How Do I Use Ideas?

You read a fabulous book, you watch an incredible movie or listen to a original tune on the radio or live. And what do you do with this incredible outpouring of creativity from individuals that you may never see or meet? Other sources of inspiration may come from God's masterfully orchestrated sunsets, sunrises or a beautiful cloud formation or rain storm. The beauty from nature is immense, from the tiny flowerettes on a miniature weed in the yard to a hesitant songbird approaching you on the back deck of your house.

I have been inspired lately, and this is due to the lack of pressure from the whirlwind of work and family duties, and my own letting down of the expectations of what others will presume that I will complete for them. It's Spring Break for school, therefore no teaching, grading or questioning my teaching skills; waiting on my accounting books approval from my interior design client, a website complete for my real estate client, and blog posts and Facebook postings for the San Diego dentist are done. That means I can sleep in, read a book, watch movies on television, exercise to foot-pounding music on a partly sunny day through the hills and dales of the neighborhood, cook and bake with leisure, and pursue writing here.

Back to my question of what we do with the creativity. Everyone is different in the way they use the imaginativeness of another, and each one's originality can be interpreted in another way than the person, such as I, who enjoys writing about such enriching experiences, although I rarely find time to do it. The two books I read recently, vastly different from one another, have inspired me to dive into my two books that are currently swirling about as bits of gray matter in my head. I have not had a week such as this in a long time, and look forward to putting fingers to keyboard to produce the outcome of hopefully, two progressive book outlines to yield best-sellers one day - just like the two books I just read!

Post Christmas Wrap-up

Wow! What an exciting Christmas season we had this year. So exciting, in fact, that I am just now able to post something about the incredible activities in which my family participated in during the holidays. It's nothing fancy, merely a recount of what we did, so in ten years when Kevin, or one of the girls says, "remember when ...," we can look it up on whatever form of cloud is in existence at the time and state what exactly we ate for breakfast on Christmas Day, 2013.

Christmas 2013

Christmas, to me, officially begins on the last day of public school. That is when I can relax and know that I don’t have to make a lunch each morning and take Kristin to school or the bus, to return to pick her up from school in the afternoon.

Friday

2013 started with a neighborhood party two houses down. To keep mom and dad in line, Kristin was invited to and attended a Thesbian club party half an hour away. We hit the grocery store afterwards to load up with baking items to prep for our company.

Saturday

Kevin traveled to San Angelo for a project Saturday morning.

Prep for Fenners – baking, cleaning, wrapping and other food prep.

Sunday

Made “Almost 50” birthday sign for after church surprise birthday party for Jenny.

Sun morning church service at PRF

Fun barbeque birthday party for Jenny at the Merlick’s with Mom and Don, Melanie, Avery and Doug, Skip, Christa and Jesse. A beautiful chocolate cake with mint icing for dessert!

We played Games, games, games before coming home!

Monday

Busy, busy in the morning, with long afternoon lunch at Mel’s. Post office and other errands, back to Merlick’s, Daniel dropped off Kevin from San Angelo, then we piled into the car to the grocery for steak dinner and headed home.

Steaks, potatoes, butternut squash soup, green bean casserole and beer bread made up the dinner in which we hosted the Wickham’s and Melanie.

Mom and Don gave Ormsby’s our Christmas gifts – a new microwave and other gifties!

After we had cookies and caramel corn for dessert, we played a few board and made-up games.

Tuesday

Late steak, potatoes and eggs breakfast prepared by Matt.

Boys to airport to pick up Alison and conduct last minute shopping.

Made Grandmother’s Mexican Wedding cake cookies.

Wrappingfest at the Ormsby’s to prep for Christmas giving.

Dress up and load up car to attend Christmas Eve candlelight service with Christa joining the Wickham/Austin Merlick/Ormsby/Fenner clan at Austin Ridge.

Meet at the Merlick’s afterwards for chili by J and J and Jan and Mike, with Melanie, Christa, John, Jacob and Avery Rose and Avery and Doug. Sweet potato soup, Chex mix, sugar cookies and caramel corn by the Ormsbys, desserts, salads and other tasties enjoyed by all with wine and beer.

Sang Christmas carols in the neighborhood, to welcoming neighbors!

A bit of dancing afterwards to warm up …

Home to continue wrapping and watch Miracle on 34^th St.

Wednesday, Christmas Day

Pigs in a blanket awakened the troops.

Opened plenty of presents and made a mess.

Whipped up grandmother’s party potatoes, dressed and went to Mom and Don’s.

Car-caroling led by Kristin and Allison on the ukulele was fun on the road!

Enjoyed turkey, ham, broccoli, potatoes, salad and gingerbread cake by Grammy and cheesecake by Melanie.

Opened more presents!

Jerry came along home with the Ormsby’s and played Risk until 3 AM! (BTW – Kristin, an HH, won the game!)

We scarfed queso and chips, hummus and veggies, Lays and onion dip, almonds and cookies and caramel corn while undergoing the drama.

Thursday

Boys are up by ten to go meet Bob Gruczynski in town and then to the Merlick’s to set up the impossible trampoline with just a few bashes and injuries.

The girls left for downtown to visit the Blanton, perused the gift shop and grabbed a snack.

Back to the Merlick’s to meet the boys and Rachel, who was mall shopping.

Fenner’s and Ormsby’s take Gru to the airport and on the way, stop off at Patsy’s to enjoy a burger, tuna melt and crispy fish tacos.

Visited the Zilker park tree and spun around for a few minutes, then stopped off at The Moon to partake of a beer and a few karaoke songs with the DJ.

Ended the evening with a showing of the third Lord of the Rings movie. (snoring commenced)

Friday

Waffles and bacon for breakfast.

Girl thrifting in Marble Falls, after a snack at Brother’s Bakery. Bargains galore at Vintage Vogue and Bargain Barn.

Ali to the airport with a one hour window.

On to Mom’s for ham and turkey sandwiches, salad and awesome salted caramel chocolate pecan pie.

Rockin’ Anniversary Party (Fenner’s 27^th) with the juke box set up to incredible 80’s music for the first hour and a half at The Moon. Karaoke and star singing by Jenny, Matt, Karl, Danna, Kevin and Alee, with additional dancers Liz, Michael and Julie.

Saturday

Grammy’s eggs with mushrooms, onion, garlic and cheese, served with tasty rolls and San Fran coffee.

After packing and snacking, the crew loaded up and played at Jerry’s for Pizza, while Avery and Doug joined the group on their 50^th wedding anniversary! Mom and Don joined us and brought salad, awesome pecan pie and fresh fruit.

Packed into the car again, the Ormsby’s and Fenner’s made the fourth trip to the airport in five days.

Ormsby’s drove home to enjoy a quiet house for the evening.

Sunday

After a peaceful church service, Ormsby’s were home in the afternoon for laundry (thankfully using the Darwin’s dryer) and another production of caramel corn for the Dallas bunch.

We began packing our things for the trip to Fort Worth in the morning.

Monday

Another day of sleeping later than usual was in store for us, but I was able to finish drying two more loads of laundry, wrap a few Dallas presents, print a few Christmas photos for Dallas gifts, and make the last batch of sugar cookies for the year.

Our original departure time of 1 pm occurred at 2 pm, in which we caught up with the mail carrier to obtain a check.

We deposited the check, picked up a few items at the grocery and hit I-35 by 3 pm.

Arriving much later than previously planned, we enjoyed a cocktail with Dad and Malinda while watching the end of the first half of the UT game (Horns lost L), and then ate dinner at a superb restored gas station, Winslow’s for a tasty meal, then retired to their home to watch the Texas Tech game (Red Raiders won).

Gifts were exchanged before we went to dinner.

Tuesday, New Year’s Eve

Slept in again, this time until ten, and then feasted on tasty eggs, bacon and onion on flour tortillas and delicious fruit salad.

After Kristin gave us a mini-concert on the ukulele Grandaddy gave to her, we headed east to Dallas to see Phil, Jr. and Kristin with their new baby, Paisley, at Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas.

Before the ½ hour stop, we dined on two #1 boxes at In and Out Burger and toured our old neighborhood.

Arrived at Gran’mom’s and exchanged gifts – with the Austin Ormsby’s loading up on nuts, wine, cheese, soap and lotions.

After a respite from the road, the Ormsby’s dressed up in fancy festivity clothes and drove to the Kravik’s to participate in their annual New Year’s Eve celebration.

Wednesday, Happy 2014!

After a quick  bite to eat, we jumped in the car and went to Karen’s for the New Year’s Day meal.

On the menu was Turkey breast, spiral cut ham, crescent rolls, scalloped potatoes, creamed corn, black eyed peas and cabbage.

For dessert were chocolate cupcakes, pineapple angelfood cake and sugar cookies.

During a long visit we were able to see Kelly and Luis with precious baby Landry, Macy and Luke. We jumped in the car and made it to Dillard’s in Waco for one remaining hour of the 40% off previously reduced merchandise. We all found bargains, but Rachel found the steal with a $400 BCBG dress for $70.

The days following the excellent but exhausting week and a half are a blur now (since  I didn’t write down any more details after the New Year’s day drive home). We probably just did boring things like … catch up on work life (!) and that’s why this is so late a posting. Now that this biggie is posted, maybe you’ll see more writing this year!

Affordable Boat Act - A Re-post

The government has just passed a new law called: "The Affordable Boat Act" declaring that every citizen MUST purchase a new boat, by April 2014. These "affordable" boats will cost an average of $24,000-$124,000 each. This does not include taxes, trailers, towing fees, insurance, fuel, docking and storage fees, maintenance or repair costs.

This law has been passed, because until now, typically only financially responsible and working people have been able to purchase boats. This new laws ensures that every American can now have a "affordable" boat of their own, because everyone is "entitled" to a boat. 

In order to make sure everyone purchases an affordable boat, the costs of owning a boat will increase on average of 250-400% per year. This way, working taxpayers will pay more for something that other people don't want or can't afford to maintain. But to be fair, people who can't afford to maintain their boat will be regularly fined and children (under the age of 26) can use their parents boats to party on until they turn 27; then must purchase their own boat.

If you already have a boat, you can keep yours (just kidding; no you can't). If you don't want or don't need a boat, you are required to buy one anyhow. If you refuse to buy one, you will be fined until you purchase one or face imprisonment. For those that cannot afford one, they will get a free boat with a monthly check for all ownership costs listed above at taxpayer expense.

Failure to use the boat will also result in fines. People living in the desert, inner cities or areas with no access to lakes are not exempt. Age, motion sickness, experience, knowledge nor lack of desire are acceptable excuses for not using your boat. 

A government review board will decide everything, including; when, where, how often and for what purposes you can use your boat along with how many people can ride your boat and determine if one is too old or healthy enough to be able to use their boat. They will also decide if your boat has out lived its usefulness or if you must purchase specific accessories, or a newer and more expensive boat. (Cash for Clunkers guidelines will be used).

Government officials are exempt from this new law. If they want a boat, they and their families can obtain boats free, at the expense of tax payers. Unions, special interest and major donors are also exempt.

I just had to re-post this - too much for a Facebook post, but too funny not to share!

A Career Change

I need to make a career change. The problem is, what is my career now, and where do I want to take it?  The answers to both questions, unfortunately, are complex.

While I would like to say that I am a writer/publicist as it is noted on my email signature, when it is considered a career, it's not exactly correct. I do some writing and promotion for various clients on an inconsistent basis, yet I also work in several other industries including accounting for an interior designer, computer consulting for a realtor and weekly scanning of UPCs for a market research company.

The household duties of being a mother and wife also put me into an experience level of time management, chauffeur, chef, laundress,  volunteer director, teacher, housekeeping, accounting again with home bills, shopping expert (getting the best deals), dietitian and medical advisor.

Where I want to take it is going to depend on my goal for a career, and that too is unclear. Do I want to enjoy what I do with all my soul or do I want to make money? Can I do my career part time so that I can fulfill my first and ultimate goal first - to be an awesome wife and mother?

I DO want to be a full time writer/publicist but the work has to meet the needs of family income, and sometimes it is just not enough to earn a few hundred dollars a month doing it. The other problem is writing on a project that I enjoy, but that makes money. I have at least three book ideas but making the time to sit down and write while not earning anything seems to get crowded out in the other tasks I am trying to accomplish in my current job status and the family obligations.

I have come to the realization that to make a career change - to become a full time writer of newsworthy articles and eventually, and/or a book, I will need to apply myself to writing 200 words a day to develop my writing skills. After my children have graduated from high school with scholarships and left the home, with some of the above responsibilities removed, then I will be able to throw myself into the work of writing more than a half hour each day.

Time will make it happen for me, if only I wasn't so impatient for that career change.

200 Words a Day

It is recommended by journalists, novelists and other wordy people that to become and progress as a writer, it’s a good idea to write 200 words each day. It may not seem like much, but  1000-1400 words a week (whether you write five or seven days) is a nice length of an article or could be two or three blog posts. If you are writing a book, this is a nice progression to a 52,000 word book, or about 175 pages. Here are my reminder tips for myself and for you to get into writing practice and to build that blogsite or book.

1. Prepare yourself

If writing a blog with a theme, seek out ideas throughout the day and keep your list of ideas on a notepad for easy reference when you sit down to write. When compiling a book, map out the characters and plot in an outline format so that you can easily pick up and write about whatever you are in the mood to pursue.If you have been occupied prior to your write time, shake off the day with a 10-15 minute walk to clear your mind and gain new ideas.

2. Limit distraction

Clear your desk, don’t turn on any laundry, water or cooking timers. Put the phone away from view and dive in to your keyboard.

3. Plan to write

Children, spouses, friends, work, volunteerism and general life duties can certainly take priority over your writing. The best thing to do is to put at least 30 minutes a day on your calendar to write. Have a tentative writing time each day – some say 10 am is the best, but not likely for those who work and have an active family life. When that time is interrupted or cancelled because of daily events, be flexible about rescheduling. This can be a problem for those of us that intend to write before bed, but the exhaustion of the day steps in and the writing is put off.

One last tip, if you are a foodie like me, is don’t write hungry or thirsty. That gnawing at your stomach is a huge distraction, so prevent it with a snack or a big glass of water before you begin. Back to work on the blog and 200 words of a book for me – I hope this is helpful to you!

Best Days

I had a best day yesterday. A best day is a time when you get to do all the things you like to do, in an easy-going manner without having to rush. I did have to rush a little bit at the evening part of the day because I had spent so much time relaxing.

These days, sleep is very valuable, so it was awesome to have gone to bed at 1 am to get up at 8 am to make a breakfast for my daughter, then to go back to bed about and hour later and stay there another couple of hours, checking email and Facebook on my phone, reading the excellent free book I received from dearreader.com - Movement of Stars by Amy Brill, and getting more sleep. I then got up to send my youngest off with her father to run errands, leaving me with an empty, silent house. After getting some laundry going and the kitchen clean, I went outside to enjoy the beautiful, sunny yet cool early afternoon to pull weeds in the front yard. I came inside to prepare the remainder of a batch of cookies that I had baked half of the day before, filling the house with the warm smell of freshly baked cookies.

All that activity had me tired again, so I proceeded back to my bedroom to spend a little more time with Movement of Stars, set in 1845 and covering a young Quaker woman's pursuit of astronomy, with a twist. Great book, more than halfway through now. After this restful day, it was time for me to get ready to go out to a rodeo party at the beautiful Reserve on Lake Travis. My dilemma was choosing what to wear. An original plan to wear a fun dress with boots was scrapped to wear jeans or pants instead because of the unusually cold April weather. The black leather pants and red boots won, along with the blingy top and jewelry. We enjoyed awesome food, Tito's vodka and fellowship with friends and new friends, and afterward shut down the band with our Spicewood friends. I love to dance too! We arrived home and got to visit with our darling teenage daughters to round out the night. Reading, resting, baking and dancing, plus a whole lot of extras made April 20, 2013, a best day.

By the way, today is also a best day because it is my father, Carroll Wayne Merlick's birthday. I loved his mother very much and feel very fortunate that she and my grandfather had him. He was an only child, raised with a strict hand but fed awesome food that I learned to love as well, and given the tools to become a successful adult. He is a loving, dear man that has high expectations for me and everyone else in my family. Happy Birthday Daddy - I love you!

Grocery Stories

We are greeted as we enter a grocery store with a friendly voice behind the quick check out stand by the door. A stocker loads huge crates of bananas, potatoes and grapefruit to the produce display table tables with a stoic posture. A grumpy-faced woman bemoans the inventory in the health and beauty section, while her manager cheers her on, taking up the slack on the work that she avoids. A shy-looking girl is suddenly chatty when asked where to find dental floss.

Then, there are the customers in the grocery. An older woman frets about how items have moved from where they used to be, while another grumbles about the sheer volume of choices in picking out a shampoo. A young mother admonishes her noisy child as a stooped over man brags to a vendor about the benefits of honey and cinnamon.

When we enter the grocery store, most likely we do not know 95% of the people in there, unless it is a small store in a small town. Regardless of whether we know the checker, the deli server or the fish market employee, how well do we really know them? Did the cute produce guy dye his hair red and have his ears and nose pierced to irritate his parents, or is he just wanting to stand out? Is the very thin, unusual-looking housekeeping woman really in pain physically or is she benefiting from the grocery's health plan to obtain strong medication and time off?

The questions about the screaming child and his household life to the wildly-dressed young adults to the perfectly coiffed older shoppers could overwhelm me as I do my 10 hours of weekly work in four such stores in small town Texas. But I've decided to pursue these stories and tell stories of my own, some from the mouths of those employees and customers, and some fictionalized from the small amount of data I've collected in talking to them.

For me, it's a larger story worth pursuing, to give some insight to the people that arrange, prepare and sell us the food and other consumable items that we need to keep us fed, clean and happy. Stay tuned for more posts.