Yum!

Last night I made Thai Chicken for dinner. It was yummy. Here is the link to the recipe from Cooking Light. It had a number of ingredients I don't normally have on hand, like fish sauce (ew, that just sounds nasty) and an Asian hot chili sauce, oh--and light coconut milk. But it all came out great. I made brown rice in my steamer (a wise suggestion by Peperkorn) and added a vegetable. One of my more successful cooking adventures. If anyone wants to try it (who lives near me), you can borrow my bottle of fish sauce and chili sauce. Seriously. Best of all, it was fairly healthy and not too fattening (always a bonus).

Gobble-icious!

Gobble is official! My new book, Gobble-Gobble-Crash! A Barnyard Counting Bash, published by Dutton Children's Books, was released a couple of weeks ago. Yea!

In other news...September has really sped by. My life is fairly hectic right now, more hectic than I like. I'm enjoying my students and colleagues, but...well, life is just very hectic. When I'm not prepping for classes, I'm grading papers, driving carpool, fixing meals, buying groceries...that's pretty much it.

Before church today, I revised a manuscript that has been waiting for me, and tomorrow night, I'll get some critiques on another book I've been working on. So those are good things. It's difficult to balance teaching and writing, and I'm still searching for that better balance.

Last week, I got to have a little book signing on another project I worked on about a year ago (or was it longer? I forget). Here are Adriane Dorr and I signing copies of A New Song, a series of devotional books for women published by Concordia Publishing House. (This website lists the author as "Jane Fryar; various" - I'm one of the various!) Adriane Dorr wrote for the second volume. This series is based on the psalms, intended to be a resource for women's groups. Each author wrote five faith narratives on a single psalm. Mine was Psalm 49. Thank you, Lauren, for the photo!

Teaching

Phew! It's been a busy week-and-a-day. I've started a new semester of teaching at IPFW--the Indiana/Purdue extension in Fort Wayne. There are 11,000 students there this fall, so it's a little bigger than where I've taught in the past. So far, things are going well. I'm getting to know the students and figuring out a routine.

In the midst of that, I've been revising one manuscript, and writing a new one. We'll see how those progress. I think after this week, or maybe after next, I'll start feeling more on top of the teaching work load and better able to find more time for writing.

We're a little worried about our Lucy, our dog. She's had a bad limp in her hind left leg for the last couple of weeks. The vet thought it might be arthritis, but it seems to be getting worse. So we're going to get her into the vet again tomorrow to get an x-ray. It might be arthritis, but we just want to know what's going on and see if we can get her some help. We haven't been able to go on our walks for a few days, and we both miss it.

Near-Death Experiences and Trip Advice

First, for the trip advice. For those of you who haven't stumbled upon it yet, I recommend Trip Advisor, a website that has real reviews from people who have visited all the places you want to go. I found it very helpful when booking hotels and figuring out places to eat.

Also, for this trip, I used Hotwire.com to book one of our hotel stays. I'd never used Hotwire or Priceline before, but it worked out great. Their advertising slogan is that they get you a 4-star hotel at a 2-star price. From our experience in Boston, it's definitely true. We stayed at the luxurious Intercontinental Boston and paid about the same for that hotel that we did for a mediocre Holiday Inn in DC. The catch is that you can't specify which hotel you'd like to book. You simply give the dates and the city (or area within the city), and they book you the hotel. It worked out great for us in this trip, though. The Intercontinental is a beautiful hotel--the decor, the spa, the hip dining, the awesome bathroom with a big bathtub and a separate shower stall!! It was great.

So, now for my "near-death experience." Last Tuesday, we drove from Boston to Cape Cod (about a two-hour drive). Cape Cod is a little different than I expected it to be. It's not your typical beach-front scenery--no scenic vistas or palm trees (not that I expected palm trees)--but then suddenly from this heavily forested area the landscape opens up to the Atlantic ocean! One of the afternoons, we took a short hike and I felt like I was in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. The scent of pine in the air, the pine needles at my feet. But then we went to the beach that afternoon.

On the first afternoon of our stay in Cape Cod, we--naturally--headed to the beach. It was a beautiful sunny day (unlike our second rainy day), so we took full advantage of it. The Atlantic is cold (no duh), but dang, yeah. It's really cold. About 60 degrees on a good day. So I was mainly just putting my feet in. Jacob was making me a nervous wreck because the waves were really strong, and he kept going back-first into the waves and then coughing up ocean water after every one passed over him (we finally figured out that you are supposed to swim through the waves--or something like that).

So anyway, I was basically just dipping my feet in, but then I thought that I should quit being a pansy and get in the water. How many opportunities in a lifetime do you have to be in the ocean anyway? Well, I now think I've had enough for my lifetime.

It was high tide, and the waves were really strong. I waded out about thigh-deep and then--BAM!--a wave completely took me down. All I knew was that I was rolling around underwater. I could see seaweed floating above me and felt the sand rushing into the ocean under me. (Oh, I'm getting all panicky just thinking about it.) I don't remember if I got above water after that first wave, but then--BAM--another wave hit me, sucked me under again. By this time, I thought I was a goner. Jacob was only about six feet away from me, and was lollygagging around, paying no attention to his mother DROWNING!! And, we were right in front of the lifeguards. They didn't seem to notice either. Finally, a third wave caught me. By this time, I had hauled myself up onto the shore a little bit, but the sand was still dragging me down. Finally, I got to my feet and made a beeline for my towel on the sand. I collapsed and proceeded to freeze in my soaking wet, sand-filled clothes the rest of the afternoon. Sheesh.

Jacob and Scott tell me that I was in the water only about 3 seconds. I don't quite believe them; it felt like about an hour to me. So I now call it my near death experience (NDE). I'm being a little facitious, but I don't ever remember having that feeling of raw power against me. The ocean was angry and threatening! I remember a friend telling me once that she'd had a similar experience and never liked swimming again. I think I can now relate. Jacob, however, our adrenaline junkie, loved it. The funny thing about the experience is that I must have looked like a combination of drowned rat / total idiot as I hauled myself up on the beach to my towel. What a landlubber! Oh--this picture shows me after my NDE. I was frozen, so I HAD to buy this cute sweatshirt.

So, these pictures were taken at Nauset Beach, on the Atlantic side of the Cape, near the town of Orleans.

On the rainy morning we were there, Jacob and I went over to Skaket Beach, on the harbor side of the Cape. Totally different! The water is warmer, and the beach so gradually slopes into the water that when it's low tide, you can walk out about two miles before you hit water. So we did that. Here are some pictures from that walk. This is a type of squid. It's hard to see through the water, but ew. He was kind of gross. Kids on the mudflats were also collecting little hermit crabs. We saw a spider crab and some random colorful crab arms lying around. Also--of course--lots of seagulls.

One of the interesting things about Skaket Beach at low tide is that the mud is rainbowy. It's hard to tell in these photos, but the top thin layer of sand is tan. Then just under that layer it's sort of pink, then a dark gray.

I wish we'd had more time to spend at Cape Cod. The beach was great (except for almost drowning--ha), the countryside was beautiful, the towns were charming and it is full of history. I'd definitely go back.

Home

Yesterday morning, after an eventful trip home, we finally made it. We left Cape Cod around 8:30 a.m. on Friday, and got home around 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. Needless to say, we were tired yesterday--and still are today. We drove to Boston, turned in the rental car, and caught our train from South Station. The trip to Albany was great--relaxing, comfortable, everything a good train trip should be.

From there, things went downhill. The Albany train station was blech. Only food available was this little coffee shop with sandwiches and lukewarm soup. But at least we got to get something to eat (it was around dinnertime). The train loaded up around 7pm, and wow--I felt like I was in a herd of cattle getting on the train. There were several groups traveling together (some seniors groups, a youth group), and for some reason, Amtrak thought it was good to load them up first, which left very few seats for the rest of us. But we made it on, and even got to sit together. Many of the travelers were going all the way to Chicago, so they had a long trip in front of them.

Things started to calm down on the train around 10:30 or 11:00. Remember--we had a sleeper car on the way out to DC. This trip we were coach all the way. It's a vast difference! I did get some sleep, but felt like I woke up at every stop (although the guys tell me I was always asleep every time they looked at me). What amazed me was the group of older women that got on around 5:00 a.m. somewhere in Ohio. They were so loud! Here's this train car full of sleeping people, and these women were hooting and talking like it was broad daylight. Sheesh.

Finally, we arrived back in Waterloo to a sad sight. Our old car was still parked in the parking lot, but with three windows shattered. Apparently, some vandal had had some fun in the train parking lot. Several other cars had been damaged as well. That poor Geo. When we lived in Pittsburgh, the rear window had been smashed out at least once by some vandal. This time, the windshield had at least four blows, the passenger front window was shattered, and the rear window was shattered. Sigh. The police came by right as we got off the train, and said that someone had gone through the parking lot, smashing car windows about three nights back. Nothing inside the car had been damaged (there isn't much to steal--a radio that barely works is about it).

So we called AAA, and made it back to Fort Wayne. We jammed in the cab of the tow truck with these two tow truck drivers. It actually reminded me of some outrageous scene from a movie like Little Miss Sunshine. We were totally smashed into this cab. Except for sending out the tow truck, AAA was useless--sending us to window replacement shops that don't exist. Dumb. Finally, we ended up at a Chevrolet dealer, where the body shop will take care of the windows. So, grrr...that is not fun, but the trip overall was great.

Here's the thing about train travel that I love. I love seeing the countryside zoom past the windows. It feels more natural to travel this way. Airplane travel is awful compared to the train. In a plane, you are jammed into these tiny seats, you have absolutely NO leg room unless you happen to be less than 4 feet tall, and it's all so stressful! Train travel (at its best) avoids all of this. You can walk around, have tons of leg room, you get to see things out the window. It's great. I read most of a novel on the way back from Boston. You can get something to eat in the dining car or snack car. This photo shows somewhere in New York state. The moon is in the corner of the photo. It was a beautiful sunset.

And then, here is this gorgeous shot of Ohio farm land. Isn't it pretty? That is sunrise--just before we arrived in Waterloo.

People used to travel by train, and that is sadly obvious in a lot of places. The tracks are old, and as cities built up and moved away from the tracks, the areas by the tracks decayed. So it's often like looking in a back alleyway of the city. You see old tenement houses, burned out, graffiti-covered rowhouses. An occasional oasis of urban redevelopment pops up, and then there's another long line of brick warehouses with the glass windows broken or filmed over with decades of grime. A billboard reads, "We buy ugly houses."

Our trip from DC to Boston was especially eventful outside the train. We went through Philly, NYC, Connecticut, and then trees filled up the windows again. We left the grime and noise and clamor of the city to the scrub brushes and clapboard houses of New England. We even got a glimpse of the ocean. And a white heron. Sail boats are nestled in blue sparkly harbors. Church steeples jut into the skyline.

Overall, I loved the train. The last leg of the journey was more trying, but by then I was also ready to be home, so somewhat cranky. But I highly recommend it for the adventure of it all. Jacob was at the perfect age to take the train. Much younger and he (and we) would've been miserable. As it was, we all discovered this wonderful mode of travel and got to see some fabulous sights!

More soon on my near-death experience at Cape Cod...

Last Day

Today is the day we travel back home. We're leaving our B&B on Cape Cod in about an hour, and then driving back into Boston where we'll drop off the car and board the first train on the way home.

While on Cape Cod, we spent time at Nauset Beach. Here's sort of an interesting link for surfing on Nauset. The main part of the beach is typical (and lovely) - tan, fine sand, with little pebbles and rocks dotting the shoreline. It's just like the postcards--sand dunes filled with spiky blades of tall grass, low shrubs, instead of palm trees.

We went to the beach on Tuesday afternoon, after we arrived on the Cape. That was fun--warm and sunny. It rained ALL day on Wednesday while made us a touch grouchy, but yesterday turned out beautiful--fair and, after the clouds burned off, sunny and warm.

In the rain, Jacob and I went to Skaket Beach, on the other side of the Cape--the harbor side as opposed to the Atlantic. There, at low tide, you can walk for up to two miles out to the water since the Bay is so filled with sand eroded from the Atlantic side of the Cape. That area is called the Mudflats, where we found TONS of hermit crabs, and even saw a weird looking squid.

I have lots and lots and lots of pictures to share once we're home.

Day...Whatever

We're now in Boston, enjoying a cosmopolitan and lively city. Yesterday we did the Duck Tour of the city, so we were able to see all the "land" sights (the State House, Beacon Hill, the U.S.S. Constitution, etc.) as well as take a ride on the Charles River. On the subway yesterday, I identified at least 3 or 4 different languages being spoken around us--and that was just directly around us.

I loved seeing the Boston Public Garden, the setting of Robert McCloskey's Make Way for Ducklings. It is the official children's book of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I love that the Commonwealth has an official children's book! There are bronze sculptures of Mrs. Mallard and her ducklings in the park, which the toddler set thoroughly enjoyed climbing on. I even got a good photo of an real, live duck in the lagoon under the branches of a willow tree.

While there, we tried to find a letterbox, but it was too hot, crowded, and we were hungry, so we gave up on that one. We did get four in Salem's Woods after we finally were able to get hold of a car and drive to the park. That was fun. A good hike on a warm summer day.

Today is our last day in Boston. Tomorrow we'll be heading to Cape Cod.

Days 7 and 8?

I'm sort of losing track of days. I guess that's what happens when you are lucky enough to get away for two weeks!

Anyway, we are now in Salem, Mass. We got in late last night after a long-ish train ride from DC to Boston. I thought everything was arranged with the car rental from the train station, but, alas, no car rental office was open when we arrived at 7:30pm. So, we improvised, and got to our hotel here in Salem last night around 9:00ish by cab. (I am still irritated with Hertz which seemed to give misleading info on their website about a car rental site being available at the train station, but I think we have things figured out to pick up a car tomorrow. I would forego having a car altogether, but I don't think we'll really be able to get to or around Cape Cod without it.)

This morning, we headed out early-ish to see the sights of Salem (is that spelled "sites" or "sights"? I'm confused.). There are a TON of witch-y type shops, museums, etc. We got a lot of good pictures for later use. My goal was to get to the House of the Seven Gables and to see the harbor, both of which we did.

The House of the Seven Gables was thoroughly enjoyable. I totally recommend seeing this very, very old house (old by American standards). This house inspired Hawthorne to write his book about Hepzibah and the Pyncheon clan. Hawthorne's birthplace was moved to the grounds of the House too, so we got to walk through that as well.

We're staying at the Salem Inn, which is another old house (built in 1834). A journal in the sitting room of the West House (where we're staying) says that some visitors have heard ghosts (such as a baby crying in the next room--when it's empty--or a woman sniffling). People come here, it seems to me, because they want to have some sort of paranormal experience.

We walked through the Burying Ground, the oldest cemetery in Salem. The oldest gravestone we found read 1681. There is a memorial adjacent to the cemetery with the names of the 20 who were hung or died after the Salem Witch Trials. The cemetery itself is beautiful--picturesque and tucked in a quiet corner in the town. A gnarled old oak shades one corner of the graveyard.

Tomorrow it's back to Boston for a couple of days, and then we'll head to Cape Cod, where we hope to crash on the beach for 3 days straight.

Day 6

Just a quick update. Today we spent some time by the pool (which was awesome), and then walked about 2 miles (or more?) to several of the monuments and memorials. It was a great way to spend our last day in DC. Tomorrow morning we head back to Union Station to catch the train to Boston.

Day 5

Back to the hotel after more sight-seeing, heat, and crowds. Honestly, I'm about at my limit in terms of dealing with hoards of tourists. But still really enjoyed the day.

This morning, we had a staff-led tour of the Capitol. I had previously contacted Mark Souder's (our congressman's) office about tours of the White House. No tickets available, sadly. However, we had a scheduled tour of the Capitol building, which ended up being quite a treat this morning. Our two favorite stops on the tour: the rotunda and the House gallery (photo). The rotunda is impressive in size and, well, it's just plain cool. Weirdly, though, in the center of the rotunda is a tapestry of George Washington surrounded by angels, like he's some sort of deity. Still, though, very cool.

From the photo (I've included here--obviously not my own), and from all of the times I've seen the State of the Union address, I somehow thought the House Gallery would be larger. But the gallery itself is really not much wider than this photo shows. Congress is almost ready to adjourn for the August holiday, but they were not in session this morning (apparently, they were in committee meetings). We had to go through two levels of security, eventually leaving in the foyer all of our bags, phones, cameras, etc. But it was still a treat to see it.

After a brief respite, we headed out again to the International Spy Museum. Eh. It was cool, but I am kind of museumed out. We did the "Operation Spy" combo to the visit in which you get a secret op and have to figure out--with ten other strangers--how to use a spy's equipment and techniques to find a nuclear trigger device. That was fun.

Then we went to Jaleo for dinner. It was another awesome tip from Mollie (dang, that girl is spot-on with her restaurant advice!!). It is a traditional Spanish restaurant, which serves tapas--small portions of all sorts of different dishes. Delicious!

Tomorrow is a do-nothing day. We may swing back by the Lincoln Memorial (which is the one thing we couldn't really see from the tour bus) or just hang out by the pool. I had originally thought of going to Mt. Vernon (Washington's home), but 5 hours of a tour bus sounds, well, exhausting right now.

On Thursday (boy, the time is going fast!) we'll take the train to Boston, so that's going to be a big reading/writing day.

Oh--Mom just reminded me (thanks!) that I was in DC in 1976 the day the Air & Space Museum first opened. Cool! Yes, I remember being totally impressed by that museum--even more so than the White House.

Day 4

Tonight, we're all a little worn out after our sightseeing adventures today. We're really enjoying our trip though--don't get me wrong. It's been great so far. Wandering around in the heat, though, does tend to be a little tiring.

Yesterday, after a lovely church service and lovely brunch, we wandered around the Air & Space Museum where we saw the Wright Flyer and the Spirit of St. Louis. We also saw the Apollo XI command module and touched a real moon rock! 

Mollie (thank you!) gave us a great tip about an Ethiopian restaurant, Etete, so we went there for dinner. It was delicious!! And a fun adventure.

Today, we played tourist again and went on a tour bus to the National Cathedral. There again, we saw a moon rock in the Space Window as well as the beautiful Rose Window. The cathedral is quite the impressive structure. I especially enjoyed seeing several of my books in the bookstore there. Yea! Jacob: "Are you seriously taking a picture of your books on display?" Of course.

Next, we went to the Holocaust Museum. What I found most moving were the poems and first-hand accounts on walls of the exhibits; one quote was from Elie Wiesel, an Auschwicz survivor. Here's the quote:

Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky.
Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever.
Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never.

The museum's website looks extensive. Check it out. 

On our tour bus today we also saw: Ford's Theater (with some weird happy music playing in the background--for some reason the tour bus company thought that was appropriate at the place where Lincoln was assassinated), the White House (from about a mile away), lots of security surrounding the White House, charming Georgetown, the many Memorials, the Potomac, Chinatown, Union Station, the Capitol--the whole kit and kaboodle. 

In our down time, I'm reading two books (well, okay, three): House of the Seven Gables (for this weekend's adventures in Salem, MA), the EQ Edge (super practical and interesting book on emotional intelligence), and Picture Writing (for children's writers). 

Tomorrow it's onto the Capitol tour and the Spy Museum! 

Day 3

We made it to DC late yesterday afternoon. Now we're up and heading to church this morning. We walked around the National Mall a little bit last night to get the lay of the land. Even though I've seen images of the Washingon Monument and Capitol building thousands (?) of times, it's still exciting and impressive to see in person. A couple of funny notes:

• On our way to the Capitol building, a man and woman got out of their red pickup truck and asked us (in a Texas drawl), "Do you know where the White House is?" I didn't have my map along, so I couldn't help her. So she asked a follow up: "Is that," pointing to the Capitol, "our nation's Capitol?" I told her yes. She gave her husband/boyfriend a look and said, "See! I told you!!"

• We ordered some food from room service, and it was like pulling teeth trying to understand what the person on the other end of the phone was asking. I said we wanted some beer--a Molson (on the menu). I was told they didn't have that. So she listed off the other beers (pronounced like this): younglin, doshkeesh, kingsred. What???? I felt like going down and tutoring her in ESL right then and there. BTW we ended up getting Amstel.

•In the grassy area between the Capitol and Wash Mem, there were people playing soccer. Jacob thought they shoud be playing football or baseball--a more traditionally American sport. (he was kidding) But it was neat to see that area with those symbols of our great country to draw people from all over the world.

Day 2

Here we are in Cumberland MD, at a station stop. So far we've been on board the train for about 12 hours. After a fairly good night's sleep, we had French toast in the dining car.

At about 6:30 this morning we passed through Pittsburgh. The sun was just coming up and shining on the rivers and the buildings
downtown. We kept moving through the back streets of the city. It looked like home. Then we saw Kennywood! From the other side of the river! Awesome stuff.

After passing through Pittsburgh we went into the beautiful southeastern PA countryside.

Day One, American Heritage Tour

Well, here we are in our living room of Day One of our "American Heritage Tour." Why are we in our living room? Because our train doesn't leave until 11pm! We've got a sleeper car to ride out our 14 1/2 hour trip to Washington DC, where we'll arrive tomorrow afternoon. I just realized that I think our train might go through Pittsburgh. I wonder when?? Well, to our friends in the 'burgh, watch for us waving from the train! :) While in DC, I'm looking forward to seeing Arlington Nat'l Cemetery, the White House (but it'll probably just end up being the visitor's center...grrr), the Smithsonian museums, the memorials, and I want to go down to Mt. Vernon to see Washington's home. We'll also be at Immanuel, Alexandria! We've also got tickets to see the International Spy Museum. We might do some letterboxing along the way. We also have a tour of the Capitol, arranged by Mark Souder's office, so that should be interesting.

After the DC tour, we'll be onto Boston after another train ride. There we'll see Salem, the Boston sites, Fall River, and then out to Cape Cod.

More soon...

Death, Dying and Grief

Lately, because of different events, I have been thinking about death, dying, and grief. One of those events is the death of Vivian Gregory, the infant daughter of a seminary family. Vivian was born prematurely and died last week after being hospitalized for six months. My heart goes out to Vivian's parents and all who are grieving because of the loss of this tiny baby.

Second, I was given a manuscript to review that is about coping with grief during the first thirty days of a loss of a loved one. It is well-written, practical, and speaks to the emotions of everyone who has experienced loss.

Third, I have been toying with the idea of writing about grief for children for quite awhile now. And finally now, I think I can write something.

Funerals remind us of all of our losses. As we stand in the pews, we might remember other funerals we've attended. We remember the widow's bewilderment and tears. The widower's trembling hands. The children's faces full of confusion and fear. We know what grief looks like. We've felt it ourselves. And it all comes sweeping back over us when we attend a funeral.

At the funeral of a baby, the pain in the church is palpable. It is so wrong, so evil, so terrible that this baby with little fingers and toes, with the little smiles and the hopes and dreams of her parents is the one lying there in that tiny coffin. We feel the outrage of it all. We can't understand it.

On the afternoon of the funeral this week, Jane posted one of the hymns we sang. This hymn, "God's Own Child, I Gladly Say It" is wonderfully comforting. It also brings back a lot of Pittsburgh memories for me. I taught the kids in our church to sing it, and for awhile, I had the kids sing it at most baptisms, so whenever I hear it or sing it myself, I imagine those little voices in the choir loft singing away. The hymn has a wonderful melody and even better text. And it spells out in poetic verse what we cling to at all times, but especially during times of loss: I am God's own child and because of the death and resurrection of Christ, I have no fear of death or loss or pain or grief. Yes, death and loss are painful; it should hurt. This is not the way God intended for our existence to be. Death is not a natural part of life. But God provided the way out of death, pain, loss, sin, and sorrow. He gave us Jesus. "I am baptized into Christ; I'm a child of paradise."

Reading Challenge

Thanks to Jane at Indiana Jane who is very diligent about her reading challenge list (and inspires me in the process), I am going to update mine and add a few more:

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson (finished 6/08) - This is the true story of a failed attempt to climb K-2 in Nepal. The co-author almost died on his way down the mountain and ended up in a village where the locals took him in and brought him back to health. Then he discovered that in this tiny village, they had no school. The dozen or so children of the village sat in the open air, sharing one slate with no books, desks, or teachers. The rest of the book is Mortenson figuring out how to fund and build schools for children all over the region (mainly the mountains of Pakistan). The book started out wonderfully. It sort of stagnated about half-way through, but I still really enjoyed it.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini - on my list to read this summer

The Wild Blue: The Men and Boys who Flew the B-24s over Germany by Stephen Ambrose - still on my list

Shadow Divers by Robert Kurston (finished 5/08). Great read! Fascinating nonfiction story about shipwreck divers who discovered a German WWII submarine - a U-boat off the coast of New Jersey. Not only is the story enthralling, but the writing is phenomenal.

Now reading:

(on audio) - Stop Whining, Start Living by Dr. Laura Schlessinger - great so far

EQ Edge: Emotional Intelligence and Your Success by Steven Stein and Howard Book - I'm reading this for a class I'm teaching this fall, but it's a great read so far (will write more about emotional intelligence in another post)

The House of the Seven Gables by Hawthorne - we're going there week after next, so I figured I'd better re-read it. What great characters and juxtaposition between Hepzibah, the old withered maid and Phoebe, her beautiful young cousin. Hawthorne's poetic turns of phrase are not only true, but a delight to read.

I'm also currently reading a biography of Charles Lindbergh with Jacob since we're going to see the Spirit of St. Louis in DC next week. What an incredible life Lindbergh led! From triumph to tragedy! We are currently reading about the surveillance he did for the US government as the world was headed to war in the late 30s. He had the credentials to view German aircraft as an observer, and then he reported back to the US what he found.

10 Years Ago

Jane tagged me for this one:

What was I doing ten years ago?
Ten years ago we were...in Fort Wayne! Scott was two years into his admission counselor job, Jacob was three, and I was just getting into writing. I believe it was around ten years ago that my very first book, Things I See in Church was either accepted for publication or published. The next year in 1999, we moved to Pittsburgh.


What 5 things are on my to-do list for tomorrow?
1. Work on my Portals of Prayer outline.
2. Prepare to sub for literature classes on Wed. and Thurs.
3. Work on revising a picture book
4. Go to Blockbuster
5. Figure out the luggage we're going to use for our trip (leaving July 25!)

Snacks I enjoy:
Tootsie Pops
Granola bars
Mike & Ikes
almonds
raisins
donuts (of course)

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Buy a house and cars
Give to charity
Save for Jacob's college

Places I've lived:
Lakewood, CO
Seattle, WA
Ann Arbor, MI
Fort Wayne, IN
Temple City, CA
Pittsburgh, PA

Jobs I have had:
Writer
Editor
Teacher - 6th, 7th grade, ESL, adults, children, college
Receptionist for lawyer's office
Receptionist for veterinarian's office (also cleaned the kennels!)
Custodian for Concordia College in Ann Arbor
Cared for a disabled woman
Probably more I'm not remembering

People I would like to know more about:
Adriane
Carol

More fun cowboy stuff

I'm still working on my picture book text set in the Old West and found some fun quotes at this website. First, insults:

-He was mad enough to swallow a horn-toad backwards.

- He's so mean he'd steal a fly from a blind spider.

- He was so mean, he'd fight a rattler and give him the first bite.

- He was mean enough to steal a coin off a dead man's eyes.

Now from the Cowboy's "Code":

• Don't inquire into a person's past. Take the measure of a man for what he is today.

• Never steal another man's horse. A horse thief pays with his life.

• Defend yourself whenever necessary.

• Look out for your own.

• Remove your guns before sitting at the dining table.

• Never order anything weaker than whiskey.

• Don't make a threat without expecting dire consequences.

• Never pass anyone on the trail without saying "Howdy".

Also, here's a website where you can generate your own cowboy nickname. Mine's Julie "Rides-again" Stiegemeyer.

Random things I've learned lately:

1. The House of Seven Gables in Salem, MA is the oldest surviving wooden mansion in New England. I'm currently re-reading the book by Hawthorne. We plan on visiting the house when we're in Salem in about 3 weeks.

2. One of my students taught me a new word: "ghettofy," which I think is the modern version of "jerry-rig." It is used in a sentence like this: "Now we have our own ghettofied computer system!"

3. Plato's Closet, a re-sale clothing shop in Fort Wayne is awesome if you're looking for some stylish, more reasonably priced clothing.

4. Letterboxing is a fun hobby!

Some updates!

Phew! It's been a long time, it seems to me, since I've been able to regularly update my blog. Hopefully, today's update will be the start of many more posts on a much more regular basis.

First, you must look here to read about my dear friend's book, Mimi. How exciting that CNN.com covered it! It's an adorable book. You simply MUST get it for any children in your life.

Second, on a personal note, I am so thankful to have a respite from teaching. I really enjoyed working with students in the past few months. Having the freedom to write whenever I feel like it, go on whatever errands need to be done, etc. is nice, but I also found myself getting a little stir crazy. Teaching has been a nice outlet, earned me some regular income, and reminded me how much I do love working with students.

I'm still trying to find that perfect balance between family, writing, teaching, volunteer work, etc. (and likely will never find it), but a new part-time teaching position this fall will hopefully help me balance the teaching/writing parts of my life a little better. So, now, I have some time to write. I am determined before vacation (we're leaving July 25) to finish two picture books, maybe more. We'll see how I do! I also am working on a couple of other projects.