Happy Eat Cake Day!

It’s another one of those crazy holidays! Only, this one is beginning here—today! I ran a contest in February, where I asked readers to suggest a brand-new holiday. Our friend, flchen (that’s you, Fedora!), suggested this one! We all love cake, so why not have a day of the year that is completely devoted to cake?

To celebrate, there’s a puzzle for you to solve, and of course, there’s a contest! For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me your favorite kind of cake. 

I know. I’m showing my nerd-side again. But this is an IMPORTANT holiday (to Star Trek fans, anyway)!

It’s the date, in the year 2063, when Vulcans land on Earth and introduce themselves. It’s the day when Earth begins the process of “joining the club” of star-traveling worlds. Such a momentous thing, don’t you think?

I have a love-fear relationship with the idea of aliens arriving. Yes, I read War of the Worlds when I was a kid. I watched the old black and white Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and for years afterward, I had nightmares where my parents were taken over by aliens and smiled those eerie smiles at me.

I also watched Close Encounters of the Third Kind—and yes! I could so be Richard Dreyfus’s character becoming obsessed with messages he couldn’t quite figure out and then happily letting the aliens lead him on board the spaceship at the end.

And then there was the more accessible, highly addictive weekly thrill of Lost in Space and STAR TREK! I always, always wanted to be Captain Kirk’s girlfriend. I was never a Spock girl, but I’d paint myself green and dance for that man.

More likely than Vulcans landing on the planet to make contact, I’m sure Michael Crichton had it right. Our first encounter won’t be with sexy, pointy-eared aliens but with a deadly, extraterrestrial microbe that will infect the human race as in the Andromeda Strain. Go ahead. Pee on my parade.

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, describe what you think our first encounter with aliens will be like!

UPDATE: The winner is…Pamela!
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Yes, I know. Easter is on Sunday. However, Sunday’s post will be respectful…

So, I wanted to tell a story about something that happened one Easter morning to the Devlin family. Several years ago, when the kids were smaller and my daughter’s family lived across the road, I rushed over in the early morning to help set out the baskets. All went well. The kids woke up and were thrilled with their gifts and candy. Then they headed outside to play while the adults enjoyed coffee. A few minutes later, the youngest child ran back inside, sobbing.

“The Easter Bunny died. He’s dead!”

We all rushed out to see what she was talking about. The long driveway leading to their house was gravel and dirt (we live in the country!). So, when it rained, whereever the gravel wasn’t thick, small mudholes would form. The boy-child was standing beside one of the small muddy potholes with a stick, dragging something from a mudhole. It was a dead rabbit—a large dead rabbit—so covered in mud it looked like a giant chocolate-covered bunny. Yes, of all the days for it to happen, a bunny had croaked and fallen into a pothole on Easter morning!

We had to assure them all it wasn’t the real Easter Bunny and that the “real” one would be back next year.

That’s my Easter story. It’s famous in our family. My daughter and son have another from their childhood, but that’s for another time…

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me an Easter story or tell me what your family’s practice is/was, if you celebrate Easter.

UPDATE: The winner is…Cindy Hunt!
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It’s another obscure holiday today! One we can all love, right? It’s actually celebrating oral storytelling. However, we can bend the rules a bit here!

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, take a look at the photo and tell me a story. Your story doesn’t have to be complete, or long, or even any good. Just look at the picture and wing it! Have fun!

Of course, this is a day we celebrate in our household! The red-headed hellion (my daughter) would have it no other way. She spent quite a lot of time in Ireland with her father’s relatives when she was younger and took two of the girls to Ireland recently to meet with the people they’re always talking to on the phone. Tonight, we’ll have a lovely meal, but parades are out because they’re simply too far away. We’ll spend it quietly with family. If celebrating St. Paddy’s Day isn’t a thing in your house, consider making it one. We all need loads and loads of reasons to celebrate life throughout the year! Happy St. Patrick’s Day, everyone!

Open Contests

1. Meet Your Weekend Book Boyfriend — $0.99 Sale! (Contest + Excerpt) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
2. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: National Barbie Day (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
3. Word Search: Favorite Pets (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
4. The Joy of Bingeing (Contest) — Win a FREE book!
5. Katherine Smits: St. Patrick’s Story Spectacular — The Pen Dames March Contest (2 Prizes!) — Win an Amazon gift card, plus–have your name appear in a story!
6. Gabbi Grey: A Sexy Story (Contest)  — Win an Amazon gift card!
7. Saturday Puzzle-Contest & a Reminder! — Win an Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…Debra Guyette!
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No, I’m not glitching this morning. Forgive the Christmas-y sign, I don’t mean to confuse you, but I didn’t have time to make my own neutral holiday sign!

A friend, I think it was Laura, suggested that since I love silly holidays so much, that I should have a contest and ask y’all for some brand-new holiday names and dates we might celebrate! I think that’s a completely awesome idea, so here’s the challenge…

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, and to be forever known as the originator of your singular holiday, give me a date and a name for your holiday! Have fun with it! And who knows, maybe we should add it to my blog calendar!

Open Contests & Giveaways

1. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: What I want for dinner tonight! — Last day to enter! Win an Amazon gift card!
2. Show me what you made (Part Two) (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
3. Word Search: Sticky Bun Day — Breakfast Pastries (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
4. Story Cubes — Tell me a story (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
5. FREE Read: Two Hot — Everyone! Get your FREE read!
6. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: A Romantic Dinner — Win an Amazon gift card!
7. Anna Taylor Sweringen/Michal Scott: Homespun Heroines and Other Women of Distinction (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
8. Deb Robinson: 5 Shades of Brothers Browne (FREE Read) — EVERYONE! Get your FREE read!

UPDATE: The winner is…Kerry Jo Pruett!
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I know, I know. Lately, I’m seem to be obsessed with food. My fun holiday list isn’t helping at all. Today is Sticky Bun Day! So, in honor of the occasion, I quickly listed ten breakfast pastries I could think of off the top of my head.

Exercise that gray matter and enjoy the puzzle! Then, for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, add to the list OR tell me your favorites! For me, it’s kolaches and danishes!