Second Chance

All right. I have had a few people say they'd be interested in entering my (sort of) annual Poetry Contest. So, even though it's not my birthday any more (which was pretty fabulous, by the way), it is still National Poetry Month. So here is your second chance to enter Loralee's Fancy Poetry Contest. Yaaaaayyy!!

This year's challenge, as you may recall from my April 1 post, is to write your very own nursery rhyme. You are probably familiar with nursery rhymes, but here are a couple of examples:

Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet
Eating her curds and whey.
Along came a spider and sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away.




I'm sure you recognize that rhyme about the very scary spider as a nursery rhyme. But how about this one?

Eeny-meeny-miney-moe
Catch a tiger by the toe.
If he hollers, let him go.
Eeny-meeny-miney-moe.

(Or this variation:
...If he hollers make him pay
Fifty dollars every day.)

Yes. While you may have thought that "Eeny-Meeny..." was just a rhyme to choose who was IT when you played tag, it is actually a nursery rhyme! Because it meets these criteria:

1. it rhymes
2. it tells a very short story

(You can learn more about that here: How to write a nursery rhyme)

So, your second-chance, 2017 Poetry Challenge is to
write a clever nursery rhyme.

Here's what you need to know:

* Your poem must have a clear, simple story to tell
(like a girl sat down to eat and was scared off by a spider).
* It must be between four and eight lines long.
* It must rhyme and be in good meter
* I won't ask for poems about cute little animals, but it should be something a child would understand. ;-)
* POST YOUR WONDERFUL RHYME AS A COMMENT ON THIS VERY BLOG POST. (Just click on "Comments" and type your way to poetic perfection. Make sure your name shows up with it.)
* You may enter (and are encouraged to enter) as many poems as you want.
* All entries are due on Sunday, April 30, by 7:30 p.m.
* Winners will be announced on May 1 (or May 2, depending on how crazy my weekend is).

The contest will have two divisions:

The Children's Division is for anyone up to twelve years old. The winner of the Children's Division will receive a lovely certificate and a large-size candy of their choice.

The Everyone Else Division is for everyone older than twelve years old. The winner of the Everyone Else Division will receive a lovely certificate and a delicious home-made dessert, prepared by my own lily hands.

So here's your big chance at literary fame and fabulous prizes!!! Ready... Set... Go!

Ding-Dong-Dell, The Contest's Death Knell

Well, today is the long anticipated day! Or, maybe not.

It is time to judge the 2017 Loralee's Fancy Poetry Contest. 

This year's contest was to write a nursery rhyme, but only one person entered, and that was Jason. (Yay, Jason!) He did enter two poems, so I guess there is a tiny amount of judging to do here.

Anyway, as per tradition, before we look at the new poetry or announce the winner, here is my token rhyme:

Mom thought it was time

To see a new rhyme.

A poetry contest? A must!

But only one son

Entered…and won.
As a contest it turned out a bust.

And now for the actual entries (which might be considered "College Rhymes" instead of "Nursery Rhymes," but maybe that's the same thing...)

First, from Jason North we have:

A young college student

did know it was prudent

To study by day and sleep by night.

But he met a nice girl,

in a dress she would twirl,

and together they dine each night.

Also from Jason:

Blaine the prankster

And Jason the jokester

Once got together to plot.

When their results they found pleasing

They both were laughing and wheezing;

Their victim, of course, was not.

I might remove the words "When" and "They" from lines four and five—my ear likes that meter a little better. But the poem is pretty great. 

And now for the big moment...

The winner of the 2017 Loralee's Fancy Poetry Contest is... Jason North with his "Prankster" rhyme.  Yaayyy! 

So, Jason, let me know what dessert you prefer, and I'll make it when we bring you home from school. And I'll throw in a copy of  Loralee's Fancy Book of Poetry, which features all the poems from the first five years of my poetry contest.

Thanks for playing! :-)

2017 Poetry Contest!

At last! After a break that was three years too long it is time for a new Poetry Contest! (But, you know, I had good reasons...like sewing for a fashion show, and moving...)

Anyway... Today is April first and, as you all know, April is National Poetry Month and, as I already told you a few weeks ago, my birthday is in April! This means it is time for the annual (almost annual) Loralee's Fancy Poetry Contest!  Yaaaayyyy!!! 

If you want to read poems from the past you can look here (2013),
and here (2012),
and here (2011),
and here (2010),
and, for the one that started it all, here (2009).

BUT If you want to live in the present and submit a whole new poem, written by your very own self––with the promise of fabulous prizes to come––then now is the time to learn about the new 2017 contest! Hooray!

This year's challenge, in keeping with my childish birthday wish for dolls and story books, is to write your very own nursery rhyme. I'm sure you are familiar with nursery rhymes, but here's a couple of examples:

Little Bo Peep
has lost her sheep
and doesn't know where to find them.
Leave them alone
and they'll come home
wagging their tails behind them.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty Dumpty together again.



So, basically a nursery rhyme is a very short story that is told using rhyme and meter, and only takes four to eight lines to tell. (For more in-depth instructions and some examples, click here.)


Your 2017 Poetry Challenge, then, is to write a clever nursery rhyme for me.
* It must have a clear, although simple, story to tell (like a little girl wasn't able to find her sheep).
* It must be between four and eight lines long.
* It should have an A A B B  rhyming scheme (like Humpty Dumpty),
or an A A C B B C rhyme scheme (like Little Bo Peep). 
* POST YOUR WONDERFUL RHYME AS A COMMENT ON THIS VERY BLOG POST. (Just click on "Comments" and type your way to poetic perfection. Make sure your name shows up with it.)
* All entries are due on Sunday, April 9, by 7:30 p.m.

The contest will have two divisions: the Children's Division, for anyone up to twelve years old, and the Everyone Else Division, for everyone older than twelve years old. You may enter as many poems as you like.
The winner of the Children's Division will receive a lovely certificate and a large-size candy of their choice.
The winner of the Everyone Else Division will receive a lovely certificate and a delicious home-made dessert, prepared by my own lily hands;

* Winners will be posted on April 10 (my birthday!). *

So enter! Enter lots of poems! Enter many times! Tell your friends, and your children, and your friends' children to enter! Call it a birthday present to me. ;-) Or just think of the fabulous prizes. Or, hey! Just do it for fun!

I can't wait to see your amazing nursery rhymes!

This Doll is a Looker!

A couple of nights ago Jessica had the opportunity to participate in a Vintage Fashion Show for our stake Relief Society. They found her a pink knitted dress and a hat from the 1930's; all we had to do was fix her makeup and hair.

My girls' friend, Amanda, came over to help in that department; she loves to play hair and makeup—which was kind of a relief for me and my silly elbow. I imagined her trying out a classic 30's hairstyle like one of these:

And makeup kind of like this:

In fact, this hairstyle is pretty great too.

Amanda thought that Jessica's hat would hide her hair anyway, so she didn't try anything fancy. I was a little disappointed when I saw what she'd done, but resolved to change the hairstyle after she left. (Yeah, I'm rude like that.)

There you see the  finished hairdo Amanda gave Jessica, and Amanda talking to her about makeup. In the upper right-hand corner you can see a picture of 30's makeup that my bossy self pulled up on the laptop so Amanda could copy it.

I wasn't too happy with the makeup job either (which, to me, seemed very heavy for Jessica, and very 80's), but I didn't really have the colors I needed to start over. In the end, we just wiped a lot of it off and then added a little white-ish eyeshadow.

There I am, fabulous arm-brace and all, putting the last touches on Jessica's hair.

Here she is, post-hairdo, but still with the original makeup:

And, finally, here are some pics of the finished look:

the hairdo with the hat on

all dolled up

sweet patootie

 

 I love this pic in black and white.

After the show we pulled all the bobby-pins out of her hair and ended up with this look:

Cute!

So it was a fun time. I think Jessica liked all the attention she got, I liked playing with her, and she looked really great.

What a doll!
Jessica is one pretty, young lady!

It's (Almost) My Birthday! Ta-Da!

Well, there's still a little time before my birthday (it's on April 10). My 50th birthday! And to celebrate such a momentous occasion I'm doing something I've never done before and will probably never do again: I am making a birthday wishlist. Yay!

(Now you can all look like this:)

First of all, I want to go to Salt Lake. In fact, I am planning to go to Salt Lake because I have another appointment with Dr. Widmer. And I am really and truly looking forward to it because I feel like I am constantly biding my time between physical therapy appointments and dr. visits, just hoping to hear some good thing about this elbow of mine, or get the go-ahead to do something more with it. (Although I don't know what more I can do—it is super stiff and stubborn.)

But, aside from visiting with my doctor, there are other fun things I want to do in Salt Lake. Bruce has the week of my b-day off (spring break for Duchesne School District), so he is going to keep me entertained all week! ;-)

On my birthday morning I am going to drag Bruce to my PT appointment. (I think I will take cupcakes to the office.)
Then I think he should take me to lunch...or just let me cry on him for a while since PT makes me do that.
Later, I want to pick the kids up from school and have a picnic dinner with my family at the park. :-)
And sometime during the day we will have to judge the Loralee's Fancy Poetry Contest and post the results. (More on that another time.)
That evening Bruce will be doing the sound for Seussical at Vernal Theater LIVE! Maybe I'll go see the show.

On Tuesday morning, the 11th, we will be driving to Salt Lake—just Bruce and me. What good things are there to do in Salt Lake?
Maybe a movie? 
Maybe go shopping for a birthday present...like some new tops for me to wear!
Surely we will have lunch or dinner at someplace nice—at least on one of the days we are in town.
I will want to go to WinCo and get things from the bulk bins—spices, mostly. (I know, exciting, right?)
Naturally we will want to visit family.
But mostly I want to spend some fun, non-working, relaxed, happy time with my husband while we are there in Salt Lake.
We will get to do any or all of these things from the time we arrive Tuesday and through all of Wednesday; probably we will play it by ear.
On Thursday morning we will go see Dr. Widmer. Jerry (my physical therapist) is hoping that he will give us the go-ahead to get rid of my beautiful brace in exchange for a dynamic splint.

Ooooh! Doesn't that look fun and attractive!
Happy Birthday to Me!

Well, I do want the new splint if it will get my elbow unstuck. Just this morning Jerry told me that mine is "the most stubborn elbow [he's] ever seen." Yay, me.

After my exciting visit with the doctor in Salt Lake Bruce and I will grab some lunch and then head back to Vernal and normal life.

As for actual gifts, I want to relive my childhood. You should not be surprised by this, as you are reading my childish post listing the things that I want for my birthday. But, yes, I want toys and books that I loved when I was a child. (This could be a whole new post which I would title "Songs from my childhood." In fact, that's almost what I called this post.)

Well...maybe I don't want to relive my childhood, because I'd much rather be a grown-up. But I do want children's toys and books. (You can see where to get these things by clicking on the BLUE links.)

I want a Sketchy doll; she was one of my favorites. Of course I want all of her stencils, desk, and crayon-holder too...and you can get it all on ebay. I would be hesitant to spend $69 plus shipping on a doll for myself (which is why I don't already own her), but if each of my kids pitches in $11 we'll have her. ;-) Of course, it is questionable whether each of my kids has $11.

I also want a Giggles doll. (Also on ebay.)You can't get Giggles in perfect condition—not without paying an arm and a leg (yours, not hers)—but I've been reading up on refurbishing her, and I am very, very interested in seeing if I can do it. So she could be a gift and a project for me—bonus! And she is so darn cute!


I want a Sunshine Family; I loved them! I at least want a set with a Steffie, a Steve, and a Baby Sweets, but a lot with more than that would be cool too. Yep, on ebay.

I'm also interested in a Tippy-Toes doll, and a Chrissy doll (but only if Tippy-Toes works, and only if Chrissy's hair will still grow and ...shrink). (ebay)

And I still want hair for my poor George! Three medium hanks of nylon hair in "Nectarine," two medium hanks of "Marmalade," and one or two medium hanks of "Mango-Tango." Another gift that is also a project for me to work on! (available at Dollyhair)

As for books, you can see that list on Amazon. My first two choices would be the Richard Scarry Look & Learn Library (a four book set—mine is terribly beat up), and 177 Favorite Poems for Children. I would (obviously) prefer them to be in the best condition possible, but without paying zillions of dollars for them.

I also want some shirts. But I think I mentioned that earlier.
Oh! And I want people to enter my poetry contest!!—but I'll tell you more about that later.

So, there it is...my birthday wish list. This probably proves that I am a naughty little girl—in fact there is something very Baron Bomburst-ish about it. And if Santa is paying attention I'm sure he is rolling his eyes.