No one intentionally watches that. Unless you're my dad.

Hmmm, today.

Slept in, that was awesome, did some laundry, then met up with my teens at the bookstore to pick out paperbacks for the library to buy.

Huzzah for Barnes and Noble.

My favorite bookstore, though not my favorite location, but it worked.

Big group today, and I'm always impressed with them so it was a lot of fun.

Basically, gave them sheets for them to write down title, author and ISBN number. We jammed in the YA area for the majority of the time, but stopped by the youth area in the end to see if there were any youth stuff that could pass for YA.

In the end I got a lot of great titles. Two of my teens who are close to aging out brought up the fact that next year may be their last year, though technically it's TEEN Advisory Board so I'm saying 19 counts.

But what happens after 19? We do stuff for youths and teens and adults, but where do college kids fit in the mix? We're close enough to the University, we should have some sort of programming for them as well. Perhaps I'll bring it up to the bosses, see what they have to say.

After they wrote down titles they got snacks - which they said was their favorite part. Cause who doesn't love cheesecake, really? I got an IBC rootbeer - flashbacks to high school - and we jammed out in the cafe area for a while until their parents came to pick them up.

I grabbed the Doctor Who version of Monopoly for Squirt therefore re-confirming my favorite aunt status.

Take that fellow competitors.

Speaking of cool aunts, had jalapeno margaritas and fajitas with the Cool Aunt after the bookstore. Got some fun family facts from her so I can continue on with my family history research for Mom's side now that Dad's is officially posted. Scroll down a few and you'll find it.

Quote of the day: "No one intentionally watches that. Unless you're my dad." 

speaking of course of swamp people, ax men, hee haw and all the rest of the stuff he has playlisted for me to watch when i go home.

She recommends House of Cards so I will now have to find the online.

And that was my day, so on to the music and the fiction and then I'm out.

25 seconds of awesomeness that I blame completely on one of my camp kids.

I Knew You Were a Goat When You Walked In - Taylor Swift parody

It's only 25 seconds, you know you want to.

aaannd then there's this:

The Evolution of Mom Dancing - Jimmy Fallon and Michelle Obama

i love the "Where's Your Father?"

okay, to make up for yesterday's short section

Life of a Teenage Writer: Part Four

“Hi Grams,” he replied, taking off his tennis shoes and putting down his bag. He had changed back into jeans and a t-shirt after everyone had left.

“Riah, is that you?”

“Yeah, I’m home,” he said coming into the living room. Emily, Grams’ nurse, sat in jeans and a white t-shirt on the long white couch, knitting something that looked like a sock. Grams was in her flannel pajamas sitting in her favorite recliner. She smiled as he entered the room.

“Emily, it’s my grandson Riah. He’s a writer,” she said proudly.

“So I’ve heard…” Emily smiled and continued knitting.

“She knows, remember Grams? She’s been helping out for a while now,” A.J. corrected her. Grams didn’t notice as she went back to watching the game.

Emily seemed to be used to it. “How was the party?”

“It wasn’t a party, it was a book launch,” he felt the need to correct her in front of Grams.

Emily laughed. “Was there music, food and frivolity?” she asked.

“If you count lame elevator-esque music playing in the background, stale munchies and crazy people fighting about their places in line, then sure, there was music, food and frivolity.”

“Then it was a party.” Emily and A.J. laughed. He subtly gestured toward the kitchen. Emily put down her knitting and followed him out of the room.

“How was she today?” he asked quietly, looking over Emily’s shoulder and seeing Grams’ eyes glued to the TV.

“She was a little confused after you left but not more than usual.” Saturdays and Sundays were his only real days with Grams, so she was probably confused as to why he was at some party instead of with her. “We went grocery shopping and had some soup for supper. She took a bath and then turned on some baseball.”

“Royals?” he asked already knowing the answer.

“Yep, she reminded me more than once that they were going to play tonight at seven.”

“Baseball is the one thing she never forgets,” A.J. smiled and shook his head.

“Well, that and you,” Emily smiled genuinely.

“Thanks,” A.J. blushed. “So, how’s what’s-his-name, your fiancé?”

“His name is John,” she replied, smacking him on the shoulder. “That’s not simple enough for you to remember?”

“Alzheimer’s runs in the family,” he joked. Emily glared. “Right, how’s John?”

“He’s fine. Busy working as usual.”

“At the granola factory?”

“It’s not a granola factory; it’s a vegan grocery store.”

“Same thing. Is he ever gonna make his way out here to marry you? You’re getting kind of old. I don’t want you to end up an old maid.”

“Twenty-six is far from being an old maid. I think I can manage to last another summer ‘til he’s out here for good.” Emily smirked and crossed her arms across her chest. “What about Kate? I haven’t seen her around here lately.”

A.J. flushed red. “Kate and I are just friends.”

“So you keep saying,” Emily arched an eyebrow. “But there’s totally something going on there.”

“Is not,” he replied, his voice higher than usual.

Emily smiled and let him off easy, they’d been down that road before. “How’d it go with the reporters tonight?”

He thought about lying but Emily had been around long enough to know when he was telling the truth. “Not so good. Some reporter, Sarah Chase something or other, asked about Mom and Dad.”

“Sarah Chase Cameron? Reporter for The Times?” he nodded. “She doesn’t do literary reviews, she writes for the crime desk. Her stories are almost always above the fold!” A.J. looked at her amused. “What?” she asked. “I’m not a baseball fan and I have to do something while your Grams stares at the TV. I wonder why she was there.”

“I don’t know but I don’t like it. Kate has a bad feeling about her.”

“Oh, you and Kate talk about your feelings, huh?” She tried to turn the conversation back.

“Shut-up!” He turned red again.

“I gotta go anyway,” she smiled. She went to the living room and started packing up her stuff. “Bye Margaret,” Emily smiled. Grams looked over from the TV and waved.

“Goodbye Emily.”

“See ya Monday?” asked A.J.

“Bright and early. Get some sleep kid,” she replied, patting him on his head on her way to the door. A.J. dropped into the blue lounge chair, pulled the lever and put his feet up. The blue chair was his, the green was hers. Between them sat an end table complete with an old fashioned lamp, a pile of mystery novels, and a newspaper folded over to the sports TV listings.

“How are our boys doing tonight? Did I miss anything good?”

“It’s almost over. I think we’re winning.” The commercial break ended and the game picked up at the 8th inning.

“Yep, we have 7, they have 5.”

“Good.”

“Yep, that’s good.” The rest of the night was silent, A.J. too afraid to tell Grams what had happened at the book launch. The last thing he needed was more drama.

After the game ended with the score still 7-5, A.J. put Grams to bed then returned to the living room for his usual routine to prepare for the next day. He erased the dry-erase board leaning against the TV stand and pulled out the marker. “Today is Sunday, September 20th. 10 AM – church 12 PM – lunch 6 PM – supper.” He emptied Grams’ hospital-issued water bottle into the sink, put it in the dishwasher and hit ‘start’. He set out a measured amount of oatmeal next to the microwave and removed the used filter from the coffee pot. Then he checked the pill box to make sure Emily had filled them. After he recycled today’s paper he turned off the light and retired to his own bedroom.



another pre-midnight post, holy crap tag in use, i'm on a roll!