Des Moines is hosting the annual Arts Festival. What was cool about it is that it unfolded right outside the building where I work.  I usually slip away to the park across the street at lunch time so I got a close up look as it unfolded. Will miss the sculptures on display in the [...]

For my second day on the job, it wasn’t bad. Didn’t have to do anything that I didn’t understand today. Had one call Monday that a team member had to walk me through the process. Involved deleting amendments and re-loading them, I think.  She told me I won’t have to do it again for a [...]

Most of my life I’ve found it difficult to live in the present.  I’ve spent years looking forward to better things to come.  I’m getting better at living each day but more often now I catch myself looking toward the past. I can’t say I think of my mother daily. At first, I did. There [...]

This is the last week of formal training at work.  Since Feb 8th we’ve covered auto insurance, billing, homeowners, dwelling fire, umbrella and now we are doing a quick once over for specialty products.  Tomorrow is our last day of formal training.  Thursday, we job shadow in the morning and role play in the afternoon.  [...]

I met with the West Des Moines Library group Saturday.  It’s always enjoyable attending this meeting and hearing what everyone has written since last we met.  This group has been meeting to critique for several years now and there are a handful of steady writers who attend each time.  It meets from 10 AM – [...]

It feels as if we are stuck in the middle of a horror movie, here in Iowa. A foggy mist hovers over the landscape hiding the sun.  I can’t remember the last time I noticed sunshine. The warmer temperatures and rain today did manage to melt some of the snow and thank goodness we didn’t have [...]

Here it is Friday, January 22, 2010 and I still feel like I’m in limbo.  I am still job searching.  My experience as a temp so far is – work a month, off a month. Not exactly, what I had hoped would happen.  But it is not all bad; I have been sending out resumes [...]

Nanowrimo has been enjoyable so far. I have been able to keep up word wise even though I skipped yesterday with no really good reason. I have attended two of the local write-ins and I’m planning to attend tonight’s. So far we met Sunday afternoon at a coffee shop called Smokey Row. Great location, coffee [...]

This week’s post is by a local author who you may already know because she is a two time Rita winner as well as a New York Times Bestselling author.  She has graciously agreed to guest blog this week.  I hope you enjoy her post.   Q&A with Cindy Gerard:  Tell us about Feel The [...]

I discovered Donna Ball when I discovered one of her books—A YEAR ON LADYBUG FARM. I loved this story.  It was about three women in their fifties, one divorced, one a widow, and one who devoted her life to her career as a teacher.  They decide to buy a farm in a beautiful setting that [...]