writing doodle - interview jitters

Pauline checked her reflection in the small compact mirror one more time before she got out of the car.  The Preparation H under her eyes almost shrank the bags she hadn't been able to get rid of for the last month.  The light gloss of Vaseline on her teeth would ensure a bright and even smile.  Her lips were painted a dull red; it accentuated her mouth without making her look old or harsh.  The triple strand of costume pearls with a matching pair of stud earrings should make her look conservative enough.

So far, so good.

She double checked the address for the fourth time to make sure she arrived at the right place.  The number on the rundown ranch house matched and it was the right street name, but somehow she didn't think that an old family business, one that was exceptional in its reputation for generations, would be located here in the land 1970s sitcoms had forgotten.

She expected something sleek and modern or something cozy and chic.

"No time like the present."  She looked at her watch again, she was still too early but she didn't want to sit in her car for the next thirty minutes and ruin her look.  Nope.  If you're early you're on time, if you're on time, you're late."

writing doodle - what are you doing?

"Aunt Vicky, what's in the basket?" eight year-old Maura asked.

"Mending."  The woman fished around for a piece of tattered cloth and held it up for inspection.  "Doesn't  your mother remember how to mend?"

Everything in Betsy's Walter's life was disposable: cleaning rags, clothing, furniture, jobs, men.  Even her daughter Maura was somehow on the disposable list, it is how the little girl came to stay the summer in a sleepy town with a woman who had never had children.

Vicky Masterson was raised by a mother who survived the Great Depression.  Everything was saved and used up as much as possible: boxes, bottles, tools.  Not that Vicky had a belief if she didn't do these things she would be poor.  On the contrary, these things made it possible for her to do the things she loved.

"Show me, please."

Vicky realized she would have a great deal to show and teach the child in nine weeks.  Hopefully it would be enough to last a lifetime.  She was grateful for the opportunity.

writing doodle - the hottest of dogs

Rushing between meetings, John hadn't eaten all day.  The alarm failed to go off.  He missed his bus.  The office PA was out sick and he had double booked himself.  There were a few protein bars hidden in the bottom of his desk, so he munched on those during one phone call, but it just wasn't enough to fight off the hunger.

He was one deal short of making his monthly goal and he needed the money for his honeymoon fund.  Not that he was engaged.  Heck, he didn't even have a girlfriend.  But he liked to be prepared.  He started the honeymoon fund when he was sixteen knowing that one day he would want to go some place exotic and wonderful.  So a few dollars deposited every week over several years had added up to a nice little nest egg.

It was probably time to look for the woman.

Or not.

Finally at four o'clock he couldn't take it any more.  His boss brought in her two pugs in their Halloween costumes and paraded them around the office.

He raced down the six flights of stairs, out the door, and to the one street vendor who really knew how to make a great hot dog.  The buns were steamed to perfection.  There were five kinds of mustard and almost any kind of topping anyone who was a true afficianado could appreciate.

writing doodle - holidays

Stan went to his mailbox and saw a card from his aunt Mabel.  It wasn't anywhere near his birthday, a national holiday, he hadn't sent her a gift, no one he knew had died, and the last time he had been sick was three years ago.

Stan's aunt didn't live by an annual calendar.  She lived by whatever date was on the calendar she saw on the wall on a given day. Living in San Diego didn't give her a real way to gage the season, it was always spring - or so it seemed.

He opened the card and saw, "Happy Arbor Day." A packet of seeds were included. Wasn't today October 1st and Arbor Day was sometime in the spring?

She included a couple of articles from the paper and a comic he enjoyed as a kid.  No real news, just a lot of birds and a question about global warning - not warming, but warning.

His desk had a collection of greeting cards he purchased at thrift stores.  He plucked one out that was a birthday greeting to a five year old boy, wrote a quick note, and sent it to her.

Holiday season was something open to interpretation.  He learned it at an early age and embraced it.

writing doodle - bad food...

Thinking about food ... probably because when I get on the treadmill I realize it takes almost half an hour to work off one piece of celery.  I think it takes six months to work off  a single bite of nature's most perfect food: the Snicker's Bar.

Will doodle more on these - but these frost me.

That's the way the cookie crumbles.

Don't be an egghead.

Shut your piehole.

That place is just a meat market.

You can't have your cake and eat it, too.