By Julie on 5/29/2009 7:28 PM

If you are a writer of articles, books, blogs, journals, or just about anything creative, you have inevitably run into the dreaded "writer's block." You think and think and still cannot put words to keyboard.

I discovered WritingFix.com sometime back and it has been very useful for writer's block. You can access random writing prompts to get your ideas flowing with The Daily Prompt Generator. There are also Quick Writing Prompts for Kids, Right-Brained Writing Prompts, and Left-Brained Writing Prompts.

These writing prompts are also great for teachers to work with their students in a classroom setting or homeschooling.

In addition to writing prompts, the ... Read More »

By Julie on 5/27/2009 7:22 PM

At the cabin where we stayed in Arkansas, there is a little one lane road that runs in front. On down the road are three more cabins (you can see one of the other cabins here on the far left.) Looking up at the mountain there is a mist that almost looks like smoke. It is very peaceful there.

We did a driving tour of the town of Mena which was heavily hit by a tornado on Holy Thursday this year, April 9. Many old and wonderful hundred year old houses were completely damaged or destoyed. The landscape looked so different with acres of trees missing across the the town. And three people lost their life in that tornado.

By Julie on 5/26/2009 7:35 PM

Here I am. Back again. I was going to post while I was in Arkansas but the dial-up internet was so maddening that I gave up on it. Here's an example: when I finished the dial-up process, I brought up my website, went to my log-in page, and logged in. Total time from bringing up my site to actually getting logged in: 12 minutes. Isn't that insane?

It rained the entire time we were there so the planned geocaching and hiking trips were cancelled. We sat around the cabin the entire time and slowly relaxed. Our lives are so busy and crazy that it was very nice to relax. We played board games and crossword puzzles. We read books. We watched tv. And we ate good food (except for the pinto beans with rosemary and sage we were served one evening. I like pinto beans and I like rosemary and sage. But not all together. It simply tastes awful to me.)

Now I have returned to my office rested and ready to take on the builds of three more international websites we are working on ... Read More »

By Julie on 5/22/2009 7:13 AM

I am so sick and tired of seeing this ad on various websites. It is always there lately. Lurking on the side and giving me indigestion. I DO NOT want to look at other people's teeth or mouths like this any more.

By Julie on 5/21/2009 6:45 PM

We are preparing for a road trip to the wilds of Arkansas to visit relatives. Of course, since they live in a dry county far from civilization and beer supplies( and, gasp, they only have dial-up internet), we have to take our own. My choice for the trip: the Shiner Family Reunion. This is a twelve pack of the six favorite varieties of Shiner. Available for a limited time as they celebrate their 100th year of brewing in the tiny town of Shiner, Texas.

By Julie on 5/21/2009 10:15 AM

As we approach Memorial Day weekend, I was thinking about how we spent Memorial Days when I was a child:

When I was little, my siblings and I spent a great deal of time with our grandparents, my father's parents. They lived just down the road from us and since my parents both worked full-time jobs, our grandparents were our babysitters when we were not in school. Normally, our school got out for summer vacation right before Memorial Day and did not resume until after Labor Day. Now schools let out in early June and return in mid-August.

My grandparents called it Decoration Day (this was the original term for it.) And it was quite an event to look forward to back then. My grandmother would cook lots of food like the traditional fried chicken, whatever fresh vegetables were ready from the garden, and Southern fried pies (I'll have to write a longer post about fried pies at another time.)

Then we would help my grandmother gather bunche ... Read More »

By Julie on 5/19/2009 6:45 PM

I have been crazy busy with work. No time to devote to my writing. Of course, if I was really energetic, I would stay up even later at night or get up extra early in the morning to write. But I seem to have no additional energy to spare lately. I need all the sleep I get.

My mom got a new dog today. She adopted a cocker spaniel from the humane society in Corinth, Mississippi. She named her new dog Oreo. She has been talking about getting a dog for quite some time now. And she especially loves cocker spaniels.

My sister also likes cocker spaniels and she has adopted two of them over the past 10 years. She stays in close contact with their local dog pound to help find good homes for spaniels.

I will post pictures of my mom's new dog as soon as I travel up there to visit.

By Julie on 5/18/2009 2:30 PM

Today is our 18th wedding anniversary. Yes, we married when we were kind of young.

And today would have been my dad's 64th birthday. Unfortunately he passed away in 2006 from a terrible case of cancer that originated in his bladder and spread to his liver, lungs, spine, and finally into his brain. And I still miss him every day.

By Julie on 5/15/2009 3:31 PM

I have to chuckle to myself when someone calls this town we live in a "small town." They'll say, "We live in a small town south of Houston." Well, I will give them that much. Compared to Houston, this looks like a small town.

But I know what a small town is. I grew up in Iuka, Mississippi. Population 3,000. And it was the "big town" in the county since it was the county seat.

So I currently live in this "town" of 30,000 which has a Target store and pizza delivery. Which Iuka is still not able to claim. But hey, they do have The WalMart. Just not a 24-hr WalMart.

By Julie on 5/15/2009 7:59 AM

I kept procrastinating about registering for the BlogHer conference this year. Then suddenly they sold out of tickets and I was having serious procrastination remorse. So I beat myself up about it for a few minutes and then I placed my name on their waiting list in case someone cancelled. That was weeks ago and I did not expect to go.

Yesterday the message appeared in my in-box "Congratulations you're going to BlogHer!"  So I'm registered and going to BlogHer in July in Chicago!

Now I have to make travel arrangements and assemble a posse. You see, wh ... Read More »