Getting in the Christmas Mood 2

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What The Holidays Mean to You

For you, the holidays are about celebration. You enjoy all the fun and fellowship that the holidays bring. You celebrate the holidays in a minimalist style. You are likely to only give one great present and decorate your house with a few special items. During the holidays, you feel magical. You love all of the decorations and how happy people are. You like to sit back and take it all in. You think the holidays should be comforting and relaxing. You don't like the holiday rush... you just like the simple pleasure of the holidays. Your favorite holiday memories strongly evoke your senses. You are vividly aware of all the tastes, smells, and sounds of the holidays.

What Do the Holidays Mean to You?

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Appetizer
What is your favorite carnival/amusement park ride? The Ferris Wheel. I like the feeling of being high up in the air and looking around, plus they go slow enough they don't do weird things to my tummy. Those spinning things??? Uh.. no... make me sick as a dog.

Soup
How do you react in uncomfortable social situations? do my best to avoid them. But, if it's very uncomfortable, I normally get real quiet and try to ignore the unpleasantness

Salad
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you enjoy discussing deep, philosophical topics? probably a five... depends on the person I'm with and whether it's likely to stay a discussion or turn into an argument. I don't argue.. especially about things like that


Main Course
Did you get a flu shot this year? If not, do you plan to? nope, and nope. I've only had the flu once and I don't want it again. However, every time my DH would get one, he'd get sick, so now we just try to avoid crowds, wash our hands a lot and pray for the best. We'll save the shots for those people who really need it.

Dessert
Approximately how many hours per week do you spend watching television? less than five, unless you count old movies on TCM or FMC. :-)

Getting in the Christmas Mood... 1

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thankgiving, everyone. I'm out of town until Sunday, but wanted to leave these greetings with you. The following poem is from a contest I entered a LONG time ago. The form: Whitney. Seven lines exactly. Syllable count per line as follows: three, four, three, four, three, four, seven. In this case, each poet had to use the word "harvest" somewhere within the text of the poem, but could not use "harvest" in the title.

Enjoy and have a blessed day!


Thanksgiving Prayer
by
Judy Thomas


Fields of gold
Yellow and orange
Brown and red
Bounty bestowed
Harvest done
Praise uplifted
Thankful for good gifts given.

first published in Sol Magazine, October 1999

Friday's Feast

To play along, click on the pie.


Appetizer
What was your first “real” job? The first job other than babysitting I had was the summer after my first year of college. I worked in the bookstore in the mall... a dream job for a reading fanatic! Mr. B's Gallery of Books. If you are out there anywhere, Mr. B, thanks!

Soup
Where would you go if you wanted to spark your creativity?I don't have a specific place that I go...not externally anyway. If I'm having problems with a scene or a point in the story, I will lose myself in music and just let my mind drift. It usually finds its own way to where it needs to be.

Salad
Complete this sentence: I am embarrassed when… I absolutely and completely go blank on someone's name. Especially because I've usually known that someone for years. One time, one of my best friends from Georgia came up to North Carolina to surprise me. She came to where I was working and I started to introduce her to my best friend from North Carolina, who also happened to be the director of the preschool where I was assistant director. We knew each other well, okay? So.... Sandye comes in and I say, "Sandye, I want to introduce you to..." and just drew a complete blank. SO complete, I finally had to say..."Tell me what your name is." Now, that's embarrassing! Fortunately, Tina and Sandye thought it was great fun and enjoyed talking about the dumb blonde they both knew. I'm glad somebody was able to get some fun out of it!

Main Course
What values did your parents instill in you? honesty and frugality. (1)Honesty, because that was the WORSE sin in our house. The worse spanking I ever got (and richly deserved) was when I was in the fourth grade. I went through a period of time where I didn't want to do my homework. I would come home and tell my grandmother I didn't have any. I would go back to school and tell my teacher I'd forgotten it at home. After a bit, the teacher called home to find out what the problem was... why I was having so much trouble remembering to bring my homework to class. This was a Wednesday, because my grandmother got the call while my mom was at choir practice. Grandmama didn't say a word to me, but told Mama when she got back from the church. My mother woke me up and wore me out... not for not doing my homework, though. I got the spanking because I had lied to my grandmother and my teacher! To this day, I find I'm truthful almost to a fault.(2)Frugality. As a single mom, my mother didn't have a lot of spare money. Whenever she got some extra, rather than treat us to a movie or something like that, we'd go buy a new board game. She explained it to me this way one time when I was complaining about it. If we had spent the money on a movie, we would have fun for about two hours. If we spent the money on a game, we could have an indefinite amount of time. So... we played a lot of games at my house.

Dessert
Name 3 fads from your teenage years.
disco, platform shoes (I almost broke my ankle because of this one), pet rocks.

BTT, New Contest, and Quiz

Today’s question comes from Conspiracy-Girl:
I’m still relatively new to this meme so I’m not sure if this has been asked yet, but I’m curious how many of us write notes in our books. Are you a Footprint Leaver or a Preservationist?

Unless we're talking about college and things I had to read for class, I never mark in my books. When I'm doing research for a story, I use lots and lots of post-it notes. Now, when I was in college I tended to take almost all my notes right in the book... next to the passage we were going over (I was a literature major). It really came in handy during my Shakespeare class, because we were able to use the books in the final, but not our notebooks :-)
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My friend, business partner, and cohort, Marianne, has her newest story released from The Wild Rose Press. Click here to buy it. Or, she's running a contest on her site where you can win it, or any of her other books. Go... you know you want to. Trust me, this story will definitely get you in the Christmas spirit!
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Your Brain is Purple

Of all the brain types, yours is the most idealistic. You tend to think wild, amazing thoughts. Your dreams and fantasies are intense. Your thoughts are creative, inventive, and without boundaries. You tend to spend a lot of time thinking of fictional people and places - or a very different life for yourself.

What Color Is Your Brain?

Allergy Time

Fighting a sinus headache today, so just a short bit of nothing.

You Should Be a Film Writer

You don't just create compelling stories, you see them as clearly as a movie in your mind. You have a knack for details and dialogue. You can really make a character come to life. Chances are, you enjoy creating all types of stories. The joy is in the storytelling. And nothing would please you more than millions of people seeing your story on the big screen!

What Type of Writer Should You Be?

Monday Mutterings

I have some exciting news from The Long and the Short of It this week. Award-winning author Kally Jo Surbeck is our special guest this week and she's giving away the most awesome prize! She's going to award one lucky reader with an free book, but not just any book... an autographed copy of her newest release that's coming out November 28! So... if you want to be one of the first to read the first book in a truly awesome series, just hop right over to LASR to enter. Remember there will be new ways to enter daily, so check back every day.
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My NaNo story is going well... but slowly. I still MIGHT have a chance of winning, but even if I don't I'm enjoying the story. I'm writing it in first person, which is a departure for me, and offers a whole lot of other challenges. We'll see how it goes.
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I found this fun site... what do you think?

%1
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Your Pilgrim Name Is

Humility Abbott

What's Your Pilgrim Name?

Humility?? ME?? Ask anyone else what THEY think! lol

Fridays Feast

It seems forever since I've done Fridays Feast, but I think I only missed last week. Anyway, I'm back at it today. So, enjoy. And, to play along, just click the Greek salad.

Appetizer
Which snack do you like to get when you go to the movies? There is nothing like theater popcorn...with extra butter. I know...it's horrible for my heart and my hips, but I don't go often, so when I do I splurge. Oh...extra napkins, please.

Soup
What year did you start using the internet? 1993, I think. I started out with AOL... I know a lot of people knock it, but it was an easy introduction to being online at the time.

Salad
What is your first name in Pig Latin? (Here’s how to speak it if you don’t already know!) Udyjay

Main Course
Name something you are picky about. I'm not a very picky person, BUT I do like the dishwasher loaded a certain way.

Dessert
Fill in the blanks: I wrote 2000+ words yesterday and I hope to do the sametoday.
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In other news, I've just received word that Kristy Dykes, a fellow author, has recently been diagnosed with a brain tumor. Please pray for Kristy and her family as they go through the next few months.
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The Long and the Short of It has some exciting things coming up in the next few months. We're continuing our *newsletter only* contest (to get in on that you're going to want to make sure you are subscribed) and we have a brand new one starting the first of the year.

Also, we have an exciting contest planned for Christmas, so keep an eye out for that.

And, don't forget to check out the review site for chances to win free books every week.
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NaNo is going as well as can be expected given what's been going on (I promise... no more whining). To be back where I should be, I need to write 7945 words today. Now, let's be honest. It ain't gonna happen. BUT, I am going to try to do 2000+ again. Little by little, I'll whittle the deficit down. Maybe not in time to win NaNo (after all, Thanksgiving is coming up, but by the grace of God maybe my laptop will be back by then), but I'm enjoying this story and looking forward to seeing where it will take me.
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Your Travel Personality Is: Easygoing

When you travel, you're looking for a lot of downtime. Vacations are your chance to recoup. All you need is a scenic spot and plenty of time on your hands. You'll figure out the rest. You're not one to make lots of plans when you travel. You just follow whatever path seems right.

What's Your Travel Personality?

When I saw this same response on Marianne's site, I knew I would get the same answer. Not because we so often get the same answer, but because it just sounds like me.

Y'all have a great weekend, now, y'hear?

What a Week This Has Been

... but it's not because I feel like I'm falling in love. (Let me clarify... I AM in love, but that's not the reason for the title).

Last week (Sunday, October 28) my laptop battery died. It would not hold a charge, even when the power cord was plugged in. So... the power cord must be faulty. I return to the store where I'd bought the computer in January and they are very helpful. The sales clerk opens a new power cord and we try that. Nope, not the power cord.

Okay, maybe it's the battery. It's not supposed to give out in only a year, but I leave the computer on all the time... it's possible it drained it faster than it should have. We order a new battery and, hopefully, it will be in before we leave on Thursday to go to the shore. It wasn't... but that's okay. Miraculously, the battery has charged. I had taken it out, unplugged everything, and put it back together. Who knows, maybe there was a bit of corrosion preventing a good connection. It doesn't matter... I have a laptop. I can go to the shore and still do my work.

So... I get up Friday morning... do my words for NaNo... and notice... hmmmmm, the battery is not holding a charge. Blast it. The battery dies... nothing I can do will fix it. I am NOT a happy camper. (I had a lot of fun this weekend, though, but I was a bit frustrated because I was falling so far behind on my NaNo words. I do some handwriting, but... )

Okay. I get home on Tuesday, the new battery is here. Yea! Joy, jubiliaton, and excitement all around. I put in the new battery (sent at 17% charged), plug it in and watch as the new battery steadily loses it's charge. Oh, crap.

So... I call tech support and get through almost immediately. Ben was the tech's name and he was VERY helpful. Seems it is probably a connection problem in the outlet part. So, he's sending me a box and I'm going to ship the laptop back to the company and they will fix it. So, that's taken care of and fortunately, we have a desktop that's my husband's and we're sharing.

And, I was able to download all my work from my laptop onto my flashdrive before it died completely, so work can continue, albeit in scattered moments.

I'm playing catch up with NaNo.... I should be at 13,336 words by the end of today and so far I have 7,058 words. I doubt I'll come up with 6,278 words today, but at least it's closer than it was yesterday :-)

And, now that I've bored you all completely with my tale of "the week that was"... I'll leave you with these important items:

This week the reviews site is giving away TWO books. Scroll down for the older entries. Also make sure you check out the contest on the website.

And...

Your Inner Pop Princess Is Beyonce

"Tonight I'll be your naughty girl I'm callin all my girls Gonna turn this party out I know you want my body." You've got the talent, looks, and attitude to get to the top of the charts.

Who's Your Inner Pop Princess?

UHHHH... okay????

The First Day of NaNo and All is Well

Well... it's starting off well. I managed my goal plus, so all's well in the world. Almost.

The battery for the laptop didn't come in yesterday and we're supposed to leave for the shore this morning, so I might be computer-less completely until Monday evening. So... if you don't hear from me over the weekend, that's why. Guess I'll be writing 1633+ words by hand. :-)

This is the weekend of the Seafood Festival in Apalachicola. It's one thing we try not to miss every year. We have friends who come over from Panama City to stay with us and we have a blast (Hi, Red and Sherry!) If you're going to be there... look for me and come up to say "howdy."
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Believe it or not, I finally found a quiz that says Marianne and I are not Siamese twins... and, frankly, this was one time I thought we WOULD be!

Your Fashion Style is Girly

You dress to look beautiful and show off what you've got Dresses, skirts, heels... whatever it takes to turn heads You love feeling like a girl in any setting Even your workout clothes are cute and feminine!

What Kind of Fashionable Woman Are You?