Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts

Bacon wrapped Water Chestnuts

Pack of bacon, cut in half
2 cans water chestnuts, rinsed and drained
½ cup mayo
½ cup brown sugar
1 tsp chilli sauce

Wrap bacon halves around water chestnuts, secure with strong, wooden toothpicks. Place on metal rack over pan to catch drips. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Cook Mayo, brown sugar and chilli sauce in medium sauce pan, on medium heat. Brush sauce on bacon wrapped water chestnuts after they’ve baked 30 minutes. Put back in oven for another 10 minutes

Baked, Cut Potatoes

Baked, Cut Potatoes 4 potatoes olive oil desired spices, such as garlic and onion powder, dill, cilantro, salt, pepper, lemon pepper, etc. Slice potatoes almost to the end. Place in small casserole dish. Brush on some oil and sprinkle on desired spices. Bake at 425 degrees for an hour.

PUBLISHED!

And I thought last Christmas was the best Christmas ever...PUBLISHED! 2013 was such a wonderful year, from beginning to end. Two of my biggest dreams came true. First we moved to Ontario and second a publisher wants to publish my novel. I still can't believe we actually moved and I'm just beside myself about my book finding a home. Thank you to all who shared words of encouragement. I'll let you know when it's on the market.

Surprise!

Every summer, Mike and I travel to Dryden to visit his dad. This year we did something a bit different...we still went to Dryden but this year we brought Will and Scott with us...and all of our furniture and belongings. Yes, we've moved to Dryden, finally. We've been here since June 30th, almost 5 months. Any transition isn't easy; it's a good thing we all hated living in Thompson and love living in Dryden. That makes it easier to handle. Mike and I left good jobs behind and now we're only working part of the time. Hopefully we can get by until Mike is at least full-time. We found a place to rent. Life is good. Too bad Dryden gets snow in the winter. I haven't been writing since spring. I'm going to submit my manuscript to another publisher very soon and then start writing again. I'm not working as an educational assistant in Dryden. I'm still working with students but for the first time ever, I'm working with adult students. I've been thinking about a career change for a while now. Since I got here I've been doing research on what the best kind of job for me would be. Physically I'm sort of limited. As much as I 'd like to just be a writer, realistically, I'm assuming I need a real job. I've decided on Business administration, I think I'd enjoy doing that. I found a college I can get my diploma from. The 2 year course starts next September. I'm going to see if I can get funded for the course. That's one of the great things about Ontario. Will and Scott have applied with Ontario Disability Support Program, another really good thing about Ontario. Will is getting a walker to help him walk because he's only able to walk for 5 minutes without getting too tired. There isn't a lot of employment here, insurance is so expensive that I'm unable to drive until we can afford more than double the cost of our insurance. The price of Gas and hydro is criminal. I'm thinking, solar power would be ideal once we're in our own house. However, I'd rather be living in Ontario than Manitoba! Mike and I wonder if he should have moved to Dryden ahead of Will, Scott and I but that would have been difficult too. We all wanted to move at the same time so this is what we did. Here's hoping it all works out. I miss all my friends in Thompson and I miss the museum. Luckily we have a lot friends here too.

For those who are wondering

For those who are wondering…I rewrote my novel and submitted it again to a publisher a month ago. Will I rewrite and/ make changes to it again? Very possible. Do I think I’ll get published real quick and on my third try? Probably not. Am I going to give up? No. I’ll keep trying and if I can’t find a publisher for my novel then I’ll pay to have it published, but that’s a last resort. I’ll decide that this time, next year if I’m willing to go that route. I feel good about my novel…right now, not to say my mind can’t be swayed by a thousand rejections though. It’s possible that my first novel will never be published and maybe my second and third book will be. Maybe I need more practice…here’s hoping!

Am I good enough?

I’ve submitted a query and/manuscript to 2 different houses hoping I could get my novel published as soon as possible. I’ve been rejected by both. I felt so depressed all last week about it. The last one suggested that I use the first few chapters to grab the readers’ interest. I’ve been debating about either rewriting the fist few chapters or trying another publisher. All my friends and family members have given me so many words of wisdom. A co-worker said, “You’ve written a book. That’s something extraordinary. You should be proud.” A good friend said, “That’s the second time you’ve tried. If it was that easy, we’d all be published.” My son said, “Every time you’re rejected, you’ll learn something from it. It will result in you being a better writer.” I thought that was an amazing way to look at it and I’m surprised it came from my 19 year old son. I still felt like I wasn’t good enough and I worried that I may never be good enough. I’m used to falling and I’m used to getting up, brushing myself off and continuing on. I don’t give up…but this truly has brought me down. 6.5 years ago when I started writing the book I dated it for 2013. Somehow I knew it wouldn’t be finished until then. Maybe it’s just not finished yet. I’ve decided to continue writing the second book and I’ll slowly work on rewriting the first book. Maybe if I put it away for a little while then reread it in a few months it’ll be evident as to what to change, add and/reinvent.

First novel is finished

I finished writing my novel, ‘Forever Ends’ January 31st 2012. It’s been edited to death…however I get the feeling more changes will be made because of a publisher’s request. I’m now hunting for a publisher and I’m writing the second book, ‘Tomorrow’s Past.’ Originally Will was going to write the second book and Scott the third…plans have changed. I’m half way done writing the second book and I’m getting a lot of help, again from Will and Scott. There are two surprises at the end in all three books. The other books are based on the first book. Let’s see if I can catch a publisher’s interest. No matter what, I’ll continue to write…hopefully someday my writing will be good enough to be noticed.