Sneak Peak of the Novel

I sneak up behind Sophie and Alex intending to scare them when I hear Sophie say my name. I stop in mid sneak and listen.
“Lucy is such a sweet girl and I love her to death, but I hope that Simon won’t take her shyness the wrong way.”
Alex chips in with,
“I’m sure Simon will bring out Lucy’s fun side. It’s there and we know that, it just takes a while for her to warm up to new people.”
Hmmm, I’m not that shy am I? I just invited Mona to church with me. Of course, that is the first time I have said more than “Mocha please.” to her in three years. I walk around the couch and plop down in the chair opposite Sophie and Alex trying to act casual and confident but spilling my coffee down the front of my shirt instead. Sophie hands me a napkin and tells me that Simon is on his way. “GREAT! I CAN’T WAIT! I HOPE HE IS READY AS I AM TO MEET HIM!” Why am I yelling? Just because I'm loud doesn’t make me confident. I lift my cup to take a drink and end up missing my mouth when I get distracted and notice the door open. I turn and see an extremely attractive guy walk in. Tall, nice build, green eyes, glasses, dark brown hair, and a smile that will make your heart melt. Simon. Wait, why is he walking to a different table? Where is he going? I look to Sophie and start to ask her why Simon wasn’t coming over when I see a short stocky guy smiling with his hand extended toward me. I stand up to say hello and the guy only comes to my chin. Who is this guy? I want the other one. Sophie interrupts my thoughts and tells me that this is Simon. What?
“I’m sorry. What? I think I misunderstood you Sophie”
I smile trying not to sound too rude. The little guy looks up and says,
“Hi Lucy, I’m Simon. It’s so great to meet you!”
“Oh. Hello Simon.”
I smile and sit back down. His neck has to be cramping from having to look up so much. I glance over to my left and see the cute guy out of the corner of my eye. He is reading. I can’t tell what book it is, but I bet it’s a classic. He looks like that kind of guy, smart and sophisticated but still has a great sense of humor. I sigh. Sophie kicks my ankle and wrinkles her brow. She jerks her head to the guy’s conversation and mouths to me “What is wrong with you?” What’s wrong with me? What is wrong with her? And she really shouldn’t make that face so much. She has such a cute face but when she does that she looks like a cartoon. Sorry Lord. I’ll stop being rude. I turn to listen to the conversation taking place in front of me and stare into space. They talk about the latest football game that was on. I don’t really understand the game to begin with so I’m lost even before they start. I nod my head occasionally pretending that I know what they are talking about.....

FYI

I would like to inform you that I will not be posting any stories this month. It is National Novel Writing Month and I have joined in with the masses to try and write a novel in a month. So all my creative juices will be going into this project. I may post bits and pieces to give you a taste of what I'm working on, unless it turns out to be complete poo, in that case, you will not being seeing a thing. Wish me luck!

- Cori

The Great Pumpkin Adventure

The BF and I went to the pumpkin patch today. It was the perfect day for it too; sunny, crisp, fresh air, you just can’t ask for anything more! When we walked into the gate we were greeted by a dancing pumpkin, which was odd but funny, he danced us to the hay ride that took us out to the pumpkin patch where we could pick out our own little pumpkin to take home. The hay ride out there was great for me, for the BF, not so much. His allergies were flaring up pretty bad and he couldn’t stop sneezing and he started coughing like a maniac for the entire ride out there. We started to get some dirty looks from some of the moms and some even covered their child’s faces so they couldn’t breathe in germs. Thank goodness I carry everything in my bag, I hand him an allergy pill, bottled water, a face mask, and latex gloves to put on to make the mommies happy. He looks at me like I’m crazy and I tell him to put it on so that the others won’t catch his Bird Flu. He puts them on like a champ, and starts chirping every once in awhile. The mothers are horrified.

We jump off the wagon and search for our pumpkins. Don’t worry; I let the BF take the ridiculous gear off once the kiddos ran in the opposite direction. We are walking along enjoying the smell of pumpkin pies baking in the air and feeling the breeze in our hair. I follow the BF up a row of pumpkins and I feel my foot suddenly sink. I reach out for his hand but miss and fall over as I lose my balance in the sinkhole. He turns around just as I lift my head out of the mud. He rushes over to me and starts to laugh as he asks what happened. I point behind me and my foot is up to my calf in mud. He helps me up and wipes my face clean, but I tell him it’s not fair that I’m a mess and he isn’t. Bless his heart, he nods his understanding and jumps into the mud pit splashing mud all over him. He stands up, takes my hand, and walks towards a big pumpkin. My heart swells and I reach up to give him a muddy kiss.


...... more to come soon

Craft Time Part Deux

Crocheting is a lot harder than it looks, especially when you have two cats in the house! Any time I would bring the yarn out the cats would pounce on it and start batting at it and in the process they would unravel the entire thing. I finally had to go out and buy another ball of yarn since they claimed this one as theirs. Once I got them occupied with their yarn, I pulled out my own new purple yarn, a bright green crocheting needle, and a pattern for a simple scarf..

It took me ten minutes to figure out how to get the stupid yarn on the needle without knotting it on there. Who knew a slip knot was so hard to master. By the time I got the first chain started I was working up a sweat and needed a glass of water. I stood up and promptly fell over. My cats had wrapped their yarn around my ankles booby trapping me! They usually fight with each other and I wasn’t expecting them to team up and work together to trap me. This unexpected camaraderie between them must have risen after the vet told me to cut back on their food causing the cats to become beggars. Now that they have me trapped I fear they will start torture until I give them the food they want. I shout “OK!” and untangle myself and get their treats. Now that they have full bellies I feel safe enough to go back to my scarf.

I have been working on the scarf for over an hour and have only got an inch done in length. At the rate I’m going this scarf will be done in time for Christmas 2012. How did my grandmas do this? They have stiff arthritic hands while mine are loose and nimble! Maybe that is the key to good and fast crocheting, to have well aged hands….

It's Craft Time!

For the past year and a half I have been trying my hand at “crafty projects”. They usually end up looking like a little kid did them for art class, but one of these days I’m going to nail it and become rich! I can feel it in my bones.

So far, I have found that items requiring a hot glue gun are out of the question, basically doctors’ orders. I don’t know how many burns I have endured, but I have lost the feeling in the tips of a few of my fingers and I have managed to glue my shirt to more than a few items I’ve worked on. I’m now running out of shirts to wear and I can hardly feel anything anymore. The doctor has told me that once my skin repairs itself I’ll be able to have most of the feeling back, but to ensure this I need to lay off the hot glue gun.

I have also nixed projects that require a needle and thread. I tend to faint at the site of blood and when you are a newbie at sewing you tend to get a few pricks. It may not have helped that I still couldn’t feel when I tried this, but it did not go well when I was hand sewing a miniature felt lamb. I pricked my finger, drew blood, fainted, woke up, saw the bloody lamb, and fainted again. Needless to say it looked like I had created a slaughtered lamb and no one wants to buy one of those.

This next one, I’m really sad I have to give up. I was really excited when I bought all the supplies, but sadly I have to forego painting as well. You see, I set up my canvas in front of a window to look out at the skyline so I could have inspiration you know? Then I turned on some great music and let that flow threw me so it could translate into a master piece. Instead I ended up with a big mess and two very brightly colored cats. I don’t know how I did it, but I ended up with more paint on the floor, walls, cats, and myself than I did the actual canvas. It looked like Pollock had come to my place to teach me and used my place as his canvas and left mine for me to use at a later date.

What is next you ask? Crocheting. I know what you are thinking, and you are wrong, it’s not just for old ladies. A lot of you wear crocheted items during the winter and if I turn out to be great at this, you may be buying some of my items! So don’t laugh at this idea, or I’ll laugh at you when you ask me for a scarf. I have a feeling that this particular project may go very well. Both of my grandmothers crocheted and they taught me how to start the first chain, which is basically all you need to know when you start whatever it is you are making. The only thing that is worrying me is the fact that I haven't picked up a crochet needle and yarn in over eighteen years. But I’m sure it’s just like riding a bike, it'll come back to me! Since both of my grandmothers are very protective with their crocheting utensils I have to go out and purchase my own. I’ll have to report back to you on how smashing this project goes next week! Stay tuned.

The Training begins....

This week I dreadingly start the second half of my experiment. I have found a few different races that I can participate in and have decided to go with a bike race. I already ride a bike so it can’t be that hard. The one I found is a 51 mile bike ride that goes through parts of town and into the country side. I found a trainer online that states he can whip me into shape in no time. I thought this sounded great as the race is in a week!

days of training – gym work *gasp*

Day 1 – Today my trainer called and said he couldn’t meet me, but gave me a list of exercises he wanted me to do. I didn’t know what half of them were so I threw the list in the trash and told him I’m not paying for the session.

Day 2- Today I finally met my trainer. He showed up in spandex and sweat bands on his wrist and brow. I laughed uncontrollably, doubled over in laughter for a good few minutes. While he was standing in front of me. When I looked up again he was gone.

Day 3 – Today I thought I should take this training time seriously and went to the gym. I thought that a warm up on the treadmills would be good but they were all full. I heard some loud thumping music and walked towards the noise. A Zumba class had just started so I joined in. I have never felt so white and un-rhythmic in my life. It was a lot of fun but I feel that I have disgraced hip hop dance far too much to go back.

Day 4- Today I took a bike ride to my friends’ house. She lives few miles away so I thought it would be a good practice route for me. I had to stop 3 times and plead to her to come pick me up. She is a mean hearted soul and told me no. When I finally got there, she treated me to a glass of wine and extra cheesy pizza. She is in my good graces again.

Day 5- Today I signed up for a spin class down the street from my place. I ran there to warm up. The class was brutal. I thought my veins were going to pop out of my legs; they were pumping so much blood through my body. After the class was over I had to wait an hour until my legs could hold up the weight of my body to make the walk back home.

Day 6- Today the BF surprised me and took me to a new bike trail. After a few miles we stopped in a meadow were he had set up a picnic lunch. Then we biked back and got ready for another night of salsa dancing.

Day 7- My friend from Day 4 called to ask if I would accompany her to a spin class. I hung up on her and went back to watching my movie.

The race is tomorrow and I think I'll be able to finish it. Maybe not in first place but hopefully not in last either! I don't know if this week has been more productive than last week, but it was nice to train and feel apart of something. Maybe that's all I need to get into the gym. Look for me in all the up coming races!

Gym or no Gym?

I have given up on going to the gym. I don’t like to sweat, and unless the experts can come up with an exercise where you don’t sweat or have to exert your body for an extended period of time, then I’m not going to do it. I’m not fat and the flab that I do have doesn’t jiggle in a gross way when I move around, so I’m content. Instead of getting disappointed when I don’t make it to the gym I’ll just give myself a pat on the back for taking that cat nap and burning calories that way. This is my new philosophy: Relax and not worry about my flabby butt, the calories will melt away eventually. Not everyone can do this, relaxation is hard for a lot of people to indulge in and lucky for me I’m not one of them.

But lately I have been having a lot of conversations with friends where they tell me about the training they are putting themselves through for the Wild Man Race or some local 5k in there hometown and it’s because of these people that I’m questioning my new relaxation philosophy. So I decided to start a log of the progress I have made in the past few days by relaxing and keeping to my normal schedule. Then I will train for….umm something…and see which one works out better for me.

DAYS OF RELAXATION -no gym!

Day 1 - Today I sat at my desk and moved my fingers around a lot on the keyboard as I searched blogs, new music, and funny videos at work. My fingers are very skinny with little to no flab. I will keep coming to work as this has proved to keep my fingers in very good shape.

Day 2 – Today I slept through my alarm and woke up 30 minutes late. This ended up being a blessing in disguise as it made me run around my place like a chicken with its head cut off. I kept forgetting to do normal things like put on deodorant, which would cause me to run from my room to my bathroom then back to my room to finish putting on my jewelry.

Day 3 – Today when I got home my kitty ran out the door. I chased her down the hallway of my apartment building bent over with my arms stretched out in front of me trying to catch her. She is a fast little booger!

Day 4 – Today on my lunch break we had a fire drill. I work on the 10th floor. The elevators are of course off limits during and after the fire drill. It was 100 degrees today. I had to skip lunch because of the drill. Now I’m hot, hungry, and very unhappy.

Day 5 - Today is Friday! The BF and I are going salsa dancing tonight! Whoop!

Day 6 – Today I slept ‘til noon which I’m sure burnt a lot of calories. When I got up I made a light lunch, a BLT with extra mayo and a side of potato salad, then went down to the pool and fell asleep in the sun to burn off those calories.

Day 7 - Today I rode my bike to the market where I bought a loaf of French bread, a variety of cheeses, a bottle of wine, and some fresh flowers. When I got back to my place the BF and I devoured everything I bought at the market and then we cuddled up on the couch and watched a movie. It had some funny moments and I hear laughing burns calories as well.

As you can see this week has been very active. Can you see why I don’t want to go to the gym on most days? I run around enough in one day, I don’t really need to add on it. Also you will notice, not one nap was taken! *Side note* Falling asleep by the pool is not a nap. It’s expected