Try It: Cake Decorating

The oldest and I had some fun trying and learning some frosting techniques. He turns 15 this month, so we're getting ready to decorate his big cake!

We took this class at Joann's. It was a very small group - only 3 students - and our instructor. We did have to buy supplies and the cost of the class was $35. We learned a lot and had fun doing it.

2020 Goals

Happy New Year! It's time for some 2020 goals. But first, a quick recap on 2019.

2019 Goals:

1. Run six races this year - Done! Frigid, Cherry Blossom, Yinzer 5K, Bellevue 5K, Passavant 8K, and Run Santan Run 5K. 
2. Finish my YA manuscript - Didn't do. But that's ok, I wrote LOTS of other things. 
3. Finish the Rosalie manuscript - Done, AND prepared a nonfiction book proposal for this story. 
4. Go camping - Didn't do. But did lots of hiking and kayaking outdoors. 
5. Co-Read a book with each kid - Done, some were audiobooks.
6. Bake something new Done! I know gnocchi isn't baked but it was a lot of work. 
7. Go for a group run Done, only once though. Wish I could do more but it's hard. My schedule is already so full.
8. Attend a new conference Done! SCBWI LA Conference. 

Ongoing things I want to do well:

Moms 

SCBWI 

Writing coach 

Writing club 

NHSC

Overall I did OK with these activities. I am going to do more with Moms this year (it's an election year). SCBWI was a ton of work but went well for my first year as RA. I am waiting for an update from the student I coached in writing. Writing club was a blast, and we are already taking registrations for this year's club! I helped NHSC become a 501c3 in 2019, so that's a big deal! 

Stuff I will work hard on but can't guarantee: 

Agent

Ed pub 

Continue to write for Highlights 

Continue to write for Cricket 

I sold stories to Highlighs and Cricket, but they will be published this year. I still don't have an agent but I am full steam ahead on educational publishing. 

OK, on to 2020!

2020 goals:

1. Run six races this year - hoping to do some of the same, some different. 
2. Go camping - planning to do this for the middle's birthday present.
3. Co-Read a book with each kid - easier with the younger two. Currently reading "Blood on the River" with the youngest. 
4. Bake something new - Done! On New Year's Day I made marzipan and floating islands. Then for the youngest's birthday I made lava cakes for the first time. 
5. Go for a group run - I'd like to try this again. 
6. Attend a new conference - hoping for the one in DC in April, if I can get in. 
7. Revise DNF - I finished this manuscript two years ago. I think it's time to revise it!

Ongoing things I want to do well:

• Moms - it's an election year. Let's get to work.
• SCBWI - it's my second year as RA. I'm excited for our region!
• Writing club - we've got a lot of registrations already. Should be fun!
• NHSC - I'm moving into a new role in grant writing and fundraising. 
• Teaching Online class - I'm teaching a class for McDaniel College on picture book writing!

Stuff I will work hard on but can't guarantee: 

• I would love to find an agent who likes my work and wants to work together!
• I'm hoping and planning to do more educational publishing.
• Continue to write for Highlights - I got my start in magazines. I love this one especially!
• Continue to write for Cricket - there's nothing like wonderful nonfiction for kids!

Other new things will come my way, I'm sure. I'll try to be ready for them. 

North Park Eagles

I had some free time out of the house this morning, so I decided to go look for the North Park eagles. I've seen them only once before, on my very visit, back in the fall of 2019. I've stopped by several times since then and have yet to spot them.

As drove down the road toward the shelter, I noticed a big red tailed hawk perched in a tree next to the nature trail. As I pulled into the shelter lot, a man in a truck had a huge camera lens sticking out of his window. He was photographing the hawk, so I waited, then chatted with him. He had seen the eagles earlier that morning, but they had flown off north.

I pulled into the lot, planning to walk down the path and see the hawk. Unfortunately it flew away as I parked.

I headed out on the walk anyway. It was around 20 degrees. The wooden slats of the path creaked and groaned loudly with every step, scaring off any wildlife.

The nearby creek wasn't frozen over. I heard it rushing over the rocks and low-hanging grasses.

I thought back to the walk we did with my mom on New Year's Eve. The kids were obsessed with whacking cattails with the hiking pole.

"See! It explodes like popcorn!" the middle kept saying with every whack.

"When I was little, we called those cattails," said my mom.

My oldest paused for a moment then said, "We still call them that."

I couldn't help but start laughing. Then my mom laughed and so did he. It was one of those weird moments that is hard to explain later why it's funny.

Back to today's walk. I walked a little less than a mile, but no eagles. There were tons of songbirds. That's the cool part about bird-watching. You can do it all year. Even in 20 degree weather those birds are flying around, chirping. I love those little songbirds. I love when they visit my bird feeders in the yard. But there is something special about the big raptors.

When I got back to lot, I snapped an overview photo. The eagle's nest is a dark lump in the trees. It's pretty impossible to see in this photo, but easy to find when you're there in person.

I sat in the van a bit, just to wait and see if any birds returned. As I watched, a bird soared into view. I snapped this photo from below. It headed off into the woods behind me. 

Here's a zoom. 

Honestly, it could be a turkey vulture. But I swear I saw a lightness to its tail as it moved away into the trees.


I felt rewarded for my patience, so I sat around a bit more. Then a red-tailed hawk came back to the area and landed in a nearby tree. I hopped out of the van and strolled over to snap a photo. I captured this just as it launched from the tree.

Look at the fanned tail! You can even glimpse the dark spots on the leading edges of the wings, called the patagial marks. Definitely red-tailed.

I waited around awhile longer, but it was lunchtime and I was hungry. Right before I turned the van around to leave, another hawk soared over the trees way in the distance. See that tiny dot?

I drove home feeling very satisfied with my bird watching. But there was more to come.

As I pulled into my neighborhood and passed a small local park, two hawks glided across the road in front of me. What luck! I watched where one landed and pulled into a church parking lot nearby. I was able to snap this photo of the bird perched in a tree. I could not get any closer, but I can see the dark belly band across the light breast feathers that confirms this is a red-tailed.

No eagles today. But lots of other raptors and songbirds. Overall a successful day! 

2018 v. 2019 Running v. 2020 Running

I ran about 713 miles in 2018. I didn't do a ton of races and didn't set any amazing PRs. But I did have a healthy year with no injuries.

But I only ran 659 miles in 2019. That's 54 miles less!!! I did six races. SIX! Most of them were new-to-me races. I felt like I trained great, barely missed workouts. I was healthy again, injury free, and that's really fortunate.  My times weren't even that different from the previous year.

But I can't help thinking about those 54 miles. That's equivalent to a full month of missed running. I would never willingly miss a full month of running. I know I ran less while on vacation in Colorado. I tried to keep running even at a big conference in LA and on other trips. 

I did do A LOT more writing work this year. And that took time away from running and other kinds of working out (swimming and biking). 

I started the year out right with a run on New Year's Day - 5 x1:00 hills. Short but sweet. 

I don't want to run less or write less - Here's hoping I can do my best in the time I give to both.


Sunday, Jan 5. Update:

I emailed my concerns to my coach. She wrote back.

"It seems like a lot to think in terms of 54 miles being a whole month of training, but if you divide it up over the course of the year, that's only 4.5 miles less per month than the previous year, which is about 1 day of running less each month. Quality of runs (varying intensities, hill workouts, tempo work, etc) is more relevant to performance than just getting in miles for the sake of miles.  

I can get hung up on metrics myself so I totally understand your frustration, but please don't look at it in terms of less miles, less fitness because that's definitely not the case."

This helped me a ton. I am so relieved thinking of it as only running one day less a month. I'm still heading into 2020 thinking about total miles, but also focusing on overall fitness. 

Merry Christmas!!

Last Week I Ate Icing Out of the Tub

Earlier in the day one kid got a C on a test and he had a study guide but didn't ask for help studying which was frustrating since the day before he got a 0/100 because he took a test with a pen instead of pencil

and one kid made himself pizza rolls for dinner and the other kid only ate tomatoes and edamame
but we got to the band concert

and then kid playing in the concert realized he didn't have his mouthpiece so we called Dad who was driving one kid back from soccer photos just to hear the concert kid for 20 minutes then driving back to soccer practice diverted home to get the mouthpiece

and somehow got it to school with 5 minutes to spare and we heard the concert and dad and other kid left to go back to soccer practice

and then concert kid asked if we could leave because he still had homework to do which was stunning because he had 2 hours after school to do it and I hate leaving concerts early but we had to do it

and just as we were leaving the concert one kid realized he didn't have his AirPods but he wasn't sure if they fell out of his pocket or were at home so we went back to the school and he snuck back into the auditorium while the next grade played songs and he crawled under seats until he found them

and that's why I ate icing out of the tub today.

Felt Finger Puppets

I felt like being creative with my hands after doing a ton of writing work in November, so I made these felt finger puppets!

I did not buy new supplies - instead I used what I found when I reorganized my craft bin.

The reindeer was a special request!

I decided this was an octopus midway through cutting. 

My next version of an octopus will have longer tentacles. 

It was November. Of course I made a turkey!

This fox was also special request. It has a cute tail, too. 

I'm not actually sure what the one on my pinky is. 

It could be a jellyfish, but it could also be an onion. 

I adore these tiny felt books. 

This tree was made from tiny scraps leftover from the other projects. 

My 12 yr. old son made this early version of Scooby Doo! 

The dragon has a nice tail!