One Deep Breath: Container

sparkly containers
homemade presents wrapped to go
joyful evening

Oh, how I love this prompt and thank you One Deep Breath for sharing it again! This week was busy but fun. On Thursday, I attended a gathering for the third in which you arrive with six gifts and leave with six gifts. The idea is to receive items that might be used for the holidays or give to friends, co-workers, or even to indulge yourself.
We eat, socialize, and then settle into a rounds of gift getting. I bring photographic cards each year to give. Many bake delectable treats.

Please visit One Deep Breath for more.

One Deep Breath: Adventure

Quiet Paths suggested "adventure" as the theme.

mr. squirrel thumps tail

eats sunflower seeds, dogs bark

glass wall separates

++++++++++++++++++++

two granddaughters play

princess dresses make believe

adventure magic

+++++++++++++++++++++

frost whiskers on leaves

sun peeks out above mountain ridge

wind sings morning song

For more, please visit, One Deep Breath.

One Deep Breath: Belonging

Squash, Milwaukie Famer's Market
October, 2007

"Belonging", the prompt at One Deep Breath fits the theme of this year's Thanksgiving card.

bountiful autumn
family, food, friends, blessings
love surrounds, give thanks

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

More on Belonging:

dark envelopes me

fire flickers, sparks pop ignite

quiet soul song heard

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

words, laughter, chatter

family gathers around

mirror reflects joy

For more, please visit One Deep Breath. Thank you to Glad who proposed this prompt.

Robert's Snow: An Auction to Raise Money for Cancer Research

"Let It Snow" by Annette Simon

For week's there have been many bloggers from the children's lit world (kidlitosphere) bringing awareness to a snowflake auction. This money is for cancer research. I am featuring five artists on my library blog, "Check It Out". Today's artist is Annette Simon.

Beach, sand instead of snow, growing up in Ohio without an ocean nearby and now living in Ponte Vedra , FL; those thoughts all figured into Annette Simon’s snowflake, “Let it Snow”. Her snowflake will be in the first auction, November 19-23 at Robert’s Snow.

Annette says, “The beach is a great place to make up stories about what you can see (or not).” Then look at her snowflake closely. “Do you see “that faraway boat”, the “tiny triangle”? She imagines it’s hosting a party; “on my snowflake’s boat, kids are dancing. Trust me.”

Why did she use simple shapes? Annette says that she could say it was for “purely aesthetic/design reasons or for lack of time due to the antics of a teenage son. Either sound suspicious. Both are true.”

However, the snowflake sparked a new idea for a book involving all kinds of ocean things. Annette told me she is dancing with the starfish these days and went on to say, “if the snowflake sells at all, I will consider it a success. I am truly humbled to be in the company of these artists.” It will sell I am sure.

Some random questions for my snowflake artist:

What is on your nightstand?

On my nightstand: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (embarrassed to say I've not yet read); March by Geraldine Brooks (haunting), Talk Talk by E.L. Konigsburg (she's from Ponte Vedra), Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, illustrated by Sara Fanelli, and Artist to Artist by the folks at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.
Chocolate: Dark, milk, or white?
Mmmm. Dark chocolate. Dark. Dark. Dark.

Favorite childhood book?
From The Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg (and yes, I acted like a blithering idiot the first time I met her), E.B. White's The Trumpet of the Swan, my aunt's Trixie Belden and Nancy Drew collections. Oh, and the first book I ever truly read on my own: Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss. (Love love Dr. Seuss.)

Some childhood book-related trivia: My mom's maiden name is Carroll. Though we all know, Lewis Carroll was not the real name of the author of Alice in Wonderland, it was not my fault that all my elementary school friends thought we were related. Nope. Not one bit.

More trivia: In third grade, I won a poster contest for Fire Prevention Week. It was the first time I was paid for my words and artwork (five whole dollars that I promptly spent on colored pencils and chocolate), and my poster was displayed at the town's new firehouse (Grand Opening). I felt like a celebrity.

Whom would you like to meet?

George Clooney and I share the exact same birthday. And of course, one day I would like to tell him in person.

If you were not an artist, what occupation would you choose?

I can't imagine not doing art in some form. For a while, I dreamed of leaving advertising to be an art teacher. However, I've realized I simply do not have the kind of patience good teachers must have. (I bow down to teachers. No kidding.)

Annette Simon has recently made her foray into the kidlitosphere world. Her opening comment to me was, “Don't you just love the kidlitosphere?” Her book, Mocking Birdies, was a finalist for The Writers' League of Texas Teddy Awards, a pick for the American Institute of Graphic Arts' 50 Books/50 covers exhibit, and named a Best Book for Children by the Association of Booksellers for Children.

Leave a comment. Your name will be in a drawing for a copy of her book. Annette graciously donated a book to my library and a book for the drawing. I told her to let me pay for it and she said,” no way.” Therefore, I will bid on her snowflake instead. It reminds me of California winters as a child. I will draw the winner on November 19.
Please visit the other illustrators today and get ready to start bidding on these wonderful treasures of original art while helping to raise money for cancer research.

One Deep Breath: Loneliness

It is Friday. I have haiku to contribute. It has been a good week. "Loneliness" is the prompt for the week thanks to Patois.

misty fog threads city
a leaf tumbles, floats from branch
I peer from window

nose pressed on window
rain drop drips against cold pane
waits, anticipates

packages unwrapped
tree lights blink, cast shadows
unseen emotions

Please visit One Deep Breath for more.

One Deep Breath: Change

I see a small group of students for lunch on Thursdays. We write poetry. I often use the prompts by One Deep Breath for the group as appropriate. Lots of times I write as well. Wrote this but missed the posting deadline.

scrunch, crunch, scuffle, kick

burnt sienna leaf carpet

spring recycled here

For more, visit One Deep Breath. My goal is to get posted before the comments close this week.

Mrs. Halloween: You Have to Have Fun

Yesterday was Halloween. My husband and I joined our daughters and their families to take the grand babies trick or treating. It is what grandparents do, right? It morphed into the grandparents (that would be me and my husband) dressing up.

The morning started out normal. I left for school in black,white, and orange striped socks (I LOVE striped socks), a black skirt, burnt sienna top and black vest. I adorned the creepy spider postage stamp pin on the vest (more on that, later). As I was passing through the garage, I remembered a crazy hat so I grabbed it. This was about as close to dressing up as I could get without, blatantly shouting, "I have fun on Halloween even though others hate the holiday."


These days at school it is business as normal (well, in some rooms it is like that and others rooms? Let's say they have a lot of fun) We have a large part of our school population that does not acknowledge Halloween. Now there are some who don't even want their children participating in anything related to harvest activities. My second graders notices the creepy spider pin and thought it was great. Mostly the boys, the girls, not so much.


But I digress. So through out the day, the idea grew: create a little costume myself. A black wig for under the hat, dark eye make-up. I headed to the local store after school. That was a last minute mad house. And found not just a wig but a hat with a spider web and green hair! Plus besides the black lipstick, I found "tattoo sleeves" for my husband!


My three year old granddaughter referred to me as "Mrs. Halloween" after the initial fright wore off. Too funny. Her uncle (dad of our other grandchild) showed up as "Pooh".





We all started off and what a blast. The neighborhood we visited was packed with families. A cold, crisp night with crunchy leaves beneath brought back memories of when my parents took me around. Could it be a new tradition has begun?

Disclaimer about Sporatic Blog Entries

My blog entries have been sporadic of late. I am the kind of person who wants to do it all: One Deep Breath and Sunday Scribblings as well as the two new writing prompt sites: Writers' Island, and Totally Optional Prompts. I have not contributed to them even though I my intentions have been good. (And we all know where the path of good intentions leads).

I am focused right now on a different writing project. It's writing for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Very reflective yet technical writing. The volume and intensity of this focus is revving up. There is a deadline: March. Everything needs to be done by March. Then I get to take an on-line test. WooHoo.

So for now, I am putting the two new prompt sites on the back burner. I give myself permission to miss prompts from ODB and SS as needed. I may read your blog but not comment. Now I must get back to working on the NBPTS.

Sunday Scribbles: Hospital

"Hospital" is this week's prompt. Oooh, it hit a nerve deep within me. I had a previous life. A life which died close to twenty years ago.

invisible girl

stitches removed, fifteen all

black eye tells the tale

I am blessed and surrounded by love these days. For more on hospitals, click here.

One Deep Breath: Closeness

This week, One Deep Breath asks that we consider the idea of closeness.

daughters by marriage
love DNA connects us
close family ties

diagonal mountains

divide red rivers west, east

chard-organic

See how others wrote about closeness here.

One Deep Breath: Balance

The prompt for last week was "balance". Boy, oh, boy, did I need that prompt.

breathe inhale balance
rocks teeter totter on edge
balance exhale breath

clothing piles here, ther
recycle bags, declutter
balance returns home

mind races top speed
clear, declutter thinking
sanity returns

For more on balance, visit One Deep Breath.

One Deep Breath: Simple Pleasures

One Deep Breath asks us about our simple pleasures this week. It is a gorgeous fall weekend and I am working in the garden today.

Simple Pleasures

steaming cuppa joe
sunlight peeking through branches
early Sunday morn

thick novel in lap
easy faraway transport
birdsong returns home

moist chocolate earth
holes dug, worms start wiggle dance
moving day for plants

What are your simple pleasures? For more, visit here.

Here I Am and a Conference

I did not mean for three weeks to pass without contributing to this blog. I wish I could say that I have been on vacation somewhere exotic. But I have been here, busy with school and working on Entry Four (National Boards), and a conference.

My husband and I took a red eye to Chicago for the First Annual Kidlitosphere Conference (for authors, book industry, bloggers who love children's literature, elementary, middle, and young adult). We explored Chicago. Went to the Field Museum, saw the Darwin exhibit and Sue, the T-Rex. Then the heat, humidity, and traveling overnight caught up to us and we returned to our hotel. After a brief nap, we joined a group of twenty for some great Chicago pizza.

Saturday was a dizzying day. Our group grew to sixty. We spend our time together talking about blogging for children's books, the CYBILS award (I am one of the judges for the poetry nominations). I learned about pod casting, promoting my library blog, and ways to improve book reviews. It had to be one of the best conferences I ever attended.

It was also an opportunity to meet some great children's authors. Esme Raj Codell hosted a "Meet the Authors" time in the afternoon. Local author and illustrators were there as well as the ones attending the conference. You should check out some of these authors:

Sara Lewis Holmes

Robin Brande

Esme Raji Codell

Ellen Klages

PJ Haarsma

Amy Timberlake

Laini Taylor

Jim Di Bartolo

If you love children and young adult books then head to Jacketflap. It is a fabulous web resource to get the latest information.

We had a grand finale dinner. The location of the next conference was announced: Seattle. For some unknown reason, my hand shot up and these words came out of my mouth," If you have it in Portland, I will organize it."

So the conference will be in Portland next year. Laini Taylor and Jim Di Bartolo volunteered to assist. Meanwhile, my husband is thinking of all the sites in Portland that participants should visit.

Sunday, the day of the Chicago marathon, we were up at 4:30 AM to catch an early morning flight. It was a whirlwind weekend. I should have taken Monday as a sick day as I spent the week trying to catch up.

I will try not to let three weeks go by without writing on this blog. I didn't mean to not write. Most of my writing has been very technical of late.

Sunday Scribblings: Hi, My Name is...

I missed the prompt for Sunday Scribblings due to recovering from food poisoning. Found this idea at Jane Poe--Nevermore: a middle name meme

The object of the middle name game is to list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. (If you don't have a middle name, use the name you would have liked to have had!)
When you are tagged you need to write your own blog post containing your middle name game facts.
At the end of your blog post choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag.

My middle name is Rush. It is a family name that has been passed down from my father's side. My grandmother and aunt have Rush in their names. My nieces all have Rush in their names.

R Reader. I love to read. I love reading aloud which lead me to being a teacher librarian.
U "U Can Do". I usually have the "U Can Do" attitude.
S Solitude. I like solidute and time to reflect.
H Hope. Most days, I am filled with hope.

I won't tag anyone but if you woukl like to play, join in. Visit Sunday Scribblings for more name posts.

One Deep Breath: Recipe

S'mores

graham squares, chocolate

toast marshmallow on flames
gooey, sticky treat

Are you hungry? Read more at One Deep Breath

After School Haiku

We have a garden in the front of our school. It is in memory of a student who died tragically when he was in second grade. I walk through the garden almot every afternoon when I leave school.
Yesterday, grasshoppers were hopping around my feet. This came to mind as I drove home.

summer's last dance

hop hop - grashopper hop

zig zag garden dance floor

One Deep Breath: Simplicity

This a better late than never. I have been thinking on this prompt and had a haiku forming all week. But the time to write on my blog, well that's another story.

red, ripe juiciness
sweet package seeds drip down chin
simple garden treat

jack frost's brush drips
red-first leaf painted
fall invitation

For more on simplicity, visit One Deep Breath.

Sunday Scribblings: Writing

My Writing Space

This is my space. It is located in the creativity part of the house according to feng shui principles. It is where I come to write, bead, and scrapbook.
The kachinas are from my father. He loved the southwest culture as I do. They are like angels to me. And there is one of Laini’s Ladies. I love the quote on her by James Michner: “I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emotions.”

I have attempted a consistent writing practice this past year. Prompts from Sunday Scribblings, One Deep Breath, and sadly, the now defunct Poetry Thursday ( I can't believe it is really gone)have been inspiring. There is something magical about this community of bloggers. This is what I love about technology, it has made our world smaller.

My alarm rings at 5 A.M. I roll out of bed (some days, I hit the snooze). I let the dogs and the cat out. I grab coffee, walk to into my writing space. I like the transition of this time. I must turn on the overhead light in the morning. Just weeks ago, I could work by the natural light and the light from the computer. I love this quiet space to explore through writing. I am developing a practice of morning pages.

morning writing time
benefactors look down
fledgling writer

The other piece about writing I love is re-reading my journals and old letters. My aunt has made it a practice to send me letters I wrote her as an adult. And I have letters from friends during college years. I wish I had the letters wrote as a child and teen. I wrote pages and pages to friends and a penpal.

For more on writing, visit here.

Poetry Thursday: Poetry Post Card Exchange

A postcard of an e.e. cummings' poem, wonderful!

And an original poem from Jan on the back.

I love the last line about her son being bigger that the imagination can hold.

January over at Poetry Mom extended an invite to send a postcard with a poem. She would send one in return. So I sent mine and this past week, hers arrived. What a joy to get.

It makes me think I may try this with my poetry club this year. If you would like to do a poetry postcard exchange, let me know.

One Deep Breath: Grandparents

joyous grandparents
day at beach-pizza time

mischief makers all

For my own grandmother...

grandmother mentor

playful infectious laughter

still hear her, gone so long

For more grandparent haiku, visit One Deep Breath.