Prompts 65-66

Prompt 65: Write about a messy area in your home, workplace, or life.

Oh boy. My whole apartment is basically in a state of chaos because I have too much stuff for the space I’m in and I am stubbornly sentimental over the weirdest crap. Like, give me a few more years and my spare bedroom could be featured on an episode of Hoarders.

In my own defense, a lot of the clutter is easily dealt with, it’s just a matter of setting aside a couple hours to deal with it. I have a garbage bag full of documents and credit offers I want to shred, but at this point it’d be easier to just burn them. I just imagine pulling out that bag in front of my poor shredder and seeing it implode rather than face all those envelopes and letters. It was manageable once, but I hit the point of no return a while ago.

Also in that corner is a set of plastic drawers that contain, what? I’m not entirely certain. I can’t actually open them because of the spare desk that needs selling/trashing or the plastic totes of Christmas decorations and miscellaneous items that never got unpacked from previous apartments. I also have a pile of wedding gifts with no home in my current space that are just filling the void in front of the unused desk and cluttering the top of it.

My bookcase has plenty of books filling its shelves, but it also has miscellaneous objects scattered about, filling the empty spaces in front of the books. I have half a dozen candles or so, just waiting to be moved to my desk and burned while I write. Some empty candle tins that I burned out but didn’t throw away. I guess they can go. Markers, coloring books, incense, puzzles, and Magic cards fill out the rest.

Speaking of empty candle tins, there are 6 currently on my desk. Why do I have so many burned out candles? “There’s still some wax in them!” she cries. “But the wicks are almost gone!” she hollers back. In addition to the candles, I have my prompt books, a digital camera, some index cards with notes scrawled on them, my keyboard, mouse, and monitors.

I don’t even want to think about the closet. When I go on my next purge, I probably won’t even look, I’ll just throw out everything that I haven’t touched in over a year. Then again, I have boxes of photos and memorabilia from my childhood in there. Maybe I’ll let those stay.

Prompt 66: Write briefly about one thing in your life that is simple and one thing that is complex.

My daily routine is pretty simple. I wake up around 7, sometimes 7:30, and feed the cats. Then I brush my teeth and get ready for work. This usually involves washing my hair and making my lunch, not necessarily in that order. I also pack breakfast; a packet of oatmeal and a k-cup of Folger’s Black Silk coffee for when I get to work.

I drive to work. Depending on when I leave the apartment, this can take anywhere from 15 minutes to half an hour. I’m usually at my desk somewhere between 8 and 8:30. I spend my morning working, than take my lunch between 12 and 12:30. When the weather is nice I go to the courtyard and eat outside. Otherwise I eat at my desk and work while I eat, getting out of work earlier than if I had left the office to eat.

After work, I get groceries to make dinner, or pick up dinner. If I’d been smart and planned ahead, I’d already have my groceries at home and I just go straight there. I get into comfy clothes and then feed the cats. If I’m cooking, I start my prep before my husband comes home. Once he’s home, we eat in the living room and watch Jeopardy or Netflix. Lately we’ve been watching Voltron.

After unwinding for a bit, I go to my spare room and turn on my computer and sit down to write for a few hours. This is where things start to get complex.

I usually think about my prompt(s) throughout the day and try to have a general idea of where I want to go once I sit down to write. The thoughts are not always cohesive. Some nights I sit down and have a clear picture of what I’m going to write, and I pound it out in an hour or so. Other nights it’s more of a struggle and I can’t get an idea going. Before I know it, it’s midnight and I’ve only written 500 words.

A lot of the time I will take the prompt and boil it down to one word or phrase. These usually become my post titles, as they are a good indication of what is to come in the post. A lot of the time it helps me come up with a clearer picture of what character should lead the tale, or what sort of anecdote I should share, even if it’s not how others would interpret the prompt.

Once I’ve gotten all the words out of me that I can, I update the blog and head to bed. Depending on the time, I might read for a bit or browse Pinterest. Other times I just snuggle up with my hubby and my kitty and go right to sleep, ready to start all over the next day.