Life of A Writer

These past few months have been hard. First, Don Sandefur, my brother-in-law, who's more like a father-in-law, has been in and out of the hospital. Unfortunately, he passed away on March 8, 2010 (my youngest son's birthday). There's no doubt that Don went to Heaven, because he was a true Christian. In fact, he was an inspiration to me.

My parent's raised my brother and me in church, so I already believed in God and did my best to live by our heavenly Father's word; however, Don's love for the Lord spread to me like a virus. My faith in the Lord grew stronger, and when I didn't understand the Bible, all I had to do was call Don. He could explain everything in terms I could understand. Now that he's gone, I want more and more each day to be like him. I only wish I had told him how much of an inspiration he was to me, and how much stronger my faith grew because of him. Instead of letting Don know all that, my last words to him were, "we love you and are praying for you." I truly believed he would get better, but he didn't.

In addition to my brother-in-law's illnesses and recent passing, I'm also a caregiver for my father who is fighting Lymphoma and Leukemia. During one of Don's hospitalizations, my father became ill. Dad experienced stroke symptoms, so thinking he might have been having a stroke, my husband and I rushed him to the hospital that day. Luckily, it was only an infection, so they sent him home with antibiotics. Not long after the scare with dad my mom, a breast cancer survivor, called to inform me that her yearly mammogram showed another lump on her breast, so she would be having a biopsy to test the mass for cancer.

While all of that was taking place, I felt overwhelmed, but I held on to my faith and prayed. Not only did I pray for my loved ones, but also I prayed for financial help, because during those times, my husband and I were both missing work. We fell behind on bills and began to wonder what we were going to do, since what little money we did have coming in had to be used to get back and forth to the hospital. All I could do was pray for help and seek comfort through the Bible.

The moment things started to slow down enough for me to continue working while my husband stayed at the hospital with his brother and other immediate family members awaiting news from the doctors, God answered some of my prayers. I gained a new client and additional work from a current client. Furthermore, my dad's health improved, but it wasn't long until the doctor's called the family back to the hospital regarding my brother-in-law. Again, they told us they didn't expect Don to make it through the night. I stayed home to work and get the kids off to school the next morning while my husband drove back to the hospital, and I took a moment to pray for Don. We knew he was in pain and his condition wasn't improving, so I decided to pray that if it were Don's time to go it would be painless. I also prayed that if that happened God would comfort us all and give us the strength to continue life without the man we've loved for some many years.

Don made it through the night but passed away later that evening. Even though it was extremely sad, I truly believe Don's passing was painless, and though we mourned his passing, I think we were all comforted knowing he went to heaven.

Just the other day mom phoned with news that the mass they'd found on her breast was benign. Things are still a bit tough on the financial end for my husband and me, but I'm still praying, and God's still working.

My friends, I'm writing this post today to let you know no matter how rough things are, if you continue to pray and hold on to faith, the good Lord WILL come through for you. I'll be the first to admit it's not easy when everything seems to be going wrong at once, but we must not give up. When you feel like giving up, do what I've been doing for the past few months: pray for help, guidance, comfort and strength. Moreover, when the stress begins to really build, open the Bible and read from Psalms, Proverbs or both. Just don't give up on God. He is there, he hears your prayers and your cries, and when the time is right, He WILL answer.

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Just a quick post today to ask for your prayers.

This morning my second cousin's three month old baby boy (Kale Eugene Jeffords) passed away from SIDs. Please pray for my family, and pray that God will give the parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and everyone the strength to get through this hard time.

A death is always hard on everyone, but it's especially heartbreaking when a child or baby is involved. I guess God needed another little angel in Heaven.

Again, please keep us in your prayers, and the ones who will need the most prayer are Kale's mom, dad, little sister and the grandparents.

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This past week I've been busy juggling my time between clients and a new blog. When I've not been writing articles, blog posts and television recaps for clients, I've been spending my free time searching through Wordpress themes for a new blog that I'm getting ready to launch.

After two days of searching for just the right theme -- which I never really discovered (I found one to modify instead) -- I headed to my Web host to install Wordpress. Then I spent the last two days (including this afternoon) learning Wordpress 2.7, downloading and editing Wordpress plugins for my theme, and getting the blog ready to launch. I must say, I'm really enjoying Wordpress. I've worked with older versions of Wordpress for clients, but this was my first time experimenting with Wordpress 2.7. In fact, I'm seriously considering moving Life of a Writer over to Wordpress. Yes, I've said this in the past and then stewed about it, but this time I think I'm going to make the move, once things slow down a bit. I really love the plugins and features that Wordpress has to offer, and I'm ready to give Life of a Writer its own domain anyway. Furthermore, having my blog on Wordpress will allow me to optimize it better for search engines. I tell ya, Wordpress is a lot like Twitter: very addictive.

How would you like to be the first to get a sneak peek at my upcoming blog? No, you won't actually get to head over and view it, because it's not ready for that yet, but I will share a screenshot of the theme I finally decided on -- and I'd love to hear your thoughts about the theme (below). Oh, one last thing, For Better or Worse (the title of my upcoming blog), will be about married life -- my married life, of course. I'll be rambling about my life as a wife, work-at-home mom and stepmom. I'll also share relationship advice for men and women, plus a whole lot more. Yep, through this blog, you get a glimpse into my life as a writer and learn from my mistakes, and once For Better or Worse is live, you'll get a glimpse of my married life, too. It should be interesting, especially when I rant about my husband's annoying habits, my teenagers' attitudes and more.

A sneak peek just for you!

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Dad was released from the hospital Saturday and spent the night with us. Although he was still a bit weak, he looked 100% better and said he felt great. I can't begin to tell you what a blessing it is to see dad back to his old self again. So thanks to everyone who prayed and we ask that you continue to pray.

In the coming weeks and new year, Dad will undergo chemotherapy and radiation treatments for the Lymphoma and Leukemia, but he's assured us he'll be around for a while to still "pester" us. In fact, he said the Lord had His reasons for keeping him here on Earth for a while longer, and I'm so glad the Lord has given us more time with dad, especially during the holidays.

The cancer has spread throughout dad's body, but the latest test results revealed that it had not spread to his brain. We're thankful for this bit of good news and pray that the cancer won't reach his brain. The confusion and hallucinations came from lack of oxygen and not what everyone feared, so again, we're thankful.

Since dad's back home and doing better, I'll be back to writing and blogging. There will be times when I have to take dad to the doctor as well as to his treatments, but I'm pretty certain I can manage that and write too. Besides, I've missed writing and look forward to getting back to it. I had dusted off some personal projects that I was working on before dad's illness, so I'll be returning to those as well. It seems like everytime I dust off the personal projects and start planning more projects for the future to launch, something always goes wrong that causes a bigger delay. However, I'm thankful this delay didn't last as long as I feared it would.

I'll let you go now so I can get back to writing, and no matter what your resolutions and goals are for the New Year, make your number one resolution or goal to tell your loved ones how much you love them and what they mean to you, and then top it off with a gigantic hug! You never know what tomorrow will bring, so make this the number one priority on your list of New Year's resolutions and/or goals.

May you and yours have a wonderful holidays and a blessed New Year!

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First, I'd like to thank everyone who has contacted me and left comments. We appreciate all the prayers going out for dad and ask that you, please continue to pray for him. Now for the update...

I just got off the phone with my brother and he said dad is mean as ever, and when my husband, the kids and I visited last night, he was sitting up and talking to everyone. He seemed to be dad this time and really enjoyed the kids being there. Of course he asked me if I'd taken them out to feed them and made sure I had, so he was pretty much the same old dad.

Late last night Dad was transfered from the hospital in Marion, Illinois to Western Baptist hospital in Paducah, Kentucky (an hour drive from my house). We now know that on top of Lymphoma he also has Leukemia, so he's fighting two kinds of cancer. As for his White Blood Cell count, it's no longer 0, so we don't have to wear masks anymore. In fact, they said his White Blood Cell count was higher than it's supposed to be but was better than being 0.

Today they plan to run two more Catscans and an MRI, and tomorrow they're going to do a biopsy.

Unless something major happens, I plan to stay home today to clean the house (people keep dropping by), and they expect dad to be released in 5 days, so I plan to bring him home with me to care for him and take him to his treatments and doctor appointments; therefore, more people will probably drop in to see dad.

I have to write the final "Biggest Loser: Families" recap for a client tomorrow night, and after that my brother has to return to work, so I'll be spending more time at the hospital with dad.

That's the only news that I have at this time, but I will do my very best to keep everyone updated. However, I can't guarantee when I'll be back online, because we have an ice storm moving into our area and I may end up stuck in Paducah, Kentucky. Since I may not be back online in a while after today, I'm going to go ahead and let comments go through instead of screening them, so watch the URLs before you click on them and I apologize in advance for any spam that may make it's way through. When I get back online, I'll delete any spam, but hopefully I won't have any to weed through and delete.

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I'm sending this blog post to reach all my readers/fans, as well as all of you out there who are Christians and attend church.

I'm not sure where to begin right now or what to say, so I'll just start at the beginning...

...On Thursday night my father's place of employment called to tell me they had to take my dad home from work because he was confused and hallucinating (seeing things that weren't there). You have to know my dad to know that he's one of those older men that's very stubborn when it comes to doctors. Everyone suspected something was wrong with dad, but he kept telling us he was ok. Well, after his place of employment phoned me, I made a trip to my father's house Thursday afternoon to check on him (he lives alone and likes to be independent).

When my husband and I arrived at my father's Thursday evening, Dad was a bit confused, seeing double and hallucinating -- he also complained of a severe headache and said he would go to the doctor Friday morning, because work told him he needed a doctor's release to return (it was the only way they knew to get him to see a doctor). To make a long story short, my husband and I finally convinced dad to come home with us so I could take care of him (he didn't need to be alone).

After Kevin and I got dad to our house Thursday evening, dad's condition and state of mind got worse. We managed to get him to visit the ER late that night. The ER staff took him back pretty quickly and ran tests. The results came back and they said he had Lymphoma, which is cancer in the blood. His White Blood Cell count was 0, so they admitted him to the hospital and put him in reverse isolation. (We have to wear masks because his immune system is very low.)

I had been up all night with dad and finally left the hospital when he was settled in his room early Friday morning. My brother arrived at the hospital not long after my husband and I left. I tried to go home to rest, but the phone continued to ring. They discovered that the cancer had spread throughout my father's body, so they arranged to transfer him to Heartland Regional Medical Center in Marion, Illinois. I ended up getting up to make phone calls and then headed into town to take care of things there.

Once a bed opened up in the ICU in Marion sometime late Friday afternoon, dad was transfered by ambulance to the hospital in Marion, Illinois (about and 45 minute drive from my home). With all of this going on and the newest developments that had taken place, I was unable to contact my clients, respond to e-mails or send a message to my readers and fans as I had planned to do until now.

Anyway, with dad's condition the way it is at the present time, I won't be online writing or working as much as I had been until things get better. We have been told that dad's cancer is treatable, but we are waiting for them to run more tests for answers and etc., before they'll begin treatment. They need to know if the cancer has spread to his brain as they suspect -- in addition to other things to help him.

That said, please forgive me as I may not be online as often answering e-mails, fan mails and blogging. I will continue to do what I can to take care of my clients' needs and will log in when I can to check e-mails and fan mail, but I may not reply until things calm down and we know more answers. Right now the only e-mails I will make a priority will be from my paying clients', because God knows I'm going to need to keep working as I'll have to move dad in with me to care for him once he's released from the hospital.

On a final note, if you attend church and have a prayer list, please place my father on your prayer lists and pray for him. His name is Phillip Bailey (known as Cuz to many). And again, bear with me if you send e-mail or fan mail and do not receive a response right away, or if you're subscribed to any of my blogs, newsletters or e-zines (they may not go out as scheduled).

Thank you in advance for listening, understanding and for your prayers,

Misti Sandefur, Christian Author / Freelance Journalist

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Over the 4th of July, hubby and I took the kids camping at Glen O Jones Lake. My oldest son, JB, enjoyed the fishing, and on day two of our camping trip, he got his very first big catch!

“I think I got a big one this time!” He shouted with excitement.
“I’ll get the net,” his younger brother, Joe, said as he ran a few feet to the campsite.
“Hurry, bubby!”

In less than a minute, Joe made his way back to the lakeside just in time to scoop his brother’s catfish into the net.

“I believe you have the biggest catch of the day,” my husband told him.
“Bring your fish over here so I can take a picture,” I said.

As he carried the fish over to where I was, he said because Joe had helped, he wanted him in the picture too, so using the camera on my cell phone, I took a picture of the boys holding JB’s fish. Because of the poor quality of the picture, you may not be able to see the excitement on JB’s face well, but I can honestly say, he was grinning from ear to ear… and he remained that way the rest of the day.

A week before the camping trip, the local news forecasted severe thunderstorms for the 4th of July weekend, and since I’m not big on being outdoors during storms, I began praying a few days before the planned camping trip. My prayer was, of course, for no thunderstorms. The night before we were due to leave, I asked God to change the forecast, adding that I didn’t mind a few rain showers, it was just the thunder and lightening that I didn’t want.

The next morning arrived and hubby was determined to take the kids camping -- rain or shine. Therefore, we headed to the store to purchase some camping supplies and food. While in the grocery store, my husband greeted a lady he knew (a friend of his nephew), and she told him that her and her husband were going camping with my husband’s nephew and his wife. Shortly thereafter, my husband went to the store next door to purchase something else as I paid for the groceries. As I stood in the checkout line, the lady my husband had greeted got in line behind me, so I chatted with her. During our conversation, we discussed the weather, and she told me that they were going to cancel their camping trip, but said when she woke up that morning, she watched the weather and discovered that the forecast had changed to only a few rain showers.

“That’s wonderful!” I told her, and silently thanked God for answering my prayer.

From then on, I was as happy as I could be. Not only because the weather forecast had changed, but mostly because God had answered my prayer!

There were no thunderstorms at all the entire weekend, and the temperatures stayed below 70. We did have a few sprinkles every now and then, but that’s all it ever amounted to -- thanks to my prayers.

Come Sunday morning we packed up to leave. Once we arrived home, I called my mom to let her know we all had a great time. After I told her about the camping trip, she revealed a bit of bad news to me. She told me that my cousin -- who’s more like a brother to me instead -- was headed to the local hospital. She went on to say that during our camping trip, he had been sick in bed and wasn’t able to urinate. To make a long story short, when my cousin arrived at the hospital, they ended up calling the life flight to have him sent to a hospital in Evansville, Indiana. Turns out his kidneys had shut down, so they put him on Kidney Dialysis. In addition, his blood pressure was dangerously low (both numbers were below 100).

My cousin spent approximately a week in the hospital on Kidney Dialysis, but today I’m happy to report that he’s home and able to urinate on his own again. Yes, another answered prayer. However, this time God answered the prayers of many, because I wasn’t the only one praying for my cousin to have a quick recover; my family as well as many church members prayed for him too.

What did you do over the 4th of July holiday weekend?

My daughter, Cyndie. She had the smallest catch of the day. She likes to bank fish.

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This weekend was certainly an exciting one as I went from writing to driving lessons. My 15-year-old daughter received her driver's permit and was anxious to take advantage of it. This was her first time ever driving on the highway, but I figured she has to learn sometime, right?

I had my stepson pull over to the shoulder of the road so he and Cyndie could switch places in the driver's seat. Cyndie smiled as she climbed in behind the wheel.

"Ok, before you start, adjust your mirrors so you can see, and adjust your seat to a comfortable position. The speed limit is 55," I instructed her.
"Yes, mom, I know. I'm ready," she said.
"Just relax," I told her as she pulled out onto the highway."
"You're making me nervous, mom."
"Trust me, hunny, I'm more nervous than you are right now, and I'm just trying to help you since it's your first time on the highway."

I fought to keep silent so I didn't make her too nervous, but the whole time I was scared out of my wits! Every now and then I had to remind her to keep it between the lines, because she would hug the white line everytime she'd meet another car. And she still has to get use to the gas pedal. She tends to speed up and slow down. What was really amusing, though, was she'd run about 60 through the flats, but when we reached a hill, she'd slow down.

We came upon a construction zone with a stoplight. She began slowing down, but not soon enough. I held my breath and pressed my foot hard to the floorboard on an invisiable break that wasn't working. Luckily, we stopped just an inch or so behind the truck without hitting it. I then released my breath.

"You have to slow down sooner," my stepson announced calmly from the back seat.
"Sorry," she replied.

We all made it home in one piece, and I thank God for that. She still needs practice, but overall she doesn't do too bad. However, I think I'm going to need a whole bottle of nerve pills to get through this stage of parenting ...LOL... I'll keep you up to date on her driving lessons, and hopefully my sanity stays intact through all of them.

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Does being a wife and mother disrupt your writing time? Of course it does. As a wife, mother and writer myself I know how hard it is to keep the family happy and find the time to write too. So today I'm going to reveal ways that you can multi-task by still being a great wife, loving and caring mother, and write all at the same time. Yes, that's right, it can be done! And after you read my multi-tasking tips, you should be ready to multi-task your wife, mother and writer duties as well!

Before I continue, I would like to thank Stephanie Calahan for the inspiration for this post. Stephanie commented on Jim Smoot's post, Time Wasters for Bloggers, over at Pure Blogging. In her comment, she shared some of the ways she multi-tasks and I could relate. Not only could I relate, but her comment inspired me to share more multi-tasking tips with you. So, without further ado, here are those tips:

1. I cook supper for the family and write while supper is cooking. I set the timer on my stove for the food, and once the timer goes off, I get up to check on the food. If you have a real busy writing day ahead of you, fix something that cooks all day. For example, prepare a roast. Throw in the potatoes and veggies on top of the roast, and then place the roast, potatoes and veggies in the oven or a crockpot to cook all day. While the roast is cooking, you'll be writing. Some other meals that you can let cook all day without getting up and down to check on them are ham and beans or any other crockpot recipes.

2. As Stephanie mentioned in her comment to Jim's post, you can write and do your laundry at the same time. She also reminded that you'll eventually have to stop to fold the laundry, but while you're doing this, you could do as she does and listen to teleseminars. Unlike Stephanie, when I'm folding laundry, I sit in silence and brainstorm while folding the laundry.

3. If you're like me and your kids are now teenagers or old enough to do chores, then you can have them load the dishwasher while you write. As soon as one of my kids finish loading the dishwasher, I always check to make sure it was loaded correctly. If it was, I start it. The dishwasher then runs while I go back to writing. After the dishwasher has finished, I have one of the other kids unload it. Don't have a dishwasher? Have the kids do the dishes for you. (Don't forget to reward your kids for their chores.)

4. When my kids were little, I wrote during their nap time.

5. While breastfeeding your baby, grab a digital voice recorder and recite your story, article, article ideas or etc. outloud. Who knows, the baby just might enjoy it too.

6. When your kids sit down to do their homework, join them at the table. Grab your laptop or a notebook and pen and tell them you're going to do your homework too, which could be research, writing an article or whatever writing you need to do. Research is always better, because you need to prepare yourself to stop what you're doing in case you have to help one of the kids with a math problem or something they need assistance with. Nonetheless, homework time for the kids may become hassle free since they'll enjoy you sitting next time them doing your homework.

7. If one of my kids are sick or has a doctor's appointment, I take along a notebook and pen to write while waiting to see the doctor.

Do you have any other tips for multi-tasking your wife, mother and writer duties? Share them in the comments section or a blog post of your own. If you share your multi-tasking tips to your blog readers, please leave a link to the post in the comments area so I can surf over to read your tips.

Photo credit: Flickr

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I hope y'all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Despite a few unexpected events, my Thanksgiving went well. On Thursday, my husband, stepson and I enjoyed the delicious Thanksgiving feast that my aunt prepared for the family. After we all chatted for a while, my husband, stepson and I walked across the yard to my cousin's house. Once there, my cousin, his wife and a couple of our friends had some Thanksgiving fun. With our bellies full and about to explode, we sit around the table and played Balderdash. I'm not sure if you're familiar with the game, but it's a hoot to say the least. Balderdash is a family game, and the more the merrier. If you love playing games with friends and family, then you should defiantly invest in Balderdash!

After Balderdash, we decided to play Pictionary. After an hour of Pictionary, we then switched to Charades. Needlesstosay, we played games until 1:00 am in the morning. We may have lost track of the time, but it was all fun! In fact, I had planned on coming home that night and working, but when everyone decided to play games, my plans changed. Oh well, I needed the holiday break.

I still was unable to return to work Friday, because I had my own Thanksgiving feast to prepare for Saturday. Since my ex had the kids on Thanksgiving, I wouldn't get them until the weekend, and the kids wanted to have Thanksgiving with me, so we agreed that I would do a small Thanksgiving get-together at my house, just for the kids, of course.

Because I had a dinner to prepare and some housecleaning left to do, I couldn't get in my hours of writing. Instead, I baked pies until 4:00 am, and then I went to bed to get a little sleep, because I had to get up to finish things at 9:30 am. My guest list consisted of my mother, my father and his girlfriend, my brother and his wife, and finally, my brother-in-law.

Saturday I woke at 9:00 am and began cooking, unaware of what would soon take place. Later, my mother called to report that she wouldn't be able to make it, because she was sick. I could tell that from talking to her, she sounded horrible. Since she had planned to cook a pumpkin cake, I didn't cook pumpkin pies. However, because she was sick, I told her not to worry about the pumpkin cakes. She said she would send the ham that she had already cooked as well as the macaroni and cheese by my brother. Because of this unexpected event, I added two pumpkin pies to my menu that morning. Next, my brother-in-law wasn't going to be able to make it, because he couldn't walk. Turns out he pulled the tendons in his foot and was couch-ridden. My dad stopped by that morning just to see the kids and said he wouldn't make it because he had to work. Therefore, our only guests were my brother and his wife. We had enough food to feed an army, and regardless of the number of guests, the kids as well as everyone else still enjoyed themselves.

All the Thanksgiving fun has ended for another year and tonight I'm back to my passion: writing. Yes, I'm aware that Christmas is just around the corner, but I'm certain I can get a lot of writing done in a month.

How was your Thanksgiving? Did you have any unexpected events at the last minute?

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Happy Columbus Day! As you know from a previous post, the weekend before last was my daughter's first homecoming. Well, this weekend we celebrated my oldest son's 13th birthday. Yes, that's right, my oldest boy became a teenager Saturday, and the weekend before last (also on a Saturday) my 14-year-old daughter attended her first homecoming dance. Boy, I really feel old now…LOL…

Aside from my growing youngins, the past few weekends were really fun and enjoyable. This weekend the family gathered at my house, and we all enjoyed the annual October wiener roast. Since JB (my oldest son) and Cyndie's (my daughter) birthday occurs during the cooler seasons, we make the wiener roasts an annual event. Of course, the kids enjoy it, so that's all that really matters, right? For my youngest son, Joe, his birthday's in March. Therefore, since March is a warmer season -- too warm for a wiener roast-- we usually visit Pounds Hollow. There we grill burgers, hot dogs and enjoy a day of swimming.

Next time you find yourself looking for a birthday party idea, consider a day of swimming if your child's birthday takes place on a warm month, and if your child's birthday falls on a cooler month, then have a wiener roast instead. It's fun for everyone and affordable as well. Since I'm giving out birthday party suggestions, I might as well take this time to invite you to read one of my articles, which relates to the subject. Go ahead and check out Planning a Fall Birthday Party for Your Child -- Sure to Be a Success, and then leave me your comments.

I suppose I'd better get back to my writing life now that the fun has ended… as least for another month anyway.

Next time I blog, I plan to reveal some news for all you writers out there, so stay tuned or subscribe to be notified as soon as the post is live.

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I hope y'all had a great weekend. Saturday my husband (Kevin) and I dropped my daughter off at the high school for her first Homecoming. So, not only did I watch her grow up even more into the beautiful young lady she is, but also I helped her get ready for the Homecoming. She wanted to wear the dress I wore when I married Kevin, but I wasn't sure it would fit her. She said she loved it and really hoped she could wear it. Therefore, I pulled it from the closet, took the plastic off and she tried it on. Would you believe she could wear it! It was a little big, but thanks to my aunt's altering skills, she was able to wear the dress (see the pic of her above). The dress is covered in glitter, though the picture doesn't show it that well.

Cyndie said she had fun, and she said when they turned on the disco light the dress sparkled, which she really loved. I'm so glad she had a good time, but I'll admit, it's hard watching her grow up so quickly. In fact, I almost cried when I dropped her off at the school and seen just how beautiful -- and grown up -- she really was.

As for my stepdaughter, her mother called this morning to give us her address so we could write to her. She also reported that she's made it through the first few days of boot camp, and now she's fine. Her first few days were a little rough, but now she reports everything is just chipper.

Now that I've updated you on two members of the family, I think I'll go for now. In my next blog post I'll get back to my writing life. I will be blogging about the biggest freelance writing mistake I've made thus far. I want to do this, because I hope all you other freelancers out there will learn from my mistake. Until then, take care and God bless.

PS: If you've recently left a comment, I have went through and replied to the ones I thought needed a response.

Enjoy this post? Subscribe for updates.

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Happy September, friends! I hope your Labor Day weekend was a fun one. My husband, step-son, my three kids and I all went to a local festival in my hometown. We attended the Liberty Fest in Harrisburg, Illinois, hosted by Little Chapel Church. Both my brother and mother go to this church.

Liberty Fest is an annual festival and everything is free… well everything except for the helicopter rides, but the money paid to ride the helicopter goes to a charity for kids. Personally, I'm not much for heights so I chose not to ride in the helicopter. My husband does his best to try and get me in one, but I tell him, "God planted my feet on the ground and that's where I intend for them to stay." Besides, there was much more fun to be had other than riding in the helicopter. There was plenty of good food (funnel cakes, hamburgers, barbeque, homemade donuts and much more). In addition to the good food, we walked around the grounds and admired the old cars, the kids enjoyed a horse and buggy ride and the list could go on and on. To make a long story short, I'll just say we all had a great time, and I needed the day off.

Now that the fun has ended, I'm re-energized and ready to write again! As a matter of fact, tonight I will respond to two writing gigs, write two articles, and I hope after all of that is completed, I'll have time left to send off a query letter or two. Boy, do I have a long night ahead of me! Depending on how my research fares, the two articles shouldn't take no more than an hour or maybe an hour and a half, and the writing gigs mainly require me to send information and a few writing samples, which I have already created. I just need to tweak the information a little to fit the writing jobs I'm responding to. Hmm… it appears as if I just may have time to send the query letters after all.

I guess I'd better go. If I keep blogging, I won’t get anything done. Until next time, enjoy the pictures of Liberty Fest. My 14-year-old daughter took the pictures, and I must say she did a great job!


My oldest son by one of the old trucks in the car show



Horse and buggy ride


My youngest son on the mechanical bull


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The Smoky Mountains

Yes, it has been a while since I blogged. I went on a four day vacation that started on May 7 and sadly it looks as if my vacation is over. Not only is my vacation over, but my to-do list has increased. Ah, yes, that's what happens when you go on vacation… you return to a large to-do list…LOL… I've managed to reply to my fan mail and other e-mails, but I still have some submissions that came in for Coffee Break for Writers that I need to read and reply to. If you sent a submission for the e-zine, hang in there and I'll try to reply soon.

I must say, it's nice to be home. I missed my bed and my pillows. I meant to take my pillows with me on our trip, but I forgot them. It never fails; I always forget something. :) We stayed at the Super 8 Motel in Garner, North Carolina and I must say the bed was not that comfortable. Of course, no bed is as comfortable as your own, right? The toilet paper… well, it was what we country folks refer to as "John Wayne toilet paper."

Other than an uncomfortable bed and "John Wayne toilet paper," the service was satisfactory. I will be writing a review on the hotel soon. I also plan to write a few articles on the attractions (things to do and see). We drove through the Smoky Mountains and they were beautiful (see pics above). Since the drive was so long, and we had to be in North Carolina before my step-daughter's graduation, we only drove through the Smoky Mountains. However, one day I would love to return and explore all that the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee has to offer.

The Graduate
The graduation was nice but certainly different to me. I'm from a small Southern Illinois town where graduations only include a few students (around 30 or a little more), but in a city like North Carolina, the graduation ceremonies are different and include more than 100 graduates. My step-daughter's high school graduation was held outdoors and it was HOT! There were so many people in attendance that if you didn't get a front row seat, you could barley see the area where the graduates received their diplomas. They did have an area where parents and other relatives could stand to take pictures, and I stood in that area to get the picture of my step-daughter. After I took her picture, I returned to my seat with my husband and step-son. Basically, it was a long, hot day, but now my step-daughter will begin her life in the Navy. She should be leaving for boot camp in a week or so. She seems to have her goals all planned as well. We're all very proud of her and wish her the very best in whatever career she chooses.

Enough said for tonight, as I have to catch up on that long to-do list now. I will blog more later.

My step-son, hubby and step-daughter at the hotel room

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I remember 14 years ago when I had just given birth to my first child -- a baby girl! It was an experience not only will I never forget, but one that seems like only yesterday. However, 14 years has come and gone, and last Thursday night I wasn't giving birth and holding my daughter for the very first time, but I was watching her graduate from the 8th grade. Now, as the years continue to pass, I will watch her grow and mature into a very beautiful, young woman with many dreams. She not only graduated, but she received a Patrick S. Gilmore Award from her band teacher. Although she's growing up, Thursday night will be another moment that I'll cherish for the rest of my life, and I'm sure there will be even more moments down the road.

Speaking of Thursday night, I had the pleasure of meeting her boyfriend, which she talks about a lot. He seemed like a sweet guy, and you can be sure mom will make sure he stays that way ;) She already talking about her plans for the future, and she even has her freshmen classes all set up. I'm so proud of her! Of course, I can't forget her brothers. They also passed and will be in the 5th grade next year. Before I go, I'll leave you with a picture of my daughter on her graduation night. In the picture, she's holding her Patrick S. Gilmore Award. Enjoy them while they're young, Friends, because they do grow up fast!

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Looks like I'll be busy this month and next month. My daughter will be graduating JR High toward the end of this month. Then again, in June, my stepdaughter will be graduating High School. I'm planning a graduation party for my daughter, and my husband and I will be making a LONG trip (over 700 miles) to see my stepdaughter graduate. Needlesstosay, I have a lot to do for the next two months.

We'll be spending about three of four days on the trip to see my stepdaughter's graduation. She recently enlisted in the Navy, so she'll head off to boot camp soon after her graduation. Since we won't see her for a while after she graduates, we're going to spend some time with her before she has to leave. I sure do dread the trip, though. We've made it a few times before and it's tiring. It's amazing how much a long drive can wear a person out.

When we leave for the trip, I plan to take my laptop along, but I will have a sub writer for my "As the World Turns" updates. I don't plan to write much while we're there. However, I do plan to write about the trip and do a few reviews so I can have some articles to sell when we return. Who knows, I may even blog about the trip.

Speaking of graduation… if you know someone who's graduating soon, check out Top 10 Graduation Gifts. Top 10 Graduation Gifts is an article I had published last year. Before I wrote the article, I asked graduates what gifts they would like to receive. Furthermore, I also asked men and women who recently graduated what gifts they liked. Oh boy, talking about graduation gifts, I have two to buy. I may refer back to my own article. ;)

Well, I'd better go now. I still have some work to do before going to bed.

Never give up on your dreams -- work toward them,
Misti Sandefur
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Well, spring is finally here, and unfortunately, so are the spring thunderstorms. My husband promised the kids he would fix their go-cart once the weather got warmer. The weather has been warm since he told them that, but the rain and storms have put a damper on the plans to fix the go-cart.

Finally, a warm day arrived! However, it rained the night before, but my husband was determined to keep his promise, so he braved the wet yard and fixed the go-cart. The kids helped him work on it and were excited once they finally got to drive it around the yard. The excitement ended the next day when something else went wrong with the go-cart.

Later that day, since they didn't have the go-cart to ride anymore, they decided to entertain themselves in a different way. Well, at least my oldest son did. It was April Fools day, and they had been pulling all kinds of pranks on me that day. In fact, they pulled so many that I quit believing them. My daughter came in and announced that "Bubby" found a mud hole, and she said he was covered in mud. Thinking it was another April Fool's prank I said, "Yeah, right," and she replied, "No, Mom, it's not a prank. He really is covered in mud." I told her to send him in so I could see for myself. She wasn't fooling! When he came to the door, indeed, he was covered in mud! I couldn't help but laugh at him, but I did wonder how on earth he got that muddy from a little mudhole. I soon found my answer when I stepped out the door and discovered my daughter with the waterhose, making the area in the yard where my husband got stuck with the mower even muddier. I then ordered her to shut the water off before she made the yard look even worse. After she obeyed my orders, I grabbed my camera from the house to snap a picture of my muddy son (see pic above). After taking his picture, I sprayed the worst of the mud off him with the waterhose, before letting him in the house. Once we got the worst off, he jumped in the shower to get the rest off. We're only young once, right? Therefore, I seen no harm in letting him be a boy and have fun. Besides, I couldn't scold him after I laughed about the whole ordeal.

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