I am feeling anxious this morning. First of all, I hadn’t expected that my student numbers would be down this year. At this point, I have three parents who have asked if their children can come every other week instead of every week, the first time in my thirteen years of doing this type of…
Tag: timed writing
An Afternoon with Friends and a Recipe for Chicken Vegetable Kebobs
Today we had friends over for a late lunch and I made grilled chicken and vegetable kabobs. I followed the recipe below and they were delicious. We had a fun-filled afternoon, telling stories, swapping jokes, and laughing. Always great to have friends with whom you can be open and real. I hope you’ll try the…
2O Minutes of Pure Fatigue
I am sitting here dropping off to sleep while I type. Not the best sign, I suppose. We were up at 5:45 am so we could go to the St. Thomas homeless breakfast to volunteer. The rest of the day has been busy as well. This is going to be a short, short post since…
LA County Museum of Art and Friday Night Jazz
Tonight we went to hear jazz down at the LA County Museum of Art (LACMA). Every Friday night, people come from all around to have picnics on the lawn and listen to free music. It was a happy and attentive crowd, who had brought lawn chairs, food, kids, and dogs out for the evening. They…
Roget’s Thesaurus: A Hard Copy Must-Have
Roget’s Thesaurus. Ah, heaven. I try my best to educate my students on the necessity of having a hard copy of this three-inch thick book around if they are truly interested in writing. After all, when we’re stumped for just the right word, they see me stand up and head to my bookcase. “It’s time…
Out of Balance
Am I the only one? I can not seem to balance my life to save my life. And I do mean literally. I don’t know if the Puritan work ethic was injected in my veins at birth or if I just lost the ability to engage in leisure time activities somewhere along the way, but…
Similes: Trickier Than You Think
“Similes: Trickier Than You Think” isn’t exactly a title that brings most people running to read a blog post. Dear Lord, you might think, just how wacky has this poor woman gotten that she is now worrying herself silly about the difficulty of a simple figure of speech? Dear, dear, the poor thing needs a…
Flash Essay: Pasta Making Party & Recipe
Tonight we had friends over for a pasta making party. I made the pasta dough in advance so it could “rest” at least 30 minutes before our friends arrive. Plus, I had the marinara sauce, turkey and chicken sausages, broccoli and chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting all ready (our friends were bringing bread and…
Flash Essay: A Honey-Sweetened Chocolate Cake with a Secret Ingredient
A chocolate cake I like to make has a secret ingredient: mayonnaise. The recipe comes from the Cake Bible, and I’ve made it several times. It’s delicious. We don’t eat refined sugar, so I substitute one cup of honey for the one cup of sugar. Other than that, it’s the same and makes a very…
Flash Essay: Thunderstorm on a Sunday Afternoon
Thunderstorms. Texas is famous for them. This afternoon the sky grew gray off to the west, and in a short time the wind picked up and the smell of rain was in the air. I barely had time to go across the street and retrieve the dogs from their play date with our neighbors’ beagle…
20 Minutes a Day 