May 14th Challenge

Hi it’s Christina –

Good Morning! It has been a shiny object type of day already. Dani left for school an hour and a half ago, and I still haven’t gotten my blog done. I have all of two minutes to start before I have to get my hubby out the door.

I just know, it is going to be one of those days, and I am going to blame it on my choice of drink last night. I should know better than to have a caffeinated iced tea late in the evening. Next time, I’m sticking to water. I tossed and turned until at least one before I finally fell asleep. Then, between one and five, I woke up twice. We are now on day three with very little sleep, and I can no longer be held accountable for any dopey actions or words.

We have a house guest at the moment. Lys invited her boyfriend to stay with us for a few days. It was a chance for us all to get to know each other. The original plan was for Tyler to come yesterday, and then stay until Friday, when he had to leave to help his father with a show. (Tyler’s family designs some absolutely stunning jewelry, and, if I understand correctly, they travel a few times a year to different stores around the country that carry their line.) Lys would probably have left with him on Friday, helped out at the show, and then gone home to visit with his family for a few days. It was a good plan. I liked the idea of getting to know Tyler better.

Some of Tyler's Dad's creations
I'm sure the photo doesn't do them justice

Well, it seems the plans have changed. Turns out Lys and Tyler are leaving for Long Island today instead of Friday. Now, I’m usually okay to go with the flow kind of person. I like a little planning, but if something comes up, I’m not too regimented or OCD, that I can’t adjust. However, all I have seen of Tyler so far is him zonked out on the couch (which is fine – he has been traveling for the past three weeks, flying all over the country, working with his dad, and frankly, I was amazed he didn’t crash and burn before this). Then I had my writing group last night, so I missed dinner, and he and Lys were off visiting when I got home. I was in bed by the time they got home, and now, I’ll probably be leaving for work before they are even awake.

As far as me “getting to know Tyler”, it has been a total bust. I thought I had three days, and I was looking forward to it. Then again, this really is a sleepy little town, with not much to hold anyone’s attention for too long. If they go out to Long Island at least they won’t be sitting around the house watching movies for three days. Hopefully he’ll be back another weekend and I’ll have more time to interact. He seems nice enough…

Don’t get me wrong, I love having my daughter back home, but it will be good for her to be out of the house for a few days. She doesn’t mean to be, but she is a distraction, and I haven’t been able to get as much work done as I should have, with her here. Come end of June, it will get better, because she did get the counselor job, at the camp, for the summer.

Oh well, let me run. I have some things to do before I have to go to work. I hope you have a great day, and happy writing!

Your Last Challenge was:

Write a story using the following three random items: Runway, Wine, Chewing gum

It started innocently enough, but as the saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions”; or perhaps a better one would be “no good deed goes unpunished”. A few weeks back, my sister asked me if I would be one of her models for a charity fashion show she was running. None of the models were professionals – professionals would have to have been paid, and that would have taken funds away from the charity – they were all friends and family of the various volunteers, so I said “Sure, I’ll be happy to help.”

What was I thinking? I should have known I would fail miserably as a model. I’m not tall. I’m not lanky. I’m not stunning or shapely. Nor do I have the grace or coordination to walk in heels. Plus, I suffer from paralyzing stage freight. But how could I tell my little sister no?

The one thing in my favor, or so I thought, was that the runway was on the paved path in the park where the event was being held. No stage, no catwalk, so there was a chance I would be able to pull it off. Hah!

For fortification, I took a few swallows of wine they were offering everyone. I plastered on a smile, sucked in my gut in order to fit better in the ridiculously tight gown they put me in, and focused all my concentration on not teetering on the sky-high heels I had been forced to wear. All was going well until I stepped a wad of hot sticky chewing gum, and my shoe got stuck.

Your Next Challenge is (stolen from last night’s writing group):

You look up and see an airplane flying really low.

You have ten 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.