25, 50, 75, 100

Today I think about numbers.

I notice numbers.

Numbers often feel significant to me.

Dates, anniversaries, birthdays, goals set and accomplished.

This year we celebrate some nice round numbers in our family.

25, 50, 75, 100!

Our first born marks those first two numbers - last month with 25 years of marriage and next month turning 50.  I suppose it is natural for parents to feel old when our kids celebrate such milestones, but Stacy has always been an old soul exhibiting at least the first two descriptors of that term - maturity and understanding - of someone much older so I am already accustomed to her seeming like more like my peer.

One week from today marks 100 years for my amazing mother-in-law, Betty.  I’ve met only a few centenarians, and have been blessed to know this special one for more than half of that century.

But back to today…

Today we celebrate 

Betty’s son

Stacy’s dad

... on his 75th.

What a guy!!!

Bob the builder

... and re-builder

Teacher

Mentor

Artist

Photographer

Musician

Camper

Adventurer

Husband

Dad 

Foster dad

Grandpa

… and so much more!

I am so glad I have had the privilege to walk beside this dear man for so many of those years.  I could not have imagined how good this journey could be.  

Happy birthday, Bob.

Alternatives to NaNoWriMo

So you’ve thought about NaNoWriMo but are not sure it’s for you?

You are in good company.  Lots and LOTS of people want to do it, but are afraid they can’t make it happen.  Lots of others have tried but didn’t make it to the finish line.

Or maybe you wanted to do it this year, but feel like it's too late to start.

Or maybe you did start, but it's just not coming together.

Never fear; there are alternatives to NaNoWriMo.

Don’t believe me?  Just keep reading!

I have somehow stumbled upon a plethora of articles about such alternatives - three, five, six, or nine of them, in fact.  Take your pick!

Here are a few samples to whet your “alternatives appetite.”  

…

Should you do NaNo?

• by Ellie Betts

Ellie swings back and forth between pros and cons… concluding with:  You know what?  Why not?  She speaks of her own NaNo attempt - and admits that failing NaNoWriMo was one of the best things that ever happened to her as a writer.

…

3 Alternatives to NaNoWrimo

• written by Emily Wenstrom
• presented by Joe Bunting at The Write Practice

Emily shares 3 catchy ideas that might work better for you:

1. Round of words in 80 days
2. 52 week short story challenge - inspired by Ray Bradbury who famously stated: It’s not possible to write 52 bad stories in a row.
3. Continuous Creation Challenge

…

Five alternatives to NaNoWriMo

• by Carrie Rembrandt

Writers don’t have to be novelists.

There is writerly life beyond novel writing!

1. The Notebook Project: One notebook, cover to cover, in 30 days
2. National Blog Posting Month: 30 blogs, 30 days.  I’ve discovered there are all kinds of these challenges and have actually participated in 31 Amazing Days - 31 because it was for the month of October.
3. Academic Writing Month  - Set your own goals based on these rules.  
4. Digital Writing Month 
5. Become a NaNo rebel - Actually NaNoWriMo organizers have set up an official forum devoted to NaNo rebels - for those writing non-fiction.

…

6  Alternatives to NaNoWriMo

• Dot and Dash

Sure enough, here’s one with SIX alternatives - although a few of them overlap with the previous article.

… and finally…

9 Alternatives to NaNoWriMo

Again, several overlaps with the articles above including poetry, blogging, and literary journals. Lots of fun stuff!

...

So there you go.  Lots of really cool options for you to try if you think that NaNoWriMo is too much.  Maybe you can tweak one of these to make your very own best version.

Images courtesy of National Novel Writing Month.

Betty Lorraine D'Arcy Caudell: the first 90 years

Mom,

I hope you enjoy this book.*

I have learned so much while putting it together.

I am pretty impressed with what a good job you did documenting your amazing life with photographs.  

AND I’m impressed that you followed through to document so many of those photos with names and dates - even though you must have been crazy busy as an instant mom to those two energetic boys. 

I remember how when I was little I loved to lug out that huge photo album with the dark red cover and the black pages - very carefully because some of the pages were already coming loose.  As I have been sorting back through that huge book and many other albums, I have thoroughly enjoyed remembering the stories that went along with them - and trying to remember the names of some that were missing despite Dave’s best efforts to get us all to “name and date” our photos immediately.  

So many beautiful photos of wonderful people!

What wonderful reminders of who I am and where I came from.

This book contains only a sampling of the hundreds (probably thousands!) of photos you have collected through the years.  There was room for only a fraction of even the best ones.  So many tough decisions.  I hope that I’ve chosen many of your favorites to include here.  And I hope that looking through it over and over again will bring you some of the same joy that big red book brought me years and years ago.

I wish that I had succeeded in recording more of your stories, but I have had to accept the fact that they call for a separate project.  But let’s keep working on it.  You keep rehearsing those stories so that you can remember them until I get myself and my notes organized enough to capture them.  Then again, I might need some help with that project.  (Here’s looking at you, Karina!)

In this process, it has been fun for me to learn stories I don’t remember hearing before.  And maybe even some that you hadn’t heard before either.  Like the fact that the young women in your class at Bethel College were quite shocked to discover that you weren’t coming back in the fall.  That you were marrying a man with two little boys.  They couldn’t quite believe that you had the courage to do such a thing.

But everyone I talk to about it is really glad that you did.  Grateful that you made that decision and that you followed through on it all these years.  And there is a general consensus that you did a bang-up job raising those little boys and shaping us all into one big happy family.  We are forever grateful for that. 

Thank you for loving us - and a whole lot of other people in the process. 

Thank you for the example of serving people in need.

Thank you for demonstrating how to make the best of difficult situations.

I love you and am so grateful to be your daughter.

Happy Birthday!

...

* "This book" refers to the photo journal I made for my mom's 90th birthday.  
This letter was written to include in the book, but there wasn't room for it.

Fifty pages, 271 photos, millions of memories...

Maybe not a writer that day

(Written on December 12, 2010)

Tis a lovely day in the neighborhood. 

There's nothing quite like the view outside my window. 

Amazing.

Inspiring.




I sit here in awe, wishing to describe the beauty, but the words won't come together adequately.  

Maybe I'm not a writer this morning. 

Maybe it's a day for rest. 

A day for wonder.

For peace.

A day to breathe deeply.

Maybe I'll just sit and bask in the beauty. 
Ahh...

Amazing Day #31: Much to learn

I probably should not have taken on this challenge this year.

I was already over-committed.

WHAT was I thinking?

I guess I thought it seemed like a good thing.

A noble thing even.

To challenge myself to look for the amazing.

And yes, it has been a most excellent exercise.

It has been good for me - to force myself to take notice.

To discipline myself to articulate the thoughts.

And I did it.

I succeeded.

I finished.

’Twas an accomplishment.

…

I guess I can admit that it was a good thing and still admit that it was probably not a wise choice.

Once again I’ve been reminded that I cannot do all the good things.

Duh.
I'm still learning - or at least I hope I am - because I still have much to learn.

Maybe some day I’ll get to the point where I recognize this kind of wisdom BEFORE I take on something else.  

Now THAT would be amazing.

Amazing Day #30: Awesome

I keep thinking of that word.
Awesome.

During this month of amazing days...
Of watching for the amazing...
The word "awesome" often comes to mind.
That which inspires awe.
Or expresses awe.

Some think we over-use this word.

That we use it flippantly.

I suppose that could be true, but it’s a good word.

An important word.

There are lots of things in this life that inspire awe.

That evoke appreciation and gratitude.

That cause us to stop and notice.

I do not take this thing or this word lightly, but I do wish to notice the awesome.

I choose to watch for it.  

Sometimes even to search for it.

I think it is a worthwhile quest.
…

There is also much in this life that is not good or great.

There is much that is wrong.

Oppression and injustice are rampant.

It is easy for me to focus on the bad or the downright awful.

Yes, I’ve written about that before because the struggle is real.

Pessimism comes quite naturally for me.  Perhaps for most of us.

Worry, frustration, fear, and even panic can settle over us too quickly.

...

So which will I look for?

As much as I can manage to do so, I will think on the good things.

The things that are noble and true and right.

The pure.

The lovely.

The admirable.

The excellent and praiseworthy.

I will think on such things.

Amazing Day #29: the world in my kitchen

Plans change.

A trip to an apple orchard was scheduled.

Weather forecast called for rain.

Alternate plan: homemade pizza.

Hubby offers to teach students how to make pizza.

Three students say they can come and later cancel.

Will there be enough people to make it worthwhile?

Word spreads. 

More people sign up.

Will the house be too crowded?

Who knows what will happen?

Pizza time comes and so do the students - one, two or five at a time. They barely fit in our kitchen - from at least five countries.

They watch and listen. The brave ones make their own pizza.

We eat pizza.

And salad.

And chocolate zucchini cake.

The pizza mess is cleared off the kitchen table to accommodate a world map jigsaw puzzle - and discussion about Hinduism, Judaism and Christianity.

Chess players draw the heirloom rocking chairs close as they concentrate on the chess board perched on my old piano stool between them. 

Meanwhile peals of laughter come from the studio where others play Uno.  I shake my head in amazement and delight to hear the lively discussions flowing between English and Mandarin.

I find myself marveling about this amazing privilege.

I am SO grateful that we can live in this house and can host the world in our kitchen.

Amazing Day #28: connections

'Twas another amazing day at the cafe.

I had been working and writing while enjoying the pleasant ambiance.

A newcomer landed at the table next to me.  We exchanged glances and niceties and each went back to work but later chatted again from time to time.  Turned out we had at least one thing in common - our interest in writing. That's always fun to meet another writer - or a wannabe writer.  

...

And then...

I was cleaning out my e-mail inbox and a new message popped up from Meetups - about a writers' group starting up nearby.  The description sounded like it would be right down my alley - a place where I could belong.  That's no small thing because there are all kinds of writing groups - with different purposes and different formats and different genres - most of them focusing on fiction writing which is not me. I've tried out a couple groups with varying degrees of satisfaction.  So it was a little amazing to learn of one that seemed like such a good fit.  AND the first meeting is happening next week within a mile of my house! Now that is really amazing - because most of the groups I've been finding are in another city - near or far.  But this one is RIGHT here!  I've been searching for a writing group with those two criteria: close to home and with a format that feels right for me.  

Also I was able to forward the information on to my new friend who had just left the cafe minutes earlier - and she joined the group as well.

...

And then... in walked my friend and neighbor that I hadn't seen for awhile.  So wonderful to reconnect and catch up a bit.  

Sometimes I remember our days on the road and how lonely it could get.  Maybe lonely isn't the right word.  Maybe unconnected says it better.  'Twas a good experience in so many ways, but I really missed a sense of community.  Therefore on days like this one, I am extremely grateful for the connections in my life.  Every now and then I hear myself exclaim: I love my life!!!  This might have been one of those times - and amazing connections are certainly one of the big reasons.

...

Yep, yep.  Just another amazing day at the cafe.

I LOVE this place!

Amazing Day #27: Spectacular waves

Now THESE are amazing!!!

Amazing Day #26: Did he really say that?!?

Most of my "amazing day" posts have been about positive things.  
Maybe noble or inspiring or wonderful.
But I guess amazing doesn't always have to be great and wonderful.
It might just make you wonder.

Today's choice is one of those.
Something that just kinda' made me shake my head.
I had to wonder if I had heard correctly.
And I had to chuckle.

Disclaimer - two disclaimers actually:
(Well, I don't know that they are REALLY disclaimers - but I'm not feeling writerly enough today to figure out what to call them.  At any rate, here are two tidbits of background information.)

First, I always wanted to say "overheard on an airplane" as if I am some world traveler who flies to exotic places all the time.

Secondly, I absolutely LOVE Facebook memories.  You know, those "on this day" posts where Facebook shows you your activity on this date through the years.  So, so fun.  Kind of amazing actually. So...  this morning, the following gem popped up in my Facebook memories - from two years ago.  Early that morning I had been on an airplane and had heard this line.

Overheard on an airplane:

Older gentleman excitedly explaining

about how he was able

to help deliver a baby in the Philippines.

"Cut the unbiblical cord

with my pocket knife "

Wait; what...? 
He seemed to think it was pretty amazing.