Fantasy Friday - Watch your mouth

I've decided to try to get some new people interested in Fantasy Friday again. I'm not expecting to put up a new story every week, but I still want to encourage people to try their hand at writing. Give it a try people, what can it hurt? 

If you're willing to try a story send it to elisspeaks@yahoo.com and I'll share the story with my readers.

For today I'm giving you the second story I got from Cathy who I feel writes simply, but at the same time elegantly, about her life.

Watch Your Mouth

I decided to write about when me and Dennis first started dating. He went to my church but back then he seemed a lot older. Really it’s less than 4 years. In high school everyone liked Dennis. He was good looking. He played football and he drove a real nice truck. Even the teachers liked him. I figured he didn’t even know I was alive but not long after I turned 16 he asked me to the movies. We dated pretty regular after that.

I had a pretty bad temper back then and once when Dennis came to pick me up after school I was in a cuss fight with this girl in the parking lot. He pulled up beside us and told me to get in the truck. I told him I would after I kicked that b***h in the butt. He got out, didn’t say a word, and picked me up and sat me in the truck. All the people standing around watching the fight were laughing at me and I was real mad at Dennis. As we drove off I started cussin and fussing at him.

He didn’t say anything for a while and then he pulled over. He just talked to me but he said that I sounded like trash when I talked that way. It hurt my feelings real bad. He said he hated cussing. He said when he was little his daddy cussed him and his brothers a lot and even his mom. One day when Dennis was about 15 he came in the house and his daddy was saying really mean ugly things to his mama. Dennis got between them and told his daddy he had to stop.  His daddy got real mad at him then and took off his belt to whip Dennis. Dennis was bigger than his daddy even then. But Dennis told him, You can whip me if you want to but that’s my mama and you ain’t never cussin her again. Do you know his daddy stopped? He started crying right then and there and he’s been a changed man ever since. Me and Dennis have been together a long time and I have never once heard his daddy cuss anybody.

Dennis told me that story sitting there in the truck that day and told me he didn’t ever want to hear me cuss again. He said if he did he’d whip my butt. I didn’t think he was serious about that part but I did decide to watch my mouth when he was around. But a few months later about the same thing happened. I’d gone to the movies with my little sister and some stupid old girl said something about her when we were coming out and I got really mad. There was a little pushing and shoving and a whole lot of cussin. Dennis was out in the parking lot to pick us up and he heard everything. He was mad and when he told us to get in the truck I didn’t say anymore, we just got in.

He dropped my sister off at the house and told her to tell mama I’d be home later. He hadn’t said nothing to me. Then he drove to this cabin he’d been fixing up. As soon as we got inside he said, I told you I’d whip your butt if you talked like that again. Then he put me over his knee and spanked me hard. Dennis is a really big man.  His hand is near as big as a dinner plate. Seemed like he spanked me for a really long time, I was crying and telling him I was sorry and that I wouldn’t do in any more.

He still took his time. When he was done he went over to his big chair and held me in his lap while I cried. I was crying because I was hurting but also because I was embarrassed. I hadn’t been spanked too much growing up. Mama would switch us once and a while but being put over Dennis’ lap like that and how much I really liked him well I was just embarrassed.

He just let me sit there and cry for a long time while he rubbed my back. Then he started talking and telling me I was too good a person to talk like that. He said he wouldn’t want his wife or the mother of his children to talk that way. It wasn’t exactly a proposal but it sure got my attention. I don’t cuss any more, not even when I’m mad. If I did I’m guessing Dennis would handle it about the same way but that’s not why I stopped. I stopped because Dennis wanted me to and I love him.

Fantasy Friday - Real Life

It’s been a while. But I wanted to let everyone know that Fantasy Friday is not dead, it’s only resting. Fantasy Friday began nearly ten years ago to let everyone who reads here have a place where they could send in a story and have it posted whether they had a blog or not. Personally, I loved it and I got to know so many wonderful people who sent stories. Some are now my best friends in real life. I wanted to make another pitch and for three weeks I’m posting re-runs.

This three-story series was one of my favorites. First off this sweet woman didn’t think she could write, but her stories really touched me. It shows that everyone has a story in them. It may be your real life; it could be a fantasy you’ve carried in your head for years just to enjoy in private. I’m just here to encourage you to write your story, your fantasy. Write it for yourself mostly but if you’re willing send it to me and I’ll share it as a Fantasy Friday. My readers have always been very supportive – reading the comment can be a real ego booster.

I may occasionally post some re-runs, but right now I only plan to have a Fantasy Friday up when I get a new one. Hopefully once a month. All that depends on you. You can send your story to elisspeaks@yahoo.com

Real Life

I guess this really isn’t a Fantasy Friday story. I can’t write story like all of you all can. I emailed PK to tell her I liked reading and she told me to try writing one. I told her everyone out here seemed like really good writers and I didn’t want to do that then she told me to just write my own story of my life. So I got up the nerve to try.

We’re very ordinary people. Dennis works hard, he doesn’t wear a tie. He comes home dirty from work but he comes home with a smile for me and the kids. He’s a good man. We don’t have money for many extras but he’ll bring me wild flowers from the field sometimes. He’ll watch the kids if I want to go to the movies with my friends. When he sees I’m too tired or frustrated to cook supper he’ll pile us all in the car and go to McDonalds to eat. He’ll have me and the kids laughing at his jokes and teasing so much the worries of the day just fade away.

Out here you all tall about a dd relationship. We've never called it anything. He doesn't have a ton of rules and stuff but he’s serious about 3 things, keep yourself healthy and safe, don’t lie to him and no sass mouth. I do my best but if I break these rules I get my butt whipped. Our kids have the same rules but they don’t get whipped for breaking them. Dennis says they’re just kids that need to learn. A night with no TV is all we need to use to straighten them right up when they forget. Dennis says I’m a grown woman and should know better.

I lied to him about a Christmas gift I got for the kids. I knew he’d think it was too much and I really wanted to get it so I told him it was half of what it really cost. I write the checks to pay for stuff so I didn’t think he would know but for some reason he saw the bill. He was pretty mad. He went right to the phone and called my mama – she only lives about 10 minutes away. He told her that he sure would like to have some time alone with his wife and could the kids come visit for a while. My mama was tickled and told him to bring them on and let them spend the night. She thinks its real romantic when he does this. Sometimes it is, but not this time.

After he got the kids ready he whispered to me to that I better have my naked butt in the bedroom corned and be holding the hairbrush when he got back. I sure wasn’t happy but I did like he said. I heard him come in later but I kept my eyes in the corner. I could tell he was standing in the bedroom doorway and finally he asked me what happened when I lied to him. I told him I knew I’d get a whippin. And I sure did. He spanked me real hard! I was hollering and crying by the time he finished. He was sweet afterwards and hugged me and dried my tears but he wasn’t done with me yet. Lying is something Dennis is real serious about. He told me that that it would take him about 7 hours of work to pay off the $120 I’d lied about and that for the next week I’d have to spend an hour after we got the kids in bed writing lines for him. That wouldn’t be so bad except when I’m writing lines I don’t get to just sit in a chair. Dennis brought this awful rough door mat. It hurts real bad just to rub your hand across it. He puts that in chair I have to sit my naked butt on that thing for an hour a night for the next 7 nights while I write those lines. I wish I hadn’t lied to him to start with. I told him I was real sorry and he knew I was telling the truth.

I know this isn’t a real story like you all are used to but I appreciate PK letting me be a part of Fantasy Friday too.

Mollie wants a cat

Yes, Mollie wants a cat. I had no doubt this was coming. She’s lived with cats all her life. Now that her roommate bailed on her (and boy, could I write a post or two about that roommate) Mollie's lonely and she’s mentioned a cat more and more often. While I want to be supportive I’m not sure it’s the right time for a cat.

I explained my concerns to her. 1) She has brand new furniture and whether she gets a scratching post or not the new couch and chair are going to be damaged. 2) For the first time in her life she is living cat hair free. She doesn’t have to have a sticky roller in every room and in her car – is she ready to give that up? 3) Pets are expensive. She carrying a mortgage now with no roommate, does she want extra expenses? 4) She has a trip planned for later in the summer, who cat sits? I could go on, but you get the idea. I told her I understood and I loved cats too – but was this the right time?

LJ and Collin have two cats in the city and she decided to give him a call. His take on the situation, “Everything mom says is right! They have destroyed our furniture and we need to invest in the sticky-roller business. Everything in the apartment is covered. I hate living in cat fur. But taking all that into account I love our cats way more than I do the furniture and having my clothes fur free.”

Sigh… meet my new grand cat.

She's little.

She sleeps a lot.

And she's precious and I love her 
and Mollie makes a great mom.

Home with my man

I feel like I’ve been away forever. Retirement hasn’t given me the unending time to blog that I had envisioned. But I’ve just gotten back from a wonderful trip full of time in the sun, great conversations and wonderful food! Definitely my kind of trip!

But I was still happy to get home to Nick. It seems we’ve been

apart for a very long time. After his mom broke her hip everyone took turns sitting with her in the hospital. Nick and I did a lot of passing one another with mostly a, ‘hey’ or, ‘I’ll see you later.’ MIL is in rehab now and doing well physically, but Alzheimer’s is a relentless bitch and we all still have to deal with that.

Nick and I were really happy to be able to spend Saturday together. We went shopping and I got him some Adirondack chairs for him for Father’s Day. While we had the trailer hitched up we also took our broken down pool furniture to the dump – not the most thrilling part of my Saturday, but I still got to be with Nick. After that we still had the afternoon to ourselves.

I told him that my sunburn was stinging a little and that I sure could use some lotion rubbed on it, and as long as he was rubbing… I also pointed out that while my shoulders and chest had gotten too red, other parts of me definitely needed color.  The sweet man was willing to help with both. I entered the bedroom wearing a recently acquired tiara – I wanted the man to know he was dealing with someone of royal standing. He thought it was extremely appropriate, and I was indeed treated like a queen.

I also realized that I am officially a spanking wimp! I just can’t take it like I used to. Strange, I used to be able to take anything he could throw at me and he would always stop way before I wanted him to. No longer! It might be different if it was for real, but just for play I’m thinking we should stick to patty-cake.

After I did get a little color I was ready to move on to bigger and better things and we did. I love afternoon loving! You can finish up and go right into a well-deserved, loving induced, coma/nap.

I am very happy to be home with my man. Traveling is always fun, but for me – a hermit at heart – few things beat being able to stay home writing and puttering around. Hopefully, I’m going to be here a little more often, I hope you will too.

I just heard myself give a talk on writing…

Okay, it wasn’t really me, but it could have been. I went to hear Ann B. Ross speak this week. She is the author of the Miss Julia

series and one of my all-time favorite writers. Her books are vanilla and contain absolutely no spanking (the only thing that could improve them) but seriously, they are wonderful. There are nineteen in the series and now and she is working on number twenty. I’ve read every one more than once.  I must be right in her target area. When I walked into the room where she was to speak I hadn’t seen so many little white haired ladies since Mollie went to see The Help. But I read her first one almost twenty years ago and I love it then too.

I was anxious to hear her speak and as I listened I was stunned to hear all she was saying. Honestly, change the name of the main character and I could have made the talk. She started by saying she had not begun with the idea of writing a book – it was this woman she was picturing in her head that was telling her the story. She said the character often just took off in their own direction over which she had very little control. She went on to say that her biggest problem was coming up with a plot. Amen, sister! Like me she is well acquainted with her characters and knows them like family, but coming up with a major conflict then resolution for each book can be tough.

I’ve always worried about this with the Cassie books – I know Cassie and Tom, Sue and Steve and all the rest. Give me a situation and I can tell you how each of my characters will react. That’s the problem sometimes, I need someone to give me a situation. Ms. Ross says she gets her ideas from everywhere, news stories, overheard conversations, listening to her friends gossip – anything. Maybe I need to be listening harder in real-life.

She went on to say that her writing day consist of getting up and dressed (in case someone stops by) eating breakfast as she does the cross-word puzzle then getting a cup of coffee and heading to her writing room where she writes for a few hours. Exchange checking my email and Facebook for cross-word puzzle and you have most of my writing days.

I had her sign one her books for me. I would have love to sit and talk with her about writing. But I never mentioned to her that I wrote. There was a line and it wouldn’t have been appropriate. But luckily I was in line with another retired teacher who knew about my books and she asked about them. Several ladies around us seemed interested and I was happy to give them one of my cards.

I guess the thing I envied the most was her interaction with her readers.  Lots of people write her and ask about the books – fuss at her for incidents they don’t like sometimes, but in general tell her they enjoy her work and ask her questions about it. She gets tons of reviews on Amazon, I would love to be able to say that. And of course, she gets invited to talk with groups who like her books – that would be fun!  I guess that the price I pay for writing spanking fiction instead of vanilla. But I wouldn’t give up what I write – I do love it!