Someone asked me what I'm writing- it's named "Totally Committed- My spiritual journey up the rocky dirt road of life". Partly my life history, but mostly about what it's like to consciously have a spiritual path while working on a marriage, kids and career. I've read a lot of books about taking a spiritual journey somewhere else in the world, learning and growing and finding love, but I've not read much about the real world- how do you live a normal life and have a strong spiritual life as well. I know, a lot of people do it, but very few write it down. We'll see how it goes. I'm about 65-70 pages in. I'm currently reading 'A Secret Garden'. It's an old book, and quite good. I know it's a high school English favorite, but somehow I never read it then. Although I was a reading snob, if it wasn't over 350 pages, it just wasn't developed enough. Oh brother, so naive!
Yesterday I hit the wall, and literally couldn't move most of the day. I really don't understand what happens, but it's like my muscles stop working; fatigue, weakness, weird. Today's much better!
I'm also working on an index for the Haines/Cramblit Chronicles, the family history book about my mother's family. We tried to get an index together before it went to print, but Word 2003 wouldn't create it, and I hadn't used 2007 much yet. Several of the books' covers were messed up, the ink was coming off the beautiful picture of my grandparents on the front. I talked to the publisher, and they told me I could bring in the books that are bad and they will recover them, so I'm hoping that I can give them a couple pages of index to include in those books. We have distributed all but 8 of the first 50 books we published, so I'm planning to print another 20 or so. The hope is to put them on the internet somehow, to let other family members know it's available. The Cramblit line goes back to the late 1700's in it, as does the Chamberlains and it might be useful for other family lines besides the Haines' clan. Any how, I'm really proud of it, and I want to have enough copies available for the future.
Today I made laundry soap- it's surprisingly easy. I found a recipe on the internet for a liquid gel type. You take a bar of Zote soap, or a large bar of Ivory, grate it in a food processor or by hand, then mix it in 12 cups of water and cook it until the soap is completely dissolved, stirring regularly. Add 1 cup of Washing Soda- Arm and Hammer makes it, and 1 cup of Borax and 8 more cups of water, heat that until everything is completely dissolved, cook it on low/med for another 5-10 minutes until it's well blended, stirring regularly. Using a 5 gallon bucket, carefully pour the soap mixture into the bucket and add another 40 cups of hot water, stirring to mix completely. Let it cool and use it! It takes about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of detergent per load, a little more if clothes are heavily soiled. The first time I made it, I only made a third of the recipe, and it made just over a gallon of detergent, and worked very well.
Showing posts with label Haines book. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Haines book. Show all posts
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Saturday, May 23, 2009
May's almost over
It's been a couple weeks since I caught up this blog. A very busy few weeks, in fact. I'm just about finished editing the Haines book, now it's down to moving pictures into the positions I want them, tweaking the writing a little, etc. I spoke with Bill Johnson, the son of our Aunt Mamie. It was great, she actually talked to her kids about living in Texas and some of the family experiences, so that is all in the book!
Last week David and I went to Grand Canyon West with some friends, and spent at least half an hour out on the skywalk. They won't let you take a camera, but for a $99 dollar fee there are photographers that will take all the pictures you want, of the view, your group, etc. With 6 of us, it was a great deal, we all shared the pictures and have great memories of the day. There are other photo packages, but that one worked best for us.
It's pretty remote to get there, about 45 miles of good dirt road after you leave I-40, but it was certainly worth it to us. The skywalk is incredible, and the Hualapai tribe is working on further amenities. Right now it only has a couple food stands, 1-2 cafes and a restaurant, which is a bus ride from the Skywalk. But they have several helicopters right there, and for a fee you can fly over the Grand Canyon. They also offer pontoon rides on the Colorado River, but we didn't do the extra things, at least not this trip. It took us 6 hours to get there from Cottonwood/Sedona, and we didn't spend the night, so it was a full day with just the basics.
It is certainly not as touristy as the South rim, but that will change with time. There are already tour buses coming in droves from Las Vegas, but other than the gift shop/ticket sales building, it feels pretty uncluttered. We were told Meadview is the closest town, about an hour away, and I'm not sure what accomodations they have, since we came up Route 66 instead of around from Kingman. Kingman to Grand Canyon West has more paved road, we'll take that next time.
It is an expensive day, there is the cost of the Skywalk ticket, then a separate bus ticket to get there, but it does include a $12 meal voucher. The views, spectacular! To walk out onto the skywalk with only plexiglass between you and a 2000 or so foot drop, priceless. If you don't like heights, this may not be as appealing, but wow! It was cool.
Nic, Gina and I went to Jerome to shoot wedding invitation pictures, and they turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself. I think it's mostly because of the great camera David gave me for Mother's Day- a Canon Power shot. Great zoom abilities, and excellent quality pictures. We also had Dakota over the next day, she is growing so fast and is such a little doll.
May has been so busy! I spent the first week in New Hampshire, the next week at the Grand Canyon for a day, recovered for a couple days then started answering the phones for David for a little while. He was answering phones, to the tune of 20-30 calls per day, then scheduling all the guys, working on books, and going out to cooler calls himself. I think he met himself at the door a few times, so I'm doing what I can to help out a little. We celebrated Gina's birthday while she was here, and Nic's on Thursday. Mom is coming up this weekend, she wants to go to Boyd's grave for Memorial Day.
Last week David and I went to Grand Canyon West with some friends, and spent at least half an hour out on the skywalk. They won't let you take a camera, but for a $99 dollar fee there are photographers that will take all the pictures you want, of the view, your group, etc. With 6 of us, it was a great deal, we all shared the pictures and have great memories of the day. There are other photo packages, but that one worked best for us.
It's pretty remote to get there, about 45 miles of good dirt road after you leave I-40, but it was certainly worth it to us. The skywalk is incredible, and the Hualapai tribe is working on further amenities. Right now it only has a couple food stands, 1-2 cafes and a restaurant, which is a bus ride from the Skywalk. But they have several helicopters right there, and for a fee you can fly over the Grand Canyon. They also offer pontoon rides on the Colorado River, but we didn't do the extra things, at least not this trip. It took us 6 hours to get there from Cottonwood/Sedona, and we didn't spend the night, so it was a full day with just the basics.
It is certainly not as touristy as the South rim, but that will change with time. There are already tour buses coming in droves from Las Vegas, but other than the gift shop/ticket sales building, it feels pretty uncluttered. We were told Meadview is the closest town, about an hour away, and I'm not sure what accomodations they have, since we came up Route 66 instead of around from Kingman. Kingman to Grand Canyon West has more paved road, we'll take that next time.
It is an expensive day, there is the cost of the Skywalk ticket, then a separate bus ticket to get there, but it does include a $12 meal voucher. The views, spectacular! To walk out onto the skywalk with only plexiglass between you and a 2000 or so foot drop, priceless. If you don't like heights, this may not be as appealing, but wow! It was cool.
Nic, Gina and I went to Jerome to shoot wedding invitation pictures, and they turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself. I think it's mostly because of the great camera David gave me for Mother's Day- a Canon Power shot. Great zoom abilities, and excellent quality pictures. We also had Dakota over the next day, she is growing so fast and is such a little doll.
May has been so busy! I spent the first week in New Hampshire, the next week at the Grand Canyon for a day, recovered for a couple days then started answering the phones for David for a little while. He was answering phones, to the tune of 20-30 calls per day, then scheduling all the guys, working on books, and going out to cooler calls himself. I think he met himself at the door a few times, so I'm doing what I can to help out a little. We celebrated Gina's birthday while she was here, and Nic's on Thursday. Mom is coming up this weekend, she wants to go to Boyd's grave for Memorial Day.
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