Liz Flaherty's Blog

Okay, this is where I admit I just wrote almost a whole blog about being popular. Or not. Had I been writing on paper, it wouldn't have been worth the surface I wrote it on, so instead I just copied and cut and voila, it was gone. It was several paragraphs of self-serving crap no one should have been subjected to. You're welcome. However, now I don't have anything to say. Facebook has been busy for me this week, due to my inability to keep my posting mouth shut and due to political things...

Look for the helpers. - Fred Rogers It's November, so I'm all about gratitude and holidays and food (don't those go together great?) So on Wednesday, someone on Facebook asked if any of her friends were involved with "the cheese ball sorority." That would be Psi Iota Xi sorority. I didn't know much, although I'd bought a few cheese balls and eaten parts of several more. By yesterday I had learned that they make a lot of cheese balls. A lot. I don't have exact numbers. I don't have a list of...

I wrote this in August of 1991, when my years on bleachers were winding down, and it's probably been my most repeated essay ever--especially since I drag it out from "under the bed" every few years about this time. It's a little dated, I guess, because it's been a long time, but I still think there's very little that's better than watching your kids be engaged, whether it's in sports, drama, debate, or anything else. There are things I'm sorry for from my active parenting days, things I wish...

There’s beauty in not being the loudest voice in the room. - Elizabeth Warden I knew that. Really, I did, but sometimes I forget it. Because I have firm convictions and firm views on politics and I might be a little too convinced that everyone wants to know my opinion on things. Reading this quote in a very wonderful essay about age just made me think about it and try to decide what to do about it. What we should do about it. Truthfully, I don't think I usually AM the loudest voice, but I've...

I will begin this with Nan's post on our last day ... and a half ... and end it with being back home. Thanks to those who've journeyed with us this week.

After our obligatory hair appointment today, sporting curls on Nan and my usual flat-iron look on me, we went to lunch at Vinny Vanucchi's in downtown Galena. We had excellent service and excellent food and opted not to have one of the most decadent looking desserts I've ever forced myself to turn down. Only minutes later, we were in a candy shop and never mind what we were doing there. What happens in Galena stays in Galena. Then we went on the history part of the day, enjoying a long and...

Well, kids, I’m tired, I’m brain dead after a day of writing and I’ve had too much wine (I blame Liz for that, although I poured it myself, but she could’ve stopped me.)  That’s me in my “writing sweater”–a very tattered sweater that once belonged to my sister Kate, who left us way too soon. I wear to write because it’s magic–words come when I have it on. I think they come in through the holes… I could be wrong about that, but I don’t think I am. It was a day of all writing all the time. We...

Day 2 from beautiful Galena, Illinois. We slept pretty well last night, considering we weren't in our own beds. We do have those fireplaces in our rooms, which have a lovely mesmerizing affect. At least until the timer goes off and the fire goes out. We were up pretty early this morning, ramping up our word counts and talking about what we would do this afternoon and what we needed to do with our works-in-progress. Oh, and we ate some stuff. And drank some stuff. And talked some more. This is......

We arrived! We drove...and drove...and drove, but we got here safely and are loving our place! I knew that sister PJ vacationed with aplomb, but who knew Lizzie and I would enjoy such luxury? First though, the trip. I asked Gigi (my GPS) to avoid toll roads and interstates, and boy, did she! Part of our trip was on long country roads, past cornfields and farms and pastures with cows and horses. Delightful scenery! Interestingly, the route she took us on had so few towns, large or small, that...

"October air is sweet and cold and clear; it cleans the mind and lifts the spirit." - Faith Baldwn I'm looking for that, what Faith Baldwin promises in that quote. I like my mind as it is, because it's open and welcoming and confident in what it learns, but my spirit is suffering. It flinches a lot these days. I'm grateful this week, for the late-night drone of combines and the people who drive them. I like the wide-openness of the fields being empty, of being able to look both ways at a...