• Picnic in the woods

    Working in the retail business, weekends off are few and far between. I’ve taken to requesting a weekend day here and there just to be able to see my husband. Some requests are granted, some denied. My husband surprised me recently on a Sunday off with a picnic in the woods by the river. With spring being so late, it was like walking in a black and white film, sometimes with sepia filters. Color was void. Even the sky was gray, but it was wonderful. We found a log to use as a bench near a small creek running into…

  • Being a Mother

    Late again! I know Mother’s Day was yesterday. No matter what my true intentions are, I’m chronically three to five minutes late in getting somewhere, and at times a day late or a dollar short when it comes to acknowledging special days and events. My husband says he knows how I LIKE to do things, but it’s not that I LIKE to do things that way. Normally it has to do with trying to get too much done in too little time. I digress… Anyway, I really wanted to say something about being a mother and what Mother’s Day represents…

  • Which photo would catch your eye first?

    Things are progressing with the book publishing, and I am again looking for some input. I have two photos that I am considering for the front cover of the book. Though I have already pretty much made up my mind which I want to use, I would like to know which you would pick up first. Keep in mind the title No Time to Quit with the subtitle Life in a Broken Package.                                         Let me know which you would pick…

  • Immigration

    With the Minnesota Senate passing a bill that gives financial aid to illegal immigrants for college educations, I sit back and wonder where their minds are. Don’t get me wrong. I understand the logic of helping these kids who have grown up here grow and learn. And since many have been here most of their lives, in many ways they are U.S. citizens. But, become citizens before we pay for their education. In order to get a job they are supposed to prove they have the ability to work here. Evidently, the parents have worked here for a long time,…

  • Senseless Act

    As I hunched over the StarTribune, attempting to give my tired body a rest, a co-worker looked at the big-screen TV in horror and asked if that was a bomb. I turned to see “Terror at the Boston Marathon” above a photo as the news reporter was talking about the incident. The break room was noisy – someone speaking loudly on his cell phone, people punching in, others punching out, lots of greetings and conversations. I couldn’t hear anything the news reporter was saying, so I stood next to the TV until the room cleared out as people went on…

  • I’m off and running!

    I am finally publishing my book, which has kept me very busy over the last few weeks! Though I never thought I would work with self publishing, that is the direction I am going. I had never wanted my work associated with self publishing, except in the book arts arena. I worked at a small press for a while and some of the self published garbage that came through gave me no respect for the industry. Anyone can publish anything, no matter how bad it is. I felt that self publishing would not lend any respect to my work. But…

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