Rachel's Grace

Your assignment this week from Write on Edge was to write a piece where you explore the first broken heart for your character – or for you. You can read the beinning of this Science Fiction story here and here.

 Just for a little background: Rachel lives on planet Aster. She wonders if there is life elsewhere. in the universe because her life on Aster is so horrible. Before her father was murdered he told her the secrets that might lead her to this another world.  Rachel doesn't remember all the details but intends on finding out.

Alec, the villian, has made Rachel as one of his wives and impregnated her as an experiment. The details of the experiment have not been disclosed yet. Mason is the man she loves but he cannot get to her because Alec keeps close guard. Today we find Rachel giving birth to her precious baby girl whom she has already named Grace in Part 2.

The operating room was cold, sterile, steel, white and lonely. Rachel lay there lethargic. How long had she been here? She heard Alec say,” Do a C-Section I don’t want any harm to come to the infant.”

Doctors, nurses behind masks, mumbling, murmuring. “She’s a fine specimen.” “Take some blood now before the subject goes to infant care.”

These weren’t words referring to her beautiful Grace. Grace isn’t a specimen, a subject, she’s a baby! Rachel couldn’t get the words out. She could not speak.

A cry, a baby’s cry! Oh Grace you made it!

Tears of joy streaming,

arms aching to hold,

 eyes waiting to see.

More murmuring,”Looks healthy and passed all the initial testing.”  Then she heard Alec’s voice again,” Go ahead and take her to infant care, categorize her, and on the birth certificate make sure I am listed as the father leave the mother blank… for now.

Rachel lay there screaming in her mind, “I’m her mother! No don’t take her, let me hold her. She’s my little girl! Please God make them bring her back.”

In a few moments Alec came over to the table holding a bundle in a white blanket. “Do you want to hold the infant?” Rachel nodded her head with slight movement. Alec placed Grace in her arms.

She looked into the eyes of 

the love of her life,

her forever love, 

love that fills emptiness,

Grace.

And then she was gone

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Blogger's note: This is the third part to a science fiction story I began writing in July. Grace does not die she is being taken away by the villian in the story Alec. You can read the Part 1 and Part 2 at the links listed at the beginning of the post. Go ahead and try it, I think it'll spark your interest.

I Did The Unthinkable Because of a Computer!

He sat at the computer every night after dinner, every Saturday and Sunday, almost every waking moment. I hated the thing. It had stolen my husband from his family.

The time I realized this monster was truly my enemy was a night that will go down in infamy with our family. I was on the phone with a good friend. We were having a deep conversation about”something important”. I was sitting on the stairs talking softly so the rest of the house wouldn’t hear what was being said. A pair of eyes glared at me from the kitchen. He was spinning in the computer chair waiting for me to get off the phone. High speed internet was still a thing of the future, dial-up was the only option. This required I get off the phone, which I wasn’t ready to do.

The hole he stared through me got deeper and deeper until I exploded. I threw the phone at him, while screaming, “Take the thing! I’m so sick of that computer dominating everything in this house! You’re on it all the time and now I can’t even talk on the phone!” I’m really not sure of my exact words but this is close.

After that I grabbed one of his golf clubs and threw it across the room! Yep, I really did it. Haven’t you ever wanted to do something so mean? But who really does that? It was at this point that I stopped myself and realized I was having hormone problems. Yes it was PMS. Although some believe it is in our heads I know for certain it is a very real change that happens to me.

With a few deep breaths and apologies on both sides our argument was over. However I ended up at the doctor’s office the next day recalling the events of the night before. Turns out he diagnosed me with PMS syndrome and gave me Prozac. Throwing golf clubs is really out of character for me so we both knew something was or had changed with my body. Medication in combination with a lot of prayer got me through the worst part of it.

Very seldom do I have a blow up anymore and I love my computer especially since I can use it and the phone at the same time.

This week’s prompt over at Write on Edge,  is to recall those early memories of being online. But please do not use the phrase “I remember…”

Also? No laundry lists. Try to focus on one small memory and share. Tell how it impacted your life and what it meant for you.

9/11 CWO Featured

Hey Friends,
Follow me over to Christian Women's Online Network where my article commemorating 9/11 is one of the featured articles today. You can find it here. If you like it please go ahead and "like" it. While you're there look around, there's a great assortment of blogs and encouraging articles and forums. I'm now a Staff Writer at CWO so it's a new home for me. Hope to see you there sometimes. Thanks for all your support.

Surgery

A sweet friend of mine had surgery today. I dropped her off at the hospital this morning. I was slightly nervous because she had never had any surgery before.

Leaving her was hard because it was obvious she did not want to be in this strange place with strangers caring for her. But what could I do?

The only thing I could do was pray: Father I haven't had to pray for her very often but today I feel a real need because I am nervous. She's alone or probably feels that way so just let her be at peace. Give the docs wisdom and let everything go perfectly. Let my faith be strong in You so I can go about my day knowing she will be just fine because You are there with her.

I went about the day without worry, in peace, trusting He was watching her and making sure she was perfectly cared for.

4:00 rolled around I went back to the hospital. The nurse gave me instructions for her post op care and then they brought her out. She was very groggy from the anesthetic and would be until tomorrow.

Upon getting her home I helped her into bed, gave her a fudge pop and a few sips of water. Now she's lying beside me sleeping soundly.

Lola is safe and sound and now because she's been spayed her health will be better than ever.

What If You Won?

There’s something to be said about the exhilarating feeling of opening the door of a casino. You have money to burn and you dream of winning big. So big that you’ll pay off the mortgage, the credit cards, the doctor bills.  You will be a hero by the time you’re done with this place. When you get home your husband will bow down and call you “Queen”.

Your girlfriends that came with you have all gone off in different directions because you, you had to work on your plan.

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So you’re walking around, scoping out the scene, looking for your lucky table, when you see her.  There she is, the little old lady running a Blackjack table. She will be nice and friendly so this is a good place to start the night. As you sit on one of the stools, she glares at you as if you are an idiot. “Are you betting or not?” she growls.  Fumbling around you finally place your bet and she begins to throw the cards down.  You notice it seems to bring the little old  lady pleasure when she says, “Busted.”  It’s a dead give away by the big grin that stretches across her very wrinkled face. After a while, you feel you should spread the happiness to someone else, so you leave this table before she passes out from the excitement.

As you saunter around in your new low-rise jeans, t-shirt and heels you are feeling pretty confident about your appearance. After all how many 45-year-old women can pull off this outfit and look good in it? Then as you turn the corner, you see her. Yes, it’s HER. You know the one. She’s got the low-rise jeans too but no mushroom belly.  Oh and her t-shirt seems to be a lot perkier than yours.  The long blonde flowy hair that bounces as she flirts with the guys surrounding her makes you wish you had gotten the extensions you had been considering last week.  You turn around and go the other way because it’s just too crowded over here with HER.

This experience has to get better. You go to the slots and pull the handle repeatedly. Win a little and lose even more. You’re thinking that gambling really isn’t what it’s made out to be but the environment is exciting and you’re going to see a great show tonight with the girls. Still mindlessly pulling the slot machine, you sit there, and then suddenly you hit the jackpot! The lights flashing, the sirens begin screaming, you are a winner! You won 500 bucks playing the slots.

After you claim your winnings, it is all you can do to keep yourself from going over to the little old lady’s table and gloating. However, because you have class and she has gone on her break you will not do that. Maybe you’ll drop by and dangle some of your money in front of HER. You can just picture her following you around like a little puppy. Ok, come on back to reality. She has the guys, the body and probably money too.

As you pack up to go home you ponder about how to spend the money you won. Savings account? Pay off a credit card? Or maybe you’ll just buy a pair of jeans that fit, have a good cup of Starbuck’s and take the family to a movie.

I wrote this a while back for an online magazine. I thought of it when Write on Edge challenged us to write about jeans this week. I love this topic cause I love jeans. I'd like to win $500.00 but unfortunately this never happened although I can pull off some low-rise jeans and a t-shirt.

Could You Make a List Of Things You're Thankful For?

Yesterday this would have been hard to do. Today it's easy. It's a ashame that I need to be in a certain mood to find things to be thankful for isn't it? Yeah I know you agree.
Well I'm there today, good attitude and all so here's my list:

1- I'm thankful I had my house cleaned today. It's kind of a stress reliever to know I don't have to do a deep cleaning.

2- I'm thankful for my husband who told me a few days ago that I was still a pretty woman. I needed that.

3- I'm thankful for my two kids. My son makes me laugh and my daughter keeps me straight. She called and wanted to know if I had been on the treadmill. I said, " Not yet." "Have you been on it this week?" Sheepishly I replied, "No." At this point she began her regular lecture about my health and how she needed me around so her kids could know their grandma, etc. ( She thinks way ahead. She has no children yet nor is she considering it for another 3 or 4 years) I'm getting on the treadmill soon.

4- I'm thankful for good friends. I had lunch with a special long time friend today. There's nothing quite like it.

5- I'm thankful that while I was in Publix today and my phone rang 13 times yet I did not hear it, that my daughter did hear her phone when it rang. The Hound and The Bride were out of gas on the side of the road. She took them gas and saved the day.

6- I'm thankful I can have sugar free chocolate. Bought some Russell Stover's sugar free mint patties and I am eating them without guilt.

7- I'm thankful for Lola, Gabe and Georgia, my dogs. Lola is the English Bulldog, Gabe the Sheltie and Georgia the Pomeranian. Quite a mixture and one day I'll tell you the story of how I ended up with them.

8- I'm thankful for this blogging community. I can be myself and it seems to be OK. I haven't run into the judgement I sometimes hear about. Actually I've been welcomed with open arms by most. Debbi from Photos and Facets , Susan from Coming East and Emily from My Pajama Days have been particularly encouraging along with so many more.

9- I'm thankful for my laptop, Ipod, cell phone, Wii, HD TV, blow dryer, recliner, dishwasher, coffee pot and SUV. I know I have been blessed and I am a girlie girl who really needs these things to help me along in life.

10- I'm thankful for new friends. Heather, Joni, Darlene, Tammy to name a few.

11- I'm thankful that I can talk to God anytime day or night about anything. I don't have to hide who I am or what I feel. He knows everything single tiny thing about me yet His love never fails. God is well aware of my past, present and future yet never leaves nor forsakes me. There is no one else like Him.

There's my list. Where's yours?

Orphaned

This week Write On Edge asked us to write a memoir piece beginning with the words, “I miss my childhood”.

I miss my childhood because I wasn’t an orphan back then. It still stings to hear others talking about family holidays with their parents. I guess that sounds selfish but while I am trying to make new traditions that feel awkward and forced, others are enjoying the same traditions they’ve always had.

My mom carried on with most of our basic traditions after my dad passed away even though it was difficult for all of us. She was the backbone, the one who held us together. We continued to have Christmas Eve together with my brother’s family, all of us at her home. Even with the empty chair at the table we continued on with celebrations.

 Momma died, still hate to use that word, six years ago on December 5^th. Christmas was a bomb needless to say. No tree, no decorations and few gifts. We made it through but it was the worst Christmas I have ever experienced.

I became an orphan at 41. Sounds strange I suppose but that’s what I was. That’s what I am. That’s what I will always be. I’ve come to grips with it and in no way begrudge anyone else the blessing of parents. Sometimes I’m envious that I don’t have what others have. I get angry when women talk about their mothers using bitter, sarcastic even hateful words. My thought is, “You’ll regret saying that one day.”

I’ve fallen short with my own family while setting new traditions. In trying to plan new things it usually doesn’t pan out the way I want it to. Maybe my heart isn’t in it. I know what some of you are thinking, “Get it together woman. You’ve got a family of your own to think about.” Yes I know that. I’ve told myself that for years.

Depression is a hard thing to kick even when you know you have others counting on you. In fact knowing that makes it even more overwhelming. Holidays, birthdays, anniversaries of deaths are all hard days and I still struggle. The anniversary of my dad’s death was yesterday. Someone asked me, “It was 12 years ago shouldn’t you be over it by now?” I replied, “Well since you haven’t lost your dad I guess you don’t know what it’s like but I still remember what happened to him on this day every year.”

I’m not writing this to get sympathy or pity but it’s therapeutic and healing to get out into words what I hold in my heart. Many thanks to Write On Edge for pushing me to write about the hard things, the buried things when I otherwise probably wouldn’t.

Blogging Changed My Life

I sit in my favorite recliner, laptop propped just right, staring at a blank Word document. Many ideas running through my head but none seem to be right for this particular writing prompt. I just checked my stats and they are really low from yesterday and today. I’m thinking I need to come up with something fantastic. Unfortunately I just don’t have anything fantastic today.

Less than a year ago I would never have been thinking about such things. I wasn’t even familiar with the concept of blogging. My life was rather simple but I needed to find a part time job and I wanted to do it from home. My sister-in-law told me about an online company she freelanced for doing various jobs so I signed up.

I looked at the different areas of online work available and found the only one I was interested in was freelance writing. Why, I don’t know. Up to that point the only published writing I had done was a few poems placed in the county paper by my elementary teacher when I was eight years old.

My writing experience as an adult was limited to weekly Bible studies I wrote for the women’s classes I taught. But I put a bid on one freelance job that felt right. Remember I have no clue what I’m doing here. Can you believe that the job I bid on had already invited me to bid on it before I bid on it?! Does that make sense? It boils down to this, I got a freelance writing job contributing to an online women’s magazine once a week. Immediately it turned into a weekly column called Moore On Life. Not that I’m that good but I believe things happen for a purpose to lead us down the path for which we are intended. This was the beginning of my new journey.

My next job was writing a biography for an Italian family. I interviewed a couple who lived through the Depression and World War 2. It was written as a children’s book so their grandchildren would always know their family heritage. Amazing story and it created in me a love for American history that I’ve never had before.

There were other jobs from this online source but once I began blogging it consumed my time. I have spent hundreds of hours researching the internet trying to discover how to build a successful blog. I’ve read tons of blogs over the last months getting to know bloggers. My husband does not know what has happened to me because I am a computer junkie now. It takes a lot of time but I so love it.

I write all this to say my life has been changed since I entered this world of internet and blogging. I am learning to balance my time, make friends, and how to be myself to the world. Accepting that what I have to say doesn’t matter to most people has been hard at times. However if I have the chance to influence a few people that should be enough right? I truly want that to be enough for me.

Prompt from Write on Edge

This week, with Labor Day and the end of summer rapidly approaching, we asked you to write about a season of change for your character or you. It can be literal or metaphorical.

Check out my other place Grace Full Women. Inspiration from God to women.

10 Really Good Movies

1- Secondhand Lions. A tale of 2 elderly, eccentric uncles (Robert Duvall, Micheal Cain) with a hidden fortune on their property. Their young nephew Walter gets dumped off for the summer by his mother (Kyra Sedgwick) and he hears of the action adventures his uncles experienced when they were young men. Heartwarming, heartbreaking, and plenty of dogs, which you know I love. Wonderful family movie.

2- A Beautiful Mind. Russell Crowe stars in this true story of a brilliant mathematician with mental illness who receives the Nobel Peace Prize. Lengthy movie, thought-provoking, nominated for many awards. I finally saw it a few weeks ago and it now rates as one of my all time favorites. Watch this when you can set aside some time without distraction.

3- Everybody’s Fine. This movie hit home for me because our family has had similar circumstances over the last few years. The story revolves around a widower who is trying to hold his family together after the passing of his wife, who was the glue for him and his adult kids. Robert DeNiro, quite possibly one of my top 5 fav actors, gives a stellar performance in a role like I’ve never before seen him. Drew Barrymore plays one of his daughters who helps him past one of the most tragic times in his life. You do not want to miss this one.

4- A Rumor of Angels. This is a tender story of a wise old woman and a traumatized young boy who witnessed his mother’s death in a car accident. Vanessa Redgrave stars in this bittersweet movie that did not get rave reviews mainly because of its spiritual content. I enjoyed it because I do believe in a hereafter and the comfort that it brings. I do not necessarily believe it the way the movie describes it but I was ok with the presentation for a fiction movie.

5- The Blind Side. Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw in the story of Michael Oher, a homeless and traumatized boy who became an All American football player and first round NFL draft pick with the help of a caring woman and her family. Great family movie, one scene not suitable for children.

6- All the Twilight movies. You know the vampire/werewolf/teenage girl love story saga? Love them all!

7- Meet the Parents. Okay I had to put a comedy on the list and this one I love. I have watched this one umpteen times. Ben Stiller and once again my man Robert DeNiro. hilarious!

8- Gran Torino. Clint Eastwood as a disgruntled Korean War vet who sets out to reform his neighbor, a young Hmong teenager, who tried to steal his prized possession: his 1972 Gran Torino. A story of friendship, death, gangs and racism but this movie gives a taste of the real world.

9- The Bucket List. Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman as two men dying of cancer who set out to fulfill a list of things they want to do before they die. In the process they become the best of friends. This movie draws one into thinking about mortality and living life to the fullest.

10- Independence Day and Men in Black only because Will Smith is hilarious and aliens are an interesting concept. I mean I like both movies but Will and aliens are a winning combo at the theater or on DVD.

It's your turn. Got any suggestions?

My Facebook Fans Whoo Hoo on Thankful Tuesday!

Today is Thankful Tuesday here at Pics! I asked my Facebook Fans to tell me what they are celebrating. So I have my Pom Poms up in the air and I’m shaking them like crazy because we have so much to CELEBRATE here at Pic, Prayers and Pom Poms! Here we go:

1-    I’m so excited that I have 30 Facebook fans. I know it’s not huge but I am thankful for my faithful friends who "liked" me this week. These are peeps who want to thank and praise God for the great things He has and is doing. And maybe I'm kidding myself but maybe they want to read my blog too.

2-    Chelle has so much she’s thankful for: “ Woo Hooing because we serve an Awesome God and He’s showing up and showing out in my life. I am so humbled by everything He is doing and wake up every day breathless to see what is going to happen.”

3-    Jennifer says,” I am a big FAN of what God is doing in & through your life!!! WooHoo!!!"  Thanks my sweet friend. I’m a fan of what He’s doing too!

4-    I celebrated time with hubby and wrote a post about it here.

5-    Me again. I thanked God for second chances and my niece Jennifer Amened it!

6-    My new friend Joni says, “Thanking God for the storms......I lean on HIM more and trust Him as He is my anchor!” I praised Him cause He’s faithful.

7-    My niece Christina (Tina) says, “I am thankful for this baby and that he is so healthy and hasn’t had no complications through this pregnancy and thankful for Taylor and my mom and thankful to still have my dad and thankful for my whole family and that I’m still here and thankful that I’m loved!!!” You are loved my dear.

8-    Chelle comes back again and celebrates some more, “I am thankful and blessed to see another day and to be able to share the love of Jesus with others. I am surrounded by wonderful friends who have become like extended family and I able to practice pouring into to others and change lives. Thank you to Jesus for letting me know I was someone worth dying for…” Oh my gosh does that not speak volumes! Pom Poms people!

9-    Last but not least Chelle, whom I’ve yet to meet personally but intend to spend some time with very soon gave me great encouragement when she said, “Woo hoo for Pics, Prayers and Pompoms!! “ Yeah!

10- I'm thankful for Shining Lighthouse Ministries.

That’s what this is all about on Thankful Tuesdays. Join the rest of us as we pull out our symbolic or literal Pom Poms and cheer for anything, anyone, and thank God for His many blessings.

If you’d like to receive regular updates from this blog look in the right side and find the subscribe button and either follow or subscribe by email. Just do it and join in the CELEBRATION!

Oh how I’d love it if you’d join in the fun on Facebook. Just sign in and search for Pics, Prayers and Pompoms, then “Like” my page.  Am I asking too much from you? We’re building community here folks with all likeminded people, it’ll be worth it.