I have been in love with writing from the moment a pencil was put in my hand and I was taught to write. I have had a love affair with the written word all my life. When I was in middle school and high school, I would day dream about being a writer. Writing stories…novels, being an author. However, life got in the way, as well as reality. I soon realized that even though I liked to write, I’m not a writer. I’m OK with that. Writing is still my outlet of thoughts, of dreams, of creativity, with stickers and stationary, before the days of computers, and now with graphics and images, and other web design tools. If I had, however, followed my dream to be an author, where would I start to look for Book Publishers?

Companies like AuthorHouse can be found on the internet. They are a leading self-publishing company, and have been since 1997. They help guide those who are serious about writing and publishing. AuthorHouse has helped more than 30,000 authors turn their dreams into reality, and have self published more than 40,000 books.

Ethan graduates in a year, and then our house,as well as my schedule, will finally be on the slow track. Maybe the dream is still there. At least now I know where to go for guidance and help to set goals and see a dream take form.

Two steps forward, one step back.  I felt a moment of celebration at the trucking company office this afternoon.   I have all the driver’s paperwork checked.  I am totally caught up with that.  Yes, I do still need to enter it all into the computer to be 100% on top of it, but just having it all checked is a major accomplishment, and I’m glad I finally am at that point.  As I told David, its all in the proof of the pudding.   Like the filing.  I’m not going to tell him what I’m “going” to do.  Just do it.  Show him.  I struggled all last year trying to keep the filing done.  I would put it in a box, and after I had several boxes full, and it would take him an hour to locate one simple invoice … he got onto my case about getting it caught up.  I finally did, and now I file it that day, no boxes, and I’ve kept on top of it.   I would like to be at that same level of effeciency with the drivers’ paperwork.  And its doable.  Its when you get behind and have 2, or 3, or 4 weeks to catch up on.  But, I did it.  At least the checking park.  By next Friday, I’ll have the computer part done, and then all I’m looking at is week to week.

Works for me.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Virginia Smith left her job as a corporate director to become a full time writer and speaker with the release of her first novel Just As I Am.

Since then she has contracted eight novels and published numerous articles and short stories. She writes contemporary humorous novels for the Christian market, including Murder by Mushroom (Steeple Hill, August 2007) and her newest release, Stuck in the Middle(Revell, February 2008), book 1 in the Sister-to-Sister Series.

Her short fiction has been anthologized, and her articles have been published in a variety of Christian magazines. An energetic speaker, she loves to exemplify God’s truth by comparing real-life situations to well-known works of fiction, such as her popular talk, “Biblical Truths in Star Trek.”

Virginia is a speaker, and an avid Scuba diver. She and her husband Ted, divide their times between Kentucky and Utah, and escape as often as they can for diving trips to the Caribbean!

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Joan Sanderson’s life is stuck. Her older sister, Allie, is starting a family and her younger sister, Tori, has a budding career. Meanwhile, Joan is living at home with Mom and looking after her aging grandmother. Not exactly a recipe for excitement-or romance.

That is, until a hunky young doctor moves in next door. Suddenly Joan has a goal–to catch his eye and get a date. But it won’t be easy. Pretty Tori flirts relentlessly with him and Joan is sure that she can’t compete. But with a little help from God, Allie, and an enormous mutt with bad manners, maybe Joan can find her way out of this rut and into the life she’s been hiding from.

Book 1 of the Sister-to-Sister series, Stuck in the Middle combines budding romance, spiritual searching, and a healthy dose of sibling rivalry that is sure to make you smile.

“A gentle story of one young woman’s season of growth, deftly blending the tangle of family relationships with gifts of whimsey and revelation. A joy to read.”
~SHARON HINCK, author of Renovating Becky Miller and Symphony of Secrets~

“Virginia Smith has created a charming and humerous novel that celebrates small-town life, generations of women caring for each other, and the value of finding a deeper, more active faith.”
~SHARON DUNN, author of the Bargain Hunters mysteries~

Buy the book: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0800732324

Virginia can be reached through the Contact link on her Website

Heart. What is close to your heart? Does heart disease run in your family? Would you say your heart is in good shape? Would you ever consider donating your heart after passing away? Why or why not?

My family — my husband, my children, my grandchildren are all close to my heart. Yes, heart disease does run in my family. I would venture to say my heart is not in good shape. Several years ago, it was detected that my heart was beating out of rhythm. After a week of trying different medicines to get it back into rhythm, they sent me home from the hospital, with a prescription of Coumadin and Toprol, and its something I live with every day. Some days are better than others. I take the Coumadin to keep clots from forming. Because it is out of rhythm,  the blood doesn’t pump through my heart at a steady pace like it should, and this tends to let blood pool in one of the chambers.  Coumadin keeps my blood thin enough to keep clots from forming in that pooled blood.

A side note:  after various tests, it was determined that severe sleep apnea caused it go out of rhythm.  And we probably let it go long enough (we just thought I just had an annoying snoring problem…), that my heart will probably never go back in rhythm.

So, in light of this, donating my heart is probably not an option.  I have made (and I made it before any of this happened) the decision to be an organ donor … if I have anything healthy enough that can be used to make someone else’s life better, then that is the path I want to take.  My soul will go to heaven,  and that is all that matters.

I wish it was as easy as taking something like Hydroxycut to solve the weight problem I have. But, it goes way beyond just taking a pill or injections or even surgery. I need to get things straightened out in my head, and get myself on a healthy lifestyle change before any kind of weight loss program will work. And I haven’t quite found that within myself yet. There are so many pills and “solutions” on the market; but I feel like I am so limited to what I can take. With my heart being out of rhythm, and taking Coumadin on a daily basis, I have to be really careful with what other medications I take. Even my doctor won’t prescribe anything that will help with weight loss — even though he knows how desperately I need help in that area. Most of those things on the market, don’t play well with the medications I take. So, I don’t allow myself to become adventurous with pills and such, because I don’t know what will interact OK with my Coumadin and Metropol, and I don’t want to chance an adverse reaction. When I get my head in the game, I need to do it the “old fashioned” way — good food choices, the proper amount of carlorie intake and exercise.

You don’t dare leave your change laying around our house. David is always on the lookout for quarters. And Ethan tends to take change out of his pocket, and then not put it back in his pocket when he gets ready the next day. If it lays there more than a couple of days, David lays claim to it. He doesn’t now, but a few months back, he had collected and rolled over $500 in quarters alone. We probably should have used tsa locks to keep them safe. But, we never had any problems with it, other than a roll or two here and there when one of us would run sort of cash at the end of the week. But, we figured we had contributed enough of them along the way, that if we needed to use a roll here and there, it would be OK. David ended up cashing them in, and using them at Christmas time. And now…he starts again.

Because I take Coumadin on a continuous basis, getting blood drawn is a weekly to a monthly experience. I understand the need for doctors and nurses and other hospital personel to wear exam gloves, but as I watch the lab technician feel around for a vein to draw my blood, I do not understand how they can feel what they are looking for through the latex. And there are some that can’t. They will take the glove off to feel around on my arm, locate the spot, and then put the glove back on and proceed to stick me. *sigh. Its getting harder and harder to convince myself that I need to keep doing this. For the longest time, there was one certain spot they could draw blood — it didn’t hurt and they got blood first time, every time. But I think the needle has worn out its welcome at that particular spot. They still continue to use it — it must be a good vein. But now they sometimes have to move the needle around before they “strike oil”. But. If I value my life, then I need to continue to take Coumadin. And if I take Coumadin, then getting stuck with a needle is just part of it. There are worse things in life — I could be diabetic and have to poke myself with a needle several times a day. So, I will count my blessings, and continue doing what I’m doing.