Hope all of you had a blessed Easter day with time to celebrate with your family and church. Darrell and I did some celebrating this morning with both our sons and their families at church. We filled up two pews. Eight beautiful, healthy and (Grammy thinks) brilliant grandchildren. The ninth one was there too, but she's still being shy about making her appearance in the world. We had another "this is going to be her birthday" day last Friday, but she said not yet. So we'll see what happens next week.
But the other grandbabies were all in fine fettle. The twin boys didn't raise a ruckus in church and the older kids sat quietly and listened to the preacher. It must have been our day to receive one of those everyday miracles we don't always notice. At any rate, they were all very good. On the way out of church to the car, Katie, the three-year-old, told Br. Fred goodby and then she said, "Goodby, Jesus." Her mama reminded her that we don't say goodby to Jesus and leave him at the church, but that he goes with us wherever we go.
We had an Easter egg hunt here at the house after dinner. My chocolate lab, Dub, found the first egg. So I ruined his fun, got out the leash and made him be an observer only. The kids found all the eggs faster than it took me and the oldest grandkid to hide them. I always put pennies and other change and a few dollar bills in some of the eggs, and my grandson likes finding the eggs that rattle. I never liked Easter egg hunts when I was a kid because I was never fast enough to find any eggs, but today we had plenty to go around and everybody ended up with full baskets and enough candy to keep them bouncing off the walls for a while. It was probably a good thing that they all got to church too late for the little Easter egg hunt they had for the Sunday school kids there.
One of my readers who says she can't comment here for some technical reason nevertheless sent a great comment on my April Fools' day post about Oscar. She thought maybe I was going to say that I had an Oscar Mayer hot dog on April Fools'. I told her I'd share her e-mail smile with the rest of you. I'm glad my real dog, Oscar, wasn't an April Fools' joke. He's a lot of fun.
Well now that we've had fun with April Fools' day and celebrated the blessings of Easter, next week we have to stare tax day right in the eye. That's rarely anybody's favorite day. At least nobody but my granddaughter, Ashley. She'll be six on April 15th. She's way too young to worry about taxes. So instead of taxes, I'll just think about the fun gift Ashley is to our family. Besides we're going to mail in our taxes Monday. We like to be early. Hope you are so blessed as to need to pay taxes, but I imagine you might rather keep thinking about Easter blessings while you save a little chocolate to eat on Wednesday to keep the spirits up.
Maybe I'll have baby news to report on Wednesday. If not, I'll have to start worrying about the Southern Kentucky Book Fest this coming Saturday. But babies can't be rushed. Books can. At least the words in them, but you know I'm not sure the story can be rushed. At least not mine. Those story words have to grow and accumulate and eventually spill out on the writing surface whether that's a computer screen or a notebook.
I'm looking forward to meeting readers at the Southern Kentucky Book Fest on Saturday. I like talking to all of you face to face, so if you're in the area be sure to come by and say hi. I'll be part of a panel at 1 p.m. Check out my website for more details. It sounds like fun.
Don't eat too many chocolate bunny ears. I'm relieved most of the candy I bought went home with the grandkids. My will power's a lot better when the candy is at their houses instead of mine.
Showing posts with label Celebrations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Celebrations. Show all posts
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Birthdays - A Reason to Celebrate
Have you ever noticed how birthdays sometimes seem to bunch up in the same month in families? March is one of those months for my family. Not my birthday, but my daughter's and niece's and my mom's. On Darrell's side of the family there are five dates that are multiple family members' birthdates. One day in August was the birthday of three of the grandkids born a few years apart. Of course as you may have guessed, he had a big family - three brothers and one sister. So that increases the odds of a birthday being duplicated with a new family member's birth. I think we're up around sixty on his side of the family counting all the kids and grandkids and even a few great-great grandkids now. That makes me a great-great aunt. Maybe I'd rather not think about that!!
But tomorrow is my daughter's birthday. That's hard enough to think about. Because, you see, somehow she's gotten older than I tend to think about being myself. Do any of the rest of you forget your actual age - unless you make yourself remember? Have you settled on this other more acceptable age that maybe you reached several years past and just decided to stay? At least subconsciously. I'm not being Jack Benny and telling people I'm 39. I own up to my age when asked, but it's just not where I am in my head. That mental age is hovering down there somewhere around my daughter's age or even a little younger. I suppose my head's in a bit of denial.
Still I love birthdays. Mine and everybody else's. It's such a great time to celebrate and make someone feel special. You don't have to count them, but if you're like me, you want to keep having them. So why not have fun? I won't get to bake a cake for my daughter. She lives too far away to come home to let her mom cook her a birthday dinner and I miss that. Her birthday was always a great opportunity to make some sinfully delicious chocolate dessert. Remember Mississippi Mud. That was her birthday cake choice a lot when she was home. My sons always liked banana split cake. My favorite is homemade Angel Food cake with that great white icing. The cake takes twelve egg whites and the icing took a couple more and had to be cooked in a double-boiler while you stirred it for seven straight minutes. Then half the time I messed it up when I used to try to make it. That was back when I was more of a farm girl and had my own laying hens and would get so many eggs I had to try to use them up somehow.
Anyway I know you all will join in with me singing happy birthday to my beautiful daughter, Tarasa. And then next Monday is my mom's 89th birthday. She's probably thinking she's younger than me although age is beginning to slow her down. She's the last of her four sisters still living and she's hanging in there. But let me tell you, Henry Louis Mencken hit the nail on the head when he said, "Old age ain't no place for sissies." Things get harder. But Mom always said from the time she was a little girl that she wanted to live to be 100 and she may make it.
Just in case you're having a birthday this month, here are a few quotes to make you feel better about getting older.
But tomorrow is my daughter's birthday. That's hard enough to think about. Because, you see, somehow she's gotten older than I tend to think about being myself. Do any of the rest of you forget your actual age - unless you make yourself remember? Have you settled on this other more acceptable age that maybe you reached several years past and just decided to stay? At least subconsciously. I'm not being Jack Benny and telling people I'm 39. I own up to my age when asked, but it's just not where I am in my head. That mental age is hovering down there somewhere around my daughter's age or even a little younger. I suppose my head's in a bit of denial.
Still I love birthdays. Mine and everybody else's. It's such a great time to celebrate and make someone feel special. You don't have to count them, but if you're like me, you want to keep having them. So why not have fun? I won't get to bake a cake for my daughter. She lives too far away to come home to let her mom cook her a birthday dinner and I miss that. Her birthday was always a great opportunity to make some sinfully delicious chocolate dessert. Remember Mississippi Mud. That was her birthday cake choice a lot when she was home. My sons always liked banana split cake. My favorite is homemade Angel Food cake with that great white icing. The cake takes twelve egg whites and the icing took a couple more and had to be cooked in a double-boiler while you stirred it for seven straight minutes. Then half the time I messed it up when I used to try to make it. That was back when I was more of a farm girl and had my own laying hens and would get so many eggs I had to try to use them up somehow.
Anyway I know you all will join in with me singing happy birthday to my beautiful daughter, Tarasa. And then next Monday is my mom's 89th birthday. She's probably thinking she's younger than me although age is beginning to slow her down. She's the last of her four sisters still living and she's hanging in there. But let me tell you, Henry Louis Mencken hit the nail on the head when he said, "Old age ain't no place for sissies." Things get harder. But Mom always said from the time she was a little girl that she wanted to live to be 100 and she may make it.
Just in case you're having a birthday this month, here are a few quotes to make you feel better about getting older.
- To remain young while growing old is the highest blessing. - German Proverb
- Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. - C.S. Lewis, 1893-1963
- If wrinkles must be written on our brows, let them not be written upon the heart. The spirit should never grow old. -James A. Garfield, America President, 1831-1881
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Celebrations
Hi, everybody. Hope you had a great week and an even better weekend. Here we are looking October right in the face. Around here, October is a busy month what with Homecoming at my church, Goshen. That's a big deal for us and in four years we're going to have to have a really big deal since the church will be 200 years old in 2012. Doesn't that sound as if it's too far in the future to even think about? 2012. But you know what? That's only four years away. I hope somebody at church is getting ready to pull out all the stops and do some celebrating. And I doubly hope they're not waiting for me to be the one getting ready because I'm a last minute type person. I always think there will be more time next month or next year and then pretty soon, here it is and I haven't done half I needed to do. I want to be a plan ahead Ann, but I think I may be a last minute Ann instead.
Except I did come under the wire, very comfortably, with my new Shaker book, The Believer, before the deadline in November. That's a good thing to be ahead on. Now I just have to sit back and chew my fingernails while I wait to see what the people who read it next think. First my agent, and then my editor. Eventually some months down the road, I'm hoping a lot of you will be reading it. Next summer is what I've been told, but that sort of thing is subject to change, so we'll see.
Of course, I've read the book. So many times I might have lost proper perspective. I think it's a good story. I didn't go to sleep reading it even though I knew what happened. That's always good. Of course, that was during the editing portion. I wasn't sure what was going to happen or at least how it was going to happen before I wrote the last few chapters. I did have an idea of where I wanted my characters to go, but sometimes it's interesting seeing how they get there. And sometimes you have to change where they're going to end up a little because it doesn't work to try to force characters to do things they don't want to do. Not without figuring out a believable way to lead them down the road you want them to walk toward your ending.
Anyway I mailed off the book last week and now I'm missing those people I've been living with in my head. But I might need to let my character-creating brain rest a few days while I get some of the other tasks of writing and promoting done. I've got several booksignings and events coming up. That's always exciting. I'll be in WV for their Book Fest on October 11. At 10 a.m. that Saturday, I'll be speaking on "Writing about Shakers and Other Odd Characters." How I come up with my characters. That should be fun and maybe eye-opening for me since I'll have to put some thought into how my characters come to life inside my head. Then the Thursday after that, Oct. 16, I'll be doing a reading/talk and booksigning at Joseph-Beth's Booksellers in Lexington with my friend and fellow writer, Virginia Smith. Check out her books at www.virginiasmith.org. Her new book for Love Inspired, A Taste of Murder, will be hot off the press. She'll also have her Sister to Sister Book from Revell, Stuck in the Middle. You'll like Ginny. She has a knack for humor.
Later in the month, the Patriots will be having their annual Homecoming Celebration on October 24 and October 25. That's always fun. I love to listen to the guys sing and it's fun talking to people when they come by the product table. Plus on that Saturday, October 25, I'll be in New Albany, Indiana at the Heaven Help Us Christian Bookstore doing a signing and talk during their five year anniversary celebration. I'll be there from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Sounds like a busy day and great fun. Then in November I'll be heading to South Carolina for a couple of signings at Barnes & Noble in Greenville and Spartanburg. You can always check out my schedule on my website, www.annhgabhart.com for details.
So I'm looking forward to a lot of celebrating in the next few weeks. Actually last Friday I was in Bardstown, KY at a Reading Celebration for some young readers at the Nelson County Library. I was part of a row of authors that the young people had the opportunity to meet. I picked the spot beside Woody the dachshund who is quite a prolific little writer. Guess who the kids wanted to talk to most? It wasn't me. But Leigh Ann, Woody's mom, is great with the kids and I enjoyed watching her make all the kids feel special when they stopped by to see Woody whether they bought a book or not. And of course I picked that seat because I love dogs.
Then Yolantha Pace sat down on the other side of me and totally overwhelmed me with her beautiful spirit. She's a writer and poet who performs her poems. I'm hoping I'll get to see her do a reading sometime because she doesn't just read. She dances as she reads. So she's a writer and poet and dancer. And missionary. She has a heart for the Haitian children and had made beautiful prayer books and tissue holders and Bible covers to raise money for these children in desperate need. I was so blessed to have her sit by me and share some of her experiences.
So it was great fun sitting between Woody, the dog, and Yolantha, the dancing missionary. Made me feel as if I should be doing something a little more special. But you know, we're all who we are and the Lord gives us each our individual gifts. The Lord just wants us to be faithful with the talents we've been given. So we laughed and enjoyed visiting with the young people who came in to claim their reading rewards as we all celebrated the fun of reading and writing.
I hope all of you have plenty to celebrate this week. You know even when nothing special is happening, we still have plenty to celebrate. We're all gifted with dozens of everyday blessings every week. Friends and family. Church families. Food on our tables. Shelter in a storm. School for our children. Dogs and cats to pet. Babies who smile at us for no reason. Sunshine and rain. People who like to read. That's one of my best blessings. You all take care of yourselves this week and enjoy each day.
Except I did come under the wire, very comfortably, with my new Shaker book, The Believer, before the deadline in November. That's a good thing to be ahead on. Now I just have to sit back and chew my fingernails while I wait to see what the people who read it next think. First my agent, and then my editor. Eventually some months down the road, I'm hoping a lot of you will be reading it. Next summer is what I've been told, but that sort of thing is subject to change, so we'll see.
Of course, I've read the book. So many times I might have lost proper perspective. I think it's a good story. I didn't go to sleep reading it even though I knew what happened. That's always good. Of course, that was during the editing portion. I wasn't sure what was going to happen or at least how it was going to happen before I wrote the last few chapters. I did have an idea of where I wanted my characters to go, but sometimes it's interesting seeing how they get there. And sometimes you have to change where they're going to end up a little because it doesn't work to try to force characters to do things they don't want to do. Not without figuring out a believable way to lead them down the road you want them to walk toward your ending.
Anyway I mailed off the book last week and now I'm missing those people I've been living with in my head. But I might need to let my character-creating brain rest a few days while I get some of the other tasks of writing and promoting done. I've got several booksignings and events coming up. That's always exciting. I'll be in WV for their Book Fest on October 11. At 10 a.m. that Saturday, I'll be speaking on "Writing about Shakers and Other Odd Characters." How I come up with my characters. That should be fun and maybe eye-opening for me since I'll have to put some thought into how my characters come to life inside my head. Then the Thursday after that, Oct. 16, I'll be doing a reading/talk and booksigning at Joseph-Beth's Booksellers in Lexington with my friend and fellow writer, Virginia Smith. Check out her books at www.virginiasmith.org. Her new book for Love Inspired, A Taste of Murder, will be hot off the press. She'll also have her Sister to Sister Book from Revell, Stuck in the Middle. You'll like Ginny. She has a knack for humor.
Later in the month, the Patriots will be having their annual Homecoming Celebration on October 24 and October 25. That's always fun. I love to listen to the guys sing and it's fun talking to people when they come by the product table. Plus on that Saturday, October 25, I'll be in New Albany, Indiana at the Heaven Help Us Christian Bookstore doing a signing and talk during their five year anniversary celebration. I'll be there from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Sounds like a busy day and great fun. Then in November I'll be heading to South Carolina for a couple of signings at Barnes & Noble in Greenville and Spartanburg. You can always check out my schedule on my website, www.annhgabhart.com for details.
So I'm looking forward to a lot of celebrating in the next few weeks. Actually last Friday I was in Bardstown, KY at a Reading Celebration for some young readers at the Nelson County Library. I was part of a row of authors that the young people had the opportunity to meet. I picked the spot beside Woody the dachshund who is quite a prolific little writer. Guess who the kids wanted to talk to most? It wasn't me. But Leigh Ann, Woody's mom, is great with the kids and I enjoyed watching her make all the kids feel special when they stopped by to see Woody whether they bought a book or not. And of course I picked that seat because I love dogs.
Then Yolantha Pace sat down on the other side of me and totally overwhelmed me with her beautiful spirit. She's a writer and poet who performs her poems. I'm hoping I'll get to see her do a reading sometime because she doesn't just read. She dances as she reads. So she's a writer and poet and dancer. And missionary. She has a heart for the Haitian children and had made beautiful prayer books and tissue holders and Bible covers to raise money for these children in desperate need. I was so blessed to have her sit by me and share some of her experiences.
So it was great fun sitting between Woody, the dog, and Yolantha, the dancing missionary. Made me feel as if I should be doing something a little more special. But you know, we're all who we are and the Lord gives us each our individual gifts. The Lord just wants us to be faithful with the talents we've been given. So we laughed and enjoyed visiting with the young people who came in to claim their reading rewards as we all celebrated the fun of reading and writing.
I hope all of you have plenty to celebrate this week. You know even when nothing special is happening, we still have plenty to celebrate. We're all gifted with dozens of everyday blessings every week. Friends and family. Church families. Food on our tables. Shelter in a storm. School for our children. Dogs and cats to pet. Babies who smile at us for no reason. Sunshine and rain. People who like to read. That's one of my best blessings. You all take care of yourselves this week and enjoy each day.
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