Happy 84th Birthday, Marge!

Happy Birthday, Marge!

One of the fun things about Marge is she's the first one to text everyone on their birthdays or celebrations 

(including anniversaries and holidays). She even texts me on my kids' birthdays to wish me "happy birthing day!" We all love that about her. 

It was so fun celebrating with so many of us at Brio.

Michelle was in town dropping off kids at college;

Elise and Ethan and new baby Soleil came,

as well as Sheree, Michael, Katie and Jacob.

Delicious food and fun to be with everyone.

Michael commented how much we've been together as a family this summer.

Between weddings and farewells (thanks, Sheree!)

and the family reunion and Michael's backyard movie night, we've gathered every month.

I love my siblings and their families so much!

The sisters were able to go to Hale Theater after dinner and see "Catch Me if You Can,"

(not related to the movie by the same name).

It was fun to have them with us and I'm sure made Marge's birthday festivities much more fun than if it was just me and her!

Another thing I love about Marge is how observant she is. 

She also always has creative ideas about how to improve or fix something.

We love you, Marge! Happy 84th birthday!

Last night was the Blue Super Moon.

Not blue, but infrequent (hence "once in a blue moon"). And it was so bright!

Friends Lunch

My girlfriends came over for lunch by the pool today.

It's been a while since I've seen them, and it was so nice to catch up. 

On the menu: 

Ham and havarti sliders on Hawaiian rolls 

(Yum! I've never made these before and will definitely do it again. Pagosa? 

But I won't put additional mustard on the bread. A little too much of a good thing.

Also subbed everything seasoning for the poppy seeds which was delish.)

Peach, cucumber (garden!), avocado, pecan, feta salad.

I'm never sure how much one container of lettuce will serve and usually end up buying too much.

Today I counted out handfuls when prepping, and a small container is 5 oz. -- about 8 servings. 

(You know what would be cool, an "Encyclopedia" app that you can add the info you'll want to reference regularly in the future. It would be different than the Notes app, because it would just be a sentence or a few figures. I think it would be a hit. I'll have to tell Nick, he's always thinking of app ideas.)

KT was the only one who could stay after lunch and swim and then Annie showed up

so we had second lunch and had fun hearing about everything in her life.

When KT left, Annie stayed a bit longer and helped me take all the food in.

Then I realized I had no place to be and just because everyone left didn't mean I couldn't hang out by the pool!

I started Hell of a Book by Jason Mott. It's been on my shelf for a while, recommended to me by a writing group friend, but I wasn't sure if it was going to be a heavy, depressing read so was reluctant to start.

Mott was a keynote speaker at the Writer's Digest conference I went to in New York and

was entertaining, funny, inspiring and down-to-earth. He talked a lot about his career and his first science fiction books then pivoting and writing this book and how it was originally two different books.

One a humorous book about an author on tour. But it was kind of fluff and too silly. 

And another about the atrocities of a black child killed in a hate crime and it was super depressing.

And then he combined the two and added hope and it ended up winning the Book List Award for fiction.

So ever since then I've been dying to read it. 

So far it's living up to the hype. Loving it. Humor and heart.

When the pool got shady and cool, I sat in the hot tub and fell asleep for 30 minutes.

Be a Peacemaker

 Dan and Nick left to Bakersfield, CA earrrrly this morning 

to practice racing in Nick's new team's car.

I've mentioned before how after traveling or having house guests,

I love having a couple of days to "reclaim" my home.

While the kids were growing up, Mondays were laundry day and I also 

filled the bathroom soaps, replenished TP, and washed towels or bath mats.

And often they'd get their bed made on that day.

It's such a good feeling to start the week with a House of Order.

Not one of these towels are ones that I purchased.
All mine have disappeared and a closet full of someone else's towels have taken their place.

Yesterday I did the Monday chores and today I cut flowers from the garden

then caught up on a bunch of little to-do's.

I was so focused on writing the last six weeks I didn't take time for some of the other stuff,

and we survived and we're gone so much anyway, it doesn't really matter.

But it was so nice to take the time and not have a million other things to do

so I could focus on doing things that make me love our home.

I listened to three podcasts today--two about Come Follow Me and 1 Corinthians 1-7,

and an interview with Rainn Wilson on Sharon Says So.

And all three mentioned becoming Peacemakers. 

I listened to and from a body work session with Ryan (darn elbow and wrist!),

and he also talked about bringing peace into relationships.

John Bytheway & Hank Smith discussed President Nelson's talk on Peacemakers Needed.

Vulgarity, faultfinding, and evil speaking of others are all too common. Too many pundits, politicians, entertainers, and other influencers throw insults constantly. I am greatly concerned that so many people seem to believe that it is completely acceptable to condemn, malign, and vilify anyone who does not agree with them. Many seem eager to damage another’s reputation with pathetic and pithy barbs!

Anger never persuades. Hostility builds no one. Contention never leads to inspired solutions...

...Brothers and sisters, the pure love of Christ is the answer to the contention that ails us today. Charity propels us “to bear one another’s burdens" rather than heap burdens upon each other. The pure love of Christ allows us “to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things"--especially in tense situations. Charity allows us to demonstrate how men and women of Christ speak and act—especially when under fire. -- Pres. Russell M. Nelson

At my bodywork session, Ryan talked about frequencies and chakras and how when we respond to anger with anger, we're reacting on the same frequency which amplifies the anger when the frequencies collide. But if we respond with love and open arms, we are changing the frequency, and the other person's response will often match our own frequency. When those two frequencies collide, love is amplified. 

Don't Miss This also discussed Corinthians 4--the kingdom of God is not in word--good stories, great speakers, feel-good moments. Not just talking about good stuff, but actually living in God's power--healing, miracles, care--love is an action. And those actions always require other people to participate: Care for people. Heal people. Call down miracles for people. 

Love is an action. How you build the kingdom of God is loving others.

On the Sharon Says So podcast, Rainn Wilson shared a story from his book, Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution he shares a story about an encounter he had with a mentor. When the mentor asked how he was doing, Rainn responded that he was depressed. Pessimistic. Cynical.

The old man grabbed his arm and said, "Don't do it. Don't be cynical. If you're cynical, they win." 
Rainn believes that fostering hope and joy in others may be our highest spiritual calling.

He goes on to say that in political debates, the "winner" is often the person with the most "zingers"/cuts/put-downs. But that's not leadership. We should elect people who have the most sound, prudent and effective policies that positively affect people, whatever you believe that to be.

***

I guess its no coincidence that if this week we're studying Paul in Corinth and I listen to two podcasts about Corinthians, that they'd both address being a peacemaker. However, that a podcast on government which I thought would simply be a humorous Rainn Wilson listen and also my body work guy both bring up the importance of loving others and defying cynicism, I think I should reflect how to implement more loving others in my own life and root out cynicism.

I heard something else recently that gave me the thought to approach church callings as if I'm doing them in partnership with Jesus Christ, called to do his work--which is loving people.
It's not just an assignment or a "yes" on the checklist of being a good church member.

It's an opportunity to love.

Birthday Peach Pie

Happy Birthday to the guy I dreamed about for two years,

comparing every other date and crush to "Dan standards."

Were they as confident, kind, and fun?

Did they give good foot rubs or were they willing to cook me dinner -- or breakfast? 

Did they like good music and did they make me mix tapes of songs that reminded them of me?

Did they have a plan for their future and the drive to achieve their goals?

Did they like to spend money? ;-)

Did they make me feel beautiful and fun and cool?

Did they have brown curly hair that was literally my favorite hair type since Jr. High?

He still lives up to the hype.

Sure love you, Dan!

Me, Dan Chris and Nick went to Itto's for dinner,

then home for presents, peach pie and homemade ice cream.

On Sunday I asked if he wanted a cake and he said he preferred just ice cream.

Then Will R. dropped off a Palisades Peach Pie and a box of peaches

as a thank you for New York. They know we LOVE Palisades peaches

(Palisades is where Dan's dad grew up) and Will's family have honey bees that polinate in Palisades and often bring us a box that we always devour in a day!

The peach pie was the perfect surprise and birthday complement to our festivities.

Home, Farewells and Fiction

We arrived home from New York in the early afternoon yesterday,

and Morgan, Chase and Michelle came over to swim. And a little later Ethan came!

It was the perfect welcome home to hang out by the pool with my sister and her kids!

Morgan and Chase babysat Kershaw while we were gone and they were very nice about it, 

even though he pooped on their floor (same spot as last time).

Louie (their dog) learned to swim when they came over!

We ate pizza and talked about shows that we love and enjoyed the end of summer heat 

with a pool to cool off.

After they left, Dan and I sat outside for a while longer enjoying our personal wide-open space

(so much different than New York),

until Nick called us to say he made dinner and did we want some? He was trying a new recipe.

Paprika Chicken and rice--it was delicious.

Today we went to Miles' farewell. He did such a great job! 

His talk was so personal, and spiritual, and inspiring.

We had a wonderful brunch afterwards sitting outside in the shade and catching up with all our family.

All afternoon I worked on my flash fiction story I had to submit by 10:00 p.m.

I'd started it on the plane the day before, but didn't love it.

My randomly assigned genre was Romance!

I was able to get a story together I liked, only it was 1200 words and needed to be cut to 500.

Dan made his own birthday steaks and corn on the cob while I worked until dinner was ready.

Chris and Nick were home and it was so great to eat outside, 

then take our dessert back outside and be together. 

By 8:00, I felt like I needed to finish my story.

At 9:40 I still had 12 words to cut, but thought I'd review the submission rules, and glad I did because they changed it this time, asking for a title page and one line synopsis!

Threw that together real quick than madly added and cut and checked my word count until 9:56.

(With the 100 word micros, we copy and pasted directly in the submittable form, but this needed a separate file named with the title, etc. and made for a very exciting two minute crunch.

Michael also took the challenge -- his genre was Horror!

I love these little contests with assigned genres, actions and word. 

They really light up my creativity and each time I'm reminded if you just start writing,

you'll come up with something.

I'm considering taking a flash fiction class in the fall so I feel more confident with the structure.

Happy Birthday, Will

Last day in New York AND we're celebrating Will's 19th birthday.

He's been one of Nick's best friends since 7th grade and he's come on lots of family trips with us.

He's a great friend to have along--he and Nick really encourage each other in learning new stuff,

a trait I admire in both of them.

This trip they've been working on "cooking" video edits for Tik Tok and Instagram.

Will's been teaching Nick how to splice and edit. Will is a great videographer,

so it wasn't uncommon for them to be off getting shots around the city then working on edits until late at night (or should I say early into the morning).

Nick wanted to take Will to Serendipity for his birthday,

and we went early enough to have dinner AND dessert. 

Citibike and Gran Turismo

 We have been sleeping until 9 or 10 every day and I blame the carbon dioxide levels in our room.
Our monitor shoots sky high with two of us in there and the doors shut and I've done a bunch of research this week--high levels can cause drowsiness

We've started leaving the closet and bedroom doors open to circulate air and bought a fan which has helped. But I feel like I'm waking up from a coma instead of refreshed each morning.
The good news is when we go home to Utah, we won't need to adjust to the time change.

I was in the mood for something different than walking and wanted to be outside, 

so I rented a Citibike and rode around the park loop twice. 

It was lovely and I felt like I could have circled round and round all day long.

After I got cleaned up, Dan and I had lunch at French Roast, which we love now.

(Which is hilarious because I walked by this place millions of times in the year that we lived on 81st street and never ever knew anything about it. What a shame!)

I got a pedicure and read my book while sitting in a massage chair while having my feet rubbed, 

which is a little bit of heaven. 

Then an early showing of Gran Turismo, which I thought was going to be a Marvel style video game movie but in fact it was a really fun show based on the true story of a kid who is a top performer on the Gran Turismo video game and wins a spot on a real racing team. It was really good! 

Michael met us for dinner at Maison Pickle, 

the boys considered going to King's Spa in New Jersey, but in the end went to a place in the city near Korea Town and had a great time. I stayed home and finished my book and also had a great time.

***

Cute photos of the girls in my life today!

Courtney at work (in the new outfit we bought shopping):

Emi and Lizzie twinning in tie-dye.

Back to the Future

Dan joined a car club here in New York so he could drive the Sims when we were in town.

He, Nick and Will had an appt to drive today, and I found a fantastic spot to stretch out and read.

If I hadn't just had breakfast, I could have ordered food too.

Rippling water, light breeze, sunshine and a book.

Afterward we saw the matinee of Back to the Future.

It was non-stop fun, fantastic acting, great dancing, songs with heart and great sets.

Not to mention, Becca was a standout in her performance.

She's so much fun to watch and its so fun to know someone in the cast!

The DeLorean onstage was pretty amazing too.

I highly recommend for families or just adults -- especially if you grew up in the 80's.

We've been having fun hitting new-to-us restaurants in our neighborhood.

Osteria Accademia was a standout.

Amazing homemade pasta, generous portions, and blow your mind pricing before 6:00.

($15 for a huge plate of gnocchis!)

Darling wait staff (with Italian accents and friendly smiles when you can't pronounce Tagliatelle correctly.)

Finally, I LOVED eating in a dining room surrounded by books. 

The boys wanted to workout when we got home and found a seedy Gold's Gym in midtown.

Dan and I binged more episodes of The Bear and played a few games of Quixx.

Iconic New York

I learned a cool trick about hydrangeas.

When the blooms start curling and drying up, submerge the blooms in a large bowl of water for 30 - 60 minutes. Before putting them right side up and stem into the vase, re-cut the stem so it will be able to drink.

Within a few hours, (or overnight), the blooms will be full and healthy again.

The boys found an Equinox to work out at yesterday and the gym gave them a day pass,

then promised them another day pass if they brought their dad back.

All three thoroughly enjoyed their afternoon.

I walked through Riverside Park and revisited my first pages.

This afternoon we finally made it to Katz' Delicatessen -- 

a long time bucket list item for Dan.

Cram-packed with tables and customers, eight lines for ordering sandwiches, 

jostling to find a table and a ticket system for paying on your way out,

it was definitely an iconic New York must-do.

Not sure we'll make the trip to eat there again, (the sandwiches at Feldman's in SLC rivals those here),

but we all loved the experience. We're going to try Barney Greengrass across the street next time we're in the mood for a Reuben or Rachel.

Yankees aren't doing so great this year, but it was a great night for a game.

We especially love that you can ride the subway instead of having to fight traffic.

The ride was pretty crowded on the way up, though!

First Day of School for Some

First day of school for Chris at the U...

...and Michael at Columbia Business School.

Dan and I walked to Central Park and he ran the entire loop while I walked.

I texted him when I finished and he was just about done too, 

so I waited for him under a tree on the grass in the shade.

While he was still far off, I could tell it was him and he could tell it was me.

It's nice to have a person who can tell its you from so far away.

Courtney and I did some shopping when she got off work

then we met the guys for Japanese BBQ on the UWS (a lot closer, and cheaper, than Gaonurri),

and the final course is s'mores!

The End

I've been moving around these halls so often this week,

this space is starting to have the familiarity and look of a cruise ship. 

Our keynote speaker was Jason Mott, who wrote "Hell of a Book," a national book award winner.

He was so entertaining and it was so fun to start the morning with lots of laughs.

I had a social media class afterward and then I was done. 

I've had a great time, but I'm ready for it to be over.

I don't think I'll do another weekend workshop soon. Maybe one a year.

UCLA classes and online learning through other sources provide a ton of information, so I've had opportunities to learn a lot in different capacities than what this workshop offered. 

It's been good information, but the best part has been making friends with other writers. Everyone you meet you can ask, "What do you write?" and they have an understanding 

of what the writing life is all about. 

I jumped in a cab and made it to church in time for Sunday School.

(I considered going to Nursery to assist Courtney and Michael, but didn't want to step on their toes.

Turns out Courtney was wishing she had a free hand to text me an SOS.

Oops, sorry)

We walked home, bought bread and vegetables at the farmer's market, looked for food for lunch and in the end parted ways and each of us went home to eat leftovers and sleep.

We met back up for dinner - Dan made tri tip and roasted veggies, Courtney made potatoes.

Nick and Will arrived after C&M went home. 

We're excited they wanted to be here during Nick's break between summer and fall terms.

I'm excited for another week in New York with nothing to do but read and chill!

Last Full Day of Writer's Digest Conference

Last full workshop day and each of my classes had energetic, dynamic presenters.

Met a couple of new friends for lunch and said hi to a couple of new friends in passing

and its so crazy that after just a few days out of 200 people, almost everyone is a familiar face.

I attended classes today about finding comp titles; marketing your book; query letters; 

 writing setting and a debut author panel (plan on writing three books before one gets published);

Yesterday I had a class with Hallie Ephron (thriller author and sister of Nora Ephron).

She had a wry sense of humor and good information. but she also mentioned 

"Remember 'Poor Pitiful Pearl?' She was a doll who was sad sack."

What's this? For real? I looked her up, and yes, she was a real toy in the late 50's and through the 60's

(and you can still get her on e-bay).

My last class ended at 4:00 and the keynote speaker was scheduled for 4:30.

Usually our breaks were 15 minutes, but having 30 minutes was simply too long to keep this horse from heading back to the barn.

I sprawled on the couch and raided the cupboards for all the treats Michael & Courtney 

left here and generally decompressed from being with people for 60 hours straight which was definitely my max stimulation capacity.

Dan and those two had plans to go to an outdoor Blues and BBQ concert but 

I skipped out so I could take out my contacts, get in my pajamas and chill. 

Afterward they came over and we hung out for a while

and then we went to bed. One last conference day tomorrow.

Work and Play

One of the fun things about today is feeling a camaraderie with everyone I was in class with yesterday.

Several ladies I didn't to talk to were nonetheless familiar when I saw them today and we struck up conversations with each other and swapped business cards. 

I even was already following one on Instagram! 

After the opening session, I got in line for the first Pitch Slam session.

and became friends with the two people next to me in line as we commiserated 

on our nerves about pitching and shared writing experiences. 

Pitching was a lot like parent-teacher conferences. 

The agents sat at tables around the perimeter of the room in alphabetical order.

Authors lined up for the agents they wanted to pitch to. 

Every three minutes a bell rang to to signal the end of the pitch and move to the next person in line.

I was able to see five agents with asks for two chapters or 25 pages from three of them

and a full manuscript from another. The fifth agent I met just asked for a query letter.

It turned out to be a lot of fun. Afterward everyone was asking each other if they'd pitched that day and how it went etc. and again it was really fun to share that experience with other authors.

Everyone was speculating if the agents were just being nice by requesting pages etc. 

This pic doesn't make the room look as full as it was. 

There were about 24 agents and 100 authors in each one-hour session.

Last week TYM had asked for first pages from her attendees with the idea of doing live edits during class.

In the end we only had time for four and didn't get to mine.

After class, at the encouragement of a new, very outgoing friend, I asked if she'd be willing to give me feedback and she said if I found her during the next few days and she had extra time, she would.

I had a class from her again today before lunch, so I afterward I asked if she had a few minutes

and she was so gracious and so willing to read my pages and give me feedback.

(A little too much backstory, but good voice.)

I was very proud of myself for being brave and asking!

A couple of my classes after lunch weren't as beneficial as I'd hoped,

but it was overall a great day.

When I got home Dan asked me about my day, but I didn't have the bandwidth to comment at all until after I decompressed with a 20 minute nap.

Then Courtney and Michael came over for pizza and we left to Madison Square Garden for 

The National concert. They are one of Courtney and Dan's favorite bands so it made a great night even better getting to share it with them. (Courtney has been to four of their concerts!)

The last one was when we saw them at the Beacon Theater with Courtney and Michael who were just becoming boyfriend/girlfriend and was the first time we met Michael!

So much adrenaline today!

Writer's Digest Pre-Conference

Writer's Digest Conference -- Day 1

First Day of "school!"

Actually, its the pre-conference. I signed up for an eight-hour workshop

with Tiffany Yates Martin. She's a great presenter and I've taken a few of her classes online

so I've been looking forward to learning more from her.

I meant to get off the subway at 50th and then realized that was wrong so I sat down.

And then I realized I was actually right the first time.

But on the bright side, the Times Square station has some pretty cool art.

Class was great, our teacher so enthusiastic and knowledgable.

I met a couple new friends sitting next to me--Marjorie and a woman who didn't come back after lunch.

Marjorie was in her late 60's/early 70's, lives in Lincoln Square, is a psychotherapist and is writing a memoir and we went to lunch together.

Class started at 10:00 but I left the house at 9:00 and didn't get home until 7:00.

I haven't had a school day this long in a million years!

I am brain dead, but happy. (And taking notes on my iPad worked great.)

When I got to the subway, someone had had a medical emergency and the train was stopped.

So I walked up to the next station, which wouldn't have been so bad except my new bargain shoes

were too small and crunching my toes, each step a painful reminder not to buy shoes off Instagram from an unfamiliar, as it turns out Chinese, bargain webstore.

Dan and I went to Bodrum for dinner, a Mediterranean restaurant a block away.

Lots of lamb on the menu and pizzas. Loved my stuffed cabbage rolls.

After dinner I worked on my pitch and searching through the agents I'll be talking to tomorrow.

Two on my list aren't coming, so I had to go searching for more. 

It's been a great day. Looking forward to more tomorrow!