Everyday Plot Twists (aka Anecdotes from My Boring Life)

7:08 AM Gemma Fitz 8 Comments

It's Wednesday, the seventh of October, 7:00 in the evening, and I'm drafting the sixth blog post I've tried to write today.

It's been a plot twisty kind of day.
I work a four hour shift at a local orchard on weekday mornings. I start at 9, get off at 1. Normally that leaves the entire afternoon for school (I'm homeschooled, in case you didn't know), writing, and blogging. But not today.

Today my sisters and I had music lessons. We were supposed to be there at 1:30, which meant I'd have to leave directly from work. With two sisters plus myself taking piano and two more taking harp, I knew we'd be there the better part of the afternoon (and yes, I have a lot of sisters).

But no problem. I could still get my blogging done. I'd started a post earlier that morning, and I could finish it at my piano teacher's, while my sisters were taking their lessons.

I grabbed my stuff together, put my piano books in a neat stack in the living room, plugged my computer in to charge, and asked one of my sisters to bring my books and computer for me. "And lunch would be nice, too," I added.

She responded with an okay, and I headed for the car.

"Don't forget my books, Gabby!" I called as I stepped outside. "Or my computer!"

Work was twisty today as well. It has nothing to do with blogging, so I won't dwell on it, but among other things, I forgot my water bottle (and the water at work tastes awful), I found out (after getting there) that I had a fever, and, because not all plot twists are bad, I got tipped! Twice! Generously! Which hardly ever happens where I work.

1 o'clock rolled around, and with it rolled my sisters. Or their car rolled. Or it's wheels. Something like that.

There were four girls in the car, I would make the fifth, and lots of music books, cans of motor oil, and other paraphernalia, because instead of my family's van, my sisters had brought my dad's car, a tiny five passenger affair that always has some kind of junk in it.

And of course they'd left the middle seat for me.
(I really love you guys.)

With difficulty I scrambled over my sisters, books, and boxes and sat down on somebody's school work. "What made you bring this car?" I asked in disgust, as I attempted to buckle myself into the cramped space. "Did you remember to bring my books?"

"Yup, right here." Gabby shoved them into my lap (as though I wasn't already holding enough stuff) and gestured to a sandwich in the cupholders. "Your lunch," she explained.

"Thanks, and my computer?"

Blank expressions greeted me on every side.

"You forgot my computer," I said, as a nameless foreboding settled over my soul (whatever that's supposed to mean).

"I didn't hear you ask me to bring it," said Gabby, her voice apologetic (because adjectives are better than adverbs somehow).

Well, that's just great. With no computer, how was I supposed to write up the blog post that I really needed to post tomorrow morning? Or die an unsuccessful blogger?

But it got worse. Or, if you prefer, more twisty.

This is how music lessons work in our family. My eldest sister (still at home, anyway) drives us to my piano teacher's, and drops me and my youngest sister off for our lessons. She then takes my remaining two sisters to their harp teachers' and waits until their lessons are over to return to my piano teacher's and recieve her own lesson.

(This is because our piano teacher is also our sister-in-law, and therefore much more flexible than their harp teacher. It's okay if we don't get there strictly when we're supposed to.)

Well, me and my little sister had our lessons, and then we proceeded to wait for my other sisters to return. And wait. And wait some more.

By the time my sisters got back and my oldest sister had had her lesson, it was 4 o'clock. It would take 45 minutes to get home (because we live in the middle of nowhere).

And then my sister took it into her head to go to the store.

We got home a little after 5, and, what do you know! It was dinner time. The afternoon was gone, and there was no blog post.

But no problem. I would just have to write it this evening. I might have to stay up late, but I could make it happen. We finished dinner, cleaned up the kitchen, and I headed up to my room to write.

And proceeded to be attacked by the most massive monster of writers block I have ever faced (okay, maybe exaggerating a bit). I could not get anything written. I abandoned one post and started another. And another. Whatever I tried to write, it wouldn't come out and I couldn't figure out what I was trying to say. And the more I obsessed and panicked over the fact that I had to finish this thing tonight, I had to have something to post Thursday morning, the harder it was to write.
And right about then my sister walked in and said, "You want to watch Doctor Who tonight?"

Duh, I wanted to. But I was busy. So I shrugged. "I'm writing a blog post," I explained. "And isn't Sam home tonight?"

Explanation: my little sisters aren't allowed to watch Doctor Who yet. They are still considered too young and impressionable, because it kinda is a scary show. (Sometimes.) So we can't exactly watch it in the living room where they can see it. We have to watch it up in my brother's room, since it's the only other room with a TV, and we're only allowed to do that in two cases. 1) My brother invited us up specifically to watch Doctor Who with him, and 2) my brother is not home and will never find out we were in his room without his permission.

Oh, and I think it goes without saying, but please don't inform my brother we've been watching stuff in his room the last several nights and haven't told him about it. Thanks.

Back to the point, my sister was a step ahead of me. "No," she said. "Sam left." She then fixed me with a powerful "you-know-you-want-to" look, manufactured to sway me into watching it with her (because for some reason my sister doesn't like watching stuff by herself).

"I-I'm busy," I protested, clinging to the last shred of an excuse because seriously, I needed to write this blog post.

"Oh, come on," said my sister, and I caved, because I'd like to see anyone with the moral fortitude to resist watching Doctor Who. (Actually, I wouldn't. That would just be sad.)

After all, I can write while I watch, right?

So here I am, watching Doctor Who and writing the sixth blog post I've tried to write today. It's been a twisty kind of day.

And if I'm honest, this post is really just me saying, "I had no idea what to write about today, so you get this." Because life happens. Because plot twists happen. Because things don't always go as planned. And it's okay to let those twists swing you in a new direction, take you out of your comfort zone, and make something completely new happen.

It's okay to blog about things you don't think anyone will find interesting-- sheesh, it's okay to not blog at all once in a while-- or to post late, or not have a graphic put together because you ran out of time.

It's okay to have a plot twist once in a while.