For all the moms

Happy Mother's Day!

Here's a song that I think says a lot about what it means to be a mom. Enjoy--and have a wonderful day!



(Lyrics here.)

The great sweatpants debacle

Last Wednesday, I spent the entire day walking around with my pants on backwards.

(I'll give you a second to gain control of your laughter.)

What the mailman looked like when he saw
 me and my pants walk out the front door.
Image courtesy of
bk images / Freedigitalphotos.net

Okay now?

So, yes. My pants were on backwards--as in the front was in the back (and the back was in the front, of course). In my defense, though, they were sweatpants with no back pockets (I guess the tag wasn't a clue), I got dressed in the dark (Well, with my eyes shut, but it was early), and I'm a mom, and what mom has time to pay attention to her clothes when the oatmeal is boiling over and one kid is crying and the other kid is kickboxing the wall and she's just realized that there's no milk for breakfast....

Yes, I know. Excuses. Never mind. I'll just own it:

I wore my pants backwards. All day. I noticed about a half-hour before my husband came home from work.

Now, I have to give my husband credit. When he walked into the house that night and I told him what I'd done, he didn't laugh. No, not at all.

His response?

"At least you know where you've been."

(Yeah, it's a laugh riot at our house.)

Still, as I thought more about this latest in a long line of embarrassing moments (Oh, yes, I have quite the string of them. Hard to imagine, huh?) and my husband's response to it, I had a bit of an epiphany (if it's possible to have a "bit"--maybe it was more of an epiph). I thought (and I'm being serious now) that maybe--just maybe--the great sweatpants debacle was a sign that I need to slow down and take more time for myself.

Huh. That one made me stop and think. And also change my mind: it wasn't an epiph; it was definitely an epiphany.

Really, we parents have a lot on our plates, and sometimes we forget that we need to take time for ourselves, too. When we have children, the center of our world changes, and we rush around doing everything for everyone, sometimes neglecting our own needs.

We run errands, bring our kids to school, drop off library books, grocery shop, cook meals, do laundry, think up last-minute science projects, look for things that everyone else has lost ("Where's my sock monkey?" is a common lament here), change diapers, referee fights, perform minor surgeries, fill (and refill) sippy cups, scrape Play-Doh off the rug, give baths, potty train... Whew!

Now I'm not in any way trying to diminish the parenting roles we play--they are worthwhile and important--but what I am saying is that we do a lot for others, and maybe we should try to be better about taking a little time for ourselves every once in a while as well: time to breathe, to take part in hobbies, to relax, to call a friend, to sit down with a cup of tea and a good book, and yes, time to make sure we don't have our pants on backwards before we rush out the door.

Because it's not fun to go out in public that way.

Ask me how I know.

Friday fun: Get your earworms here!

The earworms have invaded my brain!

Ever since I wrote Wednesday's post about some of my favorite 1980's television shows, I've had TV theme songs stuck in my mind on a seemingly endless loop. And it's not just the shows I featured. No, it's like writing about TV invited all sorts of theme songs into my brain, where they play themselves over and over and over again, and nothing--nothing--stops them.

And so for a bit of fun on Blog Me MAYbe's "May I share something funny?" Friday, I thought I'd share these songs with you. So here they are, the six earworms now eating their way through my brain.

You're welcome! ;)


All in the Family (1968-1979):



The Facts of Life (1979-1988):



The Golden Girls (1985-1992):



Roseanne (1988-1997):



The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990-1996):



F•R•I•E•N•D•S (1994-2004):




Have you ever had a TV theme song stuck in your head? Do you have one right now? ;)

Thursday spotlight

I love Lucy!

No, I'm not talking about that Lucy, but since today is Blog Me MAYbe's "May I tell you something about someone else?" day, I'm excited to introduce you to another Lucy: Lucy Banning, the heroine of Olivia Newport's debut novel, The Pursuit of Lucy Banning (Avenue of Dreams, Book 1).

From the publisher:

She has a secret to keep. But will she give her heart away?

Lucy Banning may live on the exclusive Prairie Avenue among Chicago's rich and famous, but her heart lies elsewhere. Expected to marry an up-and-coming banker from a respected family, Lucy fears she will be forced to abandon her charity work and squeeze herself into the mold of the well-dressed wife who spends most of her time and money redecorating.

When she meets Will, an unconventional young architect who is working on plans for the upcoming 1893 World's Fair, Lucy imagines a life lived on her own terms. Can she break away from her family's expectations? And will she ever be loved for who she truly is?

Get swept away into the lavish world of Chicago's high society as Olivia Newport brings to life an age of glitz and grandeur, stark social contrasts, and one woman who dares to cross class lines for what she believes.


When I begin a new book, I'm always drawn first to the main character: Is she likable? Is she portrayed realistically? Is there something compelling about her that makes me want to spend the precious few reading hours I have immersed in her world? And as I discovered from the first page of The Pursuit of Lucy Banning, without a doubt, Lucy is a character worth getting to know.

In fact, the thing I find most impressive about this debut is Newport's ability to create a strong, memorable heroine. In a time when women of her social class are expected only to marry well and devote their lives to their families and homes, Lucy decides she wants more--an education--and she takes the initiative to go out and get it, even though doing so means keeping a secret from her family and friends. But while she is passionate about following her dreams, for me it's Lucy's heart for others that truly makes her a character worth investing time in. She's very aware of the disparity between her world of privilege and the world of those less fortunate, and she works to better the lives of those in need. And when she learns that Charlotte, a member of the household staff with a secret of her own, is in need of help, Lucy unhesitatingly offers both friendship and support. (Charlotte herself is an intriguing character, and I was pleased to discover that the next book in the series will focus on her.)

The Pursuit of Lucy Banning is a love story, but it's more than that: Newport weaves in elements of suspense, intrigue, and humor in a way that had me turning pages late into the night. I enjoyed this well-paced debut. Lucy Banning is exactly the type of heroine I hope to find within the pages of any book, no matter the genre, and I'm looking forward to the next two novels in this series.

Olivia Newport's novels twist through time to discover where faith and passions meet. Her husband and two twentysomething children provide welcome distraction from the people stomping through her head on their way into her books. She chases joy in stunning Colorado at the foot of the Rockies, where daylilies grow as tall as she is.

Visit Olivia at her Web site.

(Thank you to Revell Publishing for the complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own.)


So tell me, what criteria do you use for selecting the books you read? Have you read any great ones lately that you'd like to recommend?

Let's talk TV!

It's Wednesday, and that means it's one of my favorite days of the week. Not only is the weekend in sight, but it's also Blog Me MAYbe's "May I ask something about you?" day. Today's topic is childhood TV.

I was born in the early '70s and did most of my childhood television-watching in the '80s, a time I consider to be the Golden Age of TV. So many great shows came out of that decade, including several of my all-time favorites:

Beauty and the Beast (1987): My mom and I never missed this show about a man-beast who was in love with an assistant district attorney. I think the show probably appealed to the side of me that loved fairy tales, but when I think back on it now, the premise does seem pretty ridiculous! Take a look at the show's intro. I thought it was really cool back then, but when I watch it now, "cheesy" is the word that comes to mind. What do you think?




Best of the West (1981): This show was a spoof of westerns. I was around nine years old when it first aired, and I don't remember much about it except for the theme song, which I loved so much then that I taped it and played it over and over:



It's kind of catchy, right?

Charles in Charge (1984): This comedy was about a college student who moves in with a family and babysits the kids. I admit that I might have had a tiny crush on the show's star, Scott Baio.

The Cosby Show (1984): My list wouldn't be complete without this show that was based on comedian Bill Cosby's real-life family and was about a doctor, his attorney wife, and their children. My favorite character was the second oldest daughter, Denise, but I was (and probably still am) more of a Vanessa.

Designing Women (1986): This comedy about a group of women who work in an interior design firm will always rank among my top shows, mainly because of my favorite character, the outspoken Julia Sugarbaker. Oh, how I wanted to be as fearless as she was! Check out this clip of her in action as she defends her sister Suzanne against the current Miss Georgia World:



The Golden Girls (1985): Dorothy, Blanche, Rose, and Sophia--who can forget them (or Rose's St. Olaf stories)? One of my favorite scenes is the one in which Sophia and Dorothy dress up as Sonny and Cher and sing "I Got You, Babe." The look on Rose's face as she plays the piano for them is priceless:



There are so many more: Full House (1987), Kate and Allie (1984), Magnum P.I. (1980), Roseanne (1988), The Wonder Years (1988), Newhart (1982)... There's no doubt in my mind that the 1980s were a great decade for TV.


Now I want to hear about some of the TV shows you enjoyed when you were growing up. What was your childhood must-see TV?

Just when you think no one's looking...

Happy Tuesday! Since it's Blog Me MAYbe's "May I tell you something about myself?" day, I have a revelation I'd like to share with you:

I'm becoming someone I never thought I would be.

No, not my mother. She's great, and I'd actually love to be her. The person I'm becoming is actually someone who can be much more disturbing. I'll make a new paragraph here so you have a chance to brace yourself. Ready? Here goes:

Sh, I'm in disguise! Don't blow my cover.
Image courtesy of Scott Liddell,
rgbstock.com

I'm becoming the nosy neighbor.

I know you're shocked. I was shocked at first, too. But before you start closing your curtains and locking your doors, please hear me out. I haven't reached the Gladys Kravitz level of nosiness--yet: I don't peer through my neighbors' windows or snoop through their mail or hide in their hedges so I can spy on them when they're barbecuing hamburgers. However, I have been known to stand at my window one--or thirty--times a day in order to see what everyone else is up to.

Fortunately for the people who live around me, my observations have thus far been pretty benign:

Hey, Alice is mowing her lawn! Can you believe it? She's trying to make us look bad!

Oh, would you look at that! Old Mr. Brady has invited that twenty-something Marilyn Monroe-wannabe over again. Hmm, wonder what's going on there?

When will Gordie Smith learn that walking around with his pants hanging off just isn't a good look?

Okay, in the interest of protecting the guilty, I fictionalized those examples, but I think you get my point. I like to know what's going on, so if you ever happen to be in my neighborhood and see me staring out my window or walking around with a notebook and a pen, just know that I'm doing it because I like to be aware of the things around me.

Why? I'm a writer, and we writers know that the key to writing realistic characters and situations is to pay attention to our surroundings: What are people doing? What are they saying? Why does Mrs. X garden only at night? Why does Mr. Z lock up his house when he's only walking out to the end of his driveway to get his mail?  And sometimes we get lucky and we see or hear something that we know--with a touch of our own imaginations--we can turn into a good story.

So I'm the nosy neighbor--and I'm embracing that fact.



What about you? Are you a nosy neighbor? Have you ever had a neighbor who was just a little too interested in what you were doing?

Reflecting on the A to Z

Image courtesy of Kevin Tuck, rgbstock.com

I signed up, I wrote, and I stayed up too late.

I read, I commented, and I followed.

Most importantly, I had a great time!

I signed up for this challenge on a whim. Having never participated in any kind of blogging event before, I really had no idea what to expect. I thought I would have fun, and I looked forward to writing to a theme each day. I hoped I would make new friends and gain a few followers. One thing I didn't anticipate, however, was just how much participating in the challenge would change how I feel about writing.

Although I've been blogging every day for well over a year now, I was beginning to lose my passion. Something wasn't right, and for several months, I fell into a writing slump. I wasn't having fun with it anymore, and I found that I was giving my other projects--a young adult novel, a short story collection, my family history memoir, and my poetry--little to no attention. Writing didn't have the spark it once had.

This challenge changed that, and it's because of the wonderful, creative people I met, people from all fields and with all interests, all sharing one thing--a passion for what they do. And seeing how passionate people are about their interests renewed my interest in and passion for writing. I'm back to working on those projects I had abandoned for so long, and I owe it to the great people I met during the A to Z journey--people like Taylor, Graciewilde, Wendy, Stephanie, Betty, Nikki, Patti, and Fran, just to name only a few.

Sure there were some bumps along the way, like tricky letters, last-minute posts, and too few hours in the day. Also, I do wish I could have spent more time reading each blog. By ignoring my need for sleep, I managed to visit all of them, and although I commented on many of them (and followed others), time and offline obligations didn't afford me the opportunity to really give them all the attention I would have liked.

However, I'm grateful for the bloggers I did meet, and I want to thank all of you who have been reading and commenting. I look forward to hearing from you each day!

And there's no doubt about it: I will be back next year!

Now if you'll excuse me for a moment, I need to reintroduce myself to my family. ;)