Nov 28, 2011
[For the original article, click here.]
This was inspired by Writer’s Digest Community, although I originally forgot to make note of the actual prompt.
I wanted to tell the story of a woman so beleaguered by the events of the world around her that she felt out of control, discarded. How does a person cope when everything is in chaos? She makes more chaos. And this one night, she suddenly had an epiphany, a clarity: she must start over. But how?
When your heart is broken, when everything you experience is shattered, and then you say good-bye, what’s left but to start over? We stay in the heat of the moment longer than we should; until finally the chaos is gone and there is nothing left but for us to leap to a new beginning.
This story is not, as it appears, of a woman’s suicide. It’s the story of her reclaiming her direction, her own will power, her own strength; and escaping from all that would damage her; and instead, jumping into the world that beckoned her. A world where she was being called to leave the past behind and start over. Completely.
Note: for some reason, this didn’t post accurately as scheduled. I’m reposting, hopefully without errors.
Nov 27, 2011
Like some of you, I’m still recovering from Thanksgiving. I’ve still got leftovers in the fridge and a few decorations needing to be put away.
I’m usually quite on top of these things by now. I usually have my Christmas tree up, the stockings hung, the decor set. Usually.
For that last five years or more, it’s been tradition that on Thursday we eat at Mom’s house; and on Friday she comes to our house to help decorate. Then we relax with some cheese and sausage and whatever new Christmas DVD I’ve purchased. On Saturday, we get in some much needed R&R, and by Sunday our routine is fairly back to normal.
While I try not to be a control freak, I am admittedly an admirer of stability and scheduling. So when one of my brothers decided to surprise us by driving down from his new home for Thanksgiving weekend, he and the rest of the family who knew in advance were slightly concerned with my reaction.
Well, I am here to say, first and foremost, that I’m here. So there’s that! I must admit, it was really fun for me to say, “Schedule scmedule” and just hang out with the family. We ate, played cards, ate, watched some football, ate, chatted a lot, ate, went out on Black Friday… oh, and I think we ate a little.
I kept up with the important things: daily blogging, writing, cleaning the house, things like that.
But I really enjoyed noticing that I was okay with the impromptu activities. Actually, to be honest, I was more than okay. It was fun. Completely spontaneous, and even more so. Because once we were out and about, we just kept going. It was just really fun.
Even after my brother left this morning, I embraced the whole spontaneity thing and we did something never done before: we watched this year’s Christmas DVD before putting the Tree up. How wild am I?
We still haven’t put the Tree up; we’ll prob’ly do that tomorrow. But if we don’t, I’m okay with it. Really okay with it. Because that’s not what matters. Keeping a schedule isn’t always what matters.
It’s the memories of all the surprises of this weekend. It’s the togetherness we don’t often have. The making plans for next year (which, by the way, is not the same as making a schedule… who knew?!).
If my Tree doesn’t go up for another week, I’m okay with it. Because I know what happened in its place.
And whether my brother coming home for Thanksgiving becomes a new tradition or not, at least for this year, he did.
That’s worth more than my Schedule Shmedule. Don’t you think?
Nov 26, 2011
I’m so excited! I just uploaded this great new recipe software from ZipList. It’s an online and mobile recipe box and grocery list service.
What does that mean for you? My recipes will be streamlined. Easy to read. Easy to print. If you want to create your own online account at ZipList, they’ll digitally store any recipe you want. You can go from site to site to site and collect your favorite recipes. You can change them up, make your notes, keep track of what groceries you already have on hand.
It’s a pretty nifty thing.
So over the next few weeks I’ll be reposting some of my most popular recipes with this new format. I’ll even add one or two new ones.
And yes. I think I’ll include the Holiday Doo-Dads.
Now doesn’t that just make your day?
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote.
