June 30th Writing Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

We had a fun time at our town’s fireworks last night. It is amazing to see how much the town has grown since I moved here thirty five years ago. There are SO many people now!

 

Got to sleep in a little today, which was nice. At 7:30 this morning I went to let the dog out and it was like walking into a bowl of hot soup. I’d be surprised if there wasn’t an air advisory today. YUCK! Unfortunately, I am not going to be able to hibernate in the air conditioning all day. We need to run to Kohl’s to take advantage of our 30% off coupon and get the sheets for vacation (of course we need sheets for the one size bed we do not own), then to WalMart for coffee, and finally to Costco to pick up the graduation thank you cards.

After all that, we will be spending the remainder of the day moving my daughter into my son’s old room, after it gets a thorough cleaning of course. Again YUCK!! There is even dust on the walls. This will be the first time since she was three that she had her own room. Although it will only be for a few weeks (she’s leaving for college), she’s still excited.

My neat and organized daughter has been sharing a room with her slob of a sister for the past fourteen years. Now, for the first time, they will each be able to have their own room. The youngest one says the room is always so messy because there was no room for everything with two of them in there. Let’s see if having the room to herself will have a positive effect. I’m not holding my breath. LOL. I wonder how, come end of August, my youngest one is going to react. For the first time in her life, she is going to be an only child.

Since this is the last day of June, that means camp NaNoWriMo starts tomorrow, so for the next 31 days, this blog is going to be short and sweet. PLEASE have pity on me during this next month and email me ideas for writing challenges so I don’t have to come up with them. christinapaulbooks@yahoo.com any and all suggestions are welcome and I am even temporarily lifting the “you need to post” requirement to have your challenge featured. PRETTY PLEASE…with sugar on top. J

 

Your last challenge was:

I’m going to miss…

 

Five days shy of my son’s twenty-third birthday he moved out. Not far, only a half hour away, but I’m going to miss his not living at home. We’re moving my middle daughter into his room, but in seven short weeks, she’ll be moving away to college, and I’m going to miss her too.

Every parent comes to this point in their life, and although we know it’s coming, the emotions still take us by surprise. As much as I complained about the noise and insanity that comes from having a house full of kids, mine and the inevitable add-ons of the “adopted” sons and daughters who come with them, I’m going to miss the constant stream of kids through the house. Luckily I have one more daughter still at home, along with her gaggle of friends, but what am I going to do in four years when she flies the nest as well?

 

You probably guessed that was coming, huh?

 

Your Next Challenge is (an oldie but goody):

 

If you can have lunch with anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why?

 

You have 10 minutes (be honest). There is no right or wrong, just write. Spelling and punctuation don’t count and NO ONE is allowed to criticize what someone else has written. Go.

June 29th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

It’s Saturday, and apparently moving day. Not like it was completely unexpected, but a little notice would have been nice. Now my entire house is in a frenzy and I’m not feeling all that great. I was moving tables, chairs and stuff yesterday in the heat and I started feeling really sick. I guess I overheated myself even though I was only working for an hour or so and I was drinking the whole time. I felt so rotten, I even had to cancel a girls’ night at a friend’s house, which stunk because I was looking forward to it.

A pack of boys should be descending upon my house shortly – “the muscle”, therefore there will be no peace for several hours, so I thought I should get the blog done now.

Your Last Challenge was:

 

At last I reach my secret spot. The trek was more grueling today than usual because of all the rain we’ve had, but it was so worth it. I pulled my shirt over my head, shimmied out of my shorts, adjusted my bathing suit, and slowly glided into the heavenly water.  I waded out waist deep before I dove into the deeper pool, swam under the waterfall and climbed onto the ledge at the base of the falls. This was my favorite place, standing behind the falls. There was something almost magical being protected and dry in the cave as the rushing water hid my existence from the world. Cautiously I step out onto a flat rock and let the smaller fall pour down over me and let the water wash away my stress.  

 

Too many distractions and noise to write! I’ll start early tomorrow morning before anyone is awake. Have a great day!

 

Your Next Challenge is:

 

 I’m going to miss…

 

You have 10 minutes (be honest). There is no right or wrong, just write. Spelling and punctuation don’t count and NO ONE is allowed to criticize what someone else has written. Go.

June 28th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Happy Friday! If you happen to be from this area, I hope you all survived the wicked weather we had last night! Wouldn’t you know, the worst of it hit while my hubby was outside grilling! It was only spitting when he started the burgers. I went out to hold the platter when the burgers were finished because he couldn’t hold the umbrella and get the food off the grill without getting the food soaked, and just in those few minutes, I was completely drenched.

Had a little bit of exciting news last night. Oprah's list for summer reading came out, and in the comments section, a reader suggested my book, A Second Chance, should be added to the list. No, Oprah did not recommend my book, but her staff has allowed the comment about my book to stay on the site, so I'm doing a happy dance!! http://www.oprah.com/book-list/New-Books-Summer-2013-Summer-Reading

As I think I mentioned before, in March I made a visual goal chart which contains various things I want to accomplish in the next 24 months. One of my goals was to complete Simply by Chance as well as two other stories by the end of 2014. Pretty ambitious goal I know; so yesterday I bowed to peer-pressure and joined camp NaNoWriMo. Camp NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, is one of the events which lead up to the main event in November. You have from the 1^st of the month to the last day of the month to write 50,000 words. Since I will be writing one of my “other” stories, not a Bradford Series novel, my word count for a completed book will need to be between 75 – 80K words. OBVIOUSLY, the novel will not be complete, nor will it be edited in the 31 days, but this will still give me a healthy jump start at achieving my goal. I have to keep in mind, A Second Chance was written, edited, and in the hands of an agent in just under 8 weeks, so it is possible.

The first difficulty I ran into while signing up was filling out the form to get started. Name, Christina Paul; Age, 47, and I actually told the truth; Genre, Romance; Title – uuuuhhhh… After much deliberation I came up with Corporate Blues (what do you think?); Cover – yeah right, like I’m going to have a cover BEFORE the book is written; Synopsis - Modern day romance. Single executive mom meets the new CEO for one of her long time clients; Excerpt - Haven't written it yet so there is nothing to excerpt. Think they’ll be annoyed with my response?

If you want to find out more about NaNoWriMo, here’s the link to their website.  (http://www.nanowrimo.org/) Wish me luck!!

Your last challenge was:

 

Reality is flipped. (Her examples were: whites were discriminated against or heterosexuality was the minority or the outcome of a war was reversed.)

 

As we neared the two-hundred and fiftieth year anniversary of the American War of Independence, preparations were in full swing. King William, Queen Catherine as well as their children were planning a month long stay during the celebration, so getting the logistics of their security detail in order was proving to be a challenge. Their appearances as a family would not be an issue, however, when they split up, our resources were going to be spread a little thin. There were two weeks which were proving to be particularly bothersome. King William was speaking at Parliament in Boston, and then flying off to the west coast. Queen Catherine was meeting with various chapters of The Council for Woman’s Rights up and down the eastern seaboard. Prince George was touring Princeton, Harvard, and Yale Universities. Princess Ophelia was attending an equestrian camp in Colorado, while the twins, John and Josephine, were at camp in Florida.

 

Didn’t get very far with the story, but as I’m sure you gathered, the Revolution did not turn out the way we planned it.

Your Next Challenge is:

 

  

You have 10 minutes (be honest). There is no right or wrong, just write. Spelling and punctuation don’t count and NO ONE is allowed to criticize what someone else has written. Go.

June 27th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Good morning all. I have been so productive these past few days in everything except my writing, but it is still a good thing. I’ve been tackling laundry, and cleaning, and grocery shopping. I think if I can get the world around me into some sort of order, I will be able to focus better on some creativity.

However, now that summer is upon us, the quiet time in my house has been drastically reduced, so I think the priority for those couple of hours will be the remaining two stories I have agreed to edit. I need to get those off of my plate and back in the author’s hands so they can do their re-writes.

Well, mini-quiet-time is ticking away, so let’s get right to the challenge.

Your last challenge was:

 

Boy, that was stupid.

 

Through the years, I have been known for my lack of coordination and for a few temporary lapses in good judgment, but in this case I case I just had to say “Boy, that was stupid.”

 

It was a few days before Christmas and my daughters and I were baking. We had made several batches of cookies, so the house was nice and toasty warm; finally the perfect time to tackle the Christmas bread. The bread was a persnickety beast. If it was too cool in the house, the bread would not rise. If the milk was too warm when you dissolved the yeast, the bread would not rise. If you kneaded it wrong or if your ingredients were off, the bread would not rise. Did I mention, this is an old family recipe where nothing is written down and nothing is measured?

 

Anyway, everything is going well and we are adding flour into the mixture to get it the right consistency – my only variation to the tradition is to start the dough in the Kitchen-aid - we add a big scoop of flour, and at that very moment the dough decides it is time to solidify. The dough hits the new scoop of flour and POOF, there is flour raining down everywhere. Blindly I fumble to turn off the mixer. When I can get enough flour out of my eyes to open them, I look around. Counter and everything on the counter, stove, cabinets and floor in the corner we were working in all covered in flour. My daughter looks like a B movie ghost and has the most horrified expression on her face, and I just know I’m her mirror image.

 

I look at her and say, “Oh Lucy, we made a big mess,” to which she replies, “huh?” so I start to explain the I Love Lucy episode to her. As I finish the story and we are starting to giggle, my husband comes home from work. At the sound of the door closing, my daughter and I turn in unison.

 

My husband briefly surveys the situation and then replies in his best Cuban accent, “Oh Lucy, you made a BIG mess!”

 

My daughter and I look at each other and dissolve into a fit of laughter.

 

 

Yup, true story.

 

Your Next Challenge is (compliments of my youngest):

 

Reality is flipped. (Her examples were: whites were discriminated against or heterosexuality was the minority or the outcome of a war was reversed.)

 

You have 10 minutes (be honest). There is no right or wrong, just write. Spelling and punctuation don’t count and NO ONE is allowed to criticize what someone else has written. Go.

June 26th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

I’m back. Saturday was spent cooking, Sunday was the party, Monday I was in a coma and yesterday I spent getting caught up on all the things I neglected in the week leading up to the party.

The party went well. With the ebb and flow, we had roughly 100 people during the course of the day. We did have a storm scare at one point, but everyone worked together and got everything inside the garage (they actually picked up the food tables and walked them around the house and into the garage because the tables wouldn’t fit through the back door). Because we went through all that, the storm passed without incident, where two miles down the road they got rain, hail, lightening, etc. We lucked out.

 

Because of the time of year, I knew some folks would not be able to come to our party because they had other graduation parties to attend, which was the case for several. What surprised me was how many people could not come because they were attending memorial services and wakes; I’m talking five different people. Very sad! Then we had the smattering of folks who had lame excuses (trust me, the excuse was pathetic and it came from someone who should have bent over backwards to be able to attend, but I will not elaborate), folks who said they were coming but never showed up and those who never even bothered to rsvp one way or the other. On the other hand, I completely forgot to invite a few people who should have been invited and I feel absolutely terrible about it. Whatever, it was what it was, and everyone seemed to have had a good time. The biggest hit of the party was the phenomenal cake! My only regret was I spent so much time with the food, I really didn’t get much time to socialize with the guests and I only got a few photos of the event. I’m hoping other party goers took pictures and are willing to share.

So how have y’all been? Have you been writing? At the party, someone asked me if I was starting up the blog again because they missed it (which was nice and a bit surprising because I did not know she was following the blog). I told her yes and asked if she would be participating, to which she just simply smiled. Eventually …

On to the long overdue challenge.

 Your last challenge was:

 

Everywhere I looked all I saw was…

 

Everywhere I looked, all I saw was a sea of red. The procession, two by two, stretched for what seemed like a mile if not more. They walked side by side to the familiar tune of Pomp and Circumstance; some chatted, some hid from the cameras, some hammed it up for the crowd, and most had huge smiles plastered upon their faces. The smiles were justified. These five-hundred and ninety-seven kids persevered where others fell short. They worked hard and earned their moment to shine.

 

The speeches began, some funny, some disjointed, some poignant. The beach balls and other unmentionable inflatables bounced through the graduates. The choir sang. At last, the presentation of the diplomas was upon us. Each name called and greeted with a cheer from a cluster in the audience. The graduate received his or her diploma in their left hand and shook several hands with their right before making their way back to their assigned seat. After the last name was called and the student was seated, ominous words were spoken, “May I present to you the graduating class of 2013.” The announcement was met with thunderous applause as an eruption of red graduation caps filled the air.

 

 

OK, no more graduation stuff from me, I promise (at least not for another four years when I'll have one graduating high school and two graduating college).

 

Your Next Challenge is:

 

Boy, that was stupid.

 

You have 10 minutes (be honest). There is no right or wrong, just write. Spelling and punctuation don’t count and NO ONE is allowed to criticize what someone else has written. Go.

June 22nd Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Again it has been a few days since I have had time to blog. Looking forward to next week when life won’t be so hectic. Some scenes for my third book have been rolling around in my brain and I’m itching to be able to get them down on paper…well, computer screen.

So Thursday was an absolutely perfect day, in the low eighties, no humidity, a light breeze. We could not have asked for a better day for a graduation. I was even able to get my hands on the two extra tickets I needed so all three grandparents could come in to see my daughter graduate. The graduation was a little bitter sweet, yes because my baby was reaching a huge milestone, but because her class is the last class who will be graduating on HHS’s football field. The classes are getting so big, the stadium can no longer accommodate the crowd. Out of the 617 (I think) in her class, 598 graduated and each of those kids received five tickets for spectators, plus the fifty or so dignitaries, plus all the folks who came in without tickets after the procession.

 

If the weather had been bad, we would have had two tickets to watch the graduation in the gym and two extra tickets to watch the live simulcast from the cafeteria. We have simply outgrown our facilities. Next year, graduation will be held in an indoor arena with, pretty much, unlimited seating, rain or shine. People are complaining, but they are looking at the situation from a sentimental view as opposed to a logical view. My youngest daughter’s class has over a thousand students, which would mean we would only receive two tickets in good weather and only one in bad weather. Who do you want to watch you graduate honey? Mommy or Daddy? Although it is nice to process on the grounds where you went to school, the move to a larger venue is the best option.

Enough of that. I will be spending the entire day cooking for tomorrow’s graduation party, so let’s get to the challenges so I can get this show on the road.

 

Your last challenge was:

 

It’s going to be the best vacation ever…

The summer between seventh and eighth grade was the most boring summer E. V. E. R., so my best friend, Cheri and I vowed our next summer vacation was going to be the best vacation E. V. E. R.. We started making a list during spring break, three activities each week, no specific days to allot for weather, and a laundry list of things to choose from on the “non-activity” days. Seventy-eight days all accounted for – it was going to be the best summer vacation E. V. E. R..

 

Last day of school, swimming in her pool, a sleep over, swimming and a barbeque the next day, it was going to be the best summer vacation E. V. E. R.. Saturday, a trip to the beach with her family; second degree burns from falling asleep on a tire tube at the beach. OK, five days out of commission, but it was still going to be the best summer vacation E. V. E. R.. A trip to the lake, out on the boat, a camp out, stung by wasps, out of commission for two days, but it was still going to be the best summer vacation E. V. E. R.. More swimming, another sleep over, a long bike ride, a crash, a broken arm, it was NOT going to be the best summer vacation E. V. E. R..

 

Your Next Challenge is:

 

Everywhere I looked all I saw was…

 

You have 10 minutes (be honest). There is no right or wrong, just write. Spelling and punctuation don’t count and NO ONE is allowed to criticize what someone else has written. Go.

June 18th - Writing Tip

Writing Tip: I have been doing quite a bit of editing for other authors, and one of my recurring comments is stop "telling" your readers, start "showing" them.  Here is a short blurb which explains exactly what I've been trying to say:

 

CreateSpaceBlogger Show vs. Tell: Do You Know the Difference?
Posted by CreateSpaceBlogger on May 14, 2013 4:56:21 AM

"Show vs. tell" is a cardinal rule of writing, yet most first-time authors don't quite understand what it is. After years of trying to explain this concept, I believe I've finally come up with the perfect analogy: online dating!

Imagine this scenario, even if you're not on the market: You sign up for an online dating site, excited to (maybe) meet the person of your dreams - for this post, let's say that's a man. As you flip through profile after profile, you stumble across these two:

Profile A: "I'm an attractive, witty, adventurous man with a great sense of humor."

Hmmm...who says he's attractive? I'll be the judge of that when I see his photo. And why exactly is he witty? He hasn't said one witty thing. Adventurous? Why is he adventurous? Great sense of humor? Say what? Honey, I'm not laughing.

Profile A guy is telling me too much and showing me nothing. As a result I don't want to meet him, because unfortunately he sounds sort of full of himself.

Profile B: "For the record, if we hit it off, I'm totally willing to lie about how we met. Just throwing that out there. And speaking of throwing things out there, I recently jumped out of a plane for the first time. Holy frick."

Through his words, Profile B guy is showing me that he's witty, adventurous, and has a great sense of humor. And by showing me a photo, he's letting me decide whether or not he's attractive.

See the difference? That's what you want to do with your writing. Show the reader, don't tell the reader. Readers are smart and want to draw their own conclusions about your characters.

-Maria

https://createspacecommunity.s3.amazonaws.com/Resources Contributors/MurnaneHeadshot.jpg Maria Murnane is a paid CreateSpace contributor. She is the award-winning author of the romantic comedies Perfect on Paper, It's a Waverly Life, Honey on Your Mind, and Chocolate for Two. She also provides consulting services on book publishing and marketing. Learn more at www.mariamurnane.com.


You may also be interested in...

 

 https://www.createspace.com/en/community/community/resources/blog/2010/04/07/the-greatest-example-of-show-it-dont-say-it

 

https://www.createspace.com/en/community/community/resources/blog/2011/05/04/defining-characters-through-action-not-description

June 17th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Well it has been a couple of days since I last posted and I felt guilty the whole time. I really do enjoy doing this blog and after Sunday’s party, I think I will be going back to the almost daily blog.

Thursday my youngest daughter was supposed to go on her 8^th grade trip to Hershey but she got really sick and wasn’t able to go. I felt so bad for her, the kids look forward to this trip from the minute they start middle school. She got a pretty dress, new shoes and her nails done for the dance the night before, had everything packed and ready to go, then spent the next three days a total dishrag on the couch. Needless to say she was very disappointed.

Friday I went with my middle daughter, one of my girlfriends and her two sons to a murder mystery dinner in Jersey City. The food was delicious, the show was great, and I won for best actress.  I was chosen to be one of the suspects by the master of ceremonies before the show started and the character was required to meet everyone in the room. If I had known, I wouldn’t have worn heels!

Saturday I was at a friend’s daughter’s graduation party and she introduced me to friends of hers I had not met yet as her friend the author. Goodness! Well, it started a lengthy discussion and I ended up selling some books, but it was not exactly what I was there for, I felt bad. At least the graduate was outside and the conversation took place in the kitchen, so I guess no harm no foul.  Then a few hours later, a mutual acquaintance from church walks in and instead of just saying "Hi", she chimes, "There's our author." which surprised me because I did not realize she knew I was an author, then she surprises me even more when she tells me her book club just finished my book.

Yesterday we celebrated Father’s day with a nice dinner at my sister-in-laws. We got my husband a new grill because they no longer sell the grill guts to update his current grill. Quite a bit more than I planned on spending, but the new grill is really cool. It has a gas side and a charcoal side. It grills quick, it grills slow and it also has a smoker. I can’t wait until my hubby puts it together so we can play with it.

 

Hope you all had a great few days!

Your last challenge was:

 

One time my best friend and I…

 

One time my best friend and I were fishing in Maine with her parents on their boat. It was my third summer vacation with them, so we all were comfortable with each other and worked well together on the boat.  We would go the last week in July through the first two weeks of August, which was the time of year the mackerel were very plentiful. We were fishing with three hooks on a line, and before our sinkers would hit the bottom, all three hooks would have fish on them and we were hauling up full loads. With four of us on the boat, we needed it to be a well-choreographed dance or it would have been pandemonium. Well, sometimes, even with a well-choreographed dance, occasionally dancers stumble, and I stumbled. I was having problems getting one of my fish off the line, so I was kneeling on the deck struggling with the fish when my friend’s father brought over a full line. One of his fish flipped up and smacked me right in the face. Unfortunately, the fish still had the hook in his mouth and now the hook was embedded in the bridge of my nose with the fish still flapping from it.

 

Out of time, but the outcome was a trip to the ER and a small scar that I has a funny story to go along with it.

 

Your Next Challenge is:

 

It’s going to be the best vacation ever…

 

You have 10 minutes (be honest). There is no right or wrong, just write. Spelling and punctuation don’t count and NO ONE is allowed to criticize what someone else has written. Go.

June 13th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

As things are getting more and more crazy around here, I am coming to realize I might not have enough time right now to keep up with a daily blog; then again, this was initially supposed to be a two week project and now it has been almost two months. I hate to do it, because I truly enjoy writing the blog, but something’s got to give if I intend to keep to my EOY release deadline for Simply by Chance. I will finish editing the one book I committed to and read the two more I agreed to review, but then I am putting on my writer’s cap and putting my nose to the grindstone. I will still try to post a few times a week, but every day is becoming impossible. Think of it as I’m giving you extra time to take up a challenge.

I finally figured out yesterday why I was procrastinating. For the first time, one of my characters needs to die and I’m having a hard time with it. If I don’t write the next chapter, then he will remain safe. I know it is irrational and completely silly, but I get attached to my characters and the thought of one of them dying is upsetting. Yeah, I know, I’m a nut, but there you have it.

So the official countdown has begun. One week until graduation! If any of you out there are parents, you know what an emotional time this is, for us and for our graduates. All I know for sure is I will be packing an entire box of tissues to bring with me to the ceremony.

Your last challenge was:

 

 

As I look at our hands joined together now as they have been for so many years, I can’t help but think. Think of how young and wrinkle free they were the first time they joined on our first date. I spent so much of the time studying our hands, fingers laced in a perfect fit, I missed most of the movie. Since that very first time, I have noticed our hands on many occasions; at the beach when you tried to keep me upright in rough waves, across a candlelit table at dinner, entwined at the alter on our wedding, crunched during labor at our children’s births. Through the years more and more lines have appeared on those intertwined hands, each line a testament to what we have experienced together, what we have held each other hands through and I smile. True the hands are not as young as they used to be, but their comforting strength will never diminish.

 

 Your Next Challenge is:

 

One time my best friend and I…

 

 

You have 10 minutes (be honest). There is no right or wrong, just write. Spelling and punctuation don’t count and NO ONE is allowed to criticize what someone else has written. Go.

June 12th

Sorry folks, obviously no blog today. Time got away from me. I'll post after I drop my youngest off at school early tomorrow for her class trip to Hershey. Night y'all.

June 11th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Yeah, I know, really late today. My daughter’s graduation party is on the 23^rd and the invitations haven’t gone out yet. I hadn’t even finished making them. Anyway, I finished and sent the jpeg to get printed. I’ll be picking them up in an hour, then I have to hand address them because my printer is out of one of the color cartridges and of course Staples has stopped selling them at the store. UGH! If everyone was on computer, I would have just sent e-vites and been done.

As usual, I’m running around with my hair on fire, so today’s blog will be short & sweet and tomorrow’s challenge will be a photo.

Yesterday’s challenge was:

 

I feel like I’m forgetting something…

 

We have to be at the doctors in half an hour for the baby’s two week check-up. The doctor’s office is twenty minutes away on a good day, and of course, it’s snowing. Wouldn’t you know, the snow started just as I realized I was going to be late if I didn’t get the kids ready. I corral the four year old, get him in his snowsuit, get the baby bundled up and in her car seat. I run out to the car and start it so it will warm up.

I come back in and, “Mommy, I have to go potty!”

Seriously? He couldn’t have told me that before I got him bundled up like the abominable snowman? I don’t have time for this!

 

I get him undressed and shoe him off to the bathroom while I make sure I have the nine million things a baby and a toddler need crammed into the diaper bag.

 

“Let’s go Honey, we’re going to be late.”

 

“I don’t wanna go.”

 

“We have to go. Sissy has to see the doctor.”

 

“Is she sick?”

“No.”

 

“Then why?”

 

“Because she’s two weeks old.”

 

“But why?”

“Every baby has to go at two weeks.”

 

“But why?”

 

“They need to make sure she is growing big and strong and she need to get a shot.”

 

What was I thinking? I said the “S” word and now I have a blubbering four year old refusing to get off the potty. I don’t have time for this!

 

“Why are you crying?”

 

“Shh..sshh..SHOT!!”

 

“You’re not getting a shot.”

 

“They hurt!”

 

“YOU ARE NOT GETTING A SHOT, so please stop crying and let’s go.”

 

“But Sissy’s getting a shot and it will hurt her and she’s little.” More tears.

 

 

Ran out of time, but I will give you the quick summary of this actual event. I finally get my son out of the bathroom and dressed. I grab his hand and my keys and my purse and the diaper bag, lock the door, throw all the stuff into the car, get my son locked in his car seat, get to the end of our driveway when I realize my two week old daughter is still sitting in her car seat in the middle of the hall in the house. I knew I was forgetting something! In my defense, there aren’t too many mommy brain cells two weeks postpartum, and now at eighteen, graduating high school and heading off to college, I do not think being abandoned for three minutes when she was two weeks old has scarred her in the least.

 

Your Next Challenge is:

 

 

You have 10 minutes (be honest). There is no right or wrong, just write. Spelling and punctuation don’t count and NO ONE is allowed to criticize what someone else has written. Go.