Happy Friday and congratulations for making it through another week. Mine has been a very short work week, since Monday and Friday were both days off. I’d like to say I took that free time to knock a bunch of unfinished tasks off the ToDo list, but that would definitely be a work of fiction.
I did do a little bit of clearing out in the garage, but my efforts were stymied a bit when I got to the local charity drop off with my bags full of items to donate and found that they had instituted a 2-bag limit. Ah well, at least I got rid of few things, so that’s progress.
With my clearing-out efforts stalled, I moved on to the holiday decorating portion of my time-off program. This whole year has been crazy and challenging and not a little scary, but having a big tree next to the fireplace, covered in colorful lights and shiny garland provides the promise of just a bit or normalcy. The pillows and afghans on the couch have made their annual transition from blue/white to red/green, the holiday flannel bedding is in place, and there is a Merry & Bright welcome mat outside the door (not that anyone will be actually using it). Sometimes it’s the little things that brighten up the day.
The tree might have an angel perched on the top, but there are no ornaments yet. The Hanging of the Ornaments is something my son and I have traditionally done together since he was a toddler. This year it may be an odd socially-distant-ornament-hanging-dance, but we’ll do our best. Right now I’ll just enjoy the sparkly lights and pretend those dummy boxes under the tree are filled with wonderful, magical gifts.
In between my gift fantasies and possibly an afternoon nap, I plan to give today’s writing prompt and random words a try.
Care to join me?
For those of you working away on a story (whether a first draft or a polished version on its way to publication), if you’re not feeling random, we’d love to hear a bit – whether it’s a scene, a paragraph, or even a phrase that you are especially pleased with and would like to share.
If you don’t have a story in progress, or just want to work on something new, I hope either today’s random words or writing prompt will catch your creative fancy.
Ready?
What if: “Your character is starting a new tradition?
Feel free to interpret the “What” any way you choose (or ignore it completely) and include any (or all) of the following random words:
sphere funnel glimmer gazelle
pulse imaginary melody binge
lantern moonbeam game amuse
believe nectar cube childish
I look forward to seeing your stories in the comments. If you’re not feeling in the writing mood today, or don’t have time, feel free to post suggestions you might have for future “what-if” prompts. Ideas are always welcome.
Happy writing to all!
Eight Ladies Writing 
I am definitely in Christmas mode this year! Since Thanksgiving, I’ve been humming Christmas songs, having my YouTube Advent 2018 playlist running while doing short quiet chores, and playing my ukulele songs from the last few years. I got the foyer cleaned up from top to bottom (this is also about New Year’s cleaning!), and set up a few Christmas items — a new Advent sleigh with chocolates in little boxes, an ikebana “tree” from yew clippings, my old basket of pine cones and cinnamon sticks, sprayed with some essential oil of mint.
It’s beginning to smell a lot like Christmas!
I have also been doing crazy cat lady stuff . . . I’d never tipped over the edge until 2020, but now I’m firmly in Catlandia. I wrapped some empty boxes and put crocheted curly-whirlies on them. One little cat booger (The Kitten Known As Medium) grabs a package by the ribbon and drags them off the porch and under the concrete slab. LOL, I have to go after them later with a towel on the ground and fire tongs. I’ve learned a lot more about the underpinnings of my home . . . .
The videos need to go up on YouTube. I’ve made three ninja stars and some “balloons” out of origami for the kittens to play with, too. Now, I just need a light dusting of snow to make it look more like Winter Wonderland rather than Wasteland Dystopia.
These words look great; I’m going to try to tackle them sometime this weekend, but I had to gush about Christmas stuff first.