Life in progress


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154. Scenes from the Second Seat on the Right

Thursday, February 1st, 6:00pm
Brandy and Stewart (and Victoria)

 

Stewart: (crying) I WANT IT! I WANT THE SWITCH GAME!

Brandy: I told you, you have to wait for your birthday.

Stewart: (crying) BUT I WANT IT NOW!!!

Victoria: (sitting across the aisle) Can’t you shut that kid up?

Brandy: NO! I CAN’T! WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM ANYWAY?

Victoria: MY HUSBAND JUST DIED OF CANCER!

Brandy: YEAH, WELL MINE WAS SHOT IN THE LINE OF DUTY LAST MONTH!!

Victoria: (stares quietly for a moment) Can I buy you a coffee?

 

Next stop: Friday, February 2nd, 9:00pm

Click here to learn all about this series, how it works, and where to find your favourite characters.


24 Comments

The Escapist Coloring Club Prompt – February 1, 2018

It’s hard to believe it’s been a month since our first Escapist Coloring Club prompt! For this prompt, I encourage you to post pictures of your own colouring, your kids’ colouring, or that of anyone you know and have permission to share. That’s all you have to do to join the club.

You might recognize part of my project for this month. I took a closeup of some of the flowers in this, my January 2018 calendar picture, for the Coloring Club badge. I started it before I took the first photo of it, so it’s partially completed in my “before” picture.

 

Click to enlarge, to find the hidden items

It was fun deciding which colours to use for all the leaves. I didn’t have very many shades of markers to choose from, so I ended up with a combination of markers and pencils. All from the dollar store. The final picture isn’t very good, but if you look really closely, you’ll see I coloured the word “January” too.

I’m looking forward to February’s colouring and to seeing all of your amazing projects!

Please find the “rules” below.

1. This prompt is designed for relaxation. As such, I encourage you to take your time to link your own post here, BUT, when you comment, please click the “Notify me of new comments via email” button. That way you’ll receive a notification when someone else links their project and you won’t miss anything. As with all the prompts, the more you visit others, the more your community of like-minded people grows.

2. Ping back! It’s important so that I and other people can come and read your post. To execute a pingback, just copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into the body of your post. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

3. There will be a prompt on the first of every month. I will post the prompt here on my blog at 9:30am -5 GMT. The prompt will simply be photos of my own colouring project. If you would like to host this prompt on your blog on another week during the month, either once, occasionally, or on a regular basis, please e-mail me at hilllindagmaru at gmail dot com and we’ll get you set up. All I ask is that you have an active blog and that you regularly reply to comments and visit other blogs.

4. Feel free to use the Escapist Coloring Club badge in your post.

5. Have fun!


32 Comments

Congratulations! Just Jot It January 2018 edition

January 31st is almost at an end here at my house, so I feel I can safely say Just Jot it January 2018 is in the bag. We did it!

Huge congratulations to all of you who managed to post every day. It’s quite the feat! And even if you jotted something down every day but didn’t post it, you still completed the challenge; JusJoJan is all about the writing, not necessarily the blogging.

I’d like to give a special shout out to our kind providers of the Daily Prompts. Your help was much appreciated! All titles are clickable links. Check out any you missed!

Drama, by Ritu – January 1st
Boisterous, by Dan – January 2nd
Passionate, by Rosemary – January 4th
Memories, by Cage (no post) – January 5th
Indelible, by Ruth – January 7th
Pants, by pensitivity – January 8th
Coffee, by Barbara – January 9th
Humiliation, by Jim – January 11th
Aggravate, by Fandango – January 12th
Ultimatum, by Itinerary Planner – January 14th
Justice, by Barb – January 15th
Contemplation, by Cheryl – January 16th
Revolt, by Sandra (no post) – January 18th
Darkness, by Kerry – January 19th
Silence, by Willow – January 21st
Liberty, by Jill – January 22nd
Colour, by Supernatural Snark – January 23rd
Prediction, by Dar – January 25th
Address, by John – January 26th
Knight, by Leta – January 28th
Fantastic, by Jill – January 29th
Scrumptious, by Judy – January 30th

To say thanks to everyone who participated, here’s your official participation badge to put on your blog. Feel free to take it, even if you only joined in once during the month.

And don’t forget, if you’re looking for a weekly prompt, Stream of Consciousness Saturday and One-Liner Wednesday run all year long.

See you again next year for Just Jot it January!


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153. Scenes from the Second Seat on the Right

Wednesday, January 31st, 5:00pm
Phil (and Fiona)

 

Phil sits at the window. Fiona takes the seat beside him.

Fiona: Man is it a chilly one out there.

Phil: (glances at her briefly) It is.

Fiona: You could catch the flu on this bus faster ‘n you can say Jack Frost.

Phil: That’s true.

Fiona: Better ‘n drivin’ a car though.

Phil: (turns to her) Why do you say that?

Fiona: I had a car once. Had a bad accident ‘n tore up my leg somethin’ fierce. Even my hip ain’t never bin the same since.

Phil: Hmph.

Fiona: Can barely walk now.

Phil: Huh.

Fiona: Yep, we’re lucky we don’t drive no cars.

Phil: The flu can be pretty bad too.

Fiona: (thinks for a moment) At least you’s got ’bout a week to say goodbye to y’ur loved ones though. Car accident (snaps fingers) jes like that. Over. Done for.

Phil: (smiles ruefully) Thank you for that.

 

Next stop: Thursday, February 1st, 6:00pm

Click here to learn all about this series, how it works, and where to find your favourite characters.


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One-Liner Wednesday & #JusJoJan Daily Prompt – January 31st, 2018

Because I’ve got a story to tell, I’m going to take a page out of Dan Antion’s book and base a long post on a short sentence. This should, by rights, be a one-liner, but I’m cheating this week. Sue me. (You won’t get anything, so don’t bother.)

I was at the mall Monday night getting a new pair of prescription sunglasses to replace the ones I lost on Christmas Eve. After finding out they were going to cost me $400, I decided to get an account with the store so I could pay for them over the space of six months. Half an hour and an utter disaster on the part of the store’s computer later (with time spent made pleasant by the friendly cashier), I walked out of there with my credit but no glasses yet.

To celebrate my half a victory, I decided to go into the children’s clothing store to buy some underwear and pants for Alex. I picked out the undergarments with no problem, but the pants I wasn’t too sure about. So I went to the cashier with two pairs, two different sizes. The cashier, a lovely lady named Nancy, assured me I’d be able to bring back the pair that didn’t fit. She rang in the purchase, it went through, and boom, her computer screen went black. While I waited for it to reboot, I told her it seemed everywhere I went in the mall, I was breaking computers. We laughed and joked about it, and about half an hour later I walked out of there with a bag full of pants.

When I got home, I had Alex try both pairs of pants on. One was too big, the other too small. I thought fine, I had to take one pair back anyway, why not two? But when I went to put them back in the bag (with the receipt I’d waited so long for), I realized Nancy had forgotten to take the little ink tag off the bigger pair of pants.

So out came the receipt so I could look up the phone number of the store before they closed. I explained to the lady who answered that I still had the ink tag on the pants and I wanted to bring them back, but I didn’t want them to think I’d stolen them and was just trying to get money from them.

She said it was no problem, as long as I had my receipt. Before I hung up, I wanted to know if it was the same cashier who’d rung me through. (I didn’t remember her name at the time.)

Me: Have you been there a while tonight? I’m the one who came in earlier …

Her: You’re the lady who broke my computer?

Me: Yes!

Ah, I do love it when a cashier has a sense of humour.


Here are the general rules to follow for Just Jot it January:

1. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list) counts as a “Jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!

2. I’ll post the daily prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5), every day except for Saturday’s Stream of Consciousness (SoCS) prompt–you’ll find that one on Friday morning at 9:30am. That daily post (i.e. this one) will be where you leave your link for others to find in the comment section. There will be a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday.

2a. Since today is Wednesday, I challenge you to make your JusJoJan post a one-liner. If you don’t care to, or if you’ve already written your post, no problem. Remember, with One-Liner Wednesday you can write anything – it’s only a prompt to write one line, not necessarily to keep to the same theme as mine. The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:

(i) Make it one sentence.

(ii) Make it either funny or inspirational.

(iii) Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.

(iv) Enjoy yourself!

(v) Use our One-Liner Wednesday badge.

3. As long as your blog is on WordPress, you’ll be able to link via pingback. To execute a pingback, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! If you’re participating from another blogging host, just drop a link into the comment section. Note: The newest pingbacks and comments will appear at the top.

4. Tag your post JusJoJan and/or #JusJoJan.

5. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!

6. The prompts are here both to remind you and to inspire you to write. However, you don’t have to use the prompt word of the day. You can link any kind of jot back here. Note: If it’s 18+ content, please say so in a comment with your link or close to your pingback.

7. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge so that others can find your post more easily.

8. Have fun!

To find the full list of daily prompts from now until the end of the month, click this link: https://lindaghill.com/2017/12/27/what-is-just-jot-it-january-2018-rules/ and scroll down to the bottom of the post.

 

 


18 Comments

#JusJoJan 2018, the 30th – Scrumptious

I consider myself lucky that I don’t enjoy baking; I love eating sweets so much, I’d weigh a thousand pounds if I baked them. So I put up with the fact that if I really want to eat sweets, I have to go to the store and buy them pre-made. Which I do. And I’ve found some delicious food as a result.

You know what’s really scrumptious in particular? This is:

Häagen-Dazs Spirits Rum Vanilla Caramel Blondie ice cream. I’m not sure if the Spirits series is still only available in Canada, but if so, it’s just one more great reason to visit. There are also Rum Ginger Cookie, Vodka Key Lime Pie (my favourite), Irish Cream Coffee and Biscotti, Whiskey Chocolate Truffle, and White Russian.  Here’s the website. Enjoy. I know I will be.

This delicious post is brought to you by Just Jot it January, and in particular, prompted by the word “scrumptious,” provided by Judy! Thank you so much, Judy! You can find her JusJoJan post by clicking right here. Please go and say hi! To participate in the prompt, please visit this post, where you’ll find the rules and you can leave your link in the comments.


6 Comments

152. Scenes from the Second Seat on the Right

Tuesday, January 30th, 5:00pm
Miles (and Phil)

 

Miles sits at the window. Phil takes the seat beside him.

Miles: (turning to Phil and smiling) Excuse me, do you have any toilet paper?

Phil moves to another seat.

 

Next stop: Wednesday, January 31st, 5:00pm

Click here to learn all about this series, how it works, and where to find your favourite characters.


38 Comments

#JusJoJan Daily Prompt – January 30th, 2018

Well, we’re at our final contributed-word daily prompt for Just Jot it January 2018. There will be a post for tomorrow, but it’ll be a combination One-Liner Wednesday/JusJoJan prompt. I’m sad it’s over! So here it is, your last prompt:

Your prompt for January 30th, 2018, brought to you by my friend and yours, Judy, is “Scrumptious.” Use it any way you’d like in your post. And make sure you visit Judy at her blog, “Judy E Martin, author, poet and lover of life,” to read her post and say hi! Here’s her link: https://www.judyedwinamartin.com/

Here are the general rules to follow for Just Jot it January:

1. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list) counts as a “Jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!

2. I’ll post the daily prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5), every day except for Saturday’s Stream of Consciousness (SoCS) prompt–you’ll find that one on Friday morning at 9:30am. That daily post (i.e. this one) will be where you leave your link for others to find in the comment section. There will be a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday.

3. As long as your blog is on WordPress, you’ll be able to link via pingback. To execute a pingback, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! If you’re participating from another blogging host, just drop a link into the comment section. Note: The newest pingbacks and comments will appear at the top.

4. Tag your post JusJoJan and/or #JusJoJan.

5. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!

6. The prompts are here both to remind you and to inspire you to write. However, you don’t have to use the prompt word of the day. You can link any kind of jot back here. Note: If it’s 18+ content, please say so in a comment with your link or close to your pingback.

7. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge so that others can find your post more easily.

8. Have fun!

To find the full list of daily prompts from now until the end of the month, click this link: https://lindaghill.com/2017/12/27/what-is-just-jot-it-january-2018-rules/ and scroll down to the bottom of the post.


2 Comments

151. Scenes from the Second Seat on the Right

Monday, January 29th, 5:00pm
Phil (and Sherman)

 

Phil sits at the window. Sherman takes the seat beside him.

Phil: (smiling) Hey there!

Sherman: Hi.

Phil: I didn’t know you took the bus.

Sherman: I take the bus every day. It’s environmentally friendly.

Phil: Ha! You’re such a kidder. So I’m finally getting my new car this week.

Sherman: Why do you need a car? You have the bus.

Phil: Ugh, you have to be joking. I can’t stand the bus.

Sherman: And I can’t stand people who drive cars when they can take the bus instead. The bus is already running.

Phil: Wait. You’re not Mike from accounting, are you.

Sherman: I certainly am not!

Phil turns to the window, ignoring Sherman’s ongoing lecture.

 

Next stop: Tuesday, January 30th, 5:00pm

Click here to learn all about this series, how it works, and where to find your favourite characters.


20 Comments

#JusJoJan 2018, the 29th – Fantastic

“Fantastic” is one of my go-to words when I’m describing something that I think is great. I think there should be more synonyms for fantastic, though.

I’m not worried about not having enough ways to talk about how miserable I am, when I am. And there are SO many ways to describe something that’s bad. I can get downright creative, in fact, when something angers me. So why are there so few ways to say how wonderful something is? After all, we NEED words to show our enthusiasm! I don’t understand why it’s not easier to say how delighted I am with something than how stinky I find something to be.

Have you ever been bothered by this? I am, constantly.

This slightly annoyed-sounding post is in direct opposition to how happy I am that the prompt is brought to you by Just Jot it January, and in particular, by the word “fantastic,” provided by Jill! Thank you so much, Jill! You can find her JusJoJan post by clicking right here. Please go and say hi! To participate in the prompt, please visit this post, where you’ll find the rules and you can leave your link in the comments.