Well, at least that’s what I’ve been doing since yesterday!
Does the world out there make you feel small and insignificant?
When you can leave your mark, by building a tough reputation in your local Zombie filled neighborhood… in the words of Anok-su-namun, from The Mummy Returns, “there is much satisfaction to be had”!
Signing off…
Pssssssttt! don’t forget your cookies…
I’m being fully honest when I say that I’ve probably told far more about myself on this blog, than most were prepared to read… one of my common self-titles is “the oversharer!”
When I saw this morning’s prompt question, I knew that I’d answered it last year, but I thought it would be fun to tell everyone something new. That is, until I tried thinking of a thing to share.
I’ve hit a wall here, my friends, as I can’t think of anything that I’m willing to offer up. Why, you might ask? Because my transparency stops at the place that holds the things of my deepest hurts and scars. I stopped voicing the things that did not produce goodness, love and God’s healing light.
If you would like to know anything about me that is worthy of sharing with others, I’ve re-opened my archive’s page on this site. Within those dusty old writings is who I Really am, though God is forever molding and reshaping me into that which He sees as beautiful. The place to catch glimpses of that part of me, would be the WordPress Daily Prompt response’s that you currently receive a lot of cookies from… Miss Moody Maelstrom, some might call me!
Oh, while we’re on the subject of cookies, enjoy…
This is rather confusing to my brain, first being told that it IS a lazy day… and then asking if one feels restful OR unproductive?
I wanna ask Google…
According to Oxford, the definition of lazy is “unwilling to work or use energy.” The example given was, “he was too lazy to cook”, so there’s that!
I suspect that if we go with the ACTUAL definition here, won’t we feel both rested AND unproductive? And, shouldn’t that be what we are aiming for?
Just askin…
Anyway, if you read my regular post this morning, you would already know that my brain is visiting a Nothing Box, today. I borrowed my husband’s box, since he doesn’t use it while he’s busy studying.
And yes, you could call today a LAZY day, so I have every intention of feeling both rested… AND unproductive!
Here, grab a cookie before you go. You didn’t think I would forget that? Not even on a lazy day…
In such a short time upon this earth, He healed, saved, resurrected, taught, and ended it with the sacrifice of his own life to make a way for so many, to this very day!
Whether or not one believes Him to be a mere man… when I think of the word “successful,” I think of Jesus, the son of a carpenter… and yet, so so much more!
Why? Because He showed me… from the moment of his birth, all the way through history itself… to save ME!
Here, my sweet friends, have some cookies…
When I saw the prompt this morning, my first thought was “I got this!”
Just for giggles, I did a quick looksee into my archives for last year’s answer. For some reason, I couldn’t remember what I’d written.
Imagine my surprise, and the forthcoming guffaw that I made towards myself for not remembering!
I’m actually glad that I checked, because the answer I was about to give this morning… was the very answer I gave last year.
Guess what the Title of the response was?
I Got This One… That’s too funny!
Dunno why, but smores sounded really good this morning, so enjoy…
While I’m not an adrenaline junkie sort of adventurer, I’ve had list after list of ideas to be tried for the first time! It began when I was a tiny girl, forever dreaming of things I wanted to do when I grew up.
Remember my Easy Bake Oven? I wanted to be a baker from the moment I melted my first pile of cookie dough under a hot lightbulb.
I was forever trying to rescue injured or stray animals, so I then wanted to be an animal doctor/national geographic reporter/animal whisperer! Seriously! I used to dream about finding a baby chimpanzee on the side of the road, somehow miraculously raising and returning it to the jungles… that was one of my favorite daydreams. I knew I wanted to be a mommy from the first battery operated cry that erupted out of the new baby doll I was given. I ventured out to every single boring yard sale and/or thrift store trip my mother visited, looking for each and every baby item possible. My babies had it all, from the blankets and clothes to the bottles, pacifiers, strollers, diaper bags, fake food, etc. I think you get the picture… I’m what one calls a Lister!
I was writing lists from the time I learned to spell, keeping them safely hidden beneath my mattress, away from spying eyes.
Over the years I’ve trained horses, bred and raised everything from birds to dogs, traveled to distant countries, bore three children, traveled with my husband in a Semi across the whole of America, lived in an RV for four years, ran a full scale lady’s hair salon in the big city, ran my own nail salon for five years, walked in 5 different full marathons, and been a model… who knew?!
Why, just last year I decided to write a book, and am now preparing to begin my third, so that’s certainly a joyful win win… as far as trying something new goes.
If you’re thinking I’m bragging about things, let me remind you that my life is far from a Hollywood success story… and in none of my endeavors did I say that I was fantastic at any of them. I only want you to see what I mean when I say I am known as what is called a Lister… love lists, love trying new things, love writing everything down. While some might say that I have a problem… I just think I’m a big kid at heart!
Currently, I’m sitting with a list of three things that I want to try. I want to do theatre, sing at Karaoke, and try stand-up comedy… just once! Way out of my comfort zone, but a girls gotta dream…
Have a cookie…
I highly doubt that I could write anything surprising to most, regarding what principles define my life, or more aptly put… Whose principles!
With that being said, I most certainly have cookies for just such a prompt response…
In answer to the prompt, I’ve been putting off work on Volume II of my book series. Why, they ask?
Well, due to our current living situation, I’ve found it a bit difficult to find my happy place, in terms of literary mojo and all that stuff.
To leave you with a visual, it’s somewhat akin to sunbathing on the monkey bars on the playground. It’s slippery business!
Here, have some cookie cereal…
I wanted to see what my answer was from last year, so I peeked back into the archives for a look see. I so enjoyed reading what I wrote last year, if I do say so myself! Since the answer to the prompt is still the same, I decided to give it another once through, for your reading pleasure.
May you enjoy the story… I did!
… The woman behind the counter smiled gently at me, as she cleaned her ear piercing tools. My heart was in my throat, it seemed. Getting my ears pierced was the most grown up thing I had ever done by my own choice.
My Nana had bought me a pair of earrings in the shape of bright red apples, but this time the jewelry wasn’t clip on… they were the real thing in the eyes of a 6 year old. My mother told me that I could get my ears done if I chose on my own… no hand holding or cajoling would be forthcoming.
I lay in bed awake the entire night before we embarked on this grown up lady stuff I wanted to take part in. I was terrified, of what I am not sure… but if they could poke me with a vaccination needle whenever they felt like it, and trade me a stupid sucker for my time, then I must be grown up enough to take the needle for a pair of gloriously beautiful red apple earrings. My mind was made up on the matter, so I just lay there and waited for the sun to come up.
I was so terrified of backing down and not being able to wear my new gift… it was in truth, the only thing that kept me on that swinging stool, there in that Bon Marche Department Store. I tucked my feet behind the bar beneath the seat, grabbed the sides of the stool with both hands in a military vice grip and tried to find my happy place.
I apparently had nothing to worry about, because it was over before it had begun! That fast… bang bang… All Done! They were kind enough to do both ears at the same moment, probably in case I backed out half way through the deal. I was so happy and proud of myself that I burst into tears, making the grown ups think I was in pain or shock. Not so!
I WAS A LADY!
So now I will explain the hilarious fall out from my Grown Up Anxiety Filled Sleepless Night… the reality of how most adults handle stress.
As exhausted as I was from no sleep and worry, over my piercing adventure, I never had a moment to catch some zzzzzz’s until that night after we got home. I was so tired that I could barely touch my dinner, and vaguely remember my mom walking me down the hallway to my bedroom……..
…. The rain fell steadily in the darkness, only illuminated by the distant street lamps, flickering occasionally. I was sitting in the passenger seat of our station wagon, while my parents were in a Parent/Teacher Conference up the street. As I waited for them to return, I saw movement not too far down the block, barely visible through the sheets of rain falling across the hood of the car.
I heard her before I saw her… this scary Witch that looked suspiciously like the lady off of the Wizard of Oz, if I am being completely honest. I could hear her laughing wickedly as she slowly materialized out of the darkness. Yup! It had to be that horrible woman who took Toto away from Dorothy. Don’t judge… I have a bucket list of different childhood memories that are triggered by different movies I had in my tiny mind.
Anyway, as the witch steadily approached my car, I frantically checked all the door locks and glanced up at the entrance of the school, hoping I would see my parents walking down the steps toward our car. Nope! As Jack Sparrow says, I was “all by me onesies!”
I crawled down under the dash where I could be hidden from view for the most part, except my feet could still be seen from the passenger door. I heard her approach the car, walk all the way around it dragging her super long witchy fingernails across the metal doors… witches always have super long curvy red nails if you needed a visual.
Then the witch stopped directly in front of the passenger side door where I was crouched down on the floor. All I could see was the tip of her hat, but I could hear what she was doing… she was picking the lock on my door with those awful fingernails. I watched in horror as the little metal door lock popped!
The next thing I knew, I was strapped onto a torture table, in the parking lot underneath the Sprouse Ritz Department Store, and that witch began to tickle me with those long fingernails…
It was torture! I began to laugh and could not stop! I fought to get away, but was strapped down so there was no escape for me… no way out! Except to wake up, but I had been so tired from the night before that it was like crawling through thick Jello to do anything. Never fear though, laughter is here… I laughed so hard that I rolled myself out of the top of our bunkbed and landed with a thump on the floor below. That did the trick!
Isn’t it funny the way we handle stress… often bottling our fears, stuffing them down and hiding them away from judging eyes. I realize that I was just a child and that the dream was probably just a way to release the tension I had been holding for several days over a perceived painful event. There was no real danger or trauma involved in ear piercing, but to a child trying to be a grown up, it most assuredly seemed like there might.
My take away from the whole affair was this… I would for sure think long and hard the next time I wanted to be a grown up!
From then to now, I still often find myself thinking long and hard every time I have to do grown up stuff… I know I should be fine with getting tickled all night in a parking lot, but this girl would rather leave the Witch back at Sprouse Reitz…
Here, don’t forget to grab a cookie…
In a world where humans no longer have a real grasp on the true value of a dollar, thanks to credit cards and bank loans that one can never repay, the idea of what to do with a million dollars if I had it, seems absurd!
Through my head flies “lead a horse to water” or “old dog new tricks” or “where a man’s treasure is”, along with a larger list that would require a whole lot of cookies for everyone reading my response to the daily prompt. To be honest, I don’t feel like baking that many cookies today, so you’re all off the hook this time.
I didn’t mean that I wouldn’t bake you cookies, just not a plethora of them. If you aren’t sure of what a plethora is, just ask El Guapo… he had a plethora of Piñata’s, according to his right hand man, Jefe. Google the movie Three Amigos and you’ll see…
Journey With Me! 