News and Updates

The PLAN vs. What really happened Some of you may know that this is my year to stay away from conferences. I average a conference a month, though in heavy years, it’s been way more. I’m an extrovert, and I love getting out there and talking to people, but this year I had a radical plan. To stay home and write. Write a lot! Write a ton and maybe clean house too. Here’s what really happened. Exactly what I planned. I’ve written and my house now looks like a photo shoot for Midwestern Home on a Middling Income. My house is a disaster. Now that I’m home, I’ve got craft projects, empty Sunchip bags, and dirty socks everywhere. Oh, and I wrote some stuff too, but no more than usual. Write! Write! Write! I’ve written the equivalent of War and Peace over a weekend. It’s amazing! And by the way, …

OMG it’s Monday with Jade Lee week #7 More »

What I saw in Costa Rica There was amazing scenery and great fun in Costa Rica, and I saw some great creatures I’d never encountered before. Guess which one I did NOT see. Howler monkeys Beautiful moth my son-in-law got drunk (see previous post) Grasshoppers larger than my hand Sea cucumber Costa Rica’s version of a raccoon Mosquitoes or whatever the hell was eating me alive Answer: 6. I got bitten by insects despite all the bug spray. And yes, I was supposed to put it on AFTER going swimming too but I forgot and paid for my stupidity. My legs are a spotted mess right now. But I never actually SAW the culprits consuming my blood. We’re guessing mosquitoes but it could be any number of different insects. Costa Rica has a ton of them! We did see all of the other creatures. The howler monkeys were a colony of …

OMG It’s Monday! Week #6 More »

The Things my Son-in-Law Shot While on vacation, my new son-in-law used a nifty telephoto lens and a wine-soaked napkin to take a picture of something he thought was cool. Guess what? My daughter as she sun-bathed. The wine was to get her sleepy enough to close her eyes and recline. A raccoon. He tempted it with wine, then shot pictures as it approached. A howler monkey. Turns out howler monkeys love wine! A moth. He caught it under a glass, then slid in the wine-soaked napkin to get it drunk enough to stay still. After a while, it was still enough to be drunk or dead, then he lifted the glass and started taking pictures. Answer: 4. Yup. Though he’s getting his Ph. D. in chemistry, he thought long and hard about being an entomologist. So all things bug fascinate him. Here are two of the cool pictures he …

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WHAT HAPPENED WHEN I GOT HOME Happy New Year Everyone! I’ve just returned from a fabulous family reunion in Costa Rica! Guess what I discovered on my return home! That my husband (who had returned early) had cleaned the house and done all the grocery shopping. That all the mail-order Christmas presents had finally arrived. That it hadn’t miraculously gotten warmer in Central Illinois. That I was covered in insect bites and was pleased to come back to a frozen climate without those damned bugs! Answer: 2! Yes, I had mail-ordered a ton of Christmas presents, but too late. I’d managed to grab secondary presents before we left so Christmas was still celebrated in style. But now what do I do with a plush Anna doll for my niece? Or the hand crafted special yarn bowl for my sister? As for the rest  My husband managed to get himself …

OMG It’s Monday! Week #4 More »