Guest Blogger - Drama Queen "Writing and Writing"

Me

Teach and I work at the same Smith's grocery store. We work in different departments though, some days all I see of my little sis are when she’s leaving the house in the mornings or when I’m clocking in at night. Today was one of those days. So when I got home from work, I was glad to get to see her. She even got a little finger-wave as we passed: Teach to make toast with fresh apricot jam - me to borrow Mom’s computer.

Now, here’s a secret to Drama Queen: I’m one of those crazy collaborative writing people who lurks around rpgs and once churned out a good 40,000 words in a given month even when I was working part-time and attending college more than full-time. One of the things about being back home is that I’ve had to cut down on my writing time by a lot. There’s just way too much to do around here! (And babysitting isn’t nearly so conducive to multi-tasking as procrastinating homework is. Go figure.)

All my Build A Bears

I love writing fiction. I can talk your ear off about my fifty-some-odd characters for hours given the opportunity. (Ask Prima Donna or Princess. Even Scout, for that matter, when she asks the wrong question about my build-a-bear collection…) Mom doesn’t understand it. She thinks I should put that effort into a journal or a blog. She’s probably right...but it’s hard to resist the call of Ancient Egypt and magic and stories of impossible odds and true love conquering all!

But back to tonight...before I step onto my soapbox. (I am the Drama Queen, after all.)

So as I was eagerly logging into my google doc account (on Mom’s computer since I was listening for the canner’s timer to ring), Teach wandered in with her yummy-looking toast and gestures that it’s her turn. “What?” I asked, playing dumb.

“I need to do the pictures for Mom’s blog.”

Picture credit

“Can it wait fifteen minutes? My friend’s only gonna be online for that long...”

“Why not do it on your own computer?”

My poor laptop. It’s in such disrepair it lives in a corner of the basement with a separate monitor that glows pink no matter how much I jiggle the connecting cable. “It takes fifteen minutes to boot up.   ...I’ll do the pictures…” It was an offer Teach was not passing up. She retired happily with her delicious apricot jam toast. ...Can you tell I’m hungry? But nothing was standing in the way of the opportunity to finally write out the brilliant idea I had for a new story!

Scout, Curly, and Baby Doll

….It’s surprising how quickly fifteen minutes - or even thirty - can disappear. Mom and Dad got home from the store. My friend had to log off in order to get enough sleep before her orientation program tomorrow. Even the Dog Walker and Baby Doll stopped giggling at youtube videos and crawled towards sleep. I guess it is about 1:00 AM now... As Dog Walker headed off with Baby Doll, I heard him ask Mom what the blog would be about tomorrow. I offered to write one. Actually, I’d intended this to be a quick “P.I. Look at the Day of a Mother of Twelve”....but it’s a lot harder to write a blog than it is to describe some fantastical landscape. And like any good plot twist, I’ve found my thoughts wandering in completely different directions than I’d intended.

Momma

I’ve always known Momma was amazing. She was the one to kiss the owies and - like magic - they were better. She was the one to read me stories about far away places and exciting worlds. And when it’s been a really, really, terrible, no-good, very bad day...a true-love-hug from her conquers all. I learned the passion to write from my Mom, and though I’m probably as bad as Dad in teasing her about this blog, in truth I’m really proud of her. ...And maybe just a teeny bit jealous of how good she is at it. I read every single post. Some days I even go back and read the old ones. My mom has the amazing ability to take a simple, silly event in our family’s day, and show how it’s just one little patch on our crazy quilt (I’d say thread in the weave, but we’re a little too chaotic for that!) It just makes me more determined that as awesome as today was, tomorrow will be even cooler, and the day after that. And the day after that. Clear until Happily Ever After.

I hope you liked the post, Mumsy. Thanks for the cake!

Hugs, Kisses, and Good Night Wishes.
Your Drama Queen