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Summertime at Sweeney’s on the Creek is a little different now that it’s July.    While Steve and I go about our normal daily routines (even with longer daylight hours to ease some of the pain), the kids are winding down a bit from travels and camps. Shannon, 21, is in between conferences right now, and as usual, spends much of her days reading and blogging on her book blog site.  This is actually a productive use of her time, given that she will be starting a publishing inte

A few months ago, a friend in St. Louis asked me to contribute books to a new children’s library in the St. Louis area. The Sweeney’s managed to pull together two full boxes to contribute.  I loaded the boxes in my car, where they stayed for two months. This last week, we drove to St. Louis for a wedding.  My friend Tom wasn’t supposed to be in town.  He was supposed to be at a conference in Squaw Valley, but scheduling conflicts caused a last minute cancellation.  I arranged

A friend of mine from Central America sent this video clip to me.  During this week of US Thanksgiving, I find it especially joyful … I’ve written in previous posts about the Tower of Babel story in the Book of Genesis.  It’s appropriate here, as well.  The first verse (Gen 11:1) shares the origin of language : “Now the whole world had one language and a common speech.”  It was not until the people started to build the tower, to keep themselves close in proximity to each othe

We live on a creek, in Texas.  Some people just assume that the moniker, “Sweeney’s on the Creek,” derives from that location (and it does).  But, as usual with nicknames, there is a hidden meaning that I’d like to share with you now. Steve’s father was raised in Lansing, Iowa, a small community of about 1000 people today.  Lansing is located in the far northeast corner of Iowa, right on the Mississippi River.  It’s a popular tourist location in the warmer months, because of