Lately…

February 5, 20134 Comments

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!

The Rose and other tidbits

February 2, 2013Leave a comment

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. (Photo credit: alice_ling)

The rose she has gone back to Nature
Her petals on the grass by her mother tree lay
But memories of her blooming in the sunshine
With me till my own end will stay.

“The Rose,” by Francis Duggan

I hopped on the Alliance thread this morning and found the above waiting for me with a belated birthday wish from the Dreamcatcher. It’s a lovely little poem; you can follow the link to read the rest of it. A quick Google search revealed that Mr. Duggan is quite prolific and that a lot of his work is available online. The site I linked to above had nearly 500 pages of his work alone, possibly more.

So what’s new? I’ve been rubbish at posting since the new year struck. I’ve been struggling to get into a routine – any routine – this year and I’ve had some other things weighing me down as well. Hopefully I’ll have all that unpleasantness resolved soon and I can start making progress on the rest of my goals for the year.

Speaking of goals for the year, I’ve passed 40k on my sequel.

Cuz it’s a bittersweet symphony, this life…

January 4, 2013January 4, 20138 Comments

We undecorated our office today at work. It looks so barren without all the Christmas things up! Despite being unable to find my Christmas spirit this year, I hate taking the decorations down. It’s always struck me as a sad act. Lights and garland and fancy colored balls are so cheerful that one can’t help smiling, and Christmas music almost always brings a smile to my face at some point during the season. Putting everything away feels like mourning. I suppose that, with Lent and Easter coming up, this feeling is perhaps appropriate, but I still hate taking everything down.

Also, I may or may not be given to occasional bouts of laziness. I suppose that could also account for my dislike of undecorating.

Speaking of things that are bitter sweet, check this out!

What six looks like

January 3, 2013January 4, 20137 Comments

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?

Happily Ever After

January 1, 2013January 1, 201415 Comments

Photo by Kay Kauffman

The pretty princess
In the beautiful ballgown
Waltzes down the aisle.

The pretty princess
Holds court with friends both old and
New on the big day.

Baby blues sparkle
With mischief and merriment
As she plots her reign.

The pretty princess
Did not expect a handsome
Prince to thwart her plans.

But now the pretty
Princess has her prince, and they’ll
Live for each other,

For now, for always.
At last, the pretty princess
Has her happily

Ever after. The end.

Prophecy

December 26, 2012December 26, 20125 Comments

I went out for lunch today and ate at the local Chinese place. This was my fortune. I've had one fortune cookie come true already; why not two?Photo by Kay Kauffman

Photo by Kay Kauffman

I went out for lunch today and ate at the local Chinese place. This was my fortune. I’ve had one fortune cookie come true already; why not two? I think I’ll post this up at my desk so I can see it every time I sit down to work on something. It will be my mantra.

Fall thoughts

November 1, 2012November 27, 20122 Comments

leflore marching band (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Fall, despite being the herald of winter, is easily my favorite season. And why not? There’s so much to love: hot apple cider, marching band season, beautiful scenery, not to mention all things pumpkin. I could go on and on.

There’s always a day in September when it begins. The air is a little cooler, the walk to school a little more brisk. Mornings like this hold a special kind of beauty. The sky seems just a little more blue when the leaves are changing, and the brightness of the sky intensifies the crimson and gold of the leaves.

As a girl, I loved walking home from school in the gutters.

Mawwage is what bwings us togevah today…

October 26, 2012October 28, 20126 Comments

I said in my post yesterday that twenty-four was a banner year, but twenty-five ranked right up there with it. We spent the better part of the year planning the wedding and the honeymoon, getting details worked out and being generally happy and excited and everything else that is good. At Easter, I was confirmed in Seymour’s church after completing the RCIA program. That was one of the biggest decisions we had made thus far in our life together; his family is devoutly Catholic and mine is Presbyterian. My family didn’t seem very happy about my decision to convert, but it’s not like I was changing religions or something. I simply changed my denomination. After all, Catholics and Protestants do worship the same God, do believe in the same afterlife, do read more or less the same Bible. It’s not like I joined a cult or something.

However, the difference did pose an interesting question…

Twenty-two

October 22, 2012October 28, 20125 Comments

Photo by Kay Kauffman

When I was twenty-two, my marriage was falling apart. My life was a shambles. But even as my marriage was ending, my brother-in-law’s was just beginning. As my twenty-second Christmas approached, he and his fiancée asked that I take their engagement pictures, which I was happy to do. I love photography and at that point in my life, I hoped to be able to earn a little extra money from doing something that I loved. It didn’t work out, but maybe that’s all for the best.

Be orange!

October 19, 2012October 28, 201227 Comments

My first year of college was an eventful year in more ways than I had ever anticipated. I was the only kid in my class who dreaded high school graduation; though I was excited about the new opportunities I would have in college, I was terrified of leaving my friends behind and starting over. A few people from my school went to the same college I chose to attend and, as a private college, it was much smaller than the state universities so the class sizes were comparable to what I’d experienced in high school.

But I was on my own, for the first time.