Z = zip, zinger, zapped…

April 30, 2016April 29, 2016 Patricia20 Comments

April2016

Have you noticed how fast April ipped by?

I have.
Seems we just started the
2016 A to Z Challenge
but here it is April 30th
the last day of the month!

This is the sixth year I have participated
in the A to Z Challenge.
Every year has been challenging
but also fun and rewarding.
I have had fun writing my posts
and reading the posts of others.
Every year gets better with more
bloggers joining in with wonderful
diversity of subjects and themes.
Truly the month of April ips by!

This year as in the past some letters were easier than others.
Sometimes the ones I thought I would ip through
were ingers that had my brain apped.
But I persevered and have completed the Challenge.

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Thank you, Arlee Bird,
co-hosts and assistants
for all your hard work and encouragement.
Good-bye 2016 A to Z Challenge.
I will join you again in 2017,
Lord willin’ and if the creek don’t rise.

That’s my post for the letter

Y = you…

April 29, 2016April 28, 2016 Patricia13 Comments

mask-141738_640

Have you allowed yourself to be Y2016 ou?

I have, finally.
It isn’t always easy and I don’t always succeed.
For years I wore masks.
Masks of many kinds and for many reasons.
The main reason I wore masks was fear.
Plain and simple I was afraid to be me.
I was afraid I would be embarrassed, a disappointment, a failure,
not good enough, thought unimportant or worthless, the list was endless.

I was a great actress.
I was so good at playing the part of someone else
hiding who I was, that I began to believe the parts
I played were the real me.

Then I got tired.
So tired that living seemed too hard, a waste of time and energy.
But I wasn’t ready not to live.
I looked for help.
Surprising how easy it was to find what I needed.
I met a woman who was the perfect therapist for me.
True friends stayed close, those not real friends left.
I met a beautiful woman who helped me believe I wasn’t a mistake
but a person created with love for a purpose.

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Now that I know Y2016 ou being yourself
is who Y2016 ou are meant to be
when I sometimes put on a mask
I find it most uncomfortable.

That’s my post for the letter
Y2016

A to Z Challenge 2016 · education · Uncategorized

X = the correct answer…

April 28, 2016April 27, 2016 Patricia14 Comments

writing-1149962_640

Have you ever wanted to just randomly mark
boxes with X2016 ‘s when filling out forms?

I have but have never done so.
When presented with those tedious forms with endless questions,
I always try answer to the best of my knowledge
and put the X2016 in the correct box.
Although, lately my knowledge is getting hazy.

When I was in junior high and high school every couple
of years, we took IQ tests that took hours.
All those questions and little boxes to put an X2016 in.
I did my best, reading and considering each and every question
before putting an X2016 where I thought it should be.

One year a fellow test taker randomly placed his X2016 ‘s.
Just marked boxes with no thought at all.
His parents got a call to see the administrator of the test.
They were kind of freaked out.
What was wrong with their son?
Well, turns out his test scores showed he was a genius!

Now this kid was…shall we say special…he marched to his own drummer,
often getting into trouble at school and minor skirmishes with the local law.
It was decided all this trouble was because he was so far ahead
of his peers and teachers that he was bored beyond imagining so he acted out.
He didn’t say a word to anyone about how he answered the questions
he just went along with it thinking that adults can be played for fools.
And play them he did.
He could leave a class if he wanted, and did,
he was often asked for his opinion in classes by the teachers,
and he gave it,
(I think some teachers were on to him)
his parents were told to let him come and go as he wanted.
(They tried to reign him in but hey he knew how to play the game)
He was the golden child having a great time.

It wasn’t until the next time the test was given that he was found out.
Same strategy with very different results.
The school was shocked!
What happened?
Was he fooling around with this test?
No, he tried his best this time and the test
showed he was a kid with normal intelligence.
He fessed up to what he had done on the first test
laughing the whole time.

Maybe the next time I go to the doctor and have to
put X2016 ‘s in all those little boxes, you know the ones;
do you or anyone in your family have or ever have had…
I think I’ll just mark them randomly.

That’s my post for the letter
X2016

A to Z Challenge 2016 · observations · Uncategorized

W = walks and wafflestompers…

April 27, 2016April 26, 2016 Patricia11 Comments

neighborhood

Have you ever taken a alk around your neighborhood
and everything seemed new to you?

I have.
Just recently I was alking through my neighborhood
and everything seemed different somehow.
I have lived in this neighborhood for thirty-five years
but it all looked different and new.

Maybe because we have had some rain, cool nights
and warm days that everything looked so full and lush.
The lawns were beautiful thick green carpets.
Spring flowering trees in full bloom
and flowers everywhere.
Even the houses and apartments look fresh.
Like someone had come along and spring cleaned them.

The alk that day had a surprise for me on every block.
It was a wonderful experience; one that I have never had before.
I hope I have another such alk someday.

wafflestompers
Needless to say, my alks are strolls in a city neighborhood
and I have no need of serious alking shoes.
I am almost certain my feet will never
be shod with afflestompers.

That’s my post for the letter
W2016

A to Z Challenge 2016 · observations · Uncategorized

V = verbs…

April 26, 2016April 25, 2016 Patricia11 Comments

pedestrians-400811_640

Have you thought about what erbs describe you?

I have.
Here are the erbs that describe me and those that don’t.
Walk or stroll not run or hurry.
Think and ponder not argue and debate.
Daydream or meditate not purpose or intent.
Determined not disorganized.
Celebrate and gather not big events or parties.
Laugh not guffaw.
Read and watch not play and frolic.
There you are my yes and no erbs.

window-view-1081788_640

I guess I am more cerebral than physical.
But I don’t think I am dull or boring.
The erbs that describe me are quiet words
and a quiet woman is who I am.

That’s my post for the letter
V2016

A to Z Challenge 2016 · comfort zone · fear · Uncategorized

U = underground…

April 25, 2016April 24, 2016 Patricia14 Comments

cave-690348_640

Have you ever been nderground?

I have.
But only in nderground places where I could see aboveground.
I am okay in basements with windows but not cellars.
I can handle driving through a mountain tunnel but
I do worry about accidents and traffic tie-ups and avalanches.
I have been in a cave but went only as far as the natural light went,
when I could no longer see the cave opening I turned around.
I have never been in a subway and think it would take some very
convincing talk to get me into any nderground traveling vehicle.

Other than the above-mentioned nderground scenarios
being buried is not a concern of mine.
Oh, I know it will happen someday.

person-776104_640