June 29th

Hi it’s Christina –

Good Morning! Yesterday we were up early (summertime early, not real life early) and out of the house. Lys needed to be at work for nine, so Dani and I dropped her off and…ready for this?... headed to the mall. That’s right, I voluntarily went to the mall.

We got there around 9:20, which I thought was good, because I thought they opened at 9:30. I could swear, when I worked there, we opened at 9:30. I was wrong. They open at 10:00. Now I’m at a mall, with a fifteen year old who was woken up five hours early on a summer Saturday, and all the stores are still closed. Yikes!

I suggest we walk to the furthest store from where we are, to kill a little time. (My idea was to start at the furthest store and work our way back to where the car was parked.) Anyway, five minutes later, we get to the opposite end of the mall, and lo and behold, Vera Bradley’s door was open. They were having a huge sale, so I wanted to stop in and see if I could find anything.


As if I wouldn’t. I got their Grand Traveler, a huge weekender bag, which will be perfect for my trip to Dallas in August. It was available only in a few select colors, and in my opinion Venetian Paisley was the least annoying, but $120 bag for $60, I wasn’t going to be too picky. I also picked up two cosmetic bag trios – one to give as a gift, and a towel. The towel was free with a $100 purchase, so it and the other cosmetic bag trio, Dani is putting away to give to me for Christmas. Not bad, I get three Vera Bradly bags in my pattern (petal paisley) and a towel in my pattern, for $20. I think Dani will get the bargain of the season award this Christmas.


After we were done at Vera Bradley, we still had fifteen minutes left before all the other stores opened, so Dani ran our purchases back to the car so we didn’t have to carry them around the mall while we shopped. When she got back, we hit Bath and Bodyworks, swapped out a lotion Lys got as a gift for a scent she actually liked, and I picked up some stocking stuffers – they were having a buy three, get three free sale. Then we were finally able to get to the stores Dani wanted to go to. 

She did some damage in Forever 21 and Love Culture. Dani got some shorts, a bathing suit, some really cute tops, and a hat that says “Selfie” on it. She was a happy camper. We then bid ado to the mall, and made a quick stop at Barnes & Nobel to pick up her summer reading book. They had three of the books on the suggested list, and of those three, Dani chose The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho, not because the story actually interested her, but because it was the shortest of the three books. 

The child absolutely hates to read, which I find sad. I’m hoping, like what happened to her sister, one day she’ll find a book which sparks her interest, and she will begin to see what she has been missing. I guess to each her own, but I couldn’t imagine not reading. 

Even though The Alchemist was not on my “must read” list, because it’s the one Dani chose, it is now. I have read every single book each of my children has had assigned to them for summer reading, so I really don’t have a choice. The story seems interesting, so hopefully it won’t be too painful. A few years back, Lys was assigned that “cups of tea” book, and I was pulling my hair out trying to get through it. I never could understand what all the hype was over that book.

On our way out the door, we spotted a sign for iced drinks, and I asked her if she wanted one. You know, a peace offering after making her pick a summer reading book. I went over to the café section of B&N and ordered us two Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccinoes. Oh my word! I am not a Starbuck’s fan. I think their coffee tastes burnt, but these were YUMMY! I’m sure they contain about a zillion calories, so I need to limit myself to one a month, and only during the hot months.

When we got back home, I wanted to take a nap because I knew we were going to have a late night, and I still wasn’t feeling 100%. Just as I dozed off, Dani knocks on my door and tells me Lys needs to be picked up from work. They weren’t supposed to be done until four. This is the second day this has happened to me.

On Friday, she was supposed to be there until nine. I wasn’t feeling well, so I went and laid down. I was probably asleep for no more than fifteen minutes when Dani woke me up and said I needed to pick up Lys. It was 4:15. Not only was I feeling crummy and was now foggy from an interrupted nap, I had to deal with Friday rush hour traffic. Let’s just say, I wasn’t good company on Friday evening.

So, I go and get Lys, and then when we get home, I try again to take a nap. It didn’t work. After lying there for twenty minutes, I gave up. There wasn’t enough time before we had to leave to finish making the jelly I started on Friday, so I just chilled for a little while in front of the idiot box.

Last night, we all went to the town’s fireworks display. I had planned on sharing some photos with you, but for some reason, my phone is refusing to send them to my email. The fireworks were great, they even had a few I had never seen before which was cool. I bumped into a few folks I haven’t had the chance to see in a while, so that was great as well.

All in all, it was a lovely evening, but when I got home, I realized I never made the bed after I had stripped it. So there I am, at ten thirty at night, wrestling with sheets and pillowcases. Thankfully, my hubby is the one who puts the sheets on the bed because, with my back, I can’t lift the mattress from the bed to get the sheets in place properly. (Our bed used to be a waterbed, but now we have a regular mattress, which sits in the old waterbed frame, and I can’t lift it out of the frame to tuck the sheet under the corners.)

We finally get the bed made. I fall in, get comfortable, then realize I forgot to do something. So I drag my butt back out of bed, finish what I needed to do – five minutes before the midnight deadline, and then crawl back into bed. I was completely exhausted, but wouldn’t you know it, I tossed and turned for at least an hour before I finally fell asleep. I really hate when that happens!

Okay, I have rambled on for long enough, so we will do the writing challenge tomorrow instead. I hope you have a super day, and happy writing!

April 14th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Happy Monday Morning! Even though it’s Monday, you can’t be too bummed when it’s such a glorious day. It’s over sixty degrees already, and the sun is shining. We are supposed to reach a high of seventy-seven today. {{{Clapping my hands.}}} *\0/* Doing a happy dance. *\0/*

It’s going to be tough to sit inside and writing all day, but I gotta do it. It was a busy weekend, and I didn’t get as much writing done as I should have. So today, I need to buckle down and crank out a few chapters. After I do, then I’ll take a little break and run to the grocery store – something else I never got to this weekend.

At least all I have to get is cold cuts, bread and milk. I don’t need to get any dinner items at all. Wanna know why? Because, somehow, at some point after I had gone downstairs to retrieve a Digorino’s pizza on Friday for dinner, the freezer door opened. I don’t know if I didn’t close it all the way, or if I had dislodged something, and after I closed the door, it hit it and opened the door. Several items thawed out completely, but were still cold, so I’m hoping they are still good. UGH! I hate when that happens!

I forgot to tell you yesterday about one other person I met at the Princeton Author’s Day. His name is Ravi, and he is a marketing guru. He has such fabulous ideas about how I should be marketing my books, and he is also looking to write his own book. He spent about twenty minutes chatting with Keith and me. This will be great, we can give Ravi tips and help with his writing, and he can give us tips and help us with our marketing. Man, I love networking and bartering.

After church yesterday, I went with Rebecca to the mall. Yeah, I know your saying, “Christina went to the mall?” because you all know how much I hate and try to avoid the mall at all costs. There’s a true glimpse into how much I love Bec, if I was willing to deal with a mall for her. Anyway, she is starting a new job, one which requires true business attire as opposed to business casual, so she needed to shop.

Since she hates the mall almost as much as I do, we decided to slay the beast together. Thanks to Macy’s, we had a productive day. We did find two tops in Lord & Taylor. Then we hit a couple of other stores with no success. We were about to give up, but I said, that since we were there, let’s just go to Macy’s. At that point we were both tired, and a little discouraged, but we trudged to the petite department.

After about five minutes of looking around, we gave up, partly because the foul odor in the department. I swear it smelled like someone had peed on the floor, it was disgusting. We were walking out, when something caught my eye. I pulled out a few tops, Bec tried them on, found one she liked and purchased it.

So now we were done, and headed home. We walked a little further, and something else caught my eye. I pulled down two more tops for Bec to try, and that’s when she remembered the brand name of some tops she liked. We asked the sales lady where those tops were located, and she sent us to another department. Pay dirt! Not only did Bec find several more tops she liked, I found a top for Easter, and for only $22. 

Oh, by the way, the one I got at Kohl’s did not look right, and it’s going back, so I ended up wearing an oldie but goodie to the PPL Author’s Day. (I still haven’t received any pictures from the day, as soon as someone sends some, I’ll post them for you to see.)

I also splurged a little. Vera Bradley sent me a 40% off coupon in the mail, for my birthday, and since my current pocketbook has seen better days, and I had some money from my mother in law for my birthday, so I indulged. I got the “Mandy” bag in “Petal Paisley” and a wallet to match, since my wallet’s pretty shot as well. It’s been a while since I have treated myself to something frivolous and pretty, so I’m a happy girl.

Okay, enough of my “warm-up”, time to do some “real” writing. I hope y’all have a wonderful day, and happy writing!

Your Last Challenge was:

A reunion they’ll never forget…

‘Twenty-five years, where had the time gone?’ was a common phrase heard from the 1989 Culver High School graduates, as they reminisced with old friends, or gave fake smiles and platitudes to their old nemeses. The former “nerds” and “unpopulars” gloated and berated the former “jocks” and “populars”; the guys were all fat and bald, and the gals were funding either Miss Clarol, a plastic surgeon, or both, while they had all become one of the “pretty people” or incredibly wealthy.

As nostalgic music began to play, the dance floor filled, and only a few grimaced or commented on how terrible music from the eighties had been. The houselights dimmed, the mirrored ball began to rotate, laser lights began to bounce around the room, and the fog machine’s mist blanketed the dance floor. The conversation was loud, the music was louder. Then, above the cacophony, a scream silenced the room.

The crowd parted. Someone brought up the houselights. There, lying in the middle of the dance floor, blood trickling out of his nose, ears and mouth, was Jeff, the Raging Rooster’s star quarterback, the kid who had lead Culver High to back to back state championships in ’88 and ’89. He was motionless and most assuredly dead, but how? He was drinking, laughing and dancing just moments before.

Your Next Challenge is:

Does this taste funny to you?

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.