I can't say I was looking forward to the holidays ending, because of the doldrums that inevitably follow a fun and busy holiday season. But I figure once we burn through January then we have one less month for potential snow. I took the time today to walk outside and appreciate what was a beautiful snow fall. The snow falling can quiet the busiest street, neighborhood or city. It never ceases to amaze me how quiet Chicago is when I stand outside during a snow. It's a special

Another New Year. It's odd to think the New Millennium (the REAL one) was ten long years ago. Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin' into the future, right? I am a Resolutionist! I know many people who pooh-pooh the idea, but I think it's a marvelous time to mark new beginnings--no matter how well you fare at them. New beginnings can start anytime, but there is something particularly appealing about them coinciding with a brand new year, where you can say months later "O

I knew before starting this blog that I should have stock piled them for years so I'd always have one to post. I'm sure had my brain not known I had a blog, I would have produced several blog-worthy pieces by now. Such as life and the ridiculous way my mind works. I've keeping busy with work and prepping for the Christmas holiday. We have company coming to stay with us a few different times during the season, so there was some work to do in getting the "guest nook" ready. Ho

Though I describe my childhood growing up in a small farming town in Indiana as idyllic, that perspective enjoys the distance of many years and many life experiences since. I was a shy, quite kid who always stuck pretty close to home, and as I entered high school that really didn't change much. I was biding my time, knowing the bright lights of a big city were in my future and that college loomed after high school graduation. A college town would certainly offer more to the c

I've considered participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) many times within the past few years. The "rules" indicate that you shouldn't start NaNoWriMo with a partially started or completed project, but rather with a bare outline or nothing at all. I had been languishing with a novel I started in 1999 and rather than setting it aside and moving on, I kept pushing and pulling it, trying to make it "work". Because I'm a rule follower, I kept dismissing NaNo unt

I have been toying with the idea for a blog for a long time and as an aspiring writer I've read innumerable articles about the "must" have having a writer's website. Problem is, I've struggled with being able to offer compelling content. When people I know read it, I wanted them to have something positive (and honest) to say about it. So, I decided the following: 1.        to figure out my point of view which will reveal itself as we go and define it 2.        figure out if/