Perseverance

"The most common cause of failure in writing is dropping out," Tom Christensen said in his article How to Get a Book Published.

Thanksgiving

This year my husband works on Thanksgiving so we're having our own little dinner after he gets home. It'll be unique in that I've never cooked a Thanksgiving for just three, one being a baby.

But it's far from the most unique way I've observed the day. I've experienced a variety of away-from-home Thanksgivings in the past, all with no one to remind me how often I've underestimated the time it takes to cook a turkey. (Gotta love family.)

1994: Teagu, Korea - It was a normal day at work, but the administration did buy us all Pizza Hut pizza for lunch, probably because it was one of the few authentic American food items around.

1995, 1996, 1997: Weno, Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia - There I worked for the only school on the island that had the day off. I went to church and had a meal of turkey, fish, breadfruit, rice and tapioca (the whole root boiled). There were some mashed potatoes around, but they never made it to my plate.

2000, 2001, 2002: Darkhan, Mongolia - Each year, second year students enacted the first thanksgiving with Squanto, William Bradford et. al. and we sang Over the River and Through the Woods before it evolved into a Mongolian style party.

What was your most unusual or most memorable Thanksgiving?

Ready to dive in

I've got a draft of a short children's book nearly half-written in my head (think board book). And a few good reasons why it's worth publishing. One task for the next fortnight is research on marketing it, which is new, slightly frightening territory.

Reading Aloud

Reading Magic by Mem Fox gives parents and caretakers lots of good reasons for reading aloud to children. And the author's website contains some practical tips on how to read aloud.

Fall

The warm sunny day invited us out so we donned our jackets, which we really didn't need--I shed mine along the way--and strolled to the park. Though it's November, the weather could have easily passed for September. Is this what they call Indian Summer?

We collected leaves, watched the squirrels scurrying about, listened to the geese honking overhead, and soaked in the sun.