Novembrance has moved to Kashkawan! Update your blogrolls, bookmarks, and feeds and follow me there--please?

Drum roll, please! My cookbook Comfortably Yum: Food for Body and Spirit is now available at an e-store near you! It will show up on Amazon sometime in the next week, but this link is working fine.

It's gratifying to hold a copy of it in my hands after so many months of work. Looking through it, I think it's a pretty great collection of recipes, and I'm very excited that all my favorites are now in one place. If you're new to my blog and wonder what kind of stuff you might find in the cookbook, click on any of the posts tagged Delicious Dish.

I owe big thanks to many people on Planet Blog for their generous support; all my readers are wonderful, but a few stand out. Deb Barshafsky and Charrette for coming up with the book's title. Kymburlee, Brillig, Annette Lyon, and Anne Bradshaw have been fabulous angels of generosity.

Now I think I'll go make something from Comfortably Yum to celebrate. Hmm...Sticky Toffee Pudding? Stuffed Mushrooms? Tuscan Chicken? Dulce de Leche Squares? So many choices....

**UPDATE** CreateSpace (the company I used to publish my book) DOES ship orders internationally. Those of you in Canada, Europe, and the U.K. should not have any problem using the link above to purchase my book.

At this time on this day one year ago, I was undergoing a Caesarean section. It wasn't much fun, but the result was more than worth the trouble and pain. Happy Birthday, sweet Anne!

I am blessed. Unbeknownst to me, seven-year-old Tess entered a contest sponsored by the local Lions Club chapter. She wrote an essay nominating me for the annual "Mother of the Year" award. I'll type it exactly as it appears on her entry form:

My mom is important to our family and this community because...
She is kind. She helps our family stay healthy. There are six children in my family. My mom helps us learn and she cares for all of us. My mom is also an author and we like her books. She is helpful to our family. She makes us healthy food, she never leaves us alone. I know she is a good mother and always loves us. She is sweet, too. She is always good and helpful and sweet and kind. We love her and she loves us. When she has a hard time cleaning, we will help her. When mom wants us to get Anne to sleep, we did it kindly. When my mom is alone, we cheer her up by taking flowers to her.

I got a call from the Lions Club last week informing me that Tess had nominated me, and that we were invited to a special dinner at The Plumbush Inn. So tonight, Tess and I got dressed up and went, not really knowing what to expect.

It turns out there were four divisions in the contest: Kindergarten through 3rd Grade; Fourth through Eighth; High School; and Over 18. The Lion's Club members read all the letters without knowing who had written them and selected a winner in each category.

After we ate a lovely dinner with the Lions Club members and the other mothers and children, Tess read her entry aloud to the entire group. I received a beautiful bouquet of roses and a plaque naming me Mother of the Year, K-3 Division. The other three winning moms and I and our children had our photo taken for the local paper; here's one I asked someone to take of Tess and me.Personally, I really think it should have been a "Daughter of the Year" award; my darling girl made me feel so special and loved. Thanks, sweetie!

There's nothing that chases away the late-winter blues like a fresh batch of good news. Here are a few items worthy of passing on:

Josi Kilpack's newest book, Lemon Tart, is the March selection for the Time Out for Women Book Club! As Josi mentions on her blog, TOFW chooses very few fiction titles, so this is indeed a huge deal. I got my own copy of Lemon Tart about a week ago; I can't wait to dive in and experience some delicious escape.

The Hunt for Dark Infinity, Book Two in James Dashner's The 13th Reality series, is shipping now via Amazon and will be in Barnes & Noble and Borders stores next week! My kids are all insane for Book One and can't wait to get their hands on this latest installment. (I love James's writing as well, so they'll be fighting me for it.)

Annette Lyon's latest Temple novel, Tower of Strength, is now available! I was lucky enough to get my hands on an advance copy, and frankly, I can hardly wait to finish this post so that I can get back to it. Novembrance will be one of next week's stops on Annette's promotional blog tour, so check back here then to read my interview with her.

Fantasy writer Rebecca Weybright (apparently not her real name, oh the mystery) is editing a new speculative fiction webzine called Noctober. How could I not love it, with a name like that? I've read all five stories in the premiere issue, and I think they are great fun. The illustrious Kymburlee of Temporary? Insanity posted an interesting interview with Rebecca yesterday; you can bet that Noctober will be receiving a submission or two from me very soon.

Anyone who sings solos in church should own copies of the Sabbath Song collections. (Anyone who doesn't, but loves good sacred music, should buy the CDs, recorded by baritone Clayne Robison.) They contain gorgeous pieces by two of my genius songwriting collaborators, Murray Boren and D. Fletcher, as well as many more selections by other prominent LDS composers; they are well worth your time. Sadly, none of my lyrics appear; we'll hope for Volume III.

Finally, for anyone local, our very own Christian will be playing the role of Friedrich in Haldane High School's production of "The Sound of Music" at the end of this month. It will be worth the price of admission just to see Christian as the lederhosen-clad Lonely Goatherd in the musical-within-a-musical (don't worry; I'll post photos when the time comes), though the whole production promises to be highly entertaining. The show runs Friday, March 27th through Sunday, March 29th; I couldn't be prouder.

Well, that's it for me; does anyone else have something worth sharing?

I had to speak in church yesterday, and while I was preparing my remarks on Saturday, I realized I had left something huge off of my 'Best of 2008' list. A couple of you have probably been shaking your heads in puzzlement over this fact. I'm going to fix my post in just a minute, but I'll tell you about it in a little bit of detail here as well.

Last January, I joined Pezmama's online challenge to read The Bible in 90 days. I read every word from Genesis to Revelation, and on March 30th, I was feeling pretty good to be one of seven of the original 30 who actually finished. The weekly check-ins, daily page count guides, and periodical posts of progress and insight by group members were all huge helps. I read the King James Version, but other group members used other translations, which added interest and variety to our online discussions.

Not wanting to lose momentum, I decided to read the rest of my church's Standard Works of scripture in the next 90 days: The Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants, and The Pearl of Great Price. A couple of good friends partnered up with me for this second challenge, and with their support, on June 30th I found myself reading the last verse of The Articles of Faith with a huge sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.

That happy feeling of realizing a goal was second to the joy in the journey, however. Reading at such a fast pace did not lend itself to in-depth study, but I did see things I'd never seen so clearly before: overarching patterns, recurring themes, and how prophets have echoed and underscored one another through the ages. I got a keener sense of the symmetry and beauty of God's plan, and I think I had heightened abilities to deal with the many challenges of last May as a result.

How would I rank this accomplishment? It's definitely in the Top Five; it may even rank right under my #1. Would I do it again? Definitely; I highly recommend it. I'm enjoying the topic study I'm doing at the moment, but someday soon the mood may well strike me to gear up for another sprintathon through holy writ.

What's as good as an Advent Calendar full of chocolate? I'm not sure, but how about 25 posts in a row featuring my favorite Christmas art and poetry? Come back every day in December, and I'll try to have something lovely up for you.

My kids are awesome. Their long-distance friend Gary has his birthday today, so they wrote him a song. We'll record the final version on Friday, but they rehearsed hard all afternoon, and they wanted the G-man to know that they were thinking of him on his special day. So, here's Teh Posse singing "The G-man Blues." Christian's on guitar, Tess is on shaker egg, and Hope and James share lead vocals, with Anne as Official Muse. (Daniel was taking an OSHA break from air guitar when I took these photos.)

Yes, it's the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything. It also happens to be my age as of today. It's a special day for more than one reason.

It's not the first time that Election Day in the U.S. has fallen on my birthday in my lifetime; I turned 18 on November 4, 1984, and got to vote in my first presidential election that day. It, too, was a historic race; it was the first time a woman had been nominated as a vice-presidential candidate. I remember my grandmother marveling at that, since she could recall the time when women did not have the right to vote in this country.

Unfortunately, my candidate, Walter Mondale, did not win that year; I'm hoping America comes through with a better gift for me this time around.

The other day, Hope was anxious that I might be feeling old. She told me that I could just say that I'm 21 from now on. I told her I wouldn't be 21 again for anything. I have a wonderful life, and it has only gotten better as I've aged. I have no reason to believe this trend won't continue!

If you are a U.S. citizen and wondering what to get me for my birthday, get out and vote today, no matter how long the lines are, and no matter who your candidate is. If you're not a U.S. citizen, well...there's always chocolate.

Ahh, my bloggy friends. Time flies when you're having fun; I can't believe how fast the last three months have gone by. Thanks for your patience and all of the good wishes you've sent our way. How have you all fared in my absence?

I owe you many things:

1. Update on Anne: she's fabulous. She's healthy, alert, beautiful, smiley, sleeping through the night, and nursing like a champ: definitely worth every bit of trouble!

2. The end to this Soap Opera Sunday story: I'll try to get to it in the next couple of weeks. (How have you all stood the suspense?)

3. A review of the fantasy novel Far World: Water Keep and an interview with J. Scott Savage, the author. Back in April, I committed to be part of Scott's Far World Blog Tour, and told him I'd be available to do that at the end of August. Which would be now. I'll have this post up next week.

4. The recipe for Brookies, the delectable brownie/blondie/cookie bar that no one can stop eating. I'm drooling at the mere thought of them. Soon, very soon. They are phenomenal and well worth the wait.

5. A report on Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies (and a shipment of same to a certain special someone and partner). Also nearly ready to go.

6. The news that I sold a short story! The online magazine SteamPod bought my short story "Dodmen and the Holophusikon" and is producing it as a podcast that will be available for your download-and-listening pleasure in the next few days. I am thrilled that my story will follow that of Paul di Filippo, a writer I greatly admire. I'll post the direct link to my story the second it is ready.

7. Updated photos of everyone: Done (see above)!

8. I'm sure I'm missing other things you've been expecting (no, Lori, I haven't forgotten that the Grammar Fascista promised to address the dreaded 'lie/lay' issue). Remind me, and I'll see what I can do.

My online time is very limited still; I can read while feeding Anne, but one-handed typing is not my favorite thing. It's also been liberating not to worry about the dreaded feedcrack cravings that accompany blogging (at least, for me they do); I need to be careful that my addictive tendencies don't take over and encroach on essential real-life stuff. I guess all I can promise is my best, right?

Great news! We brought Anne home from the hospital yesterday, a week after she was born. She's breathing, eating, sleeping, and doing all else newborns are supposed to do; she's a delight.

I went into pre-term labor on May 7th (a little less than six weeks early), but my midwives admitted me to the hospital, and we were able to hold off delivery (via C-section--Anne was obstinately transverse) until May 13th, which means she was born at 35 weeks instead of the usual 38-40 weeks. Though she had some extra time inside, Anne was born with slightly premature lungs and had to be whisked away to the NICU almost immediately (though she first scored a 9/9 on her Apgar, thank you very much).

While on breathing assistance (C-PAP), Anne perforated a lung and had to be transferred to a much larger hospital for careful monitoring. Her lung healed quickly and well, and after a few days she was able to breathe room air without any help. She graduated yesterday, and we brought her home with much pomp and circumstance.

Life is now a perpetual three-hour cycle of feeding, changing pants, napping, and snuggling, leaving little time for anything extracurricular; as a result, I'll be taking a very extensive maternity leave from most things internet-related. Streamlining is the key to a peaceful life, I've found. And life, though busy, is very, very good right now.

But I couldn't leave all my contestants hanging without letting you know the results of the Luisa Trivia Quiz. Here are the correct answers, followed by the announcement of this year's winner.

1) Misspelling 'the' as 'teh' is a bit of Internet slang I like to throw around in order to feel hip and with-it. 'Teh' means 'THE' in all caps, with connotations of ultimate status. For example, "Coldplay is teh kewl" means "Coldplay is the coolest" in regular slang.

2) The correct answer is d) RFK, Jr. I love Jack Ryan and Jack Bauer, but, um, they're not real. I adore Alice Waters, but am glad she chooses to focus on what she does best: preaching the gospel of eating locally, seasonally, and well. Al Gore is my personal hero, but he's already been elected President. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., with his near-mythic pedigree, and who heads up the environmental watchdog group Riverkeeper, is my current dream candidate.

3) The best TV show of all time is Firefly.

4) Four of my six brothers have the middle name 'Michael.' The fifth has it for a first name.

5) Scott Card would probably have a conniption if he ever read this, but I think he peaked early with his second novel, Treason, published way back in 1978. It's tightly and imaginatively plotted, with none of the philosophizing in which he tends to indulge. It's a fabulous read; I highly recommend it.

6) Anyone who made reference to Simon & Garfunkel's 1967 hit "Mrs. Robinson" (or to Paul Simon or Art Garfunkel) scored a point.

7) The name of our band was Tetra Ruby, and we rocked it, baby, covering songs by everyone from The Cocteau Twins to Erasure to Nancy Sinatra. I'll give anyone who mentioned 'Tetra' a half point.

8) Styrofoam is evil, but functional. PowerPoint is pure evil with no redemptive features whatsoever. If someone made a PowerPoint presentation that featured clowns and lifelike baby dolls, I would take it as a certain sign of the impending Apocalypse.

9) "I am the son and the heir."

10) Morrissey is making reference to a line from George Eliot's Middlemarch, "To be born the son of a Middlemarch manufacturer, and inevitable heir to nothing in particular."

11) The correct answer is d) "Don't Fear the Reaper." I never get tired of watching this sketch; Will Ferrell and Christopher Walken slay me.

12) "Manuela Run," from Toto's first album, is by far my favorite Toto song. It was never a hit, never even a B-side. But it's pure pop greatness.

13) Part of Rattle and Hum (a) was filmed at a concert at ASU in 1987; I was there. It was great, but U2 was way better when I saw them on their War tour at the Cow Palace circa 1983.

14) The real question is: why does anyone use straight needles? Circulars work great for knitting in the round OR knitting back and forth. When you use circulars, the weight of the work stays in your lap, instead of hanging off the end of the needle, as with straights. You can also use two circulars whenever double-pointed needles are called for. And you don't have to use your forearms as much, so knitting in tight quarters--on the subway or the bus, or on the couch surrounded by your kids--is much easier. Getting off my obscure soapbox now.

15) The correct answer is b); Daniel's middle name is 'Jude.'

16) I know where to find Noggin and The Weather Channel. The rest of cableland? It is a puzzlement, but I'm never in charge of the clicker, anyway. Newsflash: as of this week, I now know which channel is Sports NY.

17) Robert Redford is a beautiful man. I love Keanu despite his many shortcomings as an actor. Dennis Quaid is hotter than July as the dad who makes it to The Show in The Rookie. Denzel makes me cry each and every time I watch the Titans in action. But it is 'Marky' Mark Wahlberg (e) as the indomitable Vince Papale who rocks my sports fantasy world--yes, even with those plaid pants he wears at the beginning of the movie. Maybe I'll pop in Invincible later tonight....

18) The correct answer is c) Thomas Wolfe's Look Homeward, Angel; all the rest allude to John Bunyan's classic in some way. Read Pilgrim's Progress! It's fantastic, and it's a cornerstone of Western cultural literacy. Once you read it, you'll see references to it everywhere.

19) The correct answer is c) an Old Timer with Cheese (medium rare, if I can get them to agree to that), with nothing on it but mayonnaise and mustard, and a Chocolate Shake. Ketchup comes on the side, and I dip the burger in it as I go. Now my mouth is watering.

20) Sally in When Harry Met Sally has very specific requirements when it comes to menu choices. And why shouldn't she? If you are going to pay someone else to prepare food for you, shouldn't you be able to get it exactly the way you want it? Well? I rest my case.

Scoring:

1 point: Mary-Laure, Millie, Dawn, SidneyMin, and Adriana
3 points: Poodlegoose
4.5 points: Melissa and Radioactive Jam (1 extra point given to RaJ for high entertainment value of answers)
5 points: Brillig (gets extra credit for submitting her comment a second time after Blogger ate the first one)
6 points: Pezmama, Artemis, and Goofball
7 points: Charrette
9.5 points: Ronnie (emailed his fabulous answers)
10 points: Annette and Jenna

And the winner, at 11.5 points, is Anjmae, who also emailed her answers. Anj, I'll give you your prize when you get here! Thanks to all who played; reading your responses helped keep my spirits up during my nine-day hospital stay.

I don't know when I'll be back, but I'll be in touch. Love to you all!

1) All credit for the blog's new look goes to the über-gifted Kim of Temporary? Insanity. She's got a fun thing going with her Template Tweakings website; go check it out if you are feeling the need for a spring makeover. Thanks, hon! I love it. I'll figure out how to put my blogroll back on the sidebar eventually....

2) Christian got his braces on this week and played his first lacrosse games today. We had to get him some gear this week in preparation. His new cleats? Men's size 13, thank you very much. They look like Jaredite barges, I'm telling you.

Christian is loving lacrosse and looks very manly trotting around the field in all his armor while brandishing the 6-foot-long defensive stick. Ahh, my little boy. I'd better stop before I start crooning "Sunrise, Sunset."

3) All debate over the next presidential candidate should end now. Why? Because Tess has the perfect platform, set forth in a school assignment for Presidents' Day last month:

Here's the transcription, edited for spelling:

"If I were president I would help the poor people and I would give the poor food and I would give the poor children toys. And I would stop the war."

We're still working on spelling and punctuation, but note her correct use of the subjunctive. Now we just need to get an amendment passed changing the minimum age for a presidential candidate from 35 to 6.

4) I've been waiting for two years for iTunes to acquire Wire's 154. I checked today, and they finally had it! What a fantastic album; I'll have to do a "Music Monday" on it at some point.

5) The pregnancy is progressing miraculously well, I'm thrilled to report. Tomorrow marks the end of Week 28; by this time with both Tess and Daniel, I was on bed rest. Not so this time; I'm getting around with no pain, and while I'm tired, I've had enough brain function to write consistently and to make it to Day 81 (and counting) of the Read the Bible in 90 Days study program I started back on January 2nd.

6) I'm still racking up the rejections as I shop The Holly Place and ZF-360 around. In the meantime, I've been writing short stories and sending them out to various genre periodicals. This has been great fun! (The short story part, not the rejection-of-my-novels part; that part is really lame.) For anyone interested in writing sf/fantasy short stories, you simply must check out Ralan's fabulous website. It has been an invaluable resource for me.

I don't think I'll start another novel anytime soon; the short story groove is working well for me (for the first time in my whole life), and I don't want to commit to anything longer until after we settle into some sort of routine with the new baby. So, you know, that could be this time next year (or the year after), for all I can predict.

I guess that's it for now. I missed you all during my bloggy break; I think I'm back on board for the moment. Oh--and the post title? This is post #250 for me. Wow. Happy Easter!

Also Shear-jashub. And Dominic and Travis. Also Zanzibar Buck Buck McFate.

Because, you see, it turns out we're having a girl!

Eleven months ago, I celebrated the fact that our family had finished reading the Old Testament aloud together in this post. This morning, we read Revelation Chapter 22, completing our reading of the New Testament.

This year, because of Christian's high school schedule, we have less family scripture time in the mornings than we did last year: only 10-15 minutes most days. But a little bit, done consistently, goes a long way. As Zechariah says, "For who hath despised the day of small things? For they shall rejoice..." (Zech. 4:10)

I treasure our morning time. The family sits at our kitchen table bathed in the soft lamplight; Patrick, the older three kids, and I take turns reading verses, while Daniel and Tess look on in their picture Bibles. Hope's reading has improved most dramatically in the past two years since we started Genesis, but all the kids read with more expression and facility, making the beautiful passages come alive for the whole group. Jacobean English isn't easy for modern tongues and ears, but it has become much more natural for all the children since we began our journey.

I hope, however, that our scripture reading has been more than a daily elocution lesson; I hope the words are sinking deep into the hearts of my children, giving them daily sustenance and equipping them with divine tools to handle life's many challenges.

I can't read the last few verses of Revelation without thinking of the following piece of music. I've been lucky enough to sing it a few times; it's gorgeous.

3) Last, but most exciting: The Writing Game results are up! If you'd like to read a short story I wrote this week called "Truck Stop," as well as a lot of other fine tales, follow the happy link . I'd love to know what you think.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers, encouragement, ideas, and support. It means so much to me to have such a wonderful circle of friends who care about me. Today I was back to my regular self, and it felt amazing. I'm certain your good thoughts were a big part of my turnaround. I owe you.

I'm taking a break from the Scavenger Hunt today; there's something else I'd like to write about instead. I got home very late last night from our wonderful Book Group meeting to find a treat waiting for me in my email inbox.