December NABLOPMO were a bust, but I still had fun.

A short note:   Due to the holidays and other things in my life, I was not able to do every single prompt for December 2013.  To me that was a loss, but I will live.  However, the time that I was able to spend writing them, I had a blast.   
I urge everyone who is a writer (or aspire to be one) to take on January 2014's prompts.  No PRESSURE! (Which also happens to be the theme of the next set of prompts).
Here are the Prompts, in case you want to do them on your own, register at Blogher and submit your posts (you do have to be a member of Blogher), or as inspiration in case you want to try something similar on your own writing blog (just give Blogher the credit for your little inspirational challenge)

Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Do you work well under pressure?

Thursday, January 2, 2014
What are you currently feeling pressure to do that you don't particularly enjoy?

Friday, January 3, 2014
Do you have a tendency to procrastinate, or do you like checking things off your to-do list?

Monday, January 6, 2014
Tell us about a time you bent to peer pressure.

Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Tell us about a time when you didn't bend to peer pressure, and you swam against the stream.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Can peer pressure be positive? Why or why not?

Thursday, January 9, 2014
A pressure point translates in Japanese to "tender spot." What are your pressure points?

Friday, January 10, 2014
Have you ever tried acupressure to treat a problem? What was your experience with it?

Monday, January 13, 2014
Eleanor Roosevelt said: "A woman is like a tea bag - you can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water." Tell us about a time you felt your strength.

Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Marge Piercy said: "A strong woman is a woman determined to do something others are determined not be done." Tell us about a time when you did what couldn't be done.

Wednesday, January 15, 2014
"Courage is grace under pressure" is a famous quotation by Ernest Hemingway. Tell us about a personal moment of your grace under pressure.

Thursday, January 16, 2014
Who puts the most pressure on you -- yourself or others?

Friday, January 17, 2014
Do you think you handle pressure well, or do you usually fall apart?

Monday, January 20, 2014
Do you still feel pressure of conform? If no, what age did it stop?

Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Do you feel pressure to be perfect? How much of it is tied to what you see online?

Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Do you have a bad temper? How often do you lose your temper?

Thursday, January 23, 2014
Do you think it's possible to control your temper when facing enormous pressure?

Friday, January 24, 2014
Does pressure ever make you want to rebel and do the exact opposite of what is being asked of you?

Monday, January 27, 2014
What puts more pressure on you: time constraints or achieving perfection?

Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Which of your responsibilities stress you out the most?

Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Are you good at influencing other people?

Thursday, January 30, 2014
If you could persuade people to do one thing right now, what would it be?

Friday, January 31, 2014
Did you feel a lot of pressure with January's NaBloPoMo?

Again, these are not my ideas, but Melissa Ford's.  She is over the challenge for the month,

  (sorry about the different fonts, after 4 years of writing on Blogger, I would have learned better.  Thinking about switching this blog to Tumblr)

Good night.

A 3-Year old's favorite mash up song

Hello-

It may not be a Christmas Song, nor wishing someone a happy New year, but this is my nephew in all of his 3-year old happiness.  This was a couple of hours before the Christmas Eve festivities started at my parent's home.
Children bring their own magic to an otherwise chaotic world, and The song, which is a mash-up (or mixture of for you old schoolers), of The Barney song (to the tune of This old Man) and Willow Smith's I whip My Hair (his version).  I hope you enjoy it.





Merry Christmas, Everyone.

Curse you, IPad and the Blogger ap

Image by Google Images

Today, I decided to step away from this desktop computer, and take to writing via Ipad and the blogger app.   These days, sometimes I feel like all I ever do is wake up, come downstairs from my perch (LOL), and write on this computer, in hopes to gain viewers.  Aww, a writer’s life for me.  So, I decided to try my hand at Ipad writing.  

As I put finger tips to virtual keyboard, I eloquently compose the words on the app, and carefully making sure I write to help my potential readers understand what I am trying to get across.  I accidently added an extra line of nothing to a paragraph.  No problem, I will correct it.   So, as I went to correct it, I erase the whole thing.   I tried to get it back, but nothing.  I did not save it.  Well, it does not automatically save on the Ipad like the website automatically saves.  What a bummer.  Blogger, you need to change that.  

I have always said that the way I write is, writing the post first in a MS Word document, then cut and paste it on the blog.  I have not found a app on the Ipad that allows me to have the same feel as the combo of Word and cut/paste to the blogger software.  The reason could be the constant fight between Apple and Microsoft of who has the better device/software.  Enough already.  Microsoft will not do us Ipad users a favor by providing a complete Office app for the Ipad or Apple will not allow a complete Office app for the Ipad.   At least one that is free.  

So, my advice to you is to have more than one way of typing your post.  Once you have typed and proofread your work, save it.  I am slowly running out of room, so I need a new external drive.  I have one, but the computer hated the configuration of the drive once Windows 7 came into the picture. (It was configured in Windows Vista).  Be your best advocate when protecting your hard earned work from the very beginning.  This includes when vultures start stealing your well-written work. (Another topic for another day).  

I will tackle the topic of imagination and knowledge at another time.  I am 5 hours late with a topic.   Be blessed, my friend, be blessed.

George Bernard Shaw said, "Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance." Do you agree or disagree?

Photo by Google image

Today’s (or I should say) Friday’s topic has me thinking about false knowledge.  I am not going to dive into it too close, after all, this is a writing prompt assignment. I wanted to know which is worst, so I looked the quote up by Mr. Shaw.  When I first think about false knowledge, I think about the word, “Lie” or “Lying.”  It makes me wonder how many lies we are told by people, such as family members, friends, and professional people.   For instance, when a child gets a shot at the doctor’s office, how many times are they told that the shot does not hurt?  Of course it is going to hurt, even for a tiny little second.  It is the longest second that anyone has ever experienced, because up to that point, that child have never experience that pain.

When I think of false knowledge, I also think about false advertisement.  As a business person, I always have to watch how and what I advertise.  The product has to be able to represent the company the way it is supposed to be.  For instance, how many of you watch the infomercials on television? For that company, you have to be able to prove that all of those exercise, business model manuals, and appliances work the way that they are advertised.  Anything less, and it is false advertising.  You have lied or scammed your way into the public eye.  So let us look at another word in the quote, “ignorance.”

Ignorance is the lack of knowledge.  For instance, to say that a person is unaware about a group of people, it means that person is ignorant.   There are all kinds of ignorance, but the most common of all ignorance is ignorance against a race, a lifestyle, a culture, religion, or a gender.  I can tell you from experience that one ignorant statement I hear all the time is “all African American males (AAM) are either unemployed, on drugs, cheating on their spouses, in jail, or dead.”   That is a statement that is false and here is why.  First of all, the word “ALL” is used.  Second, a person who makes that statement, has predestined all AAMs from birth to age 99 to particular way of life.  People often do not take into account on how a child is raised, the educational background, and other environmental surroundings.  Lastly, the person who makes that statement does not look at males of ALL races, they only look at the history of AAM and current stats on a concentrated few.   It also goes back to the false knowledge about the AAM.  Perhaps the person who made the statement about AAMs were taught that false knowledge through a parent or a teacher.  Who knows unless you start asking questions to that person?

Is it possible that “false knowledge” and “Ignorance” could be one in the same?  I just used the “African American Males” example, where it is possible for someone to be fed “false knowledge” about a group of people, by a person who is “ignorant” or “shows ignorance.”  If that is the case, to me, that quote is false and both false knowledge and ignorance can be dangerous at the same time.

People will always put their own spin into things that are a bunch of lies or “half-truths.”  It’s worse now than it has ever been.  There are lies against everyone, because people do not take the time to get to know that race, religion, or lifestyle.  They also do not take the time to get to know that individual, because people are always in a hurry.  For instance, today, I had a conversation with a cousin of mine, who is “tired of all the digital communication.”  He wanted to physically talk to people in front of him, instead of always to them through social media, texting, and through email.  We used to do that.  I expressed to him that I wish that I could get all of my cousin’s addresses phone numbers, and such so we could all get together to meet with one another.  I wish that we were all like my cousin.   In an age where teens could sit across from each other, only to say something in text, we need a little less false knowledge about one another, and so we can stop the ignorance that goes on throughout this planet.

So my quest I want from you is to comment below on what you think about that quote about “false knowledge” and “ignorance.”  Do you agree or disagree?

Until then, be blessed, my friend, and do not let a little thing happen to you.  Educate yourself about someone else outside your circle of friends.

Would you rather have one more hour with someone you like, or one fewer hour with someone you can't stand?

photo courtesy of Google Imagins

This is another Blogher post prompt that I am writing.  I find it rather unusual, and kind of annoying.  The reason being, is I do not like to discriminate against anyone.  I hope you find it very strange for me to say that.  But if I have to choose between either one, I would have to choose one more hour with someone I like.

The reason why I choose to spend one more hour with the person I like, is I have gotten along with this person from the very beginning.  We have something in common, a good start two what may be a bad ending, such as an accident, or that person moving away.  I will want to know what that person’s future would be like, or how they have enjoyed life.  I would then say how much I enjoyed their company, their friendship, and their life.  It would be hard for me if I had to witness the end of a beautiful life, or beautiful friendship.  What if it was not the end, but a beginning of something new?  Would I be selfish?  I mean, what if I am preventing something that can benefit either one of us?  Just because I’d do not want something to end, that does not mean that I am selfish.  What see if it is a new job?  It could provide a way for that person to maybe visit after they get settled.  Maybe that job is just temporary, and they will be back in a few months, or a couple years.  Finally, they could come back to teach others what they have learned.  The possibilities are endless.

Let’s look at it in a different light.  What if they were sick?  What if they could not get well?  How would to spend that time with them?  Would you to spend that time crying?  Would you spend that time holding that person?  These are questions that we have to ask ourselves when the time comes.  It is hard to talk about something that has not happen yet.  I do know this.  If I had to spend one more hour with someone who I liked, only to find out that they had something like terminal cancer, or some other terminal disease, I would spend that time thanking them for the time that they were in my life.  I would not cry, because I do not want that person to see how sad I am.  I hope that the person who I am talking to, has all of their affairs in order, and that everything will be all right.

So my question to you is, who do you want to spend your 1 hour with?  I hope it is with someone who you love, rather than someone you despise.  I hope it is with someone who you respect, love to listen to, and who can give you good wisdom for your future.  I want to give you one final thought about who I would have love to meet.  That person is a person who died last week, and that person is Nelson Mandela.  It would have been an honor to have just sit and listen to what he had to say about his country, his thoughts on the United States, and people in general.  Madiba, as he was called by many, was memorialized two days ago, with the private ceremony for his family on Saturday, will always be remembered as a gentle giant who changed a nation, and hopefully a world.  At least I would like to think so.

So comment on your thoughts below in the comments section below.   What do you think of this topic?  Feel free to use this as a jumping off point in your writing prompt for today.  If you have any topic you want to see covered in this blog, let me know that too.  Have a blessed evening, my friend.

C.S. Lewis said, "Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less." How good are you of placing others before yourself?

I am not sure how I would answer this question, and to be honest, I am not sure what that means.  When I first saw the subjects for this month’s NABLOPOMO, I thought that I do this all the time, but that is not what it means, so let me show you what it means to me.

At this time, we live in a world, where beauty is judge from the outside in.  Children (and adults) are shown what it is like when certain standards take president over the norm.  In a tall, skinny, male, Caucasian world, it is hard to tell anyone else that they are beautiful as well.  This is what the thinking less of yourself comes into play.  In order to compete, you need the right people.  That is what society says.  So yes, it was very easy for me, a short (5”), slightly overweight, slightly disabled, African American woman, with slightly above average grades to think less of myself.   I wanted to do it all; act, sing, play an instrument, model, dance, and have Wall Street in the palm of my little hand.  As a teen, I had low self-esteem, because I could do all of these things, despite what doctors told my parents, but I did not feel it.   It was because at the time, all I saw in the 70s and 80s were the white, tall, skinny models, who I did not know had to starve themselves in order to stay so thin.  I did not become overweight (the word is obese today), until my early teens, then dancing took the weight off.  (Do you know how many calories a shuffle-ball-change-tap-step burn?  It was enough to make me skinny again.)

Then when I wanted to be a dancer, and according to industry standards, you had to be between the height of 5’ 7” to 6” (I wanted to be a Rockette for starters, because I lived near New York City), or at least 5’7” in pointe shoes if you wanted to partner with someone.  Sorry but in both industries, I could not have the long arms, if people wanted to show off long-sleeve blouses and tops, or to show how graceful I was when doing a pirouette.  I fared a little better in the music department, but practicing was not my forte.  Education was also the highlight of the Logan Household.

Courtesy of  Google Images 

OK, I got off the subject, let me reel it back in.   I am very humbled to God to allow me to have these talents and more, but there are others who take their talents for granted, and do not feel the same way I feel about mine.   So I guess the real question is “what do you do for others with your talent?”  Are you doing it to boost yourself up, and to tell the world, “look what I am doing to make the world a better place,” or are you just quietly helping others?  If that is the case, I am quietly helping others.

For instance, I have to laugh at the holiday season.  Here is the reason why I laugh.   For 11 months out of the year, people think of self.  They self-promote and everything is me, myself, and I.  “I make X dollars,” “I live in this house,” and “I drive this car.” Well, it is great that you self-promote, 10 points if you are a celebrity.  I am not say that everyone does it or that it is wrong, but sometimes, there are some people who can overdo it just a little bit too much, Kanye?   I did a little self-promotion at the beginning of this post.  Did you notice it?  I thought so. 

Anyway, on that 12^th month, everyone all of a sudden remembers that there are others in the world who do not have as much as they do, and out comes the checkbook. You start hearing phrases such as “I need to help someone out, what about the starving children of Ethiopia, I want to help them.” Well, what about them?  They were there the other 11 months out of the year, why have you not notice them until now?  Writing a check is good, actually helping is great.  Put yourself out in the trenches. I do not mean that you have to go to a foreign country to do it.  Help someone in your own back yard.  Volunteer by helping someone.  Show someone how to do your job.  Talk to that person and give them resources, do not just talk.  You can learn a lot. Ask them what they what they hope to gain from learning something new.  You never know.  A person may be just temporary displaced, and they need to know how to find shelter or to get started with something in order to find a decent place to sleep.   OK, I am going to say it, “GIVE BACK!”  Do not make it just one month out of the year to say that you did something good, but do it for all 12 months.  Show someone how to organize who doesn’t know how.   Work in a food pantry and see how the other half lives.  If a person forgot their lunch at work and they do not have any money, offer to pay it for them.  Better yet, do it anonymously (R.A.K-Random acts of kindness or Pay It Forward).  Pay for the person’s dinner behind you.  It is the little things you do that count.

So the original question is “How good am I at putting others before myself?”  It is a work in progress, I am getting better at it.   God is not finished with me yet in that department.

Be blessed and show others you are blessed, my friend, by doing things for others, and give back all 12 months of the year.  This is something that may not cost a thing but your time.

Set a timer for 10 minutes and try to write your whole daily post. Now go back and give yourself 5 more minutes to write about how you felt working under such a tight deadline.

10-minutes

Ok, I have 10 mins to write this.   (Well less if you consider the time it takes to walk from the microwave timer to the computer table and get settled, LOL)

OK, enough of that….today is sort of a fun post.  Let’s see….Monday, I did nothing, because as it goes, my sister wanted me to pick up her kid, bring her to a relative’s house.   After delivering said niece to the house and my sister was hugging me in all creation, I went back home to eat, and play on Facebook most of the night.  Not very productive.

Tuesday, I worked at Longaberger Homestead.  Something that if you want extra sales, you get commission on all the unattached customers who buy something.   Who are unattached customers?   They are people who do not have a consultant.   You do not get their names unless they sign up on your mailing list.   The store does not provide that for privacy reasons.  I will find out in a few days how many customers actually shopped and were not attached to a consultant.

Wednesday, my father decides to clean my garage floor, which looks nice, but with the man being 74 years old, I worry that he is still doing too much.  He should ne relaxing, but I guess when you are that age, you feel like you are no longer needed, so I let him.  I went grocery shopping after he and my mom left.  Came back home to put away groceries and went to bible study.   (Time has ended)

Aftermath….

I like taking my time to write.  It relaxes me, and I can get my thoughts together rather I plan it or not.  My English is not good so if you do not mind, I am going to copy the above and give you the correct version…..

Corrected version of the above

Ok, I have 10 mins to write this.   (Well less if you consider the time it takes to walk from the microwave’s timer to the computer table and get settled, LOL)

OK, enough of that….today is sort of a fun post.  Let’s see, my week so far….Monday, I didn’t do anything, because, my sister called and wanted me to pick up her kid, and bring her to a relative’s house.   After dealing with the sounds of a 5-year old and delivering said niece to the house, my sister was hugging me in all creation, I went back home to eat, and play on Facebook most of the night.  Not very productive, because I was supposed to start the next set of NABLOPO for this month, and I could not concentrate.

Tuesday, I went to work at Longaberger Homestead.  Since I am an Independent Longaberger Home Consultant, this is one thing you can do if you want extra sales. You will get commission pay on all the unattached customers who buy products in the store.   Who are unattached customers?   They are people who do not have a consultant they regular by current products from.   The products they can by at the store are retired products that are no longer available in the catalogue.  You cannot get their names unless they sign up on your mailing list and you ask them if they mind receiving monthly flyers from you.   The store does not provide that for privacy reasons.  I will find out in a few days how much I made in commission pay.

Wednesday, my father decides to clean my garage floor, which looks nice, but the man is 74 years old, and I do worry that he is still doing too much.  He should be relaxing, but I guess when you are that age, you may feel like you are no longer needed, so I let him.  I went grocery shopping after he and my mom left.  I came home to put away groceries and went to bible study.   (Time has ended)

I did that to show you what it takes for me to create a blog post.  If you are interested, I want you take time out to see if you are cut out to be a blogger.   As I have said in previous posts, it does not take much to blog, if you blog in general (such as telling people about your day).   If you are an expert at something, it may take a little longer to type out a blog post, because if you are not sure of a certain area of expertise, you will need to research that area.   In fact I recommend you research it anyway.  The first two rules of blogging in my opinion is 1) stay up on your current information on the subject and 2) keep them interested.   You want to keep them coming back for more.  

This was my week so far.  I am not looking forward to tomorrow, because this winter storm is supposed to hit.   I need to run, Scandal is about ready to come on, and I want to see how Olivia reacts to seeing her mom in few years.

Be Blessed, my Friend.

Tell us how you feel about endings

Google Images

Hello, I took a little break for Thanksgiving. I went to my relatives in Indiana, and I had a ball. Well, today was the last day of the series and I am not sure what I am going to do next. I have not looked at Blogher to see if there is a December one yet. If I do it, it will not be everyday, I will have my own prompts on some days.
My feelings about endings. I do not adapt much to change. I do not think most people do. We,as humans, always deal with an ending of something, and it is a change. It may be a change in your routine, a change in in the family, your situation, anything that is something different. What's worse is I do not like doing the same thing over and over again, unless I start it.
When I first started blogging in 2009, I was not sure if I liked the idea of tying myself to something that the world will be looking at. There is judgement when someone reads something you wrote, be it personal or something informative.  It has to be something that will get a person to come back again and again. Sure, I had a journal which I wrote in the MS Word, but it was just me and the computer at the time, and I was not sure how anyone would perceive me. and as this blogging atmosphere grew, I started liking it, and in some ways I never want it to end. I guess that is what I hate about endings.
I have revealed that I love the blog like a half of a zillion times over the course of the series, but I have other things to do. I just figured out that my phone can be the perfect place to just talk into the microphone and just talk. So that is a change for me. So it is the ending of an old way of being tied to my desktop as I blog, and attach myself to the phone. Just what I need something else to attach myself to,LOL.  In this case, an ending can be a new beginning. I am also learning how to Vlog which is video blogging and will be starting that in 2014. I just need to find a way to mount my camera on things such as my car's dashboard in my head over my desk. So stay tuned. I also need a new stand alone, flash video, and a tripod. At this time I'm not sure if my dads tripod will work. Oh, I need so many things for that. Okay I am rambling.
So my conclusion, I need a lot of things in order to make this work to increase my blogging. In things are not my enemy, but a new beginning. I hate change, but welcome it as a new beginning. I think I will sign up for December thingy Ford block her. I love it so much, & I think I will register too. To block this time. Please comment below.

What R U Thankful 4?

Photo by http://www.squawkfox.com

You are not see a typo in the title.  I intentionally typed it that way.  The reason? None, except I am tired of see all the typos in Facebook posts, tweets, you name it.   People, especially people of color should happy and proud that there is an education system that is free to all, at least in America.   I understand the occasional missteps of the "I" before "e" problem, because I do it too.  No one is a perfect speller (is that right?) (Oops, forgot to capitalize that sentence.)  I am talking about spelling "da" for "the.”  Really?  Your mama taught you better than dat (oops, I meant "that").  
For those of you who think that talking and spelling this way is "so white,” ask yourself this question: why does it seem like I am not getting ahead?   Then again, maybe you are as far as school is concern, what about getting a job and communicating with customers?  The rest of the world does not talk or write that way.

I just found out some disturbing news (and I am not trying to be funny at this moment because I am quite upset about it):  According to a recent reading practice report (as of today), 58% of third graders in my city's largest school district (Columbus City) will not pass to the fourth grade.  This is based on practice test scores.  They take the real thing in March, and I am afraid that if half of these kids do not step up and master passing this test, they will not graduate with their class years from now.  This is a test that the State of Ohio decided they needed in order to see how well they are being taught how to read in the first place.   Now here is the real kicker.   I have a friend who happens to teach third graders.   The district wants her to teach them how to read, but according to my friend, they want her to focus more on helping them to pass the third grade reading test and less about the curriculum they gave her in the first place to teach them how to get to that reading level.   So now she has to devote extra hours to tutor them after school until 6 pm for the stuff she should have taught them during regular school hours.  Then she has to go home and do lesson prep instead of attending to her own family.  Luckily and thankfully, she currently has a husband and a 2 year old child, but what if she was along with her 2 year old and did not have any help?  Where are the parents in all of this?    They should spend as much time if not more teaching their children how to read.   Why are they spending so much time on social media or any other device instead of trying to sound out words?   I have thousands of questions, and no answers.

Parents, please do not depend on your child’s teachers to teach them everything.  I know you are busy providing for your child, such as clothing, food, and entertainment.  This leads to the question:  Why does your child have to be entertained all the time?   Think about that.  Education should be one of them, and it does not have to be private.  Your teacher is also busy.  He/she has to provide lessons that will motivate and help your child to learn.   In other words, take time out to teach your child basic K-8^th grade stuff.

I was a Pre-K teacher at one time.  This meant providing a lesson plan that will stimulate the child into learning something as simple as spelling their name, tying their shoes, counting and early math (1+1=2), learning the days of the week, and so forth.   Oh how I sometimes I wished that the parents who I interacted with would have taken an interest in what their child was learning, instead of saying “hi” and “bye” to the child.   I know there are demands at work, but I was mostly talking to moms who stayed at home.  Did they really had to get rid of their child that fast?  Oh how I wished that I could have a conference with them about their child.

So, getting back to the beginning of this post with the Facebook comments.  Please use spell check, ask a friend, an elder, dictionary, or just get a clue.  Go back to school or if you are in school please ask your teacher how to spell “the”, “that,” and a whole host of often phonetically spelled words, which should be memorized by the 8^th grade.   Learn how to read, learn how to spell, and learn how to write.  A note to any parent in the Columbus, Ohio area:  please help your 3^rd grade child to reach the potential so that they can pass this reading test.  It is mandatory, and it can be the ticket to your child reaching they dreams.

So, what do you think?  Where has our education system gone?

My week and the art of being Grateful

Hello-

I have been so busy the last couple of days, including some things that threw me for a loop.  Yes, I am still on BlogHer’s posting challenge, but for some reason, I did not do the one that asks you about a favorite outfit, and I will post something about selecting a book to read.   Maybe.  It will be alright, I do hope that Blogher will account for busy lives.  

photo by google

To make up for Thursday’s missed blog post, I would love to give you a synapsis of my week, which was the worst week to date in 2013.

Sunday was typical Sunday for me.  A friend of mine decided to provide lunch at church and today he will be providing dinner.  After lunch, I decided to go home instead of going to my parent’s. (After all, I had seen them at church.)  I decided to go and get sushi to go and added on Sweet and Sour Pork to the mix.

Monday was my Oops day and I will tell you why?   I had forgot that I had scheduled shopping time with one of my women’s groups.   I asked mom if she would like to go Sunday evening, but she later called that day and said Chacha, the cleaning lady was supposed to help her with the silver, so I said I will not go.   My sister called a short time later and needed a ride to work.   At the time that she called, I had told her that me and mom was going out, but seeing that the store was near her workplace, I asked her if she mind going with me, and she didn’t as long as we get to her job by 8 pm.   Done deal.  

At the store, I found a pair of PJ bottoms to wear when I go out of town, but I had good tops.  Besides that, I did not like the tops they had.  I also found a pair of footy socks and bought my sister a pair, since it was two for one.   I also purchased a jacket for the spring going into early summer to wear next year.   Total amount:  $87.50 after all the discounts were taken off.  Score!

We were running late, and we quickly dashed to the car, and when we were about ready to turn, a Ford truck ran into me.   Oh great!   On top of everything that was recently renovated in the house due to the sewage being backed up by a tree root, and new carpet, painting , revamping of both the security system and heater in the house, and a new valve being put on the engine of the car, now it needs a new hood and grill/bumper replacement.   That’s just wonderful.   On top of that, my sister was upset, and the police was behind the man who hit me.   So they asked us to pull into the parking lot of a store, and took the information.   No citation on my part, but a warning about being in the middle of turning lane on a yellow light.

I was trying to soften the blow to my dad, by calling my mom’s cell, who had gone to pick up my nephew at a friend’s house.   I finally texted my nephew to tell mom that we had been in an accident and no one was hurt.

Tuesday morning I looked at my damaged car.  I was able to drive it home Monday night after the accident report was taken, and now it was sitting in my garage waiting on the insurance people to say something.   I had some work to do, which kept my mind off of the damage.  Wednesday was another shopping day, and this time with my mom to a nearby mall.  I spent $77 on 2 sweaters, an infinity scarf, blanket for my couch (I love to snuggle under blankets), and a box of Moose Munch from Harry and David (my fav).   My dad had taken the car for an estimate, so before I drove it back home, I stopped by Starbucks for my annual Eggnog Latte.  (It was sooo good) I went to bible study that night and I usually ride with mom.

Here is a service announcement….Folks, in case you do not know, when you are in an accident, there are companies out there who will hunt down your accident report and call you so that you can total your car.   I received 4 solicited phone calls from mechanics who purposely looked up my accident report and asked me if I need a repair or to total my car.  “Well, if I needed one, I would have called you, so please talk to my father!”   This is what I wanted to tell each one of them as I answered the phone calls.  Talk about your intensiveness.  I was so mad Wednesday and Thursday, until I could just spit.   At least they could have asked was if I and my sister was alright.  Cars can be replaced, but we can’t.

Thursday was also the day that dad took the car in to be fixed.  So I was without a car.  I also was emotional.   Nope, it wasn’t that time of the month.  I was so over that at age 29.  I wrote a post about my first friend, and took it a little further and talked about my friend Lonnie.  You can read it here if you have not read it. 

Friday, still without a car, I did some business stuff.   Crazy stuff was going throughout the city of Columbus, including a man going on a shooting rampage.

Saturday, I got my car back, and it was bitterly cold outside.  Almost too cold for my new jacket, but dad asked me to take a look at my car, and it is beautiful.   The only thing that needs replacing is the emblem in front of the car.  It is still a reminder that I had the accident.  I finally got a chance to list some items for sale on my Etsy shop.

Now you see why I am grateful this week.  I am also thankful that my dad does not have a temper like I thought he did.  I am thankful that I, my sister, nor the guy was not taken by ambulance, I am thankful that the car nor the man truck was not totaled.   I am thankful for friends, family, and for a God I serve.   I have tons of blessings.

OK this at over 1000 words, so be blessed, and thankful my friend.

Tell us about your first friend.

Hugging Friends   By
Doug Mataconis

I had to think about this for a while.  After careful consideration, I want to explain this:   when I think about a person’s first friend, I can think about my cousins.   Yes, they are your relatives, but they act as your first friends and here is why.  They are the first people you are introduced to after your parents.   These are the people who can hold all your secrets from your parents.  You can laugh with them, play with them, and even hate them for a minute, jump back in as if you never had a hash word to say.

So without a doubt, my first friend was my cousin, Tammy.  She lives 4 hours away from me, and I do not see her much, because we are busy.   Tammy is only 6 months younger than me, and when we were little, she was my ying to her yang.   Total opposites.   I was military raised, while she was raised in Detroit.  She’s bossy while I was the quit one.

Our mothers are 7 years apart, separated by a sister and a brother who died at the age of 7.   My mother is older, while her mother was always accused of borrowing and never returning clothes.  I am in a lot of ways like my mother, while Tammy is defiantly like Aunt Liz. 

In a lot of ways, even though Tammy is younger than me.   I love her like a sister, even though we were not raised in the same area, we could always pick up where we left off.

I want to tell you about my second friend.   I met her when we lived in Southern California.  I was 3 and she was 4 and bossy as well (how did I end up with 2 bossy friends?)  Anyway, her name was Elondrea, Lonnie for short.  Our parents were friends, so that should make us automatic friends, right?  Right.   We lived in San Bernardino and she and her parents lived in Rialto.  I had fun spending the night at her house, because we did activities (not that we did not do activities at my house).  At one time, we both had the same type doll, but my doll had two names:  when she was at home, her name was Carol, but when I carried her over to Lonnie’s house, her name was Billy Jo (to Lonnie’s doll’s name of Bobby Jo).

We moved to McGuire AFB when I was 9, but Lonnie and her mother came to see us twice during that time.  That was the last time Lonnie seemed truly happy.   When we moved to Columbus in 1977, Lonnie came out to stay with us for a year, and she was a changed person.  We were getting into arguments, like any sister would, and while she was staying with us, she started experimenting with drugs, and became pregnant with her first and only child, Sequelia Olivet, Vet for short.   I was one her godmothers.  By then, Lonnie had moved back home, because mom and dad could not handle her.

In 1989 or 1990, Lonnie had taken to the streets of LA and started doing drugs very heavily.  After all, her mom took custody of Vet, so Lonnie felt that she did not have any responsibility.   She was also going with this guy during the time.  One night, Lonnie felt the need to steal some drugs off of him, and he killed her.  To this day, even though I live here in Columbus, it is still one of the things I have a hard time dealing with, and I am crying as I write this part of my post for Wednesday. 

I still miss my friend, Lonnie, but I know why.   Part of it had to with when she was 8, there were family members who started molesting her.  This was when I was 7, and that is something that no kid should ever have to go through.  I thank God that none of them touched me, and I think if they did, my father probably would be in prison and out of the Air Force, because no one messes with his little girl.  I guess when she started using, it was her way to numb the pain that she was felling.  I cannot relate to this. 

This is why I urge all parents to please talk to your children daily.  Make sure you listen to all the clue of a drug problem, bullying, or even that they are being sexual, emotional, or mentally abused. Maybe they cannot talk about it, but be there for them, tell them that you love them, and get them help before it is too late.  Keep them from not ending up like Lonnie.  May 15, 2014 would have been her 51^st birthday.   I wonder what her life would have been if that family member would have kept their hands off of her at age 8.  Her daughter is in her thirties and probably would not have been born.  My parents have not heard from Miss Olivet, Lonnie’s mom in 5 years.   I know this post is long, but Miss Olivet, if you happen to read this post, my parents would love to hear from you.  Please contact them, their number is the same.

Be blessed my friend.  Same to you, Miss Olivet.  Patti.

PS:  Tell me about your first friend.   Comment below.

How much of the day are you plugged in? Do you consciously set aside offline time, or does it happen whenever it happens?

(c) 2015 by P. Lynne Designs

Ok, I must admit something….When this thing called the internet first came into the scene, I was not too thrilled at the thought of it.   Something changed to make me think otherwise and that was my job at CompuServe.   I was at the job for about a year in a half when it was all the rage in Columbus, Ohio.  People do not know that CompuServe was the first Facebook.  OK, I am going to stop right there, because I am aging myself.

Since I left that job in 1995, I have been trying to stay connected.  After I got rid of my free accounts for being an employee at CompuServe, I got an AOL account.   I still have it, but my father uses it.   I wanted more out of just being able to do a few select things.  It wasn’t until I got my account with Time Warner Cable’s Roadrunner that really made me take off in the internet world.   After that, I wanted to blog, sell items, and communicate more.  

2009 was a big year for me.  I started MDN Creates, the blog, I came face to face with Facebook, I opened a Twitter account, and a LinkedIn account.  I love it.  Add in a Pinterest account, a You Tube account that I actually started in 2007 with just viewing videos, and finally an Instagram account, you would wonder if I ever see anyone from the outside world.   As a matter of fact, I do. 

I do things with my family, with my church, and I take long baths (not too long).  I do sleep.   Most of my online presence in comparison to my off-line presence is about 50-50.  I work at home now.  My choice.  Some people still think it is an abomination to work at home while others say they wish they could.    My secret to being present to others is to set aside time for everything.   Sometimes I write it down and sometimes I do not.  My schedule is supposed to be:

• Business 9-5 (M-F)
• Home life (after 6)
• Family (after 6)
• Spiritual time (anytime of the day, because I need those pray moments, and God says not to put him on the backburner)

My schedule has been lately:

• Home life all day! I recently did some major renovations to the house and now I need to fix the car.  I had an accident last night with my sister in the car.  We are alright, but the hood needs replacing.  So there goes the 9-5 aspect, because mechanics are not going to see you after 5 (at least no body shops).  
• Business:  If I can sneak in a blog post or two, a writing assignment, or an ad campaign during 9-5, I am golden.   I would love to be able to contact a sponsor during the day.
• Family:  24/7  I have people who for the life of me cannot understand that if I was at an out of the home job, I would not be able to take you to appointments, go shopping, or have the repair person come into my home.  My purpose for working at home is to start a business, nurture it, and later on, if it gets too much to have it at home, I can buy a building and work from there. 
• Spiritual time:  I attend my church’s bible study on Wednesday nights, church on Sundays, and I try to sneak in a bible study reading or two.  Unfortunately I do not read the Bible in print anymore.  I have it on my Ipad and my phone.  It is more convenient.
• Sleep:  What’s that?   I am kidding.  I do get my sleep, including a power nap in my chair at the computer desk.   I do eat.  In fact, I am thawing out some chicken wings and tomatoes for my first “Everything but the kitchen sink” soup of the season.   It is basically a soup base, plus anything you have in your refrigerator and simmer.   Depending on your combo, it can be very delicious.  It is cold out there, and I need warmth.

Well I am at 730 words, so be blessed, my friend, and comment below your answer to this question about unplugging from your online friends.  

Tell us about a blog post that you didn't publish.

photo from Pinterest.com

Today, Blogher wants to know basically my failed attempt of a blog post that I should have published.    I do not think I have any.  They are one or two of them that are a work in progress, and I am in no hurry to publish them.   The reason are because they are a series of blog posts.  I am regretting that I am not publishing them fast enough.

I have a post that I did regret posting from the very beginning, until I saw how others felt about the same topic.   It was about Abby Lee Miller and Dance Moms on this blog (at the time it was called My Blessed Life.)   The only reason why I felt the way I did was because I did not think other people felt the way I do about the show.  I thing that Abby Lee is an over the top dance teacher, who is abusive towards her students except one, who is her prize student, named Maddie.  She hates the moms even worst.   You will have to read my review to see.  It has received 1112 pageviews to date, when means someone is reading it.  

On my other blogs, it is not as easy to say what not to publish, because I try to stick with the main topic, rather it is paper crafting (P.Lynne Designs), decorating and organization (Simply Organized Crafts), Disney (Traveling to the Mouse’s House), or talking about other products I sell with two direct selling companies (Tricia’s Baskets), there are plenty of posts that I did not publish, based on those blogs.   The blog that you are reading this post on, is sort of my let loose, no holds barred blog, with inspiration tied in, because everyone needs a little encouragement.  

Have I thought about consolidating my blogs?  Yes, because I have a blog coach who thought that I needed to have only one.   I asked myself if it would benefit to let go of 4 blogs, and the answer was no.   I started with one blog, I kept adding on to it, and then I decided to split it.  I just never though that I would split it 5 ways.  

So, this is a short post, so on that note, be blessed my friend.

November 16, 2013: a clean house is a happy house

No Blog prompt tonight.

Photo by P.Lynne Designs

I want to talk to you for a minute about my house.   My house was not a happy house a month ago.  It was very unhappy.  Why?  Well let me tell you.

My house was a prime example of mildly-looking hoarder house.  I am really too embarrassed to say this.  In fact, you may see a snippet of what it looked like 4 weeks ago.  I am calling myself out.   This is what happens when you let something go for what you thought was the good of something else.  In this case, it was my business.   I came up with every excuse in the book for not cleaning.  I did clean around the mess that I had.   What changed my ways?   

The first thing was a friend asked me to type something for her at the last minute.   I thought I was going over there to pick it up.  Not so fast, she came over to my home.   I had to run and hide the laundry, but it was still unbearable for her to see.  So I just grinned, bared it, and let it go.   The second thing was my sister and children came over.  The next day, I thought my niece stopped up the downstairs toilet.  It turned out that the main pipe to all four units was stopped up.  The result was a tree root growing inside, and the half bath, as well as another neighbor’s bathtub stopped up.  My father decided to get in all new carpet and paint the walls, and everything had to leave the house.  So while that was going on, I started weeding things, and now I have a clean downstairs, not messy clean.  I mean clean.

After the walls were painted, the carpet was put down, and the downstairs was organized, one of the carpet installers cut one of the wires to the security system, so a new panel had to be installed, because the old one was super old, and they told me that motion detectors are less efficient.   I thought I was done.

The next to go was the heater.   It quit on me Monday.   How did I know?  I smelled smoke, and it tripped the fire detector.   The heater repair person said that wires that helped the Frankenstein heater (that is a new technical word, folks) had burned out.   So my father decided to Frankenstein it back to health. 

One thing that I did not mentioned is I have been without a dishwasher for two months, You see this whole string of DIY projects really started with the garbage disposer.  I must have dropped a spoon or something in there that cause to reset button to not reset the disposer.   Before that was my computer, and in January, it was my upstairs toilet and stopped up bathtub.  This house has gone through a major transformation, and I have not tackle the issue of wanting to fix up my second bedroom into a craft room.  This is a want, not a “need to hurry up and fix this” job.   My stuff does not come in “3’s” as they say problems comes, they come in “5’s” and “6’s”, but I am glad that the money was available when I needed it.  Thank God for that.

So are you tackling a DIY project right now?   If not, what do you want to do in your home?  It does not have to be a single family home, nor you do not have to own it (just get the landlord’s permission first.)

Have a blessed evening my friend, and sorry the video is too embarrassing to show.  Maybe one day.

If you could quit one bad habit instantly without difficulty, which would it be?

New topic, I cannot answer this one honestly.

Friday night ramble….

From Goggle Images

I cannot think of a thing to write about, honestly, so this is Friday night ramble.  After all, this is my writing blog and I can write about anything I want to.  I am going to try to limit myself to 500 words or less, so here goes.

Facebook and the number of things you do not know about me game…

It seems that there is a game going around on Facebook, where you are tagged and given a number.   Let’s say my number is 7.   Now the object of this game is very simple, you have to name 7 items that people do not know about you.   Once you are finished, it is your turn to tag the next person in your circle of friends.   I am going to be honest….no one has tagged me, and I am feeling a little salty and lonely.   Of course it is a stupid game, but I like it when I am doing something other than seeing if I can get to the next level of Candy Crush or plugging my businesses.  Next topic….

My heating issues….

Well I have a Frankenstein heater now.  I had a Frankenstein heater when it quit on me Monday.   I now know what it is like to be in a deep freezer.  Thank God for parents.   My dad had the repair man on time, I spent Wednesday night at their house, worked on some pocket pages for a new mini book in my old room, and I was good.  My house is now nice and toasty.  Next topic…

Want to learn how to write better?  Keep a journal…A tip.

Honestly, this is how I had the guts to start writing online in a blog.   I write in a journal.   It is actually a word document, and I write about anything that I have an issue with, my hopes and dreams, my insecurities, my aspirations, my successes, and letters to people that I hope will never receive what I really feel.   I write almost daily, and I change the title of the journal when I feel that Word has run out of bytes for that document, then I start a new one.   Your journal does not have to be digital, it can be written the old fashioned way of taking pen to paper and just start writing.   A friend started me, and my first part was on a 3.5 floppy disk (I since then pasted it onto the second part).  I even read my journal sometimes.  If you have not started a journal, you should try it.   Last topic….

My ever changing blogging life….

So far, I have been following Blogher’s blogging prompts.   I did not think that I would enjoy them, but I do.  They make me think and explore a side of myself that I really do not think about.   What about you?   Why not give blogging prompts a try if you cannot think of a topic to write on.  It does not have to be from me or from Blogher.  There are plenty of blog prompts to go around.   Now I am over 500 words. 

Good night, and be blessed, my friend.

Are you a morning person or a night owl?

Photo by www.marksdailyapple.com

Well, well, well, it looks like Blogher is running with a theme.   It is a challenge that I am willing to take.  I answered the question in my last post, which was published moments ago with my favorite hour, and they are asking me if I am a morning person or night owl.   Well, I am a night owl.   Whoooo!  Whoooo!  I would leave it at that answer and this would be the end of my post, but for some reason I do not like short posts.  So with that, I will give you my reasons for being a night owl other than what I said in the last post….

1.      No phone.   After all, no one calls me at night, except my sister who thinks I am asleep.  Since she now has a job at that time of night, I do not hear from her.

2.      I get uninterrupted bouts of time with Candy Crush.   Ok, see there is this thing called, “numbing the mind,” and I like a moment of that. 

3.      Infomercials.   I would like to give a shout out to AT&T U-Verse for this one.  1/3 infomercial, 1/3 interactive (Which I have not tried, because I am afraid of that extra charge that I got from Time Warner Cable), the rest, taped shows.

4.      Bejeweled Blitz.   See #2.

5.      Facebook, Twitter, and the rest.   If you are not careful, you can spend lots of uninterrupted time posting about stuff.   Can someone answer my question about what to expect on my first Disney Cruise or tag me for this silly answer game going around?   I am not really begging.   No, really.

Last week, I actually cleaned my house at 2 am.   Who does that?  Oh yeah, people like me.    Even when I was working out of the home, I would go to bed at 1 am to get up at 6 am for a 9 am job.   Who does that?  Ok, the night owl.  

Do not judge me, for I might become the opposite when I get old and grey.   I heard of something like that.  I am only 49, so I have a ways to go before that happens, if it happens.   For now, I will enjoy my night owl ways, while every once in a while rise with the chickens (as my grandmother used to do), and grab my cup of coffee or stronger, and pretend like I love getting up.   It is the least I can do for you morning people.

So who are you, morning person, or night owl?    I just need one simple answer.   I am taking a survey.    This is your writing assignment for tonight.

Be blessed, my friend, whoever you are.

What is your favorite hour of the day?

I am behind a day, so I am blessing you with two posts.  I am still dealing with my heater, and the repair person is working on it as I am writing the first of two posts.  I spent the night with my parents in a nicely, toasty, warm bed. Brrr, it is cold in here.  Hummm, tonight I may have to pretend that my heater is out again tonight, so I can spend one more night, before my sister and her daughter commodores the bed on Saturday night.

Anyway, yesterday, Blogher asked the question, “What is your favorite hour of the day?”   I will say without a doubt that it is nighttime.   Here’s why:

I work at home.  My family as a whole, thinks that work at home means you can drop whatever you are doing, and see to their needs.   Here is one thing you may not know about me:  I have no husband, no partner, and no children.   In other words, I am single.   Working at night reduces that need to getting mad at them for asking, and I can still do the things I want and need to do, which includes making things for my online store on Etsy, write in my blogs, or advertise in the different venues online to name a few.   

Do I get sleep?   Yes I do, and so far I wake up between 7-11 am, depending on what I have to do the next day.   Last night, despite the fact I was spending the night with my parents, I brought my work with me.   I sat in the guest bedroom and made 10 pocket pages for a mini book.   I will decorate later.   The parents were asleep, and I was in my element, even though I did not have everything with me.   No, I do not get my adequate amount of sleep.  The average American does not get that 6-8 hours of sleep needed.

I also do things during the day.  After all, the day is when businesses are awake, and I have to deal with it.   I need services too, like for instance, I cannot call the heating repair person to come at 1 am.   My friends value sleep, so I cannot call them to do something at 3 am.  So I have things when it is convenient for everyone else.   I am better than I was 6 months ago.   During that time, I basically stayed up until 6 am, and went to bed.  Suffered on Sunday, because church service was at 10 am.  That meant I had 2 hours of sleep.   All of a sudden, January 2013, I had that sudden urge to go to bed at 11 pm, and it lasted until April 2013.   Now, I am back to my nighttime ritual, but it ends at 3 am, unless I had coffee or something that was pressing on my mind, and then it 4 am.   I am working on going to bed no later than 1 am.

So what is your favor hour?   This is your writing assignment if you choose to take it.   Comment below if you want to spill the beans, or keep it to yourself.   

Be blessed my friend.     

Name five things inside your refrigerator right now and how you feel about them.

Photo by Real Simple Mag.

They say that you are what you eat and at the moment, and I am trying to atone from my former 1-2-donuts-a week-on-second-give-me-fried-anything-as-long-as-I-have-chocolate self.   It is a hard habit to break, and some days I am successful, while other days, forget it.   I am a lot better than what I was for a lot of reasons.  That confession is for a later post.  For now, let me tell you about my fridge.

Food item #1:  Almond and soy milk.   I love milk, but I have learned to love the vegan forms of milk, soy, and almond.   Now I am one of those people who, let’s face it will never be totally vegan.  I was raised a meat eater and will die a meat eater, period.   But I also believe in never say never, and I will say that I love both of these milks.   I still get the dairy kind, because I need my liquid cream for my coffee (flavored), and I love authentic chocolate milk.   There is nothing better than authentic chocolate vitamin D milk.  Whole milk and all.

Food item #2:  Veggies.   I am now eating more fruits and vegetables.   I had a period of time where I could not and would not eat vegetables.   I think it was because I was now living on my own, and I basically said screw it to what my parents taught me, but for some reason, it kind of bit me back.   For one reason, and I really do not fault my parents on it, but I ate a lot of canned veggies in my life.   I started reading about what happens to a person who does not have a balanced meal.   I have now learned to love fresh veggies.

Food item #3:  Cheese.  I love cheese, and it is one of the food habits that me and my father share (seafood, chitterlings, pig’s feet, and hot sauce are other food loves).  We have both learned to eat this stuff in moderation (the pork products), so it is a once a year treat now.

Food item #4:  Condiment bottles:   I have too many.  Enuf (enough) said.   I need to pair them down.

Food item #5:  Meatballs.   Last night, well yesterday, I took them out of the freezer and thought I would cook the whole package.   This is what I am talking about.  The butcher who carefully and lovingly made these meatballs, need to make meatballs for a person of one.   Twelve meatballs are enough for 2 people.  This is what’s wrong with the country.   It is not what’s in the stuff (like meatballs), it is the portion size.   Now I do not mind breaking down a larger package to get two meals out of it, but they do not make it so you can break down things such as meatballs.   So now I have to cook the other half of the package.   It is all about portion control.   No, I did not have to buy the package, but there are very few products out there for a person of one, because the food producers want you to believe that you can eat for two.  It is not right.

So you see, this is my fridge, and I love going grocery shopping.   What I did not talk about was the sushi that I ate two weeks before, or the chocolate that I buy once a month (down from 5 times a month ).   My doctor tells me that I am allowed to eat things in moderation, and as long as they are done that way, I am a happy non-vegan with vegan ways.

Be blessed my friends

Who want to be a guest Blogger?

OK, today, I am not doing Blogher’s topic of the day, which is, “If you had to be trapped in a movie for 5 days, which movie would it be?”  OK, I am going to be honest for a moment and say this woman does NOT want to be trapped in a movie for 1 day, let alone 5 days.   I like Disney movies and I like musicals (modern day), and being trapped with the likes of Timon and Pumba from The Lion King or Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz would  drive me insane enough for me to dislike Disney and musicals forever.   Do not pin that one on me, Blogher.

Instead, I am going to find out if anyone has a taste for being a guest blogger.  Yes, I am running with a theme, so bear with me for a moment.  

I am going to ask you a couple of questions and depending on how you well answer them, it will determine if you have the knack to be a guest blogger.

photo by Get snazzy.com

Do you have a post stuck in your head?   In other words, do you have a topic you know something about, and you have all the resources lined up and have put your thoughts to electronic pen to electronic paper (AKA a good word processing program). 

If you do have one, is it ready for the type of blog or website you are looking for?   Let me clarify…. An example would be I have a blog about organizing the home and I am looking for a guest blogger.  The type of post I am looking for has to do with organizing a child’s playroom, because this is time of the year, when children receive lots of toys, and mom does not have the time to step on or over every piece of toy (old and new) the child takes out to play with?  Would you have a solution for my reader who happens to be a mom?  The post has to be copy ready to submit. 

One of the misconceptions about being a guest blogger is you need to have a blog.  No so, but it would help.   You could be a first-time writer looking for exposure.  If you write to a popular blog, you can add this to your resume.  

Another important thing is that you are a good writer.  

• Is it well-organized? 
• No misspelled words, grammar mistakes
• You must writing it in the language of the owner, unless they have a multi-language blog.  Yes, there are translator software out there, but do not count on it.
• Another thing is do not depend on the spell-checker either.  Both may not be up-to-date with current rules for spelling and grammar.   
• Non-Americans, there is a difference between words like favor/favour, color/colour, and organize/organise.  Americans do not use the Queen’s English, like the rest of the world does. Sometimes we have be reminded that a lift is an elevator and a flat is an apartment/condo. 
• Dates, do not get me started on the difference between July 21, 2013 and 21 July 2013.  We just know that any date past 12 is the date, because there are 12 months in a year.   
• Watch your flow, and be careful that you do not have a run-on sentence because these things can be a bit messy when a person is trying to read and they do not know when to STOP!  (Yes, that was intentional, are you out of breath yet?)
• Finally, we have not gotten use to the metric system.  the government tried, and we failed miserably.    

On a serious note, if you keep all of these things in mind, you can be successful as a writer and a guest blogger.   Oh, and another thing.  READ ALL OF THE BLOG OWNER’S RULES AND REGULATIONS BEFORE SUBMITTING A POST.  Nothing irritates a blog owner more, than when a guest blogger submits a post, and the blog owner has to say no the guest blogger, because rules were not followed.   Rules are there for a reason.   Before you submit, if you do not see the rules, ask the blog owner if there is anything that you should watch for when writing.   It is common courtesy and the end of the day, when you submit a post, and you can imagine the blog owner reading your post, smiling because this is the one day they can rest and not rush.  This the point where you can also relax, because you have been published, and it feels good.   Who knows, they may ask for another one, and another one still.  Just be ready to submit it.

Be blessed, my friend, and write on.

I Have No Heart for Christmas.

I have no heart for Christmas, tho snow is dusting sweet

Up and down the silent town, whitening the street.

For I am all but homeless; my wages are reduced.

What be the treat if I must meet my friends in rags unspruced? 

I have no heart for Christmas, for jolly present giving.

It’s been a year of shifts austere; I’ve been through quite a sieving.

The government spreads folly, the people whine and slink.

Corruption stands in many lands, refreshed with food and drink.

I have no heart for Christmas; its meaning is concealed

By bearded guys in cheap disguise with candy canes congealed.

Better to forget about the chants and boundless junk

For tawdry sale through hill and dale – I’d rather be a monk.

I have no heart for Christmas – but stay!  What’s this I feel?

Kindled slow but like a blow from some great bell’s first peal.

My heart is but an organ; it cannot stop the Spirit

Of Joy sublime this Christmastime, if I but choose to rear it!  

About the author:  Tim Torkildson is an editor of online websites, including Scripture Poetry. http://www.scripturepoetry.com/