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  • Welcome to Running With Quills, your online newsletter designed to keep you up to date with what your favorite authors (that would be us) are doing throughout the year. Here you will find the release dates of our new books and get information about our backlists. We'll preview our cover art here long before the books hit the stores and we'll keep you informed about works-in-progress and special projects. You'll also receive advance notice of signings and appearances. From time to time we'll give you a peek at our worlds, tell you what we're reading, and introduce you to some new authors.

    Tuesday, November 28, 2006

    ELIZABETH CATCHES FALL FEVER

    I’m suffering a holiday lull.

    You know what I mean. Waaaay too much to do and waaaaay too little oomph to do it.

    Or maybe I’m just lazy.

    *ponders the idea*

    Maybe it’s the shorter days.

    Maybe it’s the beautiful storm rolling down off the mountains over the red rock cliffs and down the canyons. Watching the clouds is like watching the ocean—always changing, always the same, always mesmerizing.



    What kind of wife/mother/grandmother/sister/aunt am I, to watch clouds when I could be wrapping presents to mail, baking cookies, polishing silver, dusting ornaments, and hanging wreaths?

    *bites down on a yawn*

    Those clouds sure are glorious.

    Maybe I’m not lazy.

    Maybe I’m a cloud dreaming I’m a wife/mother/grandmother/sister/aunt.

    *votes for the cloud idea*

    *settles in to watch the show*


    Do you have days when you declare a “time out,” if only for a few minutes? It’s a new skill for me, one I’m a bit uneasy about acquiring, yet I find that I enjoy it quite a bit!

    22 Comments:

    Blogger Karibear said...

    It's a matter of terminology. It's not a 'time out' - it's a necessary way to recharge emotional and creative batteries. That's what I tell myself, anyway.

    Besides, if you can't see pictures [and stories] in clouds, you won't see them anywhere else, either.

    9:30 AM  
    Blogger Suzanne Simmons said...

    I vote for the cloud-watching! Sigh. It's something I swear I'm going to do more of: Nothing!

    Of course, it's so overcast here today (our weather is about to change from sunny and 65 to snowy and 35) that I'll have to "envision" clouds to watch.

    9:37 AM  
    Anonymous Lou said...

    I always take time out to watch the clouds and to find pictures in them. Usually, I'm riding my horse when I do. I think everyone needs to connect with nature to recharge!

    9:40 AM  
    Blogger Susan Andersen said...

    Elizabeth,

    I have pajama days occasionally. My husband travels quite a bit for work and if I've had a particularly hectic week I'll give myself a day (often a Sunday, but not always) to stay in my pj's all day long and simply read or maybe catch old movies on the tube. I love it. It refills the well.

    9:44 AM  
    Blogger Stella said...

    Elizabeth--Another cloud-watcher here. Our minds demand the time to dream.

    Stella

    11:02 AM  
    Blogger DFender said...

    Betty,
    I don't necessarily have "days" when a "time out" is declared but I'm working on it. I can usually manage an hour or two before the guilt kicks in to torment me.

    Whether gazing at clouds, storms, stars, a fireplace fire, or an ocean... it all soothes me and allows the dreams to uproot responsibilities and "time out" guilt.

    The HHP and I try to have a naked day every now and then. No stress, no teenagers, no work. That's a "time out" for sure ;-)

    Have a great day!

    Deb

    12:57 PM  
    Anonymous Carrie from Wisconsin said...

    Do you have days when you declare a “time out,” if only for a few minutes?

    Elizabeth,

    Don't think of it as a "time out" but more of a "calm before the storm". Your mind and body know full well what's coming. They need to prepare, and this "calm before the storm" is your body's and mind's way of telling you they need time to prepare for the beating they are about to take. I'm in "final exam" mode right now. My brain has been shut off since Monday. It knows I need to study, but I haven't been feeling well and shutting off for a few days, is it's way of preparing for the barrage of info that will soon be coming. Unfortunately I do not have a choice as to what happens and when it happens, my brain controls that for me.....

    Carrie

    1:33 PM  
    Blogger Estella said...

    I call it recharging my batteries. I find with a little down time, I have more energy when I staet work again.
    Gorgeous picture of the clouds!

    2:25 PM  
    Blogger cate said...

    Those few minutes now and again are necessary for me. It's a few minutes and me with a smile on my face for "round two" or the alternative. *shudder*

    The cloud pics are beautiful.

    3:42 PM  
    Blogger froggie said...

    I'm basically a lazy person, so I take time-outs way too often. But if you've just acquired that 'skill', Good For You!

    5:59 PM  
    Anonymous Ranurgis said...

    I took one of those time-outs today because I thought I was going to a dinner tonight. Turns out that the dinner is tomorrow and I always have to gather some strength if I want to appear at least halfway alert. So it behooved me to get some things done. As a result, it took me close to 3 hours just to pick up the medication I needed. Most of that time was spent waiting at bus stops for buses that didn't want to come--well, it was in the middle of rush hour. The irony of all this is: if I had the strength (or a car), I could have made the whole trip to the drugstore and back in about 45 min.(10 by car). It's up the hill practically behind where I live.

    Now what will I do tomorrow when I have to save my strength? Well, I'll have to see. Oh yes, we had 57F at around 7 p.m. With the wind and the drizzle, I needed my gloves. Hard to believe. These clouds were hard to watch--but you had such nice ones. Ours were just soggy.

    7:53 PM  
    Blogger Jayne Ann Krentz said...

    Cloud watching works for me. They come in over Elliott Bay here in Seattle in an ever-changing, endlessly fascinating pattern that never fails to stimulate.

    A nice cup of tea is also quite stimulating. And an afternoon of shopping at Nordstroms...

    --Jayne

    7:55 PM  
    Blogger Jay said...

    My time out is always outside - I seem to recharge better in fresh air and sunlight. I find somewhere quiet and lay down, and depending on the day, I'll either listen to my iPod, take a nap, or just watch the clouds. Sometimes I close my eyes and just listen.

    I make a point of reserving my sunday afternoons for this purpose, but generally I'll do it when I need it, regardless...

    9:41 PM  
    Anonymous Anonymous said...

    When I was at uni and staying at my grandma's, I used to walk to the beach and sit at this ledge and watch the sea. The waves are surprising big all the time probably because there is no land to be seen for miles... until you hit New Zealand that is...
    I love being able to sit there for ten minutes and just enjoy the strong winds and smell of the sea and the sun's warmth.

    P

    4:02 AM  
    Blogger Diane P said...

    Some people enjoy cloud watching while others are wave watchers. I find sitting on a sandy beach, sunny or not, watching the endless waves so calming. I just zone out and yet it is so relaxing

    7:53 AM  
    Blogger Cbell said...

    I just want to know if those beautiful pictures are the clouds you are watching... I would watch those too! Every chance I got!

    9:30 AM  
    Anonymous Carrie from Wisconsin said...

    I like wave watching as well, but not too many up here unless you go to Lake Michigan. It's just not the same. There is something oddly refreshing about salty ocean air that I have yet to be able to understand. Right now I wish for 57F outside. Currently we are at about 25 - 27F, windy with the threat of snow looming overhead. I'm looking forward to the freeze because I suffer from vertigo periodically and the cold can help to defray the symptoms. I think the reason I have been suffering them of late is because the weather has been in constant shift the past 5 years. I feel it the most during periods that are warmer than normal for the time of year we are in. If I was down south somewhere, I would feel quite differently. Maybe when I retire I'll move somewhere warmer.

    Enjoy nice weather if you have it especially for those of us who don't!

    Carrie

    12:23 PM  
    Blogger elizabeth said...

    Sooooo glad to know that I'm not alone!

    Hugs to fellow sloths, if only for a few minutes at a time.

    7:07 PM  
    Anonymous Ranurgis said...

    Nope, you're definitely not a sloth, or at least not alone. If I wasn't reading I'd be constantly on the go. I hated having to slow down even when my fingers wouldn't move any more or my back felt as if I was falling apart.

    I'm supposed to "pace" myself and I still can't *really* grasp that concept. If I stop doing something, I just can't get up the energy again to continue it. So I either wear myself out or don't get anything accomplished. I still can't decide what the better option is. Waaah.

    11:36 PM  
    Blogger yaksncats said...

    Good for you, Elizabeth! I'm an early riser - sitting here at my desk this morning watching the winter sun rise over the Gulf of Mexico - it's always spectacular this time of year. The sunsets, too, are incredible - but they're different. Early morning is "my time" - no one up, no phones ringing, no meals to prepare, no "have you seen my. . . .?" questions to respond to. Just me with a couple of hours to do as I please to prepare for the day. It's too easy to go from one thing to another without taking time to appreciate the moment - and, ultimately, that's all we have in this world. One reason I love camping is that is slows things down - no multi-tasking required!

    4:19 AM  
    Blogger elizabeth said...

    cbell--I chose the cloud pictures from the webg because they were close to what I was actually seeing outside.

    8:26 AM  
    Anonymous Morrigan said...

    It's not about being lazy, darlin', it's all about staying sane while the rest of the world closely resembles an out-of-control ant farm.

    10:51 AM  

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