Mel (staff photographer, production ad manager, and general all-round design- and web-production maven Melyssa Holik) and I have had quite a week. Made and shot soups for the Peggy’s Kitchen section of the magazine earlier in the week, have been cranking out layouts, dealing with advertisers, prepping e-blasts, handling mini-crises. . . We’ve gotten so much done, much of it with style and grace—and surprisingly little stress.
Today we shot our staff photo (an annual ritual for the back page of the Jan-Feb issue). And, granted, it’s Friday and I’m bizhausted (as Reeve used to say), worn-out and migrainey, but . . . I’m oddly moved by this detail from one of the staff pics: Mel and me. Makes me feel big sisterly and proud and grateful for our team.
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Photo by Melyssa Holik
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I usually try not to divulge the contents of an upcoming issue til it hits the stands. But can’t resist posting a hint or two about a fun new feature in our upcoming November-December magazine.
Mel, Unplugged
Homemade ice cream 
home, using three different kinds of ice cream makers, then gathered at Candace’s house to shoot our concoctions. Naturally, we had to have a tasting bee afterward, for which Candace’s kids, Honoree and Nathaniel, generously joined us. Surprisingly, the overall favorite was the non-dairy lavender (pictured here) which Mel made. (Twice. The first batch not being pretty.) Candace, however, was a fan of the chocolate raspberry ice cream (which she made. Also twice, though her second round was due to freezer temperature difficulties.) (The kiwi sorbet I made was both not pretty and not tasty, but that’s another story.), and Nathaniel really went for the lemon thyme sorbet.
Let’s see. . . Timmy has saved the life of a rooster that Paul suspects was involved in cockfighting, but Skeeter, a neighbor’s hired hand, recognized “Clementine” as a champion fighter named Dynamite who was left for dead. Once Clementine was well again, Skeeter stole him*. . .
He even managed to squeeze in some baseball with his parents, just like old times. Now he’s back in school, though not in Scotland this year—much, much closer: New Mexico State, which is less than 300 miles away. And in the same time zone.
© 2009 Mothering Magazine