Chris Loehmer Kincaid's Blog, page 143
January 11, 2015
Does Christmas have to be over?
This time of year always makes me sad. Christmas has just passed, all of the decorations have been taken down, the presents put away, the Christmas cookies eaten (except at my house; come on over, I still have bags of cookies in my freezer). It's as if Christmas never happened, as if the baby Jesus had never been born. I would rather it stay Christmas a while longer. My tree is still up and there are still unopened presents underneath it. I think Christmas should be celebrated all year long.
Not that many presents though
Day 22Instructed by the king, they (the wise men) set off. Then the star appeared again, the same star they had seen in the eastern skies. It led them on until it hovered over the place of the child. They could hardly contain themselves: They were in the right place! They had arrived at the right time! (Matthew 2:9-10, The Message Bible)No one is quite certain who the magi were. Whoever they were though, searching for the one who was recently born King of the Jews was an important quest for them. It is possible that they had devoted the better part of their lives in this pursuit. They had been studying ancient texts for years, probably analyzing astrological charts to find this particular star. If this search for the Christ child had been their lifelong ambition, how excited they must have been to find Jesus.Have you been searching for Jesus this earnestly? In our modern times, we like to think that He is much easier to find. All we have to do is open our Bible or go to church, right? But it is not enough to just learn about Him. To truly find our Savior, we must welcome Him into our lives and into our hearts. We must accept Him as our very best friend.
(From "The Early Life of Jesus in 40 Days", available from Life Sentence Publishing, Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble or contact me and I can mail you a signed copy.)
Not that many presents thoughDay 22Instructed by the king, they (the wise men) set off. Then the star appeared again, the same star they had seen in the eastern skies. It led them on until it hovered over the place of the child. They could hardly contain themselves: They were in the right place! They had arrived at the right time! (Matthew 2:9-10, The Message Bible)No one is quite certain who the magi were. Whoever they were though, searching for the one who was recently born King of the Jews was an important quest for them. It is possible that they had devoted the better part of their lives in this pursuit. They had been studying ancient texts for years, probably analyzing astrological charts to find this particular star. If this search for the Christ child had been their lifelong ambition, how excited they must have been to find Jesus.Have you been searching for Jesus this earnestly? In our modern times, we like to think that He is much easier to find. All we have to do is open our Bible or go to church, right? But it is not enough to just learn about Him. To truly find our Savior, we must welcome Him into our lives and into our hearts. We must accept Him as our very best friend.
(From "The Early Life of Jesus in 40 Days", available from Life Sentence Publishing, Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble or contact me and I can mail you a signed copy.)
January 10, 2015
Let me wrap this up
I may have more to say about the 40 things I did in ’14, but I am going to wrap it up today. Here is what we had left.
TRAVEL 30. go away in the spring – Hubby and I went to Clarksville, Missouri, in April for a week. Had a super-great time. 31 take a road trip with my sister – Sister and I went to Frankenmuth, Michigan, on a spur of the moment trip to recover some Kenyan gifts for the nonprofit.32. go camping in the summer – Hubby, Dino and I went to our favorite place, CHURCH34. work on Easter Dinner – I didn’t do a whole lot, but I was there in spirit. 35. write children’s Christmas program – I thought about this for months, before actually writing it sometime in the fall. I have a template of sorts for the program, so I just plug in different verses and themes each year so it really isn’t too much of a big deal. 36. do the Christmas program – Everyone showed up, everyone knew what they were doing, church had four times the usual attendees for a Saturday night service, so all went well.
FAMILY37. host Trink’s BD party – The hubby’s brother decided last winter that the three sons should have a Birthday party for Mom’s 80th birthday. Great idea, but the only place to hold said-party would be my house. Best part – perfect weather. 48 people were here, they would not have all fit in my house. 38. host Thanksgiving dinner – And this year I didn’t even have to have any alcohol to get through the day.
HEALTH 39. walk half the streets of town – My goal was to walk every street in town. Didn’t happen, but it gives me something to do next summer.40. start running again – I ran that 5K in 2013 and I don’t know why I couldn’t get fired up to do it in 2014. But I have started on the treadmill and am going to be ready for 2015.
And there you have it. 40 things I did in ’14.
(Be sure to click on all the high-lighted links to read more about all the fun I had last year.)
TRAVEL 30. go away in the spring – Hubby and I went to Clarksville, Missouri, in April for a week. Had a super-great time. 31 take a road trip with my sister – Sister and I went to Frankenmuth, Michigan, on a spur of the moment trip to recover some Kenyan gifts for the nonprofit.32. go camping in the summer – Hubby, Dino and I went to our favorite place, CHURCH34. work on Easter Dinner – I didn’t do a whole lot, but I was there in spirit. 35. write children’s Christmas program – I thought about this for months, before actually writing it sometime in the fall. I have a template of sorts for the program, so I just plug in different verses and themes each year so it really isn’t too much of a big deal. 36. do the Christmas program – Everyone showed up, everyone knew what they were doing, church had four times the usual attendees for a Saturday night service, so all went well.
FAMILY37. host Trink’s BD party – The hubby’s brother decided last winter that the three sons should have a Birthday party for Mom’s 80th birthday. Great idea, but the only place to hold said-party would be my house. Best part – perfect weather. 48 people were here, they would not have all fit in my house. 38. host Thanksgiving dinner – And this year I didn’t even have to have any alcohol to get through the day.
HEALTH 39. walk half the streets of town – My goal was to walk every street in town. Didn’t happen, but it gives me something to do next summer.40. start running again – I ran that 5K in 2013 and I don’t know why I couldn’t get fired up to do it in 2014. But I have started on the treadmill and am going to be ready for 2015.
And there you have it. 40 things I did in ’14.
(Be sure to click on all the high-lighted links to read more about all the fun I had last year.)
January 9, 2015
House and Home
It looks like I am half-way through sharing the list of 40 things I did in ’14. Hopefully I can get through this coz right now the list looks a little boring, so I combined two categories to keep things moving.
SEWING
20. sew scrub top from Kenyan cloth 21. sew curtains for Palm room 22. sew retro summer dressHOUSE AND YARD23. clean my office and keep it clean! 24. update my Snoopy list 25. paint my bathroom 26. plant my garden 27. plant my flowers 28. make another trail in the woods 29. clean the basement bedroom
I love to sew. I always have. When I was growing up, my parents had a partially finished room above the garage. They picked up an old sewing machine from somewhere and put it in that room. When I say “old” I mean it, as this sewing machine didn’t run on electricity, it ran by the foot peddle that the person sewing had to pump to get the needle to move up and down. That’s what I learned to sew on. Dad would bring pieces of fabric, destined to be cleaning rags, home from the paper mill he worked at. We would turn those hideously ugly pieces of cloth into curtains for our play house and skirts for our dolls. I sure wish I had pictures as my words would never do those scenes justice.
I also love my house and my yard. I know I’ve shared that whole story before, so I won’t go there again, at least not right now.
I know that I have shared pictures of Dino on the trail on the hill behind my house, but always wanted another trail that went past the swamp in front of my house. It took me just an afternoon last summer to widen the greater part of a deer trail, but I love that little path.
It is what inspired me to resurrect an old mail box.
Huh? Funny that didn’t make my 40 things list.
SEWING
20. sew scrub top from Kenyan cloth 21. sew curtains for Palm room 22. sew retro summer dressHOUSE AND YARD23. clean my office and keep it clean! 24. update my Snoopy list 25. paint my bathroom 26. plant my garden 27. plant my flowers 28. make another trail in the woods 29. clean the basement bedroomI love to sew. I always have. When I was growing up, my parents had a partially finished room above the garage. They picked up an old sewing machine from somewhere and put it in that room. When I say “old” I mean it, as this sewing machine didn’t run on electricity, it ran by the foot peddle that the person sewing had to pump to get the needle to move up and down. That’s what I learned to sew on. Dad would bring pieces of fabric, destined to be cleaning rags, home from the paper mill he worked at. We would turn those hideously ugly pieces of cloth into curtains for our play house and skirts for our dolls. I sure wish I had pictures as my words would never do those scenes justice.
I also love my house and my yard. I know I’ve shared that whole story before, so I won’t go there again, at least not right now.I know that I have shared pictures of Dino on the trail on the hill behind my house, but always wanted another trail that went past the swamp in front of my house. It took me just an afternoon last summer to widen the greater part of a deer trail, but I love that little path.
It is what inspired me to resurrect an old mail box.
Huh? Funny that didn’t make my 40 things list.
January 8, 2015
Tumaini Volunteers in 2014
If you have been following my blog, you know that I am recapping the 40 things I did in ’14. I am up to accomplishments made by our nonprofit organization, Tumaini Volunteers.
I certainly can’t take credit for any of these. This is my daughter’s organization and I am just there for moral support. Since she is the chairman of the board and I am the vice-chairman, I guess my job is to let her boss me around.
This has been a lot more work than I had ever anticipated. Government forms, bylaws, business plan, audits, I don’t know, the list seems pretty endless. And what with all of that, it feels as if we are really not working much towards our goals of helping those living in poverty in Kenya. I just want all the paperwork out of the way and I want us to have our volunteers signed up for a trip to Kenya and I want them all fired up to work on a project which will bring sustainability into the lives of families in need. When I say, “I want, I want, I want”, I sound so selfish, don’t I?
Anyway, these are some of the concrete things we accomplished in 2014:
* apply for tax exempt status * do a large scale fundraiser for Tumaini * set up Etsy shop * make $1000 selling our Kenyan crafts * get tax exempt status
That doesn’t sound like much. In between all of that, though, we worked on our business plan, constantly hounded people to volunteer their time, and held a friend-raiser in addition to the fund-raiser. I personally set up and attended, I think, five sales. A few times my sister helped, but I did a few of them by myself. The crafts we brought back from Kenya reside in the suitcase my daughter took there twice. With all the toting of this suitcase which I have done to all these sales, I feel like the suitcase has put on more miles around northern Wisconsin than it has going back and forth to Africa twice.
In the coming year, we hope to finalize our business plan, solicit some larger contributions, sign up a team of volunteers to return to Kenya next fall, plan that trip and take it.
If anyone, anywhere out there, is interested in getting involved in any way with Tumaini, PLEASE let me know. You can go to our website for more information, www.tumainivolunteers.org or check out our facebook page.
I certainly can’t take credit for any of these. This is my daughter’s organization and I am just there for moral support. Since she is the chairman of the board and I am the vice-chairman, I guess my job is to let her boss me around.
This has been a lot more work than I had ever anticipated. Government forms, bylaws, business plan, audits, I don’t know, the list seems pretty endless. And what with all of that, it feels as if we are really not working much towards our goals of helping those living in poverty in Kenya. I just want all the paperwork out of the way and I want us to have our volunteers signed up for a trip to Kenya and I want them all fired up to work on a project which will bring sustainability into the lives of families in need. When I say, “I want, I want, I want”, I sound so selfish, don’t I?
Anyway, these are some of the concrete things we accomplished in 2014:
* apply for tax exempt status * do a large scale fundraiser for Tumaini * set up Etsy shop * make $1000 selling our Kenyan crafts * get tax exempt status
That doesn’t sound like much. In between all of that, though, we worked on our business plan, constantly hounded people to volunteer their time, and held a friend-raiser in addition to the fund-raiser. I personally set up and attended, I think, five sales. A few times my sister helped, but I did a few of them by myself. The crafts we brought back from Kenya reside in the suitcase my daughter took there twice. With all the toting of this suitcase which I have done to all these sales, I feel like the suitcase has put on more miles around northern Wisconsin than it has going back and forth to Africa twice.
In the coming year, we hope to finalize our business plan, solicit some larger contributions, sign up a team of volunteers to return to Kenya next fall, plan that trip and take it.
If anyone, anywhere out there, is interested in getting involved in any way with Tumaini, PLEASE let me know. You can go to our website for more information, www.tumainivolunteers.org or check out our facebook page.
January 7, 2015
What I wrote in 2014
Now that you know what I read last year (because of course you have been following my blog so you already know what I had to say last night), let me share what I wrote.
WRITING* finish writing “Early Lifeof Jesus in 40 Days” * publish “Early Life of Jesus” * finish writing “Tale of an American Woman” * start writing “Early Ministry of Jesus in 40 Days”
I can’t remember when I actually started writing my second devotional, “The Early Life of Jesus in 40 Days”. Definitely over a year ago. I finished it, however, sometime in early September because it took me another month to finish a final edit and send it to my publisher.
My publisher released the book for publication on December 15, but if you are waiting for a print copy, join the crowd. There was a glitch with the printer, so even though I got one proof copy, I am still waiting for my case of copies to sell. The good news is that it is available to download onto your e-reader, so please do so. (And then don’t forget to write a review of it on Amazon.com or wherever else you wish.)
In January of 2012 (yes, three years ago), I had a dream about a lost Kenyan youth. I started writing his story shortly after that. About 40,000 words into the thing, I decided instead to tell the story of the American woman who befriended him. That was probably not my most productive decision, but I had to do it for various reasons.
On November 23, I typed “the end” and closed the file. After it ferments for a little while, I will open it back up and begin editing (one of my big goals for this year).
The problem with writing a series of books is that you have to keep writing them. At least three altogether. I think they call two books in a series “lazy author”. So, a while back I started organizing my Bible passages for the third book, which has the tentative title of “The Early Ministry of Jesus in 40 Days”. It really doesn’t talk much about His actual ministry; it is more like “Jesus Comes on the Scene in 40 Days”. So if anyone has a better title than that, please share.
Anyway, so I did finish my outline for the third devotional and I did write a few of the 40 days. My goal is to get through most of it in the next few months so that I can start editing it by summer.
Yep, that is where my writing has taken me in 2014.
WRITING* finish writing “Early Lifeof Jesus in 40 Days” * publish “Early Life of Jesus” * finish writing “Tale of an American Woman” * start writing “Early Ministry of Jesus in 40 Days”
I can’t remember when I actually started writing my second devotional, “The Early Life of Jesus in 40 Days”. Definitely over a year ago. I finished it, however, sometime in early September because it took me another month to finish a final edit and send it to my publisher. My publisher released the book for publication on December 15, but if you are waiting for a print copy, join the crowd. There was a glitch with the printer, so even though I got one proof copy, I am still waiting for my case of copies to sell. The good news is that it is available to download onto your e-reader, so please do so. (And then don’t forget to write a review of it on Amazon.com or wherever else you wish.)
In January of 2012 (yes, three years ago), I had a dream about a lost Kenyan youth. I started writing his story shortly after that. About 40,000 words into the thing, I decided instead to tell the story of the American woman who befriended him. That was probably not my most productive decision, but I had to do it for various reasons.
On November 23, I typed “the end” and closed the file. After it ferments for a little while, I will open it back up and begin editing (one of my big goals for this year).
The problem with writing a series of books is that you have to keep writing them. At least three altogether. I think they call two books in a series “lazy author”. So, a while back I started organizing my Bible passages for the third book, which has the tentative title of “The Early Ministry of Jesus in 40 Days”. It really doesn’t talk much about His actual ministry; it is more like “Jesus Comes on the Scene in 40 Days”. So if anyone has a better title than that, please share.
Anyway, so I did finish my outline for the third devotional and I did write a few of the 40 days. My goal is to get through most of it in the next few months so that I can start editing it by summer.
Yep, that is where my writing has taken me in 2014.
January 6, 2015
What I read in 2014
The other day, as I was posting my list of 40 things I had done in 2014, I was hit with a stroke of genius. I can milk that list for a couple more days! Coz I am sure you looked at some of those things, and went “What is she talking about?” So without further ado, here is the explanation of my reading list from last year. 1. finish Ragged Hope 2. finish Sell Your Book like Wildfire3. finish the book of Numbers 4. read the book of Matthew 5. read the book of Deuteronomy 6. read the book of Mark7. read the book of Joshua 8. read the book of Judges9. read the book of Daniel and Decoding Daniel10. read Miracle at Tenwek
You probably said to yourself, “so what, she read ten books – or finished them – as I bet those first three books on her list she had started the year before.”To which I would respond, “Bingo”. Yes, I read more books last year, 22, I believe, if my Goodreads list is accurate. Seven of the books on this list are books of the Bible (and not part of the 22 books on Goodreads, by the way), which shouldn’t be a challenge, but anyone who has read the Bible knows that’s not true. I tend to only read my Bible at bedtime. It’s too big and bulky to drag around and read at lunch or while waiting for an appointment. I have one version of the Bible downloaded on my Kindle, but if you look carefully at my list, I tend to jump around, which I find hard to do on the Kindle.
Several other books simply were a challenge. Neither “Sell Your Book Like Wildfire” or “Miracle at Tenwek” kept my interest much, but I just kept plowing through. “Decoding Daniel” was also a challenge and way over my head. We read it for my Tuesday morning Bible study, so it took forever and parts of it were over the heads of everyone else in the room some mornings. Which should explain which books made my reading list and why. What books are on your reading list for 2015? What kinds of books are they? The latest best-sellers? Classics? Self-help?
January 4, 2015
40 in '14
I seem to still be wrapping up 2014. I have an aversion to change so it only figures that I wouldn’t deal well with the New Year. I’ve only had to write “’15” once so far. That is another advantage of on-line banking.
Anyway, last January I wrote up a list of 40 things to do in ’14. I had to tweak that list a lot over the year and I am just today adding the final few things that brings my number back to 40. And of course, I categorized the entire list. You knew I would.
READING1. finish Ragged Hope2. finish Sell Your Book like Wildfire3. finish the book of Numbers4. read the book of Matthew5. read the book of Deuteronomy6. read the book of Mark7. read the book of Joshua8. read the book of Judges9. read the book of Daniel and Decoding Daniel10. read Miracle at TenwekWRITING11. finish writing Early Life of Jesus in 40 Days12. publish Early Life of Jesus13. finish writing Tale of an American Woman14. start writing Early Ministry of JesusNONPROFIT15. apply for tax exempt status16. do a large scale fundraiser for Tumaini17. set up Etsy shop18. make $1000 selling our Kenyan crafts19. get tax exempt statusSEWING20. sew scrub top from Kenyan cloth21. sew curtains for Palm room22. sew retro summer dressHOUSE AND YARD23. clean my office and keep it clean!24. update my Snoopy list25. paint my bathroom 26. plant my garden27. plant my flowers28. make another trail in the woods29. clean the Palm roomTRAVEL30. go away in the spring31 take a road trip with my sister32. go camping in the summer33. go away in the fallCHURCH34. work on Easter Dinner 35. write children’s Christmas program36. do the Christmas programFAMILY37. host Trink’s BD party38. host Thanksgiving dinnerHEALTH39. walk half the streets of town40. start running again
Yes, some of these items seem pretty trivial, but sometimes the challenge is just getting the motivation. Plus, some things which seem so small are really quite big to me. I should have added taking my Kinship kid horseback riding and to the Renaissance Festival, coz those were really big, but then I would have had to re-work half of the list. Which inspires me to start on a list for 2015 and maybe then I can remember everything that I should be doing.
The problem with the 2015 list is should I make it 50 things long?
This is my Palm tree room in the basement. It hardly ever gets used, so can anyone tell me how it gets so dirty? (This picture was taken 18 months ago, after I cleaned it the last time. I didn't get any "before" pictures of it.)
Anyway, last January I wrote up a list of 40 things to do in ’14. I had to tweak that list a lot over the year and I am just today adding the final few things that brings my number back to 40. And of course, I categorized the entire list. You knew I would.
READING1. finish Ragged Hope2. finish Sell Your Book like Wildfire3. finish the book of Numbers4. read the book of Matthew5. read the book of Deuteronomy6. read the book of Mark7. read the book of Joshua8. read the book of Judges9. read the book of Daniel and Decoding Daniel10. read Miracle at TenwekWRITING11. finish writing Early Life of Jesus in 40 Days12. publish Early Life of Jesus13. finish writing Tale of an American Woman14. start writing Early Ministry of JesusNONPROFIT15. apply for tax exempt status16. do a large scale fundraiser for Tumaini17. set up Etsy shop18. make $1000 selling our Kenyan crafts19. get tax exempt statusSEWING20. sew scrub top from Kenyan cloth21. sew curtains for Palm room22. sew retro summer dressHOUSE AND YARD23. clean my office and keep it clean!24. update my Snoopy list25. paint my bathroom 26. plant my garden27. plant my flowers28. make another trail in the woods29. clean the Palm roomTRAVEL30. go away in the spring31 take a road trip with my sister32. go camping in the summer33. go away in the fallCHURCH34. work on Easter Dinner 35. write children’s Christmas program36. do the Christmas programFAMILY37. host Trink’s BD party38. host Thanksgiving dinnerHEALTH39. walk half the streets of town40. start running again
Yes, some of these items seem pretty trivial, but sometimes the challenge is just getting the motivation. Plus, some things which seem so small are really quite big to me. I should have added taking my Kinship kid horseback riding and to the Renaissance Festival, coz those were really big, but then I would have had to re-work half of the list. Which inspires me to start on a list for 2015 and maybe then I can remember everything that I should be doing.
The problem with the 2015 list is should I make it 50 things long?
This is my Palm tree room in the basement. It hardly ever gets used, so can anyone tell me how it gets so dirty? (This picture was taken 18 months ago, after I cleaned it the last time. I didn't get any "before" pictures of it.)
What holiday is this week?
This week the Christian church celebrates Epiphany. In Greek, the word Epiphany means manifestation or striking appearance, thus this holy day commemorates the revelation of God’s Son Jesus Christ as a human being. Different denominations emphasize every time in the life of Jesus from birth to the visit of the Wise Men to His baptism as an adult by John the Baptist. The church I attend has always celebrated Epiphany as the day when the Wise Men showed up, which makes sense to me because these travelers from afar were the first non-Jewish people to acknowledge Jesus. It’s one thing if your own people recognize You, but when foreigners say, “Hey, this is the One we’ve been looking for”, I feel that is a revelation.
Also, “The Early Life ofJesus in 40 Days”, which tells about this visit in detail, was just published, and I’d like to share some excerpts of it with you this week.
Day 16After Jesus was born in Bethlehem village, Judah territory – this was during Herod’s kingship – a band of scholars arrived in Jerusalem from the East. (Matthew 2:1)We always think of the wise men showing up at the place of Jesus’ birth. In reality, they probably arrived at least several weeks, if not months, later.Who were these scholars? No one really knows for sure, but they traveled out of the East, perhaps from Persia, or Babylon. They may have been astrologers, magicians, or even physicians.We also always picture three of them; somewhere, somebody even named them Melchior, Balthazar, and Gaspar. The Bible, though, never names them and never says that there were three of them. Once again, our imaginations want to make this Bible story more personal. We picture the magi riding camels across the desert, showing up just in time for Jesus to be born. It’s not important, though, how many there were or when they found Jesus. What matters is that the wise men do eventually find Him.We will learn as we continue to read Matthew’s account that the wise men don’t just stumble upon Jesus. They travel many miles, for many months. They have been searching for a very long time, studying Scripture and other documents, as well as asking around until they eventually find Jesus.
If you have recently let Jesus into your life, you can read the Bible and talk to others to learn as much as you can about Him. Ask questions, then be willing to commit your life to Him.
Also, “The Early Life ofJesus in 40 Days”, which tells about this visit in detail, was just published, and I’d like to share some excerpts of it with you this week.
Day 16After Jesus was born in Bethlehem village, Judah territory – this was during Herod’s kingship – a band of scholars arrived in Jerusalem from the East. (Matthew 2:1)We always think of the wise men showing up at the place of Jesus’ birth. In reality, they probably arrived at least several weeks, if not months, later.Who were these scholars? No one really knows for sure, but they traveled out of the East, perhaps from Persia, or Babylon. They may have been astrologers, magicians, or even physicians.We also always picture three of them; somewhere, somebody even named them Melchior, Balthazar, and Gaspar. The Bible, though, never names them and never says that there were three of them. Once again, our imaginations want to make this Bible story more personal. We picture the magi riding camels across the desert, showing up just in time for Jesus to be born. It’s not important, though, how many there were or when they found Jesus. What matters is that the wise men do eventually find Him.We will learn as we continue to read Matthew’s account that the wise men don’t just stumble upon Jesus. They travel many miles, for many months. They have been searching for a very long time, studying Scripture and other documents, as well as asking around until they eventually find Jesus.
If you have recently let Jesus into your life, you can read the Bible and talk to others to learn as much as you can about Him. Ask questions, then be willing to commit your life to Him.
January 3, 2015
Another Challenge
Two years ago I took the January Ultimate Blog Challenge. It is simple enough – post to your blog daily for a month. When I first started blogging in 2010, I actually wrote a blog nearly every night as I wanted to share my entire life story with the entire world. Over the years, it is not that the stories have dried up – I have a few left which I am saving for a rainy day. But as anyone who has a life would attest, it is a challenge to blog every day. I guess that’s why they call it a challenge.
Two days ago, rather out of the blue, I decided to take up the Ultimate Blog Challenge again. I had been lax in blogging, or doing much of any writing for the last two months, and I thought I needed something to get me going again. A commitment to BICFOK (butt in chair, fingers on keyboard).
So here I am. 28 more days to go, and not a lot of ideas in my head. Yet I will forge ahead. If you read yesterday’s post, you may remember that my word for the year is anticipation. I anticipate a year filled with words covering my computer screen and for that to happen I must start somewhere. This is where I begin.
(My writing space when I am on a roll. It has been a while since that has happened, but I will get it back again this month!)
Two days ago, rather out of the blue, I decided to take up the Ultimate Blog Challenge again. I had been lax in blogging, or doing much of any writing for the last two months, and I thought I needed something to get me going again. A commitment to BICFOK (butt in chair, fingers on keyboard).
So here I am. 28 more days to go, and not a lot of ideas in my head. Yet I will forge ahead. If you read yesterday’s post, you may remember that my word for the year is anticipation. I anticipate a year filled with words covering my computer screen and for that to happen I must start somewhere. This is where I begin.
(My writing space when I am on a roll. It has been a while since that has happened, but I will get it back again this month!)
January 2, 2015
And this year's word is . . .
I don’t know how – or why – this word got stuck in my head last night. But there it is and there is not much I can do about it.
ANTICIPATION
Just like the kid with the ketchup bottle, we wait with impatient anticipation for something really good. Or we sit on the edge of our seats, holding our breath in anticipation of some news. Or we just plain look forward to tomorrow or the next day. We wonder when the sun will come out. We wonder when the snow will melt. We wonder if we will ever see green grass again.
I have always lived in anticipation. I love to plan. I love to look at the calendar and try to figure out what to do on my next day off. I search the internet plotting trips to places like Michigan and Missouri. I count the days until we can jump in the car and my planning comes to life. I page through the calendar and mark any day when anything is supposed to happen.
ANTICIPATION
And if I have nothing to look forward to, if there are no vacations on the horizon, no family gatherings on the calendar, nothing to count down to, I get pretty bummed out.
This year, however, I am going to thrive on my anticipation. If there is nothing in the works, I will anticipate tomorrow’s sunrise, I will anticipate kicking my shoes off at the end of the day, I will anticipate a peaceful evening on the couch.
I can live for today, but I will anticipate tomorrow!
