A little before I settled in for writing, running through a mental of list of zero topics, one dropped into my phone. E, my 23 year old, started the conversation. He loves pulling pranks on me, making it difficult to know whether he’s serious or not.
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He drove through The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Gotta love how builders select names for subdivisions and stick to the theme. Stories manage to find their way into every part of our lives. I read about a Friends themed subdivision being built a few years ago in a nearby town. Friends in Texas.
Today may be a good day to hunker down with a good Western.
As promised, I’m tagging his tumblr post here. *language alert
How’s it going? We’re in double digits like champs! Thank you for reading my posts. The seem blah this week, but it happens. For the 7th consecutive year, I haven’t planned a theme or focus like other slicers. On second thought, fly by the sesat of your pants is a plan. Anyone else with me?
Some of the plans I’ve noticed (I wish I had time to read them all) are those from Carpe Fabula,Pedaling Poet, and Horizon 51. Ryan Graybill’s Phoning Home to 3rd Gradeled me to Carpe Fabula’s school reflections. Both Ryan and his pal have taken me back to my own school memories. Thanks, you two! Sharon Roy of Pedaling Poet is not only a first time slicer, but she’s also reading War and Peace and rewriting in haiku, a chapter a day. Wow! Chris Margocs of Horizon 51, who invited me to SOL, pairs her slices with daily walks. Check them out.
Connection story: after reading one of Sharon’s posts, I discovered we live in the same area. Small world.
I’m on staycation mode this week. SXSW has downtown Austin crammed with visitors, and while I welcome their presence, I’m staying away. I no longer have patience for large crowds. It has also become something completely different. Gone are the days where you’d line up at a bar, pay the cover, and see an up-and-coming band. You. might even buy a CD, have it autographed and see them at the Grammys the following year. “I saw them before they were famous!” I didn’t line up outside of bars during spring break at SXSW though—I was underage and didn’t run around with the fake ID crowd—but that’s what it was. Now it’s a big celebration of people who can drop over a grand for a conference badge to listen to a bunch of tech, movie, and music execs, stars and influencers. It’s where the unknowns came to become known, but now they seem overshadowed by the big names. That was the whole point.
There are some family-friendly *free* events, but it’s too much work orchestrating an outing of that magnitude. I’ll visit other places instead. Maybe. I’m currently mulling over the tile my husband and I chose for the kitchen backsplash. We didn’t bicker much about it, so I’m second guessing myself, wondering if I should visit more tile stores tomorrow or let it be. Maybe the tile chose us.
I’m enjoying sleeping in, morning puttering, and not having to worry about having to be anywhere but here. Call me a homebody.
Heading into week 3, what are you looking forward to writing or doing? Here’s to another week of slicing!
Be well,
-Alice
P.S. I’m currently reading The Space Between Here and Now, a YA book about time travel. I’m beginning to see a pattern. What are you reading?
I’m still trying to recuperate from the time change. I’ve been living in a time warp all week. Driving in the dark when my body says Just one more hour of sleep, please! has me shaking myself back to reality. The clocks at work were never changed. I knew they were wrong all week, but I kept reading them at face value and couldn’t figure out which class period was which. Days didn’t seem to end, until they did.
Maybe I’m getting older, but this season’s time shift does not like me.
Tomorrow marks family wedding season. I won’t be able to attend an evening wedding tomorrow afternoon, but there are two more weddings on my calendar. October 2026 and Spring 2027. Other family members who live much closer will attend tomorrow and we got into a discussion about wedding gifts.
What do you get the couple who seems to have everything? Something off the registry is easy and guaranteed to be something the couple wants, but what if there isn’t a registry? Cold hard cash is easy and useful for honeymoon spending. What if it’s isn’t the first marriage? Rules have changed and I wonder what modern etiquette dictates. I could consult AI, but, nah…
Never mind. I had to check. Sure enough, contributing to a honeymoon fund or donating to a charity is acceptable for second marriages.
I once gifted a young couple a set of Nerf guns with a quirky note that said “For your first fight.” It was a bridal shower gift and the bride and groom always had a great sense of humor. A gift from their registry was also included.
They used them. One wound up with a purple welt to the leg, but they enjoyed chasing one another around the house with them.
I don’t remember all my wedding gift, but I still use my pizza stone. Mainly for baking cookies, though. Our champagne flutes are still a favorite, but I broke one when I dropped it in the sink.
What’s the strangest wedding gift you have ever given or received?
Well, not really, but I love that line from A Christmas Story, so it’s useful. Yesterday, I received a work chat that I was randomly chosen to join our library directors for a possible lunch (getting details) with middle grade author Gordon Korman at our annual library conference. “Reply by the end of the day if you want to join us, or we’ll choose someone else.”
It was 6:48 p.m. Although I don’t like to check email at home, I checked email at home and saw 4 chat notifications. Huh. I worked online all day catching up on back end tasks requiring a computer in addition to checking books out to steady streams of students who came in for more books. How did I miss them?
My internet wasn’t connecting well. It happens on cloudy days on top of the fact that the kids’ devices and non-allowed phones suck up bandwidth. I reply anyway hoping the end of the day means later than the end of the workday.
This morning, I received details. Two of us were selected to join our directors. I don’t know how many other people are invited, but I’m in! I get to have lunch with Gordon Korman at the end of the month. What a fantastic surprise. With over 100 books published, there is no way I can read them all before the big day, but I have a soft spot for Schooled.
"Well, hello, Little Lady," Spring announces with the tip of a hat, "did ya notice me?"
Well, yes, it's warmer than usual, so I felt it Didn't see it until the scent caught me, a lasso pulled taut, making me back-step a few paces until yes, I noticed
Rich purple bloom clusters hang like oversized Christmas ornaments on short, shrubby trees
Inhaling her sweet scent isn't necessary she's everywhere even if you aren't standing near her
Texas mountain laurel
she's like lilac, but instead of dainty heels, she wears boots with spurs
she's like lilac, but with attitude don't mess with her like ya don't mess with Texas
Don't underestimate her strength underneath all her beauty she snaps spring to attention drawing honeybees into her presence her signature scent announcing
Thank you for reading my posts. Year 7 is one I almost skipped. I’m glad I didn’t. This is a challengeiing task, but its all of you who keep me coming back each year. New Slicers, I hope you enjoy being here as much as I do.
I considered writing all of my posts in letter form. However, it’s more time consuming gatheriing my stationery (I’m not an early prepper-I fly by the seat of my pants), scanning, & uploading said letter, and then inevitably I’d falter and maybe even quit. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter, but I also didn’t want to rush through the process.
Lately, I’ve reserved my Sundays for slowing down. Since I started the Sunday Letter Project (I wrote about it last week), I loof forward to writing Sunday letters. I’m penning this letter with a jazz playlist swaying in the background while teen girl mixes up a batch of chocolate-chocolate chip cookie mix for boyfriend’s birthday tomorrow. It’s an overcast day with drizzle willing itself to stay locked int the clouds while we recuperate from the lost hour of precious time.
How are your slices going? I find myself writing mini-slices as comments sometimes. I’ll either save these posts or take screenshots. I may or may. not revisit them for the inevitable writer’s block. Shout out to Cindy of mschiubookawrites whose deftly drafted comments tie in with the post. If you haven’t already done so, check out the inspirational posts each day, but also those highlighted by other writers. Writer’s block is ALWAYS an appropriate slice and definitely “counts.”
Spring break is next week for me, so I plan to read more posts. I’m also saving some for later. Some possible slice topics:
my late uncle’s 18 wheeler based on a comment another slicer’s post (I need to look for it)
“Information is disposable”-from a discussion with 8th graders
Amelia Earhart, Helen Keller, and a Bessie Coleman Barbie-8th graders again
Isn’t everyone “a creative” from a crafter I follow online
What’s in my analog bag
Eight days down, twenty three more reps to go. Hang in there. Have a fabulous week. I’ll attempt to wrangle the rest of this day and tell it to SLOW DOWN!
Sincerely,
Alice
P.S. I recently finished Twice: A Novel by Mitch Albom. It’s about time travel. What are you reading?
P.S.S. Is anyone interested in receiving a Sunday letter in the mail?
I might be upset to change my plans this weekend, but I didn’t have any. A tough week reinforced my decision to putter around and do something. Or not. An even rougher night almost yielded a 3:30 a.m. draft, but I was able to course-correct and get back into snooze mode.
My morning walk didn’t happen either and I don’t plan to take one later. It’s a cool springy type of rainy day, allowing me to leave the back door open until the cool breeze becomes a little too much and S. exclaims that it’s just too cold! I enjoy inviting in the sound of soft rainfall, especially since there isn’t warm humid air to accompany it. That won’t be the case in a few weeks. I’ll take all I can now.
S. made her own brunch. I had coffee and cinnamon toast. Hubby is working. Cooking likely won’t happen today. We’re at the grab and go stage of life since being together for a meal is tricky.
#lifewithateen
A massage is scheduled this afternoon. Maybe I can slow down enough to catch my breath. I’m almost at the stage of life where I can care about not caring. Groceries, laundry, and piles of a busy week that needs tidying are patient enough to wait for another day.
S. walks down the stairs announcing, “I’ve decided to go ahead and get ready to start the day.”
Nerds Beget Nerds 