Some of my favorite love songs…
Crazy for You – Madonna
I Melt With You – Modern English
I’ll Be Over You – Toto
Mad About You – Belinda Carlisle
Just the Way You Are – Bruno Mars
Hero – Enrique Iglesias
Thinking Out Loud – Ed Sheeran
Chasing Cars – Snow Patrol
I Will Always Love You – Whitney Houston
Valentine – Martina McBride
🙂 Tuesday = #Blogbattle
I haven’t joined in for a couple of weeks again, oh how I’ve missed writing, nonetheless, excited to be back at it!!
#BlogBattle is a weekly short story challenge using a single word for inspiration. Hosted by the talented Rachael Ritchey. Feel free to join in, or click here to read the current week’s stories and vote for your favorites.
This week’s word: Chasm
Genre: Romance
Even though it is her day off, Nita goes in early to her Hair Salon. Her younger sister Kaycee is in town, and will be in later. Whenever Kaycee is in town, Nita schedules her for a color, cut, style, manicure and a facial. Kaycee gets some pampering, and Nita savors the time spent with her sister.
She walks in and is greeted by her business partner, Michael, “Morning Honey Bun, I didn’t expect to see you here this early. What time is Kaycee coming in?”
“Hey Michael. She’ll be in once she rolls out of bed, probably around 10 or 10:30. I thought I’d come in and catch up on some paperwork.”
“I left the inventory sheets on your desk. I see she still lives the charmed life, is she still seeing the same guy?”
Nita says with a sigh, “Yes…Only my sister would find a guy who seems to have walked off the page of a romance novel.
Michael holds up the palms of his hands and shakes his head with a look that asks, what does that mean?
“You know, over six feet tall, rich, unspeakably handsome, with six-pack abs. Well…I can’t verify the six-pack abs, but you know what I mean.”
“No, Sweetpea, actually I don’t. I don’t read romance novels, and I haven’t seen the guy.” Just then a timer rings, and Michael is out the door to tend to his client.
Once Nita is done with her paperwork, Kaycee comes in around 10, with her Grande Mocha Latte. Michael greets her by wrapping her in a big hug, “Hello Gorgeous, is that man of yours spoiling you rotten?”
“He certainly is Michael,” as she welcomes the hug. She steps back, with a gleam in her eye and a playful laugh she adds, “But I’m sooo worth it.”
Michael squeezes her shoulders and says, “You certainly are, Beautiful, and never forget it. You look fabulous!!”
Nita has all the supplies ready when Kaycee sits down in her chair. Not only does Kaycee get highlights in her naturally blonde hair, but she also adds some lowlights. It’s a process, yet there will be no break in their conversation once they get started.
Kaycee sits down, and takes a sip of her Starbucks, with concern in her voice she says, “I had that same dream again last night.”
Michael walks up just as she says it, and asks, “What dream?”
Kaycee lets out a breath and explains, “I’ve had this dream several times now. It’s a bright sunny day and I’m walking through this big grassy field, and just as I’m about to walk forward, a big chasm opens up in the ground. Then this wooden bridge appears over it, like I can safely walk across it, but the bridge disappears into the clouds and I can’t see what’s on the other side.”
With a hand raised Michael questions, “A chasm? Don’t you sound all smarticle.”
With wide eyes Kaycee exclaims, “I know right!!” With a shrug she confesses, “I have a word of the day app…it was my word yesterday.”
“Ah…gotcha.” Michael nods and points a finger at her. “So what does this dream mean?”
“I have no idea.”
“Sit tight Chica, I can help. Well…my friend Jasmine can help, she has this uncanny ability to interpret dreams…she’s pretty much always right. Oh, and when’s your birthday? She’ll ask me that for some reason.”
“March 16th.”
“Got it, let me give her a call.”
Nita continues working, but assures Kaycee, “I forgot about Jasmine, Michael has told me how she can interpret dreams.”
Michael comes back and as he sets up his workstation for his next client, he reports, “OK. So. Jasmine says that it’s the fear of taking the next step in your life. She asked if you were in a relationship, and said that your boyfriend probably wants to take the relationship to the next level.”
Kaycee raises her hand to her mouth, and with her eyes as wide as saucers she says, “OMG that’s amazing!! That’s it!! Julian has been making more comments about us living together, and then the other night we even talked about marriage, just in a general sense, like ‘at what age do you see yourself getting married’ kind of stuff.”
Excited, yet a little concerned, Nita asks, “So what did you tell him? Does he know about your past, and about Kevin?”
Kaycee replies. “Yes, I told him all about Kevin. Like I said, it wasn’t like a deep conversation. But for me, I’ve really been thinking about it lately. That’s probably the reason for the dream.”
“So do you see a future with Julian? Are you ready for that yet?” Nita inquires without interrogating.
“Actually, Nita, I think I am. It seems the more time I spend with him, the less doubts I have.”
As if on cue, Kaycee’s phone chirps with an incoming text message. “It’s a text from Julian.” Her smile could not get any brighter.
“Of course it is.” Nita mumbles good-naturedly.
“Ohhh….look.” Kaycee mewls as she holds up her phone for Nita to see.
“Let’s cut your hair off and dye it green, and see what he says then!!” Nita jokes.
“Not funny!!”
As Nita puts the finishing touches on Kaycee’s hair, she says, “Kaycee, you are a beautiful woman, but you’re also smart, confident, funny, and you have a big heart. You deserve to be loved by someone who loves you for all those things, and I believe Julian does, he’s a great guy.”
Kaycee jumps out of the chair, and wraps Nita in a big hug, “Thanks Nita, I love you.”
“Love you too.” As Nita steps back, she takes her sister by the shoulders and turns her to face the mirror, “But for the record, now that I’m done with you, you’re breathtakingly beautiful.”
🙂 997 words!!
©2016 Carrie Ann
What is a Pączki you ask?
Pączki are pastries traditional to Polish cuisine. They are similar to doughnuts.
They can be filled with any type of filling. These are filled with Apricot and Prune or Plum Butter filling. So grateful that my sister dropped these off for my mom and I on her way home from work today.
Why a dedicated day?
This day marks the start of the final week of the pre-Lenten celebrations.While the practice of Pączki Day is traditionally observed the day before Ash Wednesday in the United States, in Poland, pączki sales are the highest on Tlusty Czwartek, or “Fat Thursday.” (The Thursday before Ash Wednesday).
http://www.polamjournal.com/Library/Holidays/paczki/paczki.html
(Happy Pączki Day)
Good Morning!! Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. I enjoyed watching the Super Bowl, especially liked the half-time show with Coldplay and Bruno Mars!! I also thought that Lady Gaga did a fantastic job singing the national anthem. I have to admit I started out cheering for the Panthers (only because I like the color of their uniforms, lol), but I do like to watch Payton Manning play, just not a Broncos fan. But in the end, I was glad he won…with the Broncos. When it comes to the Super Bowl that the Bears are NOT in, I’m like Switzerland, and remain neutral, either team can win as far as I’m concerned. 😀
Linking-up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.
THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:
The forecast shows some snow this week, I know it won’t be much, but I’ll take it!! And we’re supposed to call this winter?!?! pfffft.
MOVIE REVIEW:
We went to see Kung Fu Panda 3 on my son’s birthday. I really enjoyed it and liked that it had a good message. It was about finding what makes you who you are. I’ve liked all of them, and Shifu (voice of Dustin Hoffman) and Po (voice of Jack Black) are my favorites. What’s not to like about a huge, adorable, lovable panda who does Kung Fu!!
LOL CHUCKLES, AND GIGGLES:
This is totally me!!
Your welcome, my introverted friends!! 🙂
WHAT’S ON THE TV:
Food Network’s Kid’s Baking Championship. My youngest son and I watch this together. Some of the recipes that these kids come up with are very impressive. I do hate to see one of them go home each week, but they have such great attitudes.
Castle also returns this week!!
RECIPE I WANT TO TRY:
Yummy addition to banana bread!! It’s kinda healthy right…there’s bananas in it. 🙂
WHAT I AM CREATING:
Not so much me, but the boys and I. I remembered seeing this before, but was reminded of it from my friend Joanna @Where the roses never fade. Ice Marbles. You fill balloons with water and food coloring and set them outside to freeze. It looks like it will be cold enough this week, so we’ll see how they turn out.
FAVORITE BLOG POST:
Too adorable, worth watching to the end, he gets cuter and cuter!!
HELPFUL TIP:
Recently I started storing my leftovers in a different way. I usually put them in one large container. But now I store them in individual freezer bags, with enough for maybe 2 servings. I find that it is quicker to thaw out that way. It takes a little longer when putting it away, but here’s my tip. I put the freezer bag in a large plastic cup or container, with a wide opening, and fold the top of the bag over the edges. This makes it easy to spoon in the food.
FROM THE CAMERA:
© 2016 Liv’s Photography
QUOTES:
Well today is Groundhog day. The official groundhog lives in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, and his name is Phil…Punxsutawney Phil that is. The story goes, if on this morning, he doesn’t see his shadow, we’ll have an early spring. If he does see his shadow, then we will have 6 more weeks of winter. So here’s the thing. The first day of spring is actually March 20, which is like 6 weeks away anyway, so this is not an exact science by any means.
The news reports are now in, and he did not see his shadow, I repeat, no shadow. So we are in for an early spring.
But of course this all takes place in Pennsylvania. I myself have my own little indicator. It’s not only Groundhog Day for us today, but we also celebrate my son’s birthday. My son Elijah is 15 today!! So let’s see if Elijah sees his shadow today or not (it won’t be difficult being that he’s like 6 feet tall).
Well folks, there you have it, no shadow from Phil AND Elijah. Looks like an early spring. My dear friend Carrie up in the Northwoods will be happy to hear this, she’s been dreaming of spring since January 1st 😉
Carrie Ann Alexis 