HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU...

May your holidays be happy. 
May your family stay safe. 

May your new year be prosperous.
May your new year be filled with joy.

Thank you for reading my words.
Thank you for joining in conversation with me.

I'll be unplugged (to the best of my ability) until after the holiday.    Be safe and be happy!

EXTINCT...

I had the great pleasure of visiting the Peterson Institute a  year and a half ago.  Our group had a private tour of the facility and even  viewed their collection of extinct birds.  The large bird is the Ivory Billed Woodpecker.  Several years ago there were sightings of it near Des Arc, Arkansas.  The sightings were not verified by professionals, so it's still up in the air (I think).

I wanted to share an article about writing picture books.  I thought it was helpful.  Perhaps, it will help one of you to not become an extinct writer.

What do you do each day to ensure you will not become extinct?   

MY HEART...

Who truly knows you? 

My heart belongs to these two people.  They are my everything.  They truly know me.   They laugh at my made up songs.  They encourage me to write.  They accept my flaws.  They make me smile.


On a lighter note...check out Ann's contest.  She lives in South Africa and writes beautifully.

DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE?

This piece of art has hung in every home we have ever lived in (except the studio apartment we lived in our first summer) for almost 24 years.  Funnily, it has been perfect in every place we have ever lived.  It was painted in 1959 by some guy named Bob Johnson.  He traded it for food in Eureka Springs,  Arkansas at a grocery store. 

We had been married a few months and had moved to Fayetteville, Arkansas.  We took a drive to the "artsy" community of Eureka Springs.  We were poor college students, so we browsed the galleries, ate at pizza hut and went to a garage sale of sorts.  The local grocery store was celebrating its 100th year in business.  It was selling everything it had taken in trade for food over the last 100 years.  We paid a whopping big fifteen bucks for this piece of art.  The canvas is aging, and probably needs to be seen by a specialist.  (I guess I should ask at the art center I volunteer at once a week.)  I would be devistated if something went wrong with the needed repairs...

What do you see in this painting?  I have studied it for years....I'd like to know what you see.

BARN QUILTS...

Barn quilts....Have you heard of them?  Do they have the where you live?  I don't know much about them.   They certainly brighten up the countryside.  I don't go anywhere without my camera...getting my husband to stop every time I want to stop is a whole different story.

Do you have a barn quilt or a special memory involving your family hanging one on the family farm?

FROZEN FINGERS...FROZEN TOES...OH WAIT, I CAN'T FEEL MY NOSE...

It is so cold today.  My post tonight is very very very brief because my fingers are still trying to recover from my afternoon snow blowing adventure.  A thin coat of ice is under the snow....So if you try to drive your snow blower up the driveway, it will NOT move.  It sits and spins...I finally got it up to the top, parked it and hand shoveled the rest of the drive.  To say the least ,my hands are still stinging and its been several hours...So I'm going to have a cup of hot chocolate (or something) and try to warm up.

I hope all is well where you live. 

Do you have any good warming up after snow blowing/removal ideas?  I think I need a little file of them. 

AND THE WINNER IS...

Good luck to all twenty-three entrants!

Yes, I used the backs of old drafts (RRR).  I cut them into sixths and wrote a name on each square.  Then folded them into fourth.  Of course, I had to do something a little creative to make up for my lack of widget knowledge...

The number ten for the two $10 Barnes & Noble gift cards.

My hand model (daughter) drew the first winning name.

The first winner is: Karen...

And the second winner is Falen...  (Falen doesn't have a blog...yet, but hopefully with some encouragement she'll start one.  Her profile is hilarious!)

A special thank you to everyone that entered.  I loved reading your wishes and I hope they all come true, both the ones you shared with me and the ones you shared with Buffy.  Karen and Falen please send me your snail mail addresses.  skmayh(at)q(dot)com.

Have a wonderful an exceptional weekend!

THREE WISHES CONTEST ENDS AT MIDNIGHT TONIGHT!

DUCK, DUCK, GOOSE....Oh wait... GOOSE, GOOSE, GOOSE...That changes the game doesn't it?

Follow the link to enter my Three Wishes Contest.  The deadline is tonight at midnight (CST).  Good luck to all!

THE GREAT PYRAMIDS...(and one more day to enter the three wishes contest)

As you travel across this great country, do you ever see things that surprise you?


Last weekend I discovered the Great Pyramids of Iowa. These massive mounds were right out in the open. There were no national park signs to recognize these amazing monuments. Who built these pyramids, I asked myself. Did immigrants from Egypt build them to honor of their homeland? Did aliens from the future build them? I scanned the parking lot looking for a tour guide. I had so many questions…

Apparently, the National Park Service is falling down on the job. I couldn't find the park ranger or the gift store.  Each year, thousands of people flock to The Field of Dreams in Eastern Iowa. Imagine the volume of tourists who would flock here to see the Great Pyramids, if they knew they were here. I was shocked to find there wasn’t even a self-pay box with a self-guided tour brochure at this great monument.

 
Slowly, I put two and two together and realized, this must not be a National Park…it must be a State Park. That would explain everything.


The lack of a park ranger was not going to inhibit my excitment.  I (cautiously) got out of the car and approached the pyramids. I didn’t want to disturb any wildlife that might have relocated to the pyramids for the winter.  As I neared the pyramids; I noticed the grains of sand used to build these particular pyramids were HUGE. I’ve been on lots of beaches and played in my share of sandboxes, but this was a very different type of sand.

Tomorrow is the last day to enter my three wishes contest. Follow the link and perhaps you’ll be one of the winners.

PERFECT WRITING WEATHER...A BLIZZARD...AND A CONTEST

What are the perfect weather conditions for writing?

For me there are two perfect forecasts…sunny with a light breeze and a high in the low eighties OR a blizzard. The whole state is under a blizzard warning! It’s so exciting… I’m sure you’d rather hear about writing techniques that'll help you develop your next manuscript into the greatest thing since vegetarian vampires….but instead I’m talking about snow. Not just regular snow. I’m talking about the kind of snow that comes down sideways, blows big wet chunks into your ears and flies up your pant legs. You know what I’m talking about... By the time you've finished blowing your driveway, finger drifts have begun forming a wavy design across your almost clean drive. Yes, tomorrow's going to be an all out stay home, eat chili, work on writing projects, make the daughter wrap presents kind of day…

What are my blizzard day goals (you ask)?

1. Review folktale one and two

2. Submit folktale one or two to at least one agent (yes, I have one in mind)

3. Find a home for three poems

4. Write directions for two craft activities

5. Frame my A ROOM OF HER OWN tea towel (purple and cream)

6. Frame a clay relief tile my daughter made (it's purple...my office accent color)

7. Blog

8. Make daughter wrap all the Christmas presents I’ve purchased so far

9. Call my trainer and tell her the snow is too deep and I must write….

10. Do a mini workout (so I'm not in trouble with Val)

What are you going to do tomorrow?


The Contest...

You only have two more days to enter.  Please follow the link if you'd like to enter and win one of two B & N gift cards.