Slice of Life #82: The "Dash"

Recently I have been asking myself, "What is holding me back?" There are some things I want to accomplish that I feel I should have already done, but still have neglected to take the steps to make them happen. It's not that they're hard or out of reach - it's simply a matter of, "there's always tomorrow." It's that dash in the middle of here and there that gets in the way.

So this week's slice of life is, "What's your dash in the middle?" Is it getting on the treadmill?
Buying that CD to learn a new language? Is it taking a class so you can get that raise? Making a phone call to start repairs in a relationship? Booking the flight so you'll finally take that vacation?

I posted this song because I love how they show each boy stuck in a situation - immobilized. And then each one moves into "the dash." Whether you dare to move or not is up to you - first, let's write. ;)

Slice of Life #77: Transitions

"WOW."

My daughter is pretty good with comical expressions. She and her brother often don't have to say anything to get you laughing - it's all in the face.

I noticed on Facebook that a lot of people had maybe their best Thanksgiving ever. I felt that way too. And then I noticed that right after that came a flood of people mentioning that they were entering a transition phase of life. Husbands going out of town to work, new babies, folks moving out of homes they've lived in for years... it can be exciting and traumatic all at once.

This week, pick a transition and try to find something that made you better/stronger out of it. Looking back, write the wisdom you gained coming out that you wish you had been given going in.

Stretching those memory muscles this week. :)

Slice of Life #75: Fork in the Road

Yellowstone - Oct 2011

I apologize for not posting last week. I got swamped and flat forgot. O_o

This week's prompt comes from the quote:

"When you arrive at a fork in the road, take it."
- Yogi Berra

Think over a moment you stood in your mind at a fork in the road. Did it scare or excite you? Did you take it? Why or why not? What were the consequences, and how are you better for your decision? Even bad decisions teach us something, or help us grow into who we are now. I believe Yogi Berra is right... but then again, sometimes the more courageous thing to do is stay the course. What was it in your case?

Slice of Life #69: Following Directions

In Labyrinth, the hands asked,

"Which way do you want to go?"

They were looking for direction.

How good are you at following directions? Have you ever followed directions and then got lost? Or given directions that somehow something got lost in the translation?

Maybe you husband doesn't STOP to ask for directions like mine. :D

And THEN what happened? What was the result? Disaster, or a situation better than you could have imagined? What kind of story do you have to tell because of following directions (or not)? Or maybe you have a story because there WERE NO DIRECTIONS TO FOLLOW. Oh - I bet that's a great story to tell! :)

Slice of Life #68: Beautiful YOU

Photo my daughter took this spring.

Time to sit straight in your chair and tell us all about what makes YOU so wonderful. Cast aside those silly notions that it's wrong to toot your own horn. How are generations later going to know about your terrific-ness if you never tell them?

What are your best features? Your eyes? Your legs? Your hair?

What makes you stand out in a crowd? Is your laugh contagious, your smile warm, or your hugs sincere? Your ability to quiet a child in a grocery cart?

What tastes do you have? Is it your taste in music, your love of art, or picking good books to read?

What talents have you acquired (or would like to)? Cooking? Running a business? Home decor?

Each person is not only unique, they're also a genius in their own way. Time to shine folks - let's hear about beautiful YOU. In this prompt, you may only write about the GOODNESS that you are. :)

Slice of Life #67: The All Nighter

We all stay up for one reason or another.

• A final exam
• Party all night
• Job has to be finished
• Want to knock out a project
• Too much homework on Trading Spaces...

Last night I was up all night canning apricots. I am a sticky mess (only two more boxes to go!) so pardon me this time for no photo. This week, let's write about one of the times we pulled THE ALL NIGHTER.

See ya later - when I'm a little less sweet, I hope! :)

Slice of Life #65: Eye on the Prize

Sometimes we aim for something and miss. That's when we stop, evaluate, and make the decision on whether or not we should press on or look for a new prize to shoot for. What in your life was worth sacrifice? Did you obtain your goal? Did you ever get the prize? Or is your eye still on it? Then again, there ARE those who never go after it in the first place. Are you one of those?

Kind of fun. If you're really brave, I dare you to write 5 things you want to achieve before Christmas. Five things that mean you'd have to stretch a little. The write a committing statement. Share with us, and we'll cheer with you at Christmas when you return and report. What better gift could you give yourself?

Slice of Life #60: The "Good Life"

Sorry, folks. I had a little one slip and cut the back of his head open. Nothing serious, but I was so involved watching over him I forgot to post a slice of life today. It's 10:11pm here!!

This week, let's all share something in our lives that makes life good. It might be something spectacular like driving around in your shiny, brand new Camero. It might be the feeling of your lover's lips after being told how beautiful you are. Or watching your children pass through some phase and coming out a better person. Then again, simply enjoying a cup of herbal tea as you read a paperback in the park on a warm, summer day might be what does it for ya.

Life is good. Let's celebrate it. =)

Slice of Life #57: Moving....

from pintrest.com

Hey gang,

I'm 70% moved! It's not easy moving nine people, a dog and three goldfish, but it will be so worth it! I missed reading your stories last week and hope to catch up later this one when we're finally settled, which I have big hopes will be Wed. Anywho, while I'm packing boxes and scrubbing doors (why oh why didn't I see those little fingerprints before?!) I challenge you to write about a move in your life. Excitement, regrets, joy and sadness are all a part of the process, as well as sore feet, broken glasses and life without Internet for a few days. What was it like for YOU to move?

Can't wait to get into the new groove of my new home to see what goodies I've been missing! =)

Slice of Life #56: Time Crunch

from pintrist.com

Ever been late to anything? Maybe you make it a habit of being late! Or you can't stand to be late and it drives you nuts when folks put obstacles in your way. Would others say you were punctual? Would they say you were flexible?

It's a different kind of slice this week - normally we focus on stories. This week, we're going to focus on an aspect of your life - and oh, the things it says about YOU! ;)

Slice of Life #53: Helping Hands

One of my sons
being helped by his big sister
2010

I've always looked for ways for my kids to give service. We've packed school kits as a family, worked in a food kitchen, served Thanksgiving meals to the community, sewed heart pillows for breast cancer patients, collected blankets for earthquake victims in Afghanistan, helped neighbors clean their homes and yards up after both floods and tornadoes, and tied quits for mothers who go home from the hospital without their babies.

Service is good for the soul.

If you or anyone in your family hasn't done anything like that, no worries. Maybe you've contributed to a fund for someone who lost their house in a fire. There are simple acts, like taking food to a sick friend, holding the hand of the bereaved that are lifting to the spirit. Even allowing your teenager to invite a sad friend over to crash on your couch is no small thing. In fact, one of my all time favorite movie scenes is in the movie While You Were Sleeping. Sandra Bullock's character is trying to cheer up Peter, the dude that's been in a coma. He says he's never really done anything truly heroic in his life. She mentions he gives up his seat almost every day on the elevated train. He says, "That's not really heroic." She says, "It is to the person who sits in it." Makes ya think.

What service have your helping hands rendered in your life?

Slice of Life # 50: Happy Birthday!

I hope you all enjoyed last week's prompt.

:)

Nope, it's not my birthday! It's my dad's. So let's celebrate by writing about birthdays! You could write about...

• The best birthday you ever had!
• The birthday everyone forgot.
• The birthday you had the most fun planning for.
• A collage of birthday photos!! Don't forget the dates!
• A birthday disaster. (IE: Me dropping the twin's cake face down on the floor!)
• Special birthday traditions.
• The most important element of a birthday to you. Is it the presents, the cake, the decorations.... what makes a birthday special in your eyes?
  

And if it's your birthday this week... well, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! :)

Slice of life #49: Religion

For those of you who celebrate

Easter, I hope it was special

The same to our Jewish friends who

should be wrapping up Passover.

Since these are religious holidays,

I figured it was time

to write about religion itself.

Religion, whichever ones you do or do not believe in, is a big part of our lives. Even if you are atheist, you have your reasons for not believing the same as your religious neighbors. And even if you aren't religious, chances are your ancestors were. This week we're going to concentrate on you. This prompt is a three parter - pick one.


#1: Write about the religious traditions you grew up with in your family. Do you continue in those traditions? Why or why not? Or have you created your own? What do you hope for your children/grandchildren in future years to come?

#2: Write how religion has influenced your life - or why you are not religious. Whether it's the picture your Catholic Grandmother had hanging in her living room or the Jewish neighbor who piqued your interest in Passover. Somewhere along the way you've probably had a conversation or eighty where religion was discussed. What was it that brought you to your religious convictions today?

#3: If you're really brave, write your testimony of your religion. I don't know why, but it seems for many people this is a scary thing to do. One of our favorite treasures from a Baptist Great-Great-Grandfather is his Bible that he read nine hundred and eighty-seven times (he kept a tally in the front) and had his testimony written in the back with certain scriptures marked. Obviously a very religious man, it was his convictions that helped me piece together some mysteries left behind by his daughter. I'm sure he didn't mean for his testimony to help me like that, but it did. What a treasure it will be for your posterity to know what you believed!

Slice of Life #48: Coming Home

Thank you for the entries last week!


We had a wide range of random photos,
so be sure not to miss out!

My husband was coming home yesterday after being gone a month, and after 10 days he leaves for another month. So it's a big deal to us. I remembered in the morning on the way to church to post the meme. When we got home, we started making posters saying, "Welcome home, Dad" as pictured above. We were baking cookies and brownies, laughing and sharing thoughts about my husband, and were so actively engaged in what we were doing I forgot all about the meme until my mother emailed me this morning asking where it was.

*BLUSH*

So in honor of my error, let's write about homecomings. Some are happy. Like when you're at the airport and you see some young adult being engulfed by bear hugs and weeping mothers. Some are not so happy, like caskets being flown back to hometowns. Sometimes they're quiet, such as two lovers getting back together after being separated for a time. And they can be loud, with a huge party full of friends and frolic. We've all been on one side of the stick or the other - either coming back or welcoming someone else. It's a part of life. We'd love you to share a little piece of yours.

Slice of Life #47: Another Random Picture

I'm going to admit something here:
last week's prompt surprised me.
I wrote something I hadn't intended at all.
I appreciated Netty's list and realized
that it isn't always the thing - it's the
person we love that attaches us to the thing.

Or at least, it was for me.

For those of you who are feeling guilty -
PLEASE DON'T!!
Just do what you can.
Remember - this is for YOU.

Also, I promise to look into the award and get that posted.

My dad and I.

Guess he was too big for the pool.

So this week I thought we'd do another random picture entry like I did a long time ago. Just pick any picture, old or new, and write about what's going on. Feelings the picture brings up, or feelings you were having the time it was taken. Surroundings that are familiar. They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

You don't have to write that many - but let's make sure posterity gets linked to those photos with your two cents. ;)

Slice of Life #43: Illness

Hey gang.

I was out of town for four days. When I got home I was so exhausted I could barely stay awake. I thought maybe it was just the after effects of moving at high speed for so long and not sleeping at night (the hotel's sheets felt like plastic trash bags - NOT exaggerating!). Anyway, I rested all day yesterday, so when I woke up this morning still feeling icky, I decided to call my doctor. Sure enough, I have strep AND a minor flu bug. Oh yay.

So this week's prompt is illness, because I'm really not up to posting pictures but I'm already a day behind. Thoughts about illness bring up all sorts of ideas for me. Such as mother's nurturing talents, how you treated certain patients, history of ancestor's illnesses or death due to illness, childhood sickness, etc. Another thought that comes to mind is your feelings on vaccines, mental illness in your family, being addicted to prescription drugs... kinda goes along with last week's first aid, but it is a little different.

Those of you that posted last week - I'll be back to check out your blog posts soon. I'm sorry I'm having an off week. I do appreciate your participation. In the meantime, I'm headed to bed. I hope all of you are feeling well!!!

Slice of Life #42: First Aid

Thanks for joining me Netty!

I guess the zoo is a pretty hard prompt.

So let's try something easier this week.

:)

I know we've all had bumps, scrapes, cuts, bruises, burns, and possibly broken bones, ate something we shouldn't have, etc. What would life be like without all the wonderful pains in the world to remind us of how blessed we are?

OK, it would be pretty darn nice. Still, I shudder to imagine life without the invention of the band-aid. So let's share about something that made us say "OUCH!" and possibly the good luck that accompanied it. If not you, then someone in your family. Shooting accidents, amputations on the job, etc. - our ancestors were no strangers to physical pain.

Let no injury go under-appreciated.... :D

Slice of Life #41: We're Going to the Zoo... Yup! Yup!

Thank you ladies for your
contributions. I know I was inspired
by your thoughts.

I see more candlelight in my future. :)

The look on the monkey's face is priceless.
You decide which one. ;)

So this week, I thought we'd do something a little fun. I have always loved attending the zoo. In fact, my husband and I have done season passes for Christmas for about ten years now, where ever we live. Lots of good memories. And ohhhh goodness. Visions of class field trips on the big yellow bus, frozen soda wrapped in tin foil and peanut butter sandwiches come to mind!

And of course, sometimes I FEEL like I'm living in a zoo! I remember my mother quoting Bill Cosby's "We're going to the zoo" many times while growing up because of the craziness in the house.

So this week, take the prompt "Going to the Zoo" and have a ball - whatever that prompt means to you!

BTW - in case you don't recognize the title, it's from Bill Cosby's Wonderfulness. ;) Here's the clip since this week I'm in for giving some giggles:

Can't wait to read your stories!

Slice of Life #40: Candlelight Dinner

Wow - Lisa has some great tintypes on her blog,
and Elizabeth!! LOVED the jelly shoes.

Awesome stuff from last week!
Thanks!

This week, we're headed out to eat. Or in to eat. I've always thought a man creating a candlelit dinner at home was so romantic. If you've never had a romantic candlelight dinner before, don't despair - there's more than one way to look at this prompt.

I chose the words "candlelight dinner" because I wanted you to think fancy. Maybe it was dinner with your dad, mom, family, spouse, sibling or best friend. Fancy restaurants, candles on the table with TV dinners put on the plates to look fancy, tea time with some special (I know - I'm stretching it, but I think it applies), wedding recital dinners, etc. Just so long as it has the element of something special and a fork. ;)

Now, to get your mind thinking over your memories. Maybe Dad took you out for a special date when you were a teen. Or perhaps you and your friends had a reunion in a nice restaurant. Prom. Weddings. Graduation. Of course, some people just don't do fancy, and that's something to write about too - why not? For those who have never been treated to a fancy place - why haven't you treated yourself to a fancy meal? Also, everyone expects fancy meals to go right - maybe in your case things went WRONG. That's a fun angle.... ;)

Lots of choices. Looking forward to reading yours!

Slice of Life #39: Fashion

Thanks so much for sharing your

sports stories!

You'll be surprised what everyone

came up with.

Mom in the 70's dress she made herself.

That's my Great-Grandmother behind her.

70's fashion - love it or hate it?

This week, let's focus on fashion trends. Hate or love them, you can't deny that they're there. What would you bring back? What do you wish went the way of the dodo bird and never resurrected itself? What fashion was your FAVORITE dress or what picture makes you sit back and laugh yourself silly? Are you a slave to the fashion trends, or are you a rebel?

Can't wait to see what you come up with! See ya next week! :)