Freely Breathing

I can't believe that I forgot to mention one of the highlights of my time in Houston!


I am no longer a victim of the smoking section; dangling precariously on the already thin plank of life as a middle aged woman!

Of course, like the caption says below the cartoon (above), no one really notices until I mention it. LOL Still, that's not really important. The important thing is that I have a much longer life expectancy now.

Furthermore, our house has become a non-smoking home because Philip has also quit smoking. (He is still chewing tobacco, but trying to cut down, and eventually quit that, too!)

So, as of 1:30 PM, January 29th, I have been smoke-free. :o) Woo hoo! Just thought ya'll would like to know. :o)

Signing off...

Barely Breathing

These are photos before the fall. LOL

The Bailey Sisters together again. Naturally curly-haired "Dimples" and...well...boring old me. LOL I was so looking forward to my trip to Karie's place, and I was not disappointed. Karie and her family are the sweetest, most fun family to be around, and I had a wonderful time. I have missed my sister SO much that our time together was much anticipated, and ended up being WAY too short. Especially considering that I picked up the worst kind of “Creepin’ Gomboo” I’ve ever had in my life on our last day together. Poor Karie (and sometimes Ken, too) had to spend that entire day nursing me into some semblance of health in order to send me off on an airplane the next day for Roatan, Honduras.

Before my near-death experience (the flu), however, we had a wonderful time. I got to eat lunch with Daria and Dustin at the kids’ school, and I was privileged to spend a lot of time enjoying the daily fun in the lives of Karie and her family.

And then!!!

For the first time in our lives, Karie and I played a sport together! We played volleyball! And Karie was pretty great, too! I am so proud of her growth, and her determination to try things that she wouldn't or couldn't try before. Karie was fabulous! And I had a great time. I hope someday we'll play even more sports together like softball, football, or soccer. :o) I can't wait.

So -- I caught the flu, passed it along to Phil on our way to Roatan and proceeded to spend the better part of the following week of our vacation inside our cabana, sweating it out, and feeling terrible. I did make it out on occasion to take a few pictures of the gorgeous seashore and boats.

Sadly, this is where we were ensconced most of the time (inside, not outside):

I'm sad to say that we were just glad to get home and finish being sick in our own beds. It's been almost 2 weeks since we've been back and I'm still coughing and struggling with fatigue. But, I'm working toward getting back to normal. Hopefully that will come soon! I want to get back to writing more short stories!

Which brings up the next topic: I completed my second short story and it has been submitted to the Chicago Tribune for consideration for the annual Nelson Algren Award. I also sent it to a short story publication, Glimmer Train Press, Inc. for their consideration. Unfortunately, if it's accepted at Glimmer Train I may have to turn down their offer of publication in order to remain eligible for the Award, which won't be selected until September/October of this year.

My next order of business is to try to find a publisher for my first short story, and to begin another one. I'm really excited about this new adventure in writing short stories, and I hope to write many while trying to complete my novel in the next year or so.

So...here's to feeling better, writing more, and keeping up with my blog. ;o)

Signing off...

New Page Element Addition

Hello friends and family,

My little Blog here is private (not public) but I decided to include a new Page element for the right column under the Heading: Friend's Business Billboard. I am happy to do this in order to support, and help generate business, for good friends and family that I trust. If anyone would like to me list his/her business here as well, please notify me via email. Anyone interested in whatever services end up under this heading need only click on the link's title and the page will be re-directed to that site; or right click on the link to open the site in a new tab or window.

Enjoy, everyone!

Signing off...

P.S.
The first business link is that of my friend Lynne and her husband, whom I wrote about two posts ago -- feel free to peruse that post again, if you like. :o)