The journal has accepted my revisions and my paper will be published in the summer edition of The Explicator. I am really rather excited by this because I've always wanted to be "officially" published. I am most proud of the fact that it is a scholarly work. I've wanted to publish children's books and young adult novels before, but it's not really my bag. I"m more of a creative non-fiction writer. Funny thing is that I didn't discover that until last summer when I was taking some creative writing courses. I never really had a label for the types of works that I write until I had taken those two courses. In fact the whole reason I started blogging was because of my creative writing class.

On a different note, I am finally beginning to relax a bit. I took a trip to Kingman to see my dad for Father's Day and now I'm in Payson at my mother-in-law's. I'm sitting on the lounge chair she bought just for me and enjoying the cooler mountain air. Birds are chirping and I can hear my mother-in-law in the kitchen getting the turkey ready for baking. It's very peaceful. I've been reading a few magazines that I love: Artful Blogging and Somerset Life. They are beautiful to look at inspiring to read. I highly recommend them to anyone who enjoys arts and crafts.

At home, things are shaping up. I've been through nearly each room in the house, organizing and reordering, throwing away and recycling. It's quite wonderful actually. It is refreshing to clean up and clear out. We are going to have our last two carpeted rooms stripped of carpet and the concrete acid stained. I can't wait to get rid of those disgusting carpets. My daughter's room and the office (which is now my craft room) will be free from the pee stained, hair infested, stain covered, nasty carpet. I plan to redesign my craft space and I'm looking forward to getting home and back to it. I've had a few days off now and I'm ready to get back to work on my house. I only have about 6 more days to put everything in order. I have to pack up the two rooms, remove everything from both rooms, clear out my bedroom as well (so the floor can be resealed when they come to stain the other two floors) and pack for New York. Maddie and I are going to stay on my brother's farm for a whole month. My husband is coming too, but only for a few weeks. We are going to go meet his publisher and his agent. Plus we get to see a Broadway show. I've never been, so I'm looking forward to the new experience. The show is inspired by Green Day and is called "An American Idiot." Should be fun.