss Tadpole’s piano recital and stayed for the day. I got my baby fix, we played cards, there was good food and lots of fun – it was a perfect day.
The only thing that could have made it better is if Seymour hadn’t had such a nasty cold.
Meanwhile, Cricket is completely enamored of his new little godbrother, and was tickled pink at getting the chance to hold him. Very carefully. Under the watchful eyes of all parents in the house and a big sister to boot. 🙂
How did you spend your weekend?
(c) 2015. All rights reserved.
I’m feeling a bit nostalgic today. I’m copying some of Seymour’s CDs onto my computer for my later listening pleasure, and so many of the songs are ones I listened to growing up. He’s got albums by Reba McIntyre and Alan Jackson, Diamond Rio and Shenandoah, Alabama and Tanya Tucker, and a five-disc set of classic Disney tunes…
I’m having a ton of fun listening to them all as they copy; it’s like taking a walk down memory lane with a group of old friends:
I found these while I was going through my filing cabinet this afternoon. (Gotta do something while I wait for CDs to rip.) If you’re like me, you grew up before cell phones were ubiquitous and did your own fair share of note-passing. I’ve got tins of them left over from high school, and every now and then I dig them out and look through them again.
To discourage unintended viewing, we sometimes wrote them like this:
Believe it or not, I can still read this. The key is long since gone, but this was the code we used most often, so even after fifteen years, I can still tell you what it says. (Spoiler alert: It was about a boy.)
Were you a note-passer in school? Did you ever get caught?
(c) 2015. All rights reserved.
Looky what I found in my mail the other night!
This picture doesn’t do justice to the vibrant colors of what will soon be in a frame gracing my office wall. It’s a signed print I won from Aädenian Ink, and it’s signed by the artist, Myka Jelina! I was pretty dang excited to finally get my hands on it, and now I can’t wait for my office to be done so that I can hang this beauty up.
After all, every fantasy author should have a little bit of fantasy in their writing space, right? Right. 😀
(c) 2015. All rights reserved.
Sometimes, it’s the simple things in life that are the sweetest.
Like visits from best friends on cloudy days, or – in this case – a night out with great food, great friends, and great fun. I still maintain that Gaelic Storm concerts need to be an annual thing. Who knows? Maybe 2015 will be the year we revisit the Englert and have a rollicking good time!
What simple things do you enjoy?
(c) 2014. All rights reserved.
Just in time for a much needed holiday break, twenty-two stories about fairies, vampires, werewolves, zombies, and everything in between. Visit a witch’s body swap victims (Samantha’s Day), find what happens when a girl is buried alive (Buried Alive), learn the origin story of Harper (from Night Touched Chronicles) and Verchiel (from the Amaranthine series), and much, much more. So kick up your feet, relax, and indulge in a short story by a new favorite author.
Includes stories by AK Stein, Adan Ramie, B.G. Hope, Barbara G. Tarn, Bonnie Mutchler, CG Copolla, DM Yates, JK Rosaline, Joleene Naylor, Kay Kauffman, Maegan Provan, Rami Ungar, Roger Lawrence, Roxanna Mathews, Russ Towne, Terry Compton and Tricia Drammeh.
What better way to celebrate the holidays than by picking up a free book? The Ink Slingers League is proud to present Strange Portals, a collection of twenty-two short stories to help you fend off the holiday crazies. Take a load off and escape into one of these holiday havens, or kick back for a couple of hours and visit them all. They’re our gift to you this holiday season, so enjoy!
Strange Portals is available for free on Smashwords and Amazon (where it will hopefully be free soon), so pick up your copy today!
(c) 2014. All rights reserved.
Last night was Miracle on Main, my hometown’s annual Christmas kickoff. Among other activities, they had a whole room set aside for Santa to see visitors:
Thumper didn’t say a whole lot, but that was okay, because Cricket did all the talking for him. 🙂 It was quite possibly the most adorable Santa encounter I’ve ever witnessed (at least with my kids).
Do your kids like going to see Santa? Or do they scream in terror at the sight of him?
(c) 2014. All rights reserved.
My friend, Mark Hunter, is having a books signing at the Noble County Public Library in Albion, Indiana. He’ll have copies of all his books on hand, including his latest, The Notorious Ian Grant.
The library is at 813 E. Main St. in Albion, and the event will be from 3:00-6:00 p.m. on Monday, November 17. Stop by and pick up some great books, chat with the author, and maybe even learn a thing or two about the history of Albion.
For more information, check out the Facebook event page or Mark’s blog.
(c) 2014. All rights reserved.
I used to go to a lot of horseshoe tournaments. My ex-husband played in as many tournaments as he could get to (still does), which meant I spent the summer baking in the heat at tournaments all over the state. It was a lot of fun, if you don’t mind the heat and the humidity, and sometimes I miss going. It was fun sitting around chatting with the other horseshoe wives (the ones who didn’t also pitch), and sometimes I’d go exploring whichever town we happened to be in.
The tournaments that were probably the most fun were at the state fair. They hosted tournaments everyday, with the state championships on the weekends. The horseshoe courts there used to be in a high-traffic area right across from the nicest bathrooms on the fairgrounds and close to food, so it was about as perfect a location as you can get.
But eventually, the fair board decided something else should occupy the space next to Little Hands on the Farm, something more farm-related than an old farmers’ game, and the horseshoe courts were relocated, making way for an animal nursery. It’s a very nice nursery, but I do miss the courts being centrally located.
As we were leaving the fairgrounds after the last tournament at the old courts, I snapped this picture of the scoreboards. The way they were all out there in the middle, I had the feeling they were a bunch of old friends, standing around discussing all they’d seen in the past ten days: all the ringers, the near-misses, the celebrations and heartbreaks. Despite its bittersweet quality, this is one of my favorite pictures ever; it just feels so dynamic, as if the scoreboards had really come to life.
(c) 2014. All rights reserved.
I just got the most awesome, profound comment from Justine Manzano on my post about connection. Click the link to read the whole thing, because it’s a fantastic comment.
Don’t believe me? Here’s a snippet:
Seeing people is important. It makes us kinder. It makes us wiser. And it makes us open our hearts to different people.
See? Toldja it was awesome. 🙂
Also, you should totally follow her blog because she’s a rockin’ author and a fantabulous friend. Trust me, you won’t regret it. 🙂
(c) 2014. All rights reserved.
Suddenly they all died. The end. 