Tagged Again--Why I Love Writing from Home

Okay, something a little different here from my usual posts. My busy bee little writing friend, Michele, over at Writing the Cyber Highway.com, has tagged me for a meme. I'm supposed to list some reasons why I love writing from home. So here it goes...


1. Although I always loved writing, and wrote stories for my 3 children when they were young, I began writing for money,in the late nineties, on a typewriter! Yep, remember typewriters? I was a late bloomer, when it comes to writing, anxious to write the stories in my head, some true, some fiction. So my career of writing from home began.

2. This new career of mine was on wobbly legs for a while, and I jokingly called myself an almost starving writer. But I hung in there, and made my first sale. And when that first piece was published, in Good Old Days, and I got a check in the mail for it, well, I could go outside and whoop and holler all I wanted, and the only neighbors I disturbed were the wild creatures that share my woods with me. And they're all still here, so I didn't scare them too much!

3. Writing from home has so many advantages. I can write when I feel like it, and not write, when I don't. I couldn't do that writing for some publication, while sitting in an office. No sirree Bob. (Are you smiling, Michele?)

4. Writing from Home in the nineties was a different ball game. I bought magazines like, The Writer, and Writer's Digest, and a huge book called The Writer's Market, which came out every fall, listing thousands of magazine and book markets that bought articles from writers. I also bought books of advice for writers. They were all a huge help. Besides, I have always loved to read!

5. Then I got a computer! My son Greg brought it, set it up on my desk, showed me how to turn it on and off, then he was gone. I was alone with this new gizmo I nicknamed Einstein. Einstein seemed to have a mind of his own! But he made life easier for a writer writing from home. And I wrote a piece about Einstein and had it accepted by Folks Online! The year was 1999. What a thrill that was. My first published article on the Internet, and I got paid for it! And that article is still up. Here is the link to it, if you'd care to read it, with a photo of me from that year that I also posted on here. It was called, Messages from the Old Homeland, and if you check it out, I hope you enjoy it.
http://www.folksonline.com/folks/ts/1999/hungary.htm

6. Computers are amazing. We all know that. But for a writer writing from home, they are truly a boon! I no longer have to buy the magazines put out for writers, I can read all the writing advice I care to read, right on the Internet. I can find writing markets galore on the Internet as well. I can submit my writing by email, instead of by postal mail. I am saving on paper, postage, and on gasoline, since I don't have to go anywhere, to send my manuscript. (Of course, that doesn't mean I am saving that much on gas, since I enjoy going to town and meeting my friends for breakfast, lunch, or just coffee, often, and town is 10 miles away.)

7. Writing from home affords me unusual sights that I would not see writing from an office. Like the unusual sight that I have been witnessing for the past couple of weeks. No doubt you have heard about the plight of the honeybees. How they are supposed to be is some sort of trouble. Well, outside my window, honeybees are causing a lot of trouble, this year.

I've been putting up hummingbird feeders for 25 years, and enjoy watching the little jewels buzz around. Well, this year the bees have taken over the hummingbird feeders. Swarms of honeybees! And I don't know what to do about them. The hummies are afraid of the bees, and who can blame them? Anyone know what to do about honeybees swarming on the hummingbird feeders? (Maybe there is an article there....hmmm.)

8. Of course, there are the usual advantages to writing from home: I can stay in my pj's all day. I can comb my hair or not. I can bring my lunch to my desk, or take a break and eat it out on the deck, I can work all day, or just a couple of hours. I can read all kinds of neat stuff on the neat blogs I enjoy visiting, and then go back and work on a story, or an article later. I am my own boss! What could be better?

9.Well, you get the picture. Writing from home is challenging, interesting, and even fun! I wouldn't have it any other way.

Thank you, Michele, for tagging me. I enjoyed it.

And thank you for reading. I hope it wasn't too boring. Have a wonderful day!

Tagged Again, and a New Award

Because of our beautiful weather in the past week, my daffodils/jonquils have perked up, and so have I. And because I have perked up, I've decided accept a new challenge. :-)

Patti at Nonna's News has tagged me for this new meme. I am to list 8 facts/habits that you may not know about me. Since I have done several meme's, I had to think hard to post some new facts without revealing my innermost secrets! :-) So here it goes:

1. I believe in miracles. (As a child, I was buried alive during a bombing, and survived.)

2. I am much too sensitive for my own good.

3. I have been a reluctant guest on live television.

4. I don't like to kill anything living. Spiders in the house get captured and deposited outside, as do other creepy crawlies and flyer's like wasps. My daughter doesn't share these views, especially about spiders!

5. I am a procrastinator, especially about going to the doctor, and with my writing. (I have a deadline now for March 30th, that I have been putting off.)

6. I am a type 2 diabetic, (mostly diet controlled,) a fact that often depresses me.

7. I love to eat out, and after I do, I usually walk it off. Walking keeps my sugar levels normal.

8. I have a Russian cousin I never knew about until fairly recently. She lives in Victoria, Australia now. I will do a blog about her soon. (Hi Elena!)

I am to tag 8 others to do this meme, but I will leave it up to you. If you'd like to play, please let me know, and I will come and read your meme. If not, God bless!
......

I also want to acknowledge this sweet and lovely new award sent to me by my old friend Mary at Mary's Writing Nook. Thank you so much, Mary. I certainly agree that "Friendship is a light in the darkness! "

Thank you for reading. Have a blessed week everyone!

Tagged Again--Mememememememe!

Mary, at Mary's Writing Nook has tagged for this new meme, which is to list 15 things that make it great to be me. (Oi!) Since I have done a couple of meme's about myself already, I thought I'd do a lighter, more fun one this time. So, here it goes...

1. When my children were grown and living lives of their own, I decided to follow my dream of living in the country. After all, I was newly single, and the time was right to seek and find my own way of living. And my grown children were happy for me.

2. In August of 1983, I moved to this beautiful Ozark hill country, thrilled to be here, and even the heat of August in these hills, didn't dampen my joy.

3. I brought with me my dear Grandma, who was 83 years old at the time, and had always seen me through thick and thin. She had to be a part of this new adventure.

4. Our family also included two large dogs, and a couple of cats. The dogs loved their new life in the country, the cats did not!

5. My new neighbors were nice and welcomed us with home made peach pies, and friendly smiles. I felt at home among them instantly.

6. As an animal lover, I soon began to acquire more animals to add to my place in the woods. Within a short time, chickens of various sizes and colors scratched around in the yard and edges of the woods. I was happy, so was Grandma. "Csirke, csirke," she would call out to them. And the chickens came running to her. I couldn't believe those American chickens could understand Hungarian!

7. After the chickens, my sweet neighbor Bessie, brought over a couple of guinea hens, as a gift. Oh, goody, more animals. They made noises like a machine gun, and caused a great deal of excitement in the woods. And they were better watchdogs then the dogs!

8. Since I had a pond, the next logical step was to get some ducks and geese, of course! And soon, there were Peking's, Mallards and some downright homely Muscovy ducks swimming around in the pond. Free meals for marauding coyotes, raccoons, Bobcats and even owls, I soon discovered!

9. I also discovered that my nice new neighbors and friends loved to give some of their animals as gifts. It was an easy way to get rid of ones excess animals. I got into the habit of giving them away, myself, after a while.

10. I love rabbits, of course. So very soon, I had some adorable bunnies in my menagerie as well. Unfortunately, black snakes love baby bunnies, and baby chicks much too much, and suddenly there I was, a former city gal, battling black snakes in the Ozark hills!

11. As I surveyed my animal kingdom in the woods, it dawned on me that I was missing one of the most fun animals that ever boarded Noah's Ark-the goat. So I acquired a black and white pygmy goat. Grandma was elated and named him, Kecske, which is the Hungarian word for goat. (Catch-keh.) My dogs seemed elated as well with their fun loving new friend.


12. I loved to go hiking around in the woods, accompanied by the dogs, Dobie and Samson, and Kecke, the goat, who by this time thought he was a dog, too. (Hiking is still my favorite past time in the woods.)



13. I got lost in the woods several times, until my son Greg bought me a compass and taught me how to use it!

14. Those first few years in the woods were full of fun, excitement and even chaos. There is always chaos with a bunch of animals around. But the fun and companionship they provide makes it all worthwhile.

15. Although I no longer have a huge menagerie of domestic animals, there are still a couple of dogs and couple of cats. And there is a large menagerie of woodland animals now that call my woods and field home, and grace my life with their beautiful presence. I am ever thankful to God for the gift of these 24 years in the woods. And remembering all the sweet and fun moments with the animals, warms the cockles of my heart on this mighty cold winter morning.

Thank you for tagging me, Mary. It was fun.

And thank you for reading. Stay warm and have a blessed week!

Seven Random Facts Meme

My old friend, Tina, at Tina's Odds and Ends, has tagged me for the Seven Random Facts meme. So here it goes:

My mother died when I was just a few weeks old, and my father was away because of the war, so I was raised by my maternal grandparents. I've always had a sense of loss, for never having known my mother, or my real father, for that matter. But my grandparents were wonderful substitute parents.


I have been blessed with two great sons and a wonderful daughter, and three beautiful granddaughters, and I'm ever thankful to have them in my life.


I dreamed of living in the country for most of my life, and finally realized my dream in 1983, when I moved to the country. I have loved living in the woods the past 24 years.


Hiking in the woods is a favorite past time, and I've had some adventures while doing it. I have gotten lost in my woods more than once, until my son Greg gifted me with a compass!

I have a wildlife pond near the house that I love. The wild creatures that live around here love it as well. But 4 years ago, when my cat, Orie, was just a half grown kitten, she ventured onto the thin ice of the pond and fell in, when the ice broke. And I fell in as well, trying to save her. It was a miracle that we both made it out alive, and didn't get pneumonia! Now, when there is ice on the pond, the cats stay in the house, no matter what!

In December of 2005, I slipped and fell in the back of my house, in some newly fallen snow and broke my hip. It was late afternoon, and the temperatures were frigid. Since I had forgotten to take my cell phone along, like I'm supposed to, I had no way of calling for help. But through the power of prayer, I made it back into the house by crawling for over an hour, and was finally able to summon help. I have recovered well from my ordeal, and am able to continue to live in my woods. Thank you, Lord!


My faith, my family, my friends, and my animals are my greatest blessings.


Thank you, Tina, for tagging me. It was fun.