* I'M ALIVE AND WELL *

Hello Blogger Pals! 

Just a quick update to say I am indeed alive and well. 

I'm almost to the Finish Line! I'm in the very last editing stage (which means: I will not allow myself to read through my manuscript again!) 

A wonderful writer-friend is helping me with my cover and formatting, so everything will be ready to submit to Createspace...as soon as I'm finished with my part!

SO, hopefully, the next time I write a blog post, it will be because I have the news to say, "I've received my printed copies of From Pigtails to Chin Hairs: A Memoir & More." (♫♪ What a day that will be! Happy dance, Happy dance, and maybe a glass of wine...or two! ♫♪)

Please keep sending your well wishes and happy thoughts my way. I feel them encouraging me on my blissful, long & winding, and many times ziggy-zaggy path to publication. 

P.S. I didn't hear back from the New York agency, but I'm really fine about that. I didn't have any great expectations! It was an awesome experience and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to submit my memoir to them. 



"Becky, you haven't been the same since that crowbar fell on your head." -- my mother

* BLOG BREAK! *

Google image

Be back sometime soon!


Addendum Monday, September 9th

Y'all are so thoughtful! I'm fine....just taking a break from blogging, to get some much-needed things accomplished!

* NOSTALGIC SUNDAY *

It's Time for Another Nostalgic Sunday

Cinnamon Sugar = Comfort Food

When I was a little girl, my mother would fix cinnamon sugar toast for me. I seem to remember the only time she did that was when I stayed home, sick, from school. It doesn't exactly sound like a bland snack, does it? I know I didn't get it when I was really ill, like with a fever or upset stomach. No, it was only for that stuffy-runny-nose-and-cough kind of sickness. I associated that crunchy toast, its taste and aroma with being home, covered with a blanket, and feeling the warmth of my mother's love.

That toast, along with her for-no-particular-reason homemade cinnamon rolls throughout the year, signified comfort food. 

I can assure you that after all these years, every cinnamon sugar recipe grabs my attention and any whiff of its magical aroma carries me back to those wondrous days. 

(It doesn't surprise me one bit that I crave cinnamon sugar much more than any kind of chocolate! Show me a huge chunk of chocolate cake, or candy, or fudge, etc. and then a big ol' Cinnabon, and I'll choose that Cinnabon every time!)

I'm getting hungry for an afternoon snack....think I'll look in the pantry and see if I have any cinnamon swirl bagels left! I'm feeling much better than I did on Friday, but I think I still need a bit more comfort food, don't you?!

P.S. While doing....ahem...research for this blog post, I stumbled upon a great recipe on a great site! http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2013/01/cinnamon-roll-sugar-cookies.html  You know I'll be making these, right??

How about you? What are some of your Comfort Foods?  

Addendum Tuesday, Sept 3rd: I realize I should've specified I was only referring to sweets when I wrote this. My "main dish" kind of Comfort Food is a tie. Pot Roast with potatoes and carrots - OR - Meatloaf with any kind of potatoes! Mmm...

"Food is a lot of people's therapy. When we say comfort food, we really mean that. It's releasing dopamine and serotonin in your brain that makes you feel good." -- Brett Hoebel

* I GOT NOTHIN', FOLKS....Again *

I've been racking my brain for days, trying to think of something to write about for a blog post. I haven't been in my usual upbeat mood and that puts a real damper on most topics. So, I made the decision to repost something humorous from a couple of years ago.

~~~~~

While driving to the grocery store this afternoon, with my list of fruits and veggies to buy, the following words popped into my head. I've mentioned before that I am not a poet, and don't y'all know it, as you can see below: 

(Hint: Sing out loud or in your head to the tune of ♫♪ Back in the Saddle Again. ♫♪)

I'm back into salads again.
Burgers & fries won't make me thin.
I saw some gorgeous clothes at 
the mall last week.
I must fight this war on fat and win.

(courtesy google)

Chorus:
I'm back into salads again.
Lettuce & broccoli are my friends
Also low cal dressing will help
Try to get rid of my chin(s)
I'm back into salads again.

(Forgive me Gene Autry!)



"The two biggest sellers in bookstores are the cookbooks and the diet books. The cookbooks tell you how to prepare the food and the diet books tell you how not to eat any of it." -- Andy Rooney

A Dog and a Cat Go Into a Kitchen...

On Sunday, August 11th, I posted pictures of a darling set of S&P Shakers:  a miniature teapot and tea cup. A very good friend gave them to me as a house warming gift. The same day she gave those to me, she also gave me my (belated!) birthday gift: a Hallmark gift book, Humor for Boomers, Older and Wiser, (and Funnier!) It's full of humorous sayings and cartoons. The one below is one of my favorites!

Have a wonderful Sunday and blissful last week in August!

Books & Writers & Blogs & Friends

Before I let another day go by without acknowledging something important......

There are many of you who have cheered me on during this long road to publication, (and I'm still not there yet!) and have also said you want to buy my memoir when it's "out." I appreciate every one of you! 

And there are many of you who have already published a book, or two, or more, that I have not purchased. I want you to know the only reason I haven't done so is a lack of funds for any "extras." But I've been saving my pennies (just kidding!) I know I'll be able to buy at least one book a month, beginning very soon. 

SO, if you're one of my published writer friends, please leave a comment or e-mail me the title(s) so I can put your book on my list of Books to Buy! 




“Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.” -- Gloria Steinem

Ponderings On a Monday Morning

Vern and I spent some time on the deck this morning, and as he snoozed I sipped coffee from one of many favorite cups! 

Within the first few minutes we were there, five different prop planes puttered across the sky above us. I've never seen that many in such a short period of time. I noticed they were different too, so it wasn't a couple of planes flying in circles, tricking my mind.  

If you're new to my blog, you're probably wondering What's so special about propeller planes? I don't just "notice" them, I'm kind of obsessed with them! They carry a very special meaning to me. You can learn more about it from these two blog posts: 

http://beckypovich.blogspot.com/2012_02_18_archive.html

http://beckypovich.blogspot.com/2012_02_19_archive.html

This time along with the instantaneous, "memoir reminders," other thoughts came to mind.

I don't know if there is any kind of afterlife, but I remember being taught as a young child that when we got to Heaven, we would find out and understand all those unknown marvels; all those mysteries in life that I couldn't understand then....or now. 

As I sat and wondered about those countless prop planes I've seen and heard during the past year, a new thought came to me. IF there is a Heaven, and IF I get there someday, I don't need or want to know all those mysteries of the universe. All I want is to know everything about my parents. But I have some guidelines... (I don't dare refer to them as "rules" in Heaven!) I won't want to know everything right away. No, I want to be able to talk with them individually and hear in their own words why they made the decisions they made, all through their lives. 

Why? Because I never asked the difficult questions when I had the chance....after my parents' divorce.The ones I did attempt to ask my mother were usually shot down with, "Oh, I don't remember about that." -or- "I don't want to talk about that." 

And when I was in my dad's presence, rare as it was, I never had the guts to ask those persistent questions that haunted me for so many years, and still do at times.

If you have the time and opportunity to ask your parents, or any other relatives or friends, those important questions you need and want answers to, please do it while you still can. I wish I had.


“You can find something truly important in an ordinary minute.” 
― Mitch Albom, For One More Day


(Quote from my favorite Mitch Albom book)

* Library Books, a Comic Strip, and a Tomato *

Because of my participation in yesterday's Top Ten Tuesdays, I just had to visit my local library today and check out one of Maeve Binchy's books that I haven't already read. I chose A Week in Winter, which she completed shortly before her death last year.

While I was in the same area, I also picked up Buddy, How a Rooster Made Me a Family Man, by Brian McGrory. I've heard a lot about it and I'm pretty sure I'll like it. It also has an average of 4 Stars on Amazon out of 157 reviews.

I also picked up The Time Keeper, by Mitch Albom. I'm expecting to really like this, since his other books are just magical to me. 

For the first time in my life, I headed straight to the Large Print shelves and that's where I got these! I just can't read for any length of time (speaking of the time keeper...buh dum!) anymore, without my eyes getting so blurry, I can't see the words properly. And it happens shortly after I begin reading. SO, all three of these books are in Large Print. And I must say it's been a long time since I've seen any, and when they say Large, they mean LARGE! Especially Mitch Albom's book. It looks like Fun with Dick and Jane! Run Jane run. See Jane Run. ☺

~~~

This was in today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch and it made me laugh! The strip is called Rhymes With Orange, by Hilary B. Price

~~~

And, what does a tomato have to do with this particular blog post? Nothing, really. Something funny happened to me this morning that I thought I'd share. 

First I should provide a little back story. One of my newly met (3 months ago) friends here at the townhouses has a few HUGE tomato plants....and I do mean HUGE! They are way taller than I am! (and I don't want to hear any jokes about how that's not very tall!) I'll have to take a picture of them sometime. I wish I would've thought of it today. Anyway....She gave me a few freshly picked, ripe off the vine tomatoes and they are yummy! 

One of the larger ones had been cut and the rest of it was in the refrigerator. I burnt the corner of my mouth this morning....after I made french toast...and I didn't want to stick an ice cube on my lips....because it would've gotten stuck to my lips! So, I grabbed that half of tomato and it was the perfect cold temperature! So, next time you have a small burn, don't grab for ice or butter or aloe....open that frig and grab a tomato!!

*Welcome to my newest followers, Laura at I'm So Vintage and Molly at Molly the Wally. I hope you'll stop by often and always enjoy what you read and see! * 

"It's not a hampster, Mark. It's a HAMPSter!" -- The Ronald

(to be explained some other time!)