The Weekly Missive 11/3

I Will Tell You This: It's Friday and I've got some good stuff to share

Date night: Sunset views in Southport NC

Thank you for being here! If you’re returning, thanks for coming back. If you’re new, I hope you’ll return. And please do consider subscribing— I hope that this platform will allow me to create the community I once enjoyed through my blog, Cheaper By The Half Dozen. (Anyone remember that? Those were the days!)

If you like what you see, I’d love it if you’d share it with friends and family.

Though I am planning additional content (free and paid), my goal is to post this basic format every Friday, free to all subscribers. I hope you have a great weekend and I’ll see you next Friday! Warmly, Marybeth

Quote of the week: “We have been taught to believe that negative equals realistic and positive equals unrealistic.” Susan Jeffers

Post of the week: Since we are spending this weekend with dear friends (and half of our kids) in Beaufort SC, I thought I’d share this article about one of the most famous movies ever filmed there. Click here if you want to read about the continuing impact of The Big Chill.

What I’m reading: I blew through Christmas Presents by Lisa Unger this week. It’s a short, gripping read and a unique take on a Christmas novel. I’ve started Babysitter by Joyce Carol Oates and so far I’m finding it… odd. The writing is, of course, beautiful. But the structure is, so far, a little off-putting. I’m hoping that her choices will come to make sense as the story unfolds.

What I’m listening to: 1989: Taylor’s Version— just like everyone else right now, it seems. I wrote When We Were Worthy to that album, in order to get into the heads of the high school cheerleaders I was writing about. So I’ve been specifically waiting for Taylor’s version. My favorite song off the album is the vault title, Suburban Legends.

What I’m watching: Still hanging in there with Law and Order (the original) if I’m on my own time. And my husband and I have vowed and declared to finish watching the whole series of Scrubs together. Man, I love that show. It is no small feat to pull off hilarious and poignant all in one 22 minute episode.

What I’m googling: I spent last weekend googling for more details about Matthew Perry’s tragic death, just like a lot of folks, I imagine. I will admit to getting sucked into the conspiracy theories surrounding his odd last instagram posts. While I’m sure it all amounts to nothing, I’ve never been able to pass up at least looking into a good conspiracy theory. And let’s be honest, paying attention to that was easier (at first) than giving into the grief that his death brought for many of us. I read (listened to) his book last year and it was one of my top ten of the year. His honesty, humor, and vulnerability cemented his place in my heart. And the hopeful ending of the book had me rooting for his future. To hear that his big, funny, promising life had ended was crushing.

What I’m cooking: I didn’t cook this week, because I knew we were leaving town for a long weekend and wanted to avoid leftovers just going bad in the fridge. It was catch as catch can in the kitchen this week at our house. We subsisted on leftovers from last weekend, bag salads, and sandwiches. And it was fine.

What I’m following (True Crime): not much this week— following the Matthew Perry story took up time I might’ve ordinarily spent listening to true crime coverage

What I’m learning: When you combine two words to make one, for instance breakfast + lunch = brunch, or iPod + broadcast = podcast, that’s called a PORTMANTEAU

What I’m writing: this + a post about my plans/goals for November for paid subscribers, both of which go out this week. Plus horsing around with a story idea that came to me this week. I love new ideas— they’re so fresh, so promising, so unblemished! (The trick is what happens when you give them time.)

Gratitude: a gorgeous unexpected date night (see photo above), planning our upcoming weekend with my friend who is hosting us (read: all the food we will eat and wine we will drink), my large Moleskine daily planner with plenty of room for my plans, notes, and thoughts on the page, cloudless blue skies and mild fallish weather, bingeing all the news magazine shows on a Sunday afternoon, God’s compassion, and wine.

Photo From the Week:

My daughter holding the world’s cutest Ladybug on her first Halloween

(Though I’ve adapted it, this format was originally inspired by author Kim Hooper’s blog. I loved her novel No Hiding in Boise. You should check it out.)