Spring Equinox

 I was almost this old when I discovered the Spring and Fall Equinox meant daylight and night were twelve hours each. Walking outside this morning to temperatures in the low forties, makes me wonder where am I? I'm thinking the groundhog was right and, despite the calendar saying spring, winter is till throwing cold at us.

Actually, I know where I am and, starting tomorrow, the temps will head back into the hot eighties. Sometimes, I'm tempted to move to a place that stays upper seventies to lower eighties. That's the perfect temperature. I can take the heat, but these cold nights and days are unbearable.

Anyway, welcome to spring, chicks, rabbits, lambs, and the coming of spring showers bringing May flowers. Although, my azaleas have already bloomed. As did my Jewel Orchid.

I hope these flowers brighten your day as much a they did/do mine. Time to clean up some leaves. Our live oak trees fall several times of the year, not just in the fall.

Writings in the works:

Still working on the final edit of, Destiny Revealed (Possibly, The Blue Rose). We're at the end of Chapter 2. 

Emily's Story, about a ten year old girl ghost and a house flipper.

I am Weather, a poem about the various aspects of weather.

Keep writing and editing. I know you can do it. See you again, soon.

Not to Use a Cliche

But, time does fly. I've been very busy with our daughter and her difficult pregnancy. And a few days of substitute teaching. 

Baby came last week, so I've been busy helping her recover from her C-section. We're having a quiet moment, so I thought I'd update you.

I did some research, but still haven't done anything toward my New Year's Resolutions. I'm still psyched about doing them, but I do see they are on a back burner rather than up front.

We had our first show for our WoodnStuff Workshop last month and I spent a couple of weeks getting our products finished, inventoried, and priced. We did okay at the show. So much better than the flea market we were attending November and December.

This surprised me as, pre-covid, I did very well at this flea market. When they reopened, they had moved it to the back and there were a lot less regulars than previously. I sold less than $20 worth of product in those two months and I spent $40 a week. Since our daughter's pregnancy was getting more difficult and the fact we did poorly, we decided to leave the market and work on finding craft/art shows to attend.

I'll be updating some of the wood working products in our WoodnStuff Workshop blog. I'll put a link to the blog when it's finished.

Continuing my quest to finish the edit of my science fiction book, Destiny Revealed (maybe The Blue Rose), I am once again making sure all the i's are dotted and the t's crossed. My team and I are almost done with chapter 2 of 38.

What brought this about was the desire to enter the first chapter in a First Chapter contest. After making sure it was the way I wanted, I went to the site and read the rules. Turns out it didn't qualify because it won 3rd place in a previous contest years ago. And, even though it was different from the first version, they clearly stated if previous editions of the same chapter had won any contests, it could not be entered even if this one was different from the original. I decided to continue with the editing and get this book published. 

I've also reread and am working on the second book. It's outline is complete and many parts are fleshed out. I believe it's ready to go from the handwritten state to the writing program. I hope this one doesn't take me 12 plus years to publish.

I believe this updates the author portion of my life. Keep writing, dreaming, and moving forward.

New Years Resolution

 I'm not one to make New Year's Resolutions. Life gets in the way. I did download "Writer's Digest presents A Year of Writing Prompts 365". There is no way this book is going to last a year. I am an extremely slow writer that usually requires a lot of research. Stories do not roll off the tip of my pen. So, this book is going to last many years and yes, all my writing starts out on paper.

The prompt for January 1 is as follows: From your New Year's Resolution(s), take one and create a fictional story around it. Since I don't make resolutions, I went to Google and found Top New Year's Resolutions, Unique New Year's Resolutions, and Crazy/Odd New Year's Resolutions. I made this list:

1) Exercise more to feel good

2) Get organized and clear out the clutter

3) Lose weight

4) Get photo taken in 5 interesting places

5) Make a new friend a month

6) Write down one thing your grateful for every night

7) Start a new hobby

8) Pay it forward

9) Stop multitasking

10) Volunteer

I really liked numbers 4 and 10 and decided to do both.  Justserve.org gave me some great volunteering opportunities. Here are the 5 I choose:

1) Do a clean-up using TheLittleCleanup app

2) Start a Little Free Library

3) Take photos of gravestones for Billiongraves 

4) Sew a My Very Own Blanket 

5)  Volunteer at Inspire Equine Assisted Center

 Follow along my writing journey and, if you're up to the challenge, write along. I'm thinking the title for this story will be, "New Year, New Me." You may finish your story sooner, but know I'm clubbing along.

The prompt for January 2nd is: "That's not a New Year's Resolution. That's a death wish." Use this as a first line and run with it! Nothing comes to mind for this one. Depending on how long the first prompt takes, this one may not see the light of day this year.

"You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club."