Tag Archives: family

Four rather solid excuses for not blogging

02 Tuesday Oct 2012

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I know. I have some explaining to do. And I really don’t even have a good reason for my absence of over a month.

There I was back in August, cranking out some of my best writing—and I even managed to get Freshly Pressed—and what do I do?

I drop off the face of the planet.

It was a year to the date of blogging where I posted every week (in fact, I have two blogs–this one and Accidental Birder, so that means sometimes I was posting twice weekly), and I totally up and stopped. (screeching car sound)

The husb, Steve, calls it my blogcation.

Maybe.

The “Why”

Here are four possible theories on why I didn’t blog for over a month:

Sometimes writing is scary. My last two blog posts (It’s About Travel, Saying I Love You and Death and Channeling Sting’s Fields of Gold) were, I have to say, some of my better pieces of writing and for me, was a little (how shall I say?) revealing. Writing with that kind of honesty is new to me and I learned that it’s quite difficult to do. I felt a little weird like I did in Junior High School drama class when I had to get up on stage and act. It’s emotional and you have to do it in front of people. I dropped out of drama class on day 3, by the way.

My husband lives in Canada. I betcha didn’t know that. My husband’s business, which he just started, is in oil and the oil is in Calgary, Alberta. My career right now is taking place at a Fortune 100 Company in the U.S. For now, the right thing is to hang on to my job here in the U.S. until my husband’s company gets some legs. So, yes, we have a commuting marriage and it’s a little sad that I won’t see him as often. Alas, my muse is in Canada.

(Plus, he did the dishes a lot and cleaned the house and I’m doing all that stuff now. I won’t lie. I’m not good at all that. Did Hemmingway or Faulkner have to do the dishes? I doubt it. I learned this weekend from a friend that Proust sat around in his bed for years as he wrote. How come I can’t do that?)

Distraction #1: I’ve been redecorating. I’m queen of being distracted and there’s no better distraction for me than to shop. Since it’s just me and the cat puttering around the house I decided to get new furniture. It started with needing a new couch. The fabric just gave up after 12 years and all those worn out holes made me feel like I was living in a third world country. (I’m also queen of over stating things.) But the couch led to a chair and another chair and a coffee table, console table, lamp table and of course then a new lamp.

“What recession?” she says.

Behold! The new furniture

Check out those awesome candlesticks!

All this redecorating hardly helps me feel like Walt Whitman or Henry David Thoreau. (Though, maybe more like Proust now.)

Distraction #2: I’m up to my eyeballs in digitization. I came home from work late August and there was a big box waiting on my porch. I thought it was a birthday present. (My birthday’s in August. What, you forgot?) I tore it open and it wasn’t a birthday present. Instead, what I found was a box full of hundreds of slides and an unopened slide transfer machine I bought my mom for Christmas from Brookstone almost two years ago. My mom never got around to transferring the slides to digital so I just gave her a heavy sigh one day over the phone and said, “Just send it all to me and I’ll do it.” That was over six months ago. I have to be honest, it’s been one of the funnest things I’ve done and as I was posting them on my family’s private Facebook page this past month, my brother and sisters and my mom were all having a blast commenting and sharing stories. It was better than birthday and Christmas combined for me!

One of my favorite photos I transferred. That’s me, my older sister and my mom at Grand Teton National Park circa late 1960s. Dad’s taking the photo.

So, instead of writing I’ve been spending my blogging time going down memory lane. (And I’m only halfway done.)

Being okay with it all

I’ve pretty much decided that it’s okay that I didn’t blog for a month. Sometimes I need a break and I imagine you, dear reader (I’ve always wanted to write that), need a break from me.

Now, I’ve got to order some new pillows and an ottoman to go with that furniture. You don’t mind, do you?

A letter to my nieces

21 Saturday Jan 2012

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Dear Nieces,

It’s not a surprise that I have something to say.  I always have something to say. But sadly, I don’t’ have any daughters of my own to pass on words of wisdom and I wanted to pass along to you my list of twenty things to help you be your best in life:

  1. Use eye cream. I wish someone had told me that when I was in my twenties.  So if you’re in your twenties now or once you turn twenty, make it a priority. You’ll thank me when you’re forty.
  2. Always write thank-you notes. I’m big on thank-you notes. You can do this as soon as you can write your name. Sure, email is nice, but a nice card or stationery is always special.

    Me and my red shoes at age 3

  3. Own a pair of red shoes.  This is a must no matter how old you are.  I had a pair of red shoes when I was 3 and it’s stuck with me ever since.
  4. Go to school. And keep going and going. Take classes to learn new things to make you a more interesting person. School always makes you a better person.
  5. Always smile! Learn this while you’re young.  When you go to a new school, smile! When you meet new boys, smile! When you go on a job interview, smile! When you smile it makes you more approachable and people are attracted to people who smile. Plus, when you smile it makes you a happier person.
  6. Don’t be a victim. I decided not to be a victim some time ago.  I once felt pretty picked on and my life was just sad–or so it seemed. At that time I was in my early 30s and one day wrote an email to my childhood piano teacher who I had become friends with and thought I was a little bit funny and acerbic in the email. But it apparently came across as bitter.  This wonderful person sent back to me in the mail a typed letter kindly upbraiding me about my attitude.  Ever since that day I changed my thinking and changed my life forever.
  7. Always carry an emory board with you.  My grandpa Davis taught me this.  Genius advice!
  8. Go abroad. I typically don’t have regrets, but the one regret I do have is that I didn’t study abroad when I was in college.  I love to travel now and I do quite a bit of it, but how wonderful it would have been if I had spent a semester in Italy or England and fully immersed myself in another culture. Remember, the world is bigger than where you are right now.
  9. Don’t waste time. Don’t get sucked in to all the technology around you. (Gaming, Facebook, etc.) Enough said.
  10. Wear a high SPF in the sun.  Like the eye cream, you’ll thank me later.
  11. Be kind to your parents. When I was in junior high my uncle came to visit our family and I gave up my room to him while I slept on the couch. He was visiting for about a week and I don’t recall exactly what happened but apparently I must have been talking back to my parents during the time of his visit. After he had left and I moved back into my room I noticed a handwritten note that he had left for me, counseling me to be kinder to my parents. I was ashamed, of course, but I respected my uncle and his advice and after that point I didn’t talk back to my parents again.
  12. Learn to give hugs.  I’m not a “huggy” person but it seems as though there are gobs of people out there who like to hug.  When I went to college it seemed all the girls in the dorm liked to hug, my roommates included.  I’m not good at it even now.  But I don’t duck or run away anymore when “huggy” people start to approach me with a hug.  It’s still kind of weird to me.  (Just know that I’m working on this too.)
  13. Quit eating processed foods. Eat real food!  Too many chronic illnesses today seemed to be the result of years and years of processed food.  When you get to be old and fortysomething you’ll wish you had been eating fruits and vegetables all your life.
  14. Be gracious.  Say, “thank you,” and “please,” and always think that people have good intentions before you think they have bad intentions.  Trust me, you will be happier.  (See #6 above, “Don’t be a victim.”)
  15. Learn how to spell and learn how to write well.  I’m afraid all this texting and emailing has made us all very lazy writers. If you can be a great writer and communicator it will open up doors for you.
  16. Go see an Opera.  Come on, I really mean it.  At least once in your life you should go see an opera so your spine can tingle during the show-stopping aria.
  17. Learn how to make a béchamel sauce. My mother (or was it Dad?) taught me how to make this.  Essentially, it’s a white sauce that’s a base for so many things.  If you can master this (and it’s easy!) it will get you out of a pickle numerous times down the road.
  18. Be on time.  For crying out loud, you want to be on time. Being on time makes you reliable.
  19. Buy a Mac, not a PC. You’ll thank me later.
  20. Be brave. Do something bold every day. Get out of your comfort zone and be willing to make mistakes.

Well, that’s my advice for all of you sweet nieces. We’re far away from each other but I hope that the lessons I’ve learned can be useful to you. Lastly, have fun in life and make it your best life ever.

Love, Aunt Lisa