Vacation

Wow! Where does the time go? We just got back from a 9 day vacation -2 spent driving, the rest, mostly, spent in Pigeon Forge, TN. It was an awesome trip. We went hiking in the Smokies, played at Dollywood, and went to a cool science-y type hands on place called "WonderWorks". We also hit the aquarium in Gatlinburg.

We spent a day at the race track in Bristol watching the modifieds and the trucks race- it was very cool- great track to go to. I got a new tony Stewart shirt, my husband(DH) got a neat Bristol shirt, and our son(DS) got a Denny Hamlin "COT" car (as he's calling it).

We swam almost everyday in the pool at the campground- great place recommended by some people at PUX. DH and DS drove go karts, and we all did the bumper cars (I think I did the most hitting).

We went to the Comedy Barn and laughed through the whole show. The next day we went to breakfast and a show- we saw the Blackwood Singers (and a comedy sketch). I loved it- they are a great Southern Gospel group with an interesting backstory.

All in all it was a great time away- we liked it so much we are talking about going back in the winter.

School is just around the corner- DS just learned who his teacher is today (a little late in my opinion to be getting school supply lists, but at least we got it!!!)

Hope to post up some pictures in the next few days- especially the one of the bear (yes, it is a real bear).

Mad Libs

We went out to dinner tonight and there was a mad lib on my son's menu. It was a blast reliving all those memories of doing mad libs as a child, so I decided to share my fun with you.

For those of you who don't remember mad libs, you make a list of words then insert them into a paragraph. It usually comes out total nonsense- which is the fun of it.

Here is a mad lib for you- let me know how yours turned out by sharing it in the comments.



You will need:

1) adjective
2) adverb
3) verb
4) noun-plural
5) descriptive phrase
6) adjective






Today was (adjective). I was (adverb) (verb) at my job. I dealt with a bunch of (noun-plural). They were (descriptive phrase). Hopefully tomorrow will be (adjective).

USPS update

I've been researching the USPS after a post to my article made me question how it actually is funded. I knew that most of the funding came from the postage that we buy (and mailers, and other products they sell) but what about our tax dollars? I always assumed that we paid for the USPS from our taxes.
So, after a Google search (phrased many different ways) I am still unsure of how the USPS is funded. I found an article that reference an amount of tax money received each year by the USPS, but have no idea how they determined that.
What I did find was this:
On the USPS website, there are several speeches that have been made to Congress by the Post Master General. Many of them indicate that the Post Office is to be run as a profit neutral company, funding its daily operations from the money received from sale of stamps and products. There is nothing I can find that shows what "daily operations" encompass.
There is also a bill before Congress, requesting an amendment so they can drop a day of delivery (cutting costs) and allow them to use money (slated for 2017) from 2009-2011 to cover the cost of Retiree Health benefits. You can find this article here:
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/104xx/doc10465/hr22.pdf

If you find anything that will direct me to where I can learn about how the USPS is funded, I'd appreciate it. Always good to correct assumptions.

Busy Week

Wow- last week was a very busy week. With training for the first half and planning a surprise birthday party for the last half it was crazy.

Thanks to all of you who helped make (and keep) the surprise a surprise. My husband had a blast and it was great to see all of you.

This week should be a lot less hectic -unless I decide to totally revamp another room in the house like I did this past Saturday. See, it all started with realizing I needed to clean my kitchen for the surprise party (I had also found some tiny ants in the garbage can and didn't want them in the rest of the kitchen). So, I emptied out most of the furnishings from the kitchen -completely blocking the hallway and my son's bedroom (which I should have realized would be an issue). Then I mopped ( and scrubbed) and decided that the microwave really should be by the stove, not on the other side of the room. And do I really need that cabinet in this room, couldn't I move it someplace else? So several hours later I had a clean, restructured kitchen. I never knew I had so much room by the doorway (now that it isn't blocked with kitty stuff). And the extra cabinet is great on the back porch. The best thing, though, is my husband really thought I was just on a cleaning spree because I didn't want ants in the house.

I am hoping to spend a good part of this week finishing my final edits on my story and then seriously looking into Lulu or Blurb or CreateSpace and getting it published. We'll see what happens (my plans never seem to go as I think they should). Then I can get editing my next story.

Yes, I have about 4 stories that are in various stages of development. When I get stuck with one, I work on another, then I come back to it later with fresh eyes- or as my friend says, you come back to it and start it all over again completely. (Actually, I write new things and mix in previous things I've written.) It isn't always completely new (unless I am changing perspective).

Well, time to get to work on the writing.