November 29th Challenge

OH BOTHER! I'm not quite sure what I did, but I never posted this. So here's the 11/29/14 post. I'll give it a little while before I post the one I have for today.

Hi, it’s Christina –

My sister-in-law Cindy
with the cake Lys made

Good Morning! So has everyone recovered from their food comas yet? I haven’t because our feast was a two day event, and today isn’t going to be much better.

Obviously on Thursday we pigged out on the traditional Thanksgiving fare – turkey, mashed & sweet potatoes, stuffing, corn, cheesy vegetables, creamed onions, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, rolls, cranberry bread, and apple, cherry, pear raspberry & pumpkin pies. Yesterday we celebrated my sister-in-law’s birthday (a little late, but she wanted Lys to be home for the celebration), and my mother-in-law cooked. We had ham, more mashed potatoes and corn and sweet potatoes, broccoli, red cabbage, carrots, and birthday cake (which Lys made).

My High School Senior
Picture. 

Tonight I have my thirty year high school reunion, so we are going to be stuffing ourselves yet again. It’s so hard to believe a little over a year ago we were starting to plan the event, then there was a huge push these past five months, and now the day is finally here. Thanks to advances in the internet, we were able to locate more classmates this time around than ever before. Unfortunately many will not be able to make it, but we will have around a hundred people, so it will be a fun night.

One good thing is, the folks who cannot make it are now connected through a Facebook page we have dedicated to our class. For the past few weeks the page has been exploding with posts of old photos, and comments. It has been amazing. Hopefully, even though the reunion will be over tonight, folks will keep posting photos and stories between now and the next reunion. I’m also hoping we can persuade the classmates who are not on Facebook to join, just so we don’t have to lose our minds next time around trying to track them down again.

Carol, her husband, and her 5 kids.
Aren't they a beautiful family?

One of my friends, Carol, just started a thread, on our class page, where we are to post where we are now, what we are doing, and a recent family photo. The replies are starting to come in, and it’s nice to get the updates. I will admit, I am a little jealous of Carol. She has five kids, including a set of thirteen year old twins, and she looks more beautiful now than she did in high school.

I wish she was able to come to the reunion, but travel on Thanksgiving weekend is so cost prohibitive, I think that is what kept many of our classmates from being able to attend. This was the first time we held the reunion on Thanksgiving weekend. I think our mindset was classmates would be visiting their families anyway for the holiday, so they would be in town. It turns out that many of the families have also moved away in the past thirty years, so it kind of back fired on us. I’m pretty sure, next time, we are going to shoot for late September – early October to have the reunion.

Okie-Dokie, I am off to Kohl’s to return a sweater for Lys. She bought it when she was home for fall break, wore it once, washed it, and it fell apart. I’m hoping Kohl’s doesn’t give me a hard time about it. All I want to do is exchange it for the exact same sweater.

BTW – I probably won’t be posting again for a few days. I’m fairly certain I will be driving Lys and her friend Max back to NC tomorrow. It’s a twelve hour drive between my house and Lys’ college. The kid she drove home with made it in just under nine hours. He was driving between 95 and 100 mph most of the way. YEAH, I am NOT letting my daughter get back in the car with him.

The ride home Monday should be interesting. I am scheduled to do a radio interview with Ron Shaw on ArtistsFirst Radio Network at 8:00 pm on Monday, and interview I will be doing via Blue Tooth in my car. It should be interesting. Please tune in.

Okay, I really have to run now. I hope you have a great day, and happy writing!

Your Next Challenge:

Let the insanity begin…

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.

March 9th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Greetings Earthlings. (Dang, where’s that from? It just popped into my head, so I used it.) Did you remember to move your clocks ahead or are you rushing around like a crazy person because you just realized you’re an hour behind schedule? I fixed my bedroom clock, so the time was right there, but I haven’t gotten around to fixing all of the others in the house yet.

I’m supposed to be picking up my mom in an hour and a half, she’s coming with me to bring Lys back to school, but I don’t think I’ll make it in time. Lys is still asleep, I haven’t packed yet, and I still need to shower. Guess I should give her a call.

I got a little sidetracked this morning. Several months ago I helped a friend with a children’s book she was writing, and she sent over the first look. Although it’s about 90% finished, there were still a few things which needed to be tweaked, so I sent over my suggestions; mostly just a few missing commas and some placement issues. I can’t seem to turn off my editor button. The book is about bullying, and Cherrye did a wonderful job. I am so excited for her! When the book is released, I’ll let all of you know about it.

Since I will be traveling today and tomorrow, I cannot guarantee there will be a writing challenge tomorrow. We are spending the night at a hotel in Vermont, so depending on if I wake up before my mom, will determine if I have time for a blog post or not. We won’t be in any big rush to get home tomorrow, and we don’t need to check out of the hotel until noon, but there’s one stop I want to make on our ride home.

My mom’s an amazing quilter, and every time I go back and forth to Lys’ college I pass by a quilt shop up there, and I want to stop in so my mom can have a look around. Maybe she’ll find some new or different material she can use. Shopping with my mom is an adventure, and I can guarantee this little pit stop will take at least an hour, but I think she’ll enjoy it. I’m not planning on saying anything before hand, just pulling into the parking lot. (Yeah, I know she just started following my blog, but I doubt she’ll be online this morning, so the “secret” should be safe.)

Okay, I guess I should get a move on or we won’t be leaving until noon. I hope y’all have an amazing day, and happy writing!

Your Last Challenge was:

Write a story containing the following three words: Cactus, Coyote & Porcupine

When I decided to write a series of books, one taking place in every state, I was being a little selfish. I had always wanted to visit each state, so, because I was writing, I could justify traveling to all the states I had never visited previously. You can’t truly write about something you’ve never experienced, right?

It was on one of these “research” trips, when I had a very unusual experience. I had rented a little bungalow in Arizona, several weeks submersed in my surroundings to get to know the area, the people and the cultures. I walked everywhere, took in the sights, chatted with anyone and everyone, and listened to stories and legends. I even managed to get quite a number of ideas down on paper for my next novel; something that usually doesn’t happen until I’m back home in my writing cave.

It was during one of those times while I was typing away at my computer one evening when I heard a scratching and whimpering coming from the bungalow’s back door. I flipped on the light, and there was this puppy looking at me through the glass sliding door. He looked so sad, and he was obviously injured. I opened the door slowly, not wanting to scare him away. Much to my surprise, he let me come right up to him.

The poor thing. He had all these needles and thorns sticking out of his leg. You could tell he was in a lot of pain. Carefully, I scooped him up, laid him in the car and drove a few miles to the animal hospital. As luck would have it, the local vet, Claire, was one of the folks I had chatted with, and we had hit it off.

Out of time, and I never even got to one of the words in the challenge. I was planning on telling Claire it looked like the puppy had somehow gotten stabbed with some cactus needles and needed help. Then Claire was going to tell me they weren’t cactus needles, they were porcupine quills, and my puppy wasn’t a dog, it was a coyote. Oh well, better luck next time.

Your Next Challenge is:

That was the weirdest dream 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.

February 27th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

I haven’t packed a thing. I still need to get dinner going in the crock pot so my husband and daughter have something for dinner tonight. I need to run to the grocery store to get a cupcake for Lys to give to her friend for her birthday today and pick up drinks for my trip, and the warning light came up on my dashboard telling me it was time for an oil change. Thankfully, I don’t have to be in Vermont until five to meet Lys for dinner. So, if I can get everything done by nine, I should still be good.

We’ll be leaving Vermont by one tomorrow, so it’s going to be late by the time we get home. I was hoping to get home before it got dark, but Sammi’s class doesn’t let out until 12:30, so we can’t leave until then. Originally we were supposed to drop her off at the airport because she was going to visit her mom for spring break, but plans changed and now we are dropping her off in Albany on our way through. It’s really no big deal. We literally have to go a couple hundred yards out of our way to drop her off.

Updates – Dani’s eye looks much better. The drops are working, but now the poor thing seems to have caught my cold. Hopefully she won’t have it as bad as I did. It would be sad if she missed her cousin’s and sister’s birthday party this weekend.

Yesterday’s snow fizzled out to nothing. It was really strange though – one minute it was white out conditions, and then fifteen minutes later there were blue skies and sun. What do you think our chance are of the same thing happening with the storm that’s supposed to hit us on Sunday and continue through until Tuesday? I know I’m keeping my fingers crossed!

Oh well, I guess I should probably get a move on. I may bring my computer with me since I’ll be hanging around all morning tomorrow with nothing to do, but I haven’t decided. You may see a post in the morning, you may not.

I hope y’all have a great day, and happy writing!

Your Last Challenge was:

I am the illusive albino panther, highly sought after, rarely seen. I am the largest in my family, most ferocious, most feared. I am the master of stealth, a warrior, a Ninja. My home is in the jungles of South America where I hunt day or night depending on my mood.

Prey, large and small, quake when they hear my blood-curdling call. They know they are in for the chase of their lives; a chase they know they will ultimately lose, for no one can escape my speed, my cunning, my…

“Sprinkles. Sprinkles! Psst, psst, psst. Come to Mama.”

Geez, how humiliating. Can’t I guy have his fantasy? His homerun in the big game where the crowd goes wild?

“Sprinkles, come on baby. Time to come in for dinner. Psst, psst, psst.”

Dinner? Ooo, I hope she made the one with the little shrimp in it. I so love those little shrimp. Coming Mommy.

Your Next Challenge is:

Oh, that will never work…

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.

January 23rd Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

I got very little sleep last night because of my back which doesn’t bode well for a seven hour drive to Vermont. For the first time, I’m really dreading this trip. That and the fact that it’s -13 in Burlington right now, but there is no snow (other than flurries) in the forecast for today, tomorrow, Sunday or Monday, so I don’t have to worry about that at least.

It is a little strange not leaving at the crack of dark though. Since I’m planning on hitting the last ferry of the day, which is at four, I don’t have to leave home until nine. This will give me time to get everyone out of the house and on their way before I have to leave – translation, no repeated phone calls from the road asking, “Are you up? Did you have everything you need?”, etc.

I will be bringing my computer with me because Lys’ last class doesn’t let out until 10:15 tomorrow, so I will have several hours to kill in the morning. However, I’m not really sure what kind of shape I’ll be in after today’s drive, so you may or may not have a writing challenge tomorrow. I will try my best.

Unfortunately, not being able to sit at my computer for more than short spurts has put me behind on the novel I’m editing. I feel bad, because I have been sending the author chunks of chapters so he can work on revisions as I go, and with the SC trip last week, my back all this week, and then two trips to VT this weekend, I won’t be sending him anything for several more days.

Needless to say, I haven’t even touched my own writing. I know that if I try right now, and get into one of my writing whirl winds, I’ll look up and it will be four or five hours later and I physically won’t be able to get out of my chair. That wouldn’t be a good thing, so I’m not even going to temp myself by opening one of my stories right now.

Hopefully by the end of next week, my back will be back to a tolerable level, and I will be able to resume both editing and my own writing. I would REALLY like to finish Faerie Tale Queen and get several more chapters of Simply By Chance finished before April’s NaNoWriMo, but I don’t think that is a realistic goal. Oh well, I can only get done what I can get done, and that will have to be good enough. Right?

Okay, I have to go make lunches. I hope you all have a fabulous day & happy writing!

Your Last Challenge was:

Tell us about a toy you still have from your childhood

I don’t remember exactly when I got them, but for as long as I can remember, I have had handmade Raggedy Ann & Raggedy Andy dolls. I used to take one or the other with me everywhere, always making sure I alternated who I took, so the other wouldn’t feel left out. They have been in my bedroom for decades, either on my head board or on the bed itself. That is until a few years ago, when I decided to purge some of the clutter, and I moved Raggedy Ann & Andy to the basement along with several other stuffed animals.

It was a decision I would soon regret. A few years ago, when hurricane Irene unleashed her wrath, our basement flooded, and the container Raggedy Ann & Andy were in toppled over and fell into the flood water. They got soaked and quickly began growing mold. I was crushed, but then the local dry cleaner told me to bring them and he would try to get them clean.

I had dropped them as well as thousands of other flood damaged items off to him, so it was several months before the items were done. When the first batch of things were delivered (yes, because there was so much stuff, the cleaner brought everything to my house), I anxiously opened the stuffed animal container, and there was Andy, looking better than he had in a quarter of a century. After hugging him, I rummaged through the bin in search of Anne, but I couldn’t find her. I asked the dry cleaner and he said not to worry, all of my things didn’t fit into one van and he would schedule a time for another drop off.

I ran out of time, but to bring a long story to a close, here’s the rest, the cleaner never managed to schedule the next drop off. After several phone calls, I went to the shop and demanded he return my stuff considering it had all been paid for, and I find out the shop is under new ownership. The new owner is very nice and he said there are tons of things sitting in their warehouse which need to be delivered, and they were sorting through them. He called me a few days later and asked if he could drop the stuff off. He brings the items he found, but no Ann. I show him Andy and said Ann was somewhere in his warehouse. He tells me he will look again. Weeks go by with no word. I go back to the shop and ask. The owner tells me he has been searching this whole time, and as of that day, all the items which were stored have been delivered to their owners, so the warehouse was now empty…and there was no sign of Ann. L (My Ann had a green gingham dress.)

Your Next Challenge is:

Write a story containing the following: Pineapple, Chipmunk & Burrito (you can blame Dani for this one)

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.

January 19th

Hi, it’s Christina –

Good morning! Just writing to say, I didn’t die. I have had no internet service since I left on Wednesday at 5:00 until I plugged my computer in at home just now. Who in this day and age does not provide internet at a rental home? Anyway, I survived without it with only minimal twitching.

Here’s the Reader’s Digest version of our trip. Wednesday morning, the fog is so thick I couldn’t see my car in the driveway. I get to the car, arms loaded with the remaining items I needed to bring, and I can’t open the doors because they are frozen shut. Finally get a door opened and get the car heated up enough to drive it. I’m just getting started and I’m already twenty minutes behind schedule. My car fishtails while attempting to make a left turn from a dead stop. Wonderful, not only am I dealing with fog, I’m dealing with black ice. Oops, I said Reader’s Digest version - sorry.

I pick up Sharon, we CRAWL to 95 (it took as twice as long as it should have). The fog doesn’t let up until we hit Virginia and that was the first time I was actually able to go the speed limit. From there we had a smooth trip down until the last quarter mile when we couldn’t figure out where the turn off was to get to the condo. We finally find it and our fifteen hour trek has come to an end. We unpack, blew up our beds, and crashed and burned for the night.

Thursday was supposed to start with the inspirational run, but Sharon and I opted out of leaving for the base at 06:00, standing outside in the cold, for the chance to see Kyle run by with his platoon. We headed over for 08:30 and a ceremony they held in the All Weather facility. Each of the six platoons from Mike Company marched in, ten of the recruits were sworn in as US citizens, and then all the recruits were released to their families for liberty until 15:00. Kyle showed us around the base, his barracks, and explained what life as a Marine recruit was like, and then we all had lunch on base. (The chicken was delicious, but the sweet tea was undrinkable because it was made with the tap water. I swear the water down there comes straight from the swamp! It is so vile. I can’t even put it near my nose. I have no idea how they drink it.)

Anyway, at lunch, we found out that even though Kyle was graduating with honors – scored top five in the battalion, number three in his platoon, and missed top marksman by one point – he wouldn’t be wearing his dress blues for graduation. Only the top person from each platoon gets to attend graduation in their blues, so even though Kyle scored higher than three hundred and fifty of the three hundred and fifty-five members of his battalion, he was not one of the six in blues at the graduation. Fine, I understand the way it works, but not for nothing, at graduation, they should have said something about how 3001 was the stand out platoon, earning a majority of the top slots.

Friday, graduation day, started with a colors ceremony at 07:45, led by the Marine Corp Band. They were amazing, and seeing the massive flag unfurl while our national anthem was being played was very moving. Graduation began precisely at 09:00 on the parade deck and commenced at exactly 10:00. It was an impressive ceremony, one I will never forget. By the time pictures were all taken, final good-byes were said, remaining gear was gathered, and last purchases from the MCX were made, it was 12:00 before we left the base.

That was when I noticed the biggest change in Kyle. The poor kid was like a lost puppy for a little while. For the first time in thirteen weeks, he was not being told exactly what to do every second. It was kinda funny. But then, we happened to have an interaction with one of the residents of the condo community, and all I could do was smile. While he spoke with this woman, he stood tall, was articulate and oh so respectful; I was so proud of the man he has become.

We didn’t do much on Friday afternoon, but then we went out to dinner at Joe’s BBQ – a hole in the wall behind a gas station. To say I approached the place with a little trepidation would be an understatement, but that’s where Kyle wanted to go, so that’s where we went. I was pleasantly surprised; the food was quite tasty and very reasonably priced. After dinner, the gang headed to a drive-in double feature – yes, apparently there still are drive-ins left in the world – and I headed back to the condo. I knew there was no way I could stay up until midnight and be able to drive home the next day; plus my back was really hurting, so I knew I should turn in early.

 

We left South Carolina at 7:30 yesterday morning and I walked in my door at 10:00 last night, gave my hubby a kiss, popped two Aleve, and went to bed. My back is still really sore and I’m still pretty wiped out, so I’m going back to bed for, oh I don’t know, another ten hours or so. I just wanted to let you know I’m still alive. We’ll worry about the writing challenge tomorrow. I wish you all a great day & happy writing!

January 9th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Good morning everyone! At two o’clock this morning, my “nephew” Kyle started the last phase of his Marine training called “The Crucible”. Basically between now and Saturday morning he, and all the other recruits, will be put through hell. They will be physically challenge, food deprived, sleep deprived, and while all that is going on, they need to work – as a team – to accomplish several “missions”. The reward? They get to graduate next week.

It’s hard to believe graduation is next week already. In the days leading up to his departure, January 17^th seemed so far away. Now it’s here. My girlfriend Sharon and I will be leaving for South Carolina at 5:00 am on Wednesday, and driving to Parris Island. It should take us around twelve hours to get there. I guess my multiple seven hour treks to Vermont (which really don’t feel that tedious anymore) were my training for this trip. I figure if I throw in a few extra potty/stretch breaks, I should be able to handle being in the car that long without too much difficulty.

Barring any unforeseen mishaps, we should arrive at the condo Fran (Kyle’s mom) rented by dinner time. Since Sharon just started working after many, many months of being out of a job, and with me still not having a job, we will be making this trip on a shoestring budget. We will be splitting the cost of gas – which will cost probably as much as it would have to fly one of us down there – and we are packing food to take with us. I have a $200 budget (money I received as a Christmas present from my mom) for ALL of my expenses – food and gas for four days. I’m pretty confident I can do it.

Okay, I didn’t get much done yesterday because I was in a lot of pain (for some reason my hip is acting up), so I have twice as much to do today. I wish you all a great day & happy writing!

Your Last Challenge was:

You find an envelope taped to your door with your name, and nothing else, printed on the front. You open the envelope and you find money and a note saying, “This is for you as a thank you for being you. You need to spend this today, and the only stipulation is you must spend the money on yourself – no clothes for the kids, blender for the house, or anything along those lines. You deserve something special. Ps: I’ll know if you don’t follow my instructions.”

I wanted to give you a little history of what inspired this challenge. Right before I started writing full time, I was employed at a law firm, and the attorney surprised his employees by doing this. I had no idea what he had planned, and quite frankly I was a little nervous when I was asked to meet him off-site. I was new to the job, and I thought I had done something to make him angry, but he was being nice enough not to reprimand me in the office.

He asked me to meet him at a restaurant, and when I got there and sat down, he waved the waitress off telling her I wouldn’t be staying long enough to eat. My heart sank. Then, he slid an envelope across the table and gave me, pretty much, the same instructions, except I only had two hours to spend the money. I needed to spend it all, then bring back the receipts; and if there was more than $5 left from the money he gave me, then I needed to give him ALL the money back.

Thankfully the restaurant he chose was right next to the mall. I scooted over to one of my favorite stores (one which I also happened to have a 40% off coupon in my purse for) and purchased all new clothes for a business trip we were headed to the following week. He was very impressed with the fact that I spent every penny, purchased so many things, and returned in just under an hour.

Although things did not work out in that job, I will never forget the incredibly unique way he expressed his gratitude for our hard work. He knew, if he simply gave us a bonus – which he did by the way – the money would go toward bills and such, and would not benefit us directly. By doing it the way he did, we remembered how much we were appreciated every time we used, or in my case wore, what we purchased that day. See, not all attorneys deserve the bad rap the public gives the profession.

Your Next Challenge is (I’m going to make it a little tougher today):

Write a story using nothing but dialog (nope, not even a “he/she said”) with at least three different characters.

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.

October 22nd Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina – 

Mornin’! Even with three bathroom breaks, two gas stops (I only put a few gallons in each time because I had an issue with paying $0.60 & $0.45 more a gallon then at home) and one stop at Panera to pick up soup for lunch, I made it home in six and a half hours. That’s not saying I wasn’t exhausted and crashed and burned when I got home, because I did, but the whole ferry route definitely saved time.

Today my back and legs are a bit sore and I have a mark from where the seatbelt was rubbing on my collarbone. I am not meant to drive fifteen hundred miles in four days, but I’d do it again in a heartbeat if it meant spending time with my daughter! My next road trip isn’t until November 22^nd when I go get her for Thanksgiving, but since she doesn’t have to go back until December 1^st, it shouldn’t be too bad. Let’s just hope the weather cooperates.

There is definitely a nap in my future today. Without one, I don’t think I would be able to stay awake for my writing group, and I’m running it tonight, so I kinda need to be an active participant. Keith, the leader of our group, is away on a week-long camping trip with his students. Monday – Wednesday half the 8^th grade class goes and Wednesday – Friday the other half of the 8^th grade class goes. It’s basically a team building retreat for thirteen year olds. Keith says he and the kids love it, and I’m sure they do, but I’m not sure I could handle a week with four hundred thirteen year olds! I shudder at the thought! God Bless teachers. I couldn’t do what they do, that’s for sure.

I have a zillion things to do today, so I better get started. I hope you have a terrific Tuesday, and happy writing!

 

Your Last Challenge was:

 

Do you have a point in your trip which signals you are almost at your destination? A particular land mark you spot where your heart does a little flutter and your brain screams, “almost there”? Over the years I have had several. Years ago, it was the sight of the Twin Towers as my plane was about to land. It signaled the end of a conference, a business trip and even a European excursion. It meant I would be home soon.

When I was a teenager, I’d often take trips to the shore and we would travel the back roads to get there. We’d have to make a right at a farm, and that road eventually wound its way to the highway which led to the beach. On our second trip, we weren’t exactly sure where the turn was, so we were watching carefully so we wouldn’t miss it. As we neared the farm, my girlfriend Laurie said, “There’s the turn. I remember the cow.” and the rest of us started laughing hysterically. She had no idea why we were laughing until we pointed out that cows moved. On all subsequent trips we would rib Laurie if she saw her cow. One time I told her we couldn’t turn because the cow wasn’t there.

On trips to Florida, the sight of the Mickey Mouse telephone pole was our land mark. To this day, whenever one of us or one of the members of the other family who went with us on that first trip sees the telephone pole, we take a photo and text it to the others with “MICKEY MOUSE TELEPHONE POLE” as the comment. The random texts make us smile and remember the wonderful vacation which started it all.

 

Now, the sight above, tells me I am almost to my daughter’s college. In less than an hour, I’ll be able to see her, to give her a hug. The remaining drive time goes both quickly and slowly, and it is filled with anticipation which wasn’t as prevalent in all the hours preceding that point in the trip.

So whether it is South of the Border, the Maryland House rest stop on Route 95, Big Bird and Elmo on the water tower, or the first glimpse of Penobscot Bay after cresting the hill, there will always be certain things which make my heart sing “almost there”.

 

 

 

(I did add all the photos AFTER the ten minute time limit.)

 

Your Next Challenge is:

 

Write a letter from your future adult self to yourself as a teenager.

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.

October 21st

Hi it's Christina -

 

Greetings from Champlain! I hijacked my daughter's computer while she was still sleeping so I could give you a quick post.

 

The ride up here yesterday was gorgeous. Not many things can beat New England in the fall. We decided, since we weren't under any real time constraints, to give the Essex Ferry a try to see if it saved us any time. When we pulled into the staging area to board the ferry, I plugged my daughter's college address into the GPS and it said I was an hour and fifty-six minutes away. I suspended the guidance and then turned it back on when we reached dry land. It then said we were twenty-seven minutes away. I'm thinking we made pretty good time considering we were only on the boat for about twenty minutes. 

 

By taking the ferry, it also saved me a little over 1/4 of a tank of gas. I figure 1/4 tank would cost about $15 and the car fee for the ferry was only $9.50, so I really made out on the deal. I guess I will be taking the ferry from now on when I come to visit my daughter at college.

 

I already had my first adventure by six o'clock this morning. I woke up early and took my shower so I wouldn't be in anyone's way if they were trying to get ready to go to class. I shower, get dressed, and even do my make-up. I gather all my junk from the bathroom and attempt to go back into my daughter's room. Her room key would not work. I tried at least twenty times. I even ran downstairs and tried her key on the front door. It worked fine there, so I ran back upstairs and tried again. Nothing. There I was, stuck outside my daughter's room, with all my shower junk. THANK GOD I had brought my clothes into the bathroom so I was fully dressed and not stuck in the hallway in a towel!

 

For the record, this was not a case of me and technology not getting along. When one of the girls from across the hall came out and saw me sitting on the floor, I told her what had happened. She took my daughter's key and tried to open the door. She couldn't get it to work either. About half an hour later, my daughter's roommate showed up (she had stayed at a friends so I could use her bed, but I ended up falling asleep on the couch), and she let me in. First order of business today for my daughter is going and getting her key fixed.

 

Oh well, it's almost eight and I should probably wake my daughter so we can have breakfast and I can begin my trek back to New Jersey. I hope you have a Magical Monday and happy writing!

October 19th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina – 

Lord, I’m tired! Yesterday started at 4:00 am and I didn’t get to sleep until midnight. During that time, I did a lot of solo driving, had car issues, had phone issues, got the run around from Toyota, then was saved by Advanced Auto Parts.

I had my van on cruise control and, when going up a hill, it made some funny noise, felt like it was having problems finding a gear, the lights on the dashboard flashed, then a series of warning lights appeared on the dash. At that point I was hundreds of miles from home and in a bad cell area. In spite of the warning lights, the car seemed to be ok, so I continued toward my destination because, what alternative did I have? I finally managed to get a hold of my husband and he told me to try to find a place that would run a free diagnostic so I could determine the seriousness of the problem.

Considering I was out in the middle of nowhere, I had no I idea how I was going to accomplish what my husband asked me to do, but I agreed and told him I would call him back. I continue on my route and then, low and behold, when I reach a major town, there is a Toyota dealership, so I pull in. They tell me it will be $90 for them to run the diagnostic and I tell them I have the extended warranty. They said, if it turned out not being a covered item, they would still charge me the $90. I asked if I could call the warranty place first before I would authorize the work, and they told me “sure”.

This is where I started having the phone issues. I try to call and I get an error message on my phone saying “emergency calls only”. I assume it is a service area issue, so I change my location in the parking lot and try again. I manage to get a hold of someone in the roadside assistance area (the only phone number offered in the pack of warranty papers provided) and the lady was nice enough to find me the number I really needed to call. I attempt to call them and I get a voice recording from Verizon saying there was a fraud prevention block on my phone and I was not allowed to dial. Are you kidding me?

I text my husband with the phone number and information he needs to check and see if we are covered. The text goes through with no problem, so I try dialing again. The call goes through. I tell the man on the phone my problem and he tells me my plan only covers free tire rotations and oil changes. Seriously? Thank you very much, have a good day. ARGH!

I try calling my husband again, it doesn’t go through. I send him a text, he calls me back. I elect to continue with the car as is and he said he will get our local Toyota dealer in the horn and try to figure out what’s going on. (Incidentally, when my husband checked with our local Toyota dealer, he verified we have the platinum coverage, so basically other than body damage and light bulbs being replaced if they burn out, everything on my van is covered, bumper to bumper.)

I get a couple hundred yards down the road when I spot an Advanced Auto Parts store, so I pull in to see if they do the free diagnostic. They do. A sweet man named Paul comes out of the store, plugs the machine into my car, reads the report and resets the warning. He told me the timing must have slipped momentarily when the van tried to maintain cruise control speed while going up the hill. If the light comes on again, then I should take it to the dealer and have it checked, but it was probably just a computer glitch and I should be fine. It took him less than ten minutes and he did for free what Toyota wanted to charge me $90 for; yeah, Toyota is not high on my list of favorites at this point.

I thank Paul and continue on my way, one problem solved, one left to address. When I arrive at my destination (I’ll tell you where I went tomorrow), I attempt to handle my phone situation. After half an hour of automated hell and the ill-advised automated message from Verizon that I needed to call from a phone which wasn’t having the problem, I get a living, breathing human, a lovely lady named Elizabeth who initially hailed from Kenya and had one of the most beautiful voices I had ever heard. She looks over my account, tells me to turn my phone completely off, wait a minute and restart it. The problem was a computer glitch with the LG phones and it just needed to be reset.

Two computer glitches which turned what should have been a lovely trip, into a stressful mess. Have I mentioned how much I just love computers?

On a more positive note, I did accomplish what I had set out to do, and I also managed to capture a photo I had not been able to get on previous trips. On my first trip, I did a “I could not have possibly seen what I think I just saw.” Then on my second trip, I did a “OMG, I did see it.” Third trip, I forgot my camera. Fourth trip either it was not visible or I simply drove passed it. Well, I have proof this time. Take a look at what I found…not exactly indigenous to the area to say the least!

 

We have named her “Sally” like in the children’s song. Can you see why I did not initially believe my eyes? Sheep, goats, cows, horses, pigs and even alpacas are common sites on a farm, but a camel??? You have to admit though, she is kinda cute.

Today is going to be a LONG day. In a few hours we will be attending my nephew’s going away party. On Monday, he leaves for boot camp and won’t be home again until after the first of the year. It is going to be a day filled with mixed emotions. On one hand, I am incredibly proud of Kyle for wanting to serve our country. On the other hand, I am petrified he will be serving our country as a Marine when there is so much turmoil in the world. I guess all I can say is Semper Fi and God’s speed.

Oh well, off to make brownies for the party. I hope you have a chance to get out and enjoy this beautiful fall day, and as always, happy writing!

 

Your Last Challenge was:

 You have a job interview, but you do not recognize the address they give you, so you plug it into your GPS. The directions the GPS give you, lead you to a strange area you never knew existed.

 

I sat in the car, tapping my fingers on the steering wheel, staring up at the building and debating whether or not I should proceed. My need for a paying job outweighed my trepidation, so I took a deep breath, grabbed my briefcase and exited the car.

My eyes danced furtively about trying to take in my surroundings, attempting to commit the scene to memory in case I needed to call upon my recollection in the future. The parking lot was occupied by four vehicles other than my own, two SUVs, two sedans, all newer models, all black with tinted windows; one with local plates, on with Maryland plates, two with Virginia plates. In my mind I made up anagrams so I could at least be able to provide partial plates if not the complete plate numbers.

 

I didn’t get as far as I wanted to. I guess it is going to take more than two cups of coffee to get me going today…

 

Your Next Challenge is:

 

It was so good to see him/her/them again…

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.