Savor life's sweetness

At the storytelling conference

we paid for the box lunch on Saturday

It must be a Utah thing

I've never before had such an impressive looking dessert with a box lunch

We had a choice....rich chocolate cake or slice of cheese cake

It was NOT one of my sugar days

so I tucked my DE-licious looking cheese cake into my nearly empty lunch box

and carried it around with me

all afternoon

and

stashed it in the trunk all evening

while we were out with family

Now THAT is dedication

(Oh that I would cling to my scriptures with such focus)

I looked forward to Sunday---which I had chosen as my sugar day of that week

Kind of like life, don't you think?

Sometimes a savored hope is delayed

or unobtainable in the present moment

There are some sweet things I anticipate in eternity

Perhaps all the more delicious

for having to wait a while

As for the cheese cake. . .

On my drive back home on Sunday

I pulled over before I even got out of town

It's time, I declared aloud

Break open the lunch box

Savor the creamy smoothness with a touch of lemon

And with the first forkful I gave a shout-out toast to my little sister

Happy Birthday, Kristen, this bite's for you!

Here...I'll help you with that

Um-m-m-m-m

Thanks for sharing

What sweetness are you enjoying or hoping for?

Lucky Winner

Jocile checked the winner's chart and found my name...Number 26!

Authors and businesses contributed prizes for 50 of the conference attendees

Once again, I am a lucky woman

Did you notice there was also an Ison on the chart?

We never did meet her. . . .  I wonder where she lives

I'll be done with the book soon....anyone want to be the next reader?

(The Wedding Letters    Jason Wright)

Storytelling. Day 2

Second day of the storytelling conference

in the stunningly beautiful Joseph Smith Memorial Building ---- used to be Hotel Utah

On this day we had three class choices per hour

with three tracks of emphasis

Storytellers

Bloggers

Family Historians

One speaker raised a writing question, I, too have wondered . . .

What if I run out of things to say?

Leigh Anne Wilkes, presenter, had this thought to share:

When you are writing about something you are passionate about, you do not run out of things to say.

Find your writing niche---your passion--- by asking yourself

Is there an area in my life where good things seem to happen a lot?

An area I just have a knack for?

Something I am naturally good at?

What could I teach?

What brings me joy?

What do I enjoy that feels effortless?

What am I doing when all feels just right?

What kind of books do I read all the time?

What do I do on a free day?

What do I do when I procrastinate?

(Maybe you should be doing that the rest of your life, she suggested!)

Examine the answers to such questions.....and write in that zone

I quite liked the answer she shared for herself

She said, "I have a passion for making the most of what I'm given."

What passion do your books or your interests point to?

Bonus

Leigh Anne's scarf tying demo

Storytelling. Evening One.

Checking in with Richard on our dinner break

One of the sponsors, I suppose

Help yourself to some chips

We  had a delicious dinner in The Lion House restaurant

Then hiked back to the Convention Center

through Temple Square

The evening program was

Story Slam!

Some very brave conference attendees volunteered to present

(40 placed their names in a basket, 5 were chosen)

Story Slam rules:

True personal story

5 minutes maximum

No notes or reading

Delightful listening

Leaving a story in your family = casting your shadow into the future

What is one of the favorite stories you tell or hear in your family?

= = = = = = = =

Here is another of our conference storytellers

One of her stories on Youtube:

Kim Weitkamp
A story she told at the conference:  laps

A Heart of Service

This lovely granddaughter called me late Thursday night

Kind of in a time crunch

She had a deadline for a school assignment

By Tuesday morning she needed to have completed 4 hours of community service

She wondered if she could come do some service at my school

Certainly.......I'm sure I can generate a list of helpful tasks

if you can get to my school Friday afternoon

and stay late

I interviewed several teachers early in the day on Friday

By the time m'lovely girl arrived

they had supplied me with a fine To Do list

Slicing Memory Game cards

Bagging math money games for at home practice

Stapling kindergarten homework packets

Tidying stacks of papers

Dusting  and washing shelves and counters

Organizing books....the biggest book stash Taylee had ever seen in one school room, she said

Measuring

More slicing

216 chunks of sliced paper

ready for little kiddles

to cut and glue flower shapes

Sorting math manipulative pieces that had migrated out of their bins

It was 7:30 and we ran out of time before we got to the tasks in the library

I was worn out

but Taylee seemed to still be going strong

And then we got to see that splendid rainbow on our way to dinner at Subway

Such an awe-filled finale for our girls' night

Thanks for the fun time, lovely young woman

So glad you are willing to make the world a better place

Don't you love it when you glimpse the kindness of our youth!

What kind action of kids have you noticed lately?



Somewhere.......over the rainbow

What a stunning arc of glory in God's world

And then

there were TWO!

Can you see the beginning of the second?

Taylee and I were driving toward her home

in a steady rain Friday night

The sun broke through the clouds as it was trying to set in the west

And voila'

Taylee declared:

The best rainbow I've ever seen!

We pulled over into a parking lot to take a closer look
And there was the other end of the rainbow

The pot of gold . . . that which is of great worth . . .
where is it?
right in my own backyard, I'm thinking
what is it?
the blessing of a loving family
I am grateful

What is your pot of gold?

Story . . . it is everywhere

My sister, Jocile, and I had the juicy opportunity a week ago to attend a storytelling/storywriting conference in Salt Lake City, Utah :  The Power of Story @ Home 2012.

It's been a week and I haven't reported here. 
You know, after hearing beautifully crafted stories,
 I'm feeling a bit intimidated to put words to my experience. 
So sending my internal writing critic into a far country, I'll just jump in.

 Several time I had quiet thoughts:

This is such a privilege . . .  beautiful setting . . . .skilled story crafting generously shared
I am grateful

Our setting in Day One was the theater area in the Salt Lake Conference Center

 Plenty of room for the first annual Story @ Home conference

I heard there were 500-700 in attendance

When a good story is being told

I am happily suspended in the beckoning web of the teller

I am not taking a lot of notes!

So . . .  some lingering thoughts



>Sometimes we don't know the value of a moment, til it's a memory

>The combination of all our stories is the fabric of America
>We all love STORY

>STORY is already in your life

>Good story re-creates experience

>Your listener will get a glimpse of what your learned, felt

>The root of the experience is emotion

>Make them feel, laugh, cry, think, challenge their perspective

Along with encouragement to write/tell/gather our own stories

we had several professional story tellers sharing with us

Below is one presentor website

Syd Lieberman, from Chicago, shares many of his stories on this site

I want to give him full credit for such generosity

If you scroll down inside his site

you can find one of the stores he told us of his daughter

Look for "Sarah"

Syd Lieberman



And another . . . shares his stories via blogging
A dad of seven, a bishop
Some of his stories crack me up....like how he discovered how to stay awake while driving long distances
He has written about several of their home births.....totally fascinating to me, of course
His presentation to us was on how he shares his faith as his blogs
thecraigreport

I toed you so!

I took the "cure" for an ingrown toenail a couple of weeks ago

A little cut, trim and acid daubing at the doctor's office

This toe has given me pain for a year or two

so I began asking around, studying up on my choices

I researched treatment online

Found a video of an actual procedure by a physician

OOoo---very interesting, I thought

I watched the video with great enthusiasm the first time

I love stuff like this!

Pondered and decided

Called my foot doc and made an appointment for the same procedure

When I went back to watch the procedure again on Youtube

knowing I was headed for that very experience

I felt squirmy and sickened

IT WAS PERSONAL

and I couldn't stand to see it through

Nope. . . . I had to turn it off

Of course the only parts that hurt were the two shots in the toe for numbing

No pain after that

and he had it draped so I couldn't see my toe as he worked

I did insist on seeing it before he wrapped it up in the color of my choice

Looked good to me

I asked if I could skip my morning walk the next day

No way, he said, get back out there

So I did

After care:  twice a day soaking

Antibiotic ointment and a bandaid

It got more sore and red about a week out....but is doing better now

You might enjoy the online version
if you are an armchair physician like me and, of course, if you DO NOT have this scheduled for yourself!

here

What's your style . . .

Are you the want-to-know kind of health consumer?

Creative Family

It this just too sweet and unique?

It is a handmade gift made by my niece, Chanel

to be given to her grandpa

Here is Chanel

one of my awesome nieces

(and I am blessed with a lot of them!)

While in the middle of giving care to her mother, post-surgery

she also took the time to overnight that beautiful piece of art to her grandfather

Her grandpa is very ill, at the doorway of heaven

I am told that when he received the gift

he confirmed

a truth we all acknowledge

"She's always been very talented"

I am glad we are family, Chanel

Thank you for your example of creativity and kindness

I love you