Joplin Journal Volume 10-1, Issue 3

From the Editor's Desk:

Good morning! It's a bright, sunny morning here in Joplin. Temperatures are in the low 30s and rising. I'm sitting here at my desk with the sun streaming in through the windows. Lovely classical music is playing on my small radio. And I'm now home alone. The others all went off to a basketball game. I knew Mom and Sarah were going, but I didn't know Dad was planning on going too. I could have gone, but I had about twenty seconds to decide and since I was already starting to write this, I decided not to. There's another game this afternoon if I want to go to it.

Weather Report:

Last weekend was cold. Most of this week has been on the colder side. 20s to 40s. Except on Monday. Then it got into the low 60s and we walked. Today and tomorrow are supposed to be in the 50s. Sarah and I might try to walk this afternoon. We'll see how warm it actually gets and what is going on.

"Genius Burns":

It certainly has been burning. Words have been coming and coming. My "secret project" is written. It's not edited or anything, but at least it's written. And I didn't quite use all 20k that I could have. This week I jumped back in to working on Lawrence & Lenexa. It's been so much fun to get back to this story and these characters. My goal is to finish this story in the next few months. I've already written about 6k words on it this week. But last night my brain was tired. I'd written 500+ words before supper and then after supper I sat down to write and nothing would come. I tried reading other started stories on NEO and all my brain could manage were thoughts like, "Interesting story. I wonder what happens next." Or "Nice plot, maybe some day I'll finish it." Yeah, not helpful. So I took a break and read. Hopefully my brain will work a little better this evening. I have been working it pretty hard this month. I've written every single day this month except Sundays and the 1st. And most of those days I've gotten at least 1k written, and the last three Mondays have been 2k.

Project Prognosis:

Let's see how my projects are coming this week.

• Work on Blog Posts – I have finished January's posts and have almost all of February's done. I'm still missing one post for February, and then I can start on March.
• Help put books on new shelves – The shelves are filled!
• Write – Sure have.
• Catch up on things – I'm getting there. Not everything is caught up, but I'm making progress.
• Work on the Reading Challenge – Oh, yes, I've been reading books and so have others.
• Getting ready for the Widows' Luncheon – Yep. I have the name cards almost ready. (Mom's going to write the names on them.) I have RSVPs from almost everyone now. Decorations are being planned. I still need to pick up table clothes and napkins, but I do have the sign up lists for the new year ready. (We're going official Crayola Color Names as pen names this year. :) )

On the House:

We got our final shelves! Sarah now has two custom shelves for her bolts of fabric. She doesn't have all her fabric on bolts yet, but she picked up a few more empty ones at JoAnn's yesterday. And we have the final shelves for the custom bookcases. Krista and Grant helped put books on them. They look so nice! And I finally got some pictures!

First let's go into the Sewing Room.

This is looking in from the hall door toward the north-west.

Looking into Sarah's closet with her shelves. Not the best picture, but it's something.

Standing by Sarah's sewing table and looking south-east. The door on the right goes into the hall, and the door on the left into the living room.

This is looking into the hall from the living room doorway. Don't you like the arch of shelves?

Look at all the books! This is the end of the hall. White shelves make the hall look bigger and so nice.

And here's a look at Mom and Dad's room. Two new windows, new floor and new ceiling. And a new bed frame.

Babysitting:

The kids all came over on Tuesday evening! Finally! We had to eat supper early because James & Joel had to be picked up for basketball practice, but the others got to stay here. We celebrated Kailyn's 7th birthday. She's taller at 7 than Krista was at 9. And speaking of height, James is now officially taller than me by about a quarter of an inch. He's looking more and more like Jimmy. Tall, skinny, expressions much the same, and James's voice is starting to change.

Kinsley was delighted to spend time with Papa. She told me when I was holding her once, "See Papa workin'. I love Papa!"

Out of the Mouth:

Oh the things the little ones say!

Grant loves to go through our paper recycle and look for treasures. Any junk mail that wasn't opened he loves to open. Any envelope (to mail something back) that is in there he claims with excitement to take home. Any interesting piece of paper or form that he can fill out, he keeps. And if there are any invoices, he's thrilled! (I know, most 4 year olds don't know, much less care, what an invoice is, but not Grant!) Anyway, after he'd dug through the recycle and pulled out what he wanted, he picked up the rest and put it all away. Then he came to me with something that must have been forgotten. It was an ad for some shoes. "BehBeh," he says very seriously, "this needs to go in the recycle. It is junk. It's not good for anything."

Kinsley cracks me up at times. I was holding her when they were over and she suddenly pulls her hands into her sleeves, bends her arms and starts flapping them while saying, "Quack! Quack! Quack! Quack!" I asked her if she was a duck, and she grinned and said, "Yeah." And then started flapping and quacking again.

The Music Stand:

Choir has started again. It's still only ladies, but it's fun.

KDWC:

No more camps until March.

Sewing Room:

Somehow Sarah is getting orders filled and finding time to wash and iron and put fabric on bolts for her shelves.

Read Another Page:

Work on some audio books is starting up again. Well, at least I hope so. One reader had recorded the entire book without me giving feedback every few chapters and there were problems, so she's going to redo things.

The other reader had things come up and hadn't gotten beyond the first two chapters of "By Paths Unknown" recorded last year. But I was busy too and didn't have time to proof listen. He's hoping to get back to it soon.

Teacher's Lounge:

I'll have two students this semester. We're planning on starting class on February 8, and we'll have class every other week.

Book Nook:

Yes, I've actually been getting some reading in. I read my very first Jane Austin book. You can read my review to see if I'm a fan or not. :D I also read other things. Ready for the list? Persuasion, Bridge to Trouble, Castaway with the Cowboy, The Boys in the Boat. I am enjoying getting some books read from my TBR (To Be Read) list. I feel productive.

Farewell:

This brings the Joplin Journal to a close for this week. I hope you have a lovely weekend. I won't be around next Saturday (hopefully!) as we have the Widows' Luncheon then. Praying for good weather that day! We really don't want to have to postpone it like we did last year!