The Stork Came . . . and It's a Book!

The young adult, nonfiction book I wrote last year is now in publication. It's called Modern American Indian Chiefs (Overcoming Adversity: Sharing the American Dream). 

It's a collection of short biographies of contemporary American Indian leaders. The first chapter is an overview of Indian life today. Then there are six chapters, each about a different person:

• Ben Nighthorse Campbell, a Cheyenne who served in the U.S. Senate
  
• Ada Deer, a Menominee who was the first woman head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs
  
• Winona LaDuke, an Anishinaabe activist who was Ralph Nader's running mate twice
  
• Phillip Martin, a Choctaw who led his people to economic prosperity
  
• Russell Means, a Sioux activist who has also appeared in movies
  
• David Salmon, an Athabascan chief and Episcopal priest
  

This was a work-for-hire assignment, so I had no say over the final product. The publisher goofed up the cover a bit. It says "Ruth Chatlien" instead of "Ruth Hull Chatlien," but it's still nice to have my name on a book.

Super Bowl Cheat Sheet

Two years ago, my beloved Bears were in the Super Bowl. They lost to Indianapolis, but that's not the point of this post. Michael's sister lives in Indianapolis, and she knew nothing about the game, so I put together a set of football basics to help her understand what she was watching. Since then I've given it to other friends who were tired of asking their husbands what was going on during games (and no doubt their husbands were tired of being asked).

Since I know that Super Bowl Sunday is the one day of the year that lots of non-football fans watch the game, I thought I'd publish my piece "Football Essentials" here. Those of you who are already football fans will find this basic in the extreme, . . . but you aren't my intended audience.

If you're going to be at a Super Bowl party and you don't know much about football, this post is for you.

Football Essentials
NOTE: Any note that starts with the word “Importance” is explaining strategy. The rest are explaining rules. So if you know the basic rules, just concentrate on the strategy stuff.

1. Basics: The field is 100 yards long. The object is to get down the field into your opponent’s end zone to score. Teams do that in 10-yard increments. When a team has the ball, it has four tries, called downs, to move 10 yards. When it doesn’t make 10 yards, it has to give the ball to the other team. When it succeeds in moving 10 yards, the team is said to have “made first down,” and it receives four more downs to go another 10 yards. NOTE: The starting line of any play is called the line of scrimmage.

2. Fourth Down: As noted above, teams have four downs to travel 10 yards. Usually, if a team doesn’t make the 10 yards in three downs, they will punt the ball to the other team on fourth down. They don’t have to do this. They can keep trying to move the ball, but that can be risky. If they don’t make the full 10 yards on fourth down, they have to give the ball to the opposing team’s offense at the spot of the last play. This usually gives the other team a good field position. Teams usually only go for fourth down if they have very small yardage to make.

3. Kickoffs and Punts: Usually, when possession of the ball changes, it is done with a either a kickoff or a punt. The kicker or punter kicks the ball down the field and hopes to land it near the end zone. (If it lands in the end zone, it is brought back to the 20-yard line.) If a player from the opposing team catches it cleanly, he may try to run it back. If it looks like the defense will prevent him from running the ball back, the receiving player may signal “fair catch.” That means he will not run, and no opponents are allowed to tackle him. NOTE: As a casual fan, you don’t really need to know the difference between a kickoff and a punt.

4. Importance of Field Position: When people talk about field position, they mean that teams gain advantage from starting as close to their opponent’s end zone as possible. Kickoffs and punts are the main way to give your opponent bad field position. If you can force a team to start near their own end zone, they have to move 90 or more yards down the field, which is very difficult to accomplish. If, however, they start from the 30 or 40 yard line, they have only 60 or 70 yards to go. NOTE: When you hear people talk about special teams, they are most often talking about what happens during kickoffs and punts.

5. Importance of Third Down: Because teams usually use fourth down to punt, one way to evaluate teams is by how well they can “convert third down,” which means how well they reach their goal of making 10 yards on the third down. You will often hear the phrase “third and long.” That means the team did not do well on their first two downs, and they still have over half the 10 yards to gain on third down. Teams don’t usually get many first downs if they consistently find themselves in “third and long.”

6. Types of Offense: Basically, there are three types of offensive plays: running with the ball, throwing the ball to another player, and kicking field goals. The quarterback initiates the first two types of plays. NOTE: Touchdowns are 6 points. Teams are then given an extra play to try to add onto their points. They can add a single extra point by kicking the ball through the goal posts or add 2 points by completing a run or pass into the end zone.

• For running plays, the QB hands the ball to a running back. Because the goal is to make 10 yards in three downs, a run needs to gain at least three yards to be considered good.

• For passing plays, the QB throws, or passes, the ball to a wide receiver, a tight end, or sometimes a running back. The player who catches the ball tries to run to the end zone, while the opposing defense tries to stop him. Announcers will name a lot of types of routes, but it isn’t necessary for a casual fan to understand them to appreciate the game. Usually (but not always) passing plays gain more yardage than running plays. For that reason, coaches usually call a pass play on third and long (unless they are afraid of turning the ball over).

• If the offense gets within approximately 32 yards of the end zone, they are in kicking range. (This range can be longer or shorter, depending on the kicker.) If the team is within this range and does not convert on third down, they will usually try to kick a field goal (kicking the ball through the goal posts). Field goals are worth 3 points.

7. Defense: The point of defense is to stop the other team from gaining yards and ultimately to keep them from the end zone. But to be effective, a defense has to try to guess what type of play the offense is going to make.

• If they guess that it will be a running play, they are more likely to play closer to the opposing team to try to halt the runner as close to the line of scrimmage as possible.

• If they guess that it is a pass play, they are more likely to spread out to prevent the other team from catching the ball and then running into the end zone.

• There are many variations on defense. One important play is the blitz, in which numerous players rush toward the quarterback to try to stop him from initiating a play. If the quarterback is knocked to the ground behind the line of scrimmage while he still has the ball, it’s called a sack. The offense has to move the line of scrimmage back to where the quarterback went down. This means they have to go even farther to make first down.

• In the most basic terms, a safety occurs when the defense causes the offense to make a mistake when they are backed up in their own end zone. When a defense causes a safety, it receives 2 points and the possession of the ball.

8. The Importance of Balanced Offense: Basically, this means that teams try to balance the number of running plays with the number of passing plays. Most teams lean a bit more to one or the other. The Bears are historically a running team. With Peyton Manning, the Colts are a great passing team. But no team can afford to do just one kind of play because that it makes it too easy for the defense. If all a team does is run, the defense doesn’t have to guess. It just always sends its defense in close to the line of scrimmage. If all a team does is pass, the defense can spread out its players and defend against big throws. A good offense mixes up plays to confuse the opponent and force them to cover more ground.

9. The Importance of Turnovers: When a defense takes the ball away from the offense, that’s a turnover. It can be done in several ways. A running back or quarterback can fumble, or drop, the ball. Another type of fumble is when the defensive player rips the ball out of an offensive player’s hands. Or a defensive player can catch a ball that was being thrown to an offensive player. Turnovers mean the other team gets to go on offense, usually with good field position. Some people think the MOST important statistic in determining outcome of games is the turnover ratio. Usually, the team with fewer turnovers wins. NOTE: A dropped pass is not a fumble. It’s just an incomplete throw and does not cause a turnover.

10. The Importance of the Offensive and Defensive Lines: This is probably the last part of the game that casual fans figure out. The front line of the offense and the front line of the defense don’t do the glamour work of throwing, catching, or running, but they often determine the outcome of the game. The big guys up front on the offensive line have two crucial jobs: they knock holes in the defensive line so running backs can get through and they act as a wall protecting the quarterback from getting pressured or hurt. The defensive line, on the other hand, has the two jobs of trying to put pressure on the quarterback (so he cannot throw or so that he throws quickly and inaccurately) and of bringing the running back down so he can’t gain any yards. When announcers say that the game is won or lost at the line of scrimmage, they are talking about how well the offensive line and defensive lines hold their ground.

Dedicated to Rod

I hope that by the end of today or tomorrow we should have a new governor in my state. So I dedicate this song to the soon-to-be ex-governor Blagojevich. Good-bye, Rod. It has so NOT been a pleasure. (Notice the similarities in hair between the singer and the governor. Tee hee.)

UPDATE: He's out and he's been banned from ever holding public office in the state again.

Where I'd Like To Be Now

Two years ago, Michael and I lived out a dream we'd had since we first got married. We returned to the place we honeymooned (Amelia Island, Florida) for a month and used it as a writing sabbatical. During that time we worked only on our creative writing.

Here are a few photos from the stay.

Reading is Sexy

About a week ago, Sherry gave me this award for reading a lot and putting reviews on my blog that make her want to place book orders. LOL. I did a little background check on the award, and I discovered that it comes with a dare: I challenge all of you to show how reading is not only fundamental but also better for one's ooh-la-la appeal than lingerie, implants of any variety, or playing dumb.

Hmmm. Studies have shown that one thing that makes a women more sizzling is confidence. (Isn't that partially what all that cougar nonsense is about?) Ahem. Anyway, one thing that brings confidence is knowledge . . . and voila, that is where reading comes in. I've never been the kind of person to want to hide my mind just to attract someone. If a man can't be attracted to me for my intelligence, he's not worth the effort of relationship building. (Tart words, I know, but that's the way I've felt since I was a very young woman.)

Reading also helps broaden one's horizons, spark one's passions (of all varieties), and fuel one's dreams. What can be better nurturing for a relationship than that?

Have I sufficiently made my case?

Now I get to pass on the award to others.

1. Julianne  I just started reading her blog recently, but it's a good one. She's doing a reading challenge this year.

2. Yolanda  She loves books so much that she has a second blog devoted to them.

3. Sara  Her passion is novels from an older, more genteel era. I love reading her beautiful reviews.

There's no quota with this award, so I think I'll stop at three.

Happy reading all you sexy people!

More Monday Miscellaneous

I seem to have trouble keeping up with my life these days. Usually, on Sundays I write a bunch of blog posts for the week. I didn't do that yesterday. We'll see how I do at posting regularly this week. My schedule is going to be intense.

To start the week, however, I'm going to answer a couple of questions people asked on Saturday.

Writers' Group

A couple of people asked about writers' group. Not all groups are run the same, but this is how ours works. Our writers' group meets once a month. We exchange pieces that we've written before the meeting (either by passing it out the month before or by e-mailing a minimum of a week ahead of time to give people time to read). Then at the meeting the other members critique each piece that was submitted and offer suggestions. The purpose of our group is to help each person meet his or her own goal as a writer. We don't insist that everyone strive for publication. If their goal is to write a memoir for their family or something equally private, that's ok with us. During the critique, we ask that people say positive as well as critical things about the work. We have a rule that people aren't allowed to defend their writing ("You don't understand; this is what it's really saying"), but so far we've never had to enforce it. The group is small, but it's been meeting regularly for a year-and-a-half.

Murder Mystery Dinner

Michael and I didn't know what to expect here. From what I understand, with a small murder mystery dinner, each guest plays one of the roles and you don't know whether you're going to end up as the murderer or not. This dinner wasn't like that because it was a large group (about 50, I think). So the way it worked was that a cast gave little speeches about their relationship with the victim, and then they went around to the tables as we ate dinner and we could ask them questions. We had a set of questions we were supposed to ask each one, although we could add our own questions too. There were three rounds of speeches followed by questions, and then each table had to work as a team to guess who did it and why.

Michael and I were surprised that there wasn't any emphasis on clues--the weapon, footprints, broken objects, and the like. After we got home, I looked up the company the supplied the game and discovered that they categorize their games into character-based games and clue-based games. The one we were doing was a character-based game. We felt a little letdown that there wasn't much emphasis on clues. Before doing it, we assumed that both clues and character would be mixed. I don't know if all murder mystery game companies do it the same way or not. The other thing that took us back a little was the solution. In the particular game we played, the death turned out not to be a murder but an accident that someone was covering up for self-protection. So we felt it was a bit misleading. No one solved it correctly, although one table did guess that the person involved had committed the crime with his lover.

However, we still had a great time. The best part of it was watching friends from church act out all these silly characters and just have a great time hamming it up. Parts of it were very funny. It was interesting working as a team; some of the people at my table were folks I don't interact with often. They split Michael and me into separate groups, which isn't our normal way of doing things, but I can see why they did it that way. Everyone had managed to put together a costume for his or her character. Also, the mystery was set in an English manse, so the committee that put it on made an English-themed dinner for us: shepherd's pie and trifle. It tasted good, so I blew off my diet for the night and ate it all.

I think I'd do it again. The unexpected aspects of the event wouldn't bother me so much a second time if I knew what to expect. I also think it might be fun to try a smaller one sometime that made it seem more like I was really inside the mystery. 

Have any of you done murder mysteries and what type were they?

Quick Check-In

Good morning. How are you this Saturday?

I have a busy day ahead. We have our writers' group meeting in an hour. We have a few pieces to review, and we have to plan for the storytelling night.

Then Michael and I need to run errands and do some house cleaning. Finally, we're going to a murder-mystery dinner at church tonight. I always wanted to go to one of those. I'll let you know how it went.

What's on your agenda today?

Hope Is the Thing with Petals

I don't have much time this morning because I'm on my way to a meeting about another possible writing project, but I wanted to share this. My sansevieria is blooming. This plant was grown from a piece of my mother's plant, which is as old as I am. And it was grown from a piece of her mother's plant. And the other day it bloomed.

Somehow, that seems hopeful to me.

Smokey in Action

I'm feeling a little experimental this morning. Here's a video of my boy at play. Can you tell he's half schnauzer? He won't give up his toys unless he thinks there is a chance of getting another one. LOL (The camera bob is me picking up another barbell to throw.)

Inaugural Invocation

During all the recent controversy about Obama asking Rick Warren to deliver the inaugural invocation, Quaker Dave came up with an alternate idea. He asked other bloggers to post their own invocations on this day.

So here is my prayer for our nation on this historic day.

Almighty God, who has given us our lives, our land, and all that we possess, help us to remember that you are Lord of all peoples. Help us to bear in mind that the United States, with its manifold blessings, is only one nation out of all the Earth. Remind us, O Lord, that from those to whom much has been given, much will be required. Bearing that in mind, on this day of transition, help us to turn to you and seek your wisdom.

O Lord our God, save us from the sins of violence, greed, hatred, pride, arrogance, and lust for power. Teach us instead to be a people of compassion, justice, mercy, equity, and generosity. Show us how to protect our many freedoms without impinging on the freedoms of others. Help us to respect the humanity of all your people and to work tirelessly for every human being to share equally in the rights and the liberties that we ourselves enjoy.

Most especially, we pray for President-Elect Obama and Vice-President-Elect Biden on this day. Grant them wisdom, honor, integrity, and strength. Help them to know and do your will. Guide them in the enormous task of leading this country during difficult times. Keep them in safety and good health. Help them to work to unify this country and to inspire us with their own examples. Fill them with the
love of truth and righteousness, and make them ever mindful of their calling to serve this people and not their own ambitions.

We commend our nation to your merciful care.

Amen.

Quick Medical Update

The biopsy on the polyp came back. It was benign. I'm good to go for another five years.

Thanks to all who prayed and inquired about results.

Monday Miscellaneous

I haven't done a chatty post in a while, and I'm not feeling especially inspired at the moment, so this is going to be random.

Saturday, I finished one of the three writing jobs I've been doing. It was one of the two part-time jobs, not the full-time one. I should be feeling relieved, but I have such a long To-Do list that I carry around in my head that my life doesn't feel all that different. Maybe one reason it doesn't feel like I've lost any of the job load is that on Friday, I'm going to a meeting about another potential writing assignment.

Smokey's been feeling under the weather, and we're not sure why. He vomited a bit on Saturday and had borderline diarrhea on Sunday. Either he snatched and ate something he shouldn't have, he has a virus, or his knee has been bothering him. To calm down his digestive system, I fed him rice and chicken last night, and he liked that. (Fortunately, I had both in the freezer and just had to thaw and combine them for him.) He'll get more this morning.

Mom, playing fetch will make me feel better. Honest.

Sunday I spent a lot of my afternoon working on a publicity campaign for an event we're going to have at church on Saturday, Feb. 7. The writers' group that Michael and I run is hosting a winter storytelling night. I'm reading a short story, as are two other people from the group. Michael is showing the short film he did for his master's degree several years ago. And my brother is going to be a special guest. He recites the poetry of Robert W. Service as a character named Yukon Slim. We have no idea whether we'll get any kind of turnout for this. What I did yesterday was create a poster for the church narthex and write announcements for the church bulletin and to read during the service. Gosh, I wish some of you lived close enough to come.

Is anyone doing anything for the inauguration tomorrow? We're going to take a few hours off work and watch the inauguration and the parade. That's one big advantage of being freelance, the flexibility to do things like that. I wanted to make the day seem special so I bought some frozen multigrain waffles and turkey sausage for breakfast. We'll probably have to work Tuesday evening to make up the time we miss, but it'll still be fun to treat part of the day like a holiday, especially since we're not taking Martin Luther King day off.

Have a good Monday, everyone.

A Weather Survey

Anyone remember this scene from Dr. Zhivago? Zhivago and Lara are escaping (they're in danger of being arrested as counter-revolutionaries), so they go to the estate where Zhivago lived as a boy. It's been abandoned for years, and when they break in, they discover that the interior is covered with frost.

I've been feeling a bit like that the last few days. We actually have frost around our front door frame. (Like dopes, we've just never bothered to have a storm door installed. I think that will be a priority this summer.)

Anyway, I thought it would be fun to do a very short weather survey.

1. What is the coldest temperature that you personally have experienced?

27 below zero

2. What is the hottest temperature that you personally have experienced where you live?

109 (I think. There may have been hotter days, but that's the one I remember.)

3. If you have experienced a hotter temperature while traveling, what was it?

113

4. So what's the range from the coldest to hottest you've experienced?

140 degrees

That's all. Just put your answers in the comments. Estimate if necessary, but please don't exaggerate. 

Maybe in a day or two, I'll do an average of the answers (but I'm not promising).

Blogging Friends . . .

In the last few days, I have been given the Blogging Friends award by the following people:

Jan

RevDrKate

Barbara B.

ChoralGirl

Thank you, all. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with gratitude. I consider each of you a friend too.

As Jan wrote on her blog (quoting Missy, who was quoting someone else): "The Friends Award isn't about being the most popular blogger or having the most read blog. It is just because you are a friend."

Here's the cleverly written text of the award: "These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

Ok, now down to business. I need to pass the award on to eight other bloggers. It is really hard to choose among all of you, so I thought long and hard about this. I've decided to pass on the award to people with whom I've communicated beyond just blog comments, and I'm also trying to move the award out into new "blogging circles." It goes without saying that I consider many more people than these eight to be blogging friends. 

Tracie (Rosezilla)

Sherry

Jeannelle

Elizabeth

Ginni

Sis

Kathy

Doxy

It's a Mystery

The first book I finished in 2009 was Sweet Revenge by Diane Mott Davidson. It is the 14th and latest in the culinary mystery series about Goldy Schultz, a caterer who lives in the fictional town of Aspen Meadows, Colorado. I first started reading this series when our church had a silent auction for gift baskets, and I bid on one with the first six books (along with a few gourmet food items). The books come with recipes, which I never make because they seem pretty fattening, but the main character is fun so I keep reading them. (And she's Episcopalian. That has to count for something, right?)

Here's a major inconsistency in my personality. I adamantly refuse to read true crime books about real murders. (I lost two friends to murder during my young adulthood, so I just don't have the stomach for it.) But I do like murder mysteries, perhaps because the crimes always get solved.

My current favorite mystery series features Commissario Guido Brunetti of the Venice police force. I love the atmosphere of Venice, and I love Brunetti because he is a good guy with a family and a wonderful relationship with his wife Paola. (Some scenes between them actually make me sigh.) The first book in this series is Death at La Fenice: A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery, and if you like police procedurals, I suggest that you give this series a try.

In general, I think police procedurals set in England are my favorite types of mysteries. Except for Agatha Christie's Miss Marple, I don't have a lot of patience with the conceit of the amateur sleuth who just happens to stumble upon a murder every six months or so. (That's the one problem I have with the Goldy Schultz series, but so far, the author has managed to keep me reading anyway.)

The first mystery series that really hooked me was the Adam Dagliesh series by P.D. James. If you're anything like me, you like to read a series in order. The first book in that set is Cover Her Face (Adam Dalgliesh Mysteries, No. 1) I haven't read the newest one.

After I read all the Dagliesh mysteries that were published at that time, I tried a few other series and couldn't find anything as good. I mentioned that to my brother Carl, who also read mysteries, and he laughed at me because I'd started with the Cadillac of mystery writers. He strongly recommended the Inspector Morse series, but I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't read the books until after Carl died and I inherited his copies. (I'm going to stop linking to books here. All of the series I'll be mentioning are easy to find.) Reading the Inspector Morse series was a bittersweet experience because I realized almost immediately that my late brother must have identified with the main character. Both men were late middle-age bachelors who liked women but wouldn't commit and consequently lived as loners. Both drank too much (although Carl did go off alcohol eventually). Both loved classical music and crossword puzzles with a passion. It was quite eerie.

From Carl, I also inherited all the Dick Francis mysteries, which aren't a series exactly, since he uses a different main character in almost every book. And yet they're not really that different. Dick Francis definitely has a "type" of hero: brave, decent, persevering, intelligent, . . . and romantic. I enjoyed the books immensely and still buy each new one that comes out.

Anne Perry has two series set in Victorian England: one features Thomas Pitt and his wife Charlotte and the other features William Monk. The Monk series is darker than the Pitt series. I like them both quite a bit, although I haven't checked for new entries in two or three years. The details about Victorian life are fascinating in these novels.

The other series I try to keep up with is the Thomas Lynley series by Elizabeth George. I haven't read the latest of hers either, but I plan to read it soon.

So that's pretty much a summary of the mysteries I like to read. Do you ever read mysteries? Do you know any series that would seem to fit in with my taste?

Seeing the Big Picture

It's four degrees outside, and it's snowing. We're not even halfway through winter, and the onslaught of bad weather feels relentless.

I have a long day of work ahead of me, part of it cleaning up some problems, and I'm dreading it.

In short, I woke up feel glum this morning. 

Today, I was planning to post the photograph below anyway. As you can see, I finished my puzzle. It took two weeks to do, not one, but I did it.

But look up in the upper left-hand corner. Notice that there are two pieces missing? See that there is an extra piece sitting there at the bottom that clearly isn't an edge or corner piece? It's a duplicate of a piece on the tree.

The puzzle came that way. For a long time, I wondered if I'd lost the two missing pieces, but the chances of randomly losing two adjacent pieces are nearly impossible. And the duplicate piece tells me it was a manufacturing problem, not careless assembly. In other words, I came home with a flawed puzzle.

This morning, I feel like my mood is the equivalent of someone who is staring at that empty corner instead of the whole puzzle. I'm focusing on the negative instead of the positive, and the positive truly is a much larger percentage of my life.

Seriously, don't you think it's a pretty puzzle even with the corner missing?

So instead of whining anymore about the weather or my schedule, I'm going to list ten things I'm grateful for. Some will be silly, some will be serious. It doesn't matter. I'm just trying to get a better perspective on my day.

1. I'm grateful for Michael, who loves me. He would not let me do one thing the entire day Monday after my procedure, not even microwave a cup of tea. He's a sweet man.

2. I'm grateful that we had a snow covering before we got the frigid temperatures. It's better for my roses.

3. I bought a really cute, dressy warm weather outfit on sale the other day. I'm looking forward to wearing it.

4. I have work. That's no small thing in this economy,.

5. In six days, we will get to see a historic event, the inauguration of Barack Obama. I don't expect him to be superman or a miracle worker. But I'm looking forward to it.

6. Falling snowflakes are a beautiful sight, even if the end product is a pain in the patootie.

7. I have a kitchen stocked with food. Michael went shopping on Sunday and bought a lot because he knew that we were supposed to have storms this week.

8. The other day, a neighbor said she would like to go bike riding with me when the weather is warmer.

9. I'm reading a book I'm enjoying. I'll talk about it when I'm done (which will be a while as it's 555 pages).

10. I don't have to have another colonoscopy for five more years. :-)

Musical Shuffle Questionnaire

My longtime friend Mark Nielsen posted this over at Marking Time, and I thought it was cute so I stole it for here.

1. Put your iTunes or other music player on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS! (Add some commentary if you’d like.)

IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY” YOU SAY??
"What I Want" (Daughtry)

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
"Lost" (Annie Lennox)

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
"Away in the Manger"

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
"Jerusalem" (Don McLean)

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
"Pilgrim" (Enya)

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
"Occuli Omnium" (Benedictine monks)

WHAT IS 2+2?
"Dawn of a New Century" (Secret Garden)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIENDS?
"Fatally Beautiful" (T Bone Burnett)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"Vincent" (Don McLean)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
"Heal Over" K.T. Tunstall

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
"The Lion in Winter" (film score)

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"The First Noel"

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
"Southern Symphony"

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
"NaLaetha Geal M'oige" (Enya again; I guess it means "Days of my Youth")

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
"Going Up the Country" (Canned Heat)

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
"Set the Fire to the Third Bar" (Snow Patrol)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
"I Want to Know What Love Is" (Foreigner)

WHAT’S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
"Late in the Evening" (Simon & Garfunkel)

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
"Unforgiven" (movie score . . . and Gee whiz, I sure hope not)

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
"Wheels Within Wheels" (Kate Campbell)

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
"Kodachrome" (Simon & Garfunkel)

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
"Solo Sonata"

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
"Silent Night"

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
"A Hard Day's Night"

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
"Winter Wonderland"

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
"Kill Zone" (T Bone Burnett)

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
"Amazing Grace"

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
"Santa Claus Is Coming to Town"

Checking In

I've been home from the clinic about five hours or so. (Not sure about times today). I'm doing fine. I've had a couple of short naps and eaten two very light meals. Michael is doing all the cooking, etc., for me.

The surgeon found and removed one rectal polyp, but he told Michael that he wasn't worried about it. (He may have told me too, but I don't remember talking to him.) We'll know the results for sure next week.

I want to share a very funny video with you all. Jay of Bailey's Buddy posted a video clip about colorectal surgeons in my honor. If you need a laugh, go watch.

Run-Around Rod

Today, while I'm off having my colonoscopy, it seemed like a good time to link to an article about my dear Governor Blagojevich. (Funny how having a probe pushed up my posterior makes me think of him.) This brilliant piece appeared in the Chicago tribune yesterday:

Keeping Up with a Run-Around Rod

See you all later.

Sunday Prep Day

I know I don't usually post on Sundays, but I wanted to let you all know that I'm having a colonoscopy tomorrow. It's jut a diagnostic test because of turning 50, but I'd still appreciate prayers that everything goes well.

They are using general anesthesia, so I'll be out of it all day tomorrow and won't be around the blogosphere.

Today will be spent doing what's necessary to evacuate the nether regions. Pray that it goes well too. I have a sister-in-law who had to do this twice because she didn't get cleaned out enough.

Thanks.

Hmmm . . . "with flavor packs." Somehow, that's not too reassuring.

Good News About Evan

 

I'm putting Jaime's last two journal entries about Evan. This is good news. (For some reason, I didn't receive email notice of Wednesday's post, which is why I'm so late putting it here.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 07, 2009 10:57 PM, CST

Day +21, our 192nd day here....

Drum Roll Please...........Evan's marrow is 100% Mommy's!!!!! WOOOOHOOOO, yeah Ev! Evan had a big smile on his face when Darci told him. He found out first, but I too had a big smile on his face. I also know Chris did by the tone of his voice over the phone. We soooo needed that good news today.

Evan also was granted a two hour pass this afternoon. He decided he wanted to have nuggets and fries and go to RMH for a bit. He was super wiped out when we were coming back and the walk to his room was a bit difficult for him. His back and hips were bothering him, but once he is moving more he will feel much better. If we take pass again soon I think we will convince him to us a wheelchair. He was really good about wearing the backpack with his pumps until it started to hurt and then mommy carried it. He took almost a two hour nap once he was back in his room and is now finishing Star Wars Episode 1 before we turn in for the night.

Ian is still doing better. He still doesn't look back to normal, however, he looks much better than he did on Monday. The repeat blood culture did indeed come back positive with Gram Positive Cocci Clusters, so he will be here through his ten day course of Vanco. He is doing really well with Grandma Shirley, he just loves to be with her. I am not sure what we would do without her, she is pretty darn amazing. I sure don't think she ever fathomed all that the last six + months have entailed. Then again none of us did.

Chris is busy getting things lined up at home with all the remodeling projects that need to be completed before Evan can come home. He will be up tomorrow and over the weekend so that will be nice. We miss him when he is not here, but he is working hard for us to be able to come home soon.

Well, Ev's movie should be over soon and then it's lights out. Thank you all for your wonderful guestbook entries, we look forward to them as they truly lift us up. It means so much to us to have you all in our lives, you have each touched us and will never be forgotten!! Good night and God Bless.


FRIDAY, JANUARY 09, 2009 09:23 PM, CST

Day +23, our 194th day here...

For some reason many of you did not get notification of the last post, please make sure you read it if you haven't. Sorry for not posting last night, I was just beat.

Evan has had a good day. He had a chest and sinus CT this afternoon. His cough has progressively gotten a touch worse and his "allergy shiners (sinus symptom) are starting to come back again. His chest looked good and his sinus' pretty much look the same. They decided to try him on Nasonex and if things get worse he will go back into the OR to be drained. His calcium has been low the past couple days, so they have tripled his calcium supplement today. Dr. Dave decided to hold the other big changes until after the weekend, only minor changes will be done barring no new issues over the weekend.

Ian looks much better! He was supposed to have his G-tube switched to his new AMT Mini button today, but they have decided to wait and do it with sedation. Due to his current respiratory infection, he will not be cleared for sedation for a month or so. We had a great appt wtih Dr. Trapane (Genetics) and Deb (his Special Needs Nurse) yesterday. We are going to try him on some of the Mito Cocktail and see if that does anything. We are still waiting on the final choices and dosing, but I will let you know when I hear. It also appears that Ian may have a iodine deficiency. This is very rare in this county, however, when you don't eat and are TPN dependent things are a bit different!! I am waiting in the final word on this as well, I briefly spoke to Dr. Karkos (one of the Special Needs Physicians) this afternoon and will know more probably early next week. There was more, but I will save things until we know more so I don't totally confuse you all.

Well, I am going to try and get to sleep by 10:00 since Chris is here right now. I need to make sure I don't get sick or we are in big trouble! I will update more tomorrow some time. Please pray that Bradley's fevers go away quickly (he is also fighting HHV6) as he is having a very difficult time right now. I am sure his parents Jon and Tina and his sister Bree could also use prayers as this is not easy for them either. Good night and God Bless.

Extinguish My Eyes

The other day, I read a Rilke poem that just blew me away. I decided to share it without explanation.


Extinguish my eyes, I'll go on seeing you.
Seal my ears, I'll go on hearing you.
And without feet I can make my way to you,
without a mouth I can swear your name.

Break off my arms, I'll take hold of you
with my heart as with a hand.
Stop my heart, and my brain will start to beat.
And if you consume my brain with fire,
I'll feel you burn in every drop of my blood.

from Rilke's Book of Hours: Love Poems to God translated by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy

Doubt: a movie review

We saw the movie Doubt on New Year's Eve afternoon. It's a thought-provoking film, which I highly recommend.

The basic premise is that a nun who is the principal of a Catholic school in the 1960s suspects the parish priest of molesting a student. The strength of this story is that it explores character, rather than plot. The tough, suspicious older nun; the innocent and idealistic younger nun; and the priest who may or may not have stepped over the line are all developed in great complexity. Each has strengths and weaknesses; each changes over the course of the story. 

One review I read said that the theme is to contrast the feeling of certainty with certainty itself. What the older nun believes she knows and what can be proved by evidence are two entirely different things. The question then becomes, how do we act in such situations? Do we do everything in our power to protect the innocent, even going so far as to ruin someone who may not be as guilty as we think?

The movie doesn't presume to answer that question. Rather, it leaves the audience to resolve the dilemma as best they can. I'm still wrestling with some of the issues it raised.

If you like thought-provoking, well-written, well-acted movies, don't miss this one.

Journey of the Magi

'A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a journey:
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter.'
And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory,
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
And running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty and charging high prices:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices in our ears, saying
That this was all folly.

Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky,
And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.
Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,
And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.
But there was no information, and so we continued
And arrived at evening, not a moment too soon
Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory.

All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.

~T. S. Eliot

Why the Magi Matter

Our assistant priest, Rev. Kate, gave a great sermon about the magi Sunday. I won't recap the whole thing, but her main point was to talk about why Matthew included the magi in his gospel. The point, she said, is that these men were not Jews. They were pagans. Yet, God accepted their gifts and their worship. Why is this important? Well, most of us who are members of the Christian church are not Jews.

Furthermore, not only were the magi Gentiles and pagans, they were the scholars of their day. These were very learned men, experts in the subjects of astronomy and astrology, which was a respected branch of knowledge in most of the ancient world. And it was their very learning that led them to follow the star (whatever it was) and find Jesus.

In our culture, too often all we see of Christianity in the media is an emotionally based, non-intellectual religion, one that is suspicious of worldly learning. It's good to know that God has room at his table for all of us, including those who take a more scholarly, intellectual path.

Happy Epiphany to all of you.

P.S. Come back tomorrow for T.S. Eliot's poem "Journey of the Magi."

A Matter of Perspective

Saturday and Sunday, I was struggling with the blues. I still felt quite fatigued mentally, and I knew that starting today, I'd have to go back to working long hours and Saturdays. Often when I feel overworked, especially when it's something I've done to myself, I get really down.

The problem is less my reality than my perception. Getting in situations like that triggers a lot of old internal messages from my growing up years. In my family, I was what is known as a parental child. My mother carries a lot of woundedness from her family of origin, and she fed off her children emotionally. I was the only daughter, so she looked to me to fill many of her needs.

One of the dominant emotions of my childhood was the feeling that my family—and I—were overwhelmed. It's easy to see why my mom was overwhelmed. When she was my age, she still had two children under the age of twelve, plus she was working full-time nearly an hour away from home. She was gone about ten hours a day. Housework simply didn't get done.

Each of my parents had many strengths, but because they were constantly in conflict, they never learned to use their complementary skills to form a good partnership. My dad was a hard-working man and was great at meeting people, but he couldn't organize his money or his time to save his life. So in addition to her emotional problems, my mother had the very real challenge of having a spouse who didn't complete household repairs or help keep the family solvent. Things were always tight financially. The house was in a constant state of disrepair. My parents fought a lot.

One reason I felt all this so keenly is that my mother used me as her confidante for all her discontent. Also, from the time I was ten, I had sole responsibility for the after-school care for my younger brother and for getting dinner made. I was expected to be a model student because I was told from the time I was three or four that I was going to college. I also felt the self-imposed burden of trying to make my family happier by doing such things as planning holiday surprises . As absurd as it sounds, I felt responsible for holding that family together.

My legacy from this upbringing is a tendency to see myself as a workhorse whose emotional needs don't matter. When I go through a busy work time, I have to fight this sense of being overburdened and overwhelmed. The emotions don't come from this two-month period of six-day weeks. They come from my past.

One thing that I'm learning to do is to stay more in the moment. If I look too far ahead and obsess about all the work that's waiting for me, my blues just get more entrenched. And if I dwell on a lot of negative messages—I'm so tired; I hate this particular task; Why did I take on so much work?—then my mood intensifies. But if I embrace whatever my task of the moment is and just focus on doing the best I can, I can move into a zone of peaceful acceptance that saves me some of that mental fatigue. (It's exhausting to fight with yourself over a job you know you have to do.)

This busy schedule is going to last at least four more weeks. For the rest of January, I'm going to have to be very conscious about telling myself, "This isn't your childhood. You're an adult now, and you can handle it. Take things just one day at a time." And then as much as possible, live in the moment.

The Best-Laid Plans . . .

If you read yesterday's post, you will have figured out that I'm not taking seven full days of playtime on my staycation. I had bills that had to be paid yesterday. I also worked on the budget, which didn't have to be done just yet, but I'm starting the extra-busy work schedule first thing Monday, so I needed to get it out of the way.

Today, Michael and I have to spend a couple of hours editing, and we are going to take down the tree . . . again, both jobs that we want to get out of the way before work starts again.

I was feeling depressed about it yesterday morning, but I think I'm ok now with how things turned out. I did have four full days of fun, and I think my schedule will be slightly less intense in January than it was in February. And if it's not? Well, it's only for this one month.

Here's hoping you all have a peach of a weekend. 

Transitional Housekeeping

This morning I transferred all the birthdays, anniversaries, and appointments from our 2008 kitchen calendar to the 2009 calendar. Some things have not been moved to my computer calendar yet, . . . I think because I like having the milestones out where I can see them. And I enjoy this ritual of doing the calendar every year. It makes the new year seem official.

I also wrote our first checks of the new year and carefully made sure to date each one 2009. Now I have to close out the budget for 2008 and have the 2009 budget conference with Michael. (I do a preliminary set of numbers for us to discuss and then we work together to finalize our budget every year.)

Once I get through those two tasks, I will know that I'm in a new year. Until then, I feel like I'm in transition.

What makes the new year real for you?

Looking Backward, Looking Forward

A few days ago, Diane at Faith in Community did a Reflection on 2008. I decided to do something similar, although I'm going to use different categories than she did. It would have made more sense for me to do this yesterday, but I'm taking my own sweet time about things this week. (By the way, I did give up my goals yesterday. I think I might be finally relaxing.)

2008's Goals

Last New Year's Day, I made three resolutions:

1. Walk at least 500 miles on the treadmill.

2. Finish the first draft of my current novel.

3. Knit 12 scarves for the homeless.

I'm pleased to say that I kept all three resolutions. I think that's the first time that's ever happened.

Work / Writing

Last year was a hard year professionally. For a lot of reasons I don't need to elaborate, the educational publishing industry had a slow year. I had six to eight weeks of no work at all--the first time I'd been out of work in 22 years. Michael had an even longer period of no work. When we did start getting jobs again, they were either smaller or more low-paying than we hoped. As a result, we piled up some debt. The last two months, however, we've had almost more work than we can handle. As Michael says, our industry is feast or famine.

On a positive note, I received my first writing assignment outside educational publishing and wrote a young adult book. (It will be published soon. Watch the blog for an announcement.) I had a short story published in a small Chicago literary journal. And because of the time of no work, I began this blog.

Health

I received some disturbing health news this year: elevated cholesterol and loss of bone density. I think both changes are related to finally hitting menopause. Anyway, because of them, I changed the way I eat, and I lost 15 pounds this year. I'm pleased about that.

Smokey also developed a health problem this year, a loose kneecap. We would prefer not to have him go through knee surgery, so we've put him on supplements (fish oil and a joint supplement), and he's doing much better. He had only one painful incident in the last three months of the year, which is a huge improvement on having his knee go out every 10 to 14 days.

Personal Issues

We weren't able to go on a vacation trip of any sort this year. This was the first year without even a long weekend trip. At times, I really struggled with disappointment about that.

I didn't invest much time or money in my garden this year (although I did do a lot of cleanup in the fall). An uncurable disease called Rose Rosette Disease has spread to my region, and I've lost several roses to that. I think I need to do a major rethinking / redesign of the garden.

I didn't read very much this year. I was just too stressed out for a lot of the time. Neglecting to read is a bad habit for a writer.

Goals for 2009

Thailand Chani of Finding My Way Home suggests choosing a theme word of the year instead of making resolutions. I'm going to modify the idea and do both.

Unlike last year, I have so many goals for this year. I'm going to call them goals, not resolutions, so that I won't feel like a failure if I have to carry some of them forward into 2010.

1. Since we expect to have work all year, we are focusing on improving our financial health. That involves two main tasks: saving a cushion of money to use when we're unemployed and paying down our debt. Obviously, it's hard to both pay off debt and save money, so that's going to be a bit of juggling act. We're not going to be able to achieve as much as I want toward either goal, but I'll like to make substantial progress.

2. Per my doctor's orders, I need to lose 8 to 10 more pounds. My weight loss has stalled in the last few months, so I'm going to have to ramp up the discipline again. That's hard to do when you're working overtime (as I will be through January), but my health is important. I'm supposed to do this by March, which I don't think is going to happen. But I'll just do the best I can.

3. I want to finish editing the novel I completed last year. Then I'll have to make a decision about whether / how to market it or whether to just self-publish.

4. I'd like to publish some other non-educational writings this year. I think it's important as a writer to diversify as much as I can and not be dependent on just one industry. Since I expect to be really busy with educational writing, I'm not sure how realistic this goal is, but I'm throwing it out there anyway.

5. I want to read more. Because of that, I'm going to make a change to the blog and start listing the books I read in 2009 (if I can figure out how to do that sidebar thingy I've seen on other blogs. If you use blogger and can enlighten me, please do).

6. I stopped growing vegetables a few years ago. I think I'm going to convert one of my rose beds back into a vegetable garden. It will make my gardening more complicated, but I think it's important for both health and environmental reasons.

7. I may do some charity knitting this year, but I've decided not to make a chore of it. By the time I'd finished 12 scarves last year, I'd pretty much lost the joy of the project.

Looking over that list, I would say my word for the year is health--financial, physical, professional, and creative health.

So that's it: my review of 2008 and preview of 2009. I hope you'll share a bit about your New Year's transition in the comments.