The Family that Crafts Together… #SOL20 Day 7/31

We gathered on Friday night at 5:30

6 siblings, 1 spouse, and 1 child

all artists with an entry in the event

known as The Art Palette Contest.

It was opening night

with wine and cheese, and laughter for sure.

We ooohed and aaahed at our individual works

so unique, so lovely, so delightful

each reflecting our own styles and talents.

We sipped our wine and ate our cheese

and voted for our favorites.

We posed for a picture or two,

celebrating the bonds we cherish

and the talents that binds us.

And what does the family that crafts together do after the opening?

Well, of course they

Eat pizza,

play darts,

and sing karaoke together!

My entry – trying my hand at landscape painting

Gathering as a family and showing off our individual palettes

 

I am excited to be writing daily in the March Slice of Life Challenge as hosted by Two Writing Teachers. This marks the fifth year I have participated in the 31 day challenge, writing and sharing a blog post each day.  I look forward to the growth in noticing the small moments in my life and capturing them on my blog.  I know I will be a better teacher of writers because of this work. 

Your Flight Has Been Delayed

The email arrived early Sunday morning: “Flight number XXX has been delayed four hours. Departure time is now 3:47pm. Please arrive at your regular scheduled departure time in case the delay changes. Thank you.”

“What?” I screamed! Go to the airportk at 10am in case the now delayed flight moves back from 3:47 to 11:47am? That sounds ludicrous. Especially seeing that the sun was now shining and the thermometer poolside was inching closer to a perfect 70 degrees. I looked at my daughter and shrugged my shoulders. I told her either way I’d be tense, sitting poolside wondering if we made a mistake and quite possibly missing our flight home, or sitting in a drab airport waiting for the mistake to be corrected. She agreed and off we went to the airport.

11am – delayed

12 noon – delayed 5 hours to 4:47

1pm – delayed

2pm – delayed

3pm – still delayed

4pm – scheduled departure 4:47 confirmed.

So glad we were there to wait it out! On a positive note, at least now I am half-way through Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire!

It’s Tuesday and I’m joining the writing community over at Two Writing Teachers for their weekly slice of life postings. Take a peek and consider joining in!

3-2-1 Blastoff

We put our bags down by the pool, greased up our winter white skin with sunscreen and walked over to the deck that was our perch for watching the launch. It was our first morning on the coast of Florida and as luck would have it Space X cancelled launch for the previous day was now happening in 10 minutes! We were surprised to see that the deck was filled with other curious onlookers. We found a spot with a clear view and waited while enjoying the warm sun and cool ocean breezes.

Questions and comments filled the air and surrounded us as we waited. “Where should we look?” “Have you seen this before?” “What’s the mission of this flight?” “I never understand why we watch. It’s always underwhelming!”

My daughter stood next to me watching the live feed on her phone so we knew when to look for the streak. She counted down the final seconds: 3-2-1 blastoff. A moment later and we heard multitudes of voices shouting “There it is!” I saw a silver flash shine briefly then hide behind the clouds. Again, I spotted another quick shine of light only for it to disappear. And then suddenly in the clear and distant blue skies there appear a streak of golden light racing upwards in the horizon. A plume of white smoke following behind. The chatter changed to excited squeals and delightful ahhhs!

Capturing the plume after the rocket launch

The crowd watched until the rocket disappeared into the heavens and then quickly dissipated settling back into their beach chairs and morning routines. The chatter as we left our perch was joyful and lively, knowing we had witnessed some little part of space history. And quite possibly a bucket list item crossed off our lists.

It’s Tuesday and I’m joining the writing community over at Two Writing Teachers by adding my slice of life story. Consider joining in the writing fun!

Finding Kindness in Unlikely Places

I was called to action last week on my early morning drive to work. As I sat at the traffic signal waiting for the light to change to green, rather impatiently I might add, a car drove by with a license plate that caught my eye.

I did a double take to make sure I was reading that correctly. Yes, it read RUKIND. I wondered for a moment who would have this license plate, but then I quickly drifted to a more profound question: Is this some kind of message meant for me today? I wondered some more.

Am I kind?

Do I choose kindness daily?

As I was churning these thoughts around in my mind, I vowed that today I would work on being extra kind. We all need added kindness the week leading up to vacation and I was determined to increase the kindness in my daily duties.

My thoughts were noble, that was until less than two minutes after making these “mind plans” my car was assaulted with a chunk of flying snow from a truck that had just passed me on the highway. SPLAT! I shouted to myself: “Hey… don’t you know it is now a state law that you are responsible for clearing the snow from your roof?” No sooner had those thoughts left my lips that the license plate came flashing back into my conscience. Oops… RUKIND? Try, try, try again!

It’s Slice of Life Tuesday over at Two Writing Teachers and I’m joining in the writing fun. Take a peek and consider adding your voice

Looking Up or Writing Down

Ever get so focused on something you lose sight of an even more important something? Well that nearly happened to me yesterday. I have been participating in the #100daysofnotebooking challenge since January 1st, writing daily in a notebook since the new year began. I prefer to write in the early morning hours before I head out for work, often times after reading a short reflective passage. I love how I can dump my thoughts, concerns, and joys onto paper each morning, often leaving me free to move forward with the day.

Yesterday was no different, with my head down intent on capturing my thoughts on a quote I had just read. When I emerged from my writing zone and lifted my head I noticed a pink glow in the room. I turned to look out the window just in time to capture a beautiful sky glowing pink and reflecting its splendor onto the frozen lake. I almost missed this glorious display of patterns and hues all because I was intent on staying focused on my writing.

Sometimes looking up is more important that writing it down!

I am posting along with the wonderfully supportive community over at Two Writing Teachers. Take a peek and consider joining in the writing fun!