Book Give Away!

Here's your chance to win a free copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Merry Christmas! Christmas will be here before you know it and this would make a nice gift for someone who not only likes to read, but likes Christmas too!

Just leave a comment - even if to just say hi and by November 13th (granddaughter Logan's 13th birthday) I'll announce the winner.

Here's a picture of my family that the story is about! We're older now. :-)

Rita, Norm, Me, Casey, Jessica

And if you don't win, but would like a copy, I can offer you a special deal. Email me at lober13(at)gmail(dot)com. Put FRIDAY13 in the subject line.

Thank you all who have been so supportive in my writing life! XO

And a shout out to Lavender Dreams for the nice shout out!

Whew....

It's hard to believe that my last post was on the 1st of this month. I just got back from a whirlwind, seven day, round trip road trip from here (St. Louis, MO) to Los Angeles, CA. I rode with my daughter to pick up my son, who's moving... he's been in LA for 12 years now. Well, not any more.

Rita and I had a rooting-tooting good time on the way to LA, hitting weird things to see along the way... the biggest rocking chair (before we even got out of Missouri). We did selfies at every stop. We had her two dogs with us, Computer and Doc.

Here they are in the vehicle. Computer is the black dog. Doc is the pug. They had lots of room on the way to LA, but on the way back that whole area was chuck full and those two pups ended up in between the back seats, close to me. They were so sweet and so good!

All my other photos are on my phone... we'll get to those some time. We had a good time on the way back too. My son Casey indulged Rita and me with some stops along the way. Probably a good thing he was with us on the way back or we might still be on the road.

My Three Children

I have heard some folks read my blog to get updated on what’s going on… and here’s such a blog to let those who are interested know what’s happening with my children.

Casey, my son is 32 today. Happy Birthday Casey! He lives in Los Angeles (has for the past 11/12 years now) and is working on a video game—Hyper Light Drifter—for all you gamers out there. He and his buddies share space where they do their creative work (Glitch City) and every so often they have some kind of open house to share with the public where some of the members will give a little presentation… not necessarily on gaming, but whatever they feel like. Think of it as a mini-Ted talk.

Here’s Casey’s “Oneiros & The Self"

Soon Casey will be leaving L.A. to head to The Netherlands... and then eventually back to St. Louis, MO (his home town).

Jessica, my middle daughter, now 30 recently had a four hour surgery to remove benign fibroid tumors in and around her uterus. Okay, maybe recently is a bit of a stretch… back in July. Oh my. There were eight of them. The MRI showed the biggest one to be the size of a grapefruit and the surgeon thought she’d only be able to remove 5 of the 8, but as it turns out, the biggest one was the size of a volley ball! Then a cantaloupe and two grapefruit is all that could be removed. Four of the 8 were removed. No damage to the uterus. Here she is a bit doped up after the surgery.

Now she’s in an MFA program at SIUE for sculpture… getting her masters…  and here’s some of her work. The first one, she's still working on.

Rita, my baby, 28, recently purchased her own home. All on her own. She got to learn all about negotiating, the ins and outs of buying a home, how people cover up certain things, the cost involved, how painting isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. But she loves, loves, loves having her very own home. Because she’s so creative, her home reflects that. One evening while walking her dogs, she carried home a tree limb that she thought would be perfect as a curtain rod for her living room window—and by golly, it is. She’s already put in some flowers and has big plans for a vegetable garden in the future. And in her spare time, you can catch her spinning, dying, carting, and knitting her own yarn.

Quite honestly, I'm pretty blown away by the creativeness and talent of all three of my children. Maybe it's a mom thing, but I never had half the wits about me when I was their age.

What? Words? What About Words? And Other Ramblings

Boy, I can’t believe it’s been over a month since I wrote a blog post. There are times when I consider not blogging. I haven’t read blogs in about as long. I fell off the grid. I finished the rough draft of my children’s book… illustrating.

I went to SLWG meeting presented by Catherine Rankovic on titles and designs of book covers. Most everything made sense and was useful. Then I heard someone ask a question about children’s books and it was said, “Never illustrate your own book.” I haven’t touched my book since.

The power of words. The power of other people’s words. That same afternoon of the workshop, I ate lunch and read through a dessert cookbook a friend had given me. Long story short, as I experimented, I burned my hand. Really, really bad. I was grateful I had just purchased some Lavender Essential Oil and I doused my entire hand with it. I was sure this burn was going to require emergency medical attention, but thanks to Lavender Essential Oil, you have no idea a burn took place.

After burning my hand, I resigned to take it easy on the couch and read. I pulled several books from my library. The book I ended up reading was Hidden Language Codes by R. Neville Johnston. If anyone thinks that God doesn’t have a plan, well, I’d like to debate.

In Hidden Language Codes it talks about the power of words. It opened my eyes. I’ve read things like this before. I knew these things about the power of words. Sometimes when I hear it a different way—boom, a light goes off… again.

The part about God and His plan… the thoughts about not illustrating my book were going through my head, along with ‘what shall I do today?’ on the day I burned my hand and that settled doing anything… but reading. What I read changed my attitude about so many things. More specifically… I may have heard, “Never illustrate your own book.” But I will. I will do it with confidence and joy.

Did everyone have a Happy Mother’s Day? I did. My two daughters came over and cooked me dinner. It was delicious! We napped. We chilled. It was a lovely, love-filled day. Thank you, Stinkers!

Here’s a few pictures.

 Jessica and Rita

Did anyone go to Listen To Your Mother event? I did. My two daughters came with me. (Thank you, Linda!) This event was fantastic and the three of us cried. I recommend going next year. This was the third year. I’ve gone to all three. Each year, I think, can it get any better than this? And it does. But then all stories from the heart are so touching. This year there were two men and bravo to them.

Oh and I went to two baby showers... one hosted by my stepdaughter, Jenn and she had the place decorated so cute. Another by my bff grade school friend... she's going to be a grandmother and she can't wait. Of course her decorations were cute too. Here's a cute idea for a watermelon baby shower:

 

My youngest daughter moved out of her place – and can I mention I helped and she’s border-hoarder? She will be moving into another place in due time. After the last load, she said, “Hhmmm, maybe I’ll become a minimalist.” I thought it was a good idea.

My Uncle George is dying. He’s my dad’s brother. My Aunt Lee will be the last of the nine siblings. When my sister’s and I visited Uncle George, he had moments of being his robust self. He was not careful with his words! Ha. We all laughed, as did he. And I wondered, when I’m in that place, will I have a filter?

For those who read this, thank you. I am ever so grateful. For those I read when I get around to it, thank you. You all inspire me.

With love…

Hoppy Easter

I saved all my kids’ artwork from day one. Maybe not everything, because with three kids, it adds up. But when they were in kindergarten, maybe first grade, they did ceramics. Rita made this cute little bunny. I drew it for Easter. 

Remember, I’m still learning to draw, still practicing. Some things I draw better than others. And although this bunny is a little crazy, even in real life, Rita’s is so much cuter. But still, this is pretty darn cute too!

food for thought: All animals are soul, even bunnies! And somebunny out there loves you!

Christmas Meets Disco and Chicken Soup and Crafts

Dear Friends and Family,

First let me say that the book signing with Cathi LaMarche, Alice Muschany, Linda O'Connell and myself (we four St. Louis writers) who are honored to be in Gloria Gaynor's new release, We Will Survive: True Stories of Encouragement, Inspiration and the Power of Song was a complete success. Thank you everyone!!! We sold out the store's copies in the first hour and had to run to our cars and grab our own personal stash. A good signing I'm told is selling 7-10 copies. We sold 32! Plus the four I was going to pick up for a friend, that makes 36! You can also check us out in St. Louis Today (Post-Dispatch).

I was completely overwhelmed and at one point forgot how to write my name. After the event, I received an email from a grade school friend, Eddie who said, "Lynn, you looked so happy." I felt more nervous than happy, but after I thought about it, I was happy. So many friends and relatives came to support me, it made my heart sing... which is why my head can't stop singing, "I Will Survive"- it's been playing non-stop since.

Here's a few pictures from the event:

Cathi LaMarche, Linda O'Connell, Lynn Obermoeller, Alice Muschany

 Kim Coleman (an amazing survivor herself), Lynn Obermoeller

Here we are again with Donna Volkenannt in the background

I know some of you wanted to attend and had other commitments, so here's another chance only this will be a little different, hence the title of the blog post Christmas Meets Disco. On Monday, December 23 at 7:00 PM head on over to The Gelateria where Linda and I will read our stories and you can also get your signed copies of We Will Survive or bring in your copy to have it signed. And not only that, we're giving away a copy for the best dressed Christmas Meets Disco outfit. Add to the fun, you'll receive a free ornament especially designed by yours truly if you come to the event. The Gelateria has food and drink so come straight from work and relax, treat yourself and have a good time. I heard there will be chocolate too. But remember, if the weather is bad we'll be cancelling, so check back here for updates.


I'm in a critique group with four lovely ladies--Linda O'Connell, Sioux Roslawski, Tammy Goodsell and Beth Wood. They, along with some other local writers, will be signing books from various (new) Chicken Soup titles this Saturday, December 14 at Main Street Books in St. Charles. From 11-1 you can see Cathi LaMarche and Nina Miller. From 1-3 you'll spot Linda O'Connell, Tammy Goodsell and Theresa Sanders. From 3-5 get a look at Sioux Roslawski and Beth Wood. Bring a canned good and you will get a discount on your purchase. A win-win, you're helping feed someone in need and saving a few bucks.

And if you're still itching for some unique holiday gifts to buy, you can also head over to the St. Charles Community College where my daughter will be displaying her hand-made goodies. Lots of other crafters too. That's from 9-4. Make a day of it, that's what I plan to do. And if you can't make the craft fair, but still want some home-made goodies, check out Rita's egabragcrafts.com!

Christmas Meets Disco

The Gelateria

3197 S. Grand

St. Louis, MO

Monday, December 23

7:00 PM

Chicken Soup

Main Street Books

307 South Main

St. Charles, MO

Saturday, December 14

11:00 AM - 5:00 PM

The Handmade Marketplace Craft Fair

St.Charles Community College Gymnasium

4601 Mid Rivers Mall Dr.

Cottleville, MO 63376

9:00 AM - 4:00 PM

LA Time

No, that’s not LA Times, it’s LA Time… funny how just one letter can make the difference, right? This is the time I was in LA this past September for my son’s 30th birthday.

We surprised him. He had no idea that his two sisters, Rita and Jessica and his momma were coming. Can you tell?

Casey at Glitch - "What?"

It took him a while for the realization to sink in that we were going to be bombarding him for a week. I kept a journal for him and gave it to him after I got back and pasted all the goodies in it. I’ll see if I can condense it. I wrote close to 80 pages. Egads, I can ramble.

The first morning we walked to Venice Grind—a coffee house Casey frequents to do his daily drawings and writing.

 I was trying to be artsy with my camera and I told Casey to get entangled in the vines.

He was such a good sport to humor me.

 

We took a trip downtown—took the train, went to Grand Park, walked downtown.

 Casey, Jessica and Rita - "Oh Mom do you have to take another picture.

 At Grand Park looking at City Hall.

 Rita, Jessica, Casey - They thought if they had their back to me, I wouldn't snap a picture.

 Casey, Rita and Jessica - Can you see the excitement of yet another picture?

We made cupcakes for Casey’s birthday that look like him.

 These cupcakes got devoured along with the gooey butter cake. We shared with Casey's students 

and with the folks at Glitch City.

 

On his birthday we went to Tescayloa Canyon and took a hike. Nearly killed me, but it was worth the struggle. It was beautiful. I didn't have my camera for the canyon. But here are a few shots of Casey on this 30th.

 Casey on his birthday

 Casey cracking up seeing the gift Rita gave him. Marshmellow guy from Ghostbusters. 

When Casey was little, he LOVED Ghostbusters.

We went to Venice one day. Hung out at Cow’s End until the sun was setting. We then walked the pier. We tried to reach the water’s edge before the sun went completely down, but I went down instead. Tripped, and in slow motion I fell flat in the sand. Casey hollered, “Mom down!” We missed getting to the edge, but I snapped a photo for the boy who helped his mother rather than leaving me behind.

 Jessica, Casey, Rita - finally they cooperated a bit with the camera.

 Mom down

Sunset at Venice

 Casey

One evening, we went to Glitch City. A community space that my son and several other young men share… where they work on their future games. On certain Wednesday’s it’s game night. Open to the public. Everyone comes to play board games or video games. This evening two young gentlemen were trying out a new game and they needed 10 participants. I was one. Two people were vampires and eight were humans. No one knew who was who but the idea was if you were a vampire you wanted to infect the humans. If you were human, you wanted to gain points. In both instances, you “touched” someone. Long story, but I was a vampire. I convinced my daughter Jessica that I was human and then she did the rest… started infecting others, convincing them that positively she was safe because her momma wouldn’t lie to her. Bah. Lying was kind of what the game was all about… so the winner was whatever human received the most points (for every touch) or if the vampires were able to infect everyone. Eight out of ten became infected (not bad—thanks Jessica!), but some little human won! However, it was fun. Although the rest of the evening Jessica snarled at me like a vampire.

On another night we went to Otis College of Art & Design, where my son attended college and where he now teaches. It was open figure drawing. I never did this before. I have very little experience drawing, so trust me when I say I was completely intimated with all these fantastic artists. I’d look around and be floored by the talent. I gave it my best shot and had a fabulous time.

There I am with my figure drawings at Glitch

 

One night at Glitch City was “show and tell.” These young men hold themselves accountable by giving a five-minute presentation on what they accomplished for the week. Casey’s family was invited to join in so I presented my figure drawings. Let me tell you that was bold on my account and everyone there was way kind. I was blown away by seeing all the things these young men created. OMG.

We hit a lot of different eating establishments, went to a farmers market, and hung out together. It was a good time and I hope Casey will have fond memories of his 30th. I know I did.

 Mom and Casey the day we left.

All of us the day we left.

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures...

Okay, so I have one picture of my big event. An approved picture that was already on Facebook. I'm waiting to make sure all the other pictures are okay to post, so stay tuned. If you are wondering what this picture is about, read my blog posts: YAY, I Survived and I Will Survive Or Will I?

From left to right: Alice Muschany, Linda O'Connell, Gloria Gaynor, me, Cathi LaMarche
Photo taken by Stephanie Gold

Since you were expecting pictures, pictures, pictures... I'm posting some others...

In mid-August, it was my daughter Rita's birthday. She wanted to have a lunch at a tea house. Here's Rita and her boyfriend Terry. He's a trooper for going!

Terry and Rita

In late August, I went to visit my daughter Jessica in Boston. It was a whirlwind visit and we packed in a lot even though we tried to keep it simple as she had just gotten "doored" on her bike and broke her collar bone.

We started off walking down this trail to get to the train.

Before we got on the train, I had to pose for the yarn graffiti.

I can't remember what we did when, but we went to two graveyards. One was the Granary Burial Ground where victims of the Boston Massacre are buried, along with John Hancock, Paul Revere, Samuel Adams and the parents of Benjamin Franklin.

When we passed it after the gate was locked, we spied this crazy looking guy...

One night we went to see Jessica's friends play in a show at Radio. Don't you love how the letters are big Scrabble letters?

The band is called "Eski Esko" and they were really good. Since I've been out of touch with the whole current music scene, I was thinking I wouldn't enjoy it, but they were awesome. I had them sign the CD I purchased... you know they could become big stars some day.

Jessica wanted me to experience the originators of Boston Creme Pie and she wondered why she's never had my Boston Creme Pie... well, I don't know. This was good, but I wouldn't go out of my way to get it again. The presentation was beautiful, and I think that's why there was a hefty price to go along with it.

Jessica and I strolled along the area by the harbor and we saw these entertaining men... one ended up singing right to me... I was glad that he didn't drag me in as part of the entertainment like they did with some others. I thought they were extremely talented and funny.

Then we sat and watched the sailboats. It started to rain and we got under cover and you can see a rainbow popped out (behind the photo that Jessica is in). Everyone that was there took photos with the rainbow in the background.

We visited Harvard and now I can say, "I went to Harvard!" Here's Jessica and her boyfriend, Ingvar (who really did go to Harvard) standing in front of the library that we were hoping to go into, but it was closed.

And here's Jessica and me at the ceramic studio where Jessica graduated from a program she took there. The place used to be an old theatre. It was super cool.

Then there's the place where Jessica works, where we ate dinner on our last night visiting. The food was awesome and I'd recommend going there if you're in Boston.

On the side alley next to Central Kitchen is a graffiti wall that people are allowed to create -- after business hours.

Here's the little stinker, "Kitty" (Jessica's cat) that I had the privilege of sleeping with. She gives the sweetest kisses.

I'll post some more photos when I get the okay. Thanks for stopping by!