Life-WiP: Lesson of Slowing Down

 My life is a work-in-progress, hence Life-WiP.  Every few weeks I'll share about my life and what I've been learning. I want to hear from you, too, so there will always be a question at the end for you to comment on life lessons you've learned. In this way, you can learn a bit about me and I about you. 

A little over a month ago a friend shared her testimony at church about how God had used her time in the hospital to teach her about slowing life down. I sat in my chair and nodded in agreement. Yep, that is something I'm trying...I read that book on simplifying life...but not happening right now.

Then, a week later, I ran into a door, literally.  

I won't go into long details, but the door was heavy and swinging. 

I didn't see it and was running inside. 

Door swung out and made a great impact on my forehead.
Large goose egg. Which in Chinese I learned they call that bump a "duck egg".

Mild concussion.

Talk about feeling totally stupid...

I had to slow down dramatically. I was dizzy or light headed most of the time. 

But, I learned a few things about simplifying my life.

1. Simplify house chores. My kids are now old enough to help out, so they've been given a few more weekly chores to do then they previously had.

2. Simplify meals. Cereal for supper is okay once in a while. I'm back to making meal plans, but ones that are not elaborate.
3. Simplify Activities. I'm limiting what I can do in a day. I don't need to do it all, and I need to be okay with that.

It has almost been five weeks, and I'm feeling much better, but I still have to take afternoon naps almost daily. The one thing I will have to remember is to keep up this simple life once I'm back to "normal"...whatever that is.

So, do you live a simple life? What do you do to maintain that simple life?

WiP

I'm feeling like a student who really wants to do well in school, yet just can't get her act together.
Head down, pleading to the dust on the floor that I won't be called on for the answer, but, with a roaring siren, I hear it. I sigh, look up and think about answering with, "My dog ate it"....but I stammer and say:
Well, hmmm, I don't have much to report on the progress of my writing.

But, I've unpacked my books and put them on my shelf.

But, I've bookmarked some potential new magazine markets. (note bookmarked, not researched)

But, I've started again writing on this blog.

And, to add to the list of those excuses for not looking at my ms or any of my articles semi-ready for submission to magazines...I started a new blog, raising my TCKs. Yep, crazy I know. It is still in the baby stages, but I've managed to post a few articles there anyway.
The target audience is families raising kids overseas, hence the name.  If you want to check it out, I'd be grateful. If you promote it to any friends you might have that would have an interest in it, I'd be extremely grateful.

I'll still be posting here a few times a week and over there a few times a week. That should keep me fairly busy. But, I can't use that as an excuse for not writing for submission.
So, what have you been doing lately with your writing? I'm sure most of you are the 'A' student with work done in advance...and if you are, I still like you. *wink*  Keep going...I'll catch up with you sometime. =)


* photo by flickr

Book Review: Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze

Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze by Elizabeth Foreman Lewis

This was one of the many books that I read this summer. It has been on my TBR shelf for a few years, so I put it on my FitG list to get it read.
I enjoyed reading about China in the 1920s from an author who had actually lived there during that time. The descriptions of the people and the city were easy to visualize.

If you want to read a full review, then you can go here on the FitG site.

Life-WiP: Celebrating Marriage

At the end of July we celebrated our 12th anniversary.  I can hardly believe that we have been married that long. It just doesn't seem that long ago that we exchanged rings in front of our family and friends and rode off in a horse drawn carriage.


The night of our big 12 we went to a local "steakhouse" with all the kids. First, steakhouse is in quotes because an Asian steakhouse is a bit different than one from the US. But, it is still fairly good.  Second, this is the first time we've celebrated with the kids. I have to admit, it was worth doing.  After the meal we looked at wedding pictures and talked about the day with them. Our son wasn't too interested, or at least acted like he wasn't. But, my younger daughter was eager to hear every detail. Overall, it was nice, but we still wanted to celebrate without our kids.

A few days after our family anniversary celebration I read this blog post from Michael Hyatt. The title, What Really Keeps a Marriage Together?, got me to thinking about my own marriage. If you have the chance, it is a must read for anyone married or planning to get married. But, the answer was simple.
Be. Friends.

After reading, I knew we had to do something fun together for our anniversary. So, we planned a hike.  It would be a simple. One that we could easily do in a day, take a dip in a river, and be home by supper. Unfortunately though, I ran into a swinging door (literally) and had a mild concussion. My caring husband canceled the hike, which led to a bummed wife.
Poor. Husband.
Like a knight in shining armor, he came through with a new plan that was within the city limits including a little nature. Love that guy!




First, we had a late breakfast at our favorite American style restaurant. Then he took me to the Picasso exhibit. Our day ended at the pool getting a little Vitamin D.

It's not that I'm a huge fanatic of art or even know anything about Picasso, but I do enjoy art exhibits. Possibly new information for many people who know me. And if you are wondering, Uwe's not into art at all. This exhibit was good. They have about 60 original pieces on display. If you are a fan of Picasso and his work and you understand Chinese really well, then I recommend this exhibit (and live in Taipei).  The museum had headsets available for listening to more details of each painting and photo. Unfortunately, for us it was only in Chinese.  Again, my husband came through and gave me a personal commentary. I had such a good time with lots of laughing and giggling. If you know my husband, you will know that he makes for an entertaining emcee. Definitely, the highlight of my day.
Laughing is fun.
It is what friends do together.
Friends with my husband.
Not just friends.
Best friends.
Here's hoping that we continue to find fun things to do together on a regular basis to keep that friendship strong.

So, how do you keep up your friendship with your spouse?

Wip...Bookworm!

Image by jm3 via Flickr

I think I'm back.

Back checking Google Reader and catching up on blogs. 

Back to writing on my own blog.

Back into writing....this one hasn't happened yet, but needs to get started.

So, since I want to get back into writing I thought I'd write a Wip for accountability purposes so I'd have something to write about in a few weeks (I'm going to do bi-monthly updates).

But, I've not been totally been away from writing. I've been reading. Yep, I'm still reading for the school library and they received their shipment of books for the summer. 

For me, this summer was a summer of Biographies and Graphic Novels. 

Bios: (this is only a handful that I remember...there were more)

Pele

Emma Thompson

Cute Zac Efron

Hottie Johnny Depp

Dr. Seuss

Steven Spielberg

Jordan Sparks

Charles Barkley

Graphic Novels:

Jane Erye

Romeo and Juliet

The Tempest

So, reading has at least kept me thinking about writing...

I didn't write down the authors because I didn't plan to to blog about them. Just thought it was funny that I read two genres that are not my typical kind of reads.

What have you read this summer? And what do you think about classics coming out as GN?  I sort of liked them...in a middle school sort of way.