A Ray of Sunshine ends a Cloudy Week

This has not been one of my best weeks of 2010.  I am trying quite hard to get well after being exposed to several sick people last weekend (one had strep throat) and so have muddled through in spite of the aches, upset stomach and sinus headaches.  No cards made; minimal writing done on TGAN; bare bones cleaning and cooking; no laundry...the best part (until now) of my week has been that I continued my perfect attendance streak at work by not calling in even though my body said "stay in bed".  The weather hasn't helped as it has been dreary, cold and wet much of the week.

Then, I open up my blog to post a review of Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol and what do I find?

I got this really cool award from my friend Beverly over at GottHeartArt!  I feel a bit like I won the lottery!  She and I met shortly after Hurricane Katrina sent me back home to D/FW from New Orleans.  The stamping group we met through is now defunct, but we clicked from almost the first day we met--and I feel Blessed to call her a friend.  Thanks for my first blog award, Beverly!

If I understand how this works (and if I get it wrong, blame the headache LOL), I am to list ten of my favorite things and then pass the award to five people who inspire me...

1)    Chocolate--tied for #1 with coffee (there's a reason my avatar has a coffee cup LOL)

2)    Reading--my TBR mountain has over 500 very eclectic titles

3)    Writing--even if it sometimes slogs along at a snail's pace, I can no longer imagine life without writing

4)    Cardmaking and stamping--and crafting in general, especially eco-crafting

5)    Mexican food--I love food in general, but Tex-Mex has my heart ;-)

6)    Research--sounds crazy, but I must have been a librarian in at least one former life

7)    "Green" living--not as green as I want to be, but hope springs eternal; it is a passion

8)    The History Channel/History International--that's what reality TV means to me

9)    Star Wars--tied with Lord of the Rings; I have probably 75% of the movies' dialogue memorized

10)  Vintage 40's (before me, but not by much LOL) and 50's decor (see #7 above); ADORE thrift stores

And now to my Awardees (in alphabetical order)...these ladies' blogs are awesomely inspiring to me as a writer, as a reader, as a crafter, as a "greenie"--I wish I could award more ;-)

• Christi
• Julia
• Michele
• Susan
• Taylor

Uber-Cool Site, Uber-Cool Scrubbies, Uber-Cool Bags

"Uber" is the term I use when I am super excited about something, and I am super excited about my new scrubbies sent by Christi because I sent her my stash of mesh produce bags.  These are great!  One is of the mesh produce bags, but one is made of plastic grocery bags (plarn), and I already love it for my non-stick cookware--no scratching and it is really quite sturdy.

I love recycling when I can, and I crochet when I can, so I had been saving my mesh produce bags to see what could be done with them.  My BFF Beverly over at GottHeartArt crochets the most wonderful scrubbies out of nylon net, but why buy net if something can be recycled?  So, I had been saving these bags. 

Well, crocheting is so far down my "want-to-do" list that it has almost fallen off the end.  TGAN is taking up much of my free time, and I still want to participate in card challenges when possible.  I'd love to read more (100 book challenge, anyone?).  If you read my recent post about a "To-Don't" list, you may understand why I decided to simply mail all the produce bags to Christi.  They are getting utilized and I get the storage space--what a win-win situation!

I haven't yet ordered any of her fat bottom bags, but one may be purchased soon as my new Spring/Summer purse.  Hop on over to Christi's site and look around (her blog is great, too)!

Writing Prompt Wednesdays

Michelle over at Southern City Mysteries has started this great Wednesday Writing Prompt.  Her prompt for today is "How the tides came crashing..." and here is what came to mind from that:

The ground was still soggy as Epps tried to gather fallen limbs.  The fast tide in this small creek made it obvious even to his young eyes they'd lived through no ordinary storm.  "Well," he thought,  "Mom and that Charles fella are saying we've gone back in time.  That sure means we were lucky not to have drowned.  How they expect to make a fire out of this wet stuff I don't know, but I better not go any further upstream.  If this really is around Bayou St. John, I could walk into swamp and be a goner for sure."

Well, it's a rough idea of one of my character's thoughts at the moment.  I promise it will read better in the finished novel ;-)

Standing in the Shadow of Greatness

I know few writers personally but need to surround myself with intelligent, supportive, creative people who constantly strive to make positive changes in their personal life and who also attempt to positively affect others.  Some of my friends scrap, some know and understand gems, virtually all are voracious readers, and some make cards (as I do whenever I have "spare" time).

I was Blessed to meet one such person almost two years ago, and she is a crafter extraordinaire.  That has now been proven as she was just notified one of her cards is being published in the April 2010 issue of Scrap & Stamp Arts.

Go over to GottHeartArt and see some wonderous eye candy!   Beverly has been a talented crafter her entire life and her card designs run the gamut from cute and cuddly to clean and simple and into the lavish and elegant depending on her mood.  She's also been a featured/guest designer on several card making blogs, and is the current guest designer of the month at Creative Inspirations.

During NaNoWriMo last November, when I honestly wondered how I could ever accomplish 50K in 30 days, she was the best cheerleader a friend could ever desire.  Even now, when I worry about the direction my novel is taking or the time it is taking to finish, no matter how busy (or how sick) she is, she makes sure I know I have someone in my creative corner cheering me to the finish line.

In an age when so many seem to interpret the Golden Rule as "Let me get them before they get me", it is very refreshing to have honest, supportive friends, and it is wondrous to see those friends be recognized for the quality of their work...

Congratulations, Beverly--here's to greater success in the future for you and your cards!

250 A Day Progress Report

I'm determined to do this; and I was equally determined that it would only count if I wrote the words toward my novel.

I have a character who is not cooperating.  I have a job that required a LOT of writing to customers both Friday and today (well over 250 words each day).  I want to comment on blogs I follow.  I had to write e-mails regarding fraudulent bank transactions this weekend. 

The word count exists--the words toward the novel do not.  In my past, because I did not do this perfectly, I would give up and beat myself up for doing so.  Today, I acknowledge the last four days did not go as planned, but I will not give up. 

Everything that I wrote from Friday thru today had to be well-thought-out and highly edited.  Responses to customers must be concise, truthful, polite and grammatically correct.  Certainly the e-mails required to handle financial situations need to be business-like, firm, honest, and to the point.  I want my blog comments to be readable and contributory and as encouraging to the artist/writer as possible--a critique if you will, rather than a rant or criticism. 

My fiction has a tendency to "flow" and comes to me in brief scenes.  The editing comes after the plot.  I will head to bed now knowing I have written well for these four days.  Tomorrow, after a good night's sleep, perhaps Diana will either behave and let me write what I want about her, or she will have told me in a dream what her next move will be ;-)

At any rate, tomorrow's words will be some part of TGAN...