Female in Motion

I cleaned out my desk last week. Funny, but for a tidy person, I don't clean my desk very often. Anyway, I came across two packages of photographs from 2007 and 2008. I had set them aside to label and add to an album at a later time. When I talked to my mom on Sunday afternoon, she said that she had come across some old photos, too. Busy women tend to let the little things go and focus on putting out the big fires. The pictures were of my mom's big birthday party and a trip to Houston to visit family. These are important to me, so I took some time last weekend to label and date each one, but when I went to find a photo album to put them in, they were all full. I thought, what a wonderful problem to have, so many good memories that they are overflowing. Thanks, God! *** The Cowley County Writer's Guild met last Thursday at the library. We talked about cool stuff like: do you think you write better after reading a really good book, or a really bad book? Actually, we did a coo...

I met with my writing mentor, Dean Hall, last week. He's part mentor/part therapist and one hundred percent wise guy. He said during these dull winter months, in order to snap myself out of the doldrums, I need to add a little bit of insanity to every day. "Do something silly!" he said. So here goes. I propose that we start a grassroots campaign called "Practice Random Acts of Daily Insanity." As proof that I'm holding up my end of the bargain: On Friday, I wore The Hubster's over sized coat into Staples in Ponca City and flapped my arms around the aisles. (An employee asked if I needed any assistance.) On Saturday, my friend, Bonnie, gave me a pin that said "Feisty." I wore it the rest of the day, including stops in Wichita stores and restaurants. On Sunday evening, when asked by a church member why we were so quiet in church, I said The Hubster and I were necking. In front of the whole congregation! (We weren't, by the way.) *** Saturday ...

To say that the last two week's weather has been cold is like saying that chocolate is marginally tasty. Well, duh! The sub-zero nights and single-digit days stretched into a dismal and frigid pattern that paralyzed Ark City's already sluggish post-holiday social schedule. The Hubster and I hunkered down grizzly bear-style (with grocery provisions) and passed the time with plenty of blankets, naps, old movies and reading. The Hubster reads internet news articles and periodicals, I prefer contemporary fiction (and Facebook updates). *** Momala's Book Club Pick: "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society," by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, was published in 2008 by Random House. "Guernsey" is a freshman effort by Ms. Shaffer, who worked as an editor, librarian and in bookstores. She wrote stories most of her adult life, but this is the first one that was finished to her satisfaction. Juliet Ashton is a 33-year-old single journalist, living in ...

10. Failure is not an option! Thanks, Coach! 9. I never do group activities. Everybody is on a diet in January. 8. If I had plastic surgery, you all wouldn't recognize me! 7. God wants us to do the best we can all year 'round, not just try for a few weeks in January, then slough off the rest of the year. 6. I already exercise regularly and we're on a credit card diet. What else do you need? 5. If I went on one of those crazy diets and lost 100 pounds, all my friends would be green with envy and wouldn't want to hang out with me any more! 4. I beat myself up all year for things I'm not doing right, not just in January. 3. It's just so much fun to heckle everyone who is failing at their resolutions, while not being bogged down with my own. 2. Resolutions, schmezolutions... 1. If I just serve God and try to love Him more every day, then everything else will fall into place. Even if I'm chubby and have a tiny savings account, God still loves m...