Getting to know your Girlfriends...

Welcome to the 2009 edition of: Getting to know your girlfriends!
Here's what you're supposed to do and try not to spoil the fun. Copy this entire note and paste into a new one that you can post. Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then send this to lots of people you know, including the person that sent it to you.
Some of you may get this several times...that means you have lots of friends.Be sure to send this back to me too! I want to see your answers!

1. What is your occupation? Instructional Assistant
2. What color are your socks right now?None
3. What are you listening to right now?the kids argue and eat popicles
4. What was the last thing that you ate?Dinner last night, Brad cooked...homemade rice pilaf, chicken, broccoli, cottage cheese and corn
5. Can you drive a stick shift? Yes, my first car was a stick, had a stick up until Tiernan was born.
6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Purple
7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? wrong number!
8. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Of course!!!
9. How old are you today? 41
10. Favorite drink? Diet Big Red
11. What is your favorite sport to watch? football
12. Have you ever colored your hair?all the time since age 19
13. What is your full name?Michelle Lynn Ritz Randall
14. Favorite food?Italian
15. Last movie you watched?Harry Potter Golbet of Fire (on tv last night with the kids)
16. Favorite Day of the year?Thanksgiving! Family time!!
17. What do you do to vent anger?cry!
18. What was your favorite toy as a child?I have no idea!
19. What is your favorite season? Fall
20. Hugs or kisses?Yes please!
21. Cherry or Blueberry?Cherry
22. Do you want your friends to post back?Sure if they like.
23. Who is most likely to respond???
24. Who is least likely to respond???
26. When was the last time you cried?Last night reading a book.
27. What is on the floor of your closet?clothes basket full of clothes.
28. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending this to?hm...longest continously, or the longest, even with a break....
29. Who is the friend you have known the shortest that you are sending this to?Amanda
30. Favorite smells?babies, mowed grass, cookies baking...
31. Inspires You? My children.
32. What are you afraid of? lossing those cloest to me.
33. Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers?Cheese
34. Favorite car? My Durango
35. Favorite cat breed?the stray that we love and seems to love us!
36. Number of keys on your key ring? Stupid question, who has time to count them all...
37. How many years at your current job?1
38. Favorite day of the week?Saturday morning.
39. How many states have you lived in?1

Daily Writing Practice: the Fan

Prompt: The fan



1st Attempt:

Long day at work,
office hot as always,
shoes feel way too tight,
is that right?
are my feet swelling?
time to relax,
a glass of sweet tea,
the fan,
a bowl of ice and me.

Daily Writing Practice: Growth

Prompt: Growth

1st Attempt:
As she looked back through the family album of pictures, she realized just how much she had grown over the years. Not just in height and age, but in wisdom. She had been naive and foolish to run off without knowing the whole story, without stopping to ask questions and investigate what was really going on, but then again, by running off half-cocked, she had grown. She had learned to never do that again, to take the time to look for answers, to never take anything at face value again. Did that mean she was more cyncial and jaded, maybe, but she also was more confident and sure of herself and the choices she had made since. The problem remained on how to deal with the problems she created in the first place by running away.

Expanded Writing: Nightfall...

Expanded Writing: This means that I am taking one of my Daily Writing Assignments and Expanding upon it. I am trying to label all entries so that if you just want to follow one, example book reviews, then you can without having to read through everything. I hope.


As the night was slowly falling, she sat on the hill, under the big oak tree thinking. What would her life have been like if she had never left this place? Would she be the woman she was today? Would she be happier? So many questions but so few answers. Maybe it would be best, to leave all the questions, forget this place and leave again, but then she thought of his eyes. The way those deep brown eyes seemed to see straight through her, and she knew that here she would need to remain, at least until the questions were answered.

She sat on the porch swing as the shadows slowly lengthened watching the fireflies dancing on the lawn. A glass of Aunt Mimi's famous, special recipe sweet tea sat beside her, it had been so long since she had tasted it. She thought again about his question, "Why did you leave?" She had known that it would come, just not expected it this soon. All she could do was shake her head, how to answer that, but luckly Rev. Troubeaux had walked up and she had been saved from responding, but that was only for now. She knew that he would ask again. How would she answer? Would she have the courage to tell him the plain truth? To admit to all that had happened that summer? Or could she just shruge and say the classic, bigger place better jobs, time to move on line that she had practiced on everyone else in town? No, he would look at her with those deep brown eyes, and he would see through that answer in a second, but was she really strong enough to answer with the truth? She knew she would have to talk to him, but when and how it would go remained the biggest questions.

Daily Writing Practice : How hot is it?

Prompt: How hot is it?

1st Attempt:
As the children tried to play in the pool, all Cara could think of was how warm it felt. Was the water too hot for the kids? They splashed a bit, then she noticed that they were just floating around the pool. She called out to the oldest, "Maya, is everything ok?" "Yes Mom", she replied, "It's just too hot to move." Cara thought, she couldn't remember ever hearing her daughter, this outdoors girl, who would rather run in the woods than play with dolls, say that it was too hot to do anything, so it had to be really hot.

Comments:
Not as happy with this offering, but my rules for this daily writing practice are that I will submitt my 1st attempt, with no editing. Another days assignment might be to go back and edit or expand on a previous assignment, so I will attempt to do more with this later, but I want to just brainstrom the ideas down on the 1st attempt. If I decide to do an re-write assignment, then I will add it as the 2nd attempt.

Daily Writing Practice: Nightfall....

PROMPT: Nightfall...

1st ATTEMPT:
As the night was slowly falling, she sat on the hill, under the big oak tree thinking. What would her life have been like if she had never left this place? Would she be the woman she was today? Would she be happier? So many questions but so few answers. Maybe it would be best, to leave all the questions, forget this place and leave again, but then she thought of his eyes. The way those deep brown eyes seemed to see straight through her, and she knew that here she would need to remain, at least until the questions were answered.


This was a five minute exercise on writing....
Given the word Nightfall I had to brainstorm and write something. There are no corrections, no revisions, this is the first attempt. Could I make it better? Could I expand it into a full story?

This is what I came up with upon hearing the word nightfall. Hope you like it, and please leave me comments. I am going to be writing here daily, working on my writing skills, and maybe one day you'll see my name on the title page of a book...at least I can dream!

New Beginnings...

As I get older, I find that my chances to ramble on about life, love, death and justice seem to come fewer and farther between, so I have created my own reality, a blog to allow me to do just that, ramble on about whatever is on my mind, and at the same time to practice my writing.

Like other people, I have always had this lingering dream to write a book, or at least frequent articles about the things I love and or hate. I am not confident in my writing skills as they exist at this moment, so my blog is another tool for me to work at making them better, and me more confident.

Enjoy the Ramblings of a mother's mind!