My new Mac is almost a month old and I'm beginning to work my way through the bookmarks I had stored on my PC in hopes of getting a Mac again. One of the sites I had bookmarked was Vitamin-R.

I read about Vitamin-R, or heard about it more accurately on Storywonk with Lani and Alastair. I'd looked at it then but, of course, I didn't have a Mac. Now that I'm back in the Land of Mac and writing again everyday, or close to it, I'm looking at Vitiman-R as a way to help me chunk out my time and avoid procrastination. I'm avoiding it now - I've downloaded the trial and I'm looking forward to the white noise. I think that's going to be my favorite feature!

Now that I'm back in the land of Mac I'm returning to software that I know and love. Scrivener is one of my favorite writing programs. It's a wonderful way to break down novels, screenplays, and I guess anything bigger than grocery lists, into a manageable size. There are wonderful features like cork boards, which make moving scenes around so much easier than hunting around for your work in a lengthy, volume then cutting and pasting. There are 'full screen' features in case you are easily distracted, split screens in case you want to work on various versions, name generators, and when you are done Scrivener will compile your work into one full document. I've only scratched the surface of the parts of Scrivener I use, and I don't even use all of the wonderful features in Scrivener.

While there is a PC version of Scrivener, and I used it for a couple of years, I much prefer the original Mac version. But don't take my word for it, test it first and see if you like it.

I've mentioned before that until recently I haven't watched much television that wasn't animated or with furry monsters. That's what comes from having no time and small kids. Recently, however, we decided to ditch our premium cable channels and subscribe to Netflix. I cannot tell you want a different this has made. I've revisited old TV shows, caught up on movies I love, seen some I never had time to see in the first place, and I'm watching my way through some great documentaries.

Then Amazon decided to join the playing field when they added free instant viewing of TV and movies to the Prime Membership. Of course, there's some overlap with Netflix and Hulu but since I'm already paying for Prime I gave it a spin.

The first TV series that I've watched all the way through on Amazon was a season of Inspector Lewis including the episode Dark Matter. I was a huge fan of the Inspector Morse series and to know that Lewis gets his own chance now is great. Plus, it's fun to watch him be the master and pass along the wisdom he received from his mentor.

But as much as I loved Lewis I took a break because we found a great new show on network television. Yeah, it was a surprise to me, too.  If you're not watching Chicago Code then you're missing some seriously good television. I will say that if you're looking for a gritty cop drama about Chicago days of old then this isn't for you. This is a show about the way life could be - or maybe a better way to put it is that it's a show about the people who want their city cleaned up and what they have to do to get it that way. Oh, there's lots of good old Chicagoland politics along the way but this is a story about how life could be better and the challenges that everyone faces along the way.

I have no illusions that each episode of Chicago Code is going to end wrapped in a pretty ribbon but I do know that these are people who are trying very hard. Just like the characters in The State Within. This is a BBC production filmed almost entirely in DC and Florida it seems, with the main characters being the British ambassador to the US [Jason Isaacs] and the US Secretary of Defense [Sharon Gless]. It's only seven hours of drama and the poor British Ambassador has at least five people close to him [either in proximity or relation] die, he brokers peace talks, he tries to keep a man from lethal injection, he tries to tackle political corruption, and he tries to stop an international conflict. The first episode is hard to watch as it starts out with a plane exploding in DC due to a terrorist bomb but it's okay, the Ambassador is there to help. No, really, he is.

And while these shows couldn't be more different in some ways they are both similar in that the main characters believe that government and the people that work for those governments are supposed to be doing their best for the people and the slimy, corrupt people are the bad guys. It's still a good story with some good twists and turns and neither series has a pollyana attitude. So, give them a try. These are definitely good stories about people trying to make our world a better place..

This is one of my favorite holidays - after Christmas, Easter and my birthday. Dr. Seuss's Birthday is celebration of reading and a good reminder of things we learned as kids.

There are lots of great activites on the NEA Read Across America's website. I know that schools like to incorporate the event into the day, too. I used to volunteer at several school and always went to read to classes on Dr. Seuss Day. At Comfort and Joy's schools they'll be having Green Eggs and Ham during breakfast.

Another way we use the Dr. Seuss books at our house is by reminding the kidlets to try new things. Reminders to not be a 'Sam I Am' often get them to try new foods. So, take a moment to wish Dr. Seuss a Happy Birthday today and read a book to someone in celebration. As a bonus, try a food that you might not normally eat. These are all Cool Ideas!

Uh-huh. And then you sat down and tried to write. How did that work out for you. Some days I get writing done and some days my butt just goes numb.

Somedays I just have to push through even if the kidlets are home sick from school. It's not easy and it usually means I can't get the heavy-lifting kind of writing done because someone says "I need juice" every two minutes.

These are times when I can stretch my creativity and let it out to play untamed for a bit. Sometimes I have a subplot I can noodle. When this happens I'm often surprised at the twists and turns - sometimes in a good way:)

Sometimes I need a prompt for this creativity exercise. That's when I head over to The StoryWonk Story Generator. It randomly generates a Hero, a Heroine, and a Situation of Action. Here's the one I just got:

He's a disillusioned pirate; she's a dishonest stripper. Together, they must survive in the wilderness and save the world.

Voila! How Cool is That. Or, if you want a different prompt, just click and try another one. But really, the best part of using the story generator as a creativity prompt is taking whatever if gives you and just working with it.  Usually it wakes up something in my head that I can actually use because that's the way the brain works.

So, hop on over to The StoryWonk Story Generator and give it a spin. Not only is it a great kick in the  creativity pants but it's just plain fun and that is definitely a Cool Idea!

Grandparents Day is one of those holidays I desperately try not to forget even if it's only with an extra 'Thank You' during our weekly phone calls. Comfort and Joy are still at an age where they don't quite understand how the phone works or why they can't see the people they can hear so sometimes the conversations are - well, a bit odd. But one thing I can let the Grandparents know is that we definitely appreciate them.

In fact it was four years ago this week that they became Grandparents for the first time. Comfort came home from the hospital after a week in the NICU and after a few more bumps and hurdles we all started to settle in with the immense help of the Grands. Here dh and I were, thinking we still had a month's more time to prepare both our physical space and ourselves for our future life and then - WHAMMO! We were parents.

I've always been fortunate that I've had the support of my family and this instance was no exception. His mom was here as were my folks and then our church family and our extended family of friends. It was great. The only thing that was better was when Joy was born and everyone did it again. Let no one tell you that the second -or third - or fourth - child gets less love and attention, at least not from these Grands.

I don't think they stepped up to the plate just because we had two exceptional birth stories. One in which one of our kids almost died and the other in which I almost did. I think they stepped up because they love us and now they have the opportunity to shower that love and affection on our kidlets. So a hearty Thanks to the Grandparents in our lives. We couldn't do it without you!

I just love this line from The Muppet Movie. It makes me giggle. And today as we sang "America, The Beautiful" in church I thought of this line as we sat. Because of all days of the year, the Fourth of July is all about ritual and celebration as a nation. It's one holiday that we - as an entire nation - celebrate together. It doesn't depend on religious affiliation or region or whether you say 'soda' or 'pop'. I know that our friends who are diplomats from other nations don't celebrate it but they'll hang out for Hot Dog diplomacy if you ask nicely.

The Fourth of July is also an essential part of our American story and story is one thing that sets us apart as humans. Other animals grieve and have rituals but they don't have stories. Humans have stories. How has the Fourth of July written itself into your family's story?

Several years after we'd been married and my mom had moved back to take care of her mother she confessed that of all the holidays this was the hardest to spend apart. You see we had a ritual for the day. It was almost identical each year. My brother and I both marched in a fife and drum corps and odds are if you went to any bicentennial celebrations from 1976 to the early 1980s you probably saw us. So, the day was spent in the parade in Fairfax, VA then home to bake brownies before we picked up our adopted Aunt and went to see the fireworks in Vienna, VA.

The brownies were key. They were Duncan Hines from the box. We made them together taking turns each time who got to lick the bowl or spoon. It's hard to mess up brownies. However there was one year - the year of the Exxon Valdez brownies - where my brother made them by himself in a glass dish and the brownies were very thin with the oil floating on the top. Ick. We laughed about it then and they became part of our family story.

Now, with my own family, we are still making our story. Yesterday the weather could not have been more perfect for July in Virginia. The sky was blue the sun was out and it was cool enough that one could be outside without turning into a sticky puddle of goo. We went to the farmer's market, then for the free admission day at the Botanical Garden, then to a friend's farm for a picnic and swimming. The only similarity to last year was that I baked brownies and we went to see the fireworks. This year, however, at the request of our friends I made Ina Garten's Outrageous Brownies. I make these for EVENTS and not for every day because they take a pound of butter and something like 2 1/2 pounds of chocolate and require chilling in the fridge overnight. I usually prefer instant gratification with my brownies but these are awesome brownies.

For the fireworks we luck out every year because we live in the most awesome neighborhood ever. The city does the fireworks at the Carillon at Byrd Park and we live about 6 blocks away. We don't worry about traffic. We leave 20 minutes beforehand to find a good spot and we are home about 20 minutes after they are over. In fact, if there weren't any trees we could probably see the fireworks from the girls' bedroom

And today Comfort has been telling everyone with ears all about her Adventures yesterday. Even the Adventures we didn't get to. We didn't get to see the butterflies at the botanical gardens. The line was just too long for a family with two toddlers but we saw lots of pretty flowers and a turtle sunning itself in a pond and we enjoyed the Children's Garden before the meltdown hit and we carried a flailing Joy back to the parking lot. But the meltdowns are part of the story, too, just like stories from labor and delivery where there is pain and blood and hard choices. Life is real and we should remember it that way, too, sometimes.

So, I hope that you had a wonderful Fourth of July. I hope that you have a new story to tell, a rich story to tell, and I hope that there were brownies. Amen!