Day: May 31, 2024

#SoCS, Non-Fiction, Prompt, Writing

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS June 1, 2024

Tessa

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I looked at the box full of recipes, most of which I have never tried. I also have a second box that belongs to my mother. I follow many of her recipes as I got used to them growing up. I have a bad habit of clipping recipes from the women’s magazines I read, putting them on a 3×5 note card, and putting them in the box, never to look at them again.

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Linda’s Rules for #SoCS!

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “recipe.” Use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!

After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here to this week’s prompt page and check to make sure it’s here in the comments so others can find it and see your awesome Stream of Consciousness post. Anyone can join in!

To make your post more visible, use our beautiful SoCS badge! Just paste it in your Saturday post so people browsing the reader will immediately know your post is stream of consciousness and/or pin it as a widget to your site to show you’re a participant. Wear it with pride!!

2019-2020 SoCS Badge by Shelley! 
https://www.quaintrevival.com/

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing (typos can be fixed), and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. I will post the prompt here on my blog every Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a particular subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The,’” or will simply be a single word to get you started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read all of them! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later or go to the previous week by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!

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Tessa – 

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses

New Author’s Website – http://www.tessadeanauthor.com

Author – Old Writing –  http://www.finallyawriter.wordpress.com

About my life –  http://www.tessacandoit.wordpress.com

#WeekendCoffeeShare, Non-Fiction, Prompt, Writing

May 31, 2024 Weekend Coffee Share #165

Tessa

Natalie’s Guidelines and newest post is here.

Coffee, Pen, Notebook, Caffeine, Cup
Picture compliments of Pixabay.com

Thanks to Natalie, the Explorer, for hosting this prompt.

Grab a chair and something to drink. If you were here, I would tell you that I am working diligently on my prompts that I write and post to my blog. I am working on the memoir more and more. I am also starting to remember more of my past and so it has meant that I have to go back and add to the existing draft. I have laid out a Table of Contents which is my version of an outline. I have the chapters pointing to the different areas of my life and I am breaking up some of them so they are more centered on one topic and not combinations of lots of topics. This is also making for smaller chapters. Some of them are quite large.

The food around here is getting worse. I have mentioned this before, and what they serve us is really pathetic and still getting worse. We have a new dietary supervisor and things are still getting worse rather than better. Today’s lunch was supposed to be make your own tacos. It was burnt pieces of taco shells that you couldn’t use to put the toppings in since they were all misshapen and not true taco shells. There was chicken and cheese rather than ground beef. (We have chicken numerous times a week and sometimes twice in one day. It is cheaper.) The lettuce was mixed with avocado so I couldn’t eat that either. There was no tomatoes. So I ate half the chicken and cheese and a dixie cup of ice cream for lunch. I may have lost more weight. I will find out tomorrow when they weigh us again.

We are losing more staff. Every day, it seems like someone else leaves. There is hardly anyone left from the original crew now. I just heard there is a hiring freeze, and that isn’t good since we are running now without a nurse on duty half the time. Same with the aides. I got my 2 showers back, but if there are no aides here and there usually are only a couple then I won’t get my shower anyhow and I need help getting a shower. They keep bringing in more residents, but they don’t have the staff to take care of the ones already here. It is ridiculous. I can’t imagine spending the rest of my life in this environment, but there is nowhere else to go. They are all bad.

I have a problem with transportation to my doctor appointments and my kids are working and don’t have much time to take me and of course the doctor’s offices are not open at night or on weekends. I am on oxygen 24 hours a day and that makes taking public transportation impossible and by public I mean the transportation provided by our state medical insurance. I also use a walker and can’t climb into most of the vehicles available. Just one more complication in my life.

My granddaughter went to her prom last night. Here is a picture of her.

CopyRight Kathryn Smith (proud momma)

The weekend goes really fast. I mean all the days go really fast and can’t believe it is almost June and summer again. Hope everyone has a great weekend and a nice summer.

Tessa – 

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses

New Author’s Website – http://www.tessadeanauthor.com

Author – Old Writing –  http://www.finallyawriter.wordpress.com

About my life –  http://www.tessacandoit.wordpress.com

Fiction, Flash Fiction, Friday Fictioneers, Photo Prompt, Prompt, The Unicorn Challenge, Writing

The Unicorn Challenge-24/05/31

Tessa
© Ayr/Gray

Rules from Jenne and C. E. Ayr:

A magical new weekly writing opportunity from me – Jenne Gray – and him – C. E. Ayr.
Visit this blog every Friday, read an amazing story from each of us, and then post your own even better effort in the comments below.
Or on your own blog and stick the link down in the comments.
The rules are:
Maximum of 250 words.
Inspired by photo prompt above.
That’s it.

I thought I recognized this picture. I went back to my old blog and searched for “the shoe” and found the exact same picture on a Friday Fictioneers prompt with the photo by C.E. Ayr. It was dated July 18, 2019. Here is what I wrote then for the 100 word prompt for Rochelle Wisoff’s Friday Fictioneers. I decided to just use it since it wasn’t a bad piece of writing like some of my first writing was. I deleted a lot back then. Still have to go through the old blogs and delete the old stuff, but enough of that now. Here is my contribution to this week’s unicorn prompt.

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The Shoe!

By Tessa Dean May 2024

Nancy ran quickly, stumbling on her heels. Her pursuer was rapidly gaining on her.

She stepped down on the drain and lost a shoe. She didn’t dare stop, as he was too close.

“Hey lady, stop!” A man’s voice was shouting at her. No way was she stopping in this area.

“Lady, please stop,” he said breathlessly.

Nancy tripped over a log and hurt her foot, and she had no choice but to stop. So she turned to face her attacker.

“Geesh, lady, I only wanted to return your purse. You dropped it when you got out of the car.”

**********100 words***********

Tessa – 

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses

New Author’s Website – http://www.tessadeanauthor.com

Author – Old Writing –  http://www.finallyawriter.wordpress.com

About my life –  http://www.tessacandoit.wordpress.com

#FOWC, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Prompt, Writing

FOWC with Fandango — Quash

Tessa

Fandango’s Rules For the One Word Challenge

FOWC

Welcome to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (U.S.).

Today’s word is “quash.”

Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.

Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Please check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, please manually add your link in the comments.

And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. Show them some love.

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The executive director quashed the rumor that the head of the nursing department was leaving her position. Relief flooded through everyone as they really liked her and didn’t want to see her leave.

Tessa – 

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses

New Author’s Website – http://www.tessadeanauthor.com

Author – Old Writing –  http://www.finallyawriter.wordpress.com

About my life –  http://www.tessacandoit.wordpress.com

#threethingschallenge, Fiction, Prompt, Writing

Three Things Challenge #M711

Tessa

Prompt Rules

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Your final three words for May are:
PARASITE
LEECH
TICK

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“Eww, bloody parasites. Someone, please get this tick off of me. I hate these bloodsuckers. Oh, and Harold, check yourself carefully for leeches. I have heard that the lake has leeches in some areas, and you must be careful that you haven’t picked any up.”

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Tessa – 

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses

New Author’s Website – http://www.tessadeanauthor.com

Author – Old Writing –  http://www.finallyawriter.wordpress.com

About my life –  http://www.tessacandoit.wordpress.com

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Fiction, Prompt, StoryADay, Writing

Party Time | StoryADay 2024 Day 31

Tessa

THE PROMPT

Write a story set at a party

THINGS TO CONSIDER

Robin glanced at the list she had prepared this morning to ensure she didn’t forget anything for tonight’s party. She and Randy had invited their closest friends to tonight’s New Year’s Eve party. Everyone on the list had said they were coming, so they expected a good-sized crowd.

They decided not to have mixed drinks unless someone wanted to bring their own. They were putting out a punch spiked with alcohol. Robin had fruit soaking in vodka in a huge bowl. They would add the fruit to the punch to give it a kick. 

They had two small children, the oldest a 2-year-old toddler. Although they planned on putting them to bed before the party, they were mindful that their toddler didn’t sleep well and might be up during the party. They hoped she wouldn’t wake her little sister, who could usually sleep through anything.

Robin set up the punch bowl and filled it with juice, ginger ale, and the alcohol-soaked fruit 30 minutes before the guests arrived. She set the bowl on the coffee table with cups and a ladle.

At 11 PM, the guests started arriving. Some had bags with them containing what they wanted to drink. Most of them were unhappy that it was a BYOB party and that they had to bring their own drinks.

The party was in full swing when Sharon, the two-year-old toddler, wandered into the living room. She had woken up and heard the noise in the living room, so she came to see what was happening. Her little sister, Karen, was still sleeping, and besides, she was in the crib and couldn’t climb out yet. 

Suddenly, there was a cry from one of the guests. “Robin or Randy, your daughter is going around and drinking from the cups set out on the coffee table. She appears to be drunk. What is wrong with you? Surely, you knew that she could possibly wake up. Why weren’t you paying attention to what she was doing? The alcohol could cause her serious harm, and who knows how much she has had,” the anxious guest said.

Robin rushed to her daughter and removed the cup in her hand. “No, Sharon, you can’t drink that. Mommy will get you a drink of juice.” Robin led her by the hand into the kitchen.

As Robin handed Sharon a cup of juice, Sharon resisted it. “No, Mommy, I want the fruit drink. It was good.”

Robin explained to Sharon that she couldn’t have the fruit drink. It was for the grownups only. Sharon started crying.

After Sharon’s interruption and the ball having dropped on another new year, the guests started to pack up and leave. Randy and Robin tried to get the guests to stay longer, but most of them were disgusted that they had been subjected to the situation of a toddler getting drunk, and no one had stopped her. She should have had someone else watching her, so she didn’t attend the grownup party serving unattended alcohol. Robin heard them discussing going to another party where they knew there wouldn’t be children. The night was still young, and they could party all night if they wanted.

Robin set about putting the punch away so Sharon wouldn’t get into it again, and Randy picked up all the cups with the punch still in them. They had messed up big time, and Sharon was stumbling around, and they were concerned that she was in danger from having drunk so much alcohol. They really had no idea how much she had drunk since they hadn’t realized she was doing it until they had it pointed out to them. They considered calling their pediatrician and asking if they needed to bring her in, but they were embarrassed that it had happened and that so many people had seen it. They hoped it would be okay because they decided not to take her to the emergency room. They could tell she was getting sleepy, so they put her to bed and decided to keep taking turns to keep an eye on her in case there were any problems with her due to her alcohol consumption. They had learned a valuable lesson and hoped their stupidity didn’t cause Sharon any problems.

Tessa

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses

New Author’s Website – http://www.tessadeanauthor.com

Author – Old Writing –  http://www.finallyawriter.wordpress.com

About my life –  http://www.tessacandoit.wordpress.com

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