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Feb 17

2 Comments

Writing and motherhood

From the Irish Independent, a glimpse into the life of Cathy Kelly, best-selling writer and mother of 5-year-old twins. The piece includes her own writing tips.

cathykelly_278722tSince discovering motherhood, Cathy admits that her writing schedule has changed. “I don’t want the boys to think they aren’t as important as my work, so I tend to do the real ‘working mother’ thing, which means everything fits around them. If I’m in trouble near the end of a book, I just work at night when they go to bed, which I hate doing, but sometimes it’s the only way. I’d prefer to be there for them in the afternoon.

“John and I get the boys ready for school, then we drive them in and I start working at my desk from 9.30am until 2pm. I always pick the boys up. You can count on one hand the amount of times I haven’t dropped or picked them up. My theory would be to do another hour of writing after they come home, but a lot of the time that doesn’t work out very well because my study is in the house and they come in and out. They think it’s their computer that I get to work on. They call what I do ‘mummy’s typing’.”

No matter where she is, Cathy will always write something daily, even on holidays. “Maybe it goes back to the journalism days where I worked full-time and wrote three books; I got so used to working all the time that I got used to working on holidays. Now, when we go down to Spain, I take a laptop.”

Read the full article here.

Feb 16

7 Comments

Johanna: An introduction

dscn0865I recently found this site via one of my favorite bloggers, Ophelia Rising. I am so excited and honored to be joining such a creative, diverse, and supportive network!

I stopped working after the birth of my first child two years ago to become a full-time mother. I loved being a stay-at-home mom, but also wished to better integrate my creative and intellectual sides. I missed the intellectual and creative stimulus of my former job as assistant publisher of a wine trade magazine. I started my blog, Ecology of a Woman, in an effort to maintain a sense of self and coherent thought! I needed a forum in which to express myself on another level.

My goal is to become a successful freelance writer and author. Writing has been calling me for a long time now but I have never had the time for it because I was too busy working! I did publish a couple of articles in the wine magazine but, because it was a wine journal, my voice was dictated by its style. I am now in search of my own style and unique voice.

I thought motherhood would be the perfect time to begin a freelance career, that I would have the freedom and energy to find my voice and begin. I can hear the laughing now — freedom and energy? Not words that rhyme very often with stay-at-home mom! I am now wiser, but I am determined to integrate a successful writing career into my life as a mother.

Although it is a challenge to integrate the two, motherhood and writing, it is truly the life I have always wanted. I have always wanted to simply live life in an interested and curious way and write about it. And here is my chance, truly, but it is more challenging with a child. But also more conducive, in a way. There’s a lot of writing material in motherhood!

As for who I am besides mother and aspiring writer, I am also passionate about plants, gardening, wine and food, nature, running, and other cultures and traveling. I am planning my first-ever trail race this June! My husband works as an underwater construction diver which is not a regular 9-5 job, as you can imagine! His work requires quite a bit of travel. This presents yet another layer to our lives as I am alone quite a bit of the time raising our daughter, and we also spend quite a bit of time traveling to visit my husband on various jobs. When my husband is working, he is generally gone for weeks at a time. The upside of this is that when he isn’t working, we get the entire stretch of time together as a family. We also have a very energetic golden retriever!

tn-2My family is huge, it’s a tribe! I have nine brothers and sisters, four full sisters from my mom and five half brothers and sisters from my father’s previous marriages. My father is 87! Gives one perspective! I am very frugal thanks to his Depression upbringing. He was a designer and built some beautiful homes in the style of Frank Lloyd Wright, lots of redwood and glass. Very Zen, Big Sur, California style. My mother is a recently retired Latin teacher who comes from a literary background. She home taught all four of her daughters. She is very elegant and European. I also have a tribe of friends and am very social, although I find increasingly as I get older that I need more and more time to myself.

We grew up in a very bohemian lifestyle that included a stretch of time living out of our VW bus, traveling around California! You wonder where I get my gypsy tendencies! I grew up half the time in a central California beach town and the other half in a tiny town in northern California. We were camped there on our extended VW road trip when it turned winter and, instead of heading back home, my father and mother instead decided to buy a house right there and then and that is how we ended up having two homes from living in a third (bus)!

Again, I cannot believe my luck to have found this site. It is just what I needed to get more serious about my writing and it is just the environment in which I think I can grow as a writer. I so look forward to getting to know more about each one of you and exchanging creative thoughts, ideas, and plans!

Feb 13

4 Comments

Breakfast with Gabrielle

gblairheadshot2It’s Breakfast time again! This week you’ll want a generous helping. Gabrielle Blair is a New York-based designer, mother of five (OK, so I have a soft spot for that particular trait), and the blogger behind Design Mom, named a Top Motherhood Blog by the Wall Street Journal. If you aren’t familiar with Design Mom, don’t worry — there are at least four of you out there!  😉

CC: Please give us an intro to who you are, what you do, and your family parameters.
GB: I’m Gabrielle Stanley Blair. I was formerly an art director and graphic designer by profession, but just last year my work hours filled up with blogging and kirtsy — I’m loving this second career. My husband and lover is Ben Blair. We have 5 kids: Ralph, Maude, Olive, Oscar, and Betty. They are really good kids. I hope we have more. I also write at Cookie’s Nesting blog.

2191602648_408c3b55a11CC: Your blog is, uhm, insanely popular. What prompted you to start blogging? How did your huge and loyal readership evolve?
GB: Gosh. Thanks! I’m blushing from reading your kind words.

I started blogging a couple of years ago, when my youngest baby was born. I’m prone to some pretty serious post-partum depression, and I knew that being creative helped me manage it. Blogging was a perfect solution. I could do it in my PJs, in the middle of the night. And it was free. If I skipped a day, no one cared. Just the sort of non-commitment a new mother needs.

But I rarely skipped a day, because I LOVED it. And the more consistent a person is with blogging, the more one’s readership tends to grow. Which is what happened with my blog.

olive_garageCC: In addition to your “day job,” where you must be creative nonstop, do you have “extracurricular” creative pursuits?
GB: For sure. I love when I get any opportunity to flex my graphic design muscles — like making a poster for school or a flyer for church. And creative projects with the kids are pretty much non-stop. We had a great time making gifts for each other during December. I still dream of designing textiles.

CC: You have five kids, a demanding career, a serious blog commitment, and everything that goes with busy urban family life. What are your time-management strategies?
GB: Hmmm. I feel like my schedule, and how I manage, it changes from week to week. Working from home certainly helps keep me flexible. I also put my kids to bed pretty early and take full advantage of the time they are sleeping — those evening hours are some of my most productive.

gb_deskCC: Where do you do your creative work and blogging?
GB: Computer work happens mostly in my home office. We carved a rough office space in the back of our garage. Non-computer creative work happens at the kitchen table and is often interrupted by meals.

CC: What do you struggle with most?
GB: Keeping my fridge stocked with chocolate milk for more than 48 hours.

CC: How much does guilt factor in your life?
GB: I’ve mostly said goodbye to guilt. But I have found that our home life works most smoothly when I’m home and concentrating on the kids from after-school through bedtime — no computer allowed to me during those hours.

gb_kitchen_tableCC: Where do you find inspiration?
GB: I find inspiration pretty much everywhere. Most recently, I was inspired by the holiday windows at Bergdorf’s. I don’t know who does those windows, but I need to find out and send some fan mail. They are unbelievably gorgeous.

CC: What is your greatest indulgence?
GB: Candy. I’m a complete addict. Not really for chocolate, but for straight-up sugar. Pear Jelly Bellys and Life Saver’s Wint-o-Greens are my favorites. I never say no to Swedish Fish or Sour Patch Kids.

CC: What are you reading right now?
GB: Two books: An advance copy of Kathryn Center’s new novel, Everyone Is Beautiful. It’s so good! I’m also deep into In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. It is life-changing.

hanging_birdhousesCC: What advice would you offer to other mothers struggling to be more creative?
GB: Don’t think about it too hard — just do something. When I started my blog, I remember hating that I was using a standard template, because I am a designer for goodness sakes! I should have a really cool custom design, right? But if I’d waited to make the perfect design, I would never have started. I’m two years in and I’m still working on the perfect design. 🙂

CC: Thank you, Gabrielle!


Feb 12

5 Comments

Cathy: Go fly a kite

image002We were going to do a whole lot of chores the other day, but the weather was absolutely beautiful. My thirteen-year-old would be in the pictures, too, but for finding his friends skating on the neighborhood tennis courts. He and they promptly left together. Oh well, he made his own fun, but he sure missed out on ours.

So, not much progress over the weekend on my manuscript, I’m not even writing much of a blog here, and S’s room is still in the state of disaster that I was hoping to give emergency relief. But the sun was shining, the wind was just right, and sometimes, you just have to go fly a kite.

kite_mosaic

Feb 11

10 Comments

2/11 Weekly creativity contest winner & new prompt

Two delicious entries for this week’s creativity contest on the prompt “cookies.” Rebecca Coll wins for a fabulous, extremely creative submission! Rebecca writes: Here it is — a silly little idea I had when nothing else was coming to me. I was having a hard time getting creatively motivated by ‘cookies,’ when all I really wanted to do was eat them… Attached are three images of a paper doll I made who also seems to have an issue with cookies.”  We love it, Rebecca! (Anyone who has ever personally related to the term “muffin top” will be especially appreciative, LOL.) Your $10 amazon.com gift certificate is on its way.

dress11

dress2

dress3

 

From Cathy Coley, a recipe you’re going to want to make RIGHT NOW. Cathy writes: “I haven’t made these in a long time, as I can’t find sucanat or decent molasses (with sulphur, not unsulphured) around here, but these are good for breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner and dessert, smell unbelievable, will guarantee a good romance that night (and the kids love them, too). They are magically chewy and crispy and crunchy all at once! Yes, the magician is letting you in on the secret!”

Cathy’s Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1 cup or 2 sticks of butter, softened
1½ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
OR ½ cup sucanat + 1/2 cup molasses +
½ cup dark brown sugar (this is the better option)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
¾ cup whole wheat flour
¾ cup unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
3 cups old-fashioned oats, even better if Irish
1 cup raisins
Throw in a big handful of nuts or 2: walnuts or pecans

Preheat to 350 degree oven

2 big bowls
In first, beat together butter and sugars until creamy
Add eggs and vanilla, beat well
In second, combine dry ingredients: flour baking soda, cinnamon, and salt, mix well

Add dry ingredients to sugars bowl, mix
Stir in oats raisins and nuts
Drop rounded spoonfuls onto cookie sheets
Bake 10-12 or until deeply goldenish brown
Cool one min on sheets, transfer to racks to cool more

Kinda hard not to eat straight out of oven, but they will burn, have milk handy and blow to cool before you chomp one! I tend to be generous with spilling in extra of many of the ingredients as I go, so they’re not perfectly the same every time, but the variety makes them good, too — little surprises in yummy. Now I have to go make them! I should be writing, but grandma’s home, baby won’t nap, and my mouth is watering thinking about these cookies!

 

This week’s prompt: “Box”
Use the prompt however you like — literally, or a tangential theme. All media are welcome. Please e-mail your entries to creativereality@live.com by 10:00 p.m. eastern time (GMT -5) on Tuesday, February 17, 2009. The winning entry receives a $10 gift certificate to amazon.com. Writers should include their submission directly in the body text of their e-mail. Visual artists and photographers should attach an image of their work as a jpeg. Enter as often as you like; multiple submissions for a single prompt are welcome. There is no limit to how many times you can win the weekly contest, either. (You do not have to be a contributor to this blog in order to enter. All are invited to participate.) All submissions are acknowledged when received; if you do not receive e-mail confirmation of receipt within 24 hours, please post a comment here. Remember, the point here is to stimulate your output, not to create a masterpiece. Keep the bar low and see what happens. Dusting off work you created previously is OK too. For more info, read the original contest blog post.

Feb 10

10 Comments

Miranda: Moving toward creativity

dsc_0004Hi all! Just a quick post to thank everyone for all the well wishes and support during my move. We’re hard at work getting settled, and my library (yes, my library!) is going to be a wonderful space. (Below is a shot of the work in progress.)

After nearly two years of limbo, it is an amazing relief to finally be “here.” No more wasted time, energy, and emotion spent trying to improve our house situation and fretting about it and cleaning the house for showings (while pregnant and then with a newborn) and hoping that “this time we’re going to get an offer.” It’s finally over.

dsc_0013All the kids are enjoying the new space and I think the house is a big improvement for everyone. Even the teenagers seemed pleased, which is no small accomplishment.

By the end of this weekend, all of the boxes will be unpacked. We’ll make a trip to IKEA for a few necessities. At that point there will till be lots of organizing left to do, of course, but the limbo — and life amid boxes — will have ended.

I guess that means that I’ll actually have to start being creative, huh?

Feb 9

8 Comments

Cathy: Yard work is a blessing

trellisfix-003I know most people feel toward yard work the way I feel about dentists. I’d rather let my teeth rot in my mouth than go and deal with the dentist head on, mouth open. But I love yard work, especially now, for a few reasons.

Last Saturday, I did a lot of yard work. I cut back the crazy roses and repaired the trellis for this year’s crop, and reset it so they won’t grow up into the siding. I cut back the holly that has no business being taller than me or overwhelming the rest of the front landscaping. It was a great day to be wearing a thick old Irish fisherman’s wool sweater and a good pair of gardening gloves, as I dealt with all those thorny things. I dug the tarp out of the dirt pile that never really made it behind the back fence into the gardens and has started growing into a grassy knoll at the side of the garage. I loaded thorny things galore onto the tarp. I dragged it to the fence and headed out back for more branches and brambles.

I removed all the branches from the old pine mulch pile I started the first autumn in the house. From under those branches, etc, is now a beautiful bed of piney compost, and later I consulted with the garden center lady about what would grow in a shady piney corner, and think I came up with a new corner of interest plan. But first I moved those branches as well as fodder from the surrounding trees into the wheelbarrow, wheeled it over to the fence and lifted it all over and threw it on the tarp. I then dragged the tarp to the driveway, and put the Christmas tree and wreath that the garbage company wouldn’t take away for three weeks, and added that to the tarp. Then I recruited my dear Honey’s aid to remove the seat in my van and get the tarpful of yard waste into the back of the van and took it all to the dump. In the end we had to tie the tree to the top, but hey, we got a lot done. Er, I got a lot done in the yard. He helped at the end. There was no wind and it was about forty degrees — a lovely day to work up a sweat outside and have cool fresh air to breathe.

While I was out there, somehow my mind cleared and I didn’t even have to think about the novel or the kids or my Honey or not having an income. I just enjoyed being out there and communing with my piece of suburban Mother Nature. I like to think I made her a little prettier and she appreciated it. I definitely got the scragglies out of her hair.

The next morning in the shower, it occurred to me that one year ago I went to church with a walker. I was seven months pregnant and had no business with my complications getting out of bed to do anything. I had the wheelchair in the back of my van, but I refused to use it. I dragged my son K along and he helped me in and out, carried my purse and bottle of water, held doors, etc. It was also the first time I attended that church, but I was in serious need of some spiritual gathering and to get out of my stir-crazy bed.

So last Sunday, I ended up crying in front of the whole congregation that I’m just starting to get to know, about how far I’ve come from not walking to yard work since my first appearance there last February. I proclaimed in front of all with shaky voice and tear-filled eyes, “I know most people view yard work as a curse, but to me it is a blessed thing — especially since I was able to clear my yard by myself yesterday.” I think I was trying to say, don’t take things for granted, because you have a home, you can bend over and pick up sticks in your yard. It’s the simple things in life we must always appreciate. But I blubbered.

Then Monday, mind uncluttered, I sat down to write as soon as Baby C was asleep. Everything flowed beautifully. I was able to get my main character out of his clammed up state and began to resolve his issues and get him some confidence. Or the start of it, anyway. Then Baby C woke, but I nursed her back down a little and was able to plot out the wrap up of the book in one-liners for the coming scenes. I wrote a solid five pages of the manuscript then plotted the rest out!

Chipper from my productivity, I washed the dishes, loaded the dishwasher, handed the baby to grandma when she came home so that I could clean the kitchen. Then I promptly readied the stroller and leash and took baby and dog and me for a good refreshing walk. I saw cormorants and geese in the lake at my little bench, where I chugged my bottle of water and gave Baby C her juice. When she and Lucy started showing their signs of restlessness (such as dropping cup off side of stroller into goose poo), I hopped up and took off for home. I haven’t hopped up since well before I was pregnant! She was 10 months old as of Sunday, and I can now hop up, in spirit, in yard work, and in my writing. That’s why I love yard work. It feels good to accomplish something physically. It frees your mind and spring is on its way, so I get to garden again. And as long as I can garden, the writing and a whole lot else seem to come much easier.

Feb 6

2 Comments

Open House

Happy Friday, friends! Here’s a roundup of the latest interesting bits from Creative Construction community members.

  1. Kate Hopper is teaching an online version of her Mother Words writing class.
  2. Bethany Hiitola is capturing late-night creative inspiration on her cell phone.
  3. Alana Kirk Gillham is vaccuming under the couch instead of writing.
  4. Elizabeth Beck hung her mother and daughter art show.
  5. Emma-Jane Rosenberg drew and painted some beautiful tomatoes.
  6. Suzanne Kamata noted her publisher’s novel contest.
  7. Liz Hum is building new muscles. Really.

I hope all February Finish-a-thon participants have a rewarding weekend! (Well, and everyone else who reads this, too.) Any great ideas for managing to fit family time, household time, and creativity time all into the same weekend?

Feb 5

19 Comments

Kelly: Dodging Curve Balls

I’ve been having a couple of those weeks where everything comes at you at once. You know those kind of weeks? It’s been taking up so much space in my brain that I haven’t been able to think straight much less find time to sit down and create.

Two weeks ago I got a job offer out of the blue. I guess I can’t really say it was completely out of the blue because I did put in an application with the K-12 public school system, just not with this particular offer in mind. When I answered my cell, the voice on the other end said, “Kelly Warren…this is a voice from your past.” Suddenly, I felt like a Star Wars character. It was an old friend who was now the principal at one of the top magnet schools here in town, and he just so happened to have an immediate opening for a 7th grade English and language arts teacher. When I submitted my application, it was with the sole intention of seeking a position at my girls’ school, simplifying my life in that fashion being the only thing that would make the pay cut worth it. My old friend did a very hard sell on me by phone, we talked further in person the next day, and I asked him to let me interview with the committee just like any other candidate so I could do a little further investigation and soul searching. It really gave me pause, but ultimately after some long talks with DH and a few close advisors, I decided that even though it was a great opportunity, it was not the right opportunity for me right now.

Interestingly enough, the next day I was sitting in my college-wide Student Life Task Force meeting; we’re charged with determining what changes need to be made to our area as we move towards a four-year state college. We have two campus presidents on the committee. We were finalizing our recommendations for the college’s executive vice president when one of the campus presidents added, “And I think we need to put more teeth into the college-wide coordinator’s role, giving that position more authority.” Guess who that college-wide coordinator is? Needless to say, Dr. Russos (my college-wide supervisor) and I were very happy to hear that because we’ve been working on getting my position upgraded for two years to no avail. Now, we had a campus president wanting to formally add that recommendation to our request list. We finalized that list today, and the only recommendation that we didn’t make any changes to was my position upgrade…which would come with an $8,000 pay increase.

Now, as a little distraction, we’ve advertised a full-time English faculty position on my campus. I was a finalist for a full-time English faculty position at North Campus last summer, but that campus president ultimately decided she wanted someone with a doctorate and scrapped the search. The position still has not been filled. My campus president is open to someone without a doctorate and has encouraged me to apply. Those summers off sure are attractive…and come with a $12,000 pay cut. And I’ve applied. If I were to be offered the upgrade and the faculty position at the exact same moment, not sure exactly which way I’d go…but I’m leaning toward the faculty position.

And now the latest curve ball, totally unrelated to work. I’ve been blessed with the lovely experience of two mammograms in the last two weeks. The second one this past Friday brought me the news I didn’t want to hear. I have a suspicious cluster about the size of a dime in my right breast that requires a biopsy. I’m scheduled for 7am Thursday morning. I’m doing my best to remain positive and tell myself everything will be fine. Hopefully I’m just developing polka-dotted boobs. But I must admit this last bit of news has made me even more scattered-brained than I usually am. I could throw myself into a creative frenzy, but all I’ve really wanted to do is curl up on the couch with my babies. I’ve heard the old adage that the cemetery is full of people who didn’t have time to slow down and take a break. Maybe this is my cue.

Feb 4

4 Comments

2/04 Weekly creativity contest winner & new prompt

A quiet week on the creativity contest front. Perhaps the prompt “clock” didn’t set off many bells among Creative Construction readers — or perhaps some of you were hard at work in the February Finish-a-thon. Our winner is Kelly Warren, who sent in a stunning photo, with a lovely explanatory bit. Congratulations, Kelly! Your $10 amazon.com gift certificate is on its way.

Clock’s Tickin’

ford-ttv

Heading south out of Tallahassee on US 319/98 towards the coast, there’s a gathering of old trucks just off the side of the road. Being the intrepid traveler around Tallahassee and its environs, I’ve wondered about this “gathering” for years. They sit there as if on the starting line of some long ago race, all lined up waiting for some invisible spandex-clad starlet to throw down her scarf as the signal to go.

After some recent research, I found finally their origins. They’re are owned by Mr. Homer R. Harvey. He and his father Riley A. Harvey were in the timber, crosstie and turpentine business. They also farmed and raised some cattle and hogs, and the trucks were used in their business operations over the years. Riley died in 1957, and Homer carried the business on into the 1970s. The home on the curve near the trucks is where Homer raised his family. He and his wife Yvonne McLaughlin had four children: Pat, Mike, Dennis and Ouida. Pat now lives in the home on “Homer Harvey Curve.” A few years back Pat and Homer decided to move the old trucks out of the woods and place them closer to the road where they are now. Homer is now 92 and lives with his daughter Ouida just a few miles from the curve. Mike and Dennis both live close by.

The woman at the Wakulla County Chamber of Commerce who helped me with the research, Petra Shuff, told me that there’s a ’54 Ford amongst the gathering that was the first car she remembers steering, sitting in an uncle’s lap. Like Petra’s dream to drive, these old trucks are also a photographer’s dream. I took a series of pictures there recently and played around with a few to great effect, including that ’54 Ford. Clock’s tickin’, Ms. Petra. Been drivin’ lately?

 

From Jen Johnson, a photograph. Jen writes: “A very impromptu submission this week: a photo of our mantle, titled ‘Time and the River’ (yes that is the Wolfe title in the background).”

time-and-the-river

 

From Cathy Coley, a poem and photo pairing. Cathy says, “very silly, i was coming up empty.” Hey, your consistency is always impressive, Cathy!

Clocks

Always ticking
Never sticking
Slowly creeping
Suddenly speeding
Morning in
Evening out
What the heck
Is that all about?

clocks-006

 

From me (Miranda), a haiku:

Clock

The metronome of
life and all I know, music
of our nothingness

 

This week’s prompt: “Cookies”
Use the prompt however you like — literally, or a tangential theme. All media are welcome. Please e-mail your entries to creativereality@live.com by 10:00 p.m. eastern time (GMT -5) on Tuesday, February 10, 2009. The winning entry receives a $10 gift certificate to amazon.com. Writers should include their submission directly in the body text of their e-mail. Visual artists and photographers should attach an image of their work as a jpeg. Enter as often as you like; multiple submissions for a single prompt are welcome. There is no limit to how many times you can win the weekly contest, either. (You do not have to be a contributor to this blog in order to enter. All are invited to participate.) All submissions are acknowledged when received; if you do not receive e-mail confirmation of receipt within 24 hours, please post a comment here. Remember, the point here is to stimulate your output, not to create a masterpiece. Keep the bar low and see what happens. Dusting off work you created previously is OK too. For more info, read the original contest blog post.

Feb 3

Reminder: The clock is ticking on weekly contest deadline!

There’s still time for an entry in this week’s creativity contest. The prompt is “clock.” Grab a minute or two and wind something up! (Gee, so many weak “clock” clichés, and so little time…)

Feb 3

10 Comments

Cathy: 100 Happies

I have been seeing or participating in a lot of these 16 random things about, 25 random things about, or 48 questions about me lists that are rattling around on Facebook. Well, now that it’s officially February and the start of the Finish-a-thon, I am foregoing participation in another of those lists. But it got me thinking again about Elizabeth Beck’s list of 100 things that make her happy. I thought it was about time I started my own. Granted, I’m sure I could make it a thousand easy, and that that list can change minute by minute, because that’s just the varietal kind of person I am, but here it goes:

  1. my husband acting goofy whenever I take his picture.
  2. the way my son s can make me laugh like no one else in the world.
  3. baby c’s deliberate pursuit of whatever she’s doing.
  4. writing poetry
  5. writing a good chunk in a longer project
  6. my son k’s smarts and good looks, both of which I lay claim as the genetic source
  7. taking photos of the kids when they don’t know the camera is on them
  8. chocolate, wait that’s too easy
  9. daaaaark chocolate
  10. creamy things with nuts
  11. wait that sounds gross, creamy sweet goodness with walnuts or pecans or crème brulee
  12. ice cream, and then,
  13. potato chips
  14. and then making dinner while full on ice cream and potato chips
  15. coffee in the morning as I pour it into the cup and the aroma wafts up while it makes that particular pouring sound, and then adding a bit of milk so its all swirly, and then
  16. the first sip of the morning.
  17. a hot shower.
  18. lavender soap.
  19. a tall glass of water on a hot day
  20. a big mug of herbal tea on a cold day
  21. or cocoa, my version, no packets in my house!  with four big marshmallows floating in it
  22. baking cookies
  23. baking cake
  24. cookie dough and cake batter
  25. pasta with red sauce.  I could eat this everyday for the rest of my life and never tire of it.
  26. apparently food
  27. fresh veggies from my garden
  28. growing fresh veggies
  29. gardening
  30. even flowers and trees
  31. yardwork
  32. the beach
  33. anything about the beach
  34. except maybe jellyfish stings
  35. jellyfish in the water is so pretty though
  36. walking
  37. yoga
  38. sunshine
  39. rain
  40. the moon
  41. sky gazing
  42. stars
  43. sunsets
  44. sunrises
  45. the smell of my kid’s heads when they are sleeping.
  46. baby c’s wild curls
  47. babies
  48. dogs
  49. cats
  50. horses
  51. the smell of hay in a barn
  52. the smell of the sea
  53. the smell of hay when the sun is shining on it.
  54. wet grass
  55. dancing in the rain
  56. snow
  57. snowball fights with the kids
  58. building something out of snow
  59. crisp air with snow
  60. snow, snow, snow, snow, snow.
  61. swimming
  62. making snow angels
  63. watching my kids make snow angels
  64. getting up out of making a snow angel and not leaving footprints in it
  65. lying on my back on the sand, on the grass, in the snow, on a boat, on a rock, and watching the sky.
  66. rock climbing
  67. listening to friend’s woes, and realizing hey, they’re just like me!
  68. listening to someone’s tale of woe and feeling blessed that it’s not me.
  69. helping a friend find a way past woe
  70. saying Whoa!
  71. when my dog looks at me with the look of love
  72. when my cat looks at me to say something besides feed me which amounts to, yeah, you’re alright, lady.
  73. when she purrs.
  74. bread
  75. making bread
  76. sledding
  77. driving
  78. adventures
  79. knowing that life is an adventure
  80. and all you have to do is liiiiive it
  81. reading
  82. when my husband pinches my butt just because we’re in the vicinity
  83. when I pinch his for the same reason
  84. a really good laugh
  85. jumping in my husband’s arms, even though it’s not so easy to do anymore, but we’re both in the kitchen, and it’s kitchen affection
  86. bubbles, on the stove or in the air
  87. a good movie cry
  88. a good book cry
  89. Christmas trees
  90. Halloween
  91. knowing that how much I love my family only ever gets bigger and better
  92. when I can think of a new way of approaching a bad situation that makes it better.
  93. caramel
  94. snowcones, preferably at the beach
  95. French fries
  96. morning quiet, so rare these days
  97. love
  98. friends
  99. family
  100. random tap dancing

That was fun and kind of cleared my head before I launch into the February Finish-a-thon. I recommend both highly: making a list of what makes you happy and joining us in the February Finish-a-thon! Good luck!

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