"I thought that I wasn't going to hear from you. I wondered what happened to you."
"Well, children will keep you busy."
"This is true, but there's a trick to kids I have learned over the years."
"What have you learned about children that I haven't already experienced?"
"In order to not be so busy yourself, you have to keep them busy, very busy."
"They've got school Monday through Friday, and they go the YMCA on Saturdays. I don't think there is anything more I can do to keep my children busy."
"You've got to fill in the little gaps here and there. My kids go to an after-school program when classes let out of for the day, Saturdays they go to the YMCA also. Once they are done with that, they either visit their mother or their aunt for the evening. This keeps them busy, and I get little breaks here and there."
"Wow, that's interesting and great. I wish I would have thought of something similar to that. I might have to look into the after-school program."
"It's great, it'll make your life easier, keep them busy, and they learn more in an after-school program."
There was a long pause before I got the next text from him.
"I'm falling asleep sweetheart, can we talk tomorrow?"
"Sure, I'll talk to you at another time Mr. Colon."
"Alright Ms. Carter, good night."
He called me Ms. Carter, even though I'm married, but he doesn't know that.
He called me miss, even though I'm married, but he doesn't know that.
I wouldn't be like Gavin. I would tell him the truth. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I just met this guy. He doesn't know that much about me. All he really knows is I'm a super mom with three wonderful children. That's not too much. That's all he needs to know for now anyway, it's not like we're dating. At this point we're acquaintances, we may become friends and that may be all. Well, he's gone to sleep, at least I got to talk to him.
I went back to the couch, and my book. I got distracted when an infomercial came on. Shaun T was jumping around looking all hot talking about T25. I think I want to try that to smooth out these curves. I picked up the phone. T25 was my impulse buy for the year. After the infomercial went off, I picked up my book and thumbed through the pages. I knew it was worth reading, but this is just something I usually did with books I'd bought or borrowed.
Fast fiction started a little slow, but it was interesting. Maybe it would help me bring out my inner writer. I have to say I'm excited about all the possibilities I see for the future.
With those thoughts dancing in my head I went off to bed. This time it wasn't hard for me to drift off to sleep.
The next morning I got up and began the morning routine. I got the children up and dressed, cooked breakfast, and made sure everyone had their lunch. Once I dropped them off at school I went to a few stores. I was looking for a laptop or some kind of writing tool. It could be new or old. I was excited and decided to try my hand at doing a little writing. I'm not really sure what to write about, but I read something somewhere, that said you needed to write every day to get really good. I also read that you needed to read the books for the genre you liked to get good at that too. Right now it didn't matter I was just getting my feet wet. It was still early and freezing cold outside. I walked into Walmart and a customer service rep greeted me.
"Hello, good morning, and welcome to Walmart. How can I help you?"
"I'm looking for a new or used laptop I've been meaning to get one for myself."
"Well, you came to the right place. The pricing here is pretty decent compared to the high-end stores."
"Good, that's just what I was looking for reasonable, a reasonable price, so my husband won't be able to nag about spending money."
I giggled after I said that, she giggled too. I guess she knew all too well what I meant about husbands whining about spending money. She took me over to the displays. The first thing she showed me was the chrome books.
"Here we have what we call the chrome books. These are laptops created and marketed by Google. They are usually used for small internet purposes, like checking email, surfing the web, and some other online things. In other words, it's for casual use."
I didn't give details, but I did tell her it would be a work computer, as I had plans to do just that, turn it into a work computer. I had hoped to get this writing thing down quick, so I could make a little bit of money. I mean if the author of all those erotica novels could do it, and I have read them all, then I know I can. She started out as a bored housewife. Believe me when I tell you that I'm just that at the moment, and I'm not really feeling it anymore.
"Oh no, this will be used for more than just surfing the web and checking email. It'll be a working slash personal computer for me."
We bought one a few years ago for the girls, they needed one for school. It made it so much easier to have one at home, so they didn't have to spend extra time in the library. We set up a desk in the living room, so we could monitor the activity. When I first learned about online predators and what could happen to children, I learned some things and got real tech-savvy. I have to make sure I keep my children safe from the monsters of the world. I didn't know anything about the specs, but I had learned a little bit about brands and which ones lasted. I asked her about a brand I had been hearing great things about, Acer.
"What about the brand Acer. I have been seeing some really good reviews about that brand of laptop."
"Oh yeah, I actually have one of those. You get your money's worth with that brand. That is a laptop that will last you at least four years before you have to purchase another one. My husband and I have been using that brand of computer for many years, for ourselves, and our children."
"Good, just what I was looking for could you show me one of those?"
"Sure ma'am, right this way."