What you see is pretty much what you get with me, whichever way you look. As I have basically written out every memory I can recall for everyone here to read, as well as documenting all my self tattling and disclosures. My archives are open, so it’s all there still.

Unless you have just been surprised by the knowledge that I’m an over sharer, I honestly cannot think of anything in particular that I have not already disclosed to pretty much the whole literary world. Outside of WordPress, there’s only a handful of people I come into contact with, most of which don’t visit my blog. I have decided to exclude them from this prompt, as they selected to opt out of reading.

I have written in depth of my Overthinkers Anonymous Club that meets in the wee dark hours of the mornings, when I am overly anxious about something.

You have also heard mention of my roommates IBS and Fibromyalgia, as well as more knowledge about my day to day health than you probably wanted to know.

As you can see, we could spend hours recounting all the things I’ve already shared here, so I would rather try to focus on something new for you… anything really.

Oh… I got something… I was once a Certified Diver! Back when I was much younger, I took a whole course on Scuba Diving, gaining certification with open diving right here in the great Puget Sound. There is an underwater dive park near Kirkland, WA., where my test was administered. When I was swimming through a sunken ship, I saw an octopus, which was pretty impressive.

A short time later, there was an opportunity to go diving off the coast of California, down by La Jolla Shores. There are underwater Sand Dollar beds there, where all you see are floating sand dollars underneath the waves, as far as the eye can see… all standing at attention vertically on their sides.

That beach was also where I had my deepest dive; descending a whopping 86 feet, which was deep enough for things to become black and white. I also had opportunity to dive while in Hawaii, even snorkeling with turtles and other sea life in those waters. Unforgettable!

I lost the desire to dive after I ran into a friend one afternoon, immediately noticing her two black eyes and blood red eyeballs… I mean blood red!

She had gone on a dive with her husband earlier that week, and while on the dive she found herself unable to clear her mask of air pressure from that depth. Rather than alerting her husband of the predicament, she opted to just finish the dive and overlook the discomfort. Upon surfacing, her eyes swelled horribly and all the blood vessels burst, causing her eyes to turn red. That little discomfort turned into hours in a hyperbaric chamber, a few nights stay at the hospital and the two black eyes she was now sporting.

That was all it took for me to lose my nerve, when it came to swimming under the sea… at least in real life anyway.

There we have it ladies and gents, a little something new about me that you didn’t know before now. I know it’s not much, but look on the bright side… when I started this post, I said Nada, but ended up proving myself wrong.

Have a Tropical flavored Smoothie on me…

I’m going to straight up answer this prompt, as it is an appropriate question and … there are no WHY’S in it.

My answer is, a bit of both!

If I am taking a lazy day after a stint of heavy writing, or something like that, it is an absolutely sublime feeling to sleep in until I Want to get out of bed… notice I said want and not need. Alarm clocks are tools of the devil, placed in our rooms to torment us with horrible songs… sending us frantically feeling around on the mattress to find the offending minstrel, and drown him!

Now, it’s a whole different story when I am trying to take a lazy day, when I know there are things I need to be doing, but am procrastinating for one reason or another. No matter how hard I try, the feeling of responsibility follows me through the day, constantly sending my brain these little PSSSTTTT reminders of the tasks I have been strategically avoiding.

The prompt question used the word unproductive as the negative side of a lazy day, and I think it is a really great word to use… in comparison to the Procrastinating word! Feeling unproductive is far less distressing to my brain, than admitting to the P word. I have always been one to take the bull by the horns as they say, diving headlong into tasks I feel are important. I often derive a sort of pleasure from successfully completing tasks that stretch me out of my comfort zone.

The toggle switch between rested and unproductive can sometimes be a loose one, giving us a day filled with rest mostly, but here and there are a moment or two of mental reminders that try to rob us of our rest. Maybe this is just me, who knows?

What I have come to understand about the thing that steals my rest on those lazy days… it’s fear! I know I said procrastination before, but I am going a little deeper to the cause of this mental state. My personal procrastination usually stems from a fear… a fear of failure, rejection, judgement from others, and a host of other insecurities that can try to assert themselves as a way to excuse the fear of Doing!

I find that the one day at a time thing works pretty well for this ole girl. I have adopted the attitude of the tortoise so to speak. There is a finish line and I aim to get there, in due time…

Til then I am going to take my lazy days and I will shout in the face of Unproductive, “La La La La… I’m not listening… La La La La!”

Here, have a Lazy Day Munchy…

I would like to apologize for eating that piece of pizza, but I left the rest for you in the box…

According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, Successful is defined as gaining or having gained success.

The actual word Success is defined as a noun, while Successful is actually an adjective. I decided to look up things on google because I wasn’t sure how to answer this morning.

The actual meaning of just the word Success is a favorable or desired outcome and or the attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence.

I could have simply answered Walt Disney, since he built Disneyland up from no bigger than a fairground, to a dream come to life. But now that I have a clearer picture in my mind of what the prompt question is asking, I refuse to give this answer on the grounds that it is wholly unfair to anybody not on the list.

Absolutely everyone I know, has had some measure of success in their life, at one time or another. Who am I to pick one person over the other for todays answer? Who am I to decide whether my one friend is more successful because she delivered a healthy baby, or the other friend who finally landed her dream career. How superficial does WordPress think I am?

The prompt question also failed to clarify whether there was a number involved. Must we pick someone with only 2 successes or the one that has 8… maybe success came easier for the 8 person, than it did for the one who only sports 2?

As I understand WordPress to be simply giving us questions that offer an opportunity to write either outside the box, or sometimes pretty deep into the pond… I will extend some grace here today. I love to tease and jest over the choice of questions we see everyday, as this has become my style…

I could be flippant and sarcastic, but I choose not to…

I could be rude when I answer, but I choose not to…

I could just not answer, but I choose not to…

Why?

Because, no matter what the question is that WordPress poses for us each morning, it forces me to think outside my mental box which can be quite stuffy and suffocating, if I stay there too long without bringing in some fresh air. I fully enjoy the mental, emotional, and often spiritual stretching that occurs for me every time I answer a tough prompt question. This has truly become my morning brain exercise, before I dive into deep literary content creation.

So I have chosen to answer that I see the potential for success, in each and every soul that I encounter on a daily basis. I have witnessed it in the past in many, and seek to find it in whomever I meet in the future…

Have a Successfully made cookie…

Since there is apparently only one cookie here, you will have to share…. if we each just lick the edge, then it should last for everyone…

Wait for it… wait for it…

Either Jesus or State Farm!

I think it is not only on point, but actually quite funny if I do say so myself…

In my experience, they either need to be paid to be nice or are simply kind and loving people… the kind of kind and loving that arises from a source within that isn’t us, cause we’re MEAN!

Have a cookie…

What sort of things would I do if I could,

can be answered in only one way…

A Song!

We can thank Celine Dion for answering this question so well … https://youtu.be/rPofyjLmGQU?si=c6T9jJA65pxPZ3Jk

Since I am so incredibly busy with all the stuff that I hadn’t done before, I am just full up on ideas of something new, as of yet.

I am learning how to have a healthy relationship with my adult daughter for the first time…

I am writing a full novel for the first time…

I am coping without a dog for the first time…

We are living in an RV for the first time…

I spend my day in a beautiful Lobby for the first time…

I am surviving without any prescriptive medications for the first time…

I walk long walks nearly every day for the first time…

I am learning to live as a Woman of Faith for the first time…

So see, I am full up in the try new things department. I spent 45 minutes trying to write out some ideas but it seemed more like a Dr. Seuss story…

I could eat Sushi I could

I would be sick I would…

I should be a singer I should

I could sing ditties I could…

I would break hearts I would

I should sell millions of copies I should…

I could race a car I could

Since I can’t see… I would wreck I would…

STOP ME!!!

I’ve gone round the bend on this silly question, so I leave you with this… If you can do something or try something, do it with all your might, for tomorrow has no guarantees nor time to look back on WOULDA COULDA SHOULDA!

Here is a treat I’ve never tried before…

I think it is some sort of custard, inside a delicately thin pastry.

How many times do people say one thing and do another? We see it all the way from Government behavior down to the greasy fingered toddler promising they did NOT eat your French fry.

Obviously, my faith should reflect a clear picture of the principles I live by, but just in case you’re still not sure, it’s JESUS example!

From my earliest memories of life, I saw everyone around me behaving contrary to everything that came out of their mouths… from honesty to lies, kindness to cruelty, generosity with a tag, and the famous “Do as I say and Not as I do” Act of 1682! Some grown up idiot came up with this slogan shortly after they got caught doing something bad in front of a kid.

Of all the principles I can choose from to define how I live, it would be the life of Christ that has forever impacted my world. I just know that when I do and say as Jesus would, things turn out far differently in my life than if I reacted like the world does. Nothing has really changed since I was small in regards to human behavior. I am not even immune to this natural state of selfishness. We are born to sneak, cheat, lie, steal, and all the rest of our undesirable natural traits.

We are also blessed with a unique spirit, one that is unlike everybody else. This spirit has the ability to give love, kindness, generosity, grace, mercy and all the rest of our beautiful human capabilities.

I suppose that principles are what separate the wheat from the chaff, as the good book says. Humans are such creatures of habit that all one need do is watch em for a while, and their underlying “Principles” start to surface… if you get my meaning.

As this seems to be how things roll out in the big picture department, I want to ensure that what others see of me… isn’t me at all, but the One in whose principles I define my life by!

Since I like to shake things up and usually choose the road less traveled, I say we all should start living by and saying,

“Do As He Says and Not As I Do”!

Just sayin,

Here, have some fries…

Though the picture may seem cute, I on the other hand, do not look nearly as adorable after attempting to color my own hair, of late.

My hair is way overdue for some gray coverage upkeep, but here is the rub… I can barely see myself clearly in the mirror, and my right arm concerns have yet to be resolved, so I have limited use of that side. Between those two problems, the woman that I become after a self color job is far less “Adorbs” as the little sugar plum in the picture!

It is hilarious, to say the least! My hair resembles a cross between the patchy white stripes on the roadway, and a calico cat with its mottled fur. I kept missing so many places and having to reapply the color… still not able to see all the patches I was missing. I finally gave up and have been wearing a hat.

I know it’s not a matter of need to have no visible gray, but come on, we all know how self esteem can be a game changer in ones attitude. My insides tell me I can still be that young and beautifully wild woman I was when I was 20, but my outsides are not cooperating. As someone once said, “time waits for no man”… or woman for that matter.

It may seem funny to think this way, but I’m sort of just wearing my hat and waiting for my eye surgeries, since I’m not able to really see how bad it is anyway. I know I could have a professional do the work for me, but I am both cheap and homebound, having lost my license until I can see the road again.

Please don’t think I am being flippant, in regards to today’s prompt. I simply don’t have anything else that I am putting off doing… except, that is, publishing a book. I believe that might change, as I’m not putting it off, I’m just not done yet…

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…

I don’t normally plan beyond the day, sometimes even beyond the moment! God and I have come to a place where I simply trust that He knows what needs doing… and when to do it!

It says in the bible that God supplies us with all we need for whatever is asked, so I guess I will just wait for the money to arrive and I am sure He will tell me exactly what to do with it. I would probably just go shopping if I tried to figure out on my own what to do with the money, I am just being honest.

I feel pretty confident that if the money lands on me, then God will fill in the details, and I am ok with that! There is so much need in the world, it would be easy to pick any number of avenues to donate. I could spend my time dreaming of winning money to help others, or I could just help!

With all of the lottery winners out there that are showing us how to give to the poor with their winnings, my confidence lags in regards to how many folks would actually follow through with their answer to this prompt. I am not judging anyone… remember I already stated that I would probably go shopping. I am just wise enough about human nature to know better than to spout poetic about my giving tree ideas.

Besides, we live in an RV… where on earth would I put whatever I bought? If we bought a new RV or a house, then what? Fill it with stuff I can’t take with me when I die? I have always had a love/hate relationship with money… I love it when I have it, and I hate it when I don’t!

Ima just wait here til the check is in the mail, and then let God work out the details. Until then…

Have some Million Dollar Shortbread to hold us over til the money shows…

I saw a movie one time, about a man with a dream…

A dream to make the world a better place, heal the sick and bring happiness to all…

You know of whom I speak… Willy Wonka, of course!

I saw this prompt and went straight to candy! I will never forget the part where they toured the factory floor and were shown the Everlasting Gobstopper. It was supposed to be the answer to the worlds hunger problem.

Unfortunately, it never made it to store shelves thanks to dum dum Violet! She ruined it for all of us, in my personal opinion. Had the girl not scoffed a candy before they could finish trouble shooting the side effects, thereby tying Willy up in years of legal red tape, we might be fully fed by now… the whole world! Stupid Violet…

Anyway, I suppose my point here would be, even when what I am doing can be guaranteed not to fail, I still have to contend with Violets… they jump the gun, misuse my creation for nefarious purposes, or just never read the instructions for successful use of the item. We cannot get around human nature, nor the reality of being creatures of habit… no matter the best laid plans, humans can always throw a wrench in the machine.

Therefore, as far as the world goes… aside from the impossible Gobstopper idea, there is only one thing can be done with a guarantee of success. Believing in and walking with God on a daily basis.

Scoff if you like, I care not! I am simply being honest, in that I have only seen to date, ONE who has been able to do something guaranteeing success. Jesus! He knew so fully of his purpose that he walked that dirt path all the way up to that hillside, and voluntarily allowed them to nail his hands and feet on that cross. He knew the plan was flawless, because his father told him so… and what He did brought GUARANTEES OUT THE WAZOO!

To this day, there is a path etched into the world, left for us by Jesus choice to fulfill his fathers plan. I simply cannot top this, even if I were to fulfill Willy Wonka’s dream of the Gobstopper to feed the world. It would be kind of cool, though…