The Week in Review

I've decided not to do the Summer Article Challenge, because too many of the articles I posted on EzineArticles.com are ending up on questionable blogs. One person changed the title to make the photography article sound like it was an article on photographing nudes. Another is on a gay/lesbian site and another on a site with all kinds of porno-sounding ads. I can't figure out how to get them off, so I guess I'll just write articles to sell when I know where they will be published.

I'm going to get back into magazine writing. Suzanne Lieurance's Writers on Call is doing a four-part series of tele-classes on writing for the better-paying markets. I know I won't ever make a lot by writing for children's magazines, but sometimes I enjoy doing it. I'd like to do more travel stuff. Suzanne suggested I do more articles on photography. Those are the ones that have gotten the most views on EzineArticles. I also would like to do some on birding and scrapbooking. If I'm going to have these expensive hobbies, maybe I can make them pay for themselves, at least in part.

It rained all night Saturday, so only two of us showed up for the Birders trip to Fort Benjamin Harrison State Park in Indianapolis. It rained all the way there, but stopped just as we approached the park. Our friend, Don Gorney, led the walk. On the way home, Steve and I ate at Joe's Crab Shack. That was good.

Monday I babysat for Carson and Madison while Heather took her mom, Tina, to Dayton for a consultation with a specialist about her stomach problem. The kids were good. I'm posting a couple of pictures.

I subbed in sixth grade for language arts on Tuesday. Thankfully it was a nice cool day and the room is on the first floor. I had three double-period classes and they went well. I enjoyed the kids. That evening I went to Adam's ballgame. When he got there, he found out he had been changed from one team to another. So last week he was on the red team and now he's on the black team. They're high school kids, so at 5 feet and 70 pounds, he's the smallest. He played second base and walked twice and batted in a run when he grounded out to first. His fielding is always good.

Wednesday I took Carson to the preschool program at the Nature Center. It was about bees and he had fun. He kept talking about going to "school." Mandy tagged and released a newly-hatched monarch butterfly, but first she gave the kids a chance to hold it on their fingers. Carson didn't want to. He said he was scared. So the kid who is always out in front, leading the pack when Mandy takes them for a walk is scared to hold a butterfly! I had Photo Club Board meeting Wednesday night. Adam went with me because he was staying all night at my house. We had a LONG discussion about the new website and the idea of a Chat Room got turned down. I still don't see that it would be a problem, since it would be for members only.

Thursday I took Adam to the bus. I had a chiropractor appointment. I'm still having trouble sleeping because of my leg aching in bed. I slept all night and my leg didn't hurt! Kristi must have done something right yesterday morning. This morning I worked at the Nature Center. I signed up to be a volunteer to help with school field trips. Sometimes they have a lot of kids and would like to divide up into smaller groups, so that's what they're going to train us for. I would enjoy that, with my teaching background.

Just got an e-mail from the editor at Chicago Review Press where I sent my proposal for the Pioneer book. He said it's on the schedule for next Tuesday's proposal meeting! So that means he liked it enough that he didn't have changes he wanted me to make. He had said I could send in a rough proposal and he'd help me get it in shape. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the people on the committee will like the idea and I can write the book.

Well, I'm off to the Dragon Buffet for dinner with a group 0f friends.