Joplin Journal Volume 10-5, Issue 1

From the Editor's Desk:

Good morning! It's a cloudy, raining morning here. We had a thunderstorm earlier with pretty heavy rain, but now the rain has stopped. The birds, at least the starlings, are making noises, and everything is wet. I hope the rain is over for the day and things warm up some so Sarah and I can go walk. Right now it's still in the 50s.

Weather Report:

We've had sunshine almost every day this week as well as rain sometimes. Temperatures have been in the 80s and humid, but it's better than last week which was in the 90s. I had to mow the yard on Monday this week and on Tuesday the week before. With all the rain and sunshine and warmer weather the grass is going like, well, like weeds. :D The catalpa tree is quickly losing it's white "popcorn" flowers. Soon the seedpods will appear.

"Genius Burns":

Some might say it burns, others might not. You see, I'm starting over on Don Wood. Yep, rewriting it from the beginning. After I got everything all rearranged and cut and edited and new parts written, I gave it to Mom to read. Well, it turns out the because Don (the main character) wasn't interested in the mystery, the reader wasn't either. After talking and thinking about it, we decided we had the wrong mystery for Don. So . . . We came up with a new one and I'm rewriting. So far I have 4k words written and things seem to be a better fit. I'm hoping and praying this mystery works and I don't have to do any rewriting or serious editing!

Project Prognosis:

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

• Work on Blog Posts – I got one done. I still need to get more done because I'm almost out of them.
• Design a Journal for Writing Camp – I actually did! It was so much fun! I added coloring pages, and journal pages, and challenge pages, and well, if you want to see it (because it's not published yet), you can go HERE.
• Publish my Writing Camp Journal – Well, I'm trying to do that, but KDP is taking FOREVER to approve it!
• Design a cover for Lessons from Liberty – I haven't started on this yet. I did get most of the interior formatting done though, so that's a start.
• Work on my Name List – I've been doing this. It's been fun to see what names I've used in my stories. I think I forgot to mention what it is. I wanted to know what names I used the most and if there were some I used a lot in my stories, so I am reading through my published books and writing down every single name. Last names too. (I also have a special list for Doctors, Law Enforcement, Ministers, and Bad Guys.) Anyone want to take a guess at which two names (boy and girl) have gotten used the most? (I'll tell at the end of this journal.)

Spring 100:

I'm ahead of where I need to be which is so much fun! Right now I'm at 74 miles walked. I'm hoping to get another mile in today to give me 8 miles this week, but we'll see. Last time I wrote I said that Angela and I were going to go walking. Well, we did.

We walked at Mercy Park (built where the old Mercy hospital was before the tornado), and then we stopped at Aldi's and bought some cheese and ham slices, crackers, and individual apple pies for our lunch before heading to Wildcat Glades to walk the 3 mile loop.

It was a beautiful day to go walk! Sunshine, a refreshing breeze, and a lovely nature trail. We ended up walking 5.5 miles that day.

Another day we decided to go walking with Amber and her family. Only they live in Canada, so we got creative. We did a Skype call and chatted as we all walked.

Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do to walk with your best friend who is in another country. :D

Visitors:

I just had to mention that Amber and her family are down here from Canada!!!! They haven't made it to Joplin yet, but I am very much looking forward to seeing her again! And Stephen and the kids. :) We'll have to go walking together NOT on Skype. ;)

Babysitting:

The kids, except Kristia, were over last week while Jimmy & Megan and Krista were shopping at a consignment sale in AR. I took James, Joel, Drew, Lucas, and Kailyn on a bike ride down the path to the very end and then back. Then we did the seemingly annual bike change. Everyone had to move up a bike size except the two little ones. James is now riding Mom's old bike, Joel, is on my bike, Drew is on Joel's, Lucas on Drew's, and Kailyn is on Lucas's. They didn't really think they needed bigger bikes. Until they tried the bigger ones. :D

Kinsley wanted to ride in the wagon again, but Megan had borrowed it to use when shopping. Kinsley just couldn't figure out where it was and why Mommy had it. Once, when Megan called to ask the boys about some clothes, Joel asked Kins if she wanted to talk to Mama. Kinsley nodded, so he put the phone down where she could see her. Kinsley didn't say hi. Instead, she looked at Megan for a moment and then said, "Need my wagon." She wouldn't say anything else. Afterwards Kinsley told us, "Mama bringin' my wagon back."

The Music Stand:

Bell practice has started. The kids are doing great.

The instrumental ensemble is starting practice for The Star-Spangled Banner for July 3rd. I think we'll have the usual violins and piano, plus a trumpet and trombone. Oh, and probably the flute too. That's going to be fun!

KDWC:

Closed until the end of June, but some of us are starting work on our devotionals for camp.

Sewing Room:

Sarah has done quite a few alterations or hemming of fancy dresses for prom and weddings along with her usual sewing.

Read Another Page:

The first 12 chapters of Hymns in the Hills are now proof listened to. This is a great improvement, and I am excited to keep listening and then be able to share the audio with you. This reader sings the hymns! And what makes it even better is that many of these hymns are not usual ones and so you can learn new hymns.

Teacher's Lounge:

One more class on the 31st and we'll be done.

Book Nook:

Lots of reading these two weeks, so this bookshelf might be a bit full. Ready? It Started with a Note (enjoyed it but it wasn't a favorite), The Tortoise and the Soldier (very fun to read about WW1), Two Days in Caracas (exciting read that comes after One Night in Tehran), Second Family (loved this short story!), The Silence Between Us (interesting read with a deaf MC), Dawn Chandler (it was okay), Silver Lining (enjoyable), Desire of the Heart (some parts were better than others), The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax (I love Mrs. Pollifax!), Louie Chalmers’ New Year’s Table (short story).

I've also been cleaning out my kindle this week and deleting a lot of books I don't think I'll enjoy, or am not interested in reading.

Most Common Names:

Just note, I have not reread all my books and stories yet, but so far with 10 books read and names written down, the most common girls name is . . . Jenny! And I know there will be at least one more Jenny in another book I haven't reread. And now the most common boys name . . . Jack. I would say it was tied with Matt, but I know there are at least 2 more Jacks in other books I haven't reread.

Farewell:

That's it for today, folks. I need to do some other things and it's not raining. Maybe we should go walk. Have a lovely weekend!