I had a very busy summer, which I'd like to share with you. First off, I'm celebrating two granddaughters born only a few weeks apart, one in July and one in August. I'm now the proud grandparent of a total of four grandchildren!
After all the fanfare of having my first book published in May, followed by a book launch event, I turned my attention to a whole bunch of things I had planned over the summer. This was the summer of family, that's for sure.
In June I flew to California to visit family that I haven't seen in a while. I got to catch up, go see some fun stuff in Arnold, CA and visit the resting place of another very cherished family member. It can be easy to forget how much family means when distance and time separates you. Also in June (and July) I got to see my daughter perform in Portland's Funniest Person competition. She made it all the way to finals! I'm proud beyond words of her. Toward the end of June, I went to the Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon and ended the month with a baby shower for my other daughter.
July started off with a bang (did you see what I did there...bang, 4th....not funny...okay...anyway...) I flew to Denver, CO where I met up with some California family. We visited with my high school friend Anne who is the Curator of Raptors at the Raptor Education Foundation, a wild life sanctuary for raptors. She showed us all her beautiful and interesting birds of prey, which was a real treat. Here is the website if you want to know more about what they do or donate to them. https://www.usaref.org/
After all the fanfare of having my first book published in May, followed by a book launch event, I turned my attention to a whole bunch of things I had planned over the summer. This was the summer of family, that's for sure.
In June I flew to California to visit family that I haven't seen in a while. I got to catch up, go see some fun stuff in Arnold, CA and visit the resting place of another very cherished family member. It can be easy to forget how much family means when distance and time separates you. Also in June (and July) I got to see my daughter perform in Portland's Funniest Person competition. She made it all the way to finals! I'm proud beyond words of her. Toward the end of June, I went to the Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon and ended the month with a baby shower for my other daughter.
July started off with a bang (did you see what I did there...bang, 4th....not funny...okay...anyway...) I flew to Denver, CO where I met up with some California family. We visited with my high school friend Anne who is the Curator of Raptors at the Raptor Education Foundation, a wild life sanctuary for raptors. She showed us all her beautiful and interesting birds of prey, which was a real treat. Here is the website if you want to know more about what they do or donate to them. https://www.usaref.org/
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We also went to the Denver Botanic Gardens. If you find yourself in Denver, this is a lovely place to visit (even though it was a very hot day.) I didn't get a lot of pictures, but really enjoyed looking at all the different ecosystems and plants. And there were little bunnies running around wild! I'll post a few more pics on my pics page. Also, I'm not a great photographer.
After a couple of days in Denver, we drove to Deadwood, South Dakota, going up through Nebraska, and met up with family from Oregon, Minnesota, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Arizona. We stayed in a big cabin in Lead, SD. I'll post more about that next week. Expect pictures of the Badlands and Mt. Rushmore, and the countryside in general.
After the family reunion, we drove back to Denver by way of Wyoming, and flew back to Portland. The next day I was working the silent auction at the 49th Annual Willamette Writers Conference. Did I mention trying to solicit for the auction while doing all this traveling? That was a challenge. I've been doing that for over 10 years and this year seemed like one of the best WW conferences I've been to.
After the WW conference, I got to rest for a minute. Then took a road trip around Oregon for Labor Day weekend. I really like Maupin, Oregon. It's on the Deschutes and a fun place to visit (you can rent boats and go rafting down the rapids!) I also enjoyed seeing the John Day fossil beds. I'll post pictures of all that on my pics page.
Last but not least, my birthday is coming up and I'll be eating at one of my favorite restaurants in Portland - The Melting Pot. Then I'm going to try to stay home for a little while and concentrate on writing, reading, and self care - until December, when I'll fly out to N. Carolina and see my son and his family (and one of my new grandbabies!)
Believe it or not - I have still met my goal of writing every single day this year!! Sometimes its only a hundred words and sometimes it's thousands. But I've paid attention to it for 252 days in a row. Currently, I've transitioned from writing on my phone, using the Werdsmith app, to organizing my nearly finished manuscript on Scrivener. All I had to do was import the app writing to my email, then copy and paste it to Scrivener. Now I'm revising and hoping to get it "query ready" by the end of October (or sooner.) Just in time to do Nanowrimo.
(also, currently my Facebook is deactivated. I needed a break. I'm still available on FB messenger)
Living in the moment,
Marla
After the family reunion, we drove back to Denver by way of Wyoming, and flew back to Portland. The next day I was working the silent auction at the 49th Annual Willamette Writers Conference. Did I mention trying to solicit for the auction while doing all this traveling? That was a challenge. I've been doing that for over 10 years and this year seemed like one of the best WW conferences I've been to.
After the WW conference, I got to rest for a minute. Then took a road trip around Oregon for Labor Day weekend. I really like Maupin, Oregon. It's on the Deschutes and a fun place to visit (you can rent boats and go rafting down the rapids!) I also enjoyed seeing the John Day fossil beds. I'll post pictures of all that on my pics page.
Last but not least, my birthday is coming up and I'll be eating at one of my favorite restaurants in Portland - The Melting Pot. Then I'm going to try to stay home for a little while and concentrate on writing, reading, and self care - until December, when I'll fly out to N. Carolina and see my son and his family (and one of my new grandbabies!)
Believe it or not - I have still met my goal of writing every single day this year!! Sometimes its only a hundred words and sometimes it's thousands. But I've paid attention to it for 252 days in a row. Currently, I've transitioned from writing on my phone, using the Werdsmith app, to organizing my nearly finished manuscript on Scrivener. All I had to do was import the app writing to my email, then copy and paste it to Scrivener. Now I'm revising and hoping to get it "query ready" by the end of October (or sooner.) Just in time to do Nanowrimo.
(also, currently my Facebook is deactivated. I needed a break. I'm still available on FB messenger)
Living in the moment,
Marla
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