Christmas Surprise!!

Aren't we having fun! Mother, Sassie and me.

Magnificent snow frosting on the oaks.

And cactus

Neighbors with rare, allusive SNOW people.

Friends

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Pre Christmas Busy. Busy

Sorry no photos this time. Last week was filled with Writer Critique Group.
Congratulations to Debra Johnson for her published receipe that won honorable mention AND monery! Laurie Kolp was feature editor in the Beaumont Enterprise. Way to go!
First Friday in Groves was cold, but with Lisa and Debbie joining Melanie and me warm friendships kept us from freezing.
Saturday, Westend Baptist Church hosted a baby shower for moms from the Hope Pregancy Center who delivered within the last quarter. We had two mom's who had new born twins! Another mom was due any minute, one due on the 17th, one on the 24, and one on the 25th.
What a busy Christmas season.

Tomorrow night Golden Triangle Writers meets at Barns and Noble. Hope to see you there.
Put next Friday and Saturday on your calendar. I will be signing at during the Old Timer's Days in Sour Lake. Other writers are invited to join me. Just give me an e-mail.

Answers to Thaksgiving Trivia

The first Thanksgiving was in Dec, 1621, held in Plymoth, Mass.
Linclon proclamed the national holiday in 1863.
The four most popular menu items are turkey (ofcourse) cranberries, dressing adn sweetpotatoes, except for yankees who prefer whites )Did you get all four?)
On average
256 million turkeys
640 million pounds of cranberries
1.6 billion pounds of sweet potatoes and
998 thousand pumkins are eaten (seems like I ate most of it!)

Turkey Creek, TX
Turkey, Tenn
Turkey, NC
and bonus, the country of Turkey.

Approx 107 million families celebrate Thanksgiving annually. Families, Friends and Food. So much to be thankful for!!

Thanksgiving Trivia

The turkey is now a carcass. The pecan pie reduced to crumbs. We've caught up with the lives of relitives and expressed thanks for blessings we've received.
Now is time for a little Thanksgiving trivia. Answers will follow.
When was the first Thansgiving?
Where was it held?
Who proclaimed Thansgiving as a national holiday?
What year?
What are the four most popular menu items? This should be easy.
How many pounds of turkey are consumed on average?
How many pounds of cranberries?
How many sweet potatoes?
How many pounds of pumpkins?
Name three cities named after the main course.
Approx. how many families celebrate Thanksgiving annually?
True or False: the day after Thanksgiving is sthe most popular shopping day in America.

Watch for answers. See how you did.

Time to give thanks

I have so much to be thankful for this year. My writing has been very successful with my first novel, "Beneath the Surface" to be released soon. A second novel, "Venture in Faith" is with an agent.
I contributed a short piece to "Write Before Christmas" andanthology which will be available soon.

This month I've had several book signings in the Beaumont area, spoke for the Writer's Guild in Jasper and attended the Bayou Writer's conference in Lake Charles with several writer's from Beaumont.

I'll have a booth at Groves First Friday in December and a booth at the Old Timers Festival in Sour Lake, Dec 12-13. Stop by for a visit!

Hope Women Clinic Gayla

Hope Women's Clinic of Beaumont hosted a fundraiser Gayla, Nov. 11, 2008. Over 400 attended the event at the Elegante Hotel.

Guest speaker was W. Paul Young, author of "The Shack". He spoke of himself as an "accidental writer", because he wrote this book as a gift for his children. He planned to print 15 copies at Office Depot.

He was rejected by 26 publishers, and self-published with two friends. Today "The Shack" has been on the best seller list for 24 weeks, has sold 4 million copies and is in 35 languages.

"The Shack" is true, but not real." Young says, explaining that it's his interpretation of the human soul. God cares about each one of us from conception.

Sally, the mother of adorable Malachi, spoke about her son who was diagnosed before birth with down syndrome and serious heart problems. She refused doctor's suggestions to abort. Sally and Malachi's daddy, Chip, put baby Malachi into God's hands. Today he is a happy toddler, walking, talking, singing, and a blessing to all who meet him.

Pres. Bush has signed into law a bill that requires parents of unborn babies diagnosed with Down syndrome, spina bibida, cystic fibrosis and similar maladies to be provided the latest info. on the condition and be informed on services available. A registery of families willing to adopt special-needs children will be established.

Texas lawmakes propose a bill that would require women who want to abort to be required to listen to the heartbeat and get ultra-sound images before undergoing the procedure.

Does the mom-to-be who goes in for an abortion know that the "blob of tissue" that gave her a positive pregancey test had a heart beat? Had she seen an ultrasound image of her baby? Would she choose abortion if she'd been honestly informed?

Planned Parenthood of Houston has purchased a 6 story building in southwest Houston where an entire floor is to be dedicated to third term, partial-birth, abortions. Babies who could live. Houston is the third largest abortion provider in the nation now, and soon will be the largest.

More babies are aborted daily in the United States that the number of people killed in 9/11.

What you believe counts.