'Twas close on to Christmas and getting quite late
For our good friends, our neighbours, I wanted a gift really great
I wanted something nice, not something pedestrian
I even thought of a horse so I could use the rhyme "equestrian"
But, while I would be thrilled, I'm sure that is unwanted
So here I sit, still giftless and really pretty daunted.
Of kids, cats and dogs they have an enormous plethora,
So any of these, they probably don't want more'a
I've asked the reindeer but they complain that I bug 'em
(Apparently when I get near them, I can't help but hug 'em)
So I'm stuck empty-handed and feeling way blue
'Cause all my good ideas seem to have gone up the flue
I could bake them a cake, or buy them a rake
But all these ideas they just don't sound great
When from my wondering mind came a new thought
The gift I would give them it wouldn't be bought
I would tell them how much they both mean to me
How the shine of their friendship shines more than my Christmas tree
How they make this cul de sac a righteous great place
How the sight of them all brings a grin to my face
How their dogs and their cats make me scream out with glee,
How they all make this town the best place to be
And what I hope and desire this year for my sake
Is that they accept this heart-felt poem and next year they'll get that cake!

Happy Whatever Holidays you celebrate.  I hope that 2013 is a wonderful, happy, healthy year for all of us. 

NaNoWriMo!

Wow!  I blew my goal to write a blog entry at least once a week because, on November 7, I discovered NaNoWriMo.  WOOHOO!  National Novel Writing Month.  The challenge is to write 50k words in the month of November.  And I have proven that I am a chatty thing - I won with 51665k words.  Yikes!  And I started on November 7 instead of November 1.  I have either written the great American novel or that I am in serious need of heavy medication.  Big grin! 

I have started a young adult science fiction novel about a girl and her cat and a boy and his dog saving the world from alien invasion.  And I now will be participating in NaNoFiMo:  National Novel Finishing Month (insert smiley face here.)  It's not bad.  A lot of junk I am afraid, but there is a nugget there which I need to polish up.  With joy and trepidation.

It is a huge deal to me because, as my bio says, I used to act and now I write.  When I left acting I suffered a severe identity crisis.  If I'm not an actor, what am I?  Thank Gods and the Universe, I am a writer (in training).  And I am thrilled.  And grateful beyond words.  Which is funny since I claim to be a writer.

No words were harmed in the making of my novel.

There is a young catty named Pal.
And, man, she is quite the gal!
She's feisty and bright
And I love her with all my might,
My wonderful catty named Pal.

I found a blog that has caught my heart.  And I have written and rewritten this post and still it just doesn’t come out right.  The Fraker Farm deserves so much better than I can seem to say…I don’t have big enough words to tell you the joy, the happiness and the heart that I get every time I visit there, so you just will have to go see for yourself.  And see all the wonderful faces of Lily!

However.  I was able to capture some words for one of the members of Fraker Farm.  Even these words aren’t big enough, but I was able to get something for her.  This is Lily, The Amazing Wonder Dog.  She is so very, marvelously precious I could just eat her up with a spoon.  (Being vegetarian, I can say that. Grin.) 

To my new friend Lily.  Who is as perfect as my Pal :).

That face, that face, I loved her from the start

That face, that face, is treasured deep within my heart

Lily, my Lily, your self so clear and bright

Lily, my Lily, you make my world so right

Your eyes look so deep into my very soul

You’re my friend whose happiness becomes my greatest goal

Thank you for sharing, and caring, along our way

Your welcome every morning makes me eager to start my day

When you wag your tail and wink at me

I know the best is yet to be. 

With my Lily.

Thank you, Paula, for welcoming us into your home.  My world is better for youses being in it. 

Photo of Lily ©2008-2012 The Fraker Farm; used here by special permission from The Fraker Farm.

The first-born child becomes a parents' life
The first-born child is the love of husband and wife
The first-born child hung the moon and the sun
The first-born child makes life so much more fun
The first-born child opens vistas beyond compare
The first-born child strips all artiface bare
The first-born child makes it all so very clear
The first-born child is so greatly precious and dear
His first-born child is the daughter of his heart
From his first-born child this father will never part
To his first-born daughter he'll be a guiding star
He'll always love her from a distance not so far

I want to see the ponies, that's what I want to see
I want to see the horses, want to see them running free
I want to see them dance across the fields as they fly by
I want to see their grace and power as they jump and touch the sky
I'm filled with exhilaration every time I see their dance
I'd love to be running with them - I would if I had the chance
But they fly above the earth so free, I know they couldn't slow for me
They run with the wind and the speed that I lack
And as they flash past me a ghostly caress filters back

A town of love,

A town of friends
The town I want to come to
When the road I’m traveling ends
You kept him safe, you kept him warm
You called him family
You’re the town he called his home
You’re the place we all want to be
You welcomed his friends

Even the ones you didn’t know 

We too wanted to see his journey’s end
And you gave us a place to go
Your green rolling hills and wide open arm
Gave him a life of joy
There, with his friends, his horses, cats and farm
Lived our beloved Manchester Cowboy