Softly falling snow
Hot coffee warming cold hands
Twinkling lights
Time with friends and family
I’m sitting by the fire,
eyes closed,
dreaming of
scarves
frosty weather
warm blankets
thick socks
Simple dreams
(33. A list poem entitled “Things I Dream in Winter” ( 3 pts) )
I.
I’m sorry a never knew you
I’m sorry I didn’t see you running away
Living vicariously through others’ stories
Just doesn’t cut it
I wonder about you
Who you were
What you were like
Our brief brush through paintings is almost nothing
II.
We move through life
Brief brushes with each other
Some amounting into something more
Some simply fading away
(22. Something inspired by what you see in this painting by JStickmann ( Running Away) Mode of creation open- ( 3 pts) )
The whole hand-eye coordination thing kind of escapes me when it came to sports. I’m sort of clumsy in the magical tripping over nothing way anyhow which most definitely does not help. Sports involving balls that you actually have to hit were just not any good.
Growing up, I tried out a bunch of different sports. I love soccer and swimming. My parents signed me up for t-ball with the intention that I would eventually be able to move up to softball. This did not end well. Most of the time, I simply knocked over the t (I can’t remember if you got out for that or got a walk in t-ball). Softball was not for me.
Middle and high school gym classes were always a joy. For whatever reason, I had a gym teacher (the same one in both middle and high school as she moved up to high school the year that I started) who was OBSESSED with making us play tennis. Tennis was really rough. I spent more time chasing the ball than anything else. I had countless numbers of people try to show me how to hit the ball but it just never quite worked out as much as I tried, which made me incredibly sad as one of my big crushes during my freshman year was a sexy Russian senior who played tennis. It just was not meant to be.
This week, the Architect got me to go play racquetball with him. We have an indoor court right here at our apartment complex. I dually warned him that it was probably going to be a lot more chasing the ball than actual playing but being the good fiancé that he is, he promised that he would be patient with me. And he was. And racquetball ended up not being as painful as I thought it would be. It took me awhile to get a grip on how I needed to play but I actually had a lot of fun. I think we’re going to try and make this a regular thing since it’s fun and great exercise.
Afterwards, there happened to be a Christmas party that the leasing company was holding for residents in the room right next to the racquetball court. And each time one of the people from the leasing office would pass us, they kept telling us to stop in after the game. I’m not sure if the company advertised or not but almost no one showed up. They had lots of snacks and a raffle drawing as well. Everyone except for one person won a pretty nice prize. The General Manager of the complex felt bad for the one person and gave them $25 off their rent for the month (not too shabby). The Architect and I each won a $25 gift certificate to a local pizza chain. Needless to say, we’re eating pizza tonight!
In other news, we’re supposed to get 8-10 inches of snow. The DMV area does not know what to do with snow meaning that I’m going to be spending a lot of time at home inside. Fine by me, I guess but I did have two lunches planned this weekend (On Saturday with the Mamallama and On Sunday with a friend). Maybe I’ll still be okay to go to lunch?
So were you gifted with hand-eye coordination?
Roadlesstaken and I are working on trying to come up with a place to hold the 3rd DMV Xanga Meet. We want to switch it up a little and we are thinking of perhaps having it in MD (more people seem to be coming from MD).
So a few questions for you all that think you may be attending:
1. Would you be more or less likely (feeling neutral is okay as well) to attend the meet up if it were in Maryland?
2. Any ideas about where in MD to have it?
My thoughts: I’m thinking it might be nice to have it somewhere still off of the Metro for all the DC and VA peeps taking the Metro. Bethesda? Silver Spring? Rockville?
When I was little, I had the misfortune of seeing some show or movie (I don’t recall the name) that talked about having alligators under your bed. My sisters and I also used to play a game where we took all of the pillows and sometimes the cushions off the couch in our basement and threw them across the room randomly. The object of the game was to only step on the cushions or pillows to get across the room. If you missed a step and stepped on the floor, you were eaten by alligators.
My over-active imagination (oh yes, I definitely had one) went into overdrive as it did so often at night when I was ready to sleep. I would have dreams about monsters and other scary creatures (ahem, mainly alligators) living under my bed, ready to grab my legs if I got out of bed at night. I did the only logical thing that I could think of at the time. I threw pillows and blankets leading from my bed to the door so that I could get out of my room at night without worrying about the monsters and alligators reaching out and grabbing my legs.
(Prompt 28. Monsters from your closet : Something featuring the creatures that kept you up at night as a kid. Mode of creation open- ( 4 pts) )
Yesterday, the Architect and I got up and ready relatively early. We drove into the city to visit Eastern Market located in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. We had never been before. It’s exactly as you would think it would be, a market selling all sorts of different things. Yesterday was the perfect day to go. It was clear and sunny, still cold but nice to walk around.
We had a wonderful time shopping. We got two kinds of cheese (aged gouda and some softer cheese made with sheep’s milk), a brisket that we’re roasting tonight for dinner, fresh asparagus, bacon (we had that this morning with gingerbread pancakes that the Architect came up with), and hot ground sausage (for a tortellini dish we’re having later in the week). The meat part of the market had an amazing selection. The market also has a sort of flea market portion. I got a blue and gold pashmina with a peacock feather design on it.
I happened to run across a book sale at the local library. I coerced the Architect into letting me browse and I ended up coming out of the sale with 5 books for $5 (you can’t beat it). We wandered over to Hill’s Kitchen and drooled over kitchen gadgets. The Architect ended up buying a Capitol-shaped cookie cutter to make very DC-esque gingerbread cookies. We’re going to frost them tonight.
We had lunch at a pub called Molly Malone’s. The Manchester United game was going on so we got to watch the game (love soccer…er… football but I don’t often get to watch it) along with a few people who liked yelling at the tv. Always entertaining!
It’s been a good weekend without school. Friday night, we went out for one of my friends from college’s birthday and today has been full of cleaning and baking. I’ve also gotten a good chunk of my Christmas wrapping done. I love buying presents for other people but I absolutely hate the wrapping part so I was happy for most of it to be finished.
I hope you all have had a good weekend as well!
It takes a mere $399 to break what was supposed to be a lifetime commitment. I wonder if we hadn’t tried enough. What could we have done differently for me not to end up under this gaudy blue awning complete with the requisite 800 number (operators standing by to take your call now). How do you know when enough is enough?
Cal wouldn’t go to counseling with me. First his reason was he didn’t have enough time and that we were just going through a rough past and that this too shall pass. Then his reason was that we should simply be able to fix our marriage on our own. Which devolved into him not being able to stand to be in the same room with me. He moved out and wouldn’t give me the address to where he was staying. It was over.
There’s parking in the back to shield customers from curious eyes. I appreciated that small dignity. We had arranged our appointment so that Cal would come into sign the papers the day before I came to sign my half. Here you didn’t need a spouse’s signature but Cal said he’d feel better if he signed as well. I guess just to make sure everything was final, really final. You sign a few papers. You pay the fee and you go. You’re supposed to be free but as I signed the last paper, I felt anything but.
(Prompt: 7. Something inspired by what you see in this photo by Youandwhosearmy.- Mode of creation open- ( 3 pts)
Note: This is fiction. I’ve never been married or divorced)
Dreams change
It doesn’t mean they’re lost
Forgotten
Discarded
You store them in a box for another day
When the pieces fit together better
When they fit together more clearly
(Prompt: 23. A poem inspired by a random fortune cookie fortune. ( 3 pts); fortune cookie fortune used: You will travel far and wide, both pleasure and business.
Note: This cookie fortune has been taped to my computer for about 4 years now when I had dreams of taking on a job that would have me living abroad for most of my life. When I started dating the Architect and it became apparent that we were on our way to marriage, I realized that sort of job wouldn’t work out with both of us having careers. Architects cannot possibly move that much. New dreams took form. I’ve been asked if I feel like I’m giving up something by staying stationary and I can’t say that I feel that way at all.)
Dear Santa,
I cannot think of anything that I really want. There’s nothing that I need. There’s nothing that I lack. I think it’s great that you still want to bring me a present but I’d rather you spend your energy elsewhere. I have a place to live, enough food to eat, and way more than enough people who love me. I don’t need clothes. There’s no gadgets I’ve been looking for. Books can come from the library just as easily as they can come from the bookstore. Money would always be nice but I don’t need it. I’m comfortable. I’m safe and happy.
I wish you would take whatever you’re planning for me and just have it go towards someone else. There are a lot of unhappy people in the world. There are many more that don’t have enough. There are some who will be alone on Christmas this year. They probably need presents much more than I do. Give something a little extra to them. That would really be the best Christmas gift you could give me this year.
Love,
Megan
(SH 5: A letter to Santa. Mode of creation open- ( 3 pts) )
Mitch could hear the wind blowing like a train outside as he stepped inside the house. He was happy to have finished work a little early. He walked over to the kitchen sink and washed his hands as he watched ribbons of rain streaming down the window. Even after washing his hands, he could still smell the turpentine on his hands from the furniture wax. There was nothing like the peace he felt after spending the day in the shop. Making furniture was cathartic, more of a hobby than a job. Working the wood from its raw shape into something gorgeous had to be one of the best feelings in the world. Finishing each project felt even better.
Mitch put a pot of water on the stove for pasta. He walked into the hall and opened the closet to hang up his jacket in the closet that still smelled like moth balls even though he and Jeanette never used moth balls and they had lived in the house for 5 years. “Some things just linger,” he thought.
He chewed on one of the molasses cookies that Jeanette had made this morning and waited for the water to boil. He wondered when Jeanette would be home. She was visiting her sister a few towns away and always seemed to stay late. She’d call before she left. She always did. As the water boiled like lava, Mitch put the pasta in the water. Now all there was to do was wait and revel in the day’s work.
(SH 49. Something incorporating the following words/ things: moth, lava, turpentine, train, ribbons, molasses. Mode of creation open)
