Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from 2013

Four Trips + A pair of Shoes = Jazz Music on the Way Home

So, I have this cute child. He's six. Tall for his age. And very much like my firstborn with his perfectionist tendencies. While extremely responsible, and this year has been exceptional -- him telling me what homework he has the day before it's due; that he wants to take his spelling pretests with ABSOLUTELY no help from me, etc -- he forgot something really important the second week of school. He went to school without his shoes. Okay, not the end of the world. I drove up to the "drop off" area, ready to expel my children to the world of learning, when I hear, "I don't have my shoes!" He was so in shock, so scared I would be mad at him, that all I could do was say, "Okay. Wow." No way could I be angry. No way could I tell him that he seriously ruined my morning routine, that I'd be late meeting a friend for coffee, or that I didn't care. Because I did care. And my cute child is everything to me. On the good days. And the bad

A Work in Progress

You know, I had originally titled my blog this, A Work in Progress. And would you look at that .. my life has come full circle three years later, and I'm back to naming my blog A Work in Progress. Why this name? Because, quite frankly, it fits me and what I'm doing. I  am always working on something as far as writing goes, and it not only never feels complete, but I always feel like I can do it better. Sort of carries into my personal life as well. The house we just bought? Unless I like the dated wallpaper and old kitchen cabinets, which I don't, it's a work in progress. My dog who loves the ball more than obeying? Well, she's a work in progress. Very cute, but very much a work in progress. My job as a parent? Where do I begin? That's a forever work in progress. Just when I've mastered diapering, it's onto saying "no" at the rights times (which feels like ALWAYS) and then it's onto juggling school and sports and home life a

Reviews

Anyone who hasn't had a bad review of their work doesn't fully understand the stress that comes with being a writer. I recently had one of these reviews. And it seriously made me doubt that what I had put years into was even worth it. It's bad enough that we pour out our blood and sweat and tons of tears into our work without a single affirming word from anyone saying, "What a swell job you're doing" or "Though you haven't made a penny of your writing in years, your work is truly great." And we continue to pour away because we are called to write. We can't live without doing that. This particular negative review of my work, The Puzzle Master, was like a slap in the face, with a punch to the gut, and then just when I thought it was over, a blind-sided karate chop to the back of the legs. I questioned if her negative review of my work was valid. I questioned my abilities as a writer. I wondered if indeed the last eighteen years