I floated the idea of the half-day workshop to my members via e-mail this week and I've gotten a tremendous response. I got three offers to do the workshop in one day. I also called the lady at the library downtown and got the information I need to book a room.

As shy as I can be at times, that shyness doesn't translate to asking questions. And thank goodness for that. I e-mailed one of the "higher-ups" in the state organization and he sent me some guidelines as to how to choose who should do the workshop. And that will greatly help. Our local group meets tonight and given the several phone calls and e-mails I've fielded this past week, I'm expecting a fairly large crowd. Some of them may not show up, but we'll see.

I registered for the conference this week too. I'm not signing up for a manuscript critique because I haven't been working on anything seriously enough to bother. One of the agents or editors (I can't remember which) is taking applications to take a look at some work and I signed up for that. Plus I signed up for a slush-fest where you take transparencies of your work which might get chosen for some critique during the session. This particular slush-fest will deal with paranormal writing so I'm taking the first two pages of my first paranormal story, Body Forth. Of course I think it's a pretty good story and I especially like two of the side characters, Howard and Meda, both of whom are the main characters in a subsequent paranormal story I wrote later.

So that's what's going on today. I straightened up and cleaned the loft yesterday. It hadn't been cleaned up since the construction work and it was a mess. But it looks a lot better now. And now that my knee's feeling some better maybe I'll start working up there again. It's a great little space.

As for the shingles, I guess we caught it in time. I never broke out in blisters and I really haven't felt all that badly. I'm still a little itchy every now and then, and my head aches some in the evenings, but I think I got off easy. Whew!

On the other hand, while I'm trapped inside, I've been working on getting an author for our half-day workshop. I wrote to one local author, who reluctantly had to decline because of her publisher's deadline. I understand. So I wrote to another one today and I have yet to hear back.

And on it will go. Fortunately, there is a large author population in our community to call upon so hopefully, someone will be able to find the time.

I also need to secure a location. On that note a woman who attends the other writers group, gave me the name of someone at the county library to contact about their large meeting room. That's my goal for tomorrow. I usually feel better in the mornings than the afternoons, so I'll call then.

The brochure for the annual writers conference came in the mail a few days ago. I really need to study that and come up with a plan. There is always so much to choose from, it's hard for me to decide.

Ah well, another day.

Things were going pretty well. I was feeling good, thinking about getting back out there with the dogs, or riding the bike around the neighborhood to strengthen up the quads. I started taking ibuprofen and acetameniphen for my knee swelling and pain and I really thought I would be able to get back to finishing the painting that needs finished and pulling the weeds that need pulling and other activities.

(Shaking my head and chuckling) But life has a way of letting you know who's boss, doesn't it? My weight is stable and for that, I'm as grateful as I can be. But now it looks like I'm getting shingles!

Shingles?!!

I swear to God I never heard of so many people with shingles till we got back to this area. What is it? In the water for cryin' out loud?!! It's ridiculous. I don't have it too bad yet--we caught it early and I'm on anti-viral medication, but the doc said it will get worse before it gets better. Oh yea! Right now I just have a terrible headache and painful itching around my forehead and eyelid. Hopefully it won't get too bad. I need to be falling apart in some other area, eh?

I actually started feeling some better and did a few things over the weekend, but I talked to a friend who is just getting over shingles and she said it took almost a week after she was diagnosed for hers to get really bad. That will be tomorrow for me, so we'll see.

I have been taking my meds, but today's been a "taking it easy" day. Like I said, I've got this strange kind of headache and there's a red patch on my forehead that's way hotter than the rest of my face. OY!

Man! This is not what I need. (Seriously, does ANYONE need this? I think not.) Yeah, I know it's hotter than Hades outside and being out there isn't in anyone's best interest without staying hydrated, which I'm very careful about. But there are so many things around here that need to be done. Sitting inside wasn't on the long-term agenda.

For whatever reason, we've been putting off calling Jeff's mom all week, even though we've talked about it every night. His sister is coming for the holiday and we need to get a schedule or plan for the weekend or whatever you want to call it. So finally tonight, his mom called us. I felt terrible we hadn't already contacted her. But that's not the point of this module.

During the course of the conversation she mentioned she had been to the doctor for a checkup. Now this isn't a big deal for most people, and I'm not going to go into it here, but she has a condition for which she's been getting a rather unpleasant treatment for several years. But not too long ago she had a test that came back better than they had been for a very long time.

Wow! And I just put something else together that I'll get to in a moment.

Recently a really good friend of hers and of ours died of cancer. Though Jeff's mom doesn't have cancer, she and our friend had one of the same doctors and would see each other fairly regularly at this same doctor's office. He was one of the neatest human beings I've ever had the honor to know and his wife is a super lady.

Back to the point. During the conversation with Jeff's mom this evening, she mentioned that her checkup with the doctor had gone absolutely great. The doctor gave her a further reprieve from her treatments for another four weeks! We're so thrilled for her and of course, she's thrilled also.

The first thing I thought of was this friend who has passed away. I thought, "Wow! God's letting 'William' look after her." And what came to me as I was writing above was that when I took her for the first test that came back so good, our friend had only been gone a few weeks.

Honestly, her test results haven't been this good for many years. And now, all of a sudden, her condition seems to be clearing up or at least stabilized. Could this be a coincidence?

I'm just getting such a strong feeling about "William" in all of this. I can feel his presence--his having a hand in this. I have sent a prayer up to him and also to God for letting this happen. It's incredible.

If you don't believe in miracles or angels or guardian angels or even a "higher power," just wait. Once something like this happens you can't help but believe.

One of my writers groups met last night and we had a fairly average crowd--eight people. Not bad. And there were some faces we hadn't seen in a while. Only a few people brought something to read, but that was okay, that gives those who did, more time for attention to their work.

Some of the folks said they had to leave early so I told them about the project we'd been assigned by the state organization--the half-day workshop. Lo and behold, one of the long-time members had the e-mail addresses of a couple of local authors I had thought of contacting about the project.

This lady seems confident that I will be able to get one of these authors--or even someone else--to do this workshop. Her support has given me confidence and I'm going to talk with another friend of mine next week about an author she knows. Plus, one of our neighbors is retired from the local library system and that would be more than likely where we would try to hold this workshop, at the main branch downtown, so I can ask her who to contact down there.

Honestly, I think things just might come together for me here. Woo-hoo!!

Also, for next week's writers group (a mostly different group of writers) I think I'll work on my e-mail request (or query, if you will) to these different authors. I'll definitely want some other people to help me craft the request I finally send. What better way?

I got an e-mail the other day from Bob, the guy who tells all us chapter leaders what's going on. Since our organization is partially funded by a grant or two, he would like us to try to arrange a half-day, seminar-like workshop with a local (or any) author to be held here in town.

The idea intrigues me immensely, just as it does frighten me at the same time. God knows there are plenty of published authors around here and I have met several of them, plus I have a friend who may have access to another one.

But the real question is--just how shy am I? I was all set to be the chapter leader when all it was going to take was e-mailing members about meeting time and place. And I've taken on another little thing that doesn't require much phoning. But we all know how much I hate using the telephone.

On the other hand, how hard could it be to grow some "cojones" and make a couple of phone calls? I know a lot of you out there are like, "What's WRONG with this woman?" and you'd be absolutely right. I don't know either.

But how proud of myself would I be if I could pull this off? One of my chapter members is moderating an author's panel tomorrow night with three fairly local authors and I could probably ask her for some advice. And my mother-in-law has been the program director for several organizations for many years, meaning she calls people up and asks them if they'd like to do a program for whatever meeting she's calling about. I know she'd be glad to advise me.

So this IS a serious challenge for me, but also a motivating challenge. As they say, "success begets success." My self-esteem would be higher than it has been in twenty years, probably, if I was able to put this together. And from there, the sky could be the limit.

Wish me luck!

So I'm online yesterday--one of the most painful knee days I've had so far--and I'm checking out sites on Baker's (popiteal) cysts and meniscus problems, when I noticed a trend. Every site I went to, for either or both problems, strongly advocated the use of the RICE technique. That is, Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation.

This would not be the first time I heard of such a thing, trust me. Even my wise brother told me that was what his personal trainer recommended when he started to get a cyst of his own. And of course the series of doctors I've been to over the last two and a half years have all said the same thing.

How could I so easily forget? For one thing it was wintertime here and for this menopausal woman with absolutely no inner thermostat, that meant I was freezing for a few months at a time, except when overtaken by a "flash" when, for several minutes anyway, I would be roasting as if in an oven. It's not easy being a woman.

(Sigh) Be that as it may, and seeing as how the weather has warmed up outside, I got out the old ice bag last night and did a couple of twenty minute rounds with it while I watched TV.

OH! MY! GOD! I was amazed! The swelling was down (and keep in mind I put on bigger jeans earlier in the week because the knee was so huge it was uncomfortable in jeans that fit) and the pain, while not gone, has lessened significantly. I'm also adding in the leg lift/quad raises I was supposed to have been doing all this time, but rarely remembered to do. Ice-exercise. Makes sense, duh.

So what does this have to do with communication? (Another sigh) The last time I saw my knee doctor/orthopedic surgeon he literally told me he couldn't do anything more for me. That was pretty discouraging. As evidenced by earlier entries in this very lens I was extremely depressed. Although he did go over some exercises that might help, he did not stress the importance of continuing with the ice. ICE! ICE! Baby.

Well, maybe I'm just trying to find someone to blame for my misery. And now I feel badly about that because I really do like the doc. He's a good guy. But perhaps not the best communicator.

The patches I got from the chiropractor (also a good guy) may or may not be working. I'm on my third one but until I did the ice, I couldn't tell if they were working at all. So I'll continue to do the ice therapy and when the time comes I'll apply the last patch that I have, and then I think I'll drop the patch. (Shrug) Can't hurt, eh?

Sometimes, certain people (me) need to be reminded of what works. Especially when a problem has been ongoing for a long time. I know doctors have enough on their minds that they can't always go back over therapies with their patients, but I mean, the dentist ALWAYS stresses the importance of flossing, doesn't he? Or she? Until finally, you just break down and start flossing regularly. At least I did.

Okay, that's enough griping and kicking myself (and others) in the butt for today. Hope y'all have a great weekend!

Still no word from the teacher, but Sherre came over on Saturday to go to a "Ladies Wine Night" party with me that another friend gives every so often. I knew Sherre would fit right in with that group, she did, and we had a great time.

While we were there, her husband, Will, and another friend, Joe, came over to our house to hang out with Jeff and basically have a "guy's night" while the girls were out.

Joe is another writer and in one of my writer's groups. When he got here he had a story he wanted me to edit and I was thrilled! He has already published one children's book and that's what this one will be also. It was neat to see the form in which a children's book is written as I had never seen that before. Now I see how my "April Fools" story could be laid out in children's book form.

Anyway the point is that even though it's not a long story with a lot of pages it made me feel good that he had enough confidence in my editing skills to pay me for going over his story. I sort of glanced at it and made a couple of corrections the other night, but I really went over it today and got it finished. I think I came up with some pretty good insights as well as the usual spelling, typo and word omissions/additions correcting.

I'm kinda proud of myself. And hopefully, word will get around that I'm available and more importantly, good at editing. I like doing it and I hope I've been helpful. I may get another chance sometime this summer to help my friend Betty with another one of her books.

Be sure to check out her book, My Mother's Shoes, which comes out sometime this May.
elizabethjeanallen.com

I wondered to my friend, Sherre, the other day, if the marketing teacher at the school where she works might need a volunteer. Now, I don't know what kind of things he might need done, but since he teaches the class I was educated to teach, I thought perhaps I could be of some help to him.

So here's what the teacher wrote to her after she contacted him:

"Sherre,
I would like to invite your friend to attend our 3rd annual DECA
Drop-In on May 9, 2008 (2pm-3pm) to discuss her DECA experience with
current members(mostly graduating in June). If she can attend, she will
be the guest speaker(informal)."

Oh my God! Guest speaker? Honestly, I'm STILL laughing. At first I was, like, what did she tell him? Then I got myself together and wrote him what, I think, is a nice reply. Here it is:

Dear Mr. ***,
Oh my goodness, I'm afraid my good friend Sherre has overstated my "DECA experience." She IS my best friend, so who can blame her for padding my resume a bit, eh? Hahaha!!

While it's true I set up a DE program (and it was so long ago that it was still called Distributive Education) in an extremely rural county in West Virginia, and I did teach there, it was for only one year and I was a first year teacher for all of that! I was a horrible failure as a teacher and found getting married was a great way to escape! That may be a little too much information for you, but you'll find I'm terribly honest.

From there I returned to the retail life working in a gift store and selling tropical plants from a mall kiosk before I found a "home," so to speak, working in the supermarket industry. I'm sure you won't find too many people who tell you the supermarket is their "niche" however in my working life, the job of cashier was where I was most happy. I was able to interact with lots of people everyday, most of whom were pleasant and I could use my best assets--my smile--and my ability to listen and relate to people.

I took a break from the supermarket for a couple of years and went back to tending tropical plants for a service while living at ***. That also suited me as I went from place to place (banks, office buildings, lawyers offices, rich peoples houses) took care of the plants and interacted with lots of people. After Hurricane *** however I moved to *** and eventually returned to the supermarket industry as a florist.

And that's where I was when my current husband and I had to move to Florida after the *** closed. I stayed busy down there, but I did not work outside the home and haven't since we've been back here. I don't like to say I'm a "housewife" but we'll call it like it is, after all. I do write some fiction, essays and other short pieces as the muse moves me, but mostly I take care of our dogs, run errands, and do "housewifely" stuff.

Which brings me to why I asked Sherre if you might need a volunteer. I need to get back out there to interact with other folks. My knees are bad enough that standing on my feet for several hours at a time is basically out of the question or I would go back to work. I could still be useful in some capacity I'm sure, but it was really just a thought I floated by her. I don't have any idea what you might or might not need in terms of a volunteer, but it certainly gave me a laugh to think of myself as a "guest speaker" of any kind. Hahaha! I'm laughing now.

Well, anyway, there's my story. I truly appreciate your kind offer, and I think I would like to come to the drop-in just to meet you and the students and perhaps have conversations with others who are there, but that would be about the extent of my participation I'm afraid. Maybe once we met in person, we could think of a service I could possibly volunteer to you.

Thanks again for the invitation.
Mary Ogden

Well, there's my life in a nutshell (or nuthouse, is more like it, eh?) And I DO want to get back out there to interact with folks more, but in a much more low-key fashion. I was thinking about cutting out construction paper stars and such for a bulletin board, making copies of tests or materials, or something like that. But of course the more I think about that, the more I realize an elementary school or pre-school would be the best thing.

And I really do want to contact the local literacy agency to see what they might have for me. I am, after all, a great reader and somewhat of a writer. I'm also thinking of the local branch of the library for story time as I read well aloud, too.

So there really are places out there for me to volunteer, I just need to get off my butt and make some calls, eh? Guest speaker. (Chuckle, chuckle.)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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I was very happy to get an e-mail today from my big brother. He's a few years older than I am and therefore, much wiser, or at least wiser since I don't consider myself very wise at all.

Anyway, he wondered if perhaps since my role in my husband's life had changed, that that was the reason my life was feeling so empty.

Now, this takes some explaining which I wasn't necessarily ready to do today, but here goes the abridged version. My husband had been diabetic since he was a child and was when we married. He started having some diabetic complications shortly thereafter and then we moved to a place where we didn't know anyone. He worked and I took care of him and our dogs.

That changed soon after we moved back home. He got a kidney/pancreas transplant and our lives have been greatly improved. He's no longer diabetic, no longer on dialysis and has, as my brother asserted, become more independent. Well, yes, that makes a great deal of sense.

Where that leaves me, of course, is watching after the dogs, trying to come up with ideas for stories or essays or whatever suits my fancy that day, running errands, making excuses for not cleaning the house (d'oh!) and putzing around.

My brother suggested, because I am a fairly sociable person, that I volunteer in some service that I have an interest, mainly to get back out there and have some human (as opposed to canine) interaction for several more hours a week. I had thought of that before and know that I need that interaction, not only for my sanity, but also to help feed ideas for my writing. MOTIVATION!

So now, I just need to get up off my lazy bum and, as the slogan went, many years ago--JUST DO IT!

Thanks bro!

Sarah got here yesterday but it wasn't easy. She chose the longest route of the three choices her GPS gave her, then there was an overturned truck before she changed Interstate highways and was held up in traffic for like, an hour and a half. In essence, her five and a half hour trip turned into an eight hour trip. OY!

So she slept in this morning which was okay 'cause the weather was miserable, but later we went out and ran some errands. Her allergies are horrible and I feel really badly for her. I almost feel guilty about my allergies being so much better than they used to be. Almost.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow 'cause we're taking her new Prius to do our running around. We were going to try to go to a movie, but I have to go to Dr. Sal's at eleven and then we're going to hit a couple of grocery stores for sales. When we get home I'm going to bake some benne wafers for her to take home to Terri.

Jeff (my husband) should be home from his business trip by about two o'clock and it will be great for him to be home. Hopefully he'll cook for Sarah, and of course himself. I still have another week and a half on Dr. Simeon's protocol, so I'll have to cook for myself, but that's okay. Sarah can't believe how good I look. I got into jeans yesterday I haven't been into for a couple of years. AND they're totally comfortable. I'm psyched!

So Sarah and I have been getting caught up and laughing, laughing, laughing. It's been a good time. I expect we'll have more fun once Jeff gets home. She and I watched the movie Click, with Adam Sandler this afternoon. It was pretty good. Funny to start, but with an important message at the end.

Sarah wasn't able to get me any organic grapefruits off of Patty's tree. I really couldn't believe she tried to tell you the truth. But she did, which was sweet, and after all no one's living in the house. But evidently someone had already gleaned the tree. Oh well.

She has to leave on Sunday. Saturday's weather is supposed to be really miserable again, with rain, wind and thunderstorms. It hasn't been the nicest week to be here, weather-wise. Certainly not beach weather. But maybe on Saturday we'll go out to see Jeff's mom or Sherre and Will at the beach and she can at least get a glimpse. Or maybe we'll do it tomorrow after Dr. Sal's. It's supposed to get really hot tomorrow--like eighty or something. Yikes! It's a wonder we don't all have pneumonia. (Yeah, yeah, I know that widely varying temperatures don't REALLY cause illness. It's just something people say, don't they?)

Okay that's all for now.

I got something done yesterday for which I'm proud. I got off my submission to the Petigru Review, over a full month before deadline. It's called Fragility and it was inspired by my friend, Patty, who passed away last April. (Patty's shown on the right with our friend Jean, from England.) It's a fictional account of how I imagine she might have reacted when she discovered an abnormality in her breast, which of course, turned out to be cancer. Those of us who loved her continue to miss her. The story came about as a way to relieve myself of anger toward her husband. Not a nice guy.

On another good subject, my chiropractor told me today that he has a patch that may be able to heal the partial tear in my meniscus, which is giving me the most pain in my knee. I'm definitely going to try it once I finish with the Dr. Simeon's diet protocol I'm on.

Which is another good thing! I've lost 16 lbs in 3 weeks on the injections--26 lbs total, if you count what I lost on Phase One! I haven't really been hungry, and when I have, it's usually time to eat anyway--or have some tea or water. My face is slimmer already as is my stomach, so I'm pretty psyched!

While I was wasting time yesterday waiting to go to an appointment I looked at the Eric Johnson interviews I had saved as favorites a while ago but never had looked at. Man! That stoked a little passion in me. He's such an incredible guitar player, and just a super nice guy--very down to earth. Obviously, on the way to my appointment I changed the CD in the car to one of his. It's classic stuff that will never go out of style! Ah, exclamation marks! I'm finding something to be passionate about. Woo-hoo!