52 Week Blog Challenge
Apparently, I suck at this. I can't keep up. In my defense, in the summer months, I am rarely home on Saturdays, and the one time I was, I had a migraine from hell, so computer time was out of the question.
Anyway, here it goes! Catching up for the month of August!
Week 21: The Best Gift I Ever Got
Not to get too personal, but the child I refer to on social media as Kid is the best gift I ever got. I have polycystic ovarian syndrome and from my college years, I had been told I wouldn’t be able to have children. I dealt with it, and found my own littles to care for, in my daily job, and later, when I became a stepmother. But one year, I got the flu and couldn’t stop throwing up. Finally I went to the doctor, and we both cried when she came in, and announced, “It’s not the flu.”
Kid and I spend a lot of time together. He’s 17 now, and I’m proud of the young man he’s become. We have similar interests and the same type of humor. We enjoy watching Netflix and Marvel movies together, and he’s kind enough to go on movie dates every Tuesday with me and my IRL bestie.
Week 22: The Best Gift I Ever Gave
Along the same line of “gifts” and parenting, I think the best gift I ever gave was the gift of my time and my sacrifices as a step-mother. But that’s a novel someday, so I won’t go into it here. I am fortunate to have four amazing young adults in my life thanks to sacrifices I made, for bringing them into my home and fulfilling a role they needed that their own mothers couldn’t...
Week 23: My Most Memorable Experience
I’ve had so many! I think that’s why I write, and incorporate tiny snippets of my real life into stories. Truly I can’t think of a “MOST.” So here’s one I don’t plan to use in a book one day, but you never know. When I was in middle school, we took a family trip to theme park centered in the MidWest. We were spending two days, and had tickets to see one of my favorite music groups give a concert. The family had split up to go different things in the park, and I was with my dad, aunt and cousin, and we went on a roller coaster. They made me do it, because I didn’t want to! I was terrified of heights, and didn’t like the concept of hurtling through the air on metal rails in a small little cart. This roller coaster had a corkscrew tower that loomed above the rest of the park, high above the trees. But I was too young to be left on the benches below, alone, so they made me get on the ride. At the very top of the corkscrew, on a tilted curve, right before the giant drop down, leading up into a smaller corkscrew tower, the section of the carts stopped. Stuck! Leaning on our side. My cousin, much older, held on to me, fearful I’d slide out. We could see workers below, scratching their heads. Some idiot called up, yelling at us not to go anywhere. That was helpful. People in the carts began to talk to one another, and someone suggested we climb across to the ladder that wasn't too far away. Hell, no. Eventually, a worker climbed up the ladder to us, and HAND CRANKED the section of carts back down, backwards. I was never so glad to be on solid ground! When we disembarked, they wre queing our group to go up again to complete the ride.
By this time, my family was all waiting under the pavillion, having known that coaster was on our list of activities. My aunt was forcing me to go back on the ride and I was holding on to my mom and grandma for dear life. My dad and aunt practically carried me back to the new line of carts, insisting I had to go again, or I’d wind up with irrational fears of coasters. So what! It’s not like roller coasters are an everyday thing! Even at eleven, I knew I could live without them! I screamed and cried the whole time. I survived the second ride, but held a grudge against them for the rest of the trip, for forcing me to ride it again!
To this day, I still avoid most coasters. And it hasn’t impacted my life, one way or another.
Week 24: Item I Can’t Live Without
Not to sound cliche, but I would be lost without my phone. Before I started writing, I lived a pretty lonely existence. I live out in the middle of nowhere, 30 miles from anything. My friends all live 30 miles away, so when I was home at night, and on the weekends, phone chats and texting helped me not feel lonely. Then through a sequence of events in 2015, I found Muse, which lead me to finding friend and mentor, Lisa Andrew. I was writing and needed outlets to share it and talk about it. She got me started on twitter and tumblr, and a whole new world opened for me, right there on my phone. Now I have people to talk to all hours of the day! I’m always amazed that on any given day, I can talk to any friend in the US, as well as people I know in Canada, Sri Lanka, Argentina, France, Iraq, and Brazil. Some of these women I message weekly and they know more about me than people I’ve known my whole life! We share stories about our men and kids, complain about the inlaws, share recipes and send virtual hugs and cheesecake during shark week. I honestly need that connection. I love my man, but having the camaraderie with other women is just so empowering to me. I’m stronger every day because of it, and I couldn’t do it without my phone.
Want to know about other author’s thoughts? Lucky for you, my fabulous friends are part of this challenge too. Hop over to their blogs and/or Twitter to find out more!
Gisela Grey
Lisa Andrew
Autumn McKayne
Charlie Knight
Felicity Davenport
Thanks!
Love,
Cass
Anyway, here it goes! Catching up for the month of August!
Week 21: The Best Gift I Ever Got
Not to get too personal, but the child I refer to on social media as Kid is the best gift I ever got. I have polycystic ovarian syndrome and from my college years, I had been told I wouldn’t be able to have children. I dealt with it, and found my own littles to care for, in my daily job, and later, when I became a stepmother. But one year, I got the flu and couldn’t stop throwing up. Finally I went to the doctor, and we both cried when she came in, and announced, “It’s not the flu.”
Kid and I spend a lot of time together. He’s 17 now, and I’m proud of the young man he’s become. We have similar interests and the same type of humor. We enjoy watching Netflix and Marvel movies together, and he’s kind enough to go on movie dates every Tuesday with me and my IRL bestie.
Week 22: The Best Gift I Ever Gave
Along the same line of “gifts” and parenting, I think the best gift I ever gave was the gift of my time and my sacrifices as a step-mother. But that’s a novel someday, so I won’t go into it here. I am fortunate to have four amazing young adults in my life thanks to sacrifices I made, for bringing them into my home and fulfilling a role they needed that their own mothers couldn’t...
Week 23: My Most Memorable Experience
I’ve had so many! I think that’s why I write, and incorporate tiny snippets of my real life into stories. Truly I can’t think of a “MOST.” So here’s one I don’t plan to use in a book one day, but you never know. When I was in middle school, we took a family trip to theme park centered in the MidWest. We were spending two days, and had tickets to see one of my favorite music groups give a concert. The family had split up to go different things in the park, and I was with my dad, aunt and cousin, and we went on a roller coaster. They made me do it, because I didn’t want to! I was terrified of heights, and didn’t like the concept of hurtling through the air on metal rails in a small little cart. This roller coaster had a corkscrew tower that loomed above the rest of the park, high above the trees. But I was too young to be left on the benches below, alone, so they made me get on the ride. At the very top of the corkscrew, on a tilted curve, right before the giant drop down, leading up into a smaller corkscrew tower, the section of the carts stopped. Stuck! Leaning on our side. My cousin, much older, held on to me, fearful I’d slide out. We could see workers below, scratching their heads. Some idiot called up, yelling at us not to go anywhere. That was helpful. People in the carts began to talk to one another, and someone suggested we climb across to the ladder that wasn't too far away. Hell, no. Eventually, a worker climbed up the ladder to us, and HAND CRANKED the section of carts back down, backwards. I was never so glad to be on solid ground! When we disembarked, they wre queing our group to go up again to complete the ride.
By this time, my family was all waiting under the pavillion, having known that coaster was on our list of activities. My aunt was forcing me to go back on the ride and I was holding on to my mom and grandma for dear life. My dad and aunt practically carried me back to the new line of carts, insisting I had to go again, or I’d wind up with irrational fears of coasters. So what! It’s not like roller coasters are an everyday thing! Even at eleven, I knew I could live without them! I screamed and cried the whole time. I survived the second ride, but held a grudge against them for the rest of the trip, for forcing me to ride it again!
To this day, I still avoid most coasters. And it hasn’t impacted my life, one way or another.
Week 24: Item I Can’t Live Without
Not to sound cliche, but I would be lost without my phone. Before I started writing, I lived a pretty lonely existence. I live out in the middle of nowhere, 30 miles from anything. My friends all live 30 miles away, so when I was home at night, and on the weekends, phone chats and texting helped me not feel lonely. Then through a sequence of events in 2015, I found Muse, which lead me to finding friend and mentor, Lisa Andrew. I was writing and needed outlets to share it and talk about it. She got me started on twitter and tumblr, and a whole new world opened for me, right there on my phone. Now I have people to talk to all hours of the day! I’m always amazed that on any given day, I can talk to any friend in the US, as well as people I know in Canada, Sri Lanka, Argentina, France, Iraq, and Brazil. Some of these women I message weekly and they know more about me than people I’ve known my whole life! We share stories about our men and kids, complain about the inlaws, share recipes and send virtual hugs and cheesecake during shark week. I honestly need that connection. I love my man, but having the camaraderie with other women is just so empowering to me. I’m stronger every day because of it, and I couldn’t do it without my phone.
Want to know about other author’s thoughts? Lucky for you, my fabulous friends are part of this challenge too. Hop over to their blogs and/or Twitter to find out more!
Gisela Grey
Lisa Andrew
Autumn McKayne
Charlie Knight
Felicity Davenport
Thanks!
Love,
Cass
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