What’s My Story?

Summer harks everyone’s inner child. Lemonade stands invite you to share a young neighbor’s joy. Gardens require digging dirt. Temperatures have you racing for a lake and jumping in with gleeful delight.

What? You’ve lost that youthful spirit? You must find it!

Montana winters are long, cold, and gray. We use these dreary months to read and get smart (except when we’re skiing). Summer is all about having fun! The following is my personal list of must-do summer activities that prevent me from feeling incomplete, not to mention totally boring:

• Jumping into a lake. Walking in doesn’t count. You must find a dock or rock and take the merciful plunge.
• Hiking to a mountain peak.
• Walking through the forest in a bikini. Seriously. You should try it.
• Rafting/Tubing on the river (“Tubing” is a local past time. An $11 inner tube provides countless hours of fun and relaxation throughout the hot summer months.)
• Camping
• Gazing at the stars on a warm August night, hopefully seeing meteors.
• Visiting Glacier National Park
• Sleeping outside. In the yard, tent, trampoline, or treehouse. (Yes, my family has a treehouse. We all use it!)

What are you waiting for? Take the plunge and live. Try one of these and let me know how it goes. Have another favorite? Tell me. Happy summer!

 

 

Writing 101 is over! This effort contained several firsts for me:

• Fictional writing
• Posting five times a week (This was very difficult. Sorry to bombard your inbox)
• Poetry

Not to mention unloading some of the heavier stuff that was weighing me down.

So for those of you who are still hanging around:  Thank you for not leaving!

To all the new followers: Nice to meet you! Welcome aboard.

(Inject a thumbs up icon.)

Experimenting with writing through this process has been such a positive experience! The support I received from other bloggers was amazing and they actually complimented my writing (!).

I have a burning desire to write a book in the future, however, as a new writer (I started in October last year) I’m still unsure what style works for me. It will most likely be nonfiction on an undisclosed subject. For any authors out there, I’ll gladly take your advice. For everyone else, let me know what you like: humor? deep stuff? humor and deep stuff? travel? parenting? All of the above? None of it?

I will be celebrating the end of Writing 101 by going camping with friends and family. See you later. And once again, thank you.

 

 

 

My most prized possession wasn’t handed down to me from generations, packaged in a fancy box, or delivered by a stork. (Actually, it would require two different storks and to pick one would be unfair so for the purposes of this assignment I’m skipping that.) It wasn’t delivered by a child’s hand or a newly ringed finger. (Because I love my husband, I don’t own him.) It is not a gift I received with curling ribbon in my hair or a hat on my head, unless you count my high school and college graduation hats. 

The ability to speak French has provided me endless opportunities to travel and meet new people. These opportunities give my life purpose, meaning, and adventure. For these reasons, French is my most prized possession.

(Rather than write out the events, I’ve chosen to use a timeline. I’ll expand the stories in time. Sorry, no pics. Yet.)

1971- Little bald baby listens to French Canadian radio in rural upstate New York

1986-Scrawny girl finds her identity in high school French class

1991- Girl declares French major in college

Sept. 1993- Girl heads to France for study abroad program

• Travels alone in France for ten days. It took five days before she called her worry-sick mom.
• Picks grapes and cuts her finger. Still has scar on her pinky.
• Oct. 24-Turned 21 and could legally drink, except she already could in France.
• Nov.1- Is locked (due to a broken lockset) in a French bathroom for four hours.

1998- Girl and husband go to Paris. He falls in love with it as much as she had.

2000-Husband takes pregnant wife to Paris before baby is born. Funny Article about getting sick.

2001-Husband, baby, mom-wife go to Italy. (This doesn’t involve French, but it gets interesting.)

• 9-11-2001 Husband, baby, mom get stuck in Amsterdam for eight days.
• We have to buy new clothes for the baby. Mom wears same clothes all eight days and throws them out as soon as she’s home.
• We are the first tourists to visit the Heineken brewery twice in one vacation.

2002-Husband, toddler, pregnant mom go to Nice, France.

2003- Baby #2 is born. Nothing exciting happens for a few years.

2007-Family goes to Nice, France.

• We are in a small bus crash. Mom has to detail the event to the police.

2009-Family goes to Paris. Meets new friends who invite us to Marseille.

2010

• Mom volunteers for Alliance Française and meets a lot of people.

2011

• We have French exchange student at our house.
• Family goes to Marseille. We get stuck in a traffic jam for two hours.

June 2012-Mom and husband go to Amsterdam for a friend’s concert.

• She meets Jack White.
• Husband-wife duo go to Nice, France.
• They discover they’re beaching in front of Bono’s (U2) house.
• July 4th- Flight delays bring them home to their kids two days late.

Dec. 2013- Family goes to Paris for Christmas and visits friends.

The future remains uncertain….

 

 

 

 

 

Todays challenge: Address one of your fears with style.

 

 

I see her peering from the sheer white curtain. Who does she think she’s fooling? Nothing is hidden from me, I’m the telegram man. 

 

O morning cup thy vice with anticipation I yearn

Whilst stewing and steaming upon the hissing urn

Liquid life poureth from thence unto then

’tis passed eager lips yet again and again