Another weekend WOW . . .

Hi all!!

Well it's been another crazy week, so yet again I'm posting my WOW on the weekend. I actually was going to post it on my usual Friday, but when I got out to write about it . . . I realized I hadn't written down the word and then promptly forgot it. UGH!

Anyway, after a quick drive past my school, I refreshed my memory. So without further ado the WOW for this week is . . .

COINCIDENCE!!

Coincidence: n - 1. The state or fact of occupying the same relative position or area in space. 2. A sequence of events that although accidental, seems to have been planned or arranged.

Interesting how one word can have two TOTALLY different meanings. But the definition I'm writing about is the one that's probably most well known - "The sequence of events that although accidental, seems to have been planned or arranged."

I am a very intuitive person. I'm sure I've written this before, but I honestly believe that all things, situations and people who come into your life (good or bad) are for a reason. Usually it's to teach you something. But there are many people who believe coincidences rule the universe . . . everything that happens in this world is a accident.

In fact the people at "The Free Dictionary" where I got this definition, even state: ". . . that although accidental, seems to be have been planned or arranged."

So which do you believe? Do you believe that there is no such thing as coincidences . . . or is the opposite true?

Just something to think about on this summer/fall Sunday afternoon. :)

Quote of the week:

"Do what you feel in your heart to be right - for you'll be criticized for it anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't" - Eleanor Roosevelt.

A late and double WOW!

I've been a little neglectful in my blogging duties these past 2 weeks. It's not necessarily from lack of wanting, it's been lack of time. I could go into it on here, but I'm not going to because . . . I'm just not.

Our school FINALLY started re-posting our WOW's on the marquee. I REALLY wanted to post the one from last week because it was just so perfect, but unfortunately I couldn't so instead I have a double WOW to share.

My first one is . . . (drum roll)

CHARACTER!

Now when I looked this word up, I was a little intimidated because there were some 14 different definitions! Yes, you heard me right . . . 14!! Given the way my past two weeks have been playing out, I could probably have used any number of them. But after long and deliberate consideration I decided to go with . . .

Character: n - Moral or ethical strength.

I could probably fill up this entire blog with my explanation as to why I picked this specific one, but let's just say I've had enough trying experiences and changes these past two weeks to make me think a lot about my own character and how it allows me to do what I do everyday. Both with my job, as well as with my family.

And I'd like to think it's what's helping me survive right now . . .

Okay, now for WOW #2 . . . it is . . .

EVIDENCE!

I know, I know . . . how did I go from CHARACTER to EVIDENCE? I had to ask myself that same question. Thankfully, evidence doesn't have nearly as many definitions (only 3) but the one I picked was . . .

Evidence: n - A thing or things that are helpful in forming a conclusion or judgment.

These past two weeks I have been given plenty of evidence to help support my feeling regarding my character. Whether I wanted that evidence or not.

So there you go, a double WOW for the weekend. Can't wait to see what's up on the marquee next week.

Have a great weekend!! :)

Why I feel like Ellen Tebbits . . .

I am a HUGE fan of Beverly Clearly. Apart from not reading Dear Mr. Henshaw, I've read nearly every book of hers out there (including her "teen" books - Fifteen, Sister of the Bride, etc.)

Some of my most vivid childhood memories involve her books . . . Like when I lost my 9th birthday party (don't ask why) but I still got a couple of presents and one of them was Ramona and her Mother. And then there was the time I cured myself of reading in the bathtub when I accidentally dropped my beloved copy of Ramona the Pest and made it 3 times its normal size.

I do have my favorites: Ramona the Pest, Socks, Fifteen, Emily's Runaway Imagination, Mitch and Amy, and my all time favorite . . . Ellen Tebbits.

Last week, during quiet reading time at school, I pulled out a copy of Ellen Tebbits from our class library and suddenly I was 9 years old again. And I realized that of all the Beverly Cleary books I have read, Ellen Tebbits is the only one I could probably recite, part and parcel, the entire story from beginning to end.

And that made me wonder . . . why is that?

After mulling this question over and over in my brain this past weekend, I figured out it probably has to do with how much I identify with Ellen. Then as much as now.

Ellen tries her best to be perfect . . . to do her best at everything. Obey her mother, desperately wants her teacher's approval and is devastated when things don't work out the way she plans.

For better or for worse, that was me as a kid. And to a certain extent, that's me now. The great thing about Ellen is that she does learn from her mistakes.

And just like Ellen, I like to think that I do too. :)

And now . . . WOW!

I'm getting into a routine that I don't like . . . only having one blog post a week.

I do enjoy putting out my WOW Fridays, but I admit I REALLY would like to spend more time posting on here. Which is a good opening to my WOW this week, which is . . .

WANTING

Wanting:
1. Absent; lacking.
2. Not measuring up to standards or expectations.

My reasoning for pick this particular word is two-fold. First, as a vent to the fact that I am very frustrated with myself for my lack of writing time . . . both on here and also on my stories. The other reason is because the word wanting is a good word to describe a character I've been trying to work on for the past several months.

I seem to go in this cyclical pattern where I work on a character I'm dedicated to, and working on getting to know, but then I have another character enter into my consciousness and they don't want to go away . . . regardless of how inconvenient their timing is!

For the past month or two, I've been avoiding working on this character, but she won't leave me alone! I even have her playlist on my iPod, and I've been listening to it over and over and over again. Much to the chagrin of my children (although not to much . . . they like the music).

However the thing about this character is that her life is very wanting . . . which makes her a very compelling girl. And I can't get her out of my mind.

So tonight, after avoiding her for too long, I finally sat down and worked on the list of this girl's character traits.

And reminding myself that I have a finish up with a different character before I can work on this one. Hopefully that will be just the push I need to get through my wanting writing life.

We'll see. Have a great Labor Day weekend! :)