Peeks in for another cookie before we check out the silk flower scene.

If these cookies don't cheer you up Mendalla…

I had an hour to myself in the midst of wedding planning and dress shopping with my girl and logged in to see where everyone had placed. Imagine my surprise to see that I won. What a thrill to finally win a contest. Who knew it would be with poetry? Congrats to Jason and verbal and all the top ten peeps! Honestly, all of the entries were great. I guess we are far more poetic as a bunch than we realize! Thanks, Molly, for a great comp!

Special thanks to WriterGirl, who nudged me to enter, and to Cora for always encouraging me!

I may have to take one of each kind of cookie...😉YUM!

I'm incredibly honored to have placed in the top spot in this competition. All of the entries were so beautifully written. Congratulations to Jason and Verbal for their 2nd and 3rd place poems and those who placed in the top ten. Honestly, ALL of the poems were fabulous; I would not have wanted to be a judge. (But I'm sure thankful for those who DID the judging!).

Thanks so much, Molly, for a wonderful, challenging theme. 😊❤️

Note to self - while it seemed like a good idea at the time, getting the Covid booster, the flu shot, and the RSV vaccine all at the same time on Monday knocked me on my ass yesterday. The day started okay; I was just a little sore. But I was so achy by the afternoon that I just wanted to curl up!

I'm better today. I'm not 100%, but at least I feel human. I'm just ticked that I had to call off my gym workout.

I'm heading up to Alabama tomorrow to embark on wedding dress shopping with my youngest. She's so giddy that her joy is contagious.

Tea sounds soothing right about now. ☕️

Away from madness, we breathe.

I'll grab a Coke Zero and take a breath before heading out again. I'm still waiting for the AC guy to come. After waiting all afternoon yesterday, we were supposed to be his first appointment today. We shall see if he even shows up today. Meanwhile, we move this room AC unit to the living room by day, and the bedroom by night.

The repair needs to happen today as tomorrow we are heading up for the toddler's 2nd birthday. Time flies!

Next weekend will find me wedding dress shopping with my youngest daughter. I'm thrilled that she is engaged and has an amazing fiancé. She spent 6 years with the wrong guy, so it's delightful to see her so happy with the right guy!

Have a great weekend, all y'all!

Hugs for you, Gil. I lost my mother to Alzheimer's, and now I am watching my dearest friend slowly lose her husband. It's been so gut-wrenching for all of us who wish we could do more than be a friend.

Hugs for you, Cora, as you battle feeling unwell. I hope you are on the mend soon!

The past couple of months have been a whirlwind of ups and downs, super high moments (like my oldest daughter finally getting married after being with her mate for 21 years) and tragically low ones (like my brother-in-law who has been on dialysis for 8 years, only to succumb to liver cancer on the same day that my daughter got married). I will be so ready for my anniversary trip in October. Nearly a whole month of just hubby and me bopping around Europe as we celebrate 40 years of marriage.

Anyway, as I promised WriterGirl, I DID finally enter this competition and wanted to share my scribbles with all y'all if you should feel compelled to read: As You Slip Away

Many thanks if you do, no worries otherwise. I've read, liked, and commented on all the other entries since mine is finally published. I don't stand a chance in hell of a podium spot, but I'm glad I finished mine and shared it.

Off for a swim before the AC guy comes to replace yet another part.

It's a balmy 58 degrees F here on Mackinac Island. We've had a string of days where it barely reached 60, so I am hopeful the weather channel isn't lying about it hitting 69 this afternoon. We've been waiting for temps warm enough to enjoy a pool swim (heck, we've been waiting for weather warm enough to wear shorts and skip the sweatshirts).

I got up early to write, and the toddler was up and at 'em 5 minutes later. Fortunately, his dad woke up too and is taking him on a bike ride (thank goodness my son's foot has improved enough to ride his bike).

I've started a new story for this site, but I haven't had much time to write with the kids and grandkids being with us this week. That's okay. There will be time to write when the vacation is over.

Hope all y'all are doing well!

Quote by verbal

Congrats to all the podium winners, and everyone who entered! It was a strong crop of stories. It sure is fun to see comps over here - it’s exciting!

We are off to Denver to see Brooks and Dunn in a few hours! Should be big fun. We are seeing Dierks Bentley in August - this is the Summer of Country Music!

Okay, way too many exclamation marks so far. Calm down Jeff. In other news, asking Talia to look at the Mets score before I watch is working. They actually won a a game!

Coffee please, and a cookie! Things to do!

Have a womderful time!

Congratulations to WriterGirl, Tom, and Mendalla for their podium places! I'm delighted to have finished right behind them in 4th place.

Congratulations to all of us who took that time to come up with such well-written stories that all gave a different take on the theme.

Fun comp! Thanks to all who read the stories, those who judged, and for this site to provide a place to share stories. 😎🥰

Quote by Mendalla

So it was not just me. I felt the same. It seemed like an easy one to come up with something interesting for but I went through three different story ideas that failed at various stages of drafting before my entry, the fourth, kind of stuck the landing.

I also had three attempts that went nowhere. I finally decided just to write a true story and was able to reach the finish line on time!

Ten stories! Unless someone submits a last minute entry. 🥰

I finally submitted my comp story last night!

1975 The Summer of Fun

Now I'm working on reading the rest. 🥰

I've been away way too long! But WriterGirl has nudged me, and I am currently working on a story for this competition. 😎

Kitty Cookies and Kitty Zoomies tea! Yum yum yum!

Couldn't do the beach this afternoon. Too Bleeping Hot. Stayed inside and was going to write, but nothing was coming to me, so I worked on a sewing craft project until hubby was done working and could play cards with me. Heading out to dinner with the neighbors in a while. Too hot to cook! We swam with them this morning and decided dinner at our local tavern sounded like just the right speed today. Sadly, I will not be able to imbibe, but Imma still enjoy a blackened Mahi sammich! Yummy.

It's 91 F with a "feels like" temp of 105 F! When it's too hot to go swimming, it's off to the movies we go! Leaving soon to go see Across the Spider-Verse.

I think getting two kitties sounds marvelous if they are litter mates. I tried to have more than one cat, thinking the first one needed company. What a mistake! She's been an only cat again for the past five years (the other two went to live with each of my daughters), and she is MUCH happier. In hindsight, I wish I'd taken one of her littermates, but they were all long-haired. She was the only short-haired cat in the bunch. She's 17 now and still has grumpy moments. But she's definitely happier being the queen of the castle.

Keep cool all y'all!

Kitty Zoomies and cookies for me, please, and thank you! I've got stuff to do and no desire to do any of it because the cat has sprawled out next to me and dared me to not join her. She's a clever girl!

The temp is currently 88 but feels like 98 with the high humidity. Got my swim in while the pool was still in the shade. The high air pressure is wreaking havoc on my sinuses and causing pain in my teeth. UGH!

The plumber is coming to fix our sprinkler head in our home office, which has now made my hubby extremely crabby. (I get it; he's really swamped today, and the last thing he needs is another interruption. But we've been waiting weeks for this to get fixed).

Is it too late to switch my tea to a glass of Moscato or Sangria?

Back on the beach where I belong! Although I miss my kids/grandkids already, getting back into a routine is good for me. Just popping in to say hey before I go fold the laundry. Hope all is well.

Just stopping in to say hello. We did some driving around this morning and noticed a plethora of wind turbines. All I could think of was whether or not they were watching me. LOL!

Signals are spotty here, so I will keep this short except to say that I dislike the fact that the far right seems to have commandeered the American flag. Last I checked, the stars and stripes were for all Americans. That's as political as I am willing to get in a forum post.

Hope everyone enjoyed the holidays. We have a few more days up here in the thumb of Michigan before heading back downstate. Been enjoying being present in the moment with family. I'll be back more frequently soon.

Happy Belated Canada Day and Happy Early Independence Day! Just poking my nose in for a brief hello! The baby is napping, his parents are resting, and my hubby is working online. So, it gave me a chance to pop in to say hi! The air quality here in the thumb of Michigan has been irregular, with parts of the day seeming fine and other parts making breathing difficult for me. So, we've been taking advantage of outdoor time when we can. Been enjoying the visits from the humming birds and the bunnies!

Awfully quiet in here today! Just stopping in for a Coke Zero and a quick wave as I take a break from packing. Leaving tomorrow to head north again. More baby time!

So happy to see the results of the comp were about what I’d jotted down (although I had myself at 10th and snagged a 9th place instead). This was a little out of my forte, so I was excited to come up with a story that readers enjoyed. Congrats to Jeff, Jason, and WG for their podium spots!

If nothing else, this comp got me writing again. I’ve had a dry spell this month and I am hoping to be a bit more productive going forward. Although I’m heading back up to visit the kids/grandkids in a few days, so we shall see!

Congratulations to the top 3! Well chosen indeed! These stories were outstanding.

While my story wasn’t much of a monster tale, I’m grateful that it seemed to be well received. The best part of a small comp is that we all placed in the top ten! Gotta love that!

Thanks, Bear, for insisting that I enter. I had fun writing my story and I appreciate those of you who read and commented on it.

Thanks, Molly, for encouraging authors with fun competitions! I look forward to the next one.

Quote by DenimAngel

Hi peeps

Sorry it's been a while. Busy week running errands and taking friends to appointments. But I do have fresh cookies today. A large iced tea would be great

Pouring a large iced tea and mixing in sugar and lemon

Today's cookies are Summer themed: beach balls, flip flops, Hawaiian shirts , palm trees, watermelon, pineapple, ice cream and sunglasses

All are diabetic friendly, gluten-free and nut free friendly too

giving the adorable critters fresh water and treats

Today's a good day it's a quiet day with no errands

These look and sound delicious, Sara! Hope all is well!

Stopping in for an iced tea-lemonade. It’s VERY HOT and Humid today! Fortunately hubby has met me busy at the computer doing work for him. Bless our AC!

I got both good news and bad news yesterday. The doc says that things look good but she wants me to do a 5th round of treatment to make sure we got ALL the cancer cells. So mid-July I’ll do 2 more weeks. Ugh! But I’d rather be safe than sorry later.

Thanks for the good vibes y’all.

Quote by Mendalla

Actually, that's a story. I forget the title and who wrote it, but there is at least one story out there about a writer who's writing can change reality. Of course, I could write it and then that would become true. 😋

I feel like I’ve read that story rather recently but for the life of me can’t recall exactly where. It’s gonna bug me now till I figure it out.

I had a marvelous idea for a story and then discovered over tea that my neighbor who is a children’s author was writing a series of books that was basically the gist of the story I was going to write. Now I’m wondering if I got the idea from her subconsciously or if we had a conversation where I wasn’t 100% tuned in (my ADHD can make it hard for me to focus at times). Regardless, I’m thrilled for her and bummed for me. Not that I have time to do justice to such a story but it would have been fun.

Lost power around 6 from a bad storm. Was planning to go over the bridge to the mainland to get breakfast when our power came back around 7:15 so I just stayed home and made some egg bites. It took a bit longer to get my Internet back online. Then another part of the storm blew through. We shall see if the power and internet hold or not.

I have an appointment today with the cancer doc to see if I get the “all clear” or whether another round of chemo is in my future. All good vibes welcome! Thanks!

Quote by Mendalla

Ten is good, if not quite up to past levels. Unless there are some last minute ones that haven't passed moderation yet? It's a good bunch, anyhow.

It's a busy time of year, so maybe that had some folks sitting this one out. Which is a shame, because this was a really fun theme!

So, this morning, after my virtual meeting, I clicked on the news tab on my laptop and found this article about wind turbines mysteriously falling. Talk about creepy timing!

Giant Wind Turbines Keep Mysteriously Falling Over. This Shouldn't Be Happening. (msn.com)

Morning it is, and every morning that I wake up makes it start off as a good one. How the day progresses is another story. Lol.

I read as many comp stories as I could fit in before my eyelids grew too heavy last night. Will get to the rest after my meeting this morning. I am grateful for all of you who have read and liked/commented on mine so far. It’s not nearly as long as I had originally intended, but it’s what RL gave me time to complete by the deadline.

It’s quite windy on the beach today. I’m watching a man struggle with his canopy tent and wondering why he thinks he can win against Mother Nature. I understand he is on vacation, but he will be purchasing another canopy tent if he doesn’t surrender soon. Ah well.

Have a good one! I need to start my day🥰

Quote by verbal

Comp is closed. I’ve read and voted/commented on everything by the deadline, albeit barely.

A coffee and a cookie please.

Oh, I thought today was the deadline. I just submitted my entry. Ah well. if it's too late, so be it. I've been traveling and then sick with a stomach bug. But I figured I'd at least send it in. Now I need to get reading the others after supper.