Thoughts on Writing and Sinfulness

“In order for other people to label you a writer, you should write some stuff.” –Captain Obvious

This is an immutable truth; I don’t mind if you quote me (or the Captain). It’s along the same lines as, for other people to consider you a runner, you maybe should lace up the shoes and hit the pavement now and then (in jeans, preferably). Or, for other people to view you as a sinner, you should drink too much red wine, watch questionable movies, play fast and loose with the speed limit, or at least arrive late at work a few times a week. (I didn’t have a lot of trouble coming up with those examples.) In other words, do some good old-fashioned sinning. The list, as they say, goes on.

For me to consider myself a writer, I need only think about writing from time to time. Just like sinning, if I commit the deed in my heart, it’s on the record somewhere. Action completed. OK, so I haven’t actually set pen to paper (so to speak; who really writes on paper these days?) for anything beyond email messages for the last three-plus months. But I’ve intended to! The flesh is willing, the spirit weak. Or vice versa.

To get my creative juices flowing, and to repent of my wicked ways, I thought I’d start simple, listing a few of the activities I haven’t blogged about in the last few months.


At the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry
(no photos allowed in Body Worlds).



1) Hosted Easter dinner for 15, including all kids and grandkids, friends Paul and Nancy, and father-in-law Bud with his 90-year-old girlfriend Doris.

2) Attended 8th-grade graduation ceremony for oldest grandson Jack.

3) Took grandkids Jack and Autumn to see Body Worlds exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry. 



Easy Riders Dennis and Bonnie



4) Attended commencement for nephew Spencer and wife Ashley at University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, where Michelle Obama was keynote speaker. Clung to brother-in-law Dennis as he took me on a motorcycle tour of the northern Iowa countryside.

5) Celebrated 40th wedding anniversary with husband Curt, with a Segway architectural tour of Oak Park, IL (Frank Lloyd Wright hotbed).

6) Treated 12-year-old granddaughter Autumn to a week’s birthday vacation in California, traveling the coast from LA to San Francisco.

Don't hate us because we're nerds.



7) Witnessed my husband suffer a serious heart attack after biking across the Golden Gate Bridge.

8) Enjoyed (and celebrated!) his recuperation in Marin County and Sonoma/Napa.

9) Went sailing on Saylorville Lake, Iowa, with our friends Bryson and Mary.


10) Attended my 40-year high school class reunion in Ankeny, Iowa. Wonderful connections; these people are salt of the earth. Extra time spent with best friend from-back-then Paula: priceless.



Me and Paula at the 40th reunion, still
 crazy after all these years.



11) Basement flooded—again—and now having to spend the bucks to have the back yard regraded.

12) Finally took the step to meet with a financial planner, which forced us to think about the future in a more concrete way.

13) Lost a few nights’ sleep wondering whether we will even have a future, considering Curt’s heart attack.

I kind of hate to stop with unlucky 13, but there’s enough material there should I decide to wax eloquent on any of those topics. I’d particularly like to expound on Curt’s heart attack, but cardiac incidents are notoriously unfunny.

Oh yeah—time for a confession. After a tall bloody Mary, we went to see the movie “Bridesmaids” today. Laughed till we cried. Then came home and hoisted a few glasses of red.

Sinner? Check. Runner? Not for a while now. (There’s always tomorrow.) Writer? Double cha-ching. Not only thought about it, but did it! I’m golden.