Joplin Journal Volume 10-2, Issue 1

From the Editor's Desk:

Hello. I'm here again after two weeks of not writing this Journal. I didn't mean to miss two weeks. Last Saturday I was planning on writing but I got busy doing something else and forgot until it was too late. But today it was on my to-do list, and I figured that I needed to make sure I got it written today since I don't know what next Saturday is going to be like and the next two Saturdays after that I won't be around in the morning to do it.

Weather Report:

We had lovely warmer weather and freezing cold weather. Wednesday evening it was in the 60s around 8:30 and by morning it was sleeting. Right now it's sunny and the temperatures are supposed to reach into the upper 40s. And I think it's supposed to be 70º by Monday or Tuesday. And then it might snow again next week. We'd really like the weather to be consistent for a while. Like maybe a full week in the 40s or 50s instead of this up and down stuff.

"Genius Burns":

I've still been writing, but it has certainly slowed down. January's total words written was 29,533. This month I haven't reached 20k yet, but I still hope to. Lawrence & Lenexa has slowed down. Well, actually it kind of stopped. I'm not sure if I got off track a little somewhere, or if I'm trying to end it too soon (it is almost 60k which is novel length), or if I just haven't figured out the right ending yet. Mom's going to read the last 6k that I've written and then we'll see if we can figure it out. Sometimes when a story takes this long to write it changes without my noticing.

But lest you think that's all I have to write, let me assure you that I have 18 other stories! Yes, I said 18. Three of them are not started; I either have an idea, a title or just a thought. The rest are all in various stages of being written and I've worked on two of them this week.

Project Prognosis:

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

• Work on Blog Posts – Oh, yeah. Those things. I kind of forgot about them. I did get all of February's posts done, and I have ideas for all of March, but I haven't finished any posts.
• Catch up on things – Still working on that.
• Organize things – With the downstairs pretty much organized, we are starting to slowly work on the upstairs.
• Work on the Reading Challenge – Yep, still reading.
• Getting ready for the Widows' Luncheon – Finished with that.
• Get new year of Widows' Ministry ready – Yep, I am ready to hand out info to all the secret sisters tomorrow.

Widows' Valentine Luncheon:

We were going to have the luncheon on Saturday, February 5th. But we got ice and snow on Tuesday, and Wednesday, and Thursday. While it was supposed to be warmer and sunny on Saturday, we weren't sure the roads would be cleared. So we had to postpone it to Sunday after church. Some other ladies from church helped me set up and decorate for it on Saturday afternoon. It took us about an hour. We did a bird theme this year to go along with our bird pen names. On Sunday we had the largest gathering for the luncheon that I think we've ever had.

Isn't this a fun group? Four of the widows had either not been able to be at last year's luncheon (their first time) or were new widows this year. They are always so surprised and amazed that we would shower such love on them, but they are all so sweet and we love them, so why wouldn't we?

We ate and visited with our widows, gave gifts, and then cleaned up and went home.

Grandma Athey:

I did want to thank you all who have prayed for my grandma. She slipped away to Heaven on Sunday the 6th. We will miss her but are thankful that she is done with all pain and confusion.

On the House:

The trim in the hall and the doors on the hall closets are the only things left. Oh, and the treads on the stairs. It's so nice to not have messes of tools and stuff around.

Babysitting:

Let's see, when did we have the kids? Oh, last Friday, Feb. 11. All of them were over for pretty much the whole day. That was fun as they haven't been over for that long in quite a while. We read stories and played, and the older ones did their school. Grant and Kinsley took naps. We went for a walk in the cool weather. (Yes, we wore jackets.) And read more books. Kins enjoys listening to books and so does Grant. It's so much fun to read books to little ones again. Kailyn was never interested in books when she was little. One of Kinsley's favorite books right now is "Inside, Outside, Upside-down" and she tries to quote the last part that says, "Mama, Mama, I went to town! Inside, outside, upside-down," only she ends up saying, "Mama, Mama, went town! Inside, inside, down!" :)

The Music Stand:

Our last choir practice was postponed due to weather.

Wedding:

Last Saturday Sarah and I were in charge of the food at a friend's wedding in Carthage. It was a lovely wedding, small, but beautiful. It was freezing outside and I did feel sorry for all the girls in their short sleeve dresses when they had to go out for pictures. It was fun to see some people we haven't seen in a long time.

KDWC:

Registration has started for our writing camp. The gates open next Friday, and camp officially starts on the 1st. I'm trying to get some things done for camp that I can do and schedule ahead of time. Right now we have 43 campers signed up.

Sewing Room:

The sewing room is quiet today and was quiet most of yesterday. You see, the seamstress is out of town. One of Megan's sisters who is a really good friend of Sarah's needed help getting ready for and with an event she and her husband host at their house, so Sarah went up yesterday and won't be home again until Sunday afternoon. It's different around here without her. And in case you were wondering, Sarah had made soup ahead of time so we just had to heat it up last night. :) No cooking required.

Read Another Page:

I got to proof listen to another chapter of By Paths Unknown and enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to being able to offer this story on audio to you.

One thing I need to work on is designing a cover for my 4th of July story Lessons from Liberty. It was published in A Very Bookish 4th of July but I can now publish it myself. Anyone feel like helping with a cover design?

Teacher's Lounge:

Well, we were supposed to start class on the 8th, but something came up and we bumped it to the 15th. Then I came down with a cold on Monday evening, so we bumped it again to next week. Only we had to change the time as the family had something else going on too. Nothing like trying to figure out a time when everything seems to be coming up right then.

Book Nook:

This week has been a little slow in the reading department, but other weeks I've gotten more read. Here's my bookshelf: Forgiven Again, An Orphan for Nebraska, Argosy Junction, A Heart Unseen, Love at Eagle Station. I have read one other book, but since I just finished it last night, I haven't reviewed it yet. But it was good. If you haven't read it yet, you should! The Myth of the Robber Barons.

Farewell:

And that's it. I hope. I don't think I'm missing anything. Or am I? James and Joel's final basket ball games are today and next Saturday. I'll probably have the little ones over here to play during the game today. But next week is the championship games so I'll go watch then. Anyway, Mom's organizing in the back room, I don't know where Dad is, and of course Sarah is gone. I hope you all have a lovely weekend.