In True 'Bear' Form

Okay, we haven't seen a good story from the Bear in awhile... Or a poop one for that matter, so here we go:

I help the Bear do his homework most evenings, and we were reviewing some of his spelling words. He is still learning to read, so I was having him read the words and spell them.

We came to the word 'puppy'. He has a special spot in his heart for puppies, and has wanted one for a long time.

When he figured out the word, his face lit up and he said "puppeeeeee" with a big smile on his face. Then he said, "I'll get a puppy if I pee and poop a lot."
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Okay, a little explanation may be required. When he was younger, one of our potty training bribes was that he had to poop in the potty 10 times without soiling a diaper and we would discuss getting a puppy. Well, the weeks and months dragged on with little progress and the puppy topic fell by the wayside. The Bear has long since transitioned into "Big Boy Pants" and is potty trained. I just hope he doesn't decide to press us on the puppy issue, because the result will pretty much be that we traded in a pooping boy for a pooping dog. The benefit of the pooping boy is the the diaper caught it. With a dog, the carpet, the yard, etc gets it. Then the yard stinks to high heaven, and mom and dad have to take care of the dog because junior lost interest. Hmmmm seems like I remember what I did when I was a kid.

My good news

You may recall a year ago my post about my long lost Bible: (http://cheezweezil.blogspot.com/2007_02_01_archive.html titled "A Long Lost Treasure")

Back then I got a couple comments, one from a member of my writing group, and another from my wifes' brother's wife. Both mentioned the possibility of a story, and one suggested a submission to a church periodical.

I let that stew for awhile, then I wrote it up in articvle form and submited it to The Ensign via their online submission process.

A few months passed and I figured thay passed it over.

Last Saturday we watched President Hinckley's funeral, then got aa nice surprise right after it.

Here is the email I sent out to family and friends about that experience:

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Today was rather emotional mainly due to the funeral of President Hinckley. (For those of you who don't know who he his, see my blog: http://cheezweezil.blogspot.com).

Shortly after the funeral was over, I thumbed through today's mail and saw a letter from the Church's Magazine Department. I thought it was probably an invoice to renew our subscriptions, so I casually set it aside. Erica made the comment that maybe it was something to do with the article I submitted several months ago. So I opened it and read the following opening line:"Dear Author: We are pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been accepted for possible publication in the Ensign."

Thats as far as I got before I was overcome again. It was very welcome news, and it means a lot to me. I have put a lot of energy into writing over last few years, and it is great to see something coming of it.

I thought you all might like to share in my little bit of happy today.
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They indicated that there will be an editing process that we will go through until we agree upon the final text. Then actual publication could be months or years depending on their editorial needs.

I am very excited about this, but the biggest reason may not be the one you think. The publishing credit will be very nice, but what I am most excited about is that people all over the world will have the chance to read my neat little story. People high up in our church will read it, my family will read it, my friends and people in our local church will read it.

This is all very cool.