The Stars at Night, are Big and Bright . . .

It's been interesting around here, to say the least. You'll recall that my mom was sent home from her mission in May due to a fall. She's been staying here with me ever since, going to doctors and getting herself well. She's just gotten her reassignment and will be filling a service mission in Houston, Texas. She leaves on Thursday. It's been good to spend time with her, but I'm also of the opinion that two women in one house isn't a good thing . . .

My daughter had a great time at Girls' Camp and I think I survived the week without her. I have to say, though, watching her get on that bus and realizing that I wouldn't know how she was for a solid five days was really hard for me and I did sniffle quite a lot. But she's a remarkable young lady and I couldn't be more proud of how she's growing up.

I've also been working extra hard on wrastling this sodium thing into submission. Right now I'm in the middle of Operation Oven, where I'm preparing foods to fill my freezer so I have low-sodium foods I can just grab, heat, and eat. You can check it out here.

That's about it for an update on me. . . I really didn't have much of anything to say, but it's been a week since I posted and I figured I'd better assure you that I haven't fallen off the planet somehow.

You Say You Want a Revolution?

Friday was not only the 4th, it was my daughter's birthday. We went to the Family Fun Center and had fun bouncing on all their big inflatable toys.



I did not bounce, but I observed while others bounced.

After about a half hour (we had a full hour, but really, who can jump around for a full hour?) we went over to the arcade area and I played skee ball, which is one of my favorites, and then I made a mistake. A tragic mistake. A crucial mistake. A mistake I am paying for at this very moment, more than 48 hours later.

I challenged my husband to Dance, Dance Revolution.

I trounced him the first round. I mean, by a couple of tens of thousands, that's how much I trounced him. But then there were two more rounds, and I realized something.

Persons who have to be nice to their feet and who have had bones in said feet go out of alignment on a regular basis should not play Dance, Dance Revolution, even when they are trouncing their husbands by tens of thousands.

I threw the last two rounds and then it was time to go home, and I did indeed throw the bones in my right foot out of alignment and can barely walk.

And all this happened on a holiday weekend, and my chiropractor has been out of his office, and even though he has an emergency number to call, he hasn't returned my message.

So I'm lame until tomorrow morning at which time I'm showing up at his door without an appointment.

I'm such a rebel.

But I do have to say, it was really fun to trounce my husband by tens of thousands of points.

And no, I didn't get a picture of us playing. That would just be . . . sad.

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July, everyone! I'm so grateful for this day we have to think about our blessings and to recognize how incredible this great country is. I was going to write a blog to this effect, but then I ran across this one and realized I could never say it as well, so go read Kerry's blog instead.

In the meantime, I have another reason to celebrate but also to mourn. My daughter is turning twelve today. She's excited to go to Girls' Camp and Young Women and to grow up and be a teenager, and I'm mourning the fact that she's going to Girls' Camp and Young Women and growing up and being a teenager. I still feel twelve -- I'm not ready for this -- I keep wondering if I've taught her enough and if she feels like she's got a strong foundation and most of all, wondering how she can be turning twelve when I so plainly remember the day she was born and dressing her in tiny little sleepers and holding the length of her entire body on my forearm. And it's all burned into my memory and lives like it was just yesterday, and now she's telling me that she's twelve? I think someone's playing a big trick on me . . . she's really only two.

Writing Tip -- Narrative vs. Exposition

I've been asked a couple of times lately to explain the difference between narrative and exposition. Sounds like a great blog topic to me!

Narrative -- narrative links the dialogue together. For instance: Tom crossed the floor and picked up the antique vase, wondering where it had come from.

Exposition -- exposition tells us what happened in the past and catches us up-to-date. For instance: When he'd been working as an excavator in Mexico, he'd seen some artwork that reminded him of the designs on this vase. But in Mexico, his mind had been on anything but art. Instead, his days and nights had been consumed by thoughts of a certain dark-eyed girl and the way she flicked her hair over her shoulder as she walked away from him. Always walking away from him.

Essentially, narrative tells us what's going on now and exposition tells us what did go on, a little while ago. It's a past and present thing.