Welcome friends!

As the parent of two school-aged kids, it’s not uncommon to pick them up from school and have one of them be in a “mood” over something or another. This week, my youngest, Sela, came home from school staying it was the “worst day ever.” In fact, she channeled Alexander and said it was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. I asked her what made it so bad, and she said she got hit by a frisbee during PE, she lost a small toy she’d brought to school, and now she couldn’t go down the street to see her friends because she and her sister both had gymnastics. I let her grumble about her terrible day for a little while, then I told her sometimes it’s helpful to focus on good things rather than on bad things. As she got out of the car for gymnastics, I told her to “try to think about good things that happened today, or things you can look forward to, rather than the bad things.”

Lo and behold, she came out of gymnastics two hours later with a huge smile on her face. She’d gotten star student for the class. And to make it even better, so had her sister! On the way home, she said, “Thank you for telling me to think of good things. It really helped.” Now, I’m sure that star student award didn’t hurt matters, but all in all, it was a good reminder, even for me, to try to focus on the good things that are happening instead of letting our mind dwell only on the bad. Sometimes it’s harder than other times–especially when everything is seeming to go wrong (and if you get hit by a frisbee  in PE ;)–but the purposeful mind shift is helpful. Right now I’m reminding myself that I do know how to write a story, though here in the messy middle of my current work in progress, it’s easy to forget that I do have a few books under my belt!

→What good things are you trying to remind yourself of these days?

Events!

I’ll update my website soon, and stick it in the newsletter too, but I wanted to go ahead and let you know I have two in-person events on the calendar! I’ll be at Page and Palette in Fairhope, AL, on Thursday July 8…and at Little Professor here in Homewood, AL, on Sunday July 11! More details to come, but if you’re close to either of those places, please stick it on your calendar! I’d love to see you!

Bookbub

I like to remind people about Bookbub, not necessarily as an alternative to Goodreads, but as an easier way to get author recommendations. I rate the books I read on Goodreads, but I really enjoy recommending books on Bookbub. (You can see my book list here.) There’s something about seeing all those big book covers all together in one place that I really like! If you “follow” me there, you’ll get a note in your email inbox anytime I review a book.

A few links…

Y’all. Chicken yoga. I won’t say any more. (Except this: next time you’re on Instagram, browse the hashtag #targetdresschallenge. It’s pretty funny. Apparently Target’s new line of prairie-style dresses has inspired many people to dress in these throwback dresses and carry chickens and take pictures. There’s also a fair number of wicker baskets, aprons, and flowers, but the chickens started it all.)

I’m seriously considering taking the Pioneer Woman’s advice and planting these dragonfly-attracting plants in my yard. Anything to deter mosquitos. I also want to put bat boxes in the backyard, but my husband is iffy on that. Considering I was researching vaccines for mosquitos the other day (yes, I’d probably take one), I think a bat box is a fair trade-off. Though I might start with planting some of these flowers.

That’s it for me this week. See you back here next Sunday!