Thinking Outside the Box

I wasn’t intending to write a Part 2 to  The Eerie Night

But sometimes inspiration just hits, so I hope you enjoy part 2, as we see what happens to Frank and George who are still sitting by the big hole that they had just dug.

Thinking Outside the Box

They were sitting in the grass staring at the box of marbles. They had managed to pick all the ones up that had scattered all about, and now were just wondering what to do. 

“Our boss should be the one filling this hole back up!” said Frank. 

“Yes, I agree, replied George, “But, I don’t think she is going to come out here and do it. She is probably just sitting at home laughing at the thought of us  out here right now. Lets just get it done, and I can get back to working on my puzzle. Let me think, I may come up with a plan.” he said while softly chuckling to himself.

They started shoveling the dirt back in the hole, as the owl continued to watch them from high up in the tree, every now and then calling out to them. Every time it would send a little shiver through them as its “Whoooo”  broke the silence of the night. Finally they got all the dirt back into the hole and they started for home. 

While traveling home,  turned to Frank with a gleam in his eye. “Did you happen to bring with you the key to the office?” 

“Yes, I always have it on my keyring, why?” 

“Keep driving straight on this road, I think there is a Dollar store and Walmart coming up. How about we stop for some fun things to decorate our boss’s office with. A sign of appreciation to her,  for sending  us out tonight to dig up a marvelous box of marbles.” 

Frank laughed, “Good idea George!” he replied, show her that she’s not the only one with tricks up her sleeve!

2 hours later, they were just wrapping it up at the office. They were standing back as they admired their creativity. 

“She will have quite the fun finding her way to her chair, I do say!” They had taken kite string and made a giant spider web around the office, with some “lovely” things dangling from the string and some “gifts” on her chair and desk. 

“I believe tomorrow I will love being here bright and early!” Frank said and they both were smirking as they walked out the door. 

They got home tired that night, George put a couple pieces in his puzzle, but was soon hitting the hay. 

The next morning they both arrived bright eyed and bushy tailed at work, ahead of their boss. Eager to see her reaction to her office. They had the box of marbles sitting in front of them when she walked in. 

“Good Morning!” They said as soon as she entered the room. 

Their eyes were gleaming as she smiled and commented on how early they were here. 

“I thought perhaps you guys might be a little later today, how long did it take you to dig up the grave?”  she asked with a smile. ” 

“OH it wasn’t too bad, and I bet you will never guess what we found!” 

“I am anxiously waiting to know, do tell!” 

George handed her the box. 

She opened it and remarked, ” Wow! Marbles, just what you always wanted, right? You know this way, when you lose your marbles ….” 

“Very funny!” Frank replied. 

The boss’s smile widened, “Did you guys happen to look more closely at the box at all?” 

George and Frank looked at each other with a confused look. “Why would we do that, its just a box. The marbles had spilled out and we put them all back in and closed the lid.” 

“Hmm….” said the boss. “Are you sure that there were only marbles in the box ? Sometimes assuming things, can get you in trouble!” 

Now George and Frank were growing curious as they stared at their boss. They watched her dump out all the marbles and then pull up on the little knob that was on the bottom of the box. the whole bottom lifted up and she pulled out two crisp $500 dollar bills!

Their mouths fell open and their boss laughed! 

“I told you guys there was treasure to be found! Didn’t believe me, eh! I thought I would just send you on a little treasure hunt, and make you work a little for your bonus pay.” 

“Our bonus…umm…. what did you say?” Frank asked as George’s eyes widened. 

“Your bonus pay!  I thought you guys deserved it for all the hard work you do and for putting up with the crazy tasks that I send you on sometimes. You always are very good natured about it, including the little tricks that I may throw you in a time or two. So here you go, enjoy!” and she handed them each a $500 dollar bill. 

Their mouths were still open as she laughed, and said, “I will take the look on your faces as a Thank You! Now I have a lot of work to do, so I better get to it” and she put her hand on the doorknob into her office. 

Suddenly Frank was overcome by a coughing fit, and she turned around. “You may want to get yourself a glass of water for that cough.” 

George’s face was red as he was at a loss for words. He just stood there watching her turn  the knob. 

They heard her scream, as they looked at each other and ran out the front door. 

 

 

Feeling Blessed!

Today I want to give a shout out once again to my dear family, if you all don’t mind!

I want to honor my sisters today. I was blessed with 2 older sisters and cherish them both!

I will get to see my one sister in a couple weeks which I am looking forward too. I have many fond childhood memories of growing up together. We rushed our stuffed animals to the “vet” many times in our bedroom and we danced in our family room as we pretended to be Princesses, waiting for our Prince. We shared a bed and she often had to tell me to be quiet and stop laughing so that she could go to sleep! Yes, my face was pushed into my pillow many times by her to muffle me before our parents heard!

I love you Sharon!

My other sister had a birthday today, and I was so glad to be able to spend the day today with her!

We got our Happy on, as we chatted, enjoyed a shrimp lunch and made Orchid gardens.

 

My sister’s orchid wasn’t blooming yet, but it will. The love and happiness she spreads will continue to bloom as well to all those around her long after the orchid’s bloom is done!

I love you Karen, and its not just before you will hit every decade before me. 🙂 I know I shared my Dad’s age when I posted for his birthday, but I think I will be quiet about my sister’s. I don’t want her to follow through with the threat when I was younger, about selling me to the circus! I know, can you imagine, how she could possibly feel like doing that to someone sweet like me!

My heart is full and I found this on Pinterest which describes the relationship with my sisters pretty well! Perhaps you will identify with it as well, your love for a sibling or for a dear friend!

 

 

Tuesday’s Thoughts!

Happy Tuesday! How is your week going so far? Yesterday, felt like a Spring Day, it was beautiful here. Had the door open and washed some windows to see a little brighter. My day was also made a little brighter by a surprise that came in the mail. Gave a little extra skip to my day. How can you make someone’s day a little brighter today? Pass out some smiles today and have a Terrific Day!

 

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7.  Why I didn’t like Math in school!
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Puzzling Questions Solved

Did you ever wonder what the 3 little pigs have been up to?  Or perhaps you have wondered what the 3 bears did after Goldilocks ran home?  I am glad to provide you with the answers to the questions that have probably been boggling your mind for awhile. I hope you enjoy the answers, and if  you have more questions boggling your mind, feel free to ask!

 Meet Peter the first little pig. He discovered the umbrella! Everyone was so proud of him.

 Plavio the 2nd  little pig became fascinated with bubbles and as long as he is blowing his bubbles he is a Happy Pig.

Parker became the star of his soccer team, led the team to become World Champs.  I heard that the final game was played against the Wolves and the wolves hung their heads in shame at the end of the game! Walked away, never to be seen again.

 

Now for the 3 Bears:

 

 Baby Bear was still hungry since Goldilocks ate all his porridge, so he found some sunflowers.

Mama Bear decided to see if she could wave Goldilocks down and convince her to come back and perhaps they could chat over tea.

Papa Bear was still embarrassed that he had scared Goldilocks away.

But he did find time to soothe himself in the cool lake while pondering on the mysteries of life!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Surprise in the Woods

He was taking his dog for a walk in the woods and they were enjoying walking through the crunchy leaves. His dog had his nose to the ground reading all the messages left by the other critters that had walked the path ahead of him. Every now and then Sebastian would stop to leave his own reply to a message.

Craig was patient as he waited for Sebastian, he wasn’t in a hurry, just enjoying a leisurely stroll, admiring the beauty.  Breathing in the silence of the woods, Craig felt peace in his heart, and wore a smile upon his face.

They walked on and Craig was getting lost in thought about what his plans may be for the night. Suddenly Sebastian pulled on his leash and Craig was knocked off balance. He stumbled as he went over to the side of the path. Sebastian stopped and Craig tried to regain his balance when Sebastian took off in a full force run as Craig got pulled along.

What was his crazy dog after? “Sebastian stop!” he yelled. They went around the corner and came to a sudden stop as they saw ….

Yes, you read it right, I stopped. I am not trying to leave you hanging, just thought I would have some fun! What do you think brought Sebastian to a sudden stop?  It can be absolutely anything that your imagination comes up with. 

What is the autumn winds blowing into your mind right now? 

Friday’s Super Short Stories!

The early bird doesn’t always catch the worm! 

A baby cries …  with no clue that their bottle is almost ready … We see dark …  with no clue that sunshine is right around the corner! 

The gift of friendship … it can’t fit in a package, you can’t tie it in a bow … it just sparkles like glittery confetti every day of the year! 

 

Just a tsp. of sugar….

 

Mary Poppins is one of my all time favorite musicals, for I have such fond memories of it as a child and who can beat Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke!!

This song came to my mind due to a subject that came up with a friend on Facebook the other day. She was talking about making cinnamon toast for her children and how she makes it with white sugar! I was aghast! Who makes cinnamon toast with white sugar I thought??? So I took a highly scientific FB poll, only to be more and more shocked. Apparently I was the odd one! They had never heard of using brown sugar. Comment after comment confirmed that you use white to make yummy cinnamon toast.

There was a lot of laughter and it just showed how sometimes what you think is really common isn’t so very common after all! I learned, but I am still sticking with my brown sugar on the rare occasion that I make a piece for myself anymore. How do you make your cinnamon toast, please share! Or what is something that you do with food that perhaps not many others do? Ketchup on eggs? Peanut butter in tomato soup? Feel free to share below!

 

The Eerie Night

Frank was sitting at his table when the phone rang.  He had just taken his last bite of cinnamon toast. Washed it down with some milk from his Jackalope mug,  and answered the ringing phone.

“HI Frank, its George, we got a call from the boss. She has an assignment for us. She wants us to start right away. How soon can you be at my place? ”

Frank sighed. He had planned on spending a relaxing evening listening to some good music while working on the 1000 piece puzzle that he had. It was a picture of a a myriad of different colored balloons soaring in the bright blue sky.  A boy and his dog were lying on the lush green grass staring up at all the balloons. It was a challenging puzzle, but he was getting there. One piece at a time, and a lot of patience.

“I will be there in about 30 minutes. What kind of assignment is it?” Frank asked.

“I will explain when you get here, but bring your shovel.”  and with that George hung up. Frank stood there for a few moments wondering where they could possibly be going, and why he needed a shovel.

He walked over to the stereo and waited for Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” song to finish playing before he turned it off.  Then he walked outside to the shed to get his shovel. He had several to pick from. A lot of them were pretty worn, so he just grabbed the blue one and headed to his car.

It was a half hour exactly when Frank pulled into George’s driveway. George came out, right before Frank honked the horn.

George opened the door and sat down. He turned to face Frank and said, ” So you aren’t afraid of the dark, right? ”

Frank rolled his eyes, ” Of course not! What are the plans?”

“We need to go to a cemetery on Eerie road.”

“A cemetery? Why?” asked Frank as he started driving.

“There is a fake headstone there and once we remove the headstone, we need to dig down about 6 feet to find something that the boss thinks is very valuable. The boss thinks there either is some stolen jewels or stolen cash to be found. She said she got a tip from someone about it. She couldn’t reveal the name of her informant.

They drove in silence for a little while, each one was thinking about this strange assignment.

“Have you ever seen a cemetery on Eerie Road before?” George asked.

“Not that I can remember, but I don’t travel that road a whole lot.”

“Well guess we will soon find out.” said Frank and George agreed.

“Oh look, there is the sign. A small field laid ahead with the sign, “The Cemetery”

“Hmm…I see that they worked real hard on coming up with a name! So how do we tell which is the fake headstone?”  George asked, as he parked on the gravel road.

“Look around George, I don’t think it will be too hard!”

They both had quizzical expressions on their faces as they looked around and only saw one solitary grave with a simple headstone. It read “Here lies….”

“So looks like they put as much thought into this headstone, as to the sign. Who tipped our boss off again? is this really real?” Frank asked.

“Well No, the headstone is fake, remember? And she wouldn’t reveal the name of the informant.” replied George.

“Yes, I know the headstone is fake, I mean does she really know that there is treasure under this headstone?”

“Lets start digging and find out!”

They dug and dug and dug as their arms grew tired and the night got darker.

“Whoooo Whooooo” broke the silence of the night as Frank and George both jumped! George looked and saw the owl’s eyes shining out of the tree.

Than a gray cat with emerald green eyes brushed up against George’s leg, making him stumble.

“Frank, dig faster! I am ready to find whatever treasure there is and get out of here.”

They kept digging in silence for a little while and then Frank yelled.

“My shovel struck something hard! I think we found it.”

“Can you scoop it up with your shovel?” George asked.

“I think so, its rather heavy, but its a small box.”

Soon Frank had it out of the hole and they sat down on the ground to open it.

Marbles came spilling out everywhere as Frank and George looked at each other. They both had the same look in their eyes, having the truth dawn on them. Their boss couldn’t reveal the name of the informant because there had been no informant, it had all been a set up! They hadn’t even thought about the date. It was Halloween! Their boss had succeeded once again at pulling one over on them. Now they had an overflowing box of marbles and one mighty big hole that they had to fill back up!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday’s Thoughts!

Happy Tuesday! Its supposed to be a rainy day here all day, perfect day to curl up with a book. Or to just watch it rain as you spend time in reflection. I sometimes love watching it storm. The rain coming down so hard as the sky lights up. It can create such a peaceful feeling, even when the thunder roars.

I realized the other day that on Sunday I didn’t share my answer to the question I had posted.  For those who missed Sunday’s post, the question was to share a quality of yours that you really like. Just a simple exercise in appreciating ourselves. I thought I would share my answer today. I am thankful for my wit, which keeps me laughing, for we all know how beneficial laughter is! It is a wonderful coping mechanism when you hit the road bumps of life and its just plain fun! So thank you to all the ones who help keep me laughing! Some excel very well at it!  Children know how fun laughter is, they laugh a lot more times per day than your average adult does. Be above average today, be like a child!

 

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Sunday’s Question

 

Too many times I believe we are harder on ourselves than we should be! We concentrate more on our faults, and the things we aren’t rather than on the things that we are. We get frustrated at our weaknesses instead of being thankful for our strengths. If we can’t love our imperfect selves, how can we truly love others?

So here is a simple exercise for you. What is one thing that you really like about yourself? One quality that you have that makes you smile and feel good about yourself.   Share it with us, remind yourself that you really are special. That there is no one more Youer than You!