* The Quiet Before the Storm *

According to every one of our local weather forecasters, and even The Weather Channel, a huge section of the country is going to get pounded with ice, sleet, freezing rain, thunder snow, wind, and blizzard conditions. And that includes where I live. The local guys and gals keep referring to the "Blizzard of '82", and that's 1982, which I definitely remember. And they've also mentioned the ice storm of 2006, which I obviously remember, too. (I'm not totally short term memory challenged!)

Anyway, I'm ready to be inside for the next few days. Writing. Blogging. Possibly cleaning house...but I doubt it. Maybe do a little laundry..maybe. But mostly, I'm going to WRITE. I am so into getting my memoir finished, and now that the Saturday Writers first meeting of the new year is in the history books, I can relax and breathe....at least for a few days!! If you'd like to know more about Saturday Writers, please click on the link and you'll be at our new blog. I'll be updating it while our website is being revamped and brought up to date.

A big welcome and thank you to my two newest followers: Melissa Ann Goodwin & Kim Sloggett! Thanks so much for stopping by and wanting to come back from time to time!

Have a beautiful, blissful week everyone.....and stay warm and cozy...wherever you are!

"What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness." — John Steinbeck (Travels with Charley: In Search of America)

* Pay It Forward *

This evening, while scrolling through the list of blogs I follow, I found "Pay It Forward" on The Wright Stuff. What a wonderful idea!

~The Rules~

ME:  I will create something handmade to send to the First Five People who leave a comment on this post saying they would like to participate!

YOU:  To play along you must be willing to repost this and do the same, offering something handmade to five other people. (At this part of The Rules, it didn't say the five people must be the first five to leave a comment on your blog, but that seems to be the thing to do.)

ME:  So, I left a comment on The Wright Stuff and if I'm correct, I was the fifth person! Yay! That means I'll get something homemade from her!

YOU & ME, BOTH:  All handmade "gifts" will be sent sometime in 2011. Mine will be sent by the end of February...or else I'll forget! ☺

Here's how she describes herself in her Profile: "I am a writer, an artist and a dreamer. I am on a journey following my heart. It promises to take me to some incredibly exciting places. Won't you join me?"

Wow! Sounds like my kind of person!.....Except for that artist part....me...not so much!
So what about you? Would you like to share your creativity with a few others? If you're not artistic (see above!) you could send a  handwritten poem or a handmade greeting card. I think it sounds like a wonderful, giving idea!

I was involved in a different Pay It Forward adventure a month or so ago, but I didn't blog about it because I didn't want it to look like I was bragging...but then something really cool happened a week ago...and I decided to share it. BUT, that will have to wait for another day, because this post is just about this particular giving of your time and talent to make someone else smile. Kind of a random act of kindness....which I so love....even if it's just to smile at a stranger in the grocery store....ya know?
"Each contact with a human being is so rare, so precious, one should preserve it." -- Anais Nin

* And The Winner Is......*

I wasn't surprised and I doubt if anyone else will be either....but the odds were in her favor. The winner is: Faith Hope Cherrytea! Congratulations and please e-mail me with your mailing address, so I can send your goodies!

Thanks to each and every one of you who commented and suggested book titles. Some of them are really very good, and I'm setting them aside in my "Possibility File." 

Hey, that reminds me of a movie that I just love. It's: Last Holiday starring Queen Latifah, 2006.
She's a lonely woman who doesn't do much of anything in life, except work, save money and DREAM. What made me think of it now was....She kept a large scrapbook of "possibilities"....where she kept news clippings, recipes, photographs.....of all her dreams. I'm not going to give it an entire review, but if you've never seen it, I highly recommend it!

Speaking of dreams.....You know what mine is..... Seeing my memoir on the Best Seller List!

"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." --Anais Nin

Words, Wonderful Words...And Music, Too

Since I don't drive in rush-hour traffic anymore, and most of my errands are taken care of near my home, I'm not in my car long enough to listen to CDs much. When I do get on a highway, though, I like to take some of my own music along...because...you know, all those commercials on radio stations...they make me nuts! And, I don't have satellite radio, either.

SO, today, I had the pleasure of driving along Hwy 270, 40, 364.....(those numbers make me want to either shout "Hike"...or WOW, those are the measurements of a huge, strangely built woman!)

While be-boppin' along, trying to stay as near as possible to the speed limit, I listened to my Jason Mraz CD, "Mr. A-Z". When I finally got my mind to quit wandering up and around, and in and out, about all the things I was concerned about, I began to really hear the lyrics. If you're not familiar with Jason Mraz...oh my gosh... he writes amazing songs. Below is just part of the lyrics about him leaving a message for his girl friend. The song's title is: "Did You Get My Message?"

..."Do you ever wonder what happens to the words that we send
Do they bend, do they break from the flight that they take
And come back together again with a whole new meaning
In a brand new sense, completely unrelated to the one I sent"...

Those words just captured me today. I sang along and felt so alive and happy.
Beautiful words.....beautiful music...


"It takes some silence to make sound
It takes a loss before you found it
And it takes a road to go nowhere
It takes a toll to make you care
It takes a hole to make a mountain" from the song "Life is Wonderful" by Jason Mraz

* Contest Prizes! *

Hey Everyone. Don't forget to enter my contest! Do so before midnight tomorrow (Jan 25)

I realized I didn't make it clear when I announced the prizes. There will not be 4 winners. There will be just ONE WINNER. Winner takes all!!

Tomorrow at midnight CST, I'll do the random drawing for the winner of my Name My Book Contest. If you don't know about it and want to enter, or already entered and want to do so again, hop on over to this post and leave a comment. There are NO RULES! You DO NOT have to be a follower. Enter as many times as you want, but each time must have a title suggestion for my memoir. *As I mentioned on the originial post, the winner will be chosen by random drawing. The book title suggested is not guaranteed to be used, it is just a suggestion for the contest.*

Now, here's what everyone's been waiting for. The announcement of the PRIZE(S) to be awarded!

1) Three votive candles from Yankee Candle: Lilac Blossoms, Home Sweet Home, and Ocean Water.

2) Cheery pink & green note card set, complete with envelopes & matching pen.

3) A 7 x 7 hardcover book: Great Kisses...and Famous Lines Right Out of the Movies, compiled by Timothy Knight

4) A 8 x 10 hardcover book: Home Rules, Transform the Place You Live Into a Place You'll Love, by Nate Berkus

~~ Some fabulous prizes to help you get through another winter month! Plus, candles...and a romantic book of onscreen kisses, with comments and quotes....What could be better for next month's Valentine's Day? And I say...give them as gifts to yourself!! You don't need no steenking Valentine....Be your own valentine!! ~~

Hugs and happiness to you all today....wherever you are....Find and Follow your Bliss!!

"Always serve too much hot fudge sauce on hot fudge sundaes. It makes people overjoyed, and puts them in your debt." -- Judith Olney

* Freelance Opportunities *

Yesterday I attended the Patch Freelance Forum that was held in St. Louis County. What a fantastic and unique online news source. One of the things that makes it so unique is that it focuses on communities, small towns. For instance, there is no "Patch St. Louis City". Their belief is that the news media already covers events in large cities, but there is no depth of coverage in the smaller towns.

I was there to learn more about Patch, meet people I already communicated with through e-mail, and hopefully get hired as a freelancer. 2 out of 3 so far! I'll definitely post the news when I get an assignment!

(Click on the link and see if your state and town is currently up and running. If not, it will be sometime in the future. Patch is very new and has only been in my area a few short months.)

By the way....why the name "Patch"? I happened to ask that question yesterday and here's what I was told: Think of where you live as your little patch of land. (See the little clump of grass at the bottom of the "h" in their logo? See?)... Ahhhh, now I get it!

"To me, journalism is, ah, like a hangover. You can read about it for years, but until you've actually experienced it, you have no conception of what it's really like." -- Dr. Hugo Pine, in the 1958 comedy movie, Teacher's Pet, starring Clark Gable and Doris Day (two of my favorite actors!)

* This 'n That on a Friday Night *

I got a kick out of this comic strip. Click on it to make it larger to read.

More candle wax art. How about that smiley face?!

I received this amaryllis for a birthday gift from son Scott and his wife. It's been so much fun to watch. They're really amazing flowers!

Happy Weekend! Stay comfy cozy wherever you are!

"My ideas usually come not at my desk writing but in the midst of living." -- Anais Nin

* SNOW, SNOW, SNOW *

Wow! Look at our deck furniture! Isn't it funny? And the cones of snow on the poles?

I took this picture around 8 o'clock this morning.

This is a little blurry, but I thought it was pretty. I took this from inside (with no flash)

around 6 o'clock this morning. The bright light is the street light. We live at the bottom of a cul-de-sac and you can barely tell where the road is and where our front yard is. Can you see the "snow cones" on top of the 2 bird feeders?!

This was also from around 8 o'clock this morning. Another angle of the deck and neighbors' pretty trees.

The snowfall totals really vary around the St. Louis area. This looks like at least 8 inches of snow to me and we're supposed to get MORE! This is really unusual for us. The past few winters we might get snow five or six times, but only 2 or 3 inches at a time.

I plan to enjoy looking out, while I write and clean and maybe bake another apple pie! (Paul Joseph, did you read that last part?!)

*Also, Welcome to my Two Newest Followers: Jan and Darlene! Thank you so much!*

“Snowflakes are one of nature's most fragile things, but just look at what they can do when they stick together.” -- Vesta M. Kelly