don't shoot- it's my first day at work!

A super sketchy dude walked into the newsroom today with one of his hands in his pocket. He had tattered clothes, a disheveled beard and shifty eyes. I instantly put my guard up. He asked to speak with one of the editors who was out sick, so one of the male news reporters asked him what he needed. The man asked, "What's your name?" The reporter said, "Can you please take your hand out of your pocket?" The man said, "I have something to show you, but I don't want everyone to see it."

By this point I was freaking out. I wondered how long before he would take his gun out and how quickly I would have time to react and what it would take to convince him not to shoot.

The reporter told the man he would speak to him downstairs and quickly called over the managing editor to let him in on what had happened. Both of them went to meet the man downstairs. I listened carefully for screams and gunshots.

A few minutes later both the reporter and the editor came upstairs. They were fine, though the reporter was shaking. Apparently the man wanted to show them two articles that I'm guessing he had an issue with.

Isn't it sad how suspicious we are of strangers? Scratch that-- isn't it sad that we NEED to be suspicious of strangers? 

prep

dress pants bought.

outfit ready.

early morning routine practiced.

soup + salad + peppermint patty packed.

prayers prayed (and prayers answered).

new job, here I come!

flashback friday: sarah

I wrote this when I was fifteen. I was introduced to some people in high school who had experienced death and abuse at a young age. This piece was not based on any singular story, but a combination of stories.

Sarah

little Sarah so scared and crying

doesn’t know that her momma is dying

her daddy won’t hold her he just sits there and stares

she can’t tell him she loves him, can’t tell him she cares

she’s only a baby, not born but yesterday

maybe her mom wouldn’t be so sick if she’d thrown her baby away

poor Sarah’s all alone, but she’s still glad she’s living

she just hopes that when she’s older her family is forgiving

her daddy had said if it was his choice they’d abort

now her mommy is gone and so is her support

who will protect her from the constant pain ahead

will anyone still love her once her mommy is dead?

what if her daddy still wanted his baby girl killed?

then perhaps his raging pain would be stilled

sarah lays there and listens to the screams

there goes her mommy with her hopes and her dreams

she was stupid to have fallen for sarah’s dad

unaware that having Sarah would make him so mad

he wouldn’t listen to her constant begging “no”

said that if she loved him that her feelings would show

how could she have been so foolish and believing

she never thought that his words might be deceiving

now look where she is, she was too young to give birth

gave all she had to her baby and now she’s leaving this earth

all Sarah can hear is her momma’s streaming tears

as she tries to be strong and forget all her fears

it just isn’t working, she’s too frail to go on

her last thoughts taken away with the dawn

Sarah knows that something is wrong

the only sound in the room is that sorrowful song

her daddy plays with the radio, no tears in his eyes

turns it off as people come in the room to say their goodbyes

they bend over the teenager who just lost her life

her only dream never came true- the dream to be a wife

why is this world so cruel to the innocent youth

maybe they’d stop doing what they’re doing if they were told the truth

so many of them never learn to have morality

they just say that their life is reality

what about Sarah, does anyone care about this child

they would if they had been watching when her mama smiled

new job!

I took this picture last week before my interview with the Daily News-Record. I was hoping I would get a chance to attach it to a HOORAY! I GOT THE JOB! post and here it is!

I start next week as an editorial assistant. I will be manning the front desk, writing stories for the Features section and covering obituaries on Thursday evenings.

I am still video editing from home. The project is almost finished and then I will have about 14-15 hours of edited material to review before the final version is published. It will be nice for me to have two incomes for a couple of weeks. Gotta pay off that van of ours!

cheesy epidermis

I was shredding a block of white cheddar cheese yesterday and shredded a good chunk of skin from my knuckle. The skin blended in with the cheese, but thankfully it stuck to the grater a bit so I was able to quickly separate it, put on a band-aid and resume my domestic task.

Mmmm. Tasty.