Caffeine and a smile~

A couple of months ago I chose to stop writing for my town paper, feeling that something was going to snap-- maybe me-- if I didn't cut down on some of the things I was doing.

I was behind on my invoices, three months worth of stories had never been submitted for payment, so I sat down yesterday, finally, to make out an invoice. I'd kept records of my stories, but I decided to double-check my accuracy by looking at the online archive of the paper's online.

A bold headline caught my eye. I did a double-take, the way I'd react if I saw my boss in an unexpected place like a liquor store or church. My own name stood out in bold.

The story was a press release for the latest Chicken Soup For the Soul book in which I have a story. The CS people must have sent a press release; I vaguely remember signing an online form that gave them permission. It's part of their marketing plan.

I laughed when I read the summary the CS team wrote. It starts: "Douillette is late for work."

Okay, yeah, late, and notice I still stopped to get coffee. Little did I know when I wrote this piece that my boss would end up reading it.

One of my teacher friends showed the book at a teacher's meeting and read an excerpt.
My principal asked to read the rest of the piece. The topic of being late prompted the assistant principal to say, "Hey, you haven't been late this year!"

True, I haven't. It took an empty nest to clear my way in the morning. I only have myself to worry about, no last minute requests to iron something, no shuffling cars in the drive way, no chat about what the day holds . . . and no good bye hug either. But I'm on time for the first time in three kids and 34 years.
~~~~~
Douillette’s story featured in new 'Chicken Soup for the Soul' series
Wed Nov 21, 2007, 02:48 PM EST

BRIDGEWATER, MASS. - Ruth Douillette of Bridgewater, a former correspondent for The Bridgewater Independent wrote an original short story that has been published in the newly released “Chicken Soup for the Soul Delectable Series-Chocolate, Coffee, Tea and Wine,” the latest books in the New York Times best- selling “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series.

In “Caffeine and a Smile,” Douillette is late for work. Her patience and understanding is tested on a cold morning waiting in the drive-thru at her local coffee shop.

Each story was selected from thousands of submissions and was included in the “Chicken Soup for the Soul Delectable Series” because of the writer's ability to deliver clever, humorous insights and the important lessons learned through life experience.
~~~~~
“He was always late on principle, his principle being that punctuality is the thief of time.” ~Oscar Wilde

For Alice~ She's home!!!!!!!

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson Sometimes it's all about knowing that loved ones and friends stand behind you, knowing that support is there on the down days, the worry days, the days when you feel off-center, out of sync, bedraggled emotionally, and in pain, but knowing all the while that you're not alone. You're not alone... Alice is an online friend--she lives in Hawaii-- who belongs to the writer's workshop that I do. We've only "met" online, but those who have online friendships know that they can be just as strong as those in-person relationships. Alice was hit by a car while walking, and is in the rehab phase of things. She's working to regain mobility after a broken pelvis, a broken arm, and a broken nose. It's scary to realize how, in the blink of an eye, life can lurch and our plans for a time are displaced by survival and healing. We...

Killing time~

I'd woken feeling stuffy headed, slightly allergy-ish, puffy-eyed, and a tad grumpy. Lots to do, little time in which to do it, school issues keeping me in a state of angst, I considered not going to David's game. But it was Saturday, the game fairly close to home-- Salem State College-- an hour or so north through Boston to the town of Salem, famous for the 1692 witch trials that saw 19 suspected witches, many of them social outcasts, hang on Gallows Hill. A change of pace was what I needed whether I wanted it or not, so I went. I squeezed in a walk around the block that enclosed Salem State's O'Keefe Center while waiting for the game to begin. Just to kill time. I get so few chances to do that. Others walking, too, passed with no eye contact, no greetings, just sharing the same planet. Two were coming toward me. Still unfocused in the distance . . . one was tall, the other short . . . two men . . . loose clothing . . . like army clothes, camouflage . . . beard and lon...

Missing Becky~

Becky~ August 19, 1991 to April 26, 2010 She was so loved, this gentle pet of mine. And how she loved us back. I've been alone in my house before, of course. Those days when my husband took the kids out for the day, being able to vacuum without a baby in one arm and a toddler, riding the vacuum cleaner like it was a bronco, was solitary pleasure. Later there were quiet days as the kids were at camp and my husband at work. And then came the bittersweet aloneness when kids left home for college and a life apart. Still, I'd always liked being alone, knowing it was short lived. This morning, after my husband pulled out of the driveway with a day full of plans, I stood in the living room feeling alone in a way I never had before. An unfamiliar emptiness and silence surrounded me. Yesterday we put our 18-year-old cat, Becky, to sleep. The decision to do so was surprisingly easy. The vet had told us Becky would let us know when it was time, and somehow she did. But ...

~Upstream and Down~

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