Life Under Construction

Archive for the ‘Writing Prompt’ Category

This week’s writing prompt is Tattoo.

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I have four tattoos.

I know.

Most people tell me they never would have expected me to have tattoos, that I don’t seem like ‘that type of person’ (whatever that is).

I’m proud of all of my tattoos, but this one is my favorite.

It’s not the best picture, I know this, but it was taken last year and it’s the only picture I have on my computer of my tattoo.

I don’t remember what year it was, somewhere between 2002 and 2005 (but not 2003), my cousin Jonathon and I and a buddy of ours at the time Roland went to Sacred Ink II to get some tattoos.  I was paying.  Jonathon and Roland got the same tattoo… a pot leaf design.  Jonathon got his on the side of his neck and Roland got his on his chest.  I wasn’t into that kind of thing, so I picked the Chinese symbol for ‘eternity’.

So there are two reasons why this tattoo is my favorite:

1. It’s the most delicate and feminine looking
2. It makes me think of Jonathon

He died in 2007.

This week’s writing prompt topic is:  Key.

I’ve lost a very important set of keys.  There are only two keys on this ring, but they both go to the same thing.

My filing cabinet.

I moved in January and put the keys somewhere safe where I wouldn’t forget them.  But Lo! and Behold! (is it any surprise?) I don’t remember where I put them.

I checked in my lock box, my jewelry box, my desk drawer… all the places I could think of hiding them.

Because of this tragedy all my pay stubs and receipts have been piling on my computer desk since January, and all my good coloring books are locked away where I can’t get at them.

TRAGEDY, I tell you!

With this post I’m participating in this week’s Sunday Scribblings writing prompt.

What’s new this week?  Well, I’ll tell you, in case you just dropped out of the sky and you don’t know WTF has been going on around here….

Today I got a new hair cut.

- insert random only semi-relevant YouTube video -

Nah, mine’s way cooler than this guy’s.  But that’s always a great video to watch.

“Not now, Chief.  I’m in the fuckin’ zone!”

Anyway…..  this is me before:
(not RIGHT before, mind you)

And this is me now:
(yes, I’m wearing a Charlie the Unicorn t-shirt…)

Lauren took that shot right outside the salon, I’m sure people were staring at us but whatever.  A blogger gotta have her material, if you know what I’m saying.

Be honest.  Do you like my new hair cut?

Not all the old blonde highlights are gone, and it’s not as short as I wanted it to be… but I can get it shorter next time.  :D

(I’m participating in this week’s Sunday Scribblings writing prompt.)

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.  I want to be married.

Sure I want the dress and the day and the presents, but more than that I want the being married part: the ‘for better or for worse’ part.  The part that comes after the show: the comfortable silences, making the bed that belongs to the two of us, the arguments about money, the overcooked experimental dinners, the whining-screaming-beautiful children.

I’ve dated guys that would never give me what I needed, dated them for long periods of time even though I knew that it wasn’t going to go anywhere in the long run.  I’d let my love for them get the better of me, and when the harsh reality of it hit me that every effort was mine it would all fall apart.

Let’s face it, people.  Love is never enough when two people don’t value the same things.  Don’t listen when anyone tells you that you can live on love.  You can’t.  Separately, ALL of my relationships have taught me that.  No matter how hard you try, how deeply you love, or how much you give… if you’re both not giving it your best shot, if you don’t want the same things in life… it just isn’t going to work out.

It’s taken me a few years to realize that I’ve found my other half, my equal. Now I think about it all the time: being married.  At least, eh, every other day.  People keep telling me it’s my biological clock ticking, but I know it’s because I simply found the right guy.

Let’s back up for a second.

I wasn’t the little girl that played “house” with her dollies, instead I cut all my older sister’s Barbies hair off (she had a LOT of Barbies!) and ripped their arms and legs from their bodies.  You can totally ask her and she’ll tell you I’m not lying.

Sarah?  Any thoughts you’d like to share with the class?

Moving on…

Getting married never sounded like fun to me.  That is to say it never occurred to me.  I never thought about getting married someday, but I never thought about not doing it, either.  I just never thought about it.

Somewhere along the line there, between 11th grade and my 20th birthday, I realized that I did want to get married.  I wanted to belong to someone.  I wanted to be someone’s wife.

These days I know who I want to marry.  I’m lucky.  I’ve come to understand that being married isn’t just an event, that it’s a way of life.  It’s a full time job that not everyone can handle.  People get divorced all the time because they think marriage is just this thing you do and then life goes back to normal, but it’s not and it doesn’t.

Louise said the other day that I should have been born in the 1950’s.  She and Deb were talking at work about how we shouldn’t let our jobs be our lives, and I overheard so I had to voice my opinion.  You see, I want to be a housewife, a homemaker, a wife and mother.  I want my day to begin with making breakfast and end with making sure everyone is safely and soundly asleep in their beds.  I want to do laundry and spend my afternoons in the kitchen making dinner.  That job will be my life for a long time (at least the first 18 years).

For better or for worse I want the works.  What’s your take on marriage?  Do you want the traditional I’m so fond of or something else?

(written for this week’s Sunday Scribblings writing prompt)

I find indulgence necessary.  Indulgence in time, in luxuries, in things I don’t necessarily need.  I do need it.

Por ejemplo, because you would never guess in a million years, wait for it!!…    I love shopping.

What, you knew?  ;]

I love shopping.  I’m not one of those girls that could run out and spend hundreds of dollars on shoes and clothes and purses at the drop of a hat, but I could (and quite literally have done) spend hundreds of dollars on books.  At the drop of a hat.  I’ll spend hours in a bookstore, looking, reading, thinking, wanting, and having.  It is the only time I am ever without a care in the world.  Until I get to the register.  But it’s always worth it, that purchase.  It might not be necessary, but I want it.  I indulge myself.

I’m lazy.  I’m so lazy that I’m often too lazy to get up to pee.  Whether I wake up in the dead of night, working, or sitting at my computer doing less than nothing… I’m more than often too lazy to get up and pee.  But I’m not talking about that kind of lazy, when it comes to indulgence.  I indulge myself in taking my time to do everything, even when I’m in a rush I’m slow about it.  I wait until the very last minute, I procrastinate, I indulge myself in a few extra moments (or hours, as may often be the case!) of what I’m doing that’s currently more pleasurable than what I should be doing.

I don’t really deny myself much in the way of material things.  If I want it and have money, I will get it.  If I should be saving but I really want something, I’ll save next paycheck and give in to myself.  I don’t see any reason why I shouldn’t, not if it’s my money.  I’m not hurting anyone.

And lastly:  I eat chocolate ice cream almost every night.  When I’m not eating chocolate ice cream as I play WoW or watch TV with Sarah, it’s pickles.  Right out of the jar.  Sometimes both in one night!  I’ve had it pointed out that when it comes to food, I love what I love and I won’t settle for anything less.  ‘But it’s food’, is always my response.  Can there be any other answer?  It’s the one thing that should never be compromised on or ’skimped’ on, yet it’s the first thing to go when people find that their budget is tight.  But not me.  I like my food my way, and I won’t take it other wise.  I’m not sure if that’s an indulgence (at least I don’t consider it so), but I’m sure some people think it’s unnecessary.

That’s really all I could come up with on the subject.

We all have something we want to say to someone. Maybe it’s someone in your life now. Or, maybe it is something you wish you said to someone who is no longer in your life. It could even be Mr./Ms. Random Person that you saw in the local coffee shop today. What do you want to say that you were never able to?You can leave the person(s) identity anonymous, if you’d like.  Feel free to feature more than one person. Do it in letter form or any form you prefer. Show us that creativity!

This writing prompt can be found here.

Dear Mom,

I forgive you.  I can’t be bitter for the rest of my life, because it will ruin me.  I don’t want to be bitter.  And I don’t want to be like you.  Therefore, from the very bottom of my heart I forgive you.

It’s taken me a long time to realize what my bitterness was doing to me.  It’s taken me a long time to realize that you don’t see my bitterness, and the only person it was affecting was me.  It’s taken me a long time to realize that you will never change, and you’ll never see how negative of an effect you had on me.  It’s taken me a long time to come to terms with that, and to accept who you are.

I accept you, and I love you.  I’ve never not loved you, even at my angriest.  You’ve always been there for me in your own way, and even though it wasn’t always what I expected you to be, the fact remains that you were there.  And you still are.  I’m thankful for you, because for all your faults you love me unerringly.  I no longer feel at fault for who you are.  I no longer blame myself, just as I’m sure you never meant to blame me.  I know it’s your own shortcomings, and not mine.  I know that you were who you are long before I came along.

So I forgive you.

Love,

Jaime

(this is in response to a Twenty Something Writers Prompt)

Dear Jaime,

You don’t know me yet but I know you very well.  Don’t look around, because you won’t see me for another 15 years or so.

There are some things I would like to say to you, things that I hope you’ll retain throughout the years to come.  I’m not going to tell you how it all turns out, what happens to you along the way or exactly where you’ll be 15 years from now, but I feel that if someone had said these things to you when you were younger you might have a little more confidence in yourself as you get older.

You’re a pretty girl.  You have the best parts of your mom and dad in you.  Don’t just assume that that’s all you’ll ever be, because that couldn’t be any farther from the truth.  You’re unique and smart, and your parents are going to be so proud of who you grow up to be.  And so will you.

You’re strong.  It’s OK to cry sometimes, since it isn’t healthy to bottle everything up inside.  And no one will think less of you if you need to let it out.  You can cry and still be a strong person.

You don’t need to take responsibility for everyone else in your life.  I know it hurts to watch those around you suffer, but just imagine how hard it is for them to watch you take all that pain on yourself.  Try to remember that if you don’t let people learn from their own mistakes, everyone involved will suffer the consequences in the end, and it will feel a whole lot worse.

Don’t be afraid to mess up.  You aren’t going to get everything right 100% of the time.  Remember that when you make a mistake you can learn from it, and it makes you stronger.  If you fail, take it in stride.  You’re not the first person to mess up at whatever it is you’re doing.  Someone else has messed it up before, probably worse than you have, and they lived through it.  It isn’t the end of the world.  “Strive to do better next time” is a more reasonable motto than “always get it right or don’t do it at all”.

And lastly: remember through it all that I love you.  People are going to love you every day, even when you’re feeling lost and afraid and alone.  You may not understand why, but trust in them to see the marvelous things in you that you can’t always see for yourself.

You’ve got a bright future, and so far you’ve done it all right.  Don’t worry so much.  Everything is going to be OK.

Love,
you

PS  -  Be a little nicer to your parents.  They aren’t supposed to be perfect, and they’re the only ones you get.