Lake Retreat

Each year, The Inklings go on a writing retreat to my parents' trabin on Lake Tenkiller. We call it a trabin because I fantasize it's a cozy log cabin, but it's just a trailer. At the end of the day, though, no one cares if it were built of toothpicks and fiberglass because it has views like this one:

This year, Sonia gave a fabulous presentation on websites that helped her get into the business. She'll provide links on her website soon, so you should check it out. Next, Martha (aka Mama) gave writing prompts inspired from a book of essays.
Dee Dee is intent, isn't she? Either I snapped this while we were sharing our journal entries or during the prompt. I like how the trees framed her.After the workshop, we ate. Lisa, Sonia and I tried to eat on the deck, but the flies attempted to steal our food so we joined everyone else inside.
Karuna and Karen arrived wearing the most adorable hats. Don't they look perfect for a day at the lake?After lunch, most of us took a stroll. Kelly and I are always willing to pause for a photo.
Even though my leg is covered in greenish-yellow bruises from an unfortunate Seadoo incident, I had a great time. The Inklings provide invaluable critiques and the retreat workshop inspires me to write something with a fresh perspective. Plus, even though many may disagree, I got a little tan!

Really. I did.

Sonia's Tour

My friend Sonia Gensler and fellow Inklings' member recently acquired a book deal with Knopf. Our writing group is so happy for her we feel like we each received a deal, too.

Sonia writes historical fiction, so we asked her to take us on a tour of her novel. I've been lucky enough to read it and was giddy to see where the story took place and hear Sonia explain hidden details not included in the book.

I've heard of Twilight tours and Harry Potter tours. Maybe we'll have The Revenant tours after the book is released in 2011.

Can anyone guess where we are?


Here is the same location years and years ago.

For some reason, no one came around when we wanted a group picture--maybe a bunch of giggly grown girls scared them away--so Kelly took this photo of the rest of us sitting on the stairs inside.

A Day of Firsts

Definite first steps today. He walked from his dad to me. It was so exciting.

While eating real chicken--not the baby food variety--he said, "More."

He slapped me "five" repeatedly. Since he loves hitting things, this seems socially acceptable.

We play a game where we say, "Blow out the lights." Then we blow and flip the switch. Max thinks it's hilarious and usually blows after the lights are out. Today, I asked him to help me "blow out the lights" while we were standing by the light switch. He grinned at me, leaned over and flipped off the lights.

Girls of '93

Friends are valuable. Especially ones you've known most of your life. Especially ones who know you. I was with Katie when she met her hubby. I guess we need to pick someone out for Ange--not that she'd let us! If not for these girls, Garrett and I may have never dated. It was they who arrived at a New Year's Eve party back in '93, scoped it out, and pointed to Garrett. "Why haven't you dated him?" Good question. And the rest is history.

I was so excited to see my girls on Friday. Katie met Max for the first time. Max adored her. As on previous visits, he proved he adored Ange, too. After visiting Max and my mom and brother, we went to the lake where we had a fun filled day of playing on the jet skis planned.

Fate, on the other hand, had something else in mind.

When we arrived, I'd left my keys to the trabin at the house. After many expletives, I called home. Luckily, Garrett was there for lunch and brought them out to us. After that minor setback, we gals went down to the boat slip where G and I had stowed the jet skis the night before. Of course, we couldn't get them to work. Either of them!

Oh well. We floated around in the lake and snacked and visited, which was so nice. We just didn't have enough time. We never do. I think we should plan a spa visit next time.

Here we are five years ago at a class reunion:

Lots of other pics exist of us together, but I haven't scanned them. Katie and I've been friends since we were three. Ange, Katie and I have been friends since we were eleven. As Ange's niece says, we're definitely "best friends for freakin' life."

First Shoes and First Step...sort of

Since Max has been at the lake he's gathered two splinters on his feet from the deck. He's also standing a little on his own. We figured it was time to get him a pair of shoes.

Felt's shoe store has been in town for decades. It was the first member of the Chamber of Commerce and is still family owned and operated. My mother remembers getting shoes there when she was a little girl. So that's where we went. Drew Felt told us that little Max wears a 5 1/2.

On Thursday, July 2, 2009, we bought Max his first pair of shoes. Well, he's had a couple of pairs from a friend and an aunt & uncle, but these shoes are like big boy shoes. As soon as he had the Nikes on his feet, he stood up without touching anything and stayed that way for the longest we'd seen. Even when we got home and took off his shoes, he kept practicing. Ever since, he's been moving closer and closer to walking.

In fact, today he took what I call his first step. My parents and Garrett and our friend Mike witnessed it, and they didn't think it was a real first step. However, he wasn't holding on to anything, so I think I'll count it.

Max loves people's shoes, and he loves having his own. Here he is playing with the box and shoes in his closet.

Independence Day 2009

We enjoyed our first Fourth of July as a family. Garrett and I have been a couple for 16 years. This picture is evidence of the first time we ever dressed alike on purpose. We did it for Max.

My dad's sister and her family joined us at the lake. Luckily, the weather cooled off a bit that day so we were able to enjoy ourselves outside. My aunt played with the kiddos. It looks like they all had a good time.
Second cousins and all smiles....


Uncle Ed sent lots more pictures. I'll share more when I get them downloaded.

Pinwheel

Max was pretty impressed with his first pinwheel.

First Pool

Max has cute little swimming trunks, but it was hot, so he just wore his Little Swimmers. He didn't care what he looked like. He had a blast! Here is his dad putting him in the pool for the first time


He liked the little penguin in a boat. It didn't float so well, but he still enjoyed it.
Most of all he enjoyed splashing.

Crawling in and out of the pool became a favorite event of the afternoon. You can see the dirt from the deck on his diaper!