** A Wondrous, Waggish Thursday **

Today was a glorious day. I sat on our deck for a few brief moments in the warm, bright afternoon sun. Tiger had wanted to go out and so I joined her, thinking it would be good to soak up a little Vitamin D. After running around the yard and rolling in the grass, she stretched out on our back driveway and watched the world go by. I swear, just about every single thing that dog does, makes me smile or laugh.

(This obviously isn't an outdoor photo, but this is what Tiger did outside in the grass today!)

The wind rustled the leaves, still green and clinging to the tall tree limbs. The chimes swayed and tingled, making me smile all the more. What a wonderful life, I thought to myself.

After going back inside the house, I decided to take a couple of pictures of the chimes, right through the screen window in the kitchen. This window is right over my kitchen sink and I've written before about how much I enjoy seeing and listening to the chimes, and the birds or squirrels, and the beautiful trees.

Notice the "action" photo I got on this one! The movement of the weight & chimes, swaying in the wind!

You can also see part of our back driveway I mentioned. The brownish grass is on a large, steep hill that goes up into the corner of our yard. Not enough rain and too much heat this summer!

All of the fencing and trees that are shown are not ours...they belong to our neighbors behind us. We live at the end of a cul-de-sac, which means we have a pie-shaped yard: tiny front yard, but very large back yard. In this picture, I was trying to get more of the trees, which I did, but I missed the weight hanging at the end of the chimes! Oh well...you all know that it's there! As you can probably see, some of the trees are evergreens, and the others turn the most beautiful shades of yellow, gold, red, and orange. Every autumn, I take pictures of them, and I'll be sure to post some of those when the time comes.  

Also, I'd like to say Thank You and Welcome to my 3 newest followers: Colie's Kitchen, Dave, and L.E. Neighbour! Please feel free to comment anytime you wish!

"Happiness is an attitude.  We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong.  The amount of work is the same."  ~Francesca Reigler

** Happy Birthday, Big Brother! **

No...not the TV Show!! Over the past few years, whenever I see my older brother, Mike, I always hug him and say, "Hello, big brudder!" ...In the way that Sally refers to her brother, Charlie Brown!

(photo courtesy: dvdizzy.com)

I looked for quite a while, hoping to find an image or video of Sally saying that to Charlie, but I couldn't fine one. Instead, I found this darling picture of the two of them, most likely walking to school....in my favorite time of the year.....Autumn!

My brother, Mike, is 15 months older than I am. We were born in the early 1950's, back in the days of cloth diapers, washing & sterlizing glass baby bottles, etc. (Good thing our mother had two teenage daughters to help out. We've been told many times, that they didn't mind helping out one bit. They loved and spoiled Mike and me like crazy!)

In honor of Mike's birthday, please click the link below for a little dancing and singing by the Peanuts Gang.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znDRrf7VkCE&feature=related

*I turned off the automatic start on my Play List, so you won't have dueling music when you click the link! *

"Birthdays are good for you.  Statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest. " ~Larry Lorenzoni

** Tuesday's Tidbits **

An extra special Thank You goes to Sue at Sue's News, Views 'n Muse! After reading yesterday's post, Sue realized I was most likely referring to a memoir she glowingly reviewed recently. She even listed the link in her comment: http://grannysuesnews.blogspot.com/2010/09/lets-take-long-way-home.html. The name of the memoir is "Let's Take the Long Way Home," by Gail Caldwell. I was practically jumping for joy when I realized Sue did have the information! But, now, I have a quandry. Should I still read "The Condition" first, before mailing it to Bookie/Claudia? It's a BIG book.....Hmmm...I think I'll go ahead and mail it to Clauida with her other winnings. I hope my library has Gail Caldwell's book, since I already own a gazillion books, and haven't even read a large number of them, yet! Ahhhh...So Many Books. So Little Time! ☺
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I don't know if I've mentioned a newsletter I receive about once a month that is full of literary magazines and contests and calls for submissions, etc. I've posted some of the information about them, but not the newsletter itself. The website is: Poets & Writers. It's full of wonderful information. Sign up for the newsletter and you'll be kept in the loop!
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You know all that irritating junk (snail) mail that fills your mail box practically daily? For years, I opened everything, realized it was junk and threw it away. Then someone mentioned to me about the great Buy One Get One Free restaurant coupons they received, or the Save So-Much when you spend So-Much kind of coupons. So, I started opened up junk mail again. Good thing I did, because recently I received a nice little rebate check in a blank-looking envelope, that almost got tossed before I opened it. And the coupons are worth going through, even if you only find one that you would use. Okay....I told you all that, so I can tell you this: I wanted to send something special to my sister now that she's home from the hospital, but I couldn't think of anything other than a cute homemade card. WELL, yesterday while going through stacks of junk mail that I'd let pile up in my office, I came across one for $4.00 off an Edible Arrangement! Voile! The perfect special gift! They're rather pricey, but I got a small one, since it's just Marian and her husband. She called me today to thank me and was so pleased and surprised and feeling quite "special"!

"When you urgently serve others, attack problems, enact solutions, and express your sense of family and friendship, the rewards will come back to you with equal speed." -- Pat Croce

** Memoirs, I Love Memoirs **

First of all, I called my sister this evening and we talked for quite a while. She sounded really good, even though she said she was obviously very tired. Hopefully, she can finally get lots of sleep and rest, being at home and in her own bed! All is well in the world!
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I finished reading The Midwife; A Memoir of Birth, Joy & Hard Times, by Jennifer Worth. I REALLY enjoyed it! It was such a different book from what I normally read and at first I didn't think I'd like it, but I really did. I read every night until my eyes were too blurry to see! I will now mail it to a blog friend who asked to read it when I was finished.
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Now, I've begun The Condition, by Jennifer Haigh. It's the one Bookie-Claudia chose as her extra prize in my 100 Word Contest. I demanded asked politely if I could read it before I sent it, and she graciously agreed!
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Speaking of books, I've been racking my brain trying to remember what blog I was at, not too terribly long ago, where the Blogger was raving about a memoir she had just read. I think we commented back and forth a bit and she said she was sure I would like it. Now, of course, I don't remember where it was!! I've gone through my blog roll of my favorites, and nothing looked familiar. HELP! If anyone reading this knows what blog or book I'm thinking of.....please leave a comment or e-mail me! All I remember is that it was a woman's memoir. That ought to do the trick, don't ya think? DUH! Aaacckkkk!!


Martha's Way: Place a slice of apple in hardened brown sugar to soften it.

Maxine's Way: Brown sugar is supposed to be soft?

** A September Sunday Night **

I experienced some Big Things today.

                                      I enjoyed autumn-like weather! Yay!      

My St. Louis Rams WON a football game!! Woo-Hoo! 

I told my publisher I wouldn't have my book completed before the end of this year and she was perfectly okay with that! Whew!

My sister was released from the hospital and sent home! Yippee!   

Notice I posted these in the opposite order of importance....although my sister and my publisher were hard to choose between...Just Kidding!!   BUT, I've been struggling, AGAIN, with staying focused, slipping in and out of The Zone, feeling inadequate....all those writer issues. I know it happens to ALL writers, famous and/or totally unknown, but it hadn't happened to me in quite a while. So, I finally "gave myself permission" to take a break from writing. I haven't spent more than a fleeting second or two even thinking about my book. I've turned to other interests that I hadn't been paying any attention to...making some greeting cards AND reading more! I also want to enter some writing contests (look out Sioux here I come!) and submit to all kinds of other publications. THAT should really help get my creative juices flowing again.

I still haven't talked to my sister, but have been kept up to date talking with my two adult nieces. I'll definitely call Marian tomorrow! If she says she wants me to come and stay awhile, you can bet I'll be hopping on a plane to Atlanta! Look out all my Atlanta-area blog friends!! I may be giving you a call, too!

Have a fabulously, blissful week y'all!

"Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn't know you left open." ~ John Barrymore

** Friday Night Announcements **

** I've made the decision to attempt to respond to everyone's comments via e-mail. (I realize I've said this before, but hopefully I will follow through this time!) After my day or two of "commenting like crazy", an idea came to me. I want to make it as easy as possible for anyone who takes the time to leave a comment for me, to see if I have acknowledged them! Because, how can we all remember where we left comments? And THEN, go back to those blogs to see if our scathingly brilliant comments received a comment back from the blog owner?! Too much time! Too crazy! And none of us need any of that, do we? SO, I'm definitely NOT discouraging leaving comments. No, please do! I read every one of them and they...and you....all mean so much to me. This way, you just won't have to stop back by unless you want to read something new, etc.

** I stumbled across another (new to me) blog this evening.  Here is the blog of Lynda Schab's "On the Write Track".  She has many publishing credits, and also provides links to various writing sites. Those of you who are interested in Christian writing, she has links for those, too. She is having a 12 Books of Christmas Contest/give-away, beginning this coming Monday! I'm definitely not one to rush Christmas, and reading about this contest didn't make me feel that way whatsoever. It just perked me up and made me happy! More books! More books! Oh and guess what? She has the books background that I had until I recently changed to my autumn leaves. SO, she must be a wonderful gal, don't you think?

** I heard absolutely no news concerning my sister today, so that tells me she must be okay. I'll definitely call tomorrow to see what the latest information is. Thanks for all your kind comments and e-mails. I so appreciate all of you.

** Have a wonderful, blissful weekend!


"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around." -- Leo Buscaglia

** It's Friday...Again, Already? **

** Comment Like Crazy (Wednesday) went fairly well....although I only made it to about 1/5 of the blogs I follow! I visited quite a few more yesterday and hope to finish up today. I think my next Comment Like Crazy Day will be a week from Sunday, the 3rd of October. That should work out just about right! It was great fun catching up on so many fabulous blogs! Gee, that must be why I follow them! (Oh, BTW, I'm going through them alphabetically, so I don't lose track as to where I've been yet...so I'm sorry if you're at the end of the alphabet.

** My sister, Marian, who lives in the Atlanta area had surgery this past Tuesday. It was supposed to be one of those "routine" surgeries, but there were some frightening complications. She's still in the hospital and I'm not sure when she'll be released. I've talked to my brother-in-law and both (grown) nieces, so they are keeping me up to date. I just wish I didn't live so far away. She hasn't been able to, or in the mood to talk on the phone to anyone yet, but she knows her long-distance family members have made multiple calls to find out how she's doing, etc. I'm hoping she'll be much better by later today.

That's it for now. It's way past midnight and I still have some reading to do. Until later........♥

“The house does not rest upon the ground, but upon a woman” -- Mexican Proverb Quote

** IT'S CHOCOLATE DAY!! **

According to 123 Greetings, today is Chocolate Day!!  I find this little bit of news particularly verrrry interesting....because just last night, when I was at the check-out lane in Target, a Hershey Bar called my name! Indeed it did. It said, "Hey, Becky! Over here. You know you want me, so just give in and indulge." And since I'm at a stage in my life where I have absolutely no willpower, (hopefully this too shall pass) I grabbed that chocolate bar and threw it on the converyer belt along with my few necessities: printer ink, diet coke, yogurt, and yellow zingers! See what I mean?? At least I bought some yogurt and DIET soda!

Anyway, I have not eaten the Hershey Bar yet....ta-dah! So, here is my gift to everyone, on this special day.

The Hershey Bar is real. The other items are stickers from my greeting card/sticker collection.

Consider this your E-Card for the day!!

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!

"Strength is the capacity to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands - and then eat just one of the pieces." -- Judith Viorst