Back to the Beginning

I'm not really thinking any profound thoughts at the moment, and I'm not writing at all. I hope when I'm feeling better I'll get back into the groove, but in the meantime I thought I'd recycle an old post that I wrote when I first started blogging. When I reread it, it still makes me laugh thinking about it :) Anything to share a laugh or a smile on a Monday!

It was titled- It was quite a drag! and it's about volunteering at my local animal shelter.

The reason I officially stopped walking the bigger dogs is found in the title of this post. It was a beautiful day, weather wise, and I had stopped by the shelter with my youngest daughter, who was three at the time. After bathing and playing with a pile of puppies, I convinced my little "Wudge" (As in Wudgey, Wudgey Woo) to come with me and pick out a bigger dog to take for a walk. I took a leash, and with her by my side, we walked around to the kennels where the large, adult dogs were kept. It was hard to choose; I wished I could take them all, but I needed to make sure that I could manage it while walking.

As I gazed at each dog, trying to decide, their eyes all pleaded in unison, "Pick me, pick me!", until one of the workers at the shelter suggested a cute, friendly, but very excited female dog. It seemed like a good idea to me too, so I opened the gate, slipped a leash over her head, and off we went. With the exception of a few, the dogs at the shelter are the worst dogs to walk. They've been couped up in a 5' x 10' kennel 24/7 with only short breaks so there is a lot of bottled up energy, like a soda can that's been shaken and the top's just been popped. We walked past "the gauntlet" of other dogs, I've named it thus because all the other still caged dogs bark and lunge at the free dog for whatever reason, and continued out to the road with my little Princess Pokes-a-lot tagging along behind. The road the shelter is located off of also has some kind of municipal station too, further on down, so there is occasional traffic of trucks but for the most part it's quiet. Both sides of the narrow road have thick, South Carolina brush on each side, reminding me of the rainforest in Ecuador, so when the trucks come past we stand on the shoulder of the road in between fire ant colonies and wait for the coast to clear. On this day, my volunteer partner had decided that she really did not want to walk a big dog after all, so twenty feet outside the parking lot of the shelter, she announced she was done and now wanted to hold a kitty.

Okay.

Now I have a three year old who has made her final decision on one hand, and a dog strangling herself to go for a walk in the other hand, literally. I just couldn't bring myself to take the dog back already, so I cut a deal. I would run, not walk the dog up to the fire hydrant 100 ft or so up the road and back, done. My little partner reluctantly accepted, and off I went.

I made it down to the hydrant while the dog madly strained forward at the end of the leash. On the return run, I was more focused on the put out expression of my daughter than on the dog and was unprepared when all of a sudden it cut across in front of me. I was going full speed and tripped over it, starting this forward stumbling, falling, think I can make, nope, not going to, splat on the road. The dog got loose from my grasp and darted full speed down the road. "Oh no," I thought, " I'm going to be fired as a volunteer." But to my amazement, the dog ran straight back to the shelter and up to one of the employees. As for myself, I slowly got myself upright and surveyed the damage. Ripped jeans, bloody knees, scraped hands, not so bad.

Just then I looked up at a pick-up truck passing by and the man inside grinned and waved. Automatically, I waved back. My daughter waited impatiently for me to limp down to her, because falling is, after all, at least a daily occurrence for her. Together we walked back to the shelter where I was handed back the leash, believe it or not. Thankfully no one at the shelter had seen the whole thing, so I sucked it up and pretended all was well. Now I just mostly pass the big dogs treats.

That's it! Hope you are all well and see you for inspiration next week :)

I made it!

Just a quick update- my surgery went perfectly and I'm back home now. Thanks to all of you who were sending out your prayers and thoughts for me :)

I'm actually feeling great and am just soo relieved that I had no complications. The anesthesiologist made me feel very confident before I went under that he knew exactly how to handle everything. They were extremely cautious and had me stabilized before they started the operation. I felt very well taken care of and am so happy to have it behind me now.

All I have to do now is move forward, heal, and get back to writing with the rest of you!

On my mind this week. .

I have a confession- I'm scheduled for surgery Wednesday and I'm scared. It's not without reason either, because the last time I had surgery it turned out I had severe, undiagnosed hypothyroid and I coded while under anesthesia. It's being treated now, but such a close call is a reminder of just how mortal one is, and I don't want to leave my girls motherless.

I've thought of canceling the surgery, but I'm convinced that if I leave my problem unattended it will lead to a more complicated surgery in the future, maybe even an emergency one. There's just no way around it, I need to do this.

My writing has been on hiatus because I just can't focus right now, but I have been reading, and I finished Sense and Sensibility already. It helped to keep my mind off of things, and it was just so good I couldn't put it down. I wanted to read it as a writer, studying it to absorb her style of writing and why she is so timeless, but I finished it as a reader. I was completely involved with the characters and even though I had seen the movie and knew how it ended, I wanted to experience it again.

Another book I had read, by a professor who teaches classes on Jane Austen's books, dealt with how timeless her characters are, and how they are capable of crossing cultural boundaries too. For example, who doesn't know someone so defined by material things and money that they could be John and Fannie Dashwood? or a young woman easily caught up and conquered by a womanizer, as Marianne was by Willoughby?
Even the "villain", Lucy Steele- a jealous, self promoting butt kisser?

In real life, I could see at least parts of these characters in people, some 200 years later. What a talent!

How are all of you doing? Anyone else finished with S & S?

I will try to post a quick note as soon as I am able to let you know how I'm doing after my surgery.

Hello Everybody!

We've welcomed a new kitten in our home recently and she's curled up next to me right now, purring. There's something therapeutic in that, and having always been a dog person, I've been happily converted to include cat person with that. I'm convinced it's possible to be both. My oldest daughter was trying to pressure me into choosing which pet I like best, but I couldn't do it. They're each unique and lovable in their own way. Speaking of which, did anyone see the cat friend vs. dog friend you tube video that went viral? It's hysterical and soo true! (It's a PG-13 rating, be warned, but worth the laugh)

I don't know about all of you, but my writing has been on hold. I've been busy with the kids being on break, and had a lapse of sanity when I had a sleepover with 9 girls for two nights. My house still has not recovered! For those who think girls are all Barbies and painting nails, you haven't seen mine :) They had a blast sliding down the stairs on a sleeping bag and the noise level was mind boggling. I found my husband popping Advil for a headache!

As for Sense and Sensibility, I'm currently on page 164, so I'm not too far off of my goal. I'm sorry I missed last week's post on it, but I figured everybody was busy like me anyway. The first chapter opened with what could be considered an info dump, but for some reason, it didn't feel like it. Is it the language of the day? I'm not sure. . .what do you think?

Chapter two was a brilliant use of dialogue, painting the portrait of Mr. and Mrs. John Dashwood and their self-interest topped with unflattering greed.

Next, what would you consider the point of view to be? I'm still learning all the in's and out's of POV, but it seems to start out omniscient, but where I am now it's focusing more on Elinor's POV.

I have a lot to learn about how she shows the emotion of her characters, such as Marianne's anxiety on hearing from Willoughby while in London. It almost makes you feel anxious yourself!

For example: "this could not be borne many seconds, she opened the door, advanced a few steps towards the stairs, and after listening half a minute, returned into the room in all the agitation which a conviction of having heard him would naturally produce; the extasy of her feelings at that instant she could not help exclaiming, "Oh! Elinor, it is Willoughby, indeed it is!' and seemed almost ready to throw herself into his arms, when Colonel Brandon appeared."

For those of you joining me, or who have read the book already, what's on your mind?

For all the rest, how's the writing going?

Sense and Sensibility

I have to say I'm happy I picked this book to read next. I seriously needed a light, happy ending type of book right now. Partly because I've been reading a lot of heavy, non-fiction material and the other reason is that I have a six year old. Unless you live under a rock, you know what I'm talking about.

Our collective hearts are breaking, and I have cried many times over the weekend, as I know the world has, thinking of those babies. I couldn't sleep for two nights, thinking of those parents and what they must be going through, my heart goes out to them. I'm trying not to dwell on it, and to move on as we all must in the wake of this horrific tragedy. Just one other quick note, those teachers are true heroes. I've always admired them and the work they do, but the love and instinct they showed in their actions makes it all the more evident how wonderful they really are.

Back to the book, Sense and Sensibility, my goal is to read about 100 pages a week, and to get through it in about a month. (Hopefully before my surgery date) To those who are reading with me, I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the book too!

How are you all doing today? Stop by and share your comments- I love hearing from you.

For the Love of Books

Books.
There is something about that word that evokes deep feelings for me, and any avid reader, for that matter. I read so much as a child that that is what I would get taken away if I was grounded. Sometimes my mom would put the books on the top of the refrigerator and make me go outside and play. If I was really into one, I could read the entire thing in one sitting, even if it was all day long.

I read a lot of the classics in high school, and one of my favorite authors was Charlotte Bronte. I think I've read pretty much everything she wrote, and then I moved on to her sister's work. I also loved Jane Austen's books, but I only read Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, and Emma. One of the things about Jane Austen's writing that is timeless are her characters, and there is no better way to improve than to study the masters.

I mentioned trying to start a book club, but I know everyone has a lot on their plate to commit to something like that, so I'm just going to pick a book to read by myself and work on seeing it through a writer's eyes. If anyone wants to join me, please feel free to, or if you've already read the book, just go ahead and share your thoughts. I'm not going to keep a schedule because, well, there is no need to.

My pick this time around is Sense and Sensibility.

I never read the book, but I did see the movie and I loved it. Plus it's been years since I've read any of Jane Austen's books, but the ones I have read were certainly memorable.

I'd love your company with this but if you can't join me this time, just leave a thought anyway and let me know what you're up to or what you're reading!

Next up is the Alex Cavanaugh blogfest!

“Cheers, Cavanaugh BlogFest.”
AKA: Alexfest

Hosted by these awesome folks: Mark Koopmans, Morgan Shamy,David Powers King and Stephen Tremp.

*****

In +/- 20 words, what does Alex look like? Oh shoot! I don't know, but seeing as he's a musician too, I guess I would picture someone like Adam Levine!

In +/- 20 words, who could play Alex in a documentary? (Living or dead) I'm just gonna have to go with the above, Adam Levine.
I'm sorry! I know that's not very creative, but it's a Monday morning.

In +/- 20 words, who does Alex remind you of? I'll be honest here and say no one really. He's an original.

In +/- 100 words, (excluding the title) write flash fiction using all these prompts: Cavanaugh, Ninja, IWSG, Cosbolt, Guitar

FLASH FICTION- NO TITLE

Julie walked into her brother's bedroom and tossed a book on his bed.

"Hey, I think you'll like this one Jude," she said.

"What's it about?" he asked, glancing at it before strumming a few chords on his guitar.

"This guy Cavanaugh wrote it, and it's right up your alley. All sci-fi and Cosbolt pilots stuff. It's cool," Julie said, flopping down on his bed.

"Hey watch out, you'll wreck my ninja gear," he said frowning.

"Chill!" she said, irritated. "Well, if you're going to be like that, I'm off. I have to go to my IWSG club anyway."

For Bonus Points: In +/- 40 words, leave a comment for Mrs. Cavanaugh - thanking her for sharing Alex

Thanks, Mrs. Cavanaugh. Any married writer knows how much their spouses' support means- without it we would probably have given up!


Have a great week :)

Insecure Writers Support Group Post

It's the first Wednesday and time to post for the IWSG again. I had to make sure I got this one in because I missed last month's in a flaky moment (which I have a lot of).

I've recently finished Stephen King's On Writing book and have just started the book, Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Mass. Someone from my writing group lent me both of the books and had actually attended a seminar by the author of the Breakout Novel. I'm about a third of the way into it and it explains how to take your writing to another level.

That leads me to where I am right now, and what I'm feeling insecure about. Writing is essentially an art, like painting, making jewelry, acting, dance. Practice is not only a good idea, but necessary to improve, and it takes time and commitment to be worthy of notice. You are not going to paint a Picasso on your first try and become an overnight success and highly sought after artist. It just doesn't happen that way. The same is true for writing.

But I'm not a patient person, and I don't like to fail.

Stephen King started writing as a child, and had his failures as a teenager, while I am 40 already. By the time I'll be any good I'll be in my grave. I regret waiting to start getting serious about writing, and think of the opportunities I wasted. Plus, even though I have been reassured that I don't need a BA in creative writing to succeed, it certainly seems to help a blank resume to at least have that.

After these reflections, I am still here trying anyway. I've learned a LOT along the way these last two years and am eternally grateful for my husband, whose faith in me is the only reason I feel justified in trying. And for my sister, who cheers me on with her positive and creative input. And of course, for my blogging buddies who faithfully check in on me and give me a boost when I need it.

That's my post- and I'll be seeing you on my rounds!