Category Archives: updates

The Hardest Part of Being an Author (why I gnaw on pencils)

We endure the hard plastic chairs as we anticipate the opening of the 2016 Tucson Festival of Books. The sign in our author tent states: “Autographs available.” Both Julie and I have our pens ready for the signing spree we expect to happen the moment the book lovers flow through the gates. Julie and I display our books on stands along with a sign stating a raffle for a packaged set of our books.

Let the mad rush to our booth begin!

Let the mad rush to our booth begin!

In my rush to pack for the two-day festival, I had forgotten to apply half of my make-up and hardly combed my hair. I also forgot the Panama hat I had purchased specifically for the event. When you forget to comb your hair, a Panama hat works wonders. read more

Finally! The Long-awaited Surprise Revealed

Or Jerry.

Or let Jerry.

Finally! My birthday arrived yesterday. I could at last see the artistic cat-gourd creation Jerry made for me.

A few blogs back, I wrote about my trip to the Wuertz Farm Gourd Festival (see archives on right for “Eat. Pray. Gourd). In Washington state, our festivals honor umbrellas and basset hounds dressed in tuxedos and pink princess dresses. In Arizona, the festivals honor ostriches and hard-shelled squash. I had never attended a festival dedicated to gourds, so I had to see what it was all about. read more

Finding Peace With Exploding Hair

I’ve learned the secret to making dreams come true.

What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals. ~Zig Ziglar

“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”   ~Zig Ziglar

Ten years ago I wrote a list of twenty-two goals I wanted to achieve. At the time, none of them seemed possible. I suffered from an anxiety disorder. I didn’t fly on planes, nor did I go near an airport. Actually, I didn’t even like uttering the word “airplane.” I also didn’t like bridges. For this reason, I cancelled any road trips that involved crossing a bridge (you can imagine how many trips were cancelled). I didn’t go anywhere that involved parking my car in a parking garage. I didn’t ride elevators, and preferred to search for stairs and huff up fifteen flights. This way of life was no life at all. In addition, panic attacks gripped me at  read more

Eat, Pray, Gourd

Running of the Gourds Casa Grande, Arizona

Running of the Gourds
13th Annual Gourd Festival, Casa Grande, Arizona

As someone from Washington state, I’m used to chocolate slugs on a stick and naked people in colorful body paint peddling bicycles in a parade.

However, I’m not at all used to Arizona’s scorpions (dead, I think) melted inside sweet lollypops or festivals celebrating gourds. While I’ve never licked a sugary scorpion or seen a naked person riding a bicycle in the desert, I have seen–as of today–my first gourd festival.

Road Trip: The Long Way to Disneyland, part 2

Ocean Beach, California~

2016-01-24 05.28.00 (2)

Ocean Beach, California. Jerry took this picture moments before a wave washed over him, drenching his shoes and pants.

“C’mon Jerry, get in the water.”

“Nah, I don’t feel well. I’m having a reaction to the medication I stopped taking. I’m going back to the car.”

Jerry wanders back to the car leaving me grinning while standing in the rolling surf with my jeans rolled up.

I stroll along the surf, do some beachcombing, and realize how soothing it feels to have bare feet in wet sand. The desert and the mountains hold a beauty and a soothing aspect of their own. But neither have wet sand with rushing surf frothing around your legs. read more