Autumn and Rainy Days

Hopefully, you have blue skies and the air is crisp with fall. However, where I’m at as I write this post, we have rain.

There’s the day when I throw a light blanket on me and hit the couch. I grab the channel changer and head to the movie stations and settle in for a long stretch, the requisite diet drink and popcorn by my side.  Sometimes, I’ll haul out my needlepoint and watch and work. The hours slip by as I go from one movie to the next.

Once, Handsome asked me what I wanted for my birthday. He laughed when I named two girly movies, popcorn and a cold drink. No boys. No man. No housework. Nothing. Just me and my movies.

It was a really great day.

No kid likes a bleh day. Mine weren’t so bad. With three sisters, I had built-in playmates. We played a lot of board games, card games, did puzzles, and read. Sometimes, the non-network TV station showed a really good old movie. Sometimes, we baked cookies or other treats.

I like having a string of those days where nothing but a drip drip comes down. It makes me want to hang out in my pajamas with a diet drink and popcorn. Or Cheetoes. LOL. But more importantly, with a really great book. One I cannot put down.

I like getting immersed in a story and just hate when it’s over. When I’m carried along, and before I know it, The End. A day all for me.

Seems like we all need a drizzly day to slow down from our hectic pace and get back to ourselves. To indulge just a bit. To laugh and to love. To read.

What do you indulge in when you have a rainy day?       

Here’s an excerpt from my holiday romantic comedy, “The Great Fruitcake Bake-off”:

“I am not entering this year.” Standing firm, I crossed my arms and pinned an unbreakable stare on Bethany, my co-worker and long-time friend who lived in the same apartment complex as me. We’d arrived early for work and were piddling over coffee in her cubical like we always did before getting to the nuts and bolts of company business. I added, “Period.”

She rolled her eyes in that I’m so not believing this fashion and tweaked the Santa garland decorating her cube’s walls. “Why not, Samantha? You should be proud to be the five-time winner of the Great Fruitcake Bake-off. You’re a-a…” her words trailed off as she searched the ceiling for the ultimate in descriptive, “legend.”

“Is being a legend in the fruitcake world a good thing?” I let loose a long exhale, dropping my arms to my side. “It’s exhausting. Finding the perfect recipe, then bake and exhibit it. The tension cuts into my holiday enjoyment. Besides, shouldn’t somebody else win?”

Bethany’s fists went to her hips. “Sam, we’re talking fruitcake here. It’s not groundbreaking like, like the Declaration of Independence or…the Pyramids.”

I set my hand to my breastbone. “I’m shocked to hear you, my very best confidant since dance school days, say that. Fruitcake is the cake of all time. It dates to–”

She bobbed her head. “I know, I know. To the sixteenth century.”

I raised my finger. “It gets a bad–”

“Rap.” She sighed, a soul searching blow of breath which told the world I’ve heard this issue before. “You always say that. You also always say you love participating; yet, you’re not defending your title this year.” She bore a laser-like glare into me.

I tossed my hands skywards, sending a plea to the heavens to find an answer. “I’ve used up all of Grammie’s recipes. I don’t know where to find a new one.”

“You could start over with the first confection you entered five years ago, couldn’t you?”

“I suppose, but it seems like cheating…in a weird way. And I don’t cheat.”

“You are a shining example of excellent values.” She plopped in the ergonomic lime green chair and spun about to face her desk. She drummed her fingers from the littlest to the index and considered. In a flash, she brightened. “I’ve got it! Why not check online and find a recipe? A new creation to bake. There has to be one somewhere.”

“They don’t call you brainchild for nothing.” I rubbed a finger along the divot below my lower lip. A tiny speck of excitement blossomed within me. I could do this one more time, that is, if I found the perfect recipe. If.

Hilarious—right? If you’d like more laughs, you can preorder “The Great Fruitcake Bake-off” at: Muse It Up Publishing

Find Vicki at: http://vickibatman.blogspot.com and at other great social media sites.

May your days be full of

reading and great fun!