Each Day Already is a Challenge

Shhhhhhhhhh....they're sleeping

The alarm was set so that I'd jump from bed and rush to to pick up Derek at work. Hubby was going to bundle up to brush off what he termed "a dusting of snow" from my car's windows, plus see if there was ice underneath that he needed to scrape. Suddenly, my cell phone rang and we discovered that Derek had a ride home. Yippee. I didn't have to get cold.

Hubby quickly jumped back under the covers and, I'm sure, was out in no time.

I prefer getting up early, so I logged on here to see what damage I could do.

When I looked outside at my car, I decided the hubby and the weather dude must have gone to school together. Snow dusting? There's at least 1 1/2 inches of snow on my car!

Hrrrummmffffff. As a girl born in the 50's, I learned all about dust and dusting. Back then, women still did all the housework. Ooops, excuse me. That hasn't really changed, has it?

Anyway, about that dust. Dusting was one of the first tasks little girls could do - excitedly - as they learned from moms and grandmas all about the art of housekeeping. Oh boy, oh joy. And on laundry days, we also were fortunate enough to be able to iron things like hankies and pillow cases. I didn't enjoy that very much, but I did love doing the sprinkling.

Dust is something that one can almost remove from the surface by puckering one's mouth and expelling air towards it. It is certainly something that comes off with a quick swipe of a soft cloth or a feather duster.

The stuff on my car, while it appears to be that light and fluffy kind of snow, is a bit too thick to be just "whooshed" away with a cloth. A small broom might do the trick, but that's doubtful.

And now...the snow is coming down even more. Okay, I admit it is mighty purrrrty when you're inside looking out. Especially if you've spent 25 years not even seeing the white stuff. But it would be so much nicer if it was like that fake snow we use at Christmas time. You know....NOT COLD!

Before I decided to write a few words here, I checked my email. One of my writing newsletters was there, and I explored some of the links in that, plus wandered around in cyberspace even more. It's amazing how we move from one site to another to another. Then if the computer crashes or freezes up and we try to find our way back, it isn't always possible. I know, I know, put it in your favorites file before that happens. You should see my favorites file. It's like the one here at WDC. It gets rather full.

Anyway, I did run across some interesting sites that I DID make note of:

Somehow I've missed seeing this magazine. Good Old Days I'd probably get lost in these pages...Check out the writer's guidelines:
http://www.goodolddaysonline.com/pages/magazineinfo.html

Rewind the 50's
http://www.loti.com/

The Dollar Stretcher...for frugal folks or wannabes
http://www.stretcher.com/index.cfm

Back Home Magazine - sustainable living...very popular topic lately.
http://www.backhomemagazine.com/current_issue.htm

A few neat things here. One page shows a review of some software that you can get - not that expensive - to record your poetry, with or without background music.
http://www.thepoetrymarket.com/

Love this one! They're looking for 750 word essays on Which Should you Trust More-your Head or Heart?
No submission fee TexansBeatTheMiamiDolphinsBy3 . http://www.think-off.org/

Yesterday, TexansBeatTheMiamiDolphinsBy3 commented on the links I had provided the other day. Submission fees were required. That often happens with poetry contests. Not usually with other contests.

I was pondering that. Maybe they give the fee directly to the folks having to read a ton of bad poetry. After all, because of some of those yucky poetry sites that tell everyone who submits he/she is a super-duper poet, I'm sure other poetry contests are forced to read some horrible stuff. You know those yucky poetry sites that I mean...they tell each "poet" that he/she is in line for prizes....if he/she just pays a bundle of cash to go to the awards ceremony and, oh by the way, if he/she wants a copy of the book that will be about a day's pay for a fast food worker...two to three times what some books cost. I'm just figuring that these sites have created some monsters who really think their work is better than most of the US and half of Europe. And because of that, the other contests have to charge reading/submission fees so they can survive. Sound about right?

Okay. Maybe I need another cup of coffee. Then I have a list of things I really need to do today. None of them include going outside in the cold!