#280 - Our Waitress Swears Like A Three-Year-Old

I woke to an empty bed, slightly confused as to where my wife could have gotten to.

Somehow, she had managed to get out of bed without waking me which is something that rarely happens. I must have been really tired to let that happen.

My phone screen told me through squinty eyes that it was just after ten AM, and we had breakfast plans with some friends for ten thirty.

Did I bolt out of bed?

No.

I took my time and watched a video, I can’t even remember what it was about and then got out of bed after my loving wife asked if I was still alive. She was downstairs dressed and ready to go.

I made the executive decision to put some clothes on, brush my teeth and get my butt downstairs.

Luckily, the restaurant was close to our house and was only a five-minute drive away. In the end, we arrived there before our friends, no one the wiser at how slow I’s been getting out of bed, except for my wife.

It had been some time since we had been to the Symposium restaurant for breakfast, but somehow, as is often the case with us, the waitress remembered us, and even told us what seats we sat in last time. She has a better memory than us, although I did remember her.

Our waitress swears like a three-year-old. Her big curse was “Oh, sugar plums and swizzle sticks.”

What a potty mouth.

Our friends, Kathy and Lino, arrived a few minutes later and took a seat opposite of us in a booth. We chatted for a bit, drank some coffee and then ordered our breakfasts.

I ordered avocado toast with mushrooms and truffle oil, before remembering that I didn’t like truffle oil. I should have ordered their standard avocado toast that has a nice Picco de Gallo on top. I ate it without complaint, pleased that the truffle flavour wasn’t upfront and in my face.

We had a nice breakfast, supplemented with conversation before leaving them around noon.

Robyn took kiddo #2 out to do some errands for his summer film project and I headed to Winners in search of more of the black bowl/plates I had purchased before and never get to use because the kids always use them first.

I was only able to find one more bowl as all the others had been sold. I might try a different Winners this week and see if they have anymore. At least I got an extra one. (Which I hid in the cupboards so that I might get a chance to use it).

Then I popped over to Fortino’s to grab some ingredients for the Chicken Ruby sauce.

Back home we put on some Netflix and watched the series American Manhunt: Osama Bin Laden. I think we watched about five episodes, just luxuriating in doing nothing. Robyn cuddled up and I am fairly certain she fell asleep on my chest for most of it.

By five, I was ready to get up and move about. I headed down to the kitchen and prepared the chicken marinade for Chicken Ruby. I also chopped and spiced some vegetables and put them into the oven with some sausages for dinner.

I’ll make the makhani sauce for the chicken tomorrow. I don’t have time to do it this evening and write my short story for my mentor.

Robyn left to do her service work, then grab a few groceries. I grabbed my laptop and notes and headed out to the front porch. The temperature had cooled down significantly and there was a refreshing breeze.

It was the perfect temperature for sitting outside, and I prefer to be outdoors given the chance. Don’t want to waste good weather by being indoors all day.

I made some more notes after brainstorming a little more and liked the direction my mind was going in. My goal was to start the story by eight PM and stay up as late as it took to get the assignment done.

It’s now ten PM and basically have nothing written.

I spent a little time thinking about where and how I would start this story and I kept coming back to the idea that I wasn’t beginning in the right place. I fired up the bubble spa jets and took a soak to let my mind ruminate on it a little more.

Then I lay in bed and did twenty minutes of a Deep Rest No Sleep mediation protocol to help give me a boost of energy to get this story going. I can already tell it’s going to be another late Sunday night for me. Same as the last time an assignment was due.

I’ve removed myself to the writing cave to remove as many distractions as possible. I’ll need complete focus to get this right.

The time is now midnight, and I am only about five hundred words into the story. The beginning part is always the hardest to do. It takes much longer to write the first five hundred words than any other section of the story. Things are starting to come together and soon I will be picking up speed as the story starts to get rolling.

The coffee sitting in my smart mug is helping me to keep going.

I think this hard part at the start is why I procrastinate so much on the writing assignments. The deadline helps me get past the starting growing pains.

It’s something for me to think on, anyway.

The time is now two AM, and I am just about done the opening scene. The characters have all met and the scenario is set up. Now I just have to figure what comes next. Hopefully, the writing starts to speed up, and I can get a few hours of sleep this morning before work starts.

It’s just coming up on four AM, and I have about 2100 words written on the story.

I just finished writing the second scene and things are about to get fun in the story.

It’s six forty-five and I just sent out the story to my mentor. I’m not sure I like the ending as much as I thought I would, but it is what it is. All writing is practice.

Time to grab a couple hours of sleep before work starts.

Until tomorrow.