Deck the Halls #SecretSubjectSwap

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

My “Secret Subject” is:

How early do you get ready for Christmas?  Baking?  Shopping?  Travel Plans?  Or are you a last minute person?

It was submitted by: https://batteredhope.blogspot.com  (Thank you for this awesome subject!!)

You guys!!! It is November 3rd, and this was the perfect subject for me. I am so not ready for Christmas. I basically have no gifts yet. This is very BAD. Bad for me, bad for my budget, bad for the people I am giving gifts to. That being said... I am so ready for Christmas. Yes, I know, I know.... Thanksgiving has not even happened yet. I cannot help it. I am ready. Honestly, I would totally decorate the tree right NOW, if it were not still in the attic. 

I am one of those people, who waits until the day after Thanksgiving to decorate. It is just what I do. I don't take things down until the end of the first week of January, so I feel like we get a adequate amount of time with the decorations. Last year, I was feeling so bummed out, that I decorated early, to cheer myself up. I seriously think I will be doing some decorating early this year as well. I am planning on starting slowly. I plan on taking down our Fall Window decorations early. I think I will do that around the beginning of the third week of November. So, our windows will be festive early. Along with the windows, I will also put up our door decor and our Christmas flowers (outside). I will hold off for nick knacks and our tree.

I also want to do so much more holiday baking this year. Gigi is really into it, and that really makes me into it more than ever. I definitely want to bake cookies a few times. I am also thinking we need to try our hand at a holiday cake and some pies. I just bought the stuff to make some Rice Krispies Treats, and I plan on making them festive. Well, some of them. I will leave a few plain for myself. I am a purist with my RKTs. 

We are ones to travel in general, and especially not at holidays. That is mostly because it isn't in the budget. The fact that I am forbidden to travel from my doctor, does not help matters. To be honest, if I could, I would absolutely be some who travels at holidays. I miss my family, and it only gets worse during the holidays. 

Normally, I would be nearly done with all my shopping by now. The last few years, I have totally slacked off and failed in the gift buying arena. Well, this is the last year of that. Starting this January, I will be back on track. I will start preparing for next Christmas starting in January. I actually did some shopping for Christmas already, but then I undid the progress, by giving Gigi the gifts I bought. I panicked. I planned to give her Legos for Christmas, and then got worried she would hate them. So, I tested the water and gave her the ones I had bought. The good news, she loves them and so does Chad. The bad news, I now have no gifts bought already. The other good news, it makes knowing what to buy for her easy.

As I have mentioned before, I don't really have many traditions, but I am determined to make traditions for Gigi to enjoy. We are slowly creating them. We love to go to Bass Pro Shop, and get pictures with Santa. We love attending our town's parade. We love decorating a gingerbread house. We love decorating cookies at our in law's house. I am hoping to add at least two more traditions this year. I want one of them to be baking related. I also want to create a Christmas Eve tradition. I am still plotting it. Thankfully, I have a few weeks to come up with a plan. I am open to suggestions.

So, tell me.... Christmas. Do you celebrate? Do you have traditions? What is your approach to decorating? Don't celebrate it... What do you do this time of year? Give me the details.

I hope you all survive the time change this weekend unscathed. Hopefully, we all have an amazing weekend. Don't forget to check out the links to all the other Secret Subject Swap posts!! I will meet you there, as soon as I refill my coffee cup!!

Baking In A Tornado

Cognitive Script

The Blogging 911

The Lieber Family Blog

Southern Belle Charm

Bookworm in the Kitchen

Never Ever Give Up Hope 

Part-time Working Hockey Mom

TaylorLife 

Climaxed

Non Fake News #UseYourWords

Welcome to September's Use Your Words post. 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:

blue ~ fake ~ trust ~ file ~ head

They were submitted by: Minette of Southern Belle Charm

I have been staring at these words for almost two hours. Now, admittedly, I was not staring constantly. I am also watching Grey's Anatomy on Netflix. It can be quite distracting. There are not many shows that I can get truly lost in, but Grey's is one of them. I already had a plan for my words, but I then when I sat down to put the post together, I suddenly didn't want to follow that plan. The problem is, I don't really have any other plan either.

So, I decided to just kinda ramble on to y'all about the thoughts in my head. Are you scared? Maybe you should be. My head can be a scary place at times. You can trust me. I won't release any of the truly crazy things.

First thing first, and I promise this is not fake news... I am getting new glasses. On Wednesday, all three of us had eye appointments. It was Gigi's first, and she did well. The only bad part, was the end, when she realized she would not be getting glasses. She was so upset. She apparently really wanted glasses. To be honest, she is adorable in glasses, and so I don't blame her. I look horrible in glasses, so I was a bit sad about needing them. I am excited to be able to see again though! So excited! I am going to order my glasses today. I am leaning towards a pair of blue ones. I like them, and blue is Gigi's favorite color, so she will probably love them. Happy Gigi, happy life. That is my motto.

This next update, can be put in a file labeled Bahumbug. Years ago, I was told I would end up in a wheelchair, by the time I was between 60 and 65. Since 2010, my health has been on a roller coaster ride, and I was told it could happen as early as 40. I have been using one off and on, for the past few years, but I do my best to avoid it. Unfortunately, I was informed on Wednesday that my condition has worsened considerably. I have no idea why, but my condition was advancing at about 30 mph, and then suddenly in the last few months, it increased to 220 mph. So, I have reached the finish line way above schedule. So, as you can imagine... These thoughts have been racing through my mind since hearing the news.

I have also been thinking a lot about Global Warming, Natural Disasters, End of Days, foreign relations, etc etc These are scary days that we are going through. Truly scary. I am trying to keep the faith, that in the end, things will work out well. That people will step up to the plate, and good will triumph over evil. I have been trying hard to control these thoughts, so that I don't get too upset over it all. Just trying to keep the faith. 

So, tell me... What has been going on in your life? What thoughts have you been having? How are things? 

Make sure you go check out what words my blogger friends were assigned, and how they used them. I'll be grabbing a cup of coffee and meeting you there!!

Links to the other “Use Your Words” posts:

Baking In A Tornado

Cognitive Script

The Blogging 911

On the Border

Southern Belle Charm

Bookworm in the Kitchen

Part-time Working Hockey Mom

Climaxed

Mother Earth #UseYourWords

Welcome to July's Use Your Words post! 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:

bat ~ environment ~ foreshadow ~ lonesome ~ oddly

They were submitted by: http://theblogging911.com/blog

I am typing this on my new Chromebook. I got it dirt cheap on Amazon Prime Day. I am not trying to brag, but I am a fast typist, and make very few typos. However, In just these last few lines, I have made about a million typos. Change may be nice, but sometimes it takes a bit to get used to. Oy. So, please bear with me. Oddly, despite not liking change and fighting it as much as possible, I am actually excited about this change. Hopefully, having such a simple system to type my blogs from, will enable me to do more. Don't hold your breath. I am definitely not holding mine. I am so not tech savvy at all. As simple as this Chromebook is, it could very well get the best of me. Update, typo count is now near a billion.

Enough about this early Christmas gift, let's get down to the task at hand... These wonderful words that Rena has gifted to me. Thank you, by the way, these words are lovely.

I had so many thoughts enter my mind, when I first read my words, and each additional time I read them, more thoughts came to mind. One thing that consistently stuck, was environment. We have one world. One Earth. One home. The environment is changing. Many of the changes are directly related to our choices and activities. I firmly believe Global Warming is not only real, but a genuine issue. One we need to face head-on. Every single country in this world, every single culture, needs to join together. We need to find common ground on all things, and we need world peace, but I am not going to hold my breath. However, we definitely need to set any differences aside and work together on this one issue. If the Earth becomes uninhabitable, we will all suffer.

It worries me that our leader has decided to stop our involvement, in working together with other nations, to help our planet survive as long as possible. This is something we need to be involved in. I want my future ancestors to enjoy this planet for many generations to come. I really pray that this destructive choice, does not foreshadow future bad decisions. I hope it really is an isolated thing, and I honestly hope there is a change of heart, and a new choice made.

The thing is, many things that are profitable, aren't good for the environment, and money rules all, or so it seems. So, of course the greedy slugs, who cannot see past their own wallets, will make choices that benefit them now, and who cares if future generations suffer. It just makes me so sad. In general, it is far too common for people to get greedy, and focus on profits more than what is best for everyone. We have turned things into profit machines, that should NOT be focused on profit. Our education and medical systems, for examples. Sadly, it seems that we have taken a turn, to where greed is more important than our planet.

I am sure that I am not sitting here, all to my lonesome, and the only one worried about this. That enables me to maintain hope, that we can get it right. We can turn things around. We can save this planet. Plus, hopefully, as our technologies advance, hopefully new techniques for saving our planet will come about.

I am sure you saw, how recently, a huge piece of Antarctica broke off. That is so scary. It means things are changing way too rapidly. We absolutely must stop it's progression. When I heard about it, I could not help but to pray that it would help change the necessary opinions, and get us back on track. Either way, whether our federal government makes the right choices, or not, we as individuals can make the right choices. We can choose to lessen our personal negative impact on the environment, and increase our positive impact. I truly hope each of you, do your best to leave the world better than it was before you were born. We can be the difference.

I have not completely written off the idea of creating my own personal survival Batcave, just in case things go very wrong in my lifetime. I just really don't want that to ever be necessary. So, I am curious... What do you think about Global Warming?! Do you do things to lessen your negative impact on the environment?! Do you not care at all?! Let me know how you feel. This is something that has really piqued my interest lately. I am currently looking into ways to easily lessen our negative impact. 

I hope you all have a great Friday, and an amazing weekend. The final typo count is about twenty-five billion. Not too bad, but definitely a need for improvement. 

Links to the other “Use Your Words” posts:

Baking In A Tornado

Cognitive Script

The Blogging 911

Sparkly Poetic Weirdo

On the Border

Simply Shannon

Southern Belle Charm

Bookworm in the Kitchen

Part-time Working Hockey Mom

Climaxed

Touched for the Very First Time March 2017 #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:

Tetris ~ Rollerblades ~ Big Hair ~ Rubik’s Cube ~ Like A Virgin ~ Neon

They were submitted by: Tamara of Confessions of a part-time working mom  (Thank you for the awesome words, Tamara. I kinda hate you though. I had two solid plans for this month's words (I NEVER have plans, and this month I had TWO plans), and neither could be applied to these words, so I had to strugggggllllleeeeee..... It's okay, after reconsidering our friendship, I decided I still love you!)

So, I read this month's words, and I immediately transported back to the 80s. I was immediately back in my hammer pants and jelly shoes, with my neon peace sign t-shirt, and my neon jelly bracelets, with my big hair and even bigger bangs.... I remembered what it felt like playing Tetris for the first time, realizing it was the greatest game ever. Watching my cousins skate on Rollerblades, but never being brave enough to try on my own. I remember having the competitions to see who could solve the Rubik's Cube first, or at least who could get the most of it completed. I remember singing Madonna's "Like a Virgin" at the top of my lungs. Good times. Great times. I miss being a kid some days. 

Well, now that that is done.... Haha. Just kidding. So, of course when I first read the words, I was transported down memory lane. Then I went to work on formulating my post. My first plan was to add on to Stable Layne. Nope. These words would not work for that. My backup plan had been to write a poem. Nope. I just don't think I could formulate a poem with them. So, I was stumped. So very stumped. I am still kinda stumped, but I decided to do something I have done before. Approach each word individually. I hope it becomes something you enjoy reading.

Tetris: So, as I said above, when I first played Tetris, I thought it was the greatest video game ever. Now, at thirty-four years old, I still think it is the best game ever. It is hands down my favorite game. I still play it. I am AMAZING at it. I will challenge any of you any day, to try to beat me. Spoiler: You won't be able to. I am not even into video games, but I LOVE Tetris.

Rollerblades: I cannot roller skate nor Rollerblade. I tried once to learn how, and it just didn't happen. I was fifteen and my step-mom gifted me her old pair. I tried a couple times to do it, and just couldn't so I gave up. Now, I am the mom of an almost four year old, and I wish I could. I would LOVE to teach her how. She really wants a skateboard, but I would rather she use roller skates or rollerblades. Unfortunately, I have no clue on how to teach her. So, my plan is to buy both her and Chad some rollerblades, and have them figure it out together. Plus, I think Embee could be great at teaching Gigi how. I am tempted to get myself a pair, and try to learn once and for all. So, if I have a broken arm or leg in June, you will know why. 

Big Hair: When I think big hair, one thing that comes to mind first are the hair bands that were so popular in my youth. My favorite hair band, hands down is Poison. I know it probably isn't the most popular choice, but it is my choice. This past Saturday, we were driving home from Arizona, and they came on the radio. I told Chad, I would LOVE to attend a Poison concert, and he told me that would probably never be a possibility. Then yesterday, my friend posted on Facebook about a concert coming up, that she wants to attend. If you guessed it is a Poison concert, with special guests Tesla... You are completely right. Can you believe this?! So, yeah. That totally happened. Now, I am hoping to be able to save up enough money to go! Also, I always thought Aerosmith was a hair band, but they aren't. If they were, they would be my favorite. I still have a crush on Steven Tyler, and get a bit giddy when I see him on TV or hear him sing.

Rubik's Cube: As a kid, these were so popular, and we all had them. I actually solved it once. It was only my third or fourth time playing with it, and I just solved it. I do not how I did it, and other than that one time, I never solved it again. All these years later, I now get the joy of watching Gigi play with them. She has several. I bought dozens of them, to put in the goodies bags at her last birthday party, and she was the happy recipient of the leftover ones. She has them in all sizes. Some have pictures, rather than colored squares. She loves them. 

Like a Virgin: I could go several ways with this one. I could go deeply personal, or cling to the obvious. Hmmm... So, "Like a Virgin" is not my favorite Madonna song. "Take a Bow" is. It has been, since the very first time I heard it. I love it. I can remember getting excited every time the video came on as a kid, and whenever they played a different one of her videos, I would be sad. Also, I lost my virginity when I was 19 years 6 months and 10 days old. Just in case you were wondering. 

Neon: I am not a fan of energy drinks. I do like the coffee flavors that Monster has, but I don't drink them. I did a few years ago, but haven't in years. I just think that energy drinks have a nauseating fake flavor. Plus, they don't give me energy. So, I will pass. However, my friend Gina sells Visalus. They have an energy drink called Neon, and I actually really like it. It actually tastes really good. It doesn't have the fake or floral taste, that I find the other energy drinks to have. It is nice and fruity. I actually really love it. It is great as a mixer for drinks, and it is great on its own. Plus, if you blend it with ice, it makes a yummy slushy. I tried it, because I do like to try new things, but had expected to hate it. It was surprisingly yummy, and I am glad Gina encouraged me to try it. If you ever get the opportunity to try it, you definitely should. Also, my friend Gina can be contacted here, if you are interested. No, I was not paid to say this. It is just my honest opinion, and the first thing that came to mind, when I read the word neon.

Links to the other “Use Your Words” posts:

Baking In A Tornado

Spatulas on Parade

The Diary of an Alzheimer’s Caregiver

On the Border

Dinosaur Superhero Mommy

Simply Shannon

Confessions of a part time working mom

Southern Belle Charm

The Angrivated Mom

Climaxed

Not That Sarah Michelle

Stable Layne Pt 5 Feb 2017 #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.

As you may remember, I had planned on using last month's words, to create another Stable Layne installment, but couldn't because Gigi wasn't well. So, I am adding them into this month's post, with this month's words. In case you have not read the first three parts, or you want to refresh your memory, the previous parts can be found using these links: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4. 

My words are:

warm ~ red ~ sweet ~ love ~ Cupid ~ arrow

They were submitted by: http://dlt-lifeontheranch.blogspot.com/

Last month's: discombobulated ~ family ~ return ~ without ~ race

Layne stretched her arms towards the ceiling, after crawling out of bed. She did some more stretching and then headed into her Master bathroom, to get her morning routine underway. Really, she should have been up a few hours ago, but she had decided to sleep in a bit, since she had stayed up until well past her usual eleven o'clock bedtime. She felt a bit like a bum, not crawling out of bed until almost half past eight, but she deserved the extra sleep.

Normally she would get coffee first thing, but today she wanted to be presentable, by the time Damon arrived at ten. They had texted briefly the night before, to confirm the details of their time together today. Texting him had felt normal. Like as if they should text regularly. Considering she barely knew him, that was obviously just a side effect of the crush she was developing on him.

As she turned on the shower, perfecting the water temperature, and went to empty her overfull bladder, she began to let her mind wander. She wondered what his friend would be like. He had asked if his roommate could come over at ten, when he arrived, or if he should have him come alone later, when it was time for the party to start. Figuring the more helping hands the merrier, she had told him to bring him over at ten.

She had done a lot of the little things herself yesterday. She had plugged in all the appliances in the garage kitchenette, and stocked the fridge with ice and some sodas and other mixers. She had picked up all the meats from the butcher, and had picked up all the groceries. They would definitely have more than enough food. She had even remembered to pick up some fresh strawberries and lemons, so she could make her Berrylicious Lemonade Punch.

The water felt amazing on her sore body. She had to admit, she had done more physically in the past week, than she had in months. It hurt quite a bit, but also felt amazing. Her body was definitely ready to start getting back to normal, she just had to remember to heed Damon's advice and take it slow. She definitely did not want to get hurt again, or worse yet, set her return back to riding back by even a single day.

She took the quickest shower possible, wrapped her hair in a towel, and quickly got dressed. Since she would be working with Damon, she chose to wear yoga pants and comfy red Christmas sweatshirt. She could get dressed for the party afterward. She entered her kitchen, and sighed looking at all the food everywhere. Hopefully her sisters would get here by noon, as they had promised, and help get all the food organized and prepped. She wanted everything done, before the rest of their family and friends arrived, so they could just enjoy themselves.

She stood waiting for her Keurig to fill her cup with her favorite Death Wish Coffee. The smell was teasing her taste buds. The last drop having entered the cup, she pulled it over and poured some almond milk in, stirring it, then taking the first sip. The warm liquid awakening her brain cells, as they spilled down her throat, her taste buds sending the WOOHOO COFFEE signal to her brain. After years of being a coffee addict, she had perfected the perfect ratio of coffee to milk, so she could drink it immediately, without needing to wait for it to cool. She chose to sit at her breakfast nook to enjoy her coffee. Most days she would sit on the back porch, but today she wanted to finish quickly. She still needed to finish getting ready.

It wasn't that she wanted to look good for Damon, but she wanted to look good for Damon. Look at her, caring what a guy thinks. It was as if Cupid had visited her and shot his arrow directly into her. An arrow labeled Damon. Whether she wanted to accept it or not, she absolutely had a crush on him. Now, she just needed to decide what she wanted to do about it. Should she quit going to him for physical therapy? Should she just keep her mouth shut, and keep seeing him? He was definitely a great therapist. The one thing she absolutely would not do, no matter how bad the crush got, is act on it. Sure. She wanted to get married one day, but currently a boyfriend did not fit into her plans. 

Damon seemed like a sweet guy, and he was definitely the type of guy she could probably fall in love with, but that was not what she needed right now. Her focus was still the same it was before the accident, she wanted to make a place for herself in the horse training world. She wanted to eventually be successful enough, to buy this entire ranch from her parents, and at a fair price, not the daughter price. She had wanted this ranch to be hers, since she was six. It is really all she had ever wanted. To own this ranch, and her father's business, just as it was for her father, it was her passion.

She had already managed to accomplish quite a bit of her goals, and once she was back to her normal self, she would race to finish line, and accomplish the rest. Her thoughts were all over the place, she finished her cup of coffee, and rinsed her cup out. She would try to have another cup before Damon arrived, but considering her discombobulated state of mind, that may not happen. This was proof she definitely did not need Damon in her life more than he was. He was keeping her from being able to drink copious amounts of coffee, simply due to all the daydreaming he seemed to inspire her mind to do. 

She gathered up her towels, and returned them to their hooks in her bathroom, and brushed her hair and teeth. She went into her garage, opening the door, and busied herself doing stuff to get everything party ready. She had gotten lost in her work, and was startled by Damon's arrival.

"Hey, Layne," Damon's sultry voice had interrupted her thoughts, and caused her to jump. "I see you got a start without us."

She turned and smiled at the two guys walking towards her. Her heart began to race. Just from seeing him. Yes, she was definitely in trouble. This man may not be what she wanted, but based on her body's reaction to him, he may be what she needed, and that was a problem. A complication. "Oh, hey! You guys scared me. Is it ten already?"

Damon laughed, and pulled her into a brief hug, releasing her and stepping aside to give her a direct view of his roommate. "It is actually five after. We got held up at the store. I am glad you didn't notice. Layne, meet Marcus. Marcus, meet Layne."

Layne went through the motions of the introduction, and shook Marcus' hand. She made proper small talk, and noted how friendly the guy before her seemed. The entire time her mind was on one thing. That hug. How it felt. The electricity she had felt. Wondering if Damon had felt it too. Wondering what it all meant, and trying to figure out how she was going to do it. It really did not matter how she was going to do it. She definitely had to do it. What you are wondering? Well, marry this man obviously. Her mind didn't want to know it. Her heart did not want to know it. Her plans did not want it to be a reality, but there was no denying what her soul obviously knew. 

Damon was the man she had been looking for, since she first thought about getting married when she turned ten, and her cousin Tristyn had gotten married. This is what Tristyn had meant, when she said Layne would just know, when she met the man of her dreams. She did know. 

(to be continued....)

In case you are wondering, Gigi is back to her normal self. She recovered from her surgery well, and her ear is completely healed. She is such a resilient, awesome kid. I am so blessed to be her mom.

I hope you enjoyed this installment of Stable Layne. I promise to give you more of the Layne and Damon story soon. Now, go see what words my fellow bloggers received, and just how they used them!! 

Links to the other “Use Your Words” posts:

Baking In A Tornado

Spatulas on Parade

The Diary of an Alzheimer’s Caregiver

On the Border

Dinosaur Superhero Mommy

Confessions of a part time working mom

Not That Sarah Michelle

Climaxed

Return to Me Jan 2017 #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’s 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:

discombobulated ~ family ~ return ~ without ~ race

They were submitted by: http://Bakinginatornado.com (Thanks, Karen, for the words!! I will do them justice in my Stable Layne post, promise!!)

So, for the past few months, I have been writing a story for you all, one post at a time, using my Use Your Words words. I have bad news and good news. I am a firm believer in family first, especially my Gigi. I have actually started a Use Your Words post, with it being an installment of the Stable Layne series. Unfortunately, Gigi is sick today. Her ear is bugging her badly. So badly, I may be taking her to the emergency room, after I schedule this to post tomorrow morning. So, I am not going to be able to post my Stable Layne post.

Without being able to read it through several times, then read all the posts through, to make sure it makes sense, and isn't a discombobulating mess of words, I just do not feel comfortable posting it. So, rather than race to finish it in time, and put out a post I am not proud of, I have decided to post a different post. I will return to my already in progress post, as soon as things calm down with Gigi's ear, and post my Stable Layne post (using these words) at a later time. Once I do that, I will update this post with a link to it.

So, I was faced with trying to decide how to quickly use my words. Honestly, when I first read my words, the Stable Layne post began to form in my head, so I knew from moment one, that was how I was going to use them. I really did not have a plan B. One of my absolutely most comfortable forms of writing, is poetry. So, I decided to go that route with my words. I do apologize. I know I already gave you all poetry on Wednesday. I hope you don't mind, but poetry is definitely my comfort zone. 

Poem (Return to Me):

I am lying here, unable to stop my thoughts from running this race.

They are going a million miles a minutes.

I am thinking of you. I am thinking of family. I am thinking of us.

My thoughts have me discombobulated and restless.

All I really want is you to be here with me.

Yet I am alone, without you.

I do not know if you will ever return to my side.

I do not know if you are gone forever.

I do not know if we are truly over.

I wish you would tell me. 

I wish you would let me know your intentions.

I know you do not approve of my choices.

I can respect that you feel I should have chosen differently.

I had to do what was best for myself. I had to do what I thought was best for us.

I hope one day you can accept that, and come back into my life.

The way it was before, not the way it is now.

I want more. So much more.

I want us to be the old us.

Not this new us, a mere shadow of the old us.

I miss you. 

I miss you so much.

Please, please, return to me.

Okay. There you have it. I hope it will suffice, until I get my Stable Layne posted!! We have an appointment for 2 pm, with Gigi's doctor, but since it seems to be getting worse, we will be trying to get her in first thing, with either her doctor, or the ENT specialist who put her tubes in. As some of you may know, if you have followed me on my Facebook page and blog for a while, Gigi has struggled with ear issues. Getting tubes put in, December 2015 has really helped. Unfortunately, something is obviously wrong now. So, I am hoping it can get fixed immediately. Seeing your baby sick, is never cool. 

I am sorry to have disappointed y'all!! I will make it up to you!!

Links to this month's other “Use Your Words” posts:

Baking In A Tornado               

Dinosaur Superhero Mommy       

Spatulas on Parade             

The Diary of an Alzheimer’s Caregiver      

Sparkly Poetic Weirdo                

On the Border                  

Confessions of a part time working mom   

Climaxed                                    

Southern Belle Charm