That's My Story, and I'm Stickin To It!

Today is one of those days I'm not sure how to define. Happy? Sad? Or just wondering how it all works. I've had such an incredible high. Trouble is...I'm not sure what's next. I am so incredibly grateful for the blessing. I won the Erma Bombeck Humorwriter's Award. Me. It was just a year ago I sat in that big ballroom at the writer's conference in Dayton, Ohio honoring Erma. I looked around at all of those people who had been "published" and wondered if I would ever get there. Wondered how disiplined they were, how many degrees they had, what they ate for breakfast. Stuff like that. I still can't believe it. And the best part is, I won with a story about my mom. That's so cool. It feels like, even in death, she's helping me. She's still connecting. I knew she'd find a way. She was that kind of mom. But what now? What is God telling me to do next? I tried working on some stories today, but I found out something. Writing is hard, brain splitting work. I treasure the days the words just come pouring out of my head, like when the kids flood a bowl of lettuce with ranch salad dressing that overflows and seeps between the crack in the table and drips down to the floor. That kind. It's hard to sit at the keyboard and not think about our blue oldsmobile that won't start because maybe it needs a new alternator, but the mechanic isn't sure, which is after we already put $300 into it, and it still wouldn't pass DEQ and what are we gonna do because we only have till the end of the month before the plates expire, and then the good car the Mazda...the 17 year old van, was boiling over last Saturday when I returned home from a two hour drive on the freeway. Well anyway...it's hard to concentrate sometimes. But I will. Honest. Because I heard it said that we should be grateful for what we have. And what I have is the greatest award I could ever dream of. I owe for that. I will keep on plugging away. That is, as soon as I go upstairs and eat something. In the meantime...here's my story! http://www.wclibrary.info/erma/2007globalhumor.asp