“Every writer needs a blog. A platform…” Yadda, yadda, yadda.
I mean, really, what’s 250 words a day?

It shouldn’t be that hard.
But where the rubber hits the road, this author finds herself finding anything else to do but her blog.

And we’re like that- people, that is.
We have that ONE thing that we should be doing that we ignore.

Oh! I need to put away the laundry, look, I haven’t dusted the armoire yet this week… Oh my goodness… we should TOTALLY rearrange the livingroom…IMMEDIATELY…!!

I can do any number of tasks and projects and put off that one thing I really need to do.

And part of it? Hey, I’m sharing my inner thoughts here. That’s a thing. There’s expectation on the part of the reader, therefore, the writer- she must perform 🙂 Never mind colds, children, windstorms, life…blah blah blah.. the people need their words.

Even so.. maybe an update is overdue.
Yes, I’m working on Izzy Jo & The Bossy Brat. I almost finished her this weekend, but we had a family commitment that took priority. It about killed me because I’m less than 2K words from sending her to my editor. Currently, she’s looking for treasure and may or may not be trying to find her way out of a lava-cave… but I’m sure she’ll get out…eventually… Look for her sometime soon 🙂

After my adventures last year with the Nampa Farmers Market I was blessed to be elected to the board of directors. (Seriously, though? Isn’t that funny? If you know me in real life, you know I tend to address all things in life with a bit of dry wit wrapped in a fluffy nougat of passion!)

So anyhow, that’s been taking up a lot of time- but in a really good way. (Check out their FB page if you get a minute!)

One thing I learned last year? If we want the culture to change and we want to influence others to look for joy then we must begin by reaching into communities outside of our “normal” bubble. Having a tiny pool where we can influence others leaves a ripple effect upon the whole.

I got to have the honor of helping them with their rebranding this year, and also pursue one of my side-side-side-skillsets, which is dabbling in graphic design. Not only are they allowing me to help with the graphics, but I actually helped come up with some of the new billboard designs for this season. Super fun! On that same note, I was able to give a training to my Lilla Rose sisters in Canva this year.

Lilla Rose is still a great company and going STRONG. My team exploded last year and now I’ve got something like 108 wonderful women (and a few men) in there and it still helps pay the family bills. (Oh, and yes, FB has decided I’m worthy of FB jail a few times. Apparently, I’m a ”dangerous’ person according to their computer system…but I digress…)

So alongside my adventures in writing, homeschooling, (oh and our kids are totally rocking it at the Nampa Farmers Market this year in their co-op!) not to mention the work with our church, family, friends, et cetera… I am happy to say I picked up a new hobby because if 2021 was going to resemble ANYTHING like 2020, I needed something to keep my mind busy and active to cope.

Enter the DAR (That stands for: Daughters of the American Revolution). This is a national civics club of a sort (I told my girls, it’s kinda like American Heritage Girls for ladies) and it’s all about God and Country and History and serving your community.

I am still working on the process to become a member, but was mightily impressed by my visit to a recent meeting with the Ee-dah-how Chapter here in Nampa, Idaho. To be a part of your local DAR group, you’ve got to show a direct descendance from a Patriot who served in the American Revolution and be prepared to provide extensive paperwork. Along my poking and prodding the family tree, I was able to also see that my genealogy shows that I’m related to no other than Captain Miles Standish of the Mayflower. Crazy right? I wonder what those relatives from 400 years ago would think of our world today?

All that to say, today I got my first partial shipment of inventory for the kids who buy from me in person at the NFM. Then I looked at the calendar and HOLY SMOKES BATMAN! There’s only ELEVEN days until the first market day of 2021. Is it me or did March just start? I swear it was BARELY March a minute ago.

That’s it for the update. I better go – rearranging that furniture isn’t going to happen on it’s own.

NP