Gud, can I have a cinnamon roll?

Gud, I'll be right over to eat their share.

How can anyone turn down cinnamon rolls?

I made cinnamon rolls this morning and neither my wife or my son ate any.

Obviously, they were either waiting for you and your daughter to go away so they could eat like gluttons and later tell you that there was an "accident" and they really only had a bite each; or their noses were so stuffed up that even cinnamon couldn't penetrate.

I sort of think the first explanation is more likely.

POD PEOPLE

Susan, remember that most RWA contests are judged, at least in the preliminaries, by other writers and would-be writers. It's very much luck of the draw whether you get good judges; it's easy to get stuck in the first round because of one bad review.

I just got back from a memorial service for the mother of a friend of mine from school. When leaving the church I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around to see my best friend Jenna's boyfriend in front of me, wearing a suit and tie and looking somber. I was very confused--what the heck was he doing here? Did he work at the church as an usher or something and I never knew? So I asked, "What are you doing here?"

In a coincidence that gave me goosebumps, it turns out that his friend S., about whose sick mother I'd had many a conversation with him, is my friend from nursing school's sister. I had no idea that these two disparate parts of my life were connected in any way. It's deeply weird.

Susan, remember that most RWA contests are judged, at least in the preliminaries, by other writers and would-be writers. It's very much luck of the draw whether you get good judges; it's easy to get stuck in the first round because of one bad review.

Oh, I know that well, since I judge them myself. You'd just think if I'm anywhere near as good as I like to think I am that I'd have gotten three judges that liked me in the same contest by now. (With one exception, so far I've always had at least one very high score. Just never two in the same contest.)

It's deeply weird.

It is strange when that happens, but it somehow makes me feel like it means I am right where I am supposed to be.

I was talking to the sister of my DH's (east coast) college roommate, who is still a very good friend of ours. While we were talking, we realized that another sibling of theirs lived two doors down from my sister in Culver City and their little girls were good friends.

I am tired of the pregnant people of Utah. (If anyone here is in Utah and pregnant, this probably doesn't apply to you, because everyone here is cool and not likely to be prone to this.) I've seen so many people here on the board who are giddy with delight about the kid they're having/have had, but I don't think I've seen a pregnant woman in ages around here who is anything but "Yeah, I'm pregnant, so what?" And I use "woman", because if you're going to be a mom then you're entitled to be a woman, even if you're barely old enough to vote.

Two pregnant women are chatting behind me. There are three more within view here at work. There have been "Oh, wow, you're pregnant?" moments, but on the whole there's little joy in it for them. The mindset around here seems to view pregnancy as "Excellent, you're fulfilling your purpose in the world, well done, good and faithful servant."

I want to see people taking joy in their kids, not just herding their kids. Maybe they do it at home where I never see them. They're not doing it on the street or in restaurants or in the grocery store. It's "get over here! Don't do that! Be quiet!" If they acknowledge the kids at all.

They will bring their infants in, but it always seems more like a Show and Tell project than a demonstraton of delight and love. "Look what I made this year."

There is the distinct possibility that I'm becoming a nasty crone.

I would look it up in the dictionary and then rephrase it very slightly to show I understood it and wasn't just copying.

Er, I'd advise against doing this. Slightly rephrasing someone else's words could get you into unnecessary trouble. Either rewrite it entirely in your own words, or use a direct quote.

If I were you, vw, I'd quote the dictionary and then provide my definition or brief discussion of how it is used (no more than 1 or 2 sentences, however). But I'm an ex-grad student, so I like to cover my bases.