New York City

Tweet

I've just got to put at least one picture up of what I'm doing this week. This is me in front of the fountain at Rockefeller Center. New York City.

Let me just say that New York City, although only a two and a half hour plane ride from me home, is as far as you can get from Rural Nebraska, if not geographically, the certainly psychologically.

It's been a fun and at times overwhelming week.

Deep Trouble Review in Romantic Times Magazine

Tweet

4 STARS
There is never a dull moment with Connealy, and the second book of her Wild West Weddings series starts out with a bang and never lets up. Expect romance, villains, a lost city of gold, laugh-out-loud humor — and, of course, expect the unexpected.


Read More Here...

In Memory of Marybelle

Tweet

Marybelle Connealy, my mother-in-law, passed away last week. And she was the best imaginable mother-in-law and one of my very best friends.

I know Marybelle wasn't enjoying life anymore. But about ten times a day it hits me that she's gone. And when I think of her, I don't think of the end, when she was in pain, struggling for each breath. I miss the wonderful lady who taught me so much. She was a funny, sensible, talented, loving woman.

Without her and her apple pies and her infectious laugh the world is poorer. That's not even a bit of an exaggeration.

What I've been thinking about is this philosophy I have that anything can be done well or done poorly. It's something I've said to my girls many times.

If you're a waitress, you go be the best waitress in that restaurant. If you're bagging groceries, you bring every bit of skill you have to the job.

I realize now that Marybelle taught me that philosophy. A vegetable peeler, a cake froster, a cherry pitter, a pie crust roller-outer...she did it all with flare and extraordinary talent. She could butcher a chicken and make it look like art. The speed, the skill, it was humbling. And she made it look effortless and while we'd work together she'd tell me stories of her sons growing up and the funny stories that ended up working their way into some of my books, particularly Calico Canyon. And she'd teach me, give me advice but mainly she just did it all so well that I learned just by trying to keep up with her.

Everyday things can and should be done with wild talent.

She was a genius of a farm wife, the best mother-in-law imaginable and her heart for her boisterous, ridiculously all-boy household (seven sons-can you imagine) was so huge and gentle and loving it was humbling.

And she showed amazing kindness and friendship to the variety of wives the boys all dragged home.

So being a mother-in-law can be done brilliantly, too, and she was the best.

This poem was on one of the sympathy cards we received and I think it's beautiful so I'm including it here.

The Journey

I set out on my journey when I was very young.


I knew not where the winding road would go.

At times the way was easy, the road was straight and smooth, the sky was blue and everything looked bright.

At times the road was rugged, the hills were long and steep, and darkness hid the view ahead from sight...

But never did he leave me - This Friend who came along, and never did He let me lose my way.

And every time I stumbled He offered me His hand, assuring me that I would be okay.

And then one day I saw it, at last--my journey's end, and what a wonderous sight it was to see!

For after all my travels, I'd found my way back home - the heavenly home that He'd prepared for me.

--Larry Sandman

I got a Kindle

Tweet

I'm still a little leery of it. I don't think it will ever replace my love of holding a book. But a very good friend is having her first book release FIRST on Kindle, a new thing they're doing at Tyndale House and I had to have her book so........I had to have an ebook reader and I got a Kindle.
But here's one cool thing I found. I can download the first chapter of all my books onto the Kindle for FREE.
How fun is that?
Even if you don't have a Kindle you can get what they call Kindle for PC which brings the Kindle books to your computer desktop.
So you can get the first chapter of my books REALLY for free since the Kindle for PC is free and the 1st chapter is free.
A no risk way to look at a new book before you buy.

Missouri Flood as of June 12th

Tweet

That is a week ago almost. It keeps getting worse.

I left these pictures really high pixel so you should be able to click on them

and they'll get large so you can see details.

As if anyone want to see details!!!!

 Scroll down or click HERE to see the flooding pictures I posted on June 9th.

 The picture below is of an RV parking lot.

The things sticking out of the water are hydrants and electrical posts for RVs.

This is usually full on a summer weekend.

The Miraculous Staircase

Tweet

I'm on

Petticoats and Pistols

Today

Blogging about

The Loretto Chapel's Miraculous Staircase

More Creative Madness

Tweet

You can never have too much Creative Madness, now can you?

Click Here

I'm quoted in the newspaper

Tweet

Click Here

Creative Madness Strikes Again :)

Tweet

Margaret's Creative Madness Blog

Always fun

Click Here

The Flood of '11--Mark My Word

Tweet

They'll be talking about it for ever

This is the sign in Beck Park in Decatur NE on May 29th

This sign does NOT stand in water. It's close but definitely on dry land.

 

This is the sign in Beck Park on May 31st.

I've lived near Decatur for 34 years and we like to play on the river.

We've NEVER seen it like this.

Then I went and took more pictures today.

This is the same sign on June 9th

You know I teach math for a day job

Tweet

Here's a good image to help teach Ven Diagrams.

Or not.

My August Release as an Audio Book!!! YAY!

Tweet

It just went up on their website.

OUT OF CONTROL

FOOTNOTES FROM HISTORY

Tweet

I'm on Stephanie Grace Whitson's blog today.

Talking about research for my May release

DEEP TROUBLE.

Check it out HERE

What you don't want to find on your employee performance evaluation

Tweet

These individual quotes were reportedly taken from actual employee performance evaluations in a large US Corporation.


(1) "Since my last report, this employee has reached rock bottom.....and has started to dig."

(2) "His men would follow him anywhere...but only out of morbid curiosity."

(3) "I would not allow this employee to breed."

(4) "This employee is really not so much of a 'has-been', but more of a definite 'won't be'."

(5) "Works well when under constant supervision and cornered like a rat in a trap."

(6) "When she opens her mouth, it seems that it is only to change feet."

(7) "He would be out of his depth in a parking lot puddle."

(8) "This young lady has delusions of adequacy."

(9) "He sets low personal standards and then consistently fails to achieve them."

(10) "This employee is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot."

(11) "This employee should go far...and the sooner he starts, the better."

(12) "Got a full 6-pack, but lacks the plastic thing to hold it all together."

(13) "A gross ignoramus - 144 times worse than an ordinary ignoramus."

(14) "He certainly takes a long time to make his pointless."

(15) "He doesn't have ulcers, but he's a carrier."

(16) "I would like to go hunting with him sometime."

(17) "He's been working with glue too much."

(18) "He would argue with a signpost."

(19) "He has a knack for making strangers immediately."

(20) "He brings a lot of joy whenever he leaves the room."

(21) "When his IQ reaches 50, he should sell."

(22) "If you see two people talking and one looks bored...he's the other one."

(23) "A photographic memory but with the lens cover glued on."

(24) "A prime candidate for natural deselection."

(25) "Donated his brain to science before he was done using it."

(26) "Gates are down, the lights are flashing, but the train isn't coming."

(27) "Has two brains: one is lost and the other is out looking for it."

(28) "If he were any more stupid, he'd have to be watered twice a week."

(29) "If you give him a penny for his thoughts, you'd get change."

(30) "If you stand close enough to him, you can hear the oceans."

(31) "It's hard to believe that he beat 1,000,000 other sperm to the egg."

(32) "One neuron short of a synapse."

(33) "Some drink from the fountain of knowledge; he only gargled."

(34) "Takes him 2 hours to watch 60 minutes."

(35) "The wheel is turning, but the hamster is dead."

Things We can Learn from Children

Tweet

1. A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2,000 sq. foot house 4 inches deep.

2. If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite.

3. A 3-year-old's voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.

4. If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42 pound boy wearing Batman underwear and a superman cape. It is strong enough, however, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20X20 foot room.

5. You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When using the ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way.

6. The glass in windows (even double pane) doesn't stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.

7. When you hear the toilet flush and the words "Uh-oh", it's already too late.

8. Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it.

9. A six-year-old can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36-year-old man says they can only do it in the movies. A magnifying glass can start a fire even on an overcast day.

10. Certain Lego's will pass through the digestive tract of a four-year-old.

11. Play Dough and Microwave should never be used in the same sentence.

12. Super glue is forever.

13. No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool you still can't walk on water.

14. Pool filters do not like Jell-O.

15. VCR's do not eject PB&J sandwiches even though TV commercials show they do.

16. Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.

17. Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.

18. Always look in the oven before you turn it on. Plastic toys do not like ovens.

19. The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earth worms dizzy. It will however make cats dizzy and cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.

George Carlin

Tweet