COME HELL OR HIGH WATER

Know what I found in the mail just now? It's a check! Know who signed it? Pat Stone. Know who he is? He's the guy I've been collecting rejection letters from for about a year now, and the editor of a magazine called GreenPrints: The Weeder's Digest. I made up my mind that I wouldn't give up until he finally bought one of my stories, and I didn't. Guess that means I've finally reached the mysterious place known as "hell-or-high-water." Know what? I kind of like it here!

P.S. Many thanks to wikihow for the above image.

PUPPY WHIPPED

It is astounding how quickly a pet can take over/alter one's life. Take our son's dog Guinness, for instance. The minute she came into his life, he magically transformed from carefree college kid into responsible, loving parent. He is due to graduate in May, and has been attending job fairs and going on interviews. One reason he took a minor in German is that he has always loved traveling to foreign lands, and he hoped this might help him land a job that involved some time overseas. After we met Guinness and started falling in love with her, we began to tease about inheriting her some day, when he moves abroad. At first he just laughed at the idea, but not anymore! He's already eliminated several job prospects - jobs that he would have jumped at not long ago - simply because they involved too much time on the road, and what would he do with Guinness? When we reminded him that we would be happy to take over, he cried "No Way! She'd die of a broken heart if I left her!" She's not the only one, I suspect.

AND THE WINNER IS...

POLLY! See guys? I've been tellin' ya, it pays to comment often during a give-away! Polly, if you will just send your mailing address to becky (dot) lane (at) vownet (dot) net, I will get your goodies in the mail to you asap. I say "goodies" because, in addition to receiving a great book, Polly will be receiving some lovely soaps made by one of our local Bountiful Sprout producers!

Way back in '95 we were living in Midland, TX, and I had nabbed a sweet gig as a merchandiser for Recycled Paper Greetings. One store I called on every week was Hastings Records & Books. Prior to this, I was devoted to reading a steady stream of romance novels, and listened mostly to Top 40 hits. Fortunately, their music department manager had very eclectic tastes, and listening to whatever he was in the mood to play introduced me to a whole new world of music. Likewise with books. The information booth was directly behind me as I worked the card section, and I would eavesdrop on what people were asking about. When hundreds came in asking about one book in particular, I figured it was a must read, and that's how I discovered Simple Abundance, by Sarah Ban Breathnach.

Like many women of my generation, I was raised to be a people-pleaser. I became so caught up in keeping teachers, bosses, parents, siblings, husband, children, friends, church and community happy, I somehow lost track of what it was that made me happy. "Many women today feel a sadness we cannot name. Though we accomplish much of what we set out to do, we sense that something is missing in our lives and - fruitlessly - search 'out there' for the answers. What's often wrong is that we are disconnected from an authentic sense of self." - Emily Hancock

Simple Abundance shows those of us who miss the woman we were meant to be, how to reconcile our deepest spiritual, authentic and creative longings with often overwhelming and conflicting commitments. It teaches us that our daily life can be an expression of our authentic self - the soul made visible. It is made up of tiny, thought provoking essays, one for each day of the year. Ban Breathnach believes that the first step towards quenching our thirst for "the good life" that we think others lead, is to acknowledge the good that already exists in our own lives and practice gratitude. From there she leads us through learning the arts of simplicity, order, harmony, beauty and eventually, joy. You will learn to utilize some wonderful tools such as a gratitude journal, an illustrated discovery journal, and a daily dialogue notebook (a form of journaling that I continue to this day, and which spurred my desire to write).

My favorite parts of the book were the lists of "Joyful Simplicities" that she included at the end of each month - wonderful suggestions for ways to delight in the season and open up to simple joys - lists which I have returned to over and over again. Along the path to discovering the woman I was meant to be, I was introduced to a world of other authentic women: Julia Cameron, Laurie Colwin, MFK Fisher, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Helen Nearing, Tasha Tudor, Isak Dinesen, Virginia Woolf, and many, many more. No longer would I be content to lose myself in silly stories of romance. Now I expect, demand, and get, much more than I ever dreamed possible.

If you have not ever read this book, you owe it to yourself to do it now. And if you have? Do it again. Congratulations Polly!

TICK TOCK, TICK TOCK

You're running out of time to enter this month's drawing. Leave a comment before midnight tonight, and I'll add your name to the pot.

MANY HANDS MAKE LIGHT WORK

In years to come, I shall have to refer to this as "the year I learned to delegate." I have always prepared most of our holiday meals on my own because our children were young, my husband dislikes cooking, and our guests had to travel in from afar. The good thing about this is being able to plan the menu to suit myself, and making things just the way I like them. The downside is that it can get a bit lonely in the kitchen, when everyone else is out in the other room yukking it up and having a good time. Everyone was always good about offering to help, but I may have had a bit of a control issue, for it sometimes made me kind of crazy to have a bunch of people elbowing for space in my tiny kitchen. I am getting over that.

This year I sent out e-mails ahead of time, asking each person who was coming to tell me what dishes were vitally important to their enjoyment of the holidays. My side of the family has always tended to try different recipes each year, so we never got too attached to one way of doing things. When I decided to try a Tex-Mex version of turkey and dressing, they were begging for the recipe. John's family is more traditional. I fixed the same thing for them the following year, and got a 30 minute lecture on how to properly smoke a turkey. I understand where they are coming from though, for I know many other people who feel it is just not Thanksgiving if they do not get their usual dressing, made just the way dear old Mom always did it.

So, when my e-mail replies came back saying "we really like our turkey smoked" and "I've always loved Priscilla's special dressing and giblet gravy" and "I love those special frozen rolls my wife always buys," I found myself thinking, "Well, why the heck not?" I put hubby and B-I-L in charge of smoking the turkey, S-I-L in charge of making her traditional dressing and gravy, nephew in charge of making a couple of his favorite vegetarian dishes, son in charge of assembling his hot curried fruit compote, and daughter and niece-in-law in charge of decorating and setting the table. They sent me their grocery lists so I could have the ingredients on hand, and all that was left for me to do was to make a couple of desserts in advance, and bake the rolls and mash the potatoes at the last minute. In between, I just got my butt out of their way, and joined the group in the other room that was yukking it up and having a good time. Why didn't I think of this years ago?

Oh yeah, in case you are wondering how the great turkey experiment turned out? Well, I think it's going to take the guys a couple of years to adjust to dealing with a smaller, leaner bird. If they had just slept in a couple of more hours, instead of getting up before dawn to start the smoker, the turkey might have ended up a tad juicier. The flavor, however, was excellent, and I might even be able to get a nice pair of shoes made out of the skin!

MY TO DO'S, AND ONE FOR YOU

Here's my latest to do list (click to enlarge), and I have one thing to add to yours: Don't forget to leave a comment before Sunday evening, if you wish to be included in this month's drawing. You can enter up to once a day, and it doesn't matter if you have won before. This month I am throwing in a little something special from a local producer, in addition to a wonderful book.

THE HOUSE-CLEANING BOOGIE

I rediscovered an old truth recently, something that had slipped my memory in the years when I was earning enough to afford a cleaning service twice a month. It came back to me in a flash just the other day - heavy cleaning requires music!

I only listen to music in the car these days, primarily because I would need an instruction manual in order to operate John's system down in the bat cave. However, just as I was trying to gird my loins and summon up enough energy to whip the house into shape for our holiday guests, I suddenly remembered that John had loaded a bunch of music onto my computer a while back. I clicked on the I-tunes logo, and was amazed at the selection. It was like having my own little diner-booth juke box!

I decided that some real hell-raising music would be called for on this occasion, if I was to keep my momentum up, so I selected Gretchen Wilson and Toby Keith. It may have taken me a bit longer than usual to complete my tasks, but it sure was a heck of a lot more fun. Why did it take longer? Because every time one of my favorites came on, I found myself two-stepping my way through the house with my mop or broom. Had a heck of a time hanging on to their belt loops!

P.S. Don't forget to leave a comment if you wish to be included in this month's drawing!

P.P.S. Many thanks to www.ssqq.com for the above image.