July 28, 2007

• Summer update

  Hey, friends,
  Our summer is rocking along here in the Ozarks. We're getting a nice rain shower tonight, which is making our tomatoes happy.
  The defining event of our summer was my mother-in-law, Ruby's fall on June 7, when she crushed her ankle. She had to have surgery and was in a hip cast for weeks, in the hospital and ever since in a local nursing home for rehab. She's getting along pretty well, but it remains to be seen whether or not her very fragile bones are healing well enough for  her to walk again. D and I are her only family here, so we've been at the nursing home daily after work all summer. Ruby has a wonderful attitude and is beloved there at Hilltop, but is very ready to go home.
  In other news...my older son, Alex, moved from Mississippi to Lyons, Colorado, this summer, and is loving it. He's an artist and a cook, and is working in a neat restaurant in Boulder. I can't wait to be able to go out and visit him, but it remains to be seen when we'll be able to get away.
  My younger son, Jamie, is still living here in town and loving the Ozarks. Working as a waiter and also doing part-time video and photography work for a local business. He's also starting to break into shooting weddings, which is great. He is doing great and seems very happy. His mom loves having him nearby, even though we both stay so busy it seems we rarely have a chance to visit.
  Doyle is still enjoying his job as sales/marketing/product development manager for a custom pistol manufacturer in a town about 30 miles from here. We both really love our new hometown and are more and more convinced every day we made the right decision to move here a year and a half ago (when we had no idea how we'd make a living here!)
  I was promoted from staff writer to assistant editor at the paper this month, so I've got some new responsibilities to learn. My boss is great about helping me, as are all of my colleagues, so it's all going well. Mainly what I'm doing new is being in charge of overseeing the news side of the paper on the days it's my turn....(there are three of us who swap out.) I get to choose what stories and photos we use from the AP wire, and where they're placed, as well as overseeing the layout of the front page (which is usually stories we have written in-house), which is fun.
  If you'll forgive me for "braggin' on myself," I'll tell you that I won first place for feature writing in the Arkansas Press Association Better Newspaper competition this summer, for mid-sized daily papers. I had won six "firsts" in the same type of competition in Mississippi back in the 90s when I was working for my hometown weekly (for news, feature and column-writing, as well as photography), so it was kind of neat to have it affirmed that after being out of the newspaper business for five years, I hadn't lost it all. I missed being able to call my Mama and Daddy and tell them about my award...they were both always so proud of my writing accomplishments.
   Our paper won a number of "firsts" this year, and second place for overall general excellence, which made us all very proud.
  I feel so, so blessed to have a profession that suits me like newspapers do. I wish everybody could love what they do as much as I do. My advice to young people is to find a way to do what you love. I was the editor of the second-grade classroom paper, and loved to write from the minute I held a fat pencil...I think God seeds our gifts in us as babies, and it's up to us to find them and develop them. When we're using our gifts, we're the happiest and the most fulfilled, I'm convinced. Don't you agree?
  I think of my Xanga friends often and keep you in my prayers. Keep me posted!
  Love,
  Celia

  • 9:45 pm
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