Progress Update (with Pics!)

I've had my head down, trying to make something happen over here, and since it's been a while I thought you might like an update.

Serendipity, Signs, and Skirts

You know how the skirt that I'm making is going to have box pleats? Well, after much research this weekend about fabrics, elastic, and sewing in general, it occurred to me that I should look up how to sew box pleats. My first search result pulled up this great tutorial from Miranda from the blog… Continue reading Serendipity, Signs, and Skirts

Launch Yourself on Every Wave

I finally have a plan, and this is it.

Rainy Days

Some days the gray clouds won't budge.

Red and Green

Do you find yourself going back to the same colors over and over again in life?

Where I Am

A quick check-in on where I'm at these days and I where I am (maybe? possibly? who knows, really) going

Running Scared

Apart from my husband and kids, not a single part of my adult life has ever come close to feeling as right as the time I spent working on that book. So why, oh why, did the words go away? And will they ever come back?

I Feel Like a Blob of Dough, and It’s Not Just From Eating Too Many Cookies

I have spent yesterday and today working on my book, which feels great because I haven't written anything in something like a month. December is the worst for creativity, I've decided. It's all gobbled up by the Christmas monster. (And if you try to tell me that Christmas is not a monster, then I say… Continue reading I Feel Like a Blob of Dough, and It’s Not Just From Eating Too Many Cookies

Step Over Step

A novel looms as large as Kilimanjaro, but I'm tired of being afraid, so I'm trying my best to shake off the fear.

If You Don’t Hear From Me Soon, Send in a Search Party

There's a South Park episode in which Eric Cartman et al. get so sucked into an online video game that they end up practically leashed to their computers, shoving their faces with junk food and soaking up radiation from their monitors. The end result, before the denouement, shows them strung out from too much screen… Continue reading If You Don’t Hear From Me Soon, Send in a Search Party

THINK v. feel

When I was young, we had a plaque hanging up in our house that said "THINK" in bold block letters. It was my dad's, and it came originally from IBM. I don't know how he got it, seeing as how he never worked for IBM; he vaguely remembers something about an antique auction. But the… Continue reading THINK v. feel

Practice Makes Perfect . . . But I Prefer Peace

Practice makes perfect, or so goes the saying. But perfect? I don't want to strive for perfection. That just turns me into a stress monster with Martha Stewart Disease (see recent Tea Party post). And practice? Isn't that just a heaping bowlful of boring? Seriously, now that no parent is standing over me making me… Continue reading Practice Makes Perfect . . . But I Prefer Peace

Please, World—A Small Request

My husband thinks this post is the equivalent of my inner old man raising a shaky finger to the air and lecturing whomever will listen, "Missy, back in my day . . . ." If you're in no mood for a rant on a dying grammar rule, you may want to click about elsewhere. It… Continue reading Please, World—A Small Request

I’m Afraid of Everything, But Maybe That’s Not So Horrible

These past two weeks, I have been a bit of a disaster. Not as in real disaster, like the people who, as I tell the kids, have "super big problems," like those people who lost their homes or much, much worse to a tornado or a flood or a war these past few weeks. Fortunately… Continue reading I’m Afraid of Everything, But Maybe That’s Not So Horrible

An Unabashedly Happy Progress Report

Back in the day, when I had an actual job (at a charitable foundation) and wore black pants (polyester) and heels (weensy) on a regular basis, I read a lot of progress reports. I used to wonder if the writers of these progress reports stressed over them before emailing them to me at the final… Continue reading An Unabashedly Happy Progress Report