Friday, November 11, 2016

Hairy Situation Nov 2016 #UseYourWords

Today’s post is a writing challenge. This is how it works, participating bloggers picked four to six words or short phrases, for someone else to craft into a post. All words must be used at least once and all the posts will be unique as each writer has received their own set of words. That is the challenge, here is a fun twist; no one who is participating knows who got their words and in what direction the writer will take them. Until now.





My words are:
shave ~ no ~ razor ~ furry ~ mountain man ~ legs
They were submitted by: Sarah of Not That Sarah Michelle
(Thank you for such awesome words!! I needed that giggle!!

Originally, I had planned on writing a new chapter of Stable Layne for y'all, but then Tuesday happened, and I just don't have it in me. I want to have it in me. I want to feel normal, but I don't. I feel sad.

I feel like hate has won. A man that spoke about committing heinous acts, who doesn't pay taxes, who has lied countless times (about ridiculous things), who has preached hate against nationalities and religions, and who has proven himself to be incompetent, is our President. I am just shocked. There were far better options, and they didn't succeed.

There were options that weren't based on waging a war against nationalities, religions, and women, and they lost. Since he won, I have seen such hate crimes spreading like wildfire. The common thread? The perpetrators are calling on his name, as their excuse for why they can do what they are doing.

I am a woman who loves love. I love acceptance. I love kindness. I want more of that. I want more equality. I want more kindness. I want more hope. 

I want less talk of walls and hate. I want less judgement. I want less tearing down of the very foundations our country was built on. We were built by imigrants, on the grounds of religious freedoms. Not just for one religion, but for all. We were a melting pot for all different cultures. We should be an all inclusive country. We should be putting our hearts and best feet forward. Yet, instead, we are talking about the opposite.

I am constantly seeing the reactions around the world, to our election, and they are not good. I cannot even blame them. It directly has an impact on me, and I am hurting. I am not naive to the fact that the impact can, and most likely, will be felt around the world.

I am sad.

I am sadder than the razor which was chosen to shave the furry legs, of a woman who chose to say no to shaving for ten years, and is hairier than a mountain man.

I am sad. I am not hopeless. I have faith that we will rise above this hate. I have to believe that hate will not win. Hate will not destroy all we have worked to achieve. We will rise up. Love will win. We will be the fantastic country we are. We will not turn bad. I have to believe.

Do not forget to go read all the other Use Your Words posts!! I am so sorry that this post was less than my best. I am sorry that it was not another installment of Stable Layne. I promise I will heal, and I will start back to writing. I just need a few days to heal. To find my hope. To overcome this feeling up sadness and disappointment. I will come to terms with our flawed two party system. I will be back. I can only hope you will all still be here. Please, do not hesitate to reach out to me, if you need someone to talk to. We are all in this together.


Links to the other “Use Your Words” posts:

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Blessings Overflowing Nov 2016 #PoetryCollaboration

This is our monthly Poetry collaboration. I will awaken in the morning. I will suck it up. I will write. For now, I'm too depressed. I just watched a man get elected, who terrifies me.

Our theme is blessings.

I will do it justice tomorrow. For now. . .


Poem 1:

My life has been full of blessings.
Blessings in the form of family I love.
Blessings in the form of friends I cherish.
Blessings in the form of children I adore.
I was blessed to receive an education.
I was blessed to be taught the love of God.
I was blessed to live in safety, nearly always.
I was blessed to have freedom of choice.
I want the same for my daughter.
I want the same for my daughter's children.
I'm scared. I'm worried. I'm nervous.
I fear the future.
I fear that the blessings will be gone.
I fear they'll be unavailable to my daughter.
We are supposed to pay our blessings forward.
I fear we've done the opposite.
I fear we took them for granted, and now they're gone.


Poem 2:

Boundless opportunities .
Limitless options.
Excellent choices.
Smiles unending.
Streets paved in gold.
Intellectual advancement.
Nurtured endlessly.
Grounded in success.
Strong bonds with loved ones.



Check out the other poetry this month:

Blogger and Blog: Karen of Baking In A Tornado
Name of Poem: Blessings

Blogger and Blog: Diane of On the Border
Name of Poem: Blessings

Blogger and Blog: Lydia of Cluttered Genius
Name of Poem: Hidden Blessings

Blogger and Blog: Joy of Evil Joy Speaks
Name of Poem: Blessings of Change

Blogger and Blog: Dawn of Spatulas On Parade
Name of Poem: Thanks

Blogger and Blog: Candice of Measurements of Merriment
Name of Poem: Life Blessings

Friday, November 4, 2016

A Day in the Life Nov 2016 #SecretSubjectSwap

Welcome to November's Secret Subject Swap. This week twelve brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject of their own. Today, we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts.




My “Secret Subject” is: Tomorrow is the start of a new day. A change for you in whatever way you want. You can try out a new profession, a new city, a new you. The catch is it's just for a day. What do you do and when tomorrow is over are you going to be happy to be back where you started.


It was submitted by: Joy of Evil Joy Speaks (Thank you, for this awesome prompt, Joy!!)

I sat down to write this post, and I had an answer in my head, then I took a break. I wasn't feeling well, and I wanted to stretch out on the couch for a few. The next thing I knew, I was waking up two hours later. It was after 10 pm, and Chad was still up with Gigi. He let me sleep. He has to be awake at 3:30 in the morning to work, but let me sleep. So, I got up and let him go to bed, and then I stayed up with Gigi until she fell asleep. I then relaxed and procrastinated for a little bit, and then sat down to write this. I also made a quick trip to the 24-hour Starbucks, but who is keeping track? 

So, now I am sitting here ready to write, and after some thought, I had a different answer to this awesome prompt. Don't get me wrong, I still love my first answer, but I think this second one is just an all around better answer. So, before I spell it out to you, let me tell you my take on this prompt. In my mind, if I decided to be President for a day (I did consider this), I would only be President Jules for one day, and then it is back to being boring Jules. I think (in my opinion) that the changes I made as President would still be in place, until changed. So, yes, I think my life goes back to normal, but any changes I make, any lasting effects of my choices/actions that day, are still present. For example, if I killed someone, they would still be dead. No magical reincarnations. I could be completely wrong. Maybe this isn't what Joy had in mind at all. It just seemed weird to me that life would go back to normal AND any effects would be voided as well.

With all that in mind, I have decided to spend my day wisely. I think. I would be sending Chad and Gigi to Disney with complete VIP status and enough funds to do anything and everything. I want them to have VIP status, so they can do as much as possible in a day. I know there is SO MUCH to do, and I think a day is not enough, but we only have one day, and I think VIP status, would help allow them to do the most possible. I honestly do not know which Disney. I am thinking Disney World in Florida, but I would honestly have to see what is offered where. I would choose the one with the most things they would love. 

I had considered doing something entirely different for Chad. Giving him an awesome day to himself. Just him and some awesome activities. Things like a massage, a private concert from his favorite bands, access to all his favorite foods, diving with sharks, and possibly a date with Katy Perry. I finally decided on Disney, because even though he won't get rest, he will get to make awesome memories with Gigi, and I think he would LOVE that. If he hated it, I think Gigi would love it, and let's face it... that matters more. (Sorry, Chad!)

You are probably wondering why I am not with them. Great question. I would give anything to go to Disney with them, but I have some stuff I would like to get done at home, and so I would stay to oversee that. Also, with my health, I would probably only hold them back. While here alone (alone without Chad and Gigi, not alone alone), I would have all needed changes and repairs done to our home. I would have a huge work crew here, do everything I want done. New kitchen (cabinets, counters, appliances, sink- basically so much more storage and function), changes to the bathroom, painting, deep cleaning, a laundry enclosure built, a garage built complete with storage and a paid in full second car, a security fence installed, new windows, landscaping, security system installed, and anything else we could need done. It is a lot, but I have 24 hours, and I think I could hire enough people to get it done. I am not sure where the funds are coming from, but it is magical day eh? Endless possibilities.

Seeings as I would have endless funds, I would also have workers up at the front house, finishing up all the remodeling my landlord has been doing. I would get it all finished up for her. It is nearly finished already. I would have them even put a security fence and security system up there. I would have them make the garage into a studio area for her. I would also pay off her mortgage. She has cancer, and is in the process of selling the houses, but I think what she would really want is to just stay here. So, I would enable that to happen. I would have complete landscaping done. Her yard, our yard, I would just get everything done I could. Make it so she has no worries.

Since things would be crazy around here, I would send our landlord's dogs (Sasha and Little Bit) to a doggy spa, and my landlord to a spa with her best friends. I would make sure that they all had a fabulous day, complete with plenty of fun and treats. Spa and shopping and yummy food and movies for the ladies. Spa treatments, grooming, and plenty of fun for the doggies. Plus, this kinda benefits me. It means I don't need to give Bit the cut she is due for soon.

I know it would be a super boring day, and I would mostly spend it making choices for things that are getting done, and making sure everyone knows what to do, and making sure everything possible was getting done, but I still want to be slightly selfish. I have a few people I really want to see. So, I would have them all come here. Some for the whole day. Yes, a totally boring day, but sometimes the best part is just being around each other. A few, I would just spend a short time with. Now, for the few people I would keep with me the whole day, well, that would be their day. For those I just want to see briefly, I would make sure that after they were done with visiting me, they got a nice rest of the day. Spa, meal, shopping, whatever they wanted. Now, if there is a clause that I could pre-arrange something for the next day, for the ones that get stuck with me the whole day, that would be awesome. That way they would also get to see me, and still get to have some fun.

I also feel a tad guilty over this part. I would keep Andrea, my mum Rosemary, and my sister Phoebe with me the entire day. I know for a fact that Gigi would do anything to visit with them too. I just have to hope that Disney would be good enough, to keep her from being upset, when she finds out who I spent the day with. As you all know, my mum is fighting breast cancer. So, I would just take the entire day with her. I have no idea when/if I would get that chance again. I know Andrea would have my back, and keep me emotionally strong for the day.

Once the day is over, I think I will be happy with my choice, and I will be fine with going back to the normal. I thought about making more of a lasting change. Buying a home or something, but I am just not sure how that would work. I don't mind staying here. Yes, I would love some changes, and definitely want a completed laundry space. So, waking up the next day, and getting to hear about their Disney experience will kinda stink, as I was not there, but at least I would no our home was way better and our future more stable. I worry with the sale how long we will be able to stay here, so getting that worry alleviated would be awesome. Plus, I think I would have a professional photographer follow them around Disney, so we would have those pictures, and I could *almost* feel like I was there.

I would also make sure to get a massive amount of food delivered to our local food banks, including plenty of Thanksgiving turkeys and hams. This is something I REALLY wish I could do for real. My day would not be fully successful and complete without doing this. I think I would also send along some warm winter coats and blankets, as well as some toiletries and school supplies.

Would it be a day well spent? I honestly think I could choose so many AMAZING things to do, and maybe I should have chose something different, but this choice seems kinda perfect to me. I feel like the day itself would be lovely, and that the positive changes going forward, would improve our life so much. I would also like to add, if paying off all our debts is possible within the limits of that day, I would definitely do that too. I don't see why it wouldn't be, but eh.

For anyone wondering what I had thought to do to begin with... I would have gathered together ALL of my favorite people, in a super comfortable mansion, and we would have had a fabulous day. I would have spa staff on site, as well as plenty of chefs. We would spend the day being pampered and fed well. The most important part for me... I would have Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton and Charley Pride and Reba and Garth Brooks sing for us. Listen, there are a MILLION other artists I would want to hear as well... Okay, not quite a million, but a lot. The reality is that time is limited, and I just need to be selective. The reality is, these are the ones I most NEED to see in person. I have never seen any of them live, and it is probably my biggest regret. I should add, though I am sure some of you already guessed... Matt Damon would be there with us. I would get to talk to him, like I have wanted to for nearly two decades. Yes, this option would have been AWESOME.

How would spend a day, if you could do anything?!

Here are links to all the blogs featuring this month's Secret Subject Swap posts.  Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out. See you there!

Skin

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