UPDATE: The winner is…Joy Boutwell!
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The Devlin household has numerous pets. Too many. Currently, we have seven dogs (did I count right?), four cats, and a bunny. The picture I’m sharing is of MY cat. She hangs out with me, loves her cat bed under my desk, and is a generally noisy nuisance. Tessa has the most god-awful meow of any cat I’ve ever had. It’s a scratchy, yowling sort of meow that grates on a person’s nerves, but she’s MY cat. Usually, when she’s looking at me, her gold eyes are perfectly round, which makes her look really stupid. Here, I woke her from a nap, so she’s irritated with me. If she were a tiger, she’d eat me.

Yes, the topic for the word search today is lame, but I didn’t want to break my brain trying to come up with something clever, so for the sake of a good brain-matter workout, here’s today’s challenge:

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me about a favorite pet of yours, past or present, and have you had any exotic ones? I’ve had everything on the list below except for a lizard and a snake (feeding them mice or crickets was a big NO).

UPDATE: The winner is…Kerry Jo Pruett!
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I know, I know. Lately, I’m seem to be obsessed with food. My fun holiday list isn’t helping at all. Today is Sticky Bun Day! So, in honor of the occasion, I quickly listed ten breakfast pastries I could think of off the top of my head.

Exercise that gray matter and enjoy the puzzle! Then, for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, add to the list OR tell me your favorites! For me, it’s kolaches and danishes!

UPDATE: The winner is…Colleen C!
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I’m getting close to “The End” of Malcolm! Good thing, too. It releases next Tuesday! Since the story is on my mind constantly—I kind of live it in an alternate reality in my head—today’s Word Search puzzle is filled with random elements of the story.

Enjoy the puzzle and the excerpt from the story below! And if you leave a comment, you’ll be entered to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

Excerpt from Malcolm…

Malcolm Winslow knew he stood out in this crowd. How could he not? With his longish, uncombed hair, thick beard, and the tattoos displayed by the rolled-up sleeves of his plaid shirt, not to mention the fact he was armed and wore a Kevlar vest, he drew every eye the second he entered the fancy barn that was lit up like the Fourth of July.

Those closest to the open doors were the first to fall silent. Hands touched shoulders and then pointed toward him as he resolutely made his way toward the trellis constructed between horse stalls on either side of the wide space and strung with white lights and roses, where a couple in their wedding finery stood before a preacher.

A groomsman tapped the groom on the shoulder, and he tore his gaze away from his stunning bride to glance down the aisle Malcolm strode down.

The groom’s eyes widened, and he turned to his bride, dug something from his pocket, and then said, “Candy, here are my keys—run!”

The groom slapped keys on her palm, straightened his shoulders, and stepped in Malcolm’s path.

Malcolm gave a single shake of his head, smacked away the groom’s raised fists, then bent to ram his shoulder into the other man’s chest.

The groom flew backward as Malcolm picked up his pace and ran toward the smaller back door of the barn through which the bride had just escaped.

Outside in the dusky gloom, he caught a glimpse of bright white as the bride, Candy Bodine, almost Carmichael, climbed a corral fence. He was surprised at the number of people standing on either side of the door outside this end of the barn but didn’t have time to figure out why they were there because Candy had just jumped down from the fence to the other side, snagging her long train on a nail. She ran forward, but her train held fast, springing her backward and onto her butt on the dirt.

She rolled, tangling herself in petticoats and torn train, and got to her knees. She stared back at him as he jogged toward the fence, planted a hand on the cedar fencepost, and sailed sideways over the top. Yeah, his feet skidded a bit in horse poop when his boots hit the ground, but the bride wasn’t so pristine now either, kind of like her rap sheet.

This time, she’d failed to appear before the judge for a drunk driving/failure to yield at a stop sign/fleeing the scene set of charges. And if Malcolm had anything to say about it, she was not heading to the private airport where Daddy had a plane waiting to fly her to some resort vacation in the Caribbean. As soon as Malcolm snicked the cuffs on her wrists, she’d be spending what should’ve been the first night of her honeymoon inside the detention center in Bozeman.

No amount of crocodile tears was going to dissuade him from his purpose.

UPDATE: The winner is…Martha Lanham!
*~*~*

Well, we thought the kids would be back in school today, finally. In fact, we were ready to get them bundled into the car for the trip to town when the 15-year-old slid on the ground and scraped up her arm and sprained her wrist (at least we hope it’s just a sprain), and we came back inside to get her bandaged up. Just as we were finishing with the bandages and splint, the notice came on our phones that they’d decided to cancel school again. It might have had something to do with the school bus in the ditch at the bottom of our long hill. No one injured, but…the bus slid into the ditch! Thank goodness my daughter drives the kids (fights on the school bus necessitated that long ago).

Anyway, the kids are back in their jammies, sitting around the living room with pets cuddled up beside them. We’ve suffered a little attrition to our numbers due to old age and illnesses over the years. We are down to five cats and seven dogs, now. Remember, we didn’t collect all these animals ourselves; we inherited my mom’s four dogs when she passed.

My betta fish passed away from old age a couple of months ago. I did try everything to make him comfortable and to “fix” him, but what I read about how he was acting pointed to old age. I haven’t purchased another. I’ll wait for warmer weather because any fish we get has to travel an hour in a plastic tub to get here. I do miss my fish though. No, you can’t pet or snuggle them, and I’m okay with that. The bunny in my art room stays mostly in its cage because when we open the door, he hops out, looks around, then decides he likes his cage better. He’s not very affectionate. The two cats that hang out with me can be very annoying when they want attention. Having one perched like a vulture on my shoulder isn’t conducive to good concentration, and I hate finding the little bits of kitty litter that stick to their paws on my art table.

But my family has always had pets. More dogs than anything else.

So, my question to you is, what is your favorite type of pet? It’s okay if you say a plant. I get that, too. If you want to share a little story about your favorite pet, we’d all love to read about it! Today’s prize is a $5 Amazon gift card! I hope you enjoy the puzzle!  

UPDATE: The winner is…Margaret Rucci!
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My office is in the basement. No windows, no natural light. I keep a “grow” light on one corner of my desk for my two favorite plants—my African violet and my Christmas cactus. In another space, I have a huge curling spider plant on the floor with another light hovering overhead. Come Spring, when the last of the freezes occur, he’ll go back outside to my covered porch.

Those are the only plants I have. We live in the country and maintain bushes and flowering bushes outside. When I was younger and living in an apartment, my place looked like a greenhouse. I kept Ficus trees, bromeliads, ivy, ferns, potted roses… Not that I had a particularly green thumb, but I did hover over and worry about my plants and tried to keep the cat from peeing in the Ficus tree.

Houseplants are not only a lovely splash of green in your environment, but they also filter toxins from the air. If you’re afraid you’ll kill your plants, get something extremely easy to keep alive like a lucky bamboo plant. All you have to do is give it water and very rarely a little bit of fertilizer.

So, today’s word search contains some of my favorite houseplants. For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me about your favorite plants!

UPDATE: The winner is…Debra Guyette!
*~*~*

I had “Word Search” on my blog list for today, and with the app open couldn’t think of a topic. So, I took a sip of the coffee I’d poured from my French press…

I LOVE coffee, so it’s easy for me to let my mind drift through all the types of brews, appliances, etc. I did a “stream of consciousness” thing, where I let my mind riff through coffee-related things, and I made my list of words very quickly.

I thought of my grandma and grandpa’s stove-top percolator that I swear made the best coffee on earth. They added evaporated milk and swirl of sugar to make it palatable to six-year-old me. I own a French press (for when I have the patience to wait), an espresso machine (for when I have the patience to clean up after I use it), and a Keurig machine near my desk. Yes, I’m serious about coffee. I have to drink 2-3 cups a day to keep me alert and my mind spinning tales. Of course, at my age, I have to stop drinking it just after noon or I don’t sleep.

Most of the time, I drink my coffee black. But there are occasions when I love an iced, chocolatey coffee. Or a cappuccino or latte. That’s for when I want to sit at the table and chat. It’s a ritual thing, I think.

Anyway, there’s a contest here. I want you to do a “stream of consciousness” list of coffee or tea related things for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card! Have fun!

UPDATE: The winner is…Steph!
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Every year, the top of my list of New Year’s Resolutions lists LOSE WEIGHT. I always start out like gangbusters but the allure of good food and convenience leads me into temptation. I think this year, I need new resolutions—fresh ones, reflecting more positivity, that I can embrace.

I thought it would be fun to share some of them in a word search. Maybe you can pluck a goal you’ll strive to achieve.

I decided that I miss writing letters, so that went on my list. Even if it’s just a postcard I paint and mail, I will scribble a letter to another human being.

I am overwhelmed with clutter, so I thought I might choose one surface a month to declutter—however small!

I am entering a No Spend January challenge, where I vow to not buy anything, online or in person, that isn’t a necessity. Not because I need to tighten my belt budget-wise, but to see if on-line shopping is an addiction, like my dd says it is. I love online shopping, but I’m curious to see how this challenge will work. Will I go into deep dark depression? Will I save tons of money? Will it spark creativity to make new stuff since I can’t buy new stuff?

My family is pretty adventurous with their food. We do seek out new recipes to try, but I want a more deliberate, try one new dish a month effort.

Those are just some of the things I want to try to make into a new habit or a worthwhile experiment.

Read through my list in the word search below. Solve the puzzle. Then add one thing you think others might want to add to their list of aspirational goals for the new year for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!