Materfamilias

Word of the Day:

Materfamilias (MEY-ter-fuh-mil-ee-uhs)
-noun
The mother of a family

Happy Mother's Day everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend filled with flowers, cakes, cards, food, and lots of celebrations! Mother's Day is a very important day, because it gives well-deserved recognition to all the mothers in the world for all the back breaking work they do to keep a house running smoothly.

On February 19, 2002, I became a mother to my oldest son Donovan, and wrote this poem to express how I felt about my new arrival. Hope you enjoy it.


New Beginnings
by: Sarah Lenore

Life breathed into a tiny seed
From one breath to another
I can hear his heartbeat
It beats for us
And ours for him
A blessing disguised by circumstance
A joyful day
Proof, at last, that He is here
A miraculous moment in one day
Followed by a lifetime of happiness

I'm Totally Scared! Can't You Hear Me Screaming?

Ooh it's Thursday! Which means it's almost Friday, which means it's almost the weekend, which means it's almost time to...sit around and not do much of anything, cuz I don't have any plans.

It's alright. One thing that is certain about my life? There is never a dull moment.

I'd actually like to go see Water for Elephants this weekend for three reasons:

1. Robert Pattinson—I think we all know how I feel about Twilight. Gotta support Edward in all that he does.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Reese Witherspoon—I have loved Reese ever since she was in Cruel Intentions. Sure she stole my future husband (Ryan Phillipe), but that's ok. They're divorced now, so I think it's time to let that be water under the bridge.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. It's based on a bestselling novel—I have to support my fellow novelists in their successes. One day when my many novels are transformed from the New York Times Best Sellers List to the big screen, I would definitely appreciate the support of as many people as possible (wink, wink).
   
   

   

   I just love that author's name! She forgot to run it through spell check though.

   
   

Anyway, the last movie I saw was Scream 4, and I have to say I enjoyed it in all of its corny glory. I think it was a nice tribute to the original, which I loved more than words can express to you. It was scary, yet funny! It was scarunny!

I mean, I'm a girl who likes funny, and that movie had me rolling-on-the-floor-laughing!

“Billy, you cut me too deep. I really think I'm dyin' here!” --Mathew Lillard as Stuart

I also enjoy the fact that the movie gives a lot of nods to Michigan. Mathew Lillard was born in Lansing, and the fourth movie was filmed right here in Ann Arbor. I absolutely love the idea of the filming industry coming to Michigan. I think it could really help our economy.

One thing I learned in school while studying the Great Depression is that people will always pay to be entertained no matter how poor they are. I can tell you from experience, that is so true! I barely have two pennies to rub together, and I can't tell you how many movies I've seen in the past year.

Since moving to the Ann Arbor area in July, I have noticed that someone in local or state government is definitely making a conscious effort to have some major motion pictures filmed in our city. We've had Richard Gere, Scream, Ryan Gosling, and George Clooney filming here, and those are just the ones I can mention off the top of my head.

So, hats off to those of you who are making this happen for us. Now, can we work on getting Motown back? That would be excellent.

Writer's Corner: First Drafts

Happy hump day everyone! Hope you are all enjoying your work week. At this very moment, I am probably in the Zingerman's warehouse slaving over bags of fresh baked breads, a never ending variety of olive oils, thickly sliced bacon, and do-it-yourself Reuben sandwich kits. It's all good, because I heart my job and coworkers, so bring it on ZMO! I'm am totally ready for it!

Praise the lard! (It's a Zingerman's thing)

After work though, it's back to writing, and currently I am working on the first draft of my young adult novel. First drafts are kind of annoying to be honest. You just sort of spew everything you can think of down on paper and hope that it is intelligible when you're finished. Generally the first draft is pure crap that you wouldn't allow anyone whom you had any amount of respect for to read.

It's the part of the process that makes most writer's feel as though they are complete and total failures with absolutely no talent who should just pack it up and quit. If they do summon the courage to bring a first draft to, say, a writer's group meeting or something, it is carefully handed over to their fellow comrades along with a barrage of explanations as to why it is not up to the standard that their work would be had they had the time to tweak it over and over again until it was just right. You can see the fear in their eyes matched with an expression that reads, “Please for the love of God, go easy on me! It's not finished yet! I swear I can do better!”

Our writing is our baby. We are protective parents not wanting to birth our creations prematurely. It's not ready! We shout inside our heads, the lungs aren't developed! Can we at least inject it with a dose of steroids before bringing it into the world so suddenly?

Aww...so precious!

I guess anytime a person does something creative, they are exposing a part of their soul to others. We feel vulnerable and afraid that we will be judged. We want our creations to be a perfect specimen of our inner selves before boldly putting it on display.

The beauty of the first draft, however, is that it is where the magic happens. When we write about ourselves, it is almost like therapy. We are cathartically purging ourselves of the things that weigh heavily on our minds. Whether positive or negative thoughts, we just have to get them out.

When we are writing fiction, the first draft is where we are exploring, learning, and crafting this world that no one else knows about. It didn't even exist before our genius little muses whispered their existence into our ears. We meet people we never knew before; people whose appearance and mannerisms are so clear in our minds, but can't be found anywhere else in the universe. Some of these characters we love, and some we love to hate, but through this process of discovery we have reached our peak of creativity! It's after the first draft that all the work of making sure that what we have created actually means something to others as well.

It was after reading one of my pieces that a friend of mine once commented, “that is exactly how I feel, but I would never have been able to put it into words like that.” There in lies the magic that a talented writer can create. We all have a story to tell, it's how we tell the story that determines whether others will really want to read about it.

The craft of writing is 1 part talent, 2 parts hard work, and 1 part inspiration (yes, that is an exact formulation, in case you were wondering). It's through hard work that our talent and inspiration is truly reflected.

As writers we spend hours at our computers pouring over our work over and over again, and still it never quite seems finished. I think partly because every time we come back to it, we have grown a little bit—we have experienced something different, read something that influenced us, or met someone who inspired us. Our growth as human beings means that our writing will always be fluid. There is always something that can be perfected.

My advice to all writers is to not be afraid of the first draft. Don't let its complete crappiness deter you from doing the work to complete the process. There is beauty in every aspect of the writing process, especially in its fluidity, and you just never know what sort of impact your crappy writing may have on another human being whose life has not yet reached its final draft.

Yolana's Story

“I used to have certain triggers that would make me want to drink. The ping of ice hitting a glass on television would make me so thirsty.”

Spotlight on Homelessness: Yolana's Story

Happy Tuesday ladies and gents. Mother Nature seems to have decided to alternate rain and sun every other day around here, which has given me a few opportunities to get in a good walk. One wonderful thing about walks is you get to meet random people, and sometimes (if you're lucky) those random people will let you pet their super cute dogs. I must be the luckiest girl in the world, because I met a couple with the sweetest dog ever! She is a Golden Poodle named Sookie.

What a sweetheart!

First of all, I've never heard of a Golden Poodle before, and I was utterly shocked! Who comes up with these things? I mean, she is a beautiful and super friendly dog, but she doesn't really look anything like a Golden Retriever. She's all Poodle. Jet-black Poodle! Apparently Poodle is the dominant breed.

What I love the most about Sookie is her name. My love of vampires runs deep. I am a huge Twilight fan and have also been known to get in a season of True Blood here and there. Seems like these dog owners are people I might really have something in common with.

A little advice for Sookie the dog? Stay away from vampires. Like most of the men in the world, they are out for one thing and one thing only--to completely suck the life force out of you! You deserve better. (Just joshin' guys! You know I have mad love for ya!)

Anywayz, today is the day to shed a light on the issue of homelessness, and my friend Yolana was gracious enough to let me interview her for this cause.

Yolana and her youngest daughter

Yolana is a 42 year old woman with two adult children, a son (19) and daughter (21), as well as an eleven year old daughter who resides with her in a family shelter in Ann Arbor. She is originally from Inkster where she spent four months in the Wayne County Family Center in 2000.

At that time she was pregnant with her youngest daughter and living in and out friends houses and hotel rooms. Her baby was born a month early at 4 lbs. 10 oz., and her pediatrician did not feel comfortable allowing the baby to go home to an unstable living situation with such a low birth weight, so Yolana was forced to rely on the Family Center for shelter.

The Family Center helped her attain housing and even was able to provide her with furnishings for her new home, but due to the alcoholism that had plagued her since the age of 17, her struggles with homelessness were far from over.

Yolana comes from a family of alcoholics. They are drinkers. That's just what they do—every night of the week pretty much. Her ex-husband would bring home four forties (two for each of them) and a pint of Crown Royal every night. It was as natural to her as eating breakfast in the morning.

So, when did Yolana finally know that her drinking habit wasn't as natural as she thought, and that enough was enough? On a cold February afternoon in 2010. Like a good mother she had planned to use a taxi service to pick her daughter up from school, but her plans went awry.

Yolana had been drinking and was already highly intoxicated when she arrived at the school. She thought she had enough money for the cab ride. Her H&R Block card was right in her purse, or so she thought. Apparently, she was so intoxicated she did not remember that her son had borrowed the card. The only cash she had was spent at the liquor store, and she was relying on paying credit for cab fare.

When she and the cab driver realized that there was no money to pay for the ride, he dropped her and her daughter off at the Ypsilanti Bus Station and drove off. They were stuck a half mile from home with no money during the coldest month in Michigan, and there was nothing to do but walk.

Yolana doesn't remember most of the events of that day, but her daughter sure does. She remembers arguing with her mother about which was the quickest way to walk home. She was scared, so she stopped a woman and asked her for help. As soon as she realized that this woman's idea of help was to call the police, she ran to a nearby store and broke down in tears.

There, she was spotted by a christian woman who took her back to her school for help. The school called the police and Yolana's freightened ten year old daughter was sent to stay with her grandmother for a couple weeks.

Yolana was taken to Annapolis hospital for a four day detox, then sent to Chelsea to begin recovery. She has now been a recovering alcoholic since February 11, 2010 and says the hardest thing about recovery is that she will never be able to drink again.

“Sometimes I'm envious of other people who can drink and stop. I can't. I'm a binge drinker. If I take one drink, I can't stop,” says Yolana.

What keeps her from taking that drink? Her daughter, who refers to what happened in February of 2010 as “The Incident”. Yolana doesn't want her daughter to have to live through anymore “incidents” on her behalf. Despite Yolana's struggles with addiction, her current housing situation is more due to a crumbling economy than to alcoholism.

In January of 2011, she came home to a note on her apartment door informing her that the building was going into foreclosure and that all the residents would have to vacate by February 3, 2011. The landlord no longer had money to pay utilities either.

As if suddenly losing your home wasn't bad enough, the daycare center that she had been working at was also closing. Without a job or a place to live, she knew she would once again have to do what she had done eleven years ago. She was going to have to turn to the shelter system. So, she finds herself back at square one, but her spirits are high. She is still sober, she is positive about her future, and her daughter's vibrant and strong personality gives her strength.

Yolana is currently looking for a job, and plans on improving her credit rating so that she can obtain affordable housing.. She has experience working in a bakery and would love to return to a similar position, but would take just about anything at the moment. A year from now, she would like to be settled into a full time position somewhere and enjoying a stable home environment with her daughter. She will be a grandmother in August, and can't wait for her grandchild to be able to visit her in her own home.

Yolana's biggest regret in life is succumbing to alcoholism, but she is proud of herself for doing her best to be a good mother to her children. She has always put them first. Her oldest daughter is attending Law School in Chicago on a scholarship, her son is anxiously expecting his first child, and her youngest daughter is well adjusted and extremely intelligent despite living with her memory of “The Incident”.

Someday soon, Yolana hopes to be able to take a trip to Disney World with her daughter. Sounds perfect to me. I can't think of a better way to celebrate years of recovery and stable housing than in the happiest place on earth. Book a ticket for me too! I wouldn't want to miss it for the world!

Spring Forward

Happy Monday everybody! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Mine was pretty alright. I did a little shopping, a lot of writing, and enjoyed the beautiful weather. It's almost summer! Can't wait!

Speaking of summer, it's about that time for all my college friends to be finished with the winter semester, and ready to kick their summer plans into high gear. Umm...college buddies, don't forget to include your dear friend Sarah in all the spectacular summer activities that I know you have prepared. My calendar is open (sadly), so call me!

So, it's poetry Monday, and today I decided to pull out a poem from the archives. This is one that I wrote a few years ago, and I thought that with the current change of seasons and everything, it seemed relevant.

This piece is entitled Springtime Innocence and it is about how life is experienced so much differently when we are children. There is a lot of symbolism. Sorry for those of you who like rhyming poems. This one is more thoughtful. I hope you enjoy it, and I would love to hear what you guys think (even if you think it's garbage)! It's one of those poems that I don't usually share with people, because I'm not sure they will get it. If you are someone who gets it, then I would especially love to hear from you!

Hope you all enjoy it!

Springtime Innocence

By: Sarah Lenore

The innocence of our spring

Each day sends serenity in the springtime of life

Endless possibilities flow in a stream of blissful ignorance

Like lilies lazing in placid waters

The time of our spring

Molasses creeping from a frosty jar

Crisp apples blossoming on a misty morning

Bright and fragrant, but gone all too swiftly

The freedom of our spring

Free as chimes ringing in a sunny breeze

Completely untouched by the harsh storms of life

A phoenix risen from the ashes of those who came before us

The sensations of our spring

Every color the most vibrant

Every flower the most fragrant

Air fresh and full of renewal

The spring of life

A birth of curiosity and noesis

A time to learn how to love

A knowledge that will carry us through

The blistering summer heat

The loss of falling autumn leaves

And the inevitably frigid winter

In a League of My Own

Yay! It's Friday! I love Fridays, as you should all be aware. I really don't have anything planned, besides work, but it's still exciting to know that the weekend is coming up. The forecast from my Android is that it should be sunny and in the sixties all weekend, which is decent. I can definitely handle that. I'll probably go for a couple walks to get this body in motion.

That's totally what I am going to look like by the end of the summer!

Winter sure does make a girl not want to walk anywhere! I don't even want to leave the house in the winter if I can avoid it, but the promise of summer brings with it a whole new attitude. I want to venture out into the world and do stuff. Go for walks, ride a bike, get some sun, and this year I will also be stealing bases as the coolest member of Zingerman's softball team.

We will be competing as part of Ann Arbor's restaurant league beginning in May, and I am really excited! I am totally anticipating to be a complete and utter failure at the sport, but it will be a blast! I love my coworkers, so anything I do with them is a guaranteed good time.

And who knows? Maybe I won't be such an utter failure afterall. Maybe I will be up to bat in the bottom of the ninth during our championship game. The score will be tied 9-9. The bases will be loaded and Zingerman's will have two outs. I'll step up to the plate, knock the dirt off my kleats with the bottom of my league-approved metal bat, and assume my position. The bat will rock back and forth behind my ear as I prepare for the pitch. My brows will furrow and sweat will drip from my forehead, stinging as the salty secretion enters my eyes. I don't blink. I need to have visual contact on the ball at all times. Eyes on the ball, eyes on the ball is the mantra that plays repeatedly in my head.

I have blocked out the cheers from the crowd that I enjoyed while making my way to the plate, “Sarah, Sarah, Sarah...” Though I am flattered by their enthusiastic acknowledgement of my shear awesomeness, I can not succumb to vanity at the moment. I am here for one thing and one thing only; to annihlate the competition.

The less awesome pitcher from Applebee's (or some other restaurant in the Ann Arbor area that is way less awesome than Zingerman's) prepares for the pitch. She's winding up. I lean back. She release's the ball. Wait for it. As the ball approaches just the right distance from me (acccording my calculations and superior depth perception) I begin to lean forward using all my body weight and swing toward the ball.

Metal bat against leather ball is all I can hear. It takes off like a lightening bolt, right down the middle. I run like a bat out of hell, using my superior Darby thigh muscles to catapult me around first base and toward second. The ball is nowhere in sight, so I round second and make a beeline for third. Third baseman is still waiting impatiently for the ball as I round his base and head towards home.

Home. I'm almost there. I get a sudden surge of speed as I dig my kleats into the ground, lower my head, and dart towards home. The ball is near! I can see the anticipation in the eyes of the catcher! Am I going to make it? I'm going to have to slide. I lean to the side, allow my self to drift toward the ground, and brace myself for impact.

I've made it home, but where's the ball? Did I make it? Where's the ball?!

Ok, so I stole most of that from the most epic scene in A League of Their Own...

...which is one of my favorite movies, but it could totally happen! 

Where's the ball? I don't know, you will just have to stay tuned to Discovering Sarah during the months of May, June, and July to find out how the story goes.

However it ends, I'm sure the season will be one to remember, and I can't wait to share the experience with all my readers!

Have a great weekend everyone! Check me out next week!

Writer's Corner: Noah Lukeman

It's Thursday Discovering Sarah readers! April showers bring May flowers, and if the the past few days is any indication, Ann Arbor should look like the Garden of Eden by next month.

Yesterday was exciting for me, because I attended my first writer's group meeting! It was a lot of fun to listen to other authors present their work. There is so much I can learn from other talented writers and I am so happy to have the opportunity to perfect my craft with people who are just as committed to perfecting their craft as I am.

In 2009, when I began writing my first novel, I read a book called “The First Five Pages” written by Noah Lukeman, which gave me a lot of insight on what editors are looking for when reading submissions. He said that editors are most likely not going to read a whole manuscript if the first five pages aren't strong. In actuality, it doesn't even take that long to know whether or not someone is a strong writer.

He is 100% correct about that! I once exchanged chapters with a man who claimed to be a writer, and I could tell from the title of the piece that it was going to be horrid. I couldn't get past the first few words let alone the first five pages! It was like watching the beginning of a season of American Idol when most of the people are completely tone deaf, yet convinced that their singing abilities are on point.

Mr. Lukeman points out several things that writers do which would make an editor reject them without reading much of their work. I find his insight into the publishing industry extremely helpful when writing my own novel, and also while listening to the writing of other members in the group.

My advice for the day? If you are serious about writing and would like to one day begin submitting your work to agents and publishers, “The First Five Pages” by Noah Lukeman is a must-read for you.

That's it for today's Writer's Corner. Hope you all have a great Thursday, I will be hard at work on my novel, which I've been seriously neglecting lately. I will have the opportunity to read one of my own pieces at the next group meeting, so I will let you all know how that goes. Hopefully, they won't chew me up and spit me out! Oh, the horror!

Other books by Noah Lukeman:

• The First Five Pages
• A Dash of Style
• The Plot Thickens
• How to Write a Great Query Letter
• How to Land (and keep) a Literary Agent
• Ask a Literary Agent (year one)