For those of you who've been with me since the beginning--no, Mom, not that beginning, the beginning of my blog--you may remember the post where I promised to try not to blog anymore after eleven o'clock at night. For the most part, I've been good. But tonight I have the "after eleven sillies" and I couldn't make myself stay away. I tried. I really did. But blogger.com called my name louder than the Heath bar in the Wal-mart bag on the counter. Ok, my search for a fitting analogy just woke that Heath bar up and now it's screaming. . .I'll be right back.

I'm back. I couldn't let it wake the whole house, could I? I think I'm going to opt for the Reeses Inside Out that was in the same bag instead. For some reason this concept fascinated me earlier today when I was salivating over the chocolate selection at the checkout counter. The peanut butter's on the outside and the chocolate in the middle. Uh-oh. Not as good as the regular Reeses. The chocolate is too dark. My sister, Sandy, loves dark chocolate. Think she'll mind that it has a bite taken out of it? Yeah, probably. Might as well choke the nasty thing down somehow. :) I'll save her the other cup. Maybe. Yes, I will. Wow. Heath bars don't come in two pieces anymore. It's just one big bar. Hmm. . .it doesn't taste quite as good as it used to. I think I've been on a diet too long. Everything I eat now has that additional flavoring -- guilt. :)

I'll give you three guesses what I just went and got from the refrigerator. Yep. Milk. What's chocolate without it? At least it's organic milk, though. If you've never tried it, check it out in Wal-mart's milk section. It's worth the extra money. It tastes like what you think the milk that Heidi drank up on the mountain must have tasted like. I know. That was goat's milk, wasn't it? Oh, well. This is milk milk, just with no added junk to the cows or their feed.

Since we've thoroughly covered What I'm Eating, we can move on to the infinitely more interesting What I'm Reading -

I ordered One Tuesday Morning and Beyond Tuesday Morning by Karen Kingsbury. They're in one volume. I haven't started them yet, but I hope to tomorrow. Hmm. . . just realized that tomorrow is Tuesday morning. Weird. I also got The Marriage Wish by Dee Henderson from Crossings. (I had 2 books left to fulfill my membership, so now I'm done.) I'll let you know how I like them.

American Christian Fiction Writers just opened a new website, and I'm so excited about the forums in the Members Only section. In honor of one of the forums (Books by ACFW members) I'm going to read at least one book by an ACFW member every month. Not counting books I crit or books by my best friends. Karen is a member, so I'm ahead of my game with this double volume. :)

OH, the chocolate surge of energy just ran out and I'm about to fall asleep on the keyboard. Wouldn't that be embarrassing?

Remember, occasional chocolate is good for the heart. :) I hope you're all having a wonderful week. Be good to those who love you and bear with those who don't. God wants us to love them anyway. I know we can do it!

Goodnight!

I'm working on a new book. After taking time off for the holidays, I'm refreshed and invigorated. Writing excites me again. I burned out on the last two deadlines, and I wondered if the day would ever return when I'd rush to the computer, or in a pinch, scribble on a napkin, to get part of my story down before I forget it. I'm thankful it's back. Maybe it's because this is a new genre for me (Southern Lit) or maybe because I have been on break, but my confidence level goes up and down like a seesaw. Now I'm just praying that God will grant me the ability and wisdom to tell this story. If it comes to mind, would you pray that for me, too? I really appreciate it.

What I'm Reading - SCRAPS OF LOVE and A STITCH IN TIME, both Barbour anthologies and both really great! I'm loving every novella included.

Verses of the Day - Romans 8:37-39 - Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

When I feel shaky in my writing or in my faith in general, this verse reassures me like nothing else can. We are MORE THAN conquerors. God loves me. Amazing. God loves you. Believe it. Live it. Share it.

Yesterday was one of those golden days. The kind that even when it's happening, you know it's special. We celebrated my parents' 60th wedding anniversary and nothing went wrong. My four sisters and I chose not to do any advance decorating, cooking, etc. We all met at the church building 2 hours before the big event and shared a frenzy of preparation. 3 days worth at least. . .packed into 2 hours.

One sister ran over to Mom's house a half hour before and did her hair and makeup, and Mom arrived on the arm of her couldn't-be-prouder date (aka Dad) absolutely glowing. She looked like a beauty queen at 85. My dad's of the old school. He thinks he told her 60 years ago that he loved her and if he changes his mind, he'll let her know. The same thing goes for compliments, I guess. She told me later that a widower, 10 years younger than my parents, came up to them at the get-together and told my dad, "She's beautiful!"

According to Mom, Daddy looked at her kind of taken aback, then said, "I know." I can't be sure, but I'm fairly positive a giggle escaped from behind her hand when she was telling me about it. "He hasn't said anything like that to me in I don't know how long."

Here's to a repeat performance for their 75th!

After it was over, my sisters and I sent our husbands home with the kids and our parents, and cleaned up the fellowship room. We finally finished and sat down to rest for a minute. We all get together at my parents fairly often, but there's always a houseful of kids, husbands, etc. around too.

I've thought about those 20 minutes a lot since yesterday. Even though we only chatted for a short while, being together, just the five of us girls, was the cherry on top of a beautiful ice cream sundae day. I'm feeling incredibly thankful and blessed. Tomorrow may bring who-knows-what, but for today, this is enough.

My seven year old turned eight Thursday, but instead of having a Happy BirthDAY, she had a happy birthWEEK! We partied Thursday night with family, then Friday, she didn't have school, so we took her school friends skating. Saturday, to top off the big week, six of her friends from church met us at the beauty parlor for a Totally Girl party. Manicures and pedicures all around. And lots of chatter. Then we ended up at Pizza Hut with the whole gang from church, so the boys didn't get left out.

Don't ask me how this celebration extravaganza came about. It isn't because she's our secret favorite. Although our eleven year old is starting to wonder. I think it started from a tiny seed of guilt. "We always skimp on her birthday since it's right after Christmas. And we never have a party, because usually it's bad weather or one of us is sick." This is what my husband said to me a couple of weeks ago. From that grew a determination inside me that this year would be different.

Well, it was definitely different. :) And fun. But a once-in-a-lifetime kind of fun. Not a we'll-do-this-every-year-from-now-on fun.

If you think about it, lots of things fall into the nice to visit but I wouldn't want to live there category. Deep snow. Movie sequels. Conferences. Walk-a-thons. Or for you more active readers, marathons. Hundred mile long flea markets. All-night chats with a group of friends. Disneyworld. Can you think of more? Post a comment and share your own best-enjoyed-rarely pleasures.

Movies not to miss--

At the video store - Where the Red Fern Grows - the new version from Disney - I watched it this afternoon with the girls and yes, I ended up bawling, even though i was determined not to, but it was so good.

At the movie - Ocean's Twelve - not sure it really belongs in the not to miss group, unless you're like me and can't stand not to watch a sequel if you enjoyed the original. O12 doesn't measure up to O11, but it was worth the money.

Books I'm reading --

LEAVE IT TO CLAIRE by Tracey Bateman - It's hilarious and a definite don't-miss! But it won't be out until 2006.

The Pocket Muse - Ideas & Inspirations for writing by Monica Wood - This book is great for any writer you know. It's a fun collection of writing prompts, exercises, quotes, etc. My friend, Rachel Hauck, gave it to me for Christmas and I SO love it!

Thoughts I'm thinking --

I can't believe I've stuck to this diet like a cocklebur to a sheepdog for five days! I even sat at the table with people eating pizza while I drank water with lemon. I'm hoping this new self-discipline leaks into the other areas of my life. By next week, maybe my house will be clean and I'll have the Bible half read. Oh, and for those who are still stumbling over the whole cocklebur/sheepdog thing, you need to get out in the country more. There's a whole world out there without sidewalks or paved parking lots.

No matter where you live, I challenge you to find a place where you can't see anything manmade. Then just sit and bask in the power of the Creator. He made the world. He can handle our problems, too. That's my solitary goal for the new year -- I'm riding shotgun this year, with God in the driver's seat. If things get really scary, I'll climb over into the back and just peek over the seat. I'm thinking He's going to do a MUCH better job than I've been doing, so here's to a blessed and prosperous 2005 for all of us!

# posted by Christine Lynxwiler at 7:35 PM

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Sixty years is a long time to wake up beside the same person every day. In a couple of weeks my siblings and I are throwing a stroll down memory lane celebration for our parents' sixtieth wedding anniversary. We all voted on ultra casual (we did the fancy for their 50th) so at least the hunt for the perfect outfit will be replaced by the hunt for a clean pair of jeans that doesn't make my rear look too big. Ok, I confess. I'll settle for clean.

In the meantime, I've confiscated mom's huge plastic tub full of pictures and am busily scanning them in to put on CD so we can do some kind of slide show. It's not as much fun strolling down M. Lane by yourself. I keep turning to my phantom helper and saying, "Remember this? We almost froze our toes off ice skating on the pond. Mom had hot chocolate on the stove when we got back." Or "LOOK! Do you remember that day Aunt Millie thought Tammy Jo had swallowed the powder lid? She forgot she had a phone and ran all the way to our house, holding the baby."

But no one answers. So, I just lift the lid and put in a new photo, not sure whether my memory is on target or not. Funny how time changes the past. My brother said the other day that if you get old enough you can completely rewrite your history and not even know it. It just happens one little thing at a time. The fish that got away grows an inch every year, as do honors bestowed, heroic actions, and numerous other events, until . . . VOILA! It's amazing all the drama you've managed to pack into one lifetime. Of course if you're a writer, you have a license to embellish fact and make it fiction.

My friend Tracey Bateman (OH! Check out her incredible new website!) and I were talking this morning about the blurry line between fact and fiction. It's clear enough for us, but what about our readers? I've had who-knows-how-many people comment about my family's Christmas on the road. Or ask me if I've learned to loosen up any. Or if my husband is as nice as he seems in that ALL JINGLED OUT book. I've never gotten these questions until ALL JINGLED OUT. It's the first person point of view. When you write "I", on a gut level readers believe you mean "I" as in the main character, her family, and friends are really a thinly-disguised version of you, your family, and friends. Here's my statement. It's just not true. . . Sure, when you write you take elements of people you know and of yourself, but you don't lump them all into one character. I told Tracey when her 2006 Claire series hits the best-seller lists, she'll have to get T-shirts for her and her family that say "It's JUST fiction!!" But we're not complaining. . .Writing in the first person is too much fun to give up!

Give yourself a gift - Jump up from your desk right now and go make a memory with your friends or family. Take pictures so a few decades from now, you'll know what REALLY happened. On second thought, if you think you'll feel the urge to be creative later, leave your camera on the charger and just paint the picture in your mind, to be colored gradually by your own senses and emotions. Either way, enjoy!