I LAUGHED OUT LOUD!

I follow the blog of a family whose youngest child was born a little over a year ago with HLHS which, in simple language, means that he was born with part of his heart missing. This family has been through many, many medical challenges this past year and the year has been very difficult for them and their other three children. However, this blog has three things that make it very entertaining and exciting to read: 1) Both parents are excellent writers, 2) The whole family is VERY creative, and 3) They all have a HUGE sense of humor.

Today's post tells about the family finally being called in to get their H1N1 flu shots and they took pictures as each family member rolled up a sleeve and got the shot. I laughed until I had tears running down my face at their antics.

I feel very privileged to have "met" this family through their blog. I know the grandmother who lives here and we often go to church together to pray for little Rudy, but I am very grateful to have gotten to know this family of hers!

A Quick Update

Some time ago I mentioned gathering my stories about growing up in the Texas Panhandle and self-publishing them at Lulu.com. Well, that project is still in the works. I have gathered the stories and printed them out for editing. A couple of weeks ago my husband (a wonderful editor with a BIG red pen!) looked them over and made a few suggestions. I took them with me on our trip to Oregon and worked on them on the plane. I made a few corrections on some and a major overhaul on others. Then I had a few more ideas for stories and added them, along with a few recipes and more pictures.

This project is turning out to be quite a job and is spread out all around my computer chair now. I realize that October is breathing down my neck and I need to forget about my passion for perfection and just get on with the project if I want it ready for Christmas.

Sigh! Part of my problem is that I have too many projects and not enough time. However, I suspect that is better than having nothing to do and being bored!

TALENT

Barbara discussed talents, gifts, and abilities in her blog yesterday. In light of my struggles with painting, I began to ponder talent--or lack thereof! I have a granddaughter, Em, who can sit down and draw a picture that is an exact representation of something she has seen in the past. She really has a natural talent for drawing with ease and confidence. I, on the other hand, struggle with drawing and painting and writing--but I enjoy all three activities! I relish the creative process of starting with nothing and coming out with something that gives me pleasure. It is the struggle between beginning and ending that gives me more grey hair than I already have!

One thing I have learned over the years is that tenacity goes hand-in-hand with creativity. For me creativity is a process (writing, painting, drawing, etc.) and takes time. I do not whip out a painting in one sitting, but might work on it for months. I write, rewrite, and edit before I am satisfied with what I am writing. I tweak, adjust, rework and then finally declare a piece "done."
I suspect that one of my greatest talents is tenacity.

Perhaps you writers might like to make a list of your talents, gifts, abilities, then pick one to write about in more detail. Perhaps you might also like to describe the tenacity you have for completing projects you begin!

WRTING GROUPS

I lead a couple of wonderful writing groups and I love what happens during the writing sessions between the people. I also enjoy the wonderful writing that is shared after a timed writing on a particular topic. Each writer in the group has a different slant on the subject and each one approaches the topic from a completely different perspective. A dear lady in one of my writing groups wrote the following and shared it with me. She gave me permission to put it on my blog:


"I am discovering that writing in community (all present to each other) is strengthening and leads to self-discovery. The big plus of doing it together and sharing 5- or 10-minute "sprints" of writing is that we then can all identify with each other's selves and expand our self-awareness that way.

The point of the short timed writings is that no one can become self-conscious in so short a time, and the eloquence of the open human heart is inevitable. Maybe you might like to try it. It's not about being a good writer. Worrying about being a good writer can hinder. It's about opening the heart. Writing about the most ordinary things does it -- no high or low subjects -- just an openness that comes through writing with love. "

I'd Forgotten

After having four children of my own, you would think I would remember what the first week after the birth of a child was like. Nope! I had erased those tapes from my memory until this past week.

Young Grandson #2 will be a week old tomorrow and I have spent the week with Son #4 and his family. Whew! What a refresher of memory. Daughter-in-law is hurting in all those places that I had forgotten. She has no energy, but the two-year-old had enough energy for all of us--if only we could tap into that energy source.

And Grandson #2 has his days and nights all mixed up. He sleeps blissfully all day and is awake and fussy all night. Last night was a breakthrough, though, when he slept 4 hours between feedings. Whee! We all got 4 hours of quality sleep and felt much better this a.m.

Progress is being made and I will leave in a few days confident that this family will continue to learn all the lessons that I learned through the process of building a family. It is tough to learn new lessons with each new child, but I would not trade those years for any treasure in the world.

Write about life lessons that you have learned during the tough times in your past.

THANKFUL THURSDAY

I saw the following quote a little while ago and thought I might share it with you on this hot summer day:

Despite all the gloomy economic news these days, now is a good time to show gratitude for whatever good fortune has come your way. Whether you're a glass half-full or glass half-empty person, you can probably find something to celebrate. A good place to start is with those dearest to us. So, find a cool, shady spot and concentrate on those things you're grateful for. It's a sure antidote to those "dog days of summer." - Larry Lehmer

And I am also grateful that grandchild #7 is on the way--tomorrow we will journey forth and spend some time with the new little one and his sister, Miss Ella Bella, and his parents. Stay tuned for pictures this proud Grandmommy will surely share with you ASAP!

Today, consider making a list of things you are grateful for and write a paragraph about one each day for a week.

THANKFUL THURSDAY

I am thankful to know that today is International Happiness Day. I came across this information on Sharon's blog where she goes into more detail about Happiness.

July 10 is International Happiness Day. You can find out more about the official undertaking by viewing the video at the International Happiness Day website.

I tend to agree with Sharon that I have not thought much about happiness in the past, but I do know that happiness is often a choice that I can make. When I wake up in the morning I can choose to be grumpy or I can choose to be happy. There are stressful times when I am not exactly happy, but mostly, I prefer to take a happy view of things. Doing these Thankful Thursday posts on my blog have caused me to focus more on the positive aspects of my life--the aspects that cause me to be happy and content.

I also agree with Sharon when she says that "the idea of an International Happiness Day especially appeals to me because I believe that happy people are peaceful, productive people, and the world just has to be a better place if more people are happy."

And so, I am thankful that we now have an International Happiness Day!

For those of you who are writers, Sharon encourages us to "write for ten minutes about your happiness level. Are you generally happy more often than not? What conditions contribute to your happiness or unhappiness? What would you change or do to be happier? Describe an especially happy time in as much detail as you can recall. What did the moment mean to you? What was going on? What memories are connected with it? "

Quirk #6 - Oil Painting

6. I am relearning how to oil paint and am having a grand time smearing paint on canvas, good shirts, shiny new easel and everything nearby--such fun! Maybe I need to revisit my finger painting days also!

I am really having a wonderful time relearning to oil paint. It has been a LONG time since I painted with oils--probably about 30 years and it has taken several months to be comfortable with the process once more. I have finished three paintings and messed up a couple more. On the easel is a poppy that I am beginning and a bluebonnet that is finished and ready to be varnished and framed. I have two more paintings in process.

My husband caught another picture of me painting out on our deck. I love to be out there in the fresh air and amongst all that green of the outdoors. However, it is becoming a bit warm some afternoons to paint out there.


Tomorrow is my class and I have to go load up my car with my painting supplies.


Write about the creative things that you do. Do you have creative urges? How do you honor those creative urges?

An Inspirational Book

I mentioned Melody's book last week. Here is her response to my request for more information about her book. I love her description of her writing process and her struggles with publication. I hope to say more in the future about publishing our works.

Hello to all of the wonderful readers of Pat’s Terrific Blog:

My name is Melody Chatelle. Pat and I work out at the same place and time (early in the morning around 6, I might add) several times a week. Pat has been just wonderful in her support of my recent book as published by LangMarc Publishing (http://www.langmarc.com/) entitled Journeys of Heartache and Grace: Conversations and Life Lessons from Young People with Serious Illnesses. Pat invited me to say a few words about the book, which I am honored to do.

This is my first book published and stems from interviews with young people ages 6 – 20 living with life-threatening illnesses in amazingly strong, determined, realistic and honest ways unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. Of the 13 young people I interviewed, five are still alive. All of the stories are powerful, practical and paint a realistic and hopeful portrait of times we all face in our lives involving serious illnesses of loved ones or for ourselves. In the book I offer a learning piece based on each story and I lay out specific phrases of what to say and what not to say during times of serious illness. The applications apply to people of all ages. My own story of losing my mother and grandmother within a 12-day-period sets the stage for the stories from the young people.

Pat also asked me to say a few words about the process of writing and getting published which I am thrilled to do. Doing this book took four years, not including the work I did on the dissertation itself which took about two years. Finding a publisher took time and most of all perseverance given that I did receive many rejections and non-responses to my submissions. In fact, my original response from LangMarc Publishing was a decline given that the owner of the company was thinking of retiring. Yet when I noticed that she was from Austin where I live, I called her up, thanked her for the very nice decline letter, and asked if I could buy her a cup of coffee to ask about the unfamiliar world of publishing. She agreed, and out of that conversation she changed her mind about retiring and agreed to do the book. So the moral of that story is this: never give up, and never assume ‘no’ means completely no – there always might be an opening somewhere! In terms of writing the stories themselves, while they were challenging in some respects, they also flowed quickly out of my mind and onto the computer pages because of the passion I have for the young people themselves and the value and importance of stories themselves, like Pat has known for years.

If anyone reading this blog is interested in the book, please contact me at 512/502-9545 or mchatell@onr.com or visit my website at http://www.chatelleandassociates.com/. Also, I am very interested in speaking to groups of any kind about the book. Thanks for your interest and most importantly, for your love of stories and your connection with Pat! -Happy Story Sharing Always.

Melody

Quirk #3 - Journaling and Exercise

3. I get up early (5:30 a.m.) at least 5 mornings a week to journal first and then exercise--even though I am retired. It just starts my day off right!

My husband took the picture on the left yesterday. The lady in blue is a personal trainer but also a good friend named Rebecca. Rebecca is a wonderful help when I have questions about strengthening specific muscle groups. She was a marvelous help through both of my hip surgeries and I was back to the gym in record time because she even came to my house and helped me with exercises at home--terrific massages also!

Talking about Rebecca as a friend reminds me of how many other friends I have made at the gym over the 12 years that I have been going there. Max often precedes me on those machines you can see in the picture, and he can push or pull double the weight that I can. I often tell him that he is a tough man to follow!

Helen has long been my inspiration in exercise. I first met her when I began going to this gym and figured she was about my age although she could run circles around me and was as limber as a pretzel. One day, as I was admiring her flexibility during our stretches, our talk drifted to our age. We compared years and I discovered that she was about 15 years older than I am. My mouth fell open and I decided then and there that I wanted to "grow up" to be like Helen! She is still 15 years older than me and we still meet on the side-by-side treadmills where we catch up on family news and exercise progress.

The dressing room at the gym is also a place where I have found good friendships. Our little 8:00 a.m. group has decided that there are few problems that we cannot put our collective heads together and solve. And those women continue to amaze me! One is a very talented artist. Another woman is just five years younger than I am and still participates in the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii each year! Another surprised us recently by telling us that her book had just been published. We did not even know she had written a book! Her book is Journeys of Heartache and Grace: Conversations and Life Lessons from Young People with Serious Illnesses. Here is a picture of my very own copy--autographed by the author!

Going to the gym is a wonderful way to start my day, boost my metabolism, keep my body in good working order and catch up with friends I have made there.



Now it is your turn to write. Journal about your attitude toward rising early in the morning, exercise and friendships you have made along the way.

Thankful Thursday

I am very thankful for my blog. It has been so much fun learning how to create my blog and watch the format that has emerged. I was not sure that I would be able to master the technology required to do this "blog thing" that everyone was talking about--mostly the younger set, and I certainly am not very technologically savvy. However, I wended my way through all the setup process, learned to insert pictures, and have gotten over the nervousness of having my writing "out there" in cyberspace.

I have enjoyed sharing pictures with my family and reconnecting with cousins whom I have not seen in years and years. That probably has been my number one delight along with comments from family members! Next I have enjoyed putting some of my family history stories together with old photographs and posting them for our family to read. I even have one "hometown" reader who seems to enjoy my stories of her town long before she lived there--or was even born, for that matter. And the blog is a nice way to keep family members informed about what is happening in our spread-out family!

Yes, I am truly grateful for my blog and the opportunities that it has provided for me and for my family.

Thankful Thursday

I woke up this morning to the sound of raindrops on our rooftop. I was thankful to hear the rain for two reasons: 1) we are already registering a deficit of rainfall in our area and predictions are for a very dry spring, and 2) the tree pollen is very high as an allergen right now and the rain will clean out our air for a time. Unfortunately, it was only a brief shower, but any moisture around here is a good thing.

I was also thankful to be awakened a little early by the rain because I have many things still to organize for Story Circle Network's national conference that begins tomorrow. I am very excited about the conference because of new writing opportunities and meeting new friends from all over the country. If interested in the conference, you can go to http://www.storycircle.org/ for more information.