The word for this past Friday was “crowd”. When I think of that word, I see large groups of people in my mind. But as I thought about the word over the last few days that seemed too easy, too predictable.

Other things can be crowded too. Your clothing can be crowded when you’ve put on a few pounds. Your schedule can be overcrowded when you say yes to all the things even the ones you don’t really want to do. Your mind can be crowded with thoughts, especially things you are trying to remember and should really write down. Your home can get crowded if you have lots of people or possessions living there with you.

So many things can crowd you. I like my space. I think that if you put a child’s hula-hoop on the floor and stepped into the middle of it, that is about how much personal space I feel comfortable having around me. More is fine, but less is either awkward or downright uncomfortable unless it is a member of my immediate family.

Ever have one of those nights when you are falling on your face with exhaustion and then you go to bed and can’t sleep because your brain won’t let you. There are too many things bouncing around and crowding out the calm needed to relax and go to sleep? Not all crowds involve people, no matter what image flashes in your brain when you see or hear the word.

This post is part of the weekly Five Minute Friday link-up!
The prompt this week is: Crowd
The assignment: Write for five minutes on the word of the week. This is meant to be a free write, which means: no editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation. Just write.

Rain is the word for this Five Minute Friday and what an appropriate word it is. I was battling with it less than twenty-four hours ago.

These days, because I am in the boot, I have to take a little extra time to do the simplest things like run errands. You see, the boot is on my right foot this time because my Achilles Tendon is acting up. Why is that a problem? Well, because I need to use my right foot to press the gas pedal when I drive. Yep, you guessed it, I have to take the boot off to drive and put on my shoe, then before I can get out of the car to do whatever I need to do, I get to reverse the process and put on the boot. Now, this is not so bad on a nice day, but what about the days when it rains? I usually have both legs outside the car while switching into and out of the boot because it is a BIG boot and there is not enough room to maneuver it on the driver’s side of the car with the pedals and steering wheel taking up space.

I was out and about getting things done that couldn’t be put off. So anyway, it looked like rain while I was out and I hurried back to the car, had barely gotten the boot off and settled into the passenger side floorboard,  my shoe on so I could drive, started the car and got about half a mile down the road when the skies opened up and it really let loose. I mean it rained so hard I could barely see well enough to drive and it kept up most of the way home. God was looking out for me though because when I got a few blocks from home, the rain eased up to barely a sprinkle.

I am supposed to be wearing the big, knee-high boot whenever I am standing or walking unless I am sleeping, showering or driving, per podiatrist’s orders. No, I don’t put it on if I get out of bed in the middle of the night to use the restroom. Usually, when I am leaving the house and driving myself somewhere, I carry the boot out to the car in the tote bag I use just for that purpose. This seems to be working pretty well and I AM wearing it about 90% of the time when I am not sleeping, showering or driving. I really Am trying my best to do what I am supposed to so it will get better sooner rather than later. I just wish there was an easier and faster way to get in and out of that boot when hanging half out of the car to do so isn’t practical like when it rains. I can only imagine how much fun it will be in the ice and snow of winter, which is another reason I am trying to behave and follow the doctor’s orders.

Ideally, if it is raining I either try to put off going out in it or try to talk hubby into driving me if that is an option. But there will surely be times when it can’t be avoided and I am not looking forward to those times. If you have any suggestions on how to handle this, please let me know.

This post is part of the weekly Five Minute Friday link-up!
The prompt this week is: Rain
The assignment: Write for five minutes on the word of the week. This is meant to be a free write, which means: no editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation. Just write.

Rush is the prompt word for this week and though every week I promise myself I will get back to writing to the prompt on Thursday night or Friday at the latest, it seems I am always in a rush trying to get the most done in the least amount of time. So here we are at Thursday again, nothing like a little procrastination to light a fire under this writer!

Usually, when I don’t get things written, it is because I haven’t settled my mind yet on what I want to say, but this word seemed easy so that wasn’t the issue this week. Life is just busy sometimes because others make it busy, but mostly I have only myself to blame. I feel like I have too many irons in the fire these days. Too many books I want to read, podcasts or audiobooks I want to listen to and even movies on NetFlix I want to watch. It is overwhelming and just when I think I have settled on what needs to happen next, something throws a monkey wrench into the whole works and I find myself playing catchup.

So my goal for this week is to slow down and make a list of the top three things I want or need to accomplish each day. If I can get the three things on the list done, I will give myself permission to let everything else go for the rest of that day. Now I may make a huge list of everything just so I don’t forget anything, but I will go through before bed or when I start the day and choose the top three. I will also attempt, yet again, to write the Five Minute Friday prompt by midnight on Friday, but no promises!

This post is part of the weekly Five Minute Friday link-up!
The prompt this week is: Rush
The assignment: Write for five minutes on the word of the week. This is meant to be a free write, which means: no editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation. Just write.

The prompt this week is loyal. I had trouble figuring out what to write about it because when I think of loyalty and the human race, I realize the one person I am loyal to above all others is my husband. The kids are a close second, but I have more history with Hubby. My siblings would be next after Hubby and the kids. I kept stumbling with writing even for just five minutes on the word loyal because it seemed like thinking of being loyal to my spouse was just too simple.

To me, loyalty comes only with history and experience. Just as with people, there can also be brand loyalty. When we were growing up, poor by any standards, mom had brand loyalty to a couple of brands and would only buy those brands or none at all. She always bought Jif creamy peanut butter, Crest toothpaste, and Eckrich hotdogs (not sure if this was because it was a brand that started in Indiana) or she didn’t buy those items at all. Oddly enough, because of experience with these brands, I tend to buy them as well, though I am more likely to buy them only when they are on a good sale.

So, what are you loyal to?

This post is part of the weekly Five Minute Friday link-up!
The prompt this week is: Loyal
The assignment: Write for five minutes on the word of the week. This is meant to be a free write, which means: no editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation. Just write.