Potpourri--or however you spell that!

Last posting the trees were beginning to leaf out. They are fully out and at long last the pollen and seed pods are done! The pollen this year was something else! At times I felt I had the mumps! Now that summer is here so is the humidity. Walking from one end of the house to the other I am in a full sweat. I am seriously considering moving back west. Then the thought of packing/moving/unpacking hits and I turn the fan on high and don't say anything!



I've received the preliminary sketches of Sassy Pants, Molly and Farmer White. My illustrator's name is Liz. She grew up in the 'Burbs but her specialty is animals -- you'd never know she didn't have first hand knowledge! She nailed it! I tried to copy and paste but for some reason I can't seem to make it work. Maybe I can get some help--guess I could forward the pics to your emails. We should get a peek at all the illustrations soon. They go to layout in June and I get to see it one more time before it is a book. I've been much more involved in the process on this one--not so much on the adult books. Probably because there are no illustrations. Once the text is set I am basically done until the books are delivered and I have to figure out how to sell them!



We have not started the editing of the classes that we filmed. Probably should start that next week. This Friday David and I are actually going to take a weekend away! A friend and her husband went to the ocean last week. She had a stack of books to take along, but forgot to bring them and had a wonderful time. When I told her our plans she said she would pray the Lord help me forget to bring my computer!



I am trying to figure out what to do about my website--again. Just when I thought we were making great headway it all unravelled and we are back to square one. I am trying to get hold of Meilee's friend Hara to just talk. She is an award winning graphic artist--maybe she can help me figure out what I need to do. Ugh, marketing is such hard work!

 
My friend, Eiko, is learning massage therapy and asked if she could practice on me. Some requests are easier to say yes to than others = ) She started working and ran into a spot mid-back that has had a knot in it for years. She asked her instructor how to get it out and was told that I needed a massage every other day for a week! That way the muscles would not have time to knot up again before they got flattened out again. The hope was that they would remember to stay flat rather than in a bunch. I think it may have worked. What I had not anticipated  was breaking out in hives! I guess with my circulation slowed I haven't gotten rid of enough sludge. All those massages got it moving and I started itching like crazy! The itching is a good thing, it indicates detoxing. I need to be rid of it for sure! Relaxing the muscles has really helped. I no longer feel like I am pushing against a wide, thick rubber band when I walk. I have added an exercise that we believe will help my balance--so improvements are happening, incremental tho they be. It is rather exciting! A group of us had a prayer session after which the "cog fog"--the cobwebs in the brain that made thinking so hard to do--all of that disappeared and has not come back. That's a relief!



David continues to read on cancer and is trying to wade through all the conflicting opinions about what is good for you and what will give you cancer. Looks like bread is going to be a thing of the past. That's okay. It was a lot of work to make! Just so he doesn't mess with my coffee!



Last year the kids gave me money for silk. I wanted a silk shirt, and maybe a camisole. I looked and looked. It is hard to find! My woolie slippers finally wore out--had them for about 12 years. They didn't owe me! So I went shopping on the internet. Low and behold, one of the sites that had woolie slippers also carried silk. Seems New Zealand not only grows sheep but mulberry trees which support silk worms! Here's the best part--they were having a sale. An all silk cami for no more than you'd pay for a polyester one! Didn't even ask David if we could afford it--I got two and a tee shirt. However, I learned that the scoop neckline is not for me. A bit more revealing that I'm comfortable with. Now I know. Nothing lower than a jewel neckline. It's fixable. Now I have to order some Christmas presents.

Denny, my brother who wants to live in Alaska, is just about home. He'll be here sometime tonight. He was campground host at a wilderness Bureau of Land Management campground. The bureaucracy changed hands and the new guy supervising drove staff away by the herd! Not a fun guy to work for. They cut his pay and then he hurt his leg and plowed a furrow with his nose doing work someone else should have been doing and wouldn't, so he bagged it and came home. To bad, he loves Alaska and thoroughly enjoyed that job. The boss can make all the difference in the world.

Guess that catches you up on things in this corner of the world.  



Blessings, Carol