And the winner is...

Joyce — which seems right she was the first one to clue me in to this holiday. (And no, the drawing was not rigged, and I would have been just as happy had any of the others of you won instead.) And since you're local, Joyce, I'll get them from Pastries Plus. I'll email you to work out the details. Thanks, everyone, for participating. Now I have some writing to do.

Have I mentioned...

...that two of my pieces received Honorable Mention in the Writer's Digest 77th Annual Writing Competition? The letter informs me that "this year's contest attracted over 17,000 entries. Your success in the face of such formidable competition speaks highly of your writing talent, and should be a source of great pride as you continue in your writing career." Both pieces were entered in the Inspirational Writing category. One, fittingly enough, was called The Whole Box of Donuts and contained 5 or 6 of these short essays that are on my blog (ending with the one about the donuts, of course). And the other, titled The Changing Faces of an Unchanging God, consists of short "snapshots" of different moments that I've seen God throughout my life.

Several of you have believed in my writing ability for some time now; maybe this will be the thing that finally allows me to believe I could someday be more than just a wanna-be!