What an incredible few weeks it has been! The fourth was glorious with the GwI page going live (Again, thank-you Dawn Corrigan!) In rapid succession, I pitched a ‘guest blog spot’ idea to Lifebytes. Mariann and Sharon liked the idea so I was busy cramming thoughts about the role of love letters in the 21^st century in under 500 words. On the 11^th, my issue of Writers’ Journal arrived and of the three poems I entered in the December poetry contest, every one of them had received a Special Mention.

Then, Tricia Crisafulli of Faith, Hope & Fiction was kind enough to get back to me a week after I sent her “The Planting Season.” That evening, I had my writer’s group and was blessed to have their fresh eyes for tweaking. I sent my changes to her on Friday. Monday I received the final draft and read it. Some excellent changes were made by Tricia that gave the story more emotional impact — well, you can see for yourself. It will be appearing in the July/August Issue and I’ll put a link up when it goes live.

I was just about to go on Facebook and update my status when I heard the mail carrier pulling away. I had an odd, giddy feeling as I walked down the driveway. I thought it was odd, as I couldn’t recall having anything else sent out I would hear about through the mail. Opening the mailbox, I found a couple of Publisher’s Clearing House envelopes along with an envelope from Thema. I’d forgotten about my submission to Thema…

The envelope felt like the usual story sent back, rejected with a small snip of paper saying ‘No.’ I decided to open it on the way back to the house.

There was a check inside.

There was a letter of acceptance.

There was a release form to fill out and a flier explaining how to send your story on a disc if you didn’t have email.

OMG!

So, since I had received the acceptance for ‘The Planting Season’ on the Wednesday of my Writer’s Group, I couldn’t celebrate it then. The past weekend was Father’s Day. R- came by and we grilled. Monday tends to be ‘cleaning day,’ and I did clean, but then I slipped into something nice and the champagne flutes came down, got dusted off and when B came home, we popped the cork.

Now it’s Tuesday, the morning after and I’m updating my blog.

I’m neglecting to say that I also wrapped up a new story and will be sending that off soon; I have another written in my notebook based on a dream I had and three poems that don’t seem too shabby. Like I said — an incredible few weeks. And I need another cup of coffee, (and an aspirin) so excuse me for a bit…