Saraj!

Look at Saraj with the binoculars Uncle Pat and Aunt ME sent him! He's such a cutie pie!

So Cold!

Oh my goodness, I'm freezing!

And it is only November!

Wind chill is in the single digits today.  It feels as if the cold air is just streaming through our windows today. 

I love this version of Royals

       

The Florida State University A cappella group, the AcaBelles, sings "Royals" 

First Draft Done!

After sending the first book of the new series to Mary Lynn she agreed with me that this has to be a novel instead of a series.  There are so many characters it might be easier for the reader to have it all in one book.

So, I have been working night and day on it for the past few weeks.  I just finished the first draft.  Now I will read it out loud and work to get it ready to go to Mary Lynn.  Then when she sends it back I make corrections, tweak it a bit more and then I send it off to Kay.  She always comes up with some great suggestions and corrections.

After Kay reads it I am going to ask Jane and Sarah and Mary to read it out loud together.  They have a unique homeschool advantage and I want to make sure the homeschooling part is accurate.  It is also imperative that the characters are the correct characters in each spot.  When I say Jerry's mother is Mrs. Castor, it better be Mrs. Castor and not Mrs. Maxum!

Then hopefully, the book will be out this summer.  My first novel!  Yeah!

Grandma Shea is Smiling!

 

I love this photo. Grandma Shea's 75th birthday with all her grandchildren.

Look at the top, there is Michael. He was at the top there and he is at the top today. The road was long and filled with sharp dangerous curves and detours.

But he made it! Dr. Charles Michael Shea!

He sent me a reply to my congratulations and told me he was exhausted. The last week of preparation for defending his doctorate took a lot out of him.

Good! He should be exhausted! It was a huge undertaking. We should be exhausted and overworked and ready to have our eyes fill with tears of gratitude when accomplishing something great.

Otherwise it is just getting something finished.

This endeavor was much more than that. It has been a dedicated, concerted effort to be the best he can be. He set his goals high and achieved them.

We are very proud of him.

Short Trip

To Traverse City, of course! We found a great family restaurant. Little Bohemia on Front Street. It has been owned by the same family for 45 years.

I had their award winning Lasagna and Pat had perch. Both were great. We'll go again.

Then in the morning we went to the UP. We do love Michigan. There is something so special about having  bridge connection. Then back home via 23. It was long, but we do love driving through all the little towns.

Then home. It is always good to get home, even after just an overnighter.

Cheating!

That's what a day like today feels like in November! Cheating the winter blues away. It is almost 50, the sky is blue and the sun is shining down on us.

You know us, we are in the car!

Just Scroll Through My Blog

Just scroll down through this blog and you will see the most brilliant colors.  Reds, Oranges, Pinks, Yellows, Greens.  So many days with rain where the trunks turned pitch black to make the colors pop.

I have never seen a more beautiful fall!  The colors were brilliant for a very long time.  We hit the peak in so many different spots this year.  The UP, Petoskey, Grand Rapids, Lansing and Saginaw County has been the longest ever.

We haven't had very good color for the past several years.  And if we did see it the leaves only lasted a day or two.  Last year everything was very brown and dark yellow.  So maybe that is why this year has seemed so extraordinary.

Thank you God, for the gift of fall.  May we never ever tire of its beauty.  Amen.

A Hug is just a Hug, unless it is Jim Galm!

Even though this picture displays a romantic hug, I couldn't help but think of our friend Jim.

He gives such a good hug that everything does seem right with the world!

Thank you Jim for all your healing loving hugs these many years!

Margot

Yup, we got our Margot time! She is a doll. Joe and Liz are great parents. We had such a nice visit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Black Trunks Beautiful Leaves

I love a rainy fall day. I remember one day riding with Mom and she was so disappointed that the sun wasn't shining.  I told her this was my favorite type of day because the tree trunks turn pitch black and the leaves are brilliant gold, red and orange.  Nothing is more beautiful!

She said she had never thought of that and all of a sudden her "Ooohs and Ahhs" started coming from the back seat!  I felt warm inside knowing I had just opened a new world to my Mom.  It was such a privilege.

Today was that kind of day.  A day when Patrick stopped, backed up, moved the car a little more forward.  He just did everything I asked to get the picture.  And he loved doing it for me.  Blessed.