Tuesday, May 9, 2006

Hot Dog!!!!

First things first. I have been extra busy for the last few days, so I haven't been blogging much. BooMama and Brenda even commented that I had been conspicuously absent. Hmmmm........Which means either, 1. I should be touched that people miss me when they notice I'm missing in action for a couple of days, OR, 2. I am on here blogging so much that even a short absence is cause for concern that I MUST be sick or having some sort of crisis, because after all, what else could possibly keep me from blogging?! I'll just take the position that you're concerned and miss me when I'm not committing regular bloggery, LOL. And I am touched that you care enough to ask about me, truly I am. Thanks for your concern, everyone.

I have noticed a lot of those flowers like that one up there blooming lately. For you that don't have the privilege of seeing (and smelling!) Southern Magnolias in bloom, you are missing out on a feast of the senses. The flowers are a creamy white, and they have the loveliest scent. Sort of like a citrusy lily scent, but really they have a delicious scent all their own. When it hasn't been pourin
g down rain, it has been nice enough out to drive with the windows down, and the smell of the magnolias drifts through the open windows. Mmmmmmmm................That's mostly in town.

Now out in the country, along the gravel roads, I often see and smell my very favorite wildflower: wild honeysuckle. Mercy, I could roll in the stuff and sleep in it. If I could ever find a perfume or candles and air freshener that smelled like the real thing, that would be the only thing I'd use. There's a picture of it there to the right. It may not look like much, but a small bouquet of that stuff will fill a big room with it's heavenly aroma. Did I mention I love the stuff?

Now, some good news for me. A few weeks ago, I learned about a writing contest online, sponsord by Heather at Mom2Mom Connections. The theme was A Mother's Love, and on a whim, never really expecting to win anything, I entered my Letter To Mama, my blog tribute to her on the first anniversary of her death. (UPDATE: Okay, I got the link fixed, but you have to scroll up to the top for some reason.....Blogger, I do not understand thee.....!!) Well, look HERE!! (This one is fixed, too.) Lo and behold, I won 5th Place, and also the Mother's Legacy Award!! Now 5th place might not be very exciting to anyone but me, but I am thrilled! Not that there's a trip to Ooga Booga or a gold-plated anything that goes with the award, but still, this is big stuff to somebody who's never won anything in her life. Tha
nks to Heather and all the judges for recognizing me. If you click on the link, scroll down to see the list of winners and honorable mentions, etc.

And, I want to post a few pics of Jessica. The first one is from her boyfriend's prom. Her prom is coming up this Friday night, and she plans to wear the same dress again. She is going to have a full weekend. After prom on Friday night, her Senior class leaves at 5 am Saturday morning going to Hot Springs, Arkansas for their senior trip. They will be going to Magic Springs, a theme park, for the day and evening, and leave again coming back to Bay at about 1 am Sunday morning. That will have them getting home around 4 am, then she is supposed to go to church with me that Sunday morning for Mother's Day. Okay, look over that itenerary and look for time for sleeping in there. I don't see much time at all for sleep, plus she has been designated to stay awake on the way home and keep the bus driver awake, so she will get less sleep than probably any of them. Youth will only cover so much lost sleep, I tried to tell her. I predict one cranky, exhausted teenager on Mother's Day......Happy Mother's Day to me.......... ;-)

And, I wanted to post a pic from Monday night. She received an Arkansas Scholars Award, which is awarded to only the top 5% of all Arkansas high school seniors. To receive this award, she had to maintain a "B" average or higher from 9th grade through graduation, could not exceed the state mandated limits for absences, and have no discipline referrals in that time. There are more requirements, but it's late and I can't remember them at the moment. There are no real money benefits, but the award goes on their high school and college transcripts, and all businesses and employers who are members of Chambers of Commerce give preferential consideration to Arkansas scholars when they are hiring for jobs and positions, so it may benefit her in the long run, if not immediately. There were three others of her classmates from Bay who also got the award.

Well, as previously mentioned, it's late, or early, according to your perspective, so I am going to wrap this up and post it. Wishing everybody a wonderful Tuesday!!

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on 5th place. I knew it was a good piece of work. :-)

You know, my mom loves magnolias. They have a tree in front of their house. It is her prized possession. You can't even lean on it. :-)

Well, I'm off to OKC. Flying up for a few hours, then back home tonight. Maybe I'll have time to check back when I get home. Have a good day!

Lisa said...

Your daughter is beautiful, Diane!

Congrats on being a winner! You're an awesome writer.

Blogging and surfing must be cold weather activities. I never thought in a million years that my "computer time" would diminish so much! I feel really bad about it too, but what can I do. :)

Diane@Diane's Place said...

Mike,
Thanks. :-) Have a good day, and be careful. We're having severe storms right now, wouldn't want to be in an airplane for sure! LOL ;-)

Lisa,
Thank you! :-) And Thank You, ;-)
Hey, don't apologise for living your life. The computer will still be there when you come back to it. Your life and your kids come first. The computer should be an accessory to your life, not the reverse. I've never heard anyone mourning because their computer is growing up and they've missed too much of it's childhood!!! LOL :-)

Susie said...

Congratulations on your writing honor. I believe that post was the first of yours that I read! It was very moving indeed.
Magnolias were my Mom's favorite flower. She planted a tree in her front yard and also had a lovely painting over her couch. When I designed the cover for her memorial service, I included a magnolia in the design. I think of her everytime I see one....

boomama said...

I saw Heather's list of winners - there were TONS of submissions! Congratulations! Sister told me there was something special about your writing the very first night she found your site. Glad the rest of the interweb is discovering what your readers have known for some time. :-)

Diane@Diane's Place said...

Sue,
Thanks for the kind words. And, I remember what this Sunday means to you. Praying for you..... :-)

BooMama,
Thank you, too. I honestly never expected to even be recognized. I just submitted that post on a whim. I had written it several weeks before I even found out about the writing contest, so I didn't write it by following any particular guidelines pertinent to the contest. I was shocked and thrilled to even be recognized, much less win 5th place. :-)

I truly appreciate your and Sister's support and encouragement here in the blogosphere. :-)

Diane@Diane's Place said...

Faith,
Thank you, and yes, I love magnolias.
And, thank you for your sweet comments about Jessica, too. :-)

Brenda said...

I'm also a fan of magnolias and honeysuckle.

Congrats to you and Jessica! Sounds like she has a bright future ahead of her. I know you're proud - of her and your award.

Pat yourself on the back for me, willya?

Diane@Diane's Place said...

Brenda,
It's nice to know we share a love of magnolias and honeysuckle. :-) Thanks for your nice words for Jessica. :-)

Connie,
Love your new pic, BTW. :-)
Thanks for the encouragement regarding the writing contest, and for your kind words for Jessica. We appreciate it very much. :-)

Nashe^ said...

D, before i get more swamped in schoolwork, i wanna wish yoo

HAPPY MOTHERS' DAY!!!

hope you're doing psychedelically fine...

oh prom! dun remind me.. My prom was terrible until the last part...haha. loved the dancing.
=)

take care aiite

Diane@Diane's Place said...

Nurun,
Awwww........That's so sweet of you, to remember me! I'm touched, truly. Thank you so much, and I hope you and your Mom have a great Mother's Day. :-)

As for your prom, you might not believe it now, but as you get older, even bad memories become good memories, if that makes sense to you, LOL. ;-)

Andre said...

Well, well, well...

...if you're not a winner all around! Winning writing contests here, having a brilliant and beautiful daughter there (in an underaged, "look, but don't touch OR think" sort of way. oh, I'm just joking!). Plus, you've got a mob of blogger friends who form search parties if you're not around for two seconds.

Geez Diane! You're one of the hottest tickets in town!

FYI: your "Letter to Mama" link won't open. You've need to retype the link. It has two "http"s in it.

Later, alligator!

Andre said...

...then again, I could just stop being so lazy and visit the link myself.

Diane@Diane's Place said...

Andre,
Aw, shucks, thanks, LOL. :-) You're making me blush........ ;-) My daughter, too.
And thanks for the heads up concerning the link. I'm about to leave for a few hours right now, but I'll take care of it when I get back.
Have a great Wednesday, friend..... :-)

Johnny said...

Congrats on your winning the award sister-in-law. If I was the judge I would have given you first place. It is still hard for me to read the piece without getting a tear in my eye. When I clicked on your "look "HERE"" I was taken to www.microsoft.com...you trying to help Bill get more billions...lol. Jessice as usual is a very beautiful young lady and even more so in here very pretty dress. About the sleep, you hopefully can remember when you were young, getting your "second wind" about 5:00am. Well don't worry about Jessica she will get hers...lol. Also give her a big hug for us on winning her award. Way to go Brainenac..lol. Well gotta go tanks fer leting me tipe on your paper.

Diane@Diane's Place said...

Johnny,
Thanks, I appreciate the nice comments concerning the Mama tribute and about Jessica, too. And I am going to try to fix the links as soon as I get this posted. Hopefully I can get them fixed, that is, LOL. ;-)
I love y'all. :-)

Diane Viere said...

Congratulations on your award!

AND, what a beautiful daughter you have!

I'm glad you're back--don't stay away so long next time! We MISSED you!

Diane

Diane@Diane's Place said...

Diane,
Thanks, on both subjects! :-)

And speaking of being gone, I missed you while you were away living it up, too. And the pictures of the wedding are gorgeous. :-)