If It's Thursday, I'm Really Mixed Up

Being mixed up should not come as a surprise to those of you who know me. I just composed and posted my Friday, "I WONDER", blog post. I even began with the sentence, "Can it possibly be Friday again, already?" Hmmm... Apparently not! So, that little bit of clever and witty info is waiting patiently in the Edit section.

Whew! Do I feel better! I thought I lost a day somewhere. Oh well, at least I already have tomorrow's post ready to go. Just hope I remember.

This morning, I'm enjoying the beautiful sunny sky, the chirping of birds, the leaves fluttering in the trees, hearing the easy-listening music on my cable tv, my cup of coffee, and the desire to write today!
So, it's tah-tah for now!


Welcome to my newest follower: Miss GOP (Good on Paper)  I hope you'll stop by often and always enjoy what you read and see! Thank you!

"I've forgotten many things but the most embarrassing by far was when I forgot to meet a friend for lunch. I was having a very lazy morning, still in my pj's, when my phone rang at 11:45am. The minute I saw her name on Caller ID, I remembered!" -- Becky Povich

* All Things Writerly *

I attended my Coffee & Critique group again today. Most of the time I don't have anything to read, but I always get so much from listening to others read, and then the critiques given as we go around the table. Two of the writers are currently working on stories to submit to Chicken Soup for the Soul, which made me think to remind everyone about all their Calls For Submission. Right now they have 12 books they need stories for. (There are various deadlines.) If they accept yours, you receive $200.00, plus 10 free books! Give it try. You've got nothing to lose!

Then I remembered Thin Threads and the stories they're currently looking for. They pay $100.00 for an accepted story. (Different deadlines here as well.) Wonderful blogger friend, Susan, of Writing Straight from the Heart, recently had TWO stories accepted and published in two different Thin Threads anthologies. Congratulations, Susan!!

And please don't forget about the Joplin, Missouri anthology, Storm Country. This one does not pay its contributors because all money raised will go to Joplin's school libraries to purchase books damaged or destroyed in the horrible May tornado. *Although you won't receive any money if your story is accepted, this is a wonderful opportunity for a beginner to be published in a printed publication, if your story is well written, of course. Be sure and read all the requirements....must be a weather related story. Deadline is July 15th.

A brand new journal I just came across, Adanna Literary Journal is having a love poem contest. There's a $10.00 entry fee and 1st Prize is $100.00

I'm not promoting any particular anthology, website, journal, contest, etc. I just like to let people know some of the things I come across... when I remember them! ☺

Welcome to my newest follower: Claudia Schlottman!   I hope you'll stop by often and always enjoy what you read and see! Thank you!


"Nothing is impossible, the word itself says 'I'm possible'!" -- Audrey Hepburn

* Nostalgic Sundays *

I'm a nostalgic gal. I love old TV shows like The Andy Griffith Show (only the B&W episodes, ya know!) I'm particularly drawn to the lovely citizens of Mayberry because this fictional town reminds me so much of the real-life hometown of my parents and grandparents: Greenfield, Iowa.

When I was a little girl we went to Greenfield every summer for vacation. It was a magical time. The late 1950s, life was slow and easy, we young kids could walk or ride bikes all over town. I have such fabulous memories of those days, some of which will be included in my memoir.

Today I thought of trying to begin another weekly post and call it Nostalgic Sundays. I'm not really sure what I'll post or if I can even come up with something every Sunday, but I'm going to try. And if any readers decide to post something nostalgic on their blogs on Sundays, let me know and I'll be sure to stop by!

That's it for this Sunday, and surprisingly I've already thought of topics for at least two more Sundays.

"There is a lovely warmness about feelings of nostalgia as though in one's head one is putting on a pair of comfy old slippers and curling up in front of a fire."  - William E. Geist

* Saturday Centus *

It's been a long time since I participated in Jenny Matlock's Saturday Centus. I'm not sure why, but hopefully I'll get back into the swing of things.

In a nutshell, Jenny Matlock gives us a prompt from either herself or a guest submitter and then we have to write 100 (although this week is only 60) words or less related to the prompt (the prompt doesn't count toward the 100 words) Then link it up to her blog. It's open until the following Saturday, so that means you have all week to participate by either reading or writing. The prompt this week is Dear John

Mary was ecstatic her fiance', Rodney, was coming home. No, she was not one who wrote a Dear John letter to a man she proclaimed to love. How cruel that would be! Why couldn't a woman wait for her lover to come back home? And, in fact, it wasn't even wartime. He'd just gone to the corner store to buy lottery tickets.  (exactly 60 words, not counting the prompt)

Also, I welcome my newest follower, Julie Fedderson. I hope you'll stop by often and always enjoy what you read and see! Thank you!

* I WONDER *

It's time for another Friday, "I Wonder" communique'.

I wonder: I wonder when I'll ever get caught up reading and commenting on all the blogs I love! (This is one of my goals for the weekend.) If I haven't stopped by your blog in awhile, it's nothing personal. Same goes for if I owe you an e-mail. In fact, if I do owe you an e-mail, please let me know!

AND, speaking of this weekend, all you members (and visitors) of Saturday Writers, we're having a fantastic guest speaker at tomorrow's meeting! Check here to see who it is and find out more information.

Friend in Need - Friend indeed

Yesterday, a very wise and dear "non-writer" friend wrote some extremely profound words to me. She knew all about my "adventure" during my get-away, because she was in fact part of it. This is what she wrote:

"Your book is something you are doing for you. If nothing ever becomes of it or it becomes a “Best Seller” it was for your own personal satisfaction of writing and that comes when it comes. You can’t schedule a week-end & say ……OK now I’m gonna get inspired and spew forth “writing”. You know that sometimes it comes easy & others not so much. I think that is life in general…………if it came easy we wouldn’t appreciate the effort put into things."

Pretty powerful stuff, huh?! Even though I know all those things, it's always good to hear them again, and from someone looking at my situation from a different view.

Last night I decided to pursue other interests for awhile. For some reason, I remembered a cross-stitch sampler I started years ago. I think I bought it to have something to do while riding in a long car trip. Surprisingly, I actually know where I stored it, so I'll be able to grab it and work on it whenever the mood hits. This in turn, reminded me of another very sweet memory. When I was pregnant with Mark, I was on a cross-stitching frenzy! I worked on them at home while watching TV. I sewed on them at work when I was at lunch or an afternoon break. I have no idea why, but it was like an addiction. I made two large samplers, framed them, and hung them in our living room. I know where they are stored, too, and might just dig them out and hang them upstairs in our loft.

Oh...and that was stamped cross-stitch, NOT counted! You know that math and I don't get along, right? Who knows what words I would've stitched if I had to count the spaces!! Probably words like the verification ones we get on Blogger!

Ahhh....and as always, one memory leads to another, and might eventually find a place in my memoir.

Two quotes today because I love them both.

“The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink and clamoring to become visible.” – Vladimir Nabokov

“I think it is all a matter of love: the more you love a memory, the stronger and stranger it is.” – Vladimir Nabokov

The Best Laid Plans.....

I arrived back home yesterday afternoon from my writer's get-away. All I can say is, although the condo was wonderful and the view was spectacular....I didn't get any writing accomplished. The reasons are varied, of which I won't go into. As life sometimes goes, our best laid plans take major detours without our consent.

It wasn't a total washout. I spent a few hours with two of my favorite "cousins", a friend of theirs, and a beautiful black lab. That alone made the trip worthwhile! And although I didn't accomplish what I intended, I had quite an adventure, and learned some things about myself, too.

“What matters most is that we learn from living.” – Doris Lessing

* I WONDER *

It's time for another Friday, "I Wonder" communique'.

(graphic courtesy Rose Petals from Heaven)

1)  I wonder why some people have the kind of  mathematical brain that makes it easy (and fun) for them to work on those never-ending, xyz kind of problems......

(photo taken by Becky at Parks College 2009)

.....and then there's people like me, who run screaming at the sight of any "math" equation that contains letters and other funny-looking signs. I.just.don't.get.it.

And that would most likely explain why I'm a writer!

Part of my adventure yesterday was driving my son, Mark over to Cahokia, Illinois (not to be confused with Cahokia Mounds. Two totally different places!) Cahokia is a small town just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis. Cahokia Mounds is a state park in Collinsville, Illinois, approximately 10 miles northeast of the town of Cahokia. Very confusing for some people.

Long story short: My dad was first a student and then a professor at Parks Air College, which was located there for many years. HE definitely had the math brain. He taught kinetics, which I'd never heard of and had to look it up in the dictionary. Hmm...well, it's some kind of math dealing with forces and motion, etc....has to do with planes and pilots!

(photo taken by The Ronald at Parks College 2009)

(I'm pointing at a photo of my dad that I supplied)

First we had lunch at Oliver's which is located at St. Louis Downtown Airport. (Another confusing name! It's NOT in St. Louis, nor is it DOWNTOWN!) Check out their website. The food was really good and we saw small planes land and take off. I just noticed on their site that they have some sort of helicopter dinner tours! Sounds fun! 

Anyway...for some reason, it had never occurred to me to show Mark the house I lived in as a little girl, my old grade school, church, etc. We also drove past the old location of Parks. Then it was on to the SLU (St. Louis University) campus on Lindell Street in St. Louis, which has been home to Parks for a few years. (That's probably more info than anyone cared to know!)

Although I've felt various emotions over the years concerning my dad, I'm still always proud of him for his Parks College years and the family life we had way back then. It was truly a wonderful life.

"Failure is not an option." -- Gene Kranz 1954 Parks College graduate. Portrayed by Ed Harris in the movie, "Apollo 13"