Let's Catch Up

Not very much to catch up on really. After two more Monday snow days in January and a 1/2 day and a holiday it seems that the girls are due for an uninterrupted stretch of school. Hopefully next week they'll get a full week in. It's not that I don't enjoy having them home but I don't really see the point of all of this time off. Think about it, if they'd eliminate all of those foolish days off, except for a couple of school vacations in December and March, they'd get out for the year in MAY! And the consistency would be good for everyone. Teachers must lose so much momentum when the schedule gets interrupted. On the up side, on those days off my girls have been enjoying their time together. They've been playing so well with each other. I'm so thankful for that. My heart's desire is for my children to love each other and be friends. Last week after dinner, they all went upstairs. After a little while I went to check on them and Katie had them all set up in their bathroom getting pedicures! How cute!! Becky and Allison were having a blast! And Katie was enjoying it too. It was great!

As I said last January, I'm not much for resolutions but I did make one. Just one. I've resolved to cook dinner every night. Eating out is a thing of the past. Now don't get me wrong; OCCASIONAL eating out may happen if we are out somewhere far from home at mealtime. But as a general rule dinner will be at home. Think of the money we will save! Our previous routine had us eating out ALL weekend, lunch and dinner! YIKES! I've been doing really well. And on the weekends, I cook and Ed cleans up so that's a great incentive!

Ed and I are completely hooked, once again, on The Biggest Loser! So good. LOST premieres next Thursday people! Mark it on your calendar! American Idol will get better...

Shop Talk: I'm currently on assignment 7 of my writing course. The course has steadily gotten more challenging. As I poke around at different writing for children websites I'm amazed at how many accomplished authors have graduated from the same course I'm taking now! That gives me hope! So much of what I've read is about how difficult it is to get published. But there are many, many success stories out there that I haven't let it discourage me. I'm certainly not banking on my first article being accepted by the magazine I submitted to. But perseverance is key and I will try again. I've learned SO much through the process of preparing a manuscript package. I know I made some beginner mistakes and it really bums me out that those mistakes could land me in the slush pile even if the article is good. But, next time I won't make those same mistakes! I also submitted a short story to a writing contest. There were specific guidelines regarding length, readership age, and subject. It was tough. It had to be about a holiday, geared to four year olds, and only 125 words long. I chose Groundhog Day as my holiday. I was very happy with the piece as I sent it off in the mail. Then I got a writer's newsletter in my e-mail and after reading it I realized I had once again made some STUPID mistakes. Frustrating! Again, hopefully those mistakes will be overlooked by some kind hearted soul who clearly identifies me as a newbie and gives me a break! Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be how it works. On the plus side, if my story is turned down I can send it out to a different publication, only next time I'd know how to avoid mistakes! It's definitely a learning process; one that you have to go through. Reading about how to do things teaches me a lot. DOING the things I read about helps me more!

You may have noticed the ending of my last post. I've decided to incorporate scripture verses at the end of the Blog entries. I saw this on another blog I read and love and it has inspired me to do it also! I hope they will bless you as you read them.

Ending with Scripture:

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him and bless His name. Psalm 100:4