Promotion at work

Assignment:  Think about how mood and circumstances affect perception. In 250 words, describe a supermarket visited by a woman who has just received a promotion at work.Think about how mood and circumstances affect perception. In 250 words, describe a supermarket visited by a woman who has just received a promotion at work.

Gloria needed a few items from the store on her way home from work.  She wanted to make a special dinner tonight.  Maybe some enchiladas or lasagna would be appropriate for celebrating her big promotion.  She walked down the dairy aisle and sang along to the music playing.  Gloria actually sang out loud.  It was a great song and she didn’t care who heard her or what they thought of her singing.

“Baby, Baby I’m taken with the notion.  To love you with the sweetest of devotion,” she sang along with Amy grant.  This song always took her back to her college days when it first played on the radio.  A young lady was picking out some yogurt and turned to look at Gloria.  The lady smiled and started singing along too.  They both giggled.  Gloria got her block of cheddar and decided on enchiladas.  Next was the chicken.  She had everything else she needed at home for enchiladas.  She picked out her chicken and almost danced as she made her way to the checkout.  The cashier smiled as he scanned her cheese and chicken and put them in a bag for her.  

The cashier said, “Do you know what day of the week chickens hate the most?”  

“No, which one?”  

“Friday.  Get it, fry day.”  

“Oh that’s a good one.  I think I will tell my son that one at dinner tonight.  He’ll get a kick out of it.”  Gloria laughed as she walked out, thinking about the joke.

250 words exactly - BAM

Bullies

When I was in grade school there was a kid who I would label as a bully.  I only remember one incident with him however, so I base the label on that.  It was either 2nd or 3rd grade and I was standing up to him.  I don't even remember what he did but I can still picture us, face to face, in the hall.  It must have been during the lunch break because I had my lunch box in my hand.  It was one of those metal ones that all kids use to have.  So as I remember it, I was saying something like "Oh yeah, and what are you going to do?"  Kind of a challenge of some sort.  Actually, maybe I was the bully.  Anyway, he hit me.  Well he hit my lunch box that I was holding up in front of my face and it smack my forehead pretty hard.  I have no memory of what happened after that, if I went to the office or what.  Or maybe I was hit so hard I lost my memory.  What I do remember is that either that evening or the next, my sister went with me to this boy's house.  He lived about 10 houses down the street from us so we just walked on over to his house.  He answered the door and my sister told him not to hit my anymore.  At least that's what I think she told him.  Like I said, I don't remember it all (again the memory loss caused by the big egg sized knot on my forehead).  As we walked away I imagine I felt vindicated.  I still had the sore head but my sister was there to make sure it didn't happen again.

My sister was my protector.

I encountered another bully recently and wish my sister was here to be that protector again.  It is the position that only a sibling or a sibling-like person can have.   I could have come to her with my egg sized knot on my heart and she would have been upset that someone would do that to me.  My sister could have given him a good talking to.   She would say something about how he shouldn't mess with her sister ever again.  She would have stood up for me.   She would have fought my battle.  And I would feel vindicated (justified, made right, redeemed, delivered).

What I have learned about bullies is that they aren't just kids.  The world is full of adult bullies that cause much more hurt then the kid ones.  We need more protectors, people who will stand up for the injustice.  I want to be one of those people who will stand up to the bullies and set people free.

My Job

Today’s writing assignment is to write a paragraph about a place where I worked.  

There were five of us cleaners.  Some of our crew would race on so that they could find if the liquor box was still there and if by chance the flight attendants had forgotten to lock it.  When the A/C was already turned off, the plane was stuffy and smelled of old coffee and sickness, like a hospital.  I liked the seat cleaning job.  I would scoot to the middle seat and organize the pockets of the seat backs.  I would carefully put my hand in the pocket and empty it.  I was always cautious as I put my hand in the pocket because I had heard stories of used syringes sometimes being in a pocket.  I only put my hand in warm vomit once.  I guess there was no barf bag for the person.  Then I organized the glossy airline magazine, safety card, and barf bag all in a nice stack.  Next, I wiped down the sticky tray tables and windows and lastly dust of the crumbs on the seat and fold the seat belts over each other as I moved out to the next row.  I tossed any garbage in the bag that was tied to my waist and keep any treasures on a seat to pick up on the way out.  I found books, magazines, a wedding ring, and a wallet.  The worst were the night flights with all the blankets and pillows.  Now I know they don't get new pillowcases after each use.  I could almost feel the bugs crawling on me as I shook out the blankets. As we left, we would spray a nice orange scent and move on to the next plane.

At the end of our shift we gathered our treasures from the night and shared with each other what we found.  On a good night, like when I found the wallet, we would treat ourselves to breakfast.  It was a fun, no worries, type of job.

Quarreling Characters - for my writing course

Jenny and her mom walked into JC Penny’s at the mall.  Her mom had told her that she wanted to take her shopping for something special today.  Jenny had no idea but hoped it was some new jeans.  She was growing and her jeans were turning into high waters.  Money was tight though, so she didn’t ask for them.  But they didn’t walk to the jeans section, they walked to the lingerie area.

“Here we are, Jenny.  I think we should buy you some bras.”  

Jenny was 12 and just starting to blossom.  She wore little tank tops under her t-shirts and was fine with that.  But apparently her mom had a different idea.

“Oh my gosh mom, this is so embarrassing!”  Jenny said.

“Honey, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about, women have to buy bras all the time.”

“But why do I have to be here?  Can’t you just do it without me?”

Jenny’s mom walked over to the young girl bras and pulled one off the rack.  There were bras with Little Kitty decals, Minnie Mouse, and flowers.  Apparently apparel companies thought 5 year olds needed bras by the looks of how they decorated them.

“I’m not touching that!” Jenny said under her breath.

And then the most horrible thing happened.  A sales lady came over.

“Can I help you?”

“Oh yes, we are looking for a training bra.  Do you have a tape measure so I can see what size my daughter needs?”

“MOTHER!” Again, under her breath.  “Just buy some and we can take them home to try them on.  I’m not going to get measured!”

“Honey, it’s really no big deal.” Jenny’s mom said.  But Jenny wasn’t listening, she had walked to the end of the aisle where there were some socks.  She busied herself looking like socks were the most interesting item in the store.

“Jenny, this is ridiculous, it’s just a bra.”  Jenny’s mom said a little too loudly.

“Oh my gosh, mom.  Just pick out one and let’s go.  I’m not going to try it on.  I just want to get out of here.  This is so lame.”

“I want to make sure it fits though.  I don’t want to drive back here to return it.  So go try it on.”

Jenny’s eyes teared up.  She didn’t want to try on a bra.  She didn’t want to touch the thing.  And she definitely didn’t want to do it here.  

Jenny’s mom saw the tears and gave in.  Buying a bra shouldn’t be a big deal, but it seemed like Jenny was going to fall apart if she pushed her, so she said, “Sorry Honey, it’s not a big deal, but we can just buy two and make dad return them if they don’t fit.”

This made Jenny smile.

“Then let’s buy the biggest, ugliest bra there is.  And I want to watch dad return it.”

A Scene of an Unhappy Character

It had been only 54 days since she arrived at North Western Academy for her junior year of high school.  Her parents had dropped her off on a Sunday afternoon.  She was so excited to be starting her new adventure that she anxiously said “good-bye” and nearly skipped to the New Comers Welcome Fiesta.  Cassie had wanted to go North Western since she met a few of the students at a Young Life conference she went to the year before with her church.  It sounded so fun to live with all your friends.  Plus it was a Christian school so she knew they would be a better influence then the friends she had now.  Her parents were supportive but not too happy about the cost.  But they decided to give it a try since Cassie really wanted to go.

54 days!  The school was 3 hours from her home and her parents had visited twice.  Parents were encouraged not to visit too often in the beginning so that students could settle in to the new environment.  Cassie sat at the desk in her room and looked at a picture of her family from when they went to Disneyland 2 years ago.  Her younger brother was 10.  She missed that little terror.  Part of her was glad he wasn’t bugging her to play tag or watch a movie with him, but mostly, right now, she was wishing she could sit in the beanbag with him and watch Rug Rats like she did after getting home from school.  

Cassie stared out her window at the soccer field.  No one was out because of the rain.  The gray skies matched her mood.  She didn’t even want to walk through the rain to get to the cafeteria.  Besides, tonight was spaghetti and it would only remind her of her mom’s recipe which had sausage and not ground beef.  This stuff tasted right out of a can... because it was.  She wasn’t in the mood for talking to the others around the table.  Maybe she would just skip dinner and take a nap.  She stood and turned around to her bed.  She climbed under her quilt that her mom had made out of her old t-shirts and pulled it over her head.  

One Year Bible

Last July I bought Micah a One Year Bible.  I had one in high school and college that I read through several times.  I enjoyed it because it is laid out in daily readings of the old and new testament and a psalm and proverb.  It only takes about 10 minutes a day.  So I thought Micah would find it easy to read and enjoy it like I have.  I bought the New Living Translation, which is written in a more modern language.  Micah preferred to wait until January 1st to start, so I started reading it.  I loved it so much that I had to buy him another one come January.  And I got one for Steve too.  So now all three of us are reading through the Bible together.  I am so happy when I see Micah reading his Bible.  And he is writing down verses that stand out to him.  This is the best gift (although it wasn't a gift) I have given him.

Look for a Bible - Click here

Eyes! I love them!

Childhood Home

It was a house of the 70’s.  Added to it was decorations from the 70’s.  The couch was a velour orange and brown big print floral with the corners torn away from cat scratches.  It faced the TV.  An old 70’s TV that had the dial channels.  We didn’t have cable and the best station to come in was the U channel.  We watched Leave It To Beaver and Bewitched on the U channel.  When we wanted to watch another channel, my dad would have to get the broom out and go outside and swivel the antenna on the roof around.  Saturday’s was Love Boat and Fantasy Island on channel 8.

The room also had a fireplace that was set at an angle.  The wall of the fireplace was made out of stones.  We had a latch hook rug wall hanging in oranges and browns, hanging on the stone wall.  When my dad pounded the nail in to hang it, the top right hand corner stone cracked and a piece fell off about 10 inches wide.  When that happened, we had our TV on the fireplace ledge and the rock fell right on top of the TV.  After that, the TV got better reception.

One cool morning we were burning a fire in the fireplace and I was sitting on the ledge of it to get really toasty warm.  My parents would burn garbage in the fireplace at times to cut down on the garbage pick up bill I guess.  On this fateful morning, my dad threw in the garbage without going through it.  It was just a small dustbin full of mostly papers.  As it heated up quickly, I moved to the couch so my back wouldn’t burn.  Soon after I moved away, a huge fireball exploded out of the fireplace and rolled up the stone wall.  Pieces of burning paper shot out and there were little smoldering fires on the carpet.  The hanging latch hook rug melted in spots.  What my dad didn’t realize is that there was an empty spray can of lacquer in the garbage.  When that thing started burning it was like a small bomb.  He quickly stomped out the carpet spots that were burning and the fireball died down almost immediately so not much damage was done.  Just some blackened stones on the fireplace and some black, melted carpet spots on the ground and on the wall hanging.  He eventually trimmed those spots with his pocket knife and we laid a rug out in front of the fireplace to cover up the bald spots.

I am thankful that I moved away from the ledge of the fireplace when I did.  Thankfully I don’t like heat and in this instance it saved me from being burned.

Portraying Character

Today for my writing class I had to try to give a picture of my character through different types of writing.  Here is my character.  Can you tell me what she is like?

Summary of a character -

Sherry lit another cigarette as she stood over the stove frying chicken.  She took a drag, turned over the chicken pieces, and strained the potatoes all in a matter of seconds.  Sherry was like a whirlwind in the kitchen.  Sherry was a whirlwind in most areas of life.  Good thing she had a wireless phone.  She was often talking to her daughter on the phone while folding the laundry or playing solitaire on the laptop while watching the news.  Her husband John on the other hand could sit with the cat on his lap for hours.  They were perfect for each other.  John got a kick out of how scattered Sherry was and he in turn showered Sherry with praise.

They had only been married for 7 years, each of them being married a couple times before.  Now that they had each other they didn’t need anyone else.  They were content to just be together at home each night and not to be bothered by the activities that bog down a person.

Repeated Action or Habit -

Sherry climbed in the passenger seat of the pick-up truck and  John started it up.  Sherry reached over and turned the radio on.  She liked noise.  But even over the easy listening lyrics, she and John would talk.  Were they even listening to the music or was it white noise?  Sometimes they had to repeat themselves when they talked because of the racket.  But neither of them turned the music off, it was just what they did whenever they drove somewhere together.  Alone, John left it switched off.

Speech in a Scene -

“You won’t believe what Claire said,” Sherry’s eyes opened wide with a look of amazement.  She loved sharing the latest news from her phone call with her daughter.  “She was at a grocery store, you know the one down the street from her work.  What’s that one called?  Oh it doesn’t matter.  Anyway, Claire was pushing her cart down an aisle when she had to squeeze by a heavy-set lady in one of those doohickys, you know those scooter things they have in stores.  Anyway, she accidentally bumped the thing.  The lady looked at her and said ‘Well, excuse me, am I too fat?’  So you know Claire can’t keep her mouth shut, she said, ‘Maam, I didn’t bump you because you are fat, I bumped you because you were taking up the whole aisle.’  Well I guess the lady didn’t like that, so she gave Claire the finger and rolled away.  So Claire, not knowing when to keep her mouth shut mumbled under her breath but loud enough for the lady to hear, ‘and yes, you are fat.’  Can you believe that girl?”

John smiled and said, “What did the lady do, chase after Claire at a snails pace?”  John and Sherry laughed at the audacity that Claire had to say such comments and more so of the picture in their minds of the chase.  Sherry laughed so hard she snorted which made them laugh even harder.  Soon, Sherry was teary-eyed.  

Myself as a Character

Assignment number two in my free online writing class is to create a character that is based on myself, but to change something like gender or ethnic or some other main characteristic.  So here is my person.  I would appreciate feedback.

He shuffled out of the room, rubbing his eyes as he did every morning.  Not a morning person.  He went straight to the kitchen to make his chai.  Ezra loved his chai.  He made it on the stove with tea leaves and crushed green cardoman pods and cloves.  Some days he would put a piece of cinnamon in or some crushed ginger.  But today it was just the cardoman and cloves.  He walked to the front room to sit and wait for the chai to boil.  His eyes weren’t able to focus yet so there was no sense trying to read a book or paper while he waited.  He just sat.  As soon as he heard the pot boiling, Ezra would get up and go pour some milk into the pot and add a bit of sugar.  Then he would wait for it to boil again.  Many mornings he would just stand there staring at the pot.  Even though they say a watched pot never boils, Ezra found this to be false, so he watched.  Finally, when it boiled again, he would turn off the burner and strain his chai into his mug.  He carried it back to the front room and settled himself down without taking a sip.  Way too hot.

Ezra was 44 years old.  He wasn’t old and he wasn’t young.  He still had a full head of hair and there was still more brown then gray.  But he was beginning to notice the colors were getting closer to even amounts of each.  He told himself that gray hair is a sign of wisdom.  Somehow that made him feel better about aging.  

He turned and studied his mug of chai, steaming on the side table next to him.  It was one of those photo mugs and the photo was of himself from 20 years ago.  He stared at himself in the picture.  Sure he was 10 pounds heavier now and he didn’t have the youthful gleam in his eyes anymore, but had he really changed?  He was married now and had a kid, but besides that he felt the same as the guy in the picture.  

Sipping his chai, Ezra’s mind went back to the past.  Back to what life was like when the photo was taken.  He was single and carefree.  A college graduate who envisioned doing remarkable things in the world.  Maybe so remarkable that a book would one day be written about his life.  He would be moving to Africa soon.  This picture was the picture he gave people to remember him by.  His plan was to help the Africans to have a better life.  Maybe give them clean water, or teach English, or take care of orphaned children.  Basically Ezra wanted to save the world.  When did that desire die?  No one ever tells you bluntly that you can’t save the world and that you probably will never do anything book worthy.  It is one of those things a person has to learn the hard way.  And Ezra did.

A bedroom door opened and Ezra’s son came out.  Melvin was 14 and just as sleepy in the mornings as Ezra was.  There was noise coming from the other bedroom so Ezra knew his wife, Sandra was awake too.  She would be coming out to make Melvin’s breakfast.  This was their morning routine.  He would sit and have his chai, Sandra would make the breakfast for Melvin.  Then they would all sit around the table together while Melvin ate his breakfast.  Sandra and Ezra would hasten Melvin out the door and wave good-bye from the balcony as he left for school on the bus.  Then they would finish their caffeine (Sandra drank coffee) and get ready for their workout.  For not being a morning person, Ezra was somehow into a high cardio workout routine.  Mostly because it was a high calorie burn and Ezra wanted to keep his belly from growing any bigger.  Sandra still looked great and had lots of energy for their workout.

After the workout time Ezra had to rush to get ready for the day.  A quick shower and shave and toast for breakfast and he was out the door in 20 minutes.  He usually ate his toast in the car on the way to work.  This was life now.  Just like it is for most of the other adults in America.  Working 9-5 and living for the weekend.  And like every other guy out there, there comes a time when you ask yourself “Is this all?”  This was the day for Ezra to ask it.  Was this all?  Ezra looked in the rearview mirror at himself.  His grey-blue eyes had lost their sparkle.  Is this all?  It wasn’t that he was unhappy, just bored.  Where was the adventure?  Where was the glory?  A little excitement now and then would be nice.  He looked down at his khaki dress pants and blue shirt and tie.  What happened to him?  How did he end up like this?  He dresses just like every other office worker, and may even run into several guys in khaki and blue today.  The thought made Ezra laugh.  He still had a sense of humor at least.  There wasn’t anything he could do about it now, but Ezra swore he would no longer wear this ridiculous cloned outfit after today.  In fact, there were other things he could change, not just about his appearance but his life.  He would take Sandra out for dinner tonight and they would make big plans.  Life changing plans.  Tonight they would dream big and tomorrow they would start living big.  No more boring blue shirts.

Round Characters

I am taking an online writing class and today I had to write a story with a round character.  A character that seems one way, like a stereo type, but then has a aspect of the character that is out of the ordinary.  So here is my character.  Mary.  You will notice that the story just leaves you hanging because it isn't about the story but about Mary.  Let me know what you think of her.

Mary loves people.  I mean, really loves them.  She is one of the nicest people I know.  She gives gifts, she says hi to strangers, she even picks up crying babies out of their mother’s arms and soothes them.  So it is no surprise that she chose to be a nurse.  Mary works in the emergency room and doesn’t seem bothered by the chaos of the night shift.  Weird things happen at night.  Looking at Mary you wouldn’t think she was tough either.  She is only 5’2” and probably weighs not quite 100 pounds.  But she can handle a 6 foot 200 pound drunk like he was her baby boy.  People may try to give her a hard time but somehow she can turn them around just by being her loving self.  She doesn’t get mad, she works her magic through her charm.  And she is sincere.  When these guys come in stoned out of their minds with stupid injuries she doesn’t make fun of them or roll her eyes, she comforts them and speaks soft words or reassurance that they are going to be alright.  Everyone loves Mary, but I somehow am the lucky guy who gets to call her my wife.  

It was a full moon, which means even more weird cases come in to the emergency room.  Mary seems to thrive on full moon nights.  She always comes home in the morning beaming from the excitement through out the night.  This morning was different however.  Mary came in the door and looked exhausted.  I was sitting at the kitchen table reading the paper and drinking my morning tea when she walked in.

“Hi Honey, how was your night?” I greeted her

“You won’t believe what happened,” she said. 

“You look tired.  Are you okay?”

“Well, a lady came in to the ER around midnight and it was the strangest thing.”

Then Mary got tears in her eyes and put her face in her hands.

“Oh my goodness, Honey, come sit down.  Tell me what happened.”

“Oh Scott, it was horrible.  She looked completely fine but then she did something.”  Mary stopped talking and wept.  I put my hands on her shoulders and waited for her to continue.

“The lady looked at me.  Straight into my eyes.  And she said, ‘Mary, you did this to me.’”

I was trying to be patient with her story, but it was driving me crazy.  I wanted to know what was so horrible.  

Mary continued.  “She then pulled out a knife.  And before I could react, she stabbed herself in the stomach.”

“What?  Oh Mary!  What happened?”

Mary looked at me with what looked like regret and maybe disbelief.

“She fell to the ground crying and I just walked away.”

“What?  What?  You walked away?  Why?  I don’t get it.  Who is she?”

“Scott, she is he step-mother of the little boy who has been missing.   And they found his little body last night.”

“But why is she mad at you?  You didn’t do anything.”

“I befriended her, Scott.  She had come in to the ER a few nights ago drunk and I recognized her from TV.  Scott, she told me where she had taken the boy and what she did to him.  I called the cops and told them.  She knows she is going to jail.”

“Is she okay?  Did someone else help her?”

“Oh Scott, it’s horrible.  I couldn’t stand the thought of her living after what she did to the boy.”

“Mary, what did you do?”

“I wanted her to die.  She deserved to die.”

“Mary?”

“I turned around like I was going to help her.  I bent down to her.  The knife was still in her stomach.  I ...”

“Mary what?  What did you do?”

“She grabbed my hand.  She looked into my eyes with the most evil look.  Then I 

Favorite Things

Here is a list of a few of my favorite things.

Cheesecake - especially from the Cheesecake Factory.  I like pumpkin cheesecake, chocolate, peanut butter, and just plain cheesecake.

My bed - so comfortable, especially after being away from home for a while.

Steve - he is awesome!

Peanut Butter Brownie Tort - from Red Moon Bakery.  Simply the best!

80 degree weather - nuff said

Dr. Pepper - I love being able to get a 32 oz. drink at a gas station and suck on it all day long.

Thai Iced Tea - reminds me of being in Thailand.

Micah - He is the nicest kid I know.

Worshipping God - I love when I am really in  a worship mood and can sing completely for God (usually by myself).

Goats - they are funny looking and do funny things.