Margaret's Life Story Blog

Keep Going

2010-01-19T03:43:00Z

In all the books I've looked at, read and purchased related to life story writing, or even writing in general, the idea of continuing to keep going when the mind says it has other pressing things to do keeps coming up.

Writing takes patience. Writing allows the mind to wander and when the mind wanders, the blank page sits idle... waiting.

Writing is not task-based. It is not something that you sit down to do and when you are done, then you see an accomplishment. With writing, you might sit down and spend 30 minutes or an hour and you've only scratched the surface of a thought that is developing into something.

And it's OK.

Jot that thought down, start somewhere. Your accomplishment is that you sat down to do this in the first place.

But then, there is enormous satisfaction when the thoughts on the page make some sense to you. It is satisfying to find the right word when not just any word will do. It is satisfying when that certain phrase does the trick.

Writing is something that comes from the mind and the heart. The pictures are in the heart and the mind struggles to wrap itself around the feelings, to bring the picture to the page. Writing is challenging and fulfilling. It takes devotion and practice. It takes thought and patience.

We enjoy writers who can help us to see into new places and realize new truths. And the truth is that we all have that capacity to reach into those places that draw out the experiences and feelings that touch others.

Writing is worthwhile, it's worth the time, and it's worth the effort.

Writing Your Life Story: Where Do You Begin?

2010-01-19T03:00:00Z

When you think about writing your life story, you might wonder where on earth you ought to begin. You think about this especially if, like me, you have quite a few years behind you already.

The idea of writing about your life may have been rattling around in your mind for some time, but the thought of it also has been overwhelming, just because you are wondering where to start.

But, every project begins with a single step. And your first step could be to make the time.

True your day is filled to the brim, or if it's not, there is always that very great reason to delay and procrastinate. Matter of fact, even if your day is filled to the brim and overflowing, procrastination is still there whispering in your ear, "oh, but I need to run that errand, I need to do the dishes, I don't have time to sit down now, I must fold the laundry."

Well, suppose you just did take a few moments to sit down and suppose you had an idea to help you to begin. What about an idea that takes shape around what you used to do during the winter, or what you do now, when the weather is cold and blustery and it's raining or snowing. You could write a story about that.

I was listening to the Prairie Home Comanion radio program on Saturday night and Garrison Keilor was talking about how women in Minnesota, during frigid January, become crazed with cleaning. They clean everything and then they clean it again.

When I think of a pastime, I think of reading or quilting, and I hardly ever have time to do those things anymore. But I do have a habit of cleaning in January. It's true. And there is something very satisfying about it too. Recently I organized one of my closets and when I stood back and saw how it looked, it gave me a feeling of accomplishment. I threw out or gave away the old stuff and there was some room to grow in the New Year.

You could even write this story and put it into the TellOurLifeStories Collection for the January Story Contest. It would get you started on the writing life stories path.

Cleaning may not be a hobby, or maybe it is. Certainly it's not like knitting or quilting or reading, or cooking. But it is a pastime and it often occupies the wintery months. And there is something cathartic about it too, because after it's done, then pretty soon spring is around the corner and the new year is truly launched.

A New Story Contest!

2010-01-11T03:15:00Z

Along with the quiet of January evenings, comes the opportunity to take up well-loved hobbies and crafts.

One of my own favorites is quilting. I had the opportunity to meet a quilter whose daughter had written a lovely book about her and the journey that quilting inspired in her life. It wasn't until the mother became ill that the daughter realized what a treasure the quilting pastime had been in her life and her father's. When her mother recovered, the daughter resolved to write a memoir about her mother's quilting journey. And so she did.

The daughter wrote the book "One Woman's Journey Told In Quilts."

Her mother is a retired Oklahoma school teacher. She says, "You go on. You cope. And you quilt."

Our TellOurLifeStories contest is to write about your favorite hobby or pastime for this silent time in January. Write about something that occupies you on these chilly and cold winter evenings. Write about how your hobby inspires you, write about how you began with it, write about how long you've been doing this and the things you've learned along the way.

For 2010 we will continue to have these writing contests every month. Subscribers who enter 3 stories in the next 6 months will be eligible for a drawing for a $50 Visa gift card.

Enter your story by either submitting your story to the TellOurLifeStories Collection through the free trial offer, or if you are a subscriber, login, and enjoy the fun! Your stories belong to you.

The Hobby Story Contest begins Monday, January 11 and deadline for entries is Monday, January 25 at 5 p.m. Pacific Time. The winner will be announced Monday, February 1 by newsletter and email notification.

Stories will be read by Dawn and Margaret from TellOurLifeStories.com and the winning story writer will be highlighted on the Home Page of TellOurLifeStories and also in the newsletter.

A Winter Day

2010-01-11T03:07:00Z

It is winter time. The January days are quiet after the holiday whirl.

Today I cooked vegetables. I just discovered parsnips. Thanks to a recipe from my brother's mother-in-law, I combined them with carrots and some potatoes and mashed them up. They add a tangy sweet flavor to the potatoes. I did add some butter to make them even more creamy.

As I stored them away in the refrigerator to be ready for me during the busy week, I thought of how grateful I am for the recent visit that I had with my family in Wisconsin. I saw everyone. I got to cook at my mother's and she was thankful because at 85 it is too much for her to do. But she enjoys having her tree up and putting out the mixed nuts and black olives and setting the table. I am sure that it reminds her of all those other Christmas times when more people gathered and the house was full.

As it was, my brother Jim and I celebrated Christmas with her and I enjoyed the day very much. We went to church and saw the nativity and the moments were long during the day. As darkness fell over the snow outside the window, Jim took a nap after our meal and I finished clearing up and then curled up with a book.

I remember my niece, my brother and sister-in-law and the family party at their home, opening our presents in front of the blazing fire that my brother built. We laughed together and everyone got along and had fun.

I remember the evening having dinner at my cousin's with my sister and her husband. We ate on her mother's plates and I remembered my Aunt Lee.

And my brother and I took our annual walk around his neighborhood and, once again this year, the church bells chimed a carol just at 6 p.m. while we finished our trek past the large homes all decked out with Christmas trees and the freshly fallen snow laying over the branches of the evergreen trees.

A Silent Night

2009-12-17T05:15:00Z

I was reading that book, This I Believe, which has excerpts from the thousands of stories they have collected since the 1950's. It is a wonderful collection of stories that show people's values.

One story was particularly suited to this season and I wanted to share the insight from it with you as you rush through the holidays. You might pause for a moment and reflect on where you are, who you are and what the season means to you. It is easy to get all caught up in the things that we do and it is so much fun to visit with friends and family.

As well, in the quiet moments when darkness arrives early, it might be a time to get out some paper and write down, as this person did, some words about the values that you hold during this time, if for no other reason than to remember them and in doing that, to honor them.

The story begins with the writer, Steve Banko saying that he was "moved by the magic of Christmas music since nuns in grammar school etched the words of carols into my brain."

Ten years after grammar school he found himself in a hospital at Christmas, his leg shattered in Vietnam. His body was full of shrapnel and his hands badly burned. It didn't feel like Christmas and he was in desperate need of magic as doctors struggled to save his leg.

His misery "was interrupted by a low moan coming from the next bed. All I could see was a white cast shaped like a body, cutouts for his eyes, nose, and mouth were the only breaks in the cast. The soft strains of 'Silent Night' were filling theair of the ward when the nurse made final rounds. When my nurse approached I asked her to push my bed closer to the man in the cast. I reached out and took my new friend's hand as the carol told us 'all is calm, all is bright.'"

"We spoke no words to eachother. None were needed. The carol revived the message of hope and the triumph of love for me. I felt a slight tightening on my hand and for the first time that Christmas I felt I would survive my ordeal and for the first time in a long time, I wanted to. I believe there is magic in Christmas and the music that celebrates it, because it brings us closer together and closer to our own hearts."

Life Stories and Journaling: Are You a Grownup?

2009-12-16T05:14:00Z

I ran across this story in my journal recently and wanted to share it. Journaling is a great vehicle for writing your life stories. You can jot down some notes or sentences and then remember them later and fill them out.

I met Sylvie on my evening walk. She is two and was on the arm of her tired-looking but gently cheerful Dad.

"Hi," she called from across the street.

"Well, hi there," I replied.

'Let me see your eyes," she said.

I removed my sunglasses. "Are you a grownup?' she asked.

"Yes," I said.

"Where is your little girl?" she asked.

"I don't have one," I said.

"Why?" she asked.

"It just never happened,' I said.

"Oh," she said, looking puzzled.

"That's a bright green shirt she has," her father remarked.

"Yes," I said, "and yours is pink!"

She squirmed in delight looking down at her t-shirt with the big pink heart on the front.

"See you," I walked away and waved. She waved back as they slowly walked on.

I laughed to myself enjoying the perfect evening, looking forward to watering my flowers. I barely remember a time when that conversation would have made me cripplingly sad because I wasn't able to have children of my own. But now that seems like the distant past.

I thought to myself, what if I had said, "I don't know," when she asked if I was a grownup?

Christmas at My House

2009-12-16T05:00:00Z

Well, Christmas begins at my house on Thanksgiving weekend when I put up the tree. If I'm not the first one in the neighborhood, then I'm a close second. This year I was first. My brother helped me to get the tree out of the box and assemble it on Thanksgiving Day. He gave me some great pointers. You have to expand the branches to fill out the middle parts of the tree so it doesn't look like a bunch of green shelves. That worked great. Before that, I was filling the shelf parts with ornaments and lights but there were still gaps. This way it looks all full and happy.

It was nice to have someone watching a football game on Thanksgiving too, it brought back some good memories.

Then that first week of December is the women's group at my home. We've been doing this for over 15 years and the tree is always up. If I don't have it decorated, then after dinner, they help me to decorate it. We gather around and have a topic after dinner and we always end up telling our life stories. This is a group that has a nice long history with eachother and so that makes it very interesting and nice when we can connect with eachother once every month in this way. It kicks off the holiday season, especially well, beginning it with good friends and good food.

After my brother left from the weekend, I settled again into my very busy routine at work. I've been so occupied with that, when I get time to myself, it is very sweet and precious. I haven't had a great desire to go out much. Consequently, this holiday has been quiet and gentle so far. I've done a little shopping, not alot of extravagance, just some well-considered gifts that represent sincere thanks.

I Never Knew He Could Cook

2009-12-16T04:49:00Z

Well, it seems like awhile ago, life goes so fast, the life stories pile up one on the other, you might say.

My brother, Jim, came to visit for Thanksgiving. I never knew he could cook. He really enjoys it. He's 12 years younger than I am and even though we are both all grown up now, to say the least, I still think of him as my little brother. Well there we were in the kitchen and I was teaching him to make an apple pie, crust and all. He even emailed himself the recipe. We used the big deep porcelain pie dish to bake it in and it was huge. And it was delicious, not syrupy and the crust was all flaky and wonderful. If you want the recipe, leave a comment and I'll put it in my blog next time.

Anyway, we made a wonderful feast. He taught me to toast the croutons to make stuffing from scratch and it was wonderful stuffing too, with a little sausage and celery, cooked in chicken broth, but not stuffed into the bird.

We went for a long walk in San Francisco and saw all the holiday sights, the tree at Neiman Marcus which is always elegant and grand and also the kittens and puppies in the Macy's windows, not to mention the great big tree and ice skating rink in Union Square. Overall, it was a wonderful visit and lots of catching up over dinner and some great conversation.

It was great to be around his easygoing attitude and his sense of humor.

Life Story Lessons from the Fir-Tree

2009-11-23T03:28:00Z

I was recently looking for a story for a Christmas party at my home. After dinner, we go into the living room and take turns passing around a book as the fire crackles away in the background. Each person reads a bit until they feel like passing the book to the next person. We've read "A Child's Christmas in Wales" by Dylan Thomas several times now.

At a rummage sale a month ago, I bought a beautiful book of Christmas stories for $2. I was wondering, when I made the purchase, how many families and friends had enjoyed the tales from this book. The other day, I was reading through the book and came across the story The Fir-Tree by Hans Christian Andersen.

In this story, there is a little fir-tree in a wood. It is a beautiful little tree. It is in a "capital position" and can get sun and there is enough air and it has many tall companions. But the little fir-tree sighed and wished it were larger, "If only I were a great tree like the others!" it said.

The years went by and the story moved ahead, year after year, the rings accumulated on the tree marking the passage of time. The birds built nests in its branches and the wild hares danced and jumped about it.

But the fir-tree always longed for something else. When it saw some of the very large trees cut down, it asked, "Where are they taken?" And the swallow replied, "I saw new ships as I flew from Egypt, with great tall masts." The fir-tree, said, "Oh if only I were big enough to sail away over the sea, too!"

During the winter, when one tree was selected, the fir-tree again asked the swallows where that tree was going. And the swallows said, "Down in the city we have peeped in at the windows. They attain to the greatest splendour and magnificence you can imagine. We have seen them planted in the middle of a warm room and adorned with the most beautiful things - golden apples, sweetmeats, toys and hundreds of candles."

"And then?" asked the fir-tree. "Oh we haven' seen anything more than that," replied the swallows. "That is even better than sailing over the sea," thought the fir-tree. "I am sick with longing."

Eventually, the tree was the just the right size and height to be selected. And when it was Christmas time, it was the first to be cut down. The fir-tree was sad to leave its home. Sure enough, it was all decked out in a great warm room. Presents were piled at its base. Candles adorned its branches. Then the doors were thrown open and the children rushed into the room and plundered the tree. When the excitement subsided, the children asked for a story. A little stout man came over to the tree and told about Humpty Dumpty who fell downstairs and married a princess.

The fir-tree rejoiced at the festivities and thought that perhaps it would fall downstairs and marry a princess too. It rejoiced to think the next day it would be decked out again.

But the next day, the servants came in and dragged it up to the attic and put it into a dark corner.

After awhile, the fir-tree was befriended by the rats and mice in the attic and told them the grand story of the Christmas celebration and Humpty Dumpty.

And in the end, the fir-tree was dragged out into the garden, where it said, "Too late! Too late! If only I had enjoyed myself whilst I could. Now it is over and gone."

After I read this story, it made me pause to realize how much I think about what is happening tomorrow rather than enjoying today.

And I wanted to share this thought with you because it is also a reason to write down your life stories of today. Write about the moments. Write about the memories, write about how your great Uncle used to play the accordian and how your Aunt Mary burned the pumpkin pie one year.

These are the stories that move forward in families and can be forgotten as generations pass. So it's important to share them and remember them so that the children coming later know where they are from.

Winning Story from the Holiday Recipe Contest!

2009-11-23T03:13:00Z

We received several wonderful stories in the most recent story contest!

Anyone who thought about entering and decided against it can keep the next opportunity in January in mind. It will be around wintertime hobbies that you do when the weather outside is frightful!

The winning story is Recipe for Memories by Ardyth!
Here is the first part and you can read the rest in the story Collection.

"Ingredients
1. 8MM movie camera and Polaroid
2. 1958 Oldsmobile packed with 2 adults and 4 kids dressed in their Christmas best
3. "Play list" of carols to sing during drive
4. Welcoming hugs and kisses
5. Christmas dinner
6. Dirty dishes
7. Story-telling and camaraderie
8. Love and good-byes"

Subscribers can Login and read the stories in the Collection, or you can start with a free trial offer and read them that way too.

Life Stories: You Are a Writer

2009-11-15T06:10:00Z

Not everyone likes to write,
but you do.

Not everyone thinks it's fun to fill paper with words,
but you do.

Not everyone enjoys looking at an empty screen or a blank page,
but you don't see an empty screen,
for you the blank page is not there.

You see clouds, or mountains, or the ocean, or your backyard.
You remember a scent.
You recall a touch.

Where to start?
Words, choices, phrases, a description, a color, a feeling,
tumble in your mind until one first letter catapaults out...... free.

And then you begin.

What is a Life Story?

2009-11-10T04:27:00Z

What is meant by a life story?

I believe that a life story is your way to convey to yourself and whoever might read it the essence of what you know your life to be about. This might include moments that were important to you, it might include descriptions of events that unfolded. A story about your life also can tell about hobbies and pastimes that entertained and enlightened you. Behind your descriptions of these moments, events and pastimes lies the meaning that moved you forward as the years flew by.

My grandmother always used to say, "years fly" and when I was a child, I must admit to knowing that wasn't true since it was such a long time from one Christmas to the next. Even though I believed everything that my Grandmother told me, when it came to that truth of hers, I would say, "but it's such a long time until Christmas." And she would laugh.

But as I grow older, and with my Grandmother long passed from this world, I know that she was right of course. Years do fly. And when we allow some time to reflect and look back, perhaps some highlights emerge in our thoughts. Even perhaps there were patterns where we only saw random events when we were in the thick of them.

For those of us who enjoy writing, the exercise of putting words around these events and moments and thoughts is very satisfying. This is a story that doesn't begin at the beginning. It begins wherever it falls.

Every life story has a life of its own. No two individuals travel the same path. Giving yourself the opportunity to wrap some of your memories into sentences and then paragraphs can provide insights and learning. "Well done," you can safely say. You were always doing your best. Writing your life story gives you the chance to put some perspective on the journey.

Holiday Recipe Story Contest

2009-11-02T03:20:00Z

Halloween marks the beginning of the Holiday season. And with it might come thoughts of get-togethers with family and friends. Those gatherings always feature some wonderful Holiday treats. There are the traditional main dishes as well as the not-to-be-missed, one-time-a-year cookies and desserts.

You might remember meals with your grandmother or some favorite relatives and the special things that they made during the holiday season. It was the occasion, the people and the event that cause the meal to linger in your mind years later.

Here is a contest where you can recall the recipes and the stories too.

Write about your holiday favorite and enter it in our latest story contest by submitting your story through the FREE TRIAL OFFER at TellOurLifeStories.com. Just click to add your story to the Collection. Or if you are a subscriber, login and enjoy the fun!

Stories will be read by Dawn and Margaret from TellOurLifeStories.com and by Susan, who taught at San Francisco State in the Professional and Technical Writing, Composition, and Creative Writing programs and who wrote her first book, Ann’s Birthday Cake, when she was a preschooler. The book included an illustration of the cake and the full text of the song.

There will be one winner of the contest. If you are a member, the prize is a one-hour story-writing consultation tailored just for you with Margaret of TellOurLifeStories.com. If you are a non-member, the prize is a one-year subscription to TellOurLifeStories.com.

Contest begins Monday, November 2 and deadline for entries is Monday, November 16 at 5 p.m. Pacific Time. The winner will be announced Monday, November 23 by newsletter and email notification.

Start today and submit your story and recipe!

Writing Your Life Story: Faith Not Fear

2009-10-23T03:22:00Z

What happens when you put yourself into the mindset that is guided by faith and not ruled by fear?

In the book "Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway," Susan Jeffers has a chapter called "Pollyanna Rides Again," and it's about the power of positive thinking. She says that "it is reported that over 90% of what we worry about never happens. That means that our negative worries have about a 10% chance of being correct."

So that means that if we have a negative view of taking chances and are always focusing on being "realistic," then we won't take a chance. But there was only a 10% chance that the negative "realistic" view was even possible. it was more probable that we weren't being realistic at all.

In Jack Canfield's book "The Success Principles," he says, "Roadblocks are simply obstacles that the world throws at you. They are simple circumstances you need to deal with in order to move forward."

So that would be a "faith not fear" way of thinking. It's just a roadblock.

We all have roadblocks in our lives. There is always a new challenge. I have found in the business world that rather than talking about issues, people refer to opportunities. It sounds better. To say, what is the opportunity here, sounds much more promising than what's the issue, what's wrong, what is the problem.

So you might think about a time that you faced a roadblock and turned it into an opportunity. Maybe there was a difficult circumstance, maybe you moved, started a new career, launched a business, or learned to ride a bicycle or to swim. There were roadblocks, but you didn't see them.

You didn't see them because you were guided by faith and not ruled by fear.

You might want to write a story about that.

How to Write your Life Story: This I Believe

2009-10-23T02:19:00Z

This I Believe is an international project engaging people in writing and sharing essays describing the core values that guide their daily lives. Over 60,000 of these essays, written by people from all walks of life, are archived on the website, www.thisibelieve.org. Edward R. Murrow began the radio program in the 1950's.

I recently purchased the book version which contains 75 of these essays. Reading it, I was inspired and awed. These are 500-word essays that express the core beliefs that guide everyday life. They demonstrate how different we all are. And at the same time, they seemed to tell me how similar we all are too.

In one of the books I have on my coffee table, by Michael Bernard Beckwith, he says, There is a distinction between personality and character. The word character is from the Old French caractere meaning "imprint on the soul." while the word personality suggests veneer and is connected with the Latin word persona which was a mask worn by actors. He says, "it's easy to tell if you are living from character or personality: If things aren't going your way, personality pouts while character remains unruffled and learns from the experience. When you are not in psychologically or emotionally safe territory, personality panics. Character, on the other hand, rides the vicissitudes of life with even-mindedness. "

It seemed to me that, reading through the essays in the book This I Believe, the writers were expressing character rather than personality. The beliefs expressed came from that place that weathered the storm, crossed the bridge, saw the higher path.

Writing about what you believe would be a thoughtful process. It might be a good Christmas gift to your children, or to your grandchildren. You might want ot give it a try.

How to Write your Life Story: The Getaway Day

2009-10-20T04:24:00Z

Maybe your To Do list is a mile long and too deep for you to even stick your toe in the water without drowning. It’s a list that has been growing for months and the more you grasp after whittling it down, the longer it grows. One thing leads to another, you tell yourself, feeling exhausted. Day after day, you move along, pretty satisfied with your life, but never feeling like you are getting it all done.

Maybe the good news is that you will never get it all done. Try as hard as you might, the more you pile on wanting things, the longer the list will grow. So what do you do?

You take the list and give it a vacation. You take a Getaway Day.

Have you done that lately? It is something you can write about. What led up to it? What was going on? Why were you compelled to just chuck it all, the whole list and just take off.

It might have been for an afternoon, or a morning. Maybe you just stayed at home and allowed yourself an entire afternoon to read a good book that’s been sitting on your bedside table for the past three months collecting the dust that you’ve been too busy to wipe away.

I recently had a getaway day. It happened by accident. On Sunday morning, I woke up early and went to the Farmer’s Market. I wandered through the stalls. The day was sunny and fine. There was a musician playing even so early as 8 a.m. I had a cup of hot coffee in my hand. I bought beets and potatoes and chard and beautiful round crunchy Asian pears as well as some of the last of the fat tomatoes.

I walked to my car. I drove away.

But as I went down the drive and onto the street, on my way to church and gardening and house-cleaning catch-up I was struck on impulse and turned right on the freeway instead of going straight.

Forty-five minutes later, I was sitting in a coffee shop with a beautiful pastry and the morning paper, in a small town in the wine country. I glanced through the paper and then had a chance to take a deep breath and look out the window at the leaves turning crinkly brown colors against the gazebo where a band must play on summer afternoons.

It was an escape from the week, an escape from the chores. They could wait for another day. I finished my coffee and pastry and wandered around the town. It was an overcast day, clouds in a shadow, wrapping the town and me in a cocoon. I went to the bookshop and sat in a chair and took the time to read the beginnings of several books before I made my decisions on what to purchase.

I walked some more, went to an art gallery. At lunchtime I found a little café down a side street and it looked like it was populated with locals rather than the well-heeled tourists most common to the town. I went in. They had a smoked duck sandwich on the menu for only $12. I asked the waiter about it. He said they made it themselves right there in the kitchen. I ordered it and I was not disappointed. It was lean and tender and there was a little gruyere cheese melted on the whole wheat toast so that it was just mouth watering.

Very satisfied with my adventure, I felt relaxed and ready to return home.

The list did wait for me. But I was able to cross a whole bunch of things right off of it and read one of my books on the sofa instead.

As you read this, you might be thinking of a time that you took off and went somewhere or did something on impulse. You could write a story about that time.

Writing Your Life Stories: Holiday Recipes, Turkey Gravy with Gingersnaps

2009-10-19T22:53:00Z

When you think of favorite holiday meals, it isn't just the turkey and stuffing that comes to mind. You remember the people, the place, the occasion. You remember the tradition. You might remember the preparation, the thoughtfulness over the menu, the carefulness about trying a new dish. You might recall the time that the star of the meal, highly anticipated, was burned or undercooked. These memories provide a wonderful backdrop for a holiday recipe.

The remembered scenes are a gift that can go along with sharing the recipe.

Here's an example.

There was the time that Grandma and Aunt Gladys argued over the gravy. Everyone knew the argument wasn't really about the gravy. And they also, all these same related people who had been gathering together all these years, had all seen this storm brewing. But when it finally came, the words came flying out of the kitchen and directly into the ears of everyone in the house. Uncle Gladys cringedin his chair. The football game paled on the television. Cousin Judy drew in her breath. Grandpa sighed.

"Too much salt," said Gladys again. "It always has to be your way. Well this is my home and I want to makethe gravy my way."

There was a big silence. The walls in the cozy house contained them all together in this scene. Dinner was at stake. The gravy was the last step to the meal that they had been hungrily anticipating all afternoon. Outside the front room window, large snowflakes drifted down. The fire crackled. A log fell.

Then grandma said, "OK, no more salt." She paused."Grandpa shouldn't have it anyway."

The room breathed a sigh of relief. Cousin Judy reached for a peanut from the dish on the coffee table. Grandpa winked at her. Uncle Gladys rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. Just then a gust of wind blew a flurry of snow across the window.

Here is Aunt Gladys' Gravy Recipe

Ingredients:
Turkey drippings
Three gingersnap cookies (or to taste)
1 full tablespoon of flour
1/2 cup of water
Spices, salt and pepper to taste

Pour off the juices from the roasted turkey into a gravy strainer, strain off the fat, and pour what's remaining into a medium sized saucepan.
Add three gingersnap cookies (or to taste).
Mix up a full tablespoon of flour in a half cup of water and blend it all till smooth.

Bring the drippings and gingersnaps to a boil.
Slowly pour in the flour mixture, continuously stirring to the thickness desired.
Add salt and pepper to taste.

Headlines at the Hairdresser's

2009-10-19T22:33:00Z

Sometimes the headlines provide food for story ideas. Often they are silly in themselves. What publishers believe that people, women specifically are thinking and concerning their minds with can be puzzling, or at best, hilarious.

What about this one, here's a real burning question of the day, "How to Apply Liquid Eyeliner." I am sure that we are all lying awake nights worrying about whether we are getting this one right. Here's another one, "The Perfect Bra for Your Body." Does such a thing exist?

Here's my personal favorite, "Lose Weight at Any Age." My 86-year-old friend will like that one. She says at her age, she is allowed to look just as she pleases and I say good for her. Or here's another good one, "Sexy New Perfume Alert." Better read this and stay tuned in.

As we all move busily about our day, maybe these headlines can help us with their silliness, to pause for a moment.

Story Contest Winner!

2009-10-04T21:10:00Z

We recently had our story contest and had six wonderful entries.

The theme of the contest was a summer memory. All the stories are in the Collection on TellOurLifeStories.com.

There was a story about visiting a place long heard of in family stories, An Iowa Adventure. Here is the first line of that story, "They say that every journey begins with the first step. The journey I envisioned began with a thought - a need almost - to see the home town where my father grew up."

There was a poem, titled, Summer that begins, "The fleeting moments of summer..."

Another poignant story, What This Summer Means to Me was about a mother who is aging and has Alzheimer's disease, it begins, "For the first time in my life, my mother does not know me."

A fourth story, Irish Bread - An Old Family Story, begins, "I am a first generation Irish-American. My parents came from two small villages located at the far end of a peninsula that juts out between Brandon Bay and Tralee bay, on the north coast of the Dingle peninsula in County Kerry."

The fifth, Summer Fun starts this way, "When our children were young (6 and 10 - they are now 43 and 47 - but don't tell them I told you), we began spending many summers backpacking and camping with my parents who were avid outdoor enthusiasts."

And the sixth, You Scream, I Scream, begins, "We all scream for ice cream! At least my dad does; always has; always will."

It was very difficult to select a winning story, but it had to be done and the winning story is What This Summer Means to Me.

The winner receives a $50 Visa gift card. You can log in and read all the stories if you are a member of TellOurLifeStories.com or you can join up for free for 30 days to try it out. We only charge a small yearly membership of $28.98 to keep up the maintenance and security on the website.

Here is the link to the free trial so that you can enjoy the stories:
Free Trial to TellOurLifeStories.com

Sitting Too Much? Bike and Blog

2009-09-27T14:36:00Z

I found that I was sitting way too much. Sitting at work all day and then coming home, the last thing I wanted to do was sit in front of a computer again to engage in my website. I was adding pounds and moving toward a tendency to snack.

I wanted to work on my website and exercise at the same time.

I don't have hundreds of dollars for a treadmill with an adjustable desk. What to do? I got an exercise bike on sale at Sears, a simple one I can move from room to room for $149. I love my exercise bike. How to put the laptop on the exercise bike? Got one of those plexiglass book holders for $10, propped the laptop on it with bungee cord and voila! I am all set, biking and blogging. Put a strip of felt on the bookholder where my wrists rest for added comfort!

In my world, I work at a day job at a computer all day, and I love to cook and garden too. I work out at a gym several times during the week too, but it's still not enough.

Thinking back 50 years ago or even 25 before computers became so prevalent, people walked more, did things outside more and moved more in general. Out bodies weren't meant to spend 10-12 hours or more sitting in front of a little screen.

But being what it is, then solutions need to be found that can help us to still move around while we are doing things that we enjoy, like writing online and blogging, or doing other things at the computer. The time will come eventually, and tools will become more economically feasible to enable people to type at a screen and still engage in comfortable movement, rather than sitting. I'm all for that!

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