Pin Your Dreams on a Star

Dear Blogger;

This is for all my readers who have a dream, which probably makes it for just everyone I know. Who dosen't have a dream?

When I was a kid, my dream was to be a novelist because I loved to read so much. Reading took me to places I might never see, and it taught me things I might never have learned. Getting there was quite a struggle, but the good thing about a long journey is all the material one is given to use in one's books!

I got to visit to Mistic Connecticut about 25 years ago and when I came home from that trip, which was originally a visit with my brother who was mustering out after 20 years in the Navy. I wrote my novel, Mystick Moon after visiting the reproduction of that famous seaport.

Mystick Moon is the story of a young girl who finds herself in New England shortly after settlement. Elizabeth grows up fast. She is one of those abused kids who take care of their parents and grow up way too soon. Elizabeth wants someone to love her, and in time she finds a family and her true love, even though some people think she is a witch. They even go so far is to try and hang her, but love comes riding up to save her - just like in the fairy tales. Well, come on. How can you have a romantic novel without a happy ending?

I think that when we pin our dreams on a star, true love is one of the things we seek. The stars give us a goal, a place to go to visit the dream until it comes true. I know that is the way it works for me.

How many dreams have you pinned on the stars? How many of those dreams came true? I sure would like to know I am not alone over here. Maybe you will tell me one of these days - in the meantime, keep warm and stay on the sunny side! Terry

In Celebration of Rejection

Good Sunday Morning,

Sunday is a good day for both reflection and thanksgiving, and when I ran across this book excerpt this morning, I thought it was very appropriate to my work. The thing is, no matter what people may have to say about a writer's work, it is always a good idea not to give up.

Like many writers of my generation, I submitted my work for years, and reaped a huge stack of rejection letters - the darned thing was over three inches tall - that represented hundreds of submissions that me told my writing did not please the editor of the day.

As happened, I was invited to a bonfire one evening, and the hosts of the party suggested that attendees bring items that stood for a condition they wanted to get rid of in their life. I looked around my place and decided that I really did not need to keep all the rejection letters I had collecte during the preceding twenty years. They were negativity made reality, after all!

I took that stack of paper and flung it into the fire, I even drank a toast to a new day. It wasn't long after that my work started to be accepted in the new field of e-book publishing. Believe me, I didn't know what a long road that would turn out to be, but I was glad that somewhere, somehow people would have the opportunity to read my work. My career in publishing is still evolving, but I do have some books out there and that means a lot.

Check out what some of these other well-known writers went through as they collected rejection slips. You might be surprised:

CELEBRATION OF REJECTION
From the pages of How to Get a Literary Agent by Michael Larsen

1. 112 Books by Louis L’Amour, even though he received 200 rejections before he sold his first novel. During the last forty years Bantam has shipped nearly three hundred million of his one hundred twelve books, making him their biggest-selling author.

2. 600+ rejection slips wall paper Jack London’s home.

3. 774 rejection slips for John Creasy who went on to publish under 13 pseudonyms 564 books

4. 14 rejected Pearl S Buck finally published The Good Earth

5. 20 rejections didn’t stop Jonathan Livingston Seagull’s publication and you know how famous it became, written by Richard Bach

6. 40 rejections before she sold her first book didn’t stop Mary Higgins Clark

7. 200 rejections Roots by Alex Haley was published.

8. 15 publishers and 30 agents rejected John Grisham’s A Time to Kill before it was finally published.

9. 375 publishers rejected Naked in Deccan over seven years before the Baltimore Sun deemed it a classic.

10. Dr Seuss – 24 in his file of rejections before his first books was published

11. 8 years after the novel Steps won the National Book Award, Jerzy Kosinski
allowed it to be send out again with a name change to 13 agents and 14 publishers – all of them rejected it, including Random House, which originally published it.

12. The New Yorker rejected a short story by Saul Bellow after he won the Nobel
Prize for Literature.

Looks to me like rejection is part of the journey so don't let it get you down and keep on the sunny side! Terry

National Book Week

Good Morning Bloggers,

This week is National Book week. I think it is interesting that such an observance is placed in the dead of winter. Certainly, I am in favor of grabbing a good book and a favorite fuzzy blanket to spend an afternoon or evening deep in the adventure of a great book.


I was the eldest of eight children, and there was no money for college, so I went to work right out of high school. I had some adventures that make my own writing richer, and left more than one thing behind in my journey. One of the things I did manage to hold on to was a reading list a favorite teacher gave me in his English class. You have to know I looked for those books - classics - that gave me new ideas about the possibilities of life.

I even got the idea I might write a book or two!

Eventually, I managed to sidestep the toxic relationships in my life and journeyed to the local community college. I sold my kitchen table to pay the application fees, worked afternoon and evenings, and eventually graduated from both the community college and Skidmore College. I told everyone I wanted to be a writer and I worked at the craft, turning out several books while I went through the process of earning a degree. I even found time to read a few good books - and some that are representative of the spiritual underground of the time. Yep! I read Castenanza and Shirley McLaine; Ruth Montgomery and Richard Bach - authors who offered a new way to process information and to manifest the reality of my dreams.

Today I have several books in print and more pubished as ebooks. I write every day and I believe that one day my work will make a difference. Now that difference may affect only one person, and that is all right. I have walked in the footsteps of Poe and Dickens and Wittman and found the journey glorious.

I ask you, bloggers, to think about books when you are looking for entertainment, information or inspiration. Books - in paper or even electronic editions contain the path to freedom and greatness. I am blessed to be part of the endless army of writers who put down their thoughts and made the world a better place to be.

Think about it, and keep on the sunny side! Terry

Author of Ancient Memories, Mystick Moon, Runaway Hearts, The Picker, Hang Your Head Over, Hell or High Water, Imagine, Chesapeake Harvest, Chesapeake Destiny and more. Find her books at Amazon.com, www.writewordsinc.com, Fictionwise, Kindle, All Romance Ebooks, etc.

Rockin' the Presidency!

Good Morning!

Today marks the inauguration of Barak Obama as president of the United States. As I watch the festivities in Washington, I am reminded of another inauguration back in the 60s when another young family was in the spotlight and the American Camelot was born.

A lot of things have happened since then, and I have witnessed the inauguration of a number of individuals who came into the Oval Office, changed what they could, pushed some issues into the closet, and sometimes were downright embarassing. Every of those inaugurations marked a new beginning for American. In some cases we were embarrassed at the result.

Yesterday Washington was full of visitors, people there to welcome the new president and to witness the concert at the Lincoln Memorial. A veritable galaxy of stars came out to welcome Barak Obama. They quoted Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln and others who were not afraid to step out from the crowd and make a difference. This concert saw thousands of people at the national mall, watching the concert - which rocked more than a little bit - and singing along with Garth Brooks, Pete Seger and an array of stars.

I admit I was moved. I admit I was moved, and I can't wait to hear President Obama's acceptance speech today. In the meantime, I am prouder than ever to be an American and to see a time when real change becomes a reality.

'

All that said, I wish you a bright day. Keep on the sunny side, Terry

Terry L White -Author of the Chesapeake Heritage Series

"Travel Through Time With Terry"

http://www.terrylwhitesblog.blogspot.com/

Fear of Thorns

Greetings Bloggers,

Many moons ago when a writing career was an impossible dream for me, I was be riding down NY 29, a winding country road between Johnstown NY, and Saratoga Springs. Can't remember why I was on this particular road, but I was, and I happened to notice some very interesting graffiti painted on an abutment situated right at the elbow of sharp turn. I expect the source of this folk wisdom was Skidmore College, which later became my alma mater.

The retaining wall was painted with a giant rose, and the legend: "Let not the fear of thorns keep you from the rose." At that time, I was between toxic relationships, wondering what on earth I was going to do with my life - and I was already tinkering with a novel, The Picker. I always knew I wanted to be a writer, but I did not know that I could be one!

Every time I passed that abutment, I saw that rose and read the message, and somewhere in the depths of my soul I began to understand that all things are possible if one is willing to brave the journey. Eventually, I applied to Skidmore, was accepted and graduated, braving thorns all the way. My advisor recommended I explore the benefits of experiencing the International Women's Writing Guild conference held at the college each summer and one thing followed the other - with the help of the Guild, I became the published author I always believed I could be.

Today, I have published more than a dozen books - all ebooks, some in print. I still have to figure out how to get noticed in the larger sense, but I believe that will come in time. In the meantime, if you like my blogs, perhaps you will also like my novels, which can be found at http://www.writewordsing.com/, Amazon.com, Fictionwise, All Romance Ebooks, Mobipocket, Kindle and more.

After that, I would say to you, don't let the fear of thorns keep you from your own rose, and keep on the sunny side. Terry

Blank pages

Happy Saturday Bloggers,

I guess you know by now that I have been obsessed with stories and writing ever since I was a kid. Blank sheets of paper have drawn me in and I have responded, writing down every stray thought, and occasionally drawing paper dolls (and their wardrobes) for my little friends when we all attended that little three room schools back in Pennsylvania.

Writing is hard, lonely work at times, but the good part is that it is also consuming, edging every other concern out of my mind when I faced hard situations in relationships or my personal economy. Working on a story can remove me from any problem and leave me relaxed and happy when the day is done.

I won't say that writing has fixed my problems, although it has provided an income over the years. I wrote for a daily newspaper for quite some time - providing up to five stories a day for the front page. A daily takes a big lot of stories, an sometimes the greatest challenge was to simply come up with enough ideas to fill the page. In a very real sense there are times in the life of a reporter that it is all the news that fits and the blank page can be a very real problem.

I like paper in all its various manifestations and have paper in neon hues and shades of pastel. I have textured papers and papers that are smooth and shiny - like that expensive magazines are printed on. Paper is great!

Don't get me wrong, I adore paper with words on it too. I read all the books in the three-room school library and tried to read all the books in the high school library. My house is too full of books and even though I purge them frequently, they keep coming back.

But I digress. This is an essay about blank pages, and I will say that it is sometimes a bit of a struggle to think of things to write about every single day. Sometimes the words just won't come, but you know something? There are always work that needs to be edited because the gremlins get in my work and take away punctuation marks and change the write word for the wrong one. Man! I have work to do! Keep on the sunny side, Terry

Terry L White -Author of the Chesapeake Heritage Series

"Travel Through Time With Terry"

http://www.terrylwhitesblog.blogspot.com/

A Winter's Journey

Good Friday Morning,

Today's art reminds me of the dirt roads of my childhood when walking to school was part agony and part awe. There is nothing quite like a frosty morning with the temps below zero and particles of ice dancing in the air. The passing scenery seen from the back seat of Pop's car on Sunday rides was like something out of a fairy tale.

Speaking of fairy tales, I happened to see The Golden Compass a week or so ago and I was truly amazed at what computer generated characters can do. The battle between the ice bears had me on the edge of my seat and I can see how writers are gradually going to become producers of something much grander as time goes by. This movie garnered all sorts of awards with sequels going by the wayside due to economic constraints, but it was just wonderful.

I have been a writer all my life, and I will tell you that I always struggled to do a better job and to present a better product. My first book was written in pencil on a tablet of yellow paper. The second was delivered from a portable typewriter. I had a better portable for the third, but I was still typing books over and over again as I tried to reach perfect prose.

Back in the late 80s I was introduced to computers and I was scared to death I would do something wrong and break the darned thing. I loved, however, features like spell check and the ability to make changes without using paper or ink ribbons. Then I went to work as a news reporter and learned that the darned things don't break that easily. Page lay-out jangled my nerves. I just knew I couldn't do it -- but I did. The next thing you know I was working for a non-profit and producing 8-page newsletters and all the ephemera attached to event planning. I got so I sort of enjoyed computers and do to this day.

Some of my friends think I am a nerd and call me for help with computer problems, but I am just a writer struggling to keep up and stay on the sunny side. (I call more savvy users myself when I hit a techno-wall!)

Happy computering! Terry

Weekend With Sis

Good Morning Bloggers,

I spent this past weekend with a friend in Delaware. I met Sue nearly 20 years ago online, she paid me a visit shortly after, and we have been friends ever since.

Sue just loved Cambridge, and she has visited often over the years, helping me over the hard spots, and supporting the artistic endeavours I seem to need to keep my life going smoothly. People think we are sisters, and we don't mind. In fact, it seems like a good thing.

I do have some natural sisters, but they are far away, and we have not been close over the years. That happens sometimes, and I don't know if the situation will ever change. There is an old saying that you can choose your friends, but you can't change your family. Seems to be true.

I have had some truly wonderful friends and some issues with sisters. If you don't take the blood connection too seriously, the bonds of friendship have remained far stronger over my years.

So, let's hear it for friends that are truer than sisters. I know I enjoy my female friends very much and thank the heavens for putting them here where we can enjoy each other during good times and bad. So. I suggest we call today 'sister appreciation days' and think about the friends who are as close as sisters.

Big hug, Sis. Terry

A Rose for a Friend

Good Thursday Morning,

Yesterday started out damp and got worse as the third day of rain dampened the Eastern Shore. A couple of plans fell through and I tried to keep busy, but one can get tired of her own company after several day cooped up in the house.

I had about given up on the day when a friend called and suggested we go shopping and then return to her house for supper and a movie. She deserves a winter rose for being a great friend in need.

Most of the time I can stand being alone. I always have things to do, and if all else fails, there is always housework. There are times, however, when nothing will do but the company of a friendly being.

This lady really made the day fun, so I wanted to mention it in today's blog. We can plan all we wish, but when it comes right down to it, heaven has a plan for all of our days and an angel to banish loneliness when the time is right.

So. I hope that your angel shows up today and that you have many blessings in your life. I am going to get to work and send you a rose!

Keep on the sunny side. Terry

Winter Memories in a Cold Season

Good Morning Bloggers,

I am so glad today is Wednesday. It is still raining and hump day offers hope that the rest of the week will clear up and the sun will shine.

It has always puzzled me that the sun is actually closer to Mother Earth in winter than in summer because winter is always a bit inhospitable. Well, I guess there are people who enjoy winter sports, but I never did like the season of cold. I was never quite warm when I was a kid - we lived in a farmhouse heated by a wood stove in the kitchen for cooking and an oil burner that did its best to warm the rest of the house.

There was a great competition at home for spots near the fire and I have clear memories of sitting in the woodbox behind the range in order to do my homework in comfort. Dad had his feet in the oven and the rest of the family was gathered around to make the most of cold winter days. Pop did his best to maintain a party atmosphere, popping corn and making jackwax by pouring hot sugar syrup over fresh snow. We laughed a lot, and we got along. If one was mad, one could get sent to bed and it was cold upstairs, I have clear memories of the snow blowing in under the bedroom window.

Today, I live in my dream house a couple of states south of the wintery days of my youth. The house is cold in deference to fuel shortages throughout the country and my small budget, but I wouldn't change it for the world. I should, however, wish for the sun to shine - so keep on the sunny side wherever that may be, folks. Terry

What's With the Frogs?

Good Sunday Morning,

When I was a kid, Sunday was the best day of the week. We went to church to learn about God and Jesus, and once that was over the whole days stretched forward, with all the rewards of childhood. Sometimes we had a big Sunday dinner and then just lolled around the house (on winter days) staying close to the heaters. When it was nice we would go outdoors and take advantage of all the gifts nature provided.

One of my favorite things to do was to go down to the creek to look for pollywogs. You all know about pollywogs? They are these little fish critters that hang around in the water for a while, then grow legs and turn into frogs. I don't think they worry about either condition.

Which brings me to the point of this morning's blog. Tadpoles and pollywogs don't worry about anything, they just hang around secure in the knowledge God will take care of them - and then they turn into frogs without doing one darned thing. They Fully Rely On God and end up able to hop up out of the water and sit on the bank until some likely bug comes along.

The point is, I have the idea if we just do whatever it is we are supposed to do, we will all end up as frogs one day . . . as long as we Fully Rely On God. Are we seeing a trend here?

I have an idea that Cinderella and the princess who kissed a frog all came from the same line of thinking. People who do what comes naturally no matter what others may have to say, those who trust their own unique process, tend to be transformed in the end.

Let's hear it for frogs. And let's hear it for transformation. I hear it is pretty sunny over there! Terry

False Spring and January Thaws

Good Morning Bloggers,

Seed catalogs arrived in mid-February when I was young, and I always considered them to be the harbinger of spring. Last week, on the tail end of 2008, I received two of them and I felt a little bit let down. Seed catalogs arriving in February bring hope and the reminder that spring never fails to arrive. Seed catalogs in late December make me wonder where to put them in the holiday chaos. Talk about premature!

I know everyone is focused on finances these days, but winter has only just barely arrived and I have not even begun to think about planting anything at all. Anything I plant would die of the cold, even here on the fairly temperate Delmarva Peninsula.

When I lived in the Adirondacks, you couldn't plant anything at all until Memorial Day. Here on the peninsula, which is warmed by the winds off the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, you can't plant until maybe late March or early April. Things grow well here, and it is not unusual for farmer to harvest two crops in the summer, but even these canny husbandmen wouldn't think of planting in January.

The fact is, we have been locked in a cold snap that started back in November and I can't wait for our January Thaw. We used to have those, even back in the Adirondacks - warm days with sunny skies and warm winds would break up Jack Frost's grip and allow us to wander out to sit in the sun for a day or two.

It seems to me that the seed people need to re-think their advertising campaigns. I love looking at seed catalogs, but I really need to do so in the middle of February when I can't stand winter any more and do dumb things like cutting my hair or painting the batheroom chartruse. There are times when you need hope, and times when you wonder where to put the catalogs until it is time to drool over beefsteak tomatoes and purple roses.

That said, I am going to put this out to the universe. Hold the seed catalogs until spring seem tardy - and keep on the sunny side! Terry

Looking for the Light

Good Friday Morning!

Well, Christmas is over and now that the celebration is has subsided, things get a little quieter. Sure, the stores will be crowded with people looking for post-holiday bargains. Then there are the gifts you need to return for one reason or another. The stores are full and all the shoppers are either impatiently looking for refunds or wandering around with a look of vague lunacy in their eyes.

For myself, I look for light. Winter is the season for hibernation - which should be a legal occupation for those of us with seasonal affective disorder. I can't go to a warmer place for the winter, I think we should be allowed to stay in bed until the weather warms up, but you and I both know that can't happen.

The thing remaining is to look for the light. My friend Sue, who has spent much of the free time in her life volunteering to help those less fortunate, collects lighthouses. Book publicist Nikki Leigh uses a lighthouse as a theme running through her wonderfully hopeful novels. Lighthouses remind us to look for the light in the darkest night, and I think the people who collect them have the right idea.

What brings the light into your life? Good friends? Your spirituality? Little kids playing in the snow? Even the darkest of days have a ray of hope. I got a seed catalog the other day, an arrival that always reminded me that spring always comes. All I can say is if we look for the light, it is always there.

Have a great day folks and stay on the sunny side! Terry

Thoughts on Christmas Eve

Cheerful Greetings,

Well, Christmas Eve us upon us. Today I plan to make some oatmeal cookies and try to stay out of the living room. Up until yesterday, I had boxes and boxes of gifts to be delivered to my pet charity. It looks pretty empty today, but I know there are a lot of senior citizens in towns who had a nice gift they didn't expect.

I remember Christmas Eves as a kid. We went to church and they had a Christmas play when each little class recited parts of the Christmas story. Then we went home with our little box of candy and had one gift to hold us until morning. We sure had trouble falling asleep, and when we got up we could only open the stocking because the grown-ups were sleeping. I don't think we realized it at the time, but those very parents wanted to watch us enjoy our gifts - and they surely deserved the rest.

I wish I had such an eventful holiday to anticipate, but I have had a really great holiday so far. Linda and I had a great time handing out presents yesterday and then we went for lunch. That was fun. Then Jeanne came by and we exchanged gifts. That was wonderful too. Tomorrow I will go to Arline's house and have a big dinner and exhange gifts there. That seems like a lot, when I stop to think about it.

What about the church part? I pray all the time now, and I didn't do near so much when I was young. Talking to God is a big part of my day, and I know it will be a good sized part of my holiday activities. I pray that the people I love have great holidays, that they get the gifts they want and have the wherewithal to purchase those that someone else doesn't think of.

As for my readers, I sure would like to wish them the most merry Christmas they can conceive. Keep it real sunny folks! Terr

Angels Around Us

Happy Holidays Bloggers!

This morning I am thinking about all the angels in my life - and there have been many. I wish I could seek them out to thank them for the wonderful things they have done for me when I thought hope was gone.

Let me tell you about some of them: There was my childhood friend Janie, who liked me in spite of my differences. There was the English teacher, who encouraged me to write. There was Dorothy, who gave me a job whenever I was between jobs or husbands. There was John, who coached me in shameless self-promotion. There was Arline, who let me sleep in her living room for an entire year until I got my own place. There was Vinnie who helped me see I am a good musician, and Jewel who taught me how to see - period. I guess I could go on, but you get the idea.

Angels don't necessarily float down to decorate my life in clouds of glory. Sometimes, they are just regular people who have common sense solutions to my seemingly insurmountable problems: like Nikki Leigh, who found a way to help me promote my books; Vernon who fixed my roof and painted, and Dawn Tarr, who does my book covers (see today's art). I can't thank any of these folks enough, and I hope they all have a wonderful holiday season - no matter how stressed their lives seem.

So, count your angels and have a happy holiday season. Terry

Runaway Hearts to be on Radio for the Blind!

Hello Bloggers!

I am so excited. I talked to friends in New Orleans the other day and they have facilitated the reading of my book Runaway Hearts on National Radio for the Blind. I don't have a broadcast date as yet, but I will be sure to let you know when you can listen.

Now, you may ask why I am so excited about this particular great incident in my writing career. Well, Runaway Hearts is about Dorchester County, Maryland. If you look on a map of the state, Dorchester County is the heart-shaped area across the Chesapeake Bay from Washington, D.C.

Dorchester County is a unique place with a fascinating history connected to the Civil War. Anna Ellen Carroll, a woman who held great influence on Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman all came from this area, so when I moved here, I could hear the ghosts of those troubled times calling from the forests and marshes. The result was Runaway Hearts, a volume of poetry that tells the stories of the colonists and the struggle for freedom that originated here.

Yes, the stories are in poetic form, and you may say you don't like poetry, but I have read these stories for people of all ages, and they get it ... the search for love, the struggle for freedom, and the way war affected the lonely souls who scratched out a life on this magical place.

Don and Jewel Banning got the book to the station and lobbied to have it read. I can't thank them enough for believing in me and my work.

So. In the spirit of shameless self-promotion, I give you Runway Hearts and will let you know when you can hear the book on your own computer. That will be my gift to you this holiday season. Keep on the sunny side! Terry

Chesapeake Legacy

Happy Holidays Bloggers,

Just a note to tell you I had good news the other day. My new book Chesapeake Legacy is about to go to press and will be available in the new year. It is already available as an ebook at www.writewordsinc.com, Fictionwise, Mobipocket, Kindle and more.

Chesapeake Legacy incorporates the very real history of the Eastern Shore of Maryland with the story of a woman who faces a monumental struggle to survive during dangerous times.

Hannah is banished from her childhood home when her Uncle Percy decides he will not harbor a half-breed child in his home. Hannah's journey takes her to live with the Nanticoke Indians of the area where she finds a good life, albiet not without a great struggle to find safety in a land grown ever more crowded with white settlers.

Chesapeake Harvest is the second in my Chesapeake Series and will be available in print at Amazon.com and local bookstores soon. The cover art is by Eastern Shore artist Dawn M. Tarr of Snow Hill who ran with the idea of a woman living between two cultures and made it a reality.

If you like historical novels and family sagas, I know you will enjoy the Chesapeake series. Have a happy holiday, Terry

How Do You Contact Santa?

Hello Bloggers,

Well, today's image shows Santa talking on the telephone. The only thing is, these days a call is most often made on a cell phone. Do you thing Santa has one? I don't see how he can help it, the way the world rolls these days. I wouldn't be surprised it the jolly old elf spends a lot of time with his PC these days too.

All of this is very good, if you are really sure what you want for Christmas, but at my age, I find the intangibles are on more often on my list than the material goods everyone is chasing as the end of the holiday countdown looms ever closer.

I don't think I need any more clothing. There isn't any room in the closet, anyway. I don't need electronics, my chip is an old model and won't support the new technology. I don't need any more books or movies, I think they are multiplying in the corners, but I could be mistaken. I most certainly don't need any more food. Tis the time of year to be jolly - and gain weight. This is a tough one when everyone is putting out their best culinary efforts. I know I look forward to stuffing, and chocolate covered cherries.

What does that leave? I think world peace is on the list, but we have not achieved that particular goal in hundreds of years - I wouldn't take it off the list, but I won't hold my breath either. I would like better health, but here I am in my golden years, and the healing industries depend on senior citizens to keep them in business. I would like to be able to spend more time with the people I love, and here I think I just have to appreciate the time they can spend.

So what do you want Santa to bring to your house this year? I think a better economy is on the list, but I remember being really poor during the holidays, and having more doesn't really guarantee any real happiness.

I think the trick is to be really happy with what we have. Santa is checking his list... what will be in your stocking?

Terry

Honest Scrap Award

Wow! I won!

This morning I opened my email only to find I had been awarded the Honest Scrap Award by Nikki Leigh. The rules say I have to pass the Award on by listing 10 brutally honest things about myself and then passing the award on to seven bloggers - all of whom will also be brutally honest about themselves. This sounds a bit dicey to me, but here goes:

1. I collect too much stuff, knicknacks, books, movies, people. I stop just shy of being a pack rat.

2. I don't like rutabagas.

3. I never liked to drive, and don't like to ride with reckless drivers.

4. I believe in a benevolent diety, but I don't care what you might call him/her.

5. I don't mind dirty work. Cleaning is good exercise. (Everything in moderation, though.)

6. I don't like squirrels. They have eaten or stolen everything I planted in the back yard for years.

7. I don't believe in buying on credit. If I can't pay for something, I don't need it.

8. I wonder where the healers are in medicine these days. It appears to me that if a doctor can't bring you back to the office again and again, he or she is not doing his or her job.

9. I believe that everyone is good until they show me otherwise. (Call me Pollyanna)

1o. I think we get what we put into life, and that sometimes we have to deal with some bad stuff from previous lives.

Dyan Garrishttp://blog.voiceoftheangels.com

Gurutejhttp://www.theenergyguru.blogspot.com

Arline Chase http://www.writewordsinc.com

Donna Sundbladhttp://pymprompts.blogspot.com

Susan Wingatewww.susanwingate.blogspot.com

Joyce Anthonyhttp://joyceanthony.tripod.com/blog

CJ Scarlet http://cjscarlet.blogspot.com

Happy Holidays or Else!

Happy Holidays Bloggers,

Sometimes I wonder how Christmas got to be such an obligation. The image of Santa trying to carry a too-large bag of stuff seems to carry a message. We do too much to celebrate the holiday - but are we having a good time?

I retired a couple of years ago due to some health problems and find that Christmas doesn't mean so much now that the economy has hit us with a big double whammy. After all, some of us remember holidays when Santa had a hard time finding our place because he was on such a strict budget.

Our parents economized, but they did their best to give their kids a happy holiday. Sure, we got some much-needed clothing, but there was always a game or two -- and the best foods Mom could concoct for the holiday feast. I am not sure Santa was overloaded one little bit.

This year, I found Christmas items for sale long before Halloween. That was a bit confusing, but I survived, mostly because I can't afford to celebrate the way I once did. I pretty much shop all year long, finding just the right gift for each person on my list. I had everything wrapped a week or so ago, and it felt good to be ready for the holiday for a change.

The economy is surely giving people pause, so I can only hope everyone will stop and choose really appropriate gifts, and not buy because it is the season. We can weather this holiday just as we did those lean years when we were young.

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope it is joyful for you and that you get the gifts you really want. Terry