Can You Hear the Corn?

Living in corn country we tend to joke about listening to the corn grow, but it's serious business--for farmers and for me. I'd love to have you join me there to see why.

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Are We There Yet?

Welcome to the 

third round of A to Z!

We'd love to have you join the fun, either blogging your way through the alphabet with us, or simply visiting. =) We dearly love visitors.

Naturally, this week is the letter A.

If you're joining in the meme, be sure to link up with us at the end of this post. Since this is a blog hop, you can grab the code for the linky down there too. Find more info about the A to Z meme here.

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The other day we (re)watched one of the Mummy movies. One of my favorite scenes is when the kid drove his captor crazy on a train ride by asking Are we there yet? It totally cracks me up every time. I understand the man's extreme aggravation by that phrase! In fact, it's one of the forbidden lines in my family. Really.

In the past year or so we've spent a fair bit of time on the road. Our longest trip was last December. Five kids, two adults, and a monkey, in one van from Illinois to Arizona. Thank God for 15 passenger vans!

All those miles and the only time I heard Are we there yet? was when it was said jokingly to harass me. But their body language said all...

Of course, at the beginning of the trip everyone is eager to get on the road. But it doesn't take long before this happens...

Boredom!

Reading a good book.

Dad likes it comfy cool in the van...much to Mom and Toby's dismay. When Toby was in the first bench seat, this is how he ended up. Bundled in his blankies. LoL.

Lotsa picture taking.
Pictures inside the van and outside the van.

Time to draw and write.

Toby's second favorite place to ride--the top of Mom's seat where he could keep an eye on everyone and everything.

Play stop. Yes, those are my kids on the playground meant for LITTLE kids.

Because you're never too old to play on a playground. (This one was just a couple weeks shy of turning 20 in this picture! LoL)

Status update time...

Why'd ya wake me up?

Are we there??







Craziness of all kinds!

All's fair and love and war. hehe.
This is where Mom whispers desperately, Are we there yet?

Touch my seat and I'll tell Mom.
Go ahead.
I dare ya.

Yay!! Rest stop! Wahoo!

Movie time. Computers and tablets are great on long trips!

My husband is great.

So, can you tell how I spend all my time when we're traveling?

LoL. Give me a monkey and a camera and I'm happy for hours on end. Good thing too because writing with a monkey on my lap is almost impossible since Toby likes to lick the pen and paper and play with the pen. sigh.

Toby's Are we there yet? look.

Just

can't

keep

my

eyes

open...

Guess what?
Okay, besides how much fun this mom's revenge has been. LoL

We made it to Grammy and Pappy's!!

So tell me, how does your family fight the Are we there yet? syndrome?

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If you're joining us for the A to Z meme by posting on your blog this week about the letter A, be sure to add your name and the link to that particular post in the linky gadget here. Also, if you don't have the linky gadget on your site, click the link to get the code so you can add it.

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A to Z Meme

Can you see me

happy dancing?

A to Z is back and I'm so happy. This is my favorite blog meme to participate in and host.

What's a meme? A meme is when a group of people get together and post on a similar topic or theme. It's the blogger's version of a progressive dinner...or a potluck dinner. Full of variety and fun.


Here's why the A to Z meme is my favorite...

• Because A to Z gives me the perfect excuse to just post on any random thing that happens to begin with the letter of the week. 
• It often opens my eyes to things in my world that begin with that letter and lets me post on things I wouldn't normally post about. 
• I take a lot of pictures and it's a fun outlet for them.
• A to Z is a great post jump-starter for me, often giving me just the spark of inspiration and creativity I need.

The A to Z meme will be starting again next Friday, July 26th. Anyone and everyone is welcome to join us. It's a come as you can thing--no commitment, just jump in and post on the week's letter as you can.

I'll be posting a blog hop linky so each of you can have the linky gadget on your sites. It's more user friendly that way. =) If you'd like all the linky codes (A through Z) so you can schedule ahead, email me (patterly {at}gmail{dot}com) and I'll get it right to you.

Here's the deal for A to Z:

• Anyone can play. Some of us will be returning A to Z-ers, but any one can join us and we would LOVE to have you along! The more the merrier! Grab a friend and join us!!
• Anything goes. If you're pressed for time, pressed for brain cells (a common ailment of mine), stumped, whatever... a simple list will work! Or a picture or a verse—anything to get a post up. Seriously. Just make sure it ties in with the week’s letter. It can also be as focused or even a complicated post about a word that starts with that letter. Anything goes, related to the letter.
• One letter a week. We'll start with A and finish around the end of January, unless we take off for the holidays.
• Friday's the day. (This is different from past rounds, so take note!!) Posting day is Friday. Or Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday. ROFL. If you're like me, you might not remember on Friday, so any day works. I don't care, but that brings me to...
• Let's link together! Part of the fun of a meme is linking together so we can encourage each other on. I'll put a linky up on my site each Friday, shortly after midnight so you can link up. Since this is a hop, you'll be able to put the linky code in your post too so the links appear on your site. (So very handy! *grin*)
• Guilt-free participation!  Time is precious commodity for all of us. If you participate, all I ask is that you take a few moments and visit and comment on TWO other participants' sites. No need to visit everyone, but a couple is very appreciated.

Want to know more about memes and why you'd want to participate? Check out Making the Most of Memes for more information.

Would you feel more comfortable joining us if you had more of an idea of how or what we do? Check out past A to Z posts and feel free to follow some of the links at the bottom of each post.

Grab the button and join in the fun! If you're joining us, we'd love to have you add the button to your sidebar or inside your post, or both.

<center> <a href="http://www.pattywysong.com/2013/07/a-to-z-meme.html" target="_blank"><img alt="A to Z blog hop at Patterings." border="0" src="http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p194/impeej/A_to_Z_blog_hop_zpsf2ff21ba.jpg" /></a></center>

Don't forget, A to Z starts back up on Friday, July 26th. 

Hope to see you then!

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A Lesson from Blueberries

I'm at the Internet Cafe today with a lesson I learned while picking blueberries. I'd love to have you join me there.

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Not by Might

Whenever I begin to feel overwhelmed this verse keeps me from drowning.

I'm so thankful that we can do the things God calls us to do...that we can do them through His strength and His Spirit.

Today I'm linking up with Word Filled Wednesday at Woman to Woman. For links to more pictures and Scripture, join us!!

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Patient I'm Not

The other day my awesome agent, Linda Glaz, called me patient—something I’ve been called many times but have never been comfortable with.

My two oldest demonstrating how much I stink at times.

I’m really not a patient person. In fact, many times I’m quite IMpatient. Just ask my kids and my husband. They’ll assure you that patience is NOT one of my virtues.

Many times I’ve tried explaining to people that I’m really not a patient person, but I gave up when they didn’t believe me on the first or even second try. Now I don’t even bother trying to change their mind and it’s nice believing their misconception of me. It makes me feel better about myself. I feel more mature, put together, spiritual.

Sounds sickening, doesn’t it?
Yeah. It does. Especially when the truth is ugly.

It’s not patience people see when they see me sitting so calm and smiley.
It’s laziness.

Ouch.
That’s a big, bad word in my vocabulary.
But it’s true. It’s true of me.

Why did Linda call me patient? I have a manuscript she’s been shopping and an editor is showing interest in it. (YAY!!) If there’s one thing you can count on in the publishing business, it’s that things take time. Lots of time. It’s hurry up and wait. And wait. And wait. Quite often I’m okay with all that waiting. But not because I’m patient.

I’m okay with it because as long as I’m waiting, I don’t have to be doing anything with it. I can complacently bob on the waves of that particular harbor, waiting.

It’s sheer laziness on my part.

My oldest masquerading.

Laziness has often masqueraded as patience in my life.
Laziness is not a virtue to be proud of. Just look at some of what the Bible has to say about laziness…

The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the soul of the diligent is made fat. ~Prov.13:4

The sluggard does not plow after the autumn, so he begs during the harvest and has nothing. ~Prov 20:4

The desire of the sluggard puts him to death, for his hands refuse to work; ~Prov 21:25

Nasty, huh?!

I’ve been working hard to change things in my life. I want what looks like patience to BE patience, not laziness. It’s not an easy change to make but it’s a worthwhile one.

How about you? Does laziness masquerade as patience in your life? Maybe laziness isn’t an issue for you but something else is. Are you ready to call it what it is and deal with it?

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Coming Up Blueberries

It's been months and months since I've posted on The Barn Door, even though it's one of my favorite sites, so I'm really excited to be back there today, posting a snippet of life here in the corn fields of Southern Illinois.


Today's post there is about blueberries.
Makes my mouth water just seeing these yummy things. =)

I'd love for you to come join me there!

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