OMG, I almost forgot to blog today! I’m so close to my goal of 365 straight days!
Category: Uncategorized
I’ll feel better tomorrow.
Just touching base, because I said I would write for 365 days straight. Not feeling well at the moment, but wanted to say hi.
On the Road Again
On the last of my internship trips for the summer. I feel like writing but don’t have the time. See you soon!
On the road again
I’m on the road today, hanging out while my husband attends a librarian conference. This hotel, which bills itself as an ‘executive center’, does not have a good work table anywhere in the lobby. I may have to go to Bux and write.
Contractual obligation again
On the road — two internship visits later I’m on the way home. Peace.
Living by The Four Agreements
- Be Impeccable With Your Word.
- Don’t Take Anything Personally.
- Don’t Make Assumptions.
- Always Do Your Best.
These are the Four Agreements, from the book written by dom Miguel Ruiz, and I live my life by these.
Being impeccable with one’s word, to me, means not to speak unless one can speak truth. When we lie, we do not speak truth. When we say ‘yes’ when we mean ‘no’, we are not speaking truth. When we say negative things about ourselves or others, we are not speaking the whole truth.
Not taking things personally is exactly that — realizing that when someone says something, whether negative or positive, about you, they are speaking about their view of the world. They are speaking about themselves.
Don’t make assumptions — this, to me, is the easiest one to understand. I teach it in my case management class when we talk about clients, especially cultural diversity. Ask for clarification. Observe the other. Be careful to distinguish between facts and assumptions.
Always do your best. I make it a point to do this, understanding that my best during times of stress and distress is not the same as my best during good times. I can rest knowing that I did my best.
I know that The Four Agreements are considered New Age wisdom, and I reject a lot of that. But these four rules make so much sense in life and have made me a much calmer, more empathetic being.
First Post
Hello! I’m Lauren’s husband, Richard. I’m also a writer, having written a smattering of short stories, some poetry, two novels, and multiple screenplays. I also on occasion help with a little bit of story development on Lauren’s two current book series: the Hidden in Plain Sight universe and her Christmas romance series, Kringle Conspiracy, which features several stories set in a fictionalized version of the town we live in here in NW Missouri.
So suffice it to say that while this post IS a bit of blatant marketing (hint, hint) in that I’m writing about Lauren’s writing in hopes of generating sales, it’s also because I think she writes thought-provoking series with interesting characters, and although her Hidden in Plain Sight series touches on some serious topics (yes, there’s a threatened species-wide apocalypse for humanity), you shouldn’t be put off by that, because (spoilers), humanity does survive. As writer Elizabeth Scarborough put it: “Luckily there is a sequel.”
So what I would suggest is reading the books to get to know her characters: the near-immortal Archetypes, the humans gifted with talents from Gaia, the members of the aforementioned Kringle Conspiracy who really do spread the spirit of Christmas(tm) while stumbling through their romances.
Trust me, you’ll find a good read in all of them.
My Relationship Mistakes
The experiences that helped me grow the most in my life were my relationship mistakes. When I was younger I had what is called in the literature an anxious attachment style. It comes from a childhood with an overwhelmed mother who used threats of abandonment as discipline. So I developed anxious-attached relationships with my boyfriends.
In common language, I was anxious and clingy. I chose people with avoidant attachment styles, which means they did not necessarily want to be in relationships. The males were ambivalent, distant, or otherwise not committed. This made me more anxious and clingy, which made them more noncommittal and distant, and … it was a total mess.
It took me a long while to break this cycle. One of the best things I did was spend many years outside of a relationship, to the point where I didn’t need a relationship anymore. And when I no longer needed one, I took the risk that found me the right one.
Sick still
I think it’s the flu. I’m still sick. Wish me luck.
Unincorporated Areas
Daily writing prompt
Name an attraction or town close to home that you still haven’t got around to visiting.
I have this fascination with unincorporated areas in the US — these are not quite towns, but places that have names and very little population. They fascinate me because they obviously have a history and, at least at some time, an identity, yet many of them are forgotten now.
Some of them have road signs, such as Quitman, which is in the county where I live. I have been to Quitman and seen the small collection of houses there. According to Wikipedia, there are 45 people there in 23 households as of the 2010 census (Wikipedia, 2025). However, an unincorporated area’s road sign doesn’t have a population posted, which is part of how one can tell it’s unincorporated.
Other unincorporated areas are unmarked, but can be found in the memory of people who lived there. Wikipedia may have information on unincorporated areas in a county. Having the name of the unincorporated area, one can often locate them on a maps app on the phone. Even Gaynor, MO, which is listed in Wikipedia as ‘extinct’, can be found on Google Maps.
I have not been to Gaynor, but I have been to both Quitman and Wilcox, the two other unincorporated areas in Nodaway County, Missouri. And I remain fascinated by these former towns and not-quite towns that haven’t quite disappeared from human memory.
Words Like Me 