It will be a busy November

I have just committed to something I have never done before. I am a procrastinator for sure. For years I have put off writing seriously. I have started many writing projects from children's books, short stories to novels, both fictional and non-fiction, and have them scattered about in notebooks, on different computers, and some just in my mind. Did you notice the word "started" above? That is a big problem for me. I start writing something with a flourish, get interrupted or run out of time, put it away, and don't go back to it.

So this week, I signed up for the challenge to write 50,000 words in the month of November with the National Novel Writing Month organization. From what I understand, I have made a commitment to write a novel about anything of my choice and try to write 50,000 words in the  month of November.




http://www.nanowrimo.org


At this point I have no idea what I will write about. I have no outline, specific idea, genre, or character in mind. I may take ideas from some of the things I have previously started and mold them into something significant but I believe one of the rules is to start fresh. At this point, I plan to let my muse guide me, and to me that muse is God. With His guidance giving me the ideas and words, and my trust that he will get me to the 50,000 word mark by November 30, this should be a great experience.

So if my blogs are short or far and few between in November, please know that I am still sitting at my computer, but not blogging. If I neglect reading my favorite blogs or commenting on them, please forgive me for these 30 days. I will try to post occasionally with a word count. Any encouragement you can give me will be greatly appreciated.

Do you have any ideas for a great novel? Let me know or give me some ideas to throw around in the next four days. I am allowed to outline my ideas prior to November 1.

Thanks for following and commenting on my blogs.

Shopping online and true life story (not mine)

Buying used items is popular, especially in this economy. Families find great bargains on furniture, clothes, toys, household furnishings, tools, car parts, camping equipment, and lots more. These items can be found at garage or household sales, trunk and treasure sales, second hand shops, Goodwill stores, and also many sites online such as Craig’s List.

When buying at a garage sale or thrift store you have a good idea of what you are getting because you can see the item, check to make sure all parts are there, and whether the items stills functions as it should.

Buying an item online, say from Craig’s List, can be a different ballgame.  Reading a glowing description of a seller’s personal item can be quite different than what you had in mind. The seller’s interpretation of what is “beautiful, hardly used, in great condition” may not always be the same as what you picture that item to look like.

Let’s take a case of a happy, carefree couple, trying to save a few dollars so they can put it in their sons’ college education savings. Lucy (short for Lucille) scans Craig’s List for a couch. She doesn’t want to pay a lot of money, knows the size she needs, and has an idea of what she is looking for.

She comes across an ad that says, “For sale. Plush, cushy couch; great condition. Tan fabric. Sink down into soft comfortable cushions. Grab a beer, watch the football game with your buddies and relax.”

“Oh look, Ricky,” she exclaims as she points to the computer screen.

“What is it Lucy?” he asks. “I’m trying to watch football.”

“I know. I know. You’re gonna’ love this Ricky. Just take a minute and look at this ad on Craig’s List. It says this couch is made just for you. You will be so comfortable on this couch and it will fit right into our décor. We don’t have to move any furniture around or anything. We will just switch out your old recliner, move this table over there, put my rocker over here, and it will fit right there in front of the t.v.”

“Lucy,” Ricky says, “you just said we don’t have to move any furniture for this to fit.”

“Well….maybe just a little but it is perfect for you Ricky. I want to get this for you. I love you Ricky.”

“Lucy, let me watch the football game. I’ll think about it.”

“Oh  Ricky, thank you! I knew you would like it too!”

“I didn’t say I like it Lucy. I said I want to watch the football game.”

“Okay, Ricky. You just go ahead and watch the game and I won’t bother you anymore.”

Lucy continues scanning through the list of couches and comes across another one. She likes the description but is not sold on it like she was the first one. She writes down the information and the address as a backup.

While Ricky enjoys the game, Lucy gets on the phone and makes arrangements to meet with the owner of the first couch. Although it is in Pittsburgh, PA and Lucy and Ricky live in Struthers, Ohio, she is determined that this is the couch for them.

She then lines up a U-Haul truck, sure she will be bringing home this baby for Ricky. All the arrangements are made for an hour or more trip to Pittsburgh the following weekend. On Saturday, Ricky and Lucy go to the U-Haul rental place, put down a deposit, sign all the paperwork, and drive off. Lucy can’t contain herself. She is going to get a great couch for Ricky. They have a nice drive toward Pittsburgh. Once getting into Pittsburgh, they realize that the address of the couch owner happens to be on one of the busiest streets in Pittsburgh. If you have ever driven in Pittsburgh, you know it is not easy to get around that city without getting lost. Finally, they come upon the correct address.

“Lucy, I don’t know about this place,” Ricky says. “This doesn’t look so great to me.”

“Oh come on Ricky, don’t be a spoilsport. Let’s go see the couch. I’ll bet it is a great one. You know we couldn’t get the same thing in a store for this price.”

They climb up the steps to the porch, having parked the U-Haul in the street and hoping not to get a ticket. The owner opens the door as soon as they get on the porch before they even knock.

“Hi there!” Lucy says with a big grin on her face. “We’re here to buy the couch you had on Craig’s list.”

“It’s right there ma’am,” he says as he points to a couch that had been sitting on the porch for quite a while.

“Oh. That’s it? Ummm….what is this between the cushions? Pretzels? Cookies? Oh here’s some smashed chocolate,” Lucy sighs. “How long has this been on the porch?”

“I don’t know, maybe a year or two. Sit down, try it out. You’re gonna’ love this couch. It is so comfortable. We bring the t.v. out here on the porch, and all the guys in the neighborhood come over and plop down with their beers and snacks and watch the game. Go Steelers!” He lets out a loud burp as Lucy looks at Ricky who is shaking his head no.

“Well thank you very much sir for letting us see your couch. We have one more to look at before we make our decision,” Lucy explains.

Ricky takes hold of Lucy’s arm and guides her quickly to the car. “Well, nice and comfy, will fit right into our décor will it?”

“Oh Ricky. I was just trying to do something really nice for you. You work so hard and deserve only the best. I can’t afford to buy you a new couch so I thought this would be the perfect one for you,” she says almost crying.

“Well this is not the one for me that is for sure.”

“Ricky, if you don’t mind driving a little farther in this U-haul that is getting less than 10 mpg, I have a backup couch to look at.”

The day is long over and Ricky drives the U-Haul back to Struthers, Ohio while Lucy sits sleepily beside him. “You know Lucy, we wasted a whole day, paid for the rental of this U-Haul and the gas, and we still don’t have a new couch.”

“I know Ricky and I am so sorry about that. But don’t forget about the time I did get us a commercial size bounce around for the boys from Craig’s List.”

“Yes, Lucy, I do remember that. We picked it up and it didn’t have the inflator.”

“That’s right Ricky, it didn’t. But I found us one didn’t I? And it was on Craig’s List too.”

“Yes, Lucy, it was. We drove from Struthers, Ohio to Cleveland to pick it up and then you wanted to make sure the bounce around didn’t have any holes in it before you paid for the inflator. So the nice guy let us use the inflator to blow up the bounce around in his warehouse.”

“That’s right Ricky! Wasn’t that nice of him? Imagine if we would have bought the inflator and it didn’t work? We would have spent money on something bad.”

“Oh that was very nice of him for sure Lucy. But he didn’t like it when all those bugs crawled out of the folded up bounce around as it was inflating. Do you remember how we had to clean his warehouse afterward?”

“Oh Ricky. I know. It was my fault. But look, the boys have a nice bounce around in the back yard now.”

“Yes they do Lucy, and they love it. You are a good mother and wife. I know you meant well today. We had a day out together without the boys and got to see beautiful Pittsburgh.”

“Go Steelers!” Lucy exclaims.

Turned out to be a very nice weekend after all

We had a busy but very nice weekend. Friday, after work, Ken picked up one of the A-team, Andrew, who decided he wanted to spend the whole weekend with us. That in itself was a great thing!

We packed up our gear for the weekend, headed to the campground, and unloaded in a hurry. We had three other couples at the campground waiting for our arrival so we could all go out to eat. We went to the Circle Restaurant in Deerfield, Ohio for all you can eat fish dinners. This restaurant offers a wide variety of home cooked food and usually has good service. They make a pancake that won’t even fit on the plate and Andrew decided he could eat it all. He didn’t but if he hadn’t eaten some of my fries, I think he would have made a big dent in it.

It was cold when we got back to camp so we went inside. Andrew and I read some scary stories and watched part of a wrestling video. It wasn’t long before he was falling asleep so we made up his bed and tucked him in.

  Saturday, Andrew and I rode our bikes on the gravel roads which is nearly impossible for this old body of mine. We went to the playground for a while. No matter how old I am, the kid in me comes out when I am near a swing and it makes no difference who might be around or see me, I will still get on and swing high into the sky.

Andrew helped Paco blow some leaves because the weather was great-a slightly cool day but fairly sunny most of the day.

After his arms got tired, he switched off and gave Paco a turn with the blower.

We took a golf cart ride up to the lake and let Sugar and Andrew run around. It seems that no matter where Andrew goes, Sugar is attached to him. Those two really like each other. Andrew told me when he left, “Be sure to give Sugar lots of loving.” She slept with him most of the night for two nights

.

I cooked Cincinnati Chili throughout the day Saturday and we had two couples come over for hot dogs with sauce, cheese and onions. One of the couples brought some macaroni and cheese with them so we had a complete meal. We sat by the fire for quite some time exchanging stories. The night let up with laughter when Randy decided to mention “The Frog Monster.”

We got up Sunday and Andrew and I went to the Arcade to spend some money. He is quite a race car driver but there is no way I would ever ride in it with him. Parts of his car were falling off all over the track but he finished in the top five I believe.

We then packed up his gear and went to meet his family at a benefit dinner for Kevin. We were amazed at how many people were there even though the doors had just opened. When we left there was a long line of people still waiting to eat. They had about 80 baskets for the Chinese auction and the event was well planned. I hope they raised a good sum of money for Kevin and Jen and their daughters because both will be off work at least throughout the rest of the year. Jen is on family leave to be able to take Kevin to his rehab treatments and doctor appointments.

Ken is now watching the football game and when it is over, I plan to invite him to go on a walk. It is a beautiful sunny day and with the brightly colored leaves it just gorgeous, too beautiful to spend inside for sure.

How was your weekend? Did you get to spend it with family or friends?

Important Memo

From:   Proud Grandmother:

To:     Anyone who will listen

Re:      Grandson, Aaron

Please let it be known, that Aaron McCullough, oldest twin and brother to two, age 11 years, has won a distinctive award.

Aaron has earned the Student of the Month at Struthers Middle School for the fifth grade.

I couldn’t be prouder of him. He has worked very hard this year to get excellent grades,  has shown respect and great manners, made many friends of both students and teachers, and heartily deserves this award.

As part of the reward, he will get a pizza party at 12:00 on October 30, 2012. Look out Aaron, because me and Paco plan to crash that party. We want to celebrate this occasion too.

Good job Aaron. I love you.

Giving and Needing

There is a woman named Jen. She is a daughter, sister, wife, and mother of two precious girls. She works full time, cares for her home, her children and her husband. That doesn’t sound so unusual. What is unusual is that this woman keeps going and going like the Energizer Bunny. Not so much by choice, but out of necessity.

About a month ago, the love of Jen’s life, Kevin, suffered a stroke. What made it even worse was the fact that when it happened Jen was not home, not even in town. You see, this woman was visiting a terminally ill friend in Illinois and had left her daughters home with her husband.

The girls woke up around 8:30 am on a Tuesday morning and realized they were late for school. Ashlynn, 10, woke her sister, Danica, 6, and went to see why her dad had not gotten them up for school. What she found astounded her.

There in bed was her father, trying to converse with her, and unable to get up. Ashlynn quickly called her mom’s cell to tell her what happened. The conversation went something like this.

“Mom. Dad didn’t wake us up for school and we are late. He is in bed and he’s talking but it doesn’t make sense. He can’t get out of bed.”

“Hang up and call 911 right now!”  Jen said. That was the start of what Jen hoped was only a nightmare.

Today I had the joy of helping Jen and it felt wonderful.

 The other side of the coin isn’t as nice. Being the person in need of help and asking for or accepting that help is not easy. I wonder why that is? People offer, we hear them, we know they mean it, but it so difficult to say those words, “I need help.”

Finally, after many offers, Jen, my daughter-in-law’s sister, gave in and let me help. For me it was a joyous occasion because she wanted me to meet her daughters when they got off the bus and stay with them until she got home. Definitely not a big deal to me since I love kids, think her girls are darling, and knew I would truly enjoy spending time with them.

I arrived a few minutes before their scheduled bus arrival and waited in the driveway. About five minutes before the bus arrived, Jen called to tell me that Danica, 6, had missed the bus. I would only be greeting Ashlynn, 10, when she got home from school.

I was definitely disappointed that I wouldn’t get that time with Danica too but my time with Ashlynn was an eye opener. I am used to boys, three rambunctious busy boys, all wanting to talk to me at once.

Ashlynn is almost an opposite (at least this experience with her was that way.) She used her key to let us into her home, put her book bag down, took off her coat and went to the kitchen to make herself a snack. I got a kick out of watching her methodical motions as she searched the cupboards for what caught her eye.

She pulled out a bag of microwave popcorn and told me she was going to make it. Having not been around her that often, I wasn’t sure of her abilities but assumed she knew what she was doing. Her long thin fingers pulled the cellophane wrapper away from the bag of popcorn. She laid it on the counter. She read the instructions on the popcorn bag and put it in the microwave. After pushing some buttons she told me she wasn’t really sure what numbers to push on the microwave but she found the popcorn symbol and pushed that. Hoorah Ashlynn! You figured that out on your own.

Ashlynn’s calm demeanor is such a change from my house and my grandsons. It seems we are always in a hurry, cutting corners to get things done quicker. Not Ashlynn. When the microwave was almost done, she opened the door, peered in at the bag and then lifted it out onto the counter. She let it sit there for a couple minutes then meticulously picked at the bag until she got it opened. Once open, she put some popcorn in a bowl, closed the bag, and then picked up the cellophane wrapper to put it in the wastebasket.

We decided that we would watch a movie together. Ashlynn, put the video in and got the television set up (thank goodness she knew how because I sure don’t!) The t.v. volume was so low that I could barely hear any sound. She sat there quietly watching and munching on popcorn. The amazing part of this was that she had the patience and attention to sit and watch all the previews of other movies. No way! Yeah way, she did. All of them.  At my house, we fast forward through them.

In comes Danica with her mom a while later. Now this is what I am used to. A kid who can’t sit on the couch but lays, squirms, or is upside down. This pretty cherubic face doesn’t fit the motions of the active, squirming body.

When we asked her about missing the bus, she let us know in no uncertain terms that this was her “first time” ever missing the bus. Jen and I both said, “I hope it is the last time.” In her defense she explained to us emphatically that last year at least five kids missed the bus. Oh, okay, no big deal then Danica, you only missed it once and out of the whole school last year, five kids missed it.

She is just so darn cute. The eye and face expressions she gave her mother were comical. I had to hide my face so she didn’t see me chuckling. She reminds me so much of Austin, who has “big eyes” like hers. And like, Austin, she could worm into my heart and have her own way without me ever knowing it.

I am blessed with three beautiful, perfect grandsons who light up my life, brighten each day that I get to see them, and make all my worries or bad moods disappear when I am around them.  Since I don't have any granddaughters, being around these two charming girls this afternoon was a delight. Danica is almost a replica of my daughter-in-law, Marissa, and I couldn’t help staring at her and seeing Marissa as a child.

Now that the door is open, I hope Jen will not hesitate to ask us for help again.