Tag: dailyprompt

Are we talking characters in a play, or movie perhaps? Does it count if it’s possibly a cartoon character? What if we are talking about our kids… you know, when they are ricocheting off the walls in boredom and we say how they are being such a character?

Giving me an open ended question like this is like handing a monkey a gun… my word bullets be flying all over the place!

If you notice that I am being a bit flippant about the question, in truth, it’s because I’m avoiding having to answer the prompt! This one makes me very uncomfortable. My track record with folks is not one that has a great score… why… ughhhhhhhhhh… I don’t wanna dwell there much.

When I was a child, my sense of judging another’s character was not developed enough to protect me… and from that came the woman I became that can be the meanest Judge Jury and Hangman!

My original title for this prompt was going to say, “Too Good”, but before I got going with it, I realized that I’m just too tired to be that old me anymore. 

Now that we all know why I am choosing to take a silly turn with this daily question, let’s do this!

I feel that I am a great judge of characters, as I have 55 years of cartoon watching experience! I feel fairly confident in my assessment that the old sheepdog that worked with Wiley Coyote was Clint Eastwood with fur! 

I will say with a great amount of certainty that Pinky, from Pinky and the Brain, was a long lost cousin of a certain political figure that I shall refrain from mentioning.

Poor Scooby Doo had an untreated cookie addiction that eventually led to rehab, forcing shaggy and the rest of the gang to keep things going til the van could be retrofitted with a locking refrigerator. No matter what else happened in their cartoon world, they were his anchor! Good kids, the lot of em!

Through all the years of Sylvester and Tweetie, nobody ever thought to notice how bad Granny’s limp got. She was a great woman of character, always there to break up fights, bandage wounds, and administer drugs like a professional… all the while, nursing a hip that needed replacing. The cartoon industry were heartless taskmasters, if you ask me, making an old disabled woman tend to unruly wildlife. When she finally took time off for surgery, Hector showed up on her doorstep and watched over her til she was back on her feet. Finally the studio caved and drew in a cane for her to walk with, the show could not go on without her…

Because this is my blog and I can, I have decided to turn myself into a cartoon character to give you all a fun chance at being judges and deciding which one you like the most… let’s test all your skills at judging a character!

A.) 

B.)

While we are at it, why don’t we judge on the best cookie for todays Character Theme…

A. Hector the Bulldog

B. As close to a Tweetie as the AI could give me

C. Sylvester

D. Scooby

E. Ok, so don’t eat Granny… the cookie is at the end of her cane

Your Welcome!

Happiness isn’t circumstantial, it’s a mentality! Where I am changes, but the way I exist within that place and time determines my happiness.

While on the battlefield, there are those who take the field with fierce strength, heavy weaponry and loud cries of either victory or defeat. Me? I am the one crawling around from fox hole to fox hole, mending and encouraging whomever is in need!

Since the question asked when ARE you most happy, I assume it is referring to something current or foreword thinking. It feels like I am being asked to come up with both a current time and situation that result in me being the happiest. Not a terribly easy question to answer, but luckily for you and me both, I am a writer… and a good one!

With any question or topic, I can, if given enough time to think on it, come up with a pretty honest and decent answer. I will be truthful in saying that some of the prompt questions are more difficult than others, as they ask things that are sometimes hard or painful to answer.

This prompt question brought to mind the idea of a battlefield, as that is much of what my life is currently. If I based my happiness on the things we are going through at the moment, it would not make for a very bright season. My behavior, attitude, responses and movements during these times is what will make or break, if you get my meaning.

I absolutely HATE it when Satan tries to steal my Joy! What do I do when that happens? I become the warrior on life’s battlefield… just not the big loud one… uh uh… this warrior is on her knees! 

I am the most happy when I am on my knees… in prayer!

Here, have a cookie…

Living the way I do makes it easy to do what I love, which is writing. I use the solitude for my brainstorming, my dreams for filling in the blanks, and my fingers for making something come to life in the eyes of others.

My days consist of an early morning walk, some dishes, and maybe a load of laundry every several weeks… it’s pretty simple. Aside from my husband, I usually don’t come into contact with anyone. A visit from one of my two sweet girlfriends usually happens every few weeks, but other than that, it’s just me and my keyboard.

As it happens, I am right in the middle of creating the holiday story, Tilly, and am actually having a fantastic time! It started last Friday night as I slept. When I awoke on Saturday morning, my mind was on fire and so off I went to the keyboard. Once I had it down on paper, the fever intensified as I began adding illustrations and editing. From this point I was nearly delirious with joy and excitement for Tilly and the story she and I wove… giving life to my voice during the audio recording session.

I love what I do! Do I need others approval? Not really!

What I seek is the approval of my God, which in turn, fuels me to go further, write deeper, and try harder at being a light in the darkness for anyone in need. Since I have no money and no one to physically interact with, writing is the vehicle I use to get it done… hence all the bus rides and train adventures I take you along on.

So todays prompt question was a rather easy one for me, as I’m right in the heart of doing something quite fun. I just released day 2 of my Tilly tale, with 2 more days to go… then on Christmas Eve I want to release an audio of the whole story. 

Tilly’s story wasn’t the first fun thing, nor will it be the last… If I must live in solitude, then I shall thrive in solitude… why… because I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus! I do not need to run after the things of this world for happiness, as my God brings joy to me… right where I am!

I have never said that the journey has been, is, or will be easy… but I speak the truth when I say that there is definitely Joy, fun and play in the Journey…

Here, have a cookie…

It used to be, “do you want some candy little girl”… now I guess it’s become “list your top 5 grocery store items”! 

Here is a free tip… if a man in a dark hoodie offers you free toilet paper… it’s a trick… your welcome!

I am trying so hard not to be snarky because, let’s face it, this prompt question is S T U P I D!!!!!! I tried so hard to think of a nicer way to say it, but come on…

I don’t want to sit here the week before Christmas and think of my grocery list, and I highly doubt you want to know about it either. 

It doesn’t help that nowadays most grocery stores come with a full department store, a tire center, hair salon, pharmacy and liquer store! All our desires are met in only one stop… quick fix… instant gratification! Do you realize that it would take us all day to read each others shopping lists… especially right now with the holidays upon us!

This whole idea behind todays question just brings me down… and I ain’t got time… it’s almost Christmas and I have stuff to do before we all hear those sleigh bells in the sky.

I will leave you with a cookie, however, as it always fits the spot…

Come find my story about Tilly, for I promise you’ll like it a lot…

This guy for starters…

He’s handsome and kind… generous to a fault… and he loves me endlessly! 

Aside from my husband, the list of men who have positively impacted my life come strictly from the bible… not sorry!

I think back on the trail that had to be blazed through history by these biblical frontiersman… it was not an easy one, to say the least.

Noah had to build a boat that was the size of a small city… without modern machinery!

David had to kill a giant with a slingshot!

Moses had to lead an entire nation of peoples around the desert for 40 years, while they all learned to trust and obey God.

Jonah got eaten by a whale that then puked him up on the shores of Nineveh!

John the Baptist… well, he spoke the truth til it got him killed!

I could go on and on about the different men in the bible whose stories, failures, struggles and triumphs have impacted my walk as a woman of God… but I will end the list here with the name of only one man that matters… JESUS! Trump that!

I think maybe, for the first time, the daily prompt put the exact perfect question in here at the most perfect time… right before we celebrate Jesus Birthday! This is the time of year that I can say what I think about my God, my Savior, and King… with little or no argument from others. It is a difficult task to buy and receive a bunch of gifts, in His name, on His Birthday, if you don’t plan on acknowledging Him!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukah, the Manger, the Star, the Three Wise Men, etc. I could go on and on with all that we acknowledge during our celebrations, but I think you get my drift. Even those who profess to not believe in God celebrate with everyone, ignoring the Jesus part while they do it! Just saying…

Don’t be grumpy at that… you’ll get your cookie at the end, but I’m not done yet!

I stand by my answers about who positively impacted my life, as, to date there has not been even one single human man that has NOT let me down… even my husband, and he is a good man who loves God very much.

You see, placing faith in man is out of line with me… I place my faith in God and allow Him to put good men and women in my life. While I appreciate what differing men and woman have done throughout history, I just do not put my trust in them… they are fallible, just like myself.

If we are really talking about a positive impact, I think it is pretty clear to me that by His living and dying and then living again … well, that’s pretty impacting and noteworthy, wouldn’t you say…

See, I promised you a cookie…

The odds of those who actually end up exactly where they pictured after a year are not that good, I’d wager. 

I can’t even look at the prompt without breaking out into laughter… my life now looks nothing like I pictured it might, this time last year.

From the place that I was in at that time, you probably don’t want to know what I expected things to be now… I was just returning from the deadlands, as I’ve called them. 

It’s hard to believe that we’ve been here since last October… I didn’t even fully start back to writing until March of this year. I had a very very long writers block! Life Interruptus as I refer to it.

The odd thing is… even though our circumstances are still not what I thought they might be, my writing seems to be deepening. It feels kind of like writing in the fire… letting the flames and heat of a tough journey fuel my writing passions. 

The tougher the obstacles, the deeper I write. I think of what it takes to make a really good sword… both Fire and Ice can strengthen the metal so that in battle, it will remain unbreakable!

If you had asked me last year if I was going to be writing a book and making friends in the Lobby, I would have scoffed… I was so broken that I could barely get out of bed! 

I have stopped trying to figure out what will be next year, next month, or even next week… I let God figure things out and I follow His lead… One Day at a Time! Let’s be honest here, there are days that I walk minute by minute.

I have discovered that God is the best planner, the best motivator, the best provider, and the BEST Gift Giver! Whatever I dream up, He will trump it! It might not seem that to you, but it is real for me…

For now, I’m going to work on what I picture things to be like tonight… for dinner… and maybe a show with my man…

Here, have a cookie…

Aside from learning to focus again, now that my eyes are healing from surgery, I have no good answer for todays prompt. 

It did make me think about an old Christmas movie I have loved watching since I was small. Remember that my family didn’t celebrate holidays? We were not allowed to watch most secular television. While I’ve shared about things I could not do, I failed to mention that this child had skills… special skills… skills involving ninja style tv watching, and I was an expert!

You’d be surprised how easy it is for a kid to be sneaky.

So, one of the shows that I watched when my parents were distracted was “The Isle of Misfit Toys”. I was so sad when they all made the little dentist guy feel bad for not being good at building toys like everyone else. 

He was skilled, and he had learned something very important and necessary… folks just needed to accept him as he was. A dentist was very important to a bunch of elves making candy and toys all day. I saw an awful lot of candy and toys, but no toothbrushes!

Now I understand that this answer isn’t a very good answer to the prompt, but you can blame Christmas for that… I can’t help it… there are lights everywhere, music flowing, good comfort food at every turn, and hearts overflowing with love and generosity… I blame you guys!

While I looked the movie up on google, I was taken aback at who all was a voice in that movie… actors like Jamie Lee Curtis, and Rick Moranis… and it was narrated by Richard Dreyfus. All the years that have passed since I watched this movie for the first time, and it was only today that I took the time to read about it’s creation. It wouldn’t have made a difference back then, but it fills me with nostalgia now. I’d no idea of all those who took part in this production. 

There, it’s something new that I learned… hey, I did answer the prompt!

Here’s a cookie…

Before I even tried to answer this prompt I headed to my local google looking for some important information. First of all, I wanted to know exactly what my choices were. 

According to Google, “As of 2018, there are 19,495 incorporated cities, towns and villages in the United States. 14,768 of these have populations below 5,000. Only ten have populations above 1 million and none are above 10 million. 310 cities are considered at least medium cities with populations of 100,000 or more.

This is tough question for me, logistically, since I spent approximately 5 years in a Tractor Trailer with my husband, driving OTR from one corner of our great nation to the other, and back again. We have been to all but like 2 states, and traveled most of the back highways more times than I can count. 

There are a great many cities in this country that no one knows about, aside from those living within these lovely communities. It just seems sort of unfair to so many of these hidden gems. 

The next thing that stumped me about the prompt was the openness of the question… why am I wanting to visit, how long will I want to stay, and who else should be there. If I attempted to answer all of that, we would need a great many more cookies in the room to keep you all here. There is that tiny line that shouldn’t be crossed called TMI or Too Much Information!

I don’t think that I would be a great representative for most of the big cities we traveled to or through, while making deliveries. Perspective changes everything, including this prompt question! From a truck driving wife’s view… most big cities leave much to be desired, and they hide their ugly side pretty well from the average visitor… but not us! We got to experience the dirty underside of most those places. To be honest, from my perspective… the little cities were much more memorable in good ways than the bigger ones. Things would have looked much different if I were a tourist, though, so I am not sure it is fair for me to talk smack about the big places. 

Truth be told, I have no place that I really desire to visit. I have a great many lovely memories of the travels we had, but I really just love my local park and squirrels… I’ve no reason to want to go anywhere at the moment. 

I do have a dream of sorts, though. Wanna know what it is? 

I have this dream that one day we will be traveling on the open road again, but with a greater purpose than ever before. Our Motor Home will have an overhaul so that it can be trustworthy. We will have a new skin wrapped on the outside of her that reads JOURNEY WITH ME! We will travel to wherever we are called and I can do live performances for children in hospitals, schools, orphanages and churches… giving stories of Acorn Valley, Just a Bag, Brutus and more… If they have a hook up, we will come!

That is really the only visiting I feel like doing…

Here, have a cookie…

Whew! You all are soooo lucky I fully reread the prompt before answering, or this whole blog could have taken a crazy turn…

I’ll be honest in saying that at first, I thought the question asked what I thought people were saying about me, rather then what I hope they say. I stopped and made a cup of coffee and reread the prompt before answering.

While I am fully aware of what has been said about me in the past, what is possibly being said at this moment, and what may be said of me in the future… I no longer care! 

In truth, I do not wish for anyone to SAY anything ABOUT me… instead, my hope is that they SEE something IN me! 

There is only One whose opinion matters to me and only one thing I hope that He says… “Well done, my good and faithful servant” Matthew 25:21 … that’s it! 

Whenever I think for any time at all, on what others may say of me… I feel like being Snarky or sassy, and that makes me not like myself. I consciously make the choice for my thoughts to dwell elsewhere!

Anyways… talk is cheap, and there’s a lot of it flying around most days. Sometimes folks say nice things about us and sometimes not! Depends on the day, the time, how they feel, if they liked you, and/or if they want something from you. Remember, I said sometimes… not all the time! 

My answer reflects the only opinion that should matter for anyone… care about the words said by the one sitting in that Fox Hole with you, instead of everyone else barking at you from the field outside…

Here, have a cookie…

When I first saw the prompt this morning, I was momentarily perplexed. I’ve done way too many things in my life to try picking just one to remember the first day.

What are the odds that you can remember your very first birthday or your very first holiday? I wouldn’t go to Vegas with those odds if I were you… just sayin!

I, however, can remember both my very first Birthday and Christmas celebration. Why? Well, I’ll tell you, if you wish to stick around long enough to read.

Most of you have already read most of my history… born into a family that celebrated NO holidays whatsoever! I think I may have even written about a time as a small girl, where I made a tiny tree and gifts out of twigs and toilet paper and hid them under my bed. I waited for everyone to go to sleep on Christmas Eve and just sat on the floor next to my bed pretending. I was trying to celebrate something that seemed like it should be important.

Years later, when I was 15 and just landing in one of the first healthy foster homes I’d seen, it so happened to be during the Christmas Season. Somehow, I got chosen by a local family to be their guest for the upcoming holiday. Maybe you would have been scared to be handed over to complete strangers for a overnighter… but I was so used to be passed around that this was nothing!

They came and picked me up two days before Christmas, taking me to stay at their very large estate… yeah… they were very wealthy! Apparently, they owned the local timber mill that supplied the area with all its lumber needs. 

I woke up on the morning of Christmas Eve to a massive table of every breakfast item imaginable… and………….. my first gift… for my Birthday!!!!! They took me horseback riding in the snow and I was wearing my first Birthday gift… a Members Only Jacket with a fur lined hood! I actually wore that thing for several years, until the fur wore away from the edges and the zipper actually dropped off.

We stayed up late into the night watching movies in this massive theatre style family room, where I eventually fell asleep from all the days adventures. While I was asleep that night, the whole family snuck in a giant Christmas tree, decorated it, and filled the entire room with gifts and stockings and all the holiday trimmings. I woke up to a wonderland of lights and packages everywhere I looked. It was amazing how the whole of this family took the time and effort to do this for me… little ole me!

I will never forget this first day at something I had never before experienced… a FAMILY! They were so loving to one another and the house was filled with laughter, love and hope. F.Y.I. … they even had a birthday cake with candles sitting amidst the holiday foods… for me! 

Looking back on these memories ended up being the perfect answer to the prompt, and at Christmas time even!!!! What are them odds… maybe I should go to Vegas!

Nah…

But I will share some cookies with ya…