June 11th

Hi, It’s Christina –

Happy, Happy Hump Day! I know I said today’s blog will be back to normal, but I guess I lied. It’s coming a lot later than normal because I needed to get Lys to the train station this morning, and we had the chaos of two teenage girls trying to get ready at the same time…with only one bathroom. It’s never a pretty sight.

Anyway, Lys is off to Long Island to spend a few days with Tyler and family. Depending on the weather forecast, they may be back on Friday. If it’s nice on Saturday, they will be going to the beach. If not, Lys will just stay in LI and come home on the train Saturday evening.

I’ve told you before how insane my sister in law’s life is, juggling her three kid’s crazy schedules. Well, Cindy was my photographer for both parties this past weekend, and I guess she has not had the time to send over the pictures yet, but I did not want to push off the recap for yet another day.

Saturday went extremely well. My husband was shocked, but that was not the only surprise we had that day. I had a suspicion it would happen, but because I wasn’t sure, I kept my mouth shut; well, almost. I did say something to Lys, but told her not to say anything because I really did not know. The little stinker didn’t let on that she knew all about it.

Kyle

The big surprise was when my nephew Kyle waltzed into the party. He really shocked his mom. Fran was in tears. I wished someone had videotaped it; it probably would have gone viral like all the other soldier’s surprise homecoming videos. We have not seen Kyle since the few days he had at home after graduation in January. He’ll be here until the twentieth, then it’s back to Mississippi for more training.

When he joined the Marines, he wanted to become an air traffic controller, but because he is slightly color blind, he is unable to pursue his first choice. Now the Marine Corp has him training in some type of intelligence field, but he can’t really talk about it. He seems okay with the change of plans, and still loves being a Marine, so I guess that’s all that really matters.

We managed to get everything broken down from Saturday’s party and transported over to Bri’s house for Sunday’s party before ten o’clock; thanks to Kyle and my “other son” Jason, who were my muscle men. The only things I needed to get over to Bri’s late Saturday was the beer and some food. All along, I thought we would be breaking down and hauling stuff into the wee hours of the morning, but as it turned out, we were all in bed by midnight.

Brianna & Dani Rose

Sunday was another perfect day weather wise, sunny and eighty-two with a refreshing breeze. The church service went well. Dani was funny. She said she looked out into the congregation and half the church was there for her. Well, she did exaggerate a bit, but there were twenty-eight people in church just to see her get confirmed.

I only have one photo to share with you from Dani’s Confirmation. Please excuse the quality, it was taken from my phone. Both her and Bri looked so beautiful, and so grown up!

As I said, this isn’t going to be a usual blog because I’m not going to give you a writing challenge today. Frankly I’m still whooped from this weekend and I don’t have enough time before I have to get ready for work. (I have the ten minutes to do the last prompt, it’s the coming up with a new prompt which would be too time consuming.)

So, until tomorrow, I hope you have a fantastic day, and happy writing!

May 16th Challenge

Hi it’s Christina –

I’m beginning to get a complex. First Taking Chances doesn’t fit the “romance” bill, and then I start losing followers on Facebook. To the best of my knowledge, I haven’t lost any since I started the page, and now, in this past week, I’ve lost four. Did I say something to upset someone? Seriously, unless someone posts something truly horrifying or offensive, I doubt I would put forth the effort to unfollow them. Yeah, I’m lazy, shoot me.

Sorry, all this lack of sleep is getting to me. Last night was better, but I have several days of catching up to do, so I’m not surprised I’m still a little foggy, or maybe cranky is a better word. Today, other than going to help my mom for an hour or so this morning, I’ll be working on editing. I only have two weeks until the end of the month, and I still have a lot to do.

I haven’t heard from Lys at all since she left. I know I don’t hear from her every day while she’s at school, but I guess, because she’s home, in my mind, she should check in every day like she used to. I still don’t know if Tyler is driving her home or putting her on a train. If they are both coming home, what time should I expect them? Is he turning around and going right back home, or is he staying the night? Should I plan dinner, or is our typical Friday pizza fine?

I don’t think these are intrusive things I want; just common courtesy items I think warrant a call. Right? I realize this is just another growing phase in the parent – child relationship, and I need to tread lightly and allow her to spread her wings. However, even though she is nineteen, I think some ground rules still need to be established. For the most part, until her brother moved out at twenty-three, he was asked to check in, a simple phone call or text, telling me what to expect. Whatever he decided to do was fine, but I just wanted to know, so I wouldn’t worry.

On the rare occasions he forgot, he was read the riot act, and I thought Lys would have remembered that, but I guess she didn’t. So, when she gets home, I will explain what I would like her to do in the future, and why. I’m 99% sure she’ll understand, and do her best to comply. This is pretty much the same rule she has had her entire life. The occasions were very rare, where she was told she couldn’t do something. Unless we had a conflicting event, all of my kids were allowed to go with their friends, to go have fun. That’s what being a kid should be, they are only young a short period in their lives, and they should enjoy it.

Please don’t think I let them run wild, because I didn’t. Their “play dates” may have been delayed until they finished a particular chore; or if I wasn’t comfortable with what they planned on doing, I would steer them toward a different activity.

Okay, enough rambling on about my parenting strategies, which you probably could care less about. I hope you have an extraordinary day, and happy writing!

Your Last Challenge was:

Use the following in a story: You don’t find many old werewolf hunters.

Never thought it would happen, but it did. My thirtieth birthday. As of three a.m., I am officially the oldest person in my family. My grandparents barely made it out of their teens. My parents didn’t fare much better, but then again, you don’t find many old werewolf hunters.

Be it skill or sheer dumb luck, I have officially entered my third decade on this earth, but if I don’t get my head out of my butt and focus, I may not make it through the night. My brother Michael and I have been tracking this unusually ruthless pack for several months now.

Last June, a Tacoma newspaper had reported the deaths of three hikers. The official cause of death was deemed animal attack. Nothing unusual there, it is unfortunate, but it does happen in that neck of the woods. However, three days later, a similar report came in from Longview, and then another, again three days later, in Eugene.

This brought up a red flag, and Michael and I were on the next plane headed west. We landed in Portland on a Tuesday, but by then multiple reports hit the airwaves over several attacks in Crater Lake National Park. The carnage was horrific, and the news spread worldwide.

Those of us “in the know” recognized what the reporters did not, and soon every werewolf hunter within flying distance was on the west coast, and there lies my problem. I’m not only dealing with the pack, I’m dealing with all the wannabe hunters who haven’t a clue what they are doing, and are going to get us all killed.

Your Next Challenge is:

Late again…

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.

July 12th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

 

Happy Friday! So does anyone have any great plans for the weekend? We’ll be at a birthday celebration on Saturday. One of my nieces has a birthday June 30^th, her sister’s birthday is July 7^th, so like with my girls who are Feb. 4^th & 15^th, we have a family party the weekend in between their birthdays. This year’s party was postponed so the girls’ aunt, uncle and cousin, who are visiting from Kentucky, could be at the party. But that’s not all… Saturday is also my brother-in-law’s birthday.

 

We made our trek out to Long Island yesterday. I was meeting my cousin half way so I could give her daughter back to her, so it was better than having to drive three hours to get to her house and then drive back home. Funny, I could swear I made it home from her house last Sunday in two hours.

 

I don’t know how people put up with that traffic, it’s insane. I also don’t know how people commute from NJ to NY every day for work. Sitting in traffic sucks up gas and the tolls alone to go over the Outerbridge Crossing and then back over the Verrazano cost $28. So between gas and tolls (obviously depending on the car you drive) you’re spending almost $50 a day getting to and from work. That’s $250 a week, $13K a year! Sorry, but that’s just flippin’ crazy!

 

Can someone please explain to me what justifies a $15 toll? That one bridge alone has got to be making MILLIONS every single day and at the expense of the hard working class. They should figure out a way to charge the people who are commuting for work like a dollar or two for the toll and everyone else has to pay a higher price with commercial vehicles paying the highest price. If you are going into the city for pleasure, then you have to pay. If you are going into the city to do business, then you have to pay. But if you are going into the city to go work for someone else, you shouldn’t have to pay as much. Wouldn’t that make much more sense?

 

And these bureaucratic ding-dongs can’t figure out why us common folk are struggling. All of them, across the board, they get elected and all common sense evaporates. The only explanation I can think of is that little light thingy they used in MIB is real, but it doesn’t erase memory, just the ability to think logically, and they zap every elected official during their initial publicity photos. What’s your explanation?

 

I say we form “The Common Sense” party; it doesn’t matter if you are more liberal thinking or conservative thinking, if you have common sense you can join (and then we’ll make sure we pass out dark glasses to our party before any photos are taken). I’m stepping down off my soapbox now. Sorry, there are just times when I feel the need to bang my head against a wall. But that took longer than I had budgeted for, so on to the challenges.

 

 

Your Last Challenge was:

Would you change if you won the lottery?

 

I said I wouldn’t change if I ever won the lottery, and I don’t think I have really. I will admit my clothes are no longer from the Salvation Army but from a department store, but that’s not really a change. And I have stopped eating Raman Noodles and have fresh fruit and veggies, but that’s just healthy, it doesn’t really change me. Well, one little change is I now have a tiny house with some land so I can plant a garden instead of low income housing, but that’s just a change in location, not in me. 

The kids are buying their own lunches at school and no longer have to use the free tickets we used to get, but they are definitely not point out that fact, so there is no change there either. For the first time ever, we have money in the checking account and there are no more nasty people calling us night and day looking for money. The only change there is I am no longer afraid to answer the phone. The cat and dog have now had all their shots, and our socks and underwear no longer have holes, but again I’m no different. I haven’t done anything extravagant, I treat people the same way I always have in the past, I can honestly say I have not changed.

The people around me however have and it’s very strange. Folks who would never even give me the time of day now want to be my friend. Companies all of a sudden think I am good enough to have their credit cards, we get at least five in the mail every day. Where were they when the kids woke up Christmas morning and there was nothing under the tree, hell there wasn’t even a tree.

 

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.

July 11th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Good morning all. I spent a good chunk of yesterday on the phone with two financial aid places, the college and the government, because when I checked with the college my daughter will be going to see if there was anything else they needed from me, they looked into my status and our loan came up expired. Not quite sure what happened, no one could explain why it happened, but I’m glad I checked. Long story short, I had to fill out all the loan paperwork again, but it wasn’t terrible. Almost all the information was prefilled from the last time, so all I had to do was check the boxes that I read everything, agree not to be a dirt-bag and repay the loan, then sign and submit. In half an hour I was calling the college back to tell them everything went through and I got a pop-up screen stating the college should be informed with 24 hours. Needless to say, I was relieved everything worked out.

I did get quite a bit of quiet time to write yesterday as well. I guess all the activities had caught up to the girls and they crashed. I had been up since 5 am writing, then after the whole student loan fiasco, I had a horrible headache, so at 1:30 pm, I took some aspirin and went to lay down for a bit. A little before 2:00 pm, I finally hear the girls start to stir. If you don’t count the times I was violently ill, I don’t think I have EVER even slept until noon let alone two in the afternoon, and it wasn’t just one kid, it was all three of them! Whatever, they are on vacation, it’s not like they had anything pressing to do.

Last night the girl’s all slept over my sister-in-law’s house, but they will be back here by eleven, because we are bringing the cousin back home today. We’re meeting her mom just over the Verrazano, so at least I don’t have to go all the way to Long Island! I already told the mom and daughter that she is welcome here any time and we are even planning on a two week visit next summer.

OK, enough chit-chat, on to the challenge and then to camp. I only hit 22K yesterday, so as far as I’m concerned, I’m way behind and I’m starting to stress!

 

Your Last Challenge was:

Write a story using the following three words, Cabin, Fire, and Vampire.

 

I peeked open my eyes and saw it was a chilly, rainy, Autumn Saturday. I had nowhere I had to go, and nothing I had to do. Yippee! I yawned, stretched, slid out of bed and yelped as my feet hit the cold floor. First order of business, build a fire, then coffee, fire first, coffee next. I grabbed my robe, rummaged around for slippers but had to settle for a pair of socks, then carefully padded down the stairs to the living room. The living room’s fireplace was the cabin’s focal point and one of its prettier features, along with the wall of glass overlooking the forest and lake, and the completely appointed gourmet kitchen, the fireplace was a work of art. It stood right in the center of the room and it was more of a fire pit than a fire place.

Since my teeth had actually started to chatter, I stopped admiring the room and went to work building the fire. When it was roaring and the room started to warm, I headed to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. I guess I’ll have to turn the heat on tonight. I hate doing that so early in the season, but I hate freezing in the morning more! I spread my hands on the counter and stared at the coffee maker, willing it to drip faster. So what am I going to do today? I squinted at the dreary dripping mess outside the window. Well, I’m definitely not going out in that. Perhaps a book. Coffee in hand, I shuffled back to the living room and over to the bookcase to peruse the selection when a book caught my eye. What a perfect day to read a vampire story, I thought, but not one of those modern day mushy vampire love stories. They would not do on a day like today. I reached up and gently removed a very old copy of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, walked over to the couch, put down my coffee then settled in for a good scare.

 

Your Next Challenge is (thanks Beth):

 

Would you change if you won the lottery?

 

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.

July 7th

Hi it’s Christina –

Sorry folks, no real blog today, or at least not yet. Brain is a bit too foggy. I’m writing to you from the Marriott in Wallingford, CT. Last night I took my girls and one of their friends to see the Hunter Hayes concert. They loved it. Me, on the other hand, confirmed concerts are no longer my “thing”.

I spent this morning formatting A Second Chance to be able to publish it on Smashwords. Yup, some new technology for me to mangle. I am a little proud of myself though; I set up a table of contents, created a reviews page and made all the hyperlinks work.

Corporate Blues now has a word count of 17,715, so it is moving along nicely. It is going to be a challenge to find time to write over the next several days because from here, we are going out to Long Island to pick up a cousin who will be spending the next five days with us. While she’s with us, we have planned trips to the beach and to Grandma’s pool. I’ll still steal some early morning time, but I doubt I’ll be able to keep up my 2,500+ daily word count pace. I guess after she leaves, I’ll need to have a marathon writing day or two.

Ok, it’s time to get this dog and pony show on the road. We need to pack up, get something to eat, check out and get on the road. Hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday!

Oops, I almost forgot. A very happy 13^th birthday to my beautiful niece Gracie! Love you bunches!!