Not much of a morning person, especially in the mornings.

Jun2

Morning came too soon today,
I wanna crawl back in my bed.
I wanna close my sleepy eyes,
and cover up my head.

There’s no rest for the weary,
at least that’s what they say.
I guess I’ll have to suck it up
and go on about my day.

I’ll make myself some coffee
just a pot or two,
then I must get started
on all I have to do.

I should tidy up the house
pay the bills now overdue,
decide what to make for dinner
and wash a load or two.

I haven’t dusted in a while
I should get that done,
no one else will do it
I guess I’m the only one.

Then again . . .

The mess will just return
later on today,
the bills are late already
what harm is one more day?

No one’s gonna starve to death
if I don’t cook and prep and bake,
they can forage in the pantry
for something they can make.

And if they truly wanted
their laundry done each day,
they’d put it in the bin
instead of where they lay.

So . . .

I’m goin’ back to bed
to close my sleepy eyes,
I’ll do it all tomorrow
when the sun begins to rise.

Crystal R. Cook

Stop putting stickers on books, please stop.

Jun1

Stop putting stickers on books, please stop.

I have many pet peeves, there are just so many things one can find to be peeved about. Have no fear, I won’t be entertaining you with a list of them . . . not today.

This particular peeve involves books. I love books. I adore them, I collect them, and I cherish them. I respect each and every word between the covers, as well as those printed upon the covers themselves, especially the back covers. There, I can sometimes take a sneak peek at what lies within, it’s like licking the spoon before the cupcakes are ready.

While on vacation not long ago, I found myself in an amazing little book shop. It carried an alluring mixture of books, the old and the new and the in-between. I walked each aisle, running my fingers along the spines of each book, pulling from the shelf the ones that called out to me.

Excited to see what they wanted to say, I eagerly read what tale was to be told, but I was dismayed to find large stickers haphazardly covering the precious words on more than many of them, so I slowly peeled them back, searching for buried treasure.

While peeling back one of those unnecessarily large and ill placed stickers, a young woman approached me. She said, “Ma’am, could you please not peel off our stickers?” I politely informed her I was merely peeling them back enough to read the synopsis, she looked annoyed. “I’m sorry, but you can’t do that.”

Now I was annoyed, “How am I supposed to know if I want to buy the book if I can’t even read the back?” She looked at the book in my hand, “I’ve read that one, trust me, it’s good.” Trust her? For all I know, she is the one who slapped the awful stickers on those precious books! She feigned a smile while saying, “You’re just going to have to buy it and see if you like it.”

What is wrong with this child? “So it’s like Obamacare then?” was my response . . . She said, “Carry on.” and shuffled off.

It was actually quite a good book

Crystal R. Cook

Coffee Does Not Equal Food . . . I beg to differ my dear man.

May30

I was sitting at my computer one morning, keys clicking and words pouring, when all of a sudden I get a pop-up. I hate those things so I always have them blocked, this one snuck right on by though, It said . . .

“Coffee does not equal food! I love you!”

First of all, coffee HAS to be a food group, they just forgot to give it its own spot on the pyramid. Secondly, I love you? That wasn’t creepy at all. Upon closer examination, I see my husband had found a way to set little alarm messages to pop up at certain times of the day. That was the first.

I tend to forget about the world around me when I sit down to write and I often forgo the essential snacks and meals I should partake of. I remember having two articles to write and without any conscious effort on my part, I think I managed to drink four cups of coffee, got all of my writing AND my proofreading done PLUS managed to squeeze in some time on Facebook. I did not however, eat anything but a few glucose tablets.

For some people, this may not be too terribly bad, but I happen to be diabetic, so my sugars are rather off when I have those days, it always gets my dear hubby a bit peeved. This time, he had dispensed with the lecture and simply set my computer to turn on me. The next day, there were more pop up messages for me.

“Put down the cup and eat something!”

Geesh, fine, I will. I grabbed a yogurt and sat back down, then something totally creepy happened. After a few bites and a few more sentences another message invaded the screen –

“One yogurt isn’t going to cut it! EAT!”

Does the man have cameras on me? Is there a P.I. outside a window or something? Am I really that predictable?

“Make some toast!”

FINE! Enough already, I have things to do! Toast in hand, crumbs on the keyboard and yogurt half empty I see –

“Put peanut butter on it!”

I kind of wanted to hurt him a little bit at this point so naturally, I made another cup of coffee. Next time he hacks my life center I’d better see some pop-ups saying things like, “I love you and I care for you and you are wonderful and I cherish and adore you blah, blah, blah.”

I suppose the messages he sent my way really meant the same thing. I still say coffee is a food though.

Crystal R. Cook