Taking Stock

Firstly, the photos. All I had to do to get this shot was open an upstairs window. The view from any window in our house is pretty stunning. The second photo below is my little Valentine's gift to Michael. The snow was a good foot deep in places and iced over. You can see at the top of the heart where I fell down. Just adds to the charm of the message, I think!

The beginning of the year is a good time to take stock and I'm literally trying to sort out all the stock I bought in the summer and fall. This is estate sale heaven and I just accumulated a lot of things that I need to get rid of now. My Etsy pattern shop has about five hundred patterns listed but I have hundreds more waiting for their turn. And my vintage shop is up to about a hundred items as well. I figure if I haven't listed some of this stuff yet, I might as well give it away. Those "end of the day" $1.00 bags at the rummage sale are tempting but I've ended up with a lot of linens that aren't really good enough to sell. If I were clever, I could make something fabulous out of them. But my cleverness doesn't fall in that area.

The writing is going, but it's hard to pick a new project. Here's what I've got so far:
A middle grade novel about a boy who notices things and makes predictions
A middle grade novel about the Alphabet children, a family of six that pretty much are the terror of their little Texas town
A nonfiction picture book about the woman who invented paper sewing patterns.
A young adult novel about a most unlikely girl hero from a small town who ends up being the chosen one who has to save the world

Obviously, all the novels are meant to have a strong element of humor.

So there's where it stands. Choosing is hard. So is waiting. My Louisiana novel is out at Greenwillow as we speak.

Snowed in and snowed under

Um. It's been fun. Really. Snowed in....The snow here is stunning and Michael and I enjoyed four blissful days together here in Wilkes-Barre instead of in Manhattan to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary. We weren't really that disappointed. We're postponing Manhattan for later in the season. We had a blast just doing what we wanted to do for days. We got up when we wanted, went where we wanted and ate where we wanted. I did a little business on my shop and he made a few phone calls, but basically we just took the time off to enjoy each other and to relax. Could have been a whole lot worse! We spent the actual day at church. It was ward conference. I had boiled shrimp the day before and on the actual day I made what Michael loves best--wedding cake. Not the new-fangled stuff with filling and weird ingredients like carrots, but the old-fangled white cake with white shortening icing. It came out fabulous.

Snowed under...I'm trying to get tax stuff together (yuck!), papers organized (bigger yuck!) and trying to get back into the writing routine (not yuck at all but very challenging.) So far this year I've submitted my Louisiana novel to a publisher, sent off an application to Simon and Schuster for contract work, submitted two story ideas to The Friend magazine and worked very hard for an idea for my next book. I have a couple we'll see how they work out.

All in all, it's been a pretty promising 2011 so far. I have tons of goals and I'll try hard to keep at them.

Okay, I'm back

It's been a while, I know. We did have a white Christmas in Utah. This was the view out our hotel window. We had a mountain view (which we saw one or two of the days we were there) but when it's snowing, you don't see any mountains. It was lovely weather and not at all cold. We did almost get snowed into our hotel one day, however.

It was a tough trip health-wise. Michael picked up some kind of bug and it really bothered him. And I, of course, always get headaches when I travel. But we tried our best to have fun with the kids. They really were on their best behavior and were as charming as they could possibly be. I don't post pictures of them here, but I don't think you can recognize this one from the photo. This was a very uncharacteristic moment during Christmas morning. The children were delighted with all their presents, they shared beautifully and they enjoyed every minute.

We got to take them out in twos to have an outing. That was really fun to spend time with them and be able to concentrate on them one on one.

Michael had always wanted to go to the Salt Flats at Bonneville so he did that one day. GL and I went to the mall and had a grand time at the play park inside. We had frozen yogurt and generally amused ourselves. We were really tickled at E, the youngest, who took off while we weren't paying attention. Of all the stores he could have headed for, he went straight for the shoes! Love it! Michael and I got to buy him a pair of shoes for Christmas. We know he will enjoy them!

The trip home was less fun. We got stranded in Philly of all places. We were hoping to get stranded in Las Vegas for a few days, but that was not to be. So just a thirty minute flight from home, we ended up in a terrible snow storm. Thanks to a savvy son and sons-in-law we managed to get a hotel room and make a decision about driving home. After our flight had been canceled the second day, we decided to rent a car and started the drive home at about midnight. We were supposed to get a Prius (which would have been cool) but look what we got instead! The trip home was nervewracking for us since we couldn't see the road conditions all that well and the wind was horrendous (which bothered this car almost none at all--but there were lots of big trucks on the road too), but the next day Michael got to drive this to work. I got to drive for a long while on the way home. My first time ever to drive the dream car of my youth. I was surprised that I loved the way it handled and that it was a really awesome automobile. Plus this model had all these cool blue lights everywhere in the interior. Reminded me of my son! Maybe when it gets too hard for me to fold up into my little Miata, we might want to get one of these!

All in all, it wasn't the most stress-free vacation, but GL and her husband, DS, graciously made things as nice as possible for us. And there were the children and all the excitement leading up to Christmas. Very nice.

TubaChristmas!

If you've been following our adventures since last year, you'll know that last year's TubaChristmas trip was a total bust.  We got to Philly only to be told that a huge blizzard was on its way and that we had better hightail it back to our home in Northeast PA before it hit. Which we did. Not so much fun although we did get to see Macy's downtown in its Christmas splendor.

This year was much better. We made it to Binghamton, New York for their TubaChristmas. In the photo, Michael waits patiently for the event to start. Unlike the TubaChristmas in Dallas, this one has no rehearsal. We found this out after we had gotten there an hour and fifteen minutes early.

So folks arrived sporadically and just sat around noodling for a very long time. A rather exciting sound in a reverberative place like a mall.

Here's most of the group. I think there must have been about 70 players there. Not anywhere as big as the Dallas, Texas one in which hundreds participate, but the sound was so much cleaner and more musical. I heard lots of lovely harmony that got lost in the huge crowd in Dallas. The conductor even got nice dynamics and tempo changes from this group. In Dallas, the conductor brings down the stick and hopes that everyone finishes up together.

 Michael with his Boosey and Hawkes euphonium. It is a very large horn compared to regular baritone horns but after watching him play his enormous Holton tuba in the Hazleton band, this beauty looks like a baby.

And a picture of me. I am the family photographer and I've decided to insist on one picture of me at every event just to prove that I do indeed exist. Thanks to MF for the cool Christmas scarf she gave me for my birthday. (She probably doesn't remember but she also gave me the Christmas turtleneck several Christmases ago. We could also talk about the watch which Mom and Dad gave me twenty-one birthdays ago, but let's not go there.)

All in all, a very fun time and an integral part of Denney Christmas celebrations.

A Gift for You...The Mommy Quiz

This is my gift to all the mommies out there. Feel free to share this one with any other mommy you know. Someone has to write viral emails, right?

This is an easy quiz. You only have  to keep track of your "yes" answers. And even one "yes" means that you pass.






The Mommy Quiz

Have you ever…


Put a piece of priceless original art on your refrigerator?

Sewed clothing for a stuffed animal?

Decorated cupcakes after eleven o’clock at night?

Ironed a homework paper?

Catered a Blue and Gold banquet?

Spent time on your hands and knees looking for a matching Barbie shoe?

Written an important note in crayon?

Made anything out of pipe cleaners?

Stepped on a Lego?

Hidden chocolate?

Used a dryer sheet for something other than softening clothes?

Chauffered a group of people who totally ignored you?

Substituted tomato soup for something else in a recipe?

Returned clothing to a store because it wasn’t cool enough?

Made a Halloween costume out of a paper bag, a pillowcase or aluminum foil?

Picked nits?

Wished that you could be at two PTA meetings at the same time?

Decorated your Christmas tree with ornaments that had someone’s school picture on them?

Organized a game of Duck, Duck, Goose, Goose?

Washed dishes with laundry detergent?

Stayed up all night helping someone with a science fair project?

Gotten a lollipop stuck in your hair?

Read the same book five times in a row?

Repaired a backpack that really should have been replaced but couldn’t be because it had someone’s favorite character on it?

Lied when you were asked if you were too tired to help someone?

Folded a load of clothes that had more than seven unmatched socks?

Taken the one cookie that broke when you took a dozen of them off the cookie sheet?

Made a pie that you didn’t get to eat?

Truly enjoyed a second grade play?

Died a little inside when you heard someone yelling at their kid in the grocery store?

Cried during "The Little Mermaid" when Ariel's father says how much he will miss her?

Lost your heart to a snotty nose?

Grieved at a spelling bee?

Cheered for the wrong thing at a sporting event because you didn’t understand the rules?

Taken care of other sick people when you were sick yourself?

Put food coloring in milk?

Ridden a school bus in your best suit and heels?

Worn an article of clothing that was out of style so that someone else could have new clothes?

Known the difference between a T-Rex and an allosaurus?

Driven to Wal-Mart for one piece of poster board?

Made a costume depicting an obscure historical figure, a vegetable, or an amphibian?

Raided someone’s Halloween bag of candy while they were asleep?

Tried to explain a physics concept to a four-year-old?

Made dinner when what you really felt like doing was throwing up?

Played basketball, soccer, baseball or football in public in a dress or high heels or both?

Let someone win at Candyland?

Been thrilled when someone gave you a potholder?

Signed a school permission slip in the dark?

Been able at one time to identify any of the following: the four Teletubbies, the four Ninja Turtles, the four Power Rangers, the four New Kids on the Block, the four Bratz or the four Jonas Brothers?

Worked a fifteen-hour day with no pay or even thanks and felt grateful?


For every “yes," give yourself one star in your crown.Whether or not your little ones are underfoot or grown with little ones of their own, it’s probable that you spend a lot of your time doing things for other people with little thought for yourself. Many of the things you do go unrecognized and it is even possible that no one will ever thank you for them. But know this: you deserve the eternal gratitude of your family, your neighborhood and even your country. Because no one else can do what you do. And the Mommy job is and will always be the most important job in the world.

Dear Santa

Dear Santa,

Here is my Christmas list:

1. World peace.
2. Time travel to the Christmas party in this picture or to any time when my kids were small.
3. The power to disapparate to Texas and Utah  (Adding Paris to this list would be a nice extra).
4. A life without migraines.
5. A magic decluttering wand.

Before you become sad at not being able to grant any of my wishes, here are the things you don't have to give me this year as I am personally well-stocked:
1. Music.
2. Love.
3. Faith.
4. Hope.
5. Joy.

As long as you make a stop at one special house in Provo and another in Carrollton,  I'm good.  Happy Holidays.

Given up on me yet?

Okay, I've been crazy busy. Sorry. It's been wild. And I've been very happy. Lots of grandbaby hugs and parental hugs and support in Texas and Louisiana. Also, seeing three of my kids in the same room was pretty exciting. We're hoping to get all four of them together next year. But 75 per cent was pretty good. They are beautiful and amazing children.

MF and I have finished a book together. We're working on second draft now and will be looking for an agent soon. She's also full-time mommy, preschool teacher, Primary music leader and quite a few other things among which is gracious family hostess due to her lovely new home. NS has been a very supportive wife, cousin, aunt and daughter-in-law this year and is making wonderful art. She continues to bask in the glow of her recent Houston Quilt Show triumph. (http://www.unt.edu/) She's on the front page of the UNT website right now. ZL is finishing up Calculus 3, a mighty accomplishment, has gotten a new job and is getting ready for next semester. Pretty impressive. GL is expecting baby number 6 and teaching home school and playing in the Utah Valley orchestra and running her own successful website and boutique and a few other things that it makes me too tired to mention at the moment.

Michael and I enjoyed the trip to Texas and are getting ready for the snowy winter here in Pennsylvania. We're missing the music at the church Christmas party and church Christmas program. But since TubaChristmas in Corning, New York and a trip to Utah to visit Georgia's family are the conflicts, I'm happy.

I'll try to do better in future.