About Time!

I've neglected not only this blog but ALL of my writing for nearly 6 months! Why? Oh, I could find dozens of excuses, but why bother. It's just time to get started again!

The big news lately is our pending move. We've bought a house in Plymouth. I never would have believed, even just a couple of years ago, that I would be moving back home. And even when I started toying with the idea a year or so ago, I never thought it would happen this soon!

We are excited, but still sort of stressed, too. Buying a house is nerve-wracking, and we had plenty of bumps along the way that might have made good blog material if the whole process wasn't so competitive. That, and my husband particularly likes his privacy - which limits my public blog material :-)

My sister, Julia, is bringing Dad's trailer up tonight and we will move the first load of stuff tomorrow. The final move won't be until the end of January. We have a few things we want to do in the house, like restoring the hardwood floors in the living and dining rooms, before we completely move in. I'll be keeping Julia busy for the next couple of months! For those who don't already know, Julia is the bomb at everything home improvement related. I'm a lucky sister :)

There. It's a start. Just like the moving and the Christmas preparation and pretty much any other big job in my life, it all gets done a little at a time. Likely, this post will lead to another - in less than six months!

Camille, the World Traveler, is Home!

She made it back safe and sound! Her first words to me (while I was almost hugging the life out of her) were, "What kind of mom gets all her hair cut while her daughter is out of the country?" Ha Ha! I told her I updated my facebook photo just so she would recognize me, but at one Euro for 15 minutes online at the internet cafe, she didn't check in as much as I'd hoped she would.

In spite of a bit of bad luck (they lost everyone's luggage on the way there,and someone broke into her hotel room in Paris), Camille had a grand time. I'm sure I'll be hearing more about it. We only talked an hour or so when she got home, and she's at her dad's for the rest of the weekend. I haven't even seen the pictures yet. She couldn't wait to show me all the cool clothes she bought, though!

Now, maybe my writer's block will go away! I been able to write or think about anything but her!

Camille is in France!

I have to write a retraction of my recent hub, Approaching an Empty Nest. I was totally unprepared for what a "baby" I would be when my "baby" headed across the Atlantic Ocean.

It started Sunday night. Ken & I took a ride Saturday to eastern NC to look at houses. When Camille got home Sunday night, she asked why we were looking at houses in Jamesville and informed me, "YOU CAN'T MOVE AWAY! I HAVE ANOTHER YEAR LEFT!"

After she went to bed, I boo-whoo'd my way through my journals from my trip to Great Britain when she was only three. I'm very excited for her, and I wouldn't say I am worried, just ridiculously emotional.

Her flight out from RDU was delayed last night, so I was able to keep in touch via text message for a while. She sounded fine, of course, and she called me when they finally made it to DC. She said they were "power walking" through the airport and she had to pee and was afraid she wouldn't have time before they boarded again. But she sounded good.

Today is Doug's birthday so he got the first call from France - and he missed it! But he called to tell me she had left a voice mail, she sounded good and in a hurry, and they lost her luggage!!! Poor thing!

I hope she makes it to an internet cafe soon and catches us all up with some details. I know she will be home before I can blink, and if she was home she wouldn't be here...she'd be off with her friends. But I miss her!

Thirty Articles in Thirty Days!

I did it. I published 30 hubs in 30 days on hubpages. Whew. I had hopes of finishing another 5 to bring my total hubs a a nice round 100, but I'm happy right now with the 30. I've seen an increase in traffic, and the corresponding increase in pennies earned, but the best thing for me about this challenge was realizing that I can manage and complete a reasonable writing goal.

Thirty was a bit of a push, but not terrible. My next goal is to publish five hubs per week for the rest of the summer. I'll revisit and set new goals around my birthday (Labor Day weekend).

It's still early....maybe I'll get a start on those next five now.

HubChallenge Update

Just one week into the HubChallenge, and I've published 20 of the 30 hubs that I committed to! As I've progressed this week, it's crossed my mind a time or two that maybe I should have gone for the 100, but it's time for Preddyfest, and I don't think I'll be cranking 'em out this week.

Preddyfest is providing material for me though - my last 3 hubs, published today, were all inspired by the Franklinton Bluegrass festival. Daddy & Julie, Deborah, and Julia & Price are all there already. Ken & I went out for a short visit yesterday. We saw Rodney Preddy (the host of the event), and Wayne came over to play for a little bit. We waved at Debbie when we rode past their camp, and Deborah told me Johnny and Lucille were there, too.

I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the regulars, and of course to all the music! I'll probably have more fodder for hubs when I get back next weekend!

Published Three of the Thirty

I'm off to a decent start in the Hubpages 30 Hubs in 30 Days Challenge. I've published the first three today, and it's tempting to think that maybe I *could* do 100, but honestly, I wrote these three yesterday and just polished and transferred to HubPages today. 30 in 30 is much more realistic for me!

Are you up for the challenge? Then come join me at hubpagesat HubPages and see how much revenue you can generate in your first month!

Here are my first three hubs for the challenge:

Entertainer Steve Quinney Celebrates 60 Years

Copyright and the Public Domain: One Hubber's Perspective

Copyright and Fair Use: Is it okay to post song lyrics in message board forums?

A Hub Challenge, and Twitter

This week I've managed to type with two hands! Haven't written a book or anything, but I've been able to do some basic data entry at work, managed emails and even a few forum posts. And my mind has been on writing, even if my pen hasn't touched paper much more than my left fingers have touched keyboard.

Just as I was trying to talk myself into setting up some goals and priorities to jumpstart my writing, along comes HubPages with a new challenge - 100 Hubs in 30 Days - or for the slightly less ambitious, 30 Hubs in 30 Days. As busy as we have been at work lately, I have no doubt I'd fail the 100 Hub challenge, but 30...well, that's just 1 a day. It's similar to what I tried to do when I started my first MarriageUndone blog post [edited to remove the link, and to admit my focus changed to marriage working instead of surviving divorce.]
As part of the hub challenge, I've also finally signed up for twitter - I'm easy to find since "dineane" is still pretty uncommon in internet land :-) I have lots to learn about twittering and tweets, but it looks pretty easy to use.

Think you can write a short article every day for a month? Then come join me at hubpages and try the 30 day challenge!

Typing with One Hand

A broken arm hurts. And after the pain meds kick in, it's frustrating. Little things like buttoning my shirt (and I have to wear button-down shirts cuz I can't get my arm in a pull-over) take 2 or 3 times as long as they should. But even more frustrating to me is typing with one hand.

Not only is my job tougher, I feel like my creativity is blocked. I can't type as fast as I think. I'm starting to abbreviate, esp online, sounding like a texting teen. I'm thinking about adding a line to my email signature - please excuse the brevity & typos while my broken arm heals.

I'm trying to be positive. At least I didn't break my right arm. And maybe the need to slow down will teach me more patience. Maybe I'll learn to smell a few more flowers. Maybe my husband and my daughter will learn to do a few more chores around the house.

I'm thinking about buying a bunch of those no-slip adhesive thingies that you put in the bathtub and attaching them to the bottom of all of my shoes so I don't slip and fall again. So maybe my creativity isn't entirely gone, just detoured. My one-handed perspective might come in handy after all.

RCA Small Wonder EZ101: Digital Camcorder Product Review

RCA Small Wonder EZ101: Digital Camcorder Product Review

I'm testing a feature I haven't used from hubpages - I just updated this hub today with a cute video of my sweet nephew eating his first birthday cake. Maybe everyone will love it so much they'll click right over to amazon and order a Small Wonder camera!

I just remembered that I did something similar with "No Rigs..." a few posts ago, but I think I did it a different way. So much to learn!

Camille Wins!

There is just no need to get into an internet battle with your teenager - let's face it - this is their forte!

I was showing something so cute to Camille tonight, and then she one upped me...check it out:


Charlie Bit My Finger!

I just keep watching this over and over - and LMAO!

Thanks, Deborah!

Haven't blogged in a while, and I need a few hours to do justice to my visit to see my sister this past weekend, but since I don't have hours, here's a short acknowledgment!

Five hours on the road Saturday morning...X number of beers.....five hours on the road back Sunday. There was obviously some fun in between all that driving!

Love ya, buddy-sister-friend! And tell Bobby, thanks for the hospitality, too!

No Rigs but Lots of Fish!

No Rigs but Lots of Fish!

experimenting with a feature on Hubpages - have y'all read this one yet?

Money Challenges

A few years ago, I started really trying to apply the Law of Attraction in my life. Someone shared the DVD, The Secret (Extended Edition)
with me long before it made it to Oprah. I haven't gotten rich yet, but the new attitude did seem to help. Now and then an unexpected check would show up in the mailbox at just exactly the right time. And at the very least I felt a lot less stressed when I was focusing on my prosperity instead of my lack.

These days with the failing economy on the news every night, it's a lot more difficult to keep my thoughts in the right place. Money just does not seem to stretch as far. This weekend it really hit me when I was paying my bills.

I get paid twice a month, and usually, the first paycheck goes a lot farther than the second paycheck. Not this month. My gas bill doubled. My daughter's cell phone had an unexpected $75 charge for "data." And my home phone bill had a $27.27 "third party charge."

As cold as it's been, I should not be that surprised by my gas bill. And I am grateful we have a warm home. The "data" charge I'm sure is a result of Camille trying to send pictures from her phone - and we had been told picture mail was included in our plan, but she's been having problems getting it to work. I called and added unlimited data for her for $15 a month, so that won't happen again. She can access Facebook from her phone now, too, so maybe she'll quit trying to bump me off of my computer! And I cancelled one of my extra home phone lines, which will save me about $25, so I'll be ahead in the telephone bills next time.

I wrote a hub about the $27.27. I won't go into that here since I can't figure out how to turn that one into a positive!

My goal for today is to renew my focus on the good things in my life. I'm going to put a sticky note back on my bathroom mirror, to "Think and feel grateful, every day." I'll browse through some of my favorite inspirational quotes. I'll take some time for me, to meditate and relax, before I host a Superbowl event for my support group.

I'll be grateful and giving, and I'll open myself up to receive more. It's really not that hard to do. After all the aggrevation of paying bills, the Universe "sent" me a free computer through freecycle. I bet something else nice is right around the corner :-)

Happy (Belated) New Year!

What a busy holiday this year! Time just flies. We all had a good, good time, but it didn't feel like enough of a break. I'm super busy at work (not complaining though, not in this economy!).

I had one of those strange dreams last night. I was riding in a pickup truck with my mother - in the back of the truck, actually. She was driving and I was talking to her through the back window. We were riding on some country roads reminiscent of my childhood, and wildlife was everywhere - especially deer. I was looking forward, trying to help her spot the deer so one wouldn't run unexpectedly in front of the truck when a saw a huge bear barrelling along the side of the road. I tried to point it out, but Mama wasn't seeing it. I was yelling, "Slow down, slow down," and "Hand me my purse so I can get some video!" But by the time she slowed we were right next to it, then just ahead. It started running after us and in my sleep I felt it reach out and scratch my hand. I woke myself up screaming, "GO! IT'S CHASING US!"

I guess I wasn't really screaming because my husband barely rolled over, but I know I at least said it out loud.

Where the heck did this wildlife theme come from? Dreams are funny things.