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A Rocky Start: Chapter Six Continued

June 26, 2015 rosemaryheddens Leave a comment

Saturday morning, Amber awoke to the sounds of tiny chirping outside her window. A quick check of the little family told her that all five babies were awake and ready for breakfast. After she had eaten her own breakfast and finished her Saturday chores, she asked her mom if she could go over to Melissa’s house.

Melissa lived down one block and over two blocks, on Davis Drive. She lived with her mom and her grandmother. Melissa’s dad, who was in the army, was stationed in Afghanistan. Amber rang the doorbell and waited. She could hear women talking, and after a minute, the door opened. It was Melissa’s mom on her way out the door to go to work.

“Hi, Amber,” she said. “Melissa will be right here. What are you girls planning to do today?”

“We’re not sure,” Amber told her. “We might go to the park or just ride our bikes around.”

“Why don’t you bring your friends back here for lunch?” Melissa’s grandmother, Mrs. Oates, called out to her as Melissa started out the door.

“Want to have lunch with us?” This time it was Trisha, Melissa’s little sister, who was peeking out from behind a door.

“Thank you, Mrs. Oates, and thank you, Trisha,” Amber said. “I’ll have to call my mom first, but I’m sure it will be okay.”

As Amber and Melissa were getting on their bikes, they saw Logan, Chris, and Spike riding down the street.

“I wonder if they’re going to the senior center,” Melissa said.

“Probably,” Amber answered. “Maybe we should go see if anything’s going on there today.”

The two girls stopped by Laura’s house, and then the three of them headed for the senior center. The first person they ran into was Gus.

“Come on,” he said. “I’ll show you around the place.”

The senior center was one large building with a flat roof. It had cream-colored siding and green trim. Gus ushered the girls through the front door. There they noticed the bulletin board with the flyer for Three Handy Guys.

“Do many seniors get help from them?” Melissa asked, pointing to the flyer.

“You’d be surprised,” Gus answered. “Those boys are really popular around here. A few weeks ago, they helped me paint my front porch.”

In the main room, some of the seniors were playing checkers or chess. There was a small room off to the side with exercise equipment. A yoga class was going on in one part of the room.

“That’s how I keep my youthful figure.” Gus laughed as he struck a pose. The girls couldn’t help grinning at his knobby knees sticking out of his Bermuda shorts.

Amber noticed a hairstyling salon. It was closed on Saturdays, but she asked Gus about it.

“I don’t go there much myself,” he said, rubbing his bald head. The girls all laughed again. “The main thing seniors come here for is the lunch,” Gus told them. “The senior center serves a free lunch to anyone over the age of sixty-five, every Monday through Saturday.”

“Wow,” Laura said. “Who pays for that?”

“The town pays for some of it,” Gus said. “We get lots of donations, and most of the work is done by volunteers.”

“Could we be volunteers?” Amber asked. “You know, junior volunteers like the boys are?”

“New volunteers are always welcome,” Gus said. “Come on in the office. I’ll introduce you to Walt Collins. He’s the manager here.”

Walt was a man in his sixties with graying hair and glasses. He was dressed in gray slacks, and the sleeves were rolled up on his white shirt. Walt had been a grocery store manager, but now he volunteered his time keeping the senior center up and running.

“We’re always looking for volunteers,” he told the girls. “Of course, there’s some paperwork you’ll have to do. Mostly, we have to make sure we have your parents’ permission. We don’t want to break any laws.”

“Of course not,” Amber said. “How do we get started?”

“Here are the forms you’ll need.” Walt handed them some papers. “Mrs. Snow is in charge of the volunteers. She isn’t here on Saturdays. You can drop the forms off with any of the volunteers, and they’ll see that she gets them.”

The girls thanked Gus for the tour. As they walked outside, they noticed the Three Handy Guys sweeping the walkways around the senior center. Chris put down his broom and came over to greet them.

“There’s not much going on here today,” he said.

“We know,” Amber told him. “Gus took us on a tour, and Walt gave us the forms we need to become volunteers.”

“That’s great,” Chris said. “Then we’ll probably be seeing you around here a lot.”

“See you later, alligator,” Gus called to them as he got in his car.

“After a while, crocodile,” Logan, Chris, and Spike answered back.

“Why does he say that?” Melissa asked.

“It’s something people said when he was a kid,” Chris explained. “Gus is a real friendly guy. It’s just his way of letting you know he likes you.”

The girls climbed on their bikes and headed for Melissa’s house. “What’s for lunch?” Laura asked.

“What do you think,” Amber answered for her. “Leftover pizza.”

“That’s not all we eat,” Melissa said. “But it would be fine with me if it was.”

“Lucky for you that your mom manages a pizza restaurant,” Laura added.

“Yeah,” Melissa said. “Real lucky.”

Lunch turned out to be hot dogs, chips, applesauce, and root beer floats. Trisha had chosen the menu. She was setting the table outside when the girls returned. When she saw them, Trisha came running over and wrapped her arms around Amber’s waist.

“Amber!” she exclaimed. “Come and see my pet rabbit.” Trisha dragged her across the lawn to a wire pen. Inside was a small black lop-eared rabbit.

“What’s his name?” Amber asked.

“His name is Jellybean,” Trisha told her. “Do you want to hold him?”

“Does he kick?” Amber asked.

“Not very hard, he’s too small to kick hard.”

Laura and Melissa joined them as they watched Jellybean hop around in the yard. Trisha was giggling and chasing after him.

“How’s school?” Laura asked Trisha while they were eating their lunches.

“I’m the best reader in the first grade,” Trish announced proudly. “My teacher is Mrs. Bell. She always asks me to read out loud in class. I get good grades on my report card.”

“She’s a real whiz kid,” Melissa said somewhat sarcastically.

“She does her homework right away when she gets home from school,” said Mrs. Oates, who shot an accusing look at Melissa.

“I do my homework,” Melissa defended herself. “I might not get it done until ten o’clock, but I do it.”

Amber was thinking that maybe having a perfect little sister wasn’t any better than having a perfect big brother. When the girls finished lunch, Trisha followed them to Melissa’s room. She stomped her foot when Melissa closed the door in her face.

“Trisha,” Mrs. Oates called from the kitchen. “Come and help me clean up the lunch dishes.”

“Okay, Grandma,” she said. Then the girls heard Trisha stomp down the hall.

For a while, the three friends listened to music and practiced their dance moves. Then they played some video games.

“What kinds of things do you think we’ll be doing as volunteers at the senior center?” Laura asked.

“I’m not sure,” Amber answered thoughtfully. “Maybe we’ll help serve lunch or do some cleaning. There are probably lots of things that need to be done.”

“I wonder how many volunteers they have,” Melissa said. “Maybe they already have other people doing most of the jobs.”

“We could help some of the seniors who live alone like Betty Jenkins,” Laura suggested.

“I could make a flyer like the boys have, and we could put it up on the bulletin board,” Amber said excitedly. “But what should we call ourselves?”

“Spike said we should call ourselves Three Useless Girls,” Melissa reminded them.

“Then maybe we should call ourselves Three Useful Girls,” Laura offered.

“That would just make it easier for Spike to make fun of us.” Amber shook her head. “We need a name that is way different from theirs.”

“What about Three Helpful Girls?” Laura said.

“That’s not much different.” Melissa shook her head. “Amber’s right, we need something that doesn’t sound like we’re copying the guys.”

“We could be Girls Happy to Help,” Amber suggested.

“How about Happy Helpers?” Laura shouted with enthusiasm.

“That’s perfect,” Amber and Melissa agreed.

“We’ll be the Happy Helpers,” Amber said excitedly. “I’ll make the flyer this weekend, and we can put it up on the bulletin board on Monday.”

The Handy Helpers book series is available at Amazon

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Confessions of a Fitbit Fanatic

June 23, 2015 rosemaryheddens Leave a comment

Why am I walking around my house in the dark at eleven p.m.? Do I need a drink of water or to use the bathroom? . . . Did I forget to plug in my phone or turn off my computer? . . . Was I awakened by a strange noise and I’ve gone to investigate? No, it’s not for any of those logical reasons. I am walking around in the dark because I still need four hundred more steps to earn my badge for 25,000 steps in one day. Sound crazy? Please allow me to explain.

For Mother’s Day this year, Mike and Vikki, my son and daughter-in-law, gave me a Fitbit Flex. At first it seemed like a fun new toy. I wore it most of the time, but sometimes I forgot to put it back on after my shower. I liked how it kept track of my sleep and reminded me to drink more water. After a few weeks, I decided to set a goal to lose a few pounds. I chose the easy path because I wasn’t serious about it. I did my best to record what I ate each day. What I liked most about the Fitbit was that I was in control. Unlike diets that tell you what to eat, I could choose what I wanted. All I had to do was make sure I burned more calories than I consumed.

My Fitbit would probably have continued to be no big deal if it hadn’t been for what happened Memorial Day weekend. I received an unexpected email from Vikki, inviting me to join a weekend warrior challenge. It sounded like fun and so I accepted. Soon after that, I remembered that Mike and Vikki planned to go on a long hike that Saturday. I figured I didn’t stand a chance of winning. By the end of Saturday, I was in fourth place even though I had 20,000 steps. But there was still another day left and now Mike and Vikki were tired from their long hike the day before. Just like the tortoise that won the race against the hare, I kept walking on Sunday and managed to sneak by everyone with more than 40,000 steps for the weekend.

Of course, I was elated with my victory over a group of people more than twenty years younger than I am. In fact, I liked it so much, that I went looking for other groups to compete in. I joined a group called “Born in the 1940s.” Since I was born in 1948, I am a baby in that group. The goal of the group is to still be walking in the 2050s. I have a personal goal to live to be 100, so this seemed like the perfect group to join. Currently, I am in tenth place behind nasamike. I think I’m doing well considering jimmywalkingstick, who is in first place is more than 200,000 steps ahead of me. Close behind me is a lovely lady named Betty.

These are not people I know, but I like to pretend that I do know them. I picture nasamike on a tread mill on the International Space Station. He even gets some of his steps by walking on the ceiling and the walls. jimmywalkingstick might be this man I encountered once who runs to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back out every day. I think of Betty as a friend who is walking with me, encouraging me to keep going.

If I had a friend who nagged at me every day about what I ate and how much I exercised, I would probably avoid that friend. But my Fitbit isn’t like that. My Fitbit sits passively on my wrist until I ask how I’m doing. Then my Fitbit gives me a peptalk, calling me champ because I walked ten miles in a day or awarding me badges for walking 250 miles. (Which of course I deserve because that’s like walking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back ten times.) Fitbit, my friend, I’m glad I met you.

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A Rocky Start: Chapter Six

June 19, 2015 rosemaryheddens Leave a comment

Friday morning, Amber checked the nest outside her window as usual. But instead of seeing five eggs, she saw five open mouths. The baby birds were crying in hunger, and Amber was certain that the parents were hunting for food nearby. She watched until the mother returned. Something passed from the mother’s mouth to a baby’s. As the mother was flying away, the father showed up to continue the feeding process.

A yell from Amber brought the rest of her family. They all watched the bird family enjoying their breakfast, until Mary said it was time for them to have their own breakfast. Today was the last day for Amber to sign up for the career she wanted to research. Any students who didn’t select a career by Friday would have one assigned by Ms. McGuire. After her talk with Betty Jenkins, Amber had thought a lot about art careers. She couldn’t quite decide which one to choose. Maybe while she walked to school, she could make up her mind.

Melissa and Laura were waiting for her on the playground when Amber arrived at school.

“What took you so long?” Melissa said. “We’ve been waiting for fifteen minutes.”

“I had some thinking to do,” Amber said. “And I had a stop to make on the way.”

Laura pressed an envelope into Amber’s hand. “It’s an invitation to my birthday party next Friday. It’s going to be a sleepover.”

“Thanks,” Amber said. “I can’t wait. I love sleepovers.”

Walking home from school, Amber thought about how glad she was that it was Friday. She was especially glad about this particular Friday because it was her turn to choose the game for game night. At dinner, as usual, her mother asked about her day at school.

“Did you decide what you are going to do for your career report?”

“Yes, I did,” Amber said with a sigh of relief.

“Well, Fred,” John asked, “what’s it going to be?”

“I can’t tell you yet,” Amber said. “I still have some details to work out.”

“I don’t understand,” her dad questioned further. “If you have a topic, why can’t you tell us?”

“I will,” Amber said, “when I’m ready.”

“You didn’t choose one,” Kyle taunted. “That’s why you won’t tell.”

“I did,” Amber insisted. “You’ll just have to wait and see what it is.”

“Whatever.” Kyle shrugged.

After dinner, Amber set up the game board for the Game of Life. Kyle looked disgusted when he saw it.

“Amber played Monopoly without complaining,” Mary reminded her son.

“I know,” Kyle said. “But there’s no skill involved in this game. It’s just a game of chance.”

“You could say that about Monopoly as well,” John added. “In fact, you can say that about real life too. We’re not in control of everything that happens in our lives. We have to deal with the unexpected and make adjustments all the time, just like in the Game of Life.”

When Amber landed on lawyer as her career, she was practically jumping up and down in her seat. But when Kyle landed on teacher, the lowest-paying job, Amber couldn’t contain her enthusiasm. “Hope you enjoy listening to noisy kids all day while I’m busy with my important clients.” Kyle leaned back in his chair as if to say, “I couldn’t care less.”

That seemed to set the tone for the entire game. When Amber won the lottery, Kyle inherited fifty cats from his aunt. If that wasn’t enough, later he inherited a skunk farm from his uncle. Amber sold her cattle ranch for $200,000, and Kyle had to pay $100,000 because a tornado hit his home and he didn’t have insurance.

When Amber landed on the Revenge space, Kyle didn’t have $200,000 to pay her.

“I’ll loan you some money,” Amber offered, grinning from ear to ear.

“Never mind,” Kyle said. “I’ll just go bankrupt.”

“Too bad for your wife and four children,” John pretended to be concerned.

“At least they have a rich aunt,” Mary added.

“And maybe another one with fifty cats.” Amber was holding her side with laughter.

The Handy Helpers book series is available at Amazon

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Sibling Squibling

June 16, 2015 rosemaryheddens Leave a comment

Summer is a great time for family members to be together. But it can also be a stressful time if siblings begin to feel like they are joined at the hip. I recall many long summer days stuck at home with my brother and sister. It seemed to me like summer would never end.

The Handy Helpers are not immune to sibling strife. Amber has an older brother who is kind and loving but can often be overbearing. Naturally, as a big brother he is required to tease his little sister. Because Amber has attention deficit disorder, she gives him plenty of opportunities. But Kyle can also be bossy and often takes on the role of a third parent. This is helpful at times, but is frustrating for Amber who is struggling hard to learn to stand on her own two feet. Their relationship reminds me of my own two children.

Chris has an older brother, Eric. Because they lost their father when they were small, the two boys are very close and depend on each other. Eric is a serious young man who wants to become a minister some day. Chris is much more laid back and easy going. Both boys take a protective stance when it comes to their baby brother, Tyler.

Like Jan Brady, Laura is the often-overlooked middle child. Standing in the shadow of her older sister, Amanda, she has to wait her turn to do grown-up things like go on dates or learn to drive. While her two younger sisters are still playing dress-up and having tea parties, Laura has her own interests such as cooking. Their mother owns a dance studio and Laura’s three sisters are training in ballet. Laura enjoys gymnastics which her mother also teaches. To distinguish herself further from her sisters, she cut her long, straight hair and often wears a baseball cap.

Spike has two older sisters who are in high school. This was the situation in my home, growing up. My brother is nine years younger than I and I often thought of him as a total pain. Like Spike, he was prone to pull stunts–most of them intended to get me in trouble–which usually backfired on him.

Logan and Beth Anne are both only children. To the other Handy Helpers, this might seem like an envious position at times. But I’m sure there are times when Logan and Beth Anne feel lonely and wish they had siblings to do things with. Anyway, the situation is going to change for both of them. In Logan’s case it will happen in an unexpected way.

Melissa and her very determined younger sister, Trisha, have the most contentious relationship. Trisha tries to insinuate herself into whatever Melissa has going on. This annoys Melissa who is always telling Trisha to get lost. In addition, Trisha tries to be the perfect child–something Melissa has no interest in being. This excerpt from A Rocky Start is an example of how their relationship plays out.

“How’s school?” Laura asked Trisha while they were eating their lunches.

“I’m the best reader in the first grade,” Trisha announced proudly. “My teacher is Mrs. Bell. She always asks me to read out loud in class. I get good grades on my report card.”

“She’s a real whiz kid,” Melissa said, somewhat sarcastically.

“She does her homework right away when she gets home from school,” said Mrs. Oates, who shot an accusing look at Melissa.

“I do my homework,” Melissa defended herself. “I might not get it done until ten o’clock, but I do it.”

Amber was thinking that maybe having a perfect little sister wasn’t any better than having a perfect big brother.

The Handy Helpers book series is available at Amazon

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A Rocky Start: Chapter Five Continued

June 13, 2015 rosemaryheddens Leave a comment

Soggy Sunday was followed by muggy Monday. The rain had halted for a bit, but the clouds remained, and Amber was sure it would rain again. She took her umbrella with her on her way to school. The class had been progressing through the career unit as Ms. McGuire had said they would. The first careers they explored were jobs in health care. Amber knew that there were doctors and nurses, but she never thought about all the different types of jobs there were in health care. The EMTs who ride in ambulances, people who operate x-ray machines, and those who test blood are all health care workers. Some of them sounded pretty interesting, but some seemed too gory, like those working in emergency rooms.

Many of the students in Amber’s class had already signed up for their career reports. Laura had quickly taken chef before someone else chose it. Melissa had decided to report on marine biology, thinking it meant swimming with dolphins. Logan chose architecture as his career interest, and Chris decided on construction. Chris said that Logan could design the buildings, and he would build them. Spike had signed up for astronaut. That seemed appropriate to the girls as they weren’t sure he was from this planet anyway. Amber was the only one still thinking about what to choose, and she was really feeling the pressure of not being able to make up her mind.

Amber was almost halfway home when the downpour started. The rain was coming down so hard that her umbrella proved useless. At first, she tried to run, but the wind was blowing against her so that all she could do was push forward. As she passed Betty Jenkins’s house, she heard a familiar voice calling to her.

“Amber,” Betty yelled, “get in here out of the rain.”

Without hesitating, Amber did as Betty said, and a few seconds later, she was dripping water on the tile entryway inside Betty’s house. Betty took a towel out of the closet in the hallway and put it around Amber’s shoulders. “Here, dry off,” she said. “I’ve got some cookies in the oven. I’ll be right back.”

By the time Betty returned, Amber had dried her hair as best as she could. Her clothes were still wet, and she was shivering.

“Come in the kitchen,” Betty suggested. “It’s warmer in there with the oven on.”

Amber could already smell the delicious chocolate chip cookies and hoped that Betty would offer her one. Betty told her to sit down at the table, and without even asking, she set a glass of milk and a plate with two cookies in front of Amber.

“So what exciting things happened at school today?” Betty wanted to know.

“We’re studying careers right now,” Amber told her. “Today Dr. Stevens, a veterinarian, came to talk to the class. She told us that she became a vet because she loves animals, especially dogs. She said most of what she does is routine, like giving shots and operating on dogs and cats so they can’t have babies. Chris asked her what the worst part of her job was. She said putting pets to sleep when they were old and suffering. The family is always crying and it is so sad, but it still has to be done.”

“She sounds like a very caring person,” Betty said.

“She’s the vet who gave Domino his shots. Next week she’s going to fix Domino so he won’t be able to make puppies.”

“That is a good thing to do,” Betty said. “You’re being a responsible pet owner.”

“It’s a good thing Domino doesn’t know what’s going to happen,” Amber said. “When I had my tonsils out, I had a week to worry about it. That was the longest week of my life. Why don’t you have any pets?”

“Paul and I had a dog,” Betty explained. “He was just a mutt we got at the animal shelter, maybe a collie and German shepherd mix. We called him Pepper because he was sort of black, white, and gray. Pepper got hip dysplasia like German shepherds do sometimes. Eventually, we had to put him to sleep.”

“I hope that doesn’t happen to Domino,” Amber said.

“He’s a young dog, so you won’t have to worry about that for years,” Betty assured her.

“There’s one part of the career unit that I’m not looking forward to.” Amber sighed a big sigh. “We have to choose a career we are interested in and give a report.”

“What career did you choose?” Betty asked.

“That’s the problem,” Amber said. “I don’t really know what I want to be when I grow up.”

“You have lots of time for that,” Betty said. “Your teacher is probably just trying to get you started thinking about what you might be interested in. What’s your favorite subject in school?”

“That’s easy,” Amber said with enthusiasm. “Art is my favorite subject.”

“There are lots of careers that involve art,” Betty said. “You could be an artist or sell art supplies. You could work in a museum or even be an art teacher.”

“You hear a lot about starving artists,” Amber said seriously. “What if I’m not good enough to make money being an artist?”

“I love art too,” Betty told her. “In fact, I have a little studio behind the house. That’s where I keep my paint supplies and my paintings.”

“Was that your career?” Amber asked.

“Not really,” Betty said. “Usually I just give my paintings away. Once in a while, someone pays me, mostly for the supplies. My real job was delivering mail when we lived in Kansas.”

“Did you like that job?” Amber asked.

“I liked it very much. I was out in the fresh air every day. Some days, it was cold and snowy. Once I was even chased by a tornado. But I got to visit with lots of people. I got to know their dogs too. It was a great job, and I miss it sometimes.”

“I’d love to see some of your paintings,” Amber said. “Would you show them to me sometime?”

“I sure will,” Betty said. “When it’s not so rainy outside.”

“Speaking of rain,” Amber said. “It looks like it stopped for a little while. I think I had better get home before my mom starts to worry.”

The Handy Helpers book series is available at Amazon

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For better or for worse

June 9, 2015 rosemaryheddens 5 Comments

For better or for worse . . . I don’t know if that is still a part of wedding vows these days, but I do know it was a part of mine. During nearly forty-five years of marriage, that promise has been tested many times. But never has it been more challenging to live up to those words than it is now.

For better–We are both retired which means we have lots of time to spend together. We both enjoy excellent physical health which allows us to go on ten-mile hikes to the tops of mountains or twenty-mile bike rides. We have time to do all the things we’ve always wanted to do.

For worse–My husband Craig has dementia. He was diagnosed two years ago, but everyone close to him knew he had problems long before that. For the first year after his diagnosis, I urged him to force his mind to remember things like the day’s date or where we were going. I was convinced that if I were in his situation, I would be like Dylan Thomas, and “not go gently into that good night,” but I would “rage, rage against the dying of the light.”

Having raised a child with Down syndrome and devoted thirty years to teaching special education, I was sure that I had all the patience and skills needed to get Craig through this. Like any good special education teacher, I came up with strategies to help him cope with his limitations. After all, I had spent most of my adult life helping people see the light at the end of the tunnel. It took me a long time to realize that Craig is going down a tunnel that does not have a light at the end of it.

Craig’s neurologist keeps reminding me that Craig sees the world differently. I know I can never see the world the way he does, but I do think I’m beginning to understand his world a little better. Last Friday afternoon, Craig was roaming around our property, seeming a little restless. I handed him the keys to my car and suggested that he get the mail. He isn’t supposed to drive, but driving a few feet down our dirt road seemed harmless. I kept watching out the window for him to return, but he didn’t. Concerned, I jumped in the truck and drove around looking for him. When I couldn’t find him, I returned home and dialed 911. As I was talking to the operator, it occurred to me that I knew where Craig had gone. He had received a reminder card from the dentist for an appointment later in June. I had shown him that it was already marked on the calendar, but he carried that card around all day anyway. Dates and times don’t really mean anything to him. All he knew was that he was supposed to go to the dentist and I didn’t take him there. I told the 911 operator where I thought he might be and sure enough, that’s where he was. A very nice sheriff’s officer followed him home and talked to him patiently about not going off by himself and worrying his wife.

On the bright side–For the first time in our married life, we can’t really plan for the future. But that allows us to live in the moment, making the most of each day. Craig follows me around, which can be annoying at times. Someone called him my parrot because he repeats everything I say. What wife wouldn’t want a husband who agrees with her every word. I’ve given up on the idea of a place for everything and everything in its place. Things go missing daily. Sometimes they reappear, but often they are never seen again. It’s amazing what you can learn to live without. The phone has been gone for a few days, but the good news is, I found the television remote while I was looking for the phone.

Since June is Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness month, I’m offering this with the hope that someone will find my words helpful. It is being published with Craig’s permission.

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A Rocky Start: Chapter Five

June 5, 2015 rosemaryheddens Leave a comment

Betty Jenkins’s weather prediction turned out to be correct. The rain started at about five o’clock Saturday evening and continued most of the night. Amber awoke to a soggy Sunday morning. She jumped out of bed and ran to the window to check on the bird family. There she saw the parents huddled together on the nest. The branch the nest was hanging from provided some protection, but the birds had to be getting wet.

“Guess we’ll be taking the car to church this morning,” John said at breakfast.

Melissa and Chris also attended the Community Christian Church. Laura went to the Catholic church, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, on the other side of Bluesky. When Amber arrived for Sunday school, Melissa and Chris were already there. Amber took a seat next to Melissa.

“That was kind of fun yesterday, watching the shuffleboard tournament,” Melissa said.

“I thought you said it was boring,” Amber reminded her.

“That was when the boys were there,” Melissa said. “I pretend like everything is boring when boys are around.”

“Why?” Amber asked.

“I just do,” Melissa said. “It’s part of my mystique.”

“What’s that?”

“That’s something the boys have to figure out.”

“You’ve lost me,” Amber sighed. “I can’t figure it out either.”

“We were surprised to see you girls at the shuffleboard tournament yesterday,” Chris said as he walked over to where they were sitting.

“We were surprised to see you there too,” Amber responded. “Do you like volunteering?”

“Actually, it’s a lot of fun.” Chris smiled. “Most of the seniors are pretty cool, especially Gus. He’s a funny guy.”

“How about the other seniors? Are they cool about having you help them?” Melissa asked.

“Most of them,” Chris told her. “Some of the seniors can be grouchy, and they think we’re noisy. But most of them are friendly and happy to see us.”

“Is that why you do it?” Amber asked.

“When we first moved to Bluesky, I was riding my bike past some old guy’s house. I was on the street, not on his property. But he came out and yelled at me. He told me to get away or he’d call the police.”

“That’s awful,” Melissa said. “I’m surprised you want to help them at all.”

“When we started our Boy Scout project, I told my scoutmaster about it. He said that some people think all kids are troublemakers. Of course, that isn’t true. It’s easy to think that all old folks are grouchy. But that isn’t true either.”

After church, while the family was eating lunch, Amber talked about the Sunday school lesson. “There were two brothers. One did everything he was supposed to do. The other brother made a big mistake. He asked his father for his inheritance. Then he went off on his own and wasted it on the wrong kinds of things. When he ran out of money, he was very poor and starving. He decided to go back to his father and beg his father to give him a lowly job. Instead, his father forgave him and threw a big party because his son was home.”

“What do you think the story means?” John asked.

“I think that God is like the father. He forgives us no matter how big a mistake we make, and he is always happy when we come back to him,” Amber answered.

“That’s exactly right,” John said with enthusiasm.

“What about paying his dues for his don’ts?” Amber looked at her mother.

“Did he get his inheritance back?” Mary asked.

“No,” Amber said thoughtfully. “So he paid for his don’ts by losing his inheritance?”

“That’s right,” Mary said. “He had his father’s forgiveness, but there are always consequences when we don’t choose to do what is right.”

“I hope I only make little mistakes,” Amber said.

“Me too,” Mary added. “But remember, you have a family that loves you no matter what mistakes you make. We’ll always be here for you.”

It was still raining a little after lunch. The Snyder family settled down in front of the television to watch a baseball game. Everyone, that is, except Amber. She decided to go up to her room and work on some of her sketches. The colored-pencil set she received for her birthday would come in handy coloring the bird sketches she had made earlier.

The Handy Helpers book series is available at Amazon

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I really need your help!

June 2, 2015 rosemaryheddens 4 Comments

I’ve never tried this before, but I’m hoping my friends, fans, and readers will give me a helping hand with my writing. I’m working on book four of The Handy Helpers. It is entitled, Not a Happy Camper.

Here’s the basic plot:

It is near the end of summer vacation, and the Handy Helpers are planning to go to camp. Beth Anne wants to go to camp with her friends, but her parents tell her no. They want her to go to a special needs camp in northern Arizona. Beth Anne continues to plead with her parents until they finally tell her the truth–They don’t have three hundred dollars for the camp fees. The special needs camp is free. Her parents give her the choice of going to the special camp or not going to camp at all. They remind her that life is about compromises and she can’t expect to get everything she wants.

As far as Beth Anne’s parents are concerned, the matter is closed. But Beth Anne tells Laura that she is sleeping with the camp brochure under her pillow and praying that she can go to camp with her friends.

Of course, the Handy Helpers come to her aid and figure out a way to get the camp fees. Their plan is to have a yard sale. Walt gives them permission to have it at the senior center. All they need are things to sell. At first they plan to bring things of their own and things their families don’t need anymore. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be enough stuff to raise the three hundred dollars they need.

Chris suggests that they go door to door throughout the community of Bluesky and ask for donations. Everyone has stuff they don’t need and he is sure they can get enough for a successful yard sale.

THIS IS WHERE YOUR HELP COMES IN. As they go door to door, they will encounter several of the seniors who live in Bluesky. The seniors give them donations, but the kids aren’t really sure what some of the things are. I have thought of things such as a bathing cap, an 8-track tape, a transistor radio, and a wall phone. So many times on Facebook I’ve seen pictures of things with headings like “Do you remember this?” or “Share if you know what this is.” But for the life of me, I can’t think of any of the things in the pictures.

If the Handy Helpers came to your door and asked for donations for a yard sale, what would you give them? Please be creative and help me come up with some funny and interesting things for their yard sale. I’m hoping you will leave your responses as comments on my blog. I look forward to reading them.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Rosemary

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A Rocky Start: Chapter Four Continued

May 30, 2015 rosemaryheddens Leave a comment

Saturday morning arrived at last, but Amber looked out her window at a sunless day. Clouds had moved in overnight and threatened to pour rain on her plans for the day. After breakfast, Amber made a quick phone call to Betty Jenkins to make sure the shuffleboard tournament was going to take place.

“Rain or shine,” Betty assured her. “The shuffleboard courts are covered, so we’ll stay dry. Anyway, I don’t think it will rain until this evening.”

Two hours later, Amber and her friends rode their bikes to the senior center. “Where’s Mrs. Jenkins?” Melissa asked.

“She likes to be called Betty,” Amber reminded her.

“Oh, I forgot. Well, is Betty here?”

“She’s right over there. I think they are choosing up sides or something,” Amber said.

Laura noticed a list of names posted on a wall. After looking down the list, she saw Betty Jenkins’s name in the singles column.

“Do you know anything about shuffleboard?” Laura asked Amber.

“No, not really. Maybe Betty will have time to fill us in before the tournament starts.”

“I can do that for you,” said a little man wearing Bermuda shorts and a straw hat. “Name’s Gus. And who would you lovely young ladies be?”

“I’m Amber, and these are my friends, Melissa and Laura. We’re here for our friend Betty Jenkins, but we don’t really know anything about shuffleboard. We won’t even know when it’s time to cheer for Betty.”

“Well,” Gus began, “if you take a look at the shuffleboard court, you’ll see triangles at both ends. Each shooter uses a stick called a tang to push a disk called a biscuit to the triangle at the other end of the court. You can see the point values in the triangle. Landing in the smallest space earns ten points. There are two seven-point spaces and two eight-point spaces. If the biscuit lands completely inside one of those zones without touching any of the lines, the shooter scores that many points. It takes a score of seventy-five points to win. ”

“That sounds pretty difficult,” Laura observed.

“Believe me, it is. Even if the shooter manages to put the biscuit in a zone, the opponent has a chance to knock it out.”

“Wow,” Melissa said. “Is Betty Jenkins a good shuffleboard player?”

“One of the best,” Gus told them.

“What is the ten-off space?” Amber asked.

“If the biscuit lands there, the shooter loses ten points.”

“Oh, dear,” Amber said, “I hope that doesn’t happen to Betty.”

“Even if it does,” Melissa added, “we’ll yell and cheer for her anyway.”

“I wouldn’t recommend that,” Gus warned. “We take shuffleboard very seriously. You’ll need to be quiet, just like the spectators at a golf tournament.”

“Thanks for letting us know that,” Laura said. “We wouldn’t want to get Betty disqualified or something.”

“You’ll be fine,” Gus assured them. “Just watch from over there.” He pointed to some chairs along the sidelines. Most of them were already occupied. “You better find a seat, it looks like we’re about ready to start.”

The girls found some seats on the sideline. On the shuffleboard court, they noticed some boys lining up yellow and black disks in the ten-off spaces. “Look who that is,” Amber said. “It’s Logan, Chris, and Spike.”

“It sure is,” Melissa said, surprised. “I wonder why they’re here.”

“Those boys help out around here all the time,” Gus informed them. “They’re our junior volunteers.”

As the tournament started, the girls watched Betty Jenkins push a yellow disk from her end of the court toward the triangle at the other end. The disk stopped on the line between the ten-point space and an eight-point space. That meant no points. The other player, a dark-haired woman a little taller than Betty, wearing bright-pink capris and a flowered shirt, took her shot with the black disk, which landed inside the seven-point space. Betty’s next disk pushed the black disk off the seven-point space, but once again, it landed on a line. A man with a movie camera seemed to be catching all the action on film. Amber wondered if he was from the television station in Marshallville.

“That’s Clarisse’s husband, Hank.” Gus seemed to be reading her thoughts. “He got a new video camera last Christmas. He hardly goes anywhere without it. Hank certainly wouldn’t miss Clarisse’s big moment if she finally beats Betty at shuffleboard.”

Play continued until each shooter had used her four disks. Betty had seven points. But Clarisse had fifteen. The two women walked to the opposite end of the court where Spike had lined up the disks again in the starting position.

When there was a break in the tournament play, the girls went over to talk to Betty. “It’s so nice to have you girls here today. You are sweet to give up your Saturday morning like this.”

“It’s been fun watching you play,” Amber said. “How is it going?”

“Clarisse Anderson is a very good shooter,” Betty said. “She has me by eight points, but I still have a chance to win.”

“We’re cheering for you,” Melissa said.

“Quietly,” Laura added.

“Yes, I should have warned you that spectators have to be quiet.”

The girls returned to their seats for the second half of the tournament. Logan, Chris, and Spike were busy putting the disks at the starting point. When they had finished, they walked over to where the girls were seated.

“How do you like watching shuffleboard?” Logan asked.

“It’s a little bit boring to watch,” Melissa said. “It might be more fun if we were helping like you guys.”

“Yeah,” Spike said. “We help out here a lot. In fact, we’re three handy guys.”

“You don’t have to brag about it,” Melissa scolded.

“He’s not bragging,” Chris told her. “That’s what we call ourselves. It’s on our flyer on the bulletin board inside the senior center. We’re Three Handy Guys. When a senior needs our help, he calls us up. We wash windows, mow lawns, and rake leaves. In the winter, we even shovel snow. We do the things that are hard for seniors to do for themselves.”

“Do they pay you?” Laura asked.

“No,” Chris responded. “We do it for free. We do it because we like helping.”

“It started as a Boy Scout project,” Logan explained. “Our troop did some work around the senior center. That was when we realized there are a lot of seniors living in Bluesky, and they need our help.”

“We do that too,” Amber said. “Last Saturday, we pulled weeds for Betty Jenkins.”

“Do you have a name and a flyer like we do?” Spike asked.

“Not yet,” Laura said, “but we’re going to.”

“You could call yourselves Three Useless Girls,” Spike laughed.

Just then, Gus came over and asked them to be quiet.

By the end of the tournament, Betty was still ten points behind. She congratulated her opponent on the win and came over to where the girls were waiting for her.

“You played a good game,” Amber said. “It was really close.”

“Clarisse is a good player,” Betty said. “I’ve been lucky before, but I think she’s been practicing a lot. She told me she was going to win, and she did.”

“Will you get a chance for a rematch?” Laura asked.

“We have one more tournament next month,” Betty said. “We’ll see what happens then.”

Betty headed into the senior center for lunch, and the girls walked to their bikes. Gus waved to them from across the lawn. “See you later, alligator,” he called to them.

“Bye, see you later,” the girls shouted back with a wave.

The Handy Helpers book series is available at Amazon

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A Rocky Start: Chapter Four

May 22, 2015 rosemaryheddens Leave a comment

“Good morning out there.” The voice on the radio woke Amber as her alarm came on. “It’s another beautiful Monday. Rise and shine.”

Monday, Amber thought with a sigh. A check of the tree outside her window showed no baby birds yet. She dressed quickly and went downstairs to have a bowl of cereal. Soon, Melissa and Laura were knocking on the door since the three of them had planned to ride their bikes to school together.

“Do you have your homework?” Laura reminded Amber.

“No, just a minute, I’ll get it.”

After a few minutes, Amber shouted. “Mom, do you know what happened to my homework?”

“No, Amber, where did you put it?”

“It was right here on the desk yesterday.”

“I saw some torn-up bits of paper in the laundry room by Domino’s bed,” her dad shouted out. “Do you think he might have gotten it?”

“I don’t know,” Amber said. “What did you do with the torn pieces of paper?”

“I threw them in the trash.”

Amber looked in the trash can. There were tiny pieces of paper mixed with eggshells and other goo from breakfast. “Nothing I can salvage out of that,” she said.

On the way to school, Amber thought about what she was going to say to Ms. McGuire. This was the second time this month that she was missing her homework. The first time, it must have dropped out of her binder on the way to school. Ms. McGuire had been understanding and given her credit for it anyway. Maybe she would do that again.

As the girls locked their bikes into the bike rack, they noticed Logan Green and his two friends, Chris Bishop and Spike Smith. Spike’s real name is Mike (actually Michael), but everyone calls him Spike because of his spiked hair. (Melissa says it is because of his spiked tongue.) The boys were looking at Amber and laughing about something.

Amber sometimes wondered why these three boys were friends. They seemed so different from each other. Logan and Chris are about the same height, but that is where the similarities stopped. Logan, who is tall and thin, always looks so neat with his polo shirt tucked into his jeans. He wears his light-brown hair short in a tidy crew cut. Chris is more friendly and easygoing than his two friends. His appearance is kind of casual, with baggier jeans and long T-shirts. His longer brown hair is usually brushed to the side or combed over his forehead. Spike likes to use plenty of gel in his hair and, sometimes, even colored hair spray. The other students are no longer shocked to see him with a red or purple spike. His other way of showing off is to wear shirts with sayings. Today he was wearing a shirt that said, “Homework destroys trees.”

“Like he really cares about the environment,” Melissa said when she saw it.

When Amber thought about it though, she realized that her friends were different from her in lots of ways. Although Amber and her two friends dress pretty much the same every day—in jeans and T-shirts—Melissa calls hers designer jeans and fashion tops. Even more important are her accessories. She is always loaded down with jewelry, shiny belts, and fancy headbands. Amber’s mom called it dressing to the nines. Amber thought that sometimes Melissa dressed to the eighteens or even twenty-sevens.

Laura is the smart one who always gets good grades. If Amber or Melissa come up with an idea that might get them in trouble, Laura is the one who talks them out of it. When she wasn’t around, Melissa called Laura “the goody-goody girl.”

Their teacher Ms. McGuire was young, probably in her late twenties. She has been a teacher at Bluesky Elementary for the past three years. Amber thought she was lucky to have a nice teacher like Ms. McGuire. She also liked the way Ms. McGuire dressed. Sometimes she wears skirts with cowboy boots, but most of the time, she wears tan, khaki pants and shirts with buttons. Some days she pulls her shoulder-length brown hair into a ponytail, but most of the time, she wears it down in soft waves.

Ms. McGuire seemed especially enthusiastic for a Monday morning, and Amber wondered what she could possibly be that excited about.

“Today, class,” Ms. McGuire began, “we are going to start a unit on careers. There will be several parts to the unit. We will be reading some stories about people in different careers, and later, we will have some guest speakers, maybe even some of your parents.” Most of the kids groaned when they heard that.

“The most exciting part of the unit will be the oral report. Each one of you will select a different career to research. Then you will give an oral report to the class.” Amber was thinking that didn’t sound too exciting, and looking around the room, she felt pretty sure her classmates didn’t either.

At lunch, the girls talked about what careers they might choose. Laura didn’t have to think twice about what she wanted to do for her report. Laura’s favorite thing to do is cooking. Amber and Melissa weren’t at all surprised when she chose to give her report on becoming a chef. Melissa loves swimming, and she loves dolphins. She was thinking about doing her report on marine biology. Amber listened to them talk about their ideas, but her mind was blank when it came to deciding what she would like to do.

“I have a career suggestion for you.” Spike was sitting nearby and overheard their conversation. “How about mud wrestling?” Then he and Chris doubled over in laughter. Amber shot a dirty look at Logan, who only shrugged.

“What was that all about?” Melissa asked when the boys were gone.

“I fell in the mud yesterday at the park,” Amber explained. “Logan saw it, and I guess he told his friends about it.”

“What a jerk,” Laura fumed. “Boys, who needs them?”

“I like boys,” Melissa said. “Especially mature ones like Kyle.”

“If Kyle was your brother,” Amber said, “you’d change your mind about that.”

Their first class after lunch was math. Amber hadn’t told Ms. McGuire about her homework yet, but she couldn’t put it off any longer. As the students filed into the classroom, Amber went up to Ms. McGuire’s desk.

“What is it?” Ms. McGuire looked up from her paperwork.

“I don’t have my homework,” Amber admitted.

“Why not?”

“My dog ate it.” Amber stared at her shoes.

“That’s the oldest excuse in the book,” Ms. McGuire told her. “What do you expect me to do?”

“Could you take my word for it that I did my homework?”

“Didn’t you have a similar problem a few weeks ago? It seems like your homework fell out of your binder that time. I did accept your explanation and gave you credit for doing the homework. Now you’re here with another excuse. I think you need to take responsibility for turning in your work. I can’t give you a break this time.”

Amber thanked Ms. McGuire anyway and went to her seat. “I sure hope Domino enjoyed his snack,” Amber said under her breath.

After school, Amber told Melissa and Laura about the shuffleboard tournament on Saturday.

“Would you like to go with me?” she asked. “We could be the cheering section for Betty Jenkins.”

“I’m not sure shuffleboard is a very exciting sport,” Melissa said. “It’s just for old people.”

“I don’t think that matters,” Laura said. “Mrs. Jenkins is our friend, and we can support her in the tournament.”

“Okay,” Melissa sighed. “I guess you’re right.”

The Handy Helpers book series is available at Amazon

Written by Rosemary Heddens