Happy Halloween 2009

I know my post yesterday was a bit heavy. So, we're heading into the light for today's post, I promise. :)

Thanks to all of you who expressed concern and well wishes in the comments and also in personal emails to me. Things have turned for the better, and I feel I am on the right path. A few things have fallen magically into place, so I'm still optimistic all will end well.

Today is Halloween.

It is also the end of my writing contest and the end of the Think Pink Book Challenge. I sold one book, and no, it wasn't to myself or anyone else I know. With a dollar from each entry in the writing contest, and the book I sold, and what I'm chipping in, I will be sending a check to Susan G. Komen Foundation for $20.

Thanks to all who participated. I truly appreciate it.

November 1st kicks off National Novel Writing Month. I am participating this year, again, with a goal to have my book finished within a week. I did a bit of "training" this year, trying to make my "quota" of 2,000 words-a-day, and for the most part, I've met or exceeded that goal, and in one weekend I wrote over 10,000 words. It's a doable goal, and I will keep you all posted with my progress. If you are participating, and need a "buddy", write or email me.

The contest winners will be announced on November 15, 2009, so good luck to those who entered. I'm excited to see who wins.

My son is also coming home for Thanksgiving, so I will be counting the days (25) until he's here.

That's all for now.

I hope you all have a very safe and Happy Halloween!

Contest & Fundraiser End Today

Today is the end of the 1st Annual Summer Writing Contest and the fundraiser for Operation Minnesota Nice. If you want further details, go to my business blog at www.crawfordwritingservices.blogspot.com and check it out.


In the coming weeks I will be launching my first ebook, so "stay tuned."

Until then, have a safe and happy 4th of July celebration!

Catching Up

Hi, Everyone!

This is a catching up post. I'm still unemployed, still looking for a job, and still getting my ducks in a row to get some writing business going. It's hard to schedule your life when you don't work at a JOB for 8 hours each day, 40 hours per week. I always wished I had more time to devote to my writing business and now that I have it, I seem to be sort of lost when I do my usual schedule, meaning I get everything done by 2 pm and wonder what to do with the rest of my time.

I am confident that I will figure it out. Then about the time I get my schedule the way I want, I'll get a JOB and then I will be back to rescheduling my schedule. LOL!

The weekend was great, really hot and humid, but great. We went to the Back to the 50's car show at the State Fairgrounds in St. Paul. Over 12,000 classic cars from 1964 and older, and the weather was warm and sticky. I waited in line to get a new bag (for FREE) from the Ladies Showcase building and met a lovely lady and her daughter who were standing in line behind me from Watertown, South Dakota. We got to chatting and the forty-five minutes we were in line seemed to fly right by. I never know who I'm going to meet at these things and I truly enjoyed talking to them. I hope their journey home was a safe one.

In the meantime, there is only one week left for the writing contest and the fundraiser. So, if any of you are interested, please go to my business blog, www.crawfordwritingservices.blogspot.com and enter or buy a Thank You Card. To those who have already visited and entered or purchased a card, my sincere thanks. I have learned so much from doing these events this last month, and have a few ideas in the works for the next few months, so stay tuned!

Have a great week!

Another Reason I Love That Man

If you have been tuning into the strange drama I call my life, you know this last week has been a roller coaster ride to say the least.

Saturday, I was reminded once again, why I love QH so much.

He threw me an early surprise 40th Birthday Party, complete with friends, drinks and a delicious birthday cake pictured above.

Ladies, if you don't have a man as sweet as mine, go find yourself one, or quite complaining about the one you have and start appreciating them.

You want them to be better, start treating them better. And by the way, MEN ARE NOT MIND READERS!! You want someone to read your mind, see a psychic!

Treat people the way THEY would like to be treated and see what happens!

In the meantime, I'm working and writing to get a job or line up a few writing gigs to keep the bills paid, and hopefully, get that man a Harley.

He deserves that and so much more.

You can help by entering my writing contest at http://www.crawfordwritingservices.blogspot.com/ and in return you have a shot at the $500 Grand Prize, in CASH!!

Now, I'm getting my butt back to work!

Sowing the Seeds

I hope you all had a fabulous Memorial Day weekend and paused for a moment or two to give thanks to those who have given their lives for our freedoms, and to those who are continuing to serve here and overseas.

We spent it outside preparing our garden, and then planting on Monday, which really felt more like Sunday for me. I'm all screwed up this week, but that's nothing new! LOL!

Since the weather was spectacular (70's, slight breeze, some thin wispy clouds above and mostly sunshine), it was a crime to spend it in the house for any reason. We accomplished a lot in the last few days and are paying for it now. As my Aunt Naomi said, "Damn this getting old hurts!" Amen to that.

The vegetable garden isn't very big, but big enough for us. I have eight (8) Roma Tomato plants, four (4) Jalapeno pepper plants, some Dill, Thyme, Cilantro and Rosemary planted and soon to be added, some Okra. Most people here in the Northern Territories haven't a clue what Okra is or how on Earth you cook or why you would in the first place.

Okra is mainly a Southern plant, but it does grow up here, and my Mom chops it up and puts it in a batter of flour and cornmeal and something else and fries it. Some people fry it in bacon grease like my Aunt Treva. It's an acquired taste to be sure, but it's just something fresh and different.

We also planted most of the flower garden, but ran out of plants so there is a round, bare spot that needs to be filled in with something. I'm going to do that next week when the flowers go on sale and have Cannon help me plant them.

As I pondered what we accomplished in the last few days, I couldn't help but think of the symbolism of sowing the seeds and planting in the hopes of a good harvest. All around us the seedlings are starting to shoot up and all the insects and birds are taking advantage of the bounty while they can. I've seen honey bees, butterflies, cardinals, blue jays, humming birds (I'll be putting a couple of feeders up for them on my new double Shepard's hook QH gave me for my birthday), and we even rescued a baby bunny rabbit from an over excited Black Lab named Zack, owned by my landlord, Mike.

So, now the task is to weed, water and feed my precious little plants and hope they all make it and we have an abundant harvest this fall.

I'll also be seeding the market for more writing work. I still have my contest going until July 1st, so go to my business blog http://www.crawfordwritingservices.blogspot.com/ and enter your manuscript with the $10 entry fee! You can't win if you don't enter, so plant your seed today!

In the meantime, I'm also going to pray for rain. Or, I'll speed things along by washing my car! LOL!

Have a great week!

Contest Changes Effective Immediately

If you go to my business blog, you will see I've made some drastic changes to my writing contest.

Go to crawfordwritingservices.blogspot.com for all the details.

If you don't want to click on the link, I will just give you the short version here.

I've decided to open up the age group to include anyone sixteen (16) years of age and older, meaning if you are all the way to 99 years old (or older), you can enter the contest if you submit a great manuscript with the
$10 non-refundable entry fee for each manuscript submitted.

Deadline is July 1, 2009, with winners announced on August 1, 2009.

This was requested by several writers who let me know that they would love to enter the contest, but couldn't because of my age limitation.

Ok. I'm flexible, so I opened it up and extended the deadline and I hope you all flood my Inbox and my P.O. Box with entries that will knock me out of my chair.

BRING IT ON!!

And since today is Armed Forces Day, in honor of our Troops, I am offering a Thank You Card, handwritten, for $5 each with every penny going to Operation Minnesota Nice, my favorite charity.

On July 1, 2009, I will present each card, signed with your name, along with all the money raised to this wonderful organization in time for the Independence Day celebrations.

Operation Minnesota Nice adopts soldiers of all branches of the service and sends them mail, packages and gifts that their families are not able to provide due to financial or other reasons. It's a small way to say thanks for them serving our country and with the postage hike that took effect on May 11, 2009, they need all the help they can get.

If you want to just donate, you can do any amount you like. Even if it's just $1.00, it will add up and make a difference.

Please pray for our troops and their families, and thank a service member no matter what branch they serve for keeping us free.

It's Great News, and Boy, Did I Need It!!

The last couple of weeks have been challenging to say the least. At every turn an appliance was dying or dead and it seemed like it was not going to end.

It's also been an expensive week.

First, the vacuum cleaner would not turn on at all. Nothing. Tried almost every outlet in the house thinking I had a blown breaker or something, but nothing. Ok.

Next, I'm baking my famous cherry chocolate bars when QH asked me, "Why is the light in the oven flickering like that?"

"Um, the light isn't on." I opened the oven door to witness sparks like the 4th of July spewing out of my oven element. We literally watched it spark and fizzle itself out.

The bars were finished on the grill and had that slightly smoky taste, but they disappeared just the same. Ok.

Then, the washing machine was in mid-cycle, when it started making a noise equivalent to someone dropping ball bearings on my tin roof. The repairman came out and diagnosed that my 9-year old washer blew the transmission and snapped off the motor coupling at the same time.

Cost for service call: $80.
Cost to fix the washing machine: $380.
Cost for a refurbished washing machine: $135.

Because QH went all the way to St. Paul to buy it, pack it in the truck and bring it home: priceless *

*(oh, wait, the equivalent to a 2009 Harley Davidson Ultra Glide)

Then our bathtub drain plugged up.

No, it wasn't because I shaved my legs, either!

We think a little plastic cap from the faucet washed down the drain and was plugging it up. The plumbers showed up and fixed it in less than 2 minutes. The bill went to my landlord. I don't even want to know.

So, I guess I shouldn't complain, because everything was fixable. The vacuum was dead because of a blown fuse, which my friend Jessi fixed for me (thanks so much).

The oven was replaced by one my landlord had in his garage (it was an electric oven and he replaced his with natural gas). I spent Saturday in the garage inhaling oven cleaner fumes, but after one and a half cans of oven cleaner, some hot water, and some hard scrubbing, it looks brand new. Mike revealed that he'd used the oven for 2 years, never cleaned it and then just put it in the garage. My shoulders are still sore!

Now we need a microwave, a small one, because the old oven had the microwave attached to it. (It was Kenmore that was about 30 years old). Hopefully, we have a friend who has a small one we can use. In the meantime the stove top is reheating everything.

Oh, and in my rush to get the oven clean, I threw the knobs in the bucket to let them soak. I then proceeded to take the bucket, dump the contents into the toilet and flushed said knobs down the toilet.

We made a trip to Menards and spent around $70 on knobs, drip pans for the burners and a new burner (one was broken).

I'm close to putting a donation button on this blog to help defray some of the costs of the last two weeks! Seriously!

I was starting to get down about all this. When it's one thing after another after another, it gets to you. I wanted to just make it stop. Enough already.

But I got a jolt of perspective yesterday when I read my email.

My dear friend and fellow writer, Sandy Lender, emailed to let us know that her scans came out all clear and she is now cancer free. I immediately burst into tears, and thanked God and all the saints and every good thing in the Universe that she is now 100 % healthy. I felt the same way the first time my mother was given the all clear following her masectomy and she has been cancer free for over 9 years.

Sandy has been through every circle of hell there is and still has that same sweet smile, still takes care of all God's creatures great and small, and thinks more of others than she does of herself. Through all of this mess, her heart has grown more and she is an inspiration to me and all who know her.

She's also a talented writer and her books are proof of that, just go to amazon.com and buy them and read them for yourself. I just have to warn you, make sure you have nothing else planned because once you start, you can't put it down!

You can read more about her at her website Today the Dragon Wins and her books.

Now, I'm going to stop whining, get the house cleaned and make dinner for my QH, and be grateful for all the good things I have in my life. Including my friend Sandy Lender and the fact I know have Fridays off.

If you really want to help, I do have a writing contest for young adult writers going on until June 1, 2009. Just go to my business blog at crawfordwritingservices.blogspot.com and check out the details. You can even enter via email and pay the $10 entry fee through PayPal.