Celebrate the Small Things

This weekly blog hop is sponsored by the amazing Lexa Cain, and co-hosted by L.G. Keltner from Writing Off the Edge and myself. 

What exactly are we celebrating?

Every week, wonderful things happen, tiny things, which make us smile. But as time grabs us up, we forget all about these moments as if they never existed at all. This is the chance for us to reflect back on those and remember that there are tons of things worth celebrating.

This week, I'm celebrating. . .

1) Surviving the week! It's been one of those weeks where the words 'nothing else can happen' weren't allowed to be uttered. But it's over and yesterday, nothing negative happened. So yay for that!

2) Slushies and shakes! Yesterday, the kids and I headed out to the hay barn, got all of those aluminum cans together (we pick the up off of the dirt road leading to our house. People are messy!) and took them to the recycling center. Sure enough, we had enough change to buy everyone a slushie or shake. It didn't hurt that Sonic had a half-price day.

3) My oldest daughter survived the Greyhound bus! She and friends decided to visit one of their mothers and wanted to try the Greyhound. I warned her that it's not exactly the same experience as transportation in Europe. It wasn't a smooth trip, and after a couple bus no-shows they ended up getting back a day late. She has stories to tell (many very interesting indeed!) and has decided never ever ever to ride with the Greyhound again.

What about you? What put a smile on your face? Lick an ice cream cone? Bathe in the sun? Go hopping through wildflowers or receive a friendly wave from a stranger along the street?

What are you celebrating?

Celebrate the Small Things

This weekly blog hop is sponsored by the amazing Lexa Cain, and co-hosted by L.G. Keltner from Writing Off the Edge and myself. 

What exactly are we celebrating?

Every week, wonderful things happen, tiny things, which make us smile. But as time grabs us up, we forget all about these moments as if they never existed at all. This is the chance for us to reflect back on those and remember that there are tons of things worth celebrating.

This week, I'm celebrating. . .

1) A little quiet. After last week's rush and haste, it was nice to have a couple days of more peaceful days.

2) Garden finally getting planted! I don't know if any of you remember, but last Fall I started on a rock wall to make a type of terrace garden near to the house. I'll post pictures when it's completely done...but for now, I'm getting very close and could put at least a few plants in.

3) Fireflies! These lovely creatures are back - yay! This year, they're coming on strong too. Our entire lower field lights up as if Christmas tree lights have been spread across it. It's simply beautiful.

4) Last day of school for the kids! Which means Summer can begin. . .whatever that might mean.

What about you? What put a smile on your face this last week? 

Did you bask in the sun?

Figure out a plot twist?

Grab a tasty doughnut?

What are you celebrating?

Celebrate the Small Things

This weekly blog hop is sponsored by the amazing Lexa Cain, and co-hosted by L.G. Keltner from Writing Off the Edge and myself. 

What exactly are we celebrating?

Every week, wonderful things happen, tiny things, which make us smile. But as time grabs us up, we forget all about these moments as if they never existed at all. This is the chance for us to reflect back on those and remember that there are tons of things worth celebrating.

This week, I'm celebrating. . .

This week has been a constant running and losing track of everything. And that's why I'm a little late this morning.

1) Oldest off to Boot Camp! This one, of course, comes with a little sigh. He's gone all summer long. But all babies must get big.  This is also the thing that caused my entire week to do a belly flop. The lovely army messed up the paperwork (didn't get it approved in time) and didn't bother to call and tell us. Which meant several 8 hour drives in the car, messed up pick-up times, forgotten pick-up calls...in other words, after three days, my son is finally in Boot Camp.

And I need some sleep.

2) My oldest daughter's graduation! That's tonight. Which I also have to smile at, simply because she forgot to check her robe size a few months ago and last night, figured out it was for someone 6'4'' to 6'6''. (No, she is no where near this tall) Which means quick sewing and hemming for me this afternoon.

3) A new calf! A love baby calves.

And what about you? What are you celebrating?

Celebrate the Small Things

This weekly blog hop is sponsored by the amazing Lexa Cain, and co-hosted by L.G. Keltner from Writing Off the Edge and myself. 

What exactly are we celebrating?

Every week, wonderful things happen, tiny things, which make us smile. But as time grabs us up, we forget all about these moments as if they never existed at all. This is the chance for us to reflect back on those and remember that there are tons of things worth celebrating.

This week, I'm celebrating. . .

Rain again! We had a lot of it last weekend. 15 inches in 24 hours and a grand total of around 20 some inches in 2 1/2 days. Flooding? You bet! But lucky for us, we only caught the edge of the storm. We're keeping the folks just a couple miles south of us in our prayers. It seems that every road on the southern side of our area is no longer passable thanks to knocked out bridges and streets under water (Still 5 days later) 

We did loose a fence line or two, and I get to spend the weekend hauling the debris out of the field (it went under). We even were stuck in our house for 2-3 days since our poor dirt road didn't handle the rain well. Actually, the kids loved the stranded idea, especially since it meant a day off of school. 

But no damage otherwise! Just a very wet pony and some soggy barn cats. (The cattle could care less. . .the stand in the middle of the pasture and eat grass no matter how harsh it rains.)

Next week, I'll be celebrating mowing grass and high weeds because I'm betting we're going to have a lot of that now.

What about you? What are you celebrating this last week? Get some of that rain? Build an arc? Plant some flowers? Dust off that book shelf?

What put a smile on your face?

IWSG

It's time for another meeting of THE INSECURE WRITER'S SUPPORT GROUP . . .Better known as IWSG because otherwise, it is a mouthful.

For those who don't know (And you don't???), this is an awesome group of writers, started by the just as awesome Alex J. Cavanaugh, with the purpose to support, help, assist, offer advice, offer a shoulder, cheer on, and about anything else you can think of along these lines. Writing is a roller coaster ride, and writers need all the support they can get.

If you want to join in, head over to the main site and sign up.

Special thanks goes to this month's co-hosts:  Nancy Gideon, Tamara Narayan, Liesbet @ Roaming About, Michelle Wallace, and Feather Stone!


I got slammed with words of writing wisdom this last month from my 11-year-old son.


"Mom, you're not a writer. You don't have your own book yet."

That hit a sour spot in my gut, the one I've been thinking myself but trying to ignore. "I know. But I have several short stories and--"

"Those don't count." He even scowled. Mean kid. "I mean your own book. Not a book with all these other authors' stories in too." (Amazing that kids know how to grind that knife in just right)

Of course, I know that short stories count but my dream is to have my own book out there. He knows that.

So I told him again about my very own story, which is coming out this June. It's a short story BUT it's going to be under it's own title. Even when I was telling him, I knew he wasn't convinced because my so-called book is a narrated Ubook (head over to blackandwhitepublishingco.com to see what that means). And that's not a 'real' printed book.

"So what's wrong with you, Mom?"

I started to paddle for explanations and told him that I do have one story out with publishers for consideration. . .the same one that's been out for oh....2 years? Yeah, the excuse sounds lame even in my ears anymore.

The truth is that my inner editor is killing me. I write, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite and never get past the first 25,000-30,000 words. If the story isn't right, I'm not happy.

"That's trash, Mom. You're doing it all wrong. Write the story once all the way through. You're going to edit it a thousand times anyway, right? So it doesn't have to be a real story at first. Just write down what happens, and then go back and make it into a real book. That's why you edit, isn't it?"


He's right. I know it. But having him say it, made it finally hit home.