Walk Pics

Remember the whole "Daily Walk" thing I had planned way back in the summer?

Not so much daily. More like occasional. But that's okay with me, really. I have a problem with required activities, even if it's me that came up with them!

I had to walk across campus today with the big camera in hand, and decided it'd be nice to take a few shots of what it looks like now. Quite a bit different from those pics in summer.

(oh, and sorry I've been so long without posting, etc., hope you had a happy thanksgiving and holiday and ALL THAT. I have just been BUSY. And reading many manuscripts and writing, yes! It is all good!)

Mountains in the distance. I love the smell of these pines in winter.

Massive icicle. The scary thing is how many more of these there were on the ground nearby. (duck!)

Not much going on at the football field today.

It's snowing in the far mountains!

Tuesday, November 16th, ROCKS

Today has been incredible in my circle of friends. Lives were changed, hopes realized. All came out WELL.

Some of this news is sekrit, but I can share the biggest and the best:

WELCOME to Asher and Bradford Schmidt, the two newest members of Team Sparkle!!! They made their entrance early, but it still feels like we've been waiting for them forever.

Congratulations and Happy Birthday to their parents, Matt and Tiffany Schmidt. Tiffany is a CP, a confidante, and an AMAZING person.

I am so happy today.

The big SPLAT

Normally I am not one for the moral in a story, but this one just might have a moral in there. WATCH FOR IT.

So on Saturday, Hubby, Child and I were lounging around purposeless, as you do on a Saturday, and decided to go see MEGAMIND. It was gorgeous and warm, so we walked. We watched, laughed, snarfed popcorn and Mike & Ikes, and headed back. It was twilight, with just a bite of cold in the air, enough that Child and I were talking about lighting pine-scented candles and giving her a warm bath. All three of us were laughing, happy. I actually thought to myself How happy I am right now.

Then Child said, "Let's race home!" and I was feeling so silly and giddy that I said "You're on!" and we took off. It was only about a block further.

She was ahead, going in the gate by the garage, and I thought "I'll fool her and go in the other gate and beat her," and just as I thought that,

the ground wasn't there anymore.

I was in the air, with nothing under my feet, and then I was on my face on the gravel, spread-eagled.

Being in the family I'm in, I popped RIGHT back up and started walking for the door as if nothing had happened. Yes, we're like cats.

But it HURT. Oh my GOD it hurt. The heels of my hands, my elbow, my left knee, all on fire at once.

"Are you okay?" Hubby yelled, behind me.

"No," I said, through gritted teeth, because I could get up, but I couldn't lie that much. But I kept walking to the house. I let us in, went straight to the bathroom, and rinsed off my hands with cool water. It was all I could think to do, to make it stop burning.

Hubby appeared in the bathroom door. "Are you okay?" he repeated. Demanded. "You tore your jeans."

I kept rinsing my hands. "My jeans are the least of my worries right now."

"What are your worries then?"

"My hands. And my knee. My knee hurts like..like mad."

He looked at my jeans, at my face. "Show me your knee."

Yes, dear readers, it was a bloody mess. Is, though it's much better now. But that night, all of a sudden I was an invalid. I couldn't stand to have anything touching it. Couldn't stand to bend it, to move. Couldn't sleep for how much it hurt. I got up to go to the bathroom in the night and it was ten minutes before I could do anything but wait for it to stop hurting like that.

Of course I was also trying to be brave about it, so Child wouldn't feel bad. She'd suggested running, so she thought it was her fault.

But what was the moral that I kept thinking about all that sleepless night? How quickly things change. You're happy, oblivious, chugging along, and you make one innocent decision and BLAM. SPLAT.

I know, this was a minor oops on the grand scale, but I think most accidents, most life-changing oopses, are like that. Life is one way, and then it's not anymore, and all of a sudden you have to adjust to the new reality. Whatever that is.

Sheesh, you'd think I could fall without having major life epiphanies, but YOU WOULD BE WRONG. :)

(also, my other major thought was THANK GOD IT WAS ME AND NOT CHILD. But you parents knew that one already)

THE MOCKINGBIRDS giveaway!!

AND THE WINNER IS, by random draw...LINDA GRIMES!!

This makes me laugh only because I think she's entered every one of my contests and never won. It had to happen eventually! :) Congrats, Linda!


To Kill a Mockingbird. Scout. Jem. Boo Radley.

Gregory Peck as the hot single-dad campaigner for justice.

 

Oh, I'm sorry, I got distracted for a minute. *shakes self*

Anyway. You loved the book and the movie, right? I even loved the play.

So imagine if you took the spirit of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD--the hard, cold edge of justice standing up to powerful forces, the complexity of crime and personal relations in a small community--and you infused it into a YA novel? With excellent, turn-the-page writing and strong, breathing characters?

You'd have Daisy Whitney's debut novel THE MOCKINGBIRDS, which came out yesterday!!

I had the privilege to read this book a while back, and let me tell you, it's good. It's strong, and brave, and very different from the rest of the books out there on the shelves right now. And I'd like to share it with YOU.

To win a brand-new, shipped-to-your-house copy of THE MOCKINGBIRDS, all you have to do is comment below, with:

--your favorite scene from the book or movie of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD 

--OR the reason you want to read this book!!

Contest will close Friday morning at 8 am my time, and I'll buy the book and ship it off to you. North American entries only, I'm afraid. (yes, Canada!)

You want to win? Want to see what everybody's talking about? GO!

Democracy in action...

Conversation on the way into school today:

Me: I get to vote today.

Child: Oh, me too.

Me: What?

Child: We have school elections. *pause* I'm running for Senator.

Me: O_o
Me: Really? I...um...didn't even know you were having elections.

(Child explains the complexity of the elections, the slates of candidates she has to decide from, and the rules. There are about 12 kids running for Senator (of 24) and 5 can be elected.)

As we pull up,

Me: Well, good luck then! That's exciting.

Child: Yeah, I think I'll need it. Everybody else has 3 to 5 signs up. But you have to make them during chapter book (a read-aloud period), and I'd rather draw. *shrugs* *runs in*

Not exactly an enthusiastic candidate, maybe. But still pretty darn cool, y?

Edited to add:

She won!! Her teacher told me privately that it was really a popularity contest, and "she's popular".

As a bullied, deeply unpopular kid at her age, this still made me happy. :)