A Little Something to Share...

I just have to share this with you. If you know me well, you know that I help out over at Beyond Little House, which is the primo site to go to if you want to know, ask, or share about Laura Ingalls Wilder and such related tidbits. Anyhow, we have been doing a read-along over of These Happy Golden Years, which is wrapping up today with the very last chapter posted just this morning. Volunteers have taken on chapters to do up summaries and are welcome to do something a little different, give it their own little flair. Well my friends, you absolutely must go check out today's final chapter post. Even if you're not a huge Laura Ingalls Wilder fan, it is so worth your time!

Checking in...

Another LauraPalooza has come and gone. I'm still floating on Laura-love. :)

I've had limited internet for the past couple days (coupled with sheer exhaustion) and will have next to none for the rest of this week. I will share my LauraPalooza experiences, complete with pictures, next week when I return home.

For now, we're headed for a few days of rest, relaxation, and a bit of tourist stuff.

See you all soon!

A Day of Rest....

...before the fun begins!

We made it to Mankato last night. Road weary and a little slap happy, but it was a smooth journey. We had no internet access Monday night and were just worn out last night, so today I will share what we've been doing the past two days. Be prepared to be blown away. Not.

Out of Michigan and into Indiana!

We traveled through Illinois and Iowa (where we spent Monday night).

Saw some of this.

Some of this.

More of this.

And lots of this.

Finally this! Minnesota!

We made a couple of short stops on the way and I will blog about those later. We even browsed at a big antique mall where I spent less than $10! We'll rest today and maybe explore a little. Jamie's just two weeks out of surgery and feeling pretty good, but she did all of the driving (I offered many times) and could use a day of rest before the fun begins!

The only downside - I miss Jim terribly. Thank God for cell phones. :)

Ready or not...

I'm coming back. I think.

I've been gone about two months, right? I didn't plan it that way. It just happened.

On our way to LauraPalooza 2010

Sometimes I feel as if I have to be entertaining or informative, but what I had to remember is that I started this blog as a journal of sorts. So, while I'm hoping that my day-to-day life is fun to read or teaches a valuable lesson :), I can't let the pressure to please get to me. Plus, this dang Blogger has been giving me fits. It either tells me that I'm following every blog that I ever followed (even those I long ago stopped following) or none at all. Therefore, I have missed some of your posts. And I miss you.

Here's a little bit of what's been going on:

My daughter and I are leaving for Mankato, Minnesota and LauraPalooza on Monday!  While we had planned to go to De Smet, South Dakota and Walnut Grove, Minnesota (two Laura homesites) and I am terribly sad that we're not, I made the difficult decision to cut those out of the trip. It was the right decision, but that doesn't make it easier. We are stopping in Pepin, Wisconsin on the way home (Laura's birthplace) while heading to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (one of my favorite drives). A few days at Jim's family cabin in northern Michigan will be a relaxing way to finish off our trip. Jim is hoping to meet us up there with Duke and Sosha and I'm really hoping that it happens.

Ice Cream Social - LauraPalooza 2010
Looking forward to seeing friends that I don't otherwise get to see
and missing friends who won't be there...

Although nowhere near where it used to be or should be, business has kept us busy lately. It seems to come in bursts, but no complaints here!

Did you know that by around fall Jim and I will once again be emptynesters? No, of course you didn't! Jamie bought a condo! Her first home. And we are so very excited for her. It's a good time to buy and luckily for her, her dad doesn't mind a little home improvement since the place looks like it stepped right out of the 70s. Jamie's got some great plans though, and the place will be so cute when it's done.

So...what else? It's been incredibly hot here in Michigan, as I'm sure it has been in many other parts of the U.S. It usually doesn't bother me unless there are several days in a row of hotness. And there have been. We're in for a slight cool down though. I'll take 80s.

Jim bought me a little laptop! And I'm taking it on our trip. I might even check in here so look for me.

Be safe, stay cool (if you're in a hot spot), and I'm excited to be back!

Refections on the A to Z Challenge

 

Well, I made it. I finished the A to Z Challenge and it sure feels good. I loved the subject matter that I chose, but was never quite satisfied with what I wrote. It is what it is. I ended up being a little bogged down with other projects and, even though I should have done posts ahead of time and didn't, just feel like I didn't do my best with every post. I've loved the comments and feedback I've gotten. Thank you all for your wonderful encouragement. ♥

I started the month visiting other blogs the way I was supposed to and commenting when I came across one that had actually started the challenge (I came upon many who hadn't started yet, or ever). Then, as other things started to consume my spare time, I found that I just wasn't able to go visiting quite as much. I feel bad. I did find some great posts and some great blogs that I will continue to follow. But doing some of the research for some of the posts (I couldn't always count on my memory), or looking up certain passages from the books, then actually writing the posts took up a good chunk of time. I could have spent another couple of  hours (at least) a day visiting other blogs to read and comment. And I really wanted to keep up with the blogs that I have been following forever. I feel a loyalty to make them my priority, but even fell behind on those. I found that I just couldn't fit it all in and finishing (or catching up on) my post had to be my priority. For that reason, I'm not sure if I'll do it again. I don't want to commit again if I can't give it my all...

As it is, January, February, or March would have been a better months for me since they are much slower in our household (and business).  Other people are more organized than I am and seem to be able to accomplish what I could not. I don't know how they do it. But then, I was not as "together" as I should have been.

But I really love learning and writing about Laura Ingalls Wilder. So, while I may not commit to doing this challenge again, I may just do some kind of personal challenge again. I have no complaints or suggestions about the A to Z Challenge itself. The volunteers who donate so many hours to making it all work deserve a big round of applause! And who knows, next year I may just decide to do it all over again!!

Interesting (to me anyhow) blog stats during the challenge:

The page with the most views: Almanzo at 70 views.
The page with the least views: Understanding at 5 views (which was a link to a post I had written already).
The page with the most comments: Maple Syrup at 19 comments (a long one, but with a chance at a giveaway if you stayed with me through the whole post).
The page with the least comments: Understanding at 0 comments (apparently readers don't like to be sent somewhere else).
I didn't keep track, but I think I gained another dozen or so followers. Much less than last year, but I think keeping to a theme that appeals to a certain audience affects that. And since that's really the essence of who I am, others probably wouldn't enjoy my blog during normal times anyhow.


All alphabetted out...