Day: August 21, 2016

The Purse Project: My Summer Edition

Yes, I am one of those women who carries a summer purse–i.e. a different purse in the summer than I carry the other three seasons.

I’ve had this purse for about 8 years. I absolutely love it. The sun hat (you can see the brim lower right) is made of the same material, which actually has a very high paper content.

purse project summer 01

One of the things I love about this bag is the detachable cross body strap, which comes in so handy when I’m grocery shopping.

purse project summer 03

It doesn’t “organize” internally as well as my other seasons bag. Oh, and my new glasses came with much larger cases, which I’m not sure I can correct.

The Purse Project: Crystal Firsdon

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Today author Crystal Firsdon reveals all — at least, all of what is in her purse.

Welcome, Crystal. Tell us about what you carry around.

CF: I clean my purse out on a regular basis and take out anything unnecessary like old receipts or miscellaneous garbage (usually given to me by my kids when they aren’t near a garbage can).

So my purse holds no surprises. I simply carry what I feel are the necessities.

So, here’s a picture of my purse. When I’m not driving my keys are always hooked into the front strap. I love this purse. There’s a dedicated phone holder on the back of the purse which is my favorite part.

Purse

Here’s the front zipper pocket:

Tissues, Band-aids, Neosporin spray, ponytail holders, bobby pins, chap stick, author bookmarks, pens, and I.D.s in case I lose my kids.

Front zipper pocket

In the inside pockets, I keep:

Migraine medicine, Tic-Tacs, lotion, small notebook, ear buds, hand sanitizer, and pepper spray.

Inside compartments

The main body carries:

  • My wallet
  • A small bag for feminine products
  • Arm-band phone holder
  • Gym locker lock
  • More hand sanitizer
  • Substitute teacher I.D lanyard
  • Dental floss
  • Small pill box with ibuprofen

Main body

Crystal Firsdon’s new release, Almost Ordinary, is available at Amazon.

Three men changed Molly’s life forever, and now . . .

The one who violently attacked her is caught, though not without unexpected consequences.

The one who abandoned her, needs her, though he doesn’t know it.

And the one who loves Molly stands by as she engages in a quest for answers, though that quest may tear his and Molly’s family apart.

All Molly wants is an ordinary life, but after all is said and done, her life may explode right in front of her face instead.

AlmostOrdinary600 (2)

Follow Crystal on Facebook and her blog.

Planner Planning

Last year, I decided to resurrect my planner. Several parts of the restructuring worked out really well.

A friend of mine mentioned she was downloading free, printable planner pages. Doing something like this never occurred to me! I embraced the idea. And now that I’ve finally jumped on the Pinterest bandwagon, I have a lot more ideas from which to choose.

There are many sites offering a variety of options. The ones I seem to like best only come in 8.5 x 11 size. And quite a few of the sites are from professional housewives/mothers and from people who home school. While I like the looks of the pages, the content won’t work for me. Here’s an example of what I mean. Parts of this page are perfect. But making the bed isn’t on my to do list.

I wish I were graphically able to create my own. I’m just not that clever.

Here’s what I settled on.

goals planner

I think I’m going to love them.

Now I need to find something for blog planning.

Happy First Day of Summer!

Last week, I posted about lack of progress on my back yard retrieval project. My above-ground pool has been gone since September. A few plants were put in around the perimeter of the pool’s footprint. We also wanted our patio extended a bit. And work slowly progressed throughout the autumn.

For some silly reason, I thought spring would see the end of the project. That I would have a larger patio and a writing garden for this summer. I finally texted the Vanishing Landscaper earlier this week: “Let’s talk about basil, parsley, cilantro and the patio.”

The next day, I came home to this:

basil

Several kinds of basil

Patio in Progress

Stones for the extended patio

Herbs

Parsley, basil, and (I hope) cilantro

And he was at the house the day after that when I came home for lunch. He did a lot then, too.

Patio in Progress

Prepping to set the patio stones

I may have my patio by my July vacation.

I sat outside  with Alph yesterday, and envisioned it all in between writing many sentences. I decided to call it my writing garden. I hope it comes to pass this year.

 

WIP Wednesday: Alee Drake

Welcome to a new season of Work In Progress Wednesday. Today’s guest is my good friend Alee Drake. Welcome ALee!  January is National Hobby Month—what’s your hobby? How did you start?

AD: My hobby is writing and reading. I started to love reading in first grade when my teacher read Charlotte’s Web to the class…I was the only one who cried when Charlotte died. I wanted to be able to tell a story that would make readers either laugh or cry.

MJ: January is also National Soup Month—what’s your favorite soup? Do you make it yourself?

AD: My favorite soup is split pea with ham but my mother always called it ham soup, because I didn’t like peas when I was young. Yes, I make my own after a ham dinner, and a dinner of scalloped potatoes and ham….

MJ: If you didn’t write, what would be your creative outlet?

AD: Gardening is my spring/summer outlet. I would probably make primitive things, or jewelry, or be a photographer… (too many things to do, so little time).

MJ: Other than writing, what would be your dream job? Why?

AD: My dream job would be teaching children to become creative writers…OH, I did that already (I am a retired elementary library teacher). I guess it would be to have a cozy writer’s retreat/ bed and breakfast. (I currently host writers retreats at my home.) I am living my dream.

MJ: Describe your ideal/dream writing space.

AD: My office is my dream writing space. I have windows overlooking acres of fields and trees, with birds and deer . I write at an antique half-circle desk. 

MJ: What do you love most about your WIP hero?

AD: He is wealthy and handsome and is totally down-to-earth.  

MJ: What do you least like about your WIP heroine?

AD: She doesn’t have confidence in herself. 

MJ: What genre is your current WIP?

AD: Sweet romance.

MJ: How did you come up with your hero and heroine’s names?

AD: I like names that are unusual and reflect the character’s personality.  My Hero is Zayne and the heroine is Keely. My other characters are named after friends and family. 

MJ: How did you choose the setting for your current WIP?

AD: So far my books take place in upstate NY.  I have one book that starts out in a freezing wintery upstate NY setting and ends in Hawaii.

MJ: Are you willing to share the first five to ten sentences of your current work in progress?

AD: Yes. This is from His Birthday Suit.

      “Mother, I don’t dress up.  I wear jeans. You know that.  Now drop it.” Zayn Roberts stood beside the wet bar in his parents newly renovated parlor and tipped his head back to swallow the last dregs of Jack Daniels. He was tempted to pour himself another glass but refrained knowing it would be harder to stop after two and he had to drive home. Soon. 
            “Dear, don’t be so obstinate. You know that you have to be presentable at the party.”
            “Seriously, Mother. I know everyone who will attend, and they know I only wear jeans.”
            “Yes. And won’t it be lovely to surprise them by wearing a tailored suit.”
            He crossed the room and gently touched his mother’s shoulder.“Mother, what have you got up your lovely silk sleeve? I sense something deviant…something that definitely will not please me.”
MJ: I understand you had a book released earlier this month.
AD: Yes, Men In Ts by Alee Drake is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and The Wild Rose Press website.
MJ: And how can readers stay current with you?
AD: My blog, my Facebook page, and my Amazon author page.
MJ: Thanks again for joining me today!