#BlogBattle Madness Week 8: Don’t Feed the Animals
It’s Tuesday, and that means #BlogBattle time!! Wasn’t sure that I could get anything together this week, the prompt has been bouncing around my head all week, this is what I came up with.
#BlogBattle is a weekly short story challenge using a single word for inspiration. Hosted by Rachael Ritchey.
Don’t Feed the Animals
My teen-age daughter was just finishing up the dishes, when she says, “Mom, Mom!! Look at the cute bunny in the yard!!” Squealing like she was seven.
“Oh…he is cute.” I say, since I share her affection for cute, furry things.
“Can I feed him some lettuce?” she asks heading towards the fridge.
“Sure, go ahead.” I say appreciating her compassion.
The next morning I’m in the kitchen getting my much needed morning cup of coffee, like I do every morning. While sipping my warm elixir, I start opening the blinds on the windows to let the sun shine in. But this morning, I almost drop my precious brew. I cannot believe my eyes. Am I still sleeping? No, can’t be, my coffee is nearly gone. I call for my daughter to help make sense of what I am seeing. “Evie!! Come down here please.” Trying not to sound frantic.
“What is it mom?” she casually says, as she continues to look at her phone.
Barely a whisper I say, “Look”
I point out the window, my mouth open wide. There are rabbits, all over the yard. They are in my garden, all over the grass, on the swing, sitting on the edge of the bird bath, and even some laying as if they are relaxing on the patio furniture. It is literally wall to wall rabbit fur. Some are eating grass, some are chasing each other, it’s a quiet chaos since rabbits don’t make noise, but nonetheless it is sheer madness. There are so many, they are on top of each other.
Evie hardly containing her excitement says, “Mom!! Look at ‘em!! Look at ‘em!! Where did they all come from?”
“I have no idea, I have never seen anything like this. We have to do something.”
“First I have to get a picture of this!! No one is going to believe it.” she heads for the door.
“You’re going out there?” I say hoping she will change her mind.
“Yes, of course. They’re rabbits, MOM…not rabid squirrels.” She replies in her what-could-possibly-go-wrong voice.
She walks out the back door, and walks into the yard. A path is cleared miraculously as if she were Moses parting the Red Sea. But as she slowly moves, the most amazing thing happens, the rabbits are looking up at her, and have calmed down. The only thing moving are their little noses. Well…and the two in the back of the yard still grappling with each other, oblivious to the other rabbits around them until it seems the one rabbit next to them gives them a nudge to knock it off, and they immediately also stand at attention. This is insane.
“Mom, are you seeing this?” She says, as I can hear her from the open window.
Then two rabbits make their way through the sea of fur and approach her. She slightly bends resting her hands on her knees, and looks down at them intently and begins nodding her head saying, ‘Yes. Ok. Sure, I understand. I’ll see what I can do.”
The two rabbits that approached her seem very animated, their noses furiously twitching, sometimes raising up on their hind legs, and then back down, Their tiny heads moving back and forth as if they are talking to each other, and to my daughter. Which I know is not possible.
My daughter comes back in the house and says, “Mom, you won’t believe this, but they were talking to me.”
“Evie. If those rabbits were talking to you, then I’m the Queen of England.” Playing along with her little charade.
“Well, with all due respect your Highness, I have to help them.” She says flatly.
Not abiding by her snarkiness, I reprimand, “Evie!!” But I see the honest, pleading look in her eyes, and know that she is serious. I’m starting to think there was something else in my coffee this morning.
“Ok, ok. Do what you have to do, as long as they don’t stay here…” under my breath I say, “and none of them die.” I shudder at the thought.
“Thanks mom!!” She hugs me before she heads out the door.
The next evening, everything is back to normal, all the rabbits found a new home, Evie is finishing up the dishes. She looks out the window and says, “Mom, Mom!! Look at the cute little Gopher in the yard!!”
“EEE – VIE!!” Is all I can say as I leave the room, carrying my glass of wine.
The events depicted in this story are fictitious. Any similarity to any person/animal living or dead is merely coincidental…and a little embellished. There may or may not have been five rabbits in our yard after we fed one the other day…just sayin’. 😉
© 2015 Carrie Ann
Happy Homemaker Monday 05/04
Happy Star Wars Day!! Today is the unofficial Star Wars holiday, I know this because my family are Star Wars Fanatics!! Me…not so much. I have seen all the movies at least a couple of times, I do appreciate the creativity and imagination of the whole series. I think George Lucas’ mind is genius in being able to write such a story. But to watch it over and over and over, is not my thing. But the kids love it, and…it is a thing. We have Star Wars mugs, T-shirts, sweatshirts, pajamas, action figures and light sabers. Even my daughter is a big fan, and she is sportin’ her May the Force Be With You sweatshirt today. Anniehow…on with my post.
As always Linking-up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom. Hope Everyone has a fabulous week!!
THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:
Nice, a little breezy and cloudy. The sun was out earlier, but it looks like this will be the week for us, rain forecasted everyday, but it will help things grow, and I look forward to a good storm!!
ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:
Just Coffee today.
RIGHT NOW I AM:
Finishing up this post, and my shopping list.
ON TODAY’S TO DO LIST:
Home school
Laundry
Getting my hair done/touched up – (by my in-house stylist…my mom) 😉
Grocery Shopping
CURRENTLY READING:
Learn to Meditate in 2 Minutes by Sheevaun O’Connor Moran. I have been reading about the benefits of meditation, and find it very interesting. This appealed to me because you would think I could find 2 minutes out of my day to do this…but yeah, reading about it and actually doing it are two different things, not to mention trying to find the time and place where I won’t be interrupted. 😐
ON THE TV TODAY:
The Voice is winding down. I think last night was The Good Wife’s season finale.
ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:
Spaghetti and Meatballs, Garlic Bread
Roasted Turkey Breast, Veggies and Crescent Rolls
Hamburgers, Fries and Deviled Eggs
Pork Chops, Rice, Green Beans and Corn Bread
Chicken Bacon Sub Sandwiches
WHAT I AM CREATING AT THE MOMENT:
Nothing at the moment.
NEW RECIPE I TRIED OR WANT TO TRY THIS WEEK:
I am trying the Roasted Turkey Breast that Carrie posted. She hasn’t failed me yet with her delicious recipes. 🙂
I also want to try an Éclair Cake. Saw this posted on Facebook, looks soo good.
I did get a good version of the Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti, here is the recipe, with my changes in parenthesis, I needed to serve 6.
Crock-Pot Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti (Pasta)
If you love creamy, spicy pasta dishes, this Crock-Pot version of my Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti will blow your mind. Cook the sauce for a few hours and then toss with pasta when you’re ready to serve!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup diced yellow onion
1/2 red bell pepper, diced (1 whole)
1/2 green bell pepper, diced (1 whole plus 1 orange and 1 yellow pepper as well)
1 small can mild diced green chiles (did not use this, could not find them)
1/2 teaspoon cumin (1 teaspoon)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (1 teaspoon)
Salt & pepper, to taste
2 chicken breasts {about 1 lb.} (2 lbs.)
1 can cream of mushroom soup (2 cans cream of chicken)
3/4-1 lb. cooked spaghetti (1 box cooked Rotini)
3 cups grated cheddar cheese (2 cups)
a few splashes chicken stock {optional}
Directions:
Place onion, bell peppers, (green chiles), cumin, garlic powder, salt, pepper, chicken, soup and 1 cup of grated cheese together in a crock-pot. Stir to mix ingredients. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or until chicken is fully cooked. Remove chicken breasts, shred. In a large pot, mix chicken and cook spaghetti/rotini and remaining cheese. Toss to coat pasta in sauce and melt cheese, adding in a few splashes of chicken stock where necessary to get sauce consistency you want. Cook another 5 – 10 minutes on low and serve.
FAVORITE PHOTO FROM THE CAMERA:
© 2015
INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES (PRAYERS OR DEVOTIONALS):
#BlogBattle Cosmic Week 7: The Rhythm of Life
#BlogBattle is a weekly short story challenge using a single word for inspiration. Hosted by Rachael Ritchey.
The Rhythm of Life
Sebastian entered the kitchen finding his mom making dinner. “Hi Bass, how was school?”
“Fine.” He says with little emotion.
Sebastian walks into his room, drops his backpack on the floor and begins to change his clothes. He mutters to himself, “Fine…Ha…school sucks. I’m sick of always being on high alert, constantly looking over my shoulder so I don’t fall victim to a stupid prank, and the name-calling is just stupid. Those morons don’t realize how I could destroy them. I could easily hack into their precious social media accounts; I could embarrass them so bad their kids would blush. Eh…They’re not worth the trouble, I have three more years of this BS, some days I just don’t know if I can take it another day, I don’t see how things will ever change. Whatever.”
Deflated, he flops down on his bed and grabs the new sci-fi book he’s been reading. He only gets through a couple of pages before he drifts off to sleep.
It is then that they appear, out of nowhere. Aramis looks around at his surroundings. Clothes are everywhere; there’s not one clean surface in the room. Pop cans, candy wrappers, shoes, socks, all cover the floor, disgusted he asks, “Why are we here on this godforsaken planet again?”
Athos calmly replies by pointing to Sebastian sleeping, “Him.”
Perfectly on cue, Sebastian rustles, snores, frantically scratches his nose, then stills.
“Lovely.” Aramis flatly replies. “No really, what is our mission Athos?”
“Sebastian here is very special, he has intelligence that is paramount to the future of his people, he just doesn’t know it yet. He is being harassed from other humans in his institution of learning, and he is very discouraged, to the point of giving up. We cannot allow him to do that. He must use his knowledge for good and not evil. He must be aware of his greater purpose, so that it takes over his being, where nothing can deter him to move forward. Where he can drown out the noise that tries to distract him. He will become like us. But we must move expeditiously before the cosmic rain storm hits, and awakens him.” Athos responds.
Confused yet trying to impress his superiors with facts, Porthos says, “How will it disturb him? Earth is constantly hit by cosmic rain, which is just dust particles, for the last 30,000 years…without notice.”
“Not today. We’re here, it will be different…he’ll hear it. Ugh, you’re such a fledgling, you have so much to learn.” Aramis says shaking his head in frustration.
Athos replies calmly yet sternly, “Yes, that is why he is here, the only way to learn is through experience, let us begin.”
The rain is steadily falling now, sounding more like pebbles than raindrops hitting the window, getting louder and louder. Sebastian slowly wakes up. He sees the three men dressed alike wearing some sort of green and black uniform. He rubs his eyes, and groggily says, “Sup?”
Athos whispers to the others, “He’s awake, I’ll handle this.”
Louder and with more enthusiasm he addresses Sebastian, “Greetings and Salutations Sebastian, please do not be alarmed, we are here to help you.”
“Whoa…this is trippy, you didn’t actually say that…I’m not actually saying this, but yet we’re communicating.” Sebastian says a little disconcerted not sure if he is fully awake.
“That is correct, it is thought transference, or telepathy. This is Porthos and Aramis” as he extends an arm gesturing to each individual. “I am Athos, I am a cosmic soothsayer, I can foresee the future in any galaxy. I am here to show you a glimpse of your future.”
“A soothsayer.” Sebastian’s says, his voice flat.
“Yes.”
“Like a psychic.” Sebastian questions for understanding.
Athos tilts his head back and forth trying to reconcile the ambiguity of the term is his head, but simply says, “Yes.”
“A clairvoyant?”
“Yes.” Athos replies impatiently wondering when this questioning will end, but indulges Sebastian so that his curiosity is satisfied.
“Like…the oracle?” Sebastian says with a little more excitement, like he just realized the answer to a million-dollar question.
“Yes.” Athos replies more confidently, sensing that Sebastian relates to this. He has been called worse.
Sebastian says, “Cool.” Completely accepting this whole situation. “So dude, what’s with the green and black uniforms.”
Looking down at his clothes and a little confused, Athos replies, “We scanned the earth for the most superior human exhibiting expertise in making other humans feel happy and content. What we found is that the…” he pauses, looks down and leans his ear towards Aramis prompting him to share their secret with only him.
“The barista, sir,” Aramis replies quietly under his breath.
“Yes, the barista…had the highest levels, so we fashioned ourselves to emulate them, in order to not draw attention to ourselves.” Athos responds.
With his eyes wide with excitement Sebastian says, “Cool! So you’re shape-shifters.”
Aramis looks at him and just gives him a nod confirming his observation. Sebastian eager to see what will happen next says, “So what do I have to do?”
“You don’t have to do anything.” Aramis replies.
“OK…but wait.” Sebastian pauses and closes his eyes, like he’s trying to hear something. “What’s with the music? It’s like I hear it but I don’t. It’s more like I feel it. It resonates from each of you with your own unique rhythm, but yet I hear, or feel them separately. I feel calm, peaceful even hopeful.”
“Yes Sebastian, it is our natural vibration frequency that resonates from our inner being, it is who we are, it is the energy that helps us be who we are meant to be. Humans have it too, but it takes them years to tap into it and learn to utilize it properly. We are here to speed up the process in you, so that you will have it too. Think of it as…the soundtrack to your life.” Athos replies with a smile.
“Ok then…do your thing.” Sebastian says without any hesitation.
They move towards him and Athos reassures him, “You will not feel anything, or remember any of this. When we are done your natural vibration frequency will empower you to stand against anything or anyone who tries to discourage you to move towards your future. Just relax.” Slowly, their individual vibration frequency becomes louder as it begins to beat in unison, as Sebastian is lulled to sleep.
A flash of lightening fills Sebastian’s room followed by a loud clap of thunder which startles him to full consciousness as he bolts upright in bed. He looks around, trying to get his eyes to focus. He smells food, and realizes he is hungry. He gets up from his bed, the book he was reading drops to the floor, and a white card falls out from between the pages. He looks down at the blank piece of paper, and bends down to pick it up. When his fingers come in contact with the edge of it, something slowly appears like when you turn on your phone. Illuminated in blue letters, the card reads:
ATHOS
a.k.a. The Oracle
Cosmic Soothsayer
He drops the card on the bed like a hot potato, and it goes blank again. He rubs his hand down his face and looks at it again and says, “Nah…it had to be a dream.”
As he leaves the room, he faintly hears music, or at least he thinks he does. He turns to see if he left the TV on, but he didn’t. He shrugs his shoulders and heads towards the kitchen feeling well rested and…empowered.
© 2015 Carrie Ann
Happy Homemaker Monday 04/27
Linking-up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.
Hey there!! I missed last week’s post, so here we go for this week. Hope everyone is doing well.
THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:
Redonkulous!! It’s been in the 30s all last week, and rained over the weekend. We are looking at 50s and 60s for the upcoming week…here’s hopin’.
ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:
Coffee with Hot for Cookie Creamer and an Entenmanns’ Chocolate Donut. I can’t seem to get enough of these donuts. It might have something to do with the fact that my 19-year-old son likes to eat THREE of them when he comes home late at night from work.
AS I LOOK OUTSIDE MY WINDOW:
The trees finally have some green on them. I’m waiting for the trees across the street to bloom with their beautiful white flowers. No one seems to know what kind they are, but they are so pretty.
ON TODAY’S TO DO LIST:
Home school – cursive with a left-handed boy #challenges
Laundry
Cleaning I didn’t do this weekend
Writing for this week’s blogbattle.
CURRENTLY READING:
I recently read “The Girl on the Train” by Paula Hawkins. It was good, a bit dark and twisted, but good. I kept reading it just to see how it would all turn out. I’m fascinated by the depths of the imagination of an author when writing a story like this.
After I read that I needed something a lot lighter, so I read “The Best Medicine” by Tracy Brogan. She did not disappoint; again she had me laughing with the things her characters say. A 35-year-old plastic surgeon meets a 27-year-old handsome (of course) guy who is drunk after crashing a stolen jet ski into a dock. She is called to the ER to take care of the gash on the side of his face. Another fun read, as she enters the dating world via a dating web site, yet fighting the attraction to the younger hooligan she stitched up. She has a list of requirements for the perfect man, and just maybe he isn’t the kind of guy she first perceives him to be. This is the second book in the Bell Harbor Novel series and some of the characters from the first book make an appearance, like Fontaine the interior decorator…love him!!
ON THE TV TODAY:
The Voice will be fun to watch. The current coaches are bringing in some of the old coaches to help with the team members that are left. Looking forward to see Cee Lo Green, he was one of the original coaches and always very entertaining.
ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:
I need more variety, I get stuck on the same things sometimes.
Hamburger, Fries, Deviled Eggs
Lasagna Pasta, Salad
Cream of Chicken and Rice Soup with Turkey Bacon Club Sandwiches
Chicken Parmigiana, Chicken Flavored Fettuccini noodles, Green Beans, Italian Herb and Cheese Bread
Italian Beef Sandwiches
Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti, Garlic Bread, Salad (trying this one again)
WHAT I AM CREATING AT THE MOMENT:
Doing some creative writing as I have joined #blogbattle. So much fun for me and I am really enjoying it. I always wanted to write fictional stories, but never got around to it, this gave me the nudge I needed to just do it. I was very nervous posting my first story; it was like sending your child out in the world for the first time, scary, but at the same time exhilarating. Plus the #blogbattle community is so encouraging and fun to be a part of.
NEW RECIPE I TRIED OR WANT TO TRY THIS WEEK:
Being that it was cold and raining on Saturday, I made Cream of Chicken with Rice Soup with Turkey Bacon Club Sandwiches. Need to tweak it a bit, the flavor wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. It probably didn’t help that my daughter and I spent a good part of Friday afternoon talking about how we wanted the soup from the little diner in town. We should have gone there for lunch; I still have a taste for it. Anniehow….
I also made the Banana Split Cookies that Carrie shared. OMG…these are like eating a rainbow sprinkled with sunshine…SO good!!
FAVORITE PHOTO FROM THE CAMERA:
Liv’s Photography ©2015
INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES (PRAYERS OR DEVOTIONALS):
Carrie Ann Alexis 