Gauntlet Schmontlet

You threw the gauntlet down with one
impressed smirk
that barely detectable lilt
at the corner of your mouth
the shy glance beneath your
protective brow
that backward look
to make sure I am really
here

I took that gauntlet up and it’s burning a hole in my hand

I thought I wanted my groove back

but I’m holding back
fire
fire
fire that makes me cry

The Falling Night

The branches and their leaves, the hillside that sits behind our house, and telephone poles have turned into black construction paper cutouts against a faded blue-gray sky. White glittering pinpoints twinkle from white to brighter white. In the dusky blue above, some stars twinkle from white to green to red and become airplanes making their slow motion meteoric fall toward the quiet ground. Everything is black or grey, save the tan bamboo growing along the still whitish fence that guards our grassy heaven and home. Everything has lost it’s hue and only shades of muted blacks and whites and sky grays remain. Those colorful crickets though… they are singing to the night in a purple, pink, and orange melody.

Fall upon me, Night.

Dawn upon me, Light.

Boots, Boxes, and the Lovey Dovey

Earlier today, while going through boxes in the garage, I came across a boot-sized box, inscribed with the word “Ugg”. I opened the box.

“Ugh”, I said.

Sure enough, there were the fat fuzzy boots. But why were they in this box? This wasn’t a boot box, not anymore. Last year, I had taken them out of the box, and they had lived in the bottom of my old closet with all my other boots, sneakers, flip-flops, and pumps.

No, this was not a boot box. This was a treasure chest. If this relationship were any other relationship, this box would be the “Burn Box” for when we broke up. But no, this box is where you put all the things you don’t ever want to forget. This is where, again, if this were any other relationship, you would put the things you never want to remember, along with a well-tortured voodoo dreadlock havin’ rag-man-doll, before you do a full moon chant and torch that mofo with all his lame so-called-love tokens! This is serious business, this box.

This is not a boot box. But still, there they were. Right on top of our precious unforgettable treasures. There were cards, letters, love notes, napkins, wine corks, and gift wrap, ribbons and even the gift bags for all the presents my sweet, sweet Squeezy had given to me. This box was holding LOVE. And Uggs.

I chose this big fat boot box because it was the biggest little box I had at the time, and even though it was big enough for fat fuzzy winter boots, it still wouldn’t be big enough to hold all of the lovey dovey tokens yet to come, no way! This was box #1 of… who frikken knows? Me and my Squeezy have a long row to hoe before the sun sets on this story. That’s a lot of wine corks and love notes and… plowing. That’s a lot of boxes. And a lot of love.

And a whole lot of why are there boots in here too?

Why? Because, when I moved in with him, Squeezy volunteered to pack up my closet. He popped the lid off the Uggs box, saw there was still room, chucked the boots in and wallah(!) he’s helpful.

Go Squeezy…

Ladies, it just goes to show, there is no room for man’s “logic” where boxes of romance are concerned. Unlike Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, “you got your logic in my love box” will not turn into your favorite way to keep PMS at bay. It may only lead to confused blogging and dusting boot-prints off envelopes, love notes, and wine corks.

Say, what’s with all the wine corks?

Everybody knows there’s nothing like a little grape juice to grease the plow!

Are we there yet?

Mr. King said this intentionally, I’m sure. While I do know why he found adverbs so sinful, I find the absence of them, in my case, exceptionally worse. My own personal road to hell is not paved with them. In fact it’s not paved with adjectives, nouns, or prepositional phrases or in fact any words at all.

And that’s my problem. My life is hell because of the absence of words. I need to write. I want to write. But I avoid it like the plague. I will think I’m going to write. I will be convinced that I am. And then I don’t. My road to hell actually IS paved with good intentions!

So today, for the fourth time in a row (not the fourth consecutive time) I wrote in my journal (which doesn’t count) that I NEED to write, that I MUST write, that I WILL write. And then, I threw my journal down, made a coffee (yes, we’re back to that), marched up the stairs, all but tied myself to my desk chair, and am now writing. Don’t let’s get our hopes up, folks. But it’s a start!

Reformed Coffee Junky

So I started my Reboot last Monday, and this is eight days later. Here’s me, yesterday, feeling clean and spunky!

I’m sitting here with my watermelon juice (rind and all) which is supposed to give me incredible energy. I’ll let you know how that goes! My Reboot started with three days of eating only fruits and veggies and at least one green juice, followed by 10 days (I’m on day 5, halfway there) of strictly juicing. The “green” juice I drink is mainly Joe’s Mean Green Juice, find it on the website here. I’ll also include it below this post. Sometimes I add a little something different to it, like an orange, or more cucumber, or some pineapple, just to keep things different. It took awhile, but I’m finally feeling that boost of energy I’ve been reading about.

Just yesterday I decided to add a whey protein smoothie to my day as well, because with all my energy, I’m wanting to workout. My workout today was significantly different than any I’ve experienced in a looong time, due to the level of energy and just plain “want to” that I felt.

Another reason for adding the protein is that I’ve lost 8.5 pounds in just eight days. It’s the strangest/amazing feeling to look down at myself and know that it’s mostly water weight that I lost, maybe a little fat, hopefully no muscle… but just feeling inside and out like I was all puffy and swollen before, and now I look so different. My feet and ankles and legs and arms and face look quite a lot different, and it wasn’t even fat, it was just BLOAT. Yuck.

I saw in the movie and read on the website how lots of people start out with a 5, 10, or 15 day Reboot but end up extending it. I can see myself doing that, simply because I feel so good! I’m already considering what one mouthful of food I once craved will do to my body. I don’t want to get water-chubby and lethargic again!

And I keep forgetting that I haven’t had coffee in over a week. I was a coffee-a-holic, and I don’t miss it at all. Now I enjoy a different “Cup-a-Joe” :)

Here’s Joe’s Mean Green:

Ingredients

1 cucumber
4 celery stalks
2 apples
6-8 leaves kale (Australian tuscan cabbage)
1/2 lemon
1 tbsp ginger

Directions

Wash all produce well
Peel the lemon, optional
Juice
Pour over ice
Enjoy!

Better Different

No, but tell me a story
I want to believe in you
I want to believe
that you’re not just like
normal regular room temperature
me
like yawned about forgettable adventureless
me

tell me something fantastic
that I don’t deserve
something crazy about you
that makes me
lucky
better
different
colorful
just because
I know
you

tell me a story
that never ends
something that will fascinate
me and everyone I know
for
ever
something that makes our jaws
drop
something that we’ve never heard before
something ridiculous and impossible
and not all the way
true

no, tell me a story
I need to believe
please, tell me a story
spare me the truth
I don’t want to know
that I’m just like
you

saying it now

soft white feelings
whip me up like cool whip
fluffy and airy I float all
misty and cool and shiny like the moon hiding under a branch
I’m the rightiest keys on the piano at mom’s
high and tinkly and croony like Timberlake and
I’m loving you but
you can’t feel me
no
you don’t know
you don’t know
you don’t know
because I don’t say
I don’t say
I just come back down to earth
in the kitchen

and I don’t say