Out in the Cold.

Today is one of those days I am inspired.

Weather is coming in, so I was inspired to leap out of bed and start the oven early, and mix up something, ANYTHING, to warm up my kitchen. While pineapple cookies were baking (tropical AND my first grade teacher's recipe), I whipped up some Greek Quinoa hotdish. Yummo.

Now that I'm thinking about the islands, my main character's island stay isn't so hard to imagine. Even if the wind is howling and the snow is swirling outside my windows.

She needs to be inspiring. Even if she has to hold onto a tree in a hurricane.

#nowhereandeverywhere

Wrap it up!

A great Christmas gift!

Sophia!

To branch a family tree.

From a long-distant friend tonight, I received the most evoking feedback on Something About Sophia:

"I really travelled back in time. It was as if I could smell the prairie and the bread baking in the old stove. A hard life, but a simpler life. Wow. Maybe you could write a book on the life and adventures of Gustav..."

Who knows what may happen. I do know that Gustav had quite a life. Stay tuned.

The C Mark.

I hit 100,000 miles once. It was so cold outside, and we were on the interstate. Someone very important was beside me, and I found that to be symbolic.

"Look," I told him. "I just hit a hundred thousand."

His response was some gutteral sound, that told me he wasn't as impressed as I was. I had picked up green tea for both of us, before getting him from his parents' place. He didn't drink coffee.

We were headed to gather my remaining belongings from my old apartment and relocate them to my new apartment.

The short, sweet moral is this: when you hit milestones, make sure you've got someone next to you who likes coffee.

Another old dream for you to consider.

For the amount of time it took me to write and finish Something About Sophia, this feels like it is flying by. Right now, Sophia is, for all intents and purposes, standing on her own, and I am free to finish Gertie's story. 

Gertie entreats us to ponder our place in the world, where we want to go, what we would like to accomplish when we get there, and whom we will allow by our side as we do those things to serve the world. I began this project the year after Something About Sophia, and honestly, have spent a lot of time on it. I find flapper-era and Depression-era stories very romantic, in a way. Gertie highly benefitted from my curiosity. I wondered if I just set her free, where the story would go. I found out. I think you will like this one.

Fast-forward.

For the last few years, I have been pondering, cooking, and discussing 1800-era Dakota Territory. Something About Sophia is launched. I am proud of that endeavor, our family history, but now I am fast-forwarding a few decades.

The reception of this little story has put me into nothing short of a whirlwind. I never in a million years thought people would so warmly welcome my project like this. My grandma is so proud of her history, and has been sharing it with me all of my life. I am touched and honestly overwhelmed by the response, when I gave this book to the world.

Let's see if the world wants another one.

Knee-deep in the hoopla!

Amidst things we do every day, wake up, convince ourselves to rocket out of bed, reheat yesterday's coffee, and dodge squirrels in traffic, beautiful glimpses of why we are really on this earth are given to us.

Today is Veterans' Day. I attended an annual informal gathering at a memorial, and had a wonderful chat with a friend. Today was clear, cold, green and gold-- the kind of perfect autumnal day that reminds us to store up the pantry, because next weekend may be freezy and blustery. 

Tonight, my plan is to wrap Shoebox Christmas boxes, and program my coffeemaker.