Writing - the ups and downs

The visit with our daughter Jill, her husband Jason, and the four grandchildren in Wisconsin went by too quickly. We were able to spend some special time with Jill when the family was gone. We took her to lunch and she and I did lots of shopping by ourselves. I found the thrift stores in Wisconsin to be full of treasures. I came home with a beautiful nativity set, two pairs of jeans, a top, and a sweater. All looked new. Some with tags. Jackson, their French Bulldog, and Samson, their English Bulldog were excited to see us. We are not dog people but we were able to exist peacefully. We got a kick out of both dogs for all their individual traits. Jackson guards food. It doesn't matter who has the food he stands on guard until every morsel is gone, I'm assuming to make sure he gets a crumb if it drops. He chases Samson away from the food area. And just looking at chunky Samson brings a smile to your face. While R hung around the house I went to three fourth grade classes on

We're getting ready for a change in scenery. Tomorrow we head to Milwaukee from our home in Ohio to visit our youngest four grandchildren - Chase, Tanner, and Mackenzie - triplets - who will turn 10 while we are there. And Austin Cole who just turned 6. And our daughter Jill and her husband Jason. We are so excited we can't stand it. I've been packing our bags and tucking in treats and little gifts all week. We visited the neaby Apple Barn and bought fresh apple butter,  honey and apples to take to them. You'd think we were taking a trip to Europe, the way we've been assembling items. Don't forget to take this or that, we keep reminding each other. Of course at our age, it's DO NOT forget to pack your prescriptions. We'll only be gone a week but you'd think we were going for the winter. We both look forward to the change in scenery. Especially with fall here and the leaves putting on a grand and colorful show. Our trip will take us through In

Thanks to the beauty of October and it's brisk refreshing days,  I've been hard at work again on my writing project - THE NOVEL.  I've been rewriting all 312 pages of it and its nearing the finish line. I passed page 215 in the rewrite yesterday. I'm updating and tweaking the story. Once it's finished I have some new places to send it to. Keep those fingers crossed. This book has been a work in progress for ten years from the day I had the idea to now. It's grown by leaps and bounds. It's been around to dozens of places and has a fair amount of rejections. Okay, a huge stack. On the other hand it's won one award and gained praise from many readers, editors and agents. My dream has been to see this book published. My long ago goal was to sell short stories and essays. Those goals have been met. Now it's back to the big dream. The published novel. If the Lord's willing and the creek don't rise and  I experience no other disaster