July 20th Challenge

Hi it’s Christina –

Good Morning! First, Happy Birthday to one of my best friends, Rebecca! I hope you have a day as wonderful as you are, LUV YA!

So I survived yesterday’s book signing without melting or passing out. It wasn’t too, too hot, and there was an occasional breeze which helped immensely. However, it was a really slow day. There was not a large crowd, probably the smallest I’ve ever seen there. I think this is a huge vacation week.

Historically, I have done much better on Sundays, Saturdays have always been slow for me, but I keep going back because of the folks I meet. Yesterday was no exception. I had several wonderful conversations. I chatted with a family – mom, dad, and daughter, who had just gotten engaged. I’m talking minutes before. She was walking my way, carrying a beautiful bouquet, and I complimented her on the flowers. That’s when the dad told me, she had just gotten engaged. Then the three of them laughed and all started to explain at the same time, that the girl wasn’t engaged to the dad, that the fiancé was in the bathroom – it was funny.

This really looks like her ring

So, of course, I asked to see the ring, and I Oooed and Ahhhed over it. It was lovely. Then I gave her some unsolicited advice (I actually said, “here’s some unsolicited advice”). I told her not to sweat all the little things that are going to go wrong at the wedding, she’ll be the only one who notices them. Instead make sure she takes the time to enjoy the day, because it is over in the blink of an eye.

As nice as that meeting was, there were two others I met yesterday which were infinitely more meaningful to me. Fifteen year old Anna, and another girl, who was probably seven or eight, whose name I didn’t get. Both of these young ladies loved to write, and stopped by to ask me questions about writing and publishing. I absolutely LOVE hearing about young people who like to write. I told them both about NaNoWriMo, and gave them my card with my email address, and told them if they had any questions, they could email me any time.

Do you remember me telling you about my first book signing at Canterbury Tales Forever? There was another author there, Sam Knight, who wrote the children’s book, Monty a Christmas Story. I loved the book so much, I got autographed copies and gave them as gifts to my little cousin and my great niece for Christmas. Well anyway, Sam stopped by the bookstore yesterday morning to pick up his check – he had a signing last weekend. It was nice to see him again, and guess what? This time, he wanted a signed copy of my book. He was my first sale for the day.

Oh, since I’m posting photos, I should probably explain something. I have psoriasis, have had it since I was sixteen years old. It’s a nuisance, it itches, it’s not overly attractive, but I have not let it bother me. I have tried various treatments in the past. They work for a while, then they stop working. The side effects of the new psoriasis medications are far scarier than having the psoriasis, so I am not willing to take a chance on them.

Several months ago, the psoriasis spread to my scalp. It’s not noticeable, it’s completely covered by my hair, but if I tried to color my hair, it would burn unbelievably, for several days. I have been grey since I was seventeen, and have been coloring my hair ever since. It’s a genetic thing. My grandfather was grey very early, and each of my children has grey hair. Dani, my youngest, was actually born with it. I noticed it on the other two by the time they were three.

After thirty plus years of coloring my hair, and now that it was a painful experience, I was DONE. I decided to just let it go grey, but then I had a speaking engagement in March. My hair was half grey and half still colored. I looked like Bozo. I went and got the color cut off. My normal hairdresser, Cheryl, was not available, so I went to one of those discount places. Let’s just say, with some mousse and gel, I was able to disguise the cut enough where it didn’t look too terrible at the speaking engagement.

A few weeks later, I went to Cheryl, and in order to fix what the other place did, she had to cut my hair – short. Okay, fine, no big deal. It was cute, easy, and I thought made my face look thinner, which is always a good thing. The short hair doesn’t thrill my hubby, but he doesn’t have to take care of my long hair, so for once, I am ignoring his preferences.

Well, with short hair, you need to frequent the hairdresser more often, and I had to go back two weeks ago. That’s when Cheryl told me she was moving to California, never to be seen again. I was crushed. I have known Cheryl for almost thirty years. She’s more than just a hairdresser, she has become a friend. My kids adore her.

To give you an example of how close we’ve gotten, PJ had an appointment with her. He called her up to say he was not going to make it, because he was just in an accident on the way to her shop. Cheryl quickly finished up the person she was working on (she was just about finished), shooed him out of the store, closed her shop, and ran – not drove, actually ran – from her shop to where PJ was up the road. Yeah, she’s that kind of lady.

Long way around, but here’s my point. The last time I was there, two weeks ago, she said since it may be my last haircut, she was going to give me my money’s worth. So now I am sporting a REALLY short grey hairdo, and I didn’t want you to say who is that in the picture? I haven’t found a photo yet which I like enough to change my profile picture. As soon as I do, I will update it.

Got to go. I hope you have a great day, and happy writing!

Your Last Challenge was:

(S)He looked so innocent…

Tommy had blond curly hair, big blue eyes, and the face of a cherub. He looked so sweet and innocent. Who would have thought, the moment his mother left, he would turn into the demon child from Hell?

I don’t care that he is only three, he knows exactly what he is doing. It’s the glint in his eyes and the half grin – half smirk which give him away. When I saw that expression, I should have known. I should have been more vigilant.

Tommy and my son Joey, were playing at the Lego table when the phone rang. I told them I would be right back. Joey said, “OK Mommy” and kept right on playing. Tommy on the other hand looked up at me with that demonic expression. The phone conversation lasted less than two minutes. It was the dentist’s office confirming my appointment for Thursday afternoon.

I walked back into the family room where the boys were quietly playing, and I looked at the couch. Each cushion had a diagonal slash through it, there was stuffing protruding from the tears, and there was a pair of scissors stabbed into the armrest.

***

Not enough time to expand on this, but it would have been a fun short story.

Your Next Challenge is:

Use the following: Sitting on the floor, A Knife, Newspaper

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.