Contests and Compliments

Mood: Pretty decent for a Monday, tired, but what is new?

Music: Hmmm, so that is what I've been missing! Let me see. . .if any of y'all have my Lord of the Rings Return of the King sound track, I'd really like it back now. :0) No one here claims to have seen it and the case is empty (sigh). Well, now I am listening to a Wow Christian cd, unless you count the washing machine and dryer as musical accents. :D

What am I doing? What should I be doing is the more accurate question. I have two crits pulled up, and my chapter I am working on doing laundry and other things to get ready for vacation and poking at this monstrous zit on my forehead (I am no longer a teenager so what is up with that?).

My writing goal was to have up to chapter 15 rewritten before I went on vacation. Hahahaha. Okay, now that I have picked myself up off the floor, I am currently still working on nine. Yeah I know, it was already written, but I'm a panster, what can I say. Just looking over a chapter can send my book in a new direction. Okay, I know exactly what I need to do to nine and have ten plotted out, and eleven, it is just finding the time to do it.

I got my scores back from the Daphne today. I didn't do as bad as I was bracing myself for. In fact for my first contest, I guess I didn't do too shabby. I only saw 12 scores better than mine and there were 17 worse, so I did average. Only one of my score sheets was below 100. The crit was hard, and I enjoy (okay at first I don't exactly enjoy those, but after I get over being miffed, then I enjoy them cause they are valuable) the harder crits. But this one didn't help me much at all. It seemed she didn't read my submission, although she assured me that she had to read it twice to get it. But she asked questions that had already been covered in the ms or where to be explained in the next sentence. I was taught to RUE (resist the urge to explain), so that is what I did. I gave just enough info for the reader to get it. Most of the comments were so vague as to be useless to me, but I did glean an ounce of benefit from it so all was not lost. (Also she gave me 2 or 3 where the other three judges gave me 4 or 5. 5 is the highest you can score.)

I had something happen to me today that so shocked me, but pleased me at the same time. It was so unexpected that I didn't get much past what he said first. LOL.
I woke up late this morning and I had no time to shower, so I desperately tried to work with my morning hair ( I have cowlicks and one was being a nuisance) and just make sure I had moisturizer on my face. Plus it was chilly so I put my old lady's sweater on, knowing I would need to shed it later in the day. Bags under my eyes, the whole bit, okay?
I had to do the grocery shopping for the shop today (as I do every Monday) and I was running close on time so I did it in record time, not paying much attention to anyone. I mean I was scary and didn't want anyone to see me for long. :0) But I put the groceries in the van (the nice NEW company van) and started around the front of the van to put the cart away. A man that looked to be a little older than me, nice looking, asked me if I was needed it (the cart). I gave it to him and thanked him. He smiled at me and said "I saw you in the store." Okay I was a little nonplussed with this information, but hadn't had time to process it fully before he continued, "I came out here because I wanted to tell you that you are a beautiful young woman." And he patted my hand. (I should probably mention that I'm not much of a touchy feely person unless I know you, but I was simply too shocked to move, lol). He got an immediate smile of course. I mean, wouldn't you smile? I told him Thank you. And he said something (remember I am in shock cause I KNOW I look bad) and then told me that he didn't want to hold me up he had just wanted to let me know he thought I was beautiful. How cool is that? He made my day!!!

So that made me think that perception has to do with alot of our emotions. We need to keep our emotions under control because if we don't then satan can use them to make us grow away from God and sin. Anger is his favorite tool. How many times have you been angry and said something nasty that you normally wouldn't say? And, friend, don't fool yourself, most of our anger is NOT righteous anger. So if you go into a situation expecting it to be bad, guess what you will take away from the experience? Bad.
I was prepared for the results on my scores, I was expecting the worst. Lucky for me I had a cheer bringer, and when the scores weren't as bad as I expected it was twice as nice. :0)

So let's decide that we will make the most of what is left of our day today, and thank God for the blessings He has poured upon us, in abundance, above and beyond all that we can imagine. Make the most of everyday. That is the best way you can thank God for the gift of life and your loved ones, enjoy them. Don't let the time while away. A life of regrets is the saddest thing I can imagine next to a lost soul.

If you are in a bad mood, just smile and act like you are in a good mood and guess what? Before you know it you will be in a better mood. We choose to let things weigh us down and satan loves for us to do it cause then we are not about our Father's business. Our Father's news is full of joy. Let's share that light with the lost world!
Have a good and blessed day.

I forgot I got tagged!

"It's part of a new meme that is travelling through the blogosphere. The idea is if you're tagged, you need to choose 3 (or more if you like) occupations from the list below and then finish the sentence for each that you've chosen."You then tag three more people who must do the same. You can add more occupations to the list when you pass it on but you must choose your 3 from the list provided by the person who tagged you. You're also asked to trackback to the blogger who tagged you if you know how."Here's the list:If I could be a scientist…If I could be a farmer…If I could be a musician…If I could be a doctor…If I could be a painter…If I could be a gardener…If I could be a missionary…If I could be a chef…If I could be an architect…If I could be a linguist…If I could be a psychologist…If I could be a librarian…If I could be an athlete…If I could be a lawyer…If I could be an innkeeper…If I could be a professor…If I could be a writer…If I could be a llama-rider…If I could be a bonnie pirate…If I could be a service member…If I could be a photographer…If I could be a philanthropist…If I could be a rap artist…If I could be a child actor…If I could be a secret agent…If I could be a comedian/comedienne…If I could be a priest...If I could be a radio announcer...If I could be a phlebotomist...If I could be Paris Hilton's stylist...If I could be a movie producer...If I could be the CEO of Microsoft...If I could be an accountant…If I could be a scientist,

Okay, hmmmm, I had some good ideas the other day, but of course I have forgotten with the excitement of the weekend.

If I could be a bonnie pirate. . .I would give to the poor and not be rated RRRRRRRRR!

If I could be Paris Hilton's stylist. . .I would put some clothes on that girl!!!

If I could be a writer. . .oh wait! I am a writer, and that is what I should be doing rather than procrastinating.

I got tagged by both Camy and Heather, their links for their blogs are to the right.

I tag hmmmm do I even know three people? Aimee, Linda R. and Mary G.

Hugs and blessings.

Look at the Date!

Where has this year gone? I mean it doesn't seem like it has been so long since I last posted on the blog, but it has been a loooooong time.

Okay, first things first. My writing. Hmmm. I was fleshing out chapter eight and something totally unexpected happened (I don't have a written plot, it just kindof happens on the paper, I do however usually have a direction) and then I ended up having to change chapter nine. Had some problems with Word so I am not using it at the moment. (Ha! I showed it, didn't I? lol)

The Daphne results came in and needless to say, I didn't final. There were five spots for finalists and one girl got three spots. I was hurt and disappointed because I didn't know that contests did that. But I also heard that there were over 400 applicants. Had I known there were that many, I wouldn't have gotten my hopes up at all. There is always someone better out there, ya know? We haven't gotten in the score sheets yet, so I don't know what they really thought of my entry. I don't even know if I was close to finalling. But we'll see soon.
I did have a moment (okay several moments, like hours) of doubting my abitlity. I was thinking what if I am one of those annoying people who think they write well, when everyone knows they stink. I asked my friends and they said I wasn't.

I guess I am over that now. I will write for the glory of the Lord and if He wants me to write just for Him and never be published then Praise His Holy Name.

I am battling so many things right now. One of my biggest hang ups is my weight. I quit a bad habit and suddenly balooned. I can't stand to look at myself in the mirror. I hardly eat, I exercise and still I don't loose. So if you remember me, you might pray for me in this area. To be honest, if I didn't have to work, I wouldn't go outside my house except to exercise and run very important errands. It seems to me that I traded one possible death factor for another and have added stress on top of it. Can you say Heart Disease?

Another thing I am dealing with is isolation. I believe that the enemy uses this against me. I am a loner, but I also realized that I push people away. I have needs, but I HATE asking for help. I am the type of do it all myself instead of asking for help. And sometimes I get mad at people for not being able to interpret my needs and helping whether I asked or not. Then again there are times when my needs were more than obvious to everyone, but that 'everyone' avoided me like the plague rather than offer to help me out. That took a long while to forgive, but I did forgive because I still mingle among these people and do not hold it against them. I think that proves alot. You can say you forgive someone, but you really don't know for sure until you are willing to spend time with that person and act as if you are starting anew. I didn't understand why God would want me to sit with the ones who had so grieveously hurt me and ignored my needs, but I stuck it out, not very graciously, mind you, but stuck it out all the same. The hurt only damages you if you allow yourself to steep in it, or wallow in the self-pity. Saying you forgive and SHOWING you forgive are two different things in my humble opinion. Just like saying you love God and trust Him with your life, but actually totally surrendering your life is a whole other ballgame. It isn't easy. That is a matter of submission. Now us women are lucky because we get to practice this per the Bible telling us to be submissive wives. The men don't have it so easy. Not that it is easy to submit, especially when the husband is not deserving of the submission or uses it as a power play just to make sure he gets his way. The Bible doesn't say submit if your husband deserves it. Why do we have a hard time being submissive and handing our lives over to God? Well, it goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden. The lies the enemy used to convince Eve to sin. Pride. That is what it is, plain and simple. Just like my pride keeps me from asking for help when I need it, our pride keeps us from being totally submissive to God and letting Him use us to do His will, to His glory, not ours.

I am falling asleep and really don't know if I am coherant any longer. None of this may make a lick of sense, but I hope it does. I need stop typing and go to bed so I can finish out the week at work and thank God the weekend is here. I have alot to do this weekend.

Hope you have a blessed evening. May God's loving hands be a shelter for you this week.

And please, please, please....don't forget your mothers this Sunday for Mother's Day. Show her you love her. And don't forget those that are like mother's to you also, tell them how much they mean to you.

To all you mother's out there: Happy Mother's Day!!!!!