To Dream the American Dream... of Hearth and Home and a good credit rating

Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop
This week's prompt is to "Describe your dream home...house, location and grounds.

This is the letter I wrote to tell prospective buyers about our house when it was on the market last year. I was hoping someone would understand how much more than just a building it is, how much living within it's walls meant to us, that it has been our Dream Home for 15 years

Welcome to Our House ...



Fifteen years ago we built this house and have spent those years living and loving within it's walls.

We have celebrated the births of our 3 youngest children, graduations from preschool through to high school and college, engagements and weddings, and the arrival of our 1st grandchild here.

This house has offered sanctuary to family and friends in times of need and has played host for pool parties, baby showers and wedding showers for family and friends, and friends of friends.

The state park that backs to the property supports wild life from white tail deer, red fox and rabbits to red tail hawks, owls and bald eagles.

Often, we sat at the breakfast table and watched deer graze on the clover in the yard before starting our busy day; been delighted by the families of young bunnies and fledgling birds as they learned to run and fly outside our window.

We enjoyed the sweet scent of the honeysuckle and wisteria growing along the fence, the wild magnolia that blooms in our woods from mid-June to mid July giving way to the heady scent from the wild butterfly bushes that bloom through the month of August.

Our gardens and feeders are visited by hummingbirds and butterflies from as far away as the southern tip of South America and the northern most parts of Canada.

Our house is more than a house.
It is a HOME.

Love, laughter, and living have been the heart of our home and we hope it will be the heart of yours for many years to come.

Wishful Wednesday

Based on The Lady Blogger Society Women of Achievement challenge.

This is a list of wishes... these, we'll call them GOALS, are things I want to achieve... in the future- near or distant... or as soon as possible.

1) Move to South Carolina... guess selling my house should come first then, huh?

2) Being a nicer person... but still be able to say NO when I don't want/can't manage to do every thing for every one.

3) Okay - add Say NO to the list... not always say No, but only when I really need to... like... when I'm tired of being THE ONE to do stuff.

4) Guess I better add DELEGATE then... or maybe lower my standards, or not be so picky about HOW others get the job done, just that they DO?

5) I want to be able to work from home... a real job, like writing my stories or blogging, but get paid for it. Or making jewelry and purses and bags...

6) I want to be able to spend time with my family and not feel guilty for not taking that extra shift I could have worked.

7) I want to look in a mirror and feel like I have accomplished something worth doing.

8) I want to have the chance to talk to women about living with abuse, being a pregnant teen, finding a way to make a better life for yourself... I want the things I have lived in my life to be able to help others with theirs.

9) I want to be famous... okay not really, but I want people to remember me.

10) I want to make the time to make my jewelry and purses and bags to sell AND have them sell!!!

I think I am becoming greedy.
If I can have just a few of these things come true then I'll be satisfied.

Which ones mean the most to me?

Number 1 and number 8... after that I'll take them as they come.

Monday, Monday ... can't stand that day!

Ugh!

It's Monday... again... Already?

School's only been in session for...

What? Two weeks?

God! I dread getting the kids up.

Just waking them is a chore... that can take an eternity.

Then I'll be wide awake... like I NEED to be up and alert at 5:30am?

Lunches? Lunches!

Did they make them last night like I asked?
Or do I need to run down and throw some PB&J together... 4 sandwiches for TeenBoy? 3 for SIX?

BratChild... is she even eating lunch at school any more???
Note to self... check with friends and see WHAT and IF she is eating at school...
Man! I hate teen-age girls...

Time to wake the kids, time to wake the kids, time to wake the kids... I feel like the Dunkin Donuts commercial guy... Time to Make the Donuts... Time to Wake the Kids...

But wait!
It's Monday....
It's A HOLIDAY!
No School! No getting the kids up! No Lunches! No having to be up at... ugh, 5:30am...
But wait!
Too late... I'm already up...

Time to make the coffee...

I may not be big... but neither are they

I have STATS!

No, it's not a new exotic disease.
And no, it's not some new-fangled smart phone/book reader/photo viewer/microwave oven/do your laundry magic gizmo thing-y either.

STATS are the breakdown for the viewers who have come to view MY BLOG!
See...

United States 344
Spain 23
Thailand 22
Netherlands 20
Canada 17
United Kingdom 10
Russia 5
Luxembourg 3
Germany 2
Denmark 2

So, as you can see from the above map and detailed viewer demographics... I have someone in LUXEMBOURG who has read ( I hope they stayed long enough to read) my blog!

For those of you in the general populace who have never heard of LUXEMBOURG, it's okay.
Actually, no, it's really not. You really should have paid more attention in Geography back in the 7th grade. You know, the year you had European History? You most likely learned about MONACO and LIECHTENSTEIN too.

I know. You want to know WHY you would have learned about these remote places and WHY I would expect you to remember them.

Well, because they are some of the SMALLEST COUNTRIES in the world!
That's why.

And because the names sound really cool.
And they still have monarchies with Kings and Queens and Princesses and everything.
Like in The Princess Diaries or The Prince and Me- that's the one with Julia Stiles and that really cute guy with the British accent ...

Or like the REAL LIFE romance of Grace Kelly and Prince Ranier of Monaco.



Okay since I brought up these little countries here are some facts you might find interesting... if not you don't have to remember them now either :0)

Luxembourg: Is approximately 999 square miles which makes it slightly smaller than the State of Rhode Island with about half a million people living there. The language is Luxembourgish (really? they couldn't come up with a better name for the language than one that sounds like it's a fancy salad in a ritzy resort?)Along with German and French- which makes perfect sense since those are their neighbors!

Liechtenstein: Is only about 61.7 square miles in size- about 0.9 times the size of Washington, DC (which is not a state but a TERRITORY of the United States just like Guam and Puerto Rico)It seems that although they are not big, a lot of immigrants have been moving in there lately... like from Serbia and Herzegovina and Bosnia... probably because the Luxembourgers don't try to exterminate them based on their religions.
(Oh, and the correct term I found for them is refugees of the Yugoslav Wars. Some how I don't think Yugoslav Wars sounds awful enough for what was happening, but hey, that's just me.)

Monaco: This little gem, and I do mean little, is only 3 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC... the place with the Washington Monument and the footbal field sized Reflecting Pool-minus the goal posts .
I have checked several sources and the square footage for THE ENTIRE COUNTRY IS...0.7 square miles!
And they have about 33,000 people living there! And about 84% of them are rich people who actually aren't even native Monaco-ans, they just come for the gaming and racing in Monte Carlo and to spend time in homes on the beaches of the Mediterranean Sea, with all the other rich people.


Now that you see how small these Little Paradise's are - Skiing in the Alps, sunning on the Mediterranean, hob-nobbing at Casinos and Raceways...

Yes they may be small in size, but they make up for it with the WOW! Factor.

Now if I can only find a way to get people from ALL THE SMALL COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD to visit my Blog...

How cool would that be?

Friday Foto Feature

Thru the eyes of BratChild...

LOVE


POWER




GOOD LUCK!


Please DO NOT FORGET about BratChild's favored cause:

To Write Love On Her Arms

Embarrassment? ... High School? ... same thing

This post was prompted by this week's writing assignment from Mama Kat's writer's workshop prompt #3 to write about an embarrassing moment as if it were happening in slow motion.

This is my first time doing this so... hope you don't mind if it sucks totally.

There.
Across the room.
Her head comes up, her curls bobbing gently as she turns toward me, tucking an errant strand behind her ear in irritation.

Slowly, she smiles. First one corner of her mouth lifts, then the other. Then her nose crinkles, her eyes sparkle with genuine... warmth and pleasure?

Her chair scrapes across the floor as she deliberately pushes away from the table, and her friends. She stands, and it's as if she has unfolded herself, turning away from the meal before her.
A hand tugs at the waist of her sweater, goes to her neck, then lifts to shoulder height before waving in my direction.

I am surprised she sees me, is waving to me, beckoning me to sit with her.
I feel the tug of what may be a smile pull at my lips, a feathering of breathlessness in my chest. I think to myself, "I am included."

A slight nudge to my back as I begin to raise my hand in response, a murmur of sound in my ear as I list slightly to the left, reaching out to steady myself against the table there.
"You saved me a seat! Thanks!" A voice, moving from my side, toward her table as I right my stance, regain my balance and turn.

She is smiling fully now, all teeth and dimples, as she embraces the voice with warmth and friendship, pulls out a chair for her and they sit, together.

Her head turns my way, as if she senses me there. "Did you want something?" she asks.
I look past her, find a point across the room, pretend there is someone there who is seeking my attention.

As I walk past her table I ignore the frown and slight confusion I see on her face. I ignore someone else at the table saying, "Did she think you were waving to HER?"

I try not to turn red, to die of embarrassment, right there in front of everyone.
And I try not to hear her say, "Why? She's not too bad, just different, that's all."
One step in front of the other, then another and another, until I am free of that table, those girls, her.

She was a friend, once, but no longer. I sit and wait, watching the seconds tick by in agony, until the lunch period is over and I can escape into the crowd of drones shuffling toward their next classes.

A deep breath, my throat hurts from the swallowed tears. I grip my books with whitened knuckles and join the parade, zombie-like, moving forward, never once looking back.

Who Inspires You... I mean Me

Today is Wednesday. But then, you already knew that.
What you didn't know is that I am trying something new, blog-wise, that is, thanks to a wonderful blog I stumbled across in the wee hours of the morning.
INSPIRE

Today's topic is one posed by Ron Cooper on his companion page on FaceBook-
Who Inspires U?

I wrote this poem many, many years ago... around the time a lovely person gave me inspiration, among other things. Over the years since, I have lived with these same feelings, always finding that thoughts of her made me feel better and more sure of myself.
Putting myself out there for criticism is hard, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Right?

Glass Bottle

I'm in a glass bottle
Trying to get out
Nobody hears me
Nobody listens
Please open the bottle
So can get out
And be free
Of my Invisible Prison

Who Inspires U?

Her name was Mamie. But everyone just called her Mama.
She wasn't my mother, but she protected me with the fierceness of a She-Lion protecting a cub when I was endangered by others. Adults. Those who should not have cast judgement or labeled me without attempting to know something about me first.
I was attacked, physically, by a woman whose son had a crush on me. We were in high school. I was older by a year. I was nice to him when he was new to the school, the town. I never intended to anything other than be nice. A friend.

My kindness was turned against me.
I was called Slut. Jezebel. Whore.
I was slapped. Pushed to the ground.
By the new pastor's wife.

Mamie came roaring out of the house. Down the walkway. All her anger and disgust plain for all to see on her beautiful face. All aimed at the other woman. The adult who should have been above such pettiness and cruelty.
She cast the woman from the yard. The street.
She came to me. Cradled me in her arms. She led me into the house. Sat with me until my tears stopped. My throat raw. Exhausted from the shame I felt.
No words were spoken. Instead she tucked me into bed. Laid a hand on my brow. Kissed me. Smiled.
I was worthy of her care. Her kindness. She considered me as much her daughter as the two girls sitting by my side.
I don't have many memories of the next several days. Just of being cared for and accepted for who I was.
I know she spoke up for me, as did other adults, when the topic of my 'bad influence' was brought up to the adults in charge of our school group. I later heard that only 2 of those present spoke against me. The rest in the full room refused to listen. They knew me and did not judge.
Because of Mamie I learned something about myself.
I am important. I am loveable. I deserve to have my dreams come true.

To Mamie... Thank you for a gift greater than you will ever know.

all thoughts, poetry, lyrics and ideas unless otherwise credited are the sole property of DHDesigns/Dawning(2010)