• General Thoughts

    Family Vacations

    The road to hell was paved with family vacations…just kidding. I remember several family vacations from my childhood. My stepdad, mom, younger sister, and I would pile into the station wagon or one of my mom’s Jeep SUVs and head for a drive out of state. A couple of times, my stepsister joined us for out-of-state trips, and once I remember my stepbrother joining us for camping in-state, but usually it was just us girls.

  • Essays,  General Thoughts

    Dreams and things

    When I graduated high school, I gave the benediction to my classmates and our families. In my brief speech, which I seriously wrote in about 15 minutes, I quoted Eleanor Roosevelt’s words you see above. I had so many dreams back then. Dreams to travel. A dream to find romantic love so I wouldn’t feel so alone all the time. Dreams to be the author of published books. As a young woman, those dreams kept me going like nothing else. I could imagine greatness ahead of me. I traveled twice before I got married. Once to Italy for spring break in 2001, visiting Venice, Florence, Rome and Pompeii. The trip was…

  • Essays,  General Thoughts

    Traveling, publishing, and writing

    So, I traveled for work last week. I drove to the airport, flew to DFW, and took a 20-minute taxi ride to my hotel to go to a conference on licensing. Trademark licensing and editing are my day jobs at Arkansas Tech University, and I love them almost as much as I love writing. The conference allowed me to connect with a group of like-minded people I could chat with about issues we all experience in our roles as licensing directors. My travel experience was pleasant. I don’t mind flying at all. In fact, I kind of love traveling occasionally. I enjoy people-watching in the airport. My flight was on…