Epic Post: Do You Have Goals, Celebrate the Small Things, and Sunshine Blogger Award

Although micro-blogging is the rage, this is an epic length last post for the month of July. Hit the bold print for highlights.

Celebrate the Small Things - a wonderful blog hop hosted by Viklit! I'm a few days early, but it's my best day to post.

An epic family road trip to Gainesville, Georgia commences tomorrow. We are driving a trailer with some of the Gig Harbor Canoe and Kayak boats to the Junior Flat-water Sprint Nationals at Lake Lanier. It will be the longest driving trip that any of us has ever taken at 2,672 miles.

At the same time, it's a 13th birthday present for our youngest daughter who went from novice kayaker to bantam racing competitor in the last five months. She told us that she would rather go to Nationals than have a birthday party or get a birthday present. (Her birthday will be one of our drive days and we are bringing a few presents from Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and us.) She loves the sport more than anything else she's ever done, and she's practiced hours and hours, fallen in over and over again, and improved her race times by several seconds for every distance. She's come home exhausted, cold, and hungry, and then gotten up the next morning ready to go again.

So, we are driving 2,672 miles to honor her awe-inspiring passion, for her birthday, and for our family summer trip.

Do You Have Goals? - hosted by the super-encouraging Misha and Beth!

This month - I planned to participate in Camp NaNo but I didn't take into account some of our family activities and so . . . I don't know that I'll reach the goal.
I'm posting early, so maybe I'll get some massive writing done on the road trip when my husband is driving.
So, this month felt like a big fat "zero" but then I realized I completed 14,000 words total between two projects. That's not "zero."

The delightful Sarah Scheele at Stardust and Gravel gave me this award last month! Thank you, Sarah!

Each blogger who receives this award must give 11 random facts, answer 11 questions, and pass it on to 11 bloggers.

Ready?

11 Random Facts:
1. I love sunflowers!!!
2. I'm allergic to sunflower seeds. I plant them anyway and don't eat them.
3. I love the sun!
4. I love all kinds of rain - the mist, the trickle, the steady, the drumbeat, and the massive downpour - but I have limits on how long I like the rain - two days is enough in a week or two.
5. I even like overcast skies with no rain - as long as they don't last for more than a day.
6. I love vanilla chai tea with honey and coconut milk.
7. I love roses with thorns. The thorn-less ones are just wrong.
8. I love dandelions and the bunnies that come to eat them.
9. I love blackberries.
10. We allow deer to eat the apples from our ancient apple trees, but we don't like them in our fenced vegetable garden.
11. I love journals and buy them too often. Some women have a closet full of shoes. I have desk drawers full of journals.

11 Questions with Answers
1. What’s the last sentence you wrote in a story?Clara and her group were only eleven strong, but that was the perfect number for a scout force into the Dark Sisterhood’s stronghold.
 2. What was the last movie you watched?The Avengers (fourth time)
 3. Do you have a favorite quote?Too many. "Writing is a dance of language." - Ivan Doig.
 4. Favorite food?           Vanilla Chai Tea
5. Have you ever seen a shooting star?               Yes
6. If you were stranded on a desert island and could only have three books, which would you bring?               The Bible, The Hobbit, and a journal
7. In real life, which appeals to you more: futuristic, modern, or old-fashioned?            Modern
8. In fiction, which appeals to you more: futuristic, modern, or old-fashioned? (Other worlds count.)Futuristic and old-fashioned :)
9. What’s the strangest thing hanging on your wall in your room?
             Origami cranes from birthday wrapping paper
10. What’s your favorite bird?    Eagle Owl
11.  Robin Hood or King Arthur?
Robin Hood


Now, I'm supposed to choose 11 bloggers to receive this award . . . and there are many more that deserve it . . . so, if you haven't received this award before, consider it yours!

What are you celebrating? What are your goals? And, Remember Please take a Sunflower Award!!!