Five Minute Friday - Laundry

(Doing this one a bit late again.) Five Minute Friday is where Lisa-Jo Baker posts a word prompt on her blog, and a few hundred of us now write for five minutes on that topic. Not thought out ahead of time or gone back over with an editor's eye, just written and posted.

This week's word was Laundry.

GO

I started doing my own laundry in my early teens. I got annoyed when what I wanted wasn't clean when I wanted it clean, so my mom said, why don't you do your own? I got my own basket and have been doing laundry ever since.

Since I knew how, occasionally I'd help my mom with the rest of the family's. Or I'd help my grandmother when we stayed over at her house. But I always did mine.

Now I'm married and do laundry for two. He actually does his own a lot now. Mainly because his clothes have oil and metal chips and grass stains and dog hair and things that I don't want to get mixed into my own clothes, so I would do separate loads anyway. But it's funny how much bigger his loads of laundry are and how much quicker a basket fills up when it's his clothes instead of mine.

If you look at our towel pile, you can tell they're ours. Blue and green towels with our initials monogrammed on, a wedding gift. A blue striped towel that's his and a pink striped towel that's mine. Beach towels with dolphins or colorful butterflies, and beach towels with skull and crossbones or swords. Haha.

Our sheets are a patchwork, mismatched mixture of what we had before we were married and what we've gotten since. Two almost identical red blankets, multiple partial sets of sheets because who knows where the rest of the set went. Pretty pillow shams and blue plaid pillow cases and everything in between.

And that's a good analogy for marriage. You start with two separate people, two separate piles of laundry. And then you combine them. Some things stay the same and some things become different. You lose some of who you were, not in a bad way, but in a changing way. And you gain some things, too. You keep parts of yourself but other parts change and adapt for the relationship.

I like it. It's hard work sometimes (with both laundry and marriage), but it's worth it.

Well, that's it for today. You can check out other posts on Laundry here, or click the button below to find out how Five Minute Friday started and how you can join in the writing fun!

 

Five Minute Friday - Ordinary

Today's word is Ordinary. We did this word a lot earlier in the year, and my mind keeps thinking of the same things. You can read that post here.

So instead of writing my own thoughts, I thought I'd share some quotes and sayings that I think speak to NOT being ordinary.

If you're going to be weird, be confident about it.

Don't expect everyone to understand your journey, especially if they've never had to walk your path.

The woman who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The woman who walks alone is likely to find herself in places no one has ever been before.

Sometimes I pretend to be normal. But it gets boring, so I go back to being me.

Do not go where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

If you are not willing to look stupid, nothing great is ever going to happen to you.

Never be content with someone else's definition of you.

If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.

Well, that's it. For more posts on Ordinary, click here. To learn more about Five Minute Fridays, click the button below. Have a great weekend!

Five Minute Friday - Write

Okay, okay, late again. But you know what? This time I have a great excuse! I have been writing... just not here. I've been working on my book :) But, although late, here is this week's Five Minute Friday post.

The word is Write.

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The word is Write? Perfect! Instead of writing for five minutes here and now, how about I share a sample of the book I'm working on? Sound good to you? Awesome! Here we go:

Jackson dropped her right hand and walked with her back down the aisle, the crowd congratulating them on the way. At the opening to the clearing, Jackson hesitated and looked at her, and she realized he had no clue where they were going next. She pulled him around a corner and kept going until they were well hidden behind some tall shrubs.
                “What are we doing?”
                “I’m sorry. I just need a minute.”
                “Okay.” He let go of her other hand and placed one of his on her back. “Is everything okay?”
                “I… To be honest, I didn’t expect the kiss.”
                He smiled. “Haven’t you ever been to a wedding before?”

What do you think? Are you intrigued? Or did it at least make you smile? :) I will share more samples in the future. Meanwhile, you can check out my Pinterest board for this book to meet the characters and "visit" some of the settings.

To read more posts on Write, click here. To find out what Five Minute Friday is all about and how you can join in, click the button below. Thanks for visiting!!