Writing prompt… Fame.

Do I have any famous or high-profile relatives? No, I don’t. I do have a distant cousin who is a published author and who has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show, but the most famous person that I ever met is actually Big Bird from Sesame Street. One of my childhood friends is his adopted daughter.

Writing prompt… Dear past me.

Dear past me,

Why were you so damn naive at times? There are so many things you could have and perhaps should have done differently. Maybe not so much that you might have done them better, but definitely much more efficiently. On the other hand, were all young, dumb and naive at some point in our lives, so I won’t hold it against you. You simply did what you felt was best to do at the time and given what knowledge and experience you had at the moment. So yeah, you fucked up here and there. But then again we all do.

Writing prompt… Dear future me.

Dear future me,

You have learned so much in life. I hope you will utilize your knowledge to the utmost best of your ability for the remainder of your life. Remember, life isn’t so much about never making mistakes as it is about not repeating the same mistakes over and over again. Be yourself, use your best judgment, and never give up before you try.

Writing prompt… What is your take on soul mates?

I’m one of the very few and the very lucky ones to have found her soul mate. I think that unfortunately most people never meet their ideal mates. For most people, I think that fantasy is one thing while reality is another. Our soul mates may not mimic our fantasies 100 percent, but there is no doubting it when we meet them.

My take on soul mates is pretty simple. Our true soul mate loves and accepts us just as we are. They encourage us to improve in a loving, non-pushy way and not a controlling and manipulative way. They never try to shape and mold us into who they are or who they think we should be. They accept our weaknesses and appreciate our strengths. They are there for us during the bad times as well as the good and they never judge us. They are honest with us, they respect us, and they would love us the same if we were disfigured in a fire or something like that. They consider us as well as themselves and they really listen to us and pay attention to the things we say and do.

Writing prompt… Worry.

I’ve always been one to worry. I’m just a total worry wart. Most of my worries are things like something possibly happening to Tom, or us falling in some financial jam as we have in the past, and sometimes I even worry about those who screwed me in Arizona hunting me down and doing God only knows what to me. My rational side says they would have by now, but life is full of nasty surprises at times, and someone connected to them was playing around online with me just a few years ago that I know of. They’re definitely not my biggest worry in life, though.

The things that I tend to worry about come in all sizes. Some are big, some are small. Sometimes I worry about how tired I may be on any given day that I may want to do something in particular while other times I’ll worry about what the future may hold for us.

Writing prompt… Places you’ve enjoyed visiting.

Although I haven’t traveled very often, I have definitely been to many places, including other countries. I’ve been all over the US except for some of the Midwestern states. I grew up in Massachusetts and we had a summer cottage down in Connecticut. My first short-distance trip was to camp in Maine and then to New York when my school went to the Trade Center.

My first long-distance trip was to Texas where my sister lived for a while. Then again, that might have been my second long-distance trip. Pretty sure we went to Florida when I was a baby. I definitely went to Florida when I was 22 and then again when I was 24. This was in the late 80s and early 90s.

In the mid-90s I went to places like Vegas, where I was married. Laughlin, which is also in Nevada, and SoCal.

In January of 2007, I won a Caribbean cruise. We were living in Oregon at the time and it was a wonderful break from the icy cold and snow. We sailed from Florida to the Bahamas and Puerto Rico. We tried to make it to the Grand Turks and Caicos Islands, but stormy weather prevented us from docking safely.

The best trip was to Ka’anapali, Hawaii on the island of Maui just last year. Originally the trip was supposed to be to Italy, but the travel company I won the credit from allowed us to pick our own destination.

We had so much fun there! We swam in pools, but mostly in the ocean. We snorkeled and attended a luau. We went catamaran sailing and on a submarine tour. It was the busiest, most adventurous, and fun week of my life!

Writing prompt… Three things.

This prompt asks me a series of questions that involve three things. First one is… What three things can I not go without? Air, water and food.

What are my three celebrity crushes? Kate Jackson, Linda Ronstadt and Gloria Estefan. That ought to tell you how long it’s been since I’ve been into celebrities, haha.

My three favorite things to wear… That would be my long light blue fleece robe, My new 1-piece pajamas, and the colorful dress I got in Hawaii.

Three things I want in a relationship… Honesty, respect and acceptance.

If I had to evacuate my home because of a natural disaster, I would try to grab my pets, and hopefully at least my smartphone since my desktop would be too heavy, and probably my medication.

My three pet peeves… Screaming kids, barking dogs, and blasting car stereos.

Three things I would do if I wasn’t so afraid… I would not be afraid of spiders. I would not be afraid to get in a car and drive it. I definitely wouldn’t be so afraid of death and dying.

My three favorite TV shows… The original Charlie’s Angels, The Bionic Woman, and Twin Peaks. I also loved the original Law & Order series and Little House on the Prairie. But that’s five things instead of three.

If I could ask a genie to grant me three wishes, they would be to not worry so much about what the future may hold, to never have money problems again, and to remain happy and healthy for the rest of my life.

Writing prompt… Things you’ve done that you previously thought you could never do.

I smoked for about 18 years and I never thought I could get off of the damn things. I tried and tried and tried to no avail, then one day I finally succeeded.

Even a relationship seemed totally impossible at one point let alone a marriage of over 20 years.

Later…

Had a little bit of a scare early this morning after Tom went to work. It was the end of my day since I’m now on nights. I got in the bed and it felt like my heart was beating a little too hard. Earlier I noticed that I felt a bit short of breath. I told myself to calm down, it was nothing, and that I would be fine. I still ended up nervous enough to call Tom at work who helped calm me down. We think it’s because I ate a little more than I have in quite a while and my body was working harder to digest the extra food.

These things don’t scare me as much as they used to which is both good and bad, I suppose. Obviously, it’s a good thing that I was only a little nervous instead of absolutely terrified, but sadly, it means I’m getting used to them the more they happen. I don’t think these beatfests are ever going to stop completely. I just have a natural tendency towards tachycardia. It’s probably done this more times than I’ve noticed in the past, but I just didn’t pay much attention to it because it wasn’t something I worried about as much.

After my heart stopped racing I turned ice cold and I had the shakes really bad. I trembled so hard that I was worried for a minute I might actually bite my tongue, but that didn’t last longer than a few minutes.

I slept later than my goal, which is good since I still gotta flip my schedule, but it wasn’t without a wake-up call. No, it was traffic. Instead, I had a really sharp cramp-like pain in my very lower gut. I don’t know what that was all about but it was strong enough to wake me up.

Then after I did get up I was surprised when my period snuck up on me a few days early. This is the second month it’s been early. What is it with these things? First they’re late, now they’re early.

Right now I have a slightly funny feeling when I swallow, and felt these quick flashes of a cramp-like feeling toward the left of my heart where the boob meets the side. Can’t my body just leave me alone for once?

I had a dream I was waitressing in this restaurant and I doubted myself big time, knowing it was something I didn’t have the knack for. The woman training me seemed to sense my doubt and perhaps she doubted me as well. I assured her that if I kept messing up, we could both give me the boot. Then some guy at a table of 4 asked for tea, which I could barely see because the lighting was so dim in the place. I brought him a cup of tea with the tea bag inside of the cup and I wondered to myself if I was supposed to put the tea bag in the cup as I had or let the guy do it himself.

Writing prompt… Admiration

I admire those with patience. I admire those who can take the time to keep going over and over the same damn things with those who are slow to get things.

I admire those who can deal with those who just can’t shut up and aren’t good listeners because they’re too selfish to care what they might have to say when they feel the need to get something out.

I admire those who can keep a positive attitude no matter how bleak the future may look.

I admire those who can accept things as they are.

I admire those who know how to give up and move on when a fight to achieve something has been lost, and those who know how to keep going when the fight hasn’t yet been lost.

I admire those who don’t live in fear of what awaits them at the end of their lives and possibly beyond.

I admire those who don’t do the ‘what if’ game so often and can live in the moment only.

I admire those who aren’t afraid to be themselves and tell it like it is without making any excuses or apologies for thinking, feeling, and believing as they do, and for living their lives as they see fit whether it’s “normal” or not.

I admire those who know when to let go when somebody they want as a friend or perhaps more than just a friend isn’t interested in them.

I admire those who see the positive in the negative and don’t always focus on the negative only.

I admire those who don’t feel the need to push and control others and can just accept them as they are and simply ignore those they can’t accept.

I admire those who are there for their friends and family during the bad times as well as the good times.

Writing prompt… Books

I have always been a fan of mostly mystery books. I prefer to read books with lots of twists and turns and surprise endings, but even some of the more predictable ones can be entertaining, too. I’m not really fond of romance, comedy, Westerns, science fiction and things like that. I’m more of a mystery, suspense, thriller, and paranormal kind of person.

One of my favorite books was The Haunting by Ruby Jean Jensen. It was your typical ghost story but it wasn’t.

I like books that are packed with action instead of those where you read 20 pages and then realize nothing’s really happened.