Random Daily Prompt: I Got Skills

Daily Prompt: I Got Skills.

If you could choose to be a master (or mistress) of any skill in the world, which skill would you pick?

I had to think about this one for awhile.  Writing is the obvious answer, but for this prompt I decided to go for something more interesting.

I would LOVE to master the art of motherhood.  Yes, I am a mother and I try, but there are times when I honestly think I am doing it wrong.  I have friends who are Super Moms.  It seems they do everything.  Their children know seven languages, are little dancers or athletes, are extremely well mannered, and their houses are always clean.  Always.

I’m lucky if I can get The Boy dressed and to school on time and in one piece.  I have to call my mother often for advise, and my house is far from pristine.   When I was young I dreamed of being one of those housewives I saw on TV.  Donna Reed here I come!  I thought.   Nope.  Donna Reed I am not.

So that’s it.  I would love to master the art of motherhood.

 

Random Writing Challenge: the Devil is in the Details

Each detail is like the stroke of a brush on blank canvas, filling in detail and completing the picture in the reader’s mind.Your challenge this week is to practice your powers of observation. Take any person, place, or event, and write three paragraphs describing your subject in great detail.

via Writing Challenge: the Devil is in the Details.

The yellow glow from the fireflies flickered in and out in the late August heat, the sunlight fading into dusk.  In the front yard of an old southern mansion, under an old weeping willow, a small boy sat pushing a red truck around him in a circle.  His mother hadn’t yet called him in for dinner, so outside he stayed, pushing his red truck.

The fading light of the afternoon sun shone on his auburn hair, picking up the faintest flecks of gold.   The humidity of the Louisiana summer seemed to have no visible effect on him.  His white shirt was clean and pressed, his black pants seemed not to bother him, despite the oppressive heat.  His feet were bare, the only sign that he was aware of the weather.

On a path near the old southern mansion a woman stood, staring at the young boy with his red truck.  She saw the boy clearly, though she did not see any shoes sitting in the soft, green, manicured lawn.  She listened and did not hear any noise coming from the boy.  It was beginning to get dark so she decided to remind the boy that his mother probably wanted him inside for dinner.  Her heart froze in her chest when she approached the boy and he simply vanished in front of her eyes.

Random Daily Prompt: Sweet Sixteen

Daily Prompt: Sweet Sixteen.

What did I think my life would look like when I was 16?

Well, I thought I would be married, living in a quaint little house, with children, and a fulfilling career.  Now at that time I thought I would be married to my high school sweetheart.  I thought that my best friend and I would still be close as ever, and I imagined that I would still be living in my hometown.

My life now:  At the age of 31 I am indeed happily married (although not to my high school sweetheart) I have one child (whom I had to conceive using fertility methods…didn’t see that one coming) I do have a career as a teacher, but as I have mentioned in previous posts I am quitting that job to pursue my dream of writing.  I do live in a quaint little house, but I no longer live in my hometown.   My best friend ended up married to my high school sweetheart…so needless to say that friendship ended.

All in all I am very pleased with the way my life has turned out. I have a loving family, a house, a job, a dream, and new friends.  I would not have changed any path I have taken

Completely Random Move Review “Young Adult”

Warning: Spoilers

Occasionally I like to watch random movies that I have never heard of.  Yesterday I was in one of those moods, so I randomly selected a movie from Netflix, and what popped up was the move “Young Adult”  starring Charlize Theron.

I was immediately intrigued by this movie because it begins with Mavis (played by Ms. Theron) going through a morning routine. My husband and I were laughing because it was almost identical to what I do in the mornings.  Then we discover that Mavis is a writer, a ghost writer actually, of a series of Young Adult books that are extremely popular.  As she reads her e-mail we can see that the series is ending and she is writing the last book.  Also within her e-mail is a baby announcement sent from her ex-boyfriend in her home town.  She is obviously disturbed by this announcement and prints the picture of the baby.

After some thought, a talk with a random friend who is only in the one scene of the movie, and a one-night stand, Mavis decides to pack up and drive back to her hometown of Mercury, Minnesota. When she arrives she calls her ex…his name is buddy…tells him that she is in town for a “real-estate thing” and invites him to have a drink, which he accepts, but tells her he can’t meet her until the following day.

She ends up at a bar and sits next to a man named Matt who was someone she went to high school with.  His name is Matt and he walks with a cane and a limp because in high school he was the victim of a hate crime because the jocks at the school thought he was gay.  It left him permanently scarred.  They get into a conversation and after a couple of rounds of drinks, Mavis tells Matt that she is there to hook back up with her ex (Buddy).  Matt tells her that Buddy is happily married with a baby, and Mavis tells him that she doesn’t care because she and Buddy were meant to be together.

The following day she meets up with Buddy at a local restaurant and they have a kind of awkward conversation.  Buddy then asks Mavis to join him the following night to a bar to watch his wife perform in a rock band made up of local mothers.  She agrees.

The day they meet up at the bar, Mavis is dressed very provocatively.  The band begins (and they are really bad) and Mavis spends a good deal of the night flirting shamelessly with Buddy and drinking.  Matt is also there and warns her to back off.  At the end of the evening Buddy’s wife says she is going out with the band for awhile, so Buddy takes Mavis home. They are both drunk, and the evening ends with them kissing.

In the following days Mavis confides in Matt, telling him about the kiss, and abut her plan to get Buddy back.  Her plan simply consists of her dressing like a slut and flirting, all the while implying that the baby isn’t even Buddy’s.

Then she receives a phone call from Buddy asking her attend his baby’s “naming ceremony”.  She decides this would be a perfect time for her to profess her love, so she goes to a spa, gets a full treatment, buys a new outfit, and brings a gift for the baby.  When she arrives at the party she asks Buddy if she can speak to him privately.  He reluctantly says yes, and when she has him alone she confesses her love, and tries to kiss him again.  He pushes her away, tells her that she is pathetic,and asks her to leave.  She doesn’t leave.  What she does do is get drunk and scream at Buddy’s wife.  It is at this point that we learn that when Mavis was 20, she was pregnant with Buddy’s baby.  She lost the baby at 12 weeks, and exclaims that Beth (Buddy’s wife) is leading the life that should belong to Mavis.  Everyone at the party is stunned into silence, and Mavis storms away.

She ends up at Matt’s house.  She tells him what happen, and she and Matt end up sleeping together, but the next morning she decides that it is time to start her life over and drives back to her home in Minneapolis.  The movie ends rather abruptly, but with the implication that Mavis is ready to move on from being a “young adult” to a woman.

I liked that the movie wasn’t all that predictable.  I really thought that at some point there would be another love interest that comes along…and Matt does not count as a love interest.

This critic gives this random movie a solid 3.5 stars

Random Thought #8 sick children

So my 5 year old is sick, poor baby.  He spent last night throwing up because he was coughing so hard.  I took him to the doctor this morning.  I tried to get the doctor to give him something to ease his cough.  Nope.  They wont do it.  Absolutely nothing…it is too dangerous (thank you parents who have over medicated their children) Personally I think this is ridiculous.  There are many meds my doctor gave me when I was young, and I turned out just fine.

Random thought #7 back to it

Wow what an exhausting break.  4 trips to the emergency room.  I thought I was dying.  Of course now I feel fine and I have to go back to work tomorrow.  It is bittersweet for me since this is my final semester teaching.  I officially resigned effective in May.  This semeater is going to be a good one.  I need some good memories.  Then the next chapter in my life will begin.  After months of praying, I know this is the right move for me.  I wish I could streach today out forever.  Im enjoying the relaxing time with The Boy and my hubby.  I am often asked what my new years resolutions are.  This year I simply have two.  Drink more water….and stay out of the emergency room.  I ended the year at the ER but was out before midnight so I have a clean slate.  I am the worst water drinker in the world, but so far I have been downing a half gallon a day.  And you know what? I feel better.  I really do.  This year I want to become more healthy.  Unfortunately that means giving up my job,  which is the central core of my stress.  Lets hope that this, my last semester, is a great one with wonderful memories.