Daily Love
Hi Ocean Dreamers, I had a really bad day today and got into an argument with my best friend {the last time we argued this badly was in college}, received a horrible grade on a test, and tried with all of my might to get out of this funk but it just didn’t work until now.
Lets just say I am tired of being judged. I know that everyone makes mistakes and end of the day I think loving someone is better than pushing them away. If you and I have the ability and a command from God to love others, but instead of doing that, we judge and criticize them, we have taken the hold the thing {love} and cast it aside. We all make mistakes. We all have weaknesses. We are not to be hard-hearted and have a critical spirit toward each other, but instead to forgive one another and to show show mercy and love. {some of this is reworded by me from the novel Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyer}
All is better with my best friend and every day I feel like I am learning the true meaning of love and being reminded to love and not to judge. Loving is my policy, no matter what.
I signed up on this site for some Daily Love, you should too if you need the boost! I love this poem, it really put everything into perspective for me.
- Follow them on Twitter! http://www.Twitter.com/TheDailyLove
- Check out their beta site! http://www.TheDailyLove.com
What is this… Love?
By Mastin Kipp
Love allows
Love obeys
Love forgives
Love stays
Love endures
Love see’s through
All your fears
To the real you
Love stands true
Love stays firm
Love’s forever
It’s cheek it turns
Love holds no grudge’s
Love fights no wars
Love has no boundries
Love is what you’re looking for
Love’s not a game
But a patience hand
Love begins
Where division ends
Love has no future
It has no past
Love’s forever
And wears no mask
Love faces your fears
Love stays the course
Love doesn’t run away
Or rules by force
Love allows
Love observes
Love casts no judgement
And never has the last word
Love is flowing
And eternal still
Love says yes!
To no’s cold chill
Love does nothing
But leaves nothing undone
When your fear fades away
Love is what you’ll become
So let love in
In all it’s disguises
You never know what pleasures lay
In all of love’s surprises!
Love has no ego
No point to prove
And the best part about love
Is that it’s always within yourself
So, love, you can never lose
P.S. Thanks for all of your kind comments on my previous post, I will be making my rounds to all of your blogs soon. Thanks for all of your loving hearts.
XOXO,
*all photos are from weheartit.com!
Weekend Through Pictures
I am really tired Ocean Dreamers, but I wanted to post some pictures from this weekend. I hope you had a great weekend too!
Bachlorette Party – Friday Night. I am the one with the tan headband and flower in the back, we had so much fun if you can’t tell, ha ha.
Blonde hair yet again, Saturday. I loved how she curled my hair. 
Wish my hair could look like this all of the time…
Sunset at Laguna Beach, near the birthday party location on Saturday night. It made me happy staring at the sunset and the ocean, always quiets my heart. 
Birthday party celebration for my friend…
Sunday, my outfit to the wedding. I switched it up last minute and experimented with tights!
My friend, now married. Congratulations Jessi!
Love this portrait of them
Whew, I am sleepy Ocean Dreamers and I have a blood shot eye to boot. I guess too much strain on my eye! I hope it goes away, pretty gross if you ask me… I know, probably too much TMI. Anyway, I am off to bed. Happy ocean dreaming!
XOXO,
Megan Fox – Hot or Not?
Hello Ocean Dreamers! How are you doing? I hope you all had a great Halloween…
I have no words for Kooza, aka Cirque du Soleil. It was beyond amazing. If you haven’t seen one of their performances, well…you must go! I will be back to post picture either tonight or tomorrow. I was able to snap some shots, but not of the performance. It was a blast and Big Kiddo was so happy that I took him to Kooza that he took me out for a romantic seafood dinner last night, I felt loved. 
So I am going to try and start something once a week called Hot or Not. I love hearing all of your opinions, so I thought I would do this for either an actor, actress, movie, etc. It’s fun to hear your voices and in return I will let you know how I feel about the person or topic as well.
So…this week’s topic is Megan Fox.
How do you feel about her? Love her? Can’t stand her?
Here is my two cents on her. I think appearance wise, she is beautiful. Her eyes, mouth, and facial characteristics are stunning. I think her eyebrows could be a bit fuller…I think that she tries to shape them too perfectly. I also love her conservative style. However, I feel like sometimes she dresses a bit too scandalous, but she definitely has the bod to pull it off.
Now…for her personality and role model status. She definitely is a bit of a bad ass and has even admitted to having a sailor mouth. But, that is who she is and I am sure that she will get more gigs in the entertainment world because of it. I liked her in Transformers and I haven’t seen her new spooky film yet. I do not think she is a good role model for our younger teens, she is a bit too scandalous to be a good role model. I think she does need to get her act together and be more aware of how she is affecting our younger generation, but I know she is who she is and I admire her for that. At least she is staying true to herself. With that being said…let the pictures begin!
So what do you think? A lot of my friends don’t like her. But…I just have to throw it out there. If you are one of these girls is it because you are jealous of her body? Because I know I am. She is hot and I am sure she knows it! Ha ha. Or is it because of her attitude and personality in Hollywood?
I look forward to hearing your thoughts! Oh, and I’ll be back also to reveal the winner of my giveaway on Wednesday after my classes. 
XOXO,
Happy Halloween!
Hello Ocean Dreamers, I hope you have an amazing Halloween!
Tonight I am off to Cirque du Soleil with Big Kiddo…I just can’t wait! Hopefully I’ll be able to take some photos, we will see if they allow it. I am not wearing my costume, I wanted a little break after my work party on Wednesday. I am wearing an orange shirt however!
Check out these pumpkins that my friends carved {I was the on looker} on Thursday night. They did such a good job!
Have a spooky night tonight, I can’t wait to see all of your costumes and hear all about your Halloween tales! I am watching The Nightmare Before Christmas right now and it is sooo good!
Happy Halloween!
XOXO,
Haunted
In the spirit of Halloween I want to tell you a story Ocean Dreamers, enjoy the story of my haunt…
Found at Weheartit.com
I was 18 years old. I had never been in love. I never knew what love felt like until I met him. He become my everything. He became my all…
My High School sweetheart is someone that I no longer like to talk about very much. Our love story was the kind of love affair that you read about in romance novels. He would carry me up the drive way to my Victorian home, buy me flowers, kiss me until I was breathless, write me love letters, and buy me Tiffany necklaces. We traveled together everywhere. We had the most perfect and happy photos. Kissing at sunset, on the beach, under the stars, it was everything I ever wanted and more. Everything and more. I met his family, he knew mine well. I was infatuated, I was in love, I was his everything and he was mine. For five years we were inseparable. Even though we went to different Universities, we traveled back and forth up to two to three times a month to see each other in either Kansas or California. We couldn’t wait for the weekends when we would see each other. It was a desperate and passionate love. So many memories, so many plans. I never thought anything or anyone could separate us until…
One weekend when I was in Kansas my haunt and I decided to go with his friends to Dave and Busters. My haunt was making glances with a mutual friend…I could tell things were not the same between us. No, it did not happen over night, but I was losing my love, my everything. He kissed me then. He told me everything was okay, that I shouldn’t have any doubts. He had no feelings for the other girl. But inside of me I was screaming. I knew that was not the truth, my premonition was I was losing the love of my life. I would never get him back…
Flash forward to graduation day my Senior year of college. I was in turmoil. My ex and I had just broken up with one another but out of my desperation I was not ready to let go. I invited him to be there with my family and they understood, even though they knew he had broken my heart. My haunt made phone calls to that girl that weekend, I couldn’t understand why I invited him there. All I knew was that he was my heart, but yet my heart was missing. Why did he have to trample my heart on the ground?
By Alegion @ DeviantART
It took me three years to get over my haunt. Some days, when I am driving in the car a song from High School or our time together turns on the radio…it brings me back. Back to those days when we would hold hands in the car, kiss at red lights, and tell each other over and over again that we love each other. That we were meant to be together. Music was so much a part of who we were. It reminded me that I thought that nothing would ever separate us, ever.
Some nights, when I am all alone, or in my dreams, my mind reverts back to the love of my past. He never seems to leave me alone, but it has lessened over time. I consider him my haunt, because for five years this China man occupied my thoughts in every way and he still haunts me occasionally to this day. It was a suffocating love, a love that was not meant to be. But, despite the way our relationship ended, I hung on to the hope of a reconciliation. We remained friends…but it was not the same. He broke my heart, I could not let go. Over and over the cycle went, it was very unhealthy but I thought that was what love was. Did I not understand love? I wanted him more than anything. I was haunted, I am still haunted, I will forever be haunted.
Haunt by Simplistic Scion @ DeviantART
I tell you this story not for you to feel sorry for me or to think that I am still clinging on to my haunt. I am blessed beyond measure with the man of my dreams, aka Big Kiddo. He came into my life at the perfect timing too. Right when I needed him, right when I was still healing but Big Kiddo gave me the time to heal. Big Kiddo taught me what love truly is.
I tell you the story of my haunt because it is a part of me, it made me who I am today. It helped me learn about love, and it helped me learn about life. I do miss my haunt, but I know better now. I know not to run back to someone who even though later came back to me and wanted me to take him back, I did not. He wanted me to marry him, he said he would never leave me again. But why would I take someone back who was only going to trample my heart and leave me again? That was the hardest decision of my life, for you see, I will always love my haunt. That is the type of love you don’t find everyday. And yet…I learned that love is not desperation, is not always fireworks, is not sacrificing everything, is not materialism, is not becoming a weaker person. My haunt managed to make me feel inferior and not good enough, no haunt or person for that matter should ever make you feel this way Ocean Dreamers.
Instead love is mainly loyalty, cherishing someone, not leaving them, consistency not manipulation, improving someone and encouraging them to be an even better person, having the same goals, and trust. My trust was gone, therefore my love was not the same…
I will forever be haunted by this love from my past. But with every haunt comes a happy ending, healing, new beginnings and a new love. But I know that my haunt is one that I will never ever forget.
Haunted
In the spirit of Halloween I want to tell you a story Ocean Dreamers, enjoy the story of my haunt…
Found at Weheartit.com
I was 18 years old. I had never been in love. I never knew what love felt like until I met him. He become my everything. He became my all…
My High School sweetheart is someone that I no longer like to talk about very much. Our love story was the kind of love affair that you read about in romance novels. He would carry me up the drive way to my Victorian home, buy me flowers, kiss me until I was breathless, write me love letters, and buy me Tiffany necklaces. We traveled together everywhere. We had the most perfect and happy photos. Kissing at sunset, on the beach, under the stars, it was everything I ever wanted and more. Everything and more. I met his family, he knew mine well. I was infatuated, I was in love, I was his everything and he was mine. For five years we were inseparable. Even though we went to different Universities, we traveled back and forth up to two to three times a month to see each other in either Kansas or California. We couldn’t wait for the weekends when we would see each other. It was a desperate and passionate love. So many memories, so many plans. I never thought anything or anyone could separate us until…
One weekend when I was in Kansas my haunt and I decided to go with his friends to Dave and Busters. My haunt was making glances with a mutual friend…I could tell things were not the same between us. No, it did not happen over night, but I was losing my love, my everything. He kissed me then. He told me everything was okay, that I shouldn’t have any doubts. He had no feelings for the other girl. But inside of me I was screaming. I knew that was not the truth, my premonition was I was losing the love of my life. I would never get him back…
Flash forward to graduation day my Senior year of college. I was in turmoil. My ex and I had just broken up with one another but out of my desperation I was not ready to let go. I invited him to be there with my family and they understood, even though they knew he had broken my heart. My haunt made phone calls to that girl that weekend, I couldn’t understand why I invited him there. All I knew was that he was my heart, but yet my heart was missing. Why did he have to trample my heart on the ground?
By Alegion @ DeviantART
It took me three years to get over my haunt. Some days, when I am driving in the car a song from High School or our time together turns on the radio…it brings me back. Back to those days when we would hold hands in the car, kiss at red lights, and tell each other over and over again that we love each other. That we were meant to be together. Music was so much a part of who we were. It reminded me that I thought that nothing would ever separate us, ever.
Some nights, when I am all alone, or in my dreams, my mind reverts back to the love of my past. He never seems to leave me alone, but it has lessened over time. I consider him my haunt, because for five years this China man occupied my thoughts in every way and he still haunts me occasionally to this day. It was a suffocating love, a love that was not meant to be. But, despite the way our relationship ended, I hung on to the hope of a reconciliation. We remained friends…but it was not the same. He broke my heart, I could not let go. Over and over the cycle went, it was very unhealthy but I thought that was what love was. Did I not understand love? I wanted him more than anything. I was haunted, I am still haunted, I will forever be haunted.
Haunt by Simplistic Scion @ DeviantART
I tell you this story not for you to feel sorry for me or to think that I am still clinging on to my haunt. I am blessed beyond measure with the man of my dreams, aka Big Kiddo. He came into my life at the perfect timing too. Right when I needed him, right when I was still healing but Big Kiddo gave me the time to heal. Big Kiddo taught me what love truly is.
I tell you the story of my haunt because it is a part of me, it made me who I am today. It helped me learn about love, and it helped me learn about life. I do miss my haunt, but I know better now. I know not to run back to someone who even though later came back to me and wanted me to take him back, I did not. He wanted me to marry him, he said he would never leave me again. But why would I take someone back who was only going to trample my heart and leave me again? That was the hardest decision of my life, for you see, I will always love my haunt. That is the type of love you don’t find everyday. And yet…I learned that love is not desperation, is not always fireworks, is not sacrificing everything, is not materialism, is not becoming a weaker person. My haunt managed to make me feel inferior and not good enough, no haunt or person for that matter should ever make you feel this way Ocean Dreamers.
Instead love is mainly loyalty, cherishing someone, not leaving them, consistency not manipulation, improving someone and encouraging them to be an even better person, having the same goals, and trust. My trust was gone, therefore my love was not the same…
I will forever be haunted by this love from my past. But with every haunt comes a happy ending, healing, new beginnings and a new love. But I know that my haunt is one that I will never ever forget.
Pink Pirate for Halloween
Hello! I am going to make this short and sweet because I have been gifted with a small cold virus that makes me tired and grumpy! Yuck! So…I just wanted to say hi real quick and reveal my Halloween costume that I spent a pretty penny on. I know…I was hoping not to spend that much and also come up with a “real” costume, but, when I saw this costume and tried it on {that was the big mistake lol} I couldn’t resist. It is after all pink and pink is my weakness. Darn!
So…here goes. I am going to be a pink pirate for Halloween!
I am still going to use my same blackened eye effect and pink MAC lipstick. Oh, and instead of baring it all with my legs, I am sticking to tights and my black boots, which will soften the pink a bit.
Have you decided on your costume Ocean Dreamers?
I am wearing this one with Big Kiddo for Cirque du Soleil and also for my work Halloween event, ahoy mateys! Yay, so excited. Now…if I could only get better so I can go to D-land on Saturday, everything would be just peachy.
Happy almost Friday!
XOXO,
Food Obsessions
Hellllooooo Ocean Dreamers…warning, if you are on a diet or are trying to avoid yummy foods, you just might want to ignore this post.
But…you have a girl who is currently going through PMS and craving everything there is that is remotely yummy, so food is on my mind.
My concert last night {Ingrid Michaelson} was probably the best concert I have ever been too, seriously. This red haired beauty was down to earth, lovely, and has such a great sense of humor! I highly encourage you to watch her in concert if she will be performing in your area, you don’t want to miss out! I will be posting pictures from her concert shortly, I was only 8 feet away from her!
So I have a minor food obsession and the following foods happen to be my favorite.
Let me introduce you to these fine foods…
Avocado egg rolls are my biggest obsession right now. My favorite in particular come from BJ’s, followed by Claim Jumper. Yuuuum!
Ohhh and another lovely food item that comes from my avocado addiction = guacamole! By the way, I never used to like avocados growing up. I guess this is proof that our taste buds change through the years!
One more avocado themed food item…the caterpillar roll and sushi in general. I. AM. OBSESSED. WITH. SUSHI!!!!!
Moving on to chocolate…in particular chocolate covered gummy bears. Yes, I know I might be mad but this is my favorite snack ever!
Have you ever heard of a pazookie? This has got to be the best dessert ever. It is at BJ’s and it a warm cookie with vanilla ice cream. It took me two years to have Big Kiddo try it and once he did he was so addicted!
Ferrero Rocher chocolates. Big Kiddo got me this entire box for one of my birthday presents, they are soooo good and I am not that big on chocolates.
Veggie sticks from Trader Joes. They are somewhat healthy and give me the salt kick that I desperately need on days like this. I stayed up late eating them last night, don’t tell!
Another salty snack you might ask? Well, you might try these delicious baked cheddar and sour cream chips. Which by the way I am not supposed to eat by the way. I am a lactard and am not supposed to eat dairy, oops! 
A favorite dish you can’t resist? Chicken tikka marsala. I am such a goner for Indian food.
Okay…so now that I have dished (ha ha literally) what are your favorite foods and snacks? Oh great, now I am probably going to want to try your suggestions.
Oh well…as long as I run extra miles this week, right?!
Have a yummy Monday. Don’t forget to grab yourself a snack!
XOXO,
Blessed Friday and Costume Decisions
Happy Friday Ocean Dreamers, what do you have planned this weekend?
Well for me…tonight I am seeing Love Happens. Tomorrow I am working on homework and seeing Big Kiddo. Sunday I am going to Ingrid Michaelson in concert, yay! I will be doing a post on my concerts soon, since I just saw Colbie as well.
So, to follow my new Friday habit, here are few things I am blessed with:
1. a lovely apartment that I am happy to call home
2. an amazing small group that I meet with each week to learn more about God and enjoy eachother’s company
3. the holidays to come with my family and friends
4. fall colors, mountains, the ocean, and enjoying nature on a daily basis
5. yummy food such as fruit and veggies that fill up my tummy!
Those are just a few things I am thankful for, of course I am thankful for many other things as well!
So, I need your advice. I am trying to come up with a costume to wear to Cirque du Soleil when I go with Big Kiddo on Halloween. Do you think it would be weird if I wear a costume even though I am going to be watching a circus event? I want to dress up but at the same time I am not sure if others dress up. Let me know what you think.
I also want the costume that I wear that evening to be the same one I wear to my work party. I wanted to dress sexy but I don’t think it would be work appropriate, so I am trying to come up with an alternative. I might have to get two different costumes though if I find a cute one that is a bit too showy for work though. So here are some of the costumes I like so far. Let me know which one is your favorite, okay?
Oh, and I just bought this smokey eye set from Sephora, I am going to use it under my eyes. Spoooooky!
Bride of Darkness
Pebbles
I’d wear black tights with the shorts for work. Black eyes probably won’t work with this one though, bummer!
Strawberry Shortcake
Might be too sexy for work, what do you think? I think I keep liking the pink, lol.
Spider Vamp
This one is on sale and it is also pink, obviously need to look at different colors now. Ha!
Sea Horse
This is hilarious but since you know how much I love the ocean, this might be it…or not?!
Repunzel
This one might be my favorite. I could be Repunzel gone bad! 
Sailor
I think Big Kiddo would love this one since he loves to sail, lol!
Okay…which one is your favorite for me to wear?
If you want to know where I found all of them follow the links, maybe you just found your costume too!
Hope you all have an amazing weekend.
XOXO,
Beach Glass Giveaway
My name is Lynn Hones. I’m a new writer with my first book published by Devine Destinies in July. It was a long time in the making, worked on here and there in the confusion and fuss of raising my two girls, one Old English Sheepdog and two stray cats, adopted and brought into our home. They thanked us by infesting us with fleas. But, we LOVE them with all our heart, even as we battle the fleas. My husband is very supportive and happy I’m blossoming in my love of the written word. My second book, “The Cult of Light and Lies” will be available from Devine Destinies at a date to be announced.
My book “Those Who Wait,” takes place on a beach, my idea of heaven. I love the sand, the shells, the waves, the sun… As a special thank you to anyone who buys my book from now until Christmas I’m offering as a special thank you one of my handcrafted, one of a kind pieces of beach glass jewelry. The jewelry I make, I actually sell, but want to give it away to my readers. I’ll tell you a little bit about beach glass, because I’ve found a lot of people aren’t really aware of what it is.
Beach glass. What is it?
Sea glass
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sea glass in several colors and shapes.
Sea glass (also known as beach glass, mermaid’s tears, lucky tears, and many other names) is glass found on beaches along oceans or large lakes that has been tumbled and smoothed by the water and sand, creating small pieces of smooth, frosted glass.[1]
Sea glass is one of the very few cases of a valuable item being created from the actions of the environment on man-made litter.
a piece of red sea glass, one of the rarest colors
an old bottle top made of cobalt blue glass, one of the rarer colors
The color of sea glass is determined by its original source. Most sea glass comes from bottles, but it can also come from jars, plates, windows, windshields, glasses, art, flasks, containers, and any other glass source that has found its way into the ocean. Some collectors also collect sea pottery.
The most common colors of sea glass are kelly green, brown, and clear. These colors come from bottles used by companies that sell beer, juices, and soft drinks. The clear or white glass comes from clear plates and glasses, windshields, windows, and assorted other sources.[2]
Less common colors include jade, amber (from bottles for whiskey, medicine, spirits, and early bleach bottles), golden amber (mostly used for spirit bottles), lime green (from soda bottles during the 1960s), forest green, and soft blue (from soda bottles, medicine bottles, ink bottles, and fruit jars from the late 1800s and early 1900s, windows, and windshields.) These colors are found about once for every 25 to 100 pieces of sea glass found.[2]
Uncommon colors of sea glass include green, which comes primarily from early to mid-1900s Coca-Cola, Dr Pepper, and RC Cola bottles, as well as beer bottles. Soft green colors could come from bottles that were used for ink, fruit, and baking soda. These colors are found once in every 50 to 100 pieces.[2]
Purple sea glass is very uncommon, as is citron, opaque white (from milk glass), cobalt and cornflower blue (from early Milk of Magnesia bottles, poison bottles, artwork, and Bromo-Seltzer and Vicks VapoRub containers), and aqua (from Ball Mason jars and 19th century glass bottles.) These colors are found once for every 200 to 1,000 pieces found.[2]
Rare and extremely rare colors include gray, pink (often from Great Depression era plates), teal (often from Mateus wine bottles), black (older, very dark olive green glass), yellow (often from 1930s Vaseline containers), turquoise (from tableware and art glass), red (often from nautical lights, found once in every 5,000 pieces), and orange (the least common type of sea glass, found once in 10,000 pieces.) These colors are found once for every 1,000 to 10,000 pieces collected. Some of the black glass is quite old, originating from thick eighteenth-century gin, beer and wine bottles.[2]
Like gathering shells or stones, collecting sea glass is a hobby among beach-goers and beachcombers, and many enjoy filling decorative jars or making jewelry from their finds. Hobbyists both enjoy searching for and collecting sea glass, as well as identifying its original origins.
Sea glass can be found all over the world, but the beaches of the Northeast United States, Mexico,Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Maine, Nova Scotia, The Chesapeake Bay, California, and Southern Spain are famous for sea glass. The best times to look are during spring tides and perigean and proxigean tides, and during the first low tide after a storm.
Beach glass, as it is called on inland lakes, such as the Great Lakes, is similar to sea glass. However, this glass is weathered by sand and tidal action and not by the saline waters where sea glass is found.
Authentic sea glass has become much less common in many areas due to littering being increasingly discouraged – and so has become increasingly expensive.
Artificial sea glass produced to meet craft demand at a cheaper price, and a wider range of colors, is often produced using a rock tumbler. Such glass lacks the romantic provenance of true sea glass, and differs in many technical ways, (e.g. long-term exposure to water conditions creates an etched surface on the glass that cannot be duplicated artificially[3]), but for professional sea glass collectors, authors, artisans, and retailers the main issue is honesty regarding the source of glass[4].
While some prefer the term termed “craft glass” for the artificial product, this usage is by no means universal
Author wearing little bottles filled with beach glass made into earrings.
Author wearing necklace and earrings made from amber colored beach glass.
Just a few of my pieces.
Bookmarks included in giveaway have small bottles of beach glass attached. People seem to love these as I pass them out to friends and family.
All my pieces are original and my daughters and I collect every single piece I work with. It is all original, true beach glass from Lake Erie, where my book takes place.
Here’s an excerpt from my paranormal romance. It’s rated PG 13. It’s an old-fashioned kind of romance, like the movies of the thirties and forties. Sweet, innocent and dear. Something my Mama would have loved to read if she would have lived long enough to see me published. (Sniff, sniff) I do miss the darling lamb. Take care, and keep in mind my jewelry is the perfect gift for that someone on your holiday shopping list who is impossible to buy for.
I’ve seen similiar pieces going for $25.00 to $30.00, but mine is priced way lower. Check out my website for more information and remember, none of us is promised a tomorrow, so live and love today as if it were your last.
Love,
Lynn Hones
“So, you’re rentin’ the Chase cottage, huh? Nice couple them two. Got money, no doubt, but nice none the same.”
“She’s my boss. She…” The car hit a bump and rattled so loudly a frightened Simone grabbed the handle above her. Convinced only a matter of time remained until the entire contraption gave way at the seams and dumped her, Vinnie and Madge into the middle of the rutted road, she swallowed hard. Madge turned as if she wondered why Simone stopped.
Her mouth dry, Simone began again. “She’s lending me the place for a couple of weeks.”
Her head took a pounding on this short trek to the cottage and she longed for it to end. Vinnie eyed her reproachfully and she flicked a cobweb off his ear. Madge rolled her window down and the car became a wind tunnel. Simone tried to gather her long, brown hair together with one hand and calm a terrified Vinnie with the other.
“You want me to roll my window up, sweetie?” offered Madge. She stared at her in the duct-taped-on rearview mirror.
“No, it’s fine,” Simone lied. She brushed a strand of hair off her lip.
Weathered cottages tucked along the lakefront looked barren, waiting for the broods of happy families to take residence in them for the long, happy summer days ahead. Further down, the island became more remote and they turned onto a dirt road that ran through a field of tall grasses. Simone concentrated on every detail to remember the way.
Madge took a right by a grove of trees and the Chase cottage came into view.
It took Simone’s breath away and she let out a relieved sigh. An enchanted cottage, right out of a book by Beatrix Potter, Simone half-expected to see Tom Kitten or Jemima Puddle Duck stroll down the pathway to greet her. The fairy tale feature of ornate trim, inherent in cottages of its kind, invited her mind to simpler, quainter days of old.
A large wraparound porch surrounded the entire structure, yet it stayed true to its purpose and provided a cozy place of solitude and repose. The light blue shingles and rose-colored shutters reminded her of butter cream icing that begged to be scraped from a gingerbread house and licked off eager fingers.
Beyond a small incline in the yard, the lake beckoned visitors in all its majestic beauty. The captivating scene recharged Simone. She gave Vinnie a nudge and hopped out to help retrieve the luggage from the trunk. “How much do I owe you?” Her attention shifted between the beauty of the cottage and the sights and sounds of the great lake. The sun’s rays beat onto her fair cheeks, making her glad she brought sunscreen. Freckles are cute on fourteen-year-olds, but not adults.
“Why, honey, that wouldn’t be neighborly of me, takin’ money from a friend and all. You’re on the island, so that makes you my new friend.”
“Thank you. How kind.” Shocked by the unexpected hospitality, Simone smiled.
Madge put a bag on the ground. “You ever been up here…to the islands, that is?”
“No, this is my first time.” Simone sensed a slight change in Madge’s countenance.
“Be careful, little lady.”
Simone studied her. “Be careful of what?” The strange woman’s comment baffled her out of her reverie.
Madge came close and gave her an intent stare. “Of things appearing to be what they ain’t.”
“What do you mean?” Simone swore coffee grounds clung to the eccentric woman’s teeth.
A queer gaze overtook Madge’s face. “When it gets dark out, you get inside, don’t you wander.”
“I wasn’t planning on it.” Simone retreated a step. “I have to say you’re making me nervous.”
Madge burst out laughing. “Me, little old Madge, makin’ you nervous? Well, ain’t that a hoot!” She squeezed behind the steering wheel, shook her head and snickered loudly. She turned the car around, stopped beside Simone and said loudly, “What a hoot.”
She pulled away as her disturbed laughter echoed shrilly in Simone’s ears. Simone watched the rusted, green heap go around the bend and disappear. While she choked on the clouds of dust it left behind, she gazed at Vinnie as he trembled beside her.
“Hey, pal, our new neighbor is kinda creepy, don’t you think?” Vinnie glanced up at her, his concerned eyes spoke volumes. Simone knelt in front of him and rumpled his ears. “But she don’t scare us none, huh, Buddy Boy.” She nuzzled her face into the scruff of his graying neck. “Come on, Vinnarooni.” She stood and grabbed his leash. “Let’s check out our new digs.”
Bordered by an English Garden leading to the porch, a brick walkway summoned her to her respite from the world. Vinnie hesitantly followed, caution in his step, tail tucked firmly between his legs.
