For this edition of SSFS, I undecorated my Christmas tree for a brief moment to bring you my seven favorite Christmas ornaments. Of course, each has a back story, otherwise they wouldn’t be special…This was a difficult process, as many of the ornaments on my tree are personal gifts or are handmade by loving children’s hands. However, I managed to narrow it down to seven, even if I did have to leave out my favorite silver bells that belong to each member of the family. With that, I invite you to enjoy this little trip down memory lane in Destiny! town… Continue reading
Month: November 2014
Flash (Non)Fiction Friday: The Birthday Edition
In honor of my baby brother’s 25th birthday today, I’m posting something that I wrote about him 17 years ago that I’m pretty sure he has never read. I was studying in England at the time and missed my little partner in crime terribly, so I penned some words about him. It’s amazing how far we both have come in 17 years…he a doting husband and graphic designer, I a writer/editor and mother of 3…Here’s to you, P.C. Happy 25th…I love you!
*Note: This is in its original form with no editing, so please excuse its roughness, as I had just turned 20 when I wrote it. Continue reading
Ingratitudes
So I had planned to post this over on my sister’s and my blog, crossingthestreams.net, but we are having some technical difficulties. Therefore, I am availing myself to the functionality of my current blog and am posting it here, with the intention of cross-posting once crossingthestreams gets up and running again. Please enjoy in the spirit it was written…
When discussing a possible Thanksgiving blog topic with my sister, she said, “Save the touchy feely stuff for your own blog. Be ungrateful on crossingthestreams.” As someone who is keenly aware of how good begets good, I was hesitant to unleash such negativity into the Universe, but then the humor in the exercise struck me. Sure, why not be snarky on the one day of the year you are supposed to be filled with gratitude? I am grateful for the tiniest things throughout the year, so how perfectly appropriate to flip that on its ass on Thanksgiving and be ungrateful. What follows is my list of 5 Ingratitudes. Now I just pray I have enough time to write my touchy-feely blog before karma bites me. Continue reading
Championing Destiny!
I was challenged by my sister over on our blog crossingthestreams.net to take a moment to list the top 5 things for which I am most ungrateful. Snarky? Perhaps. But I chose to see the humor in the situation and went for it full force. However, after unleashing such negativity into the Universe, I feel compelled to provide some checks and balances and take a positive spin on justdestiny.com.
It seems the holidays bring out our most altruistic selves. From those feeding the homeless to the PETA folks looking out for the turkeys and pigs destined to become dinner, everyone has a cause to champion. In no way am I trying to undermine the work of my activist counterparts. However, this holiday, I am going to be completely selfish and champion my own cause…for today I am going to meet Adam’s family for Thanksgiving dinner. Continue reading
Seven Sentences for Sunday: The Battle of Wits Edition
- I think I’m going to start asking my children to respond with “as you wish” to my requests. And if they don’t I’ll remind them “I’m no one to be trifled with…” Yes, I introduced them to The Princess Bride this weekend.
- I’d forgotten how many great lines are in The Princess Bride…perhaps my favorite line of all time is when Westley says, “Death cannot stop true love…all it can do is delay it for a while,” something I firmly believe.
- “Oh no! She didn’t stop, drop, and roll.”—Paisley, upon watching Princess Buttercup’s skirt catch on fire in the Fire Swamp.
- With Christmas coming up, my schedule feels like Prince Humperdinck’s of late. “I’ve got my country’s 500th anniversary to plan, my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder, and Guilder to frame for it. I’m swamped.”
- “Wuv. Twue wuv…will follow you forever.”—the Impressive Clergyman has only an inkling of the truth as I have traveled the galaxies through time with mine.
- “Since the invention of the kiss, there have been five kisses that have been rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them all behind.”—quite possibly the best ending line of a book.
- “I didn’t like all the sword fighting…”—Paisley; “It was really good,”—Rhett; “Not at all what I expected. I can’t believe Westley was alive the whole time!”—Jolie
I love you all, some more than others.
5 Movies My Boyfriend Made Me Watch
What happens when you find your true love at 36 and he just happens to be a movie critic? All that you thought you knew about movies goes by the wayside and a new world opens up to you. I thought I was pretty well versed in the film universe, but as Adam pointed out to me, I had some major gaps. He got the brilliant idea for each of us to come up with five films that the other had not seen and we would learn more about each other through our choices. I was ready at the get go for this challenge…the only stipulation was he couldn’t make me sit through a horror film. Thankfully none of those ranked on his list of five, so off we went. (For his review of my five movies, and you know you want to know what I picked, click here…) Continue reading
Off Tempo
It was a hectic day, to say the least, with Jolie’s 5th grade skating party from 4-6 and Paisley’s 1st grade reading night from 6-7. Since school let out at 3:10, we had precious little time to grab a snack and dinner before the evening’s events started.
The roller skating party went off without a hitch. Paisley and Rhett stumbled their way around the rink, while Jolie took off, grooving on all four wheels to the latest Taylor Swift songs. All was well until it was time to go. Continue reading
Seven Sentences for Sunday: The Terror Strikes Again Edition
I’ve been gone. For 9 long months. You’d think I could have done something productive with such an extended period of time away…something like conceiving and growing and eventually producing an infant—but I’ve done that before. Maybe writing a full-length screenplay, or finally shopping my children’s books that need a publishing home? Nope. Sad to say I was simply uninspired. I had plenty going on to write about, including the beginning and end of another relationship, watching each of my children jump a year in age, the beginning of what I am hoping will be my final intimate relationship, as I have found someone who inspires my soul yet keeps me grounded…. Oh, yes, there was plenty of fodder on which to write. But I lost my way in editing land and am only recently finding my way out.
It’s time. My friends say it’s time. My love says it’s time. My doctor even told me to write for ten minutes each morning in order to get my rhythm back. So I figured the best way to use my 10 minutes is to start with the tried and true Seven Sentences for Sunday.
Seven Sentences for Sunday: The Terror Strikes Again Edition
1. When it has been a while, forming an idea for a post is a bit like sex with a new love. All it takes is a bit of a connection, a raised eyebrow, or a half-smile, and suddenly the emotion takes over. You find yourself immersed in the experience, grasping at threads, and excited about the possibilities.
2. There’s also the terror that comes from the dichotomous struggle of worrying that you won’t be able to replicate the experience, or that you’ll fall so head over heels in love that you can’t possibly imagine your life without your lover or your writing. Both are equally terrifying.
3. Once I have written something….no matter how small…I begin to find inspiration in everything. I think this is true whenever you are doing something positive for the world—acts of kindness, peace, love, and yes, creativity, beget the same.
4. I have two writing challenges, one from my boyfriend and one from my sister, that have been set before me. I think I write best when a challenge is presented.
5. I had forgotten how seemingly easy but practically difficult it is to write 7 coherent sentences….maybe that’s a reason I stayed away so long.
6. And yet, I have already begun to think about next Sunday’s SSFS. I’m an enigma.
7. I hate horror movies. I steer far clear of haunted houses. However, when it comes to matters of the heart, I go for the thrill. I put my writing out there in the awareness that criticism could tear it to shreds. I hand the essence of my being over to my love, trusting him to hold it dear, but with the niggling fear that he has the power to crush it. That, I believe, is scarier than any John Carpenter or Wes Craven flick out there.
I love you all, some more than others.