Celebrate

Celebration is defined as the observation of a notable occasion with festivities. The older I get the more I appreciate notable occasions, which can be anything you want them to be. I also value festivities more. Again, festivities are what you make them, a toast with a few close friends, or an elaborate gathering of the masses. I’m starting to think we should pause more often and raise our glasses in celebration to all achievements, large or small. It might be an age thing.

A few days ago, we had a reason to celebrate. For years I had been saying, “Some day I’m going to write a book.” Char, both the kids, and many friends had heard those words over and over again. Well, five copies of my book arrived. I was on the 14th hole of a golf course when I called Char to see if any packages had come. To my surprise she said yes. So there I am on the golf course a few holes to go knowing my book had arrived. I didn’t finish very well. I wanted to get home, gather a few friends and celebrate the long awaited ‘book’.

Several things should be pointed out about this book. While I had talked about it for years, I really didn’t get serious about it until January 2006. That’s when I took many of my 2005 blog stories and decided that would be ‘the book’. After spending hours and hours reformatting and reviewing the stories it was ready to be published. I talked to printer after printer in the metro area and only a few were interested in printing it. But, the cost was enormous. It might have had something to do with the fact I only wanted a few of them. Frustrated I pushed the idea to the back burner.

Then Cliff made a post called, Cliff's Excellent Adventure. Marilyn and Dan had found a way to turn Cliff’s blog into a book. Thanks to them, my book idea resurfaced. I studied how to do it, learned new computer skills and spent many evenings and weekends reformatting ‘the book’. Thankfully, Char was pretty patient with me (again).

Homespun Headlines 2005 will never be a best seller. It won’t show up on Oprah’s booklist either. But it is done. For me it is a great way of capturing some stories and perhaps passing them down to future generations. You can view the book by clicking here.

For a while, it is giving us another reason to celebrate.