Confessions of Grouchy Writer

We all have those days – you know the ones where it feels like someone has licked the red off your lollipop.

It’s nothing major, just little things setting your teeth on edge and you can’t figure out why your blood seems to be boiling beneath your skin.

But it could have something to do with the fact that you just showered, washed & styled your hair, put on clean clothes and walked outside – only to be blasted by the smoke from your neighbor’s burn barrel.   Now you smell like a campfire and every time you move your head, a smoky aroma wafts from your hair.

Yeah, that could be one of those little things…

It certainly set the tone for my day and no matter how hard I tried to find the humor in the situation, I couldn’t get past the fact that my neighbor was oblivious to the gusting winds that so conveniently blew the smoke and smell out of his yard into those downwind.

I’m sure he had no idea how much I like being outside on sunny days – especially after being stuck inside all week. It’s not like he was aware that I have allergies and  being exposed to smoke triggers some pretty severe headaches. And I’m absolutely positive, he had no idea that his playing pyromaniac would release the monster that I try to contain.  But it did…

and Whiny Deb emerged.

I not only managed to stomp around all afternoon, I was the poster child for the grouchy and irritable.  Evil queens and fabled monsters were busy taking notes.

Now as the day draws to a close, I look back with much regret.  Because my plans (writing outside) didn’t pan out, I took a dive into the deep end of the pouting pool. I focused on what I couldn’t do instead of what I could.  Because of that, I missed some valuable writing time and I have no one to blame but myself.