Desperate Plea

My family is in a desperate situation at the moment. First and foremost, we need prayer. The recent hospitalization of my husband has thrown our finances into a downward spiral that appears to have no way up.

In an effort to help meet an immediate need for our children, I am offering for $1 (or whatever you feel led) the first sixty prompts from the 365 prompt book that I have been working on. This, too, got sidetracked while we dealt with health issues, but I am back to working on it.

If you would be interested in purchasing this snippet of "365 Writing Prompts of My Own", please let me know. Please e-mail me at: Suzanne McClendon

Thank you for your consideration and most of all for your prayers!

Six Word Saturday

Fighting back the tears of grief.

Simple Woman's Daybook

It has been awhile since I have participated in this meme. I first did it on my P.S. Annie! blog, but have decided to participate in this one here at Random Thoughts by Suzanne for now. Please click the button above to start a simple journey of your own.

FOR TODAY

Outside my window...the skies are blue and the sun is shining.

I am thinking...that I wish my eyes would focus better.

I am thankful...for the vision that I do have.

In the kitchen...are avocados waiting to be eaten.

I am wearing...no shoes!

I am creating...a mock-up for a genealogy collage.

I am going...nowhere today.

I am wondering...if I'll ever relocate the information on my Spence family line.

I am reading...16 Lighthouse Road, part of the Cedar Cove Series by Debbie Macomber.

I am hoping...that a friend is healed and pain-free very soon.

I am looking forward to...our current situation being behind us.

I am learning...more about pinning down search strings to increase the likelihood of finding what I'm looking for online.

Around the house...everyone is doing their own thing.

I am pondering...the great number of people that it takes to create just one single person. It is way more than the one and one of our parents.

A favorite quote for today (and always!)...2 Timothy 1:7 "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."

One of my favorite things...is a pink rose.

A few plans for the rest of the week: We will be merchandising in a couple of stores. Blowing up balloons is one of the jobs that we do. It is especially exciting when we forget about the ceiling fans overhead.

A peek into my day...My day is full of forgetfulness, like forgetting to turn off the date stamp when taking non-job related photographs. It is especially annoying when I realize it forty miles away from where I took the pictures.

Diary of 5

I ran across this Diary of 5 meme just a couple of days ago and decided to give it a go. It is a companion to The Simple Woman's Daybook. Maybe you'd like to join in, too.

These prompts are to help us be more aware, through our 5 senses, of what is going on around us at any given moment.

I am seeing...a picture of someone's feet on my computer screen.

I am hearing...my husband telling funny stories to our youngest daughter.

I am smelling...not much of anything as I am very congested right now.

I tasted...peanut butter crackers and Diet Coke earlier today.

I am feeling...more stuffed than a turkey at Thanksgiving.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

Please be sure to click the button up there to join Joyce and her Wednesday Hodgepodge fun!

1. The NFL playoffs were held this past weekend and this year's Superbowl lineup will feature The New York Giants versus The New England Patriots. How do you define 'patriot'?

A patriot, in my opinion, is someone that is loyal to their country, no matter how stupid it might seem to be at the moment. They are willing to defend their country, at times risking their lives to do so. Like a parent to a child, a patriot loves their country, no matter what.

2. What's something in your life right now that feels like a 'giant'?

At this exact moment, the never ending headaches fit that description. Feeling secure is another.

3. What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think back to being 18?

YAY! I made it through school. I'm old enough to move out without permission and I'm about to get married!

4. Coconut-mashed potatoes-vanilla ice cream-mayonnaise...which white food would be the hardest to give up?

I wouldn't want to have to give up mashed potatoes. I don't eat coconut very often, so I wouldn't miss it. The same for vanilla ice cream. I would miss mayo only because I don't like dry sandwiches. I could live without it if I had to.

5. Describe an incident or a day you remember as the coldest you've ever experienced?

That would probably be a day back in South Carolina when our heater went out and it was in the single digit temperatures. The fan was running on the heater, but it wasn't putting out any heat. Even bundled up in blankets and coats and cuddled up together, we were very cold.

6. You're hosting a brunch...what's your favorite dish to prepare and serve?

I don't know what would be my favorite dish to prepare, but my husband's favorite things for me to make are custard pie and deviled eggs. I would probably opt for the deviled eggs and pray that the others liked them as much as my husband does.

7. How do you combat negative thinking?

I'm not very good at combating stinkin' thinkin'. It usually wins over any attempt to combat it.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I was hoping to go to photograph a cemetery today but didn't get to because of rain and tornado warnings. I am very happy for the rain because we need it, that's for sure. But, I really, really wanted to go work through our list of photo requests today. Our last two trips out to this particular cemetery, we didn't find any of the people on our list. It will still be too squishy to go out there tomorrow, but I hope by Friday we can try again.

Five Minute Friday: Vivid

Please click the button above and be prepared to be inspired by The Gypsy Mama's writing. Join the rest of us as we write life five minutes at a time, unedited.

This week's prompt is: Vivid.
===

Sometimes rainbows are bright and vivid and it is easy to see their beauty. Other times they are soft against the sky and you have to struggle to see them. Their beauty isn't fully realized by our weak, human eyes, but it is still present. We have to gaze past the clouds, into the darkness, and see with our hearts what our eyes don't comprehend.

It is very easy to find joy when the beauty doesn't take a struggle to see. It takes a realization that beauty goes so much deeper than what a fleeting glance can easily grasp and into the depths of the soul to find true happiness. It is in our hearts before it is in our eyes.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

Please click the button above to join Joyce at From This Side of the Pond for Wednesday Hodgepodge!

1. A new Miss America was crowned on Saturday night-did you watch? If you were a contestant what would your talent be?

No, I do not generally watch beauty pageants. The talent that I seem to have the most is ticking people off. A more positive talent, I guess, would be making something out of nothing. My husband says that I'm very good at that.

2. Do you have houseplants? Real or fake?

Does a dead poinsettia count? I do not generally have flowers in the house unless I am planning to photograph them. That isn't very often these days.

3. When you were in school did you speak up or were you more of the hide your face, avoid eye contact, and pray the teacher didn't call on you type of student?

I was always hoping and praying that the teacher would forget that I existed. The thought of being in front of the class, giving oral reports, writing on the board, all of those things scared the heck out of me and made me sick. I'm still the same way.

4. Next Monday marks the Chinese New Year....what do you order when someone suggests Chinese food?

We never go anywhere for anyone to suggest Chinese food to me.

5. How would you define a miracle? What would it take for you to consider something a miracle?

To me, a miracle is something good that has no possible way of happening, but it does anyway. For example, going to bed the night before Thanksgiving with no food in the house and waking up to people at your door the next morning with more groceries than your kitchen can contain.

6. What's your favorite Disney song? If you're stuck you'll find a list here

This is one of my favorites: Beauty and the Beast

7. I should have __________yesterday.

I should have walked through a section of the graveyard looking for some of the names on our list of markers to photograph, but it was just a lazy day all around.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I am excited to find a relative online (that I never knew existed) that is every bit as excited about genealogy work as I am. She's got information that I didn't have; I have information that she didn't have and so we're both getting to grow our family trees a little more and maybe we'll be able to knock down a few brick walls in the process. I am very happy to have found her!

Five Minute Friday: Awake

Please click the button above and be prepared to be inspired by The Gypsy Mama's writing. Join the rest of us as we write life five minutes at a time, unedited.

This week's prompt is: Awake.

Awake. That's what I am most of the time, a walking zombie. I can't sleep, really sleep, because the bad dreams are there where sleep should be. If I do fall asleep, they follow me into the waking, along with the reminders of just what happens if I am down for more than six hours at a time. Awake and in pain, physically and otherwise.

Awake, what I want to be, fully awake to enjoy the time that I have left. Awake when everyone else is and fully alert, letting the pain sleep for a change.

I want to be awake and alert and right there in the moment when the bridge is finally crossed, when what I'm looking for is once and for all found.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Lake Superior University has once again banished a list of words/phrases they think should be banished from the Queen's English in 2012-

amazing, baby bump, shared sacrifice, occupy, blowback, man cave, the new normal, pet parent, win the future, ginormous, trickeration and thank you in advance.

Which of these words/phrases would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why. Go here to read more about how the words were chosen.


I think the term "baby bump" is cute, so that one can stay. Of the choices given, I guess I would say get rid of shared sacrifice. Generally, they aren't truly "shared" and certainly not in the political realm.

2. Are you easily embarrassed?

YES! There are things that some folks think are totally hilarious, but they embarrass me something awful. There are some folks that I think are the happiest when they are being a goof ball *because* they know it is embarrassing me.

3. What is your go-to snack?

If I could afford it on a regular basis, shrimp would be the answer here. Shrimp fixes everything. But, for now, it is peanut butter crackers.

4. Have you ever been to Washington DC? If not, do you have any desire to go? What site/attraction would you most like to see in that city? If you have been, what's your favorite site?

I've never been to Washington DC, but I would love to go to see the Jefferson Memorial.

5. Sit ups-planks-lunges-squats-which one do you hate the least?

I don't really particularly like any of them, but sit-ups would win the most hated slot. I don't know what "planks" are, so squats or lunges would get the "least hated" spot.

6. What's a small act of kindness someone did for you that you've never forgotten?

When I was in elementary school, a girl shared her lunch with me and was my friend. In high school, my US History teacher mailed letters for me because I couldn't get to the post office. These were letters to my then-future husband.

7. Have you ever been a blood donor?

I have tried on several occasions to be a blood donor. Each time that I've gone, they have rejected me. Each time that I've gone, I've found out that I was pregnant. Now, I can no longer have babies, but am anemic, so not a good candidate for giving blood.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Love is a hard-to-figure thing. It shows up when you aren't looking for it and disappears when you are. It either is or it isn't. You can't make it be any more than you can make it not be.

Writer's Workshop: Goals

Please click the button above for some really great writing prompts!

The prompt that I chose this week is:

5.) Okay okay I have to ask…what are your New Year’s Resolutions for 2012 and/or how did 2011's resolutions turn out?

I don't make resolutions, but I do have goals. One of our goals for 2011 was to have an increase in business and we were successful at achieving this goal. However, this has not necessarily translated into an increase in usable income because when things get better on one side of the table, they get worse on the other side. It seems we're always playing musical chairs with the money, hoping that we're still in the game when the music stops. One of our goals for this year is to increase business and income as well as to decrease expenses wherever possible.

Another goal is to get down to a safe, healthy weight. I was on track before I had surgery to remove the tumors in October 2010, but have been in Plateau Land since then. Basically, my weight fluctuates daily in a ten pound range, but I can't seem to break free and start losing again. Maybe my body has decided that it had better hold onto whatever it has tightly in case the surgeon's knife decides to come after me again. Who knows. I just wish that it would get on the move again.

One goal for this year has already been achieved. It is one that has been a goal for a very, very long time now. I have searched high and low for years for any information that I could find on one of my great-great grandmothers. Story has it that her daddy, who allegedly was very well-off, disowned her for marrying my great-great grandpa. Whether this is true or not, I do not know. You know how all families have their stories. Anyway, I located Josephine's death certificate online yesterday and this death certificate also told me her daddy's name. I may never be able to prove or disprove the whole disowning thing, but at least now I stand a chance to learn more about that part of the family.

The last major goal is to get our two youngest children tested and registered for their first semester in college. They have grown up way too fast!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

Please click the button above to join the fun over at Joyce's place!

Here are this week's questions:

1. What are three words you would use to describe your 2011?

Way too busy! I have driven over 21,000 miles in the last 9 months. But, it was a good kind of busy most of the time. I am enjoying driving my li'l zoom-zoom.

2. Do you like shrimp? What's your favorite way to have it prepared?

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE shrimp! It is my favorite food, breakfast, lunch, or supper. I would even count it as a dessert. haha I like it fried, as a cocktail, grilled, scampied. I have never met a shrimp I didn't like!

3. Is your house de-Christmased? If so, when did you tackle that job? If not, when will the decorations come down?

The tree stays up all year around here.

4. Do you like to watch scary movies?

I used to love watching scary movies, but since I almost died, they unnerve me too much. I can deal with mild spooky, but spooky on a spiritual level (as in with demons and such), I just can't handle those anymore. They cause panic attacks and this isn't even just modern movies. We tried to watch "Angel on My Shoulder" and we had to abort mission because I just couldn't take it. I know, I'm a wimp.

5. ice skating~sledding~skiing~snowboarding~of the four listed which wintertime activity do you most enjoy?

I've never done any of them, unless sliding down a little hill on a flattened cardboard box counts as sledding. Of the choices given, I would love to be able to ice skate. At this point in my life, however, it just isn't going to happen.

6. Did you have a childhood hideout? Describe it.

I lived in the woods. I don't know that it was so much of a hideout; it was just fun. I don't recall having anywhere that I actually went to hide.

7. What's a place or space that motivates you?

I know it will sound weird, but cemeteries motivate me. There I am, face to face with mortality and untold stories, and it revs me up to continue the research that I've spent the last thirty years working on. I want to find out as much as I can about my family and my husband's family before I, too, am lying under one of those stones with just my name and vital dates to show for it. I want my descendants to know what filled the dash.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

This year will not be without its challenges. I hope that I can knock them out, one day at a time. That is all that I have to do, make it just one more day, and then one more day. He is with me, however many days it takes.

Happy New Year!