Contracts in the Mail!

   Not one but two contracts in the mail today!  From Highlights, for the rhymes I submitted for Hello magazine for babies.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that they paid almost twice what I've been paid for my rhymes for High Five!  A very nice birthday surprise.
   Still no word on jobs, but a visitor from Jemez Springs made me glad I was free to go have lunch.  Amy from the Village Office is treating herself to a road trip and planning to leave her unhappy situation, and it was great to visit with her.

    I'm turning 61 Saturday, and although I'm unemployed (except for home care a few hours a week)and sharing a bedroom with a load of Jeremy's stuff, I have a lot to be grateful for.  I'm in my own home, which is worth more than I owe on it.  I have my family, my health, my beloved old dog, and I have had more success with my writing this past year than ever before.  I'm living on credit cards, but hopefully I'll be working soon. Like lots of families in this poor economy, we have three generations under one roof, and we are working it out.  We are all healthy, and we are far more fortunate than many struggling families.  My writing will be on the back burner while I look for work, but I will return to it soon.  And on my next birthday, I can claim Social Security!

On to the Next Chapter

  Well, I was visiting family in Colorado when I got the word that I did not get the reading coach job, after taking out a big fat loan to get my reading masters and volunteering for two years.  It absolutely broke my heart, and things weren't going well at home, and my kids seemed like they could use my help, so I decided to quit my beloved library job (17 hrs. a week just wasn't enough) and move home.  My old cowboy was very hurt and angry, and he gave me one night to get everything out of his house. My friend Kathy came over and we dumped drawers into trash bags and stuffed things in boxes and suitcases, all to be sorted later.  Kathy took me home and fed me and let me stay in her beautiful guest room, and stored whatever I couldn't fit in my Meg's SUV.
   I went back to Colorado and returned Megan's Denali, and came back to Jemez Springs to finish my last two shifts at the library.  On Friday night the Animal Amigos held a party for me, and on Saturday night, Eva brought me to Los Ojos and a party with the Friends of the Library.  The outpouring of love was amazing!  I took all that I could pack in my car and came back to Glenwood.  Bit by bit I'm unpacking and getting settled, and looking for work.
  Writing has gone to the back burner.  One of my first pieces of forwarded mail was a rejection letter for a story I really love, "My Two Grandmas," rejected by Boyds Mills.  But, my story Baseball Buns, which had been rejected by Highlights ages ago, was accepted by the site Knowonder, which is an app for parents to download a new story every day.  My first app story--what a great new market!  And although the app is free to parents, they do pay their authors.
   I still have several submitted pieces out there, and I may just wait to hear on them before I start writing and submitting again.  My first priority is finding a job.