SOL 5/31: Sunshine Bouncing on my Lap!

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 

to the March Slice of Life Story Challenge community.

Thanks to Stacey, Betsy, Beth, Kathleen, Deb, Melanie, and Lanny

 for hosting this meeting place each day in March

and for nurturing our writing lives.

I'm trying really hard to write my posts before I begin reading posts. But this morning, I went to Michele's blog, in search of the  format she used for her bio poem. And instead of going straight to that post, I stopped to read her latest post, Coming to the Final Page. Go ahead and click on the link. It's a great post! Michele writes so lovingly about her notebooks. I'm always inspired when I read about her notebooks. And so I picked up my own notebook where I had jotted down some early ideas for writing on March 1st. Michele's bio poem will have to wait. Because today I'm writing about a small moment with grandson Jack. 

We were rereading one of Jack's favorite books from the latest trip to the library. It's Maisy's Digger by Lucy Cousins, and it's filled with color! Jack loves pointing to the sun, and Grandma loves singing "You Are My Sunshine." So now when we read the book, he points to the sun and bounces on my lap, his invitation to me to sing. And before you know it, even when it's cloudy outside, there's sunshine bouncing on my lap!

SOL4/31: Dear Airline Passengers . . .

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 

to the March Slice of Life Story Challenge community.

Thanks to Stacey, Betsy, Beth, Kathleen, Deb, Melanie, and Lanny

 for hosting this meeting place each day in March

and for nurturing our writing lives.

Dear airline passengers

on last night's 7 pm flight 

from the east coast to the west coast,

When the precious 20 month old

arrived on your five hour flight,

I hope you didn't recoil

and remember past flights

with crying babies.

His parents meant well.

If you board a flight at 7 pm,

and the child generally

goes to sleep at 7:30, 

he should sleep for
most of the flight 

or at least some of it, right?

His mama posted this 

from the Seattle airport at 10:23 pm:

"Barely survived a brutal

late night flight to Seattle.

BUUUTTTT we're one step 

closer to our *kid free*

Hawaiian vacation!"

Sometimes his mama 

calls him a stinker.

But his grandma

calls him sweetheart!

SOL 3/31 & Celebrate This Week!

Join us each weekend for Celebrate This Week with Ruth Ayres.

When we pause to celebrate, we find the joy.

 

   A week filled with moments to celebrate and remember.

Dear slicer friends, Every weekend I participate in Celebrate This Week with Ruth Ayres and other blogger friends. The practice of looking for moments to celebrate each week is a spiritual practice
that has brought so much joy to my life. 

Sunday sunshine!

A walk with a friend!

An author visit at my favorite indie!

(watch for an upcoming slice)

 Hanging with Jack!

 

 

This lunch of fresh veggie goodness!

 Morning jewel drops from an evening rain!

 Laughter provided by Teddy! 
These shots are captured from a video.
You fill in the details.

Anticipation for Teddy's visit!

Family arrives tonight 
(fingers crossed they will get to fly out of DC).

Mom and Dad leave Monday for Hawaii. 

Grandma and Grandpa are so excited!

SOL 2/31 & Spiritual Journey First Thursday: Music

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 

to the March Slice of Life Story Challenge community.

Thanks to Stacey, Betsy, Beth, Kathleen, Deb, Melanie, and Lanny

 for hosting this meeting place each day in March

and for nurturing our writing lives.

Karen Eastland is guest host for the round up

over at Live Your Poem where her topic

for the day is"Face the Music."

Once a month, I join with a group of friends to focus on our spiritual journeys usually related to a chosen theme. I delayed writing this post yesterday because I felt compelled for the first day of our Slice of Life Challenge to reach out to bloggers who might feel discouraged by those who were prepped and ready to roll. So I shared my thinking in an acrostic I wrote, "Room at the Table."

I'm posting my Spiritual Journey First Thursday post a day late on Friday. Our theme for March's SJFT is music. I've recently been reading Isaiah and love these words from Isaiah, chapter 12 (the blue highlighting is my own): 
2 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.

3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.

4 And in that day shall ye say, Praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.

5 Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth.

I can't think of music without thinking of my mom and the ways she sang songs of praise throughout her day and throughout the challenges life brought her way. Join me as we catch a glimpse of my mother's day and the way that hymns permeated her daily life. I've chosen five hymns that I remember her singing frequently. 

You might wake to hear my mother bustling in the kitchen humming "Shall We Gather at the River" (Robert Lowry, 1864) and then she might sing out the words to the chorus. It was a beautiful way to wake up and certainly made all of us ready to gather to her kitchen for a favorite breakfast of biscuits and gravy. 

And then she might be in our small laundry room located two steps down from the kitchen in a converted garage space, singing "Are You Washed in the Blood?" (Elisha A. Hoffman, 1878) with gusto. The "white as snow" garments she sang about were not products of detergent or bleach, but the results of a life lived relying on the Savior and his cleansing power.

In the afternoon, her singing of "Come to the Church in the Wildwood" (William S. Pitts, 1857) might be accompanied by the hum of her sewing machine, as she lovingly sewed clothing for our family and items for our home. 

After dinner, she might be sweeping the kitchen floor to the words of "The Old Rugged Cross," (George Bennard, 1913) as she pondered clinging to the cross and exchanging it some day for a crown.

As she struggled with cancer during the final months of her life, these same hymns brought comfort and solace to her heart. I still remember one afternoon when she had been rather uncomfortable for some time. Instead of the groans associated with her pain, I heard the words of "Softly and Tenderly" (Will L. Thompson, 1880) coming from her bedroom. I crept quietly down the hall listening to my mother softly singing, "Come home! come home! Ye who are weary, come home!" while pleading in my heart that she not be called home quite yet. 
Link to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing Softly and Tenderly: https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2014-10-4051-softly-and-tenderly?lang=eng
My brother, his wife, my aunt, and myself were by her side a few weeks later singing hymns as she departed this life and answered the call to come home into the arms of her Savior.

It's been twenty-six years since I last heard my mother physically sing these songs. But the words linger in my heart and when I listen carefully, it's as if I can still hear her sweet voice testifying that the Lord Jehovah is her strength and her song. I am blessed indeed! 

SOL 1/31: Room at the Table for Planners and Pantsers and Everyone in Between

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 

to the March Slice of Life Story Challenge  community.

Thanks to Stacey, Betsy, Beth, Kathleen, Deb, Melanie, and Lanny

 for hosting this meeting place each day in March

and for nurturing our writing lives.

As a charter member of Procrastinator's Anonymous (not really), I've been concerned about the plethora of posts that have appeared recently touting the benefits of planning ahead for our month of writing. I am here to speak to those who have not set up their posts for each day, who have not made a list of possible topics, and who have not written several posts in advance. This is my seventh year to participate, and I've never had a single post written ahead of time. I recognize that many individuals need/want this kind of advance planning, but rest assured that this challenge is possible even for the disorganized and least prepared among us! I wrote this acrostic to encourage the pantsers* in our midst! 

Rather than feel discouraged by the

Ones who are

Organized  and prepped for a

Month of slicing,

A fellow pantser* encourages you

To embrace your own style,

To remember that

Having any small thing to write about is

Enough to create a slice of life,

To provide reassurance that you will find topics and inspiration for              writing

Astounding yourself every day for thirty-one days.

Be open to the moments in your own life, and

Linger in the slices of fellow bloggers who will

Enliven your own writing and provide support for your March journey. 

(* a last minute, write by the seat of your pants slicer)

The idea of planners and pantsers was presented last year along with a badge to post on our blogs for each style of writing. I wrote A Meditation on Badges to posit that some of us fall in between and qualify as plantsers!

No matter where you fall on this continuum between those who plan and those who fly by the seat of your pants, here's to a delightful month of writing. March forward, slicer friends!

#MustReadin2018!

I know that it's long past the time that my other book-loving friends have posted their must read lists for 2018. But, the last time I checked, Carrie hadn't closed the gate yet. So here I am, on the last day of February with my stack of books that I must read in 2018.

1. Chicken Boy by Frances O'Roark Dowell
a leftover from a summer of reading chicken titles several years ago

2. How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O'Connor 
How can it be that I still haven't read this book?

3. A Tangle of Knots by Lisa Graff
Highly recommended by my middle school readers in book club

4. Matylda Bright & Tender by Holly M. McGhee
Won this book from a giveaway on Linda Baie's blog

5. A Handful of Stars by Cynthia Lord 
Purchased after I heard Cynthia Lord speak at Western Washington University's Children's Literature Conference in 2017

6. Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass
a title I've started twice and loved but never finished

7. The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
my one nod to YA, unread from last year's list
(Can you tell that I love mostly middle grade?)

8. Hello Universe by Erin Estrada Kelly
this year's Newbery winner!

9. Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech
a parent told me once that this was the book that made a reader out of her son.

10. Greenglass House by Kate Milford
a title I discovered from a list of cozy books for winter reading

11. Looking Back by Lois Lowry
an ARC that I borrowed from our middle school librarian and promised to pass on to one of the classroom teachers

12. Poems Are Teachers by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater
a book that made me break my promise to self to not buy any more professional books 
13. Enticing Hard-to-Reach Writers by Ruth Ayres
Not in the stack of books pictured because I just have the electronic copy. I gave my print copy of the book to my niece.

Last year was the first year that I joined this group. I'm keeping my list to a baker's dozen of thirteen titles because I'm an easily distracted reader. Except for the two library books in the stack (#s 8 & 10) and the electronic version of book #13, all the other titles were pulled from my own bookshelves. I want to read these books so I can share them with teacher friends still in the classroom and make room on my shelves for more books.  My want to read list grows with every blog post I read, every visit to a bookstore, every list of books that I discover on the web, and every time I visit my local library. I want this list to be something that I might attain in 2018!

Slice of Life: Dear Library Patron, Sorry to Make You Wait a Bit Longer!

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 

to the Tuesday Slice of Life (SOL) community.

Thanks to Stacey, Betsy, Beth, Kathleen, Deb, Melanie, and Lanny

 for hosting this meeting place each Tuesday and nurturing our writing lives.

I had the best of intentions. Truly I did. I checked my library account to see which books were due. I tucked all the books into my book bag. Except for one title which I placed on the front seat to remind me that it needed to be read before I returned it.

After a movie and lunch with friends, an appointment, and a haircut, I would swing by the library to return my books that were due. But first, somewhere in this busy day, I needed to find the time to read this book that had sat in my picture book basket for almost a month, unread. 

And that time came when I pulled up to the library. I sat in the car to read it. Are you wondering why I didn't go in the library? It was certainly warmer in there. However for a bibliophile like me, the library contains too many distractions. So I sat in the car, book in hand, and read Martin Rising:  Requiem For A King by Andrea Davis Pinkney with paintings by Brian Pinkney.

And somewhere during this stunning poetic presentation of Martin Luther King, Jr's life, I knew that my resolve to return the book was weakening. I would pay the fine and keep it for at least one more day so I could share it with the students tomorrow at our after school book club. 

I just checked to see how many holds are on the book. As it turns out, there are two other people waiting on the book. I tried once again to renew the book and was rewarded with a renewal! I'm not sure why that wasn't possible yesterday, but I'm not complaining about a one day fine and the chance to share this book with a few more people before it's due back at the library. 

Be sure to read the Author's Reflections and the Artist's Reflections at the end of the book. Andrea explains how to use selected poems along with the "Now Is the Time" history to tell Martin Luther King, Jr's story. This final paragraph from this section captures the power of her words:  "When we vote, we rise. When we march, we rise. When we speak out, seek peace, teach the truth, we all rise to a better tomorrow And the time is now."

If you haven't read this book yet, the time is now. Request it from your library or head to your local indie bookstore for this look at the final months of MLK's life brought to life by Andrea Davis and Brian Pinkney.