I’ll be honest in saying that any prompt regarding family can be difficult for me, which anyone who knows me can say is true, having read my story.
That being said, I also told you yesterday that I am committed to answering each daily prompt with sincerity and honest effort. The only safe answer surfacing this morning, is Pajamas… and I will do my best to explain why.
I was born into a family that practiced a religion that forbade celebrating any secular holidays. This means no Birthdays, No Christmas, No Thanksgiving, No Valentines, No Mothers Day, No Fathers Day, etc. You should be getting the picture! The only traditions my family participated in and left in my memory banks, were ones that I’d rather not remember.
I wrote a story some time last year, regarding me trying to secretly create a Christmas tree next to my bed, on the eve of a holiday that everybody else got to celebrate except for me!
I made a point to do this tiny tradition for several years in a row, before eventually running away from home and leaving that life behind. I was approximately 11 years old when I left that place for the last time.
The reason I share this sad bit with you is because it is linked to the only good tradition that I hold dear to my heart, even now! Christmas has to be my absolutely favorite season, bringing with it an entire world of traditions shared by many… it is heartwarming, touching, and beautiful to me.
When I was 15 years old, living in a fostering facility that kept me hidden from my family, I got my first taste of what Christmas was, being given the opportunity to spend the holiday with a very wealthy family that did things up big for C Day, if you know what I mean… it was the most love I’d ever been given by anyone, and I’m not even talking about the gifts.
It was my first time feeling like someone had noticed the child that had been forgotten. They made me feel like I belonged there, instead of being treated like they were only babysitters. That experience started me on my journey of love with Christmas time.
I’d lived there about a year before a family, that volunteered at the home, took me home with them and fostered me for the next several years until I graduated high school and moved on. One of the things my foster mother did each Christmas morning was placing a brand new set of pajamas and a new pair of slippers, at the end of my bed. Honestly, you could have given me nothing else for a gift and I would still have been elated. There is nothing like the feeling of climbing into a pair of brand new, freshly laundered and folded pajamas… then follow that up with pulling on a fluffy soft pair of slippers to go with the jammies. To this day I have the same feeling, upon wearing a new pair of pajamas and slippers… utter bliss!
This is the one tradition that I can think of that I have always loved, continuing it’s practice with each of my three daughters, every year that they were growing… perhaps they now do this for their little ones, as well.
There ya have it folks… I answered the daily prompt, without getting too far off track down rabbit holes resting in the ditches of my memory lane.
Here, have a cookie…
I left two choices because I don’t know what everyone wears…
If we make fun of him, that would be such a shame!
Whilst I was playing in my GenCraft AI art studio, searching for new characters to invite into my barnyard menagerie, it accidentally gave me this adorable baby. He seems to be a cross between a squirrel and a dragon, hence the name I gave him… Squagon! Don’t judge, because both Tilly and Dinky came up with it!
I was planning on making up a different name later on, after those two piped down about the goofy name, but once Brutus got wind of the agon part, there was no going back!
I’m trying to create several lines of children’s books that have unusual, yet adorable creatures… with their own little lives and adventures taking place every time they leave the yard. Tilly was so much fun to write that I added Dinky next, though it hasn’t been seen yet. For some reason, I wanted at least 3 new friends to share my barnyard, eventually welcoming in Tilly, Dinky, and Brutus. Actually, I first discovered Squagon, while fine tuning my descriptors with the AI, to help me create Dinky.
Somewhere in the AI’s pool of imagination came some past suggestion of a squirrel, jumping into the mix of my request for a dragon… go figure! One can say that this was a Happy Accident! The crazy thing is that most of my best literary work has felt akin to this accident… and he definitely makes me feel Happy!
The barnyard is an explosion of cuteness overload, from all my new ideas and discoveries, which are mostly just oopsies that happened, while working with the AI on other articles. I love it when happy accidents come together!
In honesty, I don’t yet know if the name will stay as such, but I have to wait for Brutus to stop running around the yard, singing ” You say Squagon but I say Dragon… Squagon Dragon, Squagon Dragon”… honestly, he’s gone round the bend! Either that or I have…
I know we have seen this question recently, in several other forms, which makes us question whose manning the prompt desk. I surmise that we are in the hands of an AI program, that does its best to generate questions, while not grasping enough about what the question asks, to recognize its own repetitiveness.
This newest remake of the other recent prompts, gives me the perfect opportunity to answer the prompt… again… without repeating my previous answers. Everyone visiting my lobby should get a clear picture of the type of Writer/Christian/Woman/Barrel of Laughs I consider myself to be, most days. You never know, for sure, which one you will see on any given prompt. The reason for this wacky, fly by the seat of my pants style of writing, is because, point in fact, writing IS my leisure!
When you see the things I write, they are the result of my prayer, my study, and my fully transparent life… my joy is from sharing my world with you, each time you visit the Lobby.
I committed myself to answering each and every prompt this year, regardless of what the question is, so I had to consider the reality of repeats, stalker probes, and nosy Prompt neighbors. In order for me to write freely, and without a moody attitude, I’ve opted to approach each prompt, with leisure… taking my time in restructuring the question however I choose, to make it fresh and real for my friends. There is no rule book for how to answer prompts, nor is there any penalty for turning it for my pleasure… it’s my leisure… my website… and my literary box to open and share with anyone wishing to stop in and visit.
I will confess, however, in the realm of work that one also considers leisure, I am not above burn out! Even if it is pleasurable to write at such an intensive pace, after a long day of writing, my brain actually feels overly fatigued, yet still firing on all cylinders! You might laugh at this, but crazy video games are the only way for me to disconnect, fully, long enough to bring my brain and body to a place of calm and blissful rest… I call it the Numbing!
If I don’t take a break now and again, to ride around the desert on my faithful companion Brodie, shooting imps, evil pirates and slave traders… well, I’m fairly certain that I would eventually begin looking at my writing as nothing more than work. I love what I do enough to maintain a balance of required play and leisure play… I love them both.
Be grateful that I write and play this way, or you might tire of the same old cookies day in and day out…
The pitter patter of rain falling upon the roof, was my morning wake up call today, drawing me from my dreams somewhere around 5:30 a.m.
Typically, I don’t sleep more than 4 to 5 hours a night, waking up anywhere from 2 to 4 a.m. in the blackness of night. I am one of those sleepers that gets her best rest, somewhere between not to light or dark, and not too loud or quiet… it’s maddening, to be quite honest!
Growing up on the streets began my nocturnal confusion, wandering through the dark most nights, in search of a safe place to catch a few winks. This unusual habit was followed closely, in my adult years, by the night owl behavior required by parenthood; raising tiny humans is a pretty taxing job for both mom and dad. Completing the circle of my love/hate relationship with sleep, lay the mind of an overthinker! Once the brain gets poked, whether it is from the outside environment or a dream, there is no shutting it back off… I finally learned to just get up!
Anyway, this is how my nights usually play out, though recently, I’ve started having random days of a solid 4 to 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Don’t let this get out, but I have actually had a couple of nights where I slept for a full 8 to 10 hours, and it wasn’t because of being sick, which is normally the only way I get that many zzz’s. It’s really not that big of a deal, but as I noticed how much better I feel from the added rest, it made me wonder what might have caused the change.
One would think that a higher stress level, brought about by heavy storms in our life right now, would make sleep impossible for this overthinker. Currently, we are only half way to finishing the rebuild, of literally every one of the RVs internal water pipes, which shattered from the intensely low temps of the recent deep freeze. This unpleasant reality, among a large number of other storms, raging around us right now, should be turning me into some strange form of Naked Mole Rat that bites anyone approaching.
I’m sure that many of you noticed my strained writing, of late, as it has been a bit emotionally charged, to say the least. I pray your forgiveness, if I have reflected poorly, God’s faithfulness to us, in these circumstances. Rest assured that while you may see some blips on my writing radar, God is definitely here in the Lobby, carrying me through the parts of the storm that are too much for me to bear.
As the maelstrom rages and blows all around us, here at the center of it all, I am at peace!
God has been undoing me, storm by storm! It seems that I have begun to write better, stronger and deeper… the louder the squall! I know I told you that I had challenged myself to start writing live every day, in order to break the habit of editing my own work before writing it down. I wonder if this change has freed my mind, allowing God to empty my brain onto the page more freely, thereby, relieving the literary traffic jam inside my head. Honestly, I don’t know exactly what that even means, now that I’ve said it!
All I can say is that I have felt more akin, recently, to Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who stood in the furnace, where they should have been consumed by the intense flames. But… there was another within the fire along side these three men… a 4th! I am never in the fires of this world without Him who has overcome the world, leading me through. Instead of getting a writers block, due to the pressure of the storm, it appears that God has given strength to the literary waters that feed my Wiwohka side.
As the pipes in this old RV finally burst and gave way, due to wear and tear, accompanied by too many severe temperatures… so too have my old habits, bad habits, and just plain lazy habits.
God is completely restructuring my spiritual, emotional, as well as, physical pipes. He has begun replacing the old with the new, flooding my system with fresh, living water! From now on, I get to sport the new and improved pipes that have a 100% money back guarantee, never to break again, even in the worst of storms! Everything God has ever repaired or replaced for me, has come with this guarantee; there have not been any failures or malfunctions on His part yet, so I don’t anticipate any problems with this newest installment of equipment.
Somehow, through all of the intense wind and turbulent waters surrounding us right now, I am actually halfway through writing the book of my dreams! I no longer care or worry about anyone’s approval, aside from Gods whispered, “Well done child, I think it is beautiful!” If I get my Fathers thumbs up, then I’m good! God has been showing me that to write is a gift, and I should not waste it…
I guess we can all consider this note I wrote for you, as sort of a pep talk for all of us. It was important to me that I acknowledge, and apologize for letting my emotions get the best of me for a few of my entries, of late. I truly care about all of you, not wishing for you to be affected by my words, in any unhealthy way.
That being said, I do wish to encourage you, with all of what God IS doing in and around my life… the good stuff, not just the bad and the ugly that the world offers. Raising my daughters, I always tried to wrap guidance and/or discipline between two pieces of Gods love and encouragement. Guess whose example I learned that one from?
I’ve not seen any pictures yet, but I’ve heard that the streets are paved with Gold! While it is far more than an attraction, or similar to any town ever built, I am packed and ready to go to the place prepared for me! Though it may seem so far away, at times, it couldn’t be closer! The only thing I had to pack was my spirit, as my room has already been fully furnished … go figure!
“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” John 14:3
Bloganuary writing prompt
Name an attraction or town close to home that you still haven’t got around to visiting.
This child will be found standing at the ready, because Home is just one step away…
This world holds nothing in comparison to my true home…
Sometimes music can sing what my heart feels better than any words I might type. These songs should sufficiently reflect the place near to me, and though I’ve not been there yet, I am on my way home to the very place that the prompt asked about. So, Heaven is my answer. Your Welcome!
This child of God wishes to share my cookie with you…
Living a nomadic lifestyle, with only my husband for company most days, one could surmise that this girl doesn’t get out much! While my life seems boring and uneventful, it doesn’t mean there isn’t any fun going on!
The beautiful thing about writing is that it can go wherever I go, and often times, it roams the places I’m unable to physically transport my actual brain or body… and it’s my virtual FunVe!
I know the prompt wants five different things I do for fun, but what about five different ways of writing for fun?
Sometimes you may see things I’ve written that leave you feeling Whimsical…
Other times I share things that are Rough to accept, often poking fun at our own human behavior, hence, the cookies…
Many times I will write about things that Inspire others and/or myself…
There are times when I write things to share Truths, both mine and those of the world. One day you might read some truths that are good, some that are bad, as well as some that are ugly…
In everything that I write to and for you, my friends, I constantly strive to ensure that my words Edify the ones reading…
I don’t know about you, but I think this list of five should cover the prompt question, because it will have to do. I write because I love it and experience a great amount of fun while I’m doing it! To take words and organize them in differing ways, thereby allowing others to experience things like laughter, love, understanding and acceptance is a gift that I do not wish to waste!
Sometimes the writing is the only thing that gets me through tough times, when there is no light at the end of the tunnel to encourage me to move forward. I have seen it written many times, that the devil is in the details, but I say that the devil can choke on his own details, because God is definitely in my literary and virtual details… all of them!
Hopefully, this message has gotten back to the publishing desk at WTL News because, as you can see, I have stayed a bit longer than planned.
As I sat down to breakfast with my host and his wife, prepared to do my first interview, I was handed a message that had arrived just after dawn that morning. The one who initially sent me forth to meet with this man and his family, informed me that I’d actually not been sent there to write an article, but rather, to be taught some very important lessons. The letter instructed me to stay on awhile with Job and his family. Much of what Job had to teach would be experienced through time spent, rather than asking a bunch of questions. And I had a good list going so far, in the realm of poignant inquiries!
While there was no doubt of my willingness to follow my Benefactors instructions, logistically, I had not come equipped for this unplanned extension to the time spent with this family. In truth, I’d only brought one extra set of clothes, as I usually wrap up interviews within a day. Most of my assignments in the past had been completed in under 48 hours, so it was clear that I’d underestimated the plans of my Boss… oh well, I would have to make this work!
While Job’s wife was somewhat older than I am, she brought out a basket with some of her clothing, as we were similar in build. She generously offering me several lovely outfits made of the softest fibers, hoping to make my stay more comfortable. Though I’d arrived unprepared for an extended stay, apparently, Job and his wife had been notified ahead of my arrival, as to the purpose and length of my stay. Seems like everyone knew what the plan was… except for this journalist! How embarrassing! While I may have experienced a bit of shame in my game, this family took everything in stride and were quite happy for the opportunity to share their home with an employee of WTL News.
As soon as we finished breakfast, I went and changed into one of the outfits offered me, as it is currently quite warm in these parts and my normal clothes were stifling. Since my assignment had changed from journalist to student, I left my notebook and pen next to my bedside and headed out to spend the day with my host. If my Benefactor preferred sending me on an educational vacation, I was intent on getting the full experience package offered!
The first thing I should mention, is the fact that Job’s wife is a lovely woman, not at all like I thought based on how she seemed on the pages stored in the archives. I think that I may have misjudged her, not fully understanding why she reacted so strongly during his illness. I cannot imagine watching my loved one go through such horrendous suffering, while being incapable of doing anything to help. I suppose that no amount of knowledge about who God is and who we are as humans would make it easy to witness… and let’s not forget, those children that died were her sons and daughters, as well as Job’s. How horrible! Sitting with her at breakfast, one would scarcely think that she had gone through such tragedy, watching her laugh and talk with such a light heart.
The whole of the day turned out to be a massive rewrite of my opinions, not just of his wife, but of all the folks surrounding Job, as he endured all that had befallen him. Job took me to meet his close friends, who gathered at the nearby city gates frequently. I could see the open admiration and respect upon their faces, at our approach. As introductions were made all around, I was quite touched at the level of closeness still reflected between these long time friends. Watching them all talk back and forth, accompanied by frequent laughter and back patting, it was evident that these folks truly cared about each other. I found myself pondering why these kind and loving friends would speak the way they did to Job, while the man was down, so to speak? Thinking back, I found myself admitting that I too have spoken out harshly, in my past, with limited and skewed information. I can remember times, when I found out information about a situation, only after I’d already voiced my opinion. While I don’t feel like a villain, I surely felt ashamed about opening my mouth to voice my two cents, instead of just offering support and encouragement. Some lessons are more painful than others. One would never know, by the way these men laughed and chatted, that at one time there’d been such harsh and painful words spoken between them all!
As we headed out from our visit, Job took my on a more scenic path back towards his home, pointing out where some of his children lived, as well as other friends and families properties. You could see the happiness in his eyes, as Job spoke of all the beauty and blessings he saw all around him. Not once did the man make mention of his painful past, nor point out any of the myriad of scars he carried from his illness. Job seemed so busy living, laughing and loving the life God gave him… the man simply had no time to dwell on painful memories. It seemed as if the tragedy heaped upon him, only made Job MORE… more loving, more generous, more successful and more respectable.
Don’t misunderstand, he was still a nobody… but I found myself recognizing how much I could relate to this nobody! While I may not have a full understanding of what this man experienced during his ordeal, I did begin to see a familiar love and adoration for ones creator that also exists within my spirit. I considered this thought, along with a great many other emotions, as we walked back to his home at the end of the day. Dinner had been laid out for us when we arrived home, so we spent the rest of the evening relaxing around the hearth, eating and talking about things, the way one does with good friends. Laying in bed that night, I journaled my thoughts by candlelight, eventually drifting off to sleep.
I’m sitting on my bed right now, jotting down this message for you before the day gets started. It’s been nearly a week since my arrival and every day is somewhat the same, as far as breakfast, daily walks and meet and greets with family members, friends, and local village members. What is not the same, are the lessons learned every time I turn around, or with each new person I am introduced to. I’ve no idea why on earth I made the assumption, that by interviewing this man, Job, I would somehow uncover a hidden secret from the past that reflected differences between us now, and those of Jobs time in history. I couldn’t have been more misguided, as I am discovering that, in fact, time has changed… but the heart of humankind still remains the same.
Though I’m unsure as to whether or not I will be back in the office next week, I will send updates as often as I can. My Benefactor did not specify the length of my stay, only saying that I’d hear his call when it was time to return to the newsroom. In truth, I feel somewhat like I’m on an extended holiday! The food is amazing, the weather is glorious, and the company couldn’t be more wonderful! I do have a tendency to work too many hours at the office, often forgetting that I need some down time to avoid burning my literary brain out!
I pray you all are doing well, and trust that my Benefactor has your safety and health well in hand, during my extended absence… honestly, He’s been doing so all this time, as I really only do the writing of the stories… He’s the one making them!
On one hand, I could make a list of the things I would like to have happen this week… while on the other hand, I could choose to just keep writing!
Maybe this week will bring the fixes needed to restore water to our world, maybe not… just keep writing!
Maybe the telephone apt. with my doctor, on Wednesday, will bring a plan of action to becoming more pain free, without drugs, of course… just keep writing!
Perhaps I will finally get something clean to wear this week, or maybe not… just keep writing!
Maybe Glendar the Good Fairy will magically resupply my home with things necessary for basic existence, maybe not… just keep writing!
Can I just say that my life sucks a bag of rocks at the moment? Ok, good, now I feel a bit better… just keep writing!
Sometimes the writing is all that keeps me upright… so I will just keep writing! Brutus is coming along beautifully, by the way, so there’s that!
You know that old saying, “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade?” I hate that saying, just so that you know!
Sometimes there is just simply not enough words to make it look pretty or LEMONAIDY enough, so if writing is the only thing to keep me upright and ready to walk by faith when called, so be it… I will write!
I will not stop writing until someone sees what needs to be seen, hears what needs to be heard, or is shown what needs to be revealed, getting them where they need to go… this is my calling!
I’ve understood from the beginning of this site’s creation, there would be times of difficulty… nothing truly worth doing is always easy! But, whatever the outcome of the writing, I fully believe that every single moment, whether joyful or painful, makes the journey all the sweeter… for this writer!
I suppose if we were able to make our pets understand us, we’d have results landing on both sides of the proverbial coin! In one way it would be great if we could help our pets understand why we do some of the things we do, while on the other hand it might backfire, leading to animal world domination!
I personally don’t think it would be the best idea for us to give our pets any more information about us, as I’m not so sure that it would cause them to love us more than they already do… in fact, it might give them cause to rise up and put us in cages, just because WE pooped on the floor.
With that being said, if I could make animals understand deeper about anything humans have done, are doing, or will be doing sometime in the future… it would be to tell them we’re sorry!
Last year I had to rehome my pug of 4 years, as well as my two cats that I found under a shed when they were tiny. I waited for 3 years to get my pug, loving her ever so much… she was my baby! My sister-in-law found a batch of kittens under her porch, keeping one and handing the other two my way… I hand raised both boys from about 10 days old and I adored them! I had to make the most painful decision, last year, of rehoming all of them due to our situation… it was awful!
I guess that if it were possible, I would want to try to explain my actions, and say how sorry I am!
I pray that my choice was for the animals betterment, but it is still difficult to hold the last memories of letting go. Sometimes, doing the right thing does NOT feel good, yet it is still right! I cannot say for sure what they were feeling throughout the painful process, but if I could communicate with them, this would obviously be the conversation on the forefront of our discussion. What would they say… would they forgive me if they understood… maybe.
The best information to give our pets, in the effort of better understanding about us hoomans, would be the knowledge that we often behave in ways that don’t align with our feelings. Often times, we do the right thing for the wrong reason, while at other times, we do the wrong things for the right reasons… it’s what we do!
It’s not all bad, and I didn’t say ALL people, nor did I say ALL the time… it’s just that sometimes the numbers are stacked against us, that’s all!
There’s no way to know if I’ll ever have flurbies journeying with me again… perhaps, perhaps not! Just as our pets probably don’t plan ahead most of the time, thinking to build contingency plans for difficult situations… I would want them to know that often times, we hoomans don’t either!
Issabella PugaliniGhost and Ash
Here, I need a cookie, so you better have one too…
Journey With Me! 