Life Lessons

1 – Don't disobey your mother or she'll chase you down the street with a tree branch.

2 – Don't take off a baby's diaper unless you have a clean one underneath it.

3 – Writing is an oxymoron. It's one of the hardest things to do, but is the most fun at the same time.

4 – If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.

5 – Bloom where you are planted, whether you want to or not.

There's lots more . . . like

Don't spend more money than you make.

And

Don't procrastinate . . . it'll bite you in the hiney later.

Or

Don't share your opinion unless you're asked for it.

But that's probably all I should share. For now, anyway.

What are some of yours?

Where are you?

Have you ever wondered that? You know, wondered where you are? Not physically, of course, (hopefully not physically, anyway) but maybe mentally or spiritually? With your writing? With your career?

I have been thinking a lot about this lately. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because I have been feeling really alone in my writing. (This could possibly be because I live in the Tooelies.) But still, look at the cyber world today. I shouldn't feel alone at all, so why do I?

Well, I think I've rambled enough. What do you do when you wonder where you are?

I’m Phat

Yes, I could stand to lose ten to twenty pounds. But that's not the kind of fat I'm talking about.

I overheard my oldest daughter talking to her siblings in the kitchen as they were all getting a snack. And she said, "I'm fat." At least that's what I heard. If any of you have seen my oldest daughter you would think she must have some kind of eating disorder or something because she's stick thin. She's about five foot five and weighs just under a hundred pounds. Yeah. Skinny Minny.

Anyway, I came into the kitchen and said, "What?!"

She said, "Not F – A – T, Mom, P – H – A – T. Phat means awesome."

"Oh," was my incredibly intelligent reply.

Apparently, phat is the new cool.

Now all of my children are saying how phat they are. I tell them they are phat, too, 'cause they are. But they don't tell me I'm phat. That's probably because they're afraid I'll think they mean F – A – T and I'll cry and give them cruel punishments. Either that, or they think I'm just an old fuddy duddy mom who's not really very cool. I'm not sure which. Possibly both.

I haven't felt very phat lately, but that doesn't change the fact that we all have good things about us—good things we do, good things we say and talents we have been given so we can give back.

Still, I have to keep reminding myself that I'm phat.

Whereas, I think you all are WAY phat. Thanks to those of you who share your phatness with me!

For Me?! Really?!

The oh so fabulous Angela Felsted gave me this awesome award.

She is one of my new and wonderful bloggie friends. Go check out her blog here.

Thanks, Angela!

These are the things I must do to accept this award:

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you this award.

2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers.
4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award.

Here are the seven things:

1. I like to run, although I didn't today.
2. My first OB's name was Dr. Breeden. (I kid you not.)
3. I believe laughter is the best medicine.
4. And also good books.
5. Italian food is the bomb. (That's still a cool think to say, right?)
6. It's harder than it looks to think of seven things about yourself.
7. I spend a lot of time thinking about people who aren't real.


Okay, now for the fifteen lucky people I'm giving this award to:

Tara at Feel of Something New

Charrette at Divergent Pathways

Lotus Girl at Lotus Rising

Carolina Valdez Miller

Writing in a Nutshell

Jen Daiker at unedited
 
Jaded Love Junkie
 
Amber Argyle
 
Krista Lynne Jensen
 
Charmaine Clancy at The Write Words
 
Shannon O'Donnell at Book Dreaming
 
Emma Michaels
 
roxy at a woman's write
 
Kaylee Baldwin
 
Suzette Saxton and Bethany Wiggins at Shooting Stars
 
Congratulations!

Character Name Giveaway

You've always wanted a character in a book named after you, right?! Well, now you can! Go here and enter.

I Needed Smacked

It's true. I did. I've been having one of those discouraging days, er, weeks, um, actually months, well, . . . anyway, you know what I mean.

So, I whined and cried to my husband and my friend and my sister. My friend empathized, my non-writing sister tried to understand, and my husband told me how to fix my discouraged feelings. Although they tried, I still felt crummy.

Then I read this amazing article that smacked me. I knew I needed it, but in the back of the head? Really?

It woke me up and didn't hurt nearly as bad as I would have thought. It actually made me feel alive again.

The words that spoke to me simply said Choose Faith. Instead of floundering in the face of doubt, fear, the unknown and unseen, and pessimism, Choose Faith.

Believe.

It seemed to say, "You know what you are supposed to do, so stop wallowing and do it."

So I did. And I feel so much better.

I RESOLVE

This is the time of year to make resolutions. Say goodbye to the old and in with the new. At least that's what they say, and I suppose they're right.

Except I prefer to call them goals, instead of resolutions, and I have a tendency to set goals all year long ('cause I need lots of improvement, I suppose).

Even though this is the way I do it, there are some things that I have resolved to do at the beginning of 2011.

I RESOLVE to continue my goal of listening to my children better.

I RESOLVE to save more money this year.

I RESOLVE to continue my workouts.

I RESOLVE to make four quilts this year. (Eek!)

I RESOLVE to focus on my spiritual goals.

I RESOLVE to have four manuscripts ready for submission.

I RESOLVE to keep up with my blog.

In my younger days, probably a hundred years ago or so, I worked as a legal assistant. So, I am familiar with the legal document called a RESOLUTION. It's a motion full of a bunch of these I RESOLVE's and often made in the corporate world. It is a legal and binding contract. Thus, I have created a binding contract for myself. (Skeery!) Let's see how I do.

Have you resolved to do anything this year?