Thursday, January 21, 2016

Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 42 Writing Contests in February - No entry fees

Good morning!  I thought I would share this with all of the one person following me!  Feeling a little lonely this morning, don't think anything of it.  Looking forward to the weekend and possibly some down time, although there is none on the horizon, at least in the direction I'm looking in right now.



If you are looking to submit work, here's a place to start:

Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 42 Writing Contests in February - No entry fees

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Winner Anyway...



Today I checked the Writer’s Digest April 2015 PAD page to see if my Day 12 poem had made it on the list.  I knew it hadn’t because a list of names had gone up earlier and I wasn’t on it, but I was hoping they had just forgotten to add it.  My wishful thinking is what gets me through.  It also comes crashing down on me when all is said and done.

Here I was, feeling sorry for myself, but then I thought, I really love this poem.  I can submit it somewhere else for sure.  Plus, there are people out there that have no idea that it exists.  Because of that, I am sharing it again. 

This is about a little boy, who at the time had no idea who I was.  He had no idea that I didn’t want him to be in my daughter’s life because I knew she would never leave his father if he and his sister stayed.  This was the day I met him, for the first time.

The minute he wrapped his skinny little arms around my neck and kissed me, a stranger to him, well, it was all over for me.  Five years later he still loves me most of the time, thinks I’m pretty funny, and tries to listen for the most part.  He still likes spending time with me – watching TV, scrapbooking, and jumping in elevators to see if it will stop. 

Enjoy.


Beautiful Damage

Too trusting, arms outstretched
I love you as I walk away
You made me yours before I knew you and it wasn’t fair
Circumstances shaped you
A mother who didn’t care
Looked for her next hook-up, her next fix
A father who was as cold as an ice box
And you, still trusting
Still loving
Opening your heart to me
Love and hope on your face
I couldn’t walk far
I turned around and you hugged me,
Damaged goods, but good enough for you.





Saturday, January 9, 2016

3,000 - What A Number!

     Incredibly, in the last 24-48 hours, I have made it to 3,000 views on my blog!  I’m amazed!  I know to some that 3,000 is a low number, but I really didn’t think I’d get 100 so this is a big deal.  If I had published something I would be hosting a giveaway right now, but I haven’t, so I won’t.  Smile, it may happen someday.  Maybe at 15,000 page views.  Who knows? 

     My goal this year is to get something published.  Maybe a couple o’ somethings.  That would be so awesome!  Doing research on publishing venues and guidelines the last several days has opened my eyes to a lot of what I can and cannot share, but I hope to continue writing here and on the sly and then sharing what I get in print!  What an adventure!

     Anyhoo, just wanted to share my page views with someone.  Thanks for reading, and come back for more…



Thursday, January 7, 2016

A New Dilemma

Once I started reading the list, checking out websites, seeing what was considered, I realized that I am not to publish anymore of my poetry on-line.  Several poems, that I believe are worthy of publication, cannot be submitted to the publications I’m looking at due to the fact that they’ve been shared with my reader(s).


I love the feedback, but folks, I would really love to see my work on paper, in a book or magazine, that I can thumb through and reference from time to time. 

Is there any place out there that I can send a couple pieces of poetry without being dinged because they were on my website?


Let me know…







Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Bird Watching

This morning I stopped getting ready for work for a moment and looked out the kitchen window.  I watched the goldfinches (not gold right now) as they got their fill on our feeder.  They have been hitting it hard, and even though we filled it two days ago it is nearly empty now.


 As I watched I was amazed to see one goldfinch, slightly larger than the other, place seed in the mouth of a smaller one.  I know the small ones can’t be babies; it’s too late in the season, so I’m assuming it was a male providing for a female.


I was wondering where my dark-eyed juncos were when one finally flew in to feed off of the seed on the ground.  I love these little birds and I’m not even sure why.  I just find them very cute and round little birds!  

Have a great day!

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Old(er) Dogs

The dogs are behaving badly.  I’m not sure why, except that maybe as the weather has been getting colder and they have been in the house more, they are probably stir-crazy.  It’s a bad time for our dogs.  They are getting older and crankier.  It’s hard to reason with them. 

Toby has decided that he can do just about anything he wants (which he can – he’s my boy).  He jumps up on the couch with every opportunity.  He hasn’t yet learned that it’s only couch time with me once in a while and only after Daddy’s gone to bed, so we don’t get in trouble.  He’s the only one I let up, because he’s the only one that I trust not to have an accident.




Sky has gotten crotchety.  She hurts.  Her legs hurt, and her back hurts and we think she gets headaches.  We probably should have put her down over the summer but neither of us can bear it and we hope she goes in her sleep.  She growls at the other two dogs and plays too rough with the cat, and she emits a sense of panic if she gets too excited.  She’s almost like a kid that’s had too much sugar and we have to calm her down.  But she’s a good old girl, and she loves us (mainly him) so much.



Bella, our baby now 10, is still very active.  She’s getting more vocal as Sky’s health declines.  The German shepherd in her is making its appearance and it’s loud and annoying.  I tell her to change her barks up a bit, but no; she chooses the same monotone bark over and over and over…  But she’s still a baby.  She’s the one that needs to be cuddled during thunderstorms or after the fire alarm erupts from the ceiling.



Yes, they are all turning into the epitome of the “classic senior citizen”, and that’s okay.  Where else would we feel unconditional love?  With people there are always conditions, but with dogs it seems there are none.  Sure you have to feed them, but even if you didn’t they would probably find something on their own.  It might not smell great and they would probably roll in it first, but they would persevere. 

I’ve come home to books ripped up on the floor and yelled and swatted their furry butts and sent them outside until I cooled off and the minute I let them in they still loved me.  There was no cold shoulder.  No hateful sideways glances, just pure joy that I was there.  Oh, if we could all be like that, what a world it would be!


So I guess I will cuddle my senior dogs and love them up and get covered with hair and slobbery dog kisses.  No matter how badly they’re behaving, I know I’ve done worse, and they always pardon me.  It makes their “bad” attitude totally forgivable.