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stopforamoment · 5 years

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Part Three: I Am Wonder Woman (Series 14, Part 3 of 15)

Series Fourteen: Halloween Hijinks (15 Parts)

Part Three: I Am Wonder Woman (Series 14, Part 3 of 15)

Masterlist

Book: The Royal Romance (After Book Three)

Pairing: Bastien Lykel x OC Rinda Parks

Word Count: 1,523

Rating: M for Language

Author’s Note: Obligatory disclaimer that Pixelberry Studios owns the TRR characters and my pocketbook with those darn diamond scenes. OFC with all of her quirks is all mine. My apologies if Tumblr or I do something stupid when I try to post this. The keep reading link shows up on my laptop but not my phone. Ugh.

Thank you @asherella-is-a-dork-3 for always being my sounding board! Thank you @cora-nova @silviasutton1989 @bobasheebaby for still being a part of the journey!

Series Summary: It’s Halloween! Bastien and Rinda are settling into their relationship, and Queen Riley enlists Rinda’s help to plan a Halloween Festival at her duchy.

Chapter Summary: Rinda is a crazy train hot mess as she helps plan the Halloween Festival. Hey, she’s Rinda!

Part Three: I Am Wonder Woman (Series 14, Part 3 of 15)

“Where in the Great Pumpkin did I leave my brains this time????”

It was Rinda’s notebook where she had checklists and her scribbles when an idea or another to-do item popped into her head. Everything was in that notebook, and she couldn’t find it. Again.

Henry sighed and retraced his mom’s steps for her, and he found it on a hay bale that was several yards away. In the beginning of the afternoon he teased his mom, telling her that she was the last one to use it, so she should know. Or he’d try to talk her though her last steps, just like Bonk did for him, to help her remember. But it was a long day and there was still a lot to do. It was in everyone’s best interest for him, Phillip, and Alex to keep track of the notebook for her and run the various errands she needed during set up.

But the boys didn’t mind. They had bragging rights that they got to help with the festival, AND King Liam and Queen Riley said they could spend the night at the duchy after the festival.

Now Rinda was mumbling to herself, asking and answering her own questions, looking around and pointing to things to reassure herself that yes, they were finished. Everyone who knew Rinda knew this was normal, and the staff at the duchy quickly learned that Rinda was quirky—and good natured. She was the first to laugh at herself, and really, she didn’t mind if they laughed with her. And they weren’t expected to respond to her Rinda Rambles—unless she lost her brains. Then she needed all the help she could get until someone found that notebook for her—again.

The planning had actually started weeks ago. The staff and event planners at the duchy had strict orders to listen to Rinda and follow her every order, no matter what. At first everything went well. The staff knew that everyone on the security team was an amazing teacher and they were excited to work together to make the night a success for all of the families. However, they didn’t realize that Rinda was a spitballer who would come up with the craziest ideas that she would work through. Sometimes the ideas were so crazy that she realized it right away. Other times, she needed other people to bring her back to reality. The security team was used to it, and they knew they could always call Rinda out on her crazy-ass shit. However, the staff didn’t have permission to do this. When Rinda realized the stress she was putting on them she felt horrible and quickly went to Gladys to apologize and figure out a way for staff to feel comfortable giving her the constructive feedback she needed so they could work as a team.

The compromise was that any staff member could politely, and professionally, tell Rinda that an idea “sounded similar to what Duchess Carmine did years ago.” Then Rinda knew she was being crazy train and unreasonable, and she would thank the staff member for telling her and say “we can’t do that, then. Everything must be different now that Queen Riley is here.” The poor staff, dealing with Rinda the clueless Wisconsin girl. She didn’t realize it was unreasonable to ask if a large field of corn could be planted in spring so they could do a haunted corn maze the following fall.

At first the staff was receptive. A small patch of corn in a garden? Yes. Of course.

Rinda looked at them in confusion. No. A corn maze. You know. It takes at least 3 acres and miles of trail, so it can take 45 minutes to get through them. And you have to plot the maze out ahead of time and cut the paths as the corn grows.

The staff looked at each other for a few minutes, unsure of what to say. But Rinda saw their polite reaction and helped them. “Did Duchess Carmine already try that?”

Gladys snickered. “Rinda, I don’t think even Duchess Carmine tried something that large scale.” Fortunately, there WAS a hedge maze that was already full grown. Perhaps that could become a haunted maze? And after a few minutes of laughing at herself for being such a Wisconsinite, Rinda profusely apologized and agreed that yes, that would be more than perfect. In fact, “it would be quite posh.” Then Rinda winked at Gladys to thank her for stopping the crazy train.

Gladys and her staff finally got comfortable enough with Rinda to bluntly say the word “dove” or the phrase “that’s not phoenix.” They were telling her no, without actually saying it, and Rinda loved it. Now they were working like a team.

Rinda also talked with Gladys to get her perspective on whether or not to use apples at the festival. Carmel apples, cider, and bobbing for apples were popular traditions, and it would be perfect to use Cordonian apples. However, since the orchards were burned Rinda didn’t want to use the scarce apples that could be sold for profit or used to feed local families. They decided to skip bobbing for apples and they’d have hot chocolate instead of cider. Caramel apples would be available, but donations would be accepted to help the farmers whose livelihood was impacted by the fire.

And while they were at it, they decided to cut corners on some of the decorating and activities, and instead put the money toward a free dinner for the families. Other staff members weighed in, giving suggestions to trim the budget, and they found volunteers who would donate food, help prepare it, and serve it. Bastien and Mara were able to handle the security concerns, and Rinda gave everyone a group hug. It really would be the perfect evening, and everyone was in agreement that Duchess Carmine had NOT done this before.

. . . . .

The night before the festival the security team and their partners stayed until the bitter end, and finally everything was ready. There were two haunted house sections in the duchy—one for younger children who were accompanied by an adult, and a scarier version for the older children. The haunted maze was for the older children. Some of the local high school students agreed to dress up and be actors in the maze and haunted house, and they would lurk in the corners and wait for the children who met up with . . . a dead end. For younger children there was a well-lit spooky path.

The menagerie was a petting zoo--well, at least with the animals that seemed kid-friendly. Rinda learned that Maxwell Beaumont had several peacocks, and she asked if the peacocks could visit for the evening. Maxwell was so excited that families could enjoy his beautiful peacocks, and Rinda didn’t have the heart to tell him why she really wanted the peacocks there. They made the creepiest noises that were perfect for a scary Halloween evening, and she knew from her visits at the Milwaukee County Zoo that they were fine to roam around the grounds (although Maxwell promised to corral them if they became a nuisance).

Outside they had separate stations for carving pumpkins and painting pumpkins. Leaf piles. Hay rides, and Queen Riley’s horse Marabelle’s Dream was helping to pull the wagon. A graveyard area with large tombstones for children to play ghosts in the graveyard or hide and seek. Throughout the festival area there were several stops where children could yell “trick or treat!” to get candy. And Drake insisted that they have a fire pit where children could roast marshmallows and make s’mores.

Everyone flumped on the ground, too tired to move. But they had to. Tomorrow was a long day. A fun day, but a long day.

Bastien needed to stay at the duchy and finalize some security details, but he would see Rinda after school the next day. Before Rinda left, Bastien gave her a well-deserved head and neck massage, and when the tension finally left her body, Bastien held her as she fell asleep. He felt the rise and fall of her chest, the warmth of her body as she snuggled against him, the softness of her curls as he kissed her head. He had gotten used to sleeping next to her, wrapping his arms around her as he fell asleep, and Bastien knew he wouldn’t sleep as well without his Tria. So he held her just a little bit longer before waking her up. When they said their goodbyes, Henry hugged his Bonk just a little bit tighter as Bastien whispered that he loved his Knuddelbär and couldn’t wait for tomorrow when they’d see each other again. Rinda gave Bastien a small smile as she stood on tiptoes to hug him goodnight, and when he lifted her up she wrapped her legs around him and hugged him close. “I love you, Tiger. So, so much.”

“I love you too, Tria. So, so much.”

When he set her down, Rinda playfully booped Bastien’s nose. “Now go get ‘em, Tiger!”

#long post #bastien lykel #choices trr #rinda parks ofc

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toddkelly2 · 6 years

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Fall Crunch Time

Mason Crosby

Crunch Time

By: Chris Carns

On any given fall Sunday in Wisconsin (and across Packer Nation everywhere), it can happen. “It” is the moment when all green and gold faithful take a collective breath and a pause from whatever it is they are doing-THIS IS IMPORTANT. Eating and drinking stop, plates are held in mid-air, and silence is golden… the pressure is tangible as it emanates from 1265 Lombardi Ave in Green Bay…3 clicks left on the clock, the stadium is packed but is eerily silent…

All we need is a good snap, a good hold, and a good kick. The outcome falls on ‘ol number 2. Mason Crosby stands tall in the middle of the field, takes a hard look toward the back of the end zone, lines it up with his right hand, takes 3 steps back-and two to the left. With a confident nod, he’s set.

Snap. Hold. “Thunk!” End over end, sailing straight and true-

“Packers Win! Packers Win! Packers Win!”

We Packer fans, bleeding green and gold, have felt, heard, and witnessed that familiar scenario for the past 11 years as dedicated Packer fans. Mason Crosby has been our “go-to” in crunch time as the Packer kicker and we have all been fortunate to have such a consistent and confident presence when it comes down to “The Kick” to close out an opponent. Not only has Crosby been, and will be for the foreseeable future-lights out when it comes to sneaking out games for the Pack, he (like many fans) is a lifelong sportsman both on the water and in the woods.

Crosby began his love for the outdoors at a very young age growing up in Texas. He told us, “I grew up in Texas and got my first BB gun when I was about 6 or 7. I used to go all over the yard and chase after anything I could. I used to drive my parents crazy with that BB gun.” Much of Crosby’s love for the outdoors, similar to many Wisconsinites, came from both his dad and Grandfather Hayles or “Papa” as Crosby grew up calling him.

Crosby spent a lot of time fishing on the lake at his grandparents. The funny thing he told us about the time he spent there is, “…I never saw my grandpa catch a fish. I mean, we fished together A LOT and every time we went, me, my brother, my sister, we all caught fish-whether it was catfish, bass, panfish, whatever-we were all catching ‘em and he never caught a thing. And, it wasn’t like he wasn’t trying-he just never caught anything. That is one really crazy memory I have of fishing with Papa. He never did get mad or frustrated-I just don’t remember him ever catching ANYTHING.” It is a good thing for us Packer fans that Grandpa’s bad luck ended with him and didn’t rub off on Mason.

Growing up, Crosby also spent numerous hours in the woods with his dad and younger brother, Rees, hunting. Most of the hunting was for whitetails. His first deer hunt with his dad, while successful, was an eye opener for Crosby. As the story goes, “We were headed out to the stand, pretty early in the morning. Of course, I’m about 10 or 11 so I am excited, nervous, fidgety all of that stuff you would expect. So, we are walking down this road heading out to the stand, being quiet and taking our time when…out steps this deer-to me a MONSTER, but was really about a 6 point… just down the road in front of us. All the sudden, WHAM, there he is.”

So, my dad says, “Are you ready?”

“I think I may have nodded or grunted or something, I’m not sure. I raised up my gun and you can imagine how steady that was? Free hand, the gun was going up, down, to the side and all over the place. ‘Buck Fever.’ I was soooo unsteady and really all over the place. My dad put his hand on my shoulder and said, ‘It’s ok, just breathe.’ After that, I shot. But who knows where that bullet went? I must have missed by at least 10 feet. My dad told me, ‘It’s ok.’ But I was miserable. Just crushed. I thought that was it. ‘Buck Fever.’”

We are pretty sure that just about every deer hunter can sympathize with what Crosby went through on that morning.

But all wasn’t lost that day. The story continues… “So, we finally get to the stand and I am pretty bummed. I mean, that was my chance. We’re sitting there, it’s quiet, and I am not really thinking about too much, feeling overall pretty crushed when my ears perk up and I hear something moving… crunch, crunch, crunch… I look hard-and unbelievably, there is a deer moving toward us. It is a nice deer about a 6 or 7 pointer. Here it comes again, my heart racing, I start trembling and all of the sudden I am FREEZING which is absurd-I mean this is Texas, so it isn’t cold by any means. It’s probably 55 or 60 degrees. ‘Buck Fever’ again…. So, my dad leans over, tells me, ‘just breathe’ but I was frozen. I couldn’t do it. My dad realized what was happening, so he took the shot-and we did get the deer.”

“So, now I am thinking, that has to be it. I mean, what are the odds ANOTHER deer will come by? That’s two in one day. But, that’s what happened. Unbelievably, about an hour or so later I hear something. Something is moving through the trees. I can’t believe it. It is a nice 7-point buck. I tell myself, ‘just calm down.’ And my dad tells me, ‘You got this.’ Now, that was just the boost of confidence I needed. He motioned for me to lay my gun across the rail for a rest and steady the gun into my shoulder so I would make a good shot. I took a breath. Breathed out and BOOM!”

“The deer didn’t go too far, maybe seventy-five yards. We pretty much knew I got it but we waited about 30 minutes or so anyway.”

“That was an unbelievable day. I went from twice thinking I totally blew it, to being on top of the world. I have always loved to be in the outdoors whether hunting, fishing, hiking or whatever and that was for sure one day I will never forget.”

We asked Crosby to compare the adrenaline rush of that moment hunting to being a kicker in the NFL. Crosby said, “Yeah, it is very similar. It’s about being in that moment. Both of the two are really surreal moments and you have to be locked in for both of them. In both cases, I have to be totally in that moment. When I line up for a kick, I am ‘inside my facemask.’ Everything outside doesn’t matter and I block it out. I go through my routine, take my steps back and to the left, breathe, and then I tell myself, ‘just go.’ And I go. It is all in that moment. Especially when I know I have to execute on an important kick. It is just about being in that moment, focused and locked in.”

So, there are really quite a bit of similar aspects to being in the moment of a game deciding or momentum changing kick for the Packers and being locked in to that moment when a hunter has to execute a clean and accurate shot on an animal. Both surreal moments that take clear focus, steadiness, and being “locked in.”

Crosby went on to mention that there are a number of guys on the Packers who also love to fish and hunt-which of course is perfectly fitting for our state. As Crosby said, “It’s good to have guys on the team with like interests. I just makes things a lot more fun and easy to be around.”

Crosby mentioned a successful trip out West elk hunting with Jordy Nelson and swapping stories with Jeff Janis. Seems that he does like to give Janis a hard time as he told us that Janis puts trail cams up all over the place and is constantly looking at pictures. Crosby noted, “I think he puts one on every tree in his neighborhood and backyard. He’s got ‘em all over the place. The guy just loves it.”

Being that Crosby is from Texas and is pretty busy during the season, he hasn’t had as much time as he would like to enjoy the outdoors in Wisconsin. But, he has gone out a few times on Lake Michigan with both friends and family and has gotten out bowhunting on occasion during his time here. He also let us know that he has a strong interest in, “Catching a musky. Those things are HUGE! That is one fish I would love to get after some time.” We wish him well on the fish of 10,000 casts, and we hope his arm is as strong as his leg.

As a Packer, Crosby’s time here started in 2007 when he took over for Dave Rayner. He came in from Colorado as the third of three picks that the Packers had in the sixth round. As Crosby recalls, “I was home with family and friends in Texas watching the draft. I didn’t know when, where, or if I was going to be drafted. But, I was hopeful. The phone rings and it’s Mike Stock who was the Special Teams coach at the time. This was really out of the blue as I didn’t think I was even on the Packers’ radar. I couldn’t believe it when he told me the Packers were going to take me with the third pick they had in round 6. It was an unbelievable feeling. It was, to that point, the coolest moment in my life. Everybody looked at me and my brother Rees, who was and is a huge Packer fan, ran and grabbed his Packer gear. He was totally pumped for me.”

Crosby expressed clear gratitude for all of his friends and family; his wife, Molly, and kids, Nolan, Charlotte, Elizabeth, and twins, Felicity and Christine, and parents, Jim and Karen, sister, Ashley, and brother, Rees, who are very important to him and who have stood by him through thick and thin. He can appreciate how fortunate he has been with his career and having people around him to share it with. It is impressive to hear and see in him the understanding and value he has with what he is doing and the joy in being able to share it with those people that are closest to him. Having the ability to live in the moment and understand that what he has is truly unique and not something to be taken for granted is clearly an important aspect of who Mason Crosby is.

While being able to see his good fortune, Crosby has had some rather funny experiences and observations during his time as a Packer in Green Bay. He relayed to us how sometimes just going to the store can be an experience. Crosby noted that, “For the most part, Packer fans and people in Green Bay are really very respectful of him and his family and don’t really give him too much unwanted attention when he is out in the community.” But, there was an incident while he was out grocery shopping during training camp that was humorous.

“So, I am walking around Festival Foods shopping which is really usually not any big deal. Fans see players out regularly so they have become accustomed to us being out in the area. But there was one time I was out that was kind of funny. I see this family seemingly in awe from around a corner almost like they are in shock. They continue to peek around corners and kind of hide which is weird. This goes on for a while. And then they seem to be trailing behind me. I hear a lot of whispering and it’s really just kind of creepy. But, after awhile, it wasn’t too tough to figure what was going on. I say, ‘Hey. Come on over.’ I say hello, give some autographs and pictures and it’s all fine. Turns out they were in town to watch practice and were surprised to see a Packer player at the store. So, not really a big deal but kind of funny the feeling of being stalked during the day at the grocery store.”

One important lesson that Crosby learned early on in his career relates to his clothing choices in Green Bay. It really boils down to two options, “…well what I have come to understand, and it didn’t take me too long, is that if you go out to a nice place like a restaurant, country club or formal dinner reception- you can either dress up with you know-a button down type shirt, tie, dress pants, sport coat, or… wear Packer clothes. Either one is acceptable.”

Crosby did tell us what separates Packer fans from other football fans in different cities. He told us, “Packer fans are really knowledgeable about the game of football. I mean, they love their team and truly see the importance of having them in Green Bay. But, they are really different in that they don’t just come to the game screaming, making noise, being rude and being obnoxious. I mean, Packer fans cheer and cheer loud, they get Lambeau really going, but they also really know what is happening on the field. They are just much more in tune with the game of football and really appreciate what they have here in Green Bay. There is a cohesive feel between the fans and the team that just isn’t the same in other places.” Smart, dedicated, and connected to the team, sounds about right.

Mason Crosby, avid outdoorsman, dedicated family man, and the all-time leader in points scored for the Packers has overcome hurdles and has accomplished much success as a Packer player. He, like many of his teammates, is also very involved in a number of charities and fundraising events. And we, as fans, are very fortunate that he was selected by the Packers in 2007. We look forward to many more “crunch time” successes and Lombardi Trophies throughout his career with the Packers. GO PACK GO!!

The post Fall Crunch Time appeared first on Morning Moss.

from Morning Moss http://morningmoss.com/fall-crunch-time/

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