#and they just come over on christmas (and potentially when invited on fathers day/dad's birthday and whatnot) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

prorevenge · 5 years

Text

Exposing my SIL over her hating my family with a bit of help from Father Christmas.

Apologies for the long long length.

My twin brother (25) has been with his wife since we were 15, and they’ve been married for the last year. Since day one, my SIL hasn’t been a fan of my family. She and my brother met doing the same after school club, a club that my best friend happened to also be in. She always used to say that my SIL always complained about my family (my mother, father and myself) and how we all treated her terribly, though when asked, she would never go into detail… because there was no detail. In fact, for the first few years of their relationship, my SIL was the daughter my mother wished she’d had (which strained our relationship unsurprisingly, but not the time for that). She was happy enough to be around us, and my parents always made sure to include her on family occasions such as our birthdays. Since we’re all 15 and moody teenagers, if ever it comes up in conversation (my brother sulking about something and throwing out a line about how he understands why his girlfriend never wants to be around, or me and my mother arguing and me saying something about how the girlfriend hates her) it’s not taken as gospel.

The years go by and my brother and SIL stay together through universities 150 miles apart, and move in together at about the 6 year mark of their relationship. I lived at home for a year after my brother moved out, and during that time witnessed numerous occasions of my brother being around for a dinner that both him and his girlfriend have been invited to with just him attending for a variety of cheap excuses that have been cut short because SIL rings my brother up telling him he has to come home because of X, Y and Z. While some of these may have been genuine, every time he was around for over half an hour he got the calls and messages saying that her world was imploding if he didn’t come home right this instant. I think my parents politely excused the behaviour as young love, but it was an obvious shun. My mother especially was cut off - every month she’d invite SIL out for a girl’s day (either with or without me or other family members) and was always told no.

After the wedding, which none of our side of the family were allowed to be involved in (not an issue, though it was hurtful that we were told that nothing ‘family’ was happening eg. dances, speeches, but they in fact were with only SIL’s side of the family while we just sat there awkwardly), I got a few messages from mutual friends of myself and my brother asking what the drama was between us and SIL, who had evidently been telling people all night that we had been awful throughout the wedding process, and her and her new husband were on the verge of going no contact with us - something we hadn’t heard at all from my brother or her, since we were very much still in contact with them (well, him). A couple had thought it odd that she was saying this, and forwarded screenshots of SIL telling them full stories of complete lies about things that had happened between her and us - my favourite was the supposed time when my father (the most placid man in Britain) stormed around to their house demanding that they give him hundreds in cash to cover his gambling debts while my mother threw salt around their garden trying to kill the grass (no reason for this given) - my father has never gambled anything more than a couple of pounds on the lottery, they don’t have grass around their house to begin with, and most of all, my parents were both out of the country at the time with SIL sent the ‘omg you will not believe what [Brother’s] family just did!!’ message to at least two of my friends.

I’m not a petty person, and so didn’t go in all guns blazing, but the next time I saw my parents I said that it seemed like SIL was spreading potentially harmful lies. They both said they knew that SIL didn’t seem to like them, but had decided many years ago to try and kill her with kindness, if only to not give her any real ammunition against them. I decided to sit on what I had evidence-wise, unless SIL did something major.

The ‘major’ came over Christmas - for years and years, my brother and SIL had rotated between her family and my family. This year was supposed to be the day with my family. They live in the same town as both their families, so it wouldn’t be a massive journey for anyone to go anywhere. I live with my partner about half an hour from my family, and we were also going to be spending the lunch with my family (Partner’s family are from a country who do their main Christmas stuff on Christmas Eve, so we were seeing both sets of family over the period). We get there bright and early on Christmas Day to find my brother there alone. I ask where SIL is, and am told that she’s having a family emergency but will be over before the meal. No issues there, ‘family emergency’ or not. We all get to prepping the meal, and my brother’s phone is ringing the whole time. He stops answering after a period of time and a particularly long call prior that he went outside for, but confirms that it’s SIL, however it’s just her phone messing up and consistently calling the last number in the call list. A bit of a crap excuse, but whatever. The ringing eventually stops.

By this point, my brother’s off playing with one of my dad’s old cars and everything’s in the oven, so we chill out for a while, and look on social media at all the cheesy Christmas present posts. Myself and my partner are just scrolling away comparing friends’ presents, when my partner’s screen comes up with a post by SIL into a Facebook group called something like ‘Murderous Mother In Laws Support Group’ (we assume that we were blocked from seeing SIL’s posts, but she’d let my partner slip through the net) that had only been posted 5 minutes before. The post said something like:

---

‘DH is forcing me to go to his horrid family’s Christmas dinner. They make me do all of the cooking on my own but tell me it’s horrible; his sister even assaulted me last time I went to their house, and she’s just been kicked out of rehab so is back there again. I’m scared everyday that DH is going to believe their lies about me and leave me. I’d rather kill myself than do this. Can I get some support ladies?? ❤❤️ ❤️ ‘

---

Utter shit. We all cook, with my father doing the lion’s share if anyone could even be considered as doing more than average. I’ve never been addicted to any substance, and like my parents had said before, they never said a cross word about SIL to anyone so she couldn’t claim they did. This was it for me. I excused myself and went up to the office to print off copies of the messages she’d sent to friends previously, and the post in the group that my partner screenshot at my request. I printed off enough copies for everyone at the table (10 were there in total) and wrapped them all up in groups. I then stuck some labels onto them as being from ‘Father Christmas’. I slipped downstairs and put them under the tree, claiming they were some more gifts I’d found. (Just to say that everyone there was an adult, so there wouldn’t be a child thinking that Father Christmas was just an arse).

The day continues, SIL arrives and apologises for the delay, everyone says it’s not a problem, and the food gets cooked, served and eaten. We’ve always opened presents after lunch, so everyone gets set up with each other’s presents, as well as the ‘mystery’ Father Christmas present that everyone’s seemed to get. Someone eventually opens a Father Christmas present and starts to read, before asking SIL what she means by us being a horrid family. My parents, brother and SIL all quickly open theirs and read them through. SIL goes as white as a sheet and starts asking about who did this, but my brother tells her that she brought this on herself and has gone too far. My parents say nothing to anyone, and eventually SIL excuses herself. My brother says that since they day they started dating she’s decided that our family hate her and has spent years trying to prove it, ranging from the order their names are written in cards to the number of potatoes she’s served at a meal. She obviously has had no evidence since there is none. My brother had no clue about the messages or Facebook groups, but expected there to be many more. He decided to leave, apologised, and got into contact about half an hour later saying that they were both at home and stable (since the ‘kill myself’ part had worried my mother especially). I kept quiet about my role in this until everyone else had left. My mother suspected it was me, but said she was happy this would actually be out in the open. I apologised profusely for ruining the day before we left.

None of this was my finest moment, which I’m sure some of you reading will agree with. My brother has been in contact with my parents and me to further apologise for everything SIL has said and done, and said that he wasn’t making any rash decisions yet but they needed to sit and talk about everything. I’m sure some people will think that this is symptomatic of a bigger issue of control concerning my brother and his life and might be justifying SIL’s views on us, but I did this more out of anger at the situation more than at the person herself, and this is the first and only instance of any of my family being negative to her. I hope this has made her think about her choices, and that she can work on the reason why she had lied to herself and others for so many years.

(source) (story by 9899232)

#prorevenge #by 9899232 #pro revenge #revenge stories #pro revenge stories #pro #revenge #revenge story #last10

563 notes · View notes

kingwallywest-blog · 5 years

Text

Guys like us don’t get the girl.

But sometimes they do.

P.S. Cannot send enough thank yous to the anon who told me about the wayback archive. I was able to find this fic! It was one of my first WA fics. I forgot how much I loved writing it.

Maybe it’s the reality check he needs. Maybe he should let Iris live her life and he can quietly step to the side, as both Barry and the Flash (Caitlin’s advice also lingering in his mind too often). Maybe Iris doesn’t need him around as much anymore.

So he avoids her for a few days, just to see if she notices.

Of course Iris notices. She’s not happy about it, either.

And like that, she draws him back into her life after only a four day separation. There’s a sense of relief that he feels when he concludes they’re two peas in a pod, yin and yang, two sides of the same coin. Practically joined at the hip, and she doesn’t need him around - she wants him around, which is all the more satisfying.

Even if they only remain friends, he’ll love her. Even if she stays with Eddie, he’ll be in love with her. Even if she decides to continue down the dangerous path of being an investigative journalist, he’ll support her. Protect her, though Iris has shown him one too many times during their lives that her left hook is finely tuned (“Don’t let my small arms fool you, Barry. I’ll knock him out cold if he picks on you again!”).

Barry finds himself unable to stay away; he doesn’t want to stay away but Caitlin keeps giving him these knowing yet disapproving looks when he returns to the lab with what she describes as a “dumb, love-struck smile.” He pointedly ignores the rest of her rant about how he’s sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong, that, in the end, he’s making it harder for both himself and Iris.

(He also pointedly ignores how right she is, and that sinking feeling he gets every time he’s reminded.)

* It’s Christmas night when Eddie proposes to Iris, with both Joe and Barry in company.

And between the three of them, Barry can’t tell who is more surprised.

Iris, a hand covering her mouth and her eyes unwavering from Eddie’s.

Joe, speechless and frozen, and maybe even a little confused.

Barry, with the breath knocked out of him and heart breaking loud enough for Joe to hear.

Joe’s hand reaches for his shoulder and gives him a hard squeeze, a gesture that Barry would usually take great comfort in, but now feels like heavy bricks weighing down. Then Joe turns and plays the role of excited father.

"Barry, there’s champagne in the cooler. Do you might grabbing it?" Eddie asks him, a blinding smile on his face that is noticeably missing from Iris’s - maybe still in shock - and Barry does what any best friend would do.

He congratulates her and her fiancé.

* Barry’s sort of glad Caitlin is refraining from saying “I told you so,” but she’s also been too busy with her own problems to really rub the salt in his wounds.

Like the fact that the man she had been mourning for a year is back from the dead. As some torched resemblance of a human being no less.

All of Central City is shaping up to be a cliché comic book, featuring meta-humans, time traveling, and all-too-complicated love stories.

Figures he’d be the star of it.

But all of what’s happening with Ronnie and his mother’s murderer gives him a decent distraction from Iris. Barry isn’t sure if he’s disappointed or relieved that she hasn’t talked to him about the proposal yet. It seems that they’ve both been keeping their distances from each other.

It’s probably best that way, he tells himself. Because soon she’ll be Mrs. West-Thawne.

* “I can’t marry him.”

Iris barely steps into his apartment before she’s rambling off.

"I can’t do it! I should have told him the night he gave me the ring. But he looked so happy! What right do I have to take his happiness away like that? And my dad, God, my dad! Barry, did you see his face? He was going to cry from joy! What kind of terrible daughter would I be if I took that from him? He’s probably already named all of the grandchildren he thinks Eddie and I are going to have, but we’re not - “

"Woah, what are - "

" - because I don’t love him." Iris takes a deep breath, and Barry can see the tears brimming in her eyes. He marvels at her ability to have kept everything bottled up for that long.

Then he begins to worry.

"Iris," Barry begins carefully. He’s unsure of where to begin, as his brain is still trying to process her confession, so he says the first thing that comes to mind. "Do you want me to make coffee?"

There’s a stillness, and then Iris laughs, a hiccup getting caught in her throat that makes Barry laugh too, until she’s nodding through her tears and he’s pulling her in his arms.

"My coffee isn’t that bad," he mutters into her hair when she’s quieted down after a few minutes, and he’s fully prepared for the punch she gives his chest.

Iris is smiling at least, so he finds himself smiling back. He cups her cheek and traces the wet trails on her face with his thumb, drying what he can.

"If you don’t want to marry him, then don’t. No one has ever told Iris Ann West what to do," he says, which pleases her plenty if by the way she sighs and leans into his touch is any indication.

"This is why you’re the best man in my life," she tells him. Barry tries not blush or stutter, but he knows he’s failing.

"Because I give good advice or because I’m not even mildly annoyed that you were banging on my door at 5:30 on a Saturday morning?" he teases.

"Oh my god, is it really that early? I am so sorry - "

"It’s okay." He means it. "I’m glad you’re here." So very much means it.

He thinks that when she looks up at him this time, it’s different. He can’t quite place why, but there’s a gleam in her eyes that he’s never seen before.

At least not directed towards him. And he can get lost in that look for days, he knows by the way it fires heat through his body, one nerve at a time.

Barry clears his throat and takes a step back. “Let me get that coffee started.”

"Yeah," Iris blinks up at him, seemingly as unsure about the last few moments as he is. "Good idea."

In the kitchen, during the couple of minutes he had to himself, he wonders if these are the kind of changes Felicity was talking about.

Barry decides that these are definitely the changes Felicity was talking about.

They’re subtle changes, but still…changes. Like how Iris looks at him; that same one from the other morning in his hallway, as though with renewed interest. How she acts around him; she’s touching him more, and while Iris has always been one for physical contact, there’s something almost - sensual about it now. Fingers grazing, close personal space shoulder-bumping, her hand lingering in areas he knows defined muscle has formed.

Barry thinks, and he could potentially and disastrously be overthinking it, that Iris is even flirting with him. And to be honest, he’s not sure how to respond to it.

"This is the moment you’ve been waiting for, dude. Super hot girl that you’ve been in love with is acting on mutual attraction! What’s your problem?" Cisco gapes at him during one of their ping pong games.

"My problem," Barry hits the ball back to the other side, "is that I’m not good at these kinds of things. Flirting and being charming and - I’m just not the guy who gets the girl."

Cisco rolls his eyes. “You’ve flirted with her before. Do I need to remind you of your guys’ rooftop days? Please don’t make me remind you of your rooftop days.”

"You’re forgetting that I went to her as the Flash. The Flash is much cooler than I am, trust me."

"The fact that you’re referring to yourself as an alter ego is slightly alarming," Caitlin comments from the corner where she’s piecing together the map of Ronnie’s possible whereabouts. "I’ve told you before, you are incredible and amazing with or without the speed, Barry. And Iris knows that."

Barry puts his paddle down, smirking at Caitlin’s back. “Someone’s changed her tune.”

Caitlin glares over her shoulder and it promptly shuts him up.

Any doubts Barry may have had about Iris’s intentions is cleared when Joe approaches him with a smile too giddy and curious for any cop or father to have.

"What’s going on with you two?"

Barry doesn’t know how to best phrase that Iris is seemingly reciprocating the emotional, romantic, and sexual feelings he’s ever had for her so he grins and says, “Progressing one day at a time.”

Joe pats him on the back. “You two were made for each other, Barry.”

Barry is starting to believe it.

* The words sort of tumble from his mouth by accident.

Iris had tried to surprise him with a homemade birthday dinner, and he was alarmed to find his front door unlocked that he completely startled her when she was lighting the candles on the table.

The table caught on fire…

…and then dinner burned while they were putting the fire out.

That’s when he tells her, in his moment of slight panic. “I love you. I’ve loved you for as long as I can remember.”

Barry’s half-expecting Iris to get mad at him or get away as soon as possible, but she smiles and closes the space between them.

"I know. I’m sorry it took me this long to figure it out."

He’s about to tell her that she shouldn’t be sorry for anything, but she presses up on her toes and pulls him down for a kiss.

All else melts from his thoughts when she glides her tongue against his lips.

Barry can’t remember what happens after that, oddly enough, but then Iris tells him the next morning it’s because he passed out and hit his head pretty hard.

Totally worth it.

* “This came in the mail today,” Thea says, handing Oliver the envelope. “Looks like a wedding invite.”

Oliver pulls the gold trimmed letter open and feels the corners of his mouth spreading into one of his rare smiles.

We are delighted to invite you to the wedding ceremony of Bartholomew Henry Allen and Iris Ann West.

…

P. S. I got the girl.

#wow thank you anon for telling me about the wayback site #i genuinely forgot how much i loved writing this particular story #thank you thank you thank you!!#westallen #westallen fic #just want to add it to my blog

44 notes · View notes

hellomissmabel · 6 years

Text

Nothing under 7 inches (4)

MASTERLIST

Pairing: Baker!Bucky x reader

Warnings: After a lot of angst in part 3, there is a tiny bit of fluff and hope in part 4. So don’t despair just yet, but don’t get your hopes up too much either.

Word count: 2k

Summary: Bucky is a baker in Y/N’s hometown and with her mother’s birthday right around the corner, he’s excited to see her again. Y/N however doesn’t plan on staying for too long and aims to return to the city life, a dirty little secret getting in the way of her love life.

A/N: My prompt was “cottage”. This fic is written for @soldatbarnes her writing challenge. If you want on the tag list, please send me an ask! I can’t keep track of all the comments.

Series masterlist can be found here

After dinner you rushed up to your room to switch shoes, trading in your comfy sneakers for high heels. Whilst searching your luggage for the heels you took out earlier, you realise you must’ve left them downstairs in the living room before heading towards Bucky. So you take two steps at a time and hurry downstairs again, finding your brother Wade perched on the couch, his feet up on the table and your high heels in his lap as he plays one of his old video games while he waits for the guests to arrive.

“Looking for these, baby sis?,” he chuckles as he holds up your heels. “How high are these anyway? Won’t you break your ankles or something when you fall on your face?”

Shoving his shoulder and taking back your heels, you sit cross-legged next to him on the couch after kicking off your sneakers, dirty from the muddy road to the cottage. “They’re only seven inches and they were a gift from a… euhm… a friend. They’ve got this rule… nothing under seven inches. Most of my heels are like ten or something…”

Wade rolls his eyes at the word ‘friend’ and sticks his tongue out at you. “Friend? My dick! This shit is expensive, Y/N. It’s got red soles, sis. No way one of your friends could ever afford Louboutins.”

He hands you the second controls and invites you to play with him, giving you a nice way out to avoid the topic any further. But as soon as he beats you for the third time in a row, he notices your mind isn’t really focused on the present and shuts off the television.

“Alright, baby sis, tell me, why do you suddenly have a huge stick up your ass? The girl that I grew up knowing would never risk her life wearing these monsters.”

You gaze at your big brother with big doe eyes, that innocent pitch to your tone worked wonders for you back when you were kids. “They’re for work. And it’s true, a friend gave them to me.”

But Wade doesn’t fall for your act and crosses his arms over his chest, sticking his tongue out at you. “Nah, you can’t fool me, Y/N. Unless you won the jackpot with the lottery or you have some filthy rich guy on the side.”

Wetting your lips as to delay your answer, Wade realises he’s right. “Holy shit, Y/N. It’s true, isn’t it?,” he laughs in surprise. “My baby sis is now a sugar baby.”

You’re too embarrassed to say anything and avert your eyes, looking like a prissy little kid that didn’t get the Christmas present they wanted. “Don’t look like you’ve just eaten a lemon, Y/N,” Wade reason with you, the joke ever present in his voice. “When life hands you lemons…”

“You squeeze ‘em,” you finish the sentence first, a small smile breaking your sour expression.

“That’s right! You squeeze ‘em!” Wade claps his hands and wraps an arm around your shoulder, holding you against him. “Now, tell me, how did you manage to squeeze that sugar daddy of yours, hm? I promise I won’t judge. I’m the last person in this house to judge.”

You’ve always felt like you could trust your brother with anything and everything. Your mother would never understand what you were going through, all of her empathy poured into her fictional characters. Your father on the other hand was a good listener, but rarely around. Peggy was always busy with her extracurricular activities, so that left your big brother Wade to cheer you up when you were feeling down. He was your confidant, and still is.

So you confide in him about Tony, about Sharon and how she introduced you to Steve, and finally about your conversation with Bucky. Wade sometimes makes a little, funny comment to lighten the mood but never interrupts you, not even when you start to cry again.

“I thought you guys broke up after high school?,” he eventually whispers softly into your hair. “Or did I miss something?”

“We didn’t really break up, Wade…,” you stutter in between the tears. “We said goodbye and broke up, but we never really broke with each other. And I think that this time, we did.”

“Oh, Y/N,” Wade shushes, his usual sarcastic tongue tied by the overwhelming pain you must be feeling. “You clearly don’t know, do you?”

Batting your eyelashes, heavy with droplets, you free your blurry vision and gaze at your brother, a question on the tip of your tongue. “Don’t know what?”

“The problem is not that Bucky doesn’t want to move to a big city or that you don’t want to stay in a small one. The problem is that you think there’s no way you can work it out. But Y/N, there’s always a solution, even if you don’t see it. Like… I didn’t believe I could give such good advice, but clearly I can.”

“Fuck you, Wade,” you chuckle quietly. “I love you, but fuck you.”

A hearty laugh rumbles through his chest and shakes up your nerves. “I deserve that. I wasn’t there for you. But I’m here for you now and I’m going to help you in any way I can. Starting with Buck.”

Wade scoops you up in his arms and once he’s on his feet, throws you over his shoulder, your protesting cries resonating through the entire house. Luckily the rest of the family is serving drinks on the terrace out back, so they don’t hear the profanities you direct towards your older brother.

“Bucky is finishing up on mom’s cake at the cottage. I’m carrying you there personally.” When you keep screaming at the top of your lungs, he halts in the middle of the hallway and slaps your ass. “Y/N, I’m doing you a favour.” And with those final words, he takes you back to the cottage, eventually shutting you up.

Bucky has just added the finishing touches to the decorations to your mom’s raspberry chocolate birthday cake, like Wade predicted, when he heard some kind of argument going on outside. Peering out of his window, he sees Wade hoisting you up in the air by means of teasing you before setting you back down.

“What’s going on?,” he queries as he dusts off his hands on his apron as you eye your brother with an angry gaze.

Wade just straightens his back and answers straight to the point. “Y/N loves you. You love Y/N. I’m taking the cake back to mom while you get dead honest with each other.”

Your brother points to you first, his eyes telling you he means serious business. “You’re gonna tell him everything. And then you’re going to find a solution that fits you both.” Then he directs his finger to Bucky. “And you,” he begins with a sigh. “You’re gonna listen and shut up until she tells you to talk. You’re not gonna argue, you’re just gonna listen. And then you’re going to kiss and make up.”

Wade’s statement leaves no room for interpretation and with one nod of his head in your direction, he leaves you in the lion’s den. Bucky is nailed to the ground in astonishment, not intimidated by your brother but by his words and he knows Wade’s only doing this with the best of intentions.

So after a short while, Bucky proposes something new. “How about we bake a cake together?”

With ardent eyes you scan him, searching for signs of mockery or malicious intent. But Bucky is just Bucky, in all his innocence and his boyishness. He doesn’t want to make you feel even worse than you already do, he only wants to bake a cake with you to clear the air and just talk.

“O-Okay,” you stutter after you’ve assessed the potential heartbreak that could come from this situation. Yet Bucky means no harm, and with a soft smile playing on his lips he gathers all the ingredients he has left in his kitchen.

Taking out some milk and honey, Bucky’s hip subtly bumps into yours as you both reach for the spatula. “Sorry!,” you whispers in a hushes tone as Bucky takes a few steps back, careful not to break the proverbial glass cage surrounding you, distancing you from him.

“What are we making?,” you ask gingerly while Bucky starts to add eggs to the mixture.

“White chocolate honeycomb mud cake,” Bucky smiles as his eyes light up like a Christmas tree. I still have a lot of chocolate left and your dad brought me a jar of honey last week from your aunt’s bee hives. But since I don’t really eat honey…”

Humming while you pour the honey bit by bit, your fingertips caresses Bucky’s hand while he stirs the batter of the cake. “I love honey, it’s so sweet. I could finish that jar all by myself in just one day.”

“You’ve always had a big sweet tooth, Y/N. I recall a time when I had added too much sweetener to the carrot cake I’d made for the town fair. Because everybody wanted to be polite, they finished their piece but they never came back for a second one. So I had made all this cake and people only ate one fourth of it. But then you walked by and decided you wanted to taste for yourself if it was as horribly sweet as people said it was.”

“And I ended up eating half of what was left because I loved it so much,” you laugh happily in remembrance. “Fall came early that year and Peggy had decided to pay us a visit. Wade had just left for Los Angeles and she noticed how much I was hurting, so she dragged me to the town fair. She made me try everything, from the disgusting vegan cookies that wannabe cheerleader Maria made to that old lady’s chicken broth. But then I tried your carrot cake and just knew that this was the best thing I’d ever eat in my entire life.”

“You still remember that day? It was long before Sharon introduced us.”

In all the giddiness that the memory inspires in you, the filter keeping your thoughts at bay slowly dissipates while you’re reminiscing. “Of course I still remember that day,” you confirm with a hearty chuckle, “I couldn’t keep my eyes off the handsome brunet near the willow tree with his carrot cake and his adorable puppy dog eyes.”

It’s as if Bucky’s heart is being ripped from his chest. All this time, you’ve been dancing around each other, both afraid to make a move. But not anymore, even though your words still resonate harshly in his heart, he has to kiss you. He has to make sure he kisses you now or all will be lost. He’s still got a shot, he knows it and wants to seize it before your self-destructive and overly protective nature bombards the entire thing.

He drops the spatula and takes the spoon of honey from you, cupping your face in his hands and pressing his lips to yours in adamant desire. Yet Bucky doesn’t kiss you with lust or passion, rather with moderation and above all, adoration. And the moment your lips lock, he starts to overflow your system, pushing just the right buttons to make you yield.

Nonetheless, the kiss is different from before in various ways. A kiss from teenage Bucky is cautious and clumsy yet feverish and keen for your touch. But a kiss from adult Bucky is confident and calm yet soft and sweet. His eyes bore into yours with a loving intensity when your lips part. “I love you,” are the only three words he leaves hovering over you like the sword of Damocles. “And I know you love me, too.”

“Wade is right, we have to talk. So let me tell you what’s going to happen,” he continues after another longing kiss. “We’re going to put this cake in the oven and then we’re going to kiss some more and make up.”

Tagging: @avengerofyourheart @a-little-hell-to-raise @marvelingatthewonder @mrshopkirk @hardcorehippos @knittingknerdy @winterboobaer @italwaysendsinafightt @viollettes @hymnofthevalkyrie @feelmyroarrrr @justareader @austinamelio @volklana @howlingbarnes @themcuhasruinedme @theoneandonlysaucymo @caplansteverogers @amrita31199 @emilyevanston @minervaem @howlingbarnes @buchananbarnestrash @youandb @you-and-bucky @fvckingsteverogers @thatawkwardtinyperson @barnes-heaven @that-sokovian-bastard @abovethesmokestacks @marvelrevival @marvel-fanfiction @justanotherbuckydevotee @barnes-heaven @heartmade-writingbucky @buckyywiththegoodhair @captnbarnesrogers @its-not-a-phase-hux @melconnor2007 @ivvitm1109 @toofuckinfabulous @ailynalonso15 @hollycornish @delicatecapnerd @camigt1999 @learisa @curlyexpat @palaiasaurus64 @fanndas-snow-goddess @crisssivonne @yourenotrogers @tomhollandzs @beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep @aletheladyinred @bhuckys @xbergiex @reniescarlett @promarvelfangirl @capbuckybuchanan @lovemarvelousfics @yknott81 @rrwilson66 @pegasusdragontiger @salty-holographic-stickers @sammyissassy @sebstanchrisevanchickforever19 @kudosia @bellejeunefillesansmerci @lumelgy @mizzzpink @southernbellestatues @daringtodreamawake @neurotic-narwhal @cokamarie24 @blue1928 @movingonto-betterthings @breezy1415 @isnt-the-blog-youre-looking-for @jesspfly @weenie-butt @debzybrazy @fuckingchaotic @always-an-evans-addict @petersunderroos @thegreentgirl @nedthegay @eve1978 @yourtropegirl @4theluvofall @lostinthoughtsandfeelings @pineapplebooboo @curvybihufflepuff @thefridgeismybestie @supernatural508 @supernaturaldean67 @ssweet-empowerment @cant-decide-at-this-moment

Series tag list: @buckyappreciationsociety @alexaduke @incoherentsmiles @iamthemaskhewears @booksb4boys69

Strikethrough means Tumblr wouldn’t let me tag you!

#nothing under 7 inches #nothing under 7 inches part 3 #bucky x reader #soldatbarneswritingchallenge #bucky barnes fan fiction #sebastian stan #bucky barnes #james buchanan barnes #james bucky barnes #james barnes #wade wilson #deadpool #marvel #marvel fan fic #marvel fan fiction #fan fiction #fan fic #fan fic writer

227 notes · View notes

memorylang · 4 years

Text

23rd Birthday~ Roses and Rosaries | #39 | July 2020

I’ve focused on being present for others while even taking to new projects, as I continue to wrestle with the time COVID-19 in America has given me.

With July 6, 2020, I’ve turned 23, hooray! Hard to say whether I feel young or old.

Just after my birthday, my half-brother, his wife and my baby nephew visited for the first time since Christmas, too! Now their adorably big 15-month-old baby babbles and crawls. He’s so squishy. Just before I returned to Reno and they returned to Ohio, we also saw “Hamilton” (2020), which felt grand as well.

Also included, tales from the 4th of July, American Independence Day. But before I go any further, though, I need to share news that’s been hanging on me all month, no matter my activity.

Sensing the Soul’s Hourglass

A dear friend said he’s been diagnosed with brain cancer. He said he’s heard he won’t have long to live.

About a month ago on June 10, I learned this. Just two weeks earlier, my friend and I were chatting, and he shared how excited he felt to have finished undergrad at the top of his class like me. He’d asked for leadership advice, too, on a new role he was taking on. Unfortunately, he’s since had to step down.

My friend and I have kept in close communication ever since his news I received on my stateside Week 14. Our first couple weeks, we mostly talked through the shock. As topics started to thin, we’d begun talking about movies. This led me to take up his offer to see the films he’d recommended most. More on this later.

Memento mori

The Knights of Columbus, like many Christian organizations, invites its members to reflect on the Latin phrase, “Memento mori,” which people often translate to, “Remember you must die.” To have a fellow brother knight undergoing the challenge he faces now, this phrase matters especially.

Our Knights of Columbus College Council, of which he is a part, began praying weekly rosaries for him and his family. We asked others to pray for him as well. Meanwhile, he appeared on a podcast hosted by a fellow knight, the same one I appeared on a couple weeks later.

Terror Road

The day after I learned my dear friend’s news, June 11 at 1:34 a.m., Dad and I had what Dad calls a “Thank you, Jesus” moment.

Dad was driving. It was pitch-black off the highway, judging from how well I could see the stars. We rode a two-lane road, heading back to Reno from Vegas. I was talking to Dad a bit, and he mentioned planning to stop in Beatty, Nev.

In the oncoming traffic, I saw what seemed the semi-driver ahead had his or her brights still on. Then it looked like another car was passing. Dad slid our car right, into the shoulder, as not one but two vehicles zoomed by.

Three cars just passed each other on a two-lane road.

Not long after, we drove over a large animal's carcass, which didn’t quell my morbid thoughts much.

Sure 2 a.m. neared, but I felt way too rattled to rest. Every passing headlight for a while made me flinch. But then we reached Beatty, got our rest and continued, ending Week 14 (June 5–11).

Ancient Skies

June 22, a separate drive up to Reno, Week 16 (June 19–25), around the same dark hour, a more peaceful moment happened. While Dad napped at the rest stop in Luning, Nev. from 1:47 a.m., I went forth and stargazed.

I felt enamored to see the Milky Way. This was the rest stop where Boys’ State often stopped, on my trips with them years ago. I searched for the Big Dipper and Cassiopeia, my usuals. I tried to find Orion, too, but had trouble. There was one area I thought might have been it, though. So, I Googled star charts. I felt that childhood song, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” made far more sense while stargazing.

First I found Vega and Hercules from Big Dipper, then Deneb and Cygnus, followed by Delphinus. What I thought might have been the Little Dipper was part of Sagittarius. Turns out what I thought was Orion was part of it, too. Then I went back and found Altair and Aquila, after zooming out my perspective. Pegasus looked so big! What I thought may have been Cassiopeia, I doubted. Then I found Polaris, solving that mystery.

I paused and saw a couple shooting stars. I reflected on the seeming perfection of ancient star charts, ancients’ stories they wove with the patterns in the sky and the dome creation mythos in the Hebrew Bible that piercing lights there. Some even liken stars to souls of those passed.

Lastly, I found Draco, Lacerta, Cepheus and Ursa Major, followed by Perseus and what looked like Camelopardalis. What I thought might have been Cassiopeia I realized was Ursa Minor.

My Milky Way quest this night reminded me of my Memorial Day Great Basin quest, Week 12 (May 22–28), but better. I felt awed how a quest to find Orion instead opened me to the rest of the summer sky. If I ever visit the Southern Hemisphere I better stargaze.

After I returned to the car at 3 a.m., Dad said he’d seen the stars when he was little. What a memorable night.

Science in a Lifetime

Curiously, ‘Philosophy of Science’ has been among the most impactful courses I took for compulsory credits in late undergrad. I met a friend who’s eagerly engaged in space politics, especially with how that historic Dragon launch (my family watched) changes opportunities. Likewise, that class exposed me in greater depth to gene-editing, beyond the CRISPR-Cas9 I first learned about on a trip with Boys’ State staff.

On one of these Nevada rides with Dad, I asked about his med school experiences. He shared how some professors and students lost their lives to cancers. Leukemia had even taken the life of my father’s brother when the brother was in the 1st grade.

I felt awed then to realize in our world, science has given us potential to reverse cancers that once so mercilessly claimed lives within still living people’s lifetimes. My dear friend and I had hope, and that’s all we needed beyond prayer.

Birdwatching

One day in the backyard during a return to Vegas, I decided my new favorite animal has changed from mantis shrimp to the elusive, hoving hummingbird.

Furthermore, I just thought about how awesome birds are in general.

I met an Irish priest in Taiwan who even watched birds for fun. He had such excitement in his eyes. I vaguely recalled a poem I encountered, sometime after I came back from Mongolia. The poet compared herself to the birds. In fact, Mongolian hunters use eagles, falcons and other birds of prey. But I felt even the normal birds sounded different in Mongolia. Birds can be so colorful.

God bless the hummingbirds.

July 4, 2020, and an Eclipse

This was my first time back in America for July 4 since 2016.

Down in Vegas on American Independence Day, my youngest brother and I drove to our stepmother's, where two of her daughters and Dad were. My older brother would come later. I helped a little in the kitchen. Mostly, I worked on my writing while chatting with my youngest stepsister before she left for work.

I had no idea I missed the taste of an American-style burger on the 4th of July. It's truly been four years since my last.

Dad had felt glad I saw “What’s Up, Doc?” recently, so he had his wife, my youngest brother, and my older (not oldest) stepsister see it. My stepsister and my brother left, though. I enjoyed seeing it again.

Then I went out on the back porch, as fireworks began downtown and around the neighborhood. Being there, feeling the warm breeze, reminded of Panamá, seeing on my host family’s front porch the lunar eclipse during January 2019.

Here in the States for the 4th felt good—a taste of home again. The United States is a young nation, one I hope that continues to revel in its history, remembering its roots. Its roots run all throughout the earth. Unless we are indigenous peoples, we and our ancestors came from elsewhere. And as citizens of the States now, let us continue to honor those who gave of themselves to make possible the democratic experiment on which the United States was founded.

God bless!

23rd Birthday—Online, Anywhere

“It's a funny thing about coming home. [...] You realize what's changed is you.” —The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

When I was a schoolkid, I used to enjoy sleepovers for my birthdays. I'd at least have get-togethers at my house so friends and I could see each other halfway through summer.

In recent past summers, though, studying abroad in China then serving with Peace Corps Mongolia, I hadn't been stateside for my birthdays! This changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, making this my first summer home a birthday since 2016. Even online, I could read what people wrote me!

About a week before my birthday, I had the pleasure of visiting to pray a rosary with Evan, an older fellow Knight of Columbus who has been homebound due to limited mobility among other conditions. He felt thrilled by my commitment to see him and keep the faith, and he asked me to join him daily in rosaries over the phone. We began at once. We even started praying two a day, at his request. He deeply believed in continued prayer and suggested what many need is a night entirely in prayer. Unfortunately, he lacked the health to do this.

Understanding a physically distant birthday would be best amid this pandemic, I'd already planned to restrict my birthday functions to online only. I realized my day would mark a perfect occasion for the vigil! Reaching out to fellow knights, I received rapid support for the vigil idea. I and those who join me would pray for peace, preservation and intercession amid the pandemic for all who suffer illness, especially our dear friend.

Realizing, too, late nights in the States could be more pleasant times for Catholics elsewhere in the world, I reached out to pilgrim friends I met during World Youth Day 2019 pilgrimage in Panamá. Since rosaries contain a sequence of repeated call-and-response prayers, I felt we could share our native languages and still understand the meaning, just as we’d done at World Youth Day. Salvadoran, Mongolian and Malaysian friends helped me translate my invitation to Spanish, Mongolian and Mandarin Chinese. I hoped by having fellow Americans alongside pilgrim friends pray together with me, we could share in the universality of the faith in peace and solidarity during this pandemic.

Birthday Vigil Begins

We began 23:00 Pacific time on Sunday, July 5, praying until we completed all 23 rosaries. We finished at noon on my birthday July 6. When some friends had to retire for the night or to leave for work in their timezones, I'd pray alone until a new friend appeared. At most, only an hour would pass between others' arrival to join me in prayer, which felt great.

At kick-off, I was joined by fellow two fellow knights—Javier, who had begun our council’s weekly rosaries, and my dear friend. I felt so elated on video to see him again for the first time in ages! Additionally, two pilgrim friends join us—Andrea in El Salvador joined us and Marie in the Czech Republic.

We began with Latin, the Church’s universal language, which might have been a laughable start. We followed it with an easier rosary, Spanish, which was Andrea’s native language. We tried another hard one for us, next. Javi taught us responses for Tagalog, then we gave it a shot. I really enjoyed praying in Tagalog, as many of my middle and high school friends know the language.

For our fourth rosary, we tried to do French since our dear friend knows it, but because the language’s pronunciation rules aren’t straightforward, we bailed after the “Our Father” and switched to English. I felt impressed we prayed the first three in non-English languages, though!

Most had to go around 1–2 a.m. Around that time, Marie, who had been without a camera and microphone, realized she could try using her sister’s laptop. Thus, right after everyone else left, she was able to speak! She taught me enough Czech that I could read the responses. I found it a beautiful language. Then I taught her enough Mandarin Chinese so she could read the responses in Mandarin. Marie might have set the record for being online longest with me—about four hours!

Birthday Vigil and Daybreak

My most difficult hour was between about 3–4 a.m. Alone, I completed three rosaries but felt increasingly lethargic.

Thankfully, when I felt totally drained, my fellow knight Marco bailed me out! For the next hour or so, we said one in English then another in Latin, which helped me find my groove.

After Marco left for work, two unexpected guests popped in. My Mongolian friend Angelica, whom I met during Peace Corps, visited briefly as well as my Panamanian host mother, who housed me for World Youth Day. Although neither could stay long, I appreciated their presence. They wished such kind blessings! Meanwhile, I said rosaries in Latin and Mongolian.

My fellow knight Evan joined our rosaries for an hour and a half around 6:30 a.m., our usual time we prayed together. Our Grand Knight Thomas joined that morning, as well. Evan enjoyed hearing us in Latin.

My Mexican pilgrim friend Ricardo came in about when Tom left, so after Latin with Evan, I prayed in Spanish with Ricardo. He said great blessings, too! Then I said a quick rosary alone in English.

Then came more Salvadoran pilgrim friends! Josselyn dropped by around 9 a.m. Just after she left came Rosibel around 10. I enjoyed how they added litanies, which I hadn’t done on previous rosaries. With them, I spoke and prayed in Spanish, which gave me lots of practice. They felt relieved they didn’t need to speak English to join me, and they thought I spoke well, too!

Just after Rosibel left and shortly after 11, my Salvadoran friend Andrea, who joined me at the vigil’s very beginning, returned! I practiced a lot of Spanish that morning. Thankfully, Andrea knew English and indulged me to pray the final, 23rd rosary in my native tongue.

Vigil’s Aftermath

In total, I with friends prayed six Joyful, five Luminous, six Sorrowful and six Glorious Mysteries. Of these, we prayed most in non-English languages, primarily Spanish and Latin, but also Tagalog, Czech, Mandarin Chinese and Mongolian. I really enjoyed honoring prayer in others' native languages. Beyond the States, we were joined by friends in Latin America, Europe and Asia, including El Salvador, Panamá, México, the Czech Republic and Mongolia.

I'm touched and honored by those who came to support our efforts. Got to finally put to the test my months of restarting Spanish! Those who participated shared their joy and commendations, too. My homebound knight even requested I do another in August. (My late mother’s birthday is in early August, so we’ll see.)

Mere days after the vigil, my dear friend shared doctors said he’s in recovery! That raised our spirits.

Mere days after, my dear friend received opposite news that the cancer spread. Days later, he reported rough days and said he could practically sense his hourglass of life. Doctors said in three months, he would lose function in his legs. Still, our correspondences continue.

On the bright side, “glioblastoma” makes a great Scrabble word, he added.

Rose Thorns of Life

Felt a little choked up clipping the dead rose blooms yesterday morning. I thought they were still alive, but they weren't. So I needed to prune them. For, the whole life of the bush looks better when it's free of its once alive-and-beautiful, now finished-and-dead parts. Its life thrives by focusing on the living pieces when they live and removing the dead when they’re dead. Such are our lives.

My stepmom likes roses.

When I was little, I disliked roses because of their thorns. I bled whenever I grabbed them. I realize now that if I don't get close, I don't get hurt. But to care for them better, I must get closer. Such is life.

I was praying over the phone my daily rosaries with fellow knight Evan while pruning the rose bushes yesterday. It was Thursday, so we prayed the Luminous and Sorrowful Mysteries—fitting. They meditate on acceptance, suffering and letting go.

I don’t find rosaries all that fun, to be honest. But people say they’re important. And they feel like a nice way to get in the right spirit, even outside places of worship. In the clipping of roses, they remind me of the beauty and tragedies natural to our lives on Earth.

More to Come

When it comes to my Latin and Spanish studies, I took a pause to refocus on my writing. Though, I still do a Duolingo Latin lesson a day to keep up that 75-day streak. I’ve plenty to share on languages next month.

For my four months of labor, I wanted my own camera for my birthday. But ultimately, I found those a bit too large for my needs. Dad purchased me a new mid-range smartphone with a great camera instead. It felt odd compensation for 20 weeks’ work, but, still, I don’t have to cover rent, food nor transportation while home... Plus, the device still beats the older used phone I’d been on through the back half of my undergrad, especially on Google suite and apps. Feels Sci-Fi!

By the way, do you play Pokémon GO? If so, you can add me at 2070 8544 5874. I recently rejoined after having stopped four years ago. Just one more way to get me and my face mask out and about while physically distancing!

My younger sister also spoofed an old story I wrote when I was little and gave that as a birthday gift. I found it hilarious. My day marked the third of my siblings’ quarantine birthdays!

Up next, I’m working on blog stories from last July in Mongolia. So, in a sequel to my previous throwback, get ready for adventures back to that Mongolian summer with me! We’re going rural, too, so the countryside is coming back.

I’ll update you in August on exciting projects I’ve taken on, too. Please keep my dear friend in your thoughts and prayers, also.

Till then, take great care, my friend.

You can read more from me here at DanielLang.me :)

#Peace Corps #Mongolia #hope #WithMe #COVID-19 #Nevada #StayHome #July4 #tragedy #Coronavirus #cancer #news #memoir #story #Reno #Las Vegas #USA #memoryLang #God #Catholic

0 notes

greggory--lee · 7 years

Text

15 Ways to Create Some Extra Holiday Money

Originally this was going to be a list for my two teenagers but some of these ideas are better suited to adults with a valid driver's license and a bit of know-how. Some of these take a bit of planning and organizing, but most of them could have done on a fairly spur of the moment case by case basis. The great thing about a lot of these ideas is that you're spreading holiday cheer by helping to make someone else's other stressful and overwhelming to-do list a little bit easier. Who would not pay to have someone come do a few of these things for you? Mostly, what's important is that you remember to provide a quality item or service to the buyer with a smile on your face and in your heart. Have fun with these!

1. Baby-sit for people who need to do some Christmas shopping without their little ones tagging along. Anyone trustworthy who is over the age of about thirteen or fourteen can do this one. It's hectic enough to get in and out of the malls and shopping centers without having to drag toddlers along. Contact friends, family, coworkers, and members of your spiritual community to let them know that you're available for holiday babysitting. This can include time that the parents need to get away for office parties, charity events, and volunteering to help the elderly and less fortunate members of their community.

2. Grab a ladder and offer to clean leaves out of your neighbors' gutters. Many people are so busy during the summer months that they completely forget to clean all of the debris from their gutters when the sun is out and it's dry outside. It's cold and yucky outside now and many people are too busy to get to it themselves. They'll probably be glad that you offered and they can check it off of their to-do lists. This is not one for the youngger kids. However, they can offer to rake up the leaves in their neighbors' yards. Adults could offer to do both the gutters and the yard as one big project for a nice reasonable price. It could also be a father & son side business that you do together – while dad cleans the neighbors gutters, junior rakes up the leaves in the lawn.

3. Bake something amazing and offer to sell it to your friends and coworkers so they will not have to do their own holiday baking. You probably have to be careful about selling your baked goods to professional organizations and such, but you could do some sideline baking to help out your friends, neighbors, and coworkers who are going to be entertaining guests over the holidays and simply will not have The time to do their own baking. Have you got an awesome recipe that stands out as everyone's absolute favorite? It's the hit of every potluck? Make up some tiny sample sizes or bring it in to the office break room and serve up samples to your potential clients. Then while their mouths are watering, tell them that for a fee you'll bring them one to their home the day before their guests are to arrive. You'll have to work out the scheduling and cost of ingredients and such, but this could be a fun way to make some money and spread some serious joy. The hostess will be so pleased when she pulls your work of art out of the fridge and her guests ooh and ah over the scrumptious homemade dessert she did not even have to bake herself.

4. Offer to collect people's empty soda cans and cash them in. My son raised almost $ 300 last spring doing this so that he could go to a training course to become a college counselor for the little kids at our church. He went door to door offering to do yard work and most people just handed him bags and bags of pop cans they did not want to take the time to cash in. He collected most of them over one weekend and then cashed them all in the following weekend. We live really close to a grocery store where he could walk to cash them in, so I did not even have to get my car dirty with sticky soda drippings! This is a really good one for the youngger kids to do.

5. Sell something on eBay. I know a number of people who make a decent second income all year round by digging around for antiques and such from the Goodwill and then fixing them, cleaning them up, and selling them for a much higher price on eBay. You have to know what to look for, but these folks will pick up an old pair of stereo speakers for $ 10 or $ 15 and then sell them on eBay for $ 200. The customer pays for shipping. You can also do this through garage sales, flea markets, and estate sells too. Most of the time and work goes into hunting for the cool treasures that someone will want to purchase.

6. Hang up people's outdoor Holiday lights for them. As a single mom, I would have loved it if someone had come to my house and hung the Christmas lights on my house for me. My children always wanted us to decorate the outside of the house and I hated not being able to do that for them. I did not know the first thing about how to go about hanging them up. I did not even own a ladder! So, I would think that you could go around offering to hang up people's outdoor holiday lights for a fee. It they like like me and do not even have lights but want to get some, you could offer your expertise as to which kind to buy and where to get the best prices and such.

7. Grab a broom or a shovel and offer to clean the neighborhood sidewalks. This is another good one for the younger teens. There's always sidewalks that need swept or shoveled. And there's always someone too busy or too tired to do it themselves.

8. Work a second job as seasonal help at one of the department stores in the mall. Most of the major department stores hire extra help in October or November so they can have them fully trained by the time the really busy holiday shopping season kicks in. They are kept on until after the inventory counts are done in January. Then most are let go if they have not quit already. Those who have proven themselves to be quality employees will often be asked to stay on longer.

9. Sell something at holiday bazaars. I suspect that you have to get these kinds of events lined up ahead of time with a bit of preplanning and such, but plenty of people make a decent seasonal income by selling cool arts and crafts type items at those holiday bazaars. Often a percentage of the sales goes towards a fundraiser, but you still make enough to make it worth your time and energy to create the art and to hang out at the art shows.

10. Sell your plasma. We all know how important it is to donate blood during the holidays, but many people do not know that you can get paid for sitting through a procedure quite similar to the donation process. The difference is that they run your blood through a machine that separates the plasma from the red blood cells and puts the red blood cells back into your body. It take longer and I guess that's why they are willing to pay you for your time. Years ago, I used to do this when my kids were really little and we needed some extra money for upcoming birthdays and such. They would not let you do it more than once a week or so and they just paid about $ 25 each time, so you had to plan ahead if you were going to raise $ 100 or $ 200 for something you wanted to purchase. Contact your local Red Cross or other blood donation centers for help finding the plasma centers.

11. Clean homes for others who have holiday guests coming. Typically, if someone has out of town guests coming for the holidays, they have a lot more on their to-do list then just cleaning their toilets and shampooing the carpets. You could become a real lifesaver for those in a crunch who are too busy, too old, or too tired to do a deep deep cleaning before the guests arrive. Some might even hire you again to clean up after the guests leave too! Teens can do this just as easily as the adults can.

12. Run errands and do odd holiday jobs like wrapping gifts or delivering packages to the post office. You could start a little side business where all you do is run other people's errands for them. Drop off and pick up the dry cleaning. Take their pet to the vet. Deliver cupcakes to the charity fundraiser. Pick up a competent of gift certificates from national department stores that will later be mailed out. Address and stamp their Christmas cards for them. Do their grocery shopping. Pick up new printer cartridge and some desk calendars for them. It's all of those tiny little errands that make for frazzled schedules and crazy timelines. For a fee, you could do it for them.

13. Decorate the inside of people's homes or offices for the holidays. You do not have to be a professional interior decorator to be helpful. If you've got a reputation as having a good eye for attractive and festive decorating, you can help others to set up their trees, hang garland, and place some nice poinsettia here and there. You can help make people's homes and their office space a warm inviting environment and also include coming back after the holidays to break it all down into storage containers as part of the deal. I hate teasing down the decorations and would love to pay someone to put it all back away!

14. Cater some dinners for the extremely busy shoppers or for Holiday parties. Those who are not awesome cooks need not apply for this one! Let's say that your boss is having the annual company Christmas party at his house and his wife is swamped with running kids back and forth to choir concerts and peewee football camp while shopping and planning for her in-laws who will be flying in to visit only Three days after her husband's company party at her house !!! You could offer to cook and cater the event for her. You'll once again be making someone else's holiday season so much easier while approaching extra money for yourself. Decide in advance on a menu and who's purchasing the ingredients needed. Then all you have to come up with is a dollar figure for your time and grandma's secret recipe for those little mini-cakes that everyone loves so much.

15. Chauffer someone's children to and from school and other activities so the parents have some free time. This is not quite the same as babysitting. You'd be amazed at how much time a person can spend picking up and driving two or three kids to different events and hauling musical instruments and sporting gear from one event to the next. You could simply run a taxi service for children and teenagers who need rides from point A to B. You do not have to hang out and watch them once they get there. Just make sure they arrive on time. Even just having an afternoon at home to cook and clean house while someone else gathers up all of the kids and brings them all home could make a world of difference for someone.

As you can see, some of these services could easily be turned into a year-round side job or they could have been dropped as soon as the holidays are over. Perhaps you'll find that you love catering people's meals, you love refurbishing antiques, or you love running errands and taxiing others around from place to place. You could go into business for yourself and by next year, you could quit your 'real job' and be happily self-employed. Then again, your teenager could discover how much time and work it takes just to raise enough money for some generous Christmas shopping. After learning the value of a dollar earned, they may decide that college is a good idea after all!

Source by

Source: http://bitcoinswiz.com/15-ways-to-create-some-extra-holiday-money/

0 notes