Acrophobia

What sadist at Cyan has a thing for heights? I'm clinging to a wall, scared to move. This is worse than walking that blasted pipe in Kadesh Tolesa.

The view is beautiful though....

Myst V !!

Myst V arrived yesterday. I couldn't start it last night or today -- had to work. Waaah!
Perhaps tonight -- I hope so.
It's burning a hole in me, gazing at me, begging me, taunting me....

Busy, busy!

Wow -- no time to write. Not even blog entries. Sheesh.
And I've got soo many ideas for short stories, new stories, devious additions to current plots -- ahh, the list goes on.

Many things are keeping me busy, new responsibilities -- such as helping out as an assistant editor on The Sword Review, beginning a new job with my husband as custodians for our church, taking on maintenance of another website, and fall events starting up -- such as AWANA for my daughter, and homeschool activities.

Yeah -- I'd say being a mommy is one of the things keeping me the busiest right now. Having a daughter who is a competitive gymnast, I'm on the go not only taking her to the gym several days a week for training, but to dance classes as well to hone the dance elements of her routines. As the season starts, we'll be on the go to meets and clinics, etc.

Having a daughter so gifted is a blessing but is also demanding. Even more so is praying over her and trying to raise her to be a kind, giving person who understands that the most important thing in life is not herself (we have too many narcissists in our world) but a relationship with G-d and caring for others.

Detroit driving tips for guests

My best friend sent these to me -- having grown up in Detroit, I can testify they are all accurate.
Makes me homesick....



Detroit driving tips for guests

1. First, you must learn to pronounce the city name. It's Di-troit. NOT DEE-troit. If you pronounce it DEE-Troit then we will assume you are from Toledo and here for the country Music hoe-down.

2. Forget the traffic rules you learned elsewhere. Detroit has its own version of traffic rules... Hold on and pray!

3. The morning rush hour is from 6:00am to 10:00am. The evening rush hour is from 3:00pm to 7:00pm. Friday's rush hour starts Thursday morning.
Weekends are open game.

4. If you actually stop at a yellow light, you will be rear-ended, cussed out and possibly shot. If you're first off the starting line when the light turns green, count to five before going. This will avoid getting in the way of cross-traffic who just ran their yellow light to keep from getting shot.

5. Schoenherr can ONLY be properly pronounced by a native of the Detroit metro area. That goes for Gratiot too. Schoenherr is pronounced CHAY NER.Gratiot is pronounced, GRASH IT.

6. Construction and renovation on I-94, I-96, I-75,I-275, I-375, The Lodge and Southfield freeways are a way of life. Just deal with it. There are two seasons in Detroit. Winter and construction.

7. If someone actually has their turn signal on, it is probably a factory defect or they are "out-of-towners."

8. All old men with white hair wearing a hat have total right-of-way.

9. The minimum acceptable speed on I-696 is 85 regardless of the posted speeds. Anything less is considered downright SISSY. Oh, and don't even think of allowing more than one car length between cars!

10. That attractive wrought iron on the windows and doors in Detroit is NOT ornamental. DO NOT get out of your car.

11. Never stare at the driver of the car with the bumper sticker that says "Keep honking, I'm reloading."

12. If you are in the left lane, and only going 70 in a 60 mph zone, people are not waving because they are so friendly in Detroit. I would suggest you duck.

13. I-275/I-696 is our daily version of NASCAR.

14. It's not M-10, it's "the Lodge".

15. That's not a lake, it's a pothole.

16. If someone tells you it's on Outer Drive, you better hope you have a map.

17. The left turn is simple. If you want to turn left,go a 1/4 of a mile past your turn, get to the left, then make a left, then make a right.
NOW you have gone left.

ENJOY YOUR STAY, BUT AVOID EYE-CONTACT WITH THE LOCALS!

Oh, AND:
15 mile turns into Maple.
16 mile turns into Big Beaver (exit 69 off I-75...) and then into Metro Parkway somewhere along the way.
17 mile turns into Wattles
18 turns into Long Lake
19 turns into Square Lake
20 turns into Hall Road and then M-59

Main street starts as "Main Street" and turns into Livernois for no apparent reason.
If someone tells you to take "75 South to Detroit" make sure you merge onto 375 or you'll end up in Toledo.

Bound and Gagged -- link

This on a writing acquaintance's blog:

Bound and Gagged

Not much I can say that she didn't. I'm fuming. And praying.

Ignore -- just a rant

Boy, am I tired of people who come up and tell me that they are thinking of writing a book, and just blithely carry on like they can sit down and write a book, contact a publisher, and get a big contract, all in a few weeks' time.

I mentioned it was a bit more difficult than one person realized, and that it might be good to learn more about the craft of fiction writing as a starting point.
The flippant response was that this person got good grades in high school writing classes so they should be fine.

*deep sigh*

Butterfies!

I have two butterfly bushes, sedum, and a few other pretties planted in the front yard and they can be seen through the front window. We always enjoy watching the activity but today I think the butterflies are having a holiday gathering. Dozens and dozens flittering about -- all colors and sizes. It is awesome!

early morning grumble

I despise Japanese beetles.

Do You Eat These?

While grocery shopping today I had to hide my amusement as the young man behind the counter had to ask me what most of my fresh fruits and vegetables were.
"Cabbage or lettuce? Oranges or tangerines?"
He handled the food as if it were dangerous. Poor guy.

Anyway, he reminded me of something that happened several years ago.
I was buying fresh beets. I often grow them, but not every year. So I bought some -- nothing yummier than fresh beets, and my homemade pickled beets are good, too. But I digress.
I got to the cashier and he picked up the bunch of beets (three bundled together) and asked, "What are these?"
"They're beets."
"Oh. I've never seen them other than in cans. Do you eat these?"

Oh. My.

And I won't get into that he tried to charge me $15 dollars for three beets. ("It said $5 each. I didn't know that meant each bundle. I thought it was for each beet," he told his manager when I questioned the price and he called her over.)

Anyway, all this pointless blathering just to say it seems sad that so many folks these days can't figure out what food is if it doesn't come from a fast food joint, or get dumped out of a box.

As for me, I bought fresh lemons to make lemon curd, no preservatives or additives. I'm going to grind some grain, bake some scones, fix some cucumber sandwiches, and have a cuppa tea.

Here's to real food, fixed fresh, not out of a box.