So far, so good

I received an e-mail from the New Era folks yesterday that they'd received my story and that the editorial board is reviewing it. That's good news because it wasn't an  outright thanks but no thanks email. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Sunday Musings

After a really good lesson in Young Women's yesterday (that I taught, too!), I had a thought about a story from my youth that I needed to tell. I sat down at Brian's computer (mine blew up a few weeks ago) and wrote it, had Brian read it, edited it, edited it again and then submitted it to The New Era. So now it's the wait and see to determine if they are interested in it. Or not. I 'll let you know when I do. I think the story has value in that it deals with being a teenager and missionary work and BYU.  Keep your fingers crossed!

Goth Andrew and Cow Girl Ava - Halloween 2009

AHA!

Password! I'm old, but I'm not THAT old!

Hailey, Jordan and Ava - three years ago.

Plum Jelly

I may have forgotten to mention that I have brilliant grandchildren, and if that is the case, I apologize.

Today Andrew, 11, and Ava, six, came to spend a few days at Mimi and Pop's house while their parents go lollygagging in New Orleans. The really exciting part about that is that they are here for Halloween and I have lots of fun things planned. Things like finding the perfect pumpkins and carving them, swimming at the community aquatic center, trunk or treating, potluck luncheon(okay that's for my work and probably not so fun for them), trick or treating, and going to watch a local rendition of "Thriller" on Halloween eve.

Tonight, however, the kids wanted to play a game before we watched an old Weird Al movie so Brian and I taught them to play Catch Phrase, a take-off on the old Allen Funt game that if I wasn't so old I could remember its name.... You know, it's the one where a you have a teammate and you give them clues to say a word or a phrase without using the word or any of the words in the phrase to describe it. It was boys against the girls and the girls were primed to win. (We are, after all, girls.)

The only problem was that poor Ava got stuck with me. Imagine her exasperation when she gave the perfectly wonderful description: "You cover it in plum jelly" only to have me hem and haw and eventually lose the point. Who knew a six-year-old was so bright as to know that plum jelly covers an eggroll! Absolutely brilliant. Except for the excessive eye-rolling. Not mine - Ava's.

My mantra....

I read the following quote by George Bernard Shaw 30-plus years ago and it hit a chord with me. I try, but often fail, to live my life accordingly.

"This is the true joy in life, being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it what I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no 'brief candle' to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations."

George Bernard Shaw

Mixed Feelings

I recently (as in this October's issue) was published in the Ensign. Years ago I was a journalist for the Deseret News in SLC, so it shouldn't be such a big deal to see my name in print. And, after all, it wasn't a several page article - it was just a small piece on service. So today in Sunday School, the Gospel Doctrine teacher told the class that my article was in the Ensign and they should all read it. Again, not a big deal, right? Right. Except that I went home and reread it and was horified at the many changes I should have made.

I suppose that's the thing about being a writer (just bestowing myself that lofty title gives me pause): there is always something you would change, fix or say differently once you see it in print.

I had a professor at the University of Utah, where I did my undergraduate work in Mass Communication with an emphasis in journalism, who drank hard and lived hard. He idolized Hunter Thompson (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas), if that tells you anything. One evening, I was in a small group at a local eatery with this particular professor and he asked us how we thought we should write. I piped up, "The way we speak." He said, "No. You should write the way you wished you spoke."

That advice has stuck with me lo these 18 years and I try to keep it in mind when I write. Now I just wish I spoke better....