February 14th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Thankfully we didn’t get as much snow last night as was predicted. We only got another two inches – on top of the almost ten inches yesterday morning. What was the real shocker was the thunder and lightning we storm we had last night and the pouring rain. The rain only lasted for about half an hour and it didn’t really make a dent in the mounds of piled up snow. There will probably still be piles in places come Mother’s Day.

Unfortunately, the lightning did have an effect. It struck a building at the Girl Scout camp a few miles away. I haven’t seen any updates this morning, but as of last night they said the main building was completely destroyed. It’s sad, because in March of 2010, the same thing happened, so the building which was destroyed was new. Hopefully they will be able to rebuild again.

As of right now, the kids have a delayed opening, but I’m not sure if that will change. The rain last night did cause flooding in town and we had road closures. The water may have receded by now, so we may be ok. They said we’d hear by 7:30 if the schools will be closing.

I wanted to let you know, I will not be around tomorrow, so there will not be a blog post. Yup, you get an extra day to do the writing challenge. I know there are a whole bunch of new followers of this blog, so let’s see if some are feeling brave. J

I hope you have a lovely day, and happy writing!

Your Last Challenge was:

Write a story containing the following: Peanut Butter, Kitchen & Diaper

I swear it was five minutes. Less than five minutes! I left him in front of the TV. He was in a Barney coma. He NEVER moves when Barney is on, and there was twenty minutes left on the tape.

I ran downstairs to flip the laundry. I’m carrying the basket of clothes to be folded back upstairs and I step on something. I look down and it’s my son’s sneaker, then, a couple of feet away, his other sneaker. Hmmm, didn’t he have his shoes on? Maybe not. Maybe the dog got a hold of them.

I put down the basket and pick up the sneakers, then I see the socks. Did I leave his socks shoved in his sneakers? I walk the few steps to retrieve the socks and I spot the pants. I know those are the pants he was wearing, what the heck?

I get to the living room to ask my son why he took off all his clothes, and he’s not there.

Ran out of time. I was going to find him sitting on the kitchen floor, in nothing but his diaper, with peanut butter smeared all over him and everything around him.

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.

September 13th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina – 

 

It’s Friday the 13^th, and as the sun rises this morning over the Jersey shore and illuminates the utter devastation wrought by yesterday’s horrific fire, you can’t help but wonder if the supposed mystical powers of this day didn’t seep into the surrounding days.

 

I found myself, yet again, channel surfing to catch any and all information on the event as it unfolded. As the images filled the screen, I sat in shock, with tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat, praying for the safety of the firefighters and for the people of the Seaside Heights community.

 

These poor people, haven’t they been through enough already? They were only just starting to recover from the effects of Super Storm Sandy, and now this. It is just heartbreaking!

 

However, New Jerseyans (or is it Jerseyites) are made of stern stuff. Yes this was a crushing blow, but it was not a knockout punch. When the smoke clears, they will pull up their bootstraps, roll up their sleeves, and dive right in to rebuilding. Everyone will rally around those affected and pitch in to help in whatever way they can. That’s what folks from New Jersey do. We have the reputation of being a brash breed, but when the chips are down, we are there to help a neighbor, no questions asked.

 

The hard part now is waiting to hear from the powers that be as to when, and what we can do to help. In the interim, I ask that you say a little prayer, to whomever you pray to, for the folks in Seaside Heights. Pray for strength, pray for compassion, and pray nothing else happens to make things any worse. While you’re at it, you might as well throw in one for the folks out in Colorado dealing with the massive flooding.

What’s next, pestilence? Locust? Sheesh!

Enough with the hellfire and brimstone; I hope you have a wonderful day, and happy writing! 

 

Your Last Challenge was:

It is the first really cold day and you decide you need your coat. You have not worn your coat since last winter. You put it on, reach in the pocket and find…

The homecoming game, an annual event in our town which brings out the masses, and this year it’s no different. High school graduates, new and old, plus current and upcoming students will fill the stands to bursting to root on our beloved and often triumphant Raiders. Preparation for this Saturday night game will take up a good chunk of the day, for much like college and professional football games, tailgating will be involved. Hours before the game is to begin, we will be out in the parking lot – occupying all of the slots so the rival team’s fans are forced to utilize the off campus parking – grillin’ and chillin’. Unlike major sporting events, no alcohol will be involved; but that will not dampen the festivities in the least.

As noon approaches, we make sure our car is packed and ready. As usual for homecoming, the evening promises to get quite cold, so while my husband locates our maroon and gold blankets – obviously only blankets sporting our school colors would do – I descend into the basement to unearth our ancient letterman jackets, jackets which only see the light of day once a year.

As is my habit, still in the basement where there are not witnesses, I try on my jacket to make sure it can still fasten. I button it up and put my hands in the pockets where I feel the familiar Ziploc bag and smile. The bag contains memories of homecomings past, over thirty years’ worth of ticket stubs. Memories of games won and lost, old friends, times both happy and sad, and some even bittersweet fill that little bag.

 

This is a fictional story although there are a few facts tossed in – our school colors are maroon and gold, we are the Raiders, up until hurricane Irene, my husband and I did have letterman jackets stored in our basement, and we do try to go to the homecoming game when we can, but there is no tailgating involved.

 

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 10th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

The beach was lovely yesterday. Not that the weather was perfect, yes it was sunny, but there was no breeze for the first few hours, so it was sweltering hot. Not that the water was perfect, it was cold still, and for some reason there were zillions of dead sand fleas in it, YUCK. It was lovely because I got to sit near the ocean, watching and listening to the waves, which is something I would do every day if I could.

I did bring my laptop with me with the intentions of going to camp while sitting on the sand, but it was an epic fail. I wrote maybe 500 words, half of which I’m going to be deleting, and gave up. The sun was so bright, I was straining to see the screen. When I started getting a headache, I close the computer and opened Once Upon a Tower by Eloisa James. The day got much more enjoyable after that.

We left the beach early because there were clouds forming on the horizon which started to worry me and I’m glad we did. Roughly fifteen minutes after we left, supposedly they got hit by a wicked storm. We missed everything and had a sunny ride the whole way home.

I have noticed something interesting going on. I have increased my Twitter followers by 25% in the past week or so, but I have no idea why that is. I would love to find out so I can keep doing whatever I’m doing!

OK, got to get going. Somehow I need to pull an extra 2,500 to get caught up. Don’t think I’ll be able to do it today, I already hear critters stirring.

Your Last Challenge was:

 

I round the corner, see the spot and for a moment I’m six years old again; fishing pole in one hand, my grandfather’s hand in the other. I sit on the edge of the wall, dangle my feet. I notice how much closer to the water they are, and my red, perpetually dirty and untied Keds have been replaced by sandals with polished toes peaking through. I skip a rock over the water’s surface – one, two, three, plop – and sit back and watch the ripples grow until they lap beneath my dangling feet. My hands begin to itch for a fishing pole when I see a fish jump out of the water, but mostly my heart aches for the companion who is no longer sitting by my side.

 

Your Next Challenge is:

 

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

 

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.