Last day of July, 2011

Spent three and a half glorious hours at Panera working on my book, mostly research to answer questions that occured to me when I was in Boston. I put on my headphones and get my large iced tea and delve into 1775 with enormous satisfaction. I haven't had much time to write this summer. With the kids both home full-time, by the time 9:30 p.m. rolls around and kids are in bed (supposedly 8:30), the dog has been walked, Greg and I have a chance to chat about our days, I'm usually ready to sleep and the thought of powering up my computer for research or writing is as unappealing as nighttime sit ups;-). So today, Sunday, was a wonderful time to focus.

The kids and I are biking a lot as I'm trying to exercise away about eight pounds. Now if they want a weekly bagel at Panera, we ride four miles round trip to get that treat. We have to drive to a place where we can all be on safe sidewalks first, but it's fun and the kids seem to argue a lot less when they get lots of outside exercise.

We found a tunnel for $2 at a thrift store (don't shop them much now with the kids to avoid the unending "I wanna xyz"" but we did this day and trained Brandi to go through it with treats. I often feel like she needs more interesting things to do; she's not exactly the obstacles course type Sheltie, but I've read dogs are happier when they are challenged to think and try new things. So this was a happy find.

I am always trying to find ways to get the kids to help out in the garden, not usually to much avail, but when Kai realized he could deliver some annuals we'd gotten on sale to the pot I was putting them in, he got into the spirit.;-)

Good wishes to all and to all a happy summertime! Eileen

Summer and the living is good;-)

Wisconsin summers are beautiful! And the dry weather, while bad for gardening, has kept away our usual hordes of mosquitoes. Farmer's markets every weekend are a bonus. Rode our bikes downtown to meet Greg for dinner and met a very gracious woman from Columbia who is visiting his firm. She is completely bilingual and it makes me happy I've been studying Spanish with the kids a bit each day and excited to someday be able to carry on a conversation! Wishing you all happy summers!

Boston research trip...

Just got back from a wonderful, wonderful trip to Boston to see all the historic sites from Paul Revere's home to Old North Church, to Lexington and Concord. The trip really gave me a new perspective on our history and corrected some important logistics errors in my book where I have characters doing things that were either on the wrong side of Boston or physically impossible due the time and mileage;-). These sorts of errors will now be corrected. The trip also gave me an appreciation for what a gift we've been given to live in a democracy. The birth of America was never a sure thing! Good wishes! Eileen

War of 1812

Sorry that I appear to have fallen off the planet. The kids home full time for the summer has been a lot of fun, but very active. Today we went to Prairie Du Chein for a War of 1812 battle reenactment at this very fort on the Mississippi river. It was really interesting (no lives lost) and I learned lots of little details about the lives of soldiers, their families, etc. so it was helpful for my book too. The book comes along in bits and pieces. Once the writing class was over, it's been hard to get many chunks of time, but I write when I can.

We are being pretty good on the frugal front - home more and eating at home pretty much always. Few thrift store ventures (much harder with two boys in tow;-)

The garden is wonderful this time of the year and always makes me happy, whether I'm out there or just watching from the windows.

Wishing all of you a happy July and baby steps along your own journeys. Eileen