Hi Elfie,
There are currently 33 articles in the "submitted" queue. Trish usually goes through from time to time and brings them into the approved queue and from there it's usually not long for it to appear. But she generally just picks and chooses as she likes so there's no real rhyme or reason.
If you want your article moved to the head of the line (especially if it's seasonally timely or you just want it out on the homepage) then treemail
@Trish and let her know and she'll be glad to expedite it.