Manna from Heaven

I have an evil voice that dwells inside me.  The demon likes to whisper words of discouragement.  This demon has many faces--the mommy demon, the wife demon, the writing demon.  Sometimes I battle more than one face, but usually one is stronger than the others.  Last week it was the writing demon.

Your writing is getting worse.  People will not want to read THAT.  You know that people are tired of reading your stuff, they want something more, something you can't give.  You should just give up.

I ignored the voice for as long as  I could.  Soon, though, my blog stats went down, the comments decreased, and I started listening to the demon.

Your readers are gone and they aren't going to come back. You are alone.


Its taunting whispers had turned into jeering shouts.  They overwhelmed to the point of suffocation, to the point that I couldn't take it anymore.  I just stopped.

I took a day off.

Then I received an e-mail, and a couple comments, each informing me of an award that was waiting for me to claim.  I was elated and became giddy.  My giddiness halted the demon's voice until it was so faint that I couldn't hear it anymore.

And now I get the opportunity to pass on these awards.

First, from Charlotte at Memories for Later, I received the Happy 101 Award.



I am pleased to pass this onto Big Little Wolf over at Big Little Wolf's Daily Plate of Crazy.  This lady makes me smile everyday.  If you haven't met her, click on over and enjoy her delightful and thought provoking posts.

Kelly and Suzicate sent the Sunshine Award my way.



I get to pass this onto 10 other bloggers.  I decided to give this to bloggers I have recently found and extremely enjoy.

1) Kristen at Enjoying Every Moment shares the joy of having 2 kids under two with me.  Her posts are reflections of my life on a daily basis.

2) Eva at Eva Evolving shares daily snippets of things she has learned.  I often walk away with much to ponder after reading her inspiring posts.

3) Wild at Random Musings of the Wild Mind provides (almost) daily doses of questions that have me thinking for hours on end.

4) Jen at Happy Shining People shares her joy of motherhood through pictures.

5) Marvett at Savoring the Simple is a talented photographer that captures her daily life through her lens.  I would love to pay her to photograph my daily life.

6) Serene at Serene is My Name, Not My Life! makes me giggle over her kid's daily antics.

7) Nicki at Nicki's Thoughts, Art, and Friends is writer that gives me something to chew on daily.

8 ) Luisa at Novembrance is a published author who gives me beautiful word gems whenever she writes.

9) Kim at Temporary? Insanity is my alter ego.  Except, she is the better half.  She writes marvelously, produces beautiful girls (I claim them for my boys!), and eloquently catalogues her weight loss journey.

10) The Damsel In Dis Dress at Old School provides timely recipes and cheap and easy how tos for things around the house.

Finally, Wolf presented me with the Sugar Doll Award.  Can I just say I smiled bigger than ever before when I saw this? Because I did.

To accept this award, I must agree to relating 10 things you don't know about me.  I will be doing this over the next 10 days.  Aren't you excited?

I am passing this off to Melanie J over at Write Stuff for her often amusing ramblings and Kelly at The Miller Mix because, well, she is amazing.

So, ladies, I can't wait to read your list of 10 things!