Thank you so much for your reply and your book recommendations.

God Bless You!
Linda

As for the book thing, I am going through the same thing trying to write a thesis. The larger size of the task makes it seem like trying to eat an elephant from tail to trunk. I think the suggestion of breaking it down is a good one, focus on one chapter at a time as if it were an essay on its own.

I am so very sorry for your losses. As for books for your niece, Linda, I might recommend something by/about Dorothy Day or Thomas Merton. If she wants a light read (something you could recommend because it's a "fun read" so it doesn't seem like you're pushing religion on her), I recommend My Life With the Saints — it's sweet, funny, well-written, light and yet also has an emphasis on serving the poor.

I know there were a few other comments I wanted to reply to but now I'm out of time. Thank you, everyone!

I've found that the longer the written work, the harder something is. You've got threads to weave into a huge Persian rug rather than a hook mat that you might put in your kitchen. Effort increases as the length does.

Now, for me, novels are easier to conceptualize and even write than short stories. But they also take so much more work for me.

It's a matter of filling up so much space with that many words, all of which need to have a point and purpose.

An essay, on the other hand, makes one point, and all you need are a few arguments to make the point. However, a ten-page essay is harder than a five-page essay. And so on.

Liturgy of the Hours

That ending line totally kept it from being creepy. Too funny.

And I have to say, when I first started looking at homeschooling, one of the books said, "Relax! If you can potty train your child, you can homeschool!" And I thought, "I am so doomed. My kid is over 3.5 yrs old, and he's still in diapers!"

But, we made it and here we are!

OK, I gotta throw in my two cents' worth here, knowing full well that (a) it wasn't asked for and (b) every family is different.I've got 7 kids, and 6 are potty trained. This is what worked FOR US.

I never did the timer thing, or spent my day taking them to the toilet or asking them if they had to go. I'm not that organized, and it would be more than my little befuddled brain could take to make sure I asked consistently through the day if they had to go! *grin*

It came down to them being dry consistently through the night, and being able to understand and get themselves dressed and get themselves on the toilet/potty seat. That usually meant 3-3.5 years (yeah, we do it late here!).

I gave them a two-week warning with instructions on how the whole bathroom thing worked, and then on the assigned day, I took away the diapers and told them that they were responsible for running to the bathroom if they needed to go. If they had an accident, they had to take their wet pants off by themselves.

All were stunned… none thought Mommy was serious… and all thought it was completely disgusting to peel wet clothes off themselves, and did not particularly enjoy having to wipe up wet spots on the floor… or taking all the wet stuff to the laundry room.

I never yelled, never lost my temper, and never embarassed them. They got lots of praise when they did it right, and I was there with them in the bathroom whenever they had to change.

All were potty trained in just a few days.

This is only to say what worked for us. I can't say how #7 will respond to this system… only time will tell! (Do you suppose God is laughing at me already?)

I've noticed that my level of discouragement regarding my manuscript is directly proportional to the number of hours I have been awake. For example, between breakfast and lunch, it's good. Between lunch and dinner, it's tolerable. After dinner, it's an embarrassment to all who know me.

What I'm trying to say is that, at some point, it becomes almost impossible to approach your manuscript objectively, even when you've let time go by. I've found that when I'm tired or distracted or jealous of other writers, I take it out on my poor manuscript.

A memoir is much more than a big essay because: 1) it's so personal, 2) you have to hold your readers' attention for a lot longer, 3) if you stick to your original outline, you've probably done something wrong…which means you spend a lot of time re-organizing.

I'm so glad that you've taken on this project, Jen, especially amidst the many things you have going on in your life. (The picture of the doll says it all!)

I'm cheering for you!

Feel free to contact me any time.