Day 4. The Letter D. The annual picture of Daddy and “the girls” “In the game of pitch, you can shoot the moon with only an ace and a deuce – providing it’s the first hand of a new game.” This is the kind of wisdom I learned from Daddy – the object of today’s thirty days of gratitude. Home-spun …
>Duststorms Then and Now
>This has been a horrible year for folks out in western Oklahoma and much of west Texas. Rainfall is measure in one-hundredths of an inch and every precious drop is welcomed. The drought and high winds have birthed many dust-filled days and wildfires. Thousands (maybe millions) of acres of land have burned along with many homes. More and more people …
>Old Friends and New: Book Signings Part Two
> I went through all twelve grades with Angie Last weekend, I returned to another of the “home fires” – the town where my parents grew up and where my sister and dad still live. Although the times I’ve actually lived there have been short, it’s where I come home to – where many of my relatives lived and died. …
>Chasing a Dream
> I’m guest blogging on the FaithWords blog today about my writing dreams. Here’s a snippet. As a young girl in Texas, I didn’t think of my life as being anything but ordinary. My dad worked in a petroleum plant. My mom sold Avon so she could save up for a piano and pay for lessons for my two younger sisters …
>Much to be thankful for
>Before this month of traditional thankfulness slips away, here are a few things for which I’m grateful. My dear hubby, Max, who somehow, year after year, plods along with me, taking all my quirks in stride. And this fall, he scarcely batted an eye when I announced that I wanted our new entry doors to be painted red. Five coats …
>SALUTE TO OUR VETERANS AND TROOPS
> My dad (2nd from right) during the 1930s My dad grew up in Oklahoma during the Great Depression, the second of six children. Raised on a farm, he has talked about doing without and once marveled at how his mother could feed a family of eight with only one can of salmon. He was too young to enter WWII, …
>CAFE SPECIAL OF THE WEEK – Cream Cheese Pumpkin Pie
> Nothing says autumn to me like the smell of pumpkin! I love pumpkin-scented candles, trips to Starbucks for the pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin pie, of course, and in the past I’ve tried to make pumpkin cheesecake. Without much success. The recipes were either too rich, too complicated, too lopsided, toooooooo . . . you know? So, I have this …
>My First Book Signing
>I thought I would lump my two signing/launch events together, but then I decided that my first book signing should have its own post. What a fun evening. My publisher set up the signing with the Mardel Christian Book store in Tulsa and provided beautiful posters and flyers announcing the event. And the host store was so accommodating, I kept …
>HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY
>To moms everywhere: No matter where your kiddos are – I wish you a lovely Mother’s Day. Being a mom is one of the greatest privileges I’ve had. Love to my boys, their precious wives, and all my grandkids. You know who you are. PS: Once every few years, Mother’s Day falls on the birthday of my grandmother on my …
>CAFE SPECIAL OF THE WEEK – Bierox
>My first introduction to this tasty meat-filled pastry was from my mother-in-law (who I’ve mentioned before was an amazing cook). It is said to be a German dish, and the area Mennonite women did make bierox, but actually, it was more like the “community” specialty. My mother-in-law took them hot (wrapped in foil) to the field during wheat harvest. Students …