Tag Archives: dailyprompt

Stage Fright

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When I was in elementary school, the school decided to have a fashion show. I don’t know whose bright idea it was but it doesn’t make sense. Why would an elementary school have a fashion show? Beats me. Maybe it wasn’t a fashion show. Maybe my memories aren’t as clear as they used to be.

Anyway, my mom was a fantastic seamstress. No, nothing professional but she made some of the clothes my sisters and I wore. So, she made my sisters and me matching dresses and we were entered in the fashion show!

I was scared shitless being only 10 or 11 years old but I was the lead in this model trio and it was my job to make sure my sisters (ages 6 and 2 approximately) did what they were supposed to do on stage. Ugh. My middle sister did pretty well but the littlest wanted to run around like a banshee. I was petrified! I had to hold her hand and keep her under control while we turned and showed our lovely dresses. We were taught to curtsy when we finished, but I don’t remember my sisters doing it. I was too focused on keeping the littlest sister from running right off the edge of the stage!

At the end of our “performance,” the crowd cheered and at that very moment I was in awe of my mother and her mad sewing skills! My mother actually won that fashion show competition!

I know now or think I know, that it wasn’t so much the dresses that won. That was part of it of course, but it was really the whole package. Not just one dress but three dresses. Not just one model but three models. Unique. Plus watching a little rugrat running around on stage and me trying to keep her from killing herself surely added to the entertainment value!

I have what I thought was a photo of us in those dresses, but the dresses don’t match. Maybe mom didn’t make matching dresses after all. As I said, my memories may not be as clear as they used to be. But here’s that faded photo anyway!

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Top 5 Grocery Items!

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I’m trying to write something every day and the daily prompts provided by WordPress help. Some of the posts are weird though, like this one!

My top 5 grocery items are must-haves, although I have many must-haves!

  1. Frank’s Hot Sauce – I buy quart-sized bottles. I use it a lot! In fact, their slogan “I put that shit on everything!” is just about right!
  2. Bottled Water – Our water is not fit to drink so I buy bottled water. I buy it in gallon jugs to make my tea and coffee, and I buy 24-packs of individual bottles for drinking.
  3. Low Sodium Tortilla Chips – Because I like a salty, crunchy snack once in a while and I also serve them with several of my soups and chilis.
  4. Hershey’s Miniatures and Nuggets – I love my chocolate! We always have these in stock in my house! When I have a chocolate craving, I can eat 3 or 4 of these little miniatures or nuggets and I’m good until next time!
  5. French Vanilla Coffee Creamer – Gotta have my creamer for my 3 cups of coffee in the morning!

What are your top 5 grocery items?

Bobcats, Opossums, and Bears…Oh My!

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I live in rural SW Missouri where it’s common to see wild animals. I absolutely love it! I see raccoons, opossums, and skunks almost daily. I’ve seen the usual black skunks with white stripes but also completely white skunks!

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Image by BowmanStudios from Pixabay

I’ve seen bats at night and once a bat got in our house. I had gone to bed and kept hearing what sounded like a big moth fluttering about. I turned on the light, and was shocked to see it was a little bat! He was hanging from the ceiling since I turned on the light. I woke up my son because someone had to witness this! I got a small waste basket, emptied it, stood up on the bed, and carefully placed the waste basket over the bat. Then I took a cookie sheet and carefully and slowly moved it across the top of the wastebasket. Then my son and I took the little bat outside and released him. I bet he was thankful!

Years ago, I was coming home from work and saw what I first thought was a big dog. As I got closer, I realized it was a young bear! I figured his mama was nearby but I didn’t see her. I haven’t seen a bear since then.

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Image by Brigitte Werner from Pixabay

I’ve most recently seen a bobcat and my cats saw it, too! Thankfully, my furbabies have an enclosure to keep them safe. I think the bobcat jumped on top of the enclosure because there were indentations in the wire, like footprints.

I’ve seen red foxes, coyotes, and mountain lions. The red foxes are beautiful! We have an overabundance of squirrels, armadillos, rabbits, and deer! People have told me about feral pigs and I may have heard them in the woods late at night a time or two, but I can’t be sure. I have yet to see one! I’ve seen moles, voles, groundhogs, chipmunks, gophers, weasels, and even a flying squirrel! It’s amazing! I can’t forget about box turtles, snapping turtles, skinks, frogs, toads, and different species of snakes!

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Photo by Alex Andrews on Pexels.com

I can’t forget about birds! I’ve seen pigeons, wild turkeys, mourning doves, owls, roadrunners, starlings, herons, egrets, and several species of woodpeckers including pileated woodpeckers. The most awesome of the birds are birds of prey. I can’t even count how many species of hawks I’ve seen over the years. I’ve even seen bald eagles!

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Image by Kathy Büscher from Pixabay

I got my love of nature and wildlife from my dad. He taught me to respect, watch, and learn instead of disturbing or killing. Do you live in an area where you see wildlife?

What Major Events Do you Remember?

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Let’s see… I was born in 1962. You do the math but please don’t tell anyone how old I am. Snort! Just kidding. I don’t care.

I remember a lot of events, some vaguely and some very vividly. I had to look up the year of each thing I recalled because that’s my brain for ya. Anyway, here goes:

1968 – Robert F. Kennedy assassination

1969 – The first moonwalk! Some people still don’t believe this happened!

1969 – The Manson murders

1973 – Watergate, no understanding whatsoever at the time!

1978 – Jonestown, where Jim Jones led the mass suicide of hundreds of people

1979 – Three Mile Island nuclear reactor accident

1980 – Mount St. Helens erupts

1981 – Sandra Day O’Connor becomes the first female justice on the Supreme Court

1981 – The attempt on Ronald Reagan’s life

1984 – The AIDS virus finally identified

1985 – The Titanic wreckage was discovered

1986 – The Challenger explodes just after lift-off

1989 – Oil tanker Exxon Valdez accident

1989 – Earthquake in San Francisco

1991 – Soviet Union breaks up

1998 – Bill Clinton impeached

1999 – Columbine High School shooting

1999 – Prep for Y2K, people were freaking out!

2000 – The end of Napster

2001 – Terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, 9-11

Everything after this point is a blur. Haha.

2009 – Obama elected the first black US President

2017 – Trump elected, nothing will ever be the same!

2019 – Covid-19 Pandemic begins

So, there ya go! What events do you remember? I could remember more if I sat here for a few hours but I just don’t have that kind of time this morning.

Have a super day, friends!

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How Do You Celebrate The Holidays?

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Holidays… 

Holidays are depressing. The grandkids are too busy elsewhere to spend the holidays here, although I do see my son and his family for a few hours on Thanksgiving and Christmas. I am grateful for that but I always envisioned my golden years with a houseful of grandkids for the holidays. 

I used to enjoy the holidays when my kids were little. I enjoyed making their holidays fun and exciting. They received gifts of course, but it was the whole season that was important. I didn’t have a lot of money (I never do) but I slowly built a good collection of decor: ornaments, lights, holiday figurines, etc. One thing I did every year was wrap each and every photo hanging on the living room walls in colorful holiday gift wrap, complete with bows and ribbons! It sure made the walls pop in color! I put a tree up and the kids helped decorate it. 

Beginning 5 days before Christmas, my kids would get a small gift each night, like a new folder for school, a pair of decorative socks, or some other small inexpensive gift. On Christmas Eve, the gift would normally be something like a pair of new pajamas or a new outfit for the big day. On Christmas Day, we spent the day watching Christmas movies and pigging out on holiday dinner and treats!

Those days are gone. It’s just me and Dad. He doesn’t care and I don’t care. We just sit here alone and wonder what everyone else is doing. It’s lonely. 

Dad and I don’t even bother getting each other gifts. We get a few gifts for the grandkids (great-grandkids for him) and I don’t even bother sending out cards or putting up a tree. if someone is coming over then we’ll have a holiday dinner of some kind. Last year, I did a charcuterie board and that was just as much work as an actual dinner. 

We always say we’re going to go out to dinner but not too many restaurants are open during the holidays. I’m not sure what we’ll do this year. My oven is broken so I won’t be able to cook anything unless I use my Instant Pot, Crock Pot, or stovetop. Not that I want to cook anything at all. With mobility issues, it just takes too much out of me to cook anything.

Anyway, the holidays are depressing and I’d rather just not have them at all.