#1

Click...


Clack...


Thunk


Thunk? Jordyn rolled over on her stomach and pulled her pillow over her head. She knew exactly what had awakened her sleep. Matt's date was over and he wanted to discuss it with her. She could picture him outside her apartment windows two stories down throwing pebbles--thus the clicks and clacks--and sometimes missing the window and hitting the stucco wall--which explained the occasional 'thunk'.

After longer and longer pauses between the pebbles hitting the window, Jordyn heard Matt resort to fake bird calls.

Throwing the covers off, Jordyn sat up and ran a hand through her sleep tousled hair.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." She stood and grabbed the robe hanging on the back of her bedroom door before walking over to the window and opening the blinds.

Opening the window, Jordyn stuck her head out and frowned down at her friend.

"What do you want Matt? It is one o'clock in the morning, for Pete's sake."

"I think I'm in love." Matt beamed his deeply dimpled smile up at her and threw his arms out dramatically.

Sighing, Jordyn rolled her eyes. "Of course you are Matt. After all, this is your third whole date with what's-her-name and you are still on your best behavior."

Matt gripped his chest in mock pain. "Best behavior? I am always completely genuine for my dates."

"Okay Matt, whatever you say." Jordyn yawned. "If we're done talking, I'm going back to bed."

"C'mon Jo."

"Fine. Let me ask you this Casanova." Jordyn's raised whisper got louder and she narrowed her eyes. "Did you refrain from using the phrase, 'That's what I'm talking about!' at any point during your date?"

"Yes, but what does that have..."

"Did you silently wonder why she ordered a salad and then let her eat the fries off your plate without making any rude comments?"

"I guess so, now that you mention it, but I still don't.."

"Have you at any time brought up the story with your date about how you won the alphabet burping contest at your fraternity party two years ago?"

"Well, no. I don't see what..."

"Matt?"

"Yes?"

"You are still on your best behavior. Until this newest love of your life gets to meet the real you, you can't be in love."

"You are nuts."

"No, Matt. I'm tired and cranky." Jordyn tried to stifle another yawn. "When you feel comfortable enough to let your date see you for who you really are, THEN you can come back and tell me you are in love. Until then, she is on her best behavior too and it is all make believe."

"I don't understand your reasoning there."

"I know you don't. You never do." Jordyn started to stand back from the window and put her hands up on the sill to close it.

"Jordyn, wait." Matt's low pleading caused Jordyn to pause and stick her head back out the window.

"What now, Matt?" She watched as Matt's expression changed from a frown, to a question, to a scowl. "Matt?"

"I don't know." Matt ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "I'm trying to remember why I came here tonight. You are sort of a kill joy, Jo."

Jordyn smiled ruefully, "You came here because you like waking me up in the middle of the night to rub in the fact that you have a social life and I don't. Don't take me so seriously, Matt. I'm about sixty gazillion hours behind in my beauty sleep and I wasn't kidding about the being cranky part." Jordyn stretched her arms over her head. "You go ahead and be in love if you want. I hope she is good enough for you."

"You're just trying to make me feel better." Matt grinned.

"That, and I'm hoping you'll go home so I can go back to sleep."

"Goodnight, Jo." Matt chuckled.

"'Night, Matt."

Jordyn closed the window and watched as Matt jogged over to the parking lot and got in his car. Turning back to her bed as soon as the tail lights of his car disappeared around the corner, she sat on the edge of the bed and hugged her pillow to her.

From the glow of the street light outside, Jordyn could see the framed photo sitting on her desk of her and Matt at their high school graduation.

Someday, she thought to herself with a pang, someday he really will fall in love. And then what am I going to do?

Three Beginnings, and then a Poll

To force my 'creative juices', so to speak...I've decided that for this next week--and I won't guarantee days so I won't be completely pressed--I am going to post the beginnings of three new stories.

I want you to read them all, and then once I've finally posted the third one I will start a poll. A poll for you to decide which story you'd like to find out what happens. The one that has most draw to you. Comments are more than welcome at any point.

It is a way for me to get back into the writing swing, mainly so that I can bust out of my 'chapter 13' block on the book I am currently writing. But also for fun.

So watch for the first entry either tonight or tomorrow.

German Shepherd Angels

I served a mission for my church in the Porto, Portugal mission. It was a really great experience and I will always be grateful for the chance I had to serve full-time with the people there.

Some of the areas I served in weren't great. Run down apartment complexes, shanties...slums. But while I served there I didn't recognize the dangers of those areas, I only saw the humility of the people and the general friendliness that they showed my companion and me.

In daylight hours, I never gave a second thought about being in some of those areas. And honestly, I didn't really think twice about being there at night either unless a member warned us of places to avoid at night or if my companion would start acting a bit nervous.

After a late appointment one night in an area of Porto that was set off the beaten path a bit at the haphazard clapboard home of a gypsy family, my companion and I set off for the bus stop that was quite a ways away from where we were.

It was dark and there wasn't much light to guide us as we followed the narrow cobblestone road toward the more inhabited part of the area.

I heard a noise and looked behind us and saw a German shepherd come out of the darkness and start walking beside us. It didn't give us more than a quick glance, but it kept right by our side and walked with us toward through the almost deserted street.

A few hundred yards later we passed a bar where a lot of rough looking Portuguese men had stumbled out and were loudly taunting one another, singing, and showing obvious signs of having had too much to drink.

My companion and I kept walking confidently forward, our canine companion at our side. The dog stayed next to us as we past the men and ignored them when they tried to call him over.

When we were far enough past the bar that the men were no longer a threat, the dog took a long look at us and quickly darted up a side street.

We were close to the bus stop and the area was safer.

We never saw the dog again. And didn't actually give much more thought about the dog until two weeks later.

Two weeks after this situation my companion got a letter from her dad. He said that he had been at work and suddenly had the feeling that he should pray for our safety. He knelt right at his desk and prayed with all his heart, not knowing why he was praying. Only knowing that he must pray.

My companion and I immediately thought of the dog. If the dog hadn't appeared to be walking with us when we walked past the drunken men in that bad area of town, there is no saying what might have happened. It was just the right deterrent to keep the men from making unwanted advances. The dog acted like it belonged to us. It acted as though it was our protector. And after the letter, we felt strongly that he was indeed that.

Prayers are answered in ways we don't really expect. There was no flash of lightning. No flaming sword of righteousness. Just a dog.

But never 'just' a dog to me.

Protector, yes. Guardian, definitely. But most of all, an answer to prayer.

Day Seven

Whew. Day seven is finally here.

I don't know what it is, but when I force myself to blog 7 days in a row I feel too much pressure. Nothing comes to mind that might be uplifting or entertaining.

I want to write uplifting and entertaining.

I think I would do better if I didn't make myself do the daily write--even if I DO write every day. I'm not sure if that makes sense.

So from here on out, I am no longer promising a daily blog entry. I will do better though at writing more often than I had in the past, but I'll keep the rigid rules out so that I don't freeze up and write really stupid entries. (Like today's, yes...no one has to comment on that and point it out.)

For today I will just give out some info.:

I finished the website for the soccer club. You can see it at www.razziafutbolclub.com . It is just a basic website at the moment. I needed to get it up fast so that they can get the tryout information out there for people. I'll customize it over the next couple of weeks. If you see any glaring errors on that--spell checks, etc.--let me know. Please. :)

The second info. I have is that my husband left today to go out of town on business until Tuesday. Not a big deal normally, but we are still trying to get the house put back together after taking everything out of the upper level of the home for the carpet cleaning. So he has left me with a lot to keep me entertained while he is in Colorado. The good news is that I can have breakfast foods for dinner with no complaining to be heard for miles. My husband isn't a fan of meals out of order. :)

And now, to end my seven day writing streak I will give you all a list of five things I like to do when my husband is out of town. How's that for an exciting topic? :)

1. Watch chick flicks that he mocks openly--so that I can watch them mock-free.
2. Eat peanut M&M's while doing #1...I can eat them when hubby is home, but then I have to share.
3. Sleep in the middle of the bed with all the pillows.
4. Have total control of the tv remote---which means watching Sportcenter only one time instead of twice because my husband falls asleep on the couch with a death grip on the remote and I seem to enjoy watching tv with him after the kids are in bed...even if he is snoring and I'm watching the same highlights--but that is a whole other topic.
5. Treat the kids to take-out. That one isn't hard to imagine--my husband goes on business trips and gets treated to fabulous restaurants while he is gone while we are home with standard fare of mac & cheese and hot dogs..."springing" for Wendy's isn't much comparison, but it gets me out of cooking one of the nights he is gone. :)

So there you go. I'd love to hear what you guys like to do when your significant other is out of town without you. Feel free to leave a comment. I'd love new ideas. :)

Day Six

Okay. I'm pushing it today in getting this blog posted...I have just over an hour before it is Day Seven. But at least I'm getting it done.

As I was going about my busy day today--driving everywhere, coaching a soccer game, etc. I started thinking about romance and what it means to me.

It all started when I was rushing into the grocery store to get 'Magic Erasers' for our cleaning frenzy today, and walked past a movie poster advertising the movie 'P.S. I Love You'. I admit I have not seen that movie--I know the premise and I tend to avoid the sad romantic comedies like the plague--but what struck me was the great photography. I believed that the man in the photo really loved the woman. He had that 'look' about him.



Of course, it could just be that I think Gerrard Butler is easy on the eyes in general..but that is beside the point. :)

Then I was thinking about how the ladies in my neighborhood are getting together in a couple of weeks to see the movie '27 Dresses'...it was going to be a church thing, but the rules of that are that if we show a movie in a church capacity we have to show a movie that was actually made by the church. I'm not totally opposed to watching 'Johnny Lingo', but I just don't see a big turnout for that one. So it is a neighborhood activity now. :)

Anyway, the point I'm trying to make on that one is that although being an 8 cow wife is all well and good--and truthfully, Johnny DOES seem to gaze lovingly at his wife...he sees who she really is--it seems like we all want something more.

I don't see my husband look at me that way. I just don't. But I hear people tell me all the time how much he talks about me to them and how they can tell how much he cares about me.

Now, it would be nice to get the occasional gaze. I won't lie about that. But when I think about what my husband does for me, it is worth not getting the gaze.

I think that a lot of people don't feel that way though. A lot of marriages and relationships go a bit awry when the woman or the man feels like they aren't getting enough attention. They don't look at what they have, but at what others show. Like the gaze in the movie poster. That is a public display. Most women I know would love it if their husbands were as attentive as the poster seems to imply--but in reality, if that poster were real life Gerrard would be leaning over the smiling Hillary Swank and whispering "What's for dinner? Do we have any snacks?"

So don't just look at the surface. Don't look at what the world portrays as ideal in a relationship. If you look a little deeper and see what your significant other does for you--the little things that happen daily that you probably take for granted--then I am quite sure that we are all getting more 'gaze' than we realize.

And that is a good thing.

Day Five

When Bob Barker reminded folks on a daily basis to "control pet population--spay and neuter your pets", he never once mentioned the cost involved.

Of course, if my pets were ONLY getting spayed and neutered it probably wouldn't be so shocking when I get the bill.

My cat Jackie, (Jackie-o-Lantern...she is a black and orange tortoiseshell and we got her as a kitten in October of 2006..) and our dog Dublin (our 6 1/2 pound toy poodle) are getting fixed today. Finally.

Dublin, however, is also getting all of his teeth pulled. All of them. He is only 5 years old, but has the nastiest teeth on the planet. His dental work is the cause of the huge increase in money owed to the vet.

Taking the time to brush your dog's teeth seems a bit silly, but when you are faced with a bill for over $1000 because of the dental destruction...well, it isn't quite so silly.

Now we get to buy soft dog food for him since he'll have to just gum everything. So he has that to look forward to. Dogs seem to like the canned stuff better than dry anyway.

You know how old folks look when they don't have their dentures in? Well, that's how I picture the dog looking when I pick him up later this afternoon. Kind of like a fuzzy Mr. Magoo. If he were a mean dog he'd now have to resort to gumming people to death. Poor little fella. :)

As for the cat, she is almost two and I can honestly say that cats in heat are the most annoying creatures. And it isn't like a dog that will come into heat just twice per year. No. That would be too kind. Cats are constantly in heat. It is a miracle that she never got pregnant. We were pretty diligent at keeping her in, but since I have proof of what happens when your children get it into their heads that letting animals together to make babies is a good thing, (one litter of poodle puppies is completely thanks to my 13 year old daughter thinking she is hilarious), I wouldn't have put it past them to "accidentally" let the cat out.

I actually put off spaying the cat for so long because in all my growing up years and since I've been married, most of our cats have had death wishes...they have all died young. Been hit by cars, had unfortunate results from anti-freeze, run away, etc. The only exception to that rule was my mom's cat Cid, who died of old age. And that, I'm convinced, is simply because he was the meanest cat I've ever known and was too ornery to die any younger. As a matter of fact, until I met my friend Jon's cat that was 18 years old at the time, I never knew ANY cat actually died of old age. I figured all cats probably died young. So I put off the spay, because I was certain we wouldn't have her very long. It is the same reason why I don't buy the jumbo Costco size bag of kitty litter...I don't want to get stuck with that when the cat decides to take on a car.

And now that she is spayed, it makes me think that she will die soon now since I went ahead and spent money on her...I guess time will tell. I hope I'm wrong though. Kind of morbid thoughts, but that's how things have happened so that is what I expect.

After today we will be a lot poorer, but Dublin will be happier without his rotten teeth (and all of us around him will be happier to not be able to smell his rotten teeth...) and Jackie will be happier to not be in heat forever.

So spay and neuter your pets. And check your animal's teeth so you can prevent having to do a major surgery like Dublin is going through right now, and then your bill will not be astronomical. You could say that if you do the preventative stuff, the "Price is Right". :)

Bob would be proud.

Day Four

Remind me to not hope something different happens so that I can write about it.

Today I am sick. And tired. But mostly sick.

I have a fever, I'm achy, congested...and to top it off I was positive I didn't set my alarm last night so instead of dragging my sorry butt out of bed to check it, I kept waking up every 30 minutes to check the time. All night long.

Being a mom and being sick is worse than any other 'being sick' option. When you are a husband, your wife helps you out and your kids leave you alone. When you are a kid, mom is there to show sympathy (for a little while anyway :) ) and take care of you--the bonus being you get to miss school. But when you are a mom, you still have to get the little ones dressed and fed. You still have to break up arguments. You still have to pick kids up from school and carpool and take kids to soccer and track. You can't just take the day off. Especially when your youngest kids are 4, 4, and 3 years old. They are too active to even think about closing your eyes for a few minutes.

I DO have a fairly legitimate reason to just 'veg' today, so I have that going for me. My house is still in huge disarray from the carpet cleaning yesterday and I had planned on putting things back in order. Tomorrow is looking better for that.

Unfortunately, I know my husband well, and am fairly certain that when he gets home from work tonight I will be helping him drag furniture back upstairs. The clutter drives him crazy, and I can hear him now...."Let's just get this stuff moved and then you can go lay down."

Great. So I have that to look forward to.

Did you know that whining children are even more annoying when you don't feel well? Just thought I'd throw that out there.