What I Learned in October

A few things I learned, or re-learned, in October:

1. I wish all my family lived closer. Early in the month we made a rather whirlwind trip in which we visited my littlest sister, my oldest sister, my grandparents, and a few aunts and uncles. I found myself re-imagining this fantasy I had in my very mobile (I moved 10 times before I went to college) childhood, where all my family and friends could live in the same town and I could see them all whenever I wanted. Everyone I love had better be good, because I'm planning out my afterlife here.

2. I am not much of a photographer. Oh, I knew this one already. I always forget to get the camera out, months go by without my having taken a single picture (in my defense, my hands are usually too full of children to take a photograph of them--I don't have one of those too-smart-for-me phones that can take pictures), and I usually rely on my shutterbug family members to make sure my children's lives are preserved on film. But this month I actually tried  to be good at this, and was really frustrated when my artistic vision clashed with my complete lack of knowledge of the camera. See this picture?

I wanted the leaves around the border to be all fuzzy while the focus was on my girls looking at the faerie house. Can anyone tell me how to do this? Please?

3. Speaking of faerie houses--I'm a fan. They make me happy. :)
These are from the exhibit at the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, Connecticut.

4. This bullet point could be divided into a whole outline, because it was a huge learning experience, but let me sum up: I learned to make cheese! Three kinds actually: Feta, Ricotta, and Mozzarella. I am so ridiculously excited about this that there's a danger of this sentence just devolving into...blah blah no words smiley faces ! ! ! ! Ahem. Here I am pretending to be normal and intelligent again. The experience was a pleasant one and the outcome favorable. It's like magic...um, I mean, the scientific procedure of introducing beneficial enzymes to dairy products resulted in an astonishingly pleasing chemical reaction.

5. Editors and agents are SO NICE. No, I'm not querying. I'm on the committee for the Tassy Walden Award, and part of my responsibility involves contacting our agent and editor judges. It's really nice to get to talk to them about something other than your own books, because you realize that as much as they are required to say "no," they really enjoy saying "yes." (Also, CT writers and illustrators: enter the contest this year. Awesome judges so far. And really nice. :)

Linking up with the lovely Emily Freeman.