I’ve been celebrating it since before it became a real thing. I remember on long trips as a kid I’d see people throw trash out of car windows. Even then I asked, who’s going to pick that up? We now have the ability to adopt a highway, but not back then.

Maybe part of it comes from having parents of the Depression. Nothing got thrown away back then, it was all recycled until it fell apart. My mother’s house burnt to the ground when she was only five years old. They pulled some bureaus and a sewing machine out of the barn and put them back to work. They used water power and even solar power back then (though they didn’t call it that) to move things and heat things. The sewing machine was a pedal model, no electricity and it still works.

Maybe that’s why I write green stories. They mean a lot to me. Rth Rising, my first novel had this message. My upcoming trilogy The Melting does as well. I hope you enjoy them both.  Remember, we can’t use this planet as though we have another one to go to . . .   

Cover Revel coming May 1!

Yep – 35 years ago today I hitched up with Darwin and it’s been smooth sailing ever since. Okay that’s kind of an exaggeration (you know if you read about my romantic honeymoon earlier) but we’re still together and even still like each other.  And that’s a major achievement in this day and age. 

He’s a big reason I do write about women strong enough for love.  I certainly never saw myself as a strong woman. I mean, I handled whatever was thrown at me but I didn’t see that as strength, just coping. Then he tells me that one of the things that attracted him to me was my strength. I had to ask what the heck he was talking about. But once he pointed it out and nurtured it a little (okay a lot!) turns out he was right. Now I’m no doubt perceived as positively asserted in some areas. Okay Roomies, Sis, when you get your breath back, bite me!  

Back to the contest, the second bag of books winner is Tiffany K! Get in touch! And remember, one more bag to go on the 25th!

So sad – I love vacations, especially with Hubby, but we were in Disney World, so off we went.  There’s a new area in the Magic Kingdom that took over Mickey’s Village. I liked the village with the funky cartoon houses you could go in but I guess I was in the minority. There’s been an expansion of Fantasy Land with the Storybook Circus. I’m not a big circus fan, so it didn’t take long to see that part.  But they had added the Enchanted Forest with is Beauty and Beast so that was very good. We got to see  Belles library (as an author my favorite)     

We rode It’s a Small World, for nostalgia and everyone needs an earwig. Then we headed back over to Epcot to see The Land – now that was research for the third book in The Melting trilogy (cover reveal for book one coming soon!) and another WIP – Alien Encounters. 

Finally we headed over to Norway in the World Showcase to see if we could find Anna and Elsa, the newest princesses from Frozen (and the strongest!) We missed them but enjoyed nachos and margaritas for dinner outside the Mexican pavilion. It was a wonderful vacation if not especially long. We’ll have to do it again sometime soon. April really is a wonderful month!  Thanks for celebrating it with me (and it’s not over yet!)

     I’ll learn this selfie trick eventually.  Don’t forget one more bag o’books to be given away on 4/25.  Stop by and say hi!  Rafflecopter

Since it was just us, Hubby and I decided to take the Keys to the Kingdom tour – one of the behind the scenes tours. We headed over first thing the second morning and discover this is a five-hour walking tour. Between the EB and the un-replaced knee, no way. So we rented a wheelchair. Hubby got his exercise but thank goodness he’s the best there is.

The tour does not allow pictures because of course that would be like the magician showing his trick, but it was fascinating. A lot of the tour was history. Walt, of course, was the artist behind the dream, but a lousy businessman. Enter Roy, his brother and a great businessman who wanted to make his brother’s dream come true. Thank goodness we had both of them. 

Disney Land came on-line in 1959 (and the story of their opening day was incredible). Disney World followed in 1971. They learned their lesson about being land bound in California, so they kept very quiet and bought land through M. T. Lott (say that to yourself three times fast) and bought what they needed. For example, after they discovered who was buying these orange groves in the swamps the cost went from $150 an acre to $80,000 an acre. But Disney had already bought what he needed before the news broke. Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, 2 water parks, Downtown Disney and all the hotels (Contemporary, Polynesian, and Grand Floridian) take up 1/3 of the available land. Another 1/3 will remain natural and they still have another 1/3 to build on.

After the tour we headed to the new area – Under the Sea, with Ariel (hey, she’s a redhead so one of my favorite princesses)   (one of the littler princesses we saw) 

Then to keep up with the nautical theme, we had our special anniversary dinner over at the Coral Reef in Epcot that evening.  Beautiful setting, excellent food –   Our complimentary dessert – chocolate!! 

Don’t forget another bag 0’books on the 15th, leave a comment and check out the Rafflecopter – a Rafflecopter giveaway