Her First Audition

I recently read that Stephen King has penned a sequel to The Shining, one of my favorite King books.

Abbey has decided she wants to audition for the role of "Ghost of Jack Torrance"*

the original Jack Torrance

image courtesy of Pinterest (click on photo for source)

what do you think?

*The Shining sequel (Dr. Sleep) is real.  The role of "Ghost of Jack Torrance" is a figment of my imagination.  I am not auditioning Abbey for a role as a homicidal maniac.  Promise.

Come on over to Funny or Snot for more WTF Wednesday posts!

Step Away from the Planner

Like sheep lithely clearing a fence in a picturesque meadow, my to-do list cycles through my head as I sink into my mattress each night.  It greets me every morning, reminding me of mundane tasks like steaming the floors and lovely treats like a day at the zoo for all four of us.

Abbey and Dylan are more than willing to participate in the fun outings but slightly less willing to check off things like “print out preschool information.”  

So after stories and kisses, stars projected on the ceiling and musical toys lulling my children to sleep, I throw my balls in the air, watching them spin up and down, my hands deftly catching and throwing, juggling with the few hours I have before climbing into my own bed.

Working through blog ideas on the treadmill while calculating weekly mileage in my head, I return home to comment and reply and read and write and schedule posts, tossing in laundry in between.

I curl my legs under me, settling into the couch to read a chapter or two of a book I’m reviewing or sometimes one I’m not, until thoughts of the parenting book languishing on the shelf guiltily creep into my consciousness, making it hard to concentrate. 

I pull out the preschool information, planning out my back-to-school plan of attack.  A lump forms in my throat, and I gently place those papers out of sight for another day. 

Ryan sits nearby, studying, working through statistical problems in penciled notes I can’t even begin to understand.

Check…I draw a line through one item, then scribble three more under the tasks left unfinished.

Red digital numbers glow in the dark when we finally get to bed, mocking us with the limited hours until Abbey awakes.

When Ryan suggested we take the night off to watch a movie on my birthday, I resisted, thinking of what I could accomplish in that same two hours.

Then I saw his eyes, impossibly blue and caring, the eyes of my best friend.

I closed the laptop, set aside my planner, still tense and worried about what I was leaving unfinished.

A few minutes ticked by; I made an effort to breathe, to relax.  Slowly, it stopped being an effort.

For that night, I wasn’t a blogger, a runner, a laundress.

I was laughing on the couch with my husband, fingers linked, unfinished lists forgotten.

Content.

This post is part of a weekly link-up at Just Be Enough.  Please join us and share your story.

Why My Kids Can Never Watch Scary Movies

One, two, Freddy’s coming for you

I curled my knees into my chest, not wanting my feet hanging near the bottom of the couch where a hand could sneak out to grab my sock-clad ankle. My hands crept to my face, covering my eyes as the music turned sinister, foretelling doom for some poor, expendable character that would never live to see any of the formulaic sequels.

Three, four, better lock your door

Unable to watch, yet unable to look away, I peeked out from a small opening between my index and middle fingers, Freddy Krueger would unfurl that blade-adorned glove near his disfigured face and dispose of yet another teenager silly enough to think his or her dreams were a safe place to hide. His victims were forgettable, their faces blending together in my memories; the thrill was in those moments of anticipatory horror, waiting for the inevitable entrance of the serial killer.

Five, six, grab your crucifix

Conservative about what Donnie and I watched, my parents kept Freddy and Jason and other similar R-rated movies from us far longer than many of my friends. Finally able to watch them, I was alternately enthralled and terrified, recognizing the campiness and bad acting but unable to stop that reflexive jump in my seat.

Seven, eight, better stay up late

Now? I can’t watch them, or other horror movies, without an uneasy knot in my stomach. Knowing about the real horrors that lurk around the corners of our lives, the horrors that don’t need to be dramatically intensified by swelling music, I just can’t spend my time watching a blood and gore fest. Any appeal they once had is gone; I cringe and tears fall at the thought of people enjoying slasher films, eighties versions or the current ones.

Nine, ten, never sleep again

Still, the haunting voices singing the Nightmare on Elm Street version of "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe" are forever seared in my consciousness. Reading nursery rhymes, I find them creeping into my head, and I have to stop myself from changing the words on the page.  I stop myself, though, and simply hope that the scariest movies my kids see until they go to college are Disney films.  Have you seen the Evil Queen in Snow White? 

Go ahead and call me a wimp; I understand!  This post is in response to a RemembeRED prompt about something we recall word-for-word from our childhoods.  To demonstrate how pervasisve this memory is, you should know that I had no intention of writing about it when I sat down.  I was thinking of a little song I learned at my best friend's Sunday school about the Titanic.  And this is what came out instead.  Yikes!

Eleanor

For some inexplicable reason, I love the movie Gone in 60 Seconds. It’s kind of funny, since I’m not a giant fan of action movies or car movies, but something about it just pulls me in every time. Maybe the cool DMX music on the soundtrack? During the movie, the car thieves (I know, I know) name all of the cars they are stealing (stay with me here; I swear I have a point.) There is a Mustang they call Eleanor, and they refer to it as a “unicorn”, because Nic Cage’s character just can’t seem to steal it.


Eleanor is also Nan’s first name…(oh, and Nic Cage’s character is named Memphis Raines…kind of close to Nashville, ha, ha, ha)

For some inexplicable reason, I love the movie Gone in 60 Seconds. It’s kind of funny, since I’m not a giant fan of action movies or car movies, but something about it just pulls me in every time. Maybe the cool DMX music on the soundtrack? During the movie, the car thieves (I know, I know) name all of the cars they are stealing (stay with me here; I swear I have a point.) There is a Mustang they call Eleanor, and they refer to it as a “unicorn”, because Nic Cage’s character just can’t seem to steal it.


Eleanor is also Nan’s first name…(oh, and Nic Cage’s character is named Memphis Raines…kind of close to Nashville, ha, ha, ha)

I’ve taken loads of pictures trying to get Dylan’s giant grin, and I haven’t really captured one yet. It’s kind of my “unicorn” right now, because it truly lights up the room, and I want to share it with everyone. The other day, Nan was playing with him, and he started laughing. It was the sweetest sound, and I tried to get it recorded on my camera. Thanks Nan!!  However, my camera video didn't capture most of it, and I don't know how to upload video anyway (doh).  So the smile is still my unicorn...here are a couple attempts.

Well, this is just Nan & Dylan!

The picture I took before deciding to try the video.