Ray and I are holding our own with the flu bug in our house. Liz is not faring quite so well. She had a good day and the fever went down for a while, but now it’s back up with a vengeance. She was up to 103 just a while ago and had a headache….

We have the flu at our house. Our daughter, Liz, woke up this morning with 101 degree temperature, a vague cough and lots of body aches. Over the course of the day, her temperature went up to 103. Our other daughter, Sarah, and her husband, Gregorio, are at their house with the same symptoms. They…

Tomorrow I start teaching an online class for Story Circle Network entitled “Food, Memories and Writing.” I’ve taught this class before and it’s one of my favorites since food is such a great catalyst for memoir writing. After all, many memories are tied to food, such as my Aunt Millie’s silky egg custard that she…

I made this meatloaf today for a luncheon in celebration of our beloved Deacon Shireen Baker who was ordained as an Episcopal priest today. I was on Shireen’s discernment committee 4 or 5 years ago when she began what is a very long process to become a priest in our church. She has since gone to seminary…

Tomorrow we head back to CA from Texas. We’ve had a brief, but wonderful time here in the Lone Star State even if the temperatures plummeted to 12 degrees while we were here. Last time there was an ice storm. People are starting to suggest that the bad weather seems to always coincide with our visits….

Today would have been my brother George’s 64th birthday. He has been gone now for ten years. Hard to believe, but true. He is never far from my mind, however, even if it’s been a decade since I last saw him. George was three years older than me. He was my big brother, my childhood…

Tonight I am sitting in a warm (well, slightly drafty) house while outside, the night is clear-skied and a cold 20 degrees (heading down to 18 before the night is through). Today, during the day, I saw a thermometer reading of 14 degrees even though the sun was shining. The wind, coming straight out of…

I just finished uploading the work of my students for the Scholastic Artists and Writers contest. A frustrating bit of effort given that my internet here in Texas seems to be running exceedingly slow this evening. So, three hours later… Still, the submissions are in and now we wait until the end of the month…

I have been working with one of my creative writing students for the past 3 hours via telephone and the Internet on her short story for the Scholastic Artists and Writers contest, the oldest and most prestigious writing contest for youth in the United States. The deadline is January 6th, Monday, and we are in…

I am sitting in the green room in our house in Texas. It is past midnight and cold outside. I am out of words. While here, I talk to more people in one day than I do in a week in CA. That isn’t exactly true, but I interact a lot more here and by…