Christ's Resurrection - READING THE BIBLE THIS YEAR

The Death of Jesus and Judas Hangs Himself

THE LAST SUPPER - Matthew 26 - Reading the Bible

READING THE BIBLE THIS YEAR-1st Samuel Chptr. 13

READING THE BIBLE - 1st Samuel Chapter 12

5-Minute Bible Study

Reading the Bible this Year: Samuel Anoints Saul as King

The 7 Woes - Parable with Warnings from Jesus

The Wedding Parable-READING THE BIBLE THIS YEAR

Jesus Enters the City on a Donkey - READING THE BIBLE

DIVORCE-What does the Bible Say

The Supernatural Ark of the Covenant-READING THE BIBLE

The Ark of the Covenant-READING THE BIBLE

READING THE BIBLE-1st Samuel 3-The Lord Calls Samuel

Hannah's Prayer-READING THE BIBLE-1st Sam. Ch. 2

Reading the Bible This Year: 1st Samuel Chapter 1

READING THE BIBLE THIS YEAR-Matthew 15-Jesus Heals

Jesus Walks on Water-Matthew 14

READING THE BIBLE THIS YEAR: Matthew 13

READING RUTH CHAPTER 4

Reading the Bible this Year: Ruth Chapter 3

5-Minutes in the Bible-Ruth Chapter 1

Curious about Demons? Join us as we Read the Bible

READING THE BIBLE IN 1 YEAR: Judges 20

READING THE BIBLE IN 1 YEAR: Judges 19

Reading the Bible in 1 Year: Judges Chapter 18

READING THE BIBLE IN 1 YEAR: Matthew 10 - Jesus Sends Out the 12

What does the Bible Say About Judging Others?

READING THE BIBLE THIS YEAR: Micah's Idols

READING THE BIBLE IN 1 YEAR: Samson & Delilah

Read the Bible with Us-Matthew 5-The Beatitudes

READING THE BIBLE IN 1 YEAR-John the Baptist Prepares the Way

READING THE BIBLE THIS YEAR-The 3 Kings

Reading the Bible this Year: Judges 14-Samson's Marriage

READING THE BIBLE THIS YEAR: Judges 8

READING THE BIBLE IN 1 YEAR: Revelation Chapter 22

Forgiveness in the Bible

READING THE BIBLE - REV. 20 - SATAN'S DOOM

Hallelujah! - READING REVELATION 19

Curious What the Bible Says about Prophesy?

Reading the Bible - Revelation 17 - The Woman on the Beast

7 Angels & 7 Plagues - The Tribulation in the Bible

The Angel of the Lord at Bokim - Reading the Bible

666 - The Number of the Beast - READING THE BIBLE

Joshua's Farewell-Reading the Bible this Year

The Woman and The Dragon - READING THE BIBLE IN 1 YEAR

The Two Witnesses for God - Revelation 11

The Angel & The Little Scroll - Revelation 10

Misunderstandings Can Start Wars - Joshua Chapter 22

Cities of Refuge: Joshua Chapter 20

END of DAYS: DEMONS & DESTRUCTION

The 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse in Revelation 5

READING THE BIBLE IN 1 YEAR: Joshua Chapter 21

Revelation Chapter 2 - Angels, Stars, & the Future

HAVE A PEACEFUL WEEKEND - Read the Bible With Us

Reading the Bible in 1 Year: Joshua 18

Revelations Chapter 1 - Hope in Crisis

Reading the Bible-The Division of land of the Children of Israel

Our Daily Reading of the Bible

CHAOTIC TIMES - READ the Bible with Us for Peace

Join Us As We Read Through the Bible This Year

READING THE BIBLE IN 1 YEAR: Lies, Trickery & Deception

Reading the Bible in 1 Year: Ai Destroyed

READING THE BIBLE IN 1 YEAR: Joshua 7 - Greed, Theft & Punishment

Reading the Bible- Talking about Atlantis, Math & More

Angels...? We're Reading the Bible Today: Joshua 5

Reading the Bible in 1 Year: The Death of Moses

Generosity and Divorce are themes as we Read the Bible this year

Reading the Bible in 1 Year: History of the Children of Israel

The Nation of Israel - Reading the Bible in 1 Year

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Europe in the Springtime (Spring 2007)

I was looking back through the photos of our trip to Paris with Jake for his graduation and thought it was such a fun trip. I thought I'd share a few more photos.

I might make a slide show next week of more photos.

Cute house in Helsingor:



Here's the famous opera house in Paris:

You tell me, do Lars and Jake look like giants in front of Notre Dame?



One of the scary things in Europe, is sometimes how narrow the streets can be. Watch this car driving through the arch, and we followed it in a bus. I could have touched the walls.



We took the ferry from Calais in France to Dover, in England. We had to drive all around England to see everything we wanted to see and that meant driving on the leftside of the road:

We visited Stonehenge while we were there.

Friday, February 27, 2009

ANSWER TO THOUGHT FOR THURSDAY AND EARTH-FRIENDLY FRIDAY


ANSWER: VENUS (So many of you are so smart)

AND now it's time for Earth-Friendly Friday.

Check out the Green Heroes Grant Program here.

The gist of the program is to spread some good green and watch your eco-friendly community project grow!

Here is what they say:

"We want to recognize and reward you for your efforts to live a more eco-friendly lifestyle. Enter The Green Works™ Green Heroes Grant Program and you could be one of five Green Heroes who'll each receive a $10,000 grant to help your eco-friendly community project grow and flourish!

Whether your project takes place on your neighborhood block or throughout your entire community, just upload a photo of your green program in action and then describe how a Green Heroes grant could help your project blossom. A panel of Eco-Experts, including representatives from the Sierra Club, ecofabulous.com and Josh Dorfman – the Lazy Environmentalist, will select 10 finalists. The public will then have the opportunity to vote for five Green Heroes who will receive a $10,000 grant from the Green Works™ team!"

Thursday, February 26, 2009

THOUGHT FOR THURSDAY

QUESTION: What celestial body (other than the moon and sun-those are givens) is bright enough to cast shadows on Earth?

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

ANSWER TO WORD FOR WEDNESDAY

ANSWER TO WORD FOR WEDNESDAY: DOUBLE FREETURE according to my favorite Urban Dictionary is when you pay for one movie but then sneak into a second film for free.

Some people call this "movie hopping".

WORD FOR WEDNESDAY

Okay, I was trying to think up a good word to stump all you wise women and genius gentlemen but was having trouble. So, I asked my husband (who speaks multiple languages) "What's a hard English word?"

He said, "Rock."

Not everything comes out in translation. :(

WORD(S) FOR WEDNESDAY: Double Freeture

Time to take a guess. What do you think it means?

Come back at 3:00 to see if you were the wizard(ress) of words or NOT.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Contest for Teachers and Librarians

Check out Lisa Greenwald's contest here.

Lisa is of the Longstockings blog fame and her contest is about her LIFE IN PINK & GREEN

You can enter by simply writing to her and telling her what your class is doing to help the Earth by being green.

And there are great prizes like snacks, goodies and gift cards with a party for your class on Earth Day!!!

Deadline to enter:
3/31/2009

Monday, February 23, 2009

Become an MnM Shared by Rena

Me as an M&M character:


I loved this fun little photo game. Rena Jones shared this on her blog. You can link to it here.

Plus Rena shared this button eyes fun too. And, you guys all know I loved Coraline so I had to share me, looking like the Other Mother.



If you want to button your eyes, click here.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

David Sedaris in PARIS: Me Talk Pretty One Day



Just finished the book. It was a fun, easy-to-read book.

Each of the short essays could be read as a stand-alone story. So, at night, I would pull the book off my headboard and read one little essay. They are all funny. So, I would go to sleep with a smile on my face and sleep more restful than if I didn't pick through the pages.

There was a lot of talk about Paris, and it made me think of the time we took our oldest son, Jake, there for his present for his graduation from college.

Some people might think the humor in Me Talk Pretty One Day is a little twisted and maybe it is, but that doesn't change the fact that I laughed out loud at some of the stories. And, of course, some stories are funnier than others but none were bad.

I especially liked the fact that David Sedaris made fun of himself more than other people.

It was also fun to read about American tourists in Paris. I've been to Paris twice, and the one thing I noticed when we were there, is how very tall my husband and son seemed. At 6'4" and 6'5", they looked like they were being filmed for a Land of the Giants episode. I stepped back behind them so I could watch the people's faces as they walked through the crowded areas. I was snickering into my sleeve but then I noticed I was taller than most people too and I'm only 5'7".

We enjoyed the people in Paris and found them to be very friendly. Of course, we tried, hopelessly, to speak in French. And we attempted to order everything in French. My husband is very good with languages-having been born and raised in a country where it's mandatory to know more than one or two languages. So, that helped. But, sometimes it seemed like a comedy of errors. The French people tried to understand what we were attempting to say and, for the most part, they did a good job but once we even walked into an English language school looking for directions-and I had trouble understanding them-and they were supposed to be speaking English.

Here are a few pictures from our last trip to Paris. My oldest son graduated from the University of Oregon and deserved some sort of present ;-) Of course, he would have preferred to have gone by himself or with a friend - but hey, we were paying so it was a good excuse for us to go too.

My son, Jake, graduated with a degree in Multi-Media Design and he said he really wanted to see the Louvre - so we did.

Hope you enjoy the photos too.






Saturday, February 21, 2009

OK - Here it Goes Again



I wish this is what my workouts looked like.

Friday, February 20, 2009

ANSWER TO THOUGHT FOR THURSDAY AND EARTH-FRIENDLY FRIDAY

ANSWER: Sardine and spinach sundaes. YUMMY for your TUMMY ;)

Bonus Question - answer: Pickle Juice.

NOW, for Earth-Friendly Friday. This is info (which I got from my work via Beverly Michaelis-Kongslie) to help clean up out there in cyber space.

Living green means not wasting wattage by having a slow running computer.

Is Your Computer Performance Lagging?

Over time, computers can become sluggish due to unnecessary applications as well as fragmented files. Take time to clean up your computer periodically to improve its speed and efficiency by following these steps: . . .

•. Uninstall any applications you no longer use.
Don't just delete the icon - it's only a shortcut. Use the uninstall feature that came with the software, or go to the Control Panel in Windows and. choose Add or Remove Programs. Once the program list is populated; select the unnecessary program and click Remove. For help with this step, try the PCDecrapifier: www.pcdecrapifier.com. This program is free for personal use.

• Delete any downloaded or temporary files you don't need. These may reside in C:\Temp or C:\Windows\Temp, or C:\Documents and Settings\(your user name]\Local Settings\ Temp. Be careful NOT to delete any downloaded programs you still use. These can be found at C:\Windows\Download~d Installations or C:\Windows\Downloaded Program Files. If you aren't sure whether a file should be deleted, leave it. Your computer will still benefit from the other steps described in this article.

• Run Disk Clean-up and Disk Defragmenter
from your built-in System Took (In Windows XP, click on Start, All Programs>Accessories>System Tools.) If you want a more aggressive clean up tool, consider the freeware application Cleaner available at www.ccleaner.com.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

THOUGHT FOR THURSDAY


Okay, this one should be EZ-smeezy for all you parents out there.

Take a guess.

QUESTION: What is the favorite food of Sesame Street's Oscar the Grouch? And, if you can get that one, then try to guess his favorite drink too.

(Come back tomorrow to see the answer.)

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

ANSWER TO WORD FOR WEDNESDAY

Answer: To talk to oneself. If you want to read more about it, check it out here.

Word for Wednesday

Word: Soliloquy.

Take a guess - what do you think it means?

COME BACK at 3:00 p.m. (Pacific time) to see if you were right.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

EZ Cooking Craft for Kids


Butterflies, Dragonflies and cupcakes? What could be better?

Almost nothing.

Here's an EZ cooking craft for kids. Just make a batch of cupcakes, and one small bread loaf pan cake. Place them on a flat platter, baking sheet or even wax paper. Arrange the loaf/cake as the head, the cupcakes as the body, and use licorice whips to form the wings. Pour a caramel glaze into the wings, (which you can make with brown sugar and butter, melted slowly in a cast iron pan), then use rolo candies for eyes and you have a dragonfly. When you've eaten the loaf, just downsize the cake into a butterfly.

I used to make all sorts of things like this for the kids, when they were little. And they and their friends just ate it up ;)

Monday, February 16, 2009

Frida by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand


FRIDA won the Notable Award from the American Library Association and the silver seal of the Pura Belpre Honor Book.

It tells the story of Frida Kahlo who was a native of Mexico. Her story is told in biographical poems along with her artwork.

She had a traumatic life, which is reflected in her artwork. She had polio as a child and her right leg shriveled then she got into a horrible bus accident when she was young. The handrail pierced her hip bone and she had multiple broken bones. Then her husband had an affair with her sister and he asked her for a divorce.

She got pregnant and her baby died in the summer and then her mom died in September. Frida said she paints her pain.

She had a pet fawn and painted pictures for family and friends. One of her artworks was done on glass and the Louvre bought it: it was a self-portrait in which Frida was framed by birds and flowers.

It may be classified as a picture book but, I think it is so beautiful, it could easily be a coffee table book for children and adults to enjoy.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

UNTIL TOMORROW

Poetry is such a nice way to give a voice to feelings. I wrote a lot of poetry when I lost loved ones.

My father passed away in 2002. I wrote and then read this poem at my father's funeral:

UNTIL TOMORROW

by: Kim Kasch

Letting go… is so hard for you
but this is what you have to do.

I know… my passing may be hard to face
but – remember - I’ve merely left ‘this’ place.
So when you think of me, don’t cry,
remember
my soul lives on – it cannot die.

Think of me, with a smile –
I’ll see you soon, in a while –
And then
I’ll hold you close - to my breast
until then – I merely rest.

Still, we can visit in your dreams.
Time passes quickly, or…so it seems.

Think of me: don’t say “goodbye”
Love lives on… and so do I.
I am not gone – I did not die.
Remember that and please don’t cry.

Our Father stands with me today,
I am not dead – merely away.
Remember this and be brave
My soul is not in my grave.

Soon we’ll meet at heaven’s gate,
Until then, I’ll simply wait.
Remember in your heart and head,
I am not gone – I am not dead.
I’m with the Father, just ahead.

So do not think of me in sorrow
We’ll be together – UNTIL TOMORROW

Saturday, February 14, 2009

The Heart of a Shepherd by Rosanne Parry


Thursday, February 12, was the book opening for Rosanne Parry's debut book: The Heart of a Shepherd. It was held at Annie Bloom Books in Multnomah.

Rosanne talked about her journey as a writer. And about her daughter who loves to write too.



It was a fun evening and I bought the book. I'll have to do another post after I've read the book.

Friday, February 13, 2009

ANSWER TO THOUGHT FOR THURSDAY AND EARTH-FRIENDLY FRIDAY


ANSWER TO THOUGHT FOR THURSDAY: Walt Disney with 28 Oscar Awards and 48 nominations.

NOW FOR EARTH-FRIENDLY FRIDAY:

180 million Valentine’s cards are given out in the U.S. every year—and this doesn’t include those given out by children in their classrooms. About 65% of American households join in the fun by giving cards, going out to dinner, exchanging flowers or other gifts. This year why not try something different?

With Valentine's Day upon us, I thought I'd suggest an alternative florist shop for the holiday. Why not buy organic flowers?

Or, if you can't get flowers delivered in time, buy local. You'll do the Earth a favor by using less fossil fuels for flower transportation.

Consider making your own card, using recycled products: lace, ribbons or even family photos. You can take your photos to the copy shop and make color photocopies and make a collage-card.

Or, how about a quiet evening at home watching a romantic comedy? You won’t waste gas getting to an overcrowded restaurant, you’ll save a little money and probably end up being more relaxed at the end of the night.

But, whatever you do, I hope you have a Valentine's Day filled with love :)

Thursday, February 12, 2009

THOUGHT FOR THURSDAY

QUESTION: What one person has won the most Oscar awards?

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

WORD FOR WEDNESDAY-Answer


Word: DLS

Meaning: Dirty Little Secret, according to Urban Dictionary.

WORD FOR WEDNESDAY

Well it's not really a word, it's really an acronym:

WORD: DLS

Do you know what it means? Come on, take a guess.

Pop back around 3:00 p.m. to find out if you're right or wrong.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

I LOVE TO TELL THE STORY

I LOVE TO TELL THE STORY:

Juices flow best without barriers. It’s true. Writers can get so focused on goals, limits, and restrictions that they can’t even write.

This horrible affliction is called: "Writer’s block" and it's an actual affliction that saps self-confidence from the best storytellers.

Setting goals is great. But don’t be so concerned about staying within borders – after all, walls are meant to keep things inside.

So, writing about something you know nothing about might be the surefire path to publication.

We all have things we’ve wondered about. Some people pay thousands of dollars to enroll in classes, later in life, just to learn more about these subjects. Why not offer this information to readers, in an article?

Editors are always looking for interesting stories. So step outside the box and take a chance.

Think back. Remember the exhilaration of jumping off the ledge into the deep-end. Writing should give you the same thrill. When you write about something you know nothing about, you’re taking that daring dive into the writing waters. So, just tell the story and you might get lucky and end up getting your feet wet in the wonderful world of publishing.

Monday, February 9, 2009

CRAFT - Hearts for Valentine's Day

The first mail-posted valentine on record was in 1806.

If you'd like to read some history about the special day of love, click here.

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and we have one craft we've been doing since the kids were little. It's easy - it's fun - and it's super duper cute.

You need a piece of red construction paper and a white sheet. Fold the paper in half. Leave the fold on the straight edge and the round part is the top, and it should be able to open. The paper should be cut as shown:


Then you weave the pieces together, like shown:


Then tie a ribbon on the heart, or even glue a piece of paper for a hanger, as shown:


On Valentine's Day, you fill the heart with a cookie or a special candy.

Happy Valentine's Day.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

CORALINE - The Movie



Coraline by Neil Gaiman, is an animated motion picture in the style of A Nightmare Before Christmas.

I really enjoyed the film but had to look it up to see what Coraline is rated, because it was so creepy: it’s PG (Parental Guidance suggested). My suggestion is no young kids because this film is seriously creepy. And, I know people say that later in the show it is too creepy for little kids but I disagree. I say the show is the most creepy in the beginning scene.

SPOILER ALERT: If you don’t want to know, stop reading NOW.

The first scene where you see the dolls being cut open and stuffed, felt extremely dark to me. It seemed a little too real. At least, I think it would seem too real for young children.

Of course, this movie was meant for middle graders and above and that’s fine. There’s no real violence, blood, or any gory graphics. It’s just, like I said, seriously creepy. So, if you like something on the darker side, this is perfect. And for kids older than 10-12, it would be a fun film to see with friends because it will definitely give them a few things to talk about.

I read the book, before I saw the film. So, I would have liked the cat to have a larger role in the movie rather than WhyB. But, I think the film stuck to the heart of the book very well. I loved how the Other Mother and her world started to unravel when Coraline (not Caroline) decided she’d rather go home than have a perfect life.

So many interesting conflicts going on in the book and the movie.

The creepiness of the hand was better in the book-but then I’m definitely a geek girl, who loves books more than movies so maybe I’m a little biased.

I would love to cyber-chat with others who see the movie. So, if you’ve seen it, let me know what you thought.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

BEAUTY BLOG - LOCKS OF LOVE


Beauty is more than just the outside appearance. Beauty is a combination of the inner and outer person. One way to have inner beauty is to find a way to contribute something to the world. People can contribute in many different ways: it might be art, teaching, volunteering, or (like for me) hair.

I decided a long time ago to donate my hair to the Locks of Love program. I've done it one other time. My hair is super thick so my hairdresser said, they should be able to make a few wigs out of that horsetail--I can only hope.

It took a long time to grow my hair back out so that I would have enough to be able to donate it again. The donation has to be at least 10 inches long from tip to tip. If you are interested in donating, click here for the donation form.

I hope others will consider this program. Plus, please do the polls re: hair on the side. (Thanks)

NEW TOPIC:

I got tagged. This was a tag from Green Girl - by the way, I used to call my Great Grandma (GG)

So, I'm tagging five others (Mom used to say, "one extra-to grow on." So, why not?

The Rules:
1. Go to the 4th picture folder on your computer.
2. Post the 4th picture in that folder (Mine was the one from my haircut for LoL-Locks of Love).
3. Explain the picture.
4. Tag 4 more bloggers.

Okay, so TAG, you're it (hope you'll play):

Kelly Polark

Rena Jones
Christina Farley
Jean Hall
David Batiste

Friday, February 6, 2009

ANSWER TO THOUGHT FOR THURSDAY AND EARTH-FRIENDLY FRIDAY

ANSWER: From the Y-shaped intersection of two interstate highways that passed through it. (Way-to-go CH)

Now for Earth-Friendly Friday:

I've always wanted a greenhouse.


And not just for growing flowers in. A Greenhouse, today, is a home that uses sustainable building materials and energy efficient design. Read more about it here.

And, here are a few tips for those other greenhouses and your garden, from my friend, Master-Gardener, Diane Cooper:

President's Day is traditionally the day to prune your tea roses, and
to plant new roses.

Get ready to spray lime sulphur on your fruit trees as they begin to
leaf out. You will spray two more times this spring.

Plant onions as soon as the soil dries.

Prune clematis and other flowering vines.

You can fertilize your lawn this month. However, if you have not
applied lime in a few years, do that three weeks before applying
fertilizer. Your fertilizer will work much better.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

What Type of Mythical Creature R U?

Love this quiz, not so sure I love being an elf though.

What Mythical Creature are you?
Your Result: Elf
 

Elves are skilled, intelligent craftsmen and warriors. An elf will devote his or her life to a certain trade, and thus become the best in the universe at what they do. Elves are commonly very quiet and reclusive, causing them to be shy. However shy, they are not naive and posess a great deal of knowlege and wisdom that seems to be inherited at birth. Elves are immortal, and very dedicated to nature. They walk in harmony with their surroundings, but are not wholely over emotional beings. Love is not thought of as deep or passionate for these creatures, but rather a pairing, or mating that is ultimately result in offspring.

Vampire
 
Siren
 
Nymph
 
Werewolf
 
What Mythical Creature are you?
Quiz Created on GoToQuiz


So I guess I'm an Elf

What are you? Find out by clicking here and taking the test.

THOUGHT FOR THURSDAY


QUESTION: How did the tiny town of Why, Arizona, get its name?

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

ANSWER TO WORD FOR WEDNESDAY


My husband, daughter, son and I were playing Scrabble the other night-yeah, we are a family of total nerds (it was even on a Saturday night) of course the kids went out after they placated us old folks. And, like always, we had a couple of challenge words.

ANSWER TO WORD FOR WEDNESDAY: Qwerty is actually an acceptable word in Scrabble. It's "a standard English keyboard layout."

WORD FOR WEDNESDAY

WORD: Qwerty

Come on people, now, make a guess. It could be something like quirky only [w]eirder...
or a girl who's flirty and a bit of a drama [Q]ueen. I don't know...think something up. After all, most of us are writers-right? So let's write.

Pop back around 3:00 to see if you were "write".

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Analyze This - Your Blog - What Type of a Blogger R U

I found this great blog analyzer over at Rachelle Gardner's Twitter post via typealyzer: click here.


I ran the analyzer on my blog and it said my blog was:

An "ISFP - The Artists"
[ISFP]
"The gentle and compassionate type. They are especially attuned their inner values and what other people need. They are not friends of many words and tend to take the worries of the world on their shoulders. They tend to follow the path of least resistance and have to look out not to be taken advantage of.

They often prefer working quietly, behind the scene as a part of a team. They tend to value their friends and family above what they do for a living."

So what kind of a blogger are you?

Monday, February 2, 2009

THAT FOUR-LETTER WORD

Rules are meant to be followed – right?

WRONG! (Or at least "not always".) Now, I'm not saying to write a 300,000 word manuscript and then send it willy-nilly all around to every agent, editor and publisher in the world. And if you want to read one agent's spin on following the rules, click here.

We’ve all heard, “Write what you know” and “Become an Expert in Your Field.”

Maybe I’m just a wannabe rebel—or imagining myself following in the footsteps of James Dean, Brando and Elvis. But one thing all these men had in common was stepping outside the box, breaking the mold and making their own way (okay three things they had in common, but it really all boils down to one thing). We all have to make our own way, direct our own path, and travel our own road to publication.

These icons (Elvis, Brando and Dean) weren’t satisfied when others set limits for them. And, they weren’t willing to accept random restrictions.

And, I see some things, like dieting: putting up boundaries isn’t always the best approach; especially when it comes to the printed page. Sometimes it’s better to eat that chocolate-dipped cherry, or indulge in that jelly-filled donut. Because it's difficult to live in denial. Resentment grows--like a wicked weed, and people begin to feel deprived—or atleast I feel deprived, and then I end up binging.

Oh, wait I was talking about writing, not food..., or was I?

I say: write about whatever it is that interests you – if it whets your creative whistle, we'll want to read it.

When we follow all the rules, writing becomes a four-letter word: W.O.R.K. And writers should think writing is fun.

If writing isn’t fun, for me, I won’t want to do it, late at night, when most sane people are fast asleep, while visions of sugarplums (there’s the food again) dance in their heads.

Life should be full of flavor and writers should follow their own rules to make writing [a]muse[ing].

Sunday, February 1, 2009

GOD IS STILL WORKING ON ME

Some of you know, 2008 was a rough year. I suffered a lot of loss.

January rolled past in a blur and I was thinking how fast time flies and remembering...

But, this is 2009, and a new year. Plus, February is a month to celebrate love! And, by writing poetry, we share our love and, sometimes, a bit of our lives.

I thought I'd share a poem I wrote, and read, at my brother's funeral. This was for Jeff.

GOD IS STILL WORKING ON ME
by: Kim Kasch

So many questions left in my head
So many words remain unsaid
So much in life I'd hoped to be
So much on Earth I'd planned to see

But don’t worry,
God is still working on me.

Beyond this Earth – in time and space
waits a calm realm – a peaceful place,
where souls live on - in warmth and light
here, life continues to burn bright.

It’s here, you see,
God is still working on me.

Life burns fast as a candle’s flame,
when it goes out – no one’s to blame
bodies fail but souls do not die –
love will live on – and so do I.

So don’t worry
God is still working on me.

I was so tired – I closed my eyes
Then God whispered, “No one really dies.”
As he guided me through Heaven’s Gate,
He explained, “There’s more – just wait . . .”

It’s here, you see,
God is still working on me.