Writing Retreat Envy

Yes, I must admit, as I read the posts from my siblings regarding the writing retreat they attended last week in McCall, the ugly green monster of jealousy reared its' ugly head, because I so wish I could be there.

But, a little thing called a summer job got in the way.

With a daughter heading off to college this fall, I needed to make a little money this summer.

I know I would have loved being there, though. I'm glad my sister-in-law LR was able to attend.

I look forward to hearing all about it.

But, until then, I'll continue to sulk here in Kellogg because I didn't get to go...

W-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-h!!!

Computer Down...Off My Game

It has been a week without my laptop. I feel a little off my game. I took it into the shop, and when the words "replace motherboard" came out of the technician's mouth, I knew it wasn't good.

It seems the power source is the problem, and he tried soldering it back, and that didn't work, so I may need to send it away and get a whole new motherboard. UGH!!

What to do...what to do?

So I'm back on the PC which is okay, but I'm a little off because I don't have everything on this computer.

I'll keep you posted....

The Summer of 1975

We received our sibling assignment from Inland Empire Girl this week. Here is the assignment:

What songs take you back to a summer growing up?

Share the song and the memories that are attached to it.

My mom made a purchase in the Summer of 1975 that had a great impact on my life.

She purchased a radio that gave me the ability to tune into an FM station from Spokane.

The station was KHQ-FM.

Before FM, residence in the Silver Valley were limited on their radio station choices because of the fact we lived in the valley, and the signals could not reach us from Spokane. The local station, KWAL, was okay, but I was longing for a little more variety.

The summer of 1975 was big year. I had just finished sixth grade at Sunnyside Elementary, and I was preparing to enter 7th grade at Kellogg Junior High. I'm sure I was filled with excitement and a bit of apprehension as I prepared to enter that huge building and go to all those different classes.

The one song I remember the most from that summer was Captain And Tennille's "Love Will Keep Us Together". And I seem to remember them playing that song a lot that summer, because it was the number one hit for a while.

I have a particulary vivid memory of me sitting on the front porch at my parents house, with the radio on the front porch, and the sky was getting cloudy, but I sitting outside listening to the radio. Possibly I received better reception outside.

There were others that summer that have stayed with me for over 30 years, such as "The Hustle", Elton John's "Philadelphia Freedom", "Listen to What The Man Said", by Wings, "My Eyes Adored You", by The Four Seasons, "Evil Woman", by The Electric Light Orchestra and Billy Joel's "The Entertainer".

If any of these songs come on the the radio today, I can pretty much sing them word for word, because they have a permanent place in my memory from the summer of 1975.

Writing about this post reminded me of the Steely Dan hit "FM". I invite you to enjoy a little Steely Dan.

High School Friend is Romance Writer

I told my friend Lisa I would put a plug in for her new book, a Harlequin American Romance titled Man of the Year. Below is a promo email I received from her, as well as a picture and write up about her. I am so proud of Lisa. We both graduated the same year from Kellogg High School, and were active in drama, choir and French in high school. Her parents live just down the street from me, and, if you are in for a steamy summer romance book, why don't you check this out.

*******************************************************************************


Hello;

I am thrilled to announce the publication of my first book, Man of the Year, by Harlequin American Romance. Man of the Year received four stars out of five from Romantic Times and has had other wonderful reviews, as well. Kay James at www.romancereaderatheart.com loved it and gave it her top rating. A couple of my guy-friends--you know who you are--read it and said: "though I don't read that kind of stuff, I liked it." High praise, indeed. I hope you will buy it, read it and love it, too. Then tell all your friends to do the same!

You can purchase the book at your local supermarket in June (if they carry Harlequin Romance) or online at www.eharlequin.com, www.amazon.com, www.borders.com to list a few. Borders also has it on the shelf this month for a limited time. If you see it, turn it face outward so everyone will be tempted to peruse it and buy! Read my author's page. I will also have a website up and running soon at www.lisaruff.net. Keep checking back for further updates there.

My next book, Baby On Board, comes out in January 2009, also published by Harlequin American Romance. I am working on my third book for them right now. I'll let you know when they are available.

Thanks for your support.
Lisa Ruff

**********************************************************************************

Lisa Ruff was born in Montana and grew up in Idaho. The daughter of a forester, she lived in small lumber towns—some nestled so deep in the mountains that sunlight never touched the valley floor from October to April. She attended the University of Idaho and earned a degree in Interior Design. That training led her to Seattle, where she designed restaurants before starting her own interior design business.

Lisa met the man of her dreams in Seattle. She married Kirk promising to love, honor and edit his rough drafts. His pursuit of writing led Lisa to the craft. A long-time reader of romance, she decided to try to create one herself. The first version of Man of the Year took three months to finish, but her business got in the way of polishing the manuscript. She stuffed it in a drawer where it languished for several years.

In pursuit of time to write and freedom to explore the world, Lisa, Kirk and their cat sailed from Seattle on a thirty-seven-foot boat. They spent five years cruising in Central America and the Caribbean. Lisa wrote romance, but it took a backseat to an adventurous life. She was busy writing travel essays, learning to speak Spanish from taxi drivers and handling a small boat in gale-force winds on the ocean.

When she returned to land-life, Lisa started a marine canvas business. Her summers were filled with patterning, cutting and sewing covers and biminis for boats. One winter, she finally revised Man of the Year and sent it to an agent. Within a year, she had a contract from Harlequin American Romance. That same month, Lisa sold her canvas business in order to pursue her dream of writing full time. She and her husband are cruising on a sailboat again—this one 40 feet long—somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. When not setting sail for another port, she is working on her next Harlequin romance book.

************************************************************************************

I am so proud of Lisa, and can't wait to read this book for myself, and the many more that are in her future!!

Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head

This week, I gave the sibling assignment, and I am going to get it done on time!!

My assignment for the week is as follows:

Write about a Silver Valley memory where the central focus deals with one of the four Greek classical elements: fire, earth, air or water.

I have very vivid memories from my childhood that deal with water, or specifically rain.

I must have been three or four year old when I was out with my wagon and my doll, and I was walking around the block, and all of a sudden there was a downpour. BH, who lived on the next block over, took me to her house to find shelter from the storm, along with my doll and wagon. I stayed there until the rain storm was over, and I could get home without getting drenched. I think my mom was a little worried about me, but I think BH's mom called her, and let her know I was okay. That incident must have had a great impact on me, because I remember many vivid details from that event.

I was very scared of thunder and lightning rain storms when I was little. Now I love them, but as a child, they were very frightening.

When I was in fourth or fifth grade, we had a lot of flooding here in Kellogg, kind of like this year. The "Lead Creek" or the South Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River was running very high, and we were out of school because of the flooding. My friend WM called and asked if I could come over. This involved crossing the bridge over the river...the river that was running very high. It didn't really frighten me that much to cross the bridge...but Mom was a bit freaked out.

Rainstorms, Thunder Lightening. Floods. All were a part of growing up in the Silver Valley, and were part of my memories of growing up in this valley in the mountains.

Remembering The Wizard of Oz

"The Wizard of Oz" is one of those shows that was shown annually on television beginning in 1959, except, interestingly enough, the year I was born, 1963.

But I am sure, from the time I could watch tv, I watched it each year it was on, if I could.

I'm not sure what year we had our first color television, but I am sure the impact of the show was even greater when all of sudden Dorothy opened that door, and she was in a world of color.

Dorothy and her story of her journey were the seeds of many skits I wrote and performed over the years.

While in high school, some friends and I were rather obsessed with this particular movie. I'm not sure what fueled this obsession, but, before VCR's and DVD's, my friend JB had his mom tape record the entire movie from the television on a cassette tape. In looking at the Wikipedia site, this would have been the 1981 broadcast on CBS airing Friday, February 27 at 8 p.m.

The following Monday, JB and I, and perhaps LR sat in the Kellogg High School cafeteria in the morning and at lunchtime, listening to this tape recording of "The Wizard of Oz", and saying the dialogue and singing the songs right along with the recording.

My now sister-in-law LR reminds me of this incident every once in a while. She remembers walking through the cafeteria and hearing us singing along to the tape, and I believe she may have even stopped and joined us for a while.

But those are my childhood memories of "The Wizard of Oz". The sibling assignment that Raymond Pert gave us a couple of weeks ago, and that I am now finally getting around to writing was this:

"What do you understand about The Wizard of Oz as an adult that you didn't understand as a child?"

I think I understand more today that often what we want out of life, and don't think we have, we have had all along.

Such as Dorothy. She got mad and wanted to run away from home because she thought no one understood her. But then she realized that home wasn't such a bad place, and that "there's no place like home".

The Scarecrow thought he didn't have a brain, yet he showed his cleverness and smarts all along the yellow brick road as he helped his friends get to the all powerful Wizard of Oz.

The Tinman claimed he didn't have a heart, but he had the most compassion as they traveled the road to the Emerald City.

And the Cowardly Lion, one of my favorite characters in the movie, thought he lacked courage, yet was the bravest of them all.

I think most of us go through a period in our lives when we don't like our home, our family, we want to get away...which part of that is a natural progression of growing up and needing to move away. But then we move away, get some perspective, and realize what a wonderful home we truly have.

And, like the Scarecrow, we often feel pretty stupid. We lack confidence in the things we know, which often keep us from doing things we are able to do, but we think we are too stupid, so we don't even try. But then, we do venture out, our confidence grows, we start realizing the things we are smart at, and we realize we can do some things really well.

Fear often leads us to those times when it seems like we have no heart. We go through a period when we are kind of mean, and we just think about ourselves. But, like the Tinman, we realize we had a heart all along, and that love and compassion for others grows, because we quit focusing on ourself all the time, and start realizing there are people out there who have needs, and need the love of someone else to help them in their lives.

And, like the Cowardly Lion, we think we can't do something because we fear we will fail. But then all of a sudden we are faced with an obstacle, and usually it involves helping someone else we love, and, low and behold, we realize we have

Courage. What makes a King out of a slave? Courage.
What makes the flag on the mast to wave? Courage.
What makes the elephant charge his tusk in the misty mist or the dusky dusk?
What makes the muskrat guard his musk? Courage.
What makes the Sphinx the 7th Wonder? Courage.
What makes the dawn come up like THUNDER?! Courage.
What makes the Hottentot so hot?
What puts the "ape" in ape-ricot?
Whatta they got that I ain't got?

Dorothy & Friends: Courage!

Cowardly Lion: You can say that again.

But, in the end, the lion was very brave, because he had someone else to look out for besides himself. And that gave him the courage he needed.

As the Wizard so wisely told them all at the end, it was inside of them all of the time.

School's Out For Summer

A-h-h-h-h-h-h. The first week of summer vacation. Well, at least that is what the calendar says. The snow on the hillsides this morning might indicate otherwise.

The last week of school was full of lots of activities for Z2 and Kiki Aru. On Wednesday morning, all of the KMS students got to got to the newly opened indoor water park at Silver Mountain for free. It was really fun.

That afternoon, the annual KMS talent show was held. Kiki Aru was one of the 6th grade contestants, and performed a song called "Pocketful of Sunshine."

Also during the talent show, different awards were presented. The first award was the Frank S. Reasoner Award, presented to a student in each grade level who is the best all around student. Z2 received this award. She was presented with a framed certificate and $100.

On Thursday afternoon, Z2 participated in the 8th grade completion ceremony. Because she is 8th grade class president, she gave the opening address.

Then she received her promotion to 9th grade at Kellogg High School.

That evening, Z2 joined her classmates for the 8th grade class dance.

It was a fun and busy week. I hope this helps explain a little bit about my absence this past week.

Lilac City Memories

Inland Empire Girl gave us this sibling assignment...

Taking in the strong fragrance of lilacs today reminded me of Spokane " The Lilac City". Write about a memorable time from childhood that was spent in Spokane.

Raymond Pert's is here, and Inland Empire Girls will be here.

This is probably one of my earliest memories of being in Spokane. I can't believe I remember so much about this, because I was only four years old.

It was the time I got my tonsils removed.

The proceedure was done at the Paulsen Building in downtown Spokane. Apparently my pediatrician had access to a small hospital facility in the building.

Inland Empire Girl was also having surgery at the same time to remove a tumor in her mouth.

I still remember the black mask coming down over my face, and asking to count back from five.

I remember getting out of bed at some point to try and find my sister in another room.

I remember receiving a stuffed animal, a tiger, from Mom and Dad.

I went to Grandma Woolum's house to recover. I got to eat ice cream because it felt good on my throat.

And, because I was at Grandma's house, I also felt safe, secure and loved.

I'm Proud To Be From Kellogg

I'm a little behind on sibling assignments. Here is one I gave a few weeks ago...

What is it about telling people you were born and raised in Kellogg that gives you a sense of pride? Inland Empire Girls post is here, and Raymond Pert's is here.

For me, it is the people.

I love having connections with people who live here, or who I grew up with in this town.

I love knowing my grandparents moved out here from Kentucky in the early 1900's, and that my dad was born here in Kellogg in 1930.

I think I get a lot of my prideful feelings about Kellogg from my dad. He loved it here. When he had to move to Spokane for a while when he was in high school, he worked out a way to come back and live here so he could attend school in Kellogg.

I love the sense of community here in the Silver Valley. I love it when someone is sick, or their house burned down, or for whatever reason they have fallen on hard times, and the outpouring of help and support for the family is overwhelming.

I love living in this beautiful area, with the tree covered mountains, the rivers, the lakes, the bike trails, the skiing and the four seasons.

But I think one of the things I love most is the connection I have with the people who live here. It doesn't take long to see someone at the store and tell my daughters how I am connected to them. Sometimes they think I went to high school with everyone we see!!

And the history of this area is also very interesting. I loved it when I started reading about this area, and realized this was one of the last places in the U.S. "discovered and tamed" by the white man. And that Noah Kellogg discovered the Bunker Hill Mine is 1885, and, less than 50 years later, my dad was born in Kellogg. The Cataldo Mission, the Gold Rush, the Mining Wars...they all have helped form what is today's Silver Valley.

And I am proud to call this place home.

Raised Beds and Flower Pots

Some women enjoy receiving flowers.

Others, a diamond ring.

Maybe others would be wowed by a nice box of chocolates.

I didn't get any of these this weekend...and that was fine with me.

My husband built me four wonderful gifts this weekend...raised garden beds.

Aren't they beautiful!!

PKR is so resourceful. Our wooden deck on the back of the house needs replaced, so he took the deck apart, and used the wood from the deck to build me four raised beds.

In box #1 I planted five tomato plants, basil and a Caribbean Red Pepper.

Box #2 has zuchinni and thyme and oregano.

Box #3 has two different kinds of bush peas, and two different kinds of bush beans. Box #4 has lettuce, arugula, mesclun, spinach, Swiss Chard, and two different kinds of carrots. We were fortunate to have a lot of compost built up, so we filled most of the boxes with the compost, then added some potting soil and steer manure on top. A wonderful feast for my newly planted seeds and plants.

I also planted the flower pots in the front yard.

The front flower bed is springing to life, with all kinds of colors and the green hostas are bursting forth too.
Here are three of my other pots with one of my roses I planted last summer getting off to a good start this spring.

Surprise Visits

This weekend I was blessed to have visits two different times that I wasn't expecting.

On Friday, I chaperoned a field trip with the 8th graders. We went to Laser Quest in Spokane, then ate lunch and played at the park in Coeur d'Alene.

The school secretary handed me a note when I returned, and there was a note from a friend of mine from college. This is when it is great living in a small town. Her and her husband went to the Chamber of Commerce and they asked Norma, the director, if she knew me. Well, Norma sent my friend Tana down to Kellogg Middle School to find me, but I wasn't there, because I was on the field trip, but she left me a note.

She finally got a hold of me by phone that night, and I had breakfast with her and her husband on Saturday morning. The reason they were in Kellogg was two years ago they purchased a home here in town, because they were moving to South Carolina, and wanted a home in Idaho. This is the first time they had seen the house, and it ended up being right across the street from my church.

We had a wonderful time catching up and finding out what was going on in each other's lives. They now live in Idaho Falls, and have two girls.

The girls and I went to CDA on Saturday shopping, and, when we returned home, PKR said his cousin Tim and his family were in CDA for a soccer tournament. They ended up coming over Sunday morning for church, and then came over for lunch after church. Then we took them to the Crystal Gold Mine for a tour. Tim and his family live in Meridian. Their oldest daughter didn't come, but it was fun seeing Sheridan, who is Z2's age, and their son Jared, who I used to babysit before we moved up here to Kellogg.

It was great because we didn't have a whole lot planned to do this weekend, so we could take the time to visit and have breakfast and dinner with old friends.

Thank you, Lord, for these two wonderful blessings.

Lead Creek Rising

Disney Spectacular--Final Performance

The Princess performed in her final concert as a Kellogg High School choir member last Thursday night. It was a really cute idea. Joy Persoon, the choir director, had all three of her choirs, and Kellogg Middle School choir, and the Show Choir and Select Choir at Kellogg High School all dressed like Disney characters and sang a medley of Disney songs.

The Princess dressed up like Minnie Mouse.

A Midsummer Night's Dream...or The Night They Missed The Forest For the Trees--Performance #3

This weekend, PKR was involved in his Kellogg High School spring play. It is called "A Midsummer Night's Dream...or The Night They Missed The Forest for the Trees.

It basically tells the story of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream", but also uses modern characters and story tellers to help tell the story and how it relates to teenagers today.

I was so proud of this cast. I had gone and watched the play the Monday before it opened to give the cast notes. It was amazing how far they came in five days.

PKR is very proud of these students, and the great job they did on the show.

Oberon, King of the Fairies, was portrayed by Kalvin Pemberton. Tim Wentland did a fabulous job as "Puck".
Here are the "rude-mechanicals" getting ready to rehearse their play within a play.
They are Brittany Reed, Zack Whitfield, David Carey, Bridget Cannaday, Lance Claflin and Nathan Gravelle. Ah, the two Athenian couples, Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius and Helena, played by Mariah Schlepp, Ryan Griffin, Erik Fink and Dori Liddicoat.
Alexa Mitten was Titania, Queen of the Fairies, who awakens to find she is in love with Nick Bottom, who Puck has turned into an ass.
Ally Evans , Pamela Reed and Danae Johnson were the three story tellers, and also played Duke Theseus, Hippolyta and Egeus, Hermia's father.

Some of the other fairies flitting about the forest included Corinne Estabrook, Alex Serrell, Anton Ferraro and Julia Wenzel.

The Greatest Little Show on Earth--Performance #2

This weekend, The Princess sang and danced in her senior recital with Joni Damiano Bartel's Performing Arts studio.
Here she performed in a dance with other members of her Jazz Dance class. (She is in the middle).
This year Miss Joni chose a circus theme, and called it "The Greatest Little Show on Earth." The Princess was a marionette.
Here is Miss Joni presenting The Princess, Melissa Flores and Sarah Grigg with a gift since they are all seniors, and it was their last recital.
The Princess started taking voice lessons from Miss Joni her freshman year, and started Jazz Dance her sophomore year. She did a really beautiful job singing "Don't Rain On My Parade".

You really know she did great when Miss Betty, (Miss Joni's mom, Betty Damiano, who started teaching dance in the valley in the 1950's, and has very high standards) came up to her afterwards just beaming, and gave her a big hug and said how strong she sang the song.

I keep wondering when it is going to hit...the fact The Princess is graduating from high school, and will be going to college next fall. I don't think I'm in denial. I just keep checking off the various performances and other milestones that mean this part of her life is coming to an end.

I keep waiting for it all to catch up with me....and when it does...I'm expecting a bit of a flood!!

Cataldo will have nothing on me!

Yearbook Reflections--Performance #1

Here is The Princess in a musical called "Yearbook Reflections" put on the Select Choir at Kellogg High School.
The show's premise is looking through a high school yearbook, and showing all the great thing students in high school do throughout the year, and what great kids they are.
In the program, choir director Joy Persoon shared a letter from the playwrite about why he wrote this play. Here is the letter:

Dear Friend,

On April 20, 1999 my community was rocked by the shootings at Columbine High School. Only a few short miles from where I work and live, I was in my children's elementary school doing my weekly volunteer stint when the shooting broke out. The real-life drama of Columbine High School had begun and would soon grip me and the entire nation.

Because I work a great deal with students and I live close to Columbine, I felt a strange bond to the school. I wanted to do something to help, yet I wasn't sure what to do. I did know that I was unhappy with the media coverage questioning the morality of youths today. Because of these two outcasts, editorials were creating a bleak outlook for the future. Are too many kids slipping through the cracks? Has the disintegration of the family unit gone too far? Is there too much violence on television and in video games? Like you, I don't have the answers to any of these questions. I do know, however, that I am surrounded by many wonderful teens: they are dedicated workers in our office, they are loyal neighbors, and they are trustworthy babysitters for my children. In my mind, these are the youth of today. And they are why I have written "Yearbook".

A school's yearbook shows the brighter side, the positive side. It shows the side we want to remember. A yearbook shows the entire school community as a cohesive unit, from the principal to the students to the cafeteria staff.

In writing this play, I had a huge struggle. I realize that life is not always perfect for kids...it never has been and it never will be. Some are picken on. Some drop out. Some fail. So is it fair for this play to show only the positive side of school life? Yes, I resolved, because for the huge majority of children, life is a positive adventure. Sure, it's a roller coaster with ups and downs, but it's a ride filled with excitement, learning and maturing.

Wishing you success in all your endeavors.

Steven Fendrich

Playwright

Here is some more pics from the production.

Final Destination...Sun Valley, Idaho

On Friday afternoon, we arrived in Sun Valley, Idaho where I was participating in a convention.

This is the Sun Valley Inn where we were staying, and where the convention took place.
Here is PKR strolling around the village at Sun Valley.This is the Sun Valley Opera House. They show movies here, as well as put on plays and concerts.
This is the pool at the Sun Valley Inn. The water is really warm and relaxing. It felt really good.
This is our room during our stay. It was very nice and comfortable.
This is a swan over at the pond in front of the Sun Valley Lodge, the other large hotel in Sun Valley.

Below is a picture of the entrance to the Sun Valley Lodge. Inside they have hallways of cool black and white photos of personalities who have stayed and skied at the resort. Some I remember were Desi Arnez and Lucille Ball and their two kids, Jackie Kennedy and her two children, Gary Cooper, Ernest Hemmingway, of course, Peter and Jane Fonda, and Marilyn Monroe. There were others, but those are I re the ones I remember.

Here is PKR and I at the banquet on Saturday night. I was very impressed with the food, and service and the accomodations during our stay. And it was nice to retreat away, just PKR and myself, and have some much needed time alone together. With three busy girls, we count times like this as quite a blessing!!

It was interesting driving up to the Sun Valley area. You arrive in Hailey, Idaho, and it still looks fairly normal. But you get to Ketchum, and there are condos, townhouses, newly remodeled shops and high priced boutiques.

I remarked to PKR that I'm not sure I want to live in a place like the Ketchum/Sun Valley area. I keep wondering if that is where Kellogg is headed, and how long it may take for us to get there.