May Angel Star

Friday my baby girl went off to 1st grade and rode the bus for the 1st time.

She told me she had a good day.

I’m praying this year goes smoothly for her.

This week’s prompt for Red Writing Hood is based on dramatic entrance, courtesy of  Webook.

Write a short story based on this prompt:

An art opening at a lavish downtown gallery. A car crashes through the plate glass window. The driver’s door opens, and an eight-year-old girl steps out.

Here is my attempt.

Abandoned

The luminescent orbs of street lamps, multi-colored flashing storefront signs, throngs of people all flying by at an ungodly pace. Blurred through thick teardrops. Pelting my chest. My lap. My hatred melting my heart, consuming every cell, and there were a lot of cells. Mrs. Oberdick told me so. She was smart. She was nice. She wasn’t my mother. I wished she could be.

My mother always too busy, painting came first.

“You’ll understand one day. When you’re old and all you have to show for yourself is an empty house and no one left to take care of. Feeling lost and not knowing who you are or what you have even become. That won’t happen to me. I need this.  I need to feel alive again. Not chained into a monotonous, thankless job. You will be a mother one day. You will understand.”

I would never be her. I would be a good mom. I would want to be with my kids. I would cherish every second spent with them. I would love them. I would choose them.

There it was, a block away. The fruits of my mother’s labor, brightly lit, displayed for the city to see. The men in their tuxedos and the women in their long formal dresses, eating those little shrimps on toast, sipping from full champagne glasses. Laughter. Mother soaking up all the attention, in love, and not with me.

Hands gripping the steering wheel, my concentration wavering. My chest, it was going to burst, so heavy and tight, just waiting to explode. Foot pushed upon the pedal, faster, harder. Mrs. Oberdick’s smiling face. Her loving grasp and it hurt, the tears cascading, a river running over my cheeks.

Headlights gleaming back at me. Glass imploding. People running. Canvases ripped from invisible wire. Destroyed. The center brick wall crumpling the front end of the onyx Mercedes, snapping my head forward into a cloud of white, then back into the tan leather seat. Hearing nothing, then shouting, her voice the loudest, louder than the ethereal screaming that was coming from my very soul.

“I hate you,” the mantra escaping my bleeding mouth, on endless repeat as I opened the door and climbed out of the wreckage.

“Zoe Grace! What have you done,” my mother’s voice an octave that didn’t exist, not in this world.

“I hate you!” A baby tooth, spit to the floor.

Maybe a gun, pointed at her chest, her anger subsiding to fear as I pulled the trigger.

“Zoe, put that down! What are you doing?” her hands trembling as she reached for me, willing me to come to my senses.

Maybe not…..

I watched as we passed the gallery. There were paintings that hung on invisible wire from the ceiling. The men in their tuxedos and the women in their long formal dresses, eating those little shrimps on toast, sipping from full champagne glasses. I caught a glimpse of my mother, laughter dancing on her lips.

A single tear trickled from my right eye, brushed away quickly, the evidence drying on the back of my hand.

“Mrs. Oberdick, can we get some ice cream tonight?”

“Anything for you Zoe Grace! Perfect attendance and straight A’s for the whole third grade year! That’s something to celebrate!” the warmth of her smile filling me up with love.

She wasn’t my mother.

I wished she could be.

Brianna’s first day of third grade and her first time riding the bus to school!

For more Wordless Wednesday visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

Awhile back I went out with some friends, Kelly and Tammy to be exact.

We had an exciting desperately needed girls night out planned.

First a fantastically yummy Teriyaki Marinated Sirloin accompanied by some mashed potatoes and a salad doused in ranch at Outback. I had my first martini ever, Strawberry Passion. It was good, real good.

We then made our way to the dollar theater and watched Date Night. Yeah, that was hilarious. You must see it!

Our night wasn’t complete though, we ended it with a bang, yeah, that’s right, we went to Walmart!

I was in the mood to be healthy and fun. I loaded up my cart with apples, bananas, peaches, nectarines, strawberries, blueberries, carrots, and sugar snap peas. Super proud of myself and couldn’t wait to bite into those nectarines, they smelled absolutely amazing!

One problem, the kids don’t really like blueberries.

They turned up their noses when I brought out the full fresh pint. Well two out of three did. Alex wanted some, I obliged by placing a few on his plate. He tasted, made a face and said, “No like it,” and then proceeded to spit out the smooshed blueberry. Gross!

So I did what I needed to do.

I googled “blueberry muffins made from scratch” and clicked on a few recipes.

I ultimately decided on this one, the best blueberry muffin recipe evah!

Seriously these are amazing! You must try them. You will never go back to your regularly scheduled muffin recipe again!

The best part, the kids devoured them. As did Brian and I. I also had to give some to Jason, Daph and Beth.

They thought they were amazing too!

I think I may need to go out and buy some blueberries. It would make a great treat for the girls teachers.

I can’t believe they start school this week. Where did the summer go?

Awesome Blueberry Muffins

Found on Food.com

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
3. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder.
4. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup.
5. Mix this with flour mixture.
6. Fold in blueberries.
7. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
8. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon.
9. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
10. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.