A weekly peek backwards and a look ahead, from my little corner of the blogosphere…
Are you ready for a Second Serving?
Life Stuff:
Last Week’s Edition: Peace Falling Like Leaves
- This week came with the unexpected – OnTuesday, the kids received a last-minute invite to a party at an indoor water park a little over an hour from home. Miah declined, but Lise wanted to attend – and none of her swimsuits fit after her recent growth spurt.
- Wednesday afternoon, she and I visited four stores before finding one in her size that she liked. Sporting goods store FTW!
- Because her brother didn’t attend, Lise was able to invite her friend Gabrielle, so we picked her up on the way. While the girls attended the party, Miah and I had lunch at Johnny Rockets, and spent some quality one on one time together before we all were reunited for the drive home. Both kids were asleep within an hour or two of getting home, so I also had some private time with my Accomplice.
- The week also included a fair amount of cleaning and organizing – the continuation of our goal to declutter and prepare to move to Oregon in a year or two.
- What didn’t happen as much as I’d hoped is writing-related activity. It’s hard for me to be both outwardly focused, and inwardly oriented, at the same time. I did write a few poems, and some blogposts, and did a bit of freewriting for next year’s A-Z. But plans to get caught up went awry in the swirl of activity…
- Which did include both my weekly Sunday write-in with our local NaNoWriMo group, and a plotting workshop at a local library on Monday. So there was writing-related stuff, just not nearly as much as I’d hoped at the beginning of the week.
- Sometimes, life takes precedence. And that’s OK.

Last week’s features:
ROW80: The Writing Challenge That Knows You Have A Life.
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Warmth and Gratitude: The first freeze, and my update, from within my cozy, happily active home.
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Flurries of Gratitude: As the first flakes fall and the leaves swirl in brisk breezes, I find gratitude amidst the chaos of the unexpected.
Eight Sentence Sunday: The Blog Hop For Everyone Who Loves to Write!
- “ Something Totally Unrelated”: T’Pol’s questions lead to an inspired volley and a questioning of the evidence…but the certainty that they must follow the Captain’s orders is what’s tripping up Trip.
Mindful Monday: Because Self-Awareness is Vital to My Joyful Life.
- I was apparently mindfully elsewhere on Monday, and didn’t post.
WIPpet Wednesday: Date-related WIP Snippets!
- “Being Bamboozled”: In the second snippet from The IDIC Romance‘s “Scavenger Hunt”, Trip and T’Pol exchange a verbal volley regarding their performance of a days-off assignment that might or might not have been a game, and Jon knows he’s being bamboozled – but the how is still a mystery.
Coffee and Conversation: Grab a cup of something refreshing, and let’s chat!
- I had coffee and conversation, just not on my blog…
SoCS (Stream of Consciousness Saturday): A weekly prompt to free the mind, and the words!
- “Where’s the Beef?”: An unexpected party brings an opportunity to spend some time with my fourteen-year-old – and a reflection on growing up.
OctPoWriMo: 31 poems in 31 days!
- “How Do You Know?” T’Pol questions Trip’s certainty…in poetic form.
- The Candle and the Harmonica: Trip’s harmonica and T’Pol’s meditation candle share sweet somethings.
- “Red is a Tricky Color”: My memories of a color that tangles my emotions.
- Love’s Hard Place: A Repeated Diamante: A memory of overwhelm eased, connected to present romantic turbulence.
In the Wilds of Internet-Land: What Piqued My Interest This Week:
- A Day of Fasting: A lovely and meaningful poem that inspired my week’s activities.
- What Causes Your Child to Become a Bully? A succinct article that delves real reasons.
- How Did You Brainwash Me? One woman’s experience, and what made her stay even when things were truly frightening.
- Selfieish: When women are so insecure about how they look that they leave little photographic record of their existence.
This week, on the blog:
- #8sunday: More “Mission Accomplished” from that delicious inter-species duo, Trip and T’Pol. Will kissing trump sleuthing?
- Mindful Monday: How much is enough? Is it time for a November hiatus?
- ROW80 Updates: On Sunday and Wednesday, for the duration of the round.
- WIPpet Wednesday: I’m serializing “Scavenger Hunt”, another #StaD story from The IDIC Romance, and the sequel to “Mission”. The nature of Vulcan questions, and the human correlation between movies and popcorn.
- Coffee and Conversation: A potential schedule change, and a possible partial hiatus. And maybe more about bullying, as well.
- Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS): A post based on the weekly prompt, TBA Friday. I’ll go wherever my wandering mind takes me.
- OctPoWriMo: A month long exploration of and celebration of poetry. I intend to finish the month with 31 poems written and posted.

What’s Next:
- I’ll keep moving toward my ROW80 and OctPoWriMo goals. This will include a bit of a ROW80 reset, to accommodate the end of the month, and a shift to NaNoWriMo and novel drafting.
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2015-16 homeschool paperwork, and a minor fix from last year’s reporting.
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A few other matters need tending – loose ends from the last weeks. This week, I wrap up some of those projects in progress.
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Halloween travel, and a doctor’s appointment for Lise.
That’s what I’ve been up to, and will be getting up to.
What about you?
Anything exciting happening in your corner of the world?
Any Second Servings to offer?
(Yes, I’m a little nosy. Writer thing.)
If you want to satisfy my perhaps inappropriate curiosity,
drop a line, a link, or an image into the rectangular receptacle below
or just pass around the serving platter!
