My Words in a Book

A couple of weeks ago I received my long-awaited boxes of books.

I reached in and carefully brought one out. It was pristine. The cover was shiny with no finger marks. Gently I opened the book.

The very first page began three pages of testimonials – remarks from folk who read the Advanced Reading Copy (ARC). They used words and phrases like “wonderful writing, honest, personal, compelling, comforted, encouraged, soul-stirring, modern classic, inspiring reality, live out their faith, humour, struggle, romance, courage, heartache, ultimately hope, from real life to flights of fancy, hug from heaven for a friend, vulnerable, finely-honed stories, fresh evidences of God’s grace” – and those words are only a few from the first page.

Humbled I turned to the next page. It read:

              This book is dedicated to

             Raymond and Lois Nelles

     in tribute to their exceptional support

    of Canadian writers who are Christian

Then the title page:

          A Second Cup of Hot Apple Cider

          Words to Stimulate the Mind and Delight the Spirit

                                      Edited by

                                            N. J. Lindquist

                                      Wendy Elaine Nelles

                               That’s Life! Communications

Another page-turn. I perused the copyright page.

The Table of Contents was opposite. I read from the top down. Second line from the bottom I saw, Surviving with a Woman of a Certain Age by Denise Budd Rumble. Here I paused.

I wrote my first book at the age of seven. It was a mystery. I was the main character who solved the mystery. My dolls and teddies loved it.

I’ve been writing ever since. And, I’ve kept just about everything I’ve ever written – short stories; articles; columns; news; book reviews; a recipe book; children’s book manuscripts – along with every rejection slip, most of them with encouraging words hand written on the form letter; and on and on.

No, I didn’t only receive rejection slips. I have a lot of publishing credits to my name – more than enough to achieve professional membership in The Word Guild, a Canadian organization for writers and editors who are Christian.

To this point in time, my published work has appeared in a variety of newspapers and magazines, but this was the first time my words nestled between the covers of a book. And, yes, the book is an anthology. And, yes, only one chapter contains my words. And, yes, being published in newspapers and magazines is important and fulfilling.

But, there’s a little more to this story – the story of these words in a book…

Let’s journey together.

© 2011 Denise Budd Rumble

Road Trip Tales – Part Two

“I don’t remember being on this road before.”

Another half-hour drive and we decided to stay away from the major highways and enjoy some of the scenery. As kids the purpose of the trip was usually just to get there so we did very little sight-seeing along the way.

“You’re right, Mum. But, we decided we’d travel some new roads, see some new scenery. We thought you might like that.”

“But will there be time to visit Aunty K.?”

“Remember we told you that we were just going to travel to Belleville today and stay in a hotel tonight. We’ll have a leisurely breakfast and then make our way to Napanee in the morning to visit. We’ll be able to stay all day, until her supper time.”

“Oh, alright then.

A minute later her nose was buried in her book once again.

The car took us over rolling hills and through peaceful valleys. Patchwork fields, wildflowers waving in the breeze and trickling brooks danced across our field of sight. We enjoyed seeing the varied architecture of old houses and new, quaint villages and larger towns. We drove by the Bowmanville Zoo. Earlier we thought we might stop and visit there but the break at the mall convinced us that it would be too difficult for Mum.

“I don’t remember the trip taking this long.” Mum lifted her eyes from her book to the window. “I don’t remember being on this road before.”

A few hours later, with the help of “geeps”, my GPS, we found a nice “British pub” and restaurant.

“Where are we?”

“We’ve found an interesting place for supper, Mum, a British pub. They probably have some nice fish and chips.”

“I’ll just wait in the car. You can bring me a pack of chips.”

“Mum, you need to have some supper. We’ve found this nice place for you. I bet they make a really good cup of tea.”

“I’ve got part of that sandwich left, just bring me some chips.”

After some cajoling, arguing and putting our foot down, we helped Mum out of the car and up the stairs to the pub. Karen and I did enjoy a delicious meal of fish and chips. Mum had trifle. Following an arduous climb up, then down, a flight of stairs to use the “facilities” the three of us settled into the car again.

Continuing on minor highways and through a couple more towns we finally reached our destination for the evening.

“Are you sure the home will still let us in? It’s getting a bit late isn’t it?”

“We’re going to a hotel now, Mum.”

“But, I thought we were going to visit Aunty K.”

“Tomorrow, Mum. We’re going to have a leisurely breakfast and then spend the day with Aunty K. tomorrow.”

“Oh. Alright then. How much farther to the hotel? I’m nearly finished my book.”

“Nearly there. We’re in Belleville now.”

Overwhelmed by hot flashes I turned on the air conditioner – full blast.

“Mum, there’s a blanket there if you need it – and a pillow.”

Let’s journey together.

© Denise Budd Rumble 2009

But it's supposed to be spring!

I can’t believe it! My weatherman and my calendar agree, here in Southwestern Ontario, Canada – heavy on the Southwestern – it is supposed to be Spring. But this morning I was greeted by snow!

Yes, I know it’s only April and it’s not unusual for us to get snow at this time of year, but today the reappearance of snow hit me – like a slap in the face, a kick in the butt, like being shoved down when you’re trying to get up out of the doldrums of winter hanging on and wanting spring to take over.

After having several days of double-digit weather recently this new snow is a drag. Maybe it’s menopause, but I’m sick of the cold and the snow. I’m cranky and tired and headachy. And, I just want to crawl back into bed, snuggle down and wait until spring really is here.

Except for those darn hot flashes!

Hmm, I guess that’s one good thing about the cold weather dragging on. When a hot flash takes over all I have to do is step out on my porch to get some relief.

Let’s journey together.

© 2009 Denise Budd Rumble

Makeup Quandary

“I’m coming!”

Gee, you’d think my hubby was deaf or something. That’ll be the third time I’ve told him that I’m coming.

Yes, I know we’re running a tad behind but I’m doing the best I can. You just can’t hurry some things. It’s my makeup you see—I’m trying to put it on, but…well…I was running behind, so I was hurrying to get ready. Now I’m finally down to the makeup. Then it happened—hot flash attack! The heat radiated from the middle of me to the outer edges of me and the steam came out the pores on my face resulting in facial dampness. Okay, maybe “drips” is a better term.

I tried drying my face with a towel. But by the time I put the towel back on the rack and picked up my eye shadow brush my face was wet again. Have you ever attempted to apply eye shadow and blush to a wet surface?

If I could just wait it out…

“Yes, I know what time it is. I’ll be there in a minute!”

Well, I guess I’ll start with lipstick. At least that surface is supposed to be wet.

© 2008 Denise Budd Rumble