Elaine Ash browbeats me to write

I met Elaine Ash on Twitter a couple of months ago. She invited me to do a guest blog on her blog, Ashedit. At that time, the post on her blog was, "I, Crappy Writer" and I mistook it to be the title of her blog. It kind of depressed me, yet still, being invited to write on a blog of that title must mean something, right? If one must be a crappy writer, one can at least be a great crappy writer.

Elaine assured me that was only the name of the post that day, and that her blog is a respected blog. She also mentioned she is a professional editor. While I may have been tempted to offer her a guest post on "I, Crappy Writer," I was not willing to submit a post on a nice, professional editor's blog.

I mean, really.

But Elaine is persistent, confident, and does not take "no" for an answer. All the things you'd want in a professional editor.

Please click here to see my guest post on Ashedit. And please feel free to leave a comment.

Help wanted, must be able to spell

I want a chicken wap, and I want it my way.

The next time you hear someone say learning to spell (or learning to use a dictionary) is a thing of the past because of spell-check, ask them if they used to work at a Burger King in Lincoln City, Oregon.

What flavor is that cat food?

I started a diet last month, and I've been doing pretty well. But Easter was one of the hardest days, so far. It started out with a breakfast buffet at the senior living place where my parents are. I dragged myself past the hot cinnamon rolls, pound cake, and cranberry scones, but even the small piece of cheese/asparagus quiche made my palms clammy with fear. Still, when breakfast was over, I thought I'd been successful. Then the little basket of jelly beans was placed in my hands, and my tongue swelled, forcing my mouth open. I'd probably scarfed down six or eight before my family could rush around the table and pry the little basket from my fists. The entire rest of the day I was starving. STARVING. Like I'm back to square one. The rest of the day I ate the pitiful meals, but I'm back to eyeing the cat's kibble and wondering if they'd miss a few morsels. And I tried to log in everything I ate, but I'm not sure if the numbers are correct, which is frightening because I'm inches from the edge of the cliff as far as my calorie goal.

When "sky blue" is actually gray

This is the sixth straight day of rain. It is when people buying cars must be careful when the salesman says the car is "sky blue." He may be selling a gray car.

But there are still things in the Pacific Northwest that make me smile. As I sat in my home office, adding up mileage to and from doctor visits, listing all my medical/dental co-pays for 2011, and searching for the 10-99 from the Walt Disney Company, I spied this outside my window.

I snatched the camera, snapped the above picture through the window, and then ran to the front door, cringing as it squeaked open. I stepped out and aimed the camera at my field beside the house. It is fenced in, but the deer know the places they can get in and graze.

Four black-tail deer turned and stared at me, two adults and two yearlings.

The yearling on the right has a lot of white on him. That is rare, and I'm looking forward to seeing it when it is older, keeping my fingers crossed that the white will still be there.

Close up of the yearling with the white.

I'm always thankful for these brief interludes to remind myself of why I live in the vast Pacific Northwest.

It certainly isn't because of the weather forecast.

Areal Flood Watch
Day	Forecast	Description	Precip Chance
Today Apr 1 Details	Showers Hi:51°Lo:42°	Day: Showers. High 51F. Winds S at 11 mph. Air Quality:NA, UV Index:2	90%
		Night: Mostly Cloudy. Low 42F. Winds S at 10 mph.	0%
Monday Apr 2 Details	Mostly Cloudy Hi:59°Lo:46°	Day: Mostly Cloudy. High 59F. Winds S at 16 mph. Air Quality:Good, UV Index:5	0%
		Night: Rain. Low 46F. Winds S at 6 mph.	90%
Tuesday Apr 3	Rain Hi:51°Lo:42°	Rain. High 51F. Winds S at 6 mph. Air Quality:NA, UV Index:2	40%
Wednesday Apr 4	Showers Hi:53°Lo:40°	Showers. High 53F and low 40F. Winds SW at 5 mph. Air Quality:NA, UV Index:4	40%
Thursday Apr 5	Showers Hi:54°Lo:40°	Showers. High 54F and low 40F. Winds W at 5 mph. Air Quality:NA, UV Index:NA	40%