doodles . . . journals . . . books . . .

I have written in a journal for years.  I started using a journal just to let everything out.  I was going through some tough times and someone suggested that it would help . . . it did.  There were times that I was amazed at how much better I felt after writing everything down.  Years later I burned all those journals.  There were things in them I didn't want anyone else to read and there were a lot of things I worked hard to let go of . . . I never wanted to read them again myself.  It actually felt great watching them grow up in smoke.  :)
I still journal . . . almost every day.  I have a personal journal, an art journal, a prayer journal . . . and various notebooks that I jot ideas down in.  Somehow it just feels right to write it all down.
I decided to use this post to list a few journal prompts that I was thinking about today.

1.  Good Things Today - just make a list . . . 

2.  What do you want your children and/or grandchildren to remember about you.

3.  What do you like most about yourself and why?  (Go for it . . . list more than one.)

4.  Write a letter to your younger self.

5.  Write about three things from your childhood that helped make you who you are.

6.  Write about three things in your life that changed you.

7.  Change . . . how do you deal with change?

GOOD THINGS TODAY . . .
a big hug and a sticky strawberry kiss from Avery Rose.  :)
Lily coming into the office today just to give me a hug
reading
talking to my Aunt Hess
watching "Bull Durham" . . .  (best baseball movie ever)
hot mint tea
folding paper cranes
dinner ready when I got home
candles and incense

"It's never too late for a new
beginning in your life."
~ Joyce Meyers

always reading . . .

"So many books, so little time."

~ Frank Zappa

I really need more hours in every day!  So I can read . . . and paint . . . and sew . . . and play . . . and take care of all the ideas whirling around in my head.  So I try to make the most of my time each day.  It is hard for me to sit and just do nothing - so there is always a book and journal in my purse to keep me occupied while I am in the car or waiting for an appointment.
I cannot a imagine my life without reading.
 I have had several people try to convince me to switch to reading on a Kindle.
I just can't seem to bring myself to do that.  There is something about the feel and smell of a book . . . turning the pages . . . taking pictures of your stack of books you want to read . . .  and bookshelves packed full of stories and magic.
What are you reading?

"Reading is like thinking, like praying, like talking to a friend, like expressing your ideas, like listening to other people's ideas, like listening to music, like looking at the view, like taking a walk on the beach."  ~ Robert Bolano, 2666

in a John Steinbeck kind of mood . . .

"Many people, myself among them,

feel better at the mere sight of a book."

~ Jane Smiley, Thirteen Way of Looking at a Novel

After spending a few days in Monterey,  I decided to reread Cannery Row . . . which I am enjoying so much that I decided to go on a John Steinbeck binge.  I stopped in the used bookstore yesterday and picked these up for $3 - $4 each.  Most of them I read years ago, but there are a couple that I am looking forward to reading for the first time.  This beats a Netflix binge any day!

". . . perhaps that might be the way to write this book - 

to open the page and to let the stories crawl by themselves."

~ John Steinbeck, Cannery Row

Happy Friday!

ghosts stories and flowers . . .

 Yes, I actually bought this book to read on the way home from the coast. 

 Maybe I bought it for the same reason I like Halloween and cemeteries . . . whatever reason that is. 

 I love Monterey's history.  As California's first capital and one of it's oldest settlements, there can't help but be a few ghost stories - (more than a few actually).  I can't say I believe in ghosts, but ghost stories are always fun . . . and the Monterey area definitely is a perfect setting for such stories.  I may have been a little more aware visiting the Point Pinos Lighthouse had I known it was said to be the home of a ghost.   

I survived my first day back to work . . . getting up at 5:00 and a day full of meetings.  

As much as I enjoy a break during the summer . . . I am excited about getting back to work.  I may not feel the same way by the end of the week, but I should be so busy the week will be over before I know it.  Besides . . . only 99 days until Thanksgiving Break!

summer stuff . . . .

Reading . . . reading . . . reading . . . I love the extra time I have in the Summer that I can spend reading.  I think a trip to the book store is in order though . . . I am nearly done with these.  

 Lily and I have a Summer bucket list . . . we can now cross off "getting a pedicure" and going to lunch.  I am going to have to add "a trip to the bookstore to that list and take Lily with me. 

 Lunch with the girls . . . I love when they are together.  Charlotte tries to keep up with everything Lily does . . . and they get so extremely silly at times.  I LOVE SILLY!

"If you hear a voice within you say, 'You cannot paint,'

then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced."

~ Vincent Van Gogh

feeling relaxed . . .

It has been a long week . . . in a good way.  

I guess I sort of decided to take the week off from everything . . . not just work.

  The weather has been beautiful and it has been a joy just to be outside.  

I basically relaxed and enjoyed every day.  

It is back to work tomorrow . . . I think I tend to get more things done when I am working, so maybe in some ways that is a good thing.  

GOOD THINGS THIS WEEK!

1. Dying eggs with Lily

2. Long walks and going to the park with Charlotte

3. Rereading To Kill A Mockingbird . . . then staying up to watch the movie

4. Gregory Peck

5. Easter dinner at Jake and Kasey's . . . a wonderful day with family and friends

6. Staying up late and sleeping in

7. Watching the kids hunt for eggs

8. lots of sunshine

9. getting plants for my garden

10. feeling very relaxed

What I'm Reading . . .

"Books are uniquely portable magic."

~ Stephen King

A few weeks ago we were still getting temperatures in the 80's.  Fall finally decided to make an appearance . . . the temperatures have dropped and we've had a few very welcome rainy days.  With the change in the weather I find myself more often than not drawn towards reading.  I sit wrapped in my favorite soft quilt and let myself get lost in a book. 

Stephen King . . . maybe sort of a creepy place to get "lost", but with a couple exceptions . . . I have always enjoyed his books.  Something about his writing . . . once I get into the rhythm of one of his stories I tend to forget I am reading a horror story.  I had not read anything he had written in years until my son got me interested in him again.  

I finally got around to reading one of the books I bought this past summer written by a local author, Armen Bacon.  She was a keynote speaker at a meeting I attended back in August.  Her book My Name Is Armen turned out to be much better than I anticipated and very inspiring. 

 I have always enjoyed reading.  When I was younger I would stay up late . . . not being able to go to sleep until I finished the next chapter . . . and then the next chapter. These days I tend to fall asleep a little easier.  I know when I reread a paragraph a couple of times that it is time to turn out the light.  I tend to go through spurts where I read more often than others.  I am always buying books . . . and I nearly always have a book with me.  I cannot bring myself to read on a Kindle.  Maybe I haven't given it enough time, but I simply like the feel of a book in my hand, and I love my shelves filled with the books I have read.  I love books stores and libraries and opening boxes from Amazon filled with books that I have ordered.

It is getting late and I have a few more chapters to finish . . .   I am reading Can I Get An Amen? by Sarah Healy.  Not the type of book I usually read, but it is an easy read and sort of a tender, heartwarming story.  That may be what I needed after reading a couple of books by Stephen King.