Reading, Writing and Pictures

who reads my work? i sometimes wonder that, but i do know that my friend jean reads it. i just wonder does anyone else? my family or other friends who i have supplied the link to, or if strangers even read it, and if they do, what do they get from it?

what i think i wonder about it for, is i want those who read it to actually enjoy what i write. i hid this blog at first. well, not hidden really, i just did not tell anyone about it. i was not going to share. what i was going to do was just write, to satisfy my need to write, and let it set here for "strangers" to find and enjoy. then i wrote the story about the blanket, on the blog connected with this one. i really wanted to share that with my son. originally, it was going to be a whiny blog, about how my son does not seem to be one of the family anymore, but it turned out to be a pretty good story about the blanket he grew up with, and now is inside his son's blanket. so, i had to share. now i cannot whine about my son who moved away and married and never comes home.

I Should Write a Book

people are always telling me i should write a book. those people are usually my patients. my "trapped" audience. they are in the hospital, in the room, with this crazy nurse taking care of them. they make the mistake of asking me a little about myself, and they usually get a whole story of some sort about me. i make them laugh, and i make them cry. and in the end, they always tell me, "you should write i book, i would read it!"

i only wish i had the ability to actually write a book. it is not the same though as telling a one or two person audience a story.

Oh I Want to be in Pictures

as i look about other blogs, they have lots of pictures. it looks so easy to have them in the blog. but when i try to do it, it is a whole other dimension in life! i go to the top of this box that i am typing in, and click on the little icon to add the picture. so far so good. then when the picture comes up, it is at the very top of this box. no where near where i want it placed. then i have to work and finangle it down to the position i want it to be, but i do not think that any of the pictures i have placed in the blog are actually where i wanted them to be.

ok, here is a photo of me from three years ago. this was taken in a restaurant in nebraska after i visited a friend. it was easy enough to place, because i really don't have a spot that i want it to be. but it still was at the top of the page in the first place.

ok now, it was not exactly where i wanted it, and now i am making the attempt to place it correctly, it is not working, so i am leaving it just where it landed. maybe another time.

i have used this picture for other purposes, and people asked me why i looked mad. i thought i looked deep in though myself.

and jean makes videos. one day i will make one of those too, but i am not gonna ride a bike to do it.

well, that is enough for now. take care all

huggsssss

i searched me on the internet

did you ever do a search on your own name? sometimes i just get a whim, and do that.
my full first name is tomasina. the story was, my older sister wanted a baby brother named tommy, but they got me instead. funny thing is, is that no one in the family ever called me tommy. i was always tom or tomas. i because tommie in the eighth grade. i was soooooo tired of the kids making fun of my name with anything that rhymed with tomasina.
another part of that name story is that my mother always told me, "i took the o off the name and put an a on it, because that made it feminine". on one of my searches, i found out that "tomasino" is a greek surname. i grew up in chicago, many of my siblings were named after my mothers greek friends, so, whatcha think? yeah, me too.
i found out that in chicago, there was a young woman that designed and produced bridal gowns. how coincidental. i LOVE to sew, but i could never sew that well.
in L.A. california, there is a young woman who sings with a band. not country though. i LOVE to sing, but everyone keeps telling me to keep my day job. roflmao.
and there is another woman, jeana tomasina, who is an actress. ummmm, nope, i can't act.
today i found out the my name is on websites stating that i am a doctor. (one can wish, can't they?) i notified those sites it is not true.
i found my name is in many of my friends postings/blogs. (i am loved!!)
my poetry is posted on many websites. (YAY)
and one of my inscribed books is for sale on Amazon.com. (huh?)
my heart fell when i discovered that. i had tried to get my books onto amazon when i first had them published, but was unsuccessful in doing so, but here was one that i had personally autographed, being sold on amazon. i signed that for THIS person. a personal, handwritten message. and they were selling it. i wanted to cry.

it took me a bit to find the info of where to contact the seller, but i found the email and sent a note.
"could you please tell me who this book was inscribed to? thank you so much "

and she replied almost immediately.
"The inscription is to Josh and it is signed Tommie, who I believe was the author.
Cordially,
J++ B++ Emtiger's books."

i breathed a sigh of relief. my heart felt much better. you see, i give the books to soldiers that i do not know, and this is most likely one of those soldiers. i was so afraid it was one of the mom's i had gifted the book to.

i sent a note back
"thank you
the inscripition is signed
hugggggsssssss armymom tommie
i am her.
my heart sunk a bit when i saw an inscribed book was being sold, online at that. i give the books to all soldiers i meet, and many of the military moms. so i was curious as to who was selling it. as it is "josh", i understand. the book was not meant for young men, it was written for the moms, which, if you have read any of it, you can tell. good luck in your sales. when you do sell it, i have a closet full left, lol.
hugggssss armymom tommie"

then she again replied
"You wrote it -- of course. I should have known. Sorry. Since you give them away, would you prefer that I not sell it?
Best wishes, J"

to which i replied,
"the book is in your possession so it is yours to do with as you wish. God is the one responsible for the book. He must have meant for it to be sold this time. (i have sold a few myself, to people who request it online, non military people, people i don't know) the give aways are to Gold Star Mothers, mothers i meet face to face, soldiers and veterans, persons who are using it for purposes to assist the soldiers/military by sales or putting in gift boxes.
the book you have, as you can see is book two. i started writing the poems when my daughter was in egypt, near afghanistan. i cried at the drop of a hat. then i joined the mothers group. for some reason, i wrote a poem then shared it with this mothers group. the war was all over the television. i worked evenings at the hospital, so it was always on. my only way to cope was to come home after work and write these poems, while the tears dripped off my chin.
when the mothers asked for the book, they supplied me with the photos to put into the book, and in 2004, the first book was published. it arrived on my doorstep one week before mothers day, and each mother had their book in their hands by then.
i had so many photos and many, many more poems, so the second book came about, the one you have, and that book came to me a week before fathers day, 2006.
i will always believe that God chose me to be His vessel to bring these words to the other mothers to help them through such a difficult time in their lives. i tried to sell the books locally, and on the internet. when i did not sell them, i decided Our Lord meant for me to give them away, so i do that. i still sell some, occasionally. when a mother (on the internet) asks for one, i include a second one inscribed to her soldier. it is mostly to help with postage is why i ask for monies.
did i note you are in LA? i think that was on ebay where i got that. i went to the fair in lafayette and gave a bag of the books to soldiers who were there. could be josh was one of them.
please, sell the book because i am sure that is what He meant for you to do with it. that is your profession, is it not? i am finally on amazon.com, lol.
God bless
hugggssssssss
tommie
ps, sorry for the short story here, lol."

actually, i don't like the "that is your profession, is it not?" line. it sounds quite curt. maybe i should write her another note and apologize? she has not returned another email.
well, that is my life on the internet, and one story of how i got there, lol.
hugggggggsssssss to all
tommie