Friday, July 20, 2007

NY State Wildlife Art Competition

This morning, I casually was surfing the internet. I figured that I would check out the NY State Wildlife Art Competition website, since I knew that the entries should be due soon. Since I have been on vacation, I had completely forgotten about the looming deadline.

Low and behold, I discovered that the deadline is....gulp... today. Oh my goodness! I scrambled to fill out the entry forms and fill out mailing envelopes. I glanced over at my printer and... gasp! The printer ink light is blinking! It appears to be out of ink and I do not have any refills. Crap.

I decide to attempt to print anyway. The contest requires a printed entry form and large digital images of your entered work for judging. I don't know how this happened, but the printer managed to print two, 8x10" digital prints on matt paper. The images were clear and not streaked. Yet, the printer preferences still state that the ink is low. Normally, the printer would turn my images blue or another strange color in this state. Thank goodness that things worked out.

I ended up sealing my entry and rushing to the UPS in my back yard. I cannot even begin to tell you what a lifesaver it is to have a UPS store within walking distance of your yard. Of course, we were out of stamps in our home, so the UPS trip was a necessity. When I got to the store, the clerk commented on my handwriting. She thought it was a font. Ha! I get that a lot. I had a very thorough second grade teacher who expected perfection in handwriting. Always the overachiever, I delivered with penmanship that looks like type.

I had ended up using a return envelope that was pre-paid for another contest. I had never used the pre-paid envelope. When I paid for my current mailing, I realized that the price of postage has increased. Unfortunately, my package was sealed, so it was too late to fix the postage on the return envelope. I am keeping my fingers crossed and am praying that the return envelope will make it back safely. I will have to email the contest director just to make sure. I am praying that the package will return with two big acceptances!

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