Clover Autrey

My husband went in for a simple procedure yesterday. What should have taken less than an hour ended up being 3 hours, half of that waiting to even get called to the back to begin.

So what do you do when you have to wait? And wait. Here are my tips:

1. Always have a book on you. Whether you bring an eReader or a paperback, have it.

2. Pad and Pen. A must have. Yes, I got some writing in. Other waitees kept giving me out-of-the-corner glances, wondering what I was writing so furiously and could it possibly be about them.

3. Bring a snack. Okay, I didn't. Nor had I eaten because I wasn't hungry and we were going to grab lunch together afterwards. Mistake. The only thing louder than my scrawling pen over paper was my stomach growling. That got several looks as well. And then we didn't have time to eat because I was late for work. Grrrr. A reeses peanut butter cup, though satisfying, is not lunch.

4. Um, possibly the food network wasn't the best channel for the telly's waiting room. Oh my gurgling belly, all these mouth-savoring dishes kept flashing across the screen. I think all of us in there were holding back from making a run on the nurses' stash and devouring all the juice and crackers. Several were white-knuckling their armrests. Have enough courage to ask the receptionist to change the channel.

5. Bring a smart phone. I do not wear big girl panties yet. I have not graduated into the era of smart phones, mores the pity. I bored holes into the guys happily social networking their way through waiting room boredom, most likely tweeting about being trapped in a waiting with a scary woman staring at their high-grade technology.

6. Play Brick Attack on your not-smart dumb phone. Boringest slowest game ever. Pong was more exciting.

How do you relieve waiting room boredom?

I'm over at the Sweet Not Spicy blog all week talking about what I love about Time Travels. Come on over and join me!

My only daughter is 21 years old today. She has become such a remarkable woman and I am so proud of her.

Memories:

When she was very young, whenever she got upset she'd tell herself over and over "it's okay, it's okay". I didn't make the connection until I saw her dad comforting her once, rocking and whispering, "it's okay, it's okay".

My husband's mom used to throw water on him when he pitched a tantrum, but the first time P tried that on A, she ran to her room and came back with an umbrella, as defiant as ever.

She rocks out to piano music~~a true head banger at the age of 2.

We once went to a military air fire show. A did not like the loud banging and forever after hid from any kind of fireworks.

She took things very seriously. She was the child that angsted over the 4th grade TAKs test because she knew she would never get in a good college if she messed up at this point. She never did take my word for it to relax about some things.

A likes to stand out. Shopping for prom dresses was always a treat because she would pick out the most unique styles.

Speaking of standing out, she'll admit she loved being an officer on the drill team mostly because their uniforms were white while everyone else's were red.

Her entire HS senior year, A and her friends would randomly break into Russian accents. ANY TIME. It was really annoying.

When her brothers push her too far and she growled at them, it's quickly followed by, "I'm sorry. I love you." But it comes out sounding like, "I'm sorry that I love you." She gets razzed for that.

I've become One-dimensional. I didn't mean to. It just sort of happened.

I've thrown all my energies into writing, into educating myself on the craft of it, and into learning how to make a shy person as myself more of an extrovert.

I belong to two writing groups, which I love. I come back from those meetings buzzing with creative energy and so happy to have spent time with people who have become great friends.

But I want to spread my wings a bit and join one or two online communities that focus on something other than writing. The problem?

I have no idea what else I'm interested in. Pre-marriage, I traveled the backyard of the west with my 3 buddies, one tent, sleeping bags, a cooler, and money for gas. We hiked, we explored ghost towns, nearly rolled down a cliff, waterskiied and jetskiied when we found a lake and someone with a boat or a place to rent jetskis.

Nowadays, the thought of climbing a mountain makes me want to hurl myself off of one. And since I moved to Texas--camping in a tent in this heat? Not happening. All that camping fun drained out of me along with buckets of humidity when ignorantly innocently enough I volunteered to be the camp director for the church 14-18 yr-old girls while I was pregnant. NEVER again. NEVER.

As for boating and skiing, I'd do that if I still had a boat or if there weren't alligators stalking Texas lakes.


Early marriage, I got hooked on those DIY home decorating shows and, yes, my house went through many, um, interesting transformations--some we will not speak about.

I did a few crafty workshops with church friends, but I mostly enjoyed the social aspect of working on a project together for a few hours while I speedily finished my ugly project because I knew I would NEVER finish it at home. And they rarely got hung up either because that cutesy crafty look isn't for me. My sister once said my interior reminds her of an old movie set from the mummy or something. Dark woods, old world style, not a cross-stitch sample in sight.

See my delimma?

What am I interested in at this stage of my life? It's a little disconcerting to really have no idea.

Okay, I do love ghosts. I've been fascinated with them since I saw one when I was eight. But that's a story for a separate blog post. And yes, being my one-dimensional self, I've written several things featuring ghosts. How could I not?  

So I could join a group about ghosts maybe? Ghost-hunting? Know any good ones? I have no idea.

I also want to travel, so perhaps there are some great traveling communities I can get into?

Genealogy too. Not that I've done a lot of it, but I have done some and let me tell you, it is a time suck. I get going and hours fly by. I feel like a detective, finding lost souls and connecting them with the right family lines.

So help me out people. I'm determined to take this month and find an online group (outside of writing) that I can connect with.

Tell me about groups you belong to and interests you have so I can go check them out a find a place for me. Even if it doesn't seem like something I'd be interested in, I'd love to know more about you and things you enjoy. Who knows, maybe that will spark a long buried interest I've forgotten I had.

Post your groups here in the comments or on my facebook page. I'll let you know how my search to become at least a two-dimensional person comes along throughout the month.