On Weekend Fun with Family

This weekend was spent hanging out with my family.

The Marine was home, the Niece worked shorter hours, and the Munchkin was surrounded by love.

Friday night, after a quickly prepared meal, we got the Munchkin ready for bed, did the story thing, and sent the menfolk out to get fixings for smores.

Since we live in an area with an almost continual burn ban, and we don't own a fire pit on legs (though I've thought on more than one occasion to acquire one) we made our melty, marshmallow and chocolaty goodness in the microwave.

It's a rarely known science.

An art, if you will.

We sat around the kitchen table, chatted, laughed, and relaxed while inhaling our weight in sugar.

It was the most fun I've had in a long time, and I'm so glad I got to share it with people who are important to not only myself, but to my daughter.

Here is to many more nights of sugary bonding, and to family--not only of blood, but of the heart as well.


How has your weekend been? Did you do anything fun and exciting--like sky diving, or did you sit home and relax with loved ones?

R.S.

On Things You Don't Know About Me

This isn't a usual blog, but then, what's really 'usual' for me? Huh?

I thought maybe my fellow readers would enjoy knowing some various information about me. What are some things not everyone knows about you?

Desert + Water = Happiness

1. I'm a Scorpio.
2. Halloween is the only 'holiday' I enjoy.
3. I'm right handed.
4. I have an Android phone with a touch screen.
5. I hate touch screens.
6. I don't watch Family Guy, the Simpsons, Modern Family, or any other 30 minute sitcoms. 
7. I love crime dramas--my DVR is filled with them.
8. The first concert I ever went to was Silver Chair. I was in ninth grade.
9. My first pet was an Australian Sheep dog named, Rah Rah. I was four.
10. I'm allergic to coffee.
11. I love Big Train Chai.
12. I went to art school.
13. I used to do photography for a living.
14. I'm an English Major with a Minor in Criminal Justice.
15. I hate shaving. So I get waxed instead.
16. I never used to believe in online dating--and then I met my hetero life mate online. 
17. I used to be a daddy's girl.
18. My Marine is my hero.
19. When I was in my early twenties I could drink 10+ shots of straight liquor, and not black out.
20. I no longer drink liquor.
21. I enjoy a glass, and on occasion, a bottle of wine.
22. I don't like pizza.
23. I love McD's chicken nuggets.
24. I've got one friend I've known since I was in first grade.  
25. I'm a natural redhead.
26. I love tattoos on men.
27. I have eight tattoos.
28. I wanted to be a homicide detective.
29. My first foray back into writing was through Fan Fiction.
30. I wrote Fan Fiction for Janet Evanovich's Plum Series.
31. I have more than six stories being plotted in my brain at all times.
32. I love the desert, but I miss the ocean.
33. I'm the youngest child of my parents.
34. I love high heels, but I don't wear them much anymore.
35. I've had chronic lower back problems since the birth of my daughter.
36. I do P90X to help strengthen my lower back.
37. When I was younger I played clarinet, bass clarinet, and the drums.
38. I also sang in choir.
39. Now I only sing in the shower or the car.
40. I'm married to my best friend--though I have to remind myself of that fact once in awhile. 

On The Nautical Wench...or How I Met Karie

           The other day I read a blog post a friend of mine posted. It reminded me of short stories we wrote several months ago about the fictional way we met each other. This is how I met her...sort of. 

           In the eighteenth century the high seas were terrorized by a vile sea captain known only as the Douche Pirate Adam. He sailed the seas pillaging and plundering unsuspecting ships sailing along the Isle of Kalandra. Every ship Captain knew the tales of this man's heinous deeds, but few believed them.

            It was a balmy night with calm seas when the Saoirse came upon the Douche Pirate Adam, and his crew of morally corrupt, mentally confused scofflaws. The Saoirse's captain, Marc O'Reallious, knowing the stories, plotted with his First Mate.

            Captain Marc, along with his First Mate, and the rest of his crew boarded the enemy pirate ship; scaling the sides under the cover of darkness. Mysterious fog was beginning to roll in as they converged on the wasteful and wanton men lounging around the deck.

            The battle was over before it had truly begun. While Captain Marc went in search of Adam he sent his First Mate to verify whether there were any hostages on board before he gave the order to sink the ship to the bottom. It would after all, be a fitting ending for the former captain and crew to join the silent world of Davy Jones' Locker.

            Deep in the bowels of the ship, locked behind a rusted door of iron bars a woman struggled with the shackles that bound her wrists. Her long brown hair was fashioned into a crude braid, and her face was marred with filth. The rags she wore did nothing to hide the royal way she held her head when the First Mate opened her prison.

            Her biting words, and scathing remarks brought a smile to the First Mate's face. “Hello, Princess, I believe there are people looking for you.”

            “What would you know of that? You're nothing but a pirate hussy.”

            “Do you kiss your subjects with that mouth?” The princess said nothing, just glared at the First Mate. “Besides, I prefer the term, nautical wench—but you may call me First Mate for as long as you're aboard the Saoirse.”

            “That won't be long. By rules of the sea you're to return me to the Kingdom of Ezmaha. For my safe return you'll be greatly rewarded.”

            “Or we'll be hanged,” the First Mate said, unlocking the chains that bound the princess. “It's up to Captain Marc to decide your fate.”

            “My fate is no one's to decide but my own,” she said head held high, eyes flashing fire.

            “As you wish, Princess. Let's not keep the Captain waiting. Shame to be on board when he sinks it to Davy's Locker.” With a quick tug the princess was dragged out of the cell and tossed unceremoniously onto the decks of the Saoirse.

***

                Princess Karie stayed on board the Saoirse for the remainder of her life; choosing the Pirate life we afforded her, rather than returning to the dull, mundane life she was expected to live in her kingdom.

            That folks, is how I met Karie, one balmy evening as she spit fire and venom at me. It wasn't long before she too was preferring the term nautical wench... but that is a story for another time.