I am dead tired tonight. It might be the heat or it could be three and a half hours at church this morning and eBay all afternoon. Whatever the case, tonight’s blog is short and sweet. Thanks to everyone who private messaged me helpful feedback about my writing website. I appreciate you taking the time…
Author: lenleatherwood
I am a native Texan who has lived for the past 30 years in Southern California. I am a published author of both short memoir and fiction, a two-time Pushcart nominee, a nationally award-winning writing coach, an editor, as well as a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Texas. In addition, I am the mother of three grown daughters of whom I am extremely proud, a grandmother of four darling children and the wife of a man I still love after 44 years.
My Writing Website is Up and Running!
I have worked for the past four hours to finish up my writing website. I am a novice at this process and this whole endeavor has taken at least 20+ hours. I can’t say the site is perfect, but I am pleased with a few things. I have pictures of some of my closest students…
Web Site Construction: Ugh
I have been working all evening on my writing website. I hope to have it finished by Sunday evening at the latest. I am trying not to be too perfectionistic about this. It is frustrating, however since the template isn’t working as well as I had hoped. For example, the colors on the page are…
Loving My Students and My Work
Life is shifting as summer comes to an end. The Beverly Hills United School District has already started classes – as of Tuesday – and tonight I spoke with one of my students who I’ve seen weekly (except for summers) since he was in 7th grade. He is now a senior. This boy is one…
Daughter and Granddaughter Day
Today we are back in LA with Cordie and Sammie, who is moving slowly, but semi-fine, by the way. Not only did we have Rachael come visit us today, but we also saw Sarah and then picked up our beloved granddaughter, Luna, for a visit. This evening we saw our third daughter, Liz, when she…
Extra Time
Ray woke me up in Ojai this morning with the words, “I took Sammie outside and she pooped twice. She’s up and walking around.” “That’s great,” I said, “but we’re going to follow through with our plan. I can’t take another day of mourning like yesterday.” “Let’s just talk to the vet and see how…
Reflections on Living, Dying and Our Little Dog, Sammie
This has been a strange day indeed. We went to the vet this morning with our Scottish terrier, Sammie, only to get the diagnosis we feared: a cancerous mass in her belly and another on her lung. No pain now, but pain would be coming very soon. I was prepared to allow the vet to…
Ojai with Our Dogs
We just arrived at the orange grove. It is ten pm and the moon is not out. Instead we can see a sky full of stars against the dark night. We are in the Airstream and have electricity so making the bed and putting away provisions wasn’t quite as tricky as in candlelight. Ray is…
Childhood Refuges
I was a solitary little girl, who loved to nestle in the space between the Nandina bushes and the white picket fence in our backyard; bare toes digging into the loose North Texas black soil; bare arms serving as racetracks for doodlebugs in exploration. My dog, Bob, was my constant companion. He was middle-sized, black…
Spicy Honey/Maple Sweetened Peach Pie with a Latticed Top
I made a spicy peach pie this evening. I had hoped to make this while my cousin and his wife were visiting (they left today), but I just didn’t have time since we were so busy. (Sorry, cuz). Anyway, I used maple sugar and honey since I don’t eat refined sugar. However, if you want…
20 Minutes a Day 