O Christmas Tree (Redux)
This year’s Christmas tree is up and decorated. As I’ve mentioned before, my husband and I like live trees. Actually, I’d be willing to switch to artificial, but he is not. Though he did allow that with the hardwood floors in our new home, we’ll have to be more careful not to spill water than […]
Changing Patterns of Christmas Shopping
Every year Christmas sneaks up on me. It shouldn’t, I know. It’s always on December 25. But I hate to shop, and so I avoid the stores until I have no choice. I start to moan about it before Halloween, but usually don’t get serious until close to Thanksgiving. Only one year in my life […]
My Christmas in California
I only spent one Christmas at my maternal grandparents’ home in Pacific Grove, California. That was in 1965 when I was nine. I seem to recall many Christmases with these grandparents in Klamath Falls, Oregon, where they lived before they moved to Pacific Grove in about 1962. But in fact, I probably only spent a […]
Decorating for Christmas in Our New Home
I’ve started decorating for Christmas, which is the only season for which I do much decorating. By some people’s standards, I do next to no decorating, even for Christmas. This year, for the first time in my life, I have the advantage of having all my Christmas decorations in the same closet. In the past, […]
Will Santa Find Me This Year?
I wrote earlier this year (see here and here) about the problems that the United States Postal Service caused my husband and me when the agency assigned us the wrong zip code (which I have called Zip Code B). Over four months after we moved in, these problems continue. This holiday season, USPS continues to […]
Tips from Yet Another Writing Conference
I wrote last year about attending the writing conference at Johnson County Library. I was there again last month for the 2019 Writing Conference. In somewhat arbitrary categories, here are my favorite tips from the conference this year: ON WRITING: 1: Writing is work. If you show up and spend the time, you will get […]
Memories of Thanksgiving and My Paternal Grandparents
Thanksgiving is behind us now, but just barely. I was thinking this past holiday weekend about my paternal grandparents. When I was growing up, we spent more time with my mother’s parents than my father’s, but we often did spend Thanksgiving with my paternal grandparents. As a small child, I remember visiting them, first in […]
Murders in Oregon Territory: History Is Stranger Than Fiction
I’ve written before that my ancestor, Cyrenus Hooker, was the first person murdered in Polk County, Oregon. His murder took place in February 1852. I recently came across an article about another killing that took place in May 1852, when Nimrod O’Kelly fatally shot Jeremiah Mahoney in Benton County, Oregon, as a result of a […]
LEAD ME HOME: Missouri Author Project 2019 Adult Fiction Winner
I received an early holiday present this year. In mid-November, I learned that my novel Lead Me Home was selected as the 2019 winner in the Missouri Author Project adult fiction contest. Earlier this year, I came across Jane Friedman’s suggestion that indie authors consider listing their books in SELF-e, a site sponsored by Library […]
Podcasts and Exercise
I do not like to exercise. I recognize the necessity, but I just don’t enjoy it. Several of my family members are work-out fanatics, including my husband and daughter. But they have not convinced me sweating is fun. I used to force myself to exercise by participating in a class. If I was with other […]