We've already eaten all the candy that we were going to hand out.

 

Last week, Sarah decided she didn't want to go trick-or-treating.  She just wanted to help me hand out candy.  I was fine with that because...it's supposed to be a high of 40 today.  Anyway...she announced this morning..by the way.......THIS MORNING...that she wants to go trick-or-treating.  When I told her that she was going to get to go as "a six year old who didn't want to go trick-or-treating until Halloween day"--well let's just say it was not a happy morning around here.  It was a bit stressful up until the very minute the van pulled up in front of the school.

 

Where's the chocolate...oh right...I ate it all already.

The kids got out of school at 11 today.  On the way home, we stopped at the grocery store.  We were down to cheese, frozen salmon, diet soda, Ritz crackers, and a fridge door full of condiments.   You know it's bad when my kids are begging not to eat out anymore.  "We want homemade food mom!!!"  I'd rather write a song ABOUT cooking, than to actually cook!

 

15 feet into the produce aisle, DeVal came walking around the corner.  He works in the deli full time, but his passion is music. (Remember..this is a small town, and I've been shopping at this store for 11 years)  My guitar player, Steve,  at church works with DeVal and they got to talking about this new worship song we were doing, and so he wanted to talk shop with me for a while as well.  It was so fun, until my kids started getting antsy.  They started weighing things on the scales, dancing and pinching things.  I have very well behaved kids, but taking them to the store is exhausting.  They have lots of energy, and IDEAS about the things we should buy.  I would rather scrub toilets at home than to take my kids to the grocery store...no lie.  But in that moment, when I looked over and saw Sarah tearing off her gajillionth plastic bag to weigh, it hit me: I'm going to put them to work!

 

I'm telling you, my grocery store experience has completely changed!  I was sending Jenna for milk, Sarah for halloween candy, Jenna for lettuce..etc.   I did most of my shopping while talking about music with the deli manager!  woooot!!! 

 

I'm scaring myself saying this, but I might actually look forward to going to the store with my kids from now on.

So, I took my kids to the pumpkin patch on Tuesday.  Instead of juggling hats, coats, mittens, water bottles, half-eaten caramel apples, kettle corn, cell phone, and my purse, I just decided to use Jenna's backpack while we were walking around.  It worked swimmingly...except that I forgot to take out my cell phone when Jenna went to school this morning.

 

I realized she had it by 9 o'clock this morning and proceeded to call the people who usually call my cell phone.  Unfortunately I didn't catch Gina in time.  Apparently, during Science class...Jenna's backpack rang on two separate occasions.  For a short while, Jenna was the envy of all of her classmates because she was cool enough to have a cell phone.  Her teacher didn't quite agree with it being cool.  She was asked to take it to the office, where I then received a call from the school secretary.

 

Ok..she didn't get suspended.

 

She didn't really even get in trouble.

 

What a great title for the blog though, eh?

 

To my mother and 5 friends who have my cell phone number, you are welcome to resume calls.  I won't get suspended from housewife school if you call me...(I wish I would some days!)

Sue Smith rocks.  This little gig called Write About Jesus rocks.  I feel grateful to be a part of it. 

 

It's fun to watch the creative flame be fanned in the hearts of writers.  On the way home from the airport, it was cool to talk shop with the people in my car.  We were all excited to get home and apply some of the stuff we had learned.

 

It's wonderful to see the fruit of hard work in the lives of writers.  I'm thrilled for my friend Sue C.  She's worked hard this year, and it really shows in her writing.  It's really cool to see her humble spirit in the middle of it all as well.  She gives God all the glory...how cool is that?  I am praying for another great year for her and her "team" of writers in 07.

 

I'm happy for those who go before me as well.  It was a blessing to me to see the year that Simon and Gina have had.  They have also worked hard, and been faithful.  I hope the next year is a great one for both of them.

 

How WAJ affected me this year is still a bit of a mystery.  I like these following days.  I like mulling over things, laying them before God, and asking Him to help me make sense of it all.  There were wonderful moments in classes, the Friday night concert, and just hanging with my new and old friends and enjoying the company of those great people.  There were moments when I felt like I didn't know anything, and that I was one step higher than a tone-deaf-no-talent-fool.  There were moments when I felt genuine concern for those competing, and for those who have had a hard year with their writing.  There were moments when I felt jealous, insecure, and sorry for myself.  Then....on the heels of those emotions....were the times of hilarity, genuine gratitude, a thrill and desire to grow. And, I had some pretty great times when I felt very loved, encouraged, and  appreciated.  Sounds like my entire life as a writer...just condensed into 2 1/2 days!!

 

I'm in the process of setting writing goals.  Over the next week, I want to have some firm goals set for the next year.  Write About Jesus is always a good marker for me.  I wonder if they make calendars that start and end in October. 

 

Here comes the wall.  Time for bed.  I should be fixing a lyric tonight..but I've been at the Pumpkin patch and the only way to thaw from the hayrack ride is to take a hot shower and crawl under my down comforter...which can only have one result.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz 

 

Thank you Sue, John, Joel, Wayne, Tony, Twila, Maurice, Guy, Holly, Rick, Luke, Dennis, Marty, Kevin, Belinda, Michael, James, David, Steve, Melissa, Lisa-Sue's-sister-Lisa, Lunch lady and her peeps, Tricia, People-who-work-for-the-church in St. Louis, Don, Simon, Phil,  Allie, and everyone else who I'm missing...forgive me...oh..Gina too...it's the post pumpkin patch haze.  I'm thankful for all of you!

It's 100 Billion Gajillion to nothing.  It cannot be defeated.  It will not move, it can't be scaled.  It is the wall....and I have hit it.

 

I AM SO TIRED...but there is so much to say about Write About Jesus. 

 

So stay tuned.

 

Time for bed.

Notice how NONE of the suggestions for dropping the weight included reducing my intake of food. 

 

Ya'll know me TOO WELL! 

 

So, I'll be the one at WAJ with my leg sawn off, wearing spanks and a voting booth....completely airbrushed....eating my donuts

I need to lose 20 pounds by Thursday.  Any advice?

Here's the follow up from my week of mind-grinding writing last week.  It's amazing how you can feel that wonderful glimmer of inspiration when a hook hits you...and then how you can kill it in just a few short hours....only to resurrect it and then kill it...resurrect and this time.....well...you be the judge.

 

Simon's blog a week or so inspired my title.  His blog title was When Ordinary = Special.  I have been mulling that thought around in my head for YEARS...even attempted a song at it, called Miraculous... only to put it away in frustration.  Then came the thread on the WAJ discussion board about Normal Day...another reminder of the glimmer...then came Simon's blog which was the final push.  This morning, I read Melissa's wonderful blog about her quiet day at home, so I thought I'd post my tribute of my love of those kinds of days....and how rare they've been around here lately.

 

Here's what I came up with. If I was savvy, technically at all, I would  post the melody.  It's really fun and easy moving...sort of mid-up-tempo.  I wrote it in B (my FAVORITE KEY when I want to be inspired, but it's sort of a guitar tune, so when I got with my friend Travis to pound it out on the guitar, he wasn't overly happy with me--sorry T, but man you did it justice!!!)

 

BEAUTIFUL ORDINARY

 

You don't leave me breathless

Or make my knees go weak

But what you have to offer

Is everything I need

 

I didn't notice you

Til you were gone

But how I want you now

Since you've moved on

 

 

A symphony of silence

A simple masterpiece

You're heaven's way of giving

This tired soul relief

 

Oh, i see it now

The best in you

Next time you come around

I will treasure you...

 

chorus

 

bridge

Oh come back to me

and stay for a while

come back to me...and stay...

 

chorus

 

That's all she wrote! (for now anyway.....)

 

 

Yeah so here's what came out of feeding the lake and John Mayer's advice yesterday:

 

3 completed attempts at writing a song around my hook.  They're all garbage. 

 

I was listening to John Mayer as I was writing most of the evening last night.  His stuff seems so effortless.  As I looked at my lyrics on the page, they felt forced and like I had just taped a bunch of adjectives on to my homely little ideas to make them look prettier.  blah. 

 

I'm listening to Leeland right now.  They're young guys.  There's something very sweet and honest about their songs. (yet they're very true to the Truth as well)   I remember those days...I remember that kind of faith, and then...18 years later...how that tender honesty surfaced much more in my early writing.   I'm not sure what that means about my writing now.  I need to think about that.

 

So, I had a moment I haven't had in years.  It was one of those really bleak moments when you think:  "I stink.  I'm not just in a rut.  I really stink at this and I've been fooling myself all these years.  It's all a joke."  Granted, it was 3 am, which doesn't help anything.  Everything gets worse after the sun goes down, it seems.  Then why is it that's when I want to write?  Is there a connection between me being more emotional and oversensitive and wanting to write?  hmmmm.

 

I should have cleaned my house instead of writing.  At least I would have something to show for all that effort, besides this mood.  What a ride this writing thing can be at times.

 

I'm going to push through it though.  What do I have to lose?  Maybe on the other side of this funk, the song is waiting.  Or, maybe I leave the song in this murky place and move on to the next one.   

 

       Talking to two good friends on the phone

       A very sweet e-mail from another friend

       A cool, rainy fall day (LOVE this weather)

       It's one day closer to my mom coming to visit tomorrow.  I'll never get tired of that excited feeling seeing her pull in to my driveway.  My kids always run to the door excitedly when she pulls in, yelling "Grandma's here! Grandma's here!"  That's the same thing that's going on in my heart, I just maintain a "grownup" pace and face when walking to to the door.

       Joel's lyric posting today.  wow.  Glad someone is in the groove..woooo-eee that's some good stuff...and I'm not talking about the soup.

Here's the link again:  http://thistlelane.spaces.live.com

 

 

Last month, I sang at a wedding, AND THEY PAID ME.  I was blown away.  If you are in my immediate circle, you have gotten the privilege of hearing me spew more than a few words about people who don't pay the wedding singer.  The last wedding I sang in, I was given a homemade bracelet and a bottle of vanilla.  No lie.  Friday night rehearsal--1 1/2 hours, Saturday pictures, rehearsal, wedding--3 hours.  4 1/2 hours of time (i don't go to rehearsal dinners anymore) all for a bracelet and a bottle of vanilla.  Granted, if it were a friend, I'd sing for free, gladly.  But the past few weddings I've sang in have been for virtual strangers. 

 

My beef isn't that I need the money, or that my talent is so valuable.  It's the principle.  Christians are notoriously cheap, and it drives me crazy. 

 

So, last month I sang at a wedding and got paid.  Then, a few weeks later, I sang a song that Sue C. and I wrote, at her church.  She's a friend, her worship pastor is a friend, I love what they're doing at her church, and I gladly would have done it for free.  BUT THEY PAID ME..JUST GAVE ME A CHECK OUT OF THE BLUE.  Isn't that cool? 

 

So I took my hundred bucks and bought 8 cd's:  Jars of Clay, Chris Tomlin, Paul Baloche, BeBo Norman, Leeland, John Mayer, Phillips Craig and Dean...shoot...and 1more I can't remember....a new artist I've not heard of before.  I've been reading down lyric sheets all day, and feeling that old familiar mix of inspiration, respect, humility, and jealousy.  I love reading good lyrics.  I hate reading good lyrics.

 

So, this is how I'm feeding the lake today.  It's been wonderful.  I was reading a friend's blog the other day, and his title line inspired a hook idea in me.  I feel inspired enough that I'm going to take my first run at it today.  We shall see!

 

John Mayer has a great line in the last line of his liner notes of his project Continuum.  He says:  "If you're reading this with an instrument in your lap---get to work, and deep in it.  We all need you."

 

Ok John.  I'm going to get deep in it.  woooo hooo!

Sarah is in to writing books.  She works really hard, drawing, telling a story, and taping them together.  The other day, she was sitting at the kitchen counter acting like she was presenting her new book to a very special audience (I was in the next room, pretending to work on something )

 

"Hello.  Here's a new book called "Hearts."  The author of this book is Sarah.  The illustrator of this book is also...Sarah" 

 

Ok, when did she learn the word "illustrator?" 

 

The next day, she was making another book.  She was sitting on the family room floor, and she looked up and smiled and said:  "Mom, it makes me feel proud inside when I finish a book."  And then she went back to taping the binding. 

 

 I like those moments.

 

Jenna got her haircut yesterday and she loves it.  I'm telling you..the hair has been an issue of stress in this house.  She has THE most gorgous hair, but chooses to wear it hanging in her face like a shaggy...oh nevermind I can feel my blood pressure rising as i'm typing....anyway...oh...and picture day around here...don't EVEN get me started....ok...where was I...

 

 She got it cut yesterday, and it is so adorable.  She likes it too.  We got in the van after the haircut and she says:

 

"Mom, what's your favorite haircut I've gotten?"

"I don't know Jenna, I think I've liked most of them."

Couple minutes pass....

"Well, this is my favorite."

 

All is well in the cornfields today.  Books are being written, and the hair looks good. 

I just got a song from a co-writer.  He was in charge of breathing life into some words that Gina and I had been scribbling for months.  He did just that.

 

It's beautiful.  I love it, and I love how it makes me feel.  As I listen to it again tonight, I am amazed at the power of melody.  Put a great melody on a mediocre lyric, and it will fly farther than an incredible lyric with a mediocre melody.  Since I am melodically challenged, I'm even that much more impressed with those who understand how good melodies work.

 

It's been a yucky day on a few fronts.  I'm battling some kind of nasty virus, and there have been a few meltdowns in the lives of people around me (including myself), so this was 3 minutes and 18 seconds of being taken out of the now to a deeper, purer place...and 3 minutes and 18 seconds of being reminded of what's waiting at the end of my time here. 

 

I'm going to listen to it again.....and probably again...and again.