LJ Idol, Football and Clearing Leaves - My Sunday Had it All

The latest story for LJ Idol (and there are only SIX of us left in the competition) is due today. I sat down at my computer yesterday afternoon, after having thought about a million ways to run the prompt for the week (Fools Errand, if you're curious), and just let my fingers do their work. Then it was lots of proofreading and shaping, sharpening and cutting, adding and maneuvering, while listening to football on the TV behind me. Football is always a good background noise. If something really important happens, they'll always replay it so you're not really missing anything if you're not actively watching. 

I had no idea anyone needed instructions on how to 
watch NFL games, but I assume this was from a specific 
carrier, giving instructions on how to access the games 
on their bandwidth. Still, it's a good picture, isn't it? 

Speaking of football, both Minnesota and Denver won yesterday, so that pleased me. DH and I actually started the day out cleaning the last of the leaves out of the gutters. It's a horrid job, but with him filling the large 5-gallon bucket and my carrying them to our compost heap and bringing it back, it went well. It's never comfortable on the feet to be on the rungs of the ladder for that long, but my ladder once again came through in spades - one of the most useful ladders I've ever bought. We probably should have backed the truck out and brought out the extension ladder for the back gutter, but we were cold and exhausted by that point, so only did what we could reach with my ladder instead. 

These aren't our leaves - we mostly have Maple trees. But, this 
is pretty close to what our gutters looked like. Plus we had 
all of the different valleys in the roofline that had to be 
raked out with our roof snow removal shovel. It's a lot of 
work, and it's the final thing that has to be finished before 
the winter truly comes. Now we're ready for the snow. 

Hot tea can do wonderful things. I had been mulling my story for LJ Idol while we were working on the leaves (it's not that fascinating watching DH on a ladder piling leaves into an orange bucket after all). I was pulled this way and that, and finally decided that I would tackle it after I warmed up with a nice, hot cuppa (herbal tea - it's my go-to beverage). I hadn't decided on a direction to take the tale, but knew directions I wouldn't go. When I sat down at the computer, I only knew it had to be a journey, but the direction the words took were, as usual, a wonderful surprise. 

There's nothing much better than a steaming cup of tea 
and a writing challenge. It's one of the perfect combinations 
that make my daily slog of work and home worthwhile. 
I love exercising my brain into new areas, and Gary always 
seems to come through with prompts that really make me 
think. If I get voted out after this challenge, then so be 
it. It's been a wonderful season. But ... I'd certainly love 
to continue onward - LOL. 

There's something wonderful about writing to prompt. It makes my brain exercise in ways it hadn't contemplated before. It's one of the things I truly love/hate about LJ Idol. Gary comes up with the most unusual phrases or prompts, and somehow it's up to all of us to make magic happen at our keyboards. How wonderfully fun. The stories are due tonight and will go live tomorrow. I'll be sure to post a link for all of you and I hope that once again, I will merit your votes. We're down to six now, the air is thin and the peak beckons to us to bundle up, grab our ropes and pins, and head upwards into the final stretches. While I'm getting that exercise (you'd think my treadmill would have been enough this morning - LOL), I'm signing off and wishing all of you a wonderful Monday. I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini.