MORE INFO FROM BLOGGER

I just read this online. Their entire statement is below.  Hopefully, they will have everything fixed soon!!

Blogger is Back!!


What a frustrating day. We’re very sorry that you’ve been unable to publish to Blogger for the past 20.5 hours. We’re nearly back to normal — you can publish again, and in the coming hours posts and comments that were temporarily removed should be restored. Thank you for your patience while we fix this situation. We use Blogger for our own blogs, so we’ve also felt your pain.


Here’s what happened: during scheduled maintenance work Wednesday night, we experienced some data corruption that impacted Blogger’s behavior. Since then, bloggers and readers may have experienced a variety of anomalies including intermittent outages, disappearing posts, and arriving at unintended blogs or error pages. A small subset of Blogger users (we estimate 0.16%) may have encountered additional problems specific to their accounts. Yesterday we returned Blogger to a pre-maintenance state and placed the service in read-only mode while we worked on restoring all content: that’s why you haven’t been able to publish. We rolled back to a version of Blogger as of Wednesday May 11th, so your posts since then were temporarily removed. Those are the posts that we’re in the progress of restoring.


Again, we are very sorry for the impact to our authors and readers. We try hard to ensure Blogger is always available for you to share your thoughts and opinions with the world, and we’ll do our best to prevent this from happening again.


Posted by Eddie Kessler, Tech Lead/Manager, Blogger

* Blogger is Finally Working...BUT

Quick Post! I just checked again to see if Blogger was working....and it appears to be....BUT, it is not up-to-date!! No new posts!! Eeeeek!

* Thank You Give-Away *

In honor of reaching a couple of personal blog milestones: over 500 Posts and 200 Followers, (which I just noticed is 201 Followers) I'm having a give-away. I'd like to thank everyone who reads my blog, whether you're a follower or not, and whether you leave comments or not. It's an honor and pleasure just having visitors, especially the ones that come back from time to time. That means I'm doing something right, I guess!

(200!! art courtesy of: http://freshieandzero.blogspot.com/)

In order to be entered in this give-away, I ask that you just leave a comment, stating what you like about my blog....not about me personally...but about my blog. It would be really nice if you'd also be a follower, but that's not a requirement this time. You may certainly mention it on your blog, but again, not a requirement.

 Mary Engelbreit tote bag approx 9" x 9" - THANK A TEACHER.

Behind the bookmark is a striped 4" x 3" note pad with pen (not a ME product)

 Chicken Soup for the Soul; Love Stories (I have a story in it)

one pair of soft and warm Chicken Soup for the Soul socks

 a set of 3 decorative pens, and a set of 2 matchbook style note pads

 Wall Word Kit that spells FAMILY

 information about kit

showing the finished product

Thin Threads; More Real Stories of Life Changing Moments (I have a story in it)

And a Mary Engelbreit journal, 5" x 7"



Yes, YOU could be the winner of all these goodies, (I apologize for the inferior photos. One of these days, I'm going to get a new camera. How many months have I been saying that!?) if you just leave a comment between tonight, May 9th and May 23rd at midnight CDT. I'll announce the winner sometime on May 24th. I hope many of you will leave a comment to help me celebrate!  Thanks again!

*Added note 5/10/11: I inadvertantly forgot to welcome my newest followers! Duh! Boy, do I feel bad!  Hello Kristine, Marydon & Buttercup! I hope you'll stop by often and always enjoy what you read and see!

"In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit." ~Albert Schweitzer

* Happy Mother's Day *

This is a Rerun from last year's Mother's Day post. I decided to share it again today.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! Although some of our own mothers are deceased, they are still a part of us, aren't they?

This is one of my favorite pictures. It's my mom, my dad, brother Mike and me. It was taken around 1957-1958 in Fort Morgan, Colorado. We were on one of our summer vacation trips visiting relatives. My two much-older sisters were both in college at that time, so they didn't come along with us.

My mother and I are wearing the ever-so-popular "Mother/Daughter Dresses" which were very "in" at that time. My mother sewed them herself and I thought they were quite special.

We look like the All American Happy Family, don't we? It's hard to believe that just about five years later, my parents divorced. Dad pretty much abandoned us. Mom did the best she could, being thrown into an entirely different life than she wanted, or ever envisioned. Holidays were dismal, though, and life in general was gloomy.

There's much more to the story, and some of it will be included in my book.

(Mother's name was Ruby. Below is one of her much spouted quotes, which I despised and swore I would never say to MY kids! The meaning of it was: You have to suffer in life and the only time you get what you really want is when you get to Heaven! I don't think I have to tell you that I didn't buy that one bit. I believe life is about happiness and joy and love and laughter....and going out there and finding your bliss!!


"You don't always get everything you want in this life." -- Rubyism

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

So, did you jump out of bed this lovely Sunday, Mother's Day....because you couldn't wait to see who won my book give-away?? Well, wait no longer.....but first.....I truly wish I had books to give away to every single participant.....but alas, I do not.

Okay....the winner of Gone With a Handsomer Man is.......Joyce Lansky!!



Congratulations, Joyce!!! Please send your mailing address to me: Writergal53@aol.com

I'll be back later today with other postings, but wanted to announce the winner now.

Thanks again to everyone who entered!! And Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there!

♫♪ "Oh what a beautiful morning.....Oh what a beautiful day..." ♫♪ -- lyric by Oscar Hammerstein II

* Books, Contests, and 200 Followers! *

* Yesterday I received an e-mail from Angela Mackintosh of WOW! Women on Writing  telling me I'd won a copy of Mari McCarthy's new workbook, Peace of Mind and Body: 27 Days of Journaling to Health and Happiness.  I am so excited! This book definitely sounds like something I need. Maybe it will help me conquer writer's block and self-sabotage....and....?  The possibilities are endless!

* Remember my small collection of different characters holding books? I posted some photos last November of small statues of a Santa, a duck, and an angel, all holding books? Well...I have a new addition to my collection! I found it at a dollar store....yep, it cost $1.00! And it is adorable!! The only difference with this new statue is the book is closed instead of open. Isn't she sweet, holding her book to her heart and looking so happy? She must've just finished reading something wonderful. What book could it be? So many to dream about.

I love the way her dress hangs, as if the wind is gently blowing.

And look at that straw hat with the sweet flower on the side.

Pink purse, black shoes and white socks!

And look at that beautiful hair!

* In addition to this little girl, I bought another little statue or two since Christmas, plus I received an adorable one as a gift from a dear writer friend. I don't think I ever posted photos of them, so I'll try to do that next week sometime.

* Tonight at midnight, I'll let random.org choose the winner of Gone With a Handsomer Man. I'd like to say thank you to everyone who participated in my give-away....and particularly JOLENE who just became my 200th Follower about 9:30 pm this evening! Thank you and welcome, Jolene! I hope you always enjoy stopping at my blog and will come back often.

* When I announce the winner tomorrow of GWAHM, I'll also announce whatever I come up with, to celebrate reaching the 200 Follower Milestone! I remember how thrilled I was when I reached 50 followers, 75, and then 100, and on. It really amazes me and I thank each and every one of you, no matter how or why you found me.....I'm so very happy you did! ♥

“Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.” -- Mark Twain

* Book Give-Away Deadline Nearing *

If you haven't entered my contest yet to win an autographed copy of Michael Lee West's newest novel, Gone With a Handsomer Man, you still have a little more time! Entries end tomorrow night, Saturday May 7th, at midnight Central Daylight Time.



Please read the rules here.

Thanks so much to everyone who has already entered. Good Luck!

"Luck is believing you're lucky." -- Tennessee Williams

* Milestones, Readings & Writings *

I just realized my number of followers is approaching 200! So, I decided to check the number of posts I've made since I began my blog. I've seen people celebrate when they reach 500 posts, and I thought I might be nearing that number, too.

Well, guess what?? I now have 505 posts! SO....when I do reach 200 Followers, I'll have some kind of celebration. What kind, you may ask? I don't know yet! But I'll let everyone in on it, as soon as I know!

On a different subject, I attended my Coffee & Critique group this morning and read one of the chapters from my book. I was so pleased with everyone's reactions and their suggestions. When I write something that I think is funny, it's obvious that I also want others to think the same thing....and they did!

For those of you who have just begun reading my blog, I'm writing what I've referred to as my memoir, but it also has current happenings, thoughts & observations.....SO....it's a Memoir + More!

The other day when I posted about books' first sentences....I considered sharing the opening sentences of MY book, but it just didn't seem right at that time. Tonight, though, I'd like to post them and ask what you think. Would the following open lines pique your interest??

My mother told me in so many words she thought I was nuts. She convinced herself that my bizarre accident involving a) my head, and b) a crowbar, caused brain damage, triggering my erratic and uncharacteristic behavior. At least in her opinion.

And finally: Thanks and welcome to my three newest followers: Nonna Beach, Summer Ross, and Ames! I hope you'll stop by often and always enjoy what you read and see!

** Note: added Monday, May 4th, at 10:00 am CDT:  To clarify Donna's statement and respond to JFC's in the Comments below....I did NOT have a savory past or a misspent youth! Last year, when a few of us writer gals got together during the Christmas holiday, we talked about our critique group and how we were going over our alloted time, sometimes. SO, Donna said she was going to bring a timer, or a miniture asian gong. I knew exactly what she was talking about :   

BUT, in my usual mixed up, dyxlexia of the mouth way, I told her, "Don't forget to bring your bong!"