Seeking, again.

I just discovered today that we are seeking a new pastor for our church.

There's something hauntingly numbing about that. Perhaps it's because it's still sinking in, and that we only had her for five years.

That sixth sense of mine had me suspecting our pastor's resignation was on it's way, but still, I find myself anxious about the search that is about to ensue.

I'm curious, if your church has recently undergone a pastor search, what did you find helpful in seeking and narrowing down candidates? I'm not on the search committee, nor would I wish to be. But I'm wondering how other church's have included the mass parishioners in helping with the search so that the best fit for all is found.

Was a survey performed, perhaps? If so, what questions helped define the church's needs?

Please pray for our church as a whole as we traverse this pastor hunt once again, and also pray for our pastor who has made this difficult decision to resign. Many souls are affected when a pastor leaves. Strength and healing are just two of the things we need. In God's amazing grace we will get through this, though, I know.

May you all have a blessed weekend. For us in Canada, it's a long one--Thanksgiving Weekend. Happy Thanksgiving to all us Canadians!


Surrendering to Him,

Eileen

Spare Time Any One?

It occurred to me as I watched my girls settle into yet another show season that I'm not all that familiar with what my blog buddies do in their spare time from Writing? Do you all work outside the home? Are you raising wee ones that I know requires an amazing amount of time? Do you sew regularly?

What's the first thing that comes to mind that you enjoy doing when you're not putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard to write? I added the "enjoy" qualifier because I'm not looking for laundry or toilet scrubbing duties here. I want to know what else feeds your soul other than writing.

I'll go first.

Right now, the first thing that pops into my mind is that I'm a horse mom. What does that mean? It means I spend countless hours at a stable watching my three girls ride all year long, every week. During show season, which in our area begins this week and doesn't end until October, I spend countless hours on the road following our horse tucked safely in a trailer to get to the show destination. Then I spend the days roaming the show grounds, toting Gatorade or waters for my girls, and just plain helping wherever needed to minimize the stress battling to overcome the riders in this competitive sport.

And, yes, I love it! I'm a huge animal lover, and feel so blessed that God has allowed us to own a big beautiful horse with as kind a heart as any I've met in these past ten years of being a horse mom.

The pics are of our Donner (show name: Donnerell) during our schooling day yesterday at Palgrave. Alisha, my oldest daughter, is the one riding him. Donner just turned six on April 25th and this will be his first year of showing. When we took him up to the show rings yesterday we had no idea how he'd be. If he'd spook? Refuse to listen to commands? Or be scared out of his mind? Our coach had warned us for months that he may not be ready to show until much later in the season if at all this year. It all depends on the horse's temperament and how they respond to the show rings.

Well, Donner amazed us all, including the coach. Alisha said he was the easiest he's ever been to canter (keeping him in control) and he didn't spook at a single jump in the ring either, even with them all spiffed up to look pretty and show worthy. So, this Sunday we'll be witnessing Donner in his first show. How he'll compare to all the other horses and riders I have no idea, and honestly to me it's quite irrelevent. I just wanted him to make it this far for my girls to get to show again because I know they love it.

I'm just so proud of my girls for all their hard work with Donner. And I'm proud of our Donner for being so good for my girls. Together, they've built a trust in each other that I know will go a long way in making this show season a positive, fun experience for all.

So now that I've done my bragging, I want to hear you brag on. Other than writing, what do you do that fills your spirit with joy? I hope you'll share!



Surrendering to Him,

Eileen

Hawaii Introduced Me To A New Series--But it's not CBA.

First, a little trip down memory lane. We recently returned from a family vacation in Maui.

The plumeria flower is so beautiful, I just had to take a close-up of it. Every time I look at this picture I see my girls as they were in Maui. Each wearing a plumeria clip proudly in their hair, smiling more often than I have ever seen them do, and even giggling more too. I want to go back!


Notice those hair clips on our girls?

Wouldn't it have been marvelous if one of the many humpback whales that play so often in this water would have breached just as the photo was taken? If you look carefully though, dead center in the background, just before the next island comes into view, you can see a spot of spray from one. We loved to sit out on our lanai each morning and watch them show their stuff. It was literally a humpback whales playground out in this part of the ocean while we were there. Such a gift to see!

Okay, these are just palm trees, BUT, these are special ones! At least to me they are. These are fuzzy ones! Notice how full they are? They had far more layers of spikes than the average palm did. Can anyone familiar with palm trees tell me what variety these are, or are they just young ones? How I wish I could grow a garden beneath these magnificent palms in my own back yard. And now I look out and see the foot of snow covering our ground and know that will never be. All the more reason to get myself back to Hawaii then, right! Oh, please!

Okay, back to reality time. Now onto the real reason why I'm posting today--I want to share news about a book series that I really love. Now if you're the type to only read CBA material, then you might want to skip the rest of this post, because Emily March's new Eternity Springs series isn't technically CBA, but it sure does have Christian faith parts within it, and that's one of the reasons I'm so drawn to it.

On our last day in Hawaii we stopped into a book store and I discovered Angel's Rest sitting lonely on a cardboard stand with books from a totally different genre. Someone had obviously taken a peak, then dropped it on their tracks to the exit, and I'm so very glad they did! Their loss is my wonderful gain.

Since reading Angel's Rest I snagged the second novel, Hummingbird Lake, in the series a day before the actual release date at Chapters and have finished it, too. Can't wait for April's release of the third installment in the series, Heartache Falls. Which, from the excerpt in the back of Hummingbird Lake I suspect will be the most meaningful for me as the empty nest syndrome draws near. With our oldest heading for University in the fall, and our youngest jumping into high school as our never-meant-to-be-lost-in-the-middle daughter begins her eleventh grade I'm sure I'll be able to relate to Ali Timberlake in many ways. I'm really excited about reading this next one. Maybe it'll help me prepare for what's ahead and build more romance into my marriage too!

So, here's the link to Amazon.com for a peak at this series.

Use the click to look inside option to see if you like Emily March's writing as much as I do!

Till next time, keep healthy, be happy, and write on...

Surrendering to Him,
Eileen

As Writing Isn't for the Weak Hearted, Training...

our cats that our furniture isn't beautified scratching posts just for them isn't easy, either.

We've tried spraying our furniture with perfume (an idea given courtesy of one of my sisters) only to cough and sputter due to a much too overpowering scent. As nice as it may be sprayed on a human body, let me tell you, it is not nice to inhale once sprayed over several pieces of furniture. And our house is open concept. Can't imagine what it would have been like if done in a closed room. Anyway, after nearly dying of massive headaches and raw-throat appeal, that didn't work, either.

In the interest of being humane to my pets and any other creature that roams this earth, I really don't want to send them for de-clawing, so if anyone has any great suggestions as to how to get these silly cats to use the scratching posts given to them rather than our furniture for their obvious need, I'd love to hear it, or read it, as the case may be in blogland.

Praying you all are inspired with something grand today that makes you smile lots!!!

(P.S. My daughters still haven't sent me any pics to upload of our dear equine Penny. Haven't forgotten, still working on getting it to show off their beautiful filly. Oh, and here's a line that hubby said the other night that really cracked me up "We need to save our pennies for Penny." Hee Hee! But boy is he right on that!)

Jan.14th update.

Thanks all for your great suggestions! Keep them coming as I head out to get tape that won't destroy my leather, more tinfoil, and more scratching posts. I'm good with the catnip for smothering on the posts as Santa seemed to have a huge supply of that this year. Thanks too, to all who comment with or without suggestions for this problem of mine. I love reading all your comments! Thanks so much!

Now, onto the pics. Meet Penny. Isn't she beautiful!

Penny and Sabrina.


Penny and Alisha.

Aren't they all beautiful together?

Surrendering to Him,

Eileen

Monday...Again!

2010 is already going way too fast for me. How about you?

The Watson household is in deep alteration this year. Not just physically with a hoped-for major main floor renovation, but mom and dad (being Phil and I) after years of skirting it have finally plunged into the leasing-a-horse mode for our two oldest daughters. It's actually a large pony they are leasing and preparing to show in the A-circuit around here. This means major change around the home-front.

It means that mom is at the barn five afternoons a week watching said daughters ride Penny, said large pony, and girls are building major thigh muscle and toughness with a new coach who loves no-stirrup work. My crock-pot is getting work-out in all of this, too.

So, not only am I busy drawing up possible floor plans for our new kitchen and location of current kitchen, family room and dining room, along with scouting possible contractors, I'm at the barn way more (starting to sound like my teenage daughters here--scary!)

The interesting thing about all this is that I am at peace with it all even though it has put my writing on the back burner. So I've deemed 2010 a year of horses, renovation inside the house and renovation of old works of writing. Although I'd planned in late 2009 to write a teen novel for my girls early this year, that's going to have to wait. The plot wasn't meshing like I'd hoped in my mind and so it needs more time to knit together as I continue on with 2010. Who knows, perhaps I need to experience the A-circuit living to find the missing pieces since it definitely has equestrian life in it for my girls to enjoy.

I'm starting with revisions and edits of The Unlikely One (that's the story that finalled in the Genesis contest). It'll go slow, I have no doubt, but again, I'm at peace with that. If I get it polished and ready for submitting by the end of the year, I'll deem my writing for 2010 a success.

Of course, that's what I say and feel today. God reserves the right to drive me differently at any point in time. And I say to God, "Bring it on my Master. Lead me, mold me, use me to Your Good Works. Amen."

My question for you all today is this: What are you feeling peace about lately?

(P.S. I'll try and get my girls to send me a picture of beautiful Penny and add it to this post tonight so you can see the newest addition to our family that is becoming very time-consuming.)


Surrendering to Him,

Eileen

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Christmas!

Can you believe that there are only eleven days before Christmas Day arrives? And, for me, only five days left before the kiddos are home for their two-week Christmas break? Astonishing!! Really, that's how it feels to me. The days are whizzing by at top speed.

We celebrated my eldest daughter's sixteenth birthday this past weekend with a surprise sleepover for her. It seemed to go over very well. Planning for that while dealing with a whole revamp of our laundry room stole all my writing time last week and I'm missing it. Feeling guilty, but yet, I know the sacrifice had to be made. Do you ever feel that way? Wishing you were two people so you could fit all you want and need to do in? This time of year makes me with for that often.

These next two weeks are looking to be just as busy as last, but somehow I'm going to see that word count start rising again to finish my Nano story. How about you guys, will you be taking a well-deserved break from writing during the Christmas break, or will you pressing onward, getting those words in?


Surrendering to Him,

Eileen

11 Days until we widely celebrate Jesus's Birthday on Christmas Day around the World!

General Consensus

Thanks all for your ever-present encouragement regarding my contemplating to write a YA novel for my girls!! It may never see the light of day outside our home, likely won't, but I do believe I'd regret not doing this for them, so I'm going to give it a try early next year.

So, since the majority of you say "go for it", guess what I'm going to ask next.

Any suggested readings? What my girls are after is not a sci-fi, fantasy type novel, but rather a contemporary normal-to-life one. Of course it needs to have horses in it somewhere and high school. I have a basic idea, with my girls help, of how to start plotting, but I really should read a few books in this genre before I come up with the 2 to 4 page synopsis that gets me going. So any suggested readings for a contemporary, no sci-fi, no fantasy, YA novels that I should pick up and devour and study?

Some of you were so kind to send me your suggestions via email after my Monday's post. Thanks so much. I'm wondering if I'll see any repeated titles to help me get started by asking here too.

In other news:

Writing has halted for me this week with Sixteenth Birthday Planning, Christmas planning, Clothes dryer on the fritz which resulted in a huge reworking of the laundry room, so if you've noticed that my novel word counter hasn't changed, that's why. I'm brewing the ending in my mind as I clean, organize, bake and plan away. Now let's hope that snowball effect we talked about last week doesn't sweep me in and roll all over me, right!!!

Also, my girls are totally bummed. They really thought they'd have a snow day today with the snow and freezing rain we're getting, but alas, the school board feels they can bear it. Huge Bummer!


Surrendering to Him,

Eileen

16 Days until we widely celebrate Jesus's Birthday on Christmas Day around the World!

A Story Just For ?

My girls have asked me several times to write a YA story. They even offer suggested story lines--very bare bones story lines, mind you, that I have no idea how to build a whole novel from, but their eagerness exhilarates me for sure.

So would you attempt to write a story outside your chosen genre if your teen asked you to? Would you ponder doing so for more than a moment's passing?

So far I keep putting the task off, but the seed of a YA story has been drawing in nutrients for a while and I'm now debating if I should let it have some sunlight in January as my next new project. Seriously, would you devote a couple months minimum to tackle a story for your children? Or would you leave it to the pros who actually know how to write in that genre and keep honing the craft with story writing you know best?


Surrendering to Him,

Eileen

18 Days until we widely celebrate Jesus's Birthday on Christmas Day around the World!

I DID IT!!!!

The first draft of The Unlikely One is finished.

Coming in at 59,197 words, it has room to shrink.

As all my stories do!

I'm a little numb right now. Pleasantly content with my accomplishment, but not over-enthusiastic at all. Maybe finishing a story on Halloween night, in the midst of tricker treaters can't compete with the fun of gifting scarecrows, pirates, spidermen, and prisoners with chips and various sugary treats. Or maybe I'm just exhausted, and know this isn't the end of working with Fiona and Carter.

In any case, The Unlikely One will rest in a safe place on my hard drive, and backup version too, until after NaNoWriMo, when I'll come back to it for its first round of many revisions. That leaves me a month to sharpen those editing knives.

So thankful for the gift of a new story to span the break between first draft and edits. Can't wait to get started on The Innkeeper's Christmas tomorrow. [Rubbing hands together in anticipation.]

What about you? How do you honestly feel when you finish that first draft? Is it different with each story? Is it bitter sweet?


Surrendering to Him,

Eileen

p.s. These are the carvings my daughters did this year. The top one is a horse head. She drew it freehand and carved it wonderfully, I think. I'm so impressed!!

Birthday Celebrations!

October 22nd marks two special birthdays in my family. Two individuals who are very dear to me, so I had to give them a little tribute by posting birthday wishes for them today. (Maybe they'll stop by and actually see it, too!)

Mom and Hubby (Phil)!!!

I hope you have the best tasting cake and ice cream today, and blessings fall like confetti on each of you, too!

And the girls would hate me if I didn't include them in on this little tribute, so...

We love you both loads and loads, Nana/Mom and Fazoo (Dad)/Handsome!

Love,
Eileen, Alisha, Sabrina, and Cassandra!

XXXXXXXXXOOOOOOOO

Love Is...

A Battlefield.







Katie, thanks for this!! (For those who didn't notice, last week, Katie mentioned that my Love Is... Friday's always have her singing Love is A Battlefield.)

And some days it sure seems like one, doesn't it? I'm deviating from the romantic relationships in our lives with this post, though even they can seem like a battlefield at times too, but this week has posed a different kind of war zone for my family and I find myself relying on unconditional love to get me through.

Now, first, let me define my definition of unconditional love. It's loving even before you achieve any measure of bonding. It's loving despite anything, and I do mean, anything, because that's what makes the world a happier place!

Well, this week, my family, which is mainly me since I'm the one home alone all day, each day, has been working on integrating these two little rescued bundles

Noelle a.k.a. Bella & Emma

with these two well-established, well-loved, and very set-in-their-ways furs

Tucker & Tippy

As a result, there has been a lot of hissing, spine curling, spitting, barking, and chasing going on around our home. And all in the midst of my annual juicing. Oh what amazing fun! So, yes, love is a battlefield quite literally in our household as of late, and it's only love that is getting me through it!!

And praise God, it seems to be working. There are far longer cease fires between the open fires as the days pass by and so far no eyeballs have been plucked out, either. All's good when the animals still have their sight, even if their brains seem to be MIA!

So when was the last time you were involved in a battlefield? Did you have fun making up, or in our case, celebrating (what we hope to be doing soon with our integrated pets--oh, please Lord, let it be soon!)? And what did you learn from the whole experience? A better understanding of a loved one? Patience? How to use earplugs? That perseverance pays off? Oh, the list could go on and on...

Surrendering to Him,

Eileen

Goals?

Ever since my children started attending school, I have found myself in the quiet still of our home on the first day of school pondering goals.

Some of my goals are clearly kitchen related:

What interesting and nutritious meals can I prepare this school year for breakfast, packed lunches, after school snack, and supper? How can I vary them enough to keep my girls happy and satisfied? Funny how hubby takes the backseat with this set of goals. He's by far the easiest to please in the food category.

The apple french toast with prepared fresh fruit seemed to go over well this morning, so that's one meal I'll add to my rotating list for breakfast foods. I suspect the chicken caesar salad I prepared for their lunches will be equally satisfying, so I'm penning that into my rotating lunch menu. Snack and dinner I'm still at a loss for as of yet. Suggestions are welcome. Please!


Other goals are household chore related. You know, a schedule to scrub the toilet, shower stall, bathroom and kitchen floor, fridge clean-out, dust, vacuum, the never-ending laundry days that really need not be scheduled because it's really become like breathing--constant, force of habit.


Church responsibilities and spiritual growth is another one I tackle. How many devotions will I have time to ponder each week. When would be the best time to enjoy them and spend time with my Lord, listening for His answers, hearing His responses? Making sure we have the education hours at church all lined up and ready so that our congregation can be nourished by one another is another concern to keep track of often. I want to tithe my time to God, but as I look at all the other goals piling up, I'm tempted to plead "there just isn't enough time", and then I'm reminded that without Him, there would be no need for any of these goals, so He must come first.

Today's devotion was on Joy. Acknowledging the joy in your life. I'm joyful to have a life so full that I must prioritize and organize, and I'm joyful that I know that God will help do just that!!


And then we get to the fun writing goals. I tend to break this one down to yearly goal, monthly goals, and daily/weekly goals.

Yearly (and I go by school calendar for this, Sept./09 to August/10) : I'd love to write "get published" under this goal list, but if I'm truly writing for God, and trusting Him to lead and guide and answer, I feel what I really need offer in this yearly goal instead is three polished manuscripts (polished to the best of my abilities now) along with submissions of each to at least two targeted publishers. I write for God, therefore every manuscript I create I not only learn and grow in the art of writing, but I grow as a human being, as God's child. I stretch my comfort zone when I write, tackle tough emotional issues, and so if what God teaches me through these stories He lays on my heart are only for my spiritual and maturation growth, then I am joyful and grateful for His guiding me through that. If my stories are to help others and entertain others, then I know when God feels I'm ready, He will find the publisher for them. So all I have to do is write to the best of my ever-improving ability, grow in all kinds of directions, and send out knowing He's in total control!

Monthly: Well, for September, it's obviously centered around the ACFW conference. Preparing for it, and then organizing and absorbing all that I learned while at it. For October through December, I'll be polishing The Unlikely One with all that I learned at conference, and send a proposal for it out to at least one publishing house by Christmas. The rest of the year will be rewriting and polishing two of my current written stories. They need a lot of work, so it'll take me the eight months to deal with them. So the conundrum is: where do I fit in writing the story burning in my heart right now? It's a sequel to The Unlikely One, and I know who and where to go for the research of my hero's career, and subsequently, I know exactly where my tithing will go if this story should ever sell.

Have you ever pondered that? What organization will benefit from your tithing of income on each of your stories? I love thinking of this. It makes me all giddy to think that if God sees fit to have my stories published, that I'll actually be able to tithe from the sale of them. Not only is God blessing me hugely with growth in so many ways by encouraging me to write these stories, but if they make money one day, He's blessing me with the opportunity to help others financially as well. My first story is centered around creating a riding stable for the disabled. If A New Beginning ever sells, not only will my church and all the programs we support benefit from a portion of the tithing of sales, but Pride Stables, where I did research for that book, and where real horses therapeutically help the disabled, will also gain financially from that story.


Weekly/Daily: These I will create at the beginning of each week/day. They might include word count, certain proposals written, character sketches, research done, etc. They will be pretty specific. This week, I'm working on my proposal, gathering all needed for the early bird session at conference, and thinking packing-the-suitcase and all that that entails.


I've gone way to long on this post. Sorry. It's really more a diary post for me. But if you can gleam something from it, I praise God for that too!


Surrendering to Him,

Eileen

Allergic to Deep Cleaning?

Does anyone experience what I'm enduring right now?

Since Monday I've been deep cleaning our house in preparation for the family gathering on Saturday. As I go along, I'm discovering that only a small portion of it will actually be complete, as each room is taking me way longer than expected--especially with all the sneezing, weepy eyes, and runny nose getting in the way! My head is driving me nuts.

The dust motes are jumping for joy and celebrating their victory over me taking so long to get to them! Hate it when I make dirt happy!

Anyway, tomorrow is blog garden tour day for me. And since my gardens aren't near as nice as they should be, I'll strategically capture in my camera lens what looks semi-presentable and share only those pictures. I'll also share an old-fashioned lemonade recipe for this little garden party. I hope others will join me in posting a picture or two of their favorite flower, vegetable plant, grass, or whatever is growing in your yard now that you thank God for.

We'll continue with Writing the Breakout Novel learnings next week. Too busy with cleaning this week to put into words what I've captured so far in my reads lately. It certainly is deserving of this second read and many more, I'm discovering.

Surrendering to Him,

Eileen

Oh, Life at the Cottage...

We had a wonderful time last week. I hope you all had a great week too!

To ease back into life as is, here are a few pictures from my week at the cottage.

Canoing

The kids doing dishes while having fun--Major Accomplishment!!

Our Furs enjoying the water.

Sand Castle Building

Campfires!

And for those who were wondering--Spider (Spidy) Wieners. Yummy!

I look forward to catching up on everyone's blogs. It may take me the week. But I will catch up! Along with going through my 710 emails awaiting my attention.

Have a blessed week everyone!


Surrendering to Him,

Eileen

Unplug Week

So this is the middle of my unplug week (these posts were made last week and scheduled), and I'm sure by now I'm feeling withdrawal badly. I'm wanting to hear all the news of my blogging buddies, wanting to laugh, cringe, cry with you all, but alas, I'm working on doing all that with my family whom I'm sure are very supportive ;)...really!

Hopefully I'll have some great stories and pics to share when I get back. But what I'm really worried about is being the last one to hear big news. Isn't that sad, I'm even competitive in the news department. Regardless, I am praying that you all have a wonderful week and that big wonderful celebration type news from you guys awaits me upon my return. I'll be cheering with you and for you in spirit if not in the comment sections this week. And to make this writing related, I'm thinking my heroine needs to be more competitive to up the steaks in my current story.

Anyone ever written a competitive character before? How did you do it without it coming across as obsessive?

Keep smiling everyone!


Surrendering to Him,

Eileen

Winner of Return To Love...

Congratulations to T. Anne! My middle daughter picked your ballot. Please send me your snail mail address to eileenastels[at]rogers[dot]com for me to send this fun read out to you.

Thanks everyone who commented on my slush pile post. You guys are an awesome, encouraging, and wonderful bunch of blogging buddies! Have no fear, I am right back into finishing my current ms. The goal is to have it ready for conference too. Big goal, so I must stay focused.

The ROM was great yesterday with hubby. They only had fragments of a few of the Dead Sea Scrolls on exhibit and no pictures were aloud. But the wealth of information displayed was awesome, and we loved seeing so many other exhibits as well. The highlight of the day, though, was the flooding. Seriously, what took us one hour and twenty minutes to travel in the morning, took nearly four hours in the evening because of stalling cars and the highway getting flooded from a torrential downpour. AMAZING!! Like driving through a lake, and we could only that by squeezing into the left lane. Definite sewage or engineering issues in that part of the highway.

What's the weirdest thing you've ever experienced on one of your excursions?


Surrendering to Him,

Eileen

Can You Take Just One?

Last week I got some wonderful activity ideas from you great blogging buddies for our upcoming week at the cottage, so today I'm going to share a couple recipes that will be going with my family to the cottage. If you have some tried and true recipes to share too, I'd love to have them. My family and I will be in the kitchen pre-preparing for our week at the cottage, as well as packing up a storm. So here's my recipes to share:

Elephant Ears

1/2 dozen eggs
4 to 6 cups flour
1 cup sugar

Mix ingredients until dough is firm, not runny. Keep adding flour until a good consistency for rolling is achieved, but not too dry.

Roll dough flat until just under a 1/4 inch thick. Cut into strips about 1 inch wide and then cut those strips diagonally every four inches or so. Cut a hole in the center of each 4-inch segment and draw one end through the center to make a twist in the dough.

Fry in pre-heated oil until golden brown. Remove from oil and sprinkle with sugar immediately, while still piping hot. (Must be careful of not heating the oil too much, or these will burn easily.)

The recipe doesn't sound like much, but trust me, these are addictive, and a great change from chips. They stay fresh quite a while sealed in an airtight container, too.


And now for a recipe with some alcohol in it for those who don't mind a drink now and again. We used to love sipping on one of these while walking the beach of Lake Superior in Batchawana Bay, Ontario. It's one of my sister's favorites, and even the men enjoyed this girly drink too. It makes a huge batch, so you'll want to have lots of adult friends around to share it with.

Slush

1 cup Galliano
2 cups Vodka
2 cups strong tea
2 cups sugar
1 can orange juice
1 can lemonade
6 cups water

Dissolve sugar in hot tea and add all other ingredients. Freeze in a 4 litre ice cream tub. At serving time, mix half cup slush with half cup gingerale or sprite, and enjoy! Very tasty!


Don't forget, I'm giving away a copy of Betsy St. Amant's Return to Love on Wednesday of this week. If you haven't entered the drawing yet, click here and leave a comment to be entered.


Surrendering to Him,

Eileen

Preparing for the Cottage

I'm getting so excited. In less than two weeks we are packing up and heading to cottage country--the whole family, dogs included--one full week of bonding, fun, and relaxation time together.

We won't have Internet access, so that'll be my unplug week. Now, this could be a problem, though, for my munchkins, two of which are huge fans of the Internet and use it to interact with their multitude of teenage friends. So, in order to keep them busy and minimize their Internet withdrawal symptoms, I'm trying to come up with some fun activities that can keep us all busy, and happy.

Here's what I have so far:

Cards
Balderdash
Go-karting (it's near our cottage, but $$ dictates that this won't be a regular event throughout the week)
Camp fires with lots of smore ingredients and spidy wieners

and...

that's it. I know, that's a sad list, isn't it!

Anyone have any suggestions? I'd love to hear them!

Hope you'll stop by on Friday for a quick interview with author Betsy St. Amant and a book giveaway offer, and then on Monday, I'll share a couple favorite cottage recipes I have from many moons ago that we always took to the cottage prior to becoming parents. If you have a great cottage recipe of your own, I hope you'll share it on Monday too. We'll be pre-preparing snacks and meals to take with us on vacation throughout next week. Some new ones to try would be wonderful!


Surrendering to Him,

Eileen

A Little of This, and a Little of That...

It's vacation week in our household and as a result I'm scatter-brained and still in a lot of pain due to pulling too many weeds and transplanting too many varieties. We dropped our girls off at horse camp yesterday after a weekend of packing and preparing for it. They were so excited!

Hubby is off for a few days this week, one is today, and maybe tomorrow--his work load is dictating day-by-day. So depending on his schedule I may not be around much this week.

Twitter and Facebook runners, have you got yourselves linked? If not, check out this article on Connecting Twitter to Facebook. It's simple enough that it worked for me. I'm in search of an article that links blog updates to Facebook and Twitter too, so if you find one please let me know. Or something that reveals how to create a tiny URL would be helpful too.

No writing happened this weekend for me, what about you? What about today? Who's going to join me to aim for 2000 words today? I better get writing before hubby wakes up. I pray we all have a productive and blessed Monday!


Surrendering to Him,
Eileen

A Canadian Holiday

I hope you all are having a fabulous day! For my Canadian readers, Happy Canada Day! and for our neighbours south of the border, may you guys have much fun preparing for your July 4th celebration just around the corner.

I was up early this morning to write, and look forward to a day of celebrating with my hubby and youngest daughter. We'll be heading over to Columbia Lake for the celebration festival and catching the fireworks later at night. It should be a fun day if the rain holds off.

What's on your celebration agenda? Ever thought of writing a scene in your books regarding your country's anniversary celebrations? My current story is set in summer, so I could write a Canada Day celebration in this one. Hmmm, now I know what I'll be watching for as the day goes on. Story fodder. What about you?

P.S. Aren't these post-it notes cute? Steena Holmes introduced me to them, they're fun to create and easy too. If you like the concept, check out Superstickies to create your own. I'll be watching to see how fast they make the blog circuit.

Surrendering to Him,

Eileen