October Use Your Words - Ever After Part 2

Welcome again to another episode of Use Your Words. Today 15 bloggers are participating in this challenge. For anyone unfamiliar with Use Your Words, what happens is we all give 4 - 6 words or phrases for another blogger to use. In return we are given another set of words or phrases that we have to turn into a story. Below is the list of bloggers participating. Be sure to visit them all and enjoy all the fun we have around here.

http://bakinginatornado.com                         Baking In A Tornado

http://spatulasonparade.blogspot.com/          Spatulas on Parade

http://themomisodes.com                              The Momisodes

http://sparklyjenn.blogspot.com/                   Sparkly Poetic Weirdo

http://www.southernbellecharm.com            Southern Belle Charm

http://www.renasworld.com/                         Rena’s World

http://thethreegerbers.blogspot.ch Confessions of a part time working mom

http://batteredhope.blogspot.com                  Never Ever Give Up Hope   

http://www.someoneelsesgenius.com           Someone Else’s Genius     

http://climaxedtheblog.blogspot.com            Climaxed 

http://dinoheromommy.com/                         Dinosaur Superhero Mommy

http://berghamchronicles.blogspot.com/       The Bergham Chronicles    

http://www.angrivatedmom.wordpress.com The Angrivated Mom

http://eileensperpetuallybusy.blogspot.com/ Eileen's Perpetually Busy

Today my words are Fall ~ Drawing ~ Stripes ~ Kitchen ~ Mirror ~ Sheer and they were submitted by the enviably talented Minette from Southern Belle Charm.

So as promised last month, today's post is a continuation of the story written for the last Use Your Words. The story so far is linked below

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

He had sat on the bed in shock for five minutes after the door slammed behind her. He was still trying to figure out what the heck had just happened. As far as he had known, it was just a normal evening, and then world war three had unfolded in his own bedroom. He stared at the carpet where her clothes had just been lying and contemplated going back to bed. He really didn't need another complicated woman in his life, the last three had been enough. But try as he might, he couldn't bring himself to lie down and pull the covers over himself again. Snuggling down into his quilt with its blue and white stripes didn't seem appealing now he was alone. There was also the fact that she was now wandering the streets alone in the dark to deal with. "Damn it" he growled to himself as he reached for his jeans. He threw his clothes on as quickly as he could and rushed out the door.

He got to the end of his driveway before the thought occurred to him that he had no idea where she actually was by now. Without thinking he turned right and started walking down the footpath. He figured she'd probably look for some form of public transport, however at this time of night there would be little hope of finding anything other than empty streets. As he walked, his mind wandered to the times they had spent together over the past few months. An image of her dancing around his kitchen to an old favourite of his from his teenage years brought a smile to his face.  She always knew how to make him laugh. The thought that she may never want to clown around with him again made his stomach churn and he quickened his pace, more intent than ever to find her and sort everything out.

He wandered the streets looking for her for what seemed like forever. He was about to give in and assume she had found the only taxi driving these streets that night, when he realised he knew where she was. He knew she loved the houses in the rich area of town, she always suggested they go for drives there on the evenings when they could find nothing better to do. She loved the perfectly manicured front lawns leading up to the showy front doors with their mirror glass decorations. It only made sense she would seek out something beautiful to look at to cheer herself up. He set off towards the upper class area, and sure enough in the first block of houses he found her crumpled underneath a tree crying. His heart broke as he watched her, not sure if he should be witnessing something so personal as a woman in such pain, so he stood frozen in his tracks until the crying died down. He then realised he must look like a total creep right now watching a woman cry under a tree, and decided he needed to speak to her. He walked towards her and when he reached her he cleared his throat, so she would know he was standing there.

"Hi there" he said tentatively, drawing back a step when she recoiled at the sound of his voice. "You know, it's not a good idea for pretty young ladies to be walking the streets at night" He watched her intently as she wiped her eyes.  "There is a nice warm bed waiting back at my place, and just enough room in it for one crazy girl." "Only one?" she replied wiping her nose on the back of her sleeve. "Because right now I'm pretty sure I've got enough crazy for about three of us." He smiled at her words and replied "Yeah, but that's part of the reason I love you." The words were out of his mouth before he even realised what he was saying, and the look of surprise on both their faces told that neither of them were expecting it. She cleared her throat after a few seconds of silence then said "so you love the crazy ones then? Good to know." She gave him a wry smile and stood up as he sighed with relief. He held his hand out to her and she grabbed on to him tightly. They started the walk back to his house in silence.

Once they were back home he walked to the kitchen and turned on the kettle. "After all of that excitement I need a chamomile" he said without turning around. She stood at the window playing with his sheer curtains, a distracted look on her face. "I'm sorry." she said eventually. "For making you look for me and everything." "It doesn't matter now" he said walking over and pulling her to him, "you're back now and it's finished with." The kettle began to whistle behind him and he turned back to making his drink. They sat together at the dining table, enjoying the peace that had descended over them now that the fight was over. Once he had finished his drink they went back to his room and climbed back into bed, their arms reaching for each other instinctively in the dark. She lay next to him, listening to him breathe, and once she was sure he was asleep she whispered "I love you too", before rolling over to fall asleep herself.

September Use Your Words Happily Ever After?

Hello again my lovelies, it's time for another Use Your Words, the group challenge where 17 bloggers get together and swap words with each other. We each submit a group of 4 - 6 words and in return we get someone else's words, and then we have to try and build something around those words. Below is a list of all the bloggers participating this month, so that you can be sure to visit them all and share the love around.

Baking In A Tornado

Spatulas on Parade

The Momisodes

The Bergham’s Life Chronicles

Stacy Sews and Schools

Sparkly Poetic Weirdo

Southern Belle Charm

The Diary of an Alzheimer’s Caregiver  

Dinosaur Superhero Mommy

The Angrivated Mom

Confessions of a part time working mom

Someone Else’s Genius

Climaxed 

Evil Joy Speaks 

Never Ever Give Up Hope

Eileen’s Perpetually Busy

So today my words are wall ~ tree ~ reading ~ piggy bank ~ fan and they were submitted by the lovely Eileen at Eileen's Perpetually Busy.

Today's post is a continuation from the last two Use Your Words. If you want to start from the beginning, you can find part 1 here and part 2 here

The last few hours had been a blur. She really should be more used to her life being so out of control, but it still took her breath away every time the rug was pulled out from underneath her. She'd grown complacent. That was always how it started though, with the small things. You start taking for granted the fact that they will always pick your towel up where you drop it, then they start assuming just because you didn't mind them watching the football game on telly one weekend instead of doing something together, you'll let them do it every single weekend. You both bite your tongue at first, still not willing to let the honeymoon be over, but eventually the real world comes crashing in through the wall bringing the first big argument with it.

Things had been going well over the past six months. Given they lived an hour apart they really only got to catch up on the weekends, but they alternated whose place they stayed at each weekend, and caught up the rest of the time through daily phone calls and the odd mid-week visit when work schedules permitted. Given they only spent two days a week together, the opportunities for arguments were few and far between, and they were usually fairly small grievances that were sorted out quickly with a few placatory words. This time however, things were different. The conversation had started innocently enough, they were lying in bed together, she was reading an e-book on her tablet, and he was playing poker on his,  and she asked him what he wanted to do the next weekend. He admitted he'd already made plans to catch up with his mates for footy and beers. The initial disappointment that she'd miss out on seeing him for two whole weeks quickly turned to annoyance, as she remembered she'd been invited out to catch up with her girlfriends next weekend as well, but had turned them down so that she could visit him.

She had tried her hardest to hide her frustration and disappointment, but being stoic had never been her strong suit, so he picked up immediately on her mood. Instead of comforting her as he usually did, this time he became defensive. "I haven't spent any real time with these guys in months, and I just felt like catching up with them" he said, the almost whiny tone in his voice setting her teeth on edge. Before she could stop herself, she spat out the words "Well I'm terribly sorry I've been hogging up so much of your time lately. I'll be sure to check your diary next time, just to make sure you can squeeze me in." He rolled his eyes at her. She knew she was being slightly crazy about the whole thing, and as much as she didn't want to be the crazy girlfriend right now, the words kept spewing out of her, and she quickly felt herself losing control of the whole situation.

"I'm sure the fellas will be much more valuable company than me next weekend anyway. I'm sure they won't care when you clip your toenails in the bed, nor will they care if you leave the milk carton in the fridge with just a dribble of milk in it. And hey, I'm sure they'll just love it when you burp so loud you could rattle the window panes every single night after dinner like it's some kind of damn compliment." She stopped to catch her breath, but the look of hurt on his face told her she should stop entirely. He waited for a second then started speaking very calmly. "First of all, that was one time, and I excused myself. And second of all, did you store up all of these grievances in a piggy bank to yell at me at the opportune time? Because I gotta tell you, that was a pretty big list to come up with on the fly." She thought for a second and realised she had stored all those things away, remembering every tiny detail when they happened, and the thought horrified her. Now she was just as disgusted at herself as she was at him, but it didn't seem like the time to yell at herself, so she turned her attention back to him. "I'm sorry that I notice things around me. I happen to be observant you see. Unlike others in this room, who can't even remember to turn the fan on before they shower. The bathroom turns into a rain forest any time you go in there." She knew she was clutching at straws now, but she needed something to be angry about, as angry was easier to deal with than disappointment or self loathing.

Realising she'd run out of things to yell about, but not willing to stop and admit she was being an idiot, she wrenched back the blankets and got out of bed. She started grabbing up her clothes and pulling them on. He sat in the bed with a bemused look on his face as she dressed. As she went to walk out of the room he called after her. "Where are you going?" he said pulling himself out of bed. I'm going." She replied. "Clearly I'm an inconvenience to your super busy social life, so I'll fix that problem by leaving." "Don't be stupid" he said, walking after her. "Come back to bed and we'll talk about this in the morning." She desperately wished she could turn around and walk back to him, but that meant admitting she was being dumb. It also meant admitting she cared more than she was willing to say that she was going to miss seeing him the next weekend. That thought brought a lump to her throat and she ducked her head and walked away from him, not willing to let him see her cry. "Forget about it" she called behind her. "Say hi to your friends for me" She walked out the front door, slamming it for extra effect and started walking towards the street. She spent the first few blocks willing him to chase after her, but she was alone. After twenty minutes of storming along the empty streets she stopped to catch her breath and leaned against a tree. Unable to hold it in any more she burst into tears, hating herself for throwing away the best part of her life. She sat under that tree for an hour crying before the sobs finally died down, then she was left alone with her thoughts, the only sound to be heard were the leaves rustling above her, and the footsteps on the path behind her...

TO BE CONTINUED...

I hate to leave it there, because there is more to this story, but it was starting to turn into a novel, so I've decided to leave the rest for next month. So if you want to know what happens next be sure to come back here next month and read the rest of the story.

August Use Your Words - The Second Meeting

Welcome again my lovely audience, it's time again for another Use Your Words. this month seventeen brave bloggers have signed up to challenge their skills as writers. How this works for any newbies around here is participating bloggers picked 4 – 6 words or short phrases for someone else to craft into a post. All words must be used at least once and all the posts will be unique as each writer has received their own set of words. That’s the challenge, here’s a fun twist; no one who’s participating knows who got their words and in what direction the writer will take them. Until now, 

Below is a list of all of the bloggers participating today. Please be sure to visit them all to enjoy the rest of the brilliant work that goes into this challenge. 

Baking In A Tornado

Spatulas on Parade

The Momisodes

The Bergham’s Life Chronicles

Stacy Sews and Schools

Southern Belle Charm

Dinosaur Superhero Mommy

Sparkly Poetic Weirdo

Someone Else’s Genius

Never Ever Give Up Hope

Confessions of a part-time working mom

The Diary of an Alzheimer’s Caregiver 

Climaxed

Juicebox Confession

Cluttered Genius 

The Angrivated Mom

So today my words are: extravagance ~ silver ~ moonshine ~ hope ~ flaming ~ dice and they were submitted by the incredible Jenniy over at Climaxed.

So today's story is a continuation from my last Use Your Words, which you can read here if you want to start from the beginning.

He took a deep breath. and stared at his reflection in the mirror. The man staring back at him from the highly polished silver glass looked calm and confident, but inside his head all he could hear was screaming. He thought he'd already overcome the hardest obstacles so far, but each new hurdle seemed higher than the last.

Putting the ad in the newspaper hadn't been his idea. His best friend and the person whom he was staying with when he spotted the mysterious beauty across the garden fence was the one with the bright idea. He had resisted it at first, but in the end in order to shut his friend up he finally sent the ad in the day he left to go back home. He knew that was the cowards way out, but if her reaction wasn't all he could hope for, at least this way he wouldn't have to see her ever again. Standing on the platform waiting for her to arrive had been absolute torture. He was certain he stood out like a neon sign standing still with nothing but a green coffee mug in his hand, however all the worry and nerves hadn't been for nothing, and she had shown up. 

Their first meeting had gone well. He'd managed to make her laugh, and her easy, friendly manner had calmed his nerves almost instantly. It had gone so well they'd arranged a proper date for the next evening. That of course had sent him into a wild panic as he spent the next two days trying to figure out the perfect night out for the two of them. Every idea he came up with felt cliched or too much like he was trying too hard. It was so important that this evening went perfectly, as a way of thanking her for taking a gamble on him. She'd rolled the dice when she came to the station to meet him, and he didn't want her to regret her decision.  In the end he'd settled on a dinner at a restaurant nearby, that had good online reviews, followed by a stroll by the river. Being the weekend there would be people everywhere, so she wouldn't feel nervous being alone with him. 

Taking another deep breath he applied his cologne, inhaling its rich, woody scent. It was the one extravagance he allowed himself, rationalizing that the cost of the tiny bottle was far outweighed by the attention he got from people when he wore it. "Women love a man who smells good" he thought to himself, as he often did when applying it. "Not that it's ever gotten me more than the occasional compliment" he grumbled under his breath. He felt like he'd always been unlucky in love, which was part of the reason he'd been so resistant to placing an ad in the newspaper to begin with. Too often he'd been passed over for the guy with the flashier car, the more impressive job, or the slick suit. It had made him cynical and guarded, completely unwilling to put his heart on the line as quickly as others. But there was something different about this woman. something that almost made him want to throw caution to the wind and risk everything.

Smoothing down his dark hair he stepped away from the mirror and walked towards the front door. He felt sicker than the time he and his friends in high school had tried one of their father's moonshine. He'd been laid out with that hangover for two days, much to the chagrin of his parents at the time. He decided that this was definitely a worse feeling than that weekend. He reached for the door handle and pulled open the door. Standing on the other side was his date, her hand poised to knock on the door. Her head snapped up as the door opened and her face flushed a flaming shade of red.
"I was just coming to pick you up" he smiled at her.
"I know, I couldn't wait" she replied wincing, the red now spreading down her neck. The sight of her pale skin blushing made him smile even wider. He held his arm out to her and looked into her eyes. "Shall we?" He asked motioning towards his car. Nervously she took his arm and allowed him to lead her down the path. How the rest of the evening would turn out neither of them knew, but the possibilities were both endless and exciting. 

June Use Your Words - The Stranger

Welcome again to another Use Your Words. In this blog challenge fourteen brave bloggers have swapped words with eachother. We all need to write something based on what words we have been given. The hitch is none of us knew who got our words, or what direction they will take them in.  Below is a list of all the bloggers participating in the challenge this month.  Be sure to visit them all and share the love around.

http://www.BakingInATornado.com          Baking In A Tornado

http://spatulasonparade.blogspot.com/     Spatulas on Parade

http://berghamchronicles.blogspot.com     The Bergham’s Life Chronicles

http://themomisodes.com                        The Momisodes

http://stacysewsandschools.blogspot.com/ Stacy Sews and Schools

http://sparklyjenn.blogspot.com/               Sparkly Poetic Weirdo

http://eileensperpetuallybusy.blogspot.com Eileen’s Perpetually Busy

http://batteredhope.blogspot.com              Battered Hope

http://www.southernbellecharm.com          Southern Belle Charm

http://www.someoneelsesgenius.com         Someone Else’s Genius

http://thethreegerbers.blogspot.ch             Confessions of a part-time working mom

http://climaxedtheblog.blogspot.com          Climaxed

http://dinoheromommy.com/                     Dinosaur Superhero Mommy

This month my words are:

strange ~ the world was different ~ passengers ~ flaw ~ she blinked

And they were submitted by the amazing Robin at Someone Else's Genius 

The train was running late. She wasn't upset about this because she was also running late. The delay caused by the train gave her a chance to catch her breath. She always seemed to be running late these days, her once polished life having given way to chaos. Life wasn't meant to be this way she thought for the millionth time.  

She was interrupted from her thoughts by the arrival of the train. She shuffled through the doors and into the aisles with the rest of the passengers. Slowly she made her way through the carriage until she found an empty seat. Settling down in her chair she prepared for the two hour long journey. Leaning back in her chair she allowed her thoughts to wander again, back to that fateful day two weeks ago that had flipped her world upside down. 

It had started as a normal day, she'd gotten up early, done her daily yoga routine then settled into her arm chair to read the paper. She loved her morning routine, and got pretty cranky if she couldn't do it exactly the same way each morning. Little did she know that at that moment, her mornings would never be the same again. She flipped quickly past all the doom and gloom in the front pages and turned straight to the personals column. She loved reading the lost connection section every day, seeing the desperate and hopeful turning to the local rag in the hopes of finding the answer to their what ifs. As she read through the ads however, one connection in particular caught her eye.

"To the brunette beauty sitting in her armchair reading this right now. You've just finished your yoga, and you're now drinking an herbal tea out of your green mug. I have had the privilege of watching you for two weeks perform your daily routine, and you are perfection. Your only flaw is that you do not know I exist, and now I must return to the city without ever having had the courage to learn your name. If you want to help me rectify this, come to the city on the 24th of this month. I'll be at the city station waiting for you on platform 4. You will know it is me because I will be holding a mug identical to the one you hold in your hand right now. Please help me fix the worst mistake of my life, and let me get to know you."

She blinked and stared down at the green mug she was indeed holding in her hand. Had someone really been watching her all this time? She was repulsed and curious at the same time. Her mind raced with questions. Could the ad really be about her? Was there really someone out there who wanted to meet her? Was she going to head to the city to find out? Quickly she looked at the top of the page to check the date. It was the 10th. She had fourteen days to decide whether or not to do something impulsive and crazy, or pretend she had never read the ad at all, and go back to life as usual. Unfortunately for her it was too late for that, she looked around her tiny apartment, and already could see that now, the world was different, and possibly would never be the same ever again. 

The next two weeks dragged by. She changed her mind a million times, back and forth between the two choices until she was dizzy with indecision. In the end her curiosity won out, and she bought a train ticket two days before the 24th, during a moment of bravery. Now she was sitting on the train, heading to the city and regretting her rashness. What if he was ugly, or boring, or worse, a murderer? What if he wasn't really talking to her, what if there was another woman in her town who did yoga then drank herbal tea every morning? All these thoughts flew through her mind over the two hour trip into the city. She was almost relieved when the train arrived at its final destination, until she remembered why she was actually there, and the terror kicked in. She milled out of the train behind everyone else and stood still. She began to scan the people rushing to their next destination, searching for a man holding a green mug. 

Then suddenly like something out of a movie, the crowds parted, and standing in the middle of platform 4 was a tall gentleman holding a green mug. He had kind eyes and a nervous smile on his face, as he scanned the crowd looking for his yoga loving mystery woman. Their eyes met, and the world stopped for a second. She was relieved to find, the strange person who had been watching her in secret certainly wasn't ugly. "As for the boring or the murderer," she thought, "there's only one way to find out."

April Use Your Words - The Writer

Hello again people, it's time for another Use Your Words. Where 14 brave bloggers swap a group of words or phrases with each other, and then build a whole post based on the handful of words we are given.


Before I get into the festivities, I'll give you the links to the rest of the bloggers participating today, be sure to visit them all and see what creative geniuses they all are.

http://www.BakingInATornado.com           Baking In A Tornado

http://spatulasonparade.blogspot.com/         Spatulas on Parade

http://berghamchronicles.blogspot.com       The Bergham’s Life Chronicles

http://themomisodes.com                             The Momisodes

http://www.southernbellecharm.com           Southern Belle Charm

http://thethreegerbers.blogspot.ch                Confessions of a part-time working mom

http://www.someoneelsesgenius.com          Someone Else’s Genius

http://stacysewsandschools.blogspot.com/   Stacy Sews and Schools

http://sparklyjenn.blogspot.com/                  Sparkly Poetic Weirdo 

http://climaxedtheblog.blogspot.com           Climaxed

http://eileensperpetuallybusy.blogspot.com Eileen’s Perpetually Busy

http://www.JuiceboxConfession.com          Juicebox Confession

http://batteredhope.blogspot.com                 Battered Hope

So today my words are Snow, Paint, candy land, remodel, yard stick and they were submitted by the awesome Sarah at The Momisodes

She stared at the blank screen, the familiar feeling of terror creeping into her stomach, as it always did when she tried to write these days. The snow white page mocking her as it dared her to write something, anything. "Go ahead and try" it said to her, "you know you'll delete the first twelve drafts anyway, so you might as well get them over and done with." She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, silently cursing herself for volunteering yet again to go through this stomach churning process. When she was younger, writing seemed to come easier to her. The fear of rejection was not as strong as her self assurance that she was good at this. But time had been cruel to this woman, or rather, she'd been cruel to herself. Years spent being her own worst critic meant the voices in her head were no longer encouraging, but rather derisive, and spiteful. 

She glared at the screen again then pushed her chair away from the desk. She grabbed for her cigarettes and pulled one out. Lighting it she inhaled deeply, the burning in her throat distracted her from the lump in her stomach momentarily. Once upon a time she could paint a scene effortlessly with her words, but those days seemed to be long behind her. These days the thoughts that swam through her head as she tried to write seemed to be the same ones that would come through while she was trying to make love, small mundane thoughts designed to distract her from what was once an enjoyable process, but these days just left her feeling numb. It just seemed unfair. 

Part of her problem had come from meeting the women she was trying to write for now. These weren't ordinary women, they were writers too, and well out of her league. They were masters of the written word, and a massive yard stick to be measured against. Sometimes she wished for the anonymity that came from being a small fish in a big pond. One tiny piece in a massive game of Candy Land. She realised too late how comforting it was knowing that no one was reading what she had to say. The expectation she felt to entertain people with her writing was almost paralyzing, as was the tiny voice repeating over and over again, "What if they don't like it?" 

Taking a deep breath, she straightened up and poised above her keyboard, began to type;

"Don't remove what you can remodel"

Sighing she slumped back in her chair exhausted from the effort. "I didn't choose the fortune cookie life" she said as she lit another cigarette, "The fortune cookie life chose me."

March Use Your Words - Letters to the Past

Hello everyone and welcome back.  You've made it just in time for Use Your Words 

For anyone who is unfamiliar with this series, the rules are simple. A group of bloggers get together and submit a group of random words that must be used in a blog post. In return you are given someone else's words, and you must in turn spin them into something beautiful, or at the very least coherent. I've been given the following words

bland ~ copy ~ I've lost it ~ sordid ~ magnetic ~ furthermore
and they were submitted by Jenniy at Climaxed 

Now receiving words from this particular lady is incredibly daunting, because Jenniy is a true yarn spinner, so I can only hope I do them justice. If you keep reading after my post, I'll include links to every other blogger participating today, so you can just follow the links and see more amazing writing. What more could you guys need??

This is a letter to my 15 year old self. 

Dear young Erin,

Take a deep breath. Relax your shoulders and stop frowning. I know you are proud of the fact that you don't get wrinkles on your forehead whenever you scowl, but once you hit 30 that changes almost instantly. I'm here today to tell you a few secrets. I'm hoping that by giving you a heads up about some of the things you can expect over the next fifteen years I'll save us both some heartache. 

First of all, you will survive high school. I know you think that you're not going to survive the next year and a half, but you will. So read all your books, copy down everything you think matters, and just keep pushing through. The minute you walk away from that place you are allowed to forget absolutely every useless piece of information they have just spent the past six years pumping into you, so just relax, grit your teeth and play the game. It serves a purpose.

Secondly, I know right now you're madly in love with Brad, and you think this is meant to be, but you will not marry him. One day you are going to start living separate lives, and the relationship just won't survive. But don't worry, you won't regret your decision for very long. And then one day, twelve years after you two split up you'll Facebook stalk him, (don't worry about what Facebook is, just trust that it will happen and it will waste more time than anything else you've ever seen), and discover he has turned into a bland middle aged man who still plays role playing games like dungeons and dragons, and you'll realise you really did make the right decision when you left him. If it makes you feel any better, he and his new wife agree with you.

You will fall in love again. In fact you'll go on to do it several times. You'll fall madly in love with people who won't love you back, and you'll be loved by people you're just not that keen on. You'll find a man who you just can't quite quit, no matter how many times you try, but you won't marry him either. But you two will have a lot of fun. I'll spare you the sordid details right now because you're still a virgin, but trust me, it will be amazing. It will also be where you discover your love of guitar players.

You will be loved by most people you know in fact. Of course you can't please everyone, and you will learn that very late in life, but for the most part you will make very few enemies. You seem to have a magnetic personality, so people are drawn to you. You've got something to offer nearly everyone, whether it be the clown that picks them up when they are down, or the wisdom they need when they can't see the forest for the trees, so people will want to know you, and they'll want you to like them. This will feel weird when you first realise it, but just go with the flow. People are generally good, so just trust your instincts and be a nice person. But you are going to have to learn to stop letting people walk all over you. The world isn't going to end if you tell people you're not happy with them.

You are going to go crazy. Several times in fact. You will scream in your head "I've lost it" so many times and you will truly believe it every time. One day you're even going to have to hold onto a pole for grim life to stop yourself from jumping into oncoming traffic, simply because there is a little voice in your head urging you to do it. You're not schizophrenic, you'll just need help. When the time comes, ask for it before you do something stupid. You'll save yourself and your whole family a whole lotta hurt by doing this. And know that your salvation comes in the cutest package ever.

I know you don't want children now, you're too interested in travelling and you secretly think you'll be the worst mum in the world, but that will change one day. You'll meet your new niece and then your biological clock will start ticking like crazy. Then you're going to desperately want a baby of your own. Furthermore you're going to do some pretty dumb things in pursuit of this dream. You're a very determined person when you want to be, you just don't realise yet how motivated you can get. Your most desperate act will actually result in you getting what you want. But be careful what you wish for, because the strings that are attached to fulfilling this desire are long and fraught with lots of arguments. But the whole time you are going through this, you will know in your heart that it was the right decision, and one you'll make a million times over if you get the same beautiful result every time. And that is when you will be loved the hardest you have ever been loved.

So like I said, just relax. It all works out in the end, even though some days you will feel like you have the burdens of the whole world on your shoulders. You've always been a drama queen you know? Trust yourself, love yourself and be yourself. The rest will fall into place.

Much love

Older and wiser Erin.

Ok peoples, now it's your turn. Tell me what you'd love to tell your younger self, we all have nuggets of wisdom we wish we knew when we were younger.

Also, go and spread some more of your love to the rest of these awesome bloggers, they all deserve it too.

http://www.BakingInATornado.com            Baking In A Tornado

http://spatulasonparade.blogspot.com/       Spatulas on Parade

http://stacysewsandschools.blogspot.com/  Stacy Sews and Schools

http://berghamchronicles.blogspot.com       The Bergham’s Life Chronicles

http://batteredhope.blogspot.com               Battered Hope

http://eileensperpetuallybusy.blogspot.com/ Eileen’s Perpetually Busy

http://www.someoneelsesgenius.com          Someone Else’s Genius

http://thethreegerbers.blogspot.ch Confessions of a part-time working mom

http://www.southernbellecharm.com           Southern Belle Charm

http://sparklyjenn.blogspot.com                  Sparkly Poetic Weirdo

http://climaxedtheblog.blogspot.com           Climaxed

http://www.eviljoyspeaks.wordpress.com    Evil Joy Speaks                         

February Use Your Words The Very Bad Day

Hello and welcome to the February edition of the new blogging game Use Your Words. It looks like this series was another winner for Karen at Baking in a Tornado, so she's decided to keep it around for now. 

This is how it works: participating bloggers picked 4 – 6 words or short phrases for someone else to craft into a post. All words must be used at least once and all the posts will be unique as each writer has received their own set of words. That’s the challenge, here’s a fun twist; no one who’s participating knows who got their words and in what direction the writer will take them. Until now. 

So allow me to introduce you to the other bloggers participating in todays challenge. Be sure to visit them all and see how they manage to mold a group of random words into something beautiful. 

http://BakingInATornado.com                   Baking In A Tornado

http://www.justalittlenutty.com                 Just A Little Nutty

http://batteredhope.blogspot.com             Battered Hope

http://www.JuiceboxConfession.com          Juicebox Confession

www.theblacksheepmom.blogspot.com      Black Sheep Mom

http://stacysewsandschools.wordpress.com   Stacy Sews and Schools

http://thethreegerbers.blogspot.ch/              Confessions of a part time working mom

http://www.eviljoyspeaks.wordpress.com     Evil Joy Speaks

http://spatulasonparade.blogspot.com         Spatulas on Parade               

http://berghamchronicles.blogspot.com/               The Bergham’s Life Chronicles

www.fbxadventures.blogspot.com                      FBX Adventures (In Parenting)

http://www.healingtomato.com                     Healing Tomato

http://dates2diapers2.blogspot.com                Dates 2 Diapers 2

http://followmehome.shellybean.com               Follow me home . . .

www.outmannedmommy.com/                       Outmanned

Now the other thing you need to know is what words I have been given to include. This time my words were submitted by Spatulas on Parade and they are:  calendar ~ time off ~ jerky ~ teriyaki ~ hot dang ~ slammin 

So I mentioned in my last post how we had the worst bush fires in five years over the last week. I had to go to work on Monday despite the fact that the town I worked in was closed off from all freeway traffic and authorities were telling everyone to stay away from the town. Off course with all of this in mind, I had gone to bed the night before assuming that my boss would tell us to stay home the next day. Despite the fact that I figured I had some time off on the Monday, I was still up at 7am like I always am on a work day. (Trust my stupid body calendar to know it's a weekday) so I texted the office manager asking for confirmation that I should stay home and not do anything insane like drive directly into a fire affected town. Sadly for me she told me I HAD to go to work, and I would need to leave early because I'd have to find an alternate route into town. 

Now I don't know what any of you would do in this situation, but my natural response is to panic. I started tearing around the house madly trying to find clothes for me and Miss K and trying to remember where I put my shoes on Wednesday night after I finished work. I grabbed Miss K and started to take her nappy off, so I could get her cleaned up and ready for day care. What I didn't realise at the time was that I had grabbed her and ripped her nappy off mid bowel movement, when she was beyond the point of no return. I was so distracted and complaining to mum I didn't realise anything was wrong until I noticed the nugget on my carpet, looking a lot like a piece of teriyaki chicken. "Hot dang!" I yelled as I scrambled to pick it up. (Actually what I really said was a lot ruder and more appropriate for when you have a lump of turd on your carpet, but this is a child friendly place right here you know?) By this time Miss K was crying because she was upset she had just done a poo on the carpet, I was crying too from sheer frustration. I sat on my couch with my head in my hands heaving huge jerky sobs and just wishing I could go back to bed. (Or at least crawl into a dark corner and start slammin back the vodkas).

This was the point where mum stepped in and took Miss K off my hands so I could focus on getting ready for work. I had the quickest shower I have ever had, and then raced out the door while wearing my little sister's shoes (I never did manage to figure out where I'd hidden my own shoes until the next morning) and started the long and often terrifying drive to work along some of the most treacherous roads I have ever driven. A trip that normally takes me 15 minutes took an hour and a half of winding, narrow, unfamiliar roads in towns I'd seen on maps but never had the urge to visit for myself.

You'll be pleased to know I made it to work in one piece, and while the office manager was totally unsympathetic to the rough start to my day, my boss was a lot more understanding when we spoke about it the next day. When the freeways were finally reopened and I never had to make that drive ever again. I think the next time the town decides to combust I'll be telling the boss to close the office for the day and just let me go back to sleep.

Well that's all for now, I am off to go share a single bunk bed with a two year old because that's what you do when you visit family for the weekend. Thanks to Spatulas on Parade for my words, especially because I've never been given the opportunity to compare bowel movements to Asian food before, so this was an exciting first for me. Now go on and visit everyone else and enjoy the rest of the festivities.

Use your words

Hello and welcome back to my corner of the world. It's pretty hot here right now, like face meltingly hot. The barometer hit 44 degrees this afternoon (111 farenheit for my imperial friends out there) and today is day five of blisteringly hot weather, so we're all feeling pretty miserable down here. Add to that the bushfire in a town just 11 km away from where I live (6 miles) and I could use a distraction right now. Luckily for me the lovely Karen from Baking in a Tornado has come up with a new blogging game, so sit back and relax while I introduce you to Use Your Words.

So for this post, all the participating bloggers were asked to provide 4 - 6 phrases or words that must be used in a post. These are then given to another unsuspecting blogger and it's up to them to turn their list of words into some semblance of sense. Today we have been asked to post our stories, all at the same time. This is the first time all of us get to see who got our submissions, and what direction they decided to take with the words we picked for them. The possibilities for fun are endless.  Before I go any further I'll introduce the rest of the group of players. Please be sure to visit them all and see what everyone else has done with their submissions.

http://BakingInATornado.com                   Baking In A Tornado

http://www.JuiceboxConfession.com    Juicebox Confession

http://thethreegerbers.blogspot.ch Confessions of a part-time working mom

http://batteredhope.blogspot.com           Battered Hope

http://spatulasonparade.blogspot.com          Spatulas on Parade

http://www.eviljoyspeaks.wordpress.com               Evil Joy Speaks

http://stacysewsandschools.wordpress.com/          Stacy Sews and Schools

http://www.justalittlenutty.com                         Just A Little Nutty

http://berghamchronicles.blogspot.com     The Bergham’s Life Chronicles

http://followmehome.shellybean.com                   Follow me home . . .

http://dates2diapers2.blogspot.com                         Dates 2 Diapers

So the phrases I have been given to use are...He saw the white coat ~ Hello ~ OMG WHAT WAS THAT NOISE? ~DON'T EAT THAT ...and they were submitted by Dates 2 Diapers

I had always thought my life was pretty ordinary. I had my daughter, my job and my hobbies to keep me busy, and that was all I needed. I watched other people have dramatic and exciting lives, but I was happy to stay in the audience and watch all the fun from the sidelines. But one night that all changed with a visit from a stranger. 

I have tried to explain this night over and over again to many people, but no one ever seems to believe me. It has gotten to the point where I'm just that crazy lady that mothers warn their children to stay away from. But it wasn't always like this, once upon a time I was ordinary. 

This night was ordinary at first too. I'd finally gotten Miss K to bed after three requests for extra drinks, one request to use the potty, and five requests for another story and I was getting ready to settle in for a night of watching mindless television before crawling into bed when there was an almighty thud outside my living room window. I jumped up and screamed OMG WHAT WAS THAT NOISE? My heart was in my throat from the fright, but I decided I needed to investigate in case someone had gotten hurt. 

I went outside into the darkness and waited for my eyes to adjust. I scanned the front yard and the nature strip where my car was parked, but at first I couldn't see any evidence of what the heck had made the noise. "Hello?" I called out in the night, hoping somebody would answer me so I didn't have to go any further away from my door. At first there was silence, but then I heard a quiet moan from around the street lamp outside my fence. "Darn it" I thought to myself as I headed towards where the moan came from. At first I couldn't see anyone, but once I got closer I noticed a lump on the ground at the foot of the pole. I rushed over, noticing how small the lump was. Almost too small to be an adult. "What is a kid doing out this time of night?" I thought as I left the yard. By the time I got to the lump it was starting to stand up, and the first thing I noticed was that this was no child. It wasn't even human. 

This is the point where I start getting weird looks from the people I tell the story to. If I hadn't lived it myself I wouldn't believe it either, but standing in front of me that night next to the lamp post was a giant rabbit. And I'm not just talking an over sized, well fed rabbit, I'm talking a four foot tall rabbit. A very woozy four foot tall rabbit. I stopped dead in my tracks as I tried to process what I was seeing, but as I did the rabbit swayed a little bit and started to fall over again. I raced over and grabbed him before he landed on the ground. The jolt seemed to wake him up and he looked up at me, clearly having difficulty focusing. 

"What on earth...?" I managed to choke out, not trusting my ability to speak any further in case I screamed.

"Ooooohhh" said the rabbit, "Where did that lamp post come from?"

I nearly dropped him back on his head, as I finally let out a little scream.

"You can talk" I cried

"Well spotted" he replied, with more than a hint of sarcasm in his voice

"But....but rabbit's aren't supposed to talk" I managed to say

"Ah yes, but I'm not most rabbits," he said proudly, "I'm the Easter Bunny."

"The Easter Bunny? but it's February. Don't you normally come out in April?"

"Do I look like I'm delivering eggs?" He snapped. I looked around and couldn't see any baskets around so I shook my head.

"I'm actually on holidays at the moment." He continued. "I was having a race with a leprechaun, but I didn't see that lamp post there, and now he's probably already celebrating his victory at the pub. Stupid drunk."

I was beginning to feel woozy myself and tried to sit down, forgetting that I was still cradling the Easter Bunny's head in my arms, so we both ended up toppling to the ground. The Easter Bunny gave a cry of pain as we tried to untangle ourselves. I apologised profusely and invited him inside to get a drink. I figured it was the least I could do since it was my lamp post he had crashed into, not to mention having probably just made his injuries worse.

We came inside and he started sniffing around the lounge room while I got a glass of water from the kitchen.  When I came back to the lounge he was investigating my couch, where I had left my white fur coat earlier in the day. He saw the white coat and screamed. 

"What?" I screamed back, surprised at his sudden outburst

"You killed a yeti!" he yelled back. "You killed a yeti and turned him into a coat!"

"Ah" I said relieved. "First of all yetis aren't real, and second of all that's fake fur."

"Exactly." said The Easter Bunny angrily. "Where do you think all the fake fur in the world comes from?"

"From factories?" I replied confused

"No!" yelled the Easter Bunny, "It comes from Yetis."

Totally bamboozled by this stage I flopped down on the couch to try and wrap my head around everything that had happened in the past ten minutes. I noticed some jelly beans on the coffee table and absently started eating them. Suddenly The Easter Bunny looked over at me and jumped up.

"NO! DON'T EAT THAT" he yelled, but it was too late, I'd already had three.

"What? they're just jelly beans" I said defensively.

"They're not just jelly beans" he replied impatiently, "they are sleeping tablets. I give them to kids who are still awake when I come to deliver the eggs. It stops them from interrupting me while I work."

I was about to open my mouth to protest but things started going dark. I tried to fight the feeling of exhaustion that had washed over me, even for just a few minutes to tell The Easter Bunny how irresponsible it was to drug small children, but it was just too strong.

I woke up with the sun streaming onto my face, still fully dressed on the couch. I struggled up and tried to remember why I hadn't made it to bed the night before when I noticed a sheet of paper on the cushion next to where my head had been. I picked it up and began to read the unfamiliar handwriting.

"Sorry about drugging you, didn't your mother ever teach you not to take lollies from strangers? Thanks for the hospitality. EB"

Images from the night before came flooding back and I rubbed my eyes with the palms of my hands, trying to tell myself that everything that happened last night was just a crazy dream, but the note in my hands was making that impossible. I called my big sister and tried to tell her about my adventure, but she laughed uncomfortably and told me it might be time for a holiday. I told my mum, my little sister, even my boss. None of them believed me and my boss even told me I needed to stop working so hard and take some time to relax. 

And so that's how I became the crazy lady around here. But I refuse to give up. I've started a support group for others who have been visited by fictional characters, and I hope one day someone else will come forward and admit they too have met The Easter Bunny.