Perfection

This Fall photo was taken on a wonderful day, out on the trail with the kids, it was actually early October when it was taken. Right now all the leaves are gone, and there is snow on the ground which makes it feel more like Winter. Oh, how I miss those days of Fall.

Another installment for Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop

Thanksgiving Week...What are you thankful for?

Mama Kat's prompts for Thursday's writers workshop:

It’s Thanksgiving time and the show will go on!

1.) Interview your kids…what do they think Thanksgiving is for? What are they thankful for? etc.
2.) Share a photo of what Thanksgiving looks like in your neck of the woods.
3.) Write a poem about the things you are thankful for.
4.) Describe a memorable Thanksgiving.
5.) Forget Thanksgiving, write about that time you fell down.

Today I talk to my son about the upcoming holiday and what he's thankful for.

Mommy's Gone Wild

Wanna know what happens when you meet friends from the bloggy world?

Then again...maybe you don't wanna know what happens when you meet people from the bloggy world.

Another installment of Mama Kat's Writers Workshop

Hot Piece of Ass

I thought my husband married me for my intelligence…or maybe even my cooking. As it turns out I was just a nice piece of ass, and I gave him a nice glimpse of it before our courtship even began. You’ve probably guessed which Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop I am writing about: wardrobe malfunction.

New to the area, I met my husband at a local business mixer. We were both attending to promote our respective businesses; mine a bed and breakfast, and his an outdoor adventure business. I invited him to my house next day so we could talk “packaging” (in reality, there was only one package of his I was really interested in *wink wink*).

In anticipation of his visit I made sure wear a cute, yet understated, outfit. I knew right away what I wanted: St. John’s Bay blue skirt and a simple white tee shirt. I watched in anticipation as the hot adventurer pulled into the drive, and I waited eagerly at the front door for him. I let him in the house and offered a tour. I was so proud of my business venture. I took him through all the rooms of the bed and breakfast; detailing the history of the house, all the while giving him the low-down on me (letting him know in so many words, I was SINGLE!)

Everything went great!! Before he left he offered to be my “personal tour guide,” and I was ecstatic! I ran upstairs to change into my “clean the house clothes.” I passed the full length mirror in my room, and that’s when I caught a glimpse of it…the back of my skirt, where it’s supposed to be zipped, was split. The zipper was compromised and my underwear (blue lace thong) and butt crack were exposed to the world, namely my hot suitor. It’s no wonder he was so giddy his entire visit. It wasn’t because I was witty, beautiful and what-not…it’s because he was trying to hold his laughter in at the sight of my exposed ass.

Lucky me, he made good on his offer as a personal tour guide, and called two days later to ask me to dinner…he moved in two months later, and the rest is history. At one point, I did confront him about the exposed butt snafu of 2006…but still, to this day, he denies that he followed me up the stairs resisting the urge to touch my crack, or that he ever saw any part of my underwear until many weeks later(*wink wink*)…

**Not my actual butt, however this is a close representation of my wardrobe malfunction.

Adventures in NON-babysitting

Writing another Mama Kat's Writers Workshop
I chose:
5.) A memorable babysitting job.

Because I couldn't choose #3, even though I wanted to...I just can't chance it.

I was an awful babysitter. It wasn't that I lacked the desire to babysit, I always wanted my own babysitters club. I would have friends named Claudia, Mallory and Stacey and we'd run a lucrative babysitting business in Connecticut. I just didn't want to actually have to watch kids. Which leads me to my most memorable babysitting story...

My sister worked at McDonalds in high school, her manager was looking for a babysitter. She recommended her younger sister, (me, then 12) as a perfect fit. It was set up that I would watch his 2 kids after school, on weekdays for about 2-3 hours. A nice job, I earned money, and I was cool with that.

I showed up for the first few days of babysitting...and I.was.bored. The kids were annoying, they watched boring cartoons, and I had no interest in spending my afternoons with them. So I slept. What did it hurt? They were watching TV anyway. Well...it didn't turn out to hurt anyone, but myself. Because there was that one day their dad got home early from work(or maybe it was on time), and there I was still asleep on their couch while the kids watched TV.

Needless to say he drove me home that night, and he never picked me up to watch them. EVER. AGAIN! Who can blame him!? I think if I came home to find a babysitter asleep on the kids with my toddler aged kids running around, I would go berserk. I am lucky he was a mellow guy, I am lucky he drove me home.

Where I live....

This post is brought to you by Mama Kat's Writers Workshop...because I am always sucker for a good prompt.

The prompt I chose this week was:

Show us where you live. Not on a map (security please), but take a picture of the view out your front door, back door, or neighborhood.

Instead of showing my neighborhood, (not much of a neighborhood, and I showed a photo of my house in a previous post) I thought I'd show you all the region where I live. I am in LOVE with this region!! It's an absolute dream here, and I wouldn't live anywhere else in the world! I feel pretty strongly about where I live...so let me share with you: its the land of waterfalls, lakes, and wine. It's history is rich, and scenery divine. The nearest metropolitan area is 2 hours away. In fact, we still have farm stands where the honor system is king. Surprisingly, it's still a hidden gem, because if you ask many people if they've heard of where I live they'll tell you "no." I hope you enjoy these photos...and if you're ever interested in visiting where I live let me know...I know some good tour guides (shameless plug) :)

I love where I live because in the Winter it looks like Narnia

I love where I live because we have beautiful waters


I love where I live because there is WINE...LOTS OF WINE, made right here from grapes off these vines

I love where I live, because this was my view on my birthday

I love where I live because we have hundreds of waterfalls, and I still haven't seen them all

I love where I live because natures beauty is literally 2 minutes or less from my house

I love where I live because I can teach my children how to observe and love all of God's creation

I love where I live...did I mention the wine!? OH YEA!! THE WINE!

I love where I live because the ones I love live here

What My Single Friends Don't Understand

I don't have many single friends or childless friends. The one that comes to mind is getting married in two weeks so she won't be single for long...and hopefully she'll have babies very soon too!! Besides all that, she understands more than most single friends, and she definitely understands more than my husbands single male friends!! This list incorporates more of his friends than mine!

What Childless Friends Don't Understand:

-That I am really not sorry that my son broke your dye cast model whatever...he thought it was a toy...oh wait, because it IS A TOY!

-That I need multiple toys or distractions for my 2 year old and 6 month old if we go out to dinner...that's why I tried to encourage a BBQ in the comfort of my own home.

-That I really didn't want to go to your wedding with my kids. Because it ended up with me running around after the 2 year old the entire time, and me trying to apologize for him stealing the grooms cake off his plate.

-That going off into the woods to poke smot at your pig roast is NOT on my to do list...unless you want to change the 6 month olds diaper, and then the 2 year old...because all this fresh air is making.them.poop.

-That no, babies aren't born potty trained.

-That I would love to just pick up and leave this godforsaken part of the country every winter and drive to California in my vintage car, and then to Key West(like you). But I can't. I. HAVE. KIDS!

-That saying "AAAAH BAAAA!" to a two year old isn't necessary...he can talk now. USE YOUR WORDS!


This has been a part of Mama Kat's Writers Workshop...head on over, read other entries and write your own!

Childhood Fears

So I haven't participated in Mama Kat's writers workshop in FOREVER!!! It's summer in upstate NY, and that means that we're BUSY!! Also, it's been a task juggling the two little ones, and finding time to blog isn't top on my list. However, with summer ending and Fall just around the corner I'd like to start blogging again...when I can!

So here goes:

Childhood fears I've brought to my adult life...thankfully it's plural...because there are a few!

-I'm afraid of the ball...don't ever pick me to be on your volleyball team, because ever since I played volleyball for the first time at age 9...I've been afraid of the ball. I am the person who shirks away from the ball as it's flying toward my head and lets it land on the ground. You've all seen "Meet the Parents" right? Well that's me, I'd rather NOT get the bloody nose, so ya...don't pick me.

-Carousel Horses: I HATE THEM! They have got to be the freakiest part of the carnival/fair...well maybe not compared to the scary guys with abnormally large hands, who work the midway, but a close second. I mean, come on!! Have you looked at them? HAVE YOU? They are totally writhing in pain with a pole stuck in their backs, going in circles in a room full of mirrors and the creepiest music I've ever heard. NOPE, not a fan of Carousel Horses.

-Dams, and swimming in the lakes attached to them. I know it's probably unrealistic...but in my mind if I swim in a lake with a dam, I am bound to end up in one of the intake tanks and die. I'd just rather not, thank you very much.

That about sums that one up...Happy Thursday...and Happy Writing!

Photo Link Up

Well I know it's been forever since I posted, but I couldn't help link up to Mama Kat. My favorite photo of this week was when Baby A got her first taste of solids

Famous People

Another installment for Writers Workshop

I have had my share of run-ins with celebrities…what can I say? I am cool like that. Actually, I used to work at a private air terminal in southern California, and famous people frequent those. I had encounters with Jim Carrey, Oprah and her dogs, Mr. October aka Reggie Jackson, and I even helped Mark Maguire make a bottle for his baby. My most frequent interaction would have been with Harrison Ford. He flies his own small aircraft, and he was in and out a lot. There are two times that stick out in my mind…the time I harassed him, and the time his credit card declined.

The time I harassed him, he didn’t take it as well as I had hoped. I was just being funny sarcastic me…and well...he didn’t “get it.” Where I worked we offered pilots the use of a courtesy vehicle to make quick trips if they weren’t staying long. Harrison Ford made regular use of these vehicles. One time when he was going to fly out, he was in a hurry and he forgot to return the car keys to me. I ran after him calling his name “INDY, INDY!!! You forgot to leave the keys!!!” He didn’t stop. So I was all “HAN, the keys!!!” he kept going…I finally called out “HARRY, please don’t take my keys!” He finally stopped and I got the keys back. The next time he came through the terminal and asked to borrow the courtesy car, I told him, “sure, no problem, as long as you don’t take the keys with you” *wink-wink* He didn’t laugh, he didn’t even smile, instead he gave me the evil eye. I wanted to curl up in a ball, I got the evil eye from Indiana Jones. Not the highlight of my career.

The second encounter I had with Harrison was probably about a year later. He had purchased some fuel from us for his small aircraft. He came inside to leave a credit card number, and then he flew away. I ran the card later that afternoon and it declined. WHAT? That can’t be right I thought. So I ran it again-DECLINED-the machine blinked at me. What now? Well, lucky for me Harrison left his phone number for us when he borrowed the courtesy car. So now I had the privilege of calling him and telling him his card declined, yay. I dialed the number expecting to hear his voice, instead I got some woman. “uh, er….I think I got the wrong number” I said. The woman answered “We’re an answering service for this number, you can tell me what you’re calling about and I will relay a message to the numbers owner” Well of course she is! Harrison Ford wouldn’t leave me his real number, duuuuh! It’s like he knew I would stalk him or something, weird. So I left my message, and two days later I got a call from a representative of Mr. Ford’s who gave me a credit card that was accepted.

Harrison kept coming in, despite the colorful girl behind the counter. I was even there when he introduced his mother to Calista Flockhart. It was interesting working in a place where you see famous people everyday. After awhile they just don’t seem famous anymore, and they’re everyday people like you and me…getting their credit cards declined and forgetting to return keys.

Because I was a snoop...

Writers Workshop presents:

The first book I luuuuuuuved:

It was 1990 and I was in my big sisters room snooping. The only thing interesting on this day was a collection of books on a shelf. I usually ignored the books in favor of juicy notes she’d passed in class or a letter she’d write to her boyfriend, but there wasn’t much along those lines. I looked over the books until I saw one that sounded good, If There be Thorns by V.C. Andrews. At eleven I was constantly trying to be grown-up like my 16 year old sister, so I “borrowed” it. But before I left her room, I made sure to spray myself with my sisters perfume “Escape”

I got around to reading maybe the first chapter of the book, and I was bored out of my mind! I didn’t care enough to return the book to her, and the book got lost in my mess of a room, until one day my sister happened to notice it in my room.

“What are you doing with this?” she asked
“Reading it, duuuh.” I answered

"Did you read any of the others?” she asked
“No…it’s boring” I responded, “and I didn’t even read all of that one”
“Well if you’re going to read it, then you need to read the series, and in a particular order” She explained.

And thus began my pre-teen, and into my teens, obsession with V.C. Andrews. I liken it to the Stephenie Meyers “Twi-hards” of today. Only back then there wasn’t quite the cult following as there is for Twilight. I mean we didn’t have the internet to follow up with Taylor Lautner(Go Team Jacob), or Robert Pattinson. All we had was Kristy Swanson(before she killed vampires-and before Sarah Michelle Gellar did) and an obscure movie made in 1987. That day in 1990, my sister taught me how to read a V.C. Andrews series…you start with the first book, which is actually the second book, and when you read the fifth and final book, it is actually the first book. Make sense? Yea, it did to me too. So I started reading Flowers in the Attic that afternoon, and I was hooked…no longer was I bored, all the sudden everything made sense to me! I followed the Dollanganger family through their fathers death, and into what they thought would be a life of wealth, that turned into a life of imprisonment in their grandmothers attic. I followed them through heartbreak and disappointment to death and incest…pretty heavy stuff for 11, especially the latter. Waaaay heavy, in fact looking back, I don’t think these books were much like the Twilight series at all! I read the Twilight books, and I don’t have a problem with my 13 year old niece reading them, but I would mind her or my own daughter reading Flowers in the Attic at that age. Nope, not happening…I mean I turned out okay, but what was okay for me isn’t necessarily for my own kids right?

What did I love about these books? It’s the world that V.C. Andrews created, that just drew me in. It was a dark world of drama and turmoil, the happiness in her books was minimal…and the romance drew me in…I used to imagine myself as an actress in the movie version. I just knew I would be perfect to play Cathy, my only downfall is that I wasn’t blonde...or a ballerina. I’ll still pick the books up from time to time, they’re good for a quick read, when and if I have the time. I imagine if these books were popular today they’d all be movies by now with a huge cult following and Zac Efron as Christopher…then again maybe not, because Flowers in the Attic is no High School Musical.

It's been awhile, so I wrote on all five....sorta

So it’s been awhile since I took part in Mama Kat’s Writers Workshop, hey I just had a baby 5 weeks ago. I have an excuse! But I’ve really wanted to get back into it, and just haven’t had the time. It’s been a little hairy around here with a 22 month old and a newborn. So I decided Tuesday, this will be the week where I will try to get back into it, and to make up for it I think I'll write on all five. Let’s take a look at the prompts…

Number one…the other day I ventured to ask my husband what my weakness is:

Me to wonderful husband: “What’s my weakness?”

Wonderful husband responds: “What do you mean? What do you think your weakness is?”
Me: “PLEASE stop answering my questions with QUESTIONS!”

WH: “You’re quick to anger”

And you can guess where that conversation went….so scratch number one.

Number two…I am in desperate need for positive affirmations these days. I am in serious doubt of my ability to be a good mother and wife. Having 2 kids under the age of 2 is so much more than I am able to handle right now. I plan on reading other Writers Workshops in search of some positive affirmations. Because I am fresh out.

Number three… What could I be MADE into? Ugh, the possibilities are endless…really…because I would love to be anything other than what I am right now. I just can’t think of one thing.

Number four…this one makes me want to cry. I gave up a lot when we got married, I sold my house and my business. Then we had our first child a month later, who I’ve been home(locked up) with ever since. I feel like I did all the compromising(giving up) and my wonderful husband was able to keep and run our(his) business while I raise the kids. I love my husband and kids, I really do.

Number five…and finally the “No one ever asked me” prompt.

No one ever asked me the right question.

Well it’s not true; my husband asks me all the time “What do you want? How can I help? What can we do to make this better? What do you need? What can I get you?”

And me, being the selfish, confused, tired, and down right stubborn woman(psycho) cannot answer a single one of those questions, because I don’t know, and I wish I did.

10 Reasons while I'll never...

It's that time again...Mama Kat's Writers Workshop

1.) 10 Reasons why you’re better off without him….or her….or it.


10. I am a happier person with out IT--that's reason enough I think...

9. My husband won't leave me now

8. I can drink again

7. I can eat bleu cheese again, and sushi if I were so inclined...which I am not...if I want a cold dinner I'll eat a salad TYVM!

6. I can tie my own shoes again

5. I can dye my hair again, bye bye gray

4. No more indigestion

3. People will stop asking if I am going to "pop" any day now

2. I won't have to waddle like a penguin anymore

1. I can play with my kids without a boulder in the way

These are the 10 reasons why I am better off NEVER being pregnant EVER again! I hated it, I was not one of those women who glowed while pregnant. I was downright miserable, so make me a margarita because this baby-making mama is outta commission!

A place called home

It's the reason I started this blog...Mama Kat's Writers Workshop

4.) “How many homes have you had? Write a journal entry about ALL the places you’ve called ‘home’ in your life.”

At this point in my life I can say I have called two places “home.” I have lived plenty more places, too many to count. To me, home is where I have a sense of family and belonging.

The first place I called home was back in Washington where I grew up. It was in a house my dad built with his own two hands, to me it was a mansion in the middle of a magical forest. I lived in that home from ages four to ten…this happens(still) to be the longest I have ever lived in one place. Making that time, the most stable time of my entire upbringing. When I took my husband to visit my home state back in September, I could not wait to show him that house, of all the places I lived growing up. Driving down Sunset Avenue to my old house brought back so many memories: riding bikes down the road, walking to the school bus. And then I saw it…and it wasn’t as big as I remembered it, and it was….wait for it….yellow!! While it certainly wasn’t the mansion I had boasted about growing up in, it was still my beautiful home. That house held all the childhood memories I cherished, of Christmas mornings and lazy summer days. No matter how it looks to anyone else, it will always be my magical mansion in the forest.

B-Town, WA

The second place I call home happens to be the house we live in now. It is really nothing to write about, it is SO SMALL! It is a starter home, and the first house my husband has ever owned(at 41). We closed on the house right before we got married…literally. 8 days before we got married, and 6 weeks before our son was born…I know, one of “those” weddings…wink ;) wink ;)

The house is barely 900 sq ft. and it was uninhabited for 2 years before we came along. To say it wasn’t lived in isn’t exactly true…there were many woodland creatures who liked to call our place home, even after we moved in(that’s another blog, for another day). Whoever lived in the house 2 years prior to us, trashed it!! When we came along it was in need of some major repair, and TLC! We were crazy to take it on in the midst of getting married, and having a baby. But our options were limited, and we were determined to make it work. Or rather, my husband was determined to make his pregnant wife happy. I am so proud to call this little place home, my husband has put so much hard work, love, and dedication into this house. It in NO way resembles the place we bought 2 years ago; we have new carpets, floors, new paint, new fixtures, and all thanks to my husband’s handiwork. Not only did the house get a major face lift, but it also got a family. Our house has thrived with its new residents. Having our son play in his room, run through the house, and wake up here on Christmas morning has been a dream come true…and I finally feel at home again.

Somewhere-town-NY

and I rant...

Time for Mama Kat's Writers Workshop

1.) Time for your tangent…what is your latest complaint?

My biggest complaint…for today, is that my in-laws use our private bathroom. We have a small house. Ok, that I get. But what I don’t get is: why do they insist on walking through our bedroom to use the master bathroom every time they need to use the facilities? We have a perfectly good and accessible guest bathroom. I just don’t get it. It frustrates me beyond any comprehension.

The guest bathroom is not dirty, admittedly it does house the cat box, but I always make sure it’s clean for our guests to feel comfortable. So I ask my wonderful husband, “WHY do your parents insist on walking through our bedroom to use our bathroom?” He has no response, and then I get angry because he’s not responding, to which he answers, “well it is weird, but I don’t have an answer for you, why don't you ask them? " UGH!!!! My wonderful husband told me I should ask them…ME!? WHY would I ask, they’re his freakin’ parents! Apparently he’s ok with them walking through our space.

His response probably is more aggravating than the fact that his parents feel the need to walk through my bedroom, to get to the bathroom. Inevitably, they wind up seeing my private stash of porn(People magazines) by the toilet and bra’s hanging all over. It’s not like it’s a once in a while thing, they come over a few times a week to watch our son. While they watch him, I often wonder to myself, did I remember to put away the hanging bras? or pick up the undies on the floor? is there a plastic bag lining the garbage can? and oh, CRAP I forgot to make the bed! Maybe if I left the bedroom and bathroom all nastified then they’d stop walking through MY personal space. I already took the Kleenex out our private bathroom, maybe it’s time to take it out of the living room too.

...and that is my rant for today.

7th photo of 2009

This was the 7th photo in my photo album of January 2009, so I can only assume that it's the 7th photo I took. Mama Kat's Writers Workshop would have me write a poem about this photo, but I don't do poems. Instead, I am just going to write a letter to my son, he was 7 months old in this photo. For the last 19 months he's been my only child, and in less than a month he'll no longer be an only, and I have a few sappy things I'd like to say.

Dear Son,
The last 19 months have flown by faster than I could have ever imagined. I've spent every day of your life with you. In a few weeks you are going to have to share us. Your daddy and I have tried our best to prepare you for this, but I know your life will never be the same. It makes me really sad at times, because I know that we've had the best time of our lives together. You have brought me more joy than I could have ever imagined. In a few weeks you will become a big brother, and I know that you will be the best big brother ever! You will love and care for your little sister, and you will protect her with all your strength and heart, because that is who you are by nature.
I've loved being your mommy and I consider myself the luckiest person alive to have been able to experience you day in and day out. You have taught me patience, love, and more laughter than I imagined possible. Even though it won't be just the three of us anymore, I want you to know that you will not be any less loved. It might be hard at first, but the funny part is you won't remember any of it! I wish I could slow down the next few weeks, but I can only cherish these last few days of just the two of us at breakfast, and lunch, reading books to you, playing dance party, putting puzzles together, coloring, tickling you and your laughter. The laughter isn't going away, it's only going to get louder!
I love you Handsome Boy!!
Love,
mommy

This is my son, on the 7th day of 2010

Be Nice

So about a week before Christmas my husband and I arranged for his parents to watch our 18 month old so we could go to our local chamber of commerce holiday mixer, and do some Christmas shopping at Wal-Mart(our shopping options are limited here in our rural NY town of 2,000).

It was the first time we had planned to do something together in a LONG time. I was looking forward to this night for weeks! Now I have a tendency to put high expectations on things I look forward to, and when things don’t go as planned, my. world. has. ended. The night didn’t go as planned. The mixer was a bust, they held it on the third floor of a 100 year old building with one freight elevator and no heat in the building. We got to Wal-Mart, only to find my husband lost the list, HE LOST THE LIST! My feet were killing me(being 8 months pregnant will do that). And to end the night was, Nick, our cashier at Wal-Mart. A smartass who thought it would be funny to tell jokes about my attitude in front of me, to my husband, and then call me out on a look I gave him. He also challenged me and asked me if we “needed to talk about this” UGH! The nerve! Well, my night ended with me and tears and black streaks of mascara running down my face on the way home.

So here’s my letter to Nick:


Dear Nick,

You’re not funny and should be nicer to pregnant women.

Sincerely,

The Pregnant Lady who didn't deserve being badgered by you, and could care less about your existence, so next time just shut your mouth when you bag my freakin' groceries.

This has been a part of Mama Kat's writer's workshop.

Some friends

HONK!!!! HONK!!!

“What the hell?” I shout as I look in my rear-view mirror and see this guy waving at me. Straining to see if I recognize him, I decide to ignore him, turn up the music, and sing:

“Say my name, say my name If no one is around you, say "baby I love you" If you ain't runnin' game Say my name, say my name”

I am heading north up the 405 in heavy traffic on my way to my friend Crystal, and her fiance Tom’s apartment, for dinner. Almost to my exit in Costa Mesa I feel a sudden jerk of the wheel.

“Oh crap!”

Cars are zipping past me as my Grand Am starts slowing down. I check my mirrors and see an opportunity to make my way to the right shoulder. The right rear side of my car starts making a loud thumping sound. Flat Tire.

Coming to a halt on the right shoulder, I start trying to figure out; what do I do now? Then it hits me, Crystal’s fiance owns a small rental car company, surely he can come help me with the flat, and I am less than a mile from their apartment.

I pull out my cell phone and dial their number….ring, ring….

Crystal: “hello”
Me: “Hey, I just had a flat tire on the 405, do you think Tom can come help me with it?”

Crystal: “Oh, no…uh, I dunno. Let me ask”
Cars whiz past as she places her hand over the receiver, in muffled tones she asks Tom what he wants to do, I can’t make out his answer.

Crystal: “Tom says just have it towed somewhere”
Me: “but I don’t have AAA, or any money, can’t he come and change the tire, I am right at the exit to your house”

Crystal: “he said it would just be easier to tow it so you can take it to Sears and get a new tire”

Me: “I don’t even know who to call to have it towed though!”

Crystal: “Tom can give you a number of a tow company they use for the rental cars, let me call you back and I’ll get you the number”

Crystal hangs up the phone and I burst into tears. Why is this happening to me!? I hate California, I can’t rely on anyone here. Then I look in my rear view mirror and see a white Honda Civic pull up behind me, one of those lowered ones with tinted windows and a rear spoiler. A Hispanic man exits, he’s short with big tattooed arms, he walks over to my passenger window and motions for me to roll it down, I comply.

Him: “Hey, you got a flat tire"

I answer, but try not to make eye-contact.

Me: “yea, I know”

Him: “well, do you have someone coming to help you? Like AAA?”
Me: “My friend is calling a tow truck for me”

Him: “do you have a spare? ‘Cause if you do then I can change it for you”

I look at him, trying to decide if it’s a good idea or not to trust this man with changing my tire and basically my life on the side of the freeway. He seemed to have good intentions…do I trust him? I’ve heard a lot of stories of people getting roadside assistance from a passerby that robbed them….oh what to do!?

Me:“Uh, sure-ok”

I pop the trunk and he heads to the back and starts going to work on the tire. About ten minutes later he comes to the window and says, "You're all done, you're good to go"

Me: “Thank You, I really appreciate that”

He starts to walk away, and I call out to him “Hey, what’s your name?”
“Angel” he answers.

I sit back in my seat and watch him get back into his white car, he cautiously enters back into traffic and drives away. Wow, I thought…I just met my guardian angel.

My cell phone rings, it flashes Crystal’s phone number, I answer:

Me: “hello?”
Crystal: “hey, Tom found the number, he said get the car towed to Sears. We'll save some dinner for you”
Me: “Thanks but I don’t need the number, I am already on my way to your house, I’ll explain when I get there”

A complete stranger, my Angel, came and helped me that day. My “friends” didn’t want to be inconvenienced. That was ten years ago, at the time I was 21 and living in California, I had no family to call on, and I had relied on my “friends” for everything. Some friends they turned out to be.

This has been a part of Mama Kat's Writers Workshop Also this week she's helping host an online auction for some great causes, check out the auctions and place a few bids!!

Dear Santa,

Happy Holidays…oh wait, I guess I don’t have to be politically correct with you, since you are Father Christmas. So MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! It’s so nice to be able to say that to someone and not worry about offending said person. I mean there is no confusion with you right? You’re all about Christmas! Unless you’re coming during Kwanzaa now and I missed the memo.

So since we’re on this politically correct business, let’s talk about the environment. You’re a notable figurehead, what are you doing for your part? How green are you? Are you making any efforts to be greener? How does the North Pole look these days? Are things a bit watery? What is your contingency plan for when the polar ice caps melt completely? You could relocate to the Yukon Territory. The Yukon seems like a pretty neutral place. Really how sustainable is the North Pole? Don’t you think you could be doing more damage there than good?

A few more things to think about: I’d like you to seriously consider organic milk, with all the growth hormones in regular milk, I don’t think it’s doing your body any good. For my part I’ll leave you some organic cookies I got from Trader Joes, hope you like them. Now I know my friends at PETA have probably contacted you about your use of eight tiny reindeer to haul your sleigh full of presents around the world. I think we can come up with a plan that will benefit everyone involved. Have you ever thought of teleporting? I think it could be advantageous to you, and you’d be done so much faster! Think about it, we don’t want to piss PETA off. Oh, and you might want to think about adopting a polar bear.

So, to surmise: go green Santa, eat better, and treat animals with kindness.

Merry Christmas!

Your Friend,

Mama the Chef

p.s. don’t forget my Net Book

p.p.s. Put Lucky Charms in my stocking please, been craving those this pregnancy

p.p.p.s. DVD copy of An Inconvenient Truth(not really)

p.p.p.p.s I've always wanted to have a sugar glider, I’d name it Moe.

This has been part of Mama Kat's Writers Workshop

I Just Knew

The prompt I chose this week for Mama Kat's writers workshop:

4.) Write a story in exactly 101 words...so here goes...

He made us a fire on the shore of the lake; we enjoyed a simple dessert of vanilla ice cream topped with fresh blueberries. We finished our dessert and walked to the end of the dock. Together we sat, letting our legs dangle over the edge, talking and watching the fish swim beneath our feet. Once the June sun set, we laid on our backs gazing at the stars and the moon, pointing out the satellites floating through space. Hours later, he held my hand and walked me to my car. We said good-bye, kissed our first kiss, and I knew.