Some Good, Some Bad

Now that the weather is warm, I finally got up the nerve to chop off most of my hair on Friday afternoon. As a busy mom, I rely a bit too much on the trusty ponytail. Now I’ll probably be just as lazy, but with clips or a hat. Ah, well—change is good, right?

We had our Volunteer League friends over on Saturday morning to make cat blankets and chew toys for the Animal Humane Society. It’s so cool to watch our kids become more comfortable with each other. I can’t wait until Linnea and Baby can play together. We’ve been talking more and more about bringing home the baby, but I don’t think Linnea comprehends what’s about to happen—how could she?

On Saturday night, Josh and I had our first date night since we were in California in November. We had an amazing dinner at Manny’s (a Minneapolis institution). I’m not a huge steak eater, but wow. Dressed in a “little” black dress (it’s all relative when you’re eight months pregnant), I felt quite spoiled sipping my virgin blackberry mojito served in a martini glass with a purple flower.

We started with a roasted beet salad and then enjoyed hash browns and asparagus—with bernaise and hollandaise, respectively—with our steaks. And, I finally got that killer piece of key lime pie I’ve been craving. We were too full for dessert, but that didn’t keep me from taking some to go. We were home home by 8 p.m., too full and too tired to take on the town. We watched the end of the Twins game and some HGTV.

To say the least, it’s been a delightful weekend. But, I’ve been struggling for a week or so with my book. In some ways—not necessarily the writing part—it would be SO much easier to write fiction. When writing a memoir, you have to consider how others will feel about your portrayal of them. I am trying to be both authentic and sensitive, and finding the right balance isn’t easy. But if that’s the biggest stressor I have these days, I’d say life is pretty good. I just need to suck it up, get the writing mojo going again, and finish the damn book.

*****

A Few Links to Share

A big THANK YOU to the generous people who critiqued the first complete draft of my memoir. You know who you are! Several of them have blogs: Gratitude Girl: Chronicles of a Neurotic Alcoholic in Recovery, Random Thoughts of a Lutheran Geek, and Urban Wanderlust. One of them writes books in the Guardians of Ga’hoole series (according to Amazon, the books are for ages 9-12).

Jordan Holm, a family friend who I featured in four of my recent posts, won the U.S. Open in Greco Roman wrestling this weekend. Seriously impressive! TheMat.com is currently conducting a poll on the best performance of the tournament. To vote for Jordan, scroll down to the very bottom of the page; the poll is on the right.

The business book that I coauthored has a new website with a free, no-strings-attached leadership assessment. If you enjoy personality assessments, check it out! The book will be available later this month.

And, as always, I want to know what’s on your mind, too!

• Tweet