Thanks!

Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest. ~Larry Lorenzoni

Thanks to all for the birthday wishes. I didn't get a chance to respond to everyone yesterday in comments -- the reason was threefold.

1. It was my birthday. I actually didn't spend THAT much time online.

2. I was fighting a ridiculously bad headache all day AND I couldn't take any pain meds for it. For two weeks before my surgery, I can't take any nutritional supplements or pain meds.

3. We're having a HUGE snowstorm (finally!) here today, so I had to run a million errands yesterday that I normally would have split between the two days.

So, I'm responding here. :-)

Mary said: How funny it's your birthday because I dreamed I came to your house last night! I met DD and Dakota and your dh, a very vivid dream.

I actually responded to hers, but I'll repeat: I'd LOVE to have you over for a visit. :-)

My mom said: Those pictures bring back lots of happy memories.

Mom, you know -- I only just noticed that I think I'm wearing the same dress in both pictures! Made me laugh. I'm pretty sure I had more than one outfit, so what are the odds?

Dru Ann said: You and my niece share a birthday and she is tickled pink that it is 1-11-11

I KNOW! I didn't even realize it until everyone made a big deal about the New Year being 1-1-11. It's kinda cool.

Angelina Rain said: Didn’t you hear? The forties are the new twenties.

I only wish I felt like I did in my twenties. I was the Energizer Bunny back then!

Liz Fichera said: Love the quote from Chili Davis. And here's my five minutes of fame: I went out on a date with him xx years ago. :-) He was a riot. Lovely guy.

VERY cool. My closest claim to fame is that my sister dated Jimmy Osmond once. I think. Unless she made it up. LOL...

Charity said: Happy Birthday! I'm pretty sure that being 44 on 1/11/11 is all kinds of lucky.

I KNOW, right? I meant to buy a Mega Millions ticket but plum forgot. As a side note, Charity and I share half-birthdays. Hers is on 7/11 -- easy for me to remember that way. *G*

Brandy said: Wishing you a wonderful and special day for a fabulous lady!

Awww, :::blushes::::, thanks!!

Tori said: I know what you mean. I'm a few years older than you but in my head I'm 25 or 30. :)

It's good to know I'm not alone in my weirdness. *G*

Joanna St. James said: Age really is just a number and i got gray... excuse me silver hair at 15.

HA! I got my first gray hairs in high school. I can remember sitting in English Lit with Mike Valdez sitting behind me. Every so often he would reach out and YANK! a gray hair out. LOL...

Edited to add the comment I forgot:

Maria Zannini said: And you look fantastic! I love that first picture of you in those long legs. I'll bet you had quite a few admirers carrying your books. :-)

The funniest thing is -- I had this one kid, Mike Vorhees, always trying to kiss me (this was in fourth grade). I was NOT into boys then, and I hated it. Once, on the bus he grabbed me when I was walking past to get off at my stop, so I decked him with my books. The bus driver just laughed... and he never bothered me again. Ah, those were the days...

Again, thanks everyone for your birthday wishes. They were wonderfully warm and fuzzy :-)

Today it's actually snowing here. Imagine that -- snow in the northeast. SHOCKING.

DH is staying home because we're expecting a foot or more, so today could be interesting. But at least I don't have a headache. Yet.

====================

You Are Shy in Real Life

You are modern and up on the latest trends. You resist getting stuck in a rut. You are confident and sure of yourself. You may not be prefect, but you're happy with what you've got. You are happily productive and balanced. You like to work hard, but you always make a little time for your friends. You consider yourself to be a responsible person. You will do whatever needs to be done.

What Does Your Facebook Profile Say About You?

Oddly, this is pretty close to right on, except for the first part (I'm SO not up to date on stuff). LOL...

======================

Thanks

God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say "thank you?" ~William A. Ward

I was talking to a writing friend yesterday, who'd just gotten a rejection. She was in the dumps, of course, but said she had an invite to resubmit. So we talked some more about fixing the problems ... and she mentioned that one of her Crit Partners had asked what the character's "core values" were.

This led to a discussion about how I interview my characters and the pre-plotting exercises that I do. They aren't extensive, and I don't outline the entire story, just make a loose map with a couple of stops (or scenes) along the way to keep me on track.

She doesn't do anything. She is a "pantser" in the truest form of the word. I admit I was a bit gobsmacked... I couldn't work without at least my character forms (which are a bit fluid since I learn things about them as the story progresses, but I add those things to the form). If I didn't have a form, I'd forget things: where they were born or their mother's job, or the name of the cat they had as a kid... even their eye color!

And after our discussion I realize how blessed I was to stumble across some truly amazing people who guided me through learning how to write. I got to feeling a little sappy and sentimental, so wanted to share some thanks.

To Writer's Village University, who introduced me to all the people I mention below. Without WVU, I never would have become an author. A writer, yes, an author, no.

To Charity Tahmaseb and Darcy Vance -- who were students in the first EVER class I took on romance writing. They were the first folks who shared some "rules" about things like passive voice and showing instead of telling. I owe them the greatest of debts.

To Allie Boniface, who invited me to join a crit group at Writers Village University. My experiences there built upon the things I'd learned in class and without which I never would have gotten hungry to actually get published.

To the Persist & Publish group at WVU.org -- a group of VERY serious writers (none of whom were romance authors). They gave me completely different insight into writing since most were either literary writers, some were poets and all were very serious about honing their craft. I have to admit to being a little sad that my name is no longer in the list of members...

It's because of them that I began to hone my craft. While I'm not perfect, I am miles better than I was when I began and it gave me the impetus to keep on learning and growing and realized that there even WAS something to learn! Writing is far more than stringing words together.

Thanks, guys.

=======================

You Are Soap Bubbles

You are free spirited and a heck of a lot of fun. You refuse to act your age. You can always find a chance to play a little. You bring whimsy to an otherwise boring day. It drives you crazy to be cooped up inside for too long. You need to be outdoors to be able to breathe. It's likely that you crave a nontraditional life. You have to do things your own way!

What Kind of Bubbles Are You?

About 50/50...

=========================

Giving Thanks

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice. ~Meister Eckhart

It was so wonderful to hear happy news yesterday! I guess happy stuff doesn't garner ratings, but I know it's out there. I used to visit this one website that had only happy news, but they started charging to access it. That wasn't happy news.

My happy news from yesterday was that I clearly had an angel sitting on my shoulder. We were taking the back roads to the store yesterday when I approached this one stop light at this funky intersection -- if you miss the light, you have to wait FOREVER for it to turn green again because no two sides can go at the same time. The light turned yellow as I approached and I was going 30 MPH or so ... I normally would have gone ahead and gone through it for a couple reasons. One, I don't like waiting the eternity for it to turn green again. Two, I'd have to slam on my brakes to stop, and the dog would probably fall (can't exactly tell her to hold on).

In any case, I still decided to slam on the brakes. The dog DID go sliding (though she puts on her "sitting brakes" -- and sits down whenever the car stops suddenly) and I barely stopped in the right spot, but just as I came to a halt, another car totally ran the red light going the other way (my light was still yellow, so his light HAD to have been red). It's a weird light on that side, hard to see unless you know it's there and I figure he just didn't even see it. If I had gone ahead and gone through my light, he would have broadsided my car on DD's side. At the very least, she would have been badly hurt. At most, she would have been killed. The other driver was going easily 35 - 40 MPH.

So, today I am grateful we are all in one piece.

====================

I wrote this morning again. Got a little over 500 words. It's fun. Here's the last of what I wrote:

“You’re welcome, Miz ...?”

“Smythwhite.”

“Really? Should I kiss your hand or curtsey or something?”

====================

You Are Welcoming

You have a fun personality. You enjoy life to the fullest, and you have a good group of friends. You are always looking to add a little more authenticity to your life. You prefer things and people that are real. People can count on you to be generous and optimistic. You give back to your friends, family, and community. People don't realize that you're much more spontaneous than you seem. You don't get too hung up with responsibilities.

The Grilled Cheese Sandwich Test

About 50% right.

====================

Heritage Veggies

High-tech tomatoes. Mysterious milk. Supersquash. Are we supposed to eat this stuff? Or is it going to eat us? ~Annita Manning

Thanks for all the well wishes yesterday -- DH and I actually spent almost no time together (thanks to his EDJ), but even so it was a good day. Maybe we'll do something this weekend.

I ate an orange tomato yesterday. Yes, it was supposed to be orange -- it was from one of my heritage tomato vines I planted, and let me tell you, it was one of the BEST tomatoes I've ever eaten. Last year I got yellow tomatoes, and those were incredible, too... heritage plants don't produce as much as the hybrid, boring red tomatoes most folks grow, but the payoff is so worth it. I always plant a least a few of them in my garden.

Dakota has been scratching and chewing herself like crazy the past couple of days, to the point where hair is coming off in clumps (this dog doesn't have an undercoat and rarely sheds much). On Saturday, I gave her a bath after playing at the dog park and used new shampoo, so I thought maybe that was the problem (though the scratching didn't start until Monday). Yesterday we bathed her again, in the medicated shampoo we've used before, but she's still itchy. And, no, it's not fleas.

I hate trying to figure out what's wrong with her. We'd also gotten new treats on Monday, but I read the ingredients, and there didn't seem to be anything unusual. Still, we're not feeding them to her for a few days to see if that makes her stop.

Otherwise, it's pretty much same old, same old here.

Anything new with you?

========================

Your Thoughts Are Constructive

You are a highly analytical person, and you tend to sit back and cooly assess a situation. With you, logic and facts rule. And you never jump to conclusions. You are always looking to think in new ways. You believe that reflecting is a good way to better yourself. You tend to think before you talk or act. You are calmer than most people around you.

The Thought Bubble Test

Mostly right, though I've often said to my friends that it's a GOOD thing I don't have thought bubbles over my head, because I do think before I speak and frequently don't say the first thing that pops into my mind...

======================