Summing Up October

1) A PICTURE OF ME (with Clara):




2) WHAT I READ THIS MONTH:
I finished up a book called One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd, by Jim Fergus. Author's note: "In spite of efforts to convince the reader to the contrary, this book is entirely a work of fiction. However, the seed that grew into a novel was sown in the author's imagination by an actual historical event: in 1854 at a peace conference at Fort Laramie, a prominent Northern Cheyenne chief requested of the U.S. Army authorities the gift of one thousand white women as brides for his young warriors. Because theirs is a matrilineal society in which all children born belong to their mother's tribe, this seemed to the Cheyennes to be the perfect means of assimilation into the white man's world . . ." A great read!

I am currently reading My Life, Deleted: A Memoir, by Scott Bolzan, Caitlin Rother and Joan Bolzan. It is the true story about Scott Bolzan, who suffered the worst form of amnesia after falling and hitting his head. He not only lost all of his memory of life-before-the-fall, but also lost the meanings of many words . . . words as basic as "wife"! Oh, my!

3) MOVIES I SAW: I watched The Story of 1 from Netflix. A little interesting, but nothing to write home about!

4) FAVORITE TV MOMENTS OF THE MONTH: I've been watching reruns of Numbers on Netflix. Somehow I missed this series the first time around. Good stories. Off-beat solutions to criminal mysteries. Great characters.

5) SOMETHING YUMMY I MADE: Caramel apples . . . using Kraft Caramels and honeycrisp apples. They were delicious, even though by the end of the next day the caramel was sliding off the apples and pooling on the waxed paper. Woops. Should have kept them refrigerated.

6) RESTAURANTS WHERE I ATE: While in Temple, Dan, Chris and I went to BJ's. Mmmmm. I highly recommend their Original Roast Beef Dip Sandwich . . . unbelievably scrumptious.

7) FIVE GOOD THINGS ABOUT THIS MONTH: Cooler temperatures, fall colors, Balloon Fiesta, getting my 5-year pin at UNM Foundation, and visiting the Texas Judds.

8) A GOAL I HAD FOR THIS MONTH: To get our household goods delivered and safely stowed away in our new house. Check!

9) WHAT I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO:
I'm looking forward to the arrival of our new preacher and his family, in November. We've been seven (?) months without a paid preacher. The men of the congregation have taught some wonderful lessons and others have stepped up in many other ways, but we are all excited to get to know Bud Woodall, his wife and children.
I'm also looking forward to Thanksgiving, in Carlsbad, with my mom. To make it easier on her, we are bringing a fully prepared meal from Keller's.

10) SOMETHING I WANT TO REMEMBER ABOUT THIS MONTH: Having lunch with Clara at her school, and hearing Robert speaking some of his first words.

11) A PHOTO I TOOK THIS MONTH:

You, Too, Can Write Six Words

Legend has it that Hemingway was once challenged to write a story in only six words. His response? “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” Last year, SMITH Magazine challenged their readers to write their own six-word memoirs. They sent in short life stories in droves, from the bittersweet (“Cursed with cancer, blessed with friends”) and poignant (“I still make coffee for two”) to the inspirational (“Business school? Bah! Pop music? Hurrah”) and hilarious (“I like big butts, can’t lie”). You can read more about it at here.

I first read about this on Gem's blogspot, and decided to give it a try, myself. I encourage you to try it too. If you're like me, your mind will go in a dozen directions, but you'll have to be selective in order to tell your life story in only six words. Be sure to post your stories here, in the comments area, so everyone can read them.

Here is mine, a mere six words after this lengthy introduction:

Career winding down. Good times ahead.

One Word

Well, it seemed time to break up all of these serious posts with a frivolous one! Thanks a lot to Patty for posting this on her blog and providing a little much-needed mental distraction for me today.

Play along if you'd like. Only ONE WORD answers allowed.

1. Where is your cell phone? Bag
2. Your significant other? Encouraging
3. Your hair? Graying
4. Your mother? Recovering
5. Your father? Missed
6. Your favorite thing? Photography
7. Your dream last night? Chaos
8. Your favorite drink? DP
9. Your goal or dream? Heaven
10. The room you're in? Hospital
11. Your kids? Joy
12. Your fear? Failure
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Retired
14. Where were you last night? Mom’s
15. What you're not? Thin
16. Muffins? Blueberry
17. One of your wish list items? Travel
18. Where you grew up? Juneau
19. The last thing you did? Lunch
20. What are you wearing? Jeans
21. Your TV? New
22. Your pets? None
23. Your computer? Mac
24. Your life? Blessed
25. Your mood? Hopeful
26. Missing someone? Dan
27. Your car? Escape
28. Something you're not wearing? Watch
29. Favorite Store? Barnes&Nobel (I cheated!)
30. Your summer? Hot
31. Like someone? Shelley
32. Your favorite color? Blue
33. When is the last time you laughed? Today
34. Last time you cried? Wednesday
35. The person who sent this to you? Patty
36. Who will/would resend this? Marci
37. A good book? Notebook
38. A good movie? Mockingbird
39. A good song? Lullaby
40. One word to share? Faith

Ten Things I'll Never Do

(Thanks to Patty for posting her list, and encouraging others to do the same.)

1. Eat sashimi (raw fish) - I just can't bring myself to put it into my mouth. Call me "squeamish about sashimi." (And say that ten times, fast!)
2. Get a face lift - I don't have anything against it, but I'm just a chicken when it comes to needles, scalpels and . . . pain.
3. Smoke or drink - I've gone close to six decades without either; why start now? Neither one holds any attraction for me.
4. Stop reading - I suppose my eyes could get so bad that I wouldn't be able to read, but there are always books on CDs.
5. Be thin - I've tried, it seems, my whole life, and all it has done is steadily move me in the other direction.
   
6. Wear high heels - I never learned to walk in them, when I was young; and walking, itself, is enough of a challenge now!
7. Write the "great American novel" - I love to write, but I don't have the talent to sustain a complex plot, much less several intertwining plots.
8. Say, "I'd be bored if I didn't work" - Not me! I have too many things I want to do, and too little time to do them.
9. Be wealthy - It's too late for me to think about that. But I am rich, in the ways that really count.
10. Travel to all the places I want to see - But I hope to give it a try!