Mark took the kids skiing today. A story is brewing. I’ll keep you posted. Literally.
Last night I made grand plans to concentrate on the book today. Kids would be gone the whole day and I’d have uninterrupted time to wrap up some loose ends. I’m hoping to have something to release before we head out on our cruise. I’ve been reading a lot about how, if you’ve been sharing all kinds of stuff on a blog for free, your followers/readers/sisters/tribe will squawk if you expect them to start paying for content. I haven’t done such a great job of following the advice of the ‘experts’ so far. This blazing my own new trail is too damn fun to start following some other proven path. I like to think that I’m being the responsible parent by setting up a counseling fund for Will and Jenny.
But before working on the book, and after checking out my favorite haunts on the web, I was going to go get some groceries before a girlfriend comes for lunch. I canceled with her last week because I was feeling like a bad mom for spending so much time at art shows and not doing “real” school work; because I was still in a funk about John; and because my ankles were swollen. I’m not kidding about the ankles. I just now came out of the bathroom after putting on some mascara and dragging my fingers through my hair. My mom would be proud of me for not leaving the house without mascara. And then I thought, “screw it. I’d rather write on this blog than get groceries.” ‘Course, I’d rather do just about anything than go get groceries.
Yesterday’s blog post was huge for me. I felt like it was taking a risk to write about God/prayer/chrch and all that icky (to me) stuff. I was actually in tears when I hit the ‘Publish’ button. There were huge tears of relief streaming down my cheeks. I know when I’ve written something powerful (powerful for me, and I hope for you) – I get teary during the process. Susan shared a tip with me about how to keep yourself from getting teary. Hold your index finger under your nose. Hold it perpendicular – like you are pointing in the direction of your ear – and apply a little pressure. It works! But I’ve yet to figure out how to type while pressing my finger below my nose. The acronym for finger under nose is f.u.n. Nice.
So while I was just getting ready to go to the store I was thinking about a new category for this blog. I was going to call it “housekeeping” but I can’t come up with any positive feelings when I hear that word. I’ve not kept it a secret that housekeeping is on the bottom of my list. In fact, my mom called the other day, and after I answered she said, “What’s going on? You’re out of breath.” While panting into the phone I said, “Don’t get your hopes up. I have my clothes on. I was dusting furniture. You know, blowing the dust off the tops of the furniture.” Only there was a lot of dust and I was running out of breath.
I decided I liked the word ‘homekeeping‘ better. It’s cozier, forgiving, and holds the promise of warm brownies.
Thank you for reading. Thank you for commenting.
I can hardly wait for the book.
me neither ;)
I want that book ! I’ll pay anything. OK, almost anything. I have been kinda depressed this past year, and have had a real hard time reading. Except for your blog. I love it. So send me an email, and I’ll send a check. If possible, you can autograph it for me. But if it’s not convenient, that’s OK. By the way, there is no hurry. I don’t want to put any pressure on you. I figure you are kinda busy with the kids, cat, etc. Have fun on the cruise.
Phyllis,
You crack me up. Have I said that before?
I know that feeling of not being able to focus on something in order to be able to read. It seemed, for a long time, all I could read was a magazine. A magazine didn’t require that I stick with it. I could flit around and skip parts, forget what I was stewing about, and then put the magazine down and not worry about losing my place.
I’ve mentioned Elizabeth Berg in my blog. I just discovered her recently. I get into the story quickly, and I seem to connect to her writing. And her books provide such a wonderful escape. I think you might like her. My 90 year old step-grandma recommended that I read her. Berg crosses a lot of ages and she writes about relationships/family/love/life in regular terms. Or check out her blog. (Click on “her blog”.) She sounds like someone who would know what you’ve been through, has probably been through it herself, and probably likes milk and cookies. Although, I’d like to think that she’d sit down for a cup of coffee with me, too. :)