Donald Pennington is a Content Provider on Associated Content. He seeks out Content Providers to interview for his pages and does a wonderful job.

I am honored today that he chose me as one of his subjects.

You can read the interview, Phyllis Cunningham is Just Cool! by clicking the title.

I am humbled by the company I find myself next to. Donald has interviewed some of the most exciting authors on AC and I am honored to be in company with them.

Some other CPs that Donald has interviewed are Michelle L Devon, author of my previous book review, The Path, theBarefoot who writes very helpful articles, always delivered with humor, another funny guy David Marin writes humorous articles that make you think, even his poetry will catch you raising an eyebrow.

If you would like to contribute content and get paid for your efforts you can sign up with AC and start today, just click here.

Perhaps we’ll soon see your interview show up in the pages of Donald Pennington!

I am so sick of blogging about the weather. But, when it attacks with such fury over and over, what else is there to do?

My carpets are wet...again. The rain started sometime Friday and didn’t subside until this morning.

During that time I had intermitten internet service and electricity. We were much better off than many others living in the Ozarks. Except for the wet carpets the only left-over effect we have is the lack of phone service. Anyone that knows me very well, knows that I think of that as a "fringe benefit".

I don’t know what our town was thinking yesterday when they allowed the children to go to school. Our two grandchildren that live here, were unable to get home. Our daughter picked them up for an over-night at her house. It left me wondering what some families did that didn’t have the benefit of family living in town.

Over-all, I know we are blessed. Some lost their lives in flash floods and a woman near us was rescued this morning after spending the night on top of her car in the freezing rain and snow. Many others lost everything they own.

I will be thankful for my wet carpet and enjoy the quiet not having a phone for a couple of days offers me.

Spring is coming and I am ready! The days are getting longer and the warmer weather is making appearances with more frequency.

 

We had such a gorgeous day yesterday; I spent most of the day outside!

 

I had four of my granddaughters for much of the day. They played outside (wearing shorts!) right up until dark! It was difficult to get them to come inside, even to eat dinner. I knew exactly how they felt. I wanted to stay outside too.

 

All I wanted to do was stay outside and rake, and watch my fish, and watch the birds, and soak up the healing sun.

 

What are you doing to make ready for spring? Let me hear from you.

 

I wrote a couple of articles about getting ready for spring. You can read them here and here.

Alrighty! I'm back home and everything is sort of back to normal.

Have you ever wondered how much dust and grime can accumulate when you are gone for five months? A LOT!

Especially when you come home to a new hole in the roof, flooded carpets and carrying a new wardrobe.

We were gone so long, summer turned to winter. Though I had taken summer and a few fall clothes, I hadn't counted on being gone through three seasons. Add to that junk that we decided we just couldn't live without while we were away and bought more stuff besides clothes. I spent almost a week just trying to figure out where to put all the new clothes and stuff we bought. Then of course there was a week of cleaning and just getting back to life as we know it.

The entire process was exhausting and I've felt a need to nap often, only to find myself exhausted all over again by bedtime. If we can just get back to normal (whatever that might be these days) then we will still have the repairs to do to the house.

I think the most rejuvenating thing that has happened since our return was the warm weekend we got to have this past weekend. Both Saturday and Sunday were beautiful 70-degree days. Of course that only makes today's snowy 30-degree day seem that much more bitter.

Come Spring! I need you!

Packing day is here. As I look around, all we have accumulated in four months time is overwhelming. In addition to the two loads of tools and a truck and car full of personal items we originally brought with us, the seasons changed and we wound up buying a new wardrobe! Not to mention other little amenities we didn't want to live without that we picked up here and there; an electric can opener, food storage bowls and the like. You get the picture.

 

If you don't know about where we've been or what we've been doing you can read about some of it here and here.

 

I am not really looking forward to going home. I hear that our house has suffered from the multitude of storms (tornadoes and floods and ice, oh my!) that have passed through Missouri recently. Though my son has been there, trying to keep it bailed out, it seems he might be fighting a losing battle without us there to make actual repairs.

 

So our time of peace and tranquility has come to an end. Playtime is over and real life is knocking on our door. The next time you hear from me, I will be back in the hub of the activities of my "real" life. Until then…

Well friends, now is the time.

My most recent article on AC finally managed to get published. It's all about the ice storm. I'd been upset all day because it was taking it so long to get published and well, it was a rather timely piece.

Just in time for our next wave of weather, it finally made it into my pages.

Steve knew before I did that it had been published. I was sort of put off and hadn't bothered to open my mail (not to mention that my eyes are flared up again).

So, I finally got around to opening my mail only to see that there is a chance that the article will be picked up by one of AC's affiliates!

So friends, I call on all of you now to go to my pages and read the article.

You will find it here.

Though they've featured one article before this is the first time they've suggested my work was good enough to go outside of AC. WooHoo!

Today, I launched a new blog. I can't shake the idea for a new water garden I have running through my head.

How can I spend so much time thinking about my next water garden project when I am buried under an ice storm?

Just as characters call to me, so do water gardens. If you have never heard the voice of a water garden before, just spend a few minutes inside my brain

I have decided, I have no choice in the matter. I must write about water gardening.

To see the new site click here.

For other articles I've written on water gardening click here or here.

It ocurred to me today, that poor little Gadjet gets left out of so much. I favor Abby enough to let her represent me on my MySpace page. While I did have a few pictures of Gadjet in My Photo's, the truth is it's hard to catch him "at his best". I brush him and he immediately rubs his face and body all over and messes up his hair. Nevertheless, today after a bath and a brushing, even with his messy hair he was just too cute. So I uploaded new pix of him to my MySpace Photo's. He desperately wants to find an "outlet" now that Abby has been spayed. Gadjet may only be 3 pounds of Yorkie, but oh what a stud!

What about the music?

I've discovered that for "oldies" 1959 is my favorite year in music.

How did I discover that?

Today my sister sent the neatest link to a Jukebox online

Here is an excerpt of text that accompanied the link:

It will play all
of your favorite songs from 1950 through 1982. Each year has a scroll or drop
down box that shows all the great songs for that year. Most years have over 40
songs.

Once you click on a song it will play and when it finishes it
automatically plays the next song in the list and continues until it has played
all the songs.

This is really cool. Have fun with it.....!!

It has
a volume control which you should use in conjunction with your computers volume
control.

One of the best features is that it will play in the background.
That means you can be doing other computer work on a different screen. For those
are not too familiar, just open this Jukebox, start a song list playing THEN
open another window in your Browser and use that window to surf the net or
whatever, while the music plays. I set it up on my desktop as a favorite so all
I have to do is click on it and it opens automatically.

I have been away for a while. Did you miss me?

After (or maybe during) my pet-sitting adventure my eyes just gave out. I have macular degeneration and I think the combination of not resting well while I was away, pet dander, eyestrain and being out of my medicated drops just did me in.

Though I was able to drop some of you a note here or there, it was my goal to avoid my computer as much as possible and rest my eyes.

I decided to give it until Monday and see if I needed to call my eye surgeon. Last night I finally made it to the store to replace my drops.

The difference this morning was nothing short of amazing. All of the pain was gone and my vision is much improved. I do think I might still give the doc a call and see if they think I should come in for a check-up. It's been about a year now and this episode was the worst I have experienced since I first went blind.

If you don't know my story or if you don't know what Macular Degeneration is, you can read my article, click here.

I hope nobody has felt left out. It was not my intention to leave anyone out and I'll try to catch up on all my e-mails shortly.

For now, I'm just glad to be able to see again!

When will you come? Day after day I await your arrival. The very thought of your arrival makes my pulse race.

Could today be the day? I can feel the flush in my cheeks at the thought.

I don't know what you look like, for I have never seen you. But I need you. I long for you. I can feel the need in every fiber of my being.

Some women wait for years for Prince Charming. But, I have no need of Prince Charming. No, my need is deeper than surface. My need is greater than empty desire.

My need is so great it is visible. Yes, just one look and anyone could tell, I have an ever present need.

I long for you, need you, wait patiently for you. Come to me, oh my beloved Dish Fairy!