Happy Monday!

Tips for fellow bloggers-

Have good tips to share with the public? Make sure to check out your favorite magazine(s) who probably accepts "tips" to publish. I'd been paid $25 for a tip from Woman's World. It is easy and fun. Just think how many of these you could do?

Trying to get published for the first time? Try your smaller magazines that you receive on your favorite hobby or interest. They often have opportunities to share your experiences. (Pay not too shabby-I've been paid as high as $50 for a short non-fiction piece on my genealogy experiences.)

My tip for you-

Do you have a creative side? Scrapbook those memories by updating photo albums and scrapbooks with a flare, (see any photo scrapbooking store for ideas!) and share with family when you celebrate family birthdays, various holidays etc. Okay, so you don't want to spend hours on this? Just place in photo albums and share! Or guess what? You can even stick them in a photo box and tuck under your arm as you head to your next family gathering. It will create great topics of conversation and is sure to put a smile on everyone's face. What good are pictures if we don't ever share them with our family?

Family reunions are a great place to share achievements and pictures. For a lot of fun, bring out those old pics you haven't looked at in years. It brings back so many wonderful memories.

Enjoy the Journey!

Lies, Lies and More Lies~

Happy Friday to fellow bloggers~

Pls see right side of my blog for link to article on James Frey and Oprah's shock about finding out his book was based on lies. I'm curious to know what writers think about this. We all know that anecdotes sometimes stretch the truth for better reading, but memoirs? And I'd say this is a case where the truth hasn't been stretched but not told at all. Are there any laws to this fraudulent behavior or is it okay to betray millions?

I'm not saying he should be prosecuted even if there is a statute to uphold, but I'm curious anyway. If I bought and read a book that I believed was the truth and then found out it was a lie, I'd be hopping mad. I haven't read his book thankfully.

What say you?

American Idol-

I know I shouldn't. Nope, not going to stop there...keep clicking...almost...oh no, I just can't do it. The remote rested on my lap as the channel stopped on FOX last night-this has happened surprisingly two days in a row.

Yes, I'm one of those freaks who loves the hit show, "American Idol." My daughter usually asks me once a year why certain people try out when they are so terrible. I told her I felt that some people honestly believed they should follow their dreams, and I can't say that they're wrong. I would hope someone in his/her family would tell an individual he/she didn't stand a chance, but it's hard to stomp on other's dreams. Well, maybe not for Simon Cowell, but that's for entertainment value, I'm sure (I'm hoping anyway.) I start to feel sorry for some of these people not moving on to Hollywood (the next step), but I'm sure they have watched the show before to know that the judges are rude and tough. I'm not familar with auditions for singing, but I can't imagine they are for wimps. So...are the judges tougher this year? Are they just mean (directed at Simon)? Is it all fake or are some of the feelings real? I find myself asking these questions while I watch the show.

Although I'm sure there are better things I could be doing with my time-loads of laundry, quality time with my son, baking cookies. I do have my computer on my lap, but I'm not actually writing anything. Darn. I tried. So I lie on my couch like a sloth and continue to be entertained by bad singing, rude and darn right obnoxious behavior. Is that all there is to it? But wait. Then there is that one singer that your heart really goes out to. The one you know could be the one and then the dream is once again alive and well-that's a good thing right? I think so. Maybe the show could be less "Hollywood" or should I say, less "FOX." Would it be a better show-probably, but I still like it. There I said it, "I like American Idol." One more of my flaws, I guess.

Sooooo, what do ya'll think about the show in general? Do you like it, hate it? Is it better or worse this year. Is all the rudeness fake? For entertainment purposes? Why do you think people go on these shows when they know they can't sing? To be noticed? I wonder.

Have a good day and Enjoy the Journey...

On the Sentimental Side~

I know it's a little late for this article, but I've been thinking about writing this since I decorated my Christmas tree this year! This is a first draft that I'll be working on to submit to a genealogy magazine later this year. Think I have time? :)



A memory and story in every Ornament-

I’m probably the only person who does this, but each year as I put my kid’s homemade Christmas ornaments on our tree, I think back to the year that each one had been made and visualize how that child looked right down to a particular outfit and even the words he or she spoke during that period of time. You know those delicate the ornaments made of clay, paper and even pretzels! I treasure them all.

But, this year it was even worse. When I placed each homemade ornament that had been passed down to me on the tree, I thought about what my ancestor’s lives must have been like.

My mind traveled back to another time and place as I placed an ornament my paternal great grandmother, Linda made over 75 years ago. Do you remember the handmade ornaments? This ornament made painstakingly by placing sparkly bead after sparkly bead with stickpins placed through the middle into a Styrofoam ball and then lined with felt. Light shines through the pink and purple beads creating a shiny ball of light. Stunning.

As I hold an ornament made of yarn that my maternal grandmother, Virginia was well known for making, I remember her smile, laugh and even the smell of her. I could see her with big goofy sunglasses, striped socks and long dangly earrings along with her wavy gray hair in disarray. I remember the smell of homemade goodies of fudge, peanut brittle, thousands of different kinds of cookies and cakes. Oh, I can smell them all now. How can one little ornament have such an effect?

Of course that made me think of my maternal great-grandmother, Lizzie whom I’d never even met. Really, I don’t know why. But, I did. Maybe it was the Christmas picture frame ornament with a picture of my mom at a young age that made me think about it. My mom was named after her. I wondered what Lizzie’s life was like. Family tradition tells me that Lizzie worked hard to support her family by washing laundry for others in a large round tub she placed on the stove. She had to support her family when he husband left her with many small children to take care of on her own. During a diphtheria outbreak, she took two of her young girls to the hospital, but they died shortly thereafter. Then, two other children came down with the illness, but instead of taking them to the hospital, she decided to keep them home to care for them on her own. Lizzie nursed them back to good health.


Even commercial ornaments hold precious memories. My family has given me numerous ornaments that represent different phases in my life. Various shaped ornaments for the births of my children and others in the form of angels, which I love. I could go on and on. I’m sure others do this, right? Well, I could just be a tad bit sentimental.

But let’s face it; this is only a small glimpse into my family, and there are obviously so many others I think about. I wish I could really go back through time to see how my ancestors lived, but I can’t. I’ll have to settle for Christmas tree ornaments that keep traditions and wonder alive as I continue searching for more stories to bring to life.

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My Absence-

Sorry I've been lax again on my blog. My husband's step mom, Carol passed away last Weds so it has been a crazy week. She was not only a step mom to Paul but she was a long-time personal friend of the family. She fought a courageous battle against cancer for almost two years. She was a fun, warm and witty women who loved her friends and family very much and showed this as often as possible.

I have been writing when I can late at night-trying to finish up final drafts on a couple of my short stories. One more pass through writing groups and they're off to the publishing world! Then let the rejection letters fly ;)

Please keep stopping by!
-Lisa

JANUARY CONTEST!

Be the first newbie to comment on my post(s) AND link to my site this month, and you'll win this month's contest. If a newbie doesn't post in the month of the contest, then the first person who posts and has linked (or links) to my site, will win.

The winner may choose one of the following books:

Lists to Live By-"Not just about things to do; they're about how to be."

OR...Night Tales By Nora Roberts.

Thanks for stopping by!!