Writer Needs Tough Love!

Dear MikChiks,
I am a writer. Not a professional or even a minor leaguer. The only thing of mine that ever got published (Outside of our home printer and a few very small things on the internet) was an irate letter to the editor a couple years ago. All the same, I adore stories and writing them.

My first problem is that I rarely ever finish a project. I have notebooks dating back a ways with plot line ideas, scenes, and character sketches for dozens of different fictional tales. This drives my family, and mainly my mother, nuts. When I was younger I would be so excited and show them all what I was working on. My mom says she would start getting into the story and then it'd just end. And then I'd bring her something else... etc. (My muse is wonderful about ideas, and terrible about helping me through completion.)

Should Dazed-Dater Pop the Question?

It's Friday!

 Before we get to our coNUNdrum, we want to bring you Amy W's before and after haircut pictures.  Here's ANOTHER example of someone we helped privately, who followed our advice.  We're sensing a pattern...

To view the New Do, go HERE. 

We love it!!!

Now on to serious matters!  Not that hair isn't serious...

Dear MikChiks,
A while back, I signed up for a Christian dating site, and after I'd been on there about a month, I received a message from "Chuck" telling me he'd been impressed with my profile and that he'd like to get to know me better. I checked out his profile and decided to start chatting with him on IM and through email. This started in October of last year.

Things between us progressed steadily, if a bit slowly, which I expected since he lived in another state. I liked him a lot, and he made it clear that he liked me, too.

The Case of the Traveling Underpants

Good Wednesday, Readers!

As you will read, one of you took us seriously when we said that no coNUNdrum was too small or STRANGE for us…

Dear MikChiks,

It's midnight, which is about 3 hours after I actually turn into a pumpkin, but for some reason I'm still awake, and even more surprisingly, reading your blog, which I cannot properly capitalize because you have done some kind of strange random thing with capital letters which would probably have gotten you expelled from third grade.  Also, I'm trying to win the longest sentence ever posted on your blog award, which you haven't announced yet but should, so that I can win it!

 I see you are in dire need of a coNUNdrum.  For this, I have waited and watched and now, ta da! I rush to your rescue.  Actually, I just couldn't think of anything earlier...I'm not sure I've thought of anything now, either.

June Bride Needs Your Help!

Good Morning Readers!

Usually we tackle coNUNdrums together, but today it's Mostly Maddie.  I, though, am the one who posted a picture of her--over her (loud) protests, because that's what mothers do.

Dear MikChiks,

My friend's daughter is getting married in June, and they are on the search for the perfect wedding dress. The coNUNdrum is they can't find many to choose from because the bride would like a modest dress (read not strapless or spaghetti straps). 

An "It Figures" Kind-of-Friday

It's Friday, Readers, and though that should be exciting, the MikChiks are in the throes of the woebegone doldrums.  We're probably coming off the Love High produced by all your stories.  That level of emotion can only be sustained for so long before one plummets.  And while others may be able to mask their melancholy, we wear ours on our 80s styled lapels.

So it's fitting that we bring you the following tale.

Valentine's Day Contest Results!

Oh, Happy Wednesday!

The judges have finally made their call, and both said this was a Most Difficult Task, as ALL the entries were fantastic.  We agree and thank you for taking the time to share your stories.

Drum Roll, Please……

From India, With Love

Greetings Readers!

Today we wrap up our Valentine's Day extravaganza with thoughts of love from one of our International Readers.  Mr. Shafee is a proud father and grandfather, who works tirelessly to bring aid and awareness to the plight of girls in low socio-economic areas in India—specifically targeting the areas infanticide and education.

What I (Lisa) have enjoyed the most in my correspondence with him (besides the lyrical quality he gives to the English language), is that I can let loose with my exuberance and love for God and His creation without worrying that he'll think I'm crazy.  I suspect he's a little crazy that way, too.  And unlike many of you, he doesn't correct my English.

Love Entry #10: A Different Kind of Love Potion

Oh, Happy Valentine's Day!

Woo-Hoo!!!!!  May you all feel close to the ones you love!

Here is our tenth and final entry.  We've kept it pretty clean—until now!

Love Is Muddy Sometimes

What do you get when you mix a youth group with rain, mud, a football and a nearly deserted campground? Why, blossoming love, of course.

Love Entry #9: His Smile Did Her in!

A Good Sunday to All!

Here's an entry from someone who was inspired to write because of all the wonderful entries she read.  We have another entry coming up from someone who was downright anti-Valentine's Day.  In other words, your entries have touched people, and we think that's cool.  If you sent in a submission, please send us your address…a surprise may greet you in the near future.

Now to present you with the granddaddy of all whirlwind love stories…

Dear MikChiks,

It was a hot and steamy Friday afternoon when the College and Career crowd met in the church parking lot to ready ourselves for the upcoming canoe and camp weekend getaway. I was new to the church and this was my first official outing with them. When I get uncomfortable in a situation, I become super goofy.

I noticed a small silver car pull into the parking lot and a tall, very pale young man unfold himself from the driver's seat and stretch, showing off skinny lily-white legs in a pair of shorts. Here it was the middle of summer and he was the whitest white boy I'd ever seen! With the mop of black hair and brown eyes I would have expected a Mediterranean tan at the very least.

Regardless of the fact I'd never met him before, I yelled out, "Hey, take those legs out in public much, do you?" He whirled around in surprise and then flashed me the biggest grin I'd ever seen. That was it; right then my heart was captured. 

Love Entry #8: Of Mothers, Ferris Wheels, and Love

Good Saturday, Readers!

Here's a love story proving that all maternal interference isn't bad.  We wish Red were here to read this…

An Arranged Marriage

(tongue held firmly in cheek with much due respect to those in actual arranged marriages)

We found love the old-fashioned way. His mother arranged it.

“I highly recommend her,” she said to him.

 “Do you have a problem with older men?” she asked of me.

“Really?”

 “Really.”

 “Really.” Huh.

So it began. Me, with my skepticism tracking his every pulse. He, with his eyeballs tracking my every curve.

Love Entry #7: Department Store Romance

Happy Thursday Readers!  

Sometimes a little ingenuity becomes necessary when hunting the male of the species.  Just joking!!!!  Enjoy...

Dear Mik Chiks,

I found my husband in Sears and Roebuck. And you thought they just had Craftsman tools and Kenmore appliances! Ha!

I was working in the repair and parts department, and had run out of change. I passed this gorgeously attractive man dressed in a pale blue suit on the way to the cashier to get more money for the register drawer and couldn’t help myself – I smiled at him! (I was a college freshman at the time and very shy – it was a monumental occasion!)

Love Entry #6: The Mending of Brokenness

Good Wednesday Morning, Readers,

Today we present a love story that didn't begin with the framework any of us hope for when we dream about getting married.  For those who have built a marriage on biblical principle, it’s easy to judge.  Perhaps the best way to read this story is with a thankful and grace-filled heart.

Several years ago there was a woman who was very unhappy.  On the outside it seemed like she should have been very happy because she had a longstanding marriage, 2 healthy young children, a great new showplace home, and a super job.  Seeming to be something isn’t really the same as actually being it though, and so even though she should have been happy based on ‘things,’ she was very unhappy.  She was unhappy because her life was utterly out of control and spiraling into a mess of mistakes, lies, anger, cover-ups, avoidance, and fear.  These things made her feel as though she was losing herself piece by piece.  Each argument she had with her husband tore another piece off her, exposing raw nerve and, oddly, making her feel less and less of the world.  She was closing off, shutting out, and putting up a wall between her and life because of her unhappiness.

Love Entry #5: Hippie Guy Falls for Barefoot Girl

Welcome Readers to another sub-zero day on planet earth.  Regardless of how cold it is outside, though, inside hearts are warm with love.  And while we may be cheesy, there's nothing cheesy about our next entry—written by a guy, in that straight-forward way that guys have.

"Like Us"

Aka (to quote):  "Contest Fodder"

When I was 21, I hung out a lot with Andre and Darlene. They also hung out a lot with a friend of theirs named Sharon. They never bothered introducing us as we were too opposite. I had no use for sticks chicks; Sharon had no use for hippies (ex- or otherwise). One fine, spring day Andre and Darlene strong-armed me into a disastrous (aren't they all?) blind date; when Andre and I went to pick up Darlene and my date we had to wait a half hour (making the guy wait was always one of my pet peeves). While we were waiting, I ended up meeting Sharon. She was very real, a sweet gal, and incredibly funny.

Valentine's Entry #4: All Because...

Happy Tuesday!

Here's our next entry!  Names have been X'd to protect the innocent!  Hope you enjoy this heartwarming love story.

All Because…

I braced myself when I heard the squeals and thundering elephant sounds of girls running up the stairs. The van had arrived, overloaded with kids for Wednesday church. I stood at the top of the stairs and gladly accepted the affections of girls ranging from early elementary to Junior high.

“Xxxxxxx! Xxxxxxx!” Many of the girls just liked to say my name. Arms would slip around my waist for quick hugs in passing.

“What? What?” I teased back.

Wow! They were hyped up on sugar from Valentine parties at school. Generally it took about five minutes for the dust to settle, but this night it took a bit longer before I could shoo the younger girls out of the “cool” Friends Club classroom. 

Valentine's Entry #3: The Survey Says...

Good Monday Morning!

Here's Entry #3 for the Valentine's Day Contest--and a creative entry it is!  Samson and Aaron aren't  retired, but we applied the quiz to them--not bad, not bad.  And they have years to work on #5--the husband in this survey set the bar HIGH on that one. 

Survey for Wives with Retired Husbands

Place an x in the box for each “yes” answer, and leave blank those with answer of “no.”

Make any additional comments beneath the questions.

_x_ 1. Does he show you affection?

               He gives me hugs and kisses aplenty through the day and holds me all night long.

_x_ 2. Does he help you with the dishes and laundry and housework?

              All except scrubbing the commodes.

_x_ 3. Does he remember you on special occasions?

              I have to admit he’s not much for Groundhog Day.

_x_ 4.  Does he have good personal hygiene?

              Mercy, yes, he smells as sweet as a daisy and is as handsome as the day I married him.

_x_ 5.  Does he take you out to eat?

              At least, once every day and, sometimes, twice.

_x_ 6.  Does he have a good sense of humor?

              He makes our home a fun place to be.

_x_ 7.  Is he a man of integrity and honor?

              My heart can safely trust in him.

_x_ 8.  Does he go to church with you?

             He is the head of our Christian home, and we enjoy Bible study together, as well.

_x_ 9.  Does he do everything on your “honey-do” list?

             I don’t even have to make a list; he sees what needs to be taken care of and does it.

___10. Does he watch chick flicks with you?

               Not unless there are a couple of car chases and somebody gets shot, but Pshaw!

                Nobody’s perfect, and I’m blessed to have him!

Nine out of Ten!  The Survey Says this wife is one Lucky Ducky!  What say the readers?  How would your spouses fare on this checklist?

XOXO

Lisa and Maddie

Valentine's Entry #2: *Clink!*

Hello Readers!

 We've received more entries, and now need a Sunday posting in hopes of getting them all out before the big day.  But it's not to late to submit yours--we're finalizing the prizes this afternoon!--mwah-ha-ha.  We hope you enjoy this romantic entry--we've refrained from adding commentary...

Romantic?  Walk in the Woods

 My husband Tom tries to be romantic—really he does. I love his honest, heart-felt attempts.

We had a very simple wedding back in the summer of 1979. After the traditional send-off, Tom and I hopped into the yellow Datsun B-210 and drove off.

“So where are we going, Honey?” I asked. I was naturally curious because Tom had kept our honeymoon destination a secret until our wedding day.

“Oh, I thought it would be romantic if we just headed toward the mountains and trusted God to show us where to go.”

Oopski...

It's Saturday!

Today marks a new first for Connecting Now—our blog's first mistake/correction.  Perhaps we've made other mistakes, and just haven't been called on them.  There's no need, however, to rack your brains trying to remember.

Dead Stalin

Correction:  the picture of a dead "Stalin" on yesterday's blog is really a dead "Lenin".  Yes, I (Lisa) mixed the two Russian Dictators up, looked up the wrong one—I had Lenin on the brain.  And we could take a cavalier attitude:  Hey, if you've seen one dead RD, you've seen them all.  But no—we believe in accuracy around here.  And thanks to astute reader, Caroline, for noticing.  If we had known that all we needed to coax her into commenting on the blog was a little Dead Russian Dictator mix-up, we would have done it long ago.  

Valentine's Day Contest Entry: A Classical Love Story

Good Friday Morning!

After a harrowing 40 hours of no Internet, we are back on line.  But we missed Wednesday's posting which Maddie thinks is no big deal, and which Lisa is taking a little Germanly.

Fine—let the past remain in the past, and let's not speak of it!  Wednesday is dead to us!—as Colbert would say.  Even though it was the first post we've missed since we began...

Moving on…

Today we bring you the first of several submissions to our Valentine's Day Contest.  We never ironed out a few details, though.  For example, do you want to know who wrote them, or do you want them to be anonymous, so you can guess whose they are?

 We've already decided to get an objective judge to decide on the winner(s), as we are not Objective Judge Material.  No, we want you ALL to win.  We're looking for someone with discernment, who doesn't know any of you.  If you have a recommendation, please send him/her our way.

Without further preamble, we'd like to present the first submission—though I (Lisa) would like to point out that even though Samson used a goofy line to lure me in (I bet I can fill my blood bag faster than you can), he DOES have culture—as he proved with where he took me on our first date.  Just wanted to clarify that in light of this entry…

Dear MikChiks,

Does he resemble Harry Potter?

I first fell in love with my husband because of Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony.