Checking in...

I enjoy getting good deals but I have never really been one to go out of my way for a deal on anything.
My mom introduced me to getting second-hand clothes at The Salvation Army and I will admit I have come away with a couple shirts that I really love.

Anywho, I found some cute sandals at Target today for only $6 so I grabbed them.
I really didn't need them and I probably shouldn't have spent the money on them {even at that low a price} but it is really hard to find cute {adult} shoes in my size, so yeah... {please disregard the calluses on my feet I have not had a pedicure in a very long time and I prefer to go barefoot often}

I have been listening to a lot of Jazz lately, I enjoy the way I seem to be able to feel the emotion in the music.
Chet Baker {one of my favorites}, Elvis Costello, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, etc.

I remember when I first started listening to jazz, I was 19 and I was dating a boy that played the trumpet. I wanted to like the things that he liked so I went to a store and started browsing the CDs. I stumbled across a CD with Chet Baker's most memorable songs and just bought it on the spot without ever even hearing his name before.
I discovered Elvis Costello in a similar way {well sort of}. I was listening to NPR a lot at the time and every now and then they would run a segment on an artist or musician. Elvis Costello was about to release a new CD so he was being interviewed and I liked the song snippets that were played and I also liked the way he spoke about his music. So needless to say, I went out and bought on of his CDs shortly after that radio segment.

One thing that annoys me is that I seem to have misplaced both of the before mentioned CDs when I moved. I have been listening to their music on YouTube in order to prevent myself from running out and repurchasing their CDs.  One day though.

I decided to make myself a small cup of coffee a little while ago and then decided that I needed to take a picture of said coffee! Then I wanted to have a neat background, so I pulled out a notepad and started writing a random part of my story {See Random About Me #1 at the end, I am writing a story} which I like to do with my fountain pen.
Ended up writing about a page and a half before my camera battery was charged up enough to snap a picture.

I have had it in the back of my head from the beginning that I wanted two of the characters to fall in love with one another, eventually, while they are struggling to get through the mess they are put in. I know I want there to be tension between them {as in they don't really like each other at the beginning and get angry often}. I don't know if this little snippet will actually end up in the final story but it was fun to write it anyways. My fountain pen was going a little crazy on me but I still love it {pretty cheap one from a craft and art supply store}.

Now I kind of want to pull out my rough drafts and actually work on the story...
It is currently 14 pages long with 6,683 words and I am on the 5th chapter {some chapters will be shorter than others because I am trying to focus on one character's perspective/storyline per chapter}.

Here is an excert from the prologue...

The pain was excruciating. 

The healer woman was kneeling at my feet chanting gibberish and suffocating the tent with her burning herbs. I wished she would go away and leave me to my struggles. The child was strong; I could feel it as he tried to help me in his birth, stretching and moving.