What Have We Done

Last night, on the spur of the moment, we added another furry animal to our clan. We bought another Cockapoo puppy at our School's Auction. The fact that the money goes to the school helped us in our decision. She is all black with a white beard and bib. She is so sweet. I must say, when we got home, a bit of panic set in. The kids didn't even know about it. I had a moment of "What have we done?" Our other dog Mango, is so great and I wondered if adding another would change the dynamics too much. I slept on it and felt better in the morning. I truly enjoy training dogs. I am a HUGE Dog Whisperer fan and find satisfaction in forming a well adjusted happy dog. Am I perfect? By no means, but for the most part, I do ok. Our kids came home and went crazy for the puppy and also made Mango feel loved too. We are all very empathetic people so we all seem to feel for our animals too. I love seeing my kids that way. So we will see how this story turns out. I think I have to write a story for "Hurshey" now because I have a Flip Side story about Mango.

"From the dog's point of view, his master is an elongated and abnormally cunning dog. " ~Mabel Louise Robinson

A Call to the Flip Side

A friend of mine called me the other day. After a brief "catching up", she proceeded to say, "I need your help looking at the flip side." The mere fact that she thought about looking at the flip side is what I am trying to accomplish. She was at a volleyball game for her daughter with her family. Some kids and parents at the game were being very unsportsman like and later downright inappropriate at a children's game. Without going into details, the whole event bothered my friend. How could parents let their kids act that way and sit back and watch? How could a mother act so hostile at a children's volleyball game? She didn't understand it and she was letting it affect her own emotions when there is nothing she could do about it now. She called me to try to work it out, understand it and feel better about it. We talked for a bit. I gave her my take, i sympathized and I let her talk it through herself.  Maybe the woman got so mad because she felt attacked in a public place. Maybe she felt guilty that she might not be doing a great job parenting and someone called her out on it. Whatever the reasoning for the woman's behavior or the kids' behavior, we have to see it from another viewpoint and realize we don't have to waste our emotions on something we have no control over. Now is the time to think about what might you do next time. There will be a next time. How can you resolve the problem in an effective way by understanding where the woman might be coming from?  By the end of our conversation, I think she felt better about it. It didn't change what happened and she probably has residual sore feelings about what happened but she took control of experience by looking at the flip side. And.. she asked a friend to help her do it. Her sharing will help me in the future to think about what I'd do in that situation.

Seeing it Work

There is nothing more rewarding then seeing a light bulb go off when someone begins to realize my mission to spread the Flip Side. I love it when someone comes to me and says, "I tried to look at the Flip Side today." That's it! Today, my friend wrote me an email to say that she had a really rough day. A number of bad things happened, one being a situation with another person who accused her of something.  She was very disappointed by the situation but at the end of email, she said that she had tried to look at the Flip Side and that maybe he was just protecting his hard work. It doesn't fix the situation but it brings an understanding as to why someone might be doing something. It probably kept her calmer and more rational. Our first instinct is to get upset and emotional instead of realizing someone's actual intent or reason for acting that way.

I am still struggling on the flip side with a person who is causing me distress. I have a hard time understanding "Mean" people or people who are blatantly rude. In an attempt to understand this person, I have inquired about them to a close friend who is close to her.  He gave me some important insight that I was already suspecting about her personality.  I used this information to help me understand her and gauge my interaction with her. Over and over she disappoints me with her rudeness. It causes me such distress that I have almost given up.  Then, she gives me a glimpse of her true personality that she protecting so well. She's a  little like Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde.  This is a person that I have to interact with often so this is why I am trying so hard. It is very exhausting and I am not sure how long I can feel abused and attacked. I will do my best to continue to try.

Share your stories with me about how you have had to deal with the Flip Side.

One of my favorite quotes:
"Do not repeat anything you will not sign your name to."  ~Author Unknown

Thinking about Going Live

 I would like to say ahead of time that I may make grammatical errors and/or punctuation errors as well because I am just writing while I am thinking. When I had my students writing in their journals, I would tell them not to worry about their spelling, their neatness and their punctuation as long as they, the writer, could read it. I wanted them to freely put their thoughts on paper without worrying about the technical part of it. So, if I make mistakes, forgive me. I am very busy with my life but I want to share with you. So, many times, I don't have time to edit my "journal" blog. I won't hold it against you, if you don't hold it against me.

I think today is the day that I will go live. I ran this by my dear friend to see what she thought and she liked it. Molly is still pushing me to go live.

So, when I do, read with care.
Add your comments but please be fair.
I'm learning how to share my words.
It makes me nervous, thats for sure.
Please don't judge or take things wrong.
My intentions are where they belong.
I wear my heart on my sleeve
In hopes to inspire before you leave.
I want to hear whats on your mind.
I am anxious for what I'll find.
I'll learn from you just the same.
And don't forget to add your name.

Sometimes I feel more comfortable sharing in prose. I suppose i hide in it. Chicken. I also feel more creative that way. In college, if i had to write a paper for a class, if it was appropriate, I would write it in prose. It made it less boring to write and I would guess, less boring to read. I never got a bad grade. Let me share one with you. The paper I put on here is from a theater class where we had to do mock auditions with groups of people. Really, not my bag. It was fun but I was nervous. At the end, we had to write a paper about it. Booooring. I always say, creative people are never bored. Sooo, I took a chance that I wouldn't offend the professor and I wrote it in prose.

Nervous

Ok, so I am nervous about publishing this blog. I feel like it puts me out there to be judged. Part of me is ok with that but the other part is afraid to fail. All I want to do with this blog and my book and my message is to touch lives, make people think and make a small difference in the world. Even if it touches one life, then that is all that should matter. I don't think I am perfect and I don't expect perfection from anyone. I expect that I do my best, try hard and be happy. And...I AM. I may get frazzled or overwhelmed at times but it means I am alive and kicking. So, my friend Molly is pushing me to publish this blog and my website so I can get out there and collect my following. I am trying to do that now. I thank her for taking such an interest in my new venture. She has a venture of her own that I think is amazing. She takes photographs and puts them on beautifuls. Her company is called MollyCoddle at www.mollycoddle.com. She is inspiring to me.

Now I have to get the nerve enough to publish this and send it out. I hope I can be inspiring enough and interesting enough to hold my followers. I am still learning. So read my past posts about my steps through the publishing process and share my blog with everyone. Share your thoughts here too. Inspire me too. If you have a blog, let me know. I will check it. Thanks for visiting the Flip Side.

“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”

Mother Teresa of Calcutta quotes

Birth of a Story

I haven't written in a while for life swoops you up and flings you into the chaos of managing everyday activities. School has started so I am busy getting back into routines with my kids. I have lunch duty once a week which I love because I can spend time in school with my kids and get to know their friends. I also become a face in the school. I also volunteered to do the 2nd grade Auction project for my kids. That was fun. For the second grade, it had to be related to their Holy Communion. So each child made a mini cross with mosaic tiles and each child wrote their names on little white tiles. We pieced them all together to make one big cross. . We mosaiced the rest of the cross. It looks beautiful. We hope to make some money for the school at the Auction.
So that has also kept me busy along with early mornings, lunches, sports, playdates, homework, dinners and more. I love it but not as much as my pillow at night.

As for my book, it is in the illustration project now. Denise is amazing. She is bringing my book to life. A few weeks ago, I had to approve all of the sketches of the entire book. She took my words and suggestions and brought my story to life. Her creative genius and talent in drawing has brought more to my book than I ever expected. Her characters are endearing and fun. She has created stories within the story using the characters. Her attention to detail is remarkable. I am in love. I look forward to meeting her someday. Her is an example of her drawings. They are rough sketches.

So, I have approved the entire book. Giddy with excitement. Now we wait while she paints the pictures. Well, before she paints them, I found out she has to transfer all of the sketches to the appropriate paper to paint on. I can't even imagine. What a process. She let my editor know that she has completed that part and is painting now. It's really not that hard to wait when you understand how much work she is putting into this process. I am so blessed to have found Denise. I hope she is enjoying the process as well. 

According the contract, she has until November 1st to complete the illustrations. From there, I think they go to proof and layout. Another approval and then it goes to print. Exciting time for me. I am nervous too. I don't know what it will bring. I am hoping everyone will LOVE it and want to hear more of them. 

I am starting a Flip Side Movement to get everyone to start looking at the Flip Side. Hopefully it will bring with it empathy for others, kindness and generosity and most of all bring hope that there is goodness in people in the world. 

I wil keep you updated when I hear about the progress. Thanks for following.

I've never seen bad drawing destroy a good idea. On the other hand, I've never seen a good drawing save a bad idea.

Paul Conrad 

Let Me Illustrate the Process

So now we are in the illustration process. It has been a while since I entered because it took a while to secure an illustrator. There were many illustrators of whom I love their style. Marian contacted many of them and either they are well out of our budget or they are too busy to begin. This part took about 2 months. This was very difficult waiting to find out who was going to bring my book alive. It was out of my hands and up to Marian to fill that important role. Fortunately, we found a woman named Denise Clemmensen to fill those shoes. She is fabulous. Her art is amazing and just what I was hoping for. She lives in California. I have not met her or talked to her yet and I probably won’t until the process is over. That is a bummer. I am hoping that if this goes smoothly, she will illustrate the whole series. 

Once we found Denise and she agreed to our guidelines, she began to sketch the characters of my book. We gave her some guidelines for who the characters are and what they should look like. She actually asked me to send her pictures of my kids as samples. I was thrilled to do that. So, again, I have to wait and wait. Again, a very difficult thing to do. 

Then, I get the call that the character sketches are in. Woo hoo. Kris, my editor didn’t rave about them. Why? Oh no, what if they aren’t that good? Maybe she doesn’t want to put her opinion on them. We discussed what we were hoping for. Oh no. Now I got worried. I couldn’t go see them for 4 days. Would you believe the sketches arrived on the last two days of my children’s school? No chance I could make it to Kris until the following week. Ugh. 

Monday came and off I went to see Kris and MY SKETCHES. I was more nervous than any other time. I was afraid I would have to reject someone’s art work. That would make me feel terrible. When I arrived, Kris said that they were fabulous. Whew. Why didn’t she say that in the first place. I was so relieved. When I saw them, I immediately loved what I saw. they are darling. Sweet and simple and fun. I was giddy with excitement. I had to approve them so the illustrator could continue with the book sketches. We discussed the contract between myself and the illustrator.  Once we sign the contract, she can begin. She is going to bring my story alive. We have to supply her with an outline of a general idea of what each page should look like and where the text will go. We also gave her some creative license to do what she feels is right for the story.

Now we wait again. She has 45 days to complete the sketches. Then, I have to approve every pictures on every page before she can go on to put color to them. She will make any changes that we request. She then has another 45 to 90 days to complete the book which is longer than we expected but the book will be done when the book gets done. And then I can share it with you.

“The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.”

 Arnold H. Glasgow quotes