The mall will be closing in 15 minutes.

Did you know the mall closes at 6pm on Sunday?

I was attending a meet & greet for NaNoWriMo at the Barnes & Noble when they made an announcement that the mall entrance would be closing soon.
“This store isn’t closing?” I wondered.  We were scheduled to meet until 7pm.
“Just the rest of the mall,” the woman leading the group confirmed.

I haven’t had to worry about what time the mall closes for over 20 years.  Once, when I was in high school, we had been dropped off by parent at the mall, with the promise of being picked up by said parent, or the other parties parent, at a specified time, like 7pm.  We hung out in Sears, when they still sold CDs.  Maybe the anchor store was still open but the mall wasn’t.  Either way, we were eventually kicked out of Sears when it closed, and our ride was still an hour away.  This was before cell phones, and I guess we figured we’d just kill time until we were picked up.  The mall is about 6 miles from our houses, so walking was not considered.

We did, however, walk across the street to a jr. high.  A window might have been open/left unlocked, and the guys we were with, may have entered.  Not sure they did anything, plus I’m sure the statue of limitations has expired.  And, I honestly don’t remember who we with.

The story gets hazy now. I assume we walked back to the mall, or maybe we found a payphone at a business that was open and rescheduled our pick up.  But I haven’t given much thought to this event until I heard that recording, “the mall will close in 15 minutes.”

And I didn’t have time to get my pretzel.

 

My Favorite Podcast and Audiobooks

This June, I’m following the #winkwell calendar.  June 12 is to “Listen to your favorite podcast or audiobook.”  I have so many favorites I decided to write a whole blog post of the top 5 and why.

Podcasts  (all available on iTunes)

1. Criminal Broads

Hosted by author Tori Telfer, whom I met at Murder and Mayhem Chicago, each roughly half an hour show is dedicated to a “wild woman on the wrong side of the law.”  I always learn something.  Top on my list because its fairly new and I’m still listening.  Along these lines, I’m waiting for my Facebook friend and Spam-a-lot costar Dani Mazick’s true crime podcast to start in the fall.

2. Old Time Radio Dragnet hosted by Adam Graham

When I was 10 years old, my favorite TV show was Dragnet, thanks to Nick @ Nite. The host give a little info about the show, or Jack Webb beforehand.  Special episodes include one without sound effects, or a live

3. The Dork Forest with Jackie Kashian

I first found stand up comedian Jackie Kashian on Last Comic Standing.  I pick and choose the episodes I listen to based on the guest or the topic.  I was able to share the Bill Willingham one with my husband.  Bill talks about planning Fablescon, which my husband, his brother and 2 friends attended. The podcast started in 2006, we are a little late to the party.

4. Shake the Earth

Hosted by Wink Naturals CEO, Danny Villarreal, each episode has an inspirational business leader to empower others.  I just found out some of these are also on YouTube.

5. Here’s Your Freaking Podcast

Local morning DJs, Jason Lee and Kluck, have a podcast where they can talk about stuff that is NSFR (not suitable for radio).  Its nice to hear without the interruption of music and commercials, like on the morning drive.

 

 

 

Audiobooks:  I used to have a car with a CD player that worked, so I had a lot more options when it came to audiobooks.  Now I rely on what I can get digitally from the library.

1. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

I’m only 3 books in.  Jim Dale does an amazing job giving everyone a distinct voice.

2. As You Wish As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes

Read not only by the author, but also Rob Reiner, Robin Wright, Billy Crystal and Carol Kane read their portions. These behind the scenes stories really told you more about the people making the movie and less about the movie itself. The best part was Cary Elwes’ impression of Rob Reiner.

3. The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York by Deborah Blum

Its like the history of CSI. This covers similar books about cholera outbreak, and The Radium Girls. Books with scientific words are better listened too, otherwise, I may have seen it as a textbook.

4. Odd Thomas series by Dean Koontz

Out of the 7 books in the series, I listened to 6.  The one I read (#2) I felt took a long time to get where it was going.  By the end, David Barker was the voice of Odd Thomas.

5. The Pleasure of My Company by Steve Martin

Yeah, wild and crazy guy Steve Martin.  This was my first audiobook and it was a good choice. I always enjoy books read by their author, especially since this one is an actor, he did more than just read.

 

Family Visits Mesa

My husband’s company sent him to a satellite office outside of Phoenix.  We decided that myself and our 3 y.o. son would tag along, because my husband’s grandmother lives in Mesa, AZ.  We had last visited her 2 years ago when our son was only 18 months.

We flew Allegiant, direct from South Bend to Mesa.  On this flight, there were no medical emergencies or loose pets.  At the airport, we rented a car, since grandma had given hers up in lieu of a motorized scooter.

A family member who lives in the area loaned us a double stroller (they have twins), and we rented a car seat from the car rental place (Enterprise) for $30 extra.  Such a benefit instead of having to bring either of those items on the airplane/to the airport.  My parents dropped us off at the airport, but once we got there, and on our way home, we had no extra hands for large equipment.

The first day I planned to go to Uptown Jungle, located literally across the street from Grandma’s development. Loaded up in the double stroller, we jaywalked, even though grandma has cautioned against it.  Once there, the double stroller, even folded up, caused a problem as to where to put it.  Uptown Jungle has trampolines, tubes and slides.  A climbing wall he was too small for, and a toddler area he was too big for, even though it said 5 and under.  It costs $12 for 2 hours for me, a child and a pair of child grip socks.

Oh, and everywhere we went had a field trip.  Even though 10am-1pm was advertised at toddler time, there was a jr. high field trip.  Honestly, the older kids didn’t bother us much, but I heard other parents complain when the place shut down one of the trampoline courts (for like 10 minutes) so the big kids could play dodgeball.  My kid didn’t even notice.  In fact, his favorite part was shooting foam balls out of an air cannon.

After our time was up, we headed to lunch.  He wanted McDonald’s, but that was 2 blocks away and I could see the Burger King.  $10 for lunch.  After a quick trip to the grocery store for fruit cups, Pediasure, and Chex Mix, he fell asleep in the stroller on the walk back home.

While he napped, I first took a shower, because the temps were in the 90s and all that walking made me sweaty.  Then I sat on the couch with grandma while she asked questions about my job.  When naptime was over, it was still 2-3 hours before dad would be home/dinner would be served.  These hours were the worst.  We only brought a handful of toys and 5 books.  He found the markers from grandma’s Mexican train domino set and lined those up.  We walked to get grandma’s mail from the clubhouse, but the clubhouse/pool was closed for air conditioner maintenance.  It was too hot to walk anywhere further.  When my poor husband came home after a bad day (the equipment he was supposed to install hadn’t even arrived yet), I told him I needed a break.

What I actually did, after grandma made us Schwan’s enchiladas, was rent my own car, using my brother in law’s corporate discount.  The total came to $75 and since it was Enterprise, I should have had them pick me up, but I think its too hard to explain how to get into grandma’s development.

So the next morning, my husband leaves for work early.  Just before the rental car office opens, I leave lil B with Great Grandma so I can walk to get the rental car.  Its farther than I realize, but I got some good Pokemon Go in. (Side note: Any trainers out there wanna be friends?  8085 1399 8485.)  When I get there, I have a wait a little bit while she helps a current customer, but I could use the air conditioning.  Driving home went much faster.

Loaded up to downtown Mesa for the i.d.e.a. museum.  We spent $18 on admission at 11am and we could have stayed all day (until 4pm).  Again, a field trip, where I felt every student had a chaperone, took over the main museum, so we started in the ArtVille area for the under 4 crowd.  Different stations for growing food, kitchen, blocks, books, doctor, music, etc.  We spent 2 hours here. He loves fake food.  Considering getting him a kitchen for Christmas.

Now that the big kids are gone, we head to the museum side.  He looked at bugs,

dressed up like a a construction worker (we sent this one to grandpa),

made a path out of tubes, spelled on a big screen, etc.

Now I’m looking for lunch.  Nothing in downtown Mesa seems like it is somewhere we would eat, that isn’t straight up fast food.  I find a fancy mall with a Panera and Chipolte.  The car is so hot we have to wait for the A/C to cool it down.  Wiped out from playing for 3 hours, he falls asleep in the car.  I have to wake him eat at the Wildflower Bread Co.

Even though it is 90 degrees out, I decide to have a bowl of soup and a sandwich with avocado, and to a grilled cheese kids meal. Its after 3 when we leave lunch, and I expect him to fall back asleep, but apparently not, even when he got quiet and I drove around the block a few extra times, but he eventually piped up, “Where are you going?”  

There is less downtime that day, so grandma decides to order pizza, which arrives about the same time as my husband.  B eats 2 pieces of pizza despite just having lunch a couple of hours ago.  I think this was the night he asked to go to bed early.

When we were at the airport, a lady sitting near us told us about the OdySea Aquarium.  The news was covering a new exhibit there, so I started poking around on my phone.  Ticket prices for me and 3 y.o. =$60.  We have a zoo membership in South Bend, so I looked at the reciprocal list.  That aquarium wasn’t listed, but SEA LIFE Arizona Aquarium was.   And turns out there is a Legoland located in the same mall.  Bought my Legoland tickets in advance and even found a coupon code for a free child.  Since I had to show my zoo membership card, I had to wait to buy those tickets in person.  Technically, these are located in Tempe, which was still only a half an hour drive.

SEA LIFE tickets, with our 50% discount plus a Ranger Pack (badge, laynard, info deck etc.) was $30.  Online, that would cost you $40.  Walkup, $50.

We spent a lot of time by the sting rays.  An employee was giving an informational talk.  You could see the rays from 3 angles; through the tank, upstairs and look down, or children could crawl in a bubble and see eye to eye with the animal.

You couldn’t touch them like we have in other places.  But we did get to touch in the tide pool and at a certain time, we saw the tortoise out of its enclosure.

Another cool option was an outside water table where you could race little plastic fish.  We could have spent more time out there, if not for the heat.

Part of the Ranger Pack was a card to “punch” at different exhibits through the museum.  You were supposed to be able to turn it in for a prize, but I lost the tickets at lunch so we didn’t got back.

Speaking of lunch, the mall also had a Rainforest Cafe.  We were on vacation and this was a splurge.  It was only 11am, so the restaurant had just opened and we got prime seats closest to the elephants.

He knew they weren’t real, but still enjoyed when they stomped, or wiggled their ears, or tooted.  He really liked the on the hour thunderstorm where all the animals.  Here I spent $35 for him to eat about half a little hamburger and most of his fruit.  I had a wrap that tasted really good at first, but the flavor didn’t stick around.

Our appointment (yes, you have to pick at time on your ticket, but the aquarium people told me they aren’t super picky.  it was also a Thursday.) was for 1pm, so we were right on time.  First you watch a video, then funneled into another room where you watch another, although interactive, video.  I’m sure this is for busy times so there isn’t a rush of people.

The first thing we encountered was the Quest ride. You ride around in a little jeep-like truck and can shoot at screens and stuff on the wall. We actually came back and rode this 2 more times.  Then there was a room with a Lego displays.  Some were interactive, like the rock band, you could push a different instrument button and it would play.  But the big room had all different zones to play with Legos.  There was a life size plastic Lego guy and even one in costume.  There was another ride that he was too small for, like hang gliders at the fair.  Big blocks, little blocks, girl blocks, dinosaurs, earthquakes, a playground.  Again, there was a field trip, and while they had taken over the Duplo area, they didn’t bother him at the earthquake table.  One kid even tried to show him how to turn it on.

I found a coupon code for a free child’s admission.  Even at lunch, the menu had the code: RESTAURANT.  $32.38 for both of us.

I’m pretty sure he fell asleep in the car this time.  We had a busy day.  That night for dinner, Grandma made hamburger helper for the first time ever.  We were also able to visit the pool that night.  The child originally said he didn’t want to put on his bathing suit, so he was going to sit and watch, but got jealous and wanted in.  We let him get in with just his clothes on.  We were the only ones there since it was past the heat of the day.

Our last morning we washed the sheets and towels.  The plane didn’t leave until 2pm.  We returned my rental car down the street, loaded up the rental car back to the airport.  My husband waited until we were closer to the airport to fill up the gas tank, and then we couldn’t find one.  There were chain restaurants and stores at all four corners of the intersection, but the gas station is behind the Wal-Mart.  I think the car rental places remonstrate anytime there is a zoning change for a gas station.  The plane was delayed about an hour.    Others on Allegiant but to a different city were so delayed they got free cans of pop.  You have to be at the airport 2 hours ahead of time, but your plane doesn’t.

Overall it was a cheap trip since lodging was free, airfare was paid for by my husband’s employer, and we got deals on our entertainment.

Song Stuck in Your Head

Co-worker: I have “Freeze Frame” stuck in my head.  I heard it on the way into work.

Me: J. Geils Band?

Co-worker: Yeah.

Me: I have “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” stuck in my head.

Co-worker: Is that Jimmy Buffet?

Me: Him and some country person.  Travis Tritt?  No, Toby Keith.

Co-worker: What’s Jimmy Buffet doing these days?

Me: Doesn’t he write books?

Co-worker: Does he?

Me: (Googles Jimmy Buffet.)  Aw, he was born on Christmas.  (Reads Wikipedia page.) He’s written 5 books and 2 children’s books.

Co-worker: What are these books about?

Me: (Clicks on each books page.) Short stories, biography.  This one looks to be all fiction.

Co-worker: What about the children’s books?

Me. They don’t have Wikipedia pages. One came with a new song.  You know, Kenny Loggins rewrote the words to “Footloose” to be about a zoo for his grandkids.

Co-worker: Like how?

Me: Oh, I’m sure I can come up with something.  (singing) Oh, hippo, doin the do-si-do.  Something like that.

Co-worker: K.

 

 

Return to High School

What instances of your past would you rewind and redo? Write about the changes you would make and the outcomes you would expect.

 

As my 20^th high school reunion approaches, I wish I would have done high school better.  I have no desire to attend said event, because I feel I still wouldn’t “fit in”.  I was actually surprised to learn I was friend with 16 people who attended high school at the same time I did. I attended Jr. High with 2 of them, and grade school with 7 of them.  But in a class of close to 800 and a school of over 3,000, perhaps more than 0.5% of the population wants to stay friends with me.

I would say I wish I had more friends, or that I had tried harder to stay friends with people after I left the area over 12 years ago, but friendship is a two-way street.

Could I have lost weight in high school to make myself more attractive to others? To which I answer, why would I want friends who look at me on such a superficial level. I have two great friends from college, where I was still fat.  And I was fat when I made most of my adult friends in my new location. As an adult I’ve learned real friends would come get you out of a ditch (or at least bring you gas when you’d run out so many times that even AAA wouldn’t service you again).

I was in honors math and science classes in high school.  A lot of popular people were smart.

Join more clubs.  I actually could make an argument that I would have made more lasting friendships if I had been a joiner.  I was in freshman class council, because another friend of mine wanted to run for office.  I don’t remember what exactly we did.  Senior year, I tried out for and made the speech team, but being a novice as a senior put me in a different category than the kids who had been on the team all four years.  But 3 of my Facebook friends are from speech.

I guess what I’ve learned from this exercise is that I didn’t want to change my high school days, am glad that they are over.  One of my recurring nightmares is being in high school, but I don’t have my schedule/don’t know where to be.  In the dreams, I know I’m an adult and I don’t have to be there.  I am an adult, and I don’t have to go back to high school, and I’m glad to be moving on.

Color Work

I start deep under the chocolate dirt, like fawn roots spreading.  Up and up the mahogany trunk, with weathered bark my color stretches all the way, reaching out with chestnut fingers.  Like the ginger squirrel curled up in his next of cinnamon sticks.  Camouflaged behind twisted branches.  As summer comes, I am hidden by the fresh buds and sunny skies.  I wait for fall, for my resurgence.  As the leaves lose their chlorophyll they display lavish yellows, opalescent oranges and ravishing reds, until I reemerge  as a brilliant bronze, if only for a brief time.  I am the official color of fall.  Brunettes carrying mochas in their auburn boots go for walks along the forest floor, over a blanket of toasted leaves.  Dried up and crunchy, blended into the sandy soil to start the cycle again.  I am brown.

In February, we go to the Chicago Theater to see a comedian.

Around my birthday in 2018, I saw Kathleen Madigan was coming to the Chicago Theater in February.  Spoiled by the previous year’s tickets (to John Mulaney) in the mezzanine boxes, I again bought those seats.  All the tickets were the same price, so why not splurge for the upgrade?  We got a hotel again, located within a couple blocks of Millennium Station and the Chicago Theater, to avoid taking more public transportation.

We start our 24 hour whirlwind by dropping our 3 year old off with his grandparents for a sleepover.  The clock inside the house said 12:15 when we left, but the cars has 12:28 (its only 5 minutes fast).  The train leaves at 1:24.  We still have to stop to pick up food. End up in a crowded commercial area on a Saturday morning.  Lose 20 minutes inside Firehouse Subs.  Should have stuck with freaky fast Jimmy Johns.

So now I’m driving 70mph up 49 behind a semi in the rain.  If we had hit any red lights, we might not have made it.  I dropped my husband off to buy tickets.  Meanwhile I park the car, get all the bags, and run to the station.  There are still plenty of people milling around, not wanting to wait on the platform in the rain.  But we only wait a maximum of five minutes before others start funneling outside.  Did they hear the train?  One guy is taking pictures of the train approaching down the track, so intently that I think he might get hit by the train.

We find seat easily enough, only half a dozen stops before ours.  Almost immediately after getting settled, we are at the next stop picking up more passengers.  Just like at the Grand Canyon movie, they sit right across from us, these two 50 year old leather broads and Bob.  (My original description had them aged 40, but then I realized I’m almost 40.)  They buy their tickets on the train, where i realize there is no penalty for buying your ticket on the train.  Maybe that’s a Metra thing.  At first we thought Bob was married/dating one of the women and the other one was her friend. As they talked, Bob was downgraded to an unfortunate friend that had been talked into an outing.  Like when Kim and I recite 10 Things I Hate About You dialogue. By the end of the ride, we were convinced Bob was purely a chaperone.  During the ride, he called him mom and they had a conversation about how long it would take something to cook.  The two women were reminiscing about how much they could drink.

Once we arrive at Millennium Station, G makes a quick stop at the bathroom.  While I’m waiting, what I’ve determined is a bachelorette/birthday party is also waiting for a friend using the toilets.  One is complaining about a $42 pair of Old Navy pants, so the group advice is to wear them tonight, tuck the tags in, and return them tomorrow.  When the one comes out of the bathroom, they still can’t leave becasue “the other one went to get a pretzel”. They appearnetly weren’t close enough to know each others names.  With 1 1/2 hours to kill before we can check into our hotel, we do a little shopping. First, we cut through Macy’s to a Payless Shoe Source.  Since they announced their closing, I’m on the hunt for a specific pair of boots in my size and color.  Next, we pop into the 2 story Target to get a travel brush, since I never remember to pack one.  But we ended up in the toy section and found a Lego kit to add to our online order. On our way to the comic book store, we detoured into a used record store.  G is convinced this was the record store used in an episode of The Carbanaro Effect.    Our last stop was the Blackhawks Team Store, where my husband got a 1/2 price polo shirt and his picture taken.

At last (only like a mile of walking later) we check in at the hotel.  The rain has picked up, and I’m surprised we can see anything out of our room on the 22nd floor of the Hilton Garden Inn in this fog.  If I leaned up against the window I could see one of the Marina Towers and the dome on the House of Blues.  We relaxed for a couple hours, watching The Avengers on TBS/TNT before changing/getting ready to go back out.

Dinner was at the Broken English Taco Pub.  Its raining hard enough to need an umbrella and after stepping in a puddle, my socks are now wet. At the hostess desk she asks if we have a reservation.  According to the internet (Google Maps) it said you weren’t busy now.  She seats us anyway and I order a $12 cocktail (hey, I don’t have a 3 year old to go home to or drive anywhere) and my husband orders what turns out being a $10 rum and Coke.  But he said it tasted like there was $10 of liquor it in and that some Coke just walked by and fell in.  An order of chips with two kinds of salsa, both good but very different flavors as the appetizer and we both got a plate of (2) tacos.  His shredded chicken in garlic sauce.  Mine chicken thighs and pineapple.  We should have gotten a third and split it because it wasn’t quite enough food.

Arriving at the Chicago Theater a little before the suggested time of 7pm; the show starts at 8pm.   Huddled under the marquee, we watch advertisements for upcoming shows. Van Morrison.  My parents (dad) would love that, but how would we get them to Chicago.  Joe Bonammassa.  The account’s receivable lady at G’s office loves him.  Dream Theater’s 20th Anniversary of Scenes from a Memory.  I have to text a co-worker to see if he’ll be G’s show buddy.  He knows the band, but isn’t interested in seeing that show.  Several other comedians, a Disney acapella show and the Temptations & Four Tops (how many are still alive?).  Finally, we learned there are tours of the iconic sign/theater at noon.

We’re let into the theater probably before they said the doors would open at 7 to get everyone through security.  Since we are early, the concession line is also short.  We get a box of popcorn, a water and a Coke with no rum, $5 each.  Popcorn at live theater? We proceed upstairs and within seconds, the tell us we can take our seats.  We have the front left seats in Box Q.  Each box contains 8 seats and 2 booths at the mezzanine level.

I’ve been a fan of Kathleen Madigan since her “Mexico is a giant dollar store” bit on her Comedy Central Presents episode I saw in college (2001-2002).  I saw her alone in 2011 and in the front row with my husband (then fiance) in 2012.  Its at least 8:10 before the show starts.  Her opening act is named Vic and he’s Southern, reminding me of the Blue Collar comedians.  Out of all of Kathleen’s material, my favorite bit would be titled Fitbit Emergency/Shark Meeting if I was in charge of naming tracks.  A little bit of overlap but plenty of new stuff in the 7 years between shows.  The name of the tour was “Hot Dogs and Angels” and at the end of the show, she threw Portillo’s hot dogs into the audience.

After the show, its straight back to the hotel.  I’m only wearing leggings, and even though the Weather Channel tells me its 42 degrees but feels like 35, I’m still cold.  The rain is now a fine mist, covering everything.  I’m happy to put on my jammies, including dry socks ans snuggle in bed.  But the sheets are so scratchy, I’m reminded of Aziz Ansari’s  thread count bit.  Not a great selection on TV with no new SNL tonight, so we settle on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, featuring Guy “half a hamburger is one bite” Fieri while we eat snacks packed into our luggage.  Even when we turn off the TV and all the lights, the room doesn’t get dark.  You can’t close the curtains all the way and the light pollution of the big city creeps in.  In addition to that and the sheets, our window unit only blows out cold air no matter what you do to the thermostat.  I usually don’t complain much about hotels, and this one was clean, but being able to sleep is one of the reasons we got a hotel in the first place.  Now a sleep mask and Wink Naturals Zen Melts will be essentials in every travel bag.

After lazing in bed for about an hour, we decide we better go get breakfast before we miss our train.  The place I had picked out, Wildberry Pancakes, was way busy.  I did not check online ahead of time.  The next closest breakfast joint was Stan’s Donuts.  G had a peanut butter pocket and I had the beignets because the marshmallow caramel pocket wasn’t available until Tuesday.

This time we arrived at the train station with plenty of time to spare.  Our seatmates on the ride back were 5 Crossfit Grand Rapids girls.  I wasn’t really paying attention to their conversation but they were very animated.

Why I Write

Last year, I was at a science fiction convention, mainly because my husband wanted to see a specific author.  I thought, why isn’t there a convention for stuff I like.  Turns out there is, and I’m attending Murder and Mayhem Chicago on March 23.

Before that, I joined a writer’s group at my local library.  Also through the library, I’ve signed up for Writeriffic: Creativity Training for Writers, an online course.  Finally, I’ve downloaded a couple of podcasts.

The first one, Helping Writers Become Authors is basically some chick reading her blog posts.  Everything is too well crafted.  I’ve listened to 2 and was not impressed. She also tells you what other people do wrong, instead of focusing on what to do right.

I’ve only listened to part of an episode of The Story Studio, but already, its more of a dialogue between two, maybe 3 guys.  Their question yesterday was “do you need to write?”  And if you could’t write, are there other ways you could express yourself creatively.  That really made me think.

My elementary school had the Stinger Press.  Our mascot was a bee.  You could write a book and some parent volunteers, my mother one of them, would bind your books together with a plastic comb.  My first attempt at writing, maybe in 3rd grade, to help raise awareness of this new enhancement of the school, was a Boxcar Children/Wizard of Oz mash-up/fan fiction.  What can I say, I was 8 and those were my favorite books/movie at the time.

Another activity at my elementary school was the Young Author’s contest.  This is where my childhood voice started.  These stories starred me, with a different name, in situations that I wished would happen, like a boy I had a crush on would ask me to a dance, or I made the volleyball team.   I never won, but got honorable mentions for at least participating.  This type of life fan fiction continued into high school, with similar themes.

Now, I’m an adult, trying to write “serious” fiction.  My first attempt at NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month AKA November) was 2010.  I attended write ins and meetings with other local writers.  I really tried to hit the 1,666 words per day, but ended up somewhere in the 30,000 words with my first Planning and Zoning related mystery.

I signed up in 2013 intending to write about how my husband and I met online dating, but only wrote a rough outline.  So this is what I continued with for the library’s writer’s group.  This time, even though I’m calling it fiction, its the true story about how my husband and I met online dating, with other people’s funny stories rolled in.  Names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Now my dilemma is if I should write what I want to write, or write what other people want in order to get published.  My husband says write what I want, because that’s what George R.R. Martin did and he’s doing ok.

 

Onomatopoeia

A writing exercise from writer’s group.

Onomatopoeia: the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named (e.g. cuckoo, sizzle ).

Briiing.  Tammy’s alarm clock woke her out of a sexy dream involving Brad Pitt, chocolate sauce, and….what else?  She groaned as she rolled over and got out of bed.  Her feet hit the floor with a thud, but after putting on her slippers they gently padded to the kitchen.

Crack went the egg on the side of the frying pan.  Bacon sizzled next to it.  Saturday mornings were the best.  She heard a crash and a meow behind her and knew Fluffykins also wanted breakfast.  With the bathroom sink turned on to a trickle of drip, drip, drip every few seconds, the cat was distracted enough to let Tammy put her plate together.  She finished off her breakfast with a cup of coffee.  She lifted the pot before it had finished brewing and the last drop hit the hot plate with a hiss.

Coming to check on his breakfast, Fluffykins swished his tail against the back of Tammy’s legs.  The whir of the electric can open made him stand up on his back paws.

With both of them fed, Tammy sat down to finish her coffee.  Outside her kitchen window she saw birds on the feeder, softly fluttering their wings, a sure sign that spring was on its way.

My Wink Why

What makes me unique?

I am an only child.  I was always loved and knew I was an awesome person.  But I was bullied at school for being overweight.  Then, a medical diagnosis helped me lose almost 50 pounds prior to my 30^th birthday.  I kept it off, through my wedding and even having my first child, until I stopped breastfeeding.
I’m been married for 5 years, we have a 3 year old, and I have a 9-5 job in local government.  I have a lot of hobbies; reading/writing, general crafting, even Zumba, once a week, when nothing else conflicts with it.

 

What is your why for joining Wink Naturals?

I learned about Wink Naturals from my former college roommate.  She was posting about how the products helped her teenage son, and when she posted about it the CEO of the company sent her son a note and a water bottle.  I had an online party through her, but afterwards, decided I wanted to join.  I wanted to get in on the ground level.  When I joined, in May 2018, there were less than 1,000 Venture Members.  Not even a year later, that number has jumped to over 3,000.
After I joined, I started watching the lives by CEO Danny Villarreal, which really motivated me to make a business of this.  Every time they would read a comment I would post, I would get excited, so you can imagine I was ecstatic when they announced my name as one of the Monday movers in January.
My favorite product is the Pure Sleep Chest Rub.  We incorporated it into my 2-year-old son’s bedtime routine.  He calls it “soft kitty” because we sing the song from The Big Bang Theory as we apply.  Twice this winter, with the temperature swings we’ve experienced, I’ve used it in the shower or to help myself sleep. Second is the Immune Support.  It’s something our whole family can use, even if I have to sneak it into my husband and son’s drinks.
I am very excited to share these products with everyone I know because Wink offers natural solutions to common problems.