A Work in Progress

There is a bird who lives in our backyard that has been a nuisance for the last three years. For starters, I don't even know what this bird is. No clue. I tried to Google it using terms like "bird with annoying screech" and "kicks up dirt and leaves scrounging for bugs and worms." Those searches didn't work. Weird. From Google, I received names like finches and woodpeckers, shrikes, and larks. If I could take a picture of the bird, I'd post it so you could see this miscreant in action. But, he's too fast for me. So, I'm no help there. Nor is he. This bird has a black head, white body, with red on its wings. He’s quite beautiful in spite of his annoying personality   The good news about researching local "Sacramento birds" is that I now know the identifying name of our resident owl. It's a Western Screech Owl. Yes, we have a resident owl. This adorable owl has made a home out of our old cable dish (and accouterments) that we had pla

This right here, Fernweh, is why writers do what they do. I went looking for a blog post I'd written years ago for a future article that I'm working on now. And guess what? I went back to the beginning of all my blog posts and it looks like I've been blogging for ten years. That sure went by fast. August 6, 2009 ◄ was my first post and hey, I'm still here and still loving it. While my random blogging is nothing special, I've got to say it's been a wonderful place to hone my writing skills. And as a writer, it's a good idea to have a digital footprint that shows both a writing past and a potential writing future. There are plenty of "real" bloggers who have tons of followers and loyal fans. They're super prolific and making six figures, and writing about their successes. And that's great. But, this blog isn't that. I never wanted it to be that in the first place. Not to mention, it wasn't even a thing ten years ag

Ah, the mother's life. For you ladies who work outside the home, I honestly don't know how you do it. My work -- writing, (soon teaching) and selling vintage -- ALL can be done from home. I'm lucky. Actually, luck has zero to do with it. I chose these things so I could be with my kids. But, that I CAN do this -- work from home-- is a huge blessing. Obviously, not every woman gets to choose their working life specifics, due to life's curve balls and what not. But, for the moms who do everything and work outside the house, I'm sure something's got to give. I was thinking more about this, while I pondered our living room and dining room. It looks pretty clean because my boys don't hang out much in there. I like this. When the rest of the house is a mess, I can always stand here and pretend the whole house looks this spotless. So, what has to give? 1. An entire spotless house. I guess Cheerios on the floor for many days isn't awful (or the res

I would try to list all the things we did with the kids this summer to keep them and us busy alongside work and everything else, but instead, I'm just going to show you last week.  Had to get a Rivercats game in. Our local AAA team is pretty amazing. And even if our season has been less than stellar, we won that night. So there you go. It wouldn't be summer without a trip to the optometrist, right? My eyes are slightly worse in the first time of EVER. (I turned 40 recently, that was definitely a summer event ... that I don't want to talk about. You understand). But, my wonderful father is said optometrist, so it's always a fun visit. Thanks Dad! We usually squeeze in a trip to IKEA. Random trivia: We bought this exact table and chairs 10 years ago as a "temporary" fix for the dinette until husband made a better one. Here's a couple other trivia things to note: 1. We paid $120 ten years ago. Woah. Infl

You know, for being a writer, I sure don't blog a lot. I mean, I'm a failure when it comes to this. I started my blogs because, let's face it, what's a writer (or who's a writer, really) without one? It's like the necessary notebooks, books, journals, pens, computers, PCs -- on at the same time while on my phone as well, but that's another story for another time -- that a writer needs and wants that co-exists nicely with the incessant dialogue or scene setting that goes on in a writer's mind. It's perpetual. It's never-ending. And it's lovely. And I have kids. Kids can kind of take every living ounce of strength and will-power out of me, so that I don't want to write. At all. Like, at all all. Like ever again. Okay, not true. That part just isn't true. But, their constant energy and living their schedules, warrants an IV caffeine drip into my right arm. So it's ironic and very lackadaisical of me to not be writing he

You know what's uncomfortable? Me letting my work go out (the one that's been in a writing/editing/rewriting process for the last ten years) to my writing/ critique partners. It's like letting your baby -- your sweet, little child -- go to school on his first day of preschool.You are relieved, but terrified. Happy but seriously overwhelmed. There's a two-fold dimension of emotions. And I can't figure out what I want or should feel. Many of you don't know that this story has been with me since my now-high-school son was a three-year-old. It's been over ten years of trying to figure out what and how I want to tell this story. For a while, I thought it was just a concept that would never come to fruition. And that it was a crazy idea for a book. Shouldn't happen. Nah, dumb idea. But, it wasn't just that.  Okay, perhaps it is a dumb idea, but I never could give it up. AND (I'm going to speak "positive proph

My oldest son just graduated from middle school. Which means, naturally that I have a high-schooler now.  Really amazing to see how fast time flies and how much my little boy has turned into a man. Because I'm his mom, I get to tell you how handsome he is. Isn't he? Okay. Speaking of boys, just had another article printed on Mamalode and it has to do with boys! My boys. Which is perfect timing. Go here ◄ to read it. And this time? Mamalode editors left every word in tact, the way I originally wrote it. The article is titled, Better with Boys. Graduating son? Original non-edited and printed writing?  Perfect way to end the week. Have a wonderful weekend friends.

The way I start a story is rarely how I finish it. And writing is pretty much always this way. Which is a good thing. No, it's a fantastic thing. The first draft of anything should never, ever see the light of day. Or anyone's eyes. But yours of course, the first time around. Then said eyes need to watch yourself retyping a great deal of it. And this is for any writer. Pro or amateur. As Hemingway once said, and I'm going to paraphrase, "All first drafts are crap." Clearly, he didn't say "crap." That wasn't the word he used. That wasn't Hemingway. But, I digress. Here's the thing. He's right. First drafts are garbage. Always. They must be rewritten. Now, sometimes when articles and things getting printed, what you think will be printed won't always be the case. I know this first hand. I've written many things that have been edited sharply. Things I wrote, that turned out nothing like what I submitted. That's the fre

A friend of mine recently told me about a parenting magazine called Mamalode.   And after checking them out, I've come to the conclusion that Mamalode is a darn cool magazine. They have both an online and print magazine, dealing with mom life, parenting and everything that falls in between those two categories.Which is great for me. Because that's my life! The photography in the print version is incredible.  Apparently, Mamalode is quite well known. The blogger and creator of BlogHer, Lisa Stone, calls Mamalode "The best parenting magazine out there." That's saying something coming from a parent and writer, herself. My friend suggested I start submitting to them, as I needed fresh markets to submit material. I felt like I was in a writing rut. So, I submitted a poem. They took it and it was online last week. It's rather appropriate they printed this first, considering April is poetry month. The poem is called Harvesting the Oranges before Spring

This picture is pretty much what happens in the winter at my house. At least for me, anyway. As the weather gets cooler, outdoor activities i.e. sitting by the pool or swimming, disappear (Yes, even here in California) and a hibernation, if you will, takes over me. I want blankets, slippers, fireplaces, and something warm to drink all next to my stack of books. It is a stack. It's hard for me to focus on one book at a time for too long, since I have so much going on. So, a chapter here and there throughout the day works well. The real problem is me wanting to read so many different books at once. This picture is a little take of said problem, on the side table of my bed. And it doesn't even include the one or two or three books I'm reading on my tablet or phone PLUS the qeue of books that will be coming in to read, or that I'm going to be reading once I finished the affore mentioned. This isn't a problem to complain about. Good books are so much fun. An