Joplin Journal Volume 9-5, Issue 2

From the Editor's Desk:

Hello. It may come as a surprise to some of you, but my desk is actually not that cluttered right now! I tried to get tidy yesterday. I'm not saying my room is perfectly clean (I wonder how that would look), but it's much better than it was. And while I still have many projects that need to happen, my brain doesn't feel quite as cluttered as it did last week. And yes, I am sending a REAL Joplin Journal this week that does included a few pictures.

Weather Report:

Everything is green! I've had to mow the grass twice already. The irises are blooming and so is the salvia. We've had some cooler days this week, some rain, and some sunshine. Today is supposed to get sunny and 80º.

"Genius Burns":

I am actually taking this week off of writing. It's been so nice! In April I managed to get 16,061 words written even though everything was rather crazy. We'll see if I can keep my streak of a 6k word count going this month. (Jan. was 16k, Feb. 26k, March 36k, April 16k, May ?) I'm really hoping to get back to Phil Wood next week. It is almost to the "required" 30k word length, but I know it's going to be longer.

Project Prognosis:

• KDWC Camp – Ends √
• Children's Church – I'm teaching tomorrow on David's sin with Bathsheba.
• Blog Posts – Believe it or not, I have actually gotten two posts done or almost done. Just one more to do for May. And then June, July, . . . :) It never ends.
• Clean Computer Files – I was working on that yesterday. Don't have everything cleaned up yet, but it's getting better.

KDWC:

I'm free! The writing camp is over and I feel free again! I'm not sure which is more draining, an online writing camp where the Admins have to do regular "cleaning" of messages so we don't go too far over our limit and lose important info, or an in person camp where you have to deal with people every day. Oh, we had our share of drama this camp! People taking up offenses for someone else, dealing with a difficult person, etc. But I think a lot of writing got done and many of the girls said how blessed they were by camp and how they had never gotten that much written in a month before. I have a better appreciation for all camp directors now!

The Music Stand:

We had our first bell practice last Sunday on a song we've never played before. It didn't sound that great, but sometimes it doesn't. Hopefully the practice tomorrow will sound better.

Babysitting:

We didn't do any of that this week. Jimmy's family has been going so much that they decided to just stay home after their final homeschool program on Monday.

Mock Trial:

I don't have any pictures of Krista in her attorney's outfit. Her class got to participate in a mock trial in April. Actually, they did two days against two different teams. The first day her team won the first round and lost the 2nd by one point. (They do the same case twice but switch sides so each side has a chance to argue for and against.) Then the next week Krista's team ended up winning both times and got the first ever "guilty" verdict on this case.

Sewing Room:

Sarah has been busy. She's been sewing and sewing. This week she sent off a box of denim skirts for someone. I don't know what else she has on her order list, but she's staying busy.

Kinsley's Party:

Last Saturday we finally got to celebrate Kinsley's first birthday a month late. :) We went over to Jimmy's in the afternoon and the guys all put together a new climbing dome while Kinsley took a nap.

This was after Kinsley had gotten up.

Then we had cake and ice cream. Kins sure enjoyed her cake! (And yes, she gets called Kins.)

Don't you just love that smile?

And the mess! She had fun. :)

She was even kind enough to share some of her cake with Lukie. She calls him "Key" and lights up whenever she sees him. Lukie didn't mind eating her offerings at all.

Read Another Page:

I am not publishing anything right now, but my 4th of July story Lessons from Liberty is being published in A Very Bookish 4th of July (link to Goodreads page) along with three other 4th of July stories. You can pre-order your copy right HERE. And just to get you interested, here's a quote from my story.

Teacher's Lounge:

I only have one more writing class to teach. It's been different this year teaching every-other week. It's been kind of nice that I don't have to grade papers each week, but it also means we will only get 6 lessons in. Oh well.

Book Nook:

Yep, I've read. I read Captive Dreams, re-read The Mystery of Ghost Canyon, and read all the Tuttle Twins books–11 in all. And last night I finished re-reading The Secret of Hermit's Peak, but I don't have a review written yet.

Farewell:

Right now we have a mixture of clouds, blue sky, sprinkles, and sunshine. There's a breeze blowing, but it smells like spring and feels like spring outside. I think Dad has some yard work planned, I have at least one thing to do outside. Mom and Sarah might go to a ball game for one of the boys at church, if it doesn't get cancelled. And then there are all the other things to do. I hope you have a lovely weekend, and I'll jump into your inbox another time!