Tip for Tuesday - if you ever send an Email, here's a trick

If you send emails, you might want to know that you can prepare an email and then delay the "send" so that you can think it over, maybe edit the draft, or simply send it when you want.

You could use this option to prepare an email saying "Happy Birthday"! and then delay the send until the appropriate date. That way you will never "forget" a friend's birthday again--well, almost. At least it won't look like you forgot, even if you did.

Delay sending an e-mail message

• From within the e-mail, click on the Options ribbon / More Options section / Delay Deliveries.

• Select the Do not deliver before and select date and time.

WAH-LAH You're a genius on Outlook or at least you'll look like one :)

Barbie Cake

What little girl, or BIG girl, wouldn't love a Barbie cake? What a wonderful way to celebrate almost any occasion. At least that's what I think. How 'bout you? Wouldn't you love to have an icon of your childhood help you celebrate?

And, I thought Barbie was IT when I was a little girl. I loved her and Ken and played with my Barbie every day. But, Mom and Dad didn't have the money to even buy clothes for my doll (they had enough trouble buying them for the nine of us kids). I crocheted Barbie's clothes out of Grandma's left over yarn. So, I never had a Barbie cake growing up. To tell the truth, I don't even know if they were around back in those "olden" days. And, when Fatina invited us to her graduation and BBQ, I wanted to make one for her. So, I did. And it was super simple. Believe me, if I can do it, anyone can.

Here's how I did it.

First I started with a Barbie Cake Kit.
It came with a special "hill-shaped" pan I assembled by screwing in the stand and the core.
Then I sprayed the inside of the pan with "no-stick" spray.
I sprinkled flour all over the inside of the pan so that it would slide out easily after it was baked.
With the pan ready, I poured my cake mixture inside and baked it for about one hour (testing the cake with a wooden shishkabob skewer) to make sure it was done. I let it cool then it slid out easily.




Then I frosted the base of the cake with my first coat (or the crumb coating). You do this so that no crumbs will be mixed in with the final layer of frosting. I also cut out a shirt for her (making it out of blue fondant). I pinned the graduation cap to her head so it would stay on.
Now, it was time for the fun part. Decorating. I wanted to use the school colors. That made the choice of colors easy. So, I started decorating the dress with little yellow polka dots, that I cut out of fondant. I tied a little piece of rolled up paper (the diploma) in her hand with black thread.
The cake-kit came with a Barbie but I wanted one that actually looked like the graduate so I ran back to the store and bought one that I thought looked like Fatina.

It was so fun and I enjoyed giving it to the Graduate.

So, there are lots of ways you could use a Barbie Cake to celebrate a special occasion - can you think of a few? Please share any of your ideas in the comments section.

Ode to Moms Everywhere

It's Mother's Day and time to remember Moms everywhere.

My Mom, pictured above, passed away a few years ago and it's still hard for me on Mother's Day. I miss her. But today, I'm trying to be positive.

So, I'm going to focus on all the 'other' Moms in my life. My sisters are Moms, my neighbors are Moms, even the women who don't have children but nurture and encourage others - are Moms in my mind.

So, lets all remember to honor the Moms in our lives and if you are lucky enough to still have yours around, why don't you call her up today and honor her?

And to all you Moms out there in cyberspace - HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

Marathon Training

Today I signed up for the a Half Marathon in June. It's official - I'm committed, or maybe I should be. But I've been training, which is more than I usually do. In the past I've just gone out and run but you might be able to do that for a 3 or 6 mile run but not for 13 miles. You have to be in some sort of shape to run 13 miles straight. And I've been using the Adidas micoach technology to train.

So, how is training for a half-marathon like writing? Well, to be able to write you have to educate yourself (train yourself) on grammar, voice, and - yes - even pacing. Sort of like running.

I took the stride sensor and put it in my new shoe (which I just bought to break in before the marathon).
then I strapped on my heart rate sensor


and I put my earbuds in my ears so I could listen to micoach telling me what to do: speed up, slow down, maintain blue/green/yellow and even red zone then I was ready for my run.


Kind of like being in a critique group and having your peers give you advice, tips and feedback.

Using technology is also what writers need to do. You have to have (or at least should have) a decent computer with decent software. That's not to say you can't run without this technology, you can. And you can write with a piece of paper and a pencil but...having the proper equipment helps to achieve your goals faster, easier and maybe even with a little more fun. Yes, fun. It can be fun to write and to run.

When I got home I synced up my pacer with my computer. The program tells me how many miles I ran, what my pace was, my heart rate, and how many calories I burnt during my workout. It even graphs all the data for me and saves it.

Syncing up is like sending out your first manuscript. You can get feedback that lets you know if you are on track or way behind in the race.

Micoach is a great program and it has helped me (I hope) get ready for the half-marathon.

And, when a writer uses the right equipment, sets goals and works hard, he, or she, will be ready to send out his/her manuscript and have the best possible chance of publication. At least that's what I'm hoping ;)

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

I celebrate the Fifth of May by eating some spicy Mexican food and raising a toast (usually a margarita) to the land down under (I know, it's not Australia but it's the land down under where I live ;)

I wonder how many of us know what it is we're celebrating.

It's not like the 4th of July, this isn't Mexico's Independence Day, that's on September 16.

Instead Cinco de Mayo marks a victory in battle. It's really a celebration of a David and Goliath story. Specifically the Battle of Puebla when the Mexican army had an unlikely victory over French forces on May 5, 1862.

Mexico actually gives it limited significance sort of like St. Paddy's Day in Ireland but we Americans like to celebrate diversity and different cultures whenever we can. We use the day to celebrate Mexican heritage and pride.

So, how do you celebrate the Fifth of May?

Answer to Word for Wednesday

The word vamoose means to leave quickly. If you want to double-check, look here.

Word for Wednesday - Game for Writers

Guess what the word Vamoose means.

Put your guess in the comments section then come back around 3:00 to see if you were write or wrong ;)