Also, on December 3rd, I will be partnering up with Coon Dog Candles in Martinsburg, West Virginia to sell some books at an open house that owner (and my very dear friend) Robbie Newcome will be hosting. Not only will my books be available   for purchase, but there will also of course be loads of Coon Dog’s yummy soy candles and handmade jewelry by a few local artisans. If you’re in the area and would like details, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me, or you can visit Coon Dog Candle’s Holiday Candle Sale page on Facebook.

I remember helping my grandmother put up her Christmas tree and decorate her house for the holiday. I would put battery-operated candle bulbs in the windows and wrap sparkly garland around her banister. After we were finished decorating, I would spend the night at her house, and after it got dark I would turn off the lights in the living room and plug in the tree. I would lay on the floor staring up at the Christmas lights and listen to carols on the radio. Sometimes I would even fall asleep there underneath the tree. It was the best kind of childhood magic, and it’s one of my favorite memories.

So, peanut gallery…what is your most cherished holiday memory from your childhood?

It is raining outside, and my mind is wandering. It is hard to focus on much of anything these days. I have movies in my head, movies starring all of the characters who may or may not populate the novel I will be working on during NaNoWriMo.

I am missing my husband who is still in Pennsylvania where we have been staying for the past two weeks, house-sitting for his parents while they are in Daytona for Bike Week. Silly me. I thought coming back to our home in West Virginia a day early would be good for me. I could use a cuddle or two.

I have been spending entirely too much time playing video games lately. Both Dragon Age games have eaten away a significant chunk of my young adult life. Still, I suppose there are worse ways I could spend my days off from work. At least I am not an alcoholic or a compulsive gambler. I just like slaying digital dragons and fighting the good fight against the darkspawn.

I am wondering how I suddenly woke up one day to find myself in this ridiculously clumsy adult body with a mind that is painfully aware of all these looming adult responsibilities.

I am not depressed, just thoughtful.

I’ll be 29 in a couple weeks. How the hell did that happen?

Winter is settling in all around me. The leaves are turning bright orange and red and yellow and tumbling to the ground. There is a chill in the night air and a light frost on the grass in the mornings. Winter makes me want to hibernate like a bear. I eat and eat, and I can never seem to get enough sleep.

I confess that my body is far from being the temple it should rightly be.

I confess that I have yet to grow comfortably into my own skin.

That said, during my time away from the blogosphere I have run wild with my best friend through the narrow streets of Salem, Massachusetts, where we foolishly paid close to $60 for a cab ride from the airport to our hotel and then managed to return much more smartly on the bus for $1.50 each. During our trip we also met the bus driver for the Boston Red Sox who got us a five dollar discount on our tickets to the House of Seven Gables museum, pigged out on some of the very best tavern food we have ever encountered, got caught in the rain while sightseeing every single day we were there (except for the very last), and played cards for hours while waiting for our home flight to begin boarding.

I have also seen several excellent movies, including The Help starring a truly endearing Emma Stone (even though she looks like a little piggy when she cries). And I have read many interesting books, my favorite being the laugh-out-loud funny The Dark Side of Disney by Leonard Kinsey, which teaches the reader how to stealth their way into the Magic Kingdom on the cheap.

The highlight of these past few months took place today, though. I found out that I won first place in the 14th annual Poetry Superhighway poetry contest! The archived broadcast of winners’ announcement can be heard (where you can hear me nervously struggle my way through reading my winning poem)here, and you can read the winning poems here, including my poem, “Radio Silence.”

I’ll also be judging next year’s contest, along with my fellow winning poets, and I can honestly say that I am totally excited about participating in the contest on this whole new level I have never before experienced!

I also look forward to blogging more often. D’oh!

You can browse and shop Stef’s studio here!

And don’t forget to tell her I sent you. She’s nice anyway, but she’ll probably be a lot nicer if you tell her you came to her shop from my blog.

I always have trouble packing for these sorts of things. Earlier this year, I flew into Louisville, KY for a few days to visit my artist girlfriend Stefanie and her husband David. All I took with me was a single carry-on bag with three or four days worth of clothes, and I still feel like I packed way too much. What’s the rule of thumb, again? Pack what you think you’ll need, and then halve it? Oh boy…

We’ve got an early flight tomorrow and, general airline anxieties aside, I’m looking forward to a couple of dreary, atmospheric days in seaside Salem. However, I have a feeling that my carefully monitored diet is about to go all to hell. That’s what happened last time my girlfriend and I traveled someplace together. All thoughts of being able to fit my ass into skinny jeans flew straight out the window and…hello, fried food, how are you? It’s been so long…

Why does everything have to taste better when it’s been dipped in batter and fried in lard? Really, it’s disgusting to think about. And it’s also not fair. I have a feeling, though, that if fast food joints started selling steamed broccoli or cauliflower, most people would still bypass the healthier options for the burger and fries. I’m also pretty sure that McDonald’s would probably also find ways to make veggies heart attack-inducing. They’re pretty efficient when it comes to clogging up people’s arteries.

I digress. Anyhow, Boston, here we come! (They are SO not ready for us!)

In fact, I saw a used copy going for $147. Even though I like to think that I have fabulous self-esteem for a chick who spent half her life as a fat kid, I…really can’t say that I think I’m worth quite THAT much. Nobody is. And don’t let Amazon or any of those shady book dealers tell you otherwise.

Living in a small town is kind of a bummer when you catch a case of insomnia. There is no where to go because everything is closed…unless you count Wal-Mart, and that is just NOT a reasonable option. These are not the sorts of things I want to see at 3am…or at any time, really.

Small towns are good for some things, though. For instance, right around the time that dusk was beginning to pink the sky, I looked out my kitchen window and saw a doe and three little spotted white tail fawns prancing in my driveway. And earlier, when I slipped out of the house to take a midnight drive, on my way to the car I happened to look up and see a sky full of the brightest and biggest stars anyone could imagine. Nothing else to say, except…beautiful.

There are moments when I wish I lived in a big, flashy city like New York or Los Angeles or even New Orleans, but when I actually sit and think about it, I am happy and proud to come from a small, small town. The people are (usually) pretty friendly, helpful, and actually care about their neighbors. There’s plenty of room to breathe and, let’s face it, all the trees around here make that a bit easier, also.

It would be nice to have easy access to big libraries, writing centers, workshops, and places that actually host open mic poetry nights, but at the end of the day, I don’t mind traveling to get to those things–as long as I can always return to my yard full of trees and deer and my country skies full of stars.

I had the opportunity to hear her read some of her work at the West Virginia Writers Conference in Ripley, and she completely blew me away. I highly recommend her excellent poem “Not Egypt,” which has secured a permanent place on my list of personal favorites.

Speaking of Rick Lupert, I am sponsoring the 2011 poetry contest over at Poetry Superhighway. It only costs one dollar per poem to enter, and the winners of last year’s contest will be judging the entries. Also, even sponsors can enter, so if you’ve got a book or writerly service you’d like to donate to the prize pot, you can also get in on the sweet poetry action.

After all these years, Rick’s still doing some awesome things for the poetry community, so do him a favor and show the man some love!