updates

So I haven't posted in a few weeks b/c things have been busy! Here's a few updates...

1. Been working and having lots of babies (not personally...just vicariously through my patients). I've officially learned how to scrub, which means now I can be the person who hands the surgeon the scalpel when they say "Scalpel" just like in the movies. I also get to see inside people's bodies. That's pretty weird. I think the bad economy is making people stay at home more and make babies instead of just going out to dinner. Yeah for job security!

2. Been writing lots. My last blog post was chap. 1 of a book I've started, and now I'm up to chap. 15. I need some readers to let me know thoughts and offer editing advice. Any volunteers? (Shannon???)

3. The Over the Mountain tri is on Saturday May 30...in two days. I'm pretty nervous, mostly about sinking to the bottom of the lake in a flurry of other swimmers. The swim will be the hardest, so please pray I live, thanks. Its a 1 mile lake swim, a 28 mile bike, and a 6.2 mile run. That last .2 miles is going to be a doozy.

4. Being a wife takes up more time and energy than everything else combined b/c even when I'm working or writing or biking/swimming/running, Chris is always just a thought away, or a phone call away. Sure, marriage is work, but its the best job ever.

5. Doing it all for the glory of God--that's why I do all of the above. It makes all those things so much more meaningful and rich. I love all that I get to do, and even more so knowing its b/c of and for Jesus. He's given me a chance to serve my patients and my coworkers, to be creative, to be adventurous, and to love another person deeply. What more could a girl ask for, really?

So there's the updated list of what's happening on this end.

I'll be sure to update after the Tri on Saturday, if I'm still alive :-)

chap 1 revamped

Many of you know that I've started to do a little light writing, and some have already read chap 1...but I've revamped it a little. Here's chap 1 2.0. Let me know what you think.

Chapter 1—First Day

Walking down the Main Street of O'Kelly Creek, NC on her first day in town fascinated Anna McLeod Matthison. She remembered the feeling that emanated from the shops and cafes and houses—that quaint, quiet joy found in mountain towns by the tourists who come looking for it. Anna also knew that behind the white picket fences dripping with ivy lingered another face of O'Kelly, the real one unseen by tourists. A town full of tradition and whispers, suspicious of any stranger who stayed through summer and into fall. The half backs, those that moved from New England to Florida and then traveled half way back to Carolina, were welcomed into town for the summers, but most locals were only too happy to watch those same Buicks and Volvos head back south come September.

Anna grew up in the thick of the O'Kelly life. Her mother, Meaghan McLeod, came to the area as a baby with her aunt and uncle, nearly 60 years ago. They came from Ireland, though of Scottish decent, and settled there because of Paddy O'Kelly, Meaghan's great great grandfather who founded the town.

Meaghan inherited Paddy's entrepreneurial spirit and opened a bakery in 1968 on Ryan Avenue, just a block off Main. This shop dominated Anna's earliest memories. She could still hear the sound of the big mixer turning some new creation—smell the cream cheese frosting on her fingers even after they were licked clean—hear the voices of friends and neighbors and tourists sitting around the store. Mostly, she remembered her mother, smiling in colorful aprons and heels, baking while she welcomed everyone. Anna would kneed dough or ice cupcakes and just listen as the adults talked about new businesses moving into the area or the latest match made in O'Kelly or how some hiker heard something again up near Emily's Peak. Whenever this got mentioned, Meaghan would glance at Anna and give who ever was talking a look. They would quiet down real quick, knowing full well they might find Meaghan behind them with a wooden spoon, her Scottish eyes blazing.

Anna, now 28, was no longer a child, and her mother's old bakery no longer wafted deliciousness through the town. In its place stood an outfitting company, complete with solar panels and a watering hole for dogs, owned by two young guys from up in Boone, or so the signed claimed. Anna kind of thought some smart grandmother probably owned it and just used the names of her grandkids for marketing purposes. Those boys probably lived in Nashville.

Finding a little cafe across the street from the Boone Brothers Outfitters, Anna pulled out her journal and started to write, to recollect. Her fiercely loyal Doberman, Sig, relaxed at her feet.

This town appears so dear and easy, and yet it turned so quickly, smoking us out. I'd never seen Mama so afraid as she took me away to a new home. Her words that night haunt me still, “What have I done? What is this place?” She never told me what happened, despite all my questions. Instead, I got a new name, a new school, and she got a new bakery. It all happened so quickly, so finally. She rarely spoke of O'Kelly—but I've thought about it, this pretty mountain town. What lies in its underbelly? What lurks around these hills that frightened my mother so much? I never thought to return despite the questions, but here I am, all because of Nathan—sweet, wise Nathan.

Sighing a little, Anna closed the journal and looked to the surrounding mountains. What in the world am I doing here? She reached down to Sig, and flashes of the final conversation with her mother rang in her ears.

“Oh Anna, your hair! I can't believe how different you look with it short and dark. And what have you done to your nose. Girl...!” She pointed to the nose ring, her mouth hanging open. Meaghan's southern accent always came out despite the 15 years since they left O'Kelly, and the south for that matter.

“I know Mama, I needed a change. You like it?” Anna twirled and smiled.

“You look so pretty, like a little hippy from Seattle. Why the change now? What's in your mind?”

Anna sat down. “Its been two years Mama, and I've got to do something—something new and big. And I've got questions that need answering, so I'm leaving, soon.” She paused, “I'm going back to O'Kelly.”

Meaghan's eyes flashed, then flooded. “So my girl's going home then. Oh I know why you are going—and I know there's no stopping you, no matter what I say. No matter that I think its a terribly dangerous idea. But surely he's gone by now...” She muttered the last part, and Anna barely caught her words. They weren't intended for her.

She responded, “And you won't tell me Mama, you won't say what happened?”

Meaghan pondered for a moment, “Darling, I...I can't. There's not much to say, except that it was my fight, my decisions, and my chapter. That story is long written from my life, but not yours, it would seem. I'm sure it will be quite an adventure. But darling, you've gotta stay secret. They can never know who you really are. I like your haircut even more—you look so different.” Meaghan smiled, then cautioned, “O'Kelly is not what it seems, Maryanne Margaret.” Anna sensed the seriousness in Meaghan's voice. Her southern accent became more pronounced and thick with intensity. “Keep your eyes open and your head on straight—do what is right and good, no matter the cost.” Anna saw a quick sadness in her mother's eyes, which then recovered and smiled again. “And keep your contacts in. It'll do you no good to fall off a mountain, right?”

chap 1

Here's chap 1 so far from the new project...

Chapter 1

Walking down the quaint main street of O'Kelly Creek, NC both gladdened and sickened Anna McLeod Matthison. She remembered the feeling that emanated from the shops and cafes and homes—that sweet, quiet joy that can only be found in a mountain town by the tourists who come looking for it. Anna also knew that behind the white picket fences that dripped with ivy and the open windows overlooking thick azalea blossoms lingered another face of O'Kelly, the real one unseen by tourists. A town full of tradition and whispers, suspicious of any stranger who stayed through summer and into fall. The half backs, those that moved from New England to Florida and then traveled half way back to Carolina, were welcomed into town for the summers, but most locals were only too happy to watch those same Buicks and Volvos head back south come September.

Anna grew up in the thick of the O'Kelly life. Her mother, Meaghan McLeod, came to the area as a child with her uncle, a farmer, and aunt, a homemaker and incredible cook. They came from Ireland, though of Scottish decent, and settled in O'Kelly, as the story goes, because Paddy O'Kelly was Meaghan's great great grandfather, a high born young man who escaped a wrathful brother, bent on killing him to gain their father's substantial inheritance. Apparently Paddy valued his life more than his money, coming to this new land and putting down stakes in a small but fertile valley where a small creek fed the French Broad. Paddy's farm grew, and, being an enterprising man, he started shipping his good down stream towards Asheville for the best prices. Soon, other men were bringing their goods for shipping too, and thus the town began.

Anna's mother, Meaghan, inherited a similar entrepreneurial spirit and opened her bakery in 1968. This shop dominated Anna's earliest memories—the sound of the big mixer turning some new creation—the smell of cream cheese frosting on her fingers even after they were licked clean—the voices of friends and neighbors and tourists sitting around the store mixed with intermittent pauses as they sunk their teeth into Meaghan's wares, leaving even the chattiest person speechless for a moment. Mostly, she remembered her mother, smiling in colorful aprons and heels, baking while she talked with her guests. Anna would kneed dough or ice cupcakes and just listen as the adults talked about new businesses moving into the area or the latest match made in O'Kelly or how some hiker heard something again up near Emily's Peak. Whenever this got mentioned, Meaghan would glance at Anna and give who ever was talking a look, along with the statement, “We don't know anything about that.” Always the same look, always the same statement. They would quiet down real quick, knowing full well about those few people who failed to heed Meaghan's looks and were asked to leave the store, or found themselves running out, Meaghan behind them with a wooden spoon, her Scottish eyes blazing.

Anna, now 28, was no longer a child, and her mother's bakery no longer wafted deliciousness through the town, luring customers in for just one cookie. In its place stood an outfitting company, complete with solar panels and a watering hole for dogs, owned by two young guys from up in Boone. At least, that's what the sign claimed. Anna kind of thought it was probably owned by some smart grandmother who just used the names of her grandkids for marketing purposes. Those boys probably lived in Nashville. While it looked like a nice store, it only nauseated her a little more. This town just wasn't right. Maybe that's why they left in such a rush 12 years before.

That fateful night, Anna awoke to her mother urgently whispering her name, her full name, which, at the time, everyone knew her by. “Maryanne--grab you shoes and coat and move girl, move!” As the pair ran to the front door, they both froze. The bakery, across the street on the corner,, blazed in front of their eyes, huge flames reaching for every panel of wood, every roof tile, every flower in the window boxes. It all burned. “What have I done?” Meaghan whispered. “What is this place?” She grabbed a confused Anna, pulled her to the car, and never looked back.

Anna's life changed dramatically—they moved to the Pacific Northwest and started a new life there—a new bakery, new school, and new name. Maryanne got shorted to Anna, and life got on. Despite the unpleasantness of their departure, Anna could not shake the memories of her hometown, or the mystery surrounding the fire and her mother's fear.

In college, she majored in business, minored in history, and worked at a bakery, using her mother's secret recipes to entice customers, eventually managing the store for the owners and finding some measure of success. She got married her senior year to a man who couldn't say no to her or to her butterscotch brownies, only to be widowed four years later. Her beloved husband, Nathan, left for a rafting trip one weekend and never came home. Anna wept and grieved for months, then slowly began to find healing in her baking and in her new found love, hiking. Oregon lended itself to the outdoor types, and while Anna always like being outside, she'd never felt such a pull to climb peaks or reveled in the rush of seeing the world below. There, she felt organic, peaceful, and caught up, for a moment, in some unseen romance. She could finally breathe.

For two years after Nathan's death, that's all she did, with Sig, the sweet and fiercely loyal Doberman she rescued. All morning she baked and served her customers, and most evenings were filled with traversing through the woods.

While she walked, she planned, and eventually made some major decisions. One day, she packed her Subaru station wagon, loaded up Sig, kissed her mama, and headed east down the same road they'd traveled up so many years before.

As she bade farewell to her mother, Meaghan cautioned, “O'Kelly is not what it seems, Maryanne Margaret.” Anna sensed the serious in Meaghan's voice. “Keep your eyes open and your head on straight—do what is right and good, no matter the cost.” Anna saw a quick sadness in her mother's eyes, which then recovered and smiled again. “You'll know what to do.” With one more wave, she drove away.

What do ya'll think??

my book

I think I might try to write a book. Its something I've wanted to do for awhile...like, years. I pondered writing non-fiction, but despite my well known, and loved, verbose nature, I just couldn't think of something that I knew that much about that hadn't been said in numerous books before. So, for now, non-fiction is shelved, and will probably collect a nice layer of dust while I focus some time and energy into a little fiction.

What type of fiction, you may ask? Humor? drama? love and romance? blood and guts? Yes. Blatant Christian romance that will sell out at Lifeways around the nation. Probably not. In fact, hopefully not. I want to write a book that appeals to a large audience, which will probably entail women from ages 16-60. It definitely has to be funny, with twists and turns and unexpected-ness around every page. Of course there will be love (I'm a girl, remember), probably some deaths and accidents but no gore...gore is for weirdos. Ultimately, I want this book to be about redemption--a major theme in my life, and about selfless, life giving love--the major theme of the gospel. This story will not be an analogy or an allegory, but it will have reflections of what I believe about God, Jesus, the Spirit, transformation, love, and life.

I don't know if I'll get through 2 pages and quit, or if I can bust out a few chapters in the next few weeks. Some of you lucky readers (or possibly unlucky, depending on your point of view) might get to take part in this venture, as my "editors" and "critics". Let me know if you want in.

As a teaser, I can already tell you that this story is about a young mother called Jillian, her 5 year old dauther Laurel, a small town called O'Kelly Creek nestled in a valley in the mountains of NC, and something supernatural up in those mountains that the townsfolk don't like to mention.

So here we go...updates to follow.

Oh, I forgot to mention--Chris's anniversary surprise! It was perfect :-) He had a scavenger hunt around durham to our favorite place to find a picture of us that I'd dropped there. The clues ended up leading him to Nana's, where we had a great great meal. SOOO good! We exchanged gifts there--he got me a lovely necklace literally laced with herbs. I got him 2 tickets to see Doc Watson in concert at the NC Museum of Art, and a journal will notes about him from people he works with, family, and friends to encourage his sweet heart. I think and hope he felt as appreciated as he is by me. Honey, I can't believe its been 1 year already...and so many great ones to go. Love you!