Made/Done With Love

         If something is made with love... if it's handwritten or handcrafted, it gains in sentimental value exponentially.

         If something is done with love. If someone-makes-you-a-big-tub-of-potatoes-even-though-you're-trying-to-eat-more-healthily-but-you've-worked-a-thirteen-hour-day-and-are-starving-and-stressed-out, you know it was baked with the best of intentions. And then you eat so many potatoes you end up going to bed looking like a potato. 

        The above picture is a close-up of a lap quilt (the perfect sized quilt for a writer) made by Lynn. She made one for each of the WWWPs for Christmas. It's soft and colorful--much softer than any flannel I've ever caressed.

        Quilters claim when you make a quilt for someone, before you give it away, you should wrap yourself in it to collect all the love. All those warm feelings will become one with the batting and the thread and the fabric. And then, the recipient will benefit from all that friendship and affection.    

        Lynn amped it up a notch. She pieced the quilt in her writing room. If you know Lynn, you know she does so many things with love. She cooks and bakes like a Julia Child wannabe. She draws. (What until you see the book she's working on. The illustrations are a-ma-zing.) She writes letters. She gardens. She hostesses better than mostesess. 

          And she's taking a break from blogging to work on her book. Because even though she loves her followers, she loves writing as well. And I'm hoping she really believes in this WIP of hers.

         What handmade gift would you like to tell us about? Warm and cuddly minds want to know...

Size DOES Matter

         The size of my car once was an issue. Or rather, the turning radius of my car. I thought since it was a small car, it could make a sharp right turn around a decorative length of fence. If I was riding a bicycle, I could have made that turn.

       But I wasn't. I was in a car.

       Now, I have a couple of long dents to remind me of that afternoon... 

Here's a moshpit of golden retriever puppies--Radar's litter (he was one of 11
surviving puppies). He was so tiny then.

Here's a close-up right after Radar was chosen as our new family member... 

Here's Radar now... all 78 pounds of him.

           The size of my feet used to matter to me. As a 12-year old, I wore size 10--and then soon size 11--shoes. There weren't hip-looking shoes in the olden days that were also big as boats. Now, I simply look for shoes that are comfortable and I don't care that my toes enter the room a few minutes before the rest of me does...

         My WIP is now up to 83,000 and some change. It started as a NaNoWriMo winner, was shredded back down to 0, and is now getting closer to a finished draft. And as I nudge taser myself into working on it, I also want to nudge along some writer friends. (Most of you know who you are.)

         Donna Volkenannt. Get busy. Why are you reading this post, when you could be working on your novel? Tammy. You have a best-selling book that is unfolding during WWWP critique sessions. Get on it. Lynn. It sounds like you've got some great priorities to ensure you get your book finished, which is marvelous, because it's going to be a gorgeous book. Linda--you have had such interesting experiences so far. Your memoir would be a page-turner. Convince Bill to be your typist (and your personal chef and your publicist) , and you can dictate it. Val. You need to get crackin' on a collection of your stories. Shay--How about another book of your poetry? Pat. Get it done. You're retiiiired. Stop those crazy-fun trips and hunch over your keyboard. Marcia--Are you hiding a book from the rest of us? Cathy Hall and Lisa Ricard Claro, you don't need no prodding. (Cathy has the Korean market sewn up, and Lisa is on her 89th book (it comes out on January 30.)

       And now I'm headed to bed...