Today is Fathers Day and I had the pleasure of sitting beside my dad for breakfast. I had to drive ninety minutes to be there but it was so worth it. My mom, sisters and their husbands were also there. But I was the one who got to sit beside Dad! He’ll be 87 on his birthday later this summer. He cuts firewood, plants a garden and takes care of Mom as well as the farm we all think of as home.

Mom was discharged from the hospital on Friday after emergency admission for treatment of three blood clots in her lungs… she informed her oncologist she had had her last chemotherapy treatment. She has lost so much weight and tires quickly but other than that remains her normal feisty self.

We were away the week of June 8 at a local resort using a time share week for a family vacation of sorts. One son was laid off the month of April and is still feeling the financial  pinch from that, the other son is currently laid off but is due to go back ot work July 12. His wife is in training in Buffalo, NY for her new position with the Social Security Adminsistration.

But everyone came as much as they could, it was a little cool for swimming but we played lots of tennis. (My husband has a tennis ball machine.) I even shot a gun on the target range, they said I was a natural because I hit the target every time. But gee how hard is that, you aim the gun right at it and shoot! What else was I going to hit?? I didn’t like the kick of the gun, they said I should try a smaller caliber, I was shooting with a 9 mm.

It was good to spend time with the the family though very hectic with 10 grandchildren from ages 5 through 25 coming and going! My parents also came to visit one day. There is definitley something to be said for local vacations.

A Literary Agent in California wants to read the first fifty pages of my new novel, It Happened on Willow Lane…naturally I plan to send it to her as soon as possible. Being a natural optimist, I can’t help but hope this mught be a really good thing for my writing career.

The last few weeks of my life have been consumed with details planning a Surprise Birthday Party for my husband.  We pulled it off Saturday night with 100 of his closest friends and family. All our guest beds were full after the party as well as six rooms at an inn near our home. We hosted a brunch for 17 at our home Sunday morning, before everyone started their long drives home.

I feel so relieved that it is over…all the lies and deceit can now start going back into my fiction rather than ruling my life! (I’d had my dress clothes packed in the car for a couple days.) Saturday morning I pretended to drop a chocolate eclair on him and smear it on his trousers, in order to get him to change into a pair of black ones that would be more appropriate for the party without rousing his suspicions…I took a necktie in my purse for him to put on later.

I had our minister’s wife call me Saturday afternoon with an SOS call for help serving at a funeral dinner at the church late Saturday aft. I pretended to cry for the passing of a ficitonal lady and said, “It’s a shame, she attended our church for sixty years and when she dies, noone even has time to honor her life…” Then he said, “Well if you’re really short, I could come help in the kitchen too.” Yikes!! I really had friends meeting me to decorate.  His daughters came up with a scheme to get him to the party and it was a wonderful evening.

After the shock wore off, he said it was the best day of his life to be so honored by so many of the people he cares about the most. He was roasted and toasted and heard all the things that are usually said after a person is gone.

Happy Spring to all of you…and please keep reading. No matter how busy I am, I read at least one book a week, usually two.  And if you are not a member of a Reading Group or Book Club, please find one to join or start your own, you only need about six people committed to giving it a try. Check online or with your local librarian for guidelines on how to start one. It’s great fun to talk about books you’ve read with your book friends!

We arrived home last Wed evening from our sixth grandchild trip to NYC since 1996.  I don’t runaway FROM my grandchildren, I runaway WITH them!  (Check out photos on my Facebook page to see some of our trips with the grandchildren.) 

Our twelfth birthday gift for each grandchild is a trip to NYC to see the sights, plays, The American Natural History Museum, ride the subway, visit the Today show, etc.  We have such a fun time and it gives us a great bonding time with each grandchild BEFORE they become teens. We take the early Amtrak Train to NYC from Buffalo. The fun starts as soon as we take our seats, lots of time for doing homework , playing cards, eating from the dining car, reading and taking naps.  Seven hours later we arrive at Penn Station. (Amtrak travel is a well kept secret @ less than $45.00 per one way ticket!)

Now you’d think as often as we’ve done it , we’d have it down to a science. Not. I’d promised Hayley a photo with the Statue of Liberty behind her. We ran out of time, there’s just soo much to do and see in NYC. So at 8:30 a.m. on Wed. after we’d eaten a quick breakfast, we hailed a cab and headed to Battery Park. Forty five minutes later, my husband was getting worried, we were moving through morning traffic at a snails pace and the Statue of Liberty was NOWHERE in sight! I asked the cab driver, “How much longer? We have a 10:20 train to catch.” He looked at me in the mirror like I was from another planet, “Lady, can you take a later train?” A few minutes later, we could finally see Battery Park. The cab driver suggested we take quick photos and then ride the subway back uptown. We took our photos and rushed to the subway, but the ticket seller was not in his booth. People hurried past us left and right. Some went through the handicap gate so before it closed Hayley and I entered without a ticket, I asked my husband to come through too. By then it was 9:30. He refused to move an inch, “No, we can’t go without buying our tickets!” Then a NYC cop approached us. “Is there a problem here?”Hayley and I went back out the gate and stood beside my husband, we explained our predicament. The cop showed us an automated ticket machine but it wouldn’t take our money. So, the cop used his universal ticket and motioned us through, telling us to take the uptown line. He even shouted, ”Good luck,” as we were ran down the stairs.

We arrived at our hotel, rode the elevator to the 16th floor, grabbed out luggage, hailed a cab, told the driver we had to be at Penn Station in ten minutes. And we made it after one wild cab ride! We flashed our tickets to the security people and told them our train was boarding now and they rushed us through. We actually had two minutes to spare before the train departed for Buffalo.  “I kissed my hubby and said, “We made it with a minute to spare!”

Now, you’d think all was well. If only. A couple hours later, I decided to get organized for our arrival, which included having the car keys ready. I emptied my purse. Twice. No keys.  I searched my luggage, my husband’s luggage, then my granddaughter’s luggage. No keys. My husband checked all his pockets. No keys. I could remember taking them out of my purse so it would be a bit lighter to carry as we were out and about in the city. But where did I put them?? I finally called the hotel housekeeping department and sure enough they had our keys, (and promised to mail them to us the next day.) So, we had to take a taxi from the train station to the airport and rent a car to drive home. The next day a friend rode with me to return the rental car and pick up our car at the train station. (Of course, we had an extra set of keys at home.)

Still not the end of my saga, I lost our garage door opener somewhere when I returned the rental car… the rental car company and the taxi company denied finding it. And so it goes…     

More later.   Ann

I love the change of seasons and I love the changes that come with each season. BUT tonight we were planning on driving to our granddaughter’s 10th birthday party, a celebration of a sweet little girl’s life. And now another blinding snow storm. 

The first snow of winter was almost romantic, the second still beautiful, the third nice as long as you didn’t have to drive on it, by the fourth, fifth and sixth – we felt like we were ready for a break! Old Man Winter graciously did send us a brief break. Milder temperatures and most of the deep snow melted; we could even see grass again…for a few days.

And now another snow storm…forgive me folks for complaining. I think cabin fever is getting to me as it is many others in the snowbelt. Rationally, I know in a few more weeks… Spring will be here!

But now I must close and go shovel snow again!

It is still Christmas at our house. I was given a novel for Christmas and I’m about half way through it,  ‘An Irish Country Christmas’ by Patrick Taylor. It’s a beautiful inspiring story, very Irish. And I refuse to take down our tree or put away our decorations until I finish it!

Of course, regardless of my state of decorations and reading material, time moves on … and some of us still make self improvement resolutions. This year I promised myself not to make any since I can rarely even remember what they were by Valentines Day.

However, my adult niece, Melissa and I have taken on the project of organizing boxes and boxes as well as stacks of family photo albums acumulated over the last 70 years. I sort in Pennsylvania and she scans them to cds in Texas. When the project is complete, we will give more than 30 complete photo history cd sets to family members. And we will present my parents, (her grandparents), with all their photos back in acid free albums.

It is a melancholy and sentimental journey as I sort, and label with names and dates, the photos into the appropriate decade. Years seem to slip through my fingers like sand.

It will be good for the younger generations in our family to see photos of their great aunts and uncles, their great grandparents and grandparents, realizing they were young once too.  And hopefully realize that youth is a fleeting experience for everyone. Photo after photo of the same faces glowing with the confidence of youth’s invulnerability fade into the stern looks of middle age and elderly stares of contempt mixed with satisfaction. (The level of satisfaction seems to be in direct correlation of how they fared the Great Depression of the early 1930’s.)

This project as well as watching my mother’s brave fight against cancer makes me want to live each day to the fullest and cherish each moment I spend with friends and family, NOT just in 2009 BUT every minute of every year I have left on this earth.

(That’s not really a New Years Resolution, is it??)

Till next time… Ann

I tell myself after each blog entry, I’m going to write entries on a more regular basis and then life keeps getting in the way.  And now already it’s only 17 days till Christmas.

 Since my last blog, we’ve had a death in the family; and two close friends have died, one from an accident and one from a chronic illness. Somehow funerals provide a reality check on what’s really important. Most of the things that keep us striving for goals, you know the busy-busy routines we seem to fall into especially at this time of the year… just really don’t matter measure up in the overall scheme of things.

My mother continues to receive chemo treaments and so far hasn’t suffered the worst negative side effects. She’s extremely tired and I can feel her backbones when I hug her. That’s a first. Even though it does invlove tears and sadness, watching my parents as they cope together through this ordeal is refreshingly sweet.  Sixty two years has given them a bond that makes even their children and grandchildren feel somewhat like outsiders. And that’s as it should be.

I appreciate the many readers who continue to express interest in Runaway Grandma, I have several speaking engagemnets scheduled for after the first of the year and it continues to sell. Meanwhile, I’ve been preparing my next novel for the editorial process.

Today as I write, a blizzard is whipping snow by my window in near constant white outs, definitley a good day to stay home and be cozy!  And perhaps start making Christmas cookies, writing cards and wrapping gifts. Did I mention I was going to try to be less involved with the busyness of the season this year?? Well, actually I have cut back a bit on my decorating and other preparations. But seeing smiles of joy on my grandchildren’s faces as they anticipate our family traditions is a very good thing. So with that I’ll sign off till next year.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a great 2009.

Ann

It is my favorite time of the year. I can’t help it I love the brisk early morning air and the warmth of the Indain Summer afternoons. The brilliant colors of the leaves … just pure perfection as far as I’m concerned!

My mother is still sick, chemo treatments have started. The oncologist hasn’t given us much reason to be optimistic and talks about wanting her to maintain independence and and quality of life. She is in full agreement with this and we’re on pins and needles waiting to see if she’ll be able to tolerate the chemo.

In September we traveled to England to visit my husband’s brother and family and it was wonderful to see them again. However his brother’s health is failing fast and that’s another concern on our minds. The weather was brisk, and of course I liked that!

Then we visited my stepdaughter in Basel, Switzerland and traveled to the mountains of  Zermat and St Moritz by train, a lovely scenic trip. We agreed that heaven must look alot like the Swiss countryside … it’s so incredibly beautiful. We celebrated her birthday with her and her friends before returning home.

October 6… I  had to have another mammogram and was given a clean bill of heatlh.  A great relief after my biopsy scare last spring.

October 7 at 7 pm, I spoke at the AAUW in Clarion, PA. It was nice to see some old friends there and meet some new ones, too.

October 20 at noon, I’ll be at the Commerce Public Library,  Commerce, Texas

October 21 at 7 pm, I’ll be at the W. Walworth Harrison Library, Greenville, TX. 

October 28, I’ll be speaking at the Smethport Womens Club, it had to be reschedule due to a conflict with the September meeting. 

October  29, I’ll be in Ridgway with the Winey Women. Now that should be a fun one!

And so it goes, seems the only thing thats a constance in life is that it’s always changing.  Sometimes the changes are so slow that we think everything stays the same but we deceive ourselves if we believe that. I’m sure these refective thoughts are because of the serious illnesses our families are facing now…

By the time I write my next blog, the elections will be over, (Thank God!) … PLEASE REMEMBER TO VOTE!!! 

And I hope the financial crisis will be closer to a postive resolution.

Till the next blog session….

Ann

My mom has colon cancer. It’s hard to write those words and it’s harder still to accept. Her mother died of colon cancer at age 42 when Mom was only 2. She has already lived 40 years longer than her mother. We’re all hoping she’ll join the growing ranks of cancer suriviors.

Tomorrow is the day she’ll meet her oncologist and she will  begin to formulate her course of action or nonaction. She has always been a strong willed lady, and continues to be. As she’s regained some strength, her sense of humor has resurfaced.

The first week was very bad for Dad but he’s now taking each day as it comes in his normal stride. He visits Mom three times a day as she regains her strength and learns colostomy site and bag care in the rehab facility. 

I’d kept August open for family time due to Family Reunions ,etc. Little did I know!

**Please mark your calendars if you live in northwestern PA for Sept. 13. I’ll be at the Forest Nook Restaurant and Craft Shop, in Cooks Forest State Park, from 11:30 a.m. till 2 p.m.

On Sept. 16 at noon, I’ll be in Olean (NY) Public Library for the Brown Bag Book Club. The librarian told me they have seven copies of Runaway Grandma in busy criculation. It is their first Book Club choice for this fall as they sart a new Reading Season.  An honor for me indeed!

Then at 6 p.m., Sept 16, I’ll be speaking at the Smethport Womens Club. I spoke to this group a couple years ago about my first novel, Mother Love. They are a remarkable group and I’ll enjoy seeing them again.

Signing off till next time… Ann

This summer Runaway Grandma has kept me on my toes. It’s selling well and reader response remains enthusiastic. In fact, it went into a second printing!

On June 18 I was the guest on Jerry’s Morning Radio Show in Coudersport , PA. We gave four books away during the interview and it was such fun… Jerry said she’d never seen her phone lines light up so quickly with so many calls!

I visited Clarion, PA Presbyterian Church Book Club on June 23. 

On June 24 I was a guest of the Kane, PA  Library Book Club.

I visited the Crane Ridge Book Club near Springville, NY on July 16. (It was a lovely evening for their summer picnic on the secluded beautiful deck of a club members home, enjoyed by 35 members… I was fashionably late since in my brillance I locked my keys inside my van when I stopped at McDonalds to change into crisp white slacks! AAA saved me from complete disaster 45 minustes later…)

On July 21, I visited the Portville NY Library Book Club.

Runaway Grandma was the book of the month for each of these Book Clubs and lively discussions proved that diverse backgrounds produce a wide range of opinions! Sometimes I have to remind the readers that it is just a story! Each group was unique and my time with each one was very special to me.

On July 26 I had a Book Signing at the Forest Nook Restaurant in Cooks Forest, PA. I met campers from Erie, Pittsburgh, Indiana, PA, Corning, NY, Ohio and many other areas. There was a Wilcox Winery Wine Tasting going on at the same time…and yes they have very good wines!! It was a fun day…the books sold well, I met new friends and my parents even came to visit and have dinner. Oh yes, and The Forest Nook has excellent food.

On the Internet side of Runaway Grandma, PageOneLit.com has given an excellent review and author profile. This info was shared with AuthorsPressReleases.com and Book-And-Authors.net.

Meanwhile, I continue to complete my writing goals at a snails pace but making slow progress is better than none at all. 

Till the next blog, adios!

As the days continue slipping away… I have to reassess from time to time as to exactly what is important, and prioritize accordingly.    I’ve found it increasingly difficult to find the time I need for writing and sometimes I feel guilt creeping up on me. Then it dawned on me that all these things that interfere are really just life experiences and that, my friends, is a writers best source of story ideas. So, even when I’m not actually writing, my wheels are spinning…filtering and filing away details and plot lines for future use! (Good-by guilt! )

    Since my last blog, I’ve had three more radio interviews and visited the Clarion Presbyterian Church Book Club and the Kane Public Library  Book Club. It’s always fun to listen to readers discuss the motivation and choices of characters I created, with such intensity and interest!

    My husband and I enjoyed eight days at a resort in eastern Tennessee in early June with our three oldest grandchildren, ages 20, 23 and 24. Our usual family vacation fizzled this year and we almost canceled until they insisted they wanted to go with us. And we had such a grand time! 

    Mid-week we drove two hours to Nashville and visited the Grand Old Opry , The Country Music Hall of Fame and enjoyed a Duck Tour of the city. We ate at a dinner theater with live country music that night. It was a day we’ll never forget, all three grandchildren were already country fans.

    The rest of the week was spent fishing, swimming, playing cards and reading. It seemed we just turned around and our week was gone…

  Again time did a number on me; slipping through my fingers just like it always does!