Day 43: Planting Seeds

This will be a short one - more fact than funny - but I felt the need to write:

Some of the seeds I sowed back at the beginning of January (when I was feeling upbeat and motivated) are starting to come to fruition.

1. Joy FM has posted the logo contest entries on PHOTO Scramble. Some of them are simply fantastic! As much as I'd love to claim the $500 prize, I hope that the best logo wins. So many contests that are determined by votes come down to who has the most (or most dedicated) friends. Not gonna lie ... I didn't vote for mine. Today, my favorite is the yellow and purple one with the sun.

2. My first copy of Clubhouse Jr. came in the mail today. I plan to read the articles so I can tailor my submissions to their style and content guidelines. I also borrowed some Christian biographies - and autobiographies - from my mom so I'll have someone to write about. Thanks again, Mom! BTW - Nate needs a haircut. Can we come over?

3. I filled out forms today (uggghh!) so Thriving Family can pay me for my next four book reviews. Not gonna say how much here, but I was very pleased. Let's just say it will pay for our next water bill - which was twice as much as usual, thanks to our ever-running toilet.

4. I finally got to read Zombie in Love to grades 3 through 5 in honor of Valentine's Day. Love it!

5. I put an ad on Kijiji for the Newfie pups. Unless we are really lucky (ie. Sam's little swimmers miraculously didn't get anywhere), they'll be born in mid-April. At least I know how I'll be spending my birthday! We've had a lot of positive responses and hope to find great homes for the pups - and have enough money left over to spay/neuter our two fluffy friends.

Sigh...

6. I cleaned my house last weekend, so this weekend will be mostly laundry, art, and writing! And sorting the huge mountain of clothes in my bedroom. It is the age-old question of the Western woman: How can I have so many clothes and still have nothing to wear?

I have also been making recipe-card sized pen sketches while Nathan watches TV in the evenings. Some of them are turning out alright, so if you'd like one, send me an email at natelisa.robinson@gmail.com with the pic you want me to try drawing. I'll send you a digital copy - and the hard copy if you live in the area.

7. And ... drum roll please ... I got an email from a published author. A best-selling published author. You may remember that 6 weeks ago, I contacted Neil Pasricha, the author of the best-selling book 1000 Awesome Things, with a short composition titled "The Double Snow Day." He said my submission was great, and he had fixed the submission form on his website. Would I submit again? Needless to say, this made me very happy. If he likes it enough, my story could get published on his blog or in his next book.

This weekend, I hope to work on a few more sketches and write the movie review of Ip Man, which I will then submit to Plugged In. I am working off-and-on on my picture book - more thinking than writing at the moment. I should also buy Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver, which is due on February 28th. At the very least, I should make sure Chapters carries it.

If not, there's nothing like reading a many-hundreds-page-long book on your smartphone screen!

Although I did read Little Men and all 154(?) of Willie Shakespeare's sonnets that way.

Hey, they were free.

Have a good weekend, everybody!