monday updates: the sacrifices we make for fun

This is me, speaking from a state of "tired."

Over the last three weeks, I have logged far more hours - across a variety of areas - than anyone should have to log, and it's all been in the name of fun. It's all been in the name of the anniversary trip on which we are embarking this week.

monday musings: mercy. what a week.

Mercy. What a week.

On my author website, on Friday, I posted a piece called 'Boston Strong' that put into words some of my "in the moment" thoughts - but it took me four days to be able to figure out what to say at all.

See (for those of you who don't know me), I grew up just outside Boston - and up there, Patriots' Day (also known as 'Marathon Monday') is a big deal. It's "our holiday," as Massachusetts and Maine (which used to be part of Massachusetts, of course) are the only states in the country that observe Patriots' Day. No school that day. Most people don't have to work. Most people have Patriots' Day traditions the way people across the country have traditions on the 4th of July. They reenact the Battles of Lexington and Concord early in the morning on Patriots' Day; the Red Sox play the only a.m. baseball game in the Major League season on that day; people have friends over for barbecues, or they visit a friend whose house sits along the marathon route, or they head downtown and find a spot at the finish line to watch the end of the race.

monday musings: 4/15/13

Hey, friends!

What a week. A lot has happened over the last week: some things good, some things great, and some things just plain old fun. First thing's first, however: a big congratuations goes out to my sister, Lauren (@lolabell, if you're on Instagram) and her "former boyfriend, now fiance" Jared on getting engaged last Sunday.

Jared was on top of his game: he had come to realize that Lauren wanted to *know* she was getting proposed to on the day of her proposal, so she could savor the whole day. So (I'm sure I'm butchering the story here - or, at the very least, am not doing it justice - but oh well) the girls (Abby, my older sister Stephanie, and two of Lauren's best friends) woke her up in the morning with breakfast in bed and a video from Jared, letting her know this day was "all about her." Then…

[Be sure to also check out Abby's photography site this week - heck, you probably just want to bookmark that site! - and check out JM's author website as well]

Pretty flowers used for the proposal

friday photos: state fair

wednesday good reads: let the great world spin

The book:

Let the Great World Spin

The author:

Colum McCann

friday photos: boston

monday musings: a week in boston

I had grand plans for AWP (the "Association of Writers & Writing Programs" Conference), in relation to our site. That's where Abby and I were this week - in Boston, for the four-day conference - and I expected to keep a sort of "journal" each day, covering what we did each day and what happened, after which I would post the entire "journal" on Monday morning. Instead, it's Monday evening already, and I am just now typing this. We had an awesome week, though. We had a lot of fun…