Fab Friday!

Good Morning!

I’m hoping to make a big dent in grandson Cody’s quilt today. I’m pretty excited about how it’s taking shape, these are the middle blocks:

What we have here are sixteen different dogs. The big rectangles have the nose on them, you can see the body below and the ear in the air. I’m happy to be able to create something like this, even though it’s a pattern created by someone else. This is still a creative endeavor because all of these fabrics are mine, from my stash. I find myself feeling a lot of happiness while stitching the rows, pressing the seams, arranging the blocks. It’s mesmerizing and magical, all at once.

I feel the same way after writing something I feel good about. My kid book will be short(er) and sweet. Teaching children about grief and loss is hard, but so necessary. If we don’t learn to cope with both of these, we will not have a balanced life. It isn’t all good and happy. Sometimes, it’s bad and sad to cope with. But it’s part of all of our realities. The sooner we learn this, the better.

How about you? Do you remember how old you were when you experienced loss to your family? Do you remember how your family handled it? Let’s compare notes. It will help me construct a better story. I want to tell the truth. It will help children learn. And how to learn to deal with life.

Tell me what you think. Do you need help sharing life’s hard realities with children? Kids are stronger than we think. The truth is better than no information. Thank you for reading today. Have a wonderful Friday and see you tomorrow.

Wonderful Wednesday

When my kids were younger, we had one bathroom for the four of us. That meant I got up at 5:30 a.m., and everyone else got up and we left the house by 7 a.m. All had breakfast, too. It helped to be young, and the goal of getting to work on time. For a couple of those years, I dropped kids off at three different places. That was a little complicated! So glad we lived through those stressful days and years.

Now, it’s been awhile. Last night, Gavin didn’t want to go to the rally for President Trump in Omaha. He came to stay with us, and the Babe (a/k/a Grandpa) took him to school earlier. Like most eight-year-olds, he is a wealth of information. We don’t know the characters in Minecraft, but we heard all about them. Like his sister, Gavin is a wealth of information. Never stops talking. That’s ok. I love some topics we cover. It is pretty informative on some levels, and on others, we laugh to ourselves at some conclusions Gavin arrives at. Those are the stories we love to tell our friends, and they share their stories along the same lines.

When the Babe came over to me to kiss me goodbye and take Gavin to school, I asked him, “Do you feel as if you’re herding cats this morning?” He smiled that dimpled smile and said, “Yes, I do.” We had a pleasant laugh, and off the boys went. What a great way to start the day. Once in a while.

Aside from a nap later, I’m also going to accomplish some more writing today, and reading the book about Ellen Foster. I’m also intrigued about a new Facebook Group called “The Creatives.” Our local cartoonist, Jeffrey Koterba, and his son, Joshua Koterba, started it. I see it as a great resource for everyone involved. It tickled me when I received an invitation to join. Many, many people are members so far. I know I’ll learn much about being creative and living a creative life.

What have you accomplished this year, that you thought you would? I truly pictured myself at a book launch or two by this time of the year. I probably am closer to finishing than giving up, and it’s sad knowing the Pandemic hasn’t been friendly to some authors’ release parties. Maybe it’s a blessing for me, otherwise I might have published something that wasn’t ready yet.

I’d better get to working on another chapter plan now. It’ll make tomorrow go better when I have more time to write. Hope to see you tomorrow. I think we can have another pleasant morning together. Thanks for reading. Be Kind. Be Safe out there. Be Happy. It’s a state of mind everyone should adopt. Thanks for reading.