Coucoumellisms

... I've finished the first draft of my first novel and I'm now starting a second... Ever since she could remember, the seashore had always been Maria’s favourite place to escape to. It was a constant in her life, never the same twice, yet always there. Some days, the seagulls scattered into the air, screaming loudly as she walked past. Some days, the ocean was calm, some days huge crests rolled in and broke against the boulders scattered here and there along the coast. Some days the ocean was grey and angry, other days it was blue and serene, but it was always there, and it called to her as she stood, bare toes digging into the fine white sand. This was one of the subplots in my first novel and it's going to become my second novel. The above citation is the beginning paragraph.

I have officially finished the first rough draft of my first novel ever. It isn't the first I've ever started, but definitely the first I've gotten more than half-way through without getting bored of it and going on to something else. I'm busy printing it out double-spaced as I write this, so I can read through it at my leisure and add things or re-write them, or take them out. But hey... I'VE GOT A NOVEL FOLKS!!!

http://www.breakpoint.org/listingarticle.asp?ID=10772 But, if the answer to the question, “Where do we come from?” is “We were created by God,” then the implications are truly staggering. If in fact we were created in God’s image; if in fact, as we celebrated yesterday at Christmas, God in Christ became human, took on human flesh, sharing our very DNA, then every human life, from natural conception through natural death, is endowed with eternal and incomprehensible worth. I like Chuck Colsen's commentaries.

Christmas Day I'm just glad that the parties are over... I've had this recurring headache the whole time and everyone is getting sick with the flu one after the other... yay! Today Maryssa has a soccer tournament and after that... just vacation, no more parties... Well, except for the New Years Eve thing that my sister Dorothy wants me to go to... But I'll probably be going alone...

It isn't about the gift so much, nor how much it cost. It isn't even really the "thought that counts" either, since one can think about getting a gift, but never get around to doing it. It's about the effort put into it to please the person you intend it for. It isn't just effort put into finding or making the right gift, it is the effort put into having it on time, and the effort put into the presentation of said gift. A birthday gift is no longer really a birthday gift if it is thrown into your lap two days after your birthday with no gift wrapping on it. A Christmas gift is no longer a Christmas gift if it is finally bought three months later. Presentation and timing are everything. What is inside the gift is less important. Obviously, a well-thought out gift is something picked out with a particular person in mind, knowing his/her tastes exactly. But sometimes you can't find the perfect gift. Or maybe you can't afford it. Or maybe you don...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Apparently, reading my friend's version of this has automatically obliged me to create one of my own. If therefore, you are reading this, please do feel obliged to create one yourself and share it with us. :) All the better to know you by. 1. I play sports. If you know me at all, this will come as no surprise to you. If you know me at all, but have never seen me play, what may come as a surprise is that the normally very laid-back Jeanne becomes a very aggressive, competitive player once out on/in the field/court/track/trail/pool/rink/what-have-you. Don't know why. Still trying to figure that out. Because... 2. That's what I do. I analyse. I'm not a computer geek or an electronics geek or any of that, I'm a mind geek. I should have been a psychiatrist. I love learning about how the mind works and about different temperaments and personalities, and why people do things/think the way they do. I find it fascinating. 3. I do crafts. I am the type of person who walks aro...

... the importance of family and... dare we mention... religion! Policymakers should strongly consider whether their policy proposals give support to such a family structure: Children have fewer problems at school and home when they live with their biological parents and frequently attend religious services, according to a study released today by the Family Research Council's Mapping America Project. Among their findings: children in this group are five times less likely to repeat a grade, less likely to have behavior problems at home and school, and are more likely to be cooperative and understanding of others' feelings. Parents of these children report less stress, healthier parent child relationships and fewer concerns about their children's achievement. "Social-science data continue to demonstrate overwhelmingly that the intact married family that worships weekly is the greatest generator of human goods and social benefits and is the core strength of the United Sta...

The real issue hiding behind the coalition to take out our newly elected government is NOT the economy, regardless of what the NDP, Liberals and BQ may say. It is not, either, an issue of Canadian Unity. Well, maybe, off-handedly in an indirect sort-of-way for the BQ, since an instable, weak, Federal government tends to make Québecers more open to sovereignty. But really, let's be honest here. The real reason that the NDP and the liberals have formed a coalition and the BQ is supporting them, is neither the economy nor the indirect result such a coalition might have on quebecers. The real reason behind this coalition is the simple fact that liberal-minded people CANNOT STOMACHE THE FACT THAT CANADA ELECTED A CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT ONCE AGAIN. The three left-wing parties have been after the one right-wing party over and over and over. They don't let them do this, they won't let them do that, they've been threatening over and over to do this during the last mandate...

This is the total opposite of what Lapresse was claiming a few months ago: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/dec/08120102.html Apparently 30% of women who have had an abortion subsequently suffer psychologically. Oh but I suppose that the people who stick fingers in their ears and sing "Nah, nah nah nah, I can't hear you" at Lapresse will just tell you that this is one of those studies that is "unscientific and unfounded", or some such other crap.

Decorated the house yesterday for advent. (Pink and purple) Christmas is coming! Advent wreath Stockings waiting... I started this tradition with my kids where we hang up the stockings on the 1rst Sunday of Advent, instead of on Christmas Eve. That way, the kids can participate in putting little things into the stockings too. They have all Advent to do this. I usually do some baking or crafts with each of them, so they can add stuff. Sometimes some of them take their own money and go to the dollar store. St. Nicolas comes the night of December 5th, so they wake up on the 6th, (feast of St. Nicolas) to find some goodies in their shoes, where the night before they had left a carrot for St. Nicolas's horse/donkey, whichever it is. So technically, we don't "do" Santa Claus, not in the popular North American way anyway. I prefer the European way, which hasn't lost sight of the Catholic/Christian roots. Now for finishing those projects I've started, cleaning out...