Monday’s Pen to Paper: Summer
This morning my daughter was complaining that summer is almost over. We have been busy. Family vacations to the East Coast and Montana, and my daughter studied in China for 2 weeks. A lot has happened, but there is still a lot of time before school starts. “What do you mean summer is over?” I said, “There are three weeks left.” I rolled my eyes. “That’s almost a month.”
It didn’t help that clouds rolled in today for the first time all summer, so I admit is does seem more like fall. But as much as I love fall, I’d like to take advantage of the rest of summer for myself, and for my kids. So I put on my thinking cap and jotted down ideas to get out and enjoy. It may not be easy to get my kids on board with my ideas, they are teenagers after all. I may have to use a tactic that my husband and I used recently to get them to go play tennis with us. “Tennis or weed the back yard?” Surprise, they choose tennis. I can’t say they will even enjoy the adventures, but I will have no moping.
So on several of the days over the last few weeks of summer, if they don’t have a plan, I will pull them along for a quick adventure. Paddle boarding. Golfing at Green Lake. A Museum. The zoo. Hiking. An outdoor movie. Something to help them take advantage of these last three weeks, and if not have fun, perhaps learn something new.
Writing Prompt: What was your favorite thing to do in the summer when you were young?
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Wake Up Call
My daughter and I have been playing basketball together Tuesday and Thursday mornings at the YMCA. The 5:45 wake up call seems early, still we are the last players to arrive. There are more than just a few of us whose love of the game gets us out of bed at that crazy hour. For some it’s golf, others yoga or swimming or maybe taking their dog, and themselves, for a walk . Find something that you love to do to get you out of bed in the morning and start your day off right.
Monday’s Pen to Paper: Where are you from?
My daughter finally finished the book “Outliers: The Story of Success” by Malcolm Gladwell, that I wrote about in an earlier blog, and she mentioned another interesting tidbit, “…that it matters where you are from.” We’re talking grandparents, great-grands, great-great-grands and down the line.
Now mind you, I haven’t read the book. I’ve only listened to summaries of certain sections from my daughter. And as she explained interesting revelations from this writer, backed by certain studies, I found that I didn’t always agree with it, but I did like that it was thought-provoking and now my daughter was interested in where she came from.
“I’ve got the start of a family tree.” I told her, “And papers from both sets of your grandparents that you can sort through.” And just days later, when my daughter was talking to her great-grandmother on her 95th birthday, she learned more about where she came from including the fact that she is distantly related to Jesse James, a legend in the old west (not necessarily a good one as he and his gang robbed trains and banks). My daughter was hooked. Down came the box filled with blood lines and old photos.
Writing Prompt: Write about where you came from…
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Change It Up
I’ve been playing a lot of tennis. Okay, well 5 times in the last two weeks might not constitute “a lot”, but considering that I usually play twice a year, it’s definitely more than the norm for me. Two weeks ago I made a vow to be active everyday (more than just working in the yard and climbing three sets of stairs each time I did a load of laundry. Although every bit helps). I had been in a slump with my workouts.
So I hit the YMCA for early morning basketball, ran the dogs, attended a bootcamp that kicked my ass, and pulled out my tennis racket. Huh?
My husband and I aren’t tennis players but we are both former college athletes that have stayed in decent shape, so over the years we have pulled out the rackets and played using our athleticism. We are not skilled at tennis, nor do we look it on the court. He, with his bad knees, hobbles and jabs at the ball. I have a frozen shoulder from a past injury, so my swing is ugly, and sometimes I do a silly kick that is not attractive. We don’t even play real tennis, I mean, tennis with a serve. We play 21, we volley the ball twice across the net and then play for a point, up to 21 points.
Still we have found that we can get a good workout and have fun. (Especially now that my husband doesn’t try to coach me the entire time).
Sometimes a little change-up in your workouts, can be good for your body and your soul.
Get out there and try something different.
Meet Sonya
Meet Sonya
Sonya Elliott’s memoir, Back on the Court: A Young Woman’s Triumphant Return to Life, Love & Basketball, is her story of finding hope in the wake of tragedy after she and her fiancé were hit by a train. She blogs about writing, basketball, and life and is currently working on a Young Adult Novel and a Non-Fiction Coaching book. Stories of her career as a fashion model are woven through her memoir, as both the Soloflex and Easy Spirit Shoes commercials were filmed during that time period, and this unique and intriguing business continues to be a part of her life.
Sonya played basketball at Eastern Washington University and was a starter for the Big Sky Champion team that went to the 1987 NCAA tournament. She coached for almost 25 years and was voted Seattle Times Coach of the Year, Seattle Officials Women’s Basketball Association Coach of the Year, and twice voted Metro League Coach of the Year. She loves the game of basketball and is thankful, not only for her husband and kids but for her ability to continue to get back on the court.
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Monday’s Pen to Paper: Surround Yourself with Inspiration
I have to buy The Plot Thickens (St. Martins Press, 2002)by Noah Lukeman. My daughter checked it out from the library a couple of week ago, but it is now five days late, because I found it in her room and stole it. I started into the first chapter on characterization, and decided that it was a book that I have to have. The First Five Pages (Simon & Schuster, 1999), also by Mr. Lukeman, sits on the bookshelf next to my desk. I pull it out for inspiration from time to time. The Plot Thickens: 8 Ways to Bring Fiction to Life, also needs to be sitting close by.
Surround yourself with books that inspire!
WRITING PROMPT (Based on a section in The Plot Thickens – Characterization: The Outer Life – A Crowed Room) Developing a character:
You […]
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Do What You Love
I love to hike. This summer I had planned to go on a few hikes with my kids and our dogs, but all throughout the summer stuff got in the way.
In August my athletic director “friended” me on Facebook and then whenever I checked Facebook, there was a picture of him standing on a mountain top. “Damn,” I’d think to myself, “I want to be there too.”
Finally I’d had enough. Yesterday morning at 5:30 am, I grabbed the dogs and hit the road. I could easily get to the top of Tiger Mountain and return in time to pick up the house before company arrived in the afternoon.
I stepped onto the trail feeling alive and inspired.
I’m like my dad that way. He is a hiker. He grew up in Austria traversing the hilltops in his back yard. […]
Monday’s Pen to Paper: Timeline Inspiration
I don’t write from beginning to end. I write sections of my story that come to me, that seem vivid and alive in my mind, and then overtime bring them together and find an order to their chaos.
This method worked for me when I wrote my memoir Back on the Court, and it is how I’ve been writing my YA novel. However, when I was writing my memoir, I knew my story and characters intimately.
Writing a novel is a little different. I’m enjoying getting to know my characters and I’ve got scenes that I know approximately where they belong in the story, but recently I decided that I needed to make a timeline. My main character takes a journey, and what better way to document her journey than on a map. I could place scenes along the path of my main characters […]
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