Carpe Diem

Funny thing, life.  I was just stating with conviction, "I'm going to blog weekly!"  People seem to like it and it is causing them come back to my website.  Maybe it will bring more attention to the books or the art or whatever really, people are looking! I should've knocked on wood.

We've spent the last 12 days in Texas.  My father-in-law passed away after a long battle with caner.  Cancer sucks.  It was sad and just very heavy.  I could write a book on what a character he was.  He is in a better place and will be missed.  He taught us all something about everything.

Cancer is ruthless.

I realized very quickly that my job was to keep the kids busy, my two and my nephew and niece.  My in-laws live on an acre off a lake.  A lake filled with crawfish, fish and alligators.  Yep, alligators.  I'm a trooper though and we fished anyway.  I used to enjoy fishing but I must be getting softer as I age because it just seemed barbaric.  I think I threw four of the poor little guys back into the lake blind and one minus a bottom lip.  My daughter, though..wow!  She is a fisherwoman!  Nothing phased her.  I witnessed her stare down an alligator while untangling her brother's line from the roots.  I also realized in that moment that I would, indeed, wrestle an alligator.

I also bought a little kit from Walmart that had badminton, volleyball, a smaller, plastic version of lacrosse and Velcro ball. Velcro ball was a hit.  It was windy so volleyball and badminton became less competitive and more about counting how many times we could hit the ball/birdie over the net and return it.  Anna and Chris won in badminton with 17 successful passes.  Jesse cried about it and I think I would've too had I not been busy being a trooper.  Oh, and it was Easter.

We also crawfished.  I decided this would be an excellent to teach the kids how to prepare crawfish.  Anna was all, "We are killing them...why?" and Jesse was all, "This is cool!" Then I had to pour them into the boiling water.  Anna left in disgust and Jesse wished he was big enough pour.  Jesse took one teeny tiny bite and was done and Anna, so the little critters didn't die in vain, tried them.  She and I ate them all, all 18 of them.  We didn't suck the the heads.  No.  I just couldn't.

We are home now, creatively I don't have much to report.  I painted.  Not the fun kind, the work kind. My guest room used to be green and not a good green.  The bathroom was gray-blue.  It is now all Behr "Earthware".  Also, I have re-established my conviction to blog weekly.

Life...seize every moment.