Friday fun

It's Friday again, and I'm here with another dose of funnies. Enjoy!

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Comedian Judson Laipply's dance moves are hilarious! The first video is my favorite, but if you enjoy it, you should definitely check out the second one as well.






Happy weekend!

50,092 words for the win!

Happy news on this Wednesday: I crossed the Camp NaNoWriMo finish line last night!

I ending up writing just over 50,000 words in twenty-eight days. My project, a family history memoir, is nowhere near complete, but I'm happy to have made such a significant dent in it. My cabinmates were supportive and encouraging, and we had a lot of fun writing together. Although I've participated in NaNoWriMo many times, this was my first experience with Camp Nano. I'll definitely go camping again!

Also on the writing front this month: I bought two new books: Now Write! Nonfiction and The 3 A.M. Epiphany. I'm looking forward to reading the first one because it contains several writing exercises pertaining to memoir and creative nonfiction, which I'm certain will be helpful as I finish my Camp NaNo project and look toward revising my own memoir. The second book looks great as well. Its focus is fiction, which I'm eager to start writing once again. I have to—those voices in my head need to get out!

So that's been my month in a nutshell—"camping" and reading. How was your August? Did you read anything great? Do a lot of writing? What's been keeping you busy?

Sunday inspiration

Happy Sunday!

This artist, Xiaonan Sun, calls what he does in this video a "time-lapse ambidextrous charcoal drawing of Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins." Enjoy!

Friday fun

Happy Friday!

The weeks just seem to fly by during the summer; it's hard to believe that fall is less than a month away. I hope you enjoy your weekend—and this week's batch of funnies. ☺

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Confessions

I woke up this morning desperate to get some things off my chest...

♥ I confess that I've eaten my weight in cake since last Sunday. There's a sliver left, and I vow that I will feed it to the kids and not touch any of it myself. Hold me accountable!

♥ I confess that turning *mumble, mumble* has been a little harder than I thought it would be.

♥ I confess that I occasionally sometimes often eat chocolate pudding for breakfast.

♥ I confess that I don't want my son to start kindergarten next month. He's my first baby!

♥ I confess that I don't like it when my husband takes a day off of work. His being here throws off my routine, and I'm not crazy about change.

♥ I confess that I Netflix Dawson's Creek and watch it nearly every day.

♥ In related news, I confess that I might have a slight crush on Joshua Jackson.

♥ I confess that I'm about 1,100 words behind on my Camp NaNoWriMo project. I blame the margarita.

♥ I confess that I haven't folded the laundry in about a week. It's heaped in a pile on a table, and we all just rummage around until we find what we want.

♥ I confess that yesterday at Barnes and Noble, I told the kids I'd buy them the stuffed animals they wanted if they would be quiet and let me choose a book for myself.

♥ I confess that bribing them worked.

♥ I confess that I'm going to order another book today.

♥ I confess that I talk to myself all the time. I argue with me too.

♥ I confess that I'm obsessed with avocados. Last month, I ate six of them in one week.

♥ I confess that I sometimes often put pajamas on when I get home, no matter what time it is.

♥ I confess that we're out of Cascade, and since I don't feel like going to the store, I'm making everyone eat off paper plates today.

♥ I confess that I haven't used the treadmill in a very long time.

♥ I confess that I think I could be BFF with Tori Spelling.

♥ I confess that I still watch America's Next Top Model.

♥ I confess that reading your blogs is one of the best parts of my day. ☺


Whew! I feel better now! Do you have anything you need to confess?

Not my usual Sunday

I'm veering from my usual Sunday inspiration post this week because today is a special day for me. It's my birthday, one of those milestone ones—(yikes!)—and it's also my wedding anniversary. My family and I will be celebrating by attending a four-year-old's birthday party this morning ☺, then going out for dinner at my favorite Mexican restaurant tonight. I think I might even let my husband persuade me to order a margarita this time. ;-)

So in lieu of today's inspiration, here's a video that reminds me of aging—but in a good way. It's Five for Fighting's 100 Years. You can find the lyrics here. Enjoy!

Friday fun

Happy Friday!

Do you have any plans for the weekend? It's going to be a busy Saturday and Sunday for our family. Here are some funnies to get Friday started off right. Enjoy!

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And finally, here are two of my favorite funny animal videos:








Have a great weekend!

For the little things...

After everything that's happened in the past month, I've realized once again just how many things I have to be grateful for. There are the big things—my family and friends, my health, this house and the blessing of being able to stay home with my kids—but I'm grateful for the little things as well, like:

Image courtesy of Dave Dyet, rgbstock.com

That stomach-flipping thrill when I open a new document on the computer, the blank screen so full of possibility. Anything can happen.

Stretching in bed as early morning sunlight streams through the window, then getting up to a quiet house and time for reading, writing, sipping coffee in solitude.

Listening to the kids playing library in the living room, checking out books, "reading" them to each other, laughing and enjoying themselves.

Late-night writing sessions in a silent house, words seeming to flow from my fingertips.

So many blessings—and so many things to be thankful for.

What are you thankful for today?

Sunday inspiration

Happy Sunday!

I found this video, a commercial for the Touch Wood phone, during my travels around the Internet last night and thought it was perfect for today's inspiration. Enjoy!

Friday fun

It's Friday, and that means it's time for this week's dose of fun. Enjoy!

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And finally, here's Ellen with more funny police reports:




Have a great weekend!

Car talk: Oh, the things kids say!

It's no secret that kids, especially young ones, can get restless when they're forced to ride in a car for hours at a time. Mine, ages five and just-turned-three, are certainly no exceptions. Fortunately—for them, at least!—they've come up with several statements and questions to help pass the time. Here are their ten favorites. How many have you heard?

Ten Things My Kids Said During Our Four-Day Car Trip:

Image courtesy of Marja Flick-Buijs, rgbstock.com

1. Are we there yet? (This one is pretty standard among kids. I think it comes pre-programmed.)

2. How much longer? (A variation of number one, this question requires more than a one-word response from Mom and Dad and therefore ranks as Slightly More Annoying on the annoyance scale.)

3. How many more Little Einstein's is it? (My kids love this show, which is roughly a half-hour long, so instead of saying that we need to drive for eight more hours, we'll say, "It's only sixteen more Little Einsteins." Somehow, this sounds better to the kids. Whatever works...)

4. I feel poop coming out. (Said—often—by my just-starting-to-get-the-hang-of-potty training three-year-old immediately after we had strapped her into her car seat. Most of the time it was a false alarm.)

5. I have to pee. (Usually said as we're pulling away from a rest area.)

6. I don't wanna go home! (Apparently, my three -year-old really loved her vacation—a lot! She was like the Energizer Bunny in her repetition of this one. She kept going and going and going...)

7. I want French fries! (I think this one is also pretty universal. My kids only have fast food when we're on vacation, so we heard this a lot during our trip.)

8. I wanna get out. (Uttered by the kids every half-hour or so. I could have set my watch by them—unfortunately.)

9. I'm cold. (The three-year-old. We turned off the air-conditioning.)

10. I'm hot. (The five-year-old. We turned on the air-conditioning. NOTE: Numbers nine and ten were always said at the same time.)


So there you have them—a few of the many sentences my kids uttered in order to drive us crazy pass the time. Is it any wonder we only take long car trips once a year? ☺


Happy Thursday!

So very rich



Image courtesy of Kevin Tuck, rgbstock.com


Home is a nice place today—and not just because I've been cleaning it in anticipation of visitors later this week.

When I woke up this morning, life seemed bright, brighter than it's seemed in a long time, and when I walked around the house opening doors and windows to let in the early morning breeze, I was reminded of how lucky I am to live here—to have this place to sleep and eat and dream, this safe building in which to raise my kids and watch them grow (too quickly) into adults.

There have been times I've wished for wealth and a mansion, but this morning's blessed peacefulness reminds me yet again that I'm already very rich.

Sunday inspiration

Happy Sunday, everyone!

I hope you enjoy this week's inspiration. These guys are amazing!



Check out The Piano Guys'  Web site to read about why the group decided to work with this song by One Direction. (You can find the lyrics here.)

Saying thank you isn't enough

I'm finally back!

Image courtesy of sundesigns, rgbstock.com

It was a difficult few weeks, but I'm happy to say that everything turned out much, much better than I could have expected. I don't have enough words for how grateful I am for your comments, thoughts, e-mails, and prayers. It meant so much to know that others cared and were thinking of me, and I know it was that—and faith—that made the situation easier to get through. Thank you so much.

I'm happy to be back on my blog, and I'm looking forward to posting again—it's been a while! However, for a couple of reasons, I'm going to be easing my way back to daily blogging. As some of you probably know, my son will be starting kindergarten in the fall. He'll be attending all day, every day, which of course is something this mom isn't really ready to think about, much less deal with! (I'll probably cry for days.) I had wanted to spend the summer doing fun things with him and his little sister, but several situations and events prevented me from doing as much with them as I would have liked. There's a little over a month left until school starts, so my plan is to spend more time doing things with the kids, which will, sadly, leave me with a little less time for blogging.

I'm also participating in Camp NaNoWriMo this month. I'm using it to jump-start my memoir project, which I've put on the back burner for far too long. I'll spend part of the month transcribing interview notes and conducting more interviews (and then transcribing those as well). Once I see what I have to work with, I hope to get a good start on putting it all together. This project has been pretty daunting, but I'm hoping that Camp NaNo will help give me the momentum I need.

So although I may not post every day this month—(or maybe I will; who knows what the weeks will hold?)—I still plan on posting several times a week. I love blogging—it's one of my favorite outlets—and I love connecting with other people through their blogs. I'm looking forward to catching up with all of you!

Regardless of what happens with my posting this month, I'll be back full force once life settles down a little in the fall. Thank you for being patient with me and for everything you did these past several weeks. I appreciate it all more than I can say.

(And it definitely feels good to be writing again!)