Thursday, October 30, 2008

Living a Long Life

There's a talk program that I listen to now and then. Today the woman listed four things that show you'll live a long life. See what you think. Here they are:


  1. Skip soda. (I guess the caramel color and the sugar is bad for you. Increases a metabolic syndrome that could cause diabetes or heart disease.)
  2. Strong legs. (exercise them! This will keep you moving as you age.)
  3. Your mother had you at an early age. (Yeah, as if we had a choice!)
  4. Eat and drink purple things, like Concord grapes and juice, blueberries.

So there you have it. If you can fit your life to these, it's suppose to be a pretty good predictor that you will live to be a hundred. (We can all checkon each other when we get to that age!)

Happy living!


Quote:
Courage is the power to let go of the familiar. --Raymond Lindquist


Blessings

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Sounds of Fall

Gathering Leaves
by Robert Frost

Spades take up leaves
No better than spoons,
And bags full of leaves
Are light as balloons.
I make a great noise
Of rustling all day
Like rabbit and deer
Running away.
But the mountains I raise
Elude my embrace,
Flowing over my arms
And into my face.
I may load and unload
Again and again
Till I fill the whole shed,
And what have I then?
Next to nothing for weight,
And since they grew duller
From contact with earth,
Next to nothing for color.
Next to nothing for use.
But a crop is a crop,And who's to say where
The harvest shall stop?
Quote:
Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. --Abraham Lincoln
Blessings

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Did You Hear?

A small traditional press has asked to see a full manuscript of one of my romance novels. Not a sale--yet, but still another big step in the right direction.

And who knows, they MIGHT decide it's something they can use.

What does it mean: a small press?

  • It's not one of the biggie ones.
  • But it is a traditional one.
  • They put out your novel faster than one of the biggies.
  • They pay you for your novel as it sells.
  • This one has no upfront advance.
  • But you do get royalties.
  • They published it first as an e-published book.
  • A few months later, your novel comes out as a print book.
  • You don't have to pay to have to have it published.
  • You have to market, but then you do with the biggie publishing companies also. Only when you're a "big" name do they spend "50,000 on your marketing without you lifting a finger.

So, ya'all, wish me good, say a prayer, etc.

This time next year, I very well could be a published writer.

Yeah!





Quote:

Confidence is contagious; so is lack of confidence. --Vince Lombardi





Blessings

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Hankerings

Haven't had any Salt 'n Vinegar chips forever.

But I went to a writing meeting a couple Saturdays ago and they had them with the pizza served. Yum. Not too puckery-making, but delicious. I've been craving them ever since.

Haven't had any Taco Salad in a long time.

Every time I've got to a fast food place my gaze lingers on the listing that says "Taco Salad." I gave in the other day and order one. Totally good! Of course that meant I had chilli three days in a row . . . but who cares?

Haven't had any vanilla peanut clusters in what? Over a year? Saw some in the grocery the other day and gave in to the whim. Hiding them & nibbling on them one or two a day. HMMMM.

Haven't had popcorn in awhile.

Wore myself out on the already-popped version; sick of the kind you pop in the microwave, so hadn't eaten any for some time. While in Indiana a few weeks ago, we had some. Struck a note and bought some more this week. Good!

Feel the cravings for future stuff, like:

Pumpkin pie
Turkey and dressing
Ham for Christmas
Homemade biscuits
A good egg sandwich
A banana split
A diet coke soda (you know with the ice cream in it--and I know, diet coke? Oh, well, I can justify having the ice cream, you see.)

What are you craving?



Here's kind of an amusing quote. Thought you'd enjoy it:
Got no checkbooks; got no banks. Still I'd like to express my thanks--I got the son in the mornin' and the moon at night. --Irving Berlin


Blessings

Monday, October 20, 2008

Your Inner Self



Went to a writing seminar yesterday. One of the class speakers gave us an exercise which consisted of writing on a large sheet of paper the first six words that came to mind to describe yourself. Here are the words that I thought about and which are important to me:



1. loyalty



2. caring



3. privacy



4. dreams



5. travel



6. family



I'm sure these aren't the only ones that are important to me, but they are some of the top ones.



Here's why:

Loyalty to yourself, to your faith, friends and family. To me, the word speaks of what a person is when he can be called loyal.



Caring is something that comes from deep inside one's self yet it extends beyond self to others. It's a gentleness and concern that is a strong trait of personality.



Privacy is a valuable commodity. It's a place where you feel safety and peace and strength and strong.



Dreams. What would we do without them? Who can really live without a dream--whether small or large, one or many? It gives us something to strive for. Something that makes us look beyond our own little world.



Travel is a fun thing for me. It can be tiresome if used too much or incorrectly, but in its place, experience and knowlege can be gained.



Family. You can't value them too much. Those who have none, wish for it. Those who grumble about them, fight for them when push comes to shove. There's something to be said for knowing that there's always a blood link, always some one to turn to when the chips are down.



Quick: off the top of your head, write six words that are important to you. Then think about it. Why are they?



Have fun!





Quote:

To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it. --Confucius





Blessings

Monday, October 13, 2008

Things to Do

I'm a list maker. If I don't I can't remember what I need to get done. I don't always get everything on my list done, but generally, I get three-fourths done. That's progress. For me.

Here's a few things I'd like to get done this fall. That means before Thanksgiving. Will I reach my goal? Maybe. Probably some of them will get done. Not all.

  • Lose weight. (LOL)
  • Finish this romantic suspense that keeps growing and growing.
  • Finish the cozy that's been on my literary shelf for several months while I've been trying to finish the suspense.
  • Work some more on hubby & my suspense collaboration.

  • Finish a journal for hubby's work
  • Begin a personal journal on certain things that I've wanted to start forever.
  • Clean up my gardens before it gets too cold.
  • Do research for hubby.
  • Think about Christmas.

That's a partial list. How about you? What's your subconscious goals? Do you make lists?

Have a great day!



Quote:
Anywhere is walking distance if you have the time. --Steven Wright


Blessings
Can You Believe It?


  • In North Carolina, it is against the law for dogs and cats to fight. (Try telling that to them!)
  • In Singapore, it is illegal to chew gum. (But not tobacco?)
  • In Cleveland, Ohio, it is unlawful to leave chewing gum in public places. (This is one of those "duh" ones)
  • In Virgina, chickens can not lay eggs before 8 a.m. and must be done before 4 p.m. (Who thinks up these laws anyway? Oh, yeah, our politicians.)

  • In New York, it is against the law for children to pick up or collect cigarette and cigar butts. (Yuck!)
  • In Massachusetts, it is against the law to put tomatoes in clam chowder. (Too bad)
  • In Washington state, you can't carry a concealed weapon that is over 6 feet in length. (My, that person has a long pocket! How else can it be concealed?)
  • In Michigan, married couples must live together or be imprisoned. (Is that a fact?)

Well, there you have it. The all time crazy laws of all time.

Can anyone beat these?




Quote:
On the road to success, you can be sure of one thing: There is never a crowd on the extra mile.


Blessings

Friday, October 10, 2008

Making Mistakes

Ever make any mistakes?

We did the other night.

On the way home we traveled through Louisville. It was near midnight, the traffic was light, and we were tired. I was sleeping, so half dozing.

My hubby missed his interstate route. Because of the light traffic and being right in town (ususally not a good thing when you mess up) we were able to exit and get back to where we needed to be to get our exit.

AND crossing the bridge again, we had a perfect view of the town of Louisville on the river, lights shining against a black night. Totally gorgeous. A perfect picture for a tiring night.

Hubby said, "Look what we would have missed if I hadn't made that mistake."

I guess some mistakes are worth the aggravation, huh?





Quote:
It takes a lot of things to prove you are smart, but only one thing to prove you are ignorant. --Don Herold


Blessings

Thursday, October 09, 2008

More Autumnish Stuff

This is more profound. Just a tad bit deeper. See what you think.


Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.
Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep,
Drows'd with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.
Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,
--While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.





Quote:
The minute a man is convinced he's interesting, he's not. --Stephen Leacock


Blessings

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

My Favorite Time of the Year

Or, at least one of them.

Thought I'd share this today with you:

There is something in the autumn
that is native to my blood.
Touch of manner, hint of mood,
and my heart is like a rhyme
With the yellow and the purple,
and the crimson keeping time,
The scarlet of the maples can shake me
like a cry of bugles going by.
And my the lonely spirit thrills
to see the frosty asters
like smoke upon the hills,
There is something in October
sets the gypsy blood astir.
We must rise and follow her
when from every hill of flame,
She calls and calls each vagabond by name.
--Bliss Carman





Enjoy!


Quote:
Every great mistake has a halfway moment, a split second, when it can be recalled and perhaps remedied. --Pearl S. Buck


Blessings!

Sunday Morning Sunshine: Autumn's Bright Blue Weather

 Autumn's Bright Blue Weather --Helen Hunt Jackson O suns and skies and clouds of June, And flowers of June together, Ye cannot rival fo...