Another Award

It was terribly exciting to see this. I'm here in Scotland. Local time is 8:45 in the morning, and I got a Powerful Woman Writer Award from Deirdra Eden Coppel over at a Story Book World. Thanks so much, Deirdra!

Scotland is very beautiful. I saw Edinburgh Castle yesterday, and today Stirling Castle is on the agenda. I'm looking forward to it. All those old castles and stonework is fantastic. I just love castles. :) I believe Scotland's appearance is going to be the foundation for a story I've been thinking about. It has the right flavour and look that my story needs. Isn't it fun when things like that come together?

Again, thanks to Deirdra for the award. It is so very much appreciated. And thanks to everyone for checking in. I'm still a little thrown timewise, so it is Thursday today, right? The 28th? I think so. Heavens, but I'm not SURE!! It's disconcerting.

Lovely writing to all youse all. When I start getting pics on the 'puter, I'll try to post some. Until later, then, God bless!

April 27th, 2011

Wednesday, April 27th

Went to Edinburgh Castle today. It was amazing! We went and walked all over the top of the castle, and leaned on a couple of the cannons. Shoot, we even took pictures of the cannons, and took pictures OVER the cannons, checked out Mons Meg, and ENORMOUS cannon.

As we were 'sploring, a very, very nice older Scotsman took a picture of the four of us girls, as a memento. Very sweet and kind of him. He chatted with us for quite a while, asked us where we were from, raised an unbelieving eyebrow when we told him we were from California. (If you look at the picture below, you'll understand his disbelief. I mean, do we look Californian to you? I ask you... where are the sunglasses? and the shorts? Ya know?)

After walking all over the battlements, we went into this place called the War Memorial that was situated inside the castle. Awesome! Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures, but I soaked in the feeling and the aura as best I could, and I'm trying to chronicle it as best I can right now. Looks like something from a story. It's an enormous hall with three adjoining rooms, one straight ahead, the others on the left and right.

Along the whole length of the halls are alcoves with high, wide sweeping ceilings. In the alcoves are stained glass windows above large, high counters. On each counter there's a huge leather-bound book, embellished with the insignia of a Scottish regiment, containing the names of all those who fell in battle.

Each book rests on a missal-like holder made of marble that is sometimes so richly engraved and carved the marble looks like petrified lace. Sometimes two books and two stands sit side by side on the same counter. Some books are thicker than others.

Regimental flags stood above the books on little jutting stone shelves, and intricate sword displays and buttressed statues added to the magnificence.

High on the walls are engraving marked directly into the stone, engravings in the shapes of shields. Each shield is painted with each regiment's insignia.

In the adjoining rooms the walls are circular, and contain no books. Instead, there's a wall-high engraving that commemorates fallen soldiers.

In the abutting room, the walls hold a large pewter triptych that lines three sides of the wall; left, center, and right. Underneath were words of a prayer that I can't remember as I sit here in the Edinburgh castle courtyard, mentally recreating the Memorial in my head. I'll wait until a little later, perhaps when I'm at home, to fully sit and map the Memorial out in more vivid detail. The biggest impression of the Memorial was that it was so solemn and still and quiet. It almost sounded like a cathedral inside, with that stillness and reverence echoing amongst its cambered ceiling. It was the most amazingly beautiful place ever!!

After the Memorial we visited the Royal Chambers of the castle. Queen Mary's chamber was a large room painted dark blue with a soft brown carpet on the floor, and huge paintings on the walls. There was a large fireplace straight ahead, and two dark brown wood-and-wicker chairs stood near it.

In the adjoining room there were three light sconces on the wall opposite a really grand fireplace. The fireplace is made of stone and grey marble, and above the marbled mantle piece is a depiction of a chained silver unicorn and a gold lion - the Scottish Insignia.

The whole palace is very grand and quiet. There was a museum that you could peruse at your leisure as well, through the entire castle. It was so much to take in, it was almost exhausting.


It really was a long, gorgeous day, but it was an awful lot of fun. There were hundreds of gift shops - well, only about four or five, really - that we popped into and explored, and many different adjacent "Military Regalia" museums that we explored. There was a POW section that we went into. It was very dark and dank,
with a musty, sickly-sweet, rotting-earth smell. There were hammocks strung up from a platform "top bunk" type structure, with unpleasant-looking squashed bedding on a long platform below the hammocks. (This POW section was still in Edinburgh castle, by the way. :-) It was also really neat, because as you went through the POW bit, there were these "shadow plays" that lit up on the wall, and if you went through the sections you got to hear a story play out, that gave you the history of the prisoners and how they came to Edinburgh in the first place. Really, very interesting. (You can see a clip of one of the shadow plays on the video here. It was pretty neat.)

After the POW section, we made our way through the castle grounds, took TONS of pictures - except for the War Memorial, which did NOT allow pictures, blister them, and the Royal Chambers, blister them too - then walked back to our flat, stopping at a place called Giulianno's for Fish and Chips. (I know, Fish and Chips from an Italian restaurant... weird!! However, the owner was a very nice Italian.) We brought the Fish and Chips home and at them.

It was amazing fun. I also bought Mom a Hieland Coo to add to her collection. I think tomorrow, if we go to Stirling Castle, I'm bringing my duffel. I just took my camera today, and it was too hard lugging my journal around in my hands the whole day.

  

  

April 25th, 2011

Monday - 10:45 am.

It's Monday, and I've been looking forward to this trip for months. Seriously. The first idea was born about 5 months ago, becoming concrete when we got our passports in February and bought our tickets in the beginning of March.

It's pretty crazy. I'm really here, checking in. Showing off (and stamping) my passport was pretty neat. Once we got through the hassle of security, we (Amanda, Teresa, Maria and I) were able to slow down, get our things together, and get a coffee and yogurt parfait for breakfast. At least, Maria, Amy, and I got a parfait. Teresa stuck with a smoothie.

It was lovely. I sat and people-watched for about 45 minutes, while we ate and drank, and Maria checker her email.

Even now, here in our boarding area, I'm still rather people-watching. The lady in the seat running perpendicular to where we're sitting jounces when she laughs. A LOT of people have laptops and MP3 players. There's a band of kids running about, wearing orange and blue backpacks: apparently they're on a school trip. I wonder if they're going to be on our flight?

It's very, very grey outside, the clouds looking like marbled frosting smoothed in wavelets across the sky. We'll probably be boarding in about an hour. An hour and a half-ish, we'll be airborn and above the clouds.

LATER. (April 26th Later!!)

We got on our plane with relatively no problems. The flight was LONG, but they were showing Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The King's Speech, so I watched those. Lovely.

There was only three hours of night. Crazy! I've never seen a night pass so quickly. An airplane can get pretty cold during those three hours, though, so I was grateful to the little red blankets they passed out to us passengers. That was a thoughtful touch.

Once in Scotland, Jim, our friend, gave us a driving tour of Edinburgh. We paused for just a little bit and walked up and down the Royal Mile a little ways before going to our flat and getting settled. Our landlord is very nice: a little fussy, but very nice. After we settled in and put our things (mostly) away, we went to a place called The Sheep's Heid, a very nice wee bar. Alas, since we just got in, we forgot our licenses!!! Without a license, Amanda, Teresa, and I were unable to get alcoholic beverages. We made do with orange drinks, and Jim and Maria got, respectively, a lager shandy and a Guinness. Afterward, we went to dinner at a nice Chinese Restaurant. Lovely!

A good day was had by all.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to all of you!

After a long forty days of Lent, now is the time that we celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ from death. Easter is the greatest feast day in the Catholic church. The feast of Our Lord's Resurrection proves His divinity, His power over life and death. It is a feast even more revered than the feast of Christmas.

The word "Easter" stems from an old Teutonic mythology. According to St. Bede, the word Easter was derived from the name Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of Spring. The festival of Eostre was celebrated at the vernal equinox.

Since Catholics are masters at taking pagan or protestant feasts and turning them toward God, Easter now focuses on the Resurrection of Christ from the dead. Even now, this feast falls on the Sunday immediately following the Spring equinox, making it a movable feast that can occur between March 21 and April 25.

Easter also corresponds with the Jewish feast of the Passover, emphasizing Christ's assertion that He "did not come to destroy the (old) law but to fulfill it." Easter is the New Testament continuation of the Old Testament Passover.

The word Easter brings various associations, from the Resurrection of Christ to the Easter bunny. We know about the Resurrection. Here are some explanations about the various Easter symbols that appear during this time.

Hot Cross Buns: These lovely buns are a traditional food baked on Good Friday. The white cross symbolizes the cross upon which Christ died. They are said to have originated in 1361, where the monks distributed them to the poor. During the Tudor times a bylaw was created that banned these types of foodstuffs. However, Hot Cross Buns were still allowed, but only on Good Friday. (Click here to find a lovely recipe for Hot Cross Buns on Old Fashioned Girl's site.)

The Easter Bunny: The rabbit, or hare, was a symbol of abundant new life in ancient times. Catholics took this pagan symbol for fertility and new life and turned it into the religious example of Christ rising from the dead and thereby giving new life to all faithful believers. The modern idea of the Easter Bunny originated in Germany, where the children would make nests in the grass for the shy little Easter Bunny, in hopes that the grateful creature would reward them with sweets and candies. Nowadays, a basket is used to recall the grass nest.

Easter Eggs: Eggs were a symbol of new life. As a chick breaks free from the confines of the egg, so did Christ break the seal of His tomb to rise in glory. Another association is this: in Medieval Europe, eggs were forbidden during the forty days of Lent. At Easter, the consumption of eggs was resumed. Eggs became a mainstay of Easter meals, and were a prized gift for children.

Easter Lilies: These gorgeous flowers have always been a symbol of purity. In old pictures of saints, those saints that died as virgins are often depicted with one of these pure white flowers. For Our Lord, these flowers also symbolize new life, keeping with the idea of renewal and rebirth.

Lambs: This one is an obvious symbol. Christ is called the Lamb of God, because lambs are meek, mild creatures. Christ went to die for us as meekly as a lamb goes to slaughter.

Palm Leaves: These branches symbolize the Sunday before Easter, Palm Sunday, when our Lord rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, and all the people cried out "Holy, holy, holy!" and laid their cloaks and palm branches on the road before Him. Incongruous to think that, a mere four days later, they went out with torches and staves to bring Him as a criminal before Pilate. (For a lovely link on how to weave palm leaves for Easter, click here.)

Butterflies: Butterflies are by far one of the most perfect examples of the Resurrection. Its whole life cycle mimics the entire Resurrection. The butterfly starts its life as a simple caterpillar. Christ started His life as a simple Carpenter. The caterpillar wraps itself in a cocoon. This symbolizes Christ, after his crucifixion and death, being wrapped in His shroud and laid in a Sepulchre. Finally, the caterpillar splits open its cocoon and comes out into the world in a glorified image and form. Christ broke free from His tomb in His glorified body, triumphing over death.

Have a wonderful and blessed day. Until next time, God bless, and Happy Easter!


Fun links for you to enjoy

The Holiday Spot
About.Com/ Easter
Food Timeline
Catholic Cuisine
Italiansrus

The Versatile Blogger Award.

Today is Holy Thursday, the day Our Lord's Passion is to begin.

On this day, I was honoured to receive The Versatile Blogger Award from Kelly Hashway. Thank you so much, Kelly! When you get a moment, please head on over to her blog. She is an amazing writer, and someone I aspire to imitate.

Now, in order to accept this award, I have to pay it forward to other blogs of my choice (easy), AND reveal 7 things about myself (not so easy)!! I'll do the hard part first.

Seven Things About Me That You Never Knew, and May Wish I'd Kept To Myself.

1.) I like snow between the months of November and February. After that, where the heck is spring?!!

2.) I like sewing, but I hate cutting out the patterns, pinning the material together, losing pins, accumulating mounds of scraps to be thrown away, and the all-around general messiness that goes with sewing. The actual sewing part I like. :)

3.) I love singing, especially sad love songs.

4.) I am passionately fond of clay. Premo! is the best.

5.) I enjoy writing so much that, if I could, I would probably spend half the day writing and the other half thinking about other things to write about. In between times, I try to do everything else that I love - singing, drawing, clay, music, etc.

6.) I generally expel my emotions (anger, sadness, etc.) by crying. It's really embarrassing. "You are the meanest person ever! **sob** I'm going to tell on you! **sniff**" See? Embarrassing. I'd prefer to get mad, and LOOK mad, not cry. Oh well.

7.) I do not do things on my own. Ever. If I go anywhere, I try to make someone come along with me. It's a comfort thing, I think.


Okay, now to pass on the award!

1. Anne E. Johnson - Jester Harley's Manuscript Page
2. Debra Elliot - Writing With Debra
3. Allyn Stotz - Allyn's Blog: Dreaming with Words
4. Deirdra Eden Coppel - A Storybook World
5. Anna Staniszewski - Anna Staniszewski
6. Krista V. - Mother. Write. (Repeat.)
7. Amber Polo - Wordshaping
8. C. M. Villani - C. M. Villani
9. Stephanie Perkins - Natural Artificial
10. Antimony - Thoughts, Musings, and Broken Promises

Congratulations to all the winners! Thanks for stopping by. Have a very holy Thursday.

Amazing Outlining

The coolest thing happened to me yesterday.

First of all, I apologize to the brilliant mind that recommended trying this particular method of outlining. I'm pretty sure it was on a blog somewhere that another writer friend shared, but it could have been in one of the multitudinous writing books that I own. Wherever, and whoever, it was, Mind, I salute you!

Okay, so this is what happened.

First off, I put a list of numbers down on paper, one through twenty. Next, by number one, I wrote the opening sentence, or "thought" for the story. Then, by number twenty, I wrote the ending "thought" for the story. Then I went up to number two and wrote what came after number one. Then I went down to number nineteen and wrote what happened before number twenty. I went back up to the top, and wrote down in number three what happened after number two. Then I ran back to the bottom of the page, and discovered in number eighteen what occurred before number nineteen.

In this way, I flip-flopped between writing down what happens next and what came first until I reached the middle of the story. Once I got that done, I went to a fresh piece of paper and briefly drafted out chapter synopses of each number's sentence.

The example is kind of like this.

Start with a row of numbers. For this example, we'll work small. How about a Picture Book? Sounds good.

Here's a row of ten numbers.
1. 
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Next, insert the first thought.
1. Dora is a tall giraffe.

Now, go down to the last thought.
10. Now all the animals love Dora!

Now go back up and write what comes after one.
2. All the other animals are small.

Now, what happens before 10?
9. But, Dora is tall! She can reach the kite.

(Before all of you go "huh?" just keep reading. Believe me, the kite ties in. :-)

Okay, so what happens after two?
3. Dora's lonely, because all the small animals go off to play without her.

Now, what happens before nine?
8. The tree is so tall, none of the animals can reach the kite.

Now, go up to four.
4. Dora watches the animals having a picnic beneath a tall tree, and cries.

Now, find out what happens before eight.
7. The kite gets stuck in the tree!

Okay, what happens after five?
5. The littlest mouse has brought a kite, and since there's a lovely breeze they send the kite into the sky.

This is where it gets cool. Fill in six, and look at this!!
6. The breeze is so strong, it pulls the kite out of little mouse's paw.

Now, check it out! Here is the whole outline rearranged in order.

1. Dora is a tall giraffe.
2. All the other animals are small.
3. Dora's lonely, because all the small animals go off to play without her.
4. Dora watches the animals having a picnic beneath a tall tree, and cries.
5. The littlest mouse has brought a kite, and since there's a lovely breeze they send the kite into the sky.
6. The breeze is so strong, it pulls the kite out of little mouse's paw.
7. The kite gets stuck in the tree!
8. The tree is so tall, none of the animals can reach the kite.

9. But, Dora is tall! She can reach the kite.

10. Now all the animals love Dora!

Ta Da! Now, before you tell me it's too confusing, try it. THEN tell me how brilliant it is.

And if one of you knows who the original creator of this brilliant form of outlining is, please share. If I myself find out who it is, I shall share.

Until later, then, God bless!

An Ode to Lack of Internet

I find it very hard to write
all that I want to share with you,
when internet just isn't there.
I mean, what IS a girl to do?

If there's no net, there's no connection,
Sad, this small yet true reflection.
With no connection, I can't post...
I wonder what I miss the most?
The net or blog? It's hard to say...
that's why I'm posting this toDAY!

Sorry for my absence here,
I shall attempt to make amends.
Soon, I pray, I'll have a router,
to connect me to my friends.

So I plead in desperation,
venting my pent-up frustration.
Don't give up, and do not fret.
I shall get connection yet!
I'll be better when I do.
Until later, God bless you.

Saturday - MORE clay!

"Hallo There"

Yes, I have to admit, I have a weakness.

It's clay.

But really, how could I refuse this face? I mean, look at those eyes, that posture, that complete sad cow look? Isn't he adorable!

This little guy came to me at work. I was taking break in between pictures, and I drew a quick diagram of this fella on a piece of scrap paper. I wanted that cock to his head,  that sort of shy helplessness with his front hooves, and that all-around lovableness.

See his cute little bow? I
thought that was a cute
addition.

I'm not entirely sure what to call him. He sort of looks like a Monty to me. What do you think? Thankfully, since I gave him to my mother, who is a cow fanatic, I do not have to worry too much about naming him. I can just gloat.

For this little guy, I used a lump of white clay and mixed it up really good with the leftover clay that I used for my dragon critter previously. It created a really handsome aged white look. I took a lump of clay about the size of an olive, rolled it smooth, then formed it into an elongated teardrop. I pushed the bigger end down on the table, to create a flat surface for him to sit on. :)

Then I took another bit of clay about the size of a smallish marble and rolled it so it was just the teensiest bit oval. I angled it on the thin upper point of his body, and used my sharp clay tool to blend the neck and head together. For his wee bit snout I took a ball of clay that was about the size of a rosary bead and flattened it just the tiniest bit. With my sharp clay tool I blended that into his head, making the little snub-snout look.

Even his back end is cute!

I wanted to make sure he had a suitably round shape, so I worked at the clay for a little at this point, trimming off excess and rolling him in my hands until his upper part was narrow-ish and the "weight" sank mostly to his hips and belly. Then I took and formed a long snake of the white clay for his forelegs, with a small ball of black clay at the tips for his hooves, and smoothed those right onto his front, where it looked like his shoulders would be if he were standing. (Ignore that run-on sentence, 'kay?) Once those were positioned to my satisfaction, I took two balls of white clay, each about the size of a rosary bead, and rolled them out so that there was a snake of clay on one end, and a ball of clay at the other. I took the ball side, flattened it a little, and attached it at an angle to the back end of his body, so that it formed what looked like haunches and a back leg. I smoothed those legs in pretty good, until all the creases were gone. It took a pretty good while, but at last I was satisfied.

How'm I looking?

Once I got all his legs attached, I went to work on his face. For his horns, I mixed together orange and white until I got that nice woody sort of colour. Then I rolled the orange/white into a stubby snake, cut it in two, and rolled the separate snakes until I formed a point at one end of each the snakes. I curled these snakes gently in my hands, and with my sharp clay tool I positioned them on his head, and blended them on. For his eyes, I used my sharp clay tool (remember, I mentioned last time that this was my fav'rite tool!) to gently roll eye sockets into his face, then inserted two minuscule black balls into the sockets for his eyes. I rolled two white bits of clay into very very thin, fine snakes, and used those to form his eyelids. Then I used the sharp clay tool's point to form his nostrils and shape his snout. Next, I took a bit of black clay, flattened it really well, and cut teensy little strips off it. I twisted the strips ever-so-gently in between my fingers so that they made curls, and used my sharp clay tool to position each separate curl on his head, for his hair.

Ta da! Aren't I
aDORable?

After that, I rolled out some white clay into a snake and attached it to his bottom for his tail, and cut little teensy flat white strips of clay, which I twisted and then fastened to the end of the snake to form his tuft. Then I flattened two little balls of white clay into small circles, and pinched one end of the circle closed to fashion his ear. Again using my sharp pointed clay tool, I affixed them to his head under his hair with very careful blending strokes. For the last touch I mixed together crimson and white to create a very pale pink colour, and rolled out a long thin snake of that to tie about his tail, and give him a bow.

Then I baked him at 275 for about 35 minutes. When he came out, he looked just so pleased with himself. My mom was pretty pleased, too. In fact, all my little sisters are placing orders. Jacinta wants a Panda, and I think Annie said something about a puppy. We'll see. For now, there's the cow.

Thanks for stopping by and letting me gloat! I will see you all later.

God bless!

My Clay Critters!

So, I promised you that, if I was able to get some clay critters done, I'd post them.

Ta da!

And here he is from the side. I used
wire for his antennae, and I used a flat
clay tool tip to flatten the black spots to
his "elytra". You can't see too much of
the detail here... it's just a cute shot.

I started off with a nice, simple ladybug. I used a little bit too dark a red for his wings, but I know better now. Next time, I'll lighten it up a bit.

Here is my little lady bug fella
from the front. Isn't he cute?

And this is him from the top! Those
are wee gears that are decorating
his little back. I wish I'd made his wings
a little lighter! Oh well. First time. :)

 Aside from that minor flaw, he looks pretty darn cute. I used black clay to create his body. I formed it into a little pinto bean shape, then I took a little dab more of black clay, rolled it into a ball and then flattened it just a little, and pressed it to the front of his body shape. That created his protonus, the shield-shaped frontal piece that looks like two white eyes with black pupils. For his face, I took the merest dab of black clay, rolled it into a ball, and pinned it (literally) through his protonus and abdomen. For his underwings, I used some ecru clay, rolled it into an oval and flattened it flatter than flat, then cut it in half and carefully lined his back with it. After that I made a coin-shaped red circle, pressed it until it was about two nickels thick, and with my flat clay tool pressed some little black balls onto the clay to create his seven-spotted "shell" or "elytra". Then I split the red elytra, pressed it to his back, stuck the gears down his back, shoved the twirled antennae in, and baked him at 275 degrees for 45 minutes. Ta da! Ladybug!

Here's my second critter.

My clay critter from the side. Don't
you love all the gears and nails in his
body? It adds a nice touch, I think.

 He's my dragon critter. I love how happy he turned out! He seems to be grinning quite cheerily at me. I love that.

This is him from the back. From this
side you get a good view of the nail
in his leg, and the armoured look of his
tail. Isn't that COOL? :-)

This little fellow I made out of silver and orange clay mixed together. It created a really lovely browny colour.
I rolled out a ball about the size of a largish marble, then rolled it so that the middle was thicker, the top tapered to a thick point, and the tail stretched out into a long, thin point. I used a pointed clay tool to crease his neck and create the bend in his body for his head. Then I just worked the clay with my fingers until I got a nice liquid-lizard shape to his body, with a rather nice curl to his tail. I used a thin bit of silver, flattened a bit, and

See all his lovely gears! He's just now
clambering up onto a cork. :-)

Hopefully, you can
see the detail on his
armoured tail. Love it!

wrapped it around the end of his tail. That created the almost armoured look I was aiming for. I had to use my pointed clay tool to push up the clay so that it had that overlapping look to it.
For his spines I took little tiny balls of silver clay and shaped them into pyramids. Carefully I pressed them onto his back, and with my ever-favourite pointed clay tool I gently blended the clay together so that the brown and silver clays joined up. For his legs, I just took little snake bits off the silver-orange mixture, flattened one end for his paw, and then attached the other end to his body and smoothed and blended leg and body together with a combination of pointed clay tool and flat clay tool. I cut little finger-like mandibles into his paw with a razor clay tool, and made his eyes out of flattened pink clay with a spot of black clay atop the pink, and used thinly rolled strips of orange-silver clay to make his eyelids.
I used the point of my pointed clay tool to add a little detail into the clay. (See the tail for insight into the detail. Doesn't it look as though that's plated steel?) After I completed blending, detailing, and adding gadgets (I LOVE the key that's poking out of his side!) I affixed him with a pin to his cork, disguised the pinhole with blended clay, and baked him at 275 degrees for 45 minutes. Voila! The cork didn't even burn! How's that for cool? After he was done, I pinned four little brown-coloured beads to the bottom of the cork, so that it would stand on its own. Finished.

Isn't that such fun? I just LOVE clay. It's one of the most soothing things in the world to work with.

If you want to see what I'm talking about when I say "pointed clay tool", "flat clay tool", and "razor clay tool", (all of which are my own very inventive names for these things) go to this link here: http://www.multifilla.com/images/Product_highlights/11piece_clay_tools.gif
The razor clay tool is the top part of the second tool from the left. The pointed clay tool is the top part of the fifth tool from the left, and the flat clay tool is actually the bottom part of the fifth tool from the left.

I hope you had fun looking! See you around later.

Saturday... LOVE my weekends.

I'm so excited. I got myself some clay, some tools for modeling clay, some inks for antiquing metals, and some liquid clay so I can get started on sculpting. It's terribly thrilling. However, since I haven't been feeling quite the best tonight, I'm waiting until tomorrow to dive in and create. So that's something to look forward to!

You know how you just have those days where all you do is have fun? That's kind of how my day was today. We, my mom and two sisters, drove to town and went to Michaels, Target, Walmart, and Bed Bath and Beyond. It was so much fun. We just did a lot of window shopping and browsing, and I was able to write my poem for the April PAD. (That's Poem-A-Day, for those who don't know what that means. For more information, you can go here: http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides/ Join the fun, if you want to!) I also came up with another story idea, and have two poems that I want to edit and submit to different mags. That's in my to-do list in my day planner... or it's going to be soon!

Also, since I feel in a celebrating kind of mood, it feels like Spring out here. Seriously. We had an enormous dump of snow about a week ago, and we got so much that it was impossible to chuck the stuff on the berms. It was too high! Now, seven days later, I'd say a good 1/2 of the snow has melted. That's amazing! We went from about 6 feet to 3 feet in a week. Lovely, and I have to say, FINALLY! Snow is beautiful stuff, but shovelling is probably one of the few forms of exercise that I quite despise. I'm more than happy to see the sunshine.

At the end of the day, there's nothing quite so nice as sitting on the couch with a stuffed animal of sorts, (I know, infantile. But stuffed animals are SO comforting!) and listening to music. Right now, it's "The Secret Garden", a Broadway musical. Very soothing, and relaxing.