Emptynester

Saturday Centus - Banned

2011-09-25T08:13:00.018-05:00

Hello! I'm back this week to join my favorite group of writers for Saturday Centus. I finally have a minute or two to breathe and thought it would be fun to visit Jenny Matlock and see what she had cooked up this week. What did I find? A challenge that almost made me turn tail and run away until next week. Normally Jenny gives us a fun little prompt and 100 words to write a story using the prompt exactly as written. This week she was feeling generous and gave us 150 words. Nice, right? But EVERY STINKING WORD has to be written in dialogue! That's right, my least favorite thing to write. So here goes nothing folks. Make sure to visit Jenny and read what much more creative souls than I have come up with. You won't be disappointed. And Jenny leaves the link up for an entire week, so you have plenty of time to come up with your own tale and join us!

"Sorry I'm late. Problems at work today and it got a bit ugly"

" Please don't tell me you got into it with that protest group again"

"Yep. Showed up at the end of the day, demanding that I remove 30 books from the shelves. Of course I refused. Almost had to call the police!"

"Just take the damn books down, hide them or something. It's not worth all this hassle. We can't afford for you to lose your job over this"

"I promise you, if I give them this, they will be back for more. I cannot let a bunch of narrow minded dolts tell me what books are appropriate for my students. Good Lord, they want me to remove To Kill A Mockingbird! And the Harry Potter books. Those books are the only things that got some of these kids interested in reading at all!"

"What are you doing? Are you seriously ordering another Martini?"

Postscript: It's Banned Books Week. Visit ALA to find out more about this event. And click this link to find a list of the most commonly challenged/banned books. It's a real eye opener http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedclassics/index.cfm

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin

Remembrance

2011-09-11T07:27:00.002-05:00

I felt compelled to repost my 9-11 remembrance from last year. Please, everyone take a moment today to remember all those who lost their lives on that terrible day, and keep their families in your prayers. And please, try and remember the foundation of tolerance and respect that our country was built upon. If anything, I think things have gotten worse since I originally wrote this. It's frightening how divided our country has become. We have to pull together as a people and quit letting special interests manipulate the puppet strings. READ, make informed decisions and vote people into office who listen to their constituents instead of lobbyists and false patriots waving "pledges". The only pledge our elected officials should be making is to US, not corporate special interest groups.

Photo courtesy of Google Images

On waking this morning, I prepared myself for the onslaught of memorials, pictures and reflections on 9-11. I remember exactly where I was (at work) when the attacks occurred. DH called me at work and told me that a plane had just flown into the World Trade Center. Thinking that it was small private plane, he quickly informed me as to what was really happening. We do not have a television or radio at our clinic, and at the time we did not have internet access. So the entire day was spent grilling clients who came in.
What I remember most clearly from the days, weeks and months that followed this horrific attack is the sense of pride and unity. No one was going to bring this country to it's knees. The sense of thankfulness for our firefighters and police officers who willingly went into the inferno to save lives and bring some semblance of order to chaos. The picture that I remember most clearly from this frantic time was of the thousands of people streaming across the bridge leaving Manhattan, with firefighters and police officers going into the city.
As I sit here with my morning coffee, I wonder what we have really learned from this. What happened to our sense of pride and unity? The constant bickering over every little thing, the two political parties acting like a bunch of spoiled schoolchildren. Name calling, mud slinging and ugly, hateful rhetoric spewing from every talk radio station. People, if we cannot pull ourselves together and learn to tolerate each other's differences and opinions, we are letting the terrorists win. Our biggest strength lies in our ability to discuss, work together and learn from each other. Our greatest ally is ourselves! We the People! Not you the democrats and you the republicans and you the "whatever". Our country was formed in response to intolerance and injustice. A place where everyone has the right to change government, just by pulling a little lever. Let's not let our differences tear us apart. Rather, try to remember that it is people from all walks of life, all religious beliefs, all political leanings and all backgrounds that give this country it's strength. It saddens me to think that the only time we can come together as a people and unite in a common cause is when we are under attack.
It is important that we never forget what happened on this fateful day. But it's also important to remember what happened in this great country of ours over 200 years ago. The greatest country on earth, with the greatest system of government on earth, was formed. So while it is important that we fly our flags and wear our lapel pins today, I think it is more important that we keep the flag in our hearts and minds everyday. Make our forefathers proud of what we have become and what we can accomplish. Do not let the terrorists win.

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Saturday Centus - The Wall

2011-06-11T07:03:00.027-05:00

Good morning Fellow Centusians! Yes, it's time for Saturday Centus, hosted by the always gracious Jenny Matlock at Off on My Tangent. Sorry I've been MIA for so long, but apparently someone changed my name to Job while I wasn't looking. Let's just say it's been an interesting 6 weeks and leave it at that. I hope you forgive me for abandoning ship for awhile, but life does get in the way sometimes, doesn't it? I thought I had remembered the rules for Saturday Centus, but something has changed. We have 200 words this week! Maybe I should take a break more often. This week's prompt was provided by Miss Nonna Beach at Tasty Tales. Miss Nonna is also responsible for us having an extra hundred words this week, so make sure to visit and give her some love! In case you've forgotten, Jenny or one of her cohorts gives us a prompt. Then we create a very short story of 100 words or less, exclusive of the prompt. No pictures, profanity or other things that you wouldn't want your grandchildren to see. Which probably explains why Anthony Weiner doesn't join us every week. But I digress....

This week's prompt is in bold italics. Hope you enjoy my take on it!

Cindy crept across the attic, floorboards groaning like an old drunk. If mama knew she was up here, she'd tan her hide. Jumped as a shadow flitted across the wall, laughing in relief when she saw it was just her reflection in the wavy glass of an old mirror. Brushing aside cobweb curtains, she knelt in front of the old trunk. Snitching the key from mama had been tricky, but she'd managed. Busy making pies for tomorrow's church supper, mama hadn't even noticed. Dust rose in clouds as Cindy slowly raised the lid. There it was, the packet of letters from great grandpa Cole. Reading the faded ink, she searched desperately for a clue, finally finding it. Slipping out of the house, Cindy ran across the back pasture until she saw the landmark. The wall was built long ago, the stones leaning from frost heave. Running her hands along the bottom row, she found the one she was looking for. Pushing with all her might, Cindy moved the stone, revealing an oilcloth wrapped bundle. Cindy opened the package with trembling hands, staring in amazement. The family legend was true! Just like great grandpa promised. More than enough to pay off the bank and keep the farm.

Saturday Centus - Cindy's Revenge

2011-03-27T06:16:00.003-05:00

Jenny has thrown us a minor curve ball this week for Saturday Centus. Yes, we have a written prompt to use. And yes, we have up to 100 words. BUT - the prompt must be used in a poem. That rhymes! ARGHH! I've never written poetry in my life! I had planned to continue my haunted house story based on this week's prompt. When I saw Jenny's instructions, I almost threw up my hands. But then I started thinking... I know, I know, that can be dangerous. Click here and here if you want the back story on this. Click here to read all the entries from this week and to learn the rules that Centusians must live by. The prompt is in bold font. My apologies in advance to all the great poets out there.

Sassy Girl

I stomped my foot and threw a fit

So dang mad I thought I'd spit

I want to go and have some fun

You know I can, you've seen me run

No girls allowed Frankie said

Smiling, patting me on the head!

I'll show him I'm not a chicken

But if he catches me, I'm in for a lickin'

He didn't hear me slip in the back

Time to launch my sneak attack

Locked the door to the murder room

Hid in the closet with the brooms

Hearing his shouts, I laughed with glee

I may be a girl, but you can't catch ME!

Saturday Centus - Haunted House? Part Two

2011-03-20T11:07:00.019-05:00

I couldn't resist. This was such a fun prompt, and I couldn't let the boys run screaming into the night without knowing what was in that house. So I've written a second story. Same prompt, same rules. Don't have a clue what I'm talking about? Click here to read the first part of this story. Click here to visit Jenny and her amazing band of Centusians for Saturday Centus!

Haunted House? Part two

With the curtain parted, Frankie watched the boys run screaming down the street. Laughed so hard he got a bellyache. Nobody was going to win 5 bucks from him, even if it meant sneaking into this creepy old place to play a prank on his little brothers. What goobers! Greg probably wet his pants when that curtain moved, and Bill took off so fast Frankie swore his sneakers were smoking. Now he just had to slip out without being seen. If the folks knew he'd been in the Sawyer place, they'd tan his hide.

Funny, he didn't remember locking that door behind him...

Saturday Centus - Haunted House?

2011-03-19T20:27:00.017-05:00

My favorite day of the week is Saturday. Even when I have to work! Why? Because that means it's time for another edition of Saturday Centus. Jenny Matlock at Off On My Tangent hosts this fun event every week. I don't know that I've ever thanked Jenny for letting my muse run free. Sure, I've been writing since I was in high school (back in the dark ages. You know, when dinosaurs roamed the earth and all that) but I never, ever let anyone read my work. Until I met Jenny. She gives us a prompt. We then write a short (and I do mean short) story of 100 words or less. This has been so much fun, and it's given me the kick in the pants I needed to start writing again. And my fellow Centusians? The greatest group of people you will ever meet. I don't think I have ever read a nasty comment from any of them. Well, except when Tom gets going on the South. But I know he says those things out of love. Really. I think he is a closet Reb. "Me thinks he doth protest too much" and all that jazz. HA! Seriously though, join us! It's so much fun, and it's a great outlet for pent up creativity. Jenny leaves the link live for the entire week, so what are you waiting for? This week Jenny has given us a nice little prompt, beautiful in it's simplicity. Can't wait to see what everyone does with it. The prompt is in bold italics. Enjoy!

The decrepit old Victorian stood sentinel on it's hill, daring anyone to come near. Greg and Bill crept up the crumbling brick walk, determined to get into the old Sawyer place. Frankie had bet them 5 bucks they couldn't stay the night. "That place is full of haints, you won't last a minute!" With the moon lighting their way, they walked up sagging porch steps. Hearts pounding, they glanced up at the second floor window, where old man Sawyer went nuts and chopped his family to pieces. The curtain parted. Their screams echoed all the way down Catfish Alley as they ran home.

Saturday Centus - Slick Rick

2011-03-12T07:01:00.016-06:00

Good morning fellow Centusians! It's a beautiful day and I'm getting ready to march on the Capitol. But first things first, it's time for Saturday Centus, so graciously hosted every week by the lovely Jenny Matlock at Off on my Tangent. If you don't know the drill by now, Jenny provides us with a prompt and we write a short story of 100 words or less, exclusive of the prompt. I've had an idea for today's Centus in mind all week. I worried that I might have a problem working the prompt into the story, but Jenny must have read my mind. The prompt is PERFECT! Perfect, I tell you. I try very hard to keep politics and rants out of my posts. But our State is in a crisis, and the people who will suffer are the most vulnerable, our children. So I hope you forgive me if I indulge in a bit of a rant this week. The prompt is in bold italics.

"The lieutenant governor, the speaker, their colleagues aren’t going to hire or fire one teacher, as best I can tell,” Perry said. “That is a local decision that will be made at the local districts.” The Senator shook his head in disbelief. Why had the Governor made that statement? He had never been accused of being intelligent, but the Governor was a political animal who knew better than to throw gasoline onto an already explosive situation. What had started as a small rally protesting education cuts had blossomed into a massive public relations nightmare. He turned back to his reading. Texas Constitution, Article 15. Impeachment.

Saturday Centus - Blue Note

2011-03-05T07:24:00.022-06:00

It's time to visit Jenny Matlock at Off On My Tangent for Saturday Centus. Give Jenny some extra love this week, she's had a rough time with some dental work. Yet she still manages to host this fun event! The rules are simple. Jenny provides us with a prompt. We let our imaginations run wild and write a short story of up to 100 words, exclusive of the prompt. No pictures, no vulgarity and the prompt must be used intact in the the story. Simple, right? Jenny even leaves the link live for a full week, so you have plenty of time to pen a tale and join this merry band of Centusians. Join us! I promise you'll have fun. The prompt for this week's story is in bold italics.

Blue Note

Friday night. The place was hoppin'! Jake heard the clink of bottles, the low hum of the crowd, an occasional burst of raucous laughter cutting through the din. Layers of smoke hung in the air, thick as cotton. Jake looked down at his horn, his faithful companion, the finish worn from years of jamming in joints like this. She'd earned her keep tonight, drawing the attention of the sharp dressed man at the back table. Minnie, grinning from ear to ear, slipped him the card between sets. Jake stared in disbelief at the words. Eli Slaughter - Blue Note Records. Everything depended upon this single card.

Saturday Centus - Answered Prayers

2011-02-26T21:21:00.025-06:00

It's Saturday, which can only mean one thing. Actually, in my case it means several things. My turn to work a Saturday shift. Which in my line of work means cramming 8 hrs worth of appointments into 4 hours. Because even though Fluffy has been sick for 2 weeks, this is the first chance you've had to bring your poor pet to the vet. I DO understand how difficult it is to get that hair appointment with Mr. Charles at Ooh La La salon, but really? And I know that cancelling your tennis game is just not an option. Perhaps you should get one of those little Zu Zu pets. I know it's not quite the same as having the French Poodle to match your Louis XIV decor, but at least they won't have the audacity to vomit on your expensive rugs. What? Yes, we do close at noon on Saturday. No, I cannot wait an extra 2 hours until you are done shopping. Actually, we also have families and lives. Really.

Oh, sorry, where was I? Oh yes, happy thoughts, happy thoughts. It's time for Saturday Centus, hosted by the ever gracious Jenny Matlock at Off On My Tangent. Jenny has thrown us curve balls for the last two weeks, but this week we are back to our regularly scheduled program of a written prompt. Our task? To write a short story of 100 words or less exclusive of the prompt. No profanity, no pictures, and the prompt must be left intact. This week's prompt is in bold italics.

Enjoy! And the next time Fluffy eats an entire rope toy that is longer than she is, call your vet. Don't wait two weeks. Please? If not for me, do it for that little fur person who depends on you to take proper care of her!

Answered Prayers

Jill walked to her car, exhausted after an 8 hour shift that turned into 11 hours on her feet. No breaks, no lunch. She couldn't remember a busier day. She turned the key. The grinding noise was getting worse. "Come on Bessie, please make it until payday!" Pulling out of the deserted lot, Jill remembered that she still had to stop for coffee. No way was she going to face that 5:00 alarm without it.

Praying that her account wasn't overdrawn, Jill inserted her card.

The ATM machine began dispensing twenties. She stared at the receipt. Congratulations, you've won the $5,000 Visa Debit giveaway!

Saturday Centus - Earworm

2011-02-20T07:12:00.028-06:00

Well friends and neighbors, it's Saturday Centus time once again. Time to tank up on lots of coffee and come up with a nifty little story of 100 words or less based on a prompt provided by Jenny Matlock at Off On My Tangent. Jenny has thrown us a another curve ball this week. The prompt is a line from a current popular song. A song that I hear at least 15 times a day while commuting to and from work. A song that drives me around the bend. So thanks Jenny, for getting "Catch a Grenade for Ya" stuck in my head. On the weekend, when I don't normally have to hear it. What a pal! Make sure to stop by Jenny's and visit all the links. The stories are short, so you can easily read them all. And you don't want to miss any of them. These Centusians have some pretty amazing writing chops! Jenny generously leaves the link live all week, so you've got plenty of time to join us. But I will warn you, once you start doing this it's really hard to stop! This week's prompt is in bold italics.

She'd been on this road forever. The winter landscape was flat and barren, with only an occasional mule deer or buzzard breaking the monotony. Hadn't seen another car in hours. The radio picked up two stations. One playing Top 40, the other some right wing talk show spewing vitriol like an evil Old Faithful. Click. "I'd catch a grenade for ya..." She'd heard that song at least 10 times since leaving Austin. She'd like to find that band, send them a grenade! Click. Silence. "throw my hand on a blade for ya, yeah, yeah, yeah..." She would never get that silly song out of her head!

I'd catch a grenade for ya...

Saturday Centus - Happy Valentines Day

2011-02-11T08:18:00.025-06:00

Once again, it's time to join Jenny Matlock at Off On My Tangent for another thrilling edition of Saturday Centus. Why thrilling? I love words, I love to play with them, read them, roll them around and see what can be done with them. Jenny provides us with a prompt and we write a story of 100 words or less using the prompt. It's a great exercise in learning what is truly important in a story. It can be painful to cut our beautiful words out and send them to the recycling bin, but it has to be done.

Every once in a while, Jenny throws us a curve ball. This week she has chosen to test our loyalty to the Centusian cause. Instead of a written prompt, she wants us to write using a photo as our inspiration. But not just any picture, oh no! We have to use this!

Here's the challenge. Use up to 50 words to write a Hallmark card for Valentine's Day, using this image. Piece of cake, right? I had planned on continuing my Family Secrets saga, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out how to do that with this crazy prompt. So that's going on the back burner for now. I hope you enjoy the card (tongue planted firmly in cheek) And excuse me while I make a phone call to the authorities. There has to be a law against doing this to a poor, defenseless animal doesn't there? No? Well, I hope this little fella figures out a way to wreak vengeance. I'm thinking nightstand as fire hydrant....

Don't forget to visit all the links. This week should be very interesting!

Especially for you on Valentine's Day

For 2.99 you were expecting Linda Carter?

Happy Valentines Day!

Saturday Centus - Family Secrets Part II

2011-02-05T07:00:00.005-06:00

Saturday! Time to join Jenny Matlock at Off On My Tangent for Saturday Centus. Take some time to join our merry band of Centusians as we strive to strike literary gold in 100 words or less. The concept is deceptively simple. Jenny gives us a writing prompt, and we write a short story of 100 words or less exclusive of the prompt. There aren't too many rules, but you must leave the prompt intact exactly as written, no pictures, and keep the story PG! Try to visit all the links, there are some amazing writers in this group. And Miss Jenny generously leaves the link live for an entire week, so you've got plenty of time to pen a little fable and join us! This week our prompt is supplied by Ames at Girl Raised in the South. Stop by and say hey, Ames is a lot of fun!

I received quite a few comments suggesting that I continue the story I started last week. Click here to read Family Secrets Part I. This week's prompt gave me a natural segue into part II, so here it is. As always, the prompt is in bold font. And I had to be a bit creative with my word count. I've chopped this baby for the past 3 hours. I'm not counting the date headers in my word count. So sue me...

Kate read, a knot forming in her belly. It was growing bigger by the minute.

10.15.47

That no account Jr Ewell was rounding up kids to pick pumpkins. I've never seen Roy so angry...

10.25.47

Roy men's club met last night. I don't know what those boys were up to tracking muck all over mama's oriental carpet. Took all day to get that mess cleaned up...

11.1.47

The whole town is buzzing like a beehive. Seems Jr just up and ran off. No one's seen hide nor hair of him all week. Good riddance to bad rubbish...

The puzzle was falling into place. Kate didn't like the picture one bit.

Saturday Centus - Family Secrets Part 1

2011-01-29T07:24:00.041-06:00

Once again, it's time to join Jenny Matlock at Off On My Tangen t for our weekly fix of Saturday Centus. Yes, I said fix. If you've participated, you know what I mean. If not, believe me, this fun little meme is addictive! This is week 39. I jumped into the pool late, having been intimidated by all the fantastic writers out there. Don't let that stop you. This is an incredibly supportive group of people. Unless you write about the South. Then Tom's muse is going to start cracking wise about 'possums and outhouses. But I digress. The discipline involved in writing these short little jewels is an amazing way to develop your writing chops. In case you don't know the drill, Jenny (or a guest) provides us with a writing prompt. Use this to write a story of 100 words or less, exclusive of the prompt. The link stays live all week, so if you wake up Saturday with no inspiration, you still have 7 days to come up with something. But be warned, once you start participating, it's hard to stop. Think of Saturday Centus as the "Lays" of blog events - you can't stop at just one!

This week's prompt was given to us by Judie at Rogue Artists Speak. If you haven't met Judie, stop by. You'll be glad you did. She is a gifted artist and writer, and I always look forward to her contributions to Saturday Centus.

Here is my story for this week. The prompt is in bold font.

The room looked just as she remembered. Except for the dust. Grandma never would have stood for that. The old four poster bed and dresser that her great grandmother had shipped from Ireland. Intricate lace curtains, now yellow with age. The beautifully carved chest at the foot of the bed, handed down to generations of first born daughters.

She had returned to the old home place to find some solitude. Peace and quiet. No cable or internet, cell phone service erratic at best. Nothing to distract her from her writing. Instead, she'd stirred up a hornet's nest of trouble. Trembling, She lifted the stack of letters from the ancient chest.

Saturday Centus - That Child is Touched

2011-01-22T14:26:00.018-06:00

Jenny, Jenny, Jenny. Did I do something to offend you? Have I broken the rules and not been aware of it? Why else would you do this to me? Ok, last week was bad. You threw down the gauntlet of 25 words and I delivered. But Sci Fi? Really? Science flippin' fiction? Other than a couple of Asimov stories, I never, ever read Sci Fi. Ok, I did read A Handmaid's Tale, but that was a trick. It was written by Margaret Atwood. Had no idea that it was sci fi until I had already purchased it. In case you don't know why I'm grumbling like an old bear, visit Jenny Matlock at Off on my Tangent. She has this neat little weekly event called Saturday Centus. Jenny provides us with a prompt and we write a story of 100 words or less exclusive of the prompt. Last week, she cut us to 25 words plus the prompt. This week, she gave us back the missing 75 words, but we have to write a science fiction story. Make sure that you visit all the links, this is a truly amazing group of wordsmiths. However, I am making absolutely no promises with mine this week. You'll have to take your chances, and if it's dreadful, go yell at Jenny! As usual, the prompt is in bold font. Oh, and I almost forgot. After getting over the shock of the genre, I read the prompt. And proceeded to spill my coffee thanks to a coughing fit. I actually know what show the line comes from. And (forgive me in advance all you Trekkies out there) I can't stand that show. Once again, I'm stealing Jenny's favorite line. Sigh ....

Lying on the dew soaked grass, Ariel gazed at the stars. Twinkling against the black velvet of the sky, more beautiful than any display at Tiffany's. She cringed as she heard the shouting from the house. Great, they were arguing again. About her, no doubt. She shouldn't have told her mother about her friend. She was much too rigid to believe in such nonsense. They always thought Ariel was different. Now they thought she was nuts! But she had proof that there were other worlds out there. And he promised to take her. Summoning her courage, she closed her eyes. "Beam me up, Scottie"...

Saturday Centus - The Heart Attack

2011-01-14T21:12:00.018-06:00

Good morning! Jumped out of bed, all excited to see what Miss Jenny had in store for us today. I wanted to get right on it, because I have to work today. Have to keep paying that internet bill, so I can stay in contact. So anyway, got out of bed, poured a big mug of coffee, stretched my fingers in preparation for that 100 word writing marathon and what do I find? A joke from Jenny. No, really, this has to be a joke, right? She loves to shake things up, and this week we are limited to 25 words. Not 250 - I was hoping that she had forgotten to type the zero on the end. But her instructions are quite clear. 25 words. I've told Jenny before, and I'll tell you now. My flippin' grocery list has more than 25 words. TWENTY FIVE WORDS. The recording on my voice mail has more than that. My standard phone greeting at work has almost that many words. Now some of you may be hopping up and down for joy. I, on the other hand, have a rare condition known as "vox plenteous". Which loosely translated from the Latin means big mouth. Really. Look it up. If you don't have a clue what I am rambling on about, visit Jenny Matlock at Off On My Tangent. Saturday Centus is a fun (usually) weekly meme in which Jenny gives us a writing prompt and we then craft a story of 100 words or less exclusive of the prompt. Yes, you read that correctly. We usually get 100 words, which is hard enough. This week, 25 lousy stinking words. This should be interesting! Make sure to visit all the links. The writing is great, and the stories are so short - especially this week - that you should have no trouble visiting everyone.

Now, if you've been paying attention, my introduction up to this point has 311 words. Let's see what I can manage in 25 - TWENTY FIVE! The prompt is in bold font. That's even skimpy this week, just 3 little words. In the immortal words of our lovely hostess, sigh ...

The smell of antiseptic, the whisper of rubber soled shoes, the sting of an IV catheter. As memory returned, I sat bolt upright. Where was the lottery ticket?

Saturday Centus - The Last Laugh

2011-01-08T06:00:00.008-06:00

Good morning fellow Centusians! I always look forward to Saturday morning (except the ones I have to work tee hee) to see just what our Miss Jenny has in store for us. Time to knock the cobwebs out of our brains, down gallons of coffee and write a short - really short - story of 100 words or less based on a writing prompt supplied by Jenny Matlock at Off On My Tangent. The rules remain the same. No pictures, no vulgarity, and no splitting the prompt. And Jenny, being the soul of generosity that she is, keeps the link live all week, so we have plenty of time to come up with something. This week, Jenny is shaking things up. No written prompt, we have to write our story based on this picture.

Seriously? Try and visit all the links. I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with for this!

Here goes nothing folks, hope you enjoy.

The Last Laugh

Well, well, well. What do we have here? A snowstorm! Ada couldn't wait until all those naysayers woke to see what Mother Nature brought last night. Living in an orange grove was pretty boring most times. When little Miss Cindy came back from her New York shopping trip, she brought tiny hats for us oranges. She said it would keep us from getting cold. Ina and the others had laughed when Ada wore hers with pride, rain or shine. She wasn't going to be the one to stifle that child's imagination. Bet they won't be laughing today!

Saturday Centus - Happy New Year

2011-01-01T19:12:00.028-06:00

Hello! I'm back! Sorry I've been MIA, but it has been crazy around here. Now the holidays are behind us and it's time to get back to work. Time to rejoin Jenny Matlock at Off on My Tangent

for another round of Saturday Centus. Just a quick refresher. Jenny gives us a writing prompt, and we spin a tale of 100 words or less (exclusive of the prompt). No pictures, no vulgarity, no splitting the prompt. Jenny leaves the link live for a full week, so you have plenty of time to join. And make sure that you visit all the links, there are some amazing writers participating.

To all my fellow Centusians, I hope I don't get kicked out for being absent for 3 weeks, I've missed you guys! This week's prompt is in bold font.

Kate stared at the strips of wallpaper hanging in the front hallway. Another project that never got off the ground. Stacks of half read books lay scattered throughout the house, the new bookcases standing unfinished in the guest room. New Year's always started with such promise. But as the year wore on, it became apparent that it was going to be the same old, same old. No time, energy, or money. She glanced at her crumpled up list of resolutions. Grabbing her notebook, she wrote

Eat more, exercise less, gain weight, procrastinate...

Kate laughed. Finally, a list of resolutions that she would have no trouble keeping!

Saturday Centus - The Perfect Christmas

2010-12-04T05:43:00.026-06:00

Saturday morning, and it's time to put on that old thinking cap. Join Jenny Matlock at Off On My Tangent for Saturday Centus. Jenny provides a writing prompt, and all you have to do is write a story of 100 words or less. No pictures, no profanity and no splitting the prompt.
She even leaves the link live for a full week, so you've got plenty of time to craft a tale to share. And make sure to visit all the links, this is an amazing group of writers and you never know what they will come up with. You'll laugh, you'll cry... it's better than a night at the movies! It's so much fun to see how the same prompt speaks so differently to everyone.
This week's prompt is in bold, blue font. My take this week is for every person out there who struggles to make their holiday picture perfect. Martha Stewart and reality don't usually meet, no matter how we try!

Mother Brown was stepping aside, letting her host Christmas for the first time. After months pouring over Martha Stewart magazines, her home was perfect. Handcrafted placecards at each table setting. Cinnamon sticks and apples simmered on the stove, scenting the air. Stockings painstakingly crafted of vintage linens culled from antique stores. Simple, elegant mantel, with evergreens, magnolia leaves and berries gathered by hand. She was pleased. Not a single thing the old bat could criticize.

Now for the tree. Opening the first box, she stared in disbelief at the bin of tangled up holiday lights. And uttered some words that Mother Brown would definitely not approve of!

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Saturday Centus - Writer's Block

2010-11-28T05:39:00.002-06:00

It's Saturday Centus time again boys and girls! Remember how you used to look forward to Saturday morning cartoons? Well, Jenny Matlock at Off On My Tangent is my "grown up" version! Our lovely host Jenny provides us with a prompt, and we write a story of 100 words or less exclusive of the prompt. It sounds easier than it is, but it's a great way to stretch your editing muscles and your imagination. Jenny leaves the link live all week, so you've got plenty of time to come up with a nice little tale to share. Because the stories are so short, I get to visit every link. And I'm glad, because Jenny's mad little band of Centusians is one talented group!

This week, another curve ball. In Jenny's words:
This week we have a unique prompt supplied by Clearspace...a regular contributor to SC. Here are the instructions for this week: This weeks prompt writing will be one with a twist. You know those horoscopes in newspapers? One of those will be your new prompt. Pick one randomly from a paper or a website and write a story <100>

The horoscope that I chose is in bold font.

A favorite hobby or skill takes priority this morning and occupies your mind until you eat your next meal. Your many interests may include reading, trains, dolls, model building, miniatures, etc. There may be an opportunity to attend an art show this afternoon, perhaps a public showing of collections and hobbies. You will enjoy being with some of your friends that have the same sort of hobby interest as you. Working with hobbies is a wonderful way to get to know someone better. A common interest in spiritual values among family members may occur as well. You happily involve yourself in many conversations with great people today. You may be called upon to settle a debate this evening. You know just how to direct the conversation.

The scent of coffee wafting through the air roused her before the alarm. Thank God for automatic coffeepots. Throwing the twisted blankets aside, she slid out of bed and stumbled into the kitchen. Fired up the laptop, and just for grins, checked her horoscope. What a crock. She hadn't written anything in weeks. Her muse had skipped town, taken the last train out without so much as a goodbye. Sighing, she opened her unfinished manuscript and was shocked to feel herself falling down that familiar rabbit hole. Eight hours later, her rumbling stomach called her back to reality. She smiled.

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Saturday Centus - What's in a name?

2010-11-20T05:28:00.013-06:00

It's time to join the lovely Jenny Matlock at Off On My Tangent for Saturday Centus! Life has been crazy lately and I haven't been able to post much. But I always make time to join our little band of Centusians for this weekly writing exercise. Jenny provides us with a prompt, and we write a story of no more than 100 words exclusive of the prompt. The only rules are no pictures, no profanity and no splitting the prompt! Jenny is gracious enough to keep the link live for the entire week, so you have plenty of time to craft a tale to share.
And the stories are so short, there is no excuse for not visiting all of the links. You'll be glad you did, there are some amazing writers who join every week.

I look forward every week to waking up on Saturday and seeing what Jenny has provided us to work with. This morning was no different. Until I read the prompt. Initially I groaned, then started laughing so hard I almost lost my coffee in a very unbecoming way. This is going to be an interesting week! Here is my contribution, the prompt is in bold blue font.

For years, he suffered. Bullies taunting him in the schoolyard. Raised eyebrows and barely suppressed laughter as teachers read his name for the first time. Outright howls whenever his name was called in public. His parents certainly had a flare for the outrageous. How many kids grew up in a house painted Barney purple? He always assumed that the anesthesiologist had used a free hand with the demerol when he was born. But what was his dad's excuse?

Then he read the job posting on Monster. And smiled as he entered the corporate offices of Butterball.

"Pardon me," said Tom T. Urkee. "Which way to HR?"

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Saturday Centus - A Childhood Memory

2010-11-13T06:39:00.033-06:00

Oh glorious Saturday. My favorite day of the week. It's the day we get to play with words and join the fabulous Jenny Matlock at Off On My Tangent for Saturday Centus!
Won't you join our merry band of Centusians and write a story? I won't tell you it's easy, because it's not. But it is fun! And it may just be that kick in the pants you need to start writing. The premise is simple. Jenny provides us with a prompt. We then take that prompt and write a story of 100 words or less, exclusive of the prompt. The only rules are that the prompt must be left intact, no pictures, and no profanity. Simple, right? And to sweeten the pot, Jenny leaves the link live for a solid week, so you've got plenty of time to craft a story.

The other benefit to joining us is the amazingly diverse group of writers who participate. And this is the most supportive and fun gang of people you will ever meet. I have yet to see a single snarky comment. Other than those from Tom. But he's just cracking wise about us Southerners, not about the writing. I think the ghost of Flannery O'Connor needs to visit him and straighten that boy out, don't you? I try to visit every link, every week because the stories are so great.

This week's prompt is in bold, blue font. Enjoy!

Gazing out the window, Eva sighed. It was going to take all weekend to rake those leaves. She remembered her first glimpse of this old place, falling in love with the magnificent trees guarding the house like benevolent sentinels. Now those same trees were the bane of her existence.

Eight grueling hours later, she looked around. Heaps of fallen oak leaves lay scattered like ancient burial mounds.

The early November sunshine cast golden rays of light over her handiwork. Laying the rake aside, she smiled. She couldn't resist. Laughing, she took a flying leap, landing in the largest pile, casting hours of work to the autumn breeze.

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Saturday Centus - Danny Part 2

2010-11-07T07:29:00.026-06:00

This is my second contribution to Saturday Centus this week, hosted by the lovely Jenny Matlock at Off on My Tangent. This started as a memorial to a very good friend, mixing some fact with some fiction. 100 words was not going to cut it, so this is part 2 of my story "Danny". The prompt is in bold blue font. Hopefully this story stands on it's own, but if not, read Part 1.

"... Storm of the Century. Let's look back at some images from that day..." Turning off the television, she didn't need pictures to remember. Waking to a wind so fierce it rocked the house. Ancient trees snapping like kindling in the early morning tempest. Looking out the kitchen window as Frankie's bike flew past, cartwheeling through the heavy air like a lunatic gymnast.

She warned Danny to stay home. Devil's Hollow was surely washed out. Even if it wasn't, no one could handle those hairpin turns in that storm.

For most, it was the 11th Anniversary of the storm. For her, it was the day Danny died.

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Saturday Centus - Danny Part 1

2010-11-06T05:15:00.027-05:00

Time for Saturday Centus hosted by the lovely Jenny Matlock at Off On My Tangent. We are back to our regularly scheduled program, after last week's detour into brevity. You know the routine by now, right? Jenny provides a prompt, and we fashion a micro story of 100 words or less exclusive of the prompt. Last week, Jenny shook things up and allowed us only 50 words. 50 words! Guess she got tired of all the complaining - "100 words is not enough, I can't possibly write a story with only 100 words" whine, whine, blah, blah, blah. After last week, this is going to feel like writing an epic!

This story is fiction mixed with some fact, based on a dear friend from high school. I couldn't do it justice in 100 words, so this one's a two parter. And before Tom starts his Southern bashing, I will tell you that I never could stand "The Devil Went Down to Georgia". But now I do at least smile a bit when I hear it, because it reminds me of my friend... The prompt is in bold, blue font.

The morning broke clear and crisp, frost sparkling like fairy diamonds. Oh, the irony. Amazing how something as simple as the weather could change everything.

She closed her eyes, remembering Danny. A gentle giant, his laugh booming through a room like happy thunder. The way he danced whenever he heard "The Devil Went Down to Georgia". Good Lord, that boy could NOT dance, but his sheer joy infected everyone. His bear hugs, lifting her off her feet as he sang "Short People", grinning like a loon. She smiled, wiping tears from her face.

It was the 11th Anniversary of the day she lost her best friend.

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Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T14:21:00.006-05:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO ALL MY BLOGGING BUDDIES!

My favorite picture of Cait at Halloween. She wanted to be the Little Mermaid that year

This is one of my favorites. Cait and her dorm mate. What were they? I'll let Cait's Facebook Status from that day explain:

Cait: we're the girls that brought extra clothing for the ones who forgot theirs....we're fighting the stereotype that girls are expected to dress like skanks for Halloween : )

Hope everyone has a frightfully good Halloween!

Saturday Centus - Haints

2010-10-30T07:04:00.014-05:00

Jenny, Jenny, Jenny... What are you doing to us? It's time for Saturday Centus, hosted by our lovely Jenny Matlock at Off On My Tangent. You know the routine, Jenny gives us a prompt and we write a fun little story of 100 words or less. Every week, I struggle keeping my word count down. Slave and sweat over which of my sweet little words are going to the recycling bin. Well, this week Jenny threw us a curve ball. We only get 50 words. Now how on earth are we supposed to tell a story in 50 words or less? Good grief, I use more words than that on my grocery list! Guess this is our trick for Halloween. I'm going to give it the old college try. The prompt is in blue font. Make sure to visit all the links, I'm sure you'll find some treats there!

The old Civil War depot was haunted. Everyone knew that. Frankie went in anyway. You can't ignore a triple dog dare! After the longest 30 minutes in history, he emerged. Shaking, but with a victorious smile on his impish face. "Come on Frankie, what happened?" He just smirked and said
"Abraham Lincoln was a lot shorter then I thought he would be..."

Saturday Centus - Just Another Scary Story

2010-10-23T07:09:00.034-05:00

Why are we up so bright and early on a Saturday morning? It's time to participate in Saturday Centus, hosted by the lovely Jenny Matlock at Off On My Tangent. Jenny provides us with a writing prompt, and we conjure up a story of 100 words or less exclusive of the prompt. No pictures, no videos, and no vulgarity or profanity! And we must use the prompt EXACTLY as written. No cute little writer's tricks of splitting the prompt! This week's prompt is "This is the scariest story I've ever heard...". It will be interesting to see what our little band of Centusians comes up with. If you're not familiar with this weekly event, you are in for a real treat - and perhaps some tricks as well! Make sure to visit all the links, there is some amazing talent out there. And Jenny keeps the link live all week, so you have plenty of time to use your imagination, spin a yarn and join us!

Here's a spooky little short for Halloween, enjoy!

The wind howled through trees, restless banshees prowling the night. Windows rattled with every clap of thunder, lightening providing glimpses of the raging storm. Ten teenage girls giggled and screamed as branches scratched against the clapboards, the old house groaning as it settled in for the night.

Sarah's mom smiled as she listened from the top of the stairs. She was so glad that she had rescued the old Hoffman place from the wrecking ball, ignoring the superstitions of the townspeople.

The lights went out just as Sarah started to speak "This is the scariest story I've ever heard...". Her mom felt a cold hand on her shoulder...

Saturday Centus - Trick or Treat!

2010-10-16T07:52:00.030-05:00

It's Saturday which can only mean one thing. Time to visit Jenny Matlock at Off On My Tangent for Saturday Centus. Just in case you've been off in Siberia or something, these are the rules. Our lovely hostess provides us with a prompt. We then struggle to write a micro story of 100 words or less (exclusive of the prompt) - no profanity, no pictures and the prompt must be used in it's entirety and intact. This is a great way to see what editors have to endure on a daily basis!

Since it's October, the ghouls and ghosties are out and about. Oh wait, that's just a group of Centusians moaning over which words to delete from their story! Seriously, it's harder than you think. I'm just writing along, and when I stop to check my word count, I'm usually over 100 words before I'm anywhere near done writing.

This week's prompt was provided by our lovely Miss Anna and it's very appropriate to the season. Here's my take on it, the prompt is in bold font. Hope you enjoy, and don't forget to visit all the links. And check back throughout the week, the link stays live until next Friday evening. You don't want to miss any of the amazing writers who participate!

Cindy was so mad she could spit! The boys got to run wild on Halloween, while she had to trick or treat with daddy.

She was almost 10, for goodness sake. Why couldn't she go with the boys? Running through the spooky old graveyard, playing tricks on crazy ole Miss Harriet. Dang it, she would show them.

Stomping up the stairs, Cindy opened the door to the attic. Found the musty old uniform and slipped it on. A few dabs of ketchup and she was ready.

" "Trick or treat!" they shouted as the door opened..."

The screams of those boys were worth every lick she knew she had coming...

Saturday Centus - With Apologies to Peter, Paul and Mary

2010-10-10T20:17:00.018-05:00

Time to let the imagination run free once again. It's Saturday Centus time, hosted by the always gracious Jenny Matlock. Jenny provides us with a prompt, and her merry band of Centusians writes a micro story of 100 words or less, exclusive of the prompt. The only rules are to use the prompt in it's entirety exactly as written. No splitting the prompt! It's ok to split infinitives, but DO NOT split the prompt! Also, no pictures and no profanity. This is not the place for your R rated meanderings :)

This weeks prompt: "If I had a hammer..."

My take. Hope you enjoy!

The sun was slowly sinking as I made my last turn around the square. Grand old buildings stood sentinel, Victorian dowagers passing judgment on every passing citizen. A sudden breeze whispered through fallen leaves on the courthouse lawn. What a glorious evening for a stroll through this beautiful old town. Peaking into gleaming shop windows, I admired the artwork at the gallery, the book display at the corner book shop. I crossed the empty street to see what had moved into the old Hoffmeier building. A candy shop! The window beckoned, displaying a veritable wonderland of luscious hand dipped chocolates. If I had a hammer ...

Please make sure to stop by Jenny's and read all the links. There are some really amazing writers participating in Saturday Centus every week!

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Saturday Centus - A Scary Story

2010-10-05T08:08:00.025-05:00

Time to put on the old creative hat and get writing - it's Saturday Centus time! By now, you know the routine, right? Our lovely hostess, Jenny Matlock at Off On My Tangent, provides us with a prompt and we write a micro story of 100 words or less exclusive of the prompt. Simple, right? Not so much. And this week, she's shaking things up again. No written prompt, we are to use a picture instead. Normally we are not allowed to use pictures in our posts. But since the picture is the prompt, I'm going to to be an anarchist and break that rule. The prompt for this week:

I was hoping to be able to add to this story (thank cj for prompting me) and I think I managed it.

My take on the prompt:

The screen door slamming sounded like a gunshot in the old house. Charlee jumped, flour floating to the floor, ghosts in the October breeze. Little Frank ran into the kitchen, jumping up and down like a pogo stick. "Aunt Charlee, I'm going to pick pumpkins for Jr. He said he'd pay me and some other kids a dime for every good one!" Charlee untied her apron, turning toward the boy. "Child, we've talked about this. You aren't to go anywhere near the Ewell place. Jr. is a bad man. I don't want you talking to him."

Roy would handle this ...

Make sure to stop by and visit all the links. There are some amazing writers participating in this meme every week. And since the posts are so short, you can read them all!

I've been tagged - a story by 28 authors!

2010-10-04T09:25:00.000-05:00

Illustration courtesy of Wilkepedia Commons

I've been tagged! Now this is an interesting concept. Tom at Sophisticated Lunacy has tagged me to participate in a meme started by The Kid in the Front Row which is called "A 30 Sentence Kid In The Front Row Story, by 28 Authors." Want to see the rules? Click here.
Basically, the "Kid" starts and ends the story. The rest of us complete it one sentence at a time. I apologize for the delay in responding to this, we were in Dallas for the weekend and did not have time for blogging - it was OU weekend after all! So without further ado, here is my contribution at #10. I'm tagging Jeff at TennesseeMudbug to continue the story.

1. Jane never expected to visit Belarus, but it was the only possible solution after what had happened.

2. Her lonely planet guide had advised her that it was a great place for birdwatching- so she packed her binoculars- Todd would have been proud, had he not been lying in a coma.

3. Poor Todd; Jane remembered the incident so well: he had spotted a rare long-whiskered owlet, had ran out into the street to snap a photo, and had thusly been hit by an ice cream truck.

4. Except the ice cream truck was actually a roasted salmon!

5. Upon seeing this strange occurrence, a Portuguese fisherman who happened to be standing on the other side of the street (and who was also, coincidentally, the resident expert on salmon) ran to scene and called 911, prompting Todd's speedy - albeit smelly - rescue.

6. Naturally, Jane was distraught over the entire salmon/ice-cream truck affair , moreover considering that she was the one who had wanted the photo of that owlet; they were both avid birdwatchers, but she was particularly fond of the owlet.

7. She had gone off owlets since then, and as she checked into the little hotel by the river, she wondered if she could find solace in the azure tit, a beautiful bird that, while easily spotted and hardly rare, at least had a name that sometimes made her giggle.

8. Surrounded by beautiful little azure tits as she wrote in her journal to un-bird-en herself of thoughts of fish, and fowl, and Todd (who was slowly recovering, and would join her soon); and as room service arrived with her vegetarian plate; her phone vibrated, signaling a text....

9. Alas, the careful study of azure tits would have to wait as an urgent text message from the manager of the treatment center where Todd was hospitalized informed her that something truly extraordinary was happening to him

10. Please return to hospital stat - patient awake, agitated, requesting nurse to masticate and regurgitate his dinner - wings noted sprouting from back, need your expertise in birds ASAP!
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30. The three of them left as quickly as they could and vowed never to return again, especially if Jane was in town.

Fairy tale ending at GHS homecoming | KXAN.com

2010-09-27T16:56:00.001-05:00

Once in a while, no matter how dark things seem, something happens to renew your hope and your faith in humanity. I hope everyone takes the time to read the link below. And think hard before condemning "today's kids". This is why I love our town. Enjoy this and make sure you have a box of kleenex handy!

Fairy tale ending at GHS homecoming | KXAN.com

Saturday Centus - Be Careful What You Wish For

2010-09-25T06:35:00.022-05:00

Thank goodness it's Saturday. I get to play with my favorite event of the week, Saturday Centus. If you still don't know what Saturday Centus is, you must be living under a rock! Hosted by our lovely leader, Jenny Matlock at Off On My Tangent, Saturday Centus is a weekly event that allows us to hone our writing skills by learning to edit. Jenny provides us with a prompt, and we write a story of 100 words or less exclusive of the prompt. The only rules are no pictures, no profanity and the prompt must be used exactly as written. You can chop the heck out of your story, but that prompt is sacrosanct!

This week's prompt is in honor our Tom's birthday

He never dreamed when he blew out the candles on his cake...

My take on the prompt. This is especially for you Tom :)

Tom walked under the canopy of oaks, cursing and swatting at the clouds of gnats that circled his head. Moving through air that felt like syrup, avoiding clouds of grasshoppers that jumped in his wake, he shook his head in disbelief. How had he ended up in this backwater town?

Had it really been just 2 short weeks since his birthday party back in L.A.? Natasha, leaning close as she brought out the cake. "Don't forget to make a wish..."

He never dreamed when he blew out the candles on his cake that his wish for a writing job would land him in Mississippi. Be careful what you wish for, indeed!

Saturday Centus - Aftermath

2010-09-18T06:42:00.026-05:00

Time once again to join Jenny Matlock - Off On My Tangent for Saturday Centus. By now, you probably know the drill. Jenny provides us with a writing prompt, and we run with it. Actually we sprint with it, as we can only write a 100 word story (exclusive of the prompt) Jenny, knowing that some of us tend toward - ahem - tardiness, is kind enough to keep the link live all week. So join us! I promise you won't have to wear a tin foil hat to be a Centusian. Although that might be fun. And everyone is welcome, even people from California. I just found out that they actually read things other than People Magazine, Surfer Dude and World Tanning Weekly. (Seriously, I love people from California. One of my dearest friends in the world is California born and raised. That was just my little dig at Tom, who tends to poke fun at all things Southern)

Make sure to read all the great stories this week. There are some amazing writers out there!

This weeks prompt is something everyone can relate to. It should be interesting to see what our little band of Centusians does with it!

"This is never going to come out," she thought as she scrubbed at the spot on the worn carpet.

Here's my take on it. Hope you enjoy!

Dust motes performed their intricate ballet in the sun streaming through the old lead glass window. Charlee carefully set the pail of foamy water in the hall. "This is never going to come out," she thought as she scrubbed at the spot on the worn carpet.
Mama's best oriental rug, ruined. What had they tracked in last night? It was Roy's turn to host his men's club and the meeting had run late. She guessed some of the boys may have sampled the fruit of the corn a bit too freely. Tempers were running hot after hearing little Frank's story about Jr. She hoped they had put the fear of God into that good for nothing waste of flesh.

A Funny for Wednesday

2010-09-15T06:58:00.005-05:00

Photo courtesy of Flickr - reidmix photo stream

Saw this ad on Craigslist, and thought it was one of the funniest things I'd ever seen.

Don't own a vacuum cleaner? Really? I want to live in her world. Or maybe not....

Free Lusy Blom Ikea Rug

Date: 2010-09-14, 7:54PM

This rug is white with brightly colored flowers. It's in good shape, but needs vacuuming, and we don't have a vacuum. The rug is outside by the curb if you want it. Bye Bye Rug! Enjoy your new home.

Location:
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

Original URL: http://austin.craigslist.org/zip/1954461815.html

Remembrance

2010-09-11T05:00:00.002-05:00

After reading Pat's moving 9/11 tribute (read it here), I felt compelled to repost my 9-11 remembrance from last year. Please, everyone take a moment today to remember all those who lost their lives on that terrible day, and keep their families in your prayers. And please, try and remember the foundation of tolerance and respect that our country was built upon.

Photo courtesy of Google Images

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Saturday Centus - Justifiable Homicide

2010-09-09T11:00:00.004-05:00

Late again. I know Saturday Centus' link stays live all week, but I feel like I'm late if I don't post by Sunday! Another weekend helping Cait get settled into her new apartment in Dallas, this time we had internet, but NO TIME! Not sure what a "Saturday Centus" is? Stop by Jenny Matlock - Off On My Tangent to find out. Our ever gracious hostess Jenny provides us with a prompt, and we then write a story of no more than 100 words (exclusive of the prompt). It's not as easy as it sounds, believe me. Especially when you tend to be "high verbal" like me. (That was a neat little phrase I picked up from Cait's Kindergarten teacher. Sounds so much nicer than "she talks too much" doesn't it?)

This weeks prompt is a classic. When I opened the post and read it, I laughed out loud. Like a loon. Ask DH or Cait - they thought I'd finally lost it.

It was a dark and stormy night

Here's my take on this week's prompt. This one is especially for you, Jenny. Enjoy!

It was a dark and stormy night. And I was awake for every crash of thunder and flash of lightening. Tossing and turning like the wind chimes outside my window.

I should have known the minute I set foot in that oh so bohemian coffee shop. Definitely a square peg in a round hole. The snarky little barista, sporting more ink than the Sunday New York Times, looked with utter disdain down her prominently pierced nose as I ordered.

"Vente Vanilla Latte, decaf please". The reason behind her specious smile as she handed me my drink was all too apparent now.

Oh, she would pay for this...

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Alphabe Thursday Summer School - Violet

2010-09-09T05:19:00.006-05:00

Late for class again, but better late than never. It's our last Rainbow Summer School session and Mrs. Matlock has assigned the color violet. Stop by class and read everyone's essays. Hopefully they will be ALOT better than mine. Without further ado, my post for violet.

This is a violin .......

Therefore, this must be a violet...

Get it? Violet? Sorry folks. I'm sleep deprived, overworked and stressed to the max this week. I've got bupkiss! Stop by Jenny's and see some much more creative work!

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Alphabe Thursday - Rainbow Session - Indigo Blue

2010-09-01T14:58:00.000-05:00

Time for Rainbow Summer School again. Mrs. Matlock will be proud - I was on time this week! It's not too late to register for class. Come visit everyone at Jenny Matlock - Off On My Tangent. This is a really fun group!

This week our color is Indigo Blue. Last week I shared pictures of our beautiful blue skies here in Texas. This week I'll prove that our Indigo evening skies are just as wondrous. So join me on a little tour of a typical Texas weekend in the fall.

Start the weekend off right with a small town high school football game. And in Texas, the half time show and the band are almost as important as the game! This was actually taken at a Marching competition. At a real game, there would not be an empty seat in the stadium. We used to joke that if you wanted to get away with something, best do it on Friday night. Because EVERYONE is at the game! And I know that the sky is not yet Indigo in this shot. But the drum major's uniform is! (Yes, that's our Cait)

If you're lucky enough to have connections (like a former player on the 69 National Champion Longhorns), you might score tickets to a Longhorn game for your Saturday entertainment.

If football's not your thing (I don't think you should admit that if you live in Texas), you could make a night visit to the State Capitol.

Just a note. If you lay on the floor to get a really neat shot of the inside of the dome, the DPS officers guarding the Capitol are likely to smile, shake their head, and walk the other way. I guess they figured we were a bit nuts, but basically harmless!

On your way home, stop and take a spooky shot of Grace Heritage Church - just off the square here in Georgetown. PJ, this shot is just for you!

Hope you enjoyed your tour of a Texas fall weekend.

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Saturday Centus - Cleaning up the neighborhood

2010-08-31T05:26:00.026-05:00

I'm late to the party, but I finally made it. This past week has been totally nuts. I won't bore you with all the gruesome details, but let's just say I would be fine if I could figure out a way to add about 9 hours to the day. Time to join our fellow Centurians for Saturday Centus, hosted each and every week by the lovely Jenny Matlock at Off On My Tangent. Jenny provides us with a prompt. Our charge is to write a short story of no more than 100 words exclusive of the prompt. This week, Jenny has changed it up on us yet again! Instead of a prompt, we are to continue a previous story, either one of our own or borrowed (that sounds so much nicer than plagiarized, doesn't it?) from someone else.

I posted this story in June and thought it would be a fun one to expand. The original story is in blue. Hope this answers some questions!

The day started with such promise. A trip to the old home place, seeing where Daddy grew up, the places that shaped him. Sky that heartbreaking blue that only a southern summer can give. Trees draped with Spanish moss like the veils of devout women at Mass. Whirring cicadas, those mad jazz percussionists of summer.

It was Fathers Day, 1984, when I heard that voice in the hallway... followed it down old cellar stairs that screeched like jays protecting a nest. Darkness hiding rotten wood, which gave way, pitching me to the cool dirt floor. Raising my head, I came face to face with a story that Daddy never intended me to know.

How long had those moldy bones been resting here? A glint of gold caught my eye. I'd only known one person with a gold tooth, that no account Jr. Ewell. Gone for years. Up and took off one day, leaving nothing but a rundown shotgun shack, metal roof bleeding rust onto the sagging porch like autumn leaves.
A rush of memories. The whispers. Mamas making us promise to stay clear of him. To let our Daddies know if Jr. wanted help finding a lost puppy or cleaning out his ramshackle barn. And a late night meeting of Daddy's men's club.

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Rainbow Summer School - Blue!

2010-08-25T17:51:00.018-05:00

It's time for Rainbow Summer School with Mrs. Matlock! This week our color is blue. We are zipping right through summer session. There is alot going on around here right now, but I just couldn't bear to miss it. Haven't missed a single class yet, and only 1 tardy :) I've been browsing our photos files for blue, and I found a lot. Must be a favorite color! I hope you enjoy my little foray into the blue. And don't forget to run to class and read what everyone else is sharing this week!

Is there anything prettier than a blue Texas sky? You be the judge...

We were taking photos from the new bridge over the San Gabriel River. At the time, it was not yet open. We got run off by our "boys in blue" Hey, the sign said no cars, not no feet!

Blue Hole Park, Georgetown, Texas. Everyone's favorite swimming (and diving) hole

Sky over Little Bay, Rockport, Texas

Presidio La Bahia, Goliad, Texas. One of my very favorite places to visit. You can truly feel the history when you walk these grounds.

Steeple of our favorite country church, New Sweden

Night skyline over Town Lake - recently renamed Lady Bird Lake. Austin, Texas

Monument blessing the shrimpers, Rockport, Texas

These last two shots were a whole lot of fun. A new optometrist in Hutto, Texas commissioned DH to take some shots around town to hang in his new eye care center. This is Hutto Stadium, home of the "Hutto Hippos". I kid you not!

A neat little storefront in "downtown" Hutto. I just love this!

Hope you enjoyed my "blue" period. Have fun visiting all the links this week!

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Saturday Centus - Vacation Essay

2010-08-21T07:24:00.019-05:00

It's Saturday Centus time once again, hosted by the lovely Jenny Matlock at Off On My Tangent. Usually, Jenny provides us with a prompt and we take it from there. A nice little story of 100 words or less. This week, she is switching it up. No prompt. Just a 100 word essay on "What I Did Over My Summer Vacation". Exactly 100 words, no more and no less, written in the first person. Well, this will test my skill. Since we did not get a vacation this year, I'll have to depend on my imagination. Good thing we are allowed to write a fictional account or I would have NOTHING this week!

What I Did Over My Summer Vacation

As the old bus creaked and groaned over the rocky road, I wondered what I had gotten myself into. The heat was unbearable, dust clinging to my wet face like a mud pack in a cut rate spa. I could hear monkeys screeching in the trees, and imagined the size of the snakes camouflaged in the foliage.
Pulling into the village, I saw hundreds of children holding their precious pets. Some needed vaccinations or simple surgery, others had more serious issues. When I saw the hopeful smiles on the children's faces, my discomfort vanished. A summer vacation to remember indeed!

Obviously, this is fiction, but it is based on a real organization that does humanitarian veterinary work all over the world. One of my pharmaceutical reps does a mission trip with them every year, and he said it is the most satisfying work he's ever done. To learn more about World Vets, click on the link. http://www.worldvets.org/

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Rainbow Summer School - Green!

2010-08-17T21:23:00.015-05:00

Thursday, time for Rainbow Summer School with our fearless leader, Mrs. Matlock. Our color today is green. I love green, it's one of my favorite colors. Unfortunately, by August, there's not much green to be seen around here. More of a dusty beige or brown ): So I looked through our photo files to find some examples. Some are mine, most are hubbies. Here's what I came up with. Hope you enjoy!

New Sweden Church in the spring. A gorgeous little country church, but I'm not too sure about that green carpet on the steps!

Our first foray into light painting. I "painted" with light while DH took the shot. An abandoned farmhouse outside of Jarrell, Texas

An incredible candy lime hot rod - Lone Star Classic Auto Roundup, Austin Texas

A fun shot taken at Berry Springs Preserve Park in Georgetown, Texas

Lilly pond, Zilker Botanical Gardens, Austin Texas

Palm fronds, Zilker Botanical Gardens, Austin, Texas

And finally, my favorite. A beautiful path in the bamboo stand, Zilker Botanical Gardens

Hope you enjoyed my little spot of green today. Now get to class and see what everyone else is sharing!

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Saturday Centus - Grocery Store Blues

2010-08-15T06:55:00.004-05:00

I love Saturday mornings. I get to sleep in a bit, and when I wake up I get to play with words for Saturday Centus. This is a fun writing exercise hosted every week by our gracious and lovely hostess, Jenny Matlock from Off On My Tangent. The concept is simple. We are given a prompt, and then write a short story of 100 words or less using the prompt in it's entirety and EXACTLY as written. Jenny leaves the link up for an entire week, so you've got plenty of time to join. And since the stories are so short, it's easy to visit every link. And you will definitely want to, there are some amazing writers who participate every week. Speaking of amazing writers, this week's prompt was provided by Cheryl at Deckside Thoughts. If you haven't met Cheryl, make sure to visit. You'll be very glad you did! This week's prompt:

I listened to them from my perch on the top step and didn't know whether to laugh or to cry...

Hope you enjoy my take on it! And this was written especially for Cheryl :)

The sun beat mercilessly from the cloudless sky. Leaving the air conditioned car, I walked into a blast furnace. Burnt grass crunching under my feet like broken glass, I wanted nothing more than to collapse with a tall glass of tea and a book.

I paused, watching the girls play. Whirling dervishes, kicking up dusty grass, having a grand time. I smiled, hearing their big plans for the night. Catching fireflies, roasting wienies. Then, words that struck terror in my heart. " ... we can have a big bowl of Blue Bell Peaches and Homemade Vanilla!"
I listened to them from my perch on the top step and didn't know whether to laugh or to cry... I knew I had forgotten something!

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Rainbow Summer School - Yellow!

2010-08-12T18:30:00.013-05:00

Time for Summer School with Mrs. Matlock at Jenny Matlock, Off On My Tangent. Holy cow, I almost missed class this week! 29 weeks and no absences. I will NOT mess up that streak! I've had computer issues, work issues, family issues - you get the picture. This week's color is yellow and I thought I'd find some of my photos that had yellow in them. Turns out, I really didn't have anything. So I raided DH's photo files. These are some of his shots that had some yellow that I could use. Hope you enjoy! And sorry for being tardy Mrs. Matlock, it won't happen again. Although detention with this crew could be a whole lot of fun - tee hee!

BTW, we have a new classmate today. Make sure to give a shout out to one of my dearest friends, Marty from "A Stroll Through Life". It's her birthday today!

DH took this shot on my family's farm on our recent trip to Mississippi. He's such a city boy - I was taking pictures of cows, he was taking pictures of a school bus covered with graffiti!

This is a billboard on I-35 right outside of Georgetown. Fun, isn't it?

We found this old abandoned farmhouse on one of our Sunday drives. Kind of spooky the way the yellow sun makes it appear that there is a light on - maybe it's haunted!

There are some fun yellow marbles in this still life

A really cool hot rod at the annual Lone Star Round Up car show in Austin

Ok, this one is a stretch. There really are some yellow flowers in the vines in the background. DH was shooting me as I was shooting this belfry that came off of one of the original schools in Austin. It's located in Zilker Botanical Gardens in Austin. A friend asked if I had posed - DH cracked up and said I would never knowingly let him take my picture dressed this way LOL

Now run to class and see what everyone else has posted for yellow this week. I'm off to visit the links. I may be slow, but I will get around to everyone!

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Saturday Centus - Looking Home

2010-08-08T06:54:00.018-05:00

Time for Saturday Centus, the day that Jenny at Off on My Tangent gives us a prompt to use in writing a short story. A VERY short story, 100 words or less without the prompt.
This has been a great exercise for me, it really does teach discipline. And it helps to see what really makes for a good, tight story. Give it a whirl, it's not always easy, but it's always fun. The link stays live for a full week, so you've got plenty of time. And make sure to visit all the links, there are some really amazing writers participating.

This week's prompt:

Objects in the rear view mirror are closer than they appear...

My take on it - hope you enjoy!

Wipers on low, an alternate beat to the thumping of tires on the old bridge. Not raining, just that peculiar veil of mist that hangs over south Louisiana in the morning. Sun glinting gold through the cypress, slow moving water hiding frogs, gators, and gar. Smoke rising at the edge of my vision. Ghosts of the past? Just old man Bergeron burning cane stubble.

The demands of life called me back to the city. I cringed, thinking of the noisy crowds. The only wildlife packs of feral teenagers and the occasional rat.

A final look back. Objects in the rear view mirror are closer than they appear... God, I hope so.

Rainbow Summer School - Orange!

2010-08-04T19:15:00.012-05:00

Class is in session! Rainbow Summer School with my favorite teacher, Mrs. Matlock. Last week we talked about red. This week, we are to write about the color orange. It's been crazy hot this summer - yesterday when I left work it was 107. So all I can think about right now are nice, cool things. These are some of my favorites during this kind of heat.

Blue Bell - the best ice cream in the world!

Blue Bell Bullets - the orange are my favorite.

In the summer, I love to mix orange sherbet with club soda for a refreshing and not too horrible for you treat.

And when I have one of those days where I am too frazzled to worry about calories, this poured over some Homemade Vanilla ice cream is my go to treat.

But this is my favorite orange of all ...

Hope you enjoyed my essay on orange. Excuse me, I need to go to the kitchen for a bit... Go visit all the other students, I'll be back later!

Music Challenge Day 6. A certain place

2010-08-02T05:00:00.000-05:00

Day 6 of the Music Challenge, hosted by criticalcrass at Quirky Pickings. Today's song choice is one that reminds you of a certain place. When we first moved to Austin, oh those many moons ago, MTV was brand new. We were lucky enough to find an apartment that provided cable television. MTV was fascinating to us. One of the songs I remember them playing over and over again was "Rock the Casbash" by the Clash.

We loved seeing the video, because alot of it was filmed in our new adopted town. And I love this song. Set aside the politics, it's totally fun. Come to think of it, so was our move to Austin :)

r Temp lat es

Music challenge day 5 - Daddy's song

2010-08-01T10:56:00.001-05:00

Day 5! If you haven't been following these posts, I'm taking part in a 30 day Music Challenge hosted by criticalcrass at Quirky Pickings. Today we are to choose a song that reminds us of someone. Every time I hear "Unchained Melody" by the Righteous Brothers, I think of my dad. He had a dark green 68 T-bird that he adored, and he would drive around with the windows down, 8 track (yes, I said 8 track) blaring. He had a beautiful deep baritone voice, and he would sing this at the top of his lungs. Every time I hear this song, I am transported back to happy times spent on road trips.

I had planned on having a rotation of dad's favorite songs on my playlist. Notice the playlist is gone? Apparently the site is LOADED with a very, very nasty virus. My scan caught it, but I don't want to take any chances. So for now anyway, I'm leaving my beloved playlist off.

Music challenge day 4 - Ready for a good cry?

2010-07-31T07:26:00.009-05:00

Day 4 of the Music Challenge, hosted by criticalcrass at Quirky Pickings. I'm still hanging in there. Today's question? A song that makes you sad. There were three that made the cut, but Skeletons by Rickie Lee Jones is probably the song that can make me cry every time I hear it. The arrangement is gorgeous, her voice so full of emotion as to be almost unbearable. I couldn't find it in my usual source for my playlist, but I did find a beautiful video on You Tube. The lyrics are printed below.

from PIRATES

Skeletons

written by Rickie Lee Jones

She was pregnant in May
Now they're on their way
Dashing thru the snow
To St. John's, here we go

Well, it could be a boy
But it's okay if he's a girl
Oh, these things that grow out of
The things that we give

We should move to the west side
They still believe in things
That give a kid half a chance

When he pulled off the road
Step in a waltz of red moonbeams
Said he fit an APB,
A robbery nearby

And he go for his wallet
And they thought he was going for a gun
And the cops blew Bird away

Some kids like watching Saturday cartoons
Some girls listen to records all day in their rooms
But what do birds leave behind,
of the wings that they came with
If a son's in a tree building model planes?
Skeletons,
Skeletons.

Song Challenge Day 3 - Let's get happy!

2010-07-30T05:14:00.008-05:00

Day three of the Song Challenge, hosted by criticalcrass at Quirky Pickings. Todays choice is a song that makes you happy. This one was easy. Anytime I'm feeling a bit down I just crank up the volume on this little gem. If you can listen to this without a smile on your face or at least tapping your feet, you need to check your pulse.

Sing, Sing, Sing by the Benny Goodman Orchestra. Can't you just picture all the guys and dolls swinging to that wild beat! It's at the top of my playlist for today, give it a listen. Bet you're smiling before it's over.

Music Challenge Day 2

2010-07-29T04:00:00.000-05:00

It's time for Day Two of our 30 day Music Challenge, hosted by criticalcrass at Quirky Pickings.

Yesterday we got to pick our favorite song. Today, we have to pick our least favorite song.
Oh brother, from the sublime to the - well, not so much.

My least favorite song, hands down, of all time is - - - - drum roll please --------

FREE BIRD.

And as Forrest said, that's all I have to say about that!

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Alphabe Thursday - Rainbow Red

2010-07-28T20:39:00.006-05:00

Summer Session has started! Time once again for Alphabe-Thursday, The Sequel, taught by Mrs. Matlock. If you haven't been to class yet, it's ok. Mrs. Matlock makes all of the "newbies" feel welcome.
This week, we start essays on the colors of the rainbow. We start with red, which is my favorite color. But I've been super ridiculously busy, so I had to reach back in my archives and repost about our town's annual Red Poppy Festival.

Every April, our little town hosts the annual Red Poppy Festival. There is nothing more fun than enjoying a fun outdoor festival on a beautiful Texas spring day!

Georgetown claims the title the Red Poppy Capitol of Texas. When we first moved here, this little celebration was held on the first weekend in May and was called Mayfest. Several years ago, they moved it up to April and renamed it the Red Poppy Festival. What started out as a small community celebration of spring has turned into a 2 1/2 day festival filled with a parade, music, food, art and fun. This year we had over 30,000 visitors!

The best part of the festival this year? DH's band was asked to play on the main stage. They call themselves "Borrowed Time" because they are all a bit long in the tooth to be starting the whole rock star thing :) 4 of the 6 band members met each other because our kids were all in band together. They discovered that they all played instruments, and starting playing together for fun. A friend of a friend recommended that they be asked to play the Poppy Festival. They didn't earn any money, but they had a great time. And they went over so well that they were asked to play next year as an opener for the Friday night street dance - for pay!

Now stop by and read Mrs. Matlock's rules. Then get cracking helping her to read this week's essays!

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Music challenge - day 1

2010-07-28T05:31:00.013-05:00

I'm participating in a new event hosted by criticalcrass at Quirky Pickings. Just what I need in my life right now, another meme! But this is a 30 day music challenge. If the subject is music or writing, I can't possibly refuse! Is there a 12 step program for this?

Today's challenge question is "what is your favorite song"

Good grief! How on earth to choose? I decided to pick the song that tends to pop into my head at the most unexpected moments. It also is a big part of the "soundtrack of my life"
I love, love, love Van Morrison. But "Into the Mystic" is the song that stays with me constantly. One of my favorite memories is rocking Caitlin to sleep with this song playing in the background. I love everything about this song. The lyrics, the arrangement, the horns (of course my favorite song had to have horns lol) I can hear this song during the most stressful of times and immediately start to relax. Give it a listen. I've posted the lyrics below and the song is at the top of my playlist. Enjoy!

Into the Mystic - Van Morrison

We were born before the wind
Also younger than the sun
Ere the bonnie boat was won as we sailed into the mystic
Hark, now hear the sailors cry
Smell the sea and feel the sky
Let your soul and spirit fly into the mystic

And when that fog horn blows I will be coming home
And when the fog horn blows I want to hear it
I don't have to fear it

And I want to rock your gypsy soul
Just like way back in the days of old
And magnificently we will flow into the mystic.

When that fog horn blows you know I will be coming home
And when that fog horn whistle blows I got to hear it
I don't have to fear it

And I want to rock your gypsy soul
Just like way back in the days of old
And together we will flow into the mystic
Come on girl...

Too late to stop now...

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Kat's Choice

2010-07-26T16:39:00.008-05:00

Kat's Choice

Happy Monday Everyone! First off, thanks for the sweet comments on the new blog dress. I was getting tired of the old layout. It was starting to feel cluttered and disorganized, so I simplified! Secondly, I would like to introduce a new feature at the top of my blog. There are so many wonderful blogs out there that sometimes a really special post gets lost in the shuffle. So I have started Kat's Choice. If you click on this, you will be taken to a link for a post that I thought was exceptional. I hope to update this weekly, although some weeks there may be more than one post featured. I hope this will introduce you to some new blogs or to a post you may have missed. And if you feel so inclined, please mention that you found the link from my blog.

One of my favorite things about blogging is the sense of community we all feel. I'm just trying to do my part to share the love!

Saturday Centus - An Unusual Homecoming

2010-07-24T07:16:00.020-05:00

Time once again to get those creative juices flowing and join Jenny Matlock for Saturday Centus. Our lovely hostess provides us with a prompt, and we then struggle to write a story that thrills, amazes and uplifts. In 100 words or less. Try it sometime, it's not as easy as you might think. Especially if you were vaccinated with a phonograph needle, as I apparently was. Anyway, on to this week's prompt, provided by our very own Tom at Sophisticated Lunacy. A nice LONG prompt this week. Tom gets his revenge for all those torn up babies :) You have to read this post to understand that last statement. Go ahead, I'll wait. Ok, now you get it!

Here is my contribution for week 12. The prompt is in bold font.

Driving six hours is a long time on the road. Six hours spent singing car-aoke and taking in the picturesque scenery, but mostly reminiscing about the good times. But those days were long gone and my mind was in a different place now. Or was it? My pulse quickened as I passed the road sign which read "Medford 27 miles."

Glancing at my watch, a shiny silver reminder of the normal life I'd just left behind. I should make it to that cursed place well before sundown.

Funny, I had always loved sunsets, as if God was painting that giant canvas just for me, with brilliant, broad strokes that evoked awe and wonder. Now, nothing but dread at the thought of that burning orb dropping below the horizon.

A quick check to make sure the supplies were hidden. That silver stake would surely raise questions.

Slowly exiting the highway, to finish what had been left undone too many years before.

Alphabe Thursday - Alphabet Soup week

2010-07-21T17:11:00.007-05:00

It's the very last Alphabe Thursday! I can't believe that we've been attending Ms. Matlock's class for 27 weeks! I hope that the class stays together for summer session :) This week, it's Alphabet Soup week. We can rewrite a letter, repost one of our alphabet posts, pretty much do what we want! Hey, kind of like recess. I decided to re-run one of my favorite letter posts, R. Mainly because I want to expose as many people as possible to one of my favorite authors. Hope you enjoy. And don't forget, we will be having a summer session using the colors of the rainbow!

Time for my favorite class, Alphabe Thursday. Don't be late, Mrs. Matlock loves punctuality! This week, we are to write about the letter R. I thought about rabbits, but I'm allergic. Rapunzel, but we all know that story. Rock - n - roll, but I wrote about that last week. So I thought to myself, how about a favorite writer? Rick Bragg immediately came to mind.

Rick Bragg is the Pulitzer Price winning author of several books, a former journalist for the New York Times and currently a writing professor at the University of Alabama.

Rick's writing is strongly rooted in the oral story telling tradition of the South. To quote the man himself:

“My grandfather on my daddy’s side and my grandma on my momma’s side used to try and cuss their miseries away. They could out-cuss any damn body I have ever seen. I am only an amateur cusser at best, but I inherited other things from these people who grew up on the ridges and deep in the hollows of northeastern Alabama, the foothills of the Appalachians. They taught me, on a thousand front porch nights, as a million jugs passed from hand to hand, how to tell a story.”

The first book that I read from his collection of work was "All Over But The Shoutin'". His stories of growing up dirt poor in Alabama rang so true. It covers his discovery of the love for story, and his escape from the dirt scrabble world he lived in to become a writer. And what a writer he became. One of my favorite passages from the book:

"You begged the sky for a single cloud. The sun did not shine down, it bored into you, through your hat and hair and skull, until you could feel it inside your very brain, til little specks of that sun seemed to break away and dance around, just outside your eyes. It turned the shovel handle hot and baked the red dirt til you could feel it through your leather work boots, radiating. Your sweat did not drip, it ran, turning the dust to mud on your face, soaking your T-shirt and your jeans, clinging like dead skin. The salt in it stung your eyes, until your lids were bright red and the whites were bloodshot like a drunk man. Every now and then you or some man beside you would uncover a ground rattler, and you would chop it to little pieces with your shovel or beat it to mush with rakes, not just because it could bite you, kill you, but because it got in your way, because you had to take an extra step, to raise your arms an extra time, under that sun."

What would I give to be able to write like this! I swear, after reading this you feel like you need a big tall glass of tea. One of the happiest memories I have is of meeting this man at the Texas Book Festival, and one of my most prized possessions is a signed copy of this book.

"Somebody Told Me" is a collection of his newspaper stories. Read "Where A Child on the Stoop can Strike Fear". But be warned, once you start reading, you won't be able to stop.

From "Ava's Man" to the "Prince of Frogtown", we meet the people and places that shaped this amazing writer. His writing is so evocative. You can feel the heat, smell the dust, see the landscape and the people that formed him.

If you've not read Rick Bragg's work, give it a try. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
I've attached links to his facebook page in case you are interested in seeing what he's up to now.

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/rickbraggauthor

Now get to class and see what everyone else has chosen for Alphabet Soup Week!

Saturday Centus - My Worst Nightmare

2010-07-17T06:50:00.027-05:00

Saturday Centus time once again. This is a great little writing exercise hosted every week by the fabulous Jenny Matlock at Off On My Tangent. A simple premise, take a writing prompt provided by our lovely hostess and add 100 words or less to make a story. Sounds simple, but it's not as easy as it seems!
After the shake up last week, I was terrified that we were going to have to write a Western! But no, back to our normal program, with this week's prompt being provided by Sami.

This week's prompt:

Somewhere over the rainbow...

And my take on the prompt:

Why had I listened to the girls? A lark, they said. Totally out of character for you, the class bookworm. Worse case scenario? Feeding lines to giggling girls or a small part as a munchkin. But this? Had Mrs. M lost her mind? 30 years of trying to coax talent out of hordes of hormonal teenagers had finally pushed her over the edge!
Looking at the audience from the wings, my stomach rolled. No salvation there. A full house. Wobbling into the spotlight in those stupid red heels, I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and opened my mouth. Somewhere over the rainbow...

Alphabe Thursday - Z is for ...

2010-07-13T21:44:00.020-05:00

It's Alphabe Thursday, time to run to Mrs. Matlock's class and turn in our essays. Can you believe we've reached the letter Z already? Time flies when you're having fun. Since I started playing, I mean studying, in Mrs. Matlock's class, our daughter has graduated from college, my husband lost his job and we started our own business. Good grief, I wonder what Color Summer School is going to bring!

Make sure to attend class today. Z should be a really interesting letter.

DH and I took a little photo safari this past weekend. And in honor of Jenny, we chose to go to the Zilker Gardens in Austin! The gardens are located on 30 acres in the heart of Austin. There are several themed gardens, including a beautiful rose garden, Japanese garden complete with koi pond, a butterfly garden, and the favorite of Austin children, the Hartman Prehistoric Garden.

As we entered the park, the first thing I spied was this old settler's cabin, moved from it's original location. Can you believe an entire family lived in this tiny one room cabin?

Next we can see an original one room schoolhouse. This was also moved to the gardens. Can you imagine? And these days we gripe if our kids don't have laptops!

On to the butterfly garden, my favorite. Everything was blooming and so lush and beautiful. The butterflies were everywhere, even lighting on our arms and heads as we were shooting.

Isn't this the cutest bench you've ever seen? There are several of these scattered throughout the butterfly garden grounds.

A lovely waterfall in the Japanese garden.

The Koi pond in the Japanese garden. These were the biggest Koi I've ever seen. And they followed us around like puppies, I guess they thought we were going to feed them!

This little guy made a break for it as we came down the path. Guess he's not used to such early morning visitors!

The waterfall at the entrance to the Hartman Prehistoric Garden.

This garden is a favorite of kids, and you can see why. Do you spy what's on the "island" in the middle of the pond? Click to enlarge for a better view. This part of the garden is full of plants and fossils that would have been found in the Central Texas area during prehistoric times. Some of the stepping stones on the path have casts of dinosaur tracks found in the area in the center of them. How fun!

Now skip on over to Mrs. Matlock's room and help read essays. And wait until you see what she has planned for us next week, it's going to be fun!

Saturday Centus - It Takes a Thief

2010-07-10T08:07:00.028-05:00

Time for Saturday Centus. One of my very favorite weekly events, hosted by Jenny Matlock at Off On My Tangent. This is a great weekly meme that forces us to tighten our writing and learn what really makes a story work. We are given a writing prompt, and then build a story around it using 100 words or less.

Did I say this was my favorite? Well, until this week it was. Ms. Jenny decided to shake things up a bit. This week we get 200 words. I've had comments saying they wanted more than 100 words, so our wish has been granted. But you know the old saying "be careful what you wish for"? Truer words were never spoken. Because this week, we have to write our story in the style of a Harlequin Romance! WHAT? I've never read a romance novel in my life. As I told Jenny, not even when I was a lovestruck teenager. The closest I've gotten would be The Thorn Birds. Oh come on, admit it, you've read it too. So anyway, here goes nothing. This week's prompt

When I turned around I was startled to meet a green-eyed gaze..."

Here's my take on it

I crept slowly down the ink black hall, my eyes finally adjusting to the gloom. My rubber soled shoes made no sound. If I was caught, there was no reasonable way to explain my presence at this hour.

I had been sent by a man I'd met only once. His intensity and passion woke something in me that had lain dormant too long. The mission was perilous, but the prize too precious to ignore.

But where was it? Suddenly, I heard a whisper of sound behind me.
When I turned around I was startled to meet a green-eyed gaze....there it was, in all it's glory. The portrait that had been missing for so long, stolen from my contact's family by the Nazis so many years ago. I quickly cut the canvas from the gaudy frame, rolling it carefully and stashing it in my messenger bag.

Running down the rain slick street, I imagined the reception I would receive. My heart racing, I burst into his apartment, glowing with victory. His arms opened and I tumbled into them, knowing full well where this was leading. As I gazed into his green eyes, the same eyes that stared at me from the portrait, I knew that I would risk everything for this man.

Ok Jenny, are you happy? Make sure to stop by and read all the links, I think you will find some of them very, um, interesting! I almost skipped this week, but the prize is truly too good to miss (thank you Miss Coralei) And besides, once a challenge is laid down, I'm darn sure going to attempt it. Sorry if this wasn't "chest heaving" enough, but this was the best I could come up with! And judging from some of the comments, the theme next week might need to be a "cozy" murder mystery. Poor Jenny! Sigh...

Alphabe Thursday - Y is for

2010-07-07T10:21:00.000-05:00

Thursday, my favorite day of the week (well, in blogland at least) Time for class ladies and gentlemen. Run to Mrs. Matlock's room and join in on Alphabe Thursday. This week we have been assigned the letter Y. I've been waiting patiently for this one. I knew what I was going to post for Y clear back at the start of term! You see, my maiden name is "Younger", so it was a pretty easy choice :)

Ok, let's get the true confessions out of the way. Yes, I am related to this wanted man. My darling Cait made sure to get this picture for me when she visited the Crime and Punishment Museum in DC. Gee, thanks sweetie.

On to the present. We'll take a short jaunt down Younger Road...

To the old farm .....

The old milk barn still stands, patched with campaign signs....

This beautiful homestead was started by my grandparents, Roy and Charliee Fondren Younger

A couple of their children ...

Just a few of their grandchildren

And a few of their great grandchildren!

There are a whole mess of Youngers, impossible to get everyone in one picture! Hope you enjoyed my contribution for the letter Y. Now make sure to swing by and help Mrs. Matlock read this week's essays!

Saturday Centus - The Artist

2010-07-06T07:38:00.007-05:00

I'm joining Jenny Matlock for Saturday Centus. If you aren't familiar with this great weekly event, it's really quite simple. Take a prompt, provided this week by Sami of Sami by the Sea, and write a short story of 100 words or less. Sounds easy, right? It's not, but it's a great way to exercise your writing skills. I always seem to end up with 102 words every single week, and trying to decide which 2 words are going into the trash is hard work my friends.

This is my contribution for the week. The prompt is in bold font.

Wind whipped the flags on the tents as the clouds built menacing forts in the sky. I had been looking forward to the festival all year, scrimped and saved to purchase just one of his amazing works. An entire year of clipping coupons, PB& J lunches, Folgers instead of Starbucks. And now I had to outrun the fickle coast weather.

I turned the corner into a maze of booths as disorienting as an Escher drawing, the artist finally coming into sight. Even in the failing light, the glow from the glasswork called to me like a long lost friend.

"Are you sure that's the one you want?"

I felt a little lump in my throat as I peered down at my choice, held tightly in my hand. I didn't think this would be so nerve-wracking. Was I making the wrong decision? I couldn't agonize over this any longer.

I took a deep breath before managing to say, "... Yes, it is."

Interested in joining? Stop by Jenny Matlock - Off On My Tangent for a list of the rules. The link stays live from Saturday to Saturday, so you still have time to join in the fun. And while you are at it, stop by and visit Sophisticated Lunacy. Tom has posted some of the unwritten rules. I promise you will be howling with laughter!

Alphabe Thursday - X is for

2010-06-27T09:11:00.029-05:00

Thursday, my favorite class of the week, Alphabe-Thursday! Mrs. Matlock is a great teacher, and it's not too late to join in the fun. She has assigned the letter X this week. And I bet that after my V post, you all thought I was going to write about Xylophones. Wrong! This week, X stands for eXcited! I know, I know, but grant me some poetic license here :)

As you are reading this, we are making our last minute preparations for the Rockport Art Festival. This is a huge event, and more importantly, the first show we will be doing as business owners. DH has done art festivals for years, but always in the role of an employee.
Hopefully Alex won't put too much of a damper on things. If you are of a mind to do so, would you say a prayer for us?

When the company DH worked for closed in March, there were still some art festival and show commitments on the board. When we made the decision to start our own business, we agreed to honor those commitments that we could.

The Rockport Art Festival is an amazing show. It is a 2 day show held on the shores of Little Bay in Rockport, next to the Rockport Art Center. There are more than 120 exhibitors, showcasing everything from jewelry to photography, art glass to pottery, original paintings to woodcraft.

As we were accepted into the show under the old company, we will not be able to showcase as much of our original work as we would like, but we can display some. And it's a foot in the door for the future.

The best part of doing a show in Rockport? Getting to do this after being on your feet all day in 100+ degree heat.... hang out at Moondog's with a refreshing cold drink....

And then retiring back to the condo to do some major relaxing!

Hope you all have a wonderful 4th of July weekend. I will be late visiting your posts this week, as internet service where we are staying is hit or miss. And hopefully, we'll be too busy to do any computer surfing :) Don't forget to stop by Jenny's and see what everyone is coming up with for X. This should be an interesting class!

Saturday Centus - Friends

2010-06-26T12:00:00.005-05:00

It's the weekend! Time to exercise your writing chops and join Jenny Matlock for Saturday Centus. It's such a fun idea. Mr. Jenny provides us with a prompt, and we write a short story around it. 100 words or less, not counting the prompt. You have to use the prompt in it's original form, then let your imagination run free. My contribution for this week is below, the prompt words are in bold font. Oh, and this week our prompt was written by Jeff Campbell, one of our weekly contributors! Thanks Jeff, this was a fun one!

Just when I thought I had made it through another day without drawing Sister Ignacia's unwanted attention, I felt the dreaded tap on my shoulder.
"Did you notice Elizabeth in class this morning and how forlorn she seemed?" Perhaps I will write her a comforting note, I thought. Maybe Sister would get off my back.

Why did Sister think that Elizabeth and I could ever be friends? Polar opposites, her biggest concerns were hair, makeup and clothes. Me? No makeup, long straight hair. Clothes? Whatever I threw on after rolling out of bed. Favorite accessories? Books.

" I'm sorry you're having a bad week. If you want to talk, call ." Duty done. And that little note led to the longest friendship of my life.

Alphabe Thursday - W is for ...

2010-06-22T19:54:00.017-05:00

It's Thursday already! Time for my favorite class, Alphabe-Thursday. Mrs. Matlock has assigned the letter W this week. Don't be late for class, Mrs. Matlock is a stickler for punctuality!

It's summertime. It's hot. To borrow a phrase from Neil Simon, "it's Africa hot!". So naturally, the first W word I thought of was my favorite summer treat - Watermelon!

image courtesy of Google images commons

Oh, the delights of a cold slice of watermelon on a sultry summer day. My daddy was the watermelon king. That man could find the best melon in a stack 5 feet tall. One year we had a family gathering at St. George Island Florida. We asked dad to bring the watermelon. He pulled up with the entire back of his pickup truck full of melons! There were alot of us, and we all love watermelon, but there was no way we were going to be able to eat all of them in a week. We had already eaten the majority of the melons. We made watermelon ice. We made watermelon salsa. We had watermelon seed spitting contests. We were out of ideas! So my brother and DH decided to have a watermelon basketball game. They placed the garbage can under the second story balcony, and, well, you probably get the picture. Did you know that a splatting watermelon can travel a LONG way? I think it's one of those physics things that I forgot to pay attention to :)

image courtesy of Google images commons

Here's a hint. Don't park a white truck anywhere near the site of a watermelon drop! And someday I'll tell you the peach story. Oh, and the time we asked dad to bring the beer!

Hope you enjoyed my choice for W this week. Stop by and visit the links, this should be an interesting week. Now I'm going to go have some watermelon! Did I mention that it's really, really hot?

Saturday Centus - a little voice

2010-06-19T07:48:00.019-05:00

I'm participating in Saturday Centus again this week. This is such a fun way to stretch your creative muscles! I was really hesitant to join, but after a few weeks of reading all the great short stories I decided to give it a whirl. Although now it's become a bit of an obsession :)

Such a simple, yet brilliant premise. Jenny graciously hosts each week, and Mr. Jenny provides us with a writing prompt. The challenge is to write a story of 100 words or less (not including the prompt). No photos, just the pictures that you conjure up with your writing! Fun, huh?

This is my contribution for this week. The prompt is in bold font.

The day started with such promise. A trip to the old home place, seeing where Daddy grew up, the places that shaped him. Sky that heartbreaking blue that only a southern summer can give. Trees draped with Spanish moss like the veils of devout women at Mass. Whirring cicadas, those mad jazz percussionists of summer.

It was Fathers Day, 1984, when I heard that voice in the hallway... followed it down old cellar stairs that screeched like jays protecting a nest. Darkness hiding rotten wood, which gave way, pitching me to the cool dirt floor. Raising my head, I came face to face with a story that Daddy never intended me to know.

Alphabe Thursday - V is for Vibraphone!

2010-06-14T19:58:00.024-05:00

Thursday, time for my favorite class of the week, Alphabe-Thursday. Mrs. Matlock is such a great teacher, we have flown through the alphabet. I can't believe that we are up to V already!

If you have read my blog for long, you know that I love music, and I really love jazz. So for me, V was easy - vibraphone!

Many people confuse the vibraphone (or vibes) with a xylophone or marimba. The difference is that vibes have metal tubes instead of wood, giving a very distinctive sound.

Lionel Hampton is probably the best known vibes player. He almost single handedly brought this instrument to popular jazz music prominence. A drummer, he supposedly started playing around with a set of vibes at the NBC studios. Yep, the very same vibes used to play the famous NBC "Chimes". He started experimenting and playing with the instrument and became so enamored of it that he soon concentrated on this instrument alone.

This is part of Cait's recital at UNT last year. The vibes player is one of her very best friends. They have been in band together since she was in the 6th grade, and recently graduated from the College of Music together. Warning, this is an extremely long video, but I could not for the life of me figure out our editing software! So I just uploaded from you tube :)

Hope you enjoyed my choice for V this week. Make sure to stop by Mrs. Matlock's class and read everyone's essays. This should be an interesting week.

Saturday Centus - Dreaming of Summer

2010-06-12T06:53:00.013-05:00

It's Saturday! After a long, exhausting week I'm ready to unwind by participating in Jenny Matlock's Saturday Centus. Mr. Jenny provides us with a prompt (in bold font) and we let our imaginations run wild and come up with a story of 100 words or less. Take the time to stop by and read the links. It's amazing how much talent is out there.

Gazing at the street, seeing the mountains of snow, icicles hanging from the eaves of houses. She couldn't believe that her family had moved to this frozen wasteland. Hundreds of houses crammed into less space than her grandfather's pasture. Oh, it had it's charms she supposed. The Amish community up the road was a beautiful escape from the dreary suburbs. But this bone chilling, soul deadening cold! She would never get used to it.

Smiling, she opened the glass bottle from the perfume shop. Felt the humid air, heard the cows lowing. Saw grandma hanging the wash.

It’s true, the smell of freshly mowed grass can stay with you for years, for decades, forever.

Alphabe Thursday - U is for ...

2010-06-09T16:41:00.018-05:00

It's time once again for my favorite class, Alphabe-Thursday. Mrs. Matlock has assigned the letter U for our essays this week. Watching the events in the gulf unfold, I knew right away what I was going to post.

U is for

Unconscionable

Unforgivable

Unbelievable

Unfathomable

Untrustworthy

Unemployed

Unrecoverable? I pray not....

My heart breaks for the innocent creatures killed by this disaster. And for the people of the Gulf Coast, who were just beginning to recover from the devastation of the last 5 years. Please keep these good, strong and faithful people in your prayers.

Saturday Centus - Escape

2010-06-05T09:03:00.010-05:00

I'm joining Jenny Matlock for Saturday Centus. This is such a fun event, it really makes you stretch and use your imagination! Every week we are given a prompt and are to write a story of 100 words or less using the prompt in it's original form. Many thanks to Mr. Jenny for some fun ideas. Make sure to visit Jenny's blog to read some great examples of short story writing. Here is my contribution for week 5. The prompt is in blue.

Rounding the corner of Main Street, a quick glance over my shoulder. The hulking man who had been shadowing me for blocks was nowhere in sight. Spying a funky little vintage boutique, I darted in and grabbed a large felt hat and muddy brown poncho, ditching my bright orange T-shirt in the dressing room. Throwing a fifty on the counter, I slipped out the rear exit. I needed a place to lay low, let the heat die down. Creeping out of the alley, I spotted the perfect sanctuary.

I settled into the comfortable movie theater seat with awkward 3D glasses perched on my nose, a small tub of popcorn on my lap, and a bottle of water lodged into the seat holder, hoping to escape this nightmare for a few hours.

Alphabe Thursday - T is for ...

2010-06-02T17:43:00.010-05:00

Yippee! It's time for my favorite class of the week, Alphabe-Thursday. Mrs. Matlock is our teacher, make sure to stop by and help her read this week's essays. Our assignment this week is on the letter T. I had so much fun last week playing with obscure words that I thought I'd try some more. Honestly, these are real words. I had several comments wondering if I had made them up! I promise, my imagination is not that good!

taphephobia

tallith

termagant

thurible

triskaidekaphobia

Have fun with these. If you get a chance, google obscure words dictionary. It's loads of fun!

Saturday Centus - Alone

2010-05-31T07:08:00.011-05:00

I am joining Jenny for Saturday Centus, a fun weekly meme that let's us stretch our creativity and imagination. We are provided with a prompt, and then write a story with no more than 100 words. The prompt for this week's story is in blue type. Make sure to stop by Jenny's place and see some wonderful writers at work!

"Just look at that sky Daddy! It's the same color that you painted our front porch ceiling. Remember how you told me it would keep the haints at bay? And that magnolia tree is even bigger than the one in our back yard. Isn't this just the prettiest place you've ever seen?"

“May I help you, miss? You look puzzled.” “Mmmm… thank you, I’m just looking for my father. We came in together a moment ago, but he seems to have wandered off.”

"Are you sure? I saw you come in a while ago, and you were alone."

Alone. Reality slowly dawned on me. Yes, I was alone.

I turned and slowly walked back through the gates of the old cemetery. I sure hope Daddy is happy here.

Alphabe Thursday - S is for ...

2010-05-26T19:43:00.017-05:00

Yippee, it's Thursday! My favorite class of the week, Alphabe Thursday, is about to start. Make sure that you get to class on time, Mrs. Matlock loves punctuality. This week our assignment is the letter S. I have no idea why this one gave me fits. I found a bunch of really strange words that begin with S, and I've found some pictures to go along with them. Enjoy!

sanguivorous

sabbulonarium

sialagogue

spaneria

saponaceous

So sue me for the last one, I'm trying to earn extra credit! Make sure to help Mrs. Matlock grade papers, this class is getting really large!

If it weren't for bad luck....

2010-05-22T12:00:00.016-05:00

I'm finally taking the plunge and joining Jenny Matlock for her Saturday Centus. This is a themed writing meme. We are provided with a prompt, (in blue) and then write a tale using 100 words or less. This is a great creative exercise, and the talent out there is really amazing.
Make sure to visit all the links, I think you'll be pleased to find some really great voices out in blogland!

I look back over my shoulder, squinting into the late afternoon sun, gawking with stunned alarm at the broad rolling muddy waters of the Mississippi.

How did the water rise so fast? Did I dare risk going back to retrieve that tiny slip of paper?
Of all the times for the air conditioning to fail! If the windows had not been open, that little piece of salvation would still be sitting in the sticky cup holder. Instead, it was swept away in that churning, chocolate foam that only hours ago had been a lazy winding river. Typical of my luck. Then, a memory of Mama telling us that we make our own luck. A slow U turn on the slick road, back to retrieve mine.

Alphabe Thursday - R is for Rick Bragg

2010-05-18T18:46:00.001-05:00

Time for my favorite class, Alphabe Thursday. Don't be late, Mrs. Matlock loves punctuality! This week, we are to write about the letter R. I thought about rabbits, but I'm allergic. Rapunzel, but we all know that story. Rock - n - roll, but I wrote about that last week. So I thought to myself, how about a favorite writer? Rick Bragg immediately came to mind.

Rick Bragg is the Pulitzer Price winning author of several books, a former journalist for the New York Times and currently a writing professor at the University of Alabama.

Rick's writing is strongly rooted in the oral story telling tradition of the South. To quote the man himself:

“My grandfather on my daddy’s side and my grandma on my momma’s side used to try and cuss their miseries away. They could out-cuss any damn body I have ever seen. I am only an amateur cusser at best, but I inherited other things from these people who grew up on the ridges and deep in the hollows of northeastern Alabama, the foothills of the Appalachians. They taught me, on a thousand front porch nights, as a million jugs passed from hand to hand, how to tell a story.”

The first book that I read from his collection of work was "All Over But The Shoutin'". His stories of growing up dirt poor in Alabama rang so true. It covers his discovery of the love for story, and his escape from the dirt scrabble world he lived in to become a writer. And what a writer he became. One of my favorite passages from the book:

"You begged the sky for a single cloud. The sun did not shine down, it bored into you, through your hat and hair and skull, until you could feel it inside your very brain, til little specks of that sun seemed to break away and dance around, just outside your eyes. It turned the shovel handle hot and baked the red dirt til you could feel it through your leather work boots, radiating. Your sweat did not drip, it ran, turning the dust to mud on your face, soaking your T-shirt and your jeans, clinging like dead skin. The salt in it stung your eyes, until your lids were bright red and the whites were bloodshot like a drunk man. Every now and then you or some man beside you would uncover a ground rattler, and you would chop it to little pieces with your shovel or beat it to mush with rakes, not just because it could bite you, kill you, but because it got in your way, because you had to take an extra step, to raise your arms an extra time, under that sun."

What would I give to be able to write like this! I swear, after reading this you feel like you need a big tall glass of tea. One of the happiest memories I have is of meeting this man at the Texas Book Festival, and one of my most prized possessions is a signed copy of this book.

"Somebody Told Me" is a collection of his newspaper stories. Read "Where A Child on the Stoop can Strike Fear". But be warned, once you start reading, you won't be able to stop.

From "Ava's Man" to the "Prince of Frogtown", we meet the people and places that shaped this amazing writer. His writing is so evocative. You can feel the heat, smell the dust, see the landscape and the people that formed him.

If you've not read Rick Bragg's work, give it a try. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
I've attached links to his facebook page in case you are interested in seeing what he's up to now.

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/rickbraggauthor

Now get to class and see what everyone else has chosen for R this week!

She did it!

2010-05-16T21:16:00.011-05:00

We spent a wonderful day Saturday celebrating Cait's graduation. The ceremony was lovely and we were just bursting with pride. We took Cait and a couple of her classmates to dinner at a really fun place in Sanger called Babe's. Oh my goodness, the best fried chicken I have ever had. And I'm from Mississippi, so that's saying something! Just wanted to post a couple of pictures from a very special day, and thank all of my blogging buddies for all the good wishes for our baby girl!

Alphabe Thursday - Q is for Queen

2010-05-10T17:20:00.029-05:00

Good morning Mrs. Matlock! I've been waiting anxiously all week for class to begin. My favorite class of the week, Alphabe Thursday! This week our letter is Q. I'm so excited. I've known what I wanted to write about since the letter A!

Q stands for Queen!

No, not Queen Elizabeth. QUEEN! One of the greatest rock bands ever! I've loved this band since the first time I heard them. They were so different. The production values, the incredible talent of the band members, the quirky lyrics and musical arrangements. Let's face it, how many bands in the seventies and eighties used ukuleles? But the most striking member of this band was their lead singer and front man Freddie Mercury. That voice! Those dimples :)

From the sheer bombast of God Save the Queen, Sheer Heart Attack and Stone Cold Crazy to the vaudevillian Good Company. Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy and Seaside Rendezvous. From the silly, but still rockin' Fat Bottomed Girls and Another One Bites the Dust to the simple but lovely Love of My Life and It's Late.

Listen to Show Must Go On, with the knowledge that Freddie Mercury was dying at the time. It will send chills up your spine.

I loved Queen from the first time I heard them. But the image of them that will live in my mind forever is their performance at Live Aid in 1985. DH and I started watching from the beginning, and it was an incredible event. But when Queen took the stage - oh my goodness!
They positively held the audience spellbound, and gave one of the most amazing performances I have ever seen. I've included the video from their rendition of Radio Ga Ga. Honestly, not anywhere near one of my favorite songs. But watch Freddie and the way he mesmerizes the huge crowd. Seriously, it was almost frightening. For a giggle, watch the very end when Freddie acts as choir director. (click to stop my playlist so you can hear the video)

Freddie Mercury was arguably one the of the greatest rock front men who ever lived. And Queen one of the greatest rock bands. Innovative, lyrical and just plain fun, I LOVE Queen!

Now quick, get to class and see what everyone else has come up with for the letter Q. This should be and interesting week.

Alphabe Thursday - P is for precious photo memories

2010-05-04T19:58:00.000-05:00

It's time for class! Join Mrs. Matlock for Alphabe-Thursday, my favorite class of the week. This week we are to write an essay on the letter P.

Our darling daughter will be graduating from college in 10 short days. And we attended the wedding of one of her high school friends this past weekend. Which has led to some trips down memory lane, and what better way to take the trip than through photographs?

I literally have boxes and boxes and boxes of photographs. Not to mention the 14 photo albums in my storage ottoman. Needless to say, I was thrilled with the advent of digital photography!

Forgive a mom's maudlin trip down memory lane and allow me to share some precious photographic memories with you. This is an edit of the post I did for Cait's 21st birthday. Sorry for "cheating", but it's been totally nuts around here. And besides, I did change it some Mrs. Matlock :)

We were blessed with a child who smiled and laughed almost the entire time she was awake. She was also a ham - if she started fussing, all we had to do was get out the camera and she would break into a huge, cheesy (or in this case) carroty grin!

As you can see, she began critiquing music at a very early age . . .

Her first cassette player. We actually still have this. Who knew it would lead to a life long Ipod addiction? It's a shame that Ipods aren't as cheap as those little cassette players!

She has always loved the camera, and the camera loves her. . . .

From Little Mermaid (see Marty, I did sew some once upon a time!) . . .

To High School Drum Major - Cait has always loved to "dress up" . . .

From "Middle School Good Citizen of the Year" . . . .

To High School Gangster - NOT . . .

From meeting a favorite performer . . .

To being a featured performer . . . . (click to enlarge if you'd like to read this)

From meeting Tigger at Disneyworld . . . .

To marching at Disneyworld in the Main Street USA parade . . .

From proud high school graduate . . .

To confident, strong and accomplished college student!

Thanks for indulging me in my trip down memory lane! Now get to class and listen to everyone else's contribution this week!

Alphabe-Thursday - O is for Outdoor Festival!

2010-04-28T14:49:00.013-05:00

Class is in session! Time once again for Alphabe-Thursday, taught by Mrs. Matlock. If you haven't been to class yet, it's ok. Mrs. Matlock makes all of the "newbies" feel welcome.
This week our assignment is on the letter O.

Last weekend was our town's annual Red Poppy Festival. There is nothing more fun than enjoying a fun outdoor festival on a beautiful Texas spring day!

Georgetown claims the title the Red Poppy Capitol of Texas. When we first moved here, this little celebration was held on the first weekend in May and was called Mayfest. Several years ago, they moved it up to April and renamed it the Red Poppy Festival. What started out as a small community celebration of spring has turned into a 2 1/2 day festival filled with a parade, music, food, art and fun. This year we had over 30,000 visitors!

The best part of the festival this year? DH's band was asked to play on the main stage. They call themselves "Borrowed Time" because they are all a bit long in the tooth to be starting the whole rock star thing :) 4 of the 6 band members met each other because our kids were all in band together. They discovered that they all played instruments, and starting playing together for fun. A friend of a friend recommended that they be asked to play the Poppy Festival. They didn't earn any money, but they had a great time. And they went over so well that they were asked to play next year as an opener for the Friday night street dance - for pay!

Now stop by and read Mrs. Matlock's rules. Then get cracking helping her to read this week's essays!

Woo Hoo Wednesday!

2010-04-26T20:51:00.010-05:00

Hey everyone, it's Woo Hoo! Wednesday, hosted by the lovely Marla at Always Nesting. Stop by and say hello to Marla, she is a doll. And she serves the best refreshments! If you're not familiar with this fun new party, it's a weekly celebration of things that made you say Woo Hoo! this week.

If you've been reading my blog recently, you know that DH and I have started our own business. This came in the mail the other day - the final piece to the puzzle:

WOO HOO! It's official! Web site is up, already have some jobs in the pipeline and best of all, a good friend of ours (who just happens to be a FABULOUS artist) is using us for all of his framing!

This is going to be a crazy ride. But if God leads you to it, he will lead you through it, right?
Hope you are all having plenty of Woo Hoo moments this week. And don't forget to stop by and visit Marla and see what everyone else is celebrating this week!

Alphabe Thursday - N is for

2010-04-21T21:00:00.001-05:00

It's Thursday, time for my favorite class of the week. Alphabe Thursday is hosted by Mrs. Matlock at Jenny Matlock - Off on my Tangent. This week's assignment is for the letter N. I have no idea why this letter was so hard for me. I think my brain may be toast. While watching American Idol, it came to me. N stands for NO! Don't get me wrong, I actually like Mary J Blige. But really, Stairway to Heaven?

I'm a child of the sixties and seventies. I KNOW Stairway to Heaven. And even if it has become a cliched anthem to that time and place, it is still a classic. And it should be a law that no one other than Robert Plant can sing it.

I agree with the sign in the music store in Wayne's World - the one that says "No Stairway to Heaven". Yes dear readers, I just admitted to watching Wayne's World. And no, I will not tell you how many times I've watched it. You can't make me.

And I just realized that I admitted that my brain is toast and that I was watching American Idol. Do you think the two are related?

No, that can't be it. Now offer to stay after class and help read this week's essays.

Woo Hoo Wednesday!

2010-04-20T07:18:00.015-05:00

Marla at Always Nesting is hosting a fun new party on Wednesday. Woo Hoo Wednesday lets us post about all the things that make us say "WOO HOO!" It doesn't have to be anything momentous, just something that made your day. And if you haven't met Marla, you really need to do so. She is such a fun gal, with a great sense of humor.

After a really crappy start to the year, these came via Fed X the other day. This is definitely a WOO HOO moment in our house.

Click to enlarge this next one!

That's right, baby girl is graduating! Cum Laude no less! Cait came home from middle school one day and announced that she knew what she wanted to study in college. She aspired to study music, influenced by an incredible band director named Brennan Killingsworth. We thought that she might change direction and focus before she actually started college, but she never wavered in her dream.
Well, she has accomplished the first step! We are so proud of her! This girl worked her fanny off in college, completing a 135 hour degree program in 4 years. (Note to readers with high school students - push those AP classes and tests! They enabled Cait to start with 16 credits in the bank. And at $341.00 a credit hour, that is a substantial savings!) Cait is finishing up her final semester, student teaching middle and high school band students.

Thanks for letting me brag on my baby girl! Now make sure and swing by Marla's and see what has everyone saying Woo Hoo! about this week.

Alphabe-Thursday - M is for Madness!

2010-04-13T19:24:00.016-05:00

Yippee! It's Thursday, time for my favorite class, Alphabe-Thursday. Mrs. Matlock is the BEST teacher, and this week she has assigned the letter M. There is only one word that comes to mind right now and that is MADNESS!

I manage a small animal clinic and right now I'm short 3 staff members. Which means that in addition to my regular duties which include accts payable, receivable, inventory, human resources, payroll, customer complaints, employee complaints and scheduling I am also filling in as a receptionist and on occasion, technician. First off, these bones don't do rolling on the ground with 80 lb Rottweilers as easily as they used to. Secondly, there are not enough hours in the day to do all of this. I could probably manage this with a bit more humor if my husband and I hadn't decided to start our own business. In February, DH's boss called everyone together and announced that they were closing at the end of March. DH has worked for this family for 27 years. So what to do? Start our own custom picture framing and art business. We are hoping to eventually find some local artists to publish as well, but that is going on the back burner for now.

But meanwhile, I am doing the paperwork while DH drums up customers and business.
So you'll understand why I'm posting once a week - for Mrs. Matlock!

Meanwhile, let me share my schedule for the time being.

4:30 am - rise and shine. At work by 6. Open the doors at 7. Lunch (if I'm lucky) from 12 to 1. Office closes at 5:30, unless of course an emergency comes in late. In which case, who knows.

Dinner, clean up from dinner.

Oh yeah, I'm having to work Saturdays too until one of my gals comes back from maternity leave.

Work on new web site for business, sort molding samples, sort matboard samples. Decide on artwork to carry and publish. Arrange for printing DH's photography.

Schedule shows for July, Aug, Sept and November. Oh, and we may be doing the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar in Austin, which runs from 10 am to 11 pm for two weeks before Christmas.

In addition to the daily schedule, these are our weekends through the end of May:

April 24th. DH's band plays the Red Poppy Fest. Get groupies together and party!
May 1st. Wedding in Fort Worth
May 8th. Market Days (if we can get the booth together)
May 15th. CAIT GRADUATES!!!!!
May 22nd Caiit's graduation party
May 27th Cait's 22nd birthday.

I haven't even looked at the calender for June yet - I'm afraid, very afraid. So while all I want to do right now is this....

I'll more likely be doing this ...

Make sure to help Mrs. Matlock read all the essays. Class is getting really big, and it's alot of work.

Alphabe-Thursday - L is for Love

2010-04-07T15:52:00.031-05:00

I'm trying not to be late Mrs. Matlock, but this week has been crazy. Time for my favorite class, Alphabe-Thursday. The one class every week that I NEVER miss.

This week's essay is on the letter L. Of course, I have to write about love. And actually, in this case, I think pictures ARE worth a thousand words.

Make sure to help Mrs. Matlock read all of the essays this week. Our class is getting really big!

Emptynester

Saturday Centus - Banned

Remembrance

Saturday Centus - The Wall

Saturday Centus - Cindy's Revenge

Saturday Centus - Haunted House? Part Two

Saturday Centus - Haunted House?

Saturday Centus - Slick Rick

Saturday Centus - Blue Note

Saturday Centus - Answered Prayers

Saturday Centus - Earworm

Saturday Centus - Happy Valentines Day

Saturday Centus - Family Secrets Part II

Saturday Centus - Family Secrets Part 1

Saturday Centus - That Child is Touched

Saturday Centus - The Heart Attack

Saturday Centus - The Last Laugh

Saturday Centus - Happy New Year

Saturday Centus - The Perfect Christmas

Saturday Centus - Writer's Block

Saturday Centus - What's in a name?

Saturday Centus - A Childhood Memory

Saturday Centus - Danny Part 2

Saturday Centus - Danny Part 1

Happy Halloween!

Saturday Centus - Haints

Saturday Centus - Just Another Scary Story

Saturday Centus - Trick or Treat!

Saturday Centus - With Apologies to Peter, Paul and Mary

Saturday Centus - A Scary Story

I've been tagged - a story by 28 authors!

Fairy tale ending at GHS homecoming | KXAN.com

Saturday Centus - Be Careful What You Wish For

Saturday Centus - Aftermath

A Funny for Wednesday

Free Lusy Blom Ikea Rug

Remembrance

Saturday Centus - Justifiable Homicide

Alphabe Thursday Summer School - Violet

Alphabe Thursday - Rainbow Session - Indigo Blue

Saturday Centus - Cleaning up the neighborhood

Rainbow Summer School - Blue!

Saturday Centus - Vacation Essay

Rainbow Summer School - Green!

Saturday Centus - Grocery Store Blues

Rainbow Summer School - Yellow!

Saturday Centus - Looking Home

Rainbow Summer School - Orange!

Music Challenge Day 6. A certain place

Music challenge day 5 - Daddy's song

Music challenge day 4 - Ready for a good cry?

from PIRATES

Skeletons

written by Rickie Lee Jones

Song Challenge Day 3 - Let's get happy!

Music Challenge Day 2

Alphabe Thursday - Rainbow Red

Music challenge - day 1

Kat's Choice

Saturday Centus - An Unusual Homecoming

Alphabe Thursday - Alphabet Soup week

Saturday Centus - My Worst Nightmare

Alphabe Thursday - Z is for ...

Saturday Centus - It Takes a Thief

Alphabe Thursday - Y is for

Saturday Centus - The Artist

Alphabe Thursday - X is for

Saturday Centus - Friends

Alphabe Thursday - W is for ...

Saturday Centus - a little voice

Alphabe Thursday - V is for Vibraphone!

Saturday Centus - Dreaming of Summer

Alphabe Thursday - U is for ...

Saturday Centus - Escape

Alphabe Thursday - T is for ...

Saturday Centus - Alone

Alphabe Thursday - S is for ...

If it weren't for bad luck....

Alphabe Thursday - R is for Rick Bragg

She did it!