For all dads - a Father's Day 160

Fingers grip the wheel.

“Vroom vroom!” fills the air.

She sighs, announcing softly:

“you can’t sit in the driveway forever

no matter how much gas mileage you save.”

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This Sunday160 (a story told in 160 characters, including spaces) is a tribute to my husband,
who just purchased a new car - a hybrid - and spends WAY too much time worrying about
the low 37.5 miles per gallon he's getting in town. It's rather adorable.

Happy Father's Day to all you Dads out there - especially Monkey Man 

(if he's not too busy making car sounds from the front seat...)

Haunting 55

Too many hours passed

waiting for him to come home

from the treacherous life at sea.

She waited and watched,

pacing effortlessly on the balcony

for hours at a time.

Every ship might hold her love

and yet she feared he’d never return.

Inside the room, a voice.

“Honey – who’s that out on the patio?”

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Join the fun, if you dare. Write a quick dose of fiction in 55 words, no more - no less. 

Let the G-Man know and he'll send lots of living, breathing visitors. 

Snow angels - 160

There’s

a perfect day

I keep in my jacket pocket

Snow and sun

You and me

With that bald eagle.

For the change it wrought

everything

thank you.

Snow angels cure anything.

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This Sunday 160 (a story in 160 characters, including spaces) is brought to you by a May afternoon at Oregon's Frog Lake. If you'd like to play, let Monkey Man know (he'll visit you if he's not too busy out making snow angels in the sod).

55 words of warning

Splayed on the floor, he’s not getting up anytime soon.

Wiping his brow, the officer gently asks,

“You seem really upset, Ma’am. 

Can you tell me – what happened here?”

She takes a deep breath, sighs loudly,

 “He used a metal spatula on my new Calphalon pan,”

and starts slowly wiping the blood off her hands…

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Want to play? Write a fictional story in 55 words exactly. Then, tell G-man.
He'll stalk you if you're good...

Baby did a bad, bad thing

Once upon a time, a very cool customer went to see her favorite singer. She was nonplussed, she was aloof, she was her usual, above-it-all self - until he began to sing her FAVORITE song as he walked merely inches from her, through the audience.



And what does our heroine do? She reaches out to stroke his glittering light blue jacket, thinking "this must have been what it was like to see Elvis..."

Oh, Chris...

(\-/)(:OO:)\/o\||\o\(:)\o\\o\-_(oO(O

 (\-/)        

(:O O:)         

 \   /o\          

  | |\o \            

  (:) \ o\                 

       \o \-_                

       (o O              

       ( O

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This Sunday 160 brought to you by the letter "g" 
(for giraffe) and the number "zero". Although, I 
have to admit, I was tempted to tell this joke about 
a giraffe and a bartender...

If you'd like to play along, 

join my favorite blogger Monkey Man. 

     ."`".              

 .-./ _=_ \.-.             

{  (,(oYo),) }}             

{{ |   "   |} }             

{ { \(---)/  }}             

{{  }'-=-'{ } }             

{ { }._:_.{  }}             

{{  } -:- { } }    

{_{ }`===`{  _}             

(((\)     (/))) 

It's often hard to be so succinct... 
and the rules are you can only use 160 characters, 
including spaces.

----addendum----

I'm glad everyone's enjoying the art - but I feel bad, 

the giraffe is my daughter's animal, the monkey works 

for the man of the house - but I left out my son, 

who is a Leo and a lion through and through.

            ,  ,, ,
      , ,; ; ;;  ; ;  ;
   , ; ';  ;  ;; .-''\ ; ;
, ;  ;`  ; ,; . / /8b \ ; ;
`; ; .;'         ;,\8 |  ;  ;
 ` ;/   / `_      ; ;;    ;  ; ;
    |/.'  /9)    ;  ; `    ;  ; ;
   ,/'          ; ; ;  ;   ; ; ; ;
  /_            ;    ;  `    ;  ;
 `?8P"  .      ;  ; ; ; ;     ;  ;;
 | ;  .:: `     ;; ; ;   `  ;  ;
 `' `--._      ;;  ;;  ; ;   ;   ;
  `-..__..--''   ; ;    ;;   ; ;   ;
              ;    ; ; ;   ;     ;   

Timely 55

I love my daughter.
Love her, love her, love her.
Smart, funny, talented, creative, artistic, sweet, kind.
She would do anything for anyone, except be on time.
What do those words mean, on time?
I’ve lost track after 18 years of late.

And not killing her, I might add, deserving a medal - a shiny one.

-----------------------
Yes, another non-fictional 55, but this one is truly timely. After all, if my ready-to-graduate daughter doesn't learn the benefits of understanding time, graduation is just another step toward living in my attic. Forever. And we SO don't want that to happen. She'll be the "crazy rat lady" and that suits her just fine...

Join G-Man and play along, write a fictional story in 55 words, no more, no less. Remember, fiction is in the eye of the beholder... and she's probably just busy drawing on her arm, anyway, right?

Gratitude is contagious

There's a notebook that sits at the end of my bed. Not really a journal, but it's a book for thoughts and feelings of gratitude. Bad days are not included in it, nor are negative feelings (except that once, and that was forgiven). The two of us share the good things and the kindness we've received, the silly moments we've enjoyed as we document the memories of things for which we are grateful.

You'll find entries like:
-I am infinitely grateful for the coffee you make in the morning
-Gratitude overflows for your kind text messages
-I am grateful for that hug you gave me
-My day was awesome because my son bought me breakfast and I'm so grateful for his kindness
-Sara made me laugh when I was sad and it deserves every ounce of my gratitude

Why do we write about this? Because I really think we forget about the good things in our lives as we let ourselves be overwhelmed by the bad, the sad and the chaotic. I started this year off by giving myself a task - be grateful. Every day. Show your gratitude. Keith joined in immediately and has enjoyed it as much as I do.

Guess what else happened? I'm happier than I've ever been. It took patience and practice and thoughtfulness to pick out the good things in my often topsy-turvy world. But in the past 4 months, I've become a bit of an expert in gratitude, at least in my own. All thoughts entered here must be positive - therefore, the percentage of positive in my life has increased exponentially. It's so much easier to ignore the bad stuff when the good stuff stares you in the face.

Our book is almost full. I like to flip through it and look at the days past, see what made me feel grateful - and see the gratitude that it shows me for who we are, what we have, where we're going. Oh, and it's nice to feel appreciated - there's rarely a day when I'm not on his list.

When was the last time you showed gratitude? Does your partner know how good it feels when you get something you need from them? You don't have to write a book, but you do owe it to yourself to show gratitude. The change it will make is rather amazing.

Today, I'm grateful for a ride to work so I could gather my thoughts, a coffee left by my sink, the sharing of a difficult situation that makes me feel important and included, a compliment that made me feel special.

What are you grateful for today?