Flashback Friday: "Chicken and Doughnuts!"

June 2005:
Ariel and Jaevon, our honorary grandkids, were spending more time with us, which included a trip to the China Buffet after church on Sunday.  Since they mostly ate the chicken on a stick, lo mein, and the fried biscuits, Miss A began asking, 'Can we get chicken and doughnuts, Uncle Dan?'

At first we didn't understand what she was talking about, but after putting it together, the name stuck!

The older kids spent a week at Grandma's for VBS, so I only had the three younger ones for a week.  No one was playing baseball, to my relief.

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Present Day:
I'm trying to finish SaLie's story and get it submitted by next week.  Shana entered my head late last night and told me about her main conflict....yikes!  Five more days, Shana, and the brain's all yours, ha ha!

New Book In Print!

You can thank NaNoWriMo for this one.  Since I won last year, they sent me a code for two free copies:)  I added the first chapter of NiKoh's Chosen to the end, and my wonderful publisher graciously uploaded it to the site:)  My copies arrived yesterday, so I'll start ordering more for my upcoming events.

Health:
Saw the ENT dr, who confirmed I still had fluid in my ear canal.  I'm to blow air into my eustation tubes ten times a day and return at the end of August.  If the fluid hasn't dried out, then I get another blue tube in my ear.  Fun, fun....and no, they will NOT put me under!  Since this isn't my first party, I told him to have someone else in the room and to clamp my head still.  Because this adult CAN'T hold still!

"The dentist put me under for a 30 second tooth extraction; why can't you do the same?"

"There are health risks....it's more expensive....normally adults can hold still."

"I'm telling you, I CAN'T!"

He just smiled, handed me my departure info, and left the room.

I'm thinking I need a second opinion.

Tomorrow's Karaoke Songs:
I Will Follow Him-Peggy March
Bed of Roses-Bon Jovi
I Will Remember You-Sarah McLachlan
I Will Survive-Gloria Gaynor

House Hunting:
Looked at four houses on Monday, and only one was a possibility, but I'm not crazy about the school system.  So we keep looking.....

Have a great weekend!

Flashback Friday: False Rumors....

June 1995:
My final day at the restaurant was approaching, since the spouse had returned to work, and wasn't happy with me continuing to work weekends.  One Tuesday, I walked in for lunch and to collect my paycheck, when the grill cook, whom I'd driven home one evening, called me over.

"Did you know there's a rumor about us having an affair?"

"Seriously?  Are we having fun?"

"I am."

"Well then, so am I!"  We decided to enjoy our false status, and even our manager got in on the fun.  I decided to go home and give D a head's up, so he wouldn't think the rumor was true, but I underestimated his sense of humor.  He was NOT amused, which brought even more tension between us.

Warning:  Disturbing joke content ahead.

One evening, our manager was sitting in a booth with R and asked me, "When are you two going to start a family?"

I grinned.  "Didn't we do that last night?"

R snapped his fingers.  "That's right, we did!"

I rubbed my midsection.  "I woke up feeling queasy this morning."  I walked on, leaving the two of them laughing hysterically.

Did I mention our uniforms were teal shirts and khaki slacks?  Later that evening, I was carrying a tray of open ketchup bottles and had just entered the kitchen.  One of the bottles tipped, sending ketchup all down the front of my pants.

My sense of humor kicked in.  I hollered for R, who poked his head out from behind the Hobart.

"Bad news....we just miscarried!"

"Oh that's SICK!!!"  He was laughing so hard, he had to stop what he was doing!

My final day was Father's Day, and even though this story is twenty years old, my spouse still to this day thinks R and I had a brief fling.  I even questioned him about it:

"If I was going to have an affair, do you seriously think I'd come home and TELL you about it?"

"Yes, just to throw me off the track."

O. M. G.  I knew we had serious trust issues.

In other happy news from June 1995, my grandmother's estate was settled and I was now the recipient of my grandmother's 4-door Chevy Celebrity, since we were driving a 2-door Ford Escort.  K had graduated to the 'Big Seat' while 11-month-old S was now in the forward-facing car seat.

Next Month:  My baby girl turns ONE!

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Present Day:
I went to karaoke last night and sang the following songs:
If I Could Turn Back Time (Cher)
Telephone Man (Meri Wilson)
Stop Draggin' My Heart Around (T. Petty/S. Nicks)
Rock of Ages (Def Leppard)

I attributed the camera shutting off during the duet, because someone chose to stand in front of it while we were singing.  But it shut off twice during ROA, and I realized it was the batteries!

Today, I'm doing laundry and hopefully writing.  Last week, I'd written close to 6K while at Mom's, and I've barely hit the 1K mark this entire week.  I did 750 on Wednesday, but zero yesterday, due to my ENT appointment, and about 200 on Tuesday.

Health:  I still have fluid in my right ear, so the ENT doc wants me to pop my ears ten times a day by holding my nose and blowing (shudder).  If there's still fluid in August, then I'll be scheduled for another tube insertion.  I wish they could knock me unconscious for it!!!!

SaLie Update:  Word Count has reached the 44K mark (I think....it may be higher).  I can 'see' the ending....now just have to GET there!

IF I can go to karaoke tomorrow, the following songs will be sung:
I Was Made For Loving You-Kiss
Breakaway (Kelly Clarkson)
I Will Always Love You (Dolly Parton)
I Will Follow Him (Peggy March)

Happy Father's Day Weekend!!!

Flashback Friday: Working For My Mom

June 1985:
Brief recap:  I'd returned home after my 1st year at college and my ex-HS b/f expressed interest in me again, and to correct the mistakes we'd made.  Unfortunately, he hadn't changed, and was dating two others beside me.

My mom went to Band Camp, and with my father at work and my sister a junior counselor at a Youth Camp in northern Indiana, I saw a chance for K and I to enjoy ourselves.  We made plans, and I was looking forward to seeing him, when disaster struck.  I received a phone call from our associate pastor at church one afternoon, and he spoke to my father at length.  Afterward, Dad took me to Nobel Roman's Pizza for dinner and over pizza, revealed the details of the call.  K's mother had called him, expressing concerns about me.

I was devastated, extremely angry, and it threw me into a mild depression.  I'd trusted him a 6th time....hadn't I learned my lesson?  I spent the rest of the week trying to take my mind off it, and when Mom returned, she 'hired' me to help her clean out her office and do some paperwork for her, which included updating all the Health Info cards with students' immunizations, by hand!  Yeah, no computers in her office.  I also had to file all of the senior medical files in the school office, and wasn't allowed to take my radio in there. Needless to say, I hurried through that job, since Mom didn't object to me dragging my jam box and a case of cassette tapes with me every morning.  I'd carefully copy the information onto the cards while singing along to Wham, Madonna, Sheena Easton, Styx, and Journey:)

To my surprise, BFF BC was also working at the school, doing maintenance.  He would come down at least once a day and speak to me, and we'd joke around until one of us had to return to work.

I'm still concerned about him, as one of his jobs was to remove the asbestos, and I don't think special breathing filters were used back then.  Hoping and praying he doesn't fall victim to mesothelioma...

Next Month:  Meeting my new cousins, tragedy, and Florida.

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Present Day:
I'm taking my 'mini-vacation' at my mom's, and restarting The Great Declutter Project of 2015.  So far I've dusted the living room, put away the DVDs by the TV, and discussed what else we'll do between now and Monday.  I didn't get any work done yesterday, since I was at a friend's mother's funeral.  I DID knock out 1700 words on SaLie's story, so it was a good writing day:)

Just found out there's no karaoke tonight, like I thought, but I'll be able to go tomorrow night and sing my Miranda Lambert tribute OR other songs.  I've not really decided, so it will be some combination of these songs:

Automatic
Famous in a Small Town
Gunpowder and Lead
Heart Like Mine
Baby I Lied
Voices That Care
Edge of 17

Have a good weekend!

Flashback Friday: Disney World!

June 1975:
School was out!  We attended VBS, and I was disappointed.  The previous year, we'd watched movies and sang songs; this year we were going to be in groups and do craft projects, ugh.  My friend K went with me, which helped.

Mom announced we would be taking a family vacation to Florida, so we packed up and headed to Orlando.  We enjoyed playing on the beach and in the pool, but I was not happy Mom made us wear T-shirts over our bathing suits, to help block out the sun's rays.  Still, I got a bad sunburn.

Swimming in the Atlantic was interesting, though I soon learned to be terrified of jellyfish, watching several float past us as Mom led us out into deeper water.  I learned I preferred swimming in freshwater, disliking the salty taste.

Disney was fun!  We rode all the rides we could:  Snow White, Cinderella's Carousel; Mr. Toad's Wild Ride; Pirates of the Caribbean; Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, etc.  Space Mountain had opened, but when I learned it was a roller coaster, I opted not to go on it.  Dad and my sister did, while Mom and I rode the rocket ships.  10,000 Leagues Under The Sea was broken down, and we fell in love with It's A Small World and the Teacups:)  I remember Mom looking at our tickets and telling us we could go on ride A, ride B, or ride C, but not the Haunted Mansion again, because we didn't have anymore of those colored tickets.

We caught the riverboat back to the parking lot and enjoyed the fireworks during the boat ride.

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Present Day:
One of my adoptees is headed to her own VBS camp, so she'll be gone today and next week:)  This entire week, MDQ and I have been helping with snacks at our VBS, and today is our final day.

I'm still hard at work on SaLie's story, and can almost 'see' the end.....

Miss Alexandria Nicole turns 3-three!-on Sunday!  Where did the time go????  She's too young to read this, so I'll tell you she's getting a pink tricycle, a piggy bank, and some 'big girl' panties.

Karaoke Songs:
I Want You To Want Me-Cheap Trick
Breakaway-Kelly Clarkson
I Was Made For Lovin' You-Kiss
I Will Always Love You-Dolly Parton

Have a wonderful weekend!

"Who Wants To Write A Book?" Vs "All Right Class, I Want You To Write A Story..."

Year:  1974

Where:  Molly's 2nd Grade Classroom

Our teacher either divided us into groups or we chose the project; I'm not exactly for sure, but somehow, I ended up in the Book Writing group (go figure, huh?)  I'd like to say our group brainstormed and wrote the brilliant All-American Novel and we were all published at the tender age of 8, but that didn't happen.

Here's what did.

"Okay...what sort of story would you like to write?"

*crickets chirping*

"Can we write about cowboys/superheroes/good guys chasing after bad guys?"  (From one of the boys.)

"Sure.  How shall we start?"

"Once upon a time..."  (giggles)

"That's a very good way to start."  Teacher writes that down.

Ideas get thrown at him; some make it.  Halfway through, we have a hero embarking on some sort of epic journey, and I'm already mad because one of the boys keeps trying to work the word 'respect' into every sentence.  Having discovered the word 'embarrassed', but not knowing exactly how it's used, Molly raises her hand when the hero needs an action.

"Can he be embarrassed?"

"What for?"  Teacher explains the meaning and Molly realizes it will NOT fit in the context.  She goes back to listening to the others.

I don't know whatever happened to that story, or if it even was ever finished!  One of the other groups made a Star Trek movie; I remember watching it and wondering why one of the girls from our group was in the movie!

Fast-Forward to 1976:

Molly's 5th Grade Classroom

Our student teacher announces he wants us to write a story.  He's going to put on a record and we're to write whatever pops into our head.  I panic, until I hear the music.  It has sort of an outer-space feel to it.  Since I'd seen the movie Logan's Run with my dad, and hadn't fully understood it, I decide to write my version.  In fact, I even titled it 'Logan's Run', but ended up describing a futuristic society, and having no concept of the fact the people were not 'ascending', but were actually dying!

I still have that story somewhere....I think....

Later that year, I would go on to write my 1st Tall Tale, my first fairy tale, and other short stories.  I learned I was better at writing down stories than trying to talk through them!

What about you?  Do you remember the first time you wrote something creative?

June Reading Schedule and May Recap

Did I meet May's Goals?
-Add 10K to SaLie's Story (or even finish it)  It's at 37,927, so I think I added 10K...
-Get Youngling through his classwork  He still has a few Math lessons.
-Promote more
-Start gathering promo for Sept (print books, promo booklets, etc)
-Attend Indy 500 Check:)
-Write 10K on Heart Song Didn't work on it.

Books Read:  8
Kindle was located on one of our kitchen cabinets, under the Ziplock baggies:)

Health:  
I've started walking again, and have lost two pounds.  My ear infection from the end of April caused further damage to my hearing (maybe), and after an issue with vertigo, a CAT scan revealed I still have fluid behind my ear drum and mastoid bone, so more antibiotics were prescribed, as well as a referral to the ENT doctor later this month.  Also coming up is lab work, mammogram, and regular physical.

Promotion:
I've been promoted to Cantor at church, and 1st service went well, with me leading everything but the Responsorial Psalm and Allelujua.

Songs Added To Karaoke Good List:  6.
The majority were too low, but went to Thursday Night, who had Never Been To Me (Charlene) and Bleeding Love (Leona Lewis), and I did well.  I also went to the Outpost up in Lafayette and sang Automatic (Miranda Lambert) and nailed it:)

June Goals:
-Finish SaLie's Story/proof it/turn it in
-Add words to Heart Song
-Start Prayer Journal
-Get my health under control
-'Graduate' to full Cantor
-Buy promo items
-Finish watching final season of Frasier; begin watching Coach.

June Reading Schedule:
Print Books:
Doctor Me Up-Sandy Sullivan RR!  Very enjoyable:)
Makeovers Can Be Murder- Kathryn Lilley  Pretty good.
Wild Horses-Linda Byler
Dark Curse-Christine Feehan DNF
Seize The Night-Sherrilyn Kenyon Good story, but no desire to read others, unless donated to me.
Dying In Style-Elaine Viets Enjoyable!
Murder She Wrote-Jessica Fletcher  Really enjoyed this!  RR
For A Few Demons More-Kim Harrison DNF

E-books:
Love Garage-Liz Crowe Very good!
Confessions of a Prayer Slacker-Diane Moody Excellent!
Stephan-Hazel Gower (sample)  Eh, so-so.
Lighting Strikes-Beverly Ovalle (sample) Now I want to buy the whole thing!!

Karaoke Songs:
I Want You To Want Me-Cheap Trick So-so.  Think it's too low.
I Was Made For Lovin' You-Kiss Only part sounding good was the chorus...
I Will Always Love You-Dolly Parton/Vince Gill  Did well:)  Think I'll try the Whitney Houston version....
I Will Follow Him-Little Peggy March Not bad....