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.
What are some real life plot twists you've been facing lately?

8 comments:

  1. Ahahaaa, going in the brother's room and not telling him... I may have done that JUST a few times. Or all the time. I won't tell if you won't.

    Oh jeez. The only plot twist in my life recently is this weirdo weather. October and 80 degrees outside, currently. Just last week we were outside shivering in our hoodies, and today it feels like summer. I LOVE fall, but I really hate the whole guessing-game we normally get every year-- it's cold in the morning and gets warm later, so I don't know whether to wear a sweater or a T-shirt or what the heck. A lot of times I end up changing several times a day to adapt to the weather. I'm like a chameleon or something. xD The joys of living the Midwest.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your secret is safe with me. xD

      I live in Virginia, but the weather's been acting similarly here. It's REALLY annoying when you go to work in long sleeves and layers and have to change your clothes an hour into the morning.

      Thanks for commenting!

      Delete
  2. I have tons of siblings (younger ones) myself so I KNOW THE FEEL. I have this happen with blogging all the time, because I'm juggling writing and school and everything else and it gets to be a lot sometimes, especially when social stuff comes into it... o.0

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Siblings are the best and worst thing ever simultaneously. :) There is always so. much. to juggle.

      Delete
  3. Hey, didn't I say no computers while we're watching Doctor Who?! }:(

    ReplyDelete
  4. That Thorin gif! XD I love it so much.

    It sounds like you had a wild day. Those are always crazy. I've had. . . more of those than I can count. I have to choose between writing, blogging, practicing guitar, watching Spider-Man, and how are you supposed to choose? I have to go to work and school so I can't opt out of those.

    I know what you mean about vehicles that don't actually have enough room in them. We went for an hour drive once with our homeschool group and I had the edge of half a seat to sit on. It was loud. It was crazy. I was miserable. And now I never want to go on a far off trip solely for the purpose of seeing Christmas lights.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is awesome. It took me like five minutes to get it, too my shame, but then I couldn't stop laughing.

      Watching Spiderman? Definitely makes it a hard choice. xD Exactly-- there are some things you just have to do, and you simply can't prioritize writing over those.

      I've been on trips like that-- every year at Christmas we carpool with friends to go see a free performance of Handel's Messiah. It ends up being worth it, but the ride is always miserable.

      Delete

I adore comments! Just keep it clean and respectful...please no profanity and while I respect people's opinions and love a good argument, simply bashing my post is obviously not appreciated. :)