Okay. So I've been a tad bit quiet lately.

Okay. So '’ve been mute as a potato.

A lot has been happening around here. Okay?

In fact, below is a quiz. You guess what has NOT been happening, what's NOT true.

Resist the tantalizing temptation to scroll down to the answer.

1. We have two nests with baby finches. So what if the mommies are far busier than I? I spend a lot of time watching them.

2. I've joined a writer's critique group and that has kept me busy.

3. My husband surprised me on Mother's Day with a new Toyota Prius – way so cool.

4. I've been hired as a switchboard operator at Fallbrook Hospital.

5. Jessie-dog caught her 45th gopher (by my estimates). Do you have any idea how much time I spend cajoling the carcasses from her jaws?

6. I’ve been planning trips to Alaska, Hawaii, the Bahamas, Ithaca, and Ireland – all occurring during the next 8 months or so. Yeah, I know I’m lucky, and there’s no room to bitch, bitch, bitch about this.

7. I’ve had delightful houseguests on and off for the past three weeks.

8. In between, I’ve strived to keep up with Dave Burton’s very fun 3word short story prompts, scrambling to get my cookbook prepped to send off, and working on my second novel and short stories. Phew.


Scroll down for the correct answer.

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#3 – Brian did not surprise me with a new car on Mother’s Day.

I think the most remarkable item on my list is that I'm being trained to operate the switchboard at Fallbrook Hospital.

I originally applied for a position in admissions. The interview went very well despite the fact I was so totally unqualified. I had no idea the amount of knowledge required regarding insurances etc. I also had quivering second thoughts about admitting – what the hell would I do if Farmer John came in with a pitchfork stuck in his gut? They’d have to admit me after I fainted and cracked my head open. One thing you have to understand about me is that I close my eyes during episodes of Scooby-doo. In hindsight, there was no way I could work admissions.

Yet, the interview went well despite my ineptness, and the interviewer developed a personal mission to find some place in the hospital for me. At least she didn’t choose the laundry or kitchen or bedpan patrol.

I start training in a week or two, and I’m already conjuring up some strange visions akin to Laugh-in’s Ernestine, the switchboard operator. I hope I’m not the only one to remember, “one ringy-dingy, two ringy-dingy.” And, omigosh, remember her *snorts*!

Several years ago I worked as a personal secretary for a woman in Laguna Beach. Her husband was a very wealthy venture capitalist. Once, when his secretary was on vacation, he asked me to fill-in. The change of pace sounded good, so I dressed up for corporate America and drove to Newport Beach. I was pretty much dreadful, which was determined by the vast number of calls I tried to transfer and disconnected – even at week’s end. He was a jolly sort, thank God, because he was a titan of industry and I was a titan of screw-ups. I was so out of my element. I ain’t the Newport Beach type, and certainly not wired for corporate bigness.

I have a good friend, Netta. Many of you fellow bloggers know her – the rest of you should click on her link here. She works the front desk of a hotel and has more stories than Carter has pills – oops, I’m dating myself again. For years, my youngest son thought I was referring to former President Jimmy Carter. Anyway, one day I thought, why should Netta have all the fun? There are no hotels in Fallbrook, so the hospital seemed like a logical destination.

Truth is, as a writer, I live with too much solitude – my life is an uncomplicated bubble, which I guess is about to burst. *gigglesnort* (Just practicing my best Ernestine impersonation.) It’s a low paying per diem job, and I will probably only work one day a week, but I need the mix, to stir things up a bit.

In the meantime: one ringy-dingy, two ringy-dingy, helloooooo, maybe Brian got the hint about the car. *gigglesnort*