Hi folks; I hope you're doing well and having a great weekend. It's been ok. Rick and I have had colds this past week, and it seemed to be at it's worst for me Friday and yesterday. Thankfully, I am feeling better today. Mom will be relieved. The big Holiday Craft Show that we go to every year is Friday (November 4th) and she was afraid I would be sick. But no worries because I seem to be getting better.

The short story project is going well. Wow, I didn't realize how far off I was on that one! I was treating short stories basically as one act novels, but they really are their own unique creation. I think I better understand the basic elements and the importance of capturing emotion in that format now. Basically, I was simplifying it way too much. Just because they're shorter and simpler than novels doesn't mean they require less work. The work may take less time, but they need the same type of planning, investment and respect as novels do. Eventually I do plan to bring  back the "Short Story" tab to this website, but obviously I want to work on this more to make sure I bring you quality content.

I did have a bit of success today. My paragraph was featured at Paragraph Planet today! You can check it out at www.paragraphplanet.com ! (You'll have to check the archive to see it after today).

In other news, Mt. Tabor had their big Reformation Sunday/125 year celebration service today. Reformation Sunday is a big deal in the Lutheran Church. It's the celebration of when Martin Luther nailed the 95 theses to the doors of the church at Wittenburg (it was actually October 31, but we celebrate on the closest Sunday). And a little thing called the printing press gave it to the masses. We should hope that e-publishing has an equally significant impact on society. I'm all about power to the people, and I hope e-books bring independent authors to the forefront of the writing business and allow readers to see that they DO have other choices besides what the bookstores and bigwig publishers force feed them.

Wow, I got a wee bit off topic there. Well, consider it my "I hope e-publishing allows independent authors to take over the publishing industry" speech for the day.

But anyway ... our church also celebrated 125 years in the community. My great great grandfather was the
first pastor. If he could see it now - well, he'd meet me and say it's probably a good thing they invented better over the counter headache medication. And wonder if they'd ever find a name for whatever's up with me. Not yet, so far.

I had to winterize my roses yesterday. Yep, we had our first frost last night, so I had to go out there and trim off all the growth - so the 2011 growing season is officially over. It's always kind of sad to do that. I have the last bloom of the season in a bud vase on my computer counter in the kitchen. It's a red rose - my favorite. They did really well this summer (despite the searing heat), and I pray they make it through the winter to have  another great growing season in 2012.

So the end of growing season means more time for indoor activities. Tonight, we're going to watch Captain America - The First Avenger. We never made it to the theater to see this one. In fact, we haven't been to the movies since we saw Harry Potter in August. Oh well. Netflix sent Captain America yesterday so we're going to watch it tonight. Then - I don't know. There are short stories, of course, and reading, and  I do have a couple of small
cross stitch kits in my bag. We'll see. No NaNoWriMo for me this year (National Novel Writing Month). I enjoyed it last year and am kind of bummed, but frankly I've got nothing in the way of ideas for novels now. Well, the focus is on short stories now anyway so it's ok. I would like to participate again sometime, though, but it won't be this year.

I can't believe Halloween is tomorrow, but alas, it is! We don't get trick-or-treaters out here in the woods, so I guess it will be watching Halloween again. I like the original with Jamie Lee Curtis better than the remake. Not that there's anything wrong with the remake. I just prefer the original.

That's it for now. Mindless rambling and dribble. I hope you've had a great weekend and that your week starts off well tomorrow. Take care and I'll see you later.

Bye! 

Hi all; I hope you're doing well and having a great weekend. It's been full
of the unexpected for me. My old Toshiba laptop bit the dust yesterday. Funny
thing is, I've been expecting this to happen all summer. I'm not sure why -
maybe because it's been running like crap - but I've suspected it was on it's
last days for a while now. People thought I was being paranoid, or just spoiled
and wanting a new laptop, but yesterday my fears proved true. We went to Best
Buy to get a new hard drive, but found a great deal on a Dell, so we got that
instead. We got the display model so they had to keep it until today to clean it
up and make sure it was alright for personal use. Today has been spent setting
it up.


I'm glad to have a new laptop, but the problem is that I had grand plans to
work on my writing this weekend. Well, the only thing I managed to squeeze out
was the website update I planned, as you can sere. Everything else - no. So I'm woefully behind.
Oh well. I hope you enjoy the redesign, and I hope to have a few more extras added later in the week, God willing.

So that's been my weekend. I hope you're doing well and that the new week
starts off well for you. Take care.


Bye!

I thought I was having a great week until I got knocked flat on my rear with a sinus infection today. I guess that cold really didn't go away, eh? Back on antibiotics. Ugh. At least I should get better now. I think I caught this one early.

I got my first round edits on Blurry yesterday and started going through them today. It wasn't the nightmare I anticipated, but I felt sheepish nonetheless. Man, my grammar is terrible. I really thought I went through that manuscript with a fine tooth comb before I sent it off, but egads. I have comma and capitalization issues, as in I don't use enough commas and I capitalize too much. I am learning. But really, I am glad for the feedback. It is making the manuscript better. I bristled a bit at the use of the word "whom" in a young adult novel, but I don't think I'm going to the mat for that one. It's not that big a deal and it only popped up twice so far.

A strange thing is happening these days. People from my past are popping back up. Not that it's a bad thing or that anybody I didn't want came wandering by, but it just seems odd that it should happen so often in such a short period of time. Last week, I ran into somebody I went to high school with, and Rick ran into somebody I went to college with. This week my cousin and an old friend from high school band found me on Facebook, and Rick saw my old boss. It's good to see and hear from them. It's just odd that it's all happening around the same time. Eh, who knows. Life is strange, right? It's all good. I'll keep rollin and they'll see that I'm still weird. Yea, they might find a name for what's wrong with me yet!

I'm trying to build up things over at Twitter. It's moving at about the same pace that building myself up on Facebook did, so that's ok. By the way, let me know if you're on Twitter and I'll be glad to follow you. I'm on there as SherritheWriter. I think I must have the worst online alias ever. But it's honest and simple. I'm Sherri, and I'm a writer. Makes sense, even if it isn't flashy or snappy.

Wow, the birds in a mood. I think my sick day threw them off. I spent some time explaining to Zack and Chloe that biting human fingers isn't considered a delicacy in any country on earth, and Ollie got fussy this afternoon. They rarely get like this. I must have really busted up some big birdy plans today. Sorry guys!

That's all for now. I hope you're having a good week. Happy Friday tomorrow and I'll see you later.

Bye!

Hi all; I hope you're doing well and having a great week. I tried, I really did, but it just hasn't worked out so far.

The foot is healing, for which I am extremely grateful. I haven't been brave enough to get back on the treadmill yet. Maybe in another couple of days. Today is the first day I've gone the whole day without pain.

The rest of life, however, has been one for the "what the hell?" files (although that's not what we really call it but hey! I'm trying to maintain some sort of decency!). Work has been one thorny issue after another, all week long. I untangle one mess and here comes another. There must be some evil imp ravaging my cubicle. I think I beat most of it into submission today. *Hopefully,* and I say that in the "if the Lord wills and creeks don't rise" sense, I did manage to get things flowing properly, balls in other courts, and I made my final visit to the State House for a committee meeting for this session today. *Hopefully* As things have shown a tendency to unravel - or worse, to pull a phoenix and rise from the ashes - I'm not counting it done yet.

Then yesterday we got word that a friend at church lost her battle with pancreatic cancer yesterday. Don't worry, I'm not going to put you through those musings again. We went through this - oh wait! Exactly a year ago today, when a friend at my former workplace died of THE VERY SAME THING!! There's much I don't understand and this scary timing is one more thing on the heap. But I suppose faith is about accepting that you don't have the answers and being ok with the questions. Or something like that.

I'm trying to find out how things keep getting past me. I don't know stuff that I usually find out without even trying. For example: Did you know the new Transformer's movie is coming out on July 1st? I knew they were making one but had no idea it was done. I also didn't know that they moved a new deposit machine just up the hall from my cubicle, that several files I've been looking for are in the cabinet right next to my desk, that you can get Microsoft Office for iPads, that the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie came out last weekend, that "True Grit" was a remake, that they were thinking about extending the legislative session, or that there's an old wives tale about more people dying in the spring because of something with the sap in the trees (another one for the "what the...? files). I think I've been working too hard and too much. Yes, I've had problems with my mind wandering lately, but this is ridiculous. I definitely need to take a break this weekend. No writing, chores, errands, visiting, volunteering, or anything.

So here I sit with all these questions and more. Like why does my parakeet sing like a canary? Why does my computer smell like my perfume (that never gets near this machine)? How did Zack chew curtains that are nowhere near his cage? Why did Chloe growl at me when I got home? What is going on with this crazy, hot weather? And many, many more.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is life in the rabbit hole! Hmm. I sense inspiration for short stories in my future. Life like this is the catalyst for it.

Well, my brain is fried so it's time to go. I hope you have a Happy Friday tomorrow. Heck, I hope I have a Happy Friday tomorrow either. It's been a challenging week, but I'm not giving up on having at least one good day in it.

Bye!